A Month of Love!

I learned a powerful lesson this Valentine's Day and now I am feeling like a relationship pro after only 6 years (which I am sure to look back at laughing in years to come...kind of like when you think you aren't a newly wed anymore on your first anniversary, so not true!)

Valentine's Day is usually just not very good. It usually consists of me trying to make dumb little mushy meaningful crafts for Dave which I find under the bed months later, and him being so stressed about doing something for me that he ends up doing nothing and then me thinking he just doesn't care when really he did care, but it just didn't work out. Sound familiar?

This year I had the best Valentine's Day ever and it's not because Dave surprised me with a trip to Paris, although I would be okay with it if he wants to use that idea sometime in the future. It is kind of cheezy and you have heard it your whole life, but serving others is really what makes you happy. It was a very busy day. We had to get treats and crafts ready for Lucy's valentine exchange party, and then played at the park with friends and read valentine's books to the kids. Next me and Lucy made a Valentine for Daddy as well as Lucy's friend Marcus, and a make believe Valentine to her crush Oliver from the play we were in last November (she hasn't seen him since November and yet she still talks about how she is going to marry him). Then we made the pink pizza dough and frosted the treats. I squeezed a quick photo shoot in of the kids. We visited Marcus with Lucy's valentine and then picked up Dave and made pink heart shaped pizza. We had a short Family Home Evening about loving your neighbor, delivered treats to all the neighbors and then finished with a heart hunt. Lucy found hearts all around the house until she found her valentine including nail polish, body glitter and princess gloves. Well then I made a little heart hunt for Dave and I can't tell you what his Valentine present was.

I was sooooo tired by the end of the day and yet soooooo happy. I contemplated why it was such a good valentine's day and realized I was so busy thinking of all the things I was going to do for Lucy and Dave, and the party and the neighbors that I never thought about what anyone was going to do for me. And that is the formula for happiness!!!! If you aren't concerned with what you are getting you will be so much happier. This sounds like a Christmas moral, but it hit me on Valentine's Day this year. I didn't even realize until the next day that I really hadn't gotten anything and it was so refreshing to not be expecting anything. I realized all these years (the whole 6 we have been married!!!)I have been wishing for Dave to be superman on Valentine's Day and that is not what it is about. It is about how you can show your love for others.

I feel like, duh! I mean theoretically I have always known that you should serve other people and be selfless and then you will be happy, but I guess I never actually internalized it.

Love really is a verb. It is something you do and then you feel. The more I find myself waking up thinking, "what can I do for Dave today?", the more I feel like he is the most amazing husband ever. Anytime, I have been upset with Dave it was because I was thinking of things he wasn't doing for me and I hadn't given any thought to his needs. I sure Love this adventure of Love. My favorite moments in life are when you feel like you really grow and have a whole new awareness in life. That is the whole purpose of this life right? To learn and grow and be able to Love more fully.





I caught some of the cuteness and love on camera!

Photo Shoot:






Valentine Party at the Park:


Lucy's Valentine from Marcus

Levi found his Valentine!
Lucy and her friend Emma at the party

They are so full of personality. I love it!


Lucy's hunky Valentine, Marcus!

Lucy helping me make the pizza dough.


The pizza turned out pretty cute!


Lucy wearing all of her valentine gifts the next morning. Notice the body glitter and princess gloves!

Anyway I hope your month and I guess your entire life are completely and totally full of LOVE!!!

Don't Instruct!

Lucy came up to me enthusiastically with a rock, held it next to my face, scrutinized for a second and then said as if making a completely new and thrilling discovery "This rock is just your age!"

What is that supposed to me?

Okay really I just cracked up because it was cute, but I hope I don't look as old as a rock. I may be in need of a little sleep, but come on people let's be polite!

So we pull up at our apartment the other day and Dave and I are talking. Lucy has been quiet for a little while in the back seat of the car. Then she interjects during a pause in the conversation "Don't Instruct!"

"hmmmmm, does she even know what "instruct" means," I think. I am pretty sure she doesn't, but I ask because Lucy's definitions are usually hilarious.

"Do you know what instruct means?" I ask her.

She puts on her know it all sassy face and answers "It means talk. So don't talk."

Okay...maybe she knows what it means...that is weird. I guess I do talk to much. This reminds me of the one time Lucy told me I need to share with Daddy. I was completely confused until she finally got across her point that Daddy needed to say things too. Oh Wow! Don't they say girls use 30,000 words per day and guys use only 10,000. I guess Lucy observed that firsthand.

But really on a deeper level, I probably do instruct Lucy too much. Actions are more powerful than words and I need to remember that sometimes. Besides I don't think lecturing a 3 year old has ever worked for anybody! It's okay, at least I am as old as a rock!

Gumba I dedicate this post to you, because you read them. I hope you are laughing as you try to imagine the scenes of my life!

The Latest Photo Shoot

Here are our latest happenings!

Do you think Levi could pass for a baby girl? Poor Levi, this is what Lucy and I do when Dave isn't home to protect the little guy. Seriously though, he is all boy. I don't think a bow could fool anyone!



Lucy is always begging to hold Levi and then wants a picture. Well, this one turned out cute, so I shared.



Levi is chillin' at Legoland in this picture, while Lucy is playing. He sure loves outings!


Here is Lucy getting ready for gymnastics, striking a pose. She sure loves her class!


We curled her hair for church, because the time was pushed back and we thought we had lots of time, but she has a lot of hair so we were still a little late. But boy did she look cute! (I promised Dave I would never be late again because I was doing Lucy's hair!)


And Levi got a new photo shoot... he didn't mind because he got to be naked half of the time.


Oh, nothing like little baby exploring pictures!



Naked Baby!

Levi is getting to be quite the rolly polly and can even do a few in a row to get what he wants! Look Out Mom! He loves to stand and dances if we turn the music on. His favorite activity is lying on the boppy while playing the toy piano. He is sleeping better these days and so that is why there is a blog post! Hooray!!! Don't get your hopes up too high...I said "better." It is all relative!

two times or twice?

Lucy was playing doctor with Dave and her dollies. The doll had to come in once to get her cast on and another time to get her cast off.

After Dave took the cast off, Lucy was upset and demanded:

"You were supposed to fix her twice"

Dave answered "I did."

Lucy responded "No, you only fixed her two times."

hmmmmm.......


I heard her playing with her people the other day and they were all telling their ages. The first one was "seventeen," the next was "fifteen," and the last was "eleventeen." It made me laugh.

I love hearing her make sense of the world. She has such great vocal skills, but still just doesn't understand everything and it is hilarious to hear her vocalize what she is thinking.

Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair!

So My sister Heidi was looking at the pictures on my camera the other day and started cracking up because I had done such a photo shoot of Rapunzel's tower. I will admitt, I am kind of obsessed with the movie. I love it and can't wait for it to come out on video (and if you know me I own about 10 DVD's and don't plan on having collection, so the fact that I want to buy it says a lot!)

So I decided to make a Rapunzel tower because Lucy wanted one. I let her help me paint and glue it. It was a lot of work and it is very not like me. I am not painty. I am not gluey. I am not artistic. I am not crafty. Wow! It turned out great. It looks artistic! There are vines. I painted bricks and vines. Maybe I am crafty. Maybe I just think that because no one else made one that I can compare it to and realize that I am not artistic. Lucy loves it and that is all that matters.

Anyway, I had to document this crafty moment.

I also wanted to say a special thank you to Cassie and Steven Daines for bestowing the small Rapunzel on us. (Steve it was soooooo great to see you and Cassie you pick amazing presents and hope to see you soon too! Cooper keep up the great work! Only 20 more years and you might be able handle this little woman!)As you can see the big doll, didn't fit and Lucy was torn up over it once I glued the roof on. I made a braid out of yarn and was looking for a little doll to glue it on, but I really prefer the real thing! We now play with little Rapunzel every day and big Rapunzel is her Mommy. It is awesome! I am so glad I have Lucy to share my Rapunzel obsession with!



Look big Rapunzel fits as long as there is no roof

Oh no the roof is on.

We can pretend the braid is hanging out of the tower. (It was Lucy's idea to put it on the chair so the tower would be taller)

Pretty much finished!

Added a yarn braid, plus put it in a magical forest!

Now we have little rapunzel! Yay! A match made in heaven! Perfect to scale!

Practice Practice Practice

Lucy and I were driving home in the car today. I had the heater on. After a little while Lucy asked me "Do you want to know how I made the car warm?"

Playing along I responded "Of course"

"I make the car warm with my nose...see" and she starts blowing in and out of her nose really fast.

I said "Wow, that's really something."

She responded "I know. Maybe someday you can do it like me, but you have to practice."

I am grateful Lucy knows how to make the car warm with her nose.

Levi is 4 months and other adventures!!!

I can't believe Levi is already 4 months old!!! Crazy the way time flies... and I thought it went fast with Lucy!

He had his 4 month checkup this week and he was 17 lbs 6 oz and 25 and 1/2 inches long!!! Whoa!! He is in the 90th percentile and so are my biceps!!! (Well, at least the right one is getting big, the left one is still pretty weak!) I've just pulled out his 12 month clothes. Crazy!

He is much different than Lucy already. Last week he grabbed rice off my plate and shoved it in his mouth. Whenever we eat he smacks his lips and drools, so I started regularly feeding him solids this week ( I had let him have a bite or two of a few things before). He loved it. He smiled, he smacked, he swallowed. He seriously already eats better than Lucy did at 9 months old. She was such a pill, always gagging on everything. She would only eat if she had the spoon, so she couldn't possibly have eaten more than 5 calories per feeding. Levi even drank his Rotavirus vaccine. Lucy spit at least half of it out and freaked out! So funny! The other huge difference is Levi likes to play on the ground and practice his skills. He can push his tummy off the ground for a little bit now when he is on his tummy. Lucy would go down for a few minutes if I entertained her the whole time she was down. Levi is really very happy although he was still colicky (which doesn't seem to make sense, but he would be happy a lot and then I could tell when his tummy hurt and he was miserable).

Levi used to roll a lot between 2 and three months, but now he seems to be working on his push ups when he is on his tummy. He also kicks and paddles like crazy on his tummy. One lady at the park remarked "He looks like he is paddling for a wave" and he very well could be already working on his surf skills. He loves to look at things and grab them, his favorite being my hair. He also loves to growl like a dinosaur. He loves it when me and Lucy dance with him. His favorite activity is bath time. He starts giggling as soon as I turn the water on and he knows it's time. When he goes to sleep, I put him in the crib and he coos and sings himself to sleep ( If I get him down soon enough, if not I have to rock him in the blanket). I won't comment on his night time activities, I'll just leave you all thinking he is an easy baby!

Here is his little 4 month photo shoot I did yesterday in my parents backyard.


Levi looks like he doesn't have hair, because his hair is the same color as his head. So just to prove it (and to be funny) I put it in a little mohawk for you!

Is that both of my kids smiling at the same time? You have no idea how many pictures I took to get that!



We went hiking at the Torrey Pines State Reserve on Thursday. It was a beautiful day. We finished it collecting shells at the beach.

Two weeks of gymnastics lessons and she is a pro already!


I love living here! Winter is such a different experience!


Last, but not least we got a good family shot!

Fitness Training

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What Language do babies speak?

The other day Levi was babbling. I asked Lucy "What is Levi trying to say?"



She answered in a matter of fact voice, "I don't know...he is speaking spanish."



Wow! What a smart baby I have!





Today on the way home from church Lucy started making a big fuss "Why did you put that in my face?!!" She asked angrily.



Both Dave and I answered in unison, "What did we put in your face?"



"The sun" she declared, and we laughed and then explained that the sun did what it wanted to.





I'll be honest...the other day I got mad at Lucy. She went in to Levi's room while he was sleeping and blew the recorder in his ear.

She started crying when I got mad at her and then said through her tears "You need to be nice. Why are you listening to Satan?"

Serious blow to me. Of course, I started crying and apologized. Then she came and hugged me and looked up at me through her tears and said sincerely "It's okay Mommy. I still love you."

What if everyone could be so forgiving instead of holding such grudges. I think this is what the scriptures mean when they say to be like a little child (as opposed to running around screaming and destroying the entire house in 5 minutes).

I am so thankful for the life and atonement of Jesus Christ, especially so that I can be forgiven, after getting mad at such a sweet little girl.

Smiles!!!

I finally caught some good smiles on camera yesterday. I got some on video a few weeks ago, but haven't really tried that hard with the still camera because the lighting isn't very good at our house and I don't stalk Levi with the camera like I did with Lucy...ha ha!

He sure is a smiley guy! He started smiling at 3 weeks and I'm not talking one measley smile. He was smiling all the time, right up at you. Now he smiles and babbles with you. I think he will be quite a social guy, although he is very independent. Sometimes he starts crying because he wants to be put down. Lucy never did this and it has come as quite a shock. I got in the habit of carrying Lucy everywhere, because she pretty much cried if I put her down. Levi just gets annoyed because I tend to carry him, then he stops fussing when he can wiggle on the ground. Wow! That's cool!


Lucy thinks it is hilarious to take pictures with her tongue sticking out. I guess Levi does too!



Yesterday I was struggling to get Lucy to take a nap. I finally said "Where do you want to sleep?" She answered "Right here" then I responded "Okay, then lay down" and she did! I was laying down on the bed and the next thing I knew I woke up an hour and a half later and she was asleep on the ground. She is always full of surprises!


Lucy Moment: At church on Sunday the topic in Sacrament meeting was Reverence. I was asking Lucy about it and then reminded her that while we fold our arms we also think of Jesus. Then I asked her "What are you thinking about Jesus?"

She answered "I think I will share my toys with him. Where is he? I don't see him." As she looked around the congregation for him.

Now that is true devotion right there! Hey, sharing toys is big in the life of a three year old! I love her!

Lucy and Levi

Caught some love on camera yesterday!








Lucy is really obsessed with her baby brother. She loves him sooooo much! The problem is she loves him soooooo much!

When he was 3 weeks she got him out of his swing and put him on the ground. I try not to imagine his little head flopping around. He did start screaming, but calmed down pretty quickly. Somehow I managed not to freak out and yell at Lucy (only because Dave was there to help me).

Last week Dave left Levi in his crib for a little while and came back and Lucy was sitting in it with him.

I have told her the rules - no picking up, no touching face and not to give him little things, but she still says "Don't worry Mom, I'll go get him" when we hear him wake up on the monitor.

She wants to help me wash him and change his diaper and smother him with cuddles! I keep telling myself "Babies were made to withstand siblings." Let's just say, Levi has already had a much different upbringing than Lucy. Lucy was only ever touched very gently and probably cried without help from a parent for a total of 30 minutes in her whole first year. Levi just has to cry sometimes and gets attacked with love, but I'm sure he will turn out fine!

I guess it could be a lot worse. She could purposefully be hurting him...

Here is a one month old pic, taken on October 14
He had a doctor's appointment on October 11 and he was already 11 pounds! I am so proud of my big boy! Wouldn't it be great if we all put on two pounds per month! Or better yet increased our weight by 20%!!!! (That was a very rough calculation)

Levi loves the bath. He gets really smiley, but of course I couldn't get it with the camera. I don't know if you can tell how he is getting chubby little arms and legs. He even has some creases. I love it! I really miss Lucy's chub and am excited to have some chub again.
I have gotten some great videos of his smiles. He started smiling really early, around 3 weeks. I kept thinking he was too young to do that, but he really did it in response to looking at him and talking to him. I guess he is just a happy little guy! Don't get me wrong, he screams when he is hungry. He goes from 0-60 in one second. He is smiling at you, babbling and then the next minute yelling "Feed me now."

He has been sleeping pretty well. He usually sleeps from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. eats and goes back to sleep until 7 or 8. Lucy would do 6 hours when she was about 2 weeks old, but then she was up for a long time. The going back to sleep part makes a big difference in my happiness! Actually I have been extremely happy this time around. 2 kids is way easier than I had anticipated (It's not easy, I just thought it would be completely overwhelming). I even catch myself thinking about how soon we could have another baby, which I'm pretty sure with Lucy at this stage I was thinking, "Maybe one child would be just perfect." It's not really Levi's personality vs. Lucy's, I think I just have accepted my role as a mother and already know how to take care of a baby. Now, I am not shocked when I have spit up in my hair and poo all over my clothes, instead I am pleasantly surprised when I don't have anything gross on me. I used to think I didn't like babies, but i loved kids, so i had to do the baby thing, but now I really do love having a baby. I love being a Mom. I am so blessed and so grateful for my sweet kids and awesome husband. He is always putting me first, even when he is dirt tired at 4:00 a.m. It's amazing!


I have so much to say, but so little time...so I guess this will have to do!

I love Halloween!!!

I think I have a post with this title every October...but I really do love Halloween. I am whimpy and don't like scary stuff, so it doesn't really make sense. I just love dressing up and carving pumpkins and eating candy. I am so glad Lucy is finally old enough to get candy, so I can eat it!

We painted pumpkins last week (which is much better than carving for a three year old), and made lolly pop ghosts this week. Halloween crafts are the best! Plus get a sneak peak of Lucy's Halloween costume. She wants to be Ariel, surprise...!!!! It's the one princess costume we didn't have, of course! She is insisting that Levi be Flounder, Dave is Prince Eric, I am Sebastian, her Papa is King Triton, and Heidi is Ursula. We will see how it goes!

Ever since we got this Ariel costume, it is all she will wear, and we have to call her Ariel at all times! She was disappointed that she couldn't wear her fin in the bath. What kind of fin is this? You can't wear it in the water? I have finally convinced her that Ariel has special waterproof panties that she wears under her fin because she wouldn't wear panties the first few days. She kept saying "Ariel doesn't wear panties. They will get wet in the water." I have always been a big believer in never lying to your kids to get them to do things. This doesn't really count, right? I think this one just goes in the imagination category. There is no proof that Ariel doesn't wear waterproof panties under her fin!!!



Whoa, Lucy just ate 3 whole apples, skin and all. Where did this kid come from?