Adding it up...

5 jobs
2 universities
4 cities
1 house
3 apartments
2 robberies
1 knee operation
17 ER visits
2 kids
4 years

It's been quite a ride, but I have loved it so far.
Happy Anniversary to us!

2

Generations

This is by far one of my favorite photos from Eva's birth. My mother-in-law, Louise, kindly said she would watch Ella while we were in the hospital. She came to the hospital on the day Eva was born to visit and introduce Ella to her new sister. While there, Louise held Eva by the window and rocked her for a long time. She is such a kind grandmother to our children and watches Ella all the time so we can have dates, go to the Temple or just have a break from 2-year-old mayhem. I watched her rock little Eva and was touched at the love that spans the generations.

Two days later as we were getting ready for discharge, a rep from the State of Utah came in to have us fill out the Birth Certificate. We had not yet fully decided on the name. She left for a few minutes to give us a chance to think it over. Well, it didn't take a few minutes, it only took a second to find the perfect middle name....Louise.

1

The "D" Word

This weekend I struggled to work on my dying computer, which shut itself off in the midst of a Photoshop project not once, but 3 different times. Simultaneously, Matt was working on repainting our bathroom and replacing the light fixture. All I know is that some of the parts from said light fixture fell down the drain while he was working.

The point of explaining these frustrations? This week while Ella was playing with her ball, we overheard her say "damn it!" Oh no! Look at my innocent daughter! She has been completely corrupted by her parents. The title of this post can have 2 meanings...it could stand for the words she said or for "damage", the damage her parents have done to her by teaching her to swear.

Much like drug use, I am sure this first cuss word will lead to hard swearing and she'll be ready to hang with sailors by the time she hits Kindergarten.

Oh the shame!

2

My kind of kid

Ella has been doing really well as a big sister to little Evangeline. Our only problem is Ella loving Eva TOO much. This includes smothering Eva with hugs, climbing into Eva bassinet when she cries and trying to shove a binkie into her mouth and generally mauling the poor infant. Ella also loves all things which may be assigned as Eva's possession and has taken to sucking on Eva's binkies and trying to wear Eva's clothes.

Today the obsession turned to Eva's bouncy. As soon as I took the baby out to feed her, Ella grabbed Eva's blankie and lay down in the bouncy with the blanket on. Rocking the apparatus to near breaking point was soon not exciting enough and Ella reached for a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos to ease her boredom (we try to teach our children to eat when they are bored or have an emotional need, therefore clinching their spot in the loving arms of childhood obesity). She stayed in this position for almost an hour and was pretty sad when I kicked her out to put Eva back in. I have to admit...I thought it was pretty cute.

0

Evangeline is 1 month old!

Evangeline is one month old today and (trite but true) I can barely believe it. Her looks have changed quite a bit and where she once looked just like her Daddy and now she is beginning to look just like me. I am wondering if the cause of this shift to looking like me has to do with her gaining weight and becoming the Mayor of Chubbytown. Oh wait...I am the Mayor of Chubbytown. She's on the City Council then.

I just adore this little girl with her peaceful spirit and crazy fluffy hair, which is making it's way off her head and moving her one step closer each day to total baldness. She is adorable and I am loving every minute of our time together.

I had a little photo shoot with her today where I actually put the poor kid into a photography light box. She mostly hated it, but this picture is the result and I love the look on her little face. Happy one month little Noodle.

3

Playing Catch Up

We've been having some problems with our digital camera lately, so this post is to catch up on all of the goings on of the last week.
I bought Ella some special crayons for the bath tub and her life is complete. Sadly, these bathtub crayons teach children that it's okay to draw on walls, furniture and their own bodies. I realized this fact too late!


Easter Sunday was wonderful. We had a great dinner at my in-laws and took some not-so-great family pictures. An example follows...

Ella is LOVING being a big sister to little Evangeline. She constantly asks for a turn to hold the baby and is very gentle and loving when she gets her turn.

1

Easter Magic

Our Easter this year was simply magical! Seriously, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. On Saturday morning we had an Easter egg hunt and Ella had a fabulous time collecting eggs and then finding her basket hanging in our fruit trees in the backyard. Here is Ella and the spoils of her hunt. More pictures of the hunt tomorrow.


We then went inside for a truly insane amount of Easter crafting fun! We made Ester cupcakes and Ella mixed the batter, put on the coconut grass and jellybean eggs. We then made Easter cards for the Grandparents, a chicken statue and colored Easter pictures. I love these photos of the cupcakes...


After her nap Ella played her guts out in the front yard with 3 little neighbor girls. They colored with sidewalk chalk and rode their bikes up and down the block. I think she had a wonderful day and so did I.

3

Dearest Stephen, our time has come!

Like many a tortured youth in the 80's I idolized Stephen Morrissey (former front man for the alternative band The Smiths). Yes indeed, he helped me wallow in self pity and perpetuated the feeling that nobody understood me for most of my adolescent years. My walls were plastered with posters of him! His propensity to make teen-agers even more whiny and his constant shirtlessness in his posters inspired my Mother to hate him (as should mothers everywhere), but doesn't that parental loathing just fuel the teenage infatuation? An emphatic yes!

Well, Morrissey came to Utah in concert in 2002 and I bought tickets immediately. Finally all of my dreams were going to come true! Sadly, my roommate received a treatment for a serious illness she had and I had promised to help her following her treatment. This occurred on the very night of Morrissey's concert and I gave my ticket to a friend. You would think I would feel good for sacrificing for a friend, maybe a better person would have, but me? I felt terrible for missing the concert.

With Morrissey rounding up on his 38th year, I feared he would never tour here again. Then yesterday, like a beacon of hope, we saw an ad on TV announcing his return to Salt Lake City on May 8th. Woo Hoo! Tonight I purchased my tickets and I feel insanely excited! Almost to the point of being a bit pathetic! Who cares!?! I am going to see Morrissey and that means I can scratch a major life event off of the list of "things to do before I die".

{ scratch! scratch! }
This one's for you Mom.

3

Erin Go Braugh!

Translation: Ireland Forever!

Yes, I know it's not St. Patrick's Day. I am merely commenting on the Irish genes dominating our family's gene-pool. (This post would drive my Scottish Grandmother CRAZY!) I am posting a picture of little Evangeline's head. The purpose? So you can see the fiery red hair she's sporting. It's even more red than Ella's at that age. You'll notice our other little redhead dancing in the background of this photo. Somehow a blonde and a brunette have produced TWO little red-haired girls and I LOVE every minute of it. See for yourself...

1