Excess

The scriptures teach that we should use all things with judgement and not in excess (D&C 59:20). Looks like we have some more teaching to do with Danny.

Visitors Welcome

So after checking out these pictures, I'm pretty sure you too will want to come visit us on our new turf! There are so many fun things to do . . .

Alex & Anne at the Space NeedleInternational Fountain at the Seattle Center
(Notice how my dad is trying to push my mom in)
Pike Place Market
Ferry Ride to Bremerton
Fun at the Waterfront

Cougar Mountain Zoo

And I forgot to take any pictures at the Pacific Science Center, Chinatown, and the parks. Thanks for wonderful visits Mom & Dad C, Anne, Alex, and Mom H. And to everyone else - make your reservations soon. Rooms are filling up fast!
(Well . . . not that fast. We just love to have visitors)

Feel the love

Another great find at Pike Place Market - thanks Matt!

Following a tradition my family had while I was growing up, we made and opened Valentine bags to celebrate the day of love. I'm really enjoying Danny's memory and enthusiasm for traditions now that he is getting older. He had a great time creating pirate Valentine's because hey, nothing says "I love you" quite like cannonballs and a skull. As evidenced in the previous post, pirates are his current obsession.Kaylee particularly enjoyed a Mounds candy bar she got her hands on. Truth be told, I actually gave it to her to play with in the car. Unbeknownst to me, she wasn't just entertained by the sounds of the wrapper though. Her new razor sharp teeth sliced the teeniest hole in the packaging. I thought Kaylee was just chewing a noisy wrapper to her hearts content, but she was actually sucking the chocolatey goodness right out of the hole she'd created. No wonder she was so intent on keeping the candy bar and so furious when I took it away! Now that she's tasted chocolate, I can probably forget about the mashed up peas and green beans forever.

Happy Valentine's Day

Reflections of a mother . . .

So this whole week I've sort of been in a funk. For whatever reason I've just felt really grouchy about being a mom. Maybe it's because I've been up changing wet sheets every night or because the dogs got into our bathroom trashcan for the billionth time or because I've done 3 loads of laundry every day this week (mostly Kaylee's and mine covered in baby food). . . . just normal stuff, but I've been grumpy about all of it. Danny easily senses my mood and takes advantage making me even more frustrated and down on myself for being a bad mom. "Fine. Watch another TV show." "Fine. Eat another piece of candy - just stop whining and bugging me." Last night I had had it with him. I was really angry and impatient. Afterward I felt horrible and offered a repentant prayer, but this morning was still not going well when Danny wet his pants - he was too busy playing pbskids.org to stop and get to the potty. AARGH.

Anyway, during my gospel study I decided I needed to study the joys of motherhood and was reminded in a couple excellent talks that it's OK to feel overwhelmed and frustrated. "I surely know that there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood. Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction. Pray deeply about your children and about your role as a mother. Parents can offer a unique and wonderful kind of prayer because they are praying to the Eternal Parent of us all. There is great power in a prayer that essentially says, “We are steward-parents over Thy children, Father; please help us to raise them as Thou wouldst want them raised.” " M. Russell Ballard, “Daughters of God,” Ensign, May 2008, 108–10

And then so many things in this talk rang true to me -
"We all seem to measure ourselves by what we see in others, and that’s others at their best, scrubbed and polished physically and emotionally. Yet we judge ourselves by how we feel when we’re at our worst. Consequently, we’re sure to come out on the short end of the stick, always inadequate. . . “plateaus of little progress” are also part of the plan and with the help of the Lord I can become the kind of mother he wishes me to be. The road will be long and bumpy, and I’ll make wrong turns, but I know that I can reach my destination. The realization has come to me that in the process of refining my children I myself am becoming refined. We are truly in partnership with God as we bring these little spirits into the world. Our reward will be great, not only because of the end result, but also because of the spiritual development we experience in the process. " Claudia T. Goates, “When You Feel Inadequate as a Mother,” Ensign, Mar 1976, 23

I realized this week I've been looking at everything through a magnifying glass instead of a telescope - magnifying every incident out of proportion instead of looking into the distance and recognizing that these moments are so tiny in the big scheme of things. My babies will only be mine for such a short time. And more significantly - "my babies" are really not mine at all, but the Lord's children. After some humbling reflection, I glanced through some photos to remind myself how much I really do love these kids and how blessed I am to be their mother. Though I don't find joy in every moment, I do find joy in the journey.

Adventures in eating

Our new favorite place to find yummy samples, tasty baked goods, and loads of fresh food. Touristy as it is, we love Pike Place Market!

Last week Kaylee had her 6 month check-up. Though it was her first visit with this new pediatrician, he quickly diagnosed her. "She's stubborn and has a strong-will." Not sure if I like the doctor or not, but he's accurate in his diagnosis.

We've been working on introducing solids since returning from the Christmas holidays. Danny seemed to go along with the whole thing much, much better. Kaylee loves pears, but otherwise raspberries away any baby food that is offered to her. Not just the gross stuff like rice cereal, peas, and squash, but even applesauce and mashed up bananas. Anyone relate? Any suggestions?

The only exception is if I let her feed herself. My independent little lady is happy to feed herself.

Of course this technique always ends in the bathtub. Perhaps with this one we'll just skip the baby food. I've been trying more mushy finger foods lately and those work pretty well.
As you can see they double as cute hair bows and enable us to bypass the bath and hair fixing altogether. I suppose if all other techniques fail, we'll just give in and let her eat the dog food.

Catching Up

We found out we'd be moving on Oct. 7. Everything was moved out of our house on Dec. 7 and the kids and I left on Dec. 8. Needless to say life has been a bit of a whirlwind the last several months. I finally figured out how to create photo collages (and now I'm wondering why I didn't figure it out sooner - SO EASY!) so here's a quick recap of things I wanted to blog about, but just didn't have time or energy. You can click on the collage if you want to view it larger (and actually see anyone's faces).

BEATRIX POTTER PARTY

During our fair visit to Idaho last September (I know . . . we're going WAY back here) Grandma Hong had a fun Beatrix Potter Party for all her grandkids. We searched for vegetables in Mr. MacGregor's garden and ate giant carrots. We also ate butterfly sandwiches and minnows like Jeremy Fisher. The kids also got to watch part of the ballet of Peter Rabbit. Kaylee enjoyed playing with her new doll from Aunt Mandi. Aside from helping crush (and eat) oreos for the worms and dirt, Danny LOVED digging in the real dirt. Thanks for a fun party!

THANKSGIVING IN HOUSTON

This year my parents and Uncle Chris and Aunt Stacey came to Houston. Matt and I celebrated our 6th anniversary during the Thanksgiving holiday and we were grateful for family babysitters so we could go out on a date. We drove around to all our favorite Houston memory spots. The photo is us at the beach where Matt told me he loved me for the first time. So sweet.

A highlight of everyone's visit was a trip to Brazos Bend, where you can see lots of alligators! It was a chilly (well . . . Houston chilly) day so most of the gators were tucked away. We did see a few and Kaylee even got to meet a baby gator. We did not, however, eat gator for our Thanksgiving feast. This year we had two delicious birds - a cage free, organic turkey cooked in a bag (SO juicy and tender) and a smoked turkey (so flavorful). It was the perfect combination and there were plenty of delicious leftovers. We missed having my brother Aaron visit, but were so glad Chris and Stacey could come out to Houston before we moved.

CHRISTMAS IN IDAHO

We decided to drive to Idaho this year instead of fly. We had plane tickets from Houston, but couldn't easily (or cheaply) get them changed to depart from Seattle. Though I wouldn't want to do it every weekend, the drive was not too bad. We left at 3 PM and arrived at about 4 AM with only one dinner stop and one potty stop. The kids slept most of the way, and Mom Hong took over when we arrived so that Matt and I could get some sleep. The 10 days in Idaho were filled with family, feasting, and fun. Danny was more excited about the nerf gun that his Uncle Kerry let him borrow than the Star Wars legos Santa brought him, but was thrilled about the pirate ship Grandma Angie and G-Pops got him. It has become his favorite bath toy. Kaylee was scooting around everywhere and had fun putting bows and wrapping paper and EVERYTHING in her mouth. A highlight for her was helping Grandma Hong make Christmas cookies and getting her first tastes. My best Christmas gift was an overnight getaway provided by Matt and Grandma Hong. 8 hours of sleep never felt so good. We also had a blast cross country skiing and sledding at Uncle Lance's rec area (I guess it is actually Pocatello's rec area, but I like to call it Lance's) with Tim & Debbie's family. Danny had fun trying to ski . . . for about 15 minutes. Maybe next year. New Year's Eve was spent at Kerry and Mandi's new house and Danny actually partied until after midnight. This led to some good long sleeping on the New Year's Day drive back to Seattle (thanks again for bringing the dogs Mindy and G-Pops). It was another fantastic holiday in Idaho.

Ahhh. Now that I feel all caught up on the last few months I can return to blogging about the joys and mysteries of day to day life with a 3 year old and 7 month old.