Wax On...,Wax Off...

Almost 2 weeks ago, I had my first experience with waxing. My sister, who is studying at the Paul Mitchell School, waxed my eyebrows--and I loved it! After years and years of plucking, I was so relieved to have it done in one fell swoop, with a much cleaner line than I've ever been able to get from tweezing alone. Sure, it was slightly painful, but nothing worse than pulling them out torturously one by one. It was wonderful to have instantly beautiful eyebrows. I can't wait to have her wax 'em again!

Wasted

I don't wanna' spend my life jaded
Waitin' to wake up one day and find
That I've let all these years go by
Wasted
(Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts, "Wasted")
For the past few weeks, the way that I choose to use my time has been on my mind a lot. Then, a couple of weeks ago, my Relief Society President gave a lesson on how we use our agency. It really made me think about what I'm using my agency to accomplish in my life. As I thought about it, I realized that I've wasted a lot of time during the past year on things that aren't really integral to my life or my family life. As I thought about this, I remembered an oft-quoted line from Sheri Dew's talk "Women of God":

We no longer have the luxury of spending our energy on anything that does not lead us and our families to Christ...With these privileges comes great responsibility, and at times the demands of discipleship are heavy.
I want to spend my time on things that will bring me and my family to Christ. I want to create a spirit in my home that people can feel just by entering. I want to know that what I'm doing with my life is going to positively influence my husband, my kids, and myself for eternity. And, I know I can't do these things if I'm wasting my time on empty conversations, meaningless computer games, noisy television drivel, or other random distractions. Of course, giving up some of these things is a challenge, which in a sense makes them "heavy" like Sis. Dew said. But, I feel that the privileges that come as a result are more than worth the sacrifice.

Please understand that by saying this, I'm not saying every single thing we do has to have a planned purpose or be totally church-i-fied. I'm just tired of filling my life with "white bread" activities (lacking nutrition, empty), when there are so many other "whole wheat" activities, (full of substance, wholesome), I want to participate in instead.

I'm so grateful that I have the knowledge that "[t]his life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors" (Alma 34:32). I hope that by trying to perform more meaningful labors in this life, I will be prepared to meet God when the time comes. I just hope I can start making up for wasted time.

Whitney's Baby

Whitney LOVES babies. And, when I say LOVES I mean "can't leave them alone and gets VERY frustrated if she's not allowed to touch them." This past week, a friend of mine came to pick up her girls, (who had been playing with Kallie), and brought her 2 month old son over. We ended up talking for a while and my friend put the baby on the couch. Whitney immediately crawled over and started touching him and trying to give him "loves," (not-so-gentle pats on his face). I kept pulling her away and giving her other toys to play with and she would ditch the toys and crawl right back over to the baby until we finally picked him up to avoid accidental injury from an over-zealous 1 year old.

Whitney also LOVES to maul love her cousin, Marne, who is just older than my friend's baby. If Marne is in her baby carrier with a blanket over the top, Whitney will crawl over, lift the blanket, and start patting or poking Marne. We've learned to keep Whitney away from the baby carrier.

Just this week, while Whitney was playing with toys in the front room, I said, "Whitney, where's your baby? Can you go find your baby?" Whitney immediately turned and crawled through the kitchen, down the hall, and into her bedroom--where she found her baby in the pile of stuffed animals. She crawled back to the front room with the baby in tow and then snuggled, rocked, and loved her little dolly. It was so incredibly cute! Then, she put the baby in the carry bed. Whitney also picked up the sign for "baby" this week. I think she picked that one up faster than any other sign I've ever tried to teach her! Kallie was never into babies--especially not at this age--so it has been a lot of fun to watch Whitney really enjoy them like I used to.

Potty Training Update

Well, Kallie is almost there. She manages to stay totally dry overnight and during naptime...and, of course, throughout the day. BUT--she's still having a hard time with pooping in the potty. I really hope she'll catch on to the poop thing within the next day or so, though, because I'm getting tired of cleaning up the accidents. I just have to remember that it's only been a week since we started and she really is doing great!

She did it! She did it! She did it!

Last night, I posted about how Kallie was doing with potty training. I mentioned that she INSISTED on wearing panties to bed, even though Ryan tried every trick in the book to get her to wear a pull-up. Even bribery didn't work last night.

Well, this morning, she woke up completely dry with a completely dry bed. Unfortunately, I was in a deep sleep...and didn't hear her trying to wake me up. The result? She had an accident on the floor next to my bed this morning. Too bad I'm not a lighter sleeper! I guess years and years of sharing a bedroom with younger sisters will do that to you... But, I am happy to report that she has been completely dry all day today--even through her afternoon nap!

And, the big event today was that after her nap, Kallie pooped in the potty! She's made extremely small "deposits" there before, and while she was praised and got candy, it was SO not worth it. Then, since Monday, she has had 3 poop accidents in her panties. Today, she hasn't had ONE! I am SO proud of her! I'm really hoping that this milestone means that we're on the downside of potty training.

Potty Training, Second Time Around

Well, now that the holidays are gone and life does seem to be slowing down this week, (finally!), I have decided to take on the task of potty training Kallie. As opposed to 2 months ago, I am much less stressed and Kallie is way more into wearing panties. So, it seems to be going better than last time.

I feel like Kallie has done really well. She had 3 1/2 accidents yesterday. (It would have been just 2 1/2 if I had realized the 1/2 wasn't all there was and encouraged some potty time afterward.) Then today, she had 3 accidents--which numerically doesn't seem like an improvement, but really is. She's having a difficult time getting #2's in the right place...but we're working on that. I am pleased to report, however, even with the few accidents, she stayed dry through naptime yesterday and today and even through the night last night. Tonight, she would NOT let us put a pull-up on her for bed, so we let her sleep in her panties. In case anything happens, tomorrow is laundry day and her sheets need to be changed anyway, so we'll see what happens.

Is this seat taken?

Before I start this post, I just have to make a comment: For all those who have been waiting for SOMETHING to read on this blog...watch out! I have some time tonight, (in addition to the 2 posts I've already done today), so here comes another one. I should have more time over the next few weeks as well, so ya'll will have something to keep you going for a bit. ;)

Sunday, after church, Ryan had a quick Sunday School presidency meeting. I had the choice of waiting for a few minutes or taking the girls home by myself. I opted to stay. Since most of the rooms were taken because of the ward behind us, they set up a small circle of chairs in the cultural hall and met while all the kids walked on the lines painted on the wooden floor. When they finished, I headed over to the circle and decided to sit down to put Kallie's shoes back on. Just as I started to sit, the Sunday School president decided to put his chair away. Yep--the chair I was planning to sit on and the chair he was putting away were the same chair.

I landed with a THUD on that hard wood floor and quickly pulled my skirt back to knee-length. I definitely flashed a little more than I, or probably anyone else who saw, was comfortable with. I was so shocked and actually thought it was incredibly funny, so I just sat there and laughed for a few minutes. The poor president was so embarrassed! Walking to the car, later that day, and even now I'm still giggling about it. My back is a little sore, (no bruise yet), from hitting against the chair as I went down and my muscles were a little sore from the impact, but nothing major. Next time, I'm making sure to announce my seating plans ahead of time to avoid any repeat experiences.

And it begins...

Tonight was the season opener of American Idol 2008...and Ryan and I watched it. I can't say we were glued to the TV, but we watched. Honestly, (and I know a lot of people disagree with me on this), but these next few weeks are the boring parts. It starts getting really good when they move on over to the Kodak Theater. Before that, it's hard for me to get TOO into it.

Honestly, I think 2 hours of air time is more than enough for the "selection" shows. Who wants to see some fat guy dressed up in a "Princess Lea Dancing for Jabba the Hut" outfit? I mean, really! I had to turn away from the TV I was so grossed out by that. And, how many people in the world hate Simon? That's not news anymore. Give the airtime to someone who has a real story instead of a foul mouth and an attitude. That's not entertainment--it's ignorance combined with an overdose of self-confidence. There were certainly some promising performers on the show tonight, among all the "usuals", so I'm interested to see what this season brings.

Tuesday Devotional

Today, being Tuesday, BYU held its weekly devotional. It begins at 11 a.m., which is usually not a good time for me, as I'm wrapped up in the lunch/nap routine. Although my intentions are always good, I have not watched one in...well, let's just say it's been quite a while. So, being a new year, I decided that I wanted to fit watching the devo, (as we used to call it at KBYU), into my weekly routine.

Today, President Henry B. Eyring spoke, so it was a great day to start watching again! He said after much thought and prayer, the topic he was to speak on finally came to him: God's Deliverance. (Now, if you have musical siblings like mine who love to play the piano, then you probably also heard the music from Prince of Egypt booming in your head--"Deliver us!" *boom-BOOM* And, the story of the Israelites begins to play in your mind.) My interest was certainly piqued as I wondered what new spin President Eyring was going to put on this story? But, to my surprise, he didn't even mention the Israelites; He talked about the ways God delivers us in our lives. What I got from it was that when we ask God for deliverance, He doesn't take away the opportunities to learn or experience life. Instead, He has the power to deliver us from the pain and suffering related to those experiences. God's will still comes to pass and He still allows us to experience all that we can in this life. But, He will bless us with strength to endure the opportunities and experiences that might seem more than we can bear.

As ready as I am to move away from BYU and start living in "the real world" again, I am certainly enjoying the time that I still have here and appreciate the opportunity to learn from these inspired men on an on-going basis.

I cry the day that I take the tree down...

For those of you who are regular readers, sorry I haven't posted in a while. To all four of you, I keep a running list of blog topics on my whiteboard and it keeps getting longer and longer, while my available writing time doesn't seem to coincide. I thought life was supposed to calm down after the holidays were over. But, for some reason, it seems like December was just a "revving up" time for January. Adding re-establishing our daily routines, having my brother's family in town until last Friday, my sister's birthday, potty training attempt #2, organizing and preparing for my monthly FHE lesson swap, teaching last Sunday, Relief Society meetings, service activities, playdates, reading a great book, and taking down Christmas to my "normal" day--it seems I have absolutely no time time for anything else right now. Unfortunately, it's not looking like things will slow down any time soon. I should actually be folding laundry right now--but that will wait for a few minutes while I blog. Right?

The point of today's post isn't actually to inform or complain about my busy schedule. But, instead, to tell a story about the last item on that list: taking Christmas down. Kallie is the biggest fan of Christmas I have ever seen. She loves the lights, the tree, the ornaments, the hot chocolate, the presents, the parties...EVERYTHING. Over the holidays, she literally jumped up and down every morning when she woke up and saw the tree in the family room. It was her self-appointed job to plug in the lights and flip the switches on the power strips to ensure our home was sufficiently lit during the holidays.

A week ago, (has it really been that long already?), we put Kallie to bed after FHE and took down our Christmas decorations. The next morning was my day to sleep in...but I woke up a little after 7 a.m. to hear Kallie CRYING. And, I don't mean her fake, tired, or complaining cries--this was a real, true, heartfelt cry. I thought she might have hurt herself, so I hopped out of bed to go see what happened. When I got into the family room, Ryan was sitting there trying not to smile. Apparently, Kallie walked out, saw that the tree was gone and burst into tears. She was so sad that Christmas was over. Later that day, she asked if we were going to put away the kitchen she and Whitney got for Christmas--and then, it dawned on me: Maybe she thought that the Christmas presents had to go away with the lights and decorations! The past week since that incident has been filled with reassurances that Christmas will come again next year, people will once again put lights on their homes and in their yards, and she can keep playing with the toys she got even though it's not Christmas. Oh--to have the honesty of emotion and the complete freedom of expression that children have! If I were her, I would have cried, too!