Easter and Pictures

I finally found some patience for a picture upload, so here is some Lucy and Levi Love after the drought!

Easter after church at my parents house.


Oh Wow, my kids are so adorable...



And they love each other sooooo much... (I didn't even tell Lucy to do that! She is so sweet and love her brother so much!)


And... oh wait...how did this picture get uploaded!!!! You guys come on we are pretending to be perfect! Lucy let Levi out of the headlock and please don't bite him or else you will get a time out! (We have had a little more sibling rivalry going on at home now that Levi can crawl to Lucy's toys and steal them. I never knew a 7 month old baby could bug his older sister quite so much and he thinks it is funny already!)

Easter Egg Hunt!!!
We won Best Egg Overall at the Church Activity Easter Egg Decorating Contest due to me and Lucy's Rapunzel obsession!


It was a great Easter to say the least!!! No really it was. We had such a fun time. We ate foods Jesus would eat all week, and had lessons about his life and read scriptures by candlelight. I loved it!

Here are some more random pictures of our life recently:

Levi's first official beach trip. "Official" meaning he went in the water and not just his toes. It was April 16 2011 and he loved it. I dunked him to his neck to wash the sand off and he didn't even cry. He was in heaven although the picture would suggest otherwise.


Last Thursday we went to the beach. Dave and I played some volleyball while Lucy entertained Levi. She did a pretty good job because he was laughing hard and I have never seen so much sand on a baby's face before. Surprisingly he didn't even cry when I drenched him in the freezing showers.

Lucy came out with Levi's pants on the other day and said "Mom, I have never worn these pants before!" I was surprised they fit her so well!
Went to Legoland on Monday. It was hot so even Levi got to go on the splashpad. He was a hit just splashing and laughing. A stranger even asked me if they could take his picture. Later I saw some people in a line and they said, "Oh you are the one with the baby who loves the water. He was so funny."



Here is Lucy pushing Levi in the swing!


Our little heat spell has made me so excited! This is going to be a fun summer!


Quick little update:

Levi is a fast army crawler these days. He has even pulled up on the furniture a bit. He surprises me everyday. He laughs a lot and has a wonderful sense of humor. He loves to eat! He chows everything and tries to swallow the spoon. It is a huge difference from Lucy. Levi doesn't even care if he nurses, I insist that he nurses a few times a day. Lucy would have perished if she had to rely on solids. She gaged on everything until at least 9 months. Levi loves music. He shakes his head and bounces to the beat. I dunked Levi under the water at the pool on Tuesday and he loved it! He was 20 lbs at his 6 month check up and I am sure he is more now! Big Kid!

Lucy loves her gymnastics class. I thought it would be an outlet for her daring spirit, but I think it is encouraging jumping off of furniture and hanging upside down on anything she can grab. She can sound out lots of words, although she hasn't learned all the hard weird letter like x and z. She loves to swim and can take a few breaths now without my help. She sleep walks and talks which is hilarious. I should try to catch it on video. She is so fun and imaginative. She names everything really unique names and you can ask her the Spanish word for anything and she will make something up and tell you. She wants to know "Why?" about everything. She is an absolute joy!

What fun ages and stages right now. We just can't get enough of them!

3 Year Old Photo Shoot

Sometimes Lucy just likes to wear dresses. Wednesday was one of those days where she just woke up ready to dress up. We were going to the doctor's, but I let her wear a church dress. Then she found this hat in the car and was wearing it, that happened to match perfectly. Then while at the doctor's she started asking if we could go to the beach (which is right by the doctor's, and we quite frequently go after appointments). Well, one thing led to another and the stars aligned for a photo shoot and it just happened to be 3 days before her birthday, so here is her 3 year old photo shoot!








I'll give a little Lucy update as well. After the photo shoot I put Lucy's bathing suit on. She is so brave these days. She runs out in the water, even though it is cold and takes the waves head on. One completely knocked her over and she tumbled with the wave. I started running to rescue her, but she popped up on her own with a smile on her face and said "Mama I swimmed!" It scares me to death, but I am also love how brave she is!

Her latest thing is to go up to new kids at the park or beach and ask "Do you want to be my friend?" or "Do you want to play with me." Her overfriendliness catches many kids off guard. I would say over half of them say "No" and run away. Then she comes and tells me "Mommy, they didn't want to play with me." I have tried to explain that some kids are shy, but it still makes her sad, until she can find someone else to play with. If someone does say "Yes" she is absolutely ecstatic and follows them around the rest of the time.

Lucy loves to sing. She has the words memorized to many songs, including at least a whole verse of "Part of Your World" and "A Whole New World"

Lucy is very excited for her little brother. She talks about him like he is already here. It annoys her when people talk about it in future tense. For example "Are you excited you are going to be an older sister?" she responds "I am an older sister." or "Are you excited you are going to have a baby brother?" same response "I have a baby brother." She says it with a tone expressing that these people are dumb for not knowing. She keeps asking me if I have toys in my tummy for the baby to play with. I told her he doesn't and she seems really worried that he is bored in there. She keeps saying, "I will play with him" and poking my tummy.

On her Birthday, September 4, she told me "The baby wants to come now." I explained that if he came she would have to share her Birthday. She answered "I don't think that sounds good."

Lately here is how Lucy's prayers sound " Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you we can sleep well. Thank you we can be safe. Thank you if we have a storm in our heart. Thank you we have peace in our heart. Jesus Christ Amen" We talked about having a storm in your heart and how Jesus could help you have peace for family home evening a few weeks ago and now she always talks about it. She also wants her stuffed animals to pray on different nights. She folds their arms and helps them pray. It's sweet.

She loves to braid my hair. She just takes 2 pieces and twists them around, but I love it.

I wish I could capture everything about her and never forget it. She is growing up much too fast! She reminds me every day how wonderful life is!

Cooking at its best!

Yesterday I was making biscuits (what a good homemaker huh? At least I cook every once in a blue moon!) I had just started measuring the flour, when I got a phone call and then had to take one of my hundred trips to the bathroom. When I returned, Lucy had climbed up on the counter (surprisingly, this is the first time she has done that. She is a pro on the playground, slides down the poles and everything, but I guess she just never thought about doing that at home. Lucky me!). She was just sitting there, concentrating, measuring the flour in the measuring cup and pouring it into the bowl. She had emptied almost the entire flour bag into the bowl.

She was concentrating and then looked up when she realized I was watching her and said "I am helping cook!"

What a sweet little helper! She just melted me. I let her help with the rest of the biscuits, even though it takes twice as long and makes a big mess in the kitchen and on me and her.

She loved kneading the dough and rolling it out. She mentioned that I was like Snow White, when I pulled out the rolling pin. She said she rolled for the dwarfs. I can't even remember if she does that or if Lucy made that up. She is getting quite an imagination these days. In fact, this morning we pretended to make about 10 birthday cakes for me, her and all of her toys and sang each one Happy Birthday at her request. When we ran out of toys to make cakes and sing to, I was thinking "What a relief," but then Lucy suggested we make a cake and sing to the pillow as well. I realized there would never be an end. She would probably keep finding things to make cakes for, so I distracted her with a book.

I think cooking is Lucy's favorite activity right now, which is great because it makes me like cooking a lot more. In the past I haven't really enjoyed cooking, but watching her light up while she helps make things is worth it. She is great at cracking eggs and rarely gets any shells in the bowl, which shocks me every time. I mean, I still get shells in the bowl! She loves to pour everything into the bowl and stir it and takes her jobs seriously.

She is so much fun these days, I am kind of worried about adding to the family and throwing off the happy balance we have come to, but I know we will love it too!

Lucy Conversations

We went to Disneyland and California Adventureland week ago. Lucy was really excited to talk to Crush the Turtle, because we did the same thing about a month before. She kept telling me how she was going to talk to him and I was worried because I knew only a few kids actually got to talk to him and I didn't know if they would call on a two year old. Sure enough she was the first one he talked to. He asked her name and she answered perfectly "Lucy." Then he asked where she was from and she answered "Hawaii." Then he asked what Island and Lucy just looked confused. I finally confessed we were from the San Diego Island. He talked to me a little bit too and asked how many kids I had and if they asked me lots of questions. I answered that Lucy's favorite question was "Why?" I seriously hear that 100 times a day and I am having to dig deep into my understanding of simple matters I have never questioned. Anyway, it was a wonderful experience for Lucy. She felt so special!

Other funny things Lucy has said recently:

She keeps saying "I Laugh in the face. HA Ha Ha" I finally realized she was trying to quote Simba from Lion King "I Laugh int he face of danger, Ha ha Ha" at first I just thought she was being really silly because she was laughing so strangely afterward.

The other day I told Lucy it was time to get dressed and so she went in all by herself and put some clothes on. She came out so proud and said "I am!" I told her she had put on jammies and without a hint of sadness she replied "Oh, sorry Mom. I am going to try again." I thought her determination was sweet and she did successfully pick clothes out the next time.

I put a movie on for her and the tracking started getting messed up, so Lucy called me in to fix it. Then I sat down to watch some of the movie (Nothing like a great Disney flick) because I was tired. Lucy patted me on the back urging me to get up and said "It's okay mom. Go ahead. Go do things." I laughed over this for a while. I guess I always go try to get something done when I turn a movie on for her and she thought it was weird I sat down with her. It is amazing what little kids pick up on sometimes.

Lucy's thoughts on the baby:

"I am going to rock him and pat him and teach him to eat and play games and carry him."
Oh, what sisterly love.

After repeating that I have a boy baby in my tummy Lucy says "I have a girl baby in my tummy. When mine gets out and yours gets out, they can play together."

"Someday, I have a girl baby in my tummy and then there's no more Lucy." I asked her "Why won't there be any more Lucy?" and she answered "I am a Mommy" I then tried to explain "I am a Mommy and my name is Wendy. I am Wendy and a Mommy." She looked tragically at me shaking her head and said "No more Lucy. Just Mommy." ~ What a funny thing for her to think of that she wouldn't be Lucy anymore once she had kids.

The other day my Mom pulled up and instead of say "There's Mommo" she said "Look, there's your Mommy." It was really sweet the way she made that connection.

Lucy has a Minnie Mouse dress and I mentioned to her "We need to get you Minnie Ears." She looked at me questioningly and while holding her ears said "I have ears."

Something Interesting about Lucy, I have always tried to give her back massages and she has never liked them, which bothered me because we all massage each other in my family and she never lets me. A few weeks ago I tried to give her a back scratch for the first time and she loved it. Now she asks for a back scratch every night and when I start finishing up she keeps asking "One more please." I usually sing her "I am a Child of God" so One more means one more verse. I had never even sang it with her, but after a week of singing it to her at night, I heard her singing it to herself and she sang the whole thing through perfectly. Wow! What I wouldn't give for a memory like that now. I can't even remember half the funny things she says when I try to write them down just an hour later!


Lucy had her height and weight taken about 2 weeks ago and she was 35 inches, 29 lbs.

And there is the little update on Lucy at 32 months!

It's a boy!!!!

That's right! I'm pregnant! We found out last week (March 16) that we are expecting a boy!!! Yay! I really wanted to let everyone guess before I went in, but I didn't know I would be finding out the gender at such an early appointment. I was shocked we were able to tell when I was only 15 and 1/2 weeks. With Lucy I didn't have an ultrasound until 21 weeks. I guess the ultrasound tech for my Doctor is one of the best and has really state of the art equipment. Right now I am almost 17 weeks and due on September 8. The doctor told me according to the ultrasound that the due date was September 4, but that is Lucy's birthday, so I think we will stick with the 8th. It's always plus or minus 10 days anyway so there is no need to change it!

Here is what Lucy predicted:

About a week before my ultrasound I was talking to Lucy about the baby. I asked her if she was excited to be a big sister. She answered as if she already knew what was going on, "I am going to have a baby brother?" I explained that we didn't know if she would have a little brother or a little sister yet. Then she requested "How 'bout a sister."

After the Ultrasound:

I got home from the ultrasound just as Lucy was waking up from her nap (my mom watched her while I was gone). At first she was sad, because I told her she could play with Mommo when she woke up from her nap. She told me "Leave Mommy. I want to have fun with Mommo." After I got her settled I told her she was going to have a little brother. She said "I want a sister" and rolled her eyes at me. I cheered her up by telling her that I had a little brother who is now Uncle Brian. I told her how much fun it was to play with him when I was little. Then she replied "Okay. I have a little brother. I want a big sister." She is so funny! I love her little opinions.

I am really happy and starting to feel good again. The last couple months were rough, but not as rough as with Lucy. I haven't actually gotten sick too much, just kind of constantly nauseated, whereas with Lucy I couldn't even count how many times I got sick. I haven't gained any weight yet, but with Lucy I had lost about 10 pounds by this point, so I am really glad! I am so happy that food is becoming appealing again!

I really wanted to post the ultrasound pictures, but Dave felt like that would embarrass the poor boy later in life. I guess a man's got to keep his pride, even if he is only 16 weeks. I didn't feel like an ultrasound picture was too detailed to worry about that kind of thing, but I am not a guy so I decided to let Dave make this call. Oh well, ultrasound picture are really the the type of thing that are only exciting to the parents anyway.

I am pretty sure I felt a few small kicks 2 nights ago, so that was really exciting! I actually just had my first real Doctor appointment today, where I was able to hear the heartbeat and everything. The ultrasound tech picked it up for me when I told him I hadn't heard it yet, but I guess today's was official.

Lucy had a Doctors appointment on Friday. They had to take her blood and give her 6 shots (3 in each leg). We did a lot of shots before we left for Korea, but she was only eleven months and the state requires that they happen after 12 months. I actually knew that when we had her shots at 11 months, but I didn't want to go to Korea without her updated on her shots. I guess I had hoped they would overlook it, but they didn't. So they had to redo them. Sad, huh? She hobbled around like a duck on Saturday. She seemed really sore.

Her appointment was really funny actually. It was nap time and after they took her blood we had to wait a while for the doctor. Lucy fell asleep on the table. The Doctor did her whole check up while she was sleeping. Then they gave her shots. Poor girl, what a miserable way to wake up! I got some pictures of her sleeping on the table. They are on my phone. I will have to see if I can post them. She weighed 28 lbs and measured 34 inches. That put her in the 25 percentile. I'll be honest it kind of made me sad because when she was a baby she was always in the 90th percentile, but I think she was set back a little after she was hospitalized in Korea.

Well, I'm sure that's quite enough to read. I'll try to keep you updated about the baby and post my tummy when I start showing!

Lucy's Birthday Party

September 4 We went swimming at Lani's pool, let Lucy watch Disney movies (she chose "Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin," both she hadn't seen before. It was kind of a celebration of the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no t.v. watching before age 2! We are so excited to start sharing our favorite childhood movies with her. Plus I felt really sick in the evening and didn't know what else to do with her.) She went to the dollar store and picked out a princess necklace and then to the ward Fish Fry with Dave for dinner. I think she had a really fun day, which was the goal!

This is the only picture we got of Lucy on her actual Birthday, September 4. I realized we hadn't taken any pictures of her, so sleeping is better than none, plus I thought how she was completely turned around with her feet on the pillow was hilarious. She is such a crazy sleeper!



September 5 we had a party with all the neighborhood kids. Here is the invite we made. I am sometimes not very crafty so I am really proud. I had Lucy color a bunch of paper and then I cut them out and pasted them on the backside of brown paper bags. Lucy helped me write the invitations by handing me the correct color markers when I asked for them (I didn't know she knew her colors so well, but I would say she gave me the right color about 90% of the time. Yay Lucy!).


We started the party with fishy crackers. Check out the monstrous handful Lucy just grabbed. This explains the funny faces she is making in the next couple of pictures.



First Activity was an obstacle course. They had to dress up (girls in princess clothes, boys in Dave's clothes) crawl through the playhouse and then under the hi chair as shown below.Then hop over a bucket 5 times, throw 3 balls into a laundry basket, and then shake the music shakers and dance for 10 seconds (Lucy shaking pictured below).


To finish you had to make a tower 5 blocks high. We timed the kids and they had a blast. We had over 20 kids there (I know I am crazy! But I love having all the neighborhood kids over). Here is Lucy with her tower and a face still full of fishy crackers, even after the entire obstacle course!


Then we played animal charades. I cut out animals from magazines and had the kids choose one and act it out until someone guessed it.

Then we played drop the clothespins in the bucket as pictured below.
Not everyone played...some just doted on Lucy. She looks like such a little princess surrounded by all these fun girls giving her attention in this picture. They are such sweet girls! I love our neighborhood!
Before we finished the Birthday song, Lucy was already diving in. I just stacked Costco brownies for the cake. I didn't feel good the day before so I let Dave talk me into going the easy route for a few things. We forgot candles, to top off our already kind of interesting cake, so we put Belle and Beast on top and had her blow them over. Hey, it worked!


We finished the party by building towers with blocks. It was a hit!


Zach is so cute!


And here are some of the sweet girls, Linea, Mathilde and Aynslee
Here is a rocket launch

And here is an attack on Dave


Here is the gang. Some of the kids already had to leave and some were just playing in the house and not to be disturbed, but here is the majority.

We tried to wait until everyone went home to have Lucy open presents, but a few girls really wanted to stay and watch. It was so fun to watch the excitement on her face!

Princess Shoes


Princess Panties

A Barbie Tricycle (that we got at a yard sale in great condition for a few bucks! Yay!)

Dave's Mom Lisa came and spoiled her with a few awesome Princess Belle things, and a Toy Laptop as well.

A tired little girl after the party! What a sweetie! I can't believe she is 2 already!

Happy Birth Month (Since this post is so late)! We love you!

Lucy Quotes & Update

At Target the other day, Lucy plopped down on one of the display's and exclaimed: "Nice Couch" The way she said it was soooo funny. Then she asked "Mama, come sit down!"

"Itsy Bitsy Spider" I always thinking she is asking for "peanut butter" but then I see her spider like hand motions!

"Mommy Quengrass" Lucy started calling me "Mommy Quengrass" instead of "Wendy Pendergrass."

Instead of saying "The End" at the end of books she says "Amen." I love it, and can't find it in my heart to correct her. I hope she says this as long as possible.

"I cowy" which mean "I want to color" Lucy was sleep talking the other night. She woke up intensely demanding "I cowy" at 3:00 a.m. Then she fell back over and went to sleep. It is such a crack up when she sleep talks.

"Beauty and Beast. Sowa (Cinderella) Belle Please ha ha ha ha ha" Lucy always says this. It is her joke. Especially when she is tired and we are driving. She will say this about 20 times, laughing hysterically after each time and then just conk out. It is such a funny little joke!

September 22 Before Bed

Me: "Lucy it's time to say prayers"

Lucy: "Mommy, Daddy, Amen." She said as quickly as possible and then started climbing in bed.

Me: "Lucy can you start with 'Dear Heavenly Father?'"

Lucy: "No Dear Heavenly Father. I sleep!" as she put her head down on the pillow and tucked in. I guess she was pretty tired.


That last story reminded me of Nursery on Sunday (I wasn't there, but my sister went in for a little while). I guess the leader asked "Who wants to pray?" and without being called on Lucy said "I pray! Mommy Daddy Amen." Then the nursery leader said to all the other children still raising there hands "I guess we already had a prayer. Good prayer Lucy." She is a girl who knows how to get what she wants, that is for sure. She is already wheeling and dealing. If I tell her she can have one of something (like a bedtime story for example) she asks for two. If I finally give in and say she can have two, she asks for five. What a little bargain maker. So hilarious!

Since Lucy's birthday I have been putting more effort into potty training. She has only had 3 accidents in the last 6 days. I am so proud of her! All it took was princess panties and Lucy was totally on board! Although we still put a diaper on her for bed, I am loving all the diaper savings! Woo hoo! Go Lucy!

I love having a two year old!

Lucy Quotes of the Week

Every Day Lucy's vocabulary seems to take on a whole new dimension. Here are my favorites from this week:

"Big Some" when Lucy wants a lot of something! She says it very dramatically too.

"Hi Angel" While at the Salt Lake Temple grounds on Tuesday, I pointed out the Angel on top to Lucy. She enthusiastically looked up and waved, saying "Hi Angel!"

Here's an old favorite photo of the Salt Lake Temple. My camera is in the shop or I am sure I would have some new ones of our trip this week. This will have to do as far as jazzing the post up goes!


There's a huge water fountain in Temple Square which Lucy pointed out and exclaimed "Water Mountain." We have been talking a lot about mountains (since we have been hiking a lot) and waterfalls (which we have also visited). I thought calling it a "Water Mountain" was pretty creative, ingenious even. Why not call it a "Water Mountain?" Does that not look like a water mountain?



"Marry Daddy" Also while at the temple, while watching a Bride and Groom take pictures we started explaining about getting married in the temple. Dave told Lucy "someday you will get married in the temple." She responded "Marry Daddy." Dave answered her that he was married to Mommy, but that she could marry her own boy. Lucy responded "marry own boy." I love the funny conversations we are having now a days.

"Heby" for "Heavy" Lucy loves to pick up heavy things and carry them around struggling while repeating "heby" and then grunting, of course!

"Hiking Up in da mountain" We have been hiking a lot lately. Now Lucy repeats this phrase over and over.

Friday night at a wedding reception she saw one of the flower girls and while pointing said "Pretty Dress." This girl has an eye for style. She got really upset the other day because she wanted to wear a dress. I got her a dress and put it on her, but she tried spinning in it and it wouldn't puff out. She freaked out because it wasn't puffing out. We changed the dress to a food spinner and everything was fine. Whenever I wear a dress, she tells me "spin Mama" just so she can watch the dress puff out. She's funny!

"Where is it?" She has just started asking about missing things. We couldn't find her sippy cup today, which she has just recently gotten attached to (recent as of this week) and she went all around the house today say "Where is it?" just like I had done. Then she would call out "Sippy cup, are r you?" It was cute.

The other day we were looking for her Belle Phone and she told me it was in the car. Sure enough it was there. Wow! Her memory is really improving. In fact, it is already better than mine!

Lucy is also putting some little songs together. I will try to catch some footage and post. TTFN!

More Cute Lucy Quotes

While putting dinner on the table the other night, I asked Lucy if she wanted some of Daddy's Sandwich or Mommy's Sandwich. She answered "No. Lucy's Sandwich." I always wondered at what point you had to start buying your kids their own food, instead of feeding them your scraps. I guess that time is nigh' at hand.

My brother, Brian, babysat Lucy while Dave and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication yesterday. We forgot to give him the house keys, so they were locked out until we came home. While Brian was trying to open the door, Lucy pointed at the doorknob and told Brian "Keys." Thinking that maybe she was referring to the fact that she knew where the keys were, Brian asked her "Where are the Keys?" She answered matter of factly, "In the pocket" while pointing at Brian's pocket.

"Right back" is Lucy's favorite saying. She always says it, runs away and then returns. She is so excited that she knows what to do when she says it. Dave always plays the "Right Back" Game with her, which is basically taking turns saying "Right Back," leaving and then coming right back.

"Whats dat?" She asks me all the time. When you tell her she usually responds "Oooooohhhhh..." (really drawn out, WOW!) and then repeats what you called it. This morning it was "Oh, spinach" except she pronounced it " oh, pinak" Now you are all probably wondering what on earth I was feeding my child for breakfast, huh?

"ewww hair!" I really don't know how Lucy developed a phobia of hair, but it really bugs her when she sees hair or any sort of fluff.

"Pendergrass" she tries so hard to say her last name. It usually comes out just jibberish plus "grass" Then she will repeat "Wedy na na grass" "Dave na na grass" "Lucy na na grass" It makes me smile.

She loves learning new things so much. I wonder at what age kids start hating to learn and go to school and such. They were clearly born with a hunger for knowledge. Is it something we do wrong or does it just happen at a certain age?

Lucy's Finger Discussion

Lucy just came and told me "owie on thumb."

I asked her if her thumb needed a kiss and then kissed it. Trying to seize the opportunity to go over the names of her fingers I asked:

"Do you know what all of your finger's names are?" (you know talking about "thumb, pointer, middle, ring and pinky, which I have been teaching Lucy recently)

Lucy answered while pointing to different fingers:

"Yellow, pink, blue, five" well at least five was on her pinky, which usually ends up being number five when we count them.

It cracked me up. I was probably funnier in person, but I thought you might also enjoy our little finger discussion, thus the quick post! Do laugh and enjoy!

Things Lucy Says and other deep Wendy realizations

I have great news for those of you who are curious or who have toddlers that use profanity, I haven't heard Lucy use the f-word in about a month and a half, and even Heidi came to visit last week (because Heidi couldn't refrain from laughing, Lucy used to yell it at her over and over just to make her laugh). Hallelujah!

I told Lucy that "Daddy gave Mommy my ring at the temple and we got married" a while ago. Now whenever we pass a temple Lucy recalls "Daddy Mommy ring temple married!" and then while pointing at the angel Moroni she exclaims "Careful Guy" " Ball" "Fall Down" "Careful." She came up with that all on her own and it cracks me up! I guess she doesn't realize that angels can fly yet!

She says her own prays which are a bunch of babbling and then "amen." It makes my heart melt every day.

"her ago mama" when she gives you things "for here you go mama." It doesn't really matter what she gives you, you can't help but smile when she says that to you.

"pease" for "please,"

"I do it!" at least 30 times a day. In fact, last week she opened the car door, climbed into her carseat and buckled herself completely in, all on account of that phrase. Today she hiked at least 75 % of our hike to Stewart Falls and back (about a 4 hour hike with Lucy) while I carried the empty baby back pack.

"Mama's toy" when I told her the computer was not a toy (one of my new recent phrases for "you can't play with that")she pointed at it and questioned "Mama's toy?" It caught me pretty off guard. I finally said "yes, you are right. It's Mama's toy." Kind of makes you think a little bit about how much you are using the computer, huh?

"Hold non" instead of "Hold on" she says this all the time. Anytime you can possibly hold on to anything.

"I get ana pillow" for "I will get my pillow" We just got a her a Belle pillowcase and she won't go upstairs without it.

"Luff you" for "Love you." Now the days are all blurring and I can't remember if she said that for the first time yesterday or 2 days ago. The day before she said it for reals she faked me out by saying "Luff you Mama" I started rejoicing and then realized she was pointing at her "Mama, do you love me?" book. I was crushed. I thought that was her first spontaneous "I love you Mama," but it didn't take long. The next day when she said bye to me she also included "Luff you" without any prompting (she has been saying "Luff you" for a while, but only when we ask her to).

Yesterday she even said "Bye Swing. Luff You" which she most definitely does. We put her on the big kid swing these days and she says "High. Fast" and "und dawg" for underdog. If she is not being pushed way too high for me to feel okay about it, she is upset. But I will be the first to admit I encourage her adventurous spirit despite being worried about her sometimes. I really don't want her to be a fearful and worried child. I want her to enjoy life, even if it means she gets hurt sometimes. I finally figured out that kids get hurt all the time and that they are resilient if you let them be.

Dave just taught Lucy after she gets hurt to brush her hands, brush her knees, then shake it off and give a triumphant sigh. It has worked wonders (we are talking magic here people) and I feel great that we are teaching her to be strong and have a great attitude towards life. I want her to realize that sometimes hard things happen, but you just pick yourself up and then keep enjoying. My testimony has really grown lately that it is through pain we learn. When we have hard times, we learn things and we grow. When I find myself struggling, I have been trying to think "What can I learn from this?" I almost feel like as soon as you really get the message and grow, all of a sudden your trial is either gone, or you at least start to see some solutions. Sometimes you just have to have a little headache to appreciate how awesome your body is when it is functioning at full speed. (I had a headache last night and I seriously can't stop thinking how great I feel right now without one).

To demonstrate this principle on a much bigger note, let me recap an experience. Last Fall, I had been praying to be happy again. I felt like I used to be happy, but between sleep deprivation and adjusting to 24 hour Momhood I just couldn't get back on track. I knew that your attitude was entirely up to you and I kept thinking "okay, today I will be happy" but then I would feel so tired from lack of sleep and after taking Lucy to the park, reading her books, making her food, and cleaning, all I wanted to do was sleep and my good attitude would fade as I continued to try and take care of Lucy until bedtime. I finally decided with everything that I could muster, that I would force happiness and then, Lo and Behold, Lucy was hospitalized due to food poisoning (all this was taking place in South Korea). She didn't keep down any food for over a month. At first I was so upset that my whole happy attitude didn't work. I thought to myself "Look where trying to be happy got me? Huge trials. Lots of Misery! I should have never asked to be happy. At least it wasn't this bad" I felt so angry and so helpless to control any part of my life. But you know what actually happened looking back, I enjoy my days with Lucy so much more now. I am so thankful that she is alive and healthy and that she can eat and we can go anywhere we want. We can dance together and swing together and run together. Whenever I am having a bad day and Lucy skips her nap and I don't get "me time" and I am tempted to just being annoyed with my circumstances, I think back to that experience and I know that my day is absolutely and completely awesome compared to being stuck in a hospital with a suffering daughter. I start to feel grateful that she actually has the ability to go without a nap, rather than be so sick that she sleeps most of the day and night. And when I am tired, at least I get to lie down on a big comfy bed, instead of sharing a hospital cot with Lucy while trying to avoid laying on the IV tube. I have suddenly realized how it is possible to be grateful for your trials (I used to think the people who talked about being grateful for their trials were kind of nutty, but I really am one of those nuts now). Trials can wake you up. They can make you grateful. They can change your life for the better. They can actually give you exactly what you wanted. I wanted to be happy and the Lord answered my prayers. I didn't realize that my answer would actually come in the form of a trial. Sometimes your prayers can't be answered overnight. Sometimes it takes a change of heart and some new stretch you experiences to have what we want. I am happy now and I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, although they may be in mysterious and difficult to understand ways. You could say "be careful what you pray for," but really as much as we try to avoid trials, how much more awesome are all of us because of the trials we have had to face. I mean if we had never had any trials, we would be as helpless and dependent as a baby. As much as we love babies, I am sure most of us are glad that we don't have a big overgrown body with the mental capabilities of a baby. The reason we aren't babies is because when were babies we had trials and we grew. We pushed ourselves to crawl so that we could reach something that we wanted. And we still face trials as we reach for the things that we want and hopefully we grow. If we don't grow, its just a miserable downward spiral that is probablly more painful than the challenges we face as we strive to become something great. Anyway, these are my latest insights on life. I didn't intend to write a novel about my experiences, this started as a post about Lucy. I guess I will have to go add a little bit to the title now. I must have had a lot more in my heart than I realized when I started typing. I better go before I start wishing trials on everyone and you all end up hating me!

Personality Check

Just wanted to jot down a few things about my girl for those who are Lucy obsessed.

Yesterday she counted from one to five without skipping any numbers all by herself. I couldn't believe it! I praised Lucy so much, she didn't know what to do. Later that day, with a little coaxing, she counted 4 airplanes or as Lucy says "awpane"s while pointing to each in her book. Usually she just says one, two, two two, as she points at them! My is she growing up!

A few weeks ago she started going up and down stairs without holding the handrails. I was impressed.

She is great on the big girl swing, and is pretty much done with the baby swings. She moves her body with the swing and even pumps her legs half the time. I guess if all you do at the park is swing for an hour you master it quickly. It usually takes quite a bit of excitement to get her to do anything else at the park. A normal day at the park consists of starting in the baby swing, moving to the big girl swing, swinging on Mama's lap, pushing Mama on the swing, then playing airplanes with our tummy's on the swing. At this point I am tired of swinging and try to convince her to go on the playset. We go up the stairs and then she just swings on the bar above the slide for about 3 minutes, finally decides to go down and then runs back to the swings. Pretty amazing considering she hated the $100 baby swing we bought for her as an infant! My favorite thing about the swings is the way Lucy says it "swwwwwwwing." She always draws the word out and then finishes it with excitement!

She has learned to say "No Thank You" which is very pleasant. The Pendergrass' dog, Timber, was licking her face this morning and she told her "No Thank You" while trying to cover her face. Priceless moment!

She sings something very similar to the ABC song, at least to the letter "p." She has "ABCDE " skip "f" to "g" and then comes "nenenenen" "P." It delights me when I hear her start singing that while playing by herself. I am glad there is someone who always wants to sing with me.

I found out that Lucy is a fish. I am very sad to be leaving the beach ( I guess now is a good time to mention that we are moving back to Utah, I have been in denial and so I haven't posted anything about it, guess I had to confess sometime!), but I have realized that Lucy will survive anywhere as long as we have access to a pool. We have taken her to the pool a few times recently and she is obsessed. She has no fear. She will jump off the edge whether someone is there to catch her or not, which concerns me. She doesn't even have floaties, she just dunks under until someone helps her up. She loves to go underwater, which surprises me because half the time she gulps water and forgets to close her eyes, but then she just wants to do it again anyway. She kicks and paddles at the same time pretty well and never wants to get out. She even jumped off the diving board for the first time. She saw me diving and really wanted to try. Like mother like daughter I guess!

Anyway, she is a fun, sweet girl and I feel privledged to be her Mother. I am so happy that parenting has become a blast. It makes me laugh everyday and brings me more joy than I could have ever imagined. I have to admit, I was really worried parenting was going to be long and hard when she was a baby. I am thrilled that is not the case. I guess some babies just have different temperments and Lucy seems to like being a kid much better than being a baby. Well, whether she does or not, I sure enjoy it!

Ballet at its finest

From her bun to her perfect ballet position, these pictures just make me smile. Partly because we got this awesome ballet outfit, along with 4 other dress up outfits for free at a garage sale the other day (it pays to bring a cute girl, who goes crazy at the first sight of a dress)! I mean this is 4th position complete with a ballet bar:

Passe:

Arabesque:

All that learned in only one night's ballet lesson, thanks to her wonderful live in instructor, (that would be me. Yeah, maybe one lucky day I will be able to convince Dave that ballet lessons would benefit Lucy's athletic coordination, but for now she will have to make do with my ballerina dropout skills)!

Little Lucy Moments

A few little moments to share from the last week



1. Last week Lucy fell down the stairs. After doing a complete backwards sommersault she miraculously landed on her feet! Can you believe that? She still cried and a had a little bit of a bloody nose, but really it was a miracle and I couldn't be more grateful. She is either going to be an olympic gymnast someday, or there were angels who brought her down safely. The stairs are carpeted, but the floor is hardwood at the bottom, so it would have been bad. She is actually really good at going down the stairs, but she was running away from me trying to wipe her bum after using the potty. She gets really overexcited when anyone chases her and runs super fast... I guess she couldn't handle the stairs at that pace yet.



2. Lucy has been doing great using the potty. She still doesn't always tell me when she has to go, but I would say we make it to the toilet 50% of the time with "number 1." I haven't pushed her at all, so I am very impressed with her. Yesterday she did her first "number 2" in the toilet, so I just had to share how excited I am! We were at the Church teaching Webelos, when she told me she had to go. Usually she tells me too late, but this time we made it. I thought it was kind of funny that it finally happened at the church and not at home. I thought toddlers did better with regular routines and such, but there seems to be nothing routine about my little girl. (Or maybe she just has a crazy mom who couldn't keep a normal routine if her life depended on it!) Either way, yay! Only Mom's of potty trained or traing individuals will probably think that is cool, and the rest probably just think that is gross, but this is kind of my brag page, and right now I am proud of toilet training, soooooo...sorry, you had the choice whether to read my blog or not!



3. Today Lucy pointed at a parked red convertible Mustang and said "Mine." What can I say? She is a girl who knows what she wants!



4. The other day I fell and scraped my knee, while holding Lucy. Lucy was fine, but my knee was bleeding and gross. It totally freaked her out and she cried the whole way home. I think this was the first time she had seen blood, and it really upset her. She kept pointing and saying "owie," then she would whack herself and say "owie" and keep crying. Then she kept wanting to kiss my owie, (I let her kiss a different part of my leg), all while crying histerically. I think she was just really tired and upset or maybe it just shook her up realizing that Mommy could get hurt too. Hopefully she is not one of those seriously whimpy people who has to be excused from biology whenever they disect something, but I guess that wouldn't be the worst problem your child could have.

Anyway, I love watching Lucy's personality emerge. She is hilarious, sweet, bratty, athletic, musical and an overly loved child! I say it all the time, and I am sure Lucy will continue to prove me wrong as she grows more wonderful every day, but I will say it again "I couldn't love her more!"

18 Months

Lucy turned 18 months March 4. I can't believe what a wonderful little girl she has become. Let me share a little of her personality with you. (All the pictures are from a little lunch Date, Dave took us on to the Beach yesterday)




Lucy's Talents and Skills:

Somersaults. Lucy recently started doing somersaults all by herself. Many of them are crooked, but I would say about half of them are straight. She is slowly learning to check her surroundings before attempting.

Jumping. Lucy can jump off one foot or both feet and get quite a lot of air. I know you are all really surprised with Dave as her Dad.

Dancing. Lucy is always adding to her repertoire of dance moves. She looks really serious when she is dancing. She concentrates really hard on doing really exotic movements with her arms, plus lots of kicks, leaps, jumps, gallops, spins, and even some rolls. She is not lacking creativity, and is always inspiring me with new dance moves. Not only does Lucy dance, but when she dances she wants everyone to dance. Nobody catches a break in this house. Anyone in the room when music starts gets a personal invitation to dance from Lucy. She will come take your hand, pull on it and say "up"!

Acting. Lucy will do lots of moods on command. If you ask her to "go cry" she will find the nearest pillow, sink her face in and start crying. If you ask her to be "Happy" she jumps up and down smiling and saying "happy." She also always laughs whenever you say "1,2,3 no laughing!" atever she does, it's dramatic!

Singing. She loves to sing anything, but especially "I'm Shy" really loudly. It's from the musical "Once Upon a Mattress." I think it might be a while before Lucy understands what that word means, because it is so funny that there is no way I am correcting her.

I guess you could say Lucy is a triple threat as far as toddlers go.

Lucy's Frustrations:

Sometimes Lucy wishes she was smaller. It really bothers her that she can't share dresses with her barbies. I usually end up just putting them on her wrist to make her happy. She also tries really hard to get inside this toy car that we have and gets upset every time that she still doesn't fit. Maybe I should have named her Alice and then she could eat special little snacks that make her the size that she needs that moment. Oh to have her imagination...

Sometimes Lucy wishes she was bigger. She really wants to play basketball with her Daddy and wants to go on the big girl swing instead of the baby swing. I usually let her try the big girl swing, but she gets upset because I won't push her high like the other kids. Speaking of swings, Lucy gets frustrated when no other kids are swinging with her. She will point at every kid on the playground and say "swing?" as if asking " will they come swing with me?"

Lucy is also very frustrated by the piano. She always sits up on the piano bench while playing and singing, but then stops and starts asking everyone in the house if they will "seat?" in other words "will you come sit with me?" When you do sit by her, she will put your hands on the keys and show you whether she wants you to play high or low. I think she wants people to play because she knows that they sound better than her, but she really wants to sound good, thus the frustration.

Lucy's Counting:

Sounds like this.... two, two, five, eight, nine, nine, nine, nine....(What is that next number again?) if you are lucky you sometimes even get a "four." It's adorable and I ask her to count everything. Sometimes I want to help her get smarter, but sometimes I never want her to stop counting like this.


Lucy's Favorite Activities:

Playing. She loves to play "Ring Around the Rosie's" and is working on learning how to play "Duck Duck Goose." She pretty much plays it right, except she gets up and runs every time anyone says goose. When it is her turn to duck people she says "quack" instead of "duck" when she touches people's head. She'll have it down soon.

Singing "If you are Happy and you know it." She loves to sing the word "happy" and can do all the moves, even when we do all three.

Kissing. I just turned around and saw Lucy kissing her stuffed puppy dog, which reminded me how much she wants to kiss and hug everything. She tries to hug and kiss our pet cat, and is often frustrated when the cat runs away right before her kiss. She also kisses strange things that she loves, for instance the toilet flusher. Yes, she kissed that the other day. I guess she loves it because it is so cool that it makes the toilet flush. After working really hard with that one, she usually just blows it a kiss now. She also loves getting owies because we kiss them. Although sometimes she picks funny things to kiss, for example kissing the floor the other day (I think it was because she fell and I told her that the floor gave her an owie), she is definitely full of love.





Dress up. I don't know if she would ever get tired of putting on and taking off dresses. Good thing she is a spoiled little girl with a good supply of dresses.

Going. At random intervals throughout the day Lucy goes and gets her shoes and stands by the door and begs "to go to go"

Nursery. She is going on two weeks and doesn't even look back when we drop her off. I am surprised because other than this she seems really really clingy (we're talking she won't even go to Daddy sometimes), but any time we are at the church she runs to find the nursery and could care less if we are with her. Yay for going to church! I am counting my blessings!

Watching "Beauty and the Beast" the play of my Dad and Sister. She asks to watch it about 10 times every day. I used to never let Lucy watch T.V. but now some days if I am really busy I succumb and let her watch this play. I figure since it's tax season right now and we never get to see my Dad, this just counts as Grandpa time, not T.V. time. I can get stuff done during some of the scenes, but when the beast comes, Lucy still needs me to come cuddle her and I love how sweet it is, so I always do.

Beach. Dancing in the sand. Dipping our feet in the waves and stepping on the bubbles. Scaring the birds. Finding shells and rocks. Watching Volleyball.


Lucy's Words

"Shyaa" for yes. I think i used to actually say that in Junior High.

"Dank do" for Thank You. Sometimes she says it, sometimes she still just does her Korean Bow.

"Biiiiiiiiig" she says this very very dramatically(thus the many "i"s). Dave has taught her to answer this when he asks "What are Daddy's muscles?" Somehow on her own she started pointing at my chest and saying "Big" once again as loud and dramatic as possible. I think it is absolutely hilarious, but not in public. Don't know how she came up with that one...guess there's just no hiding that fact.

Lucy tries to say everything she hears these days, but my favorite words that I ask her to say over and over again are: Apple, Bubble, Lemon, Happy, and oh no

Determined to Learn:

To walk the stairs like a big Girl. She never crawls up or down. She walks the whole way while using the railing, which is much slower, but she wants to do it right. If there is a little space in between each step she doesn't even need to use the railing anymore. She is the picture of determination.

To put her shoes on. She tries everyday. Today for the first time, she got one of her shoes on, velcrowed and everything all by herself. Too bad it was on the wrong foot, but she is getting very close!

Snapping. Lucy really really wants to snap. She tries soooooo hard anytime anyone is snapping. It is adorable, and I hope she never gives up until she finally gets it.





Well that is a little glimpse of Lucy right now. We love her to pieces!

Thank You

Just a quick update... Lucy has kept her food down for 48 hours (other than a brief three day stretch Oct 31-Nov 2, it has been since Oct. 22 that she has kept food down, so this is actually quite exciting), no diarrhea, and resumed her normal playful and curious life. She does still have a residual cough and runny nose, but in general I think we are out of the woods. I had almost forgot what it was like to run around chasing a toddler, keeping her safe, entertained and well rested (Lucy seems to be thinking she has slept a lot the last few weeks and has to make up for all the missed time she should have been spending with the world, seriously nap time hasn't existed the last two days, even after hours of effort on my part) and now that I remember what it is like to have an active toddler, I realize that it really isn't any less tiring running around with a healthy child as opposed to being in the hospital with a somber bed ridden child (of course, it is definitely a lot happier!)!Lol! No, but really I couldn't be more grateful to run around my parent's house diverting her attention from the trash, computer on/off switch, VCR, stairs, pool, outlets, karioke machine, important documents, player piano (especially at 3:00 a.m. to spare the rest of the family, we are slowly conquering the jet lag ), etc.



I thought you might be curious about her diagnosis so here you go: Dave talked with the Doctor in Korea to get the results from Lucy's last stool culture on Nov 3. Apparently her system was already rid of the Salmonella infection when she got sick again and was hospitalized for the second time, so what we thought was just a flare up of her old condition was apparently another sickness altogether, which she could have caught easily from the many sick children we bunked with, especially given her body's weakened state from all the antibiotics (which I found out wasn't even how they treat Salmonella in the states, oh well, she is okay now).



I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you for your kind comments through this difficult time and especially for your prayers. Nothing was more comforting than to hear so many people say they would pray for us and I know the Lord was listening. I am a little shocked to be returning to normal life, and now realize it didn't even dawn on me how hard life had gotten the last few weeks because the Lord just kept me strong and wouldn't let me get my spirits down. He sent me so many people to share the gospel with while I was in the hospital, so I could continue to bare my testimony to them and myself that I know the Lord directs our paths for good and we are given our trials for a reason. Sometimes I think it is easier for me to be positive during the darkest trials than the small challenges of everyday life. When the going gets rough I start to feel so aware of Satan's temptations to be discouraged and easily say "get thee hence," but on the average day, not enough sleep, messes, and one misinterpreted look from my eternal companion can sometimes really bring me down. I find that I just have to keep on going through more extreme trials so that I can appreciate every moment of my more average days. I hope to improve this quality and start to appreciate the average moments more so that I can minimize any rough trials in store for the future, but then if I improve this quality there will always be another quality that needs a little fine tuning, so what is not to look forward to? Okay, so that was sarcastic, which I detest, but still end up using a lot, I'm sorry. Really I will just end by saying that we all have so much to be grateful for and there is no better day than today to start realizing it. As for me, I have Lucy, and after this experience I couldn't realize more fully than right now how truly wonderful that is. My love for her has only grown, so I guess I am just going to get all mushy and say that I am thankful for my trials. Never thought I would say it, but I did. On that note, I am still totally okay with not having any more. Anyway, I am totally done with this post and just jabbering now, so one last thank you to all of you.

Thank you for your support and your prayers.

Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!!!

Graduation Day

That's right folks! Lucy has graduated from Wheelchair to Walker!
Big Girl Lucy doesn't think she has to ride in her stroller anymore. She found a little bar the perfect height on the back of her stroller and now she has claimed it is her personal walker. It doesn't matter how tired this little cutie gets, there is no slowing her down and absolutely no buckling her up in the stroller! (Usually I help her push a little, although no adult is pictured above)

On Friday we went to the park to exercise and Little Lucy just took off running. ( I was drooling over these pictures and realized I should explain Lucy's waterspout. Lucy's bangs are really long, but I don't have any scissors, so by default Lucy is growing out her bangs. Thus the waterspout. No we are not that poor, we just didn't bring very much here and we want to save the most money possible. I can't bear to waste the money when I know I have two pairs at home)
I was surprised because although she started taking a few steps 2 months ago and could do about 10 at one point, the last few weeks she wouldn't even try walking by herself. It was as if something had really scared her and she wouldn't even walk a few steps from me to Dave anymore (although she loved to walk around town holding my hand). Friday she just took off without looking back, no need for a destination and ever since then she has been running away whenever she gets the chance. It's made it a lot easier to exercise because we just go to the park and she runs around while Dave and I do our pull ups and squats and stuff, instead of her wanting to hold my hand and walk with her to what she wants to do, while trying to sneak in a push up or two (although I do miss her wanting to hold my hand a little bit). I guess the whole time she was holding my hand she was just practicing, because like magic she can run, navigate little hills and even some little steps without help. She could even do the sand at the playground last night! It's cute when she falls, she gets really frustrated if I pick her up and comfort her. She wants right back down so she can show me she can do it, even if she whacks her little noggin pretty hard. It hurts me so much every time she falls and gets hurt. I want to hover and be there to catch her if she trips, but I also want her to know that I am confident in her, such tough choices as a mother.

Anyway, while I am in the mood to go on about Lucy I will give you a few quick cute Lucy moments and updates.

Yesterday Lucy cried for the first time when Dave left to go to work. When he said "goodbye" she started crying and signing "come here." Then she kept blowing him kisses through her tears and waving "Bye Bye." What a touching scene, I hope I will never forget. Those two are really starting to bond. Every morning Lucy shows it by crawling over to her sleeping Daddy and waking him up with a big Lucy kiss. Too Cute!

Speaking of Kissing, Lucy is really into kissing lately. She used to give us kisses, but then she figured out how to blow kisses and she always wanted to blow kisses and didn't want to give real kisses. This week she figured out that she could do both kinds, so we have been enjoying lots of Lucy kisses. She walks around and then comes over to you and says "mmmmm" which means she wants to kiss you and then if you give her your cheek, she'll give you a good one. Then she just walks off and plays and then comes back and gives you another one. I love it and can never get enough!

She also learned how to blow raspberries on my stomach and loves it! I love it too, but sometimes she takes a little unexpected bite that I could do without.

One of the sweetest things Lucy learned in the last 2 weeks was how to sign "baby." You put your arms together and rock like you are holding a baby. She loves to point out babies and do the sign, but the cutest is when she sees her picture on the wall or her reflection in the mirror she signs "baby." It is adorable and I wish I could share the video of it with you, but I am really struggling to post videos these days. She also got a new baby doll and has learned to rock her, give her the bottle and burp her, so I guess we might as well have another one and Lucy can just do all the work! Are you up for some midnight feedings Lucy? She said "no, I am the only one doing any eating in the middle of the night around here." Okay, so that plan might not work. It's still sweet. She will even come burp me or Dave if we ask her to.

She also learned to sign Come Here, Help Me, Daddy, Airplane (we went to an Airshow on Saturday, keep watch for a post about it)Train, One (we are working on two and three, but you try it, those ones take extreme finger coordination) Book, Moon, Sky and Stars this week (I guess some of these she learned more than a week ago). She is thrilled whenever she sees the moon and can point it out to me. She signs "stars" when I point them out in her books, but I still don't think she grasps the concept of them in the real night sky because we usually can only see a few. She also insists on grabbing her book and making it hop whenever we get to the part about the bunnies.

Lucy really enjoys singing right now. If you ask her to sing she will enchant you with a few notes and then clap for herself. Her dancing skills are also taking off and she clearly has the beat!

Last, but not least, Lucy has perfected her throwing skills from every once in a while releasing at the right time, to being able to throw pretty perfectly, and far, whenever she wants. Sadly, we are starting to notice a tendency to be right handed, even though her left handed Daddy always puts the ball in her left hand. Sorry Lucy, I guess you might not have that awesome competitive edge and surprise attack in sports that your father has. Still she seems to have inherited Dave's running and jumping abilities so she might be able to still manage a scholarship (come on baby!).

Wow, it seems like everyday she learns a new skill, so I will either have to learn to condense my posts or post everyday if I want to keep an accurate update on this kid! TTFN Ta Ta For Now!