For the record:

Anabelle, these are things about you when you were three. Thank you for each one of them, for they are my happiness.

You are perceptive.

You are observant.

You are intelligent.

You are musical.

You are sensitive.

You are nurturing.

You are fun.

You are contemplative.

You are intense. About everything. Always.

You are playful.

You are funny.

You are loving.

You are mine.

And I am grateful. Always.

Regarding groceries: You have a very mature Mediterranean pal latte. You enjoy humus, cous-cous, baked Talapia, garbanzo beans. You've been known to put down more than your fair share of corn on the cob. You also like broccoli and peas. You love cheese balls (fresh mexican queso) and beans. Black beans, re fried beans, whatever- you're all about beans. And of course, the staples: yogurt, applesauce, and cereal. You, my small friend, can eat your weight in noodles and can put down a few ribs with your Daddy. You do not eat sandwiches; you lick off all the jelly. You do no not eat cupcakes or cake; you lick off all the frosting. You have, on more than one occasion, swiped sticks of butter and devoured them, as well as the piles of salt from the salt shaker. You eat pizza dough like it's your job. You feel that each day should begin with a batch of oat pancakes.

You say that every color is your favorite, but when given choices, you often choose pink.

You talk in song. No, really. If I ask you a question, you sing your answer to me to the tune of a song. You often match tune and pitch perfectly. You LOVE music. You always have. Your favorite songs seem to be: Let it Be by The Beatles, Come Thou Fount, Castle on a Cloud from Les Mis, and What's the Dilly-Yo?, from some stupid band that nobody cares about. You spend a lot of time in your room by yourself singing your thoughts. You do this for hours, literally. I find you singing and dancing your animals around your room, often with great emotion. I love your love of music, it is a delight.

Right now you are into dressing up. You are always tromping around the house in some fantastic outfit singing about the little world that you are lost in. This makes me happy. Your imagination is your favorite toy and you can entertain yourself for hours with no toys at all. I love to stand outside your door and listen to how you are interpreting the world, based on your "pretend" dialogue.

You LOVE books. Any books. Baby books, long books with no pictures, scriptures. You are all about hearing a story. Whenever you start to whine we start to threaten to take away bedtime stories and you make a quick turn around. Usually. One of my most treasured times of the day is reading with you, snuggled up in bed together, kissing and hugging and laughing and reading and catching each others kisses as we part ways.

You also like puzzles, cutting paper, making arts and crafts, going to the park, meeting people and puppies, cooking with me, dancing in the living room all dressed up, and running errands.


You like to wear "sister dresses" and match Lila and you love to play with her. You have always loved Lila and been very involved in her every move. You make her laugh like no one else can, and it is music to my soul and sunshine to my heart. Big sister is a job you take seriously.

You ask to go to Barnes & Noble, the park, the library, nursery, and Costco.

You are a nurturing soul. From animals to babies, you love to comfort and you do so with deep emotion. You are incredibly perceptive. You sense emotion and are so very sensitive to the feelings of others. The other day you watched a clip of someone singing who became choked up, and when Dad looked over at you, you had tears in your eyes. You innately feel compassion.

You do not like loud things. Even though you are one. Not blenders, not vacuums, not roaring or yelling.

Recently, you asked to watch a movie. I asked which one, then began naming titles. With each one, you named the villain in the show, then said you did not like the movie because of that character. Even 'A Bug's Life' got cut because of the "mean ugly hoppers". For your birthday you got a 'My Little Pony' movie filled with singing, rainbows, sparkles, lollipops, friends, and all things lovely. And this show has won your heart. You are not interested in anything that bears teeth or claws.

Your love for animals is astounding.

You LOVE nature.

You love camping.

You love friends.

And I love you.

Thank you Lovebug, for the gift of you. You have my heart.

xoxo,

Mom

You said it, not me....

Laying in our fort together (ie: under the kitchen table), we talk:

What's the biggest word you know?
BRADY

What's the smallest word you know?
ANABELLE KRISTINE

What do you want to be when you grow up?
A COSTUME COW

What kind of car will you drive?
GREEN

Do you want to have babies?
YES

How many?
FOUR

What will you name them?
KRISTY

And what about the other ones?
I'LL CALL THEM ALL KRISTY. ALL THREE OF THEM.

Will you make them take naps?
YES

What will you do if they don't listen?
SPANK THEM. SPANK EACH ONE OF THEM. AND THEY WILL HAVE NO TREATS.


Is this her way of saying she wears the pants in the family?

King Verkie

As told by Anabelle and Mom, lines are rotating narrative

This story is about a
King
And his name was
King Verkie
And he was
A berry very mean guy
The name of his kindom was
A castle ….What was it?
What was the name of his castle?
Verkie’s Castle
And he had a lot of daughters
Two
He had two daughters. What were his daughter’s names?
Verkies.
What were the daughters names?
VERKIES!!!
Oh they were all Verkies. So to tell them apart he…..one daughter wore
A dress
And the other daughter wore
A berry berry jacket
And all day long
The Verkie would dress up in another dress
And the king decided to have a
Another Verkie princess named Sticky
And she looked
In her mirror
And when she looked in her mirror she felt
Sad
Because
She was scared of the king
The king was so mean to her.
He was a wicked king.
He did terrible things like
He smashed his teeth
And get his sword out and have a sword fight
With
And it was berry berry mean.
His favorite food was
A lunch of yogurt
And he also liked some
Yogurt with strawberries.
And he always drank
Juice….orange juice
And his favorite treat was
Some chocolate cake.
The weird thing about the king is that he had
A treat
That
Is yummy
And he always shared his treat with
The princess
The queen thought that the king was
Berry berry mean
But she had to marry him because
She has her dress on
Their wedding was so
Nice.
Because he
Had a crown on his head
One day a handsome prince came looking for
A king
Becase he wanted
To marry the princess.
To show him how much he loved her he
Rocked her back and forth and showed her he loved her.
And while rocked her he sang
I’ll love forever how much I love you my baby you’ll be.
And the princess said
Let’s give eachother kisses.
And then they started
Going to bed
Because
The stars were in the sky
For the wedding the king gave her
A new new car that was very long and green.
So that she could
Squeeze the king tight.
So the princess and the prince
No, the King!
So the king and the princess
Were married
And the prince was
Very in her room to sleep nice and cozy
So everyone lived happily
After.

A very happy me

My day started by puking up diced green chiles out of my nose. So really I had nowhere to go but up. Before we overwhelm ourselves with speculation, let's let the official record show that this case of puking in the a.m. had nothing whatsoever to do with growing a new person. It was the result of doing the plyometrics workout from P90X. I noticed a warning before it began that said not to do it if you have knee or back injuries. I didn't however see a disclaimer about not doing it unless you are a Brazilian tree frog. Apparently jumping around for an hour makes me sick. Very sick. Throw up ten times in a row sick. But I digress...

So again, my day had nowhere to go but up. Now, how much 'up' I was simply not prepared for. Yesterday some dude was at our house trying to get us to upgrade our internet service. He came in and conversation turned to how he used to work on computers. Of course I ask him if he does hard drive recovery. Of course I do, because I ask everyone, because I WANT MY PICTURES BACK. And do you know what he said? He said yes. Of course he said yes, or else what kind of post would this be? So he brought it back to me today and I looked at movies and pictures that I had never seen of Lila's birth. Not like, THE BIRTH, but you know, freshly birthed. I watched about 10 videos of Anabelle around 18 months and it brought tears to my eyes. I remembered in a way I could not have otherwise, exactly what life was like then. How she was. Her little voice. The things she did that were so uniquely her. It's only been a year and oh, how I've forgotten. I made an instant resolution to start making more videos of the girls. It was by far the best spent 45 bucks I have ever spent. (The ocean front resort in Uba Tuba is a close second- but you should have seen their juice bar). This Mama bear is happy tonight, let me tell you. It was also timely because Anabelle has whined more in the last two days then she has in her whole life. I'm not gonna lie-it has worn me down a bit. So I did something tonight I've never done before- I went to see a movie by myself. 'My Sister's Keeper' was at the dollar so I went for it. I sat in the back all by myself. Which was strategic and most helpful when I began to cry my face off. Not just tears- the ugly cry. The sniffles, snotty, puffy eyes cry- you know what I'm talkin' about. It's a very good movie to see if ever you feel that your child has driven you to the point of insanity. It will drive you right home and into their tiny precious arms.

So, one year later, here they are,... the fresh meat media: (a few anyway)

I've included this one only so you know exactly what Lila looks like if you drink a beverage in front of her without giving her any. Less vernix around the hair and ears though and more yogurt.

I totally believe that she is looking at my lips thinking, "Wow! And I thought my skin was flaky- someone get this girl some carmex!"

The little gremlin still loves the dark

Watching her first MLS game- 2 hours old






First night in NICU

Mom, I will have to post the other videos separately, they are taking for-e-ver.

Weeding out the weirdos

If you're reading this, that means you made the cut. Congratulations! Not everybody did. The only reason I made the blog private is because I don't want the whole wide world to know when I am home alone for months without Braden. (Because the whole world reads my blog, you know). I was a bit weirded out by the requests I got from people I have never met, who found my blog surfing the web and started following it. So weird. Needless to say, they are no longer with us. I didn't have them killed or anything- they just didn't receive an invite. I feel better spilling my guts now. At last I can announce all things secret....Braden will go to OTS March 1st. Later than he hoped. Much. Later. But I of course, am happy. He counts down and I am in denial about it.

So long sweet summer

BBQ's, watermelon, ice cream cones, fireworks, amusement parks, long days, tan lines, camping, fireflies, swimming, the smell of tanning oil- these things make me happy.

I can't lie- it's a little easier to bid farewell to an Alabama summer than other places I've lived (for those of you out west turn your shower on to it's piping hottest for 15 minutes with the door closed. Then get dressed in all your layers and walk in your bathroom and you will get a small sliver of the soggy south). But still, my little heart beats for the summer, I can't help it, it's in my California blood. Oh how I wish I did not love the feeling of burning my own flesh day after day. I think this is the first summer in 20-something years that I did not go to the beach. Shameful. It weighs on my soul. I shall live there next summer to make up for it. Meanwhile, we did our best to seek out bodies of water in all their forms.

Trying to decide...

on my favorite moment of last week. Was it:

A) Pulling toilet paper out of Lila's mouth that she fished out of Anabelle's unflushed toilet

B) Talking with the missionaries at the door when Anabelle joins us wearing a piece of lacy silky lingerie with a slit up the leg. I don't know who it belongs to but they should come get it out of my house. And to extend the awkward moment, the missionary asked her what she was wearing. At which point I kindly offered them a drink. Or a meal. Or the name and address of every friend I have.

C) Braden and I are laying down. Anabelle comes in and asks if she can snuggle us. I tell her "sure" but to go find Lila and ask her if she wants to come snuggle too. She leaves. We hear a high pitched exchange. She comes back and snuggles in. I ask, "What happened?" She responds, "I squished her little baby cheeks together and said,'Lila we're snuggling together, do you want to come' and she said 'du du du du du du du du du"

D)Friday morning I told Anabelle that she was gonna play with her friend Carly that night because her Dad and I were going to the temple. Eight hours later, as soon as Braden walks in the door she says, "Dad, are you gonna marry my Mom?!!"

E) Anabelle peeing on my foot in public

Or was it

F) Going to THE BEST YARD SALE OF MY LIFE on Saturday. Among many other outrageous finds, I scored 60 pairs of kids shoes (many with tags, hardly any of them have been worn at all)....grand total? $15 bucks (.25 per pair). You need shoes, I'm your girl.

This is what Lila looks like after you bust her. Does this look like the face of someone who cares that they have been busted? No. Not at all. The girl cares not. In fact, she looks as though she's actually mocking me. As if to say, "oooooooohhh Mom, what are you gonna do? Real scary..."