I love my job!

I love these pictures of my girls because they highlight my favorite features: Sami's gorgeous blue eyes and Janie's beautiful, long eyelashes.

When we went to Wal-mart this week, there were tons of senior citizens. At least four of them came up to me and told me how cute my girls were. One sweet, cute, little old man came up and said to me "Your girls are so cute, I want to give them something." He then stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out several coins. Now, I will admit that in my head I was saying "No, not coins! They will put them in their mouths and then I will have to take them to the ER so they can get out the coins that will be lodged in their esophagus, etc." But he was so sincere, that I just smiled and said "That's so nice of you." Sami gladly took the nickel he offered and told him thank you three times and yelled "Bye" at him at least another three times. Janie just looked at him and looked at the coin like "What's that, and who are you, and why do I want that?" He ended up giving Sami both coins. Which she held all through the store. (I actually wanted to borrow one from her at the checkout but I thought that would be frowned upon by the cashier, so I gave the cashier 2 quarters instead of the exact change that Sami's nickel would have offered.) The coins "magically" disappeared once we got home. But it was so thoughtul and reminded me that one day, I will be old. And I will go to the grocery store admiring all the cute kids. So I need to enjoy every day while it's still my turn to have the cute kiddos. And they are cute, if I say so myself :).

Steps & Spiders

On Thursday, February 18th, 2010, Janie {13 1/2 months old} took her first real step! She wasn't holding on to anyone or anything. She was so proud of herself! She still prefers to be holding on to something while walking, but we know that before long she is going to be chasing Sami all over the house. And Sami will love every minute of it!

Now I want to tell you a little story about my sweetie-pie husband. When I first met Jonathan, he told me he was terrified of spiders. He had watched a scary movie about spiders as a kid and has been scared of them ever since. This reality sunk home to me when one day as newlyweds Jonathan shrieked and jumped on the kitchen table yelling "Spider! Chrissy, kill it! Kill it!" I thought he was kidding-he does have a very playful nature, after all. But he wasn't kidding. And the cries of "kill it! Kill it!" didn't stop until I had indeed killed it. I remember muttering something sarcastic like "Wow, my hero" as he climbed off the table after the poor insect had met its demise at my hand. But Jonathan is just so wonderful that I couldn't possibly hold a fear of spiders against him.

Fast forward through the years of marriage, med school, and kiddos, to yesterday. We were just home from church and I went into the bathroom and saw a black spider on the wall. This time, I shrieked and called for Jonathan! Jonathan came running and when I pointed at the spider, he looked at me and said "it's just a little thing," and took some toilet paper and squished the spider. For me. Then he looked at me and said "I've come a long way." I just grinned and thought that this man truly is my hero, in every sense of the word!

Feeling Better

I have been really sick these past few days. But gratefully Jonathan had the weekend off and babied me (because I do kind of turn into a baby when I'm sick :)). The cold started on Thursday and I am happy to say that I feel like I am almost over it. The good thing about being sick is that it reminds me to be grateful for a healthy body.

But because I was sick, our Valentine's Day didn't go as planned. And I did have plans. I was going to put treat buckets on the girls' doors and we were going to make sugar cookies and I was going to make a fancy dinner. But...none of that happened. But I did tell the girls and Jonathan how much I loved them. And they showed me their love by letting me sleep. And Jonathan did buy me two bags of Dove chocolates, which is my very favorite!

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

(P.S. if you like my heart mosaic, you can get the template here. I love how easy and cute it is...and best of all, the template is FREE!)

Janie Happenings

My Janie bug is talking! She can say hello, apple, bubble, uh-oh, and mama. She takes most of her cues from Sami and loves to mimic her. She loves her bling. But she's not walking yet. She stands up and cruises (walks along couches and tables) but hasn't taken that first step. We practice with her, but she's cautious. She'll be there soon.

And now on to my mothering guilt. Janie has been really fussy lately. I mean really fussy. Every night for the past couple of weeks I have been telling Jonathan how I have been going crazy with all the whining. Two days ago, I looked in her mouth and she had a full mouth of teeth. And that's when the guilt came. She had been teething this whole time! And she had all the signs: fussiness, not sleeping well, not eating well, fussiness. I should have known! And instead of massaging her jaw and giving her Tylenol and teething gel, I whined about her whining. It reminds of that time when the girls were in the bathtub and I was "watching" them while reading my Woman's Day magazine. Janie leaned over the tub to get a toy and fell out head first on the floor. And I was right there! But I wasn't paying close enough attention...sigh...I know I'm not a bad mom. I just wish I was a better mom. Actually, I wish I was a perfect mom :). But I do know that stuff like this (and much worse) will happen all the time and that the Atonement makes up for parent's (my) deficiencies. I am so humbled know that Heavenly Father gave me two of His angels to raise and guide and direct. And I am even more humbled and grateful to know that He helps me raise them. I don't do it alone.

Good Times

This weekend was fun and busy. I love it when Jonathan is home and we get to do things we really enjoy, especially with family.

On Saturday morning, Jonathan and his sister, Tami, ran a half marathon. It was for a great cause (fighting leukemia) and they had fun. I don't think running 12 miles sounds fun, but I must be missing something (like an in-shape body) because they love to run together. And Jonathan placed second in his age division. This is them after the race.As soon as the race was over, we headed out to Arizona City for our niece's birthday party. And that was so fun for the girls. Sarah worked so hard making the party a fabulous hit. Here they are having a tea party. Don't you just love the crowns?!After the tea party, all the kids got to go "fishing" for prizes. Everyone got these great sunglasses. Cute.

Janie really got into the accessory bling. She kept her crown and sunglasses on until I finally took them off for dinner. I was lucky to get a picture of Sami with her glasses on, but Janie was just enjoying the look.
I've said it before and I'll say it again...I LOVE having little girls!!!