A Pony for Christmas

Apple stamping

From time to time I play the role of Good Mom and do crafts with Ella. Today was one of those lucky days.

Things I will likely forget if I don't write them down somewhere

We enjoy "Ella: The Musical!" 24/7.  I wish I had a recording of it, but I never know when she's going to break out in song. "Can I get some milk...please??!!??" "I don't want to go to bed....now." I think it's thanks to the Wonder Pets who are good little singers.

Ella is the squirmiest little sleeper/ cuddler. She can't hold still to save her life. (In med school my friends diagnosed me with restless leg syndrome...can't imagine where she gets it.)

Anna is a busy thing. So different from Ella. With Ella there wasn't really a need to keep things out of reach. With Anna every drawer in the house would be emptied given the chance.

Anna is trying to learn to whistle. She purses her lips and makes a noise.

Anna gives Ella hugs and kisses. It melts my heart.

Ella's imagination continues to expand. Her "kids" to date: Ah, Dah, Saw, Vah, Nah, Eda-pho-Eda, Grassie, Hensie and now Ella. She told me this morning that "Ella does not listen to me! She will not do what I tell her to! She is just too busy."

Ells will carry on with her kids as well as the Wonder Pets, Dora and Blue. I'll often reply to something she says only to be told, "I'm talking to Linny." Sorry. My mistake.

Ella's memory astounds me. She honestly remembers more than I do.

I stopped nursing Anna when she was 9 months old. I was slowing down, and then when I got the stomach flu over Thanksgiving I was done for. I couldn't eat or drink and lost my milk. Still, I'm happy to have made it that long.

Ella was getting out of bed a few times a night for various things. A cup of water, going to the bathroom, finding her teddy bear. Combined with Anna's midnight prowl it was getting to be too much. So I did a sleep training refresher course with Anna (I was surprised at how easy it was) and made a sticker chart with Ella. (This worked great!) It was magic. Ella has not gotten out of bed once since we started. Today she earned her first prize, a harmonica. Anna follows her around trying to imitate the noise.

New Year's Card

resolute

I'm not great at resolutions, but honestly, who is? (Remember this? Still working on it in 2012) This year I am going to try a different approach. First introduced to me by a wise friend, you pick a theme, or a word, to try and embody during the year.  

So, for 2012...

Charity

Based off of this quote:

A tall order, I know. But if by 2013 I am a little better than I am in 2011 I will count it a success. 

Hopefully more so than my posture...

Post-edit

My talented friend Karisa designed the quote for me to hang--I love it!!

Happy New Year!

Love,

Ella & Anna

Worthwhile Read

With the death of Kim Jong Il, I was reminded of this book. It is is one of the most interesting I've read in ages. I was amazed at how little I knew about North Korea.

Definitely worth checking out.

Bad Decision

A few months ago I went to my parent's home and took this picture. But the version you saw on the blog was this:

The difference? Teeth (and a few other PS tricks. But mostly the teeth.) Photoshop whitened in the second shot. After looking at the originals my pearly whites looked more like a yellow brick road. So I learned a new Photoshop trick and viola, a brilliant smile.  If only it were that easy in real life, right? 

About a week later one of my friends was having a charity auction to help bring some orphans from Ukraine to Salt Lake. One of the offerings was Zoom teeth whitening from a local dentist. I wanted to support the cause, and as evidenced by my above handiwork I wanted whiter teeth. I snatched it up. 

Tuesday was my big day. My mom tried to disuade me. Told me how painful it could be. But my mind was made up. I pre-medicated with 1000 mg of Tylenol and 600 mg of Ibuprofen. I showed up at 9 am and halfway through watching Notting Hill on the ceiling I was done. A few little "zingers" but really not bad at all. I was thrilled. 

The rest of the day was jam packed and by 3 pm my teeth started to hurt a bit. I took 600 mg of Ibuprofen and thought I'd be good. By 5 pm I was home and hurting. Bad enough that I took a Lortab (left over from my c-section three years ago--I never take them). By 6 pm I was hurting so much that I had a hard time talking. I took another Tylenol. Didn't touch it. This was the worst pain I've felt in years. I couldn't eat.  I couldn't talk.  I was barely functioning. Ella wanted stories and I was mute. It was awful, and even more so because I had brought it on myself. By 8:45 I was beat and took full doses of Tylenol and Ibuprofen. Thankfully I slept fairly well and by morning I was mostly better. 

Ryan couldn't believe that I had done it. I have weak enamel to begin with, and this was adding insult to injury. Oh, the things we do for beauty. I posted a moan on facebook and a friend (whose husband is a dentist) said "One more plus for teeth colored teeth." Amen, sister. Amen. 

In other (completely unrelated) news, my friend Molly is having a giveaway. And she's giving away a chart from Kimmy's shop. So double worth checking out. I'm smiling brightly just thinking about it. 

the thanksgiving that was not to be

This was going to be a great Thanksgiving. Jamie and Taylor were flying in and we were all headed down to St. George. Ryan was taking the week off and we were going to head down early, on Tuesday. But Tuesday came and Ryan came down with a cold. So we held off until Wednesday. But Wednesday came and Anna developed an ear infection. So we held off until Thursday (when everyone else was heading down--we were celebrating on Friday). But Thursday came and I was up all night throwing up and Ryan was up all night coughing. So we sent Ella with Grandma Sue and had a non-Thanksgiving lying on the couch and watching bad HGTV. I'm still holding out hope that tomorrow will be the day and Ryan and I will head down south and join the gang. Ella is really excited about the "feast with the whole family" that she learned about in preschool. When I told her that Daddy and I weren't going to be there she said, "Well, we will just have a feast with the rest of the family."

i (chart) you

Last year for Christmas my sister created a Family Tree chart. I loved it, and for the past 9 months I've been trying to talk her into making them for others. She finally caved and started a little etsy shop.  Since I was the one who talked her into it (because really, I love mine) I thought I'd try and help her spread the word. So check it out, put it on your blog, facebook, pass it on to your friends. It might just be the perfect Christmas present for those hard to shop for in-laws of yours...

i (chart) you

uncanny

Ryan and I have a knack for picking the same foods for lunch and dinner. If he goes to Cafe Rio for lunch it is inevitable that I will make enchiladas. If he goes to Five Guys we are having burgers. But tonight topped the charts.  For dinner my nanny made a pene pasta salad with peppers, spinach and sausage, seasoned with fennel. Guess what Ryan had for lunch? A sausage and pepper pizza (seasoned with fennel) and a side of pene pasta.

I guess we should be happy we are on the same wavelength.

11.11.11

For someone who's favorite number is 11, last Friday was kind of a big day. The kind that only comes around once a lifetime. Grandma Sue celebrated with 11 little presents, each containing 11 items. 11 skittles, m&ms, stamps, stickers, goldfish crackers, die cuts, blueberries, erasers, clips  and crayons.

sisters

mr. sun

This one cracks us up. No performance jitters here.

Room Tour

 Kimmy asked me to put up some pictures of my new furniture. I had visions of a really great post, with close-up pictures that make everything look all artsy (but are probably just hiding the peeling paint or the junk on the floor). You know, Design Mom style.  But I finally realized that wasn't going to happen and I'd better just take some shots and throw it out there. I'm still looking for a few final pieces, but here's our almost finished family room.

On the wall are the vintage postcards Jamie and I found in Rome. They are really cool and were $1 each.

This is a knock-off of this. I was really pleased with how it turned out (it's better in person). I bought sea urchins on eBay and took it to Brushworks where they put it together for a fraction of the cost of the original.

Kimmy & Chris made this for me for Christmas. I love it.