This is the only picture of Sophie on her blessing day where she is not crying. She fell asleep at church and was awakened unexpectedly, so she was pretty upset. I have plans of putting her back into the outfit and taking some pictures, but the best laid plans..... Bella is wearing the dress she wore at my cousin's wedding. She is really funny about picking out her clothes each Sunday, it is the only day she has a definite opinion on what she wears.

Our ward had a DI drive this past weekend. Usually I completely forget about these things, or don't want to poke around and find stuff to get rid of, but this time, I decided to be an overachiever. It all started with a nightstand. We only had one in our bedroom, so I had my mom bring one down when Sophie was born. I had been using one of those magazine stands with a light on it on my side of the bed, and really wanted some drawer space. So she brought down the nightstand and Sophie was born less than 24 hours after she got here. Needless to say, I didn't make the switch before she was born, and everything slows down after you have a baby, so it didn't get made till last week for the sole purpose of the DI drive. Well, after that happened something clicked in me and I started filling bags and boxes for the drive. I went through all the toys in the house and got rid of several Rubbermaid bins of toys that hadn't been played with in ages. As well, now I have some paranoia about the whole lead in the paint in toys made in China. I mean, Sophie is totally going to be putting things in her mouth, and I am sure the statue of limitations has run out on testing most of the toys that belonged to Jack as a baby. Also, I realize it is pointless to store Jack's outgrown clothes any longer. I have started sending some of his outgrown stuff off to my sister-in-law, who has four boys younger than Jack, and giving some of it away. I mean really, if we do have another boy, it will be years and years of holding onto stuff before he can even use it. And Nate pointed out, I will want new stuff anyway. So I have really pared down and got rid of a lot of stuff. It felt so freeing! I think sometimes we can really be affected by what we own, and if we hold onto a lot of things just in case, it really brings us down. A month or so before Sophie was born, I cleaned out my sewing room and craft stuff. I had some projects I started before Jack was born. Let's face it, I am not going to finish something that has been around that long. So why keep it. I sent Nate with a carload then to the DI, and it felt so good. I think with Christmas coming up, I really want to be organized and get things to a manageable level. I just want fill our lives with experiences rather than things.

Date Night

So Nate has been really making an effort to spend extra time with Jack and Bella since Sophie has been born to make the transition easier. And to take some of the pressure off me and give me full time to recover. We usually do tons of fun stuff together as a family in the fall, and let's face it, a newborn slows things down a bit. So a few weeks ago he and Jack went to a BYU football game. They have also gone to a few local high school playoff games. We have been waiting for something fun for him and Bella to do and on Friday, I found it. I was heading to the Rack in Sugarhouse and heard on the radio they were giving away tickets to see Enchanted tonight. The giveaway was about two blocks from where we were in the car, so we zipped over and picked them up. B was so very excited. She called Nate and asked if he would take her on a date. And then she began to count down the days to when they would go. She woke up this morning so excited knowing tonight is her date with dad and that in bonus to that she is seeing a movie a full week and a half before everyone else can go. I love how she is excited to spend time with her dad and how he loves doing fun things with his kids! I can't wait to hear how the movie was when they get home tonight, and plan when I can go! I totally want to go! But in the meantime, Jack and I will probably play a mean game of Monopoly and eat left over sweet and sour chicken, which is the perfect night for him and me.

In other news, I have been hugely busy with Primary. The end of the year is a giant organizational challenge. We have to restaff teachers, figure out classes, plan great to be eight, priesthood preview, and the meet your teacher breakfast. We think we will have eighteen classes this year, which is less than last year by one. We do have three Sunbeam classes again, which is a big challenge. But even scarier, in 2009, we will have 45 sunbeams coming into primary from nursery, meaning by the end of the year, we will have almost 60 kids in nursery! Yikes! However, all this is easier, because we have done it before, the first year was truly frightening.

My mermaid and soldier...

Last week went by in a bit of a whirlwind. I really procrastinated making Bella's costume and didn't finish it until Tuesday morning. I had all these intentions of having it done before Sophie was born, but that didn't happen, and so it was a bit of a scramble. Luckily she didn't know I was working on it up to the wire, it would have been tragedy had she had to settle with last year's Cinderella dress. Jack on the other hand was pretty easy this year as nothing he is wearing is handmade by me. He wanted to be a soldier with full weaponry and ammo. I nixed that and made him into a medic and filled a bag with ace bandages and alcohol wipes for him. He seemed pleased and went along with it pretty well.

On Tuesday we had a ward trunk or treat. It was put on by the primary, so I spent most of my time directing and leading other kids while my own were left to fend for themselves. They did pretty good and followed my directions despite thinking they were silly. I had Sophie with me, so no danger there. Before she was born I made her a little ladybug coat to wear, well, my amnesia about how small babies are, combined with the fact that she is smaller than the other kids made for a giant ladybug coat that may fit her next spring. However the massive amount of fabric ensured she was nice and toasty warm.

On Halloween it didn't snow. This is the first time in the past several years that it has actually been pretty nice on Halloween. Nate took the kids trick or treating around the neighborhood and I handed out candy. We only had about 50 trick or treaters, so a really low year. I suspect it's because we are near the end of the block. But the kids had a great time and lasted just over an hour before Bella decided to call it quits. She really isn't into having the candy, and she only likes a few kinds, so the fun of it wore off and they were home just after 7.

Nate blessed Sophie yesterday at church, so I spent the end of the week getting ready for that. So the house feels really clean right now, well, the main floor and the lower floor, all bedrooms are a disaster. It was a really great Sunday, Sophie's blessing was beautiful, and I managed to bear my testimony without turning into a puddle. We had everyone over for hoagies afterward. It was a great day.

Now it feels like we are into the swing of the holiday season. My kids ask every year why there are no Thanksgiving decorations before the Christmas ones are out. I usually cynically tell them Thanksgiving isn't a money making holiday. But I do plan on scaling back this year and enjoying the holidays, so maybe the cynicism will disappear.

Sweet baby

Sophie is such a sweet baby. She is just starting to smile on purpose! It is incredibly difficult to capture on camera because the smiles are gone the instant we commend her on smiling. I stood on the scale with her a few days ago, and I think she is almost 10 pounds now! She is growing so fast. And last night she slept for almost six hours! So I am totally on a sleep high today, that is the most consecutive sleep I have had in a month! I am sure it isn't going to be a regular thing yet, but I will take what I can get. I can't believe how fast the last month has gone and whenever I look at her I think how fast this is going to go by. Then I see Jack and how big he is, he is almost up to my shoulder now, and realize how fast it really does go by. I am grateful for each moment I get to spend with these kids, they are so amazing!

I am getting antsy to start planning our next family vacation. We did go to California this past summer and had a great time, but as Isabella told me, it's not really vacation unless you stay in a hotel. And though I didn't tell her so, I am inclined to agree with her a little bit. We took it really slow in Cali because I was so pregnant and the drive was a bit more exhausting than usual. So it feels like it has been a long time since we have all been on a vacation. The kids of course want to go to Disneyland, which I am always up for. Jack mentioned that he would like to go to Yellowstone. I am up for anywhere. After all we won't be going anywhere till after the new year, and at that point Sophie will be even easier to travel with. I am a big fan of travelling with babies actually. I just pop them into the baby Bjorn and off we go. They are not prone to wandering off, and they have no opinion on where we eat or what we do. Everyone gets good breaks while the baby is nursing, so no over tiredness from me driving everyone to see as much as possible. I carried Bella in the Bjorn until she was 16 months old actually, and it really was my preferred way to travel. This is Bella at about 6 months old when we went to the Oregon Coast. Another thing I love about the Bjorn is how toasty it keeps baby when the weather is cold.

So, if anyone has any suggestions as to where to go, I am up for them. We are good with both road trips and flying vacations. I just want to start planning to go somewhere, so we have something fun to look forward to and work toward as a family....

Where's the kid?

Last week was Red Ribbon week at Jack's school. He loved it because each day comes with a theme of how to dress. Usually he and I negotiate over what he wears. It usually doesn't go well. I don't want to stifle his creativity, but there are some fashion choices I just can't live with. Socks and sandals, monochromatic, red pants and orange shirts. I admit, I am not the most fashion forward person myself, but I feel it is my job to not let my children look completely goofy. I don't mind letting them wear capes or crowns or any dress up stuff really. I even spent a day shopping with Bella while she wore Tinkerbell wings. I find that kind of fashion eccentricity a bit charming really. Anyway, I digress, the last day of red ribbon week was wear red day. Luckily Jack owns red pants as well as a red shirt. But the main thrill for him was that he matched the sheets on his bed. Maybe I should only buy him well coordinated bedding.

Sophie has been enjoying her swing. So much so, that I manage a shower everyday! Yay! She hit one of the toys the other day with her hand and Bella got all excited. From the beginning Bella has had a vision of sharing her toys with Sophie, so I think she can hardly wait for that stage to begin. I am anxious to see if she is just as excited when Sophie actually wants to play with her toys.

Pumpkins!

We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday to pick out our Halloween pumpkins with the kids. This is really the earliest we have ever made it there. Usually we are rushing around at the last minute to get there and then we end up in a rush to get them carved and ready to go. In fact, a few years ago we didn't even carve pumpkins, we just colored them, we were that late. Anyway, we thought we better go sooner rather than later in case the weather turns really cold and we don't want to take Sophie out in the cold. It was a lot of fun. We came home with a lot of pumpkins and the kids wanted to carve them right away. I told them we needed to hold off for a few days so they will still look good at Halloween, plus, if we hold off, we will have a built in FHE activity.

After the pumpkin patch we went to Fuddruckers for lunch, and the kids and I ran a few errands. I bought the kids some chocolate milk on the way home and Bella spilled some on herself in the car. I thought it was mostly gone at that point, but when we got home she rushed in the kitchen holding the chocolate milk, fell down and we had chocolate milk everywhere. Jack started laughing so hard he could barely speak. He said the bottle spun around in a complete circle, and sure enough, the ceiling and all walls were covered in splatters of chocolate milk. It took Nate a long time to wipe it all up, and we are still seeing traces of it, mostly in the stairway-how did it get that far!

I am still not quite finished with all the Halloween costumes, I am hoping I can be productive this week. I am starting to get used to our new schedule and feeling more recovered, so I am aiming to finish up some projects this week. In other family news this week, my Sister in Law got engaged! I hear she may get married in April, though I have no confirmation of that. Also, my cousin is expecting and due in June! So lots of fun ahead!

Lovely Baby

Sophie is such a sweet baby. She really doesn't get too upset about anything. She is calm and pleasant and just likes to hang out with all of us all day long. She doesn't get put down too often. Even though she doesn't sleep much at night, she is so pleasant while she is awake. And being that my mom is still here, I get a pretty good nap daily and am not feeling the exhaustion of it all yet.

We have been so blessed and taken care of by our ward and neighbors. We have been brought so many delicious meals and so many cute gifts. Nate's fellow coaches even sent some cute outfits and a bouncy seat! It has been so nice and everything has really given me an opportunity to just hold the baby and focus on her. I realize those days are short, before I know it she will be up and about, so it has been lovely to just hold her and get to know her.

We had parent teacher conferences for Jack yesterday. They went really well, he is doing really well, he has 100% on everything they have done so far. He really loves school and has a great attitude about everything they do. His teacher seems like she is enjoying her first year teaching. And she seems to not have any drama in her life, which is nice. His kindergarten teacher was great,but distracted by her wedding a lot of the year. And I also liked his first grade teacher as well, but she had a really difficult year in her personal life. So I am hoping this year will be all in all uneventful.

Nate met us at the conference with his glasses covered in tape. A kid punted a football and he was talking to another kid and got clocked. His glasses are totally destroyed. I thought he was joking at first because they had a football banquet they spotlighted the coaches at. I figured it was a joke about him being a computer programmer. But no joke and we will be off this weekend to get some new glasses. He has needed a new exam so it's really not too bad. He did have a few cuts around his eye as well, but no permanent damage.