Computer Blackout

We're getting our box fixed up, so the blog will return when the computer does.

Book Tag

Rules of the Game:

1. Find the nearest book to you.
2. Name the book and author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page.
5. Copy out the next 3 sentences and post to your blog.
6. Tag three other people.

America Day by Day by Simone de Beauvoir

We leave the main road and drive down toward the valley on a narrow, winding, bumpy path. In a shady corner near a river, there's a campground for tourists, with tables, benches, fireplaces, swings, and seesaws. Campers only have to pitch their tents.

We're cleaning up the living room so the nearest books are a pile of Jonathan's text books. Good thing this was on top and not The Geography of Urban Transportation. Regan, Callie and Rick--you're it. Thanks for the great game, Marin!

Pool Time And A Wedding

Joseph does physical therapy to help his ankle muscles stretch out and keep his feet from rolling in. We'd been going once a week since the beginning of January, but since he'd been improving so much each time we decided last time to start going every other week. Since this was the first time he's been since I started the blog, I took pictures.

And later, this afternoon, Elena found a drapery scarf on the floor while we were cleaning out the Living Room. She wrapped the fabric around herself then announced to her daddy that she was getting married.

Invite to Sunset Valley Play Group

Some of the sisters in our ward have started a play group and we're going all sorts of fun places. We've got the next two months planned, and I want to invite everyone else to join, too. It's Wednesday mornings at 10, and we're going someplace different each week. We're going to the botanical gardens next. I know Michelle Howard is driving up from Buda to join us, and the fire department in April is right up by Callie and Frances, so anyone is welcome to join us and (of course) suggest more fun places to go. We're trying to trade off between homes and field trips so that everyone feels like they can participate.

Story Time

We went to Gwamma's house, today--a bit of laundry, a bit of snacking, a whole lot of giggles. While Joseph napped and my mom and I chatted about the dress she was making for my new baby niece, Danielle, Elena decided it was story time for Gwamma's stuffed animals.

She set out chairs and made sure everyone was sitting down.


Then she got the duck, which quacks.


The duck stood in front of the group and Quack, Quack, Quacked a lovely story that everyone enjoyed quite a bit.

Joseph Stands Up!

We were playing up in the kids' room this afternoon, and Joseph came over to the chair to see what we were tapping on with our drum sticks. He took my hand for a bit of balance then let go and, just for a few seconds, stood there all by himself. Then he decided that this standing thing was too hard and sat down.

Greet The Dawn

Joseph decided he was done sleeping an hour and a half ago, so now I sit here typing and enjoying the early morning sunshine that is now pouring in my living room window like a fall of honey across a golden carpet. I'm not sure why lack of sleep makes me feel poetic, but it's worked before. There's something about those first rays of dawn that makes one a bit introspective as well. Bit of a shame I'm too tired to make coherent thoughts, but the peace and quiet is refreshing. Most of my quiet time is late at night and the darkness, while good for many things, doesn't have that certain something that lends itself toward the Zen moments I so crave. I know that the solution is to go to bed earlier and sleep better so I actually want to get up early, instead of merely enduring it as a necessary evil, but I'm not the only factor in this equation (see earlier post: "Not Much Sleep"). At least I'm getting a new mattress, soon. Maybe if the sleep I do get is better things will even out.

This Is Broken

Since I can't seem to be able to wrap my brain around a post about us, I will share one of our favorite websites. Its called thisisbroken.com and it's a place to share things that aren't thought out too well, poorly executed, or just plain wrong. One of my favorites is the cement pillar planted firmly in the middle of--and completely obstructs--an exterior stairwell. Jonathan prefers the white pavement stripe that goes around a branch that has fallen on the edge of a street. It's great.

Rythm and Blues

The other half of my musical duo has an affinity for percussion. Here we see Joseph with two of his favorite instruments--drum and xylophone. He's getting pretty good at them, too.


We had a bit of trouble getting the pictures, though. Elena kept getting sent to time out for taking things away from Joseph and then hitting him with them.

Song and Dance

Some days, when I am very lucky, I wake to the serenade of angels. And the words of that song make my heart swell with indescribable joy...

"Twinkle wittle wittle stah
How wonder whatchew ah
Up up in in in in sky
Twinkle wittle wittle stah
How wonder whatchew ah."

Then, on the descant, comes the squeals and laughter of a baby that is utterly content with his current lot in life. It is one of the most beautiful things a person can ever hear.

Today, we watched Finding Nemo, one of Elena's favorites, and when we got to the closing credits we started to dance to the song. It was so much fun we skipped back and danced again.

It's nice to know that the ups and down of life and Mommyhood are not quite so bad as they seem at the time. Here's to happy smiles!

Fit to Scream

All the experts say that a toddler throwing a fit is a sign that she loves you. Does she have to love me that much, though? There were no less than four screaming, sobbing, fall-on-the-floor tantrums today--a personal record for her. It's usually an average of one every 5-8 days. Maybe. So what is a mom to do? I can't let her fling Joseph's food onto the floor, and we really didn't yell that much--just an exasperated "Elena!" and a lot of disapproving "you can't do that" while she panicked and flailed at the Cheerios until they were all on the floor. Was it worth the fifteen minutes of screaming and contortions that followed when we took her to the stairs to reap the rewards of her actions and sit still for a bare two minutes? I can't let her play with the knives in the dishwasher, either, even if it was only a butter knife. And do I not give her the cheese that I was going to hand her anyway, just because she sobbed like her best friend had died when the cheese didn't come *now*? And what do I do when she whines that she wants more bedtime songs instead in praying, then screams all through the prayer because she didn't get to say it? Well, that one, at least, was easy. I let her say a second prayer after I scooped each of the kids up into their respective beds. But the original question remains. What do you do when a screaming fit leaves you fit to scream?

Shopping Helper

I went to Frederick's the other day to find a bra for the dress for my brother's wedding. As I'm shuffling back into dressing room for the third or fourth time with a stroller and two children, trying to find something that'll actually fit, Elena grabs two bras in a deep red satin off the rack. Once we get inside, she hands me the bras, says "Mena try it" and starts pulling off her shirt. I was trying so hard not to laugh, at this point, but I was cracking up so badly, inside. We got her shirt off and the bra on and she pranced all around the dressing room, so proud of herself. It made me think about the fact that one day we'll be doing this for real. And that she looked really good in that shade of red. So good, if fact, that I decided she needed a dress that color. This is that dress.

The Pursuit of Fabulocity

In my ongoing efforts to look at least a little bit more fabulous, I've discovered a few treasures. I've gotten one of those free makeovers at the Lancome counter that they use to try to sell you a hundred bucks worth of makeup you could get elsewhere for $30, but they always put way too many layers of *stuff* on. I love looking at all the new shades of eyeshadow and lipstick, too, but it's so hard to tell what it would look like once I put it on. Well, these are my treasures. Sure I watch way too much TV, but I like to watch What Not To Wear on TLC just for tips on what works for various body types, and the makeup lady they have uses a tinted moisturizer for the girls that just don't like to wear much makeup. I think couple of the brands you can find at the grocery or pharmacy have tinted moisturizers, and most--if not all--have sunscreen in them. It doesn't work as a concealer but it's still a nice all-in-one for moisturizer, sunscreen and foundation. As for trying stuff on, at the Cover Girl website, you can fill out a profile with your eye color, hair color, skin tone and personality and they will show you the shades and products that work best for you and your lifestyle. The real fun is their Shadow Salon, though. You can play and experiment with every one of their eyeshadows to see what they would look like on you. And if you don't like Cover Girl, you can take the same basic recommendations and apply them to whatever brand you like. I found a fabulous lipgloss at CVS, that way. It perfectly complimented my coloring and only cost $2.

First Word?

Cleaning up Joseph, yesterday, my fresh-scrubbed boy leans over, smiles seraphically, and says "Da-puh." Since that's the exact same pronunciation Elena uses, I instantly recognized it as a request for clean pants. It might not have been what he intended, but it is what he got. He's been babbling things for a few weeks, mostly "Buh-buh-buh-buh" and occasionally "Dah-dah." That's not the only new skill he's displayed, though. Sometimes when we wave to him, we can get him to wave back, but it's more of a whole-arm flap, and he also made his first step toward walking, this morning. He'd pulled up on Jonathan's legs while Jonathan was sitting on the couch, then Joseph turned, smiled, let go with one hand, and stepped. He promptly fell down, but it was his first step.

Not Much Sleep

I don't know how long it's been since I slept through the night. I should be old enough to do that, right? My children should be old enough, shouldn't they? "Shoulds" aside, they don't. Or Joseph doesn't. He's waking up and screaming anywhere between one and four times a night. If he weren't able to pull up on stuff it wouldn't be so bad, but it's really hard to remember that you do know how to get back down from there at 3am. And to top it off, once I slip Joseph back into bed after his usual 6am feeding (hoping he'll nod off for at least an hour, maybe two) and as soon as I get comfortable in mine, Elena wakes up with a blood-curdling shriek and groggily yells something at our cat (whom I could have sworn was not in there). And yes, she's done this three or four times in the last week. Combine that with Jonathan's school and work schedules (he gets home after 10pm nearly every night) and I'm just exhausted. Which do I cut out, though? I have to take care of my children, but do I do it when I'm sleep-fuzzed, or do I give up the only free time I have with my husband so that I can get a few extra hours of sleep? I'll need to figure it out soon, though, because Urban Design is a demanding field and architects' hours aren't much better than what we're keeping now. Anyway, here's one of the faces I wake up to every morning.

My Sweet Ones

Elena just discovered jewelry. Well, play jewelry--she been fascinated with mine for a while. She's got this collection of plastic rings, bracelets, and necklaces and loves to wear all of them at the same time. No pictures of that yet, but I do have ambitions in that direction. She loves to help me with everything, from groceries to typing, and while it sometimes gets in the way I try to remember that I wanted to be just like my mom, too.


Joseph is getting so big, too. He loves to follow me everywhere, all through the house, and pulls up on my pants leg when he catches up. He loves watching his big sister and I can totally see the gears turning when he sees her do something he wishes he could. It seriously won't be too much longer before I've got two toddlers off to explore the world.

My Ever Changing Life

So where do I begin? At the beginning? That seems as good a place to start as any. I was raised to want it all--marriage, a bunch of kids, a cute house in the suburbs with good schools--everything a girl could want in life. And then I grew up. I fell in love with history and a wonderful man. I got a degree and got married. My husband started a BBA and we had a beautiful baby.

This is where things started to change. My husband didn't like business and I fantasized of living in the heart of some European capital. And then we discovered Architecture. But that would take too long, and he'd have to start school all over again. The councilor suggested a new field of study--Urban Studies. We've been hooked ever since. It was exactly what he'd been looking for but didn't know how to find. As we delved deeper and deeper, we found in ourselves a passion for living in the middle of a city--the vibrance, the convenience, the magic. But where do I plant my tomatoes in the spring? Where do we let our children or future dog run around without having to watch them all the time? How do I get the groceries home if we took the stroller (and not a car) to the store? Where will we *put* the 4-6 kids we still want to have?

And so my life changes. This is to chronicle the magic along the way.