A Tripod and a Timer

Sensitive

I don't know why it's taken me this long to realize how sensitive and shy Lucy is. She's not shy at all around me, so when she clams up around others I'm always taken back.
But lately, she focuses much of her attention on three emotions... happy, sad, and mad. If I ask her to give back Todd's toy, she gets so upset, runs to her bed, dramatically flops onto her bed and yells out "Lucy's so sad! Lucy's crying!" ...She knows how to break my heart.
A couple of days ago, it took me at least a half an hour to convince Lucy that I wasn't mad at her. She woke up that morning and all she could say over and over again was "Mommy mad... Mommy very very mad!" She has even talked in her sleep saying/crying "Mommy mad!" What?! Is that all she sees me as... mad? When we get upset at her, it cuts her to the core. And apparently if she is having nightmares about it, she is really affected by it. I think I need to be a little more careful with how I react to her sometimes.

But I do take a little advantage of her current focus on emotions. Like when she won't stay in her bed when it's 9:30 at night. I tell her that if she gets out of bed then "I'll get very, very mad"... but if she stays in bed, "I'm so happy!"
Most of the time, it works like a charm.
My favorite is when she wakes up in the morning or from a nap, runs out of her room with a big smile, gives me a big hug and says, "Mommy happy!"

"Yes, Mommy is happy! Because now I get to be with you!"

Temple Open House

Yesterday was our day to be tour guides for the Kansas City Temple open house.
Yesterday was one of my favorite experiences with Alex since we got married.

Yesterday...
...we got up around 5:30am and dropped the kids off from about 6:15am-12:45pm
...we goofed off with each other while waiting to get our tour group. (we're we allowed to have that much fun?!)
...we each got to take turns hosting a tour group consisting of about 30 people
...we fell more in love with each other
...we had such a feeling of fulfillment giving up our morning and serving at the temple

and most importantly, we were able to share the gospel with people who didn't know very much about the church. The Spirit was so strong and so peaceful, it was hard to deny it.
This was the closest to a mission that I have ever experienced. I can't wait to serve a mission with Alex one day!

After our time as tour guides, we came home and all of us crashed for a couple of hours. (I can't tell you how grateful I was that both kids slept at the same time! Very rare.) Alex then took off for his only class that day and invited some of his classmates to the temple house that evening. We had 7 friends over for dinner and then all went to the temple open house together. We had even more amazing conversations about the church with Alex's classmates... most of whom don't believe in Christ. But we were able to share our testimonies with them and I know that they felt something special.


One of these days I'll get pictures up of the temple when I finally remember to bring my camera with me!
It's so beautiful.

Tagged

My friend tagged me in her blog to answer some questions. But I'm going to cheat and instead of doing all of the rules of the questionnaire, I'm just going to list random things about me. (hope you don't mind, Lauren!) :)

1. I'm obsessed with my kids noses... meaning I'm always picking at them or wiping them. Poor kids.
2. I LOVE sauteed  mushrooms! Mushrooms are a staple around here.
3. One of my biggest fears is dying young and not being there for my children as they grow up.
4. I secretly want to name a son Walt... yes, after the man himself! (I know it will never happen though) 
5. I hate flossing. It is like pulling teeth to get me to floss. But I still do it... not often enough though. Sure glad Alex is going to be a doctor and not a dentist. :)
6. I occasionally have dreams that I still work at Disneyland. Sigh...
7. I joined the swim team in high school. I lasted two weeks.
8. I want twins. Specifically twin boys. When trying to name Todd, it was either between James and Ben, but neither of those felt right. I like to tease Alex that those are my twins coming. I'm crazy, I know. But if my mom can handle two sets of twins... I could surely handle one, right?
9. My dream house would look along the lines of this:

10. My go to movie when I just feel like watching something is either Oklahoma! or Sleepless in Seattle.
11. (I am so ashamed of this) I was a bully to a little boy named Billy when I was in 5th grade. Pushing and all. I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it! Billy... if you're out there.. I'm SOOO sorry!! I promise, I'm not a mean person!
12. If I could be any fictional character, I would want to be Laurie from Oklahoma!
13. I love the show Once Upon a Time. Yes, it's definitely cheesy at times, but I love it!
14. I like to read, but I don't usually read fiction. I'm more drawn to self-help books, parenting books, religious books, ect.
15. I make Alex two turkey, cheese, and tomato sandwiches everyday for his lunch. So that means by the end of 4 years of med school, I will have made approximately 2080 sandwiches. That's a real calculation, people!
16. I'm a fish taco expert. Pretty much any where we go that offers fish tacos, I've got to try them! By far, my favorite fish taco is still at Rubio's. Simple and delicious.
17. When I'm really tired, I sleep talk. I have even on occasion gone around our apartment looking for our "other baby" knowing very well that my kids are both in their beds.
18. Me and Alex constantly quote movies back and forth (we're geeks). I love it, though, when I can stump him as to where the quote came from. The most quoted movie around here is probably Toy Story. (again... geeks)
19. My dream car in high school was a lime green V.W. bug with a Texas licence plate. Don't ask about the Texas thing. Okay, I'll tell you... it was because of a Sponge Bob episode. Haha! I'm so lame!

That's it... I can't think of any more!

Makeshift Walker

Alex constructed this walker for Todd to practice his walking. Not bad, eh?!

(We're on a med school student budget, remember?) 

Maybe Todd could pick up a little more Isaiah while he's at it... child prodigy? :)

According to Lucy...

she has pink eyes,

and i've got a big nose...

Happy Easter!

Lucy was delighted to see our back yard covered in colorful eggs. As you can see, I couldn't get a picture of her face because her eyes were glued to the ground, scouting for her treats. And if you're wondering... Todd was napping. It worked better that way because then otherwise he would have been crawling around on the wet grass. He'll be ready for next year, though!

Happy Easter!