A day late...

In our
Four years, Four months,
Four weeks, and Four days
(yesterday)
of being married, Chris and I have...

...lived in four apartments/houses

...purchased four cars

...owned four beds for our family:
double, queen, crib, and twin

...owned four dining room tables
(none of which did we purchase ourselves)

...had four siblings get married

...been camping four times

...owned four TVs

...purchased four additional bookcases

...collectively attended four years of college

...traveled to four different states together


Did you know that if you type
FOUR
too many times,
it starts to look really weird?

Same Smile

My sister recently posted a ton of old pictures from back in the day. (I only say that because I remember watching a show when the main character HATED it when anyone under the age of 50 said "back in the day". Ha. I don't even remember what show it was. Anyway...)

My dad pointed out that one of the pictures of me looks remarkably similar to Megan. What do you think?

Me sometime in the first year of my life...


Megan last September...


I don't know about you, but those smiles...

In other news, as of today, Chris and I have been married for

Four years, Four months,
Four weeks, and Four days

I've been thinking for the last week that I wanted to post something cute about that, but I haven't been able to come up with anything. Sigh. I'll let you know if I have any epiphanies of clever cuteness with which to express the coolness of the repetitive number four.

Choose a Season

One of the things I prefer about living in Utah over Washington is the distinctiveness in seasons. When it's winter, you know it's winter. When it's summer, you know it's summer.

It's not working for me this year.

We keep having fake-out snowstorms. There are all kinds of warnings and weather advisories, but nothing quite seems to make it to our house. The snow we do get lasts only for a day or two, then melts so you can see the dead brown grass underneath. Yuck.

Spring-like weather isn't all bad...


But I have to say, I wish it would snow. For real. I was excited for the blizzard we had a couple days ago, but again, the storm was brief and the snow short-lived. I know a lot of you would argue with me, but I have to say, spring is much more enticing to me if we really had a chance to live through winter first. It's a whole different world when it's really snowed.

One side note for Grandma Karrie...


What not to do with small children: Sit them on a high counter within reach of isopropyl alcohol. You can use that in your trainings.

Birthday Babies

Today is my sister Sarah's 21st birthday. Yahoo!

Cell phone picture. Sorry for the poor quality.

At the family party last night, my sisters and I decided to test out an old wive's tale that a friend had linked to on Facebook. It's the old "predict your children's gender using a needle and thread" trick.

Here are the steps, in case you want to try:

1. Thread a needle and tie a knot in the string about six inches down.

2. Hold the knot in your right hand between only your thumb and index finger, needle hanging down.

3. Hold your left hand out, palm down. Swing the needle so it taps the space between your left hand's thumb and index finger three times.

4. Turn your left hand palm up and hang the needle approximately one inch above your palm.

5. Watch! The needle will move in lines or circles, then stop, then start moving again.

Interpretation:
Circle means girl.
Line means boy.

Notes: The needle will stop between each pregnancy. It will stop altogether when it's shown all your kids. It does include children who are already born. It does not count miscarriages.

Ok, if you know my family, you'll know that I have four sisters--five of us altogether, six if you count my mom, seven if you include my brother's girlfriend who was also there. Here are the results:

Lisa:
Boy (Dalton)
Girl (Nicole)
Boy

Deborah:
Boy
Girl
Boy
Girl
Boy
Boy
Girl

She's almost 27 and not married yet...if anyone knows a man who wants a lot of kids, give her a call!!

Laura:
Girl (Jane)
Girl (Megan)
Boy (YAY!!!!)
Boy

Amy:
...

None! The needle never moved! Sad!! Send happy baby thoughts her way!

Bill, via Morgan:
Girl
Girl
Boy

Sarah:
Girl
Girl
Boy
Boy
Girl

Ok, here's the real kicker. Mom already has seven kids and is done. Here was her result from the needle test...

Mom:
Girl (Lisa)
Girl (Deborah)
Girl (Laura)
Girl (Amy)
Boy (Bill)
Girl (Sarah)
Boy (Michael)

No kidding! It was exactly correct. Every child was accurate, and it stopped after seven kids. Man oh man. There just might be something to this...but for Amy's sake, let's hope not.

I am 17 weeks today, but here is my 16 week belly shot.


I've posted on Facebook recently that I know 26 women who are pregnant right now, and at least three more who have given birth in the last month. Twenty-six. That seems like a lot. Over half of them are having girls...I'm prepping myself for a third girl. Deep breath. I'd like a boy, finally, but I'm planning on a girl.

Then again, maybe let's hope the needle was right.

P.S. Just in the short time it took me to write this, I received word that one of those ladies has given birth. Let’s change that number to 25. And by the way, she had a girl.

Amazing

We were cleaning out a few cupboards when the phone rang. A neighbor's gas tank had fallen off his van and he was stranded in the Walmart parking lot--could Chris please come help?

Of course.

We were getting the girls ready for a bath when there was a loud knock on the door. A sister in the ward had a bit of an emergency with her teenage son--could Chris please come help?

Of course.

We were sitting down to dinner when there was another loud knock on the door. An elderly neighbor's husband had fallen--could Chris please come help?

Of course.

We were getting started into a long, busy weekend when the Bishop called. A sister in the ward had a car that kept dying--could Chris please come help?

Of course.

I married a good man.
But you already knew that.

We have an agreement that Valentine's Day celebration as a couple consists of going out to dinner as a couple--my choice of restaurant because I'm the one who cares. This year we shook things up a bit by taking the girls to the house of a friend of mine--Thanks, Meghann! It was fun for them to meet a some new friends and fun for us to go somewhere out of our usual stomping ground. The only downside-- I never introduced them to Chris. He had never met them and pointed out that he trusted me enough to leave our children with people who, to him, were complete strangers.

My apologies to Chris, Meghann, and Aaron.
I promise to officially introduce you all when you come over on Friday!

In my holiday restaurant choosing, I had only two requirements: a really good salad and a really good baked potato. The verdict? Applebee's.


Ah, it was delicious. We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal, despite sitting too close to the door and freezing half the time. The leftovers were awesome, too.

We followed up dinner by ice cream and window shopping lumber at Lowe's. If that doesn't say love, I don't know what does... But seriously, Chris is planning to build us a king size bed, so we did have a purpose there!

Our celebrations today have been pretty laid back. We colored a cute Valentine's picture this morning. The girls have spent the day playing with their Valentine's gifts.


Chris decided to invest $1.98 in the two balloons for the girls. My goodness, that's the best two dollars we ever spent. Way better than cards or candy for two little girls. And Grandma Karrie brought them each a new stuffed animal--Jane took hers to bed with her and Megan keeps carrying hers around and stroking its back. Cute.

happy valentine's day to all

Things I Never Said as a Teacher

I post a lot of funny things that Jane says throughout our days at home. It only recently occurred to me that there are quite a few things I say that, taken out of context, are just as amusing...

You can't go outside until you put your pants back on.

If it's too scary, go hide under your blanket.

Take your underwear out of your purse.

If you do that one more time, I'll take away your crown.

Don't eat your hairbrush.

I'm sorry you threw your food on the floor. Now pick it up and finish your lunch.

Don't touch your sister's poop.

These are definitely things I never, ever would have said to my fifth graders, illustrating the sharp contrast between what I did a year ago and what I'm doing now. While I'm sure there are certain phrases I'd rather not have to deal with (like anything involving "poop"), there are things I have ample opportunity to say that I didn't say so much before...and these ones are good.

How about we go get pizza?

Time for a nap!

I don't want to clean right now. Let's watch a movie.

Yes, I will dance with you.

I love you, too.

Tuesday Trivia

Lotion is most effective at moisturizing your skin if you put it on within three minutes of being wet.

The potato bug is a member of the crustacean family and has 14 legs.

Sunscreen with an SPF higher than 30 really doesn't make any difference--if you get past 50, the protective chemicals don't even mix with the lotion base, so you get patchy coverage at best.

You shouldn't use any fabric softener on towels (really--check the labels). It leaves a residue in the fibers that makes the towels much less absorbent.

Broccoli and brussel sprouts contain a bitter-tasting chemical that can only be tasted by about two-thirds of people. That's why most people don't like them but others have no problem.

The ellipsis...has three dots. Not two.. not four.... not as many as you randomly feel like putting.............. Three...just three.

And for other trivia you may or may not be interested in...

We went to a new pediatrician last week. I did not at all like who we had switched to when we moved, so we switched again. Our "new" pediatrician was actually my doctor when I was little.

Jane is now 29 lbs. 2 oz. at 35 1/2 inches tall.
She's just a little bit short.

Jane is officially potty training this week. So far, so good. Seriously? In two days, she's had one real accident. One. Yeah, she's ready. Stay tuned for our highly-anticipated Potty Trained Reward Mommy-Daughter Date.

Megan comes in at 24 lbs. 12 oz. at 30 3/4 inches tall.
She's definitely not short, and not particularly skinny, but very healthy.

Well, mostly. As long as you're not counting her cold this week. She still uses a pacifier at night, but she's so congested that she can't breathe with it in. Put all that together and you'll understand why I'm typing with one hand so she can sleep sitting up on my lap.

I'm officially into my second trimester now. Yay! But, a few weeks ago when mornings were still amazingly miserable, even without throwing up, I actually opted to leave the house in search of sustenance rather than forage through my own kitchen for the millionth time.

We ended up at McDonald's...you can tell from my children's attire that I was not anticipating leaving our vehicle. Jane is wearing pajamas, and Megan is actually wearing the same dress she'd worn to church the day before.



These aren't my most amazing pictures, mostly because I was trying to avoid catching other kids in the shots. Jane did make a new friend, though. He was probably a year older than her, and he helped her "be brave" and climb all the way to the top of the playplace. He even held her hand all the way down the slide.