Family Pictures 2012

Tonight Sami and Jonathan had the funniest conversation. Jonathan is working nights and while he was getting ready to leave, the girls were eating dinner and this conversation happened:

Sami:  I'm so sad.

J:  I'm so sad too, I don't want to leave and go to work.

Sami:  No, I'm sad there's no more french fries.

J:  Oh, I thought you were sad daddy was going to work.

Sami: Oh, that too.

Halloween 2012

This year for Halloween we had a little pumpkin, a princess, and a witch. 

Sami and Janie's preschool teacher has lots of Halloween costumes that she lets people borrow. We went over there and Janie fell in love with the "princess" outfit right away. And Sami didn't know what she wanted to be so Mrs. Carole asked if she wanted to be a witch like her. Sami was so excited but there wasn't another witch hat, only a wizard hat, but we still called her a witch because that's what she wanted to be.

I really wanted to have a family Halloween experience. It was tricky because our ward didn't have a trunk or treat and J had to work on Halloween night. So we went to my sister-in-law's ward trunk or treat with her family. It was so fun! So fun that I took the girls back on Halloween night for trick or treating with their cousins.

I think Halloween is so fun, except when it gets too scary. Some people try to scare little kids, and it really does scare my kids. But I love seeing all the little kids running around in costumes. I love all the chocolate. :) I love all the fun things about it. But I am ready to pack it all away the day after Halloween. We have already moved on to Thanksgiving. Except for two big bags of candy on the fridge.

Seeing Blessings

I always try to be grateful for the blessing in my life. But as with most things, there are times when I am better at it than others. This week I feel like I really "got" how blessed I am.

I went through the girls' clothes this weekend. Just figuring out what fits, getting out the warmer clothes, putting the small clothes away for Lucy, etc. and I just marveled at how many adorable clothes my kids have. (Thank you, Katie!)  There was a moment when I just paused and thought of the kids I saw while I was in Egypt, and Israel, and even on my mission in California. How their parents would love to have dressers full of beautiful clothes for their kids! I am so grateful for the clothes my kids have.

Then I went to the kitchen. Since I have been couponing, my cupboards are full. Seriously, full. In fact, I complained to Jonathan that I was out of cupboard space. Then I realized what I had said. Again, the feeling of how blessed I am. If only everyone had the problem of too much food in their cupboards.

Of course, my biggest blessings are my children and husband. Right now I have lots of friends who desperately want to get pregnant. I have so been there. But I look at my three beautiful girls and my heart just bursts with love and gratitude. And they are healthy to boot! How blessed I am!

And I see it everywhere in my life. I have friends, my husband has a job, our cars work...I could go on and on. Of course, we have struggles too. And some days I truly feel the burden of the struggles. But I am so grateful that the Lord is so patient and persistent in showing me the good that is in my life. I hope I always see it.

Now on to the pictures of my darlings: ☺

Sami is so good at "posing" for me when I pull out the camera. I love her smile. And her laugh.

Janie is still the dress-up queen. We went to a yard sale where the lady was selling tons of silly headbands for a quarter. This orange hair was among them. And she is still "Super Spy" from Elise's Halloween party.

And Lucy is getting SO big! She is now 7 months old and is wearing 9-12 month clothes. I can't believe it. She is just so darling.

Park

It's been months since we were at the park. Sami has been asking for months to go to the park. The day finally came. But it rained in the morning, and we weren't there very long when it got really hot. 

So not our favorite day back but it was still fun and the girls are waiting to go back.

I thought Lucy would go crazy in the swings, but she was just totally chill about it. Like "Yeah, Mom, it's cool." 

But then again, maybe she was just tired and could barely keep her eyes open. 

 I wasn't very good at taking pictures. But we have our first park trip of winter documented. Even if not very well. :)

I've Learned My Lesson...

Sami has been chewing and sucking on her hair. I remember doing it as a kid too, but it was really grossing Jonathan out. So I said I would cut their hair. I woke up early Friday morning, and since we were all up, I thought I would just cut their hair. I had done it before and it turned out okay. Why should this be different?

I started with Janie. That went okay, so Sami was up next. I cut her hair and it also seemed okay. But as the day went on, I kept noticing "spots" I had missed. So I kept giving her "trims." 

After her bath the next night, I thought her hair was still uneven so I gave her another little trim. When she woke up, I realized I had made a big mistake. One side was way short!

I started crying. I couldn't stop crying. I was going to "fix it" again, and got our my scissors, but decided I needed someone who knew what they were doing to help out. I woke up Jonathan and he heard me crying and was afraid someone needed to go to the ER. I told him what I had done, and he didn't think it was that bad, but I could not stop crying. Every time I looked at her, I burst into tears. 

So I took her to Great Clips.

That was humbling.

The gal was nice and I told her I had learned my lesson when she said "it's harder than it looks, isn't it?" Yes, ma'am. And then later she said, "Yeah, I fix little girls' hair a lot. Usually when they cut their own hair with scissors." Oh, not when their mom messes up with the scissors? But she was very nice about it all.

And later that evening, my period started. And suddenly the hysterics made more sense.

So I have learned that cutting hair is NOT something I have a natural eye or talent for. 

I will either fork out the money or their hair will grow out. My mom says that I shouldn't give up, I just need more practice. But I am too scarred to practice anymore! And thankfully Sami is too young to be scarred by my handiwork. 

But Sami is so cute, she would still be beautiful even if she was bald. (But hopefully she will never be bald because of me or my PMS!) And Sami told me she looks "adorable," so I am grateful she didn't know why her mom was crying all morning. And I totally agree with her, she is adorable.

And after some sleep and some cookie dough and two tylenol, I like her hair. It fits her personality and I am glad she likes it.

(And can I just say that I am so glad that I am married to a man who has studied and understands hormones. In fact, he feels sorry for me when my period starts because he understands the physiology. This will serve him well in 10 years when he has a house of  four hysterical females with no good explanation of why. He will just pass around the chocolate and midol. He's a very good man. ☺)

They went to a friend's Halloween party and love the accessories they came home with. Janie is still wearing her "glasses," and tells everyone she is "Super Spy."

And this little lady can almost sit all by herself. And she rolls all over the place. She is mobile by rolling around. 

And we are going to the park this week! We can't wait. I will post pictures of that, I'm sure! 

I loved this week...

I love days when we are all home and happy. The girls love hanging with their dad when he is home. He has been doing 30 hour shifts all month, but in third week of October he will be done with 30 hour shifts forever! We are so excited. We will celebrate, for sure. 

Sami and Janie have started borrowing my recipe books (just the ones that I am willing to let them play with) and then they go and make the recipes in their toy kitchen. This is the feast they put together one day this past week. 

I have a friend with three little girls the same age as Sami and Janie. Two of the girls are twins, in case you were wondering. So we had six little girls here this week. So fun.

And my baby. I could go and on about her cuteness. She gives me the best camera faces. 

Our best news came from our lawyer this week. Our court date to finalize the adoption is December 13th. And our temple sealing will be on December 29th. I can't wait!! I have been giddy about it all week.  We will have lots and lots to celebrate in December!