I love my GPS!

Ryan and I have wanted to get a GPS for quite a while now. We held off while he was in grad school for a couple of reasons: 1. we were living on a student budget and 2. no one on such a budget can justify buying one to get around Utah Valley. However, now that we're no longer in either of those places, we decided that a GPS would be a great tool to have as we adjust to our new area. Today, I had a chance to put it to the test.

This morning, when we dropped Ryan off at the MS shuttle, it started snowing. I was a little concerned, as I had a Dr's appointment this morning, and most Seattle-ites have NO idea how to drive in the snow. My plan to leave early was only encouraged when Ryan called me from the shuttle and said I might want to cancel my appointment because traffic was so horrible. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to get in for another few weeks, I decided to go ahead and trudge off to my appointment anyway.

I hopped in the car, entered the address on the GPS, and pulled out. I knew full-well that the fastest route is usually on the main highway, but with all the traffic, I decided to take some other smaller highways instead. Against the GPS's advice, I turned right instead of left and once the route was recalculated, it was perfect. It even took me a new way that was MUCH faster thn staying on the highway. When I arrived at my destination 35 minutes later, (enduring about 5-10 minutes of traffic slow-down), I called Ryan to let him know it had been smooth sailing all the day. He hadn't even made it to work by that point! Granted, he had to go about 20 minutes further than I did--but I was thrilled that I had made it on-time, in the middle of a Seattle snow storm. Way to go, GPS!

I knew it!

The other day, Ryan and I were driving south to see a car we might be interested in buying. We were running a little late, so we called the guy to let him know. There's a secondary-offense law in WA that prohibits people from talking on cell phones while driving. (I love this law!) So, in order to contact the guy AND keep the law, we turned on the speakerphone and I held it near Ryan so he could converse with the seller. When the guy answered, we could both tell he had some sort of accent and definitely wasn't a native English speaker. The conversation didn't last long and we weren't even sure communication had been made. After we hung up, Ryan commented that the guy sounded Asian, but I was adamant. I said, "Man, that guy sure sounded like a drunk Russian! Hopefully he doesn't drive the car to our meeting place in that condition." Sure enough, when we arrived, the guy was Ukrainian, although he didn't smell or sound drunk in person. Maybe cell phone issues caused the drunken garbled words? My Russian certainly came in handy, as there were some things the man didn't know how to explain in English. Although, I didn't have much use or opportunity to learn car maintenance words when I learned Russian--so that was a challenge. On the way home, I had to laugh with Ryan. I've certainly had a lot of experience conversing with drunk Russian men--and I guess I'm still pretty good at recognizing 'em by sound alone!

The Great Nail Polish Caper

Last week, my sister, Mirinda, moved in with us. We had the room, she wanted an adventure. (At least she thought she did...) And, the girls love their Auntie MooMoo. Kallie has been in absolute heaven since MooMoo moved in, too. She now has a distraction when she wants to do something other than mom and dad have requested. Along with the fun, however, has come a new set of rules, such as, you must ALWAYS knock and wait for a response before entering, you must stay out of MooMoo's room, and you must ask for permission before using MooMoo's things. I must say, the learning curve has been quick, but there have been a few bumps along the way.

For example, last week, when MooMoo came home from the store after the girls were in bed, she left her purse downstairs. I saw the purse and thought I should put it somewhere less accessible to the girls, but didn't worry too much because of the new rules. The next morning, MooMoo was sleeping and I was upstairs working on a blog. When I went downstairs a few minutes later, I literally caught Kallie red-handed breaking one of the rules. She had painted her fingernails and toenails a lovely shade of pinkish-red, which she had discovered in Auntie MooMoo's purse. Had this been the extent of it, Kallie would have earned a time-out, but not much else. Unfortunately, there were also splatters and drops of the lovely bright polish on our light-colored carpet and a large, glossy puddle in MooMoo's purse.

I immediately put Kallie in time-out while deciding what else to do with her. Whitney followed the example of Big Sis, and had also dabbled in the polish. She joined Kallie in the time-out area for a few minutes. After consulting my husband about Kallie and the internet about the polish, Kallie was sent to her room while I scrubbed the carpet. I was amazed to discover that window cleaner gets even bright pinkish-red polish out of light colored carpet. It took me a full hour to clean the carpet--the entirety of which Kallie spent in her bedroom. MooMoo's purse was a complete loss, however, and she had to buy a new, extremely cute, red purse to replace the old black and used-to-be-white zebra-themed bag. The end result of which did not disappoint her.

The next morning, Whitney was carrying around her beloved "Brianna Dolly". She took off Brianna's shoes, only to see that the plastic toes were sporting a bright red pedicure. As soon as Whitney saw the toes, she said, "Oh no! Brianna got into MooMoo's things!" and then she put Brianna on the time-out chair for a few minutes. I couldn't stop laughing about it! At least something was learned from the stresses of the day before!

Letting it slide...

I have learned something in the past 9 weeks. There are certain things I care about more than others. Having a spotless house...don't care so much at the moment. Keeping the downstairs bathroom/laundry room door closed...DEFINITELY care about that right now. Kallie making a mess in the kitchen...don't care. Getting enough sleep...totally care. I remember a few short weeks ago when I was making short work of packing boxes, cleaning the house, entertaining the kids, and running last minute errands. Now, it's all I can to do wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, and tune the TV to Disney for the day. My motivation and energy disappeared with the positive pregnancy test I saw the day we moved into this home.

In all honesty, I've felt better during the course of this pregnancy than I have with either of my other two. It's much better to throw up once or twice a week, instead of 3-4 times a day. But, this difference this time is that I am 100 times more exhausted than I remember being with the last 2. Bedtime at 8, daily 2-hour naps, and resting on the couch the rest of the day. As a result, Kallie has become much more independent and I've become much better at just letting it slide.

In fact, the other day, I was not feeling well at all. I was laying on my bed when Kallie requested a snack. The thought of going all the way downstairs, figuring out what to give her, and then making it happen was more than overwhelming. Instead, I told her no more oranges, (I thought that 4 was enough for the day), and told her to go find something. When she returned to my bedroom about 15 minutes later, I asked what she had found for a snack. She replied, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "Chocolate ice cream, with nuts, and marshmallows." (Rocky Road from our freezer.) And you know what? I laughed. I later found 2 chocolatey spoons, (one for Kallie and one for Whitney), and a brown puddled ice cream scoop in the sink. I was proud of Kallie for being obedient and for figuring out what to have all on her own. I did, however, remind her that next time she needed to ask before eating ice cream.

Overall, I think there are blessings that come with my more relaxed parenting. I'm less likely to get worked up about things that really don't matter. And, my kids are learning to accomplish much more on their own. Not a bad trade-off for having another baby!

Butt the Guinea Pig

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I read stories to my kids, I usually create a different voice for each character. Sometimes, I speak with an accent (usually a HORRIBLE accent), and since the words sound a little different, I wonder if my kids understand what is going on.

Well, yesterday, my kids were watching Charlie and Lola. In this particular episode, the brother and sister team were playing with Charlie's guinea pig, Bert. At some point during the cartoon, Kallie started commenting about Butt, Charlie's guinea pig. I cracked up and tried to explain to her that Charlie and Lola have a different accent than we do, and when they say, "Buhh-t", they're really saying, "Bert." She didn't quite get it and was adamant that it was Butt, the guinea pig. After all was said and done, Kallie finally understood that Butt was really Bert and that people from different places just pronounce things differently. And, I decided that maybe my kids aren't quite ready for my horrible attempts at accents during story time anymore.

I love to hear it!

Both of my girls have been saying the funniest things lately and every time, they make me giggle.

First of all, Kallie has started experimenting with Knock-Knock jokes, or if she were to say it, "Knock-Knock tokes." She'll tell one after another, with the ending always having something to do with oranges and bananas, and occasionally valentines. Don't know why the valentines idea is thrown in there--but the oranges and bananas are certainly from one of the few Knock-Knock jokes I remember. You remember that one, too, right? If you remember any others, feel free to add them in the comments so I'll have a few new ones to use on her next time she's in a toke-ing mood.

The other Kallie-ism lately happens when I tell her thank you. Instead of saying, "You're welcome!," which we have taught her to say, she now says, "Anytime, mom. Anytime." I can't help but laugh at this, which only encourages repetition. So, for now, we laugh and live with it.

Whitney's newest is probably one of my absolute favorites right now. Whenever she does anything worth showing off, (which, when you're two, is almost everything you accomplish), she stands up and shouts, "Look a' meeee! Look a' meeee!" Occasionally, she will follow up with an explanation of her exploits, such as, "I'm a princess." Or, "I'm a ballerina." Or, "I'm dancing!" I really wish I had words to do her little voice and actions justice in my description. Seriously, one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Whitney has also been better at asserting what she needs lately and is gaining the vocabulary to express those needs. Just this morning, while I was laying in bed, convincing myself it was time to get up, Whitney yelled from her bedroom, "I need to get out of bed!!!," followed up with, "I need OUT!!!" a few times. We've been holding off on a big girl bed until we're a little more settled, but the way she says things, I'm tempted to leave her in her crib for a while longer just to listen to her being cute!

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

Yesterday was Kallie's first official Sunday in Primary. I was a little concerned about how things would go for her because it was our first Sunday in our new ward, too. She was amazing! There was one little girl in Kallie's class who was having a hard time going to Sunbeams. So, here is Kallie, the new kid, and she turns to the little girl, Olivia, and says, "My favorite colors are purple, pink, and green!" and then she told Olivia that she liked the buckles on her shoes. Olivia's mom was right there, (she's the one who told me the story), and thought it was the cutest thing ever because Kallie was trying in the best way she knew how to help Olivia be comfortable with going to Primary. I thought it was the cutest story ever! :)

How to Make an Entrance

For those of you who will be attending a new ward in the future, let me provide step-by-step instructions so you'll know how to make an great first impression on your new ward.

1. Spend 10 minutes after Sacrament meeting looking for your kids' classes. After making a complete circuit of the building, realize that the Primary is meeting in the chapel--where you left 10 minutes before.

2. Stand at the door of the Sunday School classroom scanning for your husband, only to realize he's not in there. Start pondering if there's only ONE Gospel Doctrine class to attend in this ward.

3. While you're pondering, feel absolutely relieved to see your husband walking down the hallway. After informing him that there are only single seats visible from the north door, walk together to the south door.

4. Open door and promptly accidentally hit the light switch, (which happens to be located OUTSIDE the classroom. Someone from Europe must have designed this building...), which turns off ALL the lights in the Sunday School room. Take a second to register that it was YOU who hit the lights and turn them back on as soon as you realize what happened.

5. Stand and smile, (while still looking for seats), at everyone in the class, who simultaneously turned around to see who turned off the lights.

6. Locate the only 2 seats remaining in the classroom...at the VERY front, facing the rest of the class members.

7. Suck it up as you walk to the front to sit down in Sunday School for the first time in MONTHS.


Other than that, church was great yesterday. First of all, we're in the same ward as my in-law's best friends. So, we had that connection. Then, yesterday, we realized that 2 families Ryan knew from his mission had since moved into the ward as well. One of them happens to be a Microsoft employee whom Ryan connected with at a BYU Recruiting event several months ago. Funny that we moved into their ward! So, we now have 3 connections. Then, I ended up sitting next to a woman who has a son in the Bangalore India mission, where my cousin is currently serving. Four connections! I thought that was pretty good for our first day.

To my Arizona friends!

I am going to be in Arizona (East Valley area) January 21-23. It's going to be a very quick trip, but I would love to see as many people as possible while I'm there. I'm actually coming for my youngest brother's wedding--so I will be doing wedding things for part of the time and I won't have a car. But, I would love to see anyone down there who wants to see me. Please leave me a comment and let me know so we can work out something with scheduling! :)

Announcing...

We are thrilled about the newest forthcoming arrival to our home! We just purchased a new kitchen dining set and can't wait until it gets here in a couple of weeks. We went shopping this morning with the express purpose of buying a table and chairs. We're currently working from a 4x2 plastic folding table and it's just not working so well. I found a local store that was having a huge sale and decided to head on over. They had 2 locations across the street from each other--and at the second store, we found a table and chair set that I LOVED. The only problem was it was cream/oak and my kitchen is red/white/black. So, knowing that the selection at those stores was smaller than the main location 9 minutes away, we took the drive to the main location. I found the exact same set at the main store, but realized there was a black chair among the cream. After talking with an associate, we discovered that the set did indeed come in black and because they're consolidating their locations to the main store, it was an extra 10% off. SCORE! I was (obviously) more than excited. They had all 8 chairs in stock, but had to order the table, so that will be arriving in 2-4 weeks. I can't wait until it gets here! Until then, here's a pic of the set... (We didn't get the bench--just 8 chairs.)