Eh hem.

This.

Ring Around the Rosie

My miracles are best buddies about eighty percent of the time these days. I am crazy about these two. The level of cute is getting to be absurd, and the sweetness is impossible at times. I am humbled and grateful to be their mom. I thought about motherhood a lot this weekend as I tried to catch bits of General Conference. In between the chasing, moderating, feeding, fort-building, diaper changing, back-scratching, and cleaning miscellaneous items out of Brooklyn's mouth, I was able to absorb the many messages of motherhood the Lord wanted us to hear. I felt so grateful for the recharge and inspiration. I know my life was prolonged so I could be my babies' mother. I know I am exactly the mother they need, as long as I am giving them my best. 

PS... I haven't written on this blog in about seven months. Sammy's gotten big since our first post about her, which was actually my last post.  

Sammy

After six years of having dog envy everywhere we go, we finally decided that there were no excuses good enough to keep us from finally getting our puppy. And we are excited!

We are so excited to bring our sweet Sammy (100% Peter's choice) home in a couple weeks. She is half yellow lab and half chocolate lab. Scott and I have been doing nonstop research, Peter has told everyone about Sammy ("She is not as big as a bear. She is just little, but she will get bigger. She had a purple string, so they called her Violet. She will live at my house. And I will throw a ball to my dog, and my dog will fetch the ball. And we will have lunch together. I will give her a bowl with some cereal, and I will have cereal, and then we will take a nap together. She will sleep on my ground, and I will sleep in my bed. When we wake up, we will play fetch in the backyard until my mommy calls us and says it's dinnertime."), and Brooklyn spontaneously calls "doggie!" in her carseat whenever we're on the go. We can't wait! I'd be lying if I didn't admit that this pup is a bit of a placeholder to make infertility a bit more bearable. But mostly, we just feel like she has been a long-awaited addition to this already crazy family of ours.  I can't wait to watch Sammy and Brooklyn battle it out for who gets to eat the food that gets dropped from the kitchen table. 

Both the kids did great when we went to look at the puppies. Peter climbed into the pen and let them climb all over him. Brookyn kept patting the dog, saying, "Hi doggie! Hi!" I can't wait to watch them grow to love Sammy once she's all settled in our own house!  

A Mess of Happiness About Yooooooou

Gosh, I love being a mom.

Before I Forget

It was the witching hour. The kids weren't particularly grouchy, but I was feeling run-down and exhausted. I kept checking the clock, only to see that time was just
c r a w l i n g.
I kept reasoning my way through the repercussions of putting my kids to bed at 5:30pm, but it just wasn't worth it. So at ten to six, with kids bathed and jammied, teeth brushed, books read, beds "unzipped," and prayers said, I decided to turn out the lights in Peter's room, close the door, lay both kids in the bed alongside me, and sing maybe thirty songs. It was actually one of the sweetest moments I've ever had with my kiddos. And they are generally pretty darn sweet. 

Brooklyn didn't last too long in the bed with us, but she wandered around the room, bringing me treasures. That was pretty cute. Peter kept his head on the pillow, forehead against mine, with his hand either on my cheek, twirling my earring, or playing with my ponytail. A few little gems from this exchange I want to remember:

"Mom, I'm touching your errearrings and being so soft and careful. They are so pretty. Yeah!" 

After singing, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, he sat right up and practically screamed, "Mom! That was soooooo beautiful. Girl songs are very pretty, Mama. But boy songs are not so cute." What are boy songs, Pete? "They are not so cute." Pete, I don't know if there are boy songs and girl songs. I think there are just songs and anyone can sing them. "No mom. That was a girl song. It was so beautiful." 

There were about a dozen, "I really love you mom." He says this to me at least twenty times a day. I melt. 

After about a half hour of snuggling and receiving treasures from Brooklyn, I told Peter that I was going to put Brooky down and go to bed. His lower lip quivered as he burst into genuine sobs. Peter? What's wrong? Are you sad? "Yes. sobs. I was sad cause sobs you said you were sob going for a nap. You sob don't want to stay with me sob sob." Oh, Pete, of course I want to stay with you! "And sing the wonderful songs?" Sure, bud. "Oh, I love the wonderful songs." How about we do two more songs, and then I'll go put your sister to bed. "Okay. That is what I decided."

I got a gooey kiss from my boy and went to tell my girl sweet dreams. I lay Brooklyn in her crib (in Scott's closet while we redo a few things in her bedroom). She was a little confused, but is such a trooper about sleeping that I didn't anticipate any issues. We went through our little tucking in routine, and then I snuck away to hear Brooklyn whimpering a couple seconds later. When I went back into snuggle her (I've never had to reenter her room after putting her down. Ever.), she looked at me with the most earnest little eyes and pleaded, "Unny." We had left her little gray bunny at grandma's house where she napped that afternoon (due to the work in her room). I felt terrible that I didn't haver her Unny. I was pretty pushoverly close to sticking the kids in the car (it had been an early bedtime, after all) and driving up to my mom's. I know if I called them, by the way, they would have been at my doorstep in a minute. They are pretty obsessively loving in all the best ways. I brought her downstairs to the playroom, where we searched for a replacement bunny for the night. She settled on on the Hudson Bay bunny from Gramma Lyne and fell asleep smiling.  

Even the witching hour can become absolutely darling.

Killer

These kids are killer. The level of adorable in our house is reaching absurd proportions. Brooklyn has finally started opening her mouth, and the words coming out are absolutely darling. Peter is as sweet as ever, and he surprises me every day with the new things he is figuring out about life. 

A few details I want to be sure to remember. 

Brooklyn's words. Our sweet girl has her own little language, and it cracks us up. We are the only ones who understand her, but it's clear as a bell to us. Here are a few of her non-conventional words.

"Ah hoo! Ah hoo!" means "Up Please."

"Ma ma (with the sign for thank you)" is thank you. 

"Baba baba" is a fish, fish cracker, picture of a fish. This one is my favorite. She calls it a "Baba" because the fish makes the "bababababa" sound.

"Ah Nuh!" means "All done!"

"Dododo" means "tomato."

"Cheeese tia!" is a cheese quesadilla. Or any food in general that could resemble a tortilla. 

 Everything is said over and over and with absolute desperation. Generally speaking, Brooklyn never does anything halfway. In joy or pain, she commits.

Peter has been loving preschool. Loving. He loves having friends his age to play with (give his sister 6 months and we'll be gold), and he is having a blast learning more and more everyday. Last week was "Small World Day" at Peter's preschool, encouraging kids to dress representative of their country of origin or family heritage. Peter proudly sported his half Canadian pride. 

Peter asserted his opinion pretty firmly that he did NOT favor the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl this year. He did not like that bird with the "not nice eyes." He cracks me up. He is so sensitive. And he is so responsive to eyes. He has not yet figured out the concept of good guy/bad guy. So he calls them "not very nice guys." The Seahawk is not very nice. 

Both these kids are thrilled to be back to the life of cabin weekends. And we are too. Oh, they are cute.