no monogrammed linens for you

In the process of naming our children, we tried to think about the name as a whole. Will it be good as a child? Can you grow into it as an adult? Is it trendy? Is it dated? Do the initials spell a word? Is their name a sentence? (My sister's daughter was almost Ava May Wride until Kimmy [and Taylor] caught it)

But I didn't think of everything. I was putting together a baby announcement for Anna and picked this template:

Anna Elise Packer. APE. Didn't see that one coming. But I really liked the card with the picture we had, so I tweaked it and put 2.10.11 in the yellow box and skipped the whole name calling bit.

Sorry Anna. I don't see any personalized luggage, linens or silver in your future.

{also, I'm sure no one really cares, but I didn't order enough announcements and was too lazy to do it again, so I didn't send them to everyone I wanted to. sorry!}

elephant onesie

With Jamie in town we got our craft on and made matching onesies for Ella, Anna and Ava. Darling, right? If you've never embellished a onesie before, you should. It's a piece of cake and they are oh so cute. Danielle explains it better than I could, so go here to read her tutorial. I used regular thread instead of embroidery floss.

Here's the pattern for the elephant. Jamie modified it a little bit, so if you want her version (with three different sizes) let me know and I'll email it to you.

early easter

What's better than heading outside and taking baby Sally and bunny Lanie for a little walk?





A visit from this guy for your very own egg hunt!





Thanks, Easter Bunny.

videos

Ella went through a phase of wanting to teach me how to say words. I caught some of it on video.

It is really fun to watch Ella's imagination develop. The other day she told me that my closet was called "mom hom" and she took her toys in there and pretended to give them suckers. But my favorite is Jim. One evening she was sitting in her chair, peeking under the table saying, "It's otay. You tan tome out now." When I asked her who she was talking to she told me "I tan't tell you." But eventually it came out that we have a houseguest. His name is Jim, he is a daddy, he lives in the living room, he has 5 kids, and his hair is either pink or green, depending on what color they were painting the building he went in that day. This video's not the best, but still cracks me up.

Cousins

Anna and Ava are 4 days apart. Looks like they're well on their way to becoming best buds.

cleaning and scrubbing...

I found this poem on my cousin's blog. It sounded familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place it. Then my mom showed me this, that she made when I was a baby.

I have it hanging in Anna's room and I love it. My house is by no means always clean, but I spend a lot of energy fretting about it. This is a good reminder to calm down and enjoy the fleeting time I have with my newborn.

go cougs

Given that 17 out of 17 of my immediate family members are BYU grads, you can guess who I am rooting for. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I'm loving Jimmer Fever. Gooooooooo Cougars!

sisters

days of plenty

I've talked about my friend Molly before. We met when I took care of her little girl, Lucy, who choked on an apple and have since become good friends. Molly is holding a benefit concert to raise money for the Good Grief Foundation. They help families who cannot afford a headstone for their children. Molly put this on her blog today and it rang true.

I've said it before and I'll say it again--you are changing lives by supporting my organization. You know when you don't know what to say to someone who has lost a loved one? You know when you have those quiet moments of reflection when you put yourself in someone else's shoes and feel the weight of their loss? And you cry in your closet and say a prayer of thanks that your children are still with you? And you think..."I want to help, but how?" This is how. This is how all the unspoken words can be spoken and the weight of the burden you want to carry for someone else can be carried.

Even if you can't go to the concert (I'm still trying to figure out if I should take Anna or just sit this one out) you can still buy a ticket as a donation.

Putting this together has been a ton of work. Way to go, Molly. Lucy would be proud.

{If you haven't heard Lucy's story, there was a good article in the Deseret News yesterday. Read it here.}

Ella-isms

{wearing the hat and scarf because it's "storming" inside}

It seems that Ella grew up overnight when Anna was born. Lately she has been saying the funniest things. Cracks me up.

She has a calculator that she uses as her cell phone. She keeps it in her front pocket for easy access. The other day we were driving down the canyon and mid-sentence she stops and says, "Wait. Someone is calling me. I need to call them back." Turns out it was Ma Sue, and Ella let her know we were headed to see her.

She is totally picking up on things we say. Today she was playing with Anna and said, "Mom, how did baby Anna get so cute?"

While playing the other day she asked me if I wanted to wear a necklace. I said no. She replied with, "Option one is to wear the necklace. Option two is go to time out. Which do you want?"

We were eating dinner last night and she asked if we were eating 'regular' pasta. "Yep. Isn't it yummy?" "But the question is, is it regular pasta?" "Yes, it is regular pasta." "Thanks for answering my question, Mom." (I'm not sure what constitutes 'regular' pasta )

27 days

life with two...

{ella and anna, week three}

...is harder than life with one.

But worth it.

There are days when I think I'm figuring it out, and days where my only saving grace is the wonderful friends and family supporting me. I know people do it without help. Those people are stronger than me. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has taken Ella, brought meals, cleaned my house and a myriad of other kind gestures. One of my favorite quotes is by Spencer W. Kimball:

The Lord does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.

Thank you to all those people. You have kept me sane.

In other news, tonight I cooked for the first time in a month. A new use-what's-in-your-pantry-because-it's-Sunday recipe. It was delicious. Give it a try. Chicken with Apple, Onion and Cider Sauce. My modifications: yellow onion instead of red and homemade chicken stock leftover from the Barefoot Contessa's Roasted Chicken. (But don't be too impressed. After enjoying this for lunch we had cold cereal for dinner.)

jamie's nursery

My sister Jamie put some pictures of her nursery on her blog. It looks great. Can you believe this is a New York City apartment? Shouldn't it be small and cramped?

Check it out here.

Night and Day

This is what little Anna looks like from 9ish to 1ish. Awake. She is like a teenager--loves to party all night and sleep all day. How long is it until they figure this circadian rhythm thing out?

Thankfully I am surrounded by loving support and have had lots of help with Ella so that I can try and match her wacky schedule and nap during the day. And physically/emotionally I am doing so much better this time around that I have been able to enjoy our late night rendezvous a bit...although I will be happy when they occur during the waking hours.

ella and anna, day 6