David and I have been pretty busy with spring cleaning over the last couple of weeks. Really, its just a coincidence that it is spring... I have entered the better part of pregnancy. The nausea has really subsided and I am feeling better. David says I am nesting. I have come up with a list of chores we need to get done to get ready for the new little one. David went through the attic, and pulled out stuff we could throw away. Then he organized the stuff up there compactly, creating empty space that I could have him add to.
Well, we had sort-of an office room, with a computer and a spare twin bed and the closet was full of storage. Eliza and Sadie used to share a room but around the time Eliza turned three she began to give us major bedtime resistance. She would climb into Sadie's crib and keep her up. So we eventually ended up moving Sadie's crib to the office room. Well, now with a new baby coming I have begun to make plans to have the girls share a room again so that the baby can have it's own room.
So, On Friday night David moved the twin bed from the office, which was actually the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. He set the bunk bed up in Eliza's room. The girls were so excited. Eliza helped put the bed together and she couldn't stop talking about how she was going to sleep on the top. Sadie at two and a half, still doesn't climb out of her crib, which is a relief because Eliza climbed out at 21 months. I love babies being contained in their beds so I was actually in no hurry to move Sadie to a big bed. I was just setting it up, to be prepared for the future.
Well, Sadie insisted on sleeping on the bottom bunk that first night. She has insisted on it ever since. She loves her big girl bed. The first two days I put her down for a nap in her crib but the third day she insisted on her bed. Yesterday after lunch, her typical nap time, Sadie says, "Mommy, I can't want to take a nap." But then she walked herself back to her room and climbed into bed. I read her a story and she went to sleep. An hour and a half later she comes out to the family room and announces, "Mommy I woke up in the morning." I think she likes the freedom of being able to get out of bed herself instead of waiting for someone to come get her. I can't blame her for that.
Now I have two girls getting out of bed at night. Eliza enjoys her little bedtime playmate/partner in mischief.
This evening David got Eliza's old potty chair down from the attic and set it up for Sadie. She showed immediate interest in it. Right away she asked me to help her take off her diaper. She sat down and tinkled. Then a little while later she told me she wanted to use the potty again. This time she pulled down her Pull-Up and tinkled again. Both times she was awarded with the whole family clapping and dancing and congratulating her, and with potty treats (aka: M&Ms).
After the second time she announces, "I am so proud. I want to do it again." It sounded so mature to me so I tried to get her to say it again on camera but she would only say the "I want to do it again" part. Her potty chair sings a song, "I'm going on the potty now. It makes me proud, cause I know how." I think thats what inspired the "I'm so proud part."
I am hoping Sadie will take to the potty quickly. This is really my very first attempt to train her and all I did was ask David to get the potty chair down from the attic. She did the rest. So far, so good. I have no idea what I am doing, by the way, but I believe in not even trying to potty train until the tot wants to. Its less work and frustration that way... I guess I'm lazy. :)
In related potty news, David has the girls cleaning the toilets now.
Today is a special day for our family. Its the anniversary of the day Eliza was sealed to David and I. We like to celebrate a little on this day; we call it Family Day.For those not familiar with the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe that the family unit can exist forever. A husband and wife can be sealed, or bound together for eternity; their marriage does not end with death. This sealing or binding of a marriage is an ordinance performed in one of our holy temples. Any children born to such a couple is also sealed to the couple and that family can be together forever, beyond this earthly existence. Families can be bound for generations.
Since Eliza wasn't born to David and I, she wasn't automatically sealed to us (like Sadie was). When Eliza was seven months old, her adoption was finalized. David and I were then able to take Eliza to the temple and have her sealed to us forever. Today marks the third anniversary of this special sealing day when we became an eternal family.
Plus everyone needs a reason to eat a Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake once a year, right?
We went out to dinner at an Mexican Restaurant. Eliza surprised me by eating all of her enchilada. Then we picked up our ice cream cake and came home to enjoy it. Throughout the evening Eliza and Sadie would wish David and I a Happy Family Day. :)"And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind onearth shall be bound in heaven..." Matt 16:19
Little 2 year old, Sadie, has some very favorite things. Here they are in order:
1. Milk - Sadie's first love, milk. When she was an infant she had NO desire to move onto solid foods. She refused them and exclusively breast fed for nine months. At nine months she got bronchitis and it became difficult to breastfeed. She finally at the point tried baby food. The ONLY baby food she would eat was pears. She hasn't changed much. Now when I serve her a meal she may look at it or maybe even take a bite. Then she pushes it away and asks for milk.
2. Blankets - Sadie loves the blankets her Grandma crocheted for her. It is not unusual for a toddler to become attached to her blanket. When Grandma visited a few months ago she noticed that Sadie was outgrowing her little crocheted baby blankets so she crocheted her a couple of bigger ones. Sadie drags all of them around the house. I hide the two little ones she has in case she soils her other ones at night and I need to trade them out. If I didn't hide them, she'd insist on dragging all four around. Sadie talks about how "blankets are for smelling." She sometimes invites me to smell them.
3. Swimsuit - After breakfast this morning, the first thing Sadie asked me for was her swimsuit. She loves water play! When given the chance, Sadie will wear or simply carry her swimsuit around. She has done this since about a year and a half old. She used to cry whenever I took it off.
4. Backpack - This is a new interest. Dora has a backpack... need I say more?
Our family had a fun Easter. The girls loved egg hunting and the surprises the Easter Bunny left in their Easter baskets. David and I gave the girls a backpack with their names embroidered on it. They have enjoyed those too, especially Eliza.
I know this is a long montage. I don't expect anyone to watch it. I just post it so my own memories can be recorded here. :)
Hi Everyone! This is really A Little Revolution! Terry asked me to do a guest post. Let me first update you on Terry and the girls. Terry is, as of today, the sickest she has ever been while pregnant. She is spending a lot of time in bed. Which reminds me, special thanks to Keep-N-Touch for the lasagna she brought over earlier this week! It was a double blessing this week. Two Sundays ago Terry accidentally set the time for 53:20 instead of 5:32 on a microwave meal. Twenty minutes later the meal was a lump of charcoal and the house full of smoke. The microwave was ruined. So last Saturday I finally had time to buy a new one; it broke two days later; never buy a LG brand microwave. Our nice new microwave we ordered off the internet came yesterday. I walked in the door and the Eliza couldn't wait to show me it. She is so cute. I guess that brings me to the topic of tonight's post.
I went up North to help Molly (who is also very pregnant and sick) and Jeff move to their new townhouse today. On the way through our state's commonwealth's capital I was switching the radio around. I heard Carrie Underwood's angelic voice singing a song I had never heard before.
I have to admit that I only heard the last 45 seconds. But, it moved me to tears. Yes, I am tired. I don't usually drive on the interstate crying while listening to country music. But, the song was "All American Girl." The boy, in those last 45 seconds, wanted his wife to have an All American Girl and she had him wrapped around her little baby finger. So here I am, driving up the interstate, with tears falling-not rolling-falling down my face as I think about my two precious daughters, Eliza and Sadie, my beautiful wife, Terry, and fetus (no-we don't know if fetus is a ♂ or a ♀ yet). I have these three All American girls and I am most definitely wrapped around their collective little finger. It probably also helped induce crying that I haven't gotten to see them often for the past six months due to the internship I just finished two days ago.
So, after I got home from my moving duties I looked up the song and listened to the whole thing. I listened to it and was amazed. It reminded me of my family. I'll tell you why in a moment. So, I took the laptop back to where Terry was tucked into bed along with her headache and nausea and asked her if she wanted to cry. She said, "Yes, just put it down on the bed." So, I hit play and left the laptop and went back to chasing the All American Girls in question and trying to feed them dinner. After a few minutes I went back to the bedroom; sure enough, Terry was crying her eyes out. Once she finished telling me just how crying made her feel sicker she said, "It's just like how you love your little daughters!"
That is true. However, my parents have a weird thing about sons. I grew up with a father who REALLY WANTED a boy and was so happy and proud when I, the firstborn, was a male. The first verse is about how the first guy in the song wanted a son to grow up to become an All American athlete.
I literally grew up hearing about how I was the firstborn and if it had been a different era I would have been heir to the birthright. Then the stories of the Patriarchs would come and so on and so forth. But, my father did make sure to teach that the birthright didn't always go to the oldest son, I guess he was warning me to be good! Well, it worked I guess. ;) But, don't worry, my parents are very liberal and will split everything equally when they die, etc. etc.
As if that wasn't funny enough; there is more! Really, Mom, Papi, I love you. This is just all fun. It makes a great story! And you do get a little weird and medieval on the whole baby boy thing.
That is right. They understood they couldn't do a thing about Eliza, we were adopting a girl. But, Sadie, boy did they hope she was a boy. And fetus, someday when you read this, they hope you are a boy. They really are hung up on it. They are really concerned! Like the family name is going to die or something. C'mon! I have a brother. He can pass on the family name. I have a multitude of male cousins, one even has the same name and his dad is always accidentally sending me email meant for him. There are plenty of possibilities for male heirs.
Get over it! The Incan Empire died out many moons ago. We aren't going to need an heir to lay claim to the throne (as if there weren't hundreds of thousands of other descendants of Atahualpa) in Machu Picchu! I am too busy trying to live righteously so I can "inherit all the Father hath." Why would I want a male heir when George Washington didn't have one? (Hee Hee; going all holier than thou always ticks people off!) Plus, who would want to claim a small European country's throne (at least the Incas did cool stuff)...? So, I am happy being a normal average American.
I don't need a male heir to pass anything onto. My All American Girls are enough to bring me to tears of joy! (Fetus, if you are a boy, don't take offense, I'll still love you as much as I love your big sisters.)
David and I have been pretty busy with spring cleaning over the last couple of weeks. Really, its just a coincidence that it is spring... I have entered the better part of pregnancy. The nausea has really subsided and I am feeling better. David says I am nesting. I have come up with a list of chores we need to get done to get ready for the new little one. David went through the attic, and pulled out stuff we could throw away. Then he organized the stuff up there compactly, creating empty space that I could have him add to. 
