Also Announcing...

Also announcing the much anticipated, Waffle Wednesdays!!!  (The Brain-Child of The Wizard of Amazingness, Himself....BRIAN BO BIANNNNNN!)
That's right folks, starting this very Wednesday, our house will be filled with teenagers and the aroma of waffles as the children of Brian bring starving friends home from school to partake of a veritable smorgasbord of waffles, pancakes, and delicious toppings.  Come one, come all, and join the fun!!!
Certain exclusions apply--See Mom for details :)

Announcing...

Announcing...The most amazing baby in the world!!!
Yes, indeed, folks, the incredible Lily has done it again...this time by defying gravity by lifting her chunky little body up on all fours and CRAWLING (Applause, please)!!!!  But that's not all, no, this amazing child can also stand completely up on her two little feet and walk, yes folks, walk, using only a table or a finger for support.  But stay tuned, because soon she will be walking with no support at all!!  And how old is this death-defying dare devil?  Seven Months Old!!!  Lets hear a cheer for the world's cutest, most amazing baby of all tiiiiiiiiime!

Our New Arrival

Ways that having Sally here is like having a new baby

-She has to be changed,

-She has to be fed,

-We worry and fuss over her,

-When we give her milk to drink, sometimes she blows bubbles instead, just for fun,

-After watching "How to Train Your Dragon" for the first time, she began purring like the Dragon in the movie.  We took her for a walk, and she purred her tongue the whole time.  If I hadn't known better, I'd have sworn her wheelchair was motorized.

Ways that having Sally here is NOT like having a new baby

-No one congratulates us on our new arrival,

-No one says she's so cute,

-Lifting her is not fun,

But then again...

-She doesn't cry,

-She doesn't keep us up all night,

-And most importantly-- Although we don't know what the future will bring with her, we do know that she WONT grow up to be a teenager!!!!

Once again, the good outweighs the bad :)

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Good:
Jon stopped by and visited for awhile on Sunday.  We had a fun time talking.
Miriam is on choir tour in San Diego.
Brian and I got to hear Thomas play his trumpet in a jazz festival today.  He did great!
Katrina and Thomas are at a Beauty and the Beast cast party tonight.
Sally (Brian's Mom) and I sat on the deck and gazed at the popcorn popping out on our giant apricot tree.
I got to go to the Relief Society birthday party tonight with the ladies in my ward (congregation).  The Relief Society is the LDS church's women's organization--the largest women's organization in the world.
Bad:
I'm kind of going stir crazy.  It's one thing to be a homebody by choice, it's another thing to be stuck at home because you have to.  Yesterday, I slept practically all day.  I did better today, though :)
The Ugly:
I changed 4 messy diapers today and four yesterday.

And that, folks, is my life.  It's a good thing that "Good" far outweighs bad and ungly!

Can We Do This Without Me?

Well, it has been quite a week.  On Friday Brian’s mother, Sally came to live in our home.  Also on Friday my parents came to visit for 5 days.  The reason for my parent’s visit was to accompany Matthew when he went through the LDS temple for the first time.  That occurred last night and was one of the happiest experiences of my life, se eing my son worthy to enter into the temple of God and make sacred promises of righteousness to Him.

My parents also went to Katrina and Thomas’s play, Beauty and the Beast where Katrina played “the aristocratic lady” and Thomas played “Le Fou.”  The kids did a wonderful job, and my sister, Sarah and her family along with my sister Elizabeth also attended.  Everyone was quite impressed with their work. Miriam was in a festival the day my parents arrived and we got to see her do that, too.  Her choir won for the whole festival!  My parents really enjoyed listening top her sing.  Jon was also at home for the weekend, which was so nice.  He, Brian, Thomas, and my dad worked on Jon's car.  They found out that he needed new tires.  It was deceptive because the treads looked okay, but were coming off of the tire in some places.  Weird.  Anyway, they got new tires.

I don’t know how I would have made it through the last few days if my parents hadn’t been here.  Not only did they help Jon with the cost of the tires, my mom has helped me restore the house to order after the upheaval of switching around rooms in order to make place for Sally, and my dad helped me with the heavy lifting, and since Sally can’t move her left side, there is a lot of that.  I have done more physical work in the past week than I have done for years, and it is quite a chore.

Still, we have had our laughs.  The other day Sally told me about someone who told her to go to “H-E-Double Q.”  I cracked up laughing on the inside.  Then there was the first time my dad and I tried to use a lift to hoist Sally from her bed.  We had no idea what we were doing, and Sally’s conversation rambled aimlessly as we turned and tugged and pushed at her, until she spoke up loudly saying, “Can we do this without me?”  My dad and I laughed quite a bit about that, and I told him that I wanted out, too.  Sally’s question sticks in my mind and I find myself asking, especially when her care becomes a strain, “Can we do this without me?”  It keeps me laughing on the inside.