A Single Post

In times past all of these happenings would have gotten their own post. That's in times past though. So for now, here is our life the last few weeks in bullet points. Throw in a tub pic of Lucy, and there you have it...a single post.

*Croup, Croup, Croup. First Sabrina, then Lucy, and I am not joking when I say that my throat is hurting this very minute.

*You can take pink eye off the list of ailments I have never had. I didn't wear make-up for about two weeks.

*I was feeling really down on my looks after seeing myself with a swollen pink eye, when Paul's mom unloaded all of his yearbooks on us (which I happen to be in). I've now decided that, pink eye or not, it can't get worse than 9th grade braces and my natural hair color.

*Here are two messages from two readers of this blog written in Paul's ninth-grade year book: 1. Paul, This year was awsome. You kick butt. See ya around. 2.Paul, your a cuty. Call me. 756-ICUP. -- You know who you are!!

*Lucy and I took off to St. George and enjoyed a weekend with the gals, 60 degree weather, and Miss America. I have never gabbed so much nor stayed up so late. I had a fantastic trip. Paul and Sabrina enjoyed a weekend together here with JCW's, freezing temps, and trips to Grandma Sampson's.

*We had Lucy's 4 month check up. Weight: 12 lbs. 10 oz. (25th percentile). Height: 23 in. (10th percentile). Head: 41 cm. (50th percentile). We're still on the charts!

*And finally, from the mouth of my two year-old...
Me: What do you want for breakfast tomorrow?
Sabrina: Pancakes. And Mom can have pancakes;and Dad can have pancakes; and Lucy can have pancakes.
Me and Sabrina: Not Lucy!! She can't have pancakes (we laugh).
Sabrina: We need to go to the store and get Lucy teeth.

Oh January...

What can I say? Nothing. That's just it. There is nothing of note to report on in this most dismal of all months where we go nowhere, watch too much T.V., loathe ourselves for watching our T.V., sink into a mild depression every time it snows, cringe at the sight of our dirty cars, stick to a tight budget after holiday spending, take in fresh breaths of inversion air, etc. etc.

I am trying to come up with a variety of indoor activities to keep Sabrina and myself entertained. How am I doing with this? Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...great. Thursday...okay. By Friday and Saturday...not so good. By these days we have hit our mostly grumpy, sometimes silly phases. Quotes to prove it: (After being called to get in the bath tub) Sabrina:"I am not coming to the bath, Lindsay!" (After listening to Lucy cry for about two minutes while I hurry to finish my lunch) Sabrina: "Mom, take 3 more bites of your food and go get Luce!" (After getting after Sabrina to pick up toys) Sabrina: "Mom, you're happy...don't whine!" She has been wearing a purple tutu with snow boots and various other dress ups 24 hours a day. I think I'd stop her, but it makes me laugh every time I see her. You may think it would be uncomfortable to sleep in a tutu; Sabrina doesn't.

Lucy continues to be a bright spot to my winter blues. She is just cute and smiley. I know no one thinks your kids are as cute as you do, but gosh, she is a round-faced beauty with the most gorgeous eye-lashes. She sleeps 10 hours a night, eats every 3 to 4 hours during the day, rarely cries, and smiles and laughs at her mother. What more could I ask for?

Well, we're signing off until something of note happens. At this rate, I'll probably post again in March.

Welcome 2009!

I would like to say that we partied hard this New Year's Eve, but in reality, we spent the day and night with one sick little person. Sabrina got croup again and had to miss Aunt Jac's Rockin' New Year's Eve Party with cousins (please do this again next year!). I took her to the Student Health Center where they told me she probably had a Urinary Tract Infection (WHAT? I told you she's been coughing and wheezing with a fever and this is what your diagnosis is? Thanks for nothing.) Not satisfied with this diagnosis, I headed back to Alpine Pediatrics the next day (SHC was closed, thankfully). Turns out she did have croup. They shot her up with steroids, and we are happy to report that she is feeling better although the "roid rage" today has been a little trying. We are watching Lucy closely for signs of illness; so far she just smiles and gabs as we watch. Hopefully the rest of 2009 will be better than the first couple of days. I love New Year's resolutions so here are ours for 2009:

Paul: Study harder (excuse me...is this possible?), watch more Jazz games (again...possible?), read El Libro De Mormon, eat right, exercise, get wash board abs.

Lindsay: Find ways to spend more time as a mom and less time as a housekeeper, read more, run a race (not committing to distance yet), get into my old pants (which will probably be out of style by the time I get back in them), do FHE faithfully (weekly and with faith).

Sabrina: Hit 25 lbs., obey mom and dad, get cuter and funnier.

Lucy: Learn to roll, crawl, walk, talk, eat food, use a sippy, graduate from a bottle, sleep 12 hours at night, use utensils, laugh at jokes, steal my sister's toys, get cuter. (When you really look at it, Lucy has the most ambitious list of all. She's a go-getter.)

Events to look forward to: My birthday on 9/9/09 (not quite as cool as 9/9/99; but still cool), big DC move, start of preschool, having a 3 year-old, having a 1 year old.

And may all your Christmases be....

WHITE!

This is what we woke up to Christmas morning. It was spectacular. Everything about Christmas this year was wonderful. Our official celebrating began with the Ellison Family Christmas Eve Party that did not disappoint. Shelley and I got together one day (my cousin, Amy, was right when she said that we should never be left alone!) and came up with some ideas for the party including a special white elephant passing game, a jolly visitor, a nativity puppet show (on a related note: Shell, you really should write, direct, and star in your own children's television show, you're a triple threat...think about it.), and a stocking bar. I have such good memories of this party growing up and I still enjoy getting to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins every year. We then came home, got in our Christmas jams, put the girls to bed, and got annihilated in Boggle by Jeff. My mom came too and was my partner in crime in MadGab.

The girls woke up at a very pleasant 8:00 AM (this may be one of the last years we enjoy our sleep). Sabrina walked in to the living room and said, "Wow! Look at all the presents!" Her enthusiasm was contagious and so exciting as she opened every present and ooed and awed at them all. Santa even wrapped our gum and toothbrushes, and she was equally excited when she opened them as she was to open her other gifts. Lucy spent the morning by drinking a bottle and sleeping in the swing. Sabrina was thrilled that she got to "help" Luce open her presents. Sabrina's favorite present: the twin dolls and baby carrier. Lucy's favorite present: the Gymboree tutu (okay...it's really my favorite present. Adorable). I think this is the first year that Paul and I really understood that Christmas is all about the kids, and our favorite present was watching the girls rip into their gifts.

We then headed to Grandma Irene's for breakfast, and I must give my 85 year-old grandma credit for still being the best short order waffle and eggs cook around. She's pretty amazing. Then we headed to the Sampsons and enjoyed the rest of the day and more gifts there, including one downright adorable leopard print poncho for Sabrina made by Grandma Sampson and a book with ALL of Carolyn's fantastic recipes. We came home exhausted, but thankful. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

P.S. I forgot to rotate some pics. Just lay on your side when viewing!

It's a Wonderful Movie

As a kid my cousin, Amy, and I went through a throwback era where we had sleepovers (sometimes 2 or 3 nights in a row) and would watch whatever old musical or movie we could find at the Sounds Easy Video Store. We saw literally every Gene Kelly, Doris Day, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire classic we could get our hands on. Some were good, some were great, and some were terrible (those were the ones we'd take out about a half hour in and replace with Troop Beverly Hills [not a throwback]). We saw West Side Story at least 50 times and laughed every time at the "Chino" dance move that only a true fan would notice. I blame this era of time for adding 2 of my top 10 movies of all time (although, now that I'm thinking about it, I may have to add West Side Story to my list), and it is probably also the reason that I never saw (and have still never seen) a Star Wars movie. Those two movies: 1. Singin' in the Rain and 2. It's a Wonderful Life. The latter is the topic of this blog post. I watch this movie every year at Christmas time. This year while watching (and doing dishes and folding laundry) I noticed some things:
1. Jimmy Stewart is the biggest over-actor there is. Hands down. I just don't think he would make it in today's Hollywood.
2. Donna Reed is the prettiest person Hollywood has ever produced.
3. Is this show socialist or what? Made right after FDR.
4. It is a tragedy when George Bailey sees that Violet has gone to work as a "dancing girl" in downtown Pottersville, but it is a TRAVESTY to see that Mary has become an "old maid who works at the library." Anything but that!!!
5. This show doesn't have that much to do with Christmas at all.
6. We have become very sloppy as a society. George Bailey wears a full suit every day and Mary a dress to do her housework.


And yet, I still cried. Cried like a baby. Here's to next year.

A Saleswoman I'm Not

Anyone who knew me during my days at 1800Contacts can tell you that I couldn't sell free food to a hungry man, but here's my shameless attempt. Rusty and Tara, my good friends and entrepreneurs, started The Blog Frog about a year ago. It's a service where you can go to list your blog/facebook page and find the blogs/facebook pages of people you'd like to contact or reconnect with. Not only that, but there are some sweet widgets you can add to your blog like the chat wall and news feeds that I have added to this blog. It's totally free too. In fact, since adding the chat wall, I think I'm done with Facebook altogether (I'm beginning to think that people who claim to be my "friends" are really just kind of nosey; I can say that because this blog is private). Anyway,Check it out.

Red Letter Day

Lucy was blessed December 7, 2008 by her dad during the sacrament meeting of the Mount Mahogany 4th Ward. She was an angel as always, and Paul gave a great blessing. We live for days like this and realize how lucky we are to have the friends and family that we do to share in our joy.