New little end table

Here is the completed end table made by Marc. Lucy loves it and she says, "It's my table to put my scriptures on."

I put these cute bears under there that my Mom made out of some old pairs of Marc's scrubs for the kids. They looked so cute under there. When David saw them, he squatted down and said, "Baby!" They were under there for about 30 seconds before the kids started to play with them. Oh well, it looked really cute for a moment.

I can't get enough of . . .

this picture!

I was touched

Every once in a while you get a glimpse into the difference you personally are making in this world. This was one of those moments for me. Thanks Marybeth

These two . . .

Are turning into great little buddies . . .

and it makes my heart so happy to watch!

*David calls Lucy "Dee-dee" and it just tickles me every time I hear it. My favorite part was when I realized that Lucy knew he was saying her name well before we had it figured out. I love them!*

Lucy & Davids' Room

The nesting bug has already hit. My most recent project has been getting Lucy & Davids' room in order before I tackle the nursery. Here is the finished project (minus a cute little end table that Marc is going to make and I am going to paint blue).

The cute little end table will go beside the red chair-won't it be so darling.

We moved the changing table out of their room and into the nursery. We then got this dresser for David's things. It was white and I painted it blue. Lucy says, "David has the blue dresser and I have the red dresser." David thinks it's pretty cool too and loves to open and shut the drawers all the time. Next project . . . the nursery. Marc believes that is my final project, but I cannot make any promises.

Naming this little lady

In no particular order, here are some names we like (granted some I like more than Marc does and vice versa, but it is the strongest list we have so far):

Vivian

Irene

Violet

Eve

Julie

Heidi

Your thoughts?

Things we do lately . . .

-I've got the nesting bug and have begun gutting out the office to convert it into the nursery. I have also rearranged Lucy & Davids' room, painted a new dresser to put in there and drafted plans for Marc to make an end table.

-David & Lucy love The Starfall website. David waddles over to the computer and says, "Friday?" all the time. He would play with me on it forever if I let him. He's starting to learn his colors from it which is so fun to see. He also loves to bring you a book and say, "Read it." He will do this forever if you let him too.

-We had our ultrasound today. The baby looks very healthy and well. We feel very grateful. I love her.

-Lucy loves to practice dance class all the time. She also practices music time from Primary where she's the teacher. It cracks me up to hear her mimic the things just how the teacher says them.

-I'm teaching the reading class this semester. It is probably my most favorite class to teach. I love the idea that I am empowering all of these future teachers and parents with the skills on how to teach someone how to read.

-Marc is busy with his church calling. He really enjoys his interactions with the students and I know he is a wonderful example for them.

-I am tired a lot. I take a nap every day that I can.

-If we have been out running errands for a while, I usually get the kids nuggets to help pacify them. David has figured this out and has started to say, "Nugget?" after we've been to more than a couple of places.

-I feel like I spend a lot of time at Dr's appointments. I really appreciated that my nurse told me last time how proud she was of me for only gaining 2 pounds over the holidays instead the average 10 pounds she had been seeing by most of the women. Funny how perspective changes things ;)

-Well that was random, but just some things I wanted to get down.

Fabrics for the nursery

Here are the fabrics for the nursery. The scenery fabric (far left) will cover a wall of built-in shelves, the stripey fabric will be for the valance and all four fabrics will be used to create the bumper pad and bed skirt, and . . .

I was looking for the fabric with a fellow teacher friend and we both just melted over this ABC fabric. Naturally I had to buy it and I intend to (with much help from my mother) make a lovely quilt for our sweet little lady. 

With Lucy I went with all primary colors (which I LOVED). It worked out well since David came along a short while later so the room is cute for both of them. But with this baby, I just want to go all out girl! I figure eventually Lucy will be sharing the room with her anyway. Oh, it was so fun! You like?

I'm on the radio

They did a Mormon Identities episodes on working with children with Autism over The Holidays. It was fun to be a part of seeing how a radio show works. If you're interested, you can hear the episode here

 

Condoleezza Rice

Today Condoleezza Rice spoke at BYU and it was very inspiring to me. Here are my notes. I hope you enjoy them:

BYU Forum

1/13/11

-Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives (new book she wrote).

-If you’re constantly focused on today’s problems, you’ll never be able to get the long term view.

-4 pictures of former Secretaries of State she would keep-one William Seward, bought Alaska for $7 million-he was mocked for buying that “ice box” to always remind her that, “Today’s headlines and history’s judgment are rarely the same.”

-Failing nations are the problem and we cannot abandon them

-Every dictator fears the moment their people no longer fear them.

-Romanian leader, “LIAR”

-Creativity and innovation remain the ownership of the United States

-Our biggest potential enemy is ourselves if we do not:

            -reaffirm the private sector

            -respect the immigrant

            -believe in the American Dream

            -say, “It does not matter where you’ve come from, it only matters where you’re going”

-Our biggest threat today  is the disastrous state of our K-12 educational system

-We are not held together as Americans by any one faith, race, culture, etc. We are held together as Americans by the idea and promise of The American Dream

-We have been given the gift of the transformative power of Education

-What seems impossible is often inevitable

-The essence of being human is to integrate what we know with what might be (faith)

-Keep your optimism

-Find your passion! Worlds open up to you that you never thought possible when you find your passion.

-I am more fulfilled by overcoming something that is hard for me to do than by doing something that comes easy to me.

 

Dear Lucy,

I love . . .
-when you help me put the laundry away and you always put your Arielle panties on top so you can wear them the next day
-when you ask to sit in the car seat that is the closest to wherever I'm sitting
-that you always want to be the lead girl in whatever book or show we watch. And then you always say, "Mom, who do you want to be?"
-when you rub my tummy and tell me how much, "I love your baby." and "I will take such good care of your baby when she gets here."
-that you knew I was a having "a baby sister"
-how you practice dance class all the time. Especially when you take the bathroom mat into the hallway to "leap over the alligators."
-how you read books to David
-how you love anything that is pink-even the neon pink "Motel" sign. When you saw it, you shouted, "Mom look, pink letters!"
-how you sometimes just need to sit on my lap.
-when you get out of your bed at night time to bring me random things like a wipe or a book. Daddy doesn't like it, but it always makes me giggle.
-how Daddy is always the prince in every story we read.
-YOU! You are my Goose and I love you to pieces and pieces!

Love,
Mom

Happy New Year!

When I lived in Asia, they have a tradition of giving out red envelopes for New Years filled with money. I have kept this tradition going with my family (except for now we don't put money in, but things like suckers)

Lucy and David both enjoyed ripping open their envelopes to see what was inside.

They got a sucker and some Chuck E Cheese tokens to take to their cousin, Eliza's birthday party that day. It was a hit! 
"Gongchee-fa-chi!"

Something I have loved since I got married has been the ability to keep and create our family's traditions. We have kept many of the traditions from our families, some traditions we have abandoned and some we have adopted that we have seen other families do or we picked up from living outside of the country. Marc has been such a good sport about this and we really have so much fun. I love my little family.

David's 18 months stats

Weight: 31.75 lbs 95th percentile
Height: 35 inches 98th perecentile
Head: 98th percentile
Our Dr. called him, "A specimen." He said he is the picture of health and that he is going to start calling some coaches today so they can begin courting our family ;) We love our great big healthy boy!

A Sunbeam!

Lucy is now a Sunbeam. Her teacher came and met with her the Sunday before and brought her a sun cookie and told her how happy she was to have her in her class. It was so great. Lucy asked me everyday, "Is it Sunday yet?" So in honor of her becoming a Sunbeam, we have begun to teach her the Articles of Faith. Here she is with number 1:

Click HERE