Friends

A Day at the Park

7 January 2010

I had a cute little birthday party planned for Scarlett at our house the evening after her birthday.  Of course, Lucy had to break out in a rash that looked like it might be the chicken pox or something contagious and the party had to be canceled.  Poor Scarlett.  Since it was the week before Christmas, Steve was still finishing finals and starting a new job, and we were getting ready to go to CO, I was having an impossible time trying to figure out when to reschedule her party.  So, I ended up just inviting the moms and babes to the park for cupcakes and juice boxes.  It was really fun!  It was low-key, low-maintenance, and the truth is that the kids probably had a better time playing on the playground and digging in the sand than they ever would have crammed into our house.  I may just have to make this a tradition.  Without Steve there, I didn't get as many pictures of all the kids as I would have liked, but here are a few of Scarlett inhaling a cupcake. 

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happy birthday, dear scarlett.

13 December 2009

it is hard to believe that it has been a year since the first sweater palooza, one of the most significant nights of 2008.  i remember clearly being dressed in my ugly Christmas sweater as my friends began timing my contractions and insisting that i leave the party.  after 20 hours of labor and inevitably a c-section, i met her.  scarlett was round and beautiful.  my first thought was, "is that BIG baby really mine?"  i am so indescribably happy that she is!

Scarlett has brought so much to our family.  she is simply joyful, effortlessly funny, and impossible to resist.  i love her more than i thought possible.  i had worried there wasn't enough love to go around, but somehow she has been the catalyst that has caused my capacity to love to expand.  i love her every bit as much as i love lucy, and i love lucy more because of her.  she is a special little spirit and i don't know how i could possibly be worthy to call her my own.  

some of my favorite scarlett-isms...

-her kisses.  she has been giving them to me as long as i can remember.  they are wet, and slobbery, and always a highlight of my day.

-her toddling.  she has been walking for a couple months now and it is stinking cute.  she gets a little tipsy when she is too excited and it is the best.

-her mischievous streak.  if she knows i have caught her doing something naughty, she doesn't show remorse; she runs.  the running is usually accompanied by shrieks and giggles and comes to a halt when she learns that hard way that she can't actually run through solid objects.

-her love of soft and cuddly things.  she practically dives into her bed to go to sleep because her blanky and kitty cat are there.  she also loves babies--real and dolls.  just today, i had to leave the sunday school room with her because she was making a high-pitched "I want that!" squeal at a baby in the row behind us (the same noise she makes when she sees Grandma's cat).

-the way she looks up to lucy.  i love it when they make each other laugh.  i don't always know who laughs first, but the other one thinks the giggling is funny and they often end up laughing hysterically right in each others faces.

-her impressive vocabulary.  i know you don't believe me, but i swear this baby talks.  some words and phrases she says for sure are: hi daddy/sissy, go down, all done, more please, no, oh, mommy/mama/mom, kitty cat, happy, baby, milk, ok, kisses, open...

happy birthday to my sweet little baby.  we are so happy you are ours.

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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

3 December 2009

I LOVE Christmas!  Seriously, I can't get enough of the decorations, Christmas tunes, shopping,  the special feeling in the air...everything.  We put up our tree and other decorations the day after Thanksgiving.  Lucy loved helping.  I just gave her a box of unbreakable ornaments and let her go to town on the bottom of the tree.  For the rest of the day she kept sweetly telling me that she had fun with the decorations.  I love seeing the excitement in her pretty blue eyes.  Scarlett loves all the decorations too, but obviously doesn't understand any of it.  I have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly the fascination with crawling under the tree has faded, but I thought it was cute while it lasted.

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An Attitude of Gratitude (a couple days late)

28 November 2009

We had a fun Thanksgiving this year with the Cook side of the family (even though I only got a few mediocre pictures), but we really missed the rest of our family.  We have so much to be thankful for.  It is way too easy to get caught up in what we are working towards, what we hope or plan to have, and what we don't have.  I am guilty of this, but I am truly grateful for what I have. 

I am thankful to be a mom to my 3 sweet babies.  I love being a mom more than I can adequately express.  I love spending every day with Lucy and Scarlett.  I am thankful for the way they make me want to be a better person and how their happiness is contagious.  I am grateful for miracles.  I am thankful for Lucy's incredible progress and the therapist and doctors that help facilitate that.  I am thankful for the gospel and for answered prayers.  I am thankful for Steve.  I am grateful for his intelligence and his diligence.  I am thankful that he is such a loving and attentive daddy and that he works so hard to take care of us.  I am grateful that we were born into supportive families, and given the opportunity to pursue educations at good schools.  I am thankful for all that our parents, siblings, and extended family members do to support us and lift us up.  I am thankful for my nice house, and that we always have the things we need and so much more.  I am grateful that house is in a ward that feels like home.  I am thankful for the incredible friends we have made here and how they have helped me through tough times.  I am thankful for the friends I don't get to see nearly enough.  I am thankful to be an American and for those who so bravely protect my freedoms.  I am thankful for my savior and for the knowledge that there is more to our existence than this earthly life.  I am thankful that families are forever.

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11 months

15 November 2009

I don't even want to type 11 months.  I pretty much don't believe my little babe is that old.  She continues to be just delightful every day of her sweet life.  This past month she has become a serious walker.  She walks all over the place and seems to be working on speed now.  We call her "franken-baby" because she often toddles around with her little hands out in front of her.  She talks now too. She tries to say lots of things in English and Swedish.  It will be a not-so-lucky day for me when my little girls start having secret Swedish convos and I can't keep up.  I love it.

Oh yeah, and her feet are too fat to shove into most of the shoes we have around here.  Do I see specially made Berkenstalks in her future?  I sure hope not.

The pictures are from a couple of weeks ago when I tried to round brush her hair into a little bob. Stay tuned for pictures of her upcoming first trip to the salon. 

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