Looking For A Prince . . .

. . . at the Disney Store with Uncle Tanner

Not An Announcement

Chronologically, this post is incredibly late.  Most of the people who know and love us, already know that baby girl number three will be making her debut sometime in late October.  For that reason, I view this as more of an update and less of an announcement.

I'm 27 weeks along and this pregnancy is flying by.

I typically have pretty easy pregnancies. Noah attributes this to my pioneer heritage and, "good birthin' hips."  I'm not quite sure if I should be flattered by the hips comment or if I should punch him, good and hard, in the arm.

At any rate, I feel like many of the anxieties and uncertainties that I had with my first two pregnancies are gone.  Since I'm not spending all my spare time furiously reading and re-reading, "What To Expect When You Are Expecting", I've been free to pay more attention to all the little things that I love about being pregnant, like:

• Being surprised when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and see my belly, "Oh! That's right, you're pregnant!"
• Giving in to the food cravings, it's all about beef this time.  I could eat a hamburger everyday and often want to eat one late at night -- so happy Wendy's is open late.
• The way Eden and Ruth interact with the new baby.  They pat my belly and sing her songs.  They give "raspberries" and tell her stories.
• When in the middle of our crazy days, I have a moment of quiet and I feel the baby move.  It's as though in those moments, there is nothing wrong in the entire world.  World Peace: accomplished.
• My maternity wardrobe, seriously, I think I like it better than my regular wardrobe.  This is thanks in large part to good friends and family who have donated their super cute wardrobes to me.
• "Nesting", I am never as ambitious or good at finishing projects as I am when I am pregnant.
• Thinking up witty retorts [which I would never actually use] to comments like, "Wow! You have your hands full."  or "Two! And one on the way, I see."

And my very favorite:

• At night, when Noah thinks I am asleep and he puts his arm around me and rests his hand on my belly. All I can think is, "I'm so lucky, I love him so much."  

But how could you not love the man that gave you these two smart, beautiful, kind, happy little ones? [And one more on the way!]

Little Fishes

When we first moved here in January, my friend suggested that I sign Eden up for gymnastics.  We went ahead and put her in a class at Flips For Fun and she loved it!  

She learned all kinds of great things, like how to do "side bunny hops", point and flex her toes and even do a "bridge".  In addition to learning great things, we got to know the teacher, Miss Amy.  She's awesome with the kids and they love her.  When we found out that she teaches swimming lessons during the summer, I just knew we needed to sign both girls up!  

Ruthie with Miss Amy on the last day of class

Ruthie, is 22 months and she loved her lessons.  She learned to kick and paddle, to put her face in the water, to go all the way underwater and to spider crawl along the edge of the pool.

Eden with her ribbon and cousin Heidi

Eden, is 3 1/2 and she learned everything Ruthie learned, plus she jumped off the diving board, swam through a hoop, opened her eyes underwater and retrieved toys off the steps! 

It would appear that my little girls are well on their way to being expert swimmers, much like their dad.  

When we were first married, I got this idea that Noah and I should go swim at the Richards Building on BYU campus to get a little exercise.  I was envisioning some leisurely backstroking or floating around with a "fun-noodle", he had something completely different in mind.

Apparently, if you do swim team for long enough, it kind of sticks with you.  So much so that when your wife says she wants some exercise, you decide to put her through one of toughest workouts she's ever done!  Let's just say I have some serious respect for swimmers, especially if they can do the butterfly stroke.

Anyhow, now that my girls love to swim, I guess all we need is a pool! [maybe next year, or the next, or possibly the next . . .]

Independence Day!

We went big this July 4th.

We stretched the celebrating out over the entire weekend.  We decorated bikes, we mingled with the locals, we watched fireworks, we grilled out.

In short, we pretty much tried to make up for not celebrating the 4th of July for the past two years.

[2010:  We were living in Oklahoma City and our July 4th plans fell through at the last minute.  2009: Noah was in Las Vegas doing a clerkship and I was pregnant with Ruth.  Perhaps some of you will remember the red-eye flight with Eden and Tanner.  Happy 4th of July?  I think not.]

Daddy helped the girls decorate their bikes with the wares we scored at the dollar store.  Noah even wound the crepe paper through the spokes of Eden's bike, which is one of my favorite childhood memories of July 4th bike decorating.  

Richfield has an amazing 4th of July celebration, and now that my kids are old enough to actually enjoy it, I really do miss it.

Saturday July 2nd:  We went to the neighborhood "parade" which ended at Arcadia Park with a bounce-house and hot dog filled par-tay.  Unfortunately, the parade turned out to be little more than a children's bike rally and no one threw any candy.  But my kids didn't know any different and thought that the firetruck at the end was awesome!

Since we are all still adjusting to the Texas heat, we only packed one water mug [I seriously never go ANYWHERE without my bubba keg full of ice water]. Anyway, as we were walking along the parade route looking for a spot from which to watch the parade, we must have looked pretty miserable, because a couple of Good Samaritans invited us to sit in the shade of their garage.  They then continued to give us water bottles and even got a bowl of water for Saul.  

I've been really impressed by how friendly people are here!

Perhaps, they were so apt to invite us in because both of my girls seem to have inherited my unfortunate face-turns-bright-red-and-looks-like-you-are-going-to-die-of-heat-exhaustion condition.  Let me assure you, I always look worse than I actually feel and I'm pretty sure my girls are the same way.  But we were thankful for the shade and water just the same!

Here's Eden after a couple runs through all the bounce houses and bounce slides at the park.

Ruthie wasn't quite sure about the bounce houses, but she was pretty sure about the Cheetos.

Ruthie is fully into the 2-year-old independent phase.  "I do it!" is one of her favorite things to say.  She would have no help with the giant face engulfing mug of water!

"Happy America's birthday!"

Later that night we met up with some friends to watch the fireworks over Arcadia Park.  We realized that this was the first year that Eden or Ruth had seen fireworks.  They both loved it!

Ruthie spent most of the show sitting on my lap, but Eden had more fun running around with the kids and playing with her glow necklaces!

The fireworks were put on by the HOA, apparently they do it every year and it's always a really good show.  As far as I know, we are the only neighborhood to sponsor a fireworks show and we are practically the ONLY neighborhood in this area without a pool so I guess that's the trade off?  Fireworks or pool . . . .

Sunday, July 3rd:  I always love the Sunday of Independence Day.  I was raised to respect and love America and to appreciate and respect those who serve in the military.  My late grandfather fought in WWII, my father-in-law in Vietnam and four of Noah's siblings have served or currently serve in the armed forces.

I believe that when the flag comes by, you stand with your hand on your heart and when you sing The National Anthem, you stand and you pay attention and if you can keep the tears back, you sing.  I especially love the last verse of The Star Spangled Banner:

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Monday, July 4th:  The ward had an early morning breakfast party, complete with red and blue pancakes!  Then it was outside for some mingling and fun.

Eden just taking in the action (notice the upside down sunglasses, she is convinced that she has them on correctly!)

Ruthie, curly-locks.  

Tree climbing and subsequent monkey noises!

The trike!  The trike was a recent craigslist acquisition.  I am quite pleased with our find.  Not only does it look like a wonderful piece of Americana, the girls love it.  They can't hardly get enough of it and had so much fun cruising it around the church parking lot.

After the ward party we went home for some well deserved napping, but later in the day we got together with some friends for the obligatory hamburger and hot dog grill fest!  Our friends The Larsons came over and the kids had a blast playing in the kiddie pool.  It's amazing how much fun they can have with a hose and few inches of water!

We ended our day with one giant sugar cookie of patriotic love a'la Aunt Laura McAllister.  We thought a lot about family and friends who were not with us and we missed them, but there's always next year!

Who Is My Neighbor?

Who is my neighbor?  That question, so famously posed over 2,000 years ago still resonates powerfully for me.  In the days of instantaneousness communication, with the phrases,"social network" and "online community" not just prevalent but nearly dominating the vernacular; the question of "Who is my neighbor?" becomes ever more nuanced.
    
One year ago we lived in Lexington, KY.   In the months between then and now, we've spent time in Edmond, OK, my hometown of Richfield, UT, Wheeling, WV and now reside in Fort Worth, TX.  I am somewhat taken back when I think that my little family has inhabited so many different houses -- physical structures that we tried our best to turn into home; a place of love, refuge and stability amid all the instability -- in so many different "neighborhoods", in such a short period of time.   Eden has even taken to describing events as they relate to the house we were living in, "Can we go back to my black and white house?, The one where I had the birthday with cupcakes and balloons?"  Still even before all our moving around, I found myself contemplating what it meant to be a neighbor and live in a neighborhood.

When we moved to Lexington in July 2007, we left a high density townhome "community" in Pleasant Grove, UT.  A place where our home shared walls with two other homes, a place where my front door was literally 20 feet away from my, wall-sharing, roof-sharing, front-walk sharing "neighbor" with whom I never exchanged more than an awkward "hello".

Noah and I lived there for one year and when we moved out, not one person on our street stopped by to say goodbye.  I suppose it goes without saying since we were in Utah County, but the predominate religion on our street was Mormon which meant that most of our neighbors were actually in our ward!  It bothered me that we; interesting, smart, fun, intelligent people, could come and go so easily. It offended my small town sensibilities, something in my core felt empty and I knew that people weren't meant to live among strangers.  I realized I had some responsibility to bear.  If no one knew me, it held to reason that I also knew no one.

I decided then that something needed to change; but like most change, something else within me resisted.

Change is hard and, by definition: different.

Thus began my fascination with neighbors and neighborhoods, and what it means to be part of a community.

In Lexington I actually knew the first names of my immediate neighbors.  I knew that one was a young bachelor and the other an old diabetic man living alone, but beyond that I knew very little.  We lived in our house for three years.  In Wheeling, I was richly blessed by having wonderful neighbors.  Even though we were only there a short time, our family was immediately loved and welcomed and valued as part of the neighborhood.

A couple of months ago, just about the time we first arrived in Fort Worth, I heard an interview featuring Peter Lovenheim, the author of a book titled, "In The Neigborhood: The Search for Community on an American Street, One Sleepover At a Time."  I of course knew immediately that I would be reading his book.

  

I just finished it and I must say; you should read it.  Just read it.  If you believe at all, that we as human beings have a responsibility to care for one another; that this responsibility includes the people to whom we live close to geographically, you should read his account of life on one street in upstate New York.

Among other things, it has rekindled my desire and commitment to know my neighbors, so I am trying.  Some of my attempts are awkward, some are met with polite disinterest and admittedly I let opportunities to connect pass me by everyday.  It's that whole change thing, it's hard and it's slow, but I am determined to be the kind of neighbor that has a cup of sugar to lend and has neighbors who are comfortable enough to ask me for that cup of sugar.

Recently a strong wind blew down the section of fence that separates my back yard from the neighbor directly to the west.  The situation of the downed fence has given me occasion to speak more frequently to my neighbor.  It is an excuse to knock on their door, the pretense of talking about the downed fence makes it acceptable for me to insert myself into their everyday life.  Still I wonder, once the fence is back up and my view of their backyard is once again cut off by 8-foot tall wooden slats, will I speak to them again?

I feel like Robert Frost when he says:

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall, . . ."

And as he walks the length of downed wall with his neighbor, and suggests that his apple trees will never bother the neighbor's pines and perhaps a wall is unnecessary, his neighbor

" . . . Only says, "Good fences make good neighbours."
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
"Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling our,
 And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,

That wants it down."

A Little Glimpse . . .

Sleepy princess

We're pretty sure washable markers are non-toxic, right?

Eden set up this lovely breakfast picnic a couple days ago while I was in the shower! 

Happy Mothers Day.  Noah gathered wildflowers in Arcadia Park and made me this bouquet. 

Ruthie loving the flowers

Pizza time

Little Chef

Ruthie Retrospective

Let me tell you a little bit about my sweet little Ruthie.

From the very beginning, Ruth has been easy going, even though she was a little anxious to get here and came almost a month early.  She is loving.  She gives kisses and hugs.  She loves the dog and when she calls him, she draws out the vowels; "Saul" becomes, "S AHH OOH ALL".  She calls Eden, "sista".

She has her dad's beautiful blue eyes and my brown wavy hair.  Books, slides, swings, food and her stuffed elephant are probably her top five favorite things.

I tell you all this; because apparently I've been sleeping and have just now woken up and my baby is a 20-month old, waking, talking toddler.  Since this past year has been so crazy for everyone, and this past year was basically Ruth's first year, I have some recapping to get done.

New Year's Eve 2009

Valentine's Day 2010 

February 2010: Driving from Lexington, KY to Edmond, OK

Valentine's Day 2010

December 2009

puppy Zoe, Christmas 2009

"Pi Day" March 14, 2010

Louisville Slugger Museum, March 2010

March 2010 

The Good Zoo, Wheeling WV Fall 2010

Riverfest 2010, Wheeling WV

Christmas 2010