Rollin' again

When Miriam was born, we got a jogger stroller from Target. We chose it basically because it was a tough stroller (meaning we could take it on grass and not be frustrated) and it was priced right. Miriam loved the stroller and her stroller rides. They were her "chill time," and she would just sit back and watch the world go by, and we used it all the time. So when we found out Elijah was coming, we started looking for a doubler. I focused mainly on ksl.com, thinking that used would be cheaper. I found a good deal and snagged it. Then it turned out that I hated it because the shade thing on top couldn't go back and forth and was basically useless unless you were walking with the sun at your back. I found myself pulling the busters backwards more than once because of that darn sun and not going on walks because it wouldn't be fun for any of us. It turns out that my priced-right brand of stroller (BabyTrend) is one of the only kinds that has a moveable shade thing, and it's absolutely wonderful. It can ratchet down to right in front of them with just a slight push. It's so nice! As we go around a corner to face the sun, I flip the thing down and my kids are not squinting and hot. As we turn the corner back, I flip it up and they can see everything again. I'm so lucky that my favorite feature just happened to not be standard on all strollers, although I for one think it should be. SO, I sold the doubler that didn't have the flip-down shade on ksl (for the same price I bought it at and had about ten calls in the first half-hour... I should have tried to make some money off the deal!) and found a doubler that was our exact kind but doubled (also on ksl... gotta love it). HALLELUJAH! We love going on walks again.

On a side note, Brent commented that he really liked having Elijah drinking Dr. Pepper and eating Oreos in the past two consecutive posts, and so I have chosen a Cheetos-eating picture for our double stroller representation.

Perhaps the best possible news in a streak of 100 degree days

Okay, kids, if you haven't heard about the Dr. Pepper deal going on at Albertson's, you're in for a treat! The 12-packs are on sale for $5.29. When you buy 4, it adds up to $21.16. Albertson's has a buy2get2 deal so the end price is $10.58. Dr. Pepper has a deal where if you purchase $20 worth of the stuff, a $10 coupon for any Albertson's purchase spits out with your receipt. Which means you get all 4 12-packs for a grand total of 58 cents! Wo! Then if you want to, you can go back and spend that $10 on 4 more cases of Dr. Pepper, which is precisely what I did, and get another $10 coupon! You can do it as many times as you want through Tuesday at closing and get as many 12 pack cases for 58 cents per 4 as you want. The only thing to be wary of is to make sure the register takes of the first $10 for the buy2get2 thing. But if it doesn't, the cashier can add it on for you. Time to build up your year's supply! This is even better than the Guns n Roses thing which quite frankly no matter how I tried the website was always too busy. But this totally makes up for it! I go in phases of drinking Dr. Pepper, and since it was the only thing that made me feel not terrible when I was pregnant with Elijah, I've been in a drinking phase for a while. I've been planning on cutting back but not now! I have in my trunk right now 12 12-packs of the 12 ounce cans. Cheers!

Where's the beef?

Guess which part of an Oreo cookie is Miriam's favorite? This was on my kitchen floor the other morning. There were similar piles in other parts of the kitchen, as well as in front of the television.















Elijah, however, prefers them whole. This was at a ward party. Eli loved the after-dinner cookie bits the second counselor in the bishopric kept slipping to him.















In other grocery-related news, I revisited the babyfood making business and am much happier with the results. I skipped the grinder and just blended, then scooped it into ice trays (thanks for the tip, Kacie!). It took very little time and very little effort and so far he likes them great. He didn't even shudder on the last feeding of peas, and that's pretty good for him (green veggies have never sat well with him).

And in still more grocery-related news, I bought a pack of hamburger the other day. When I went to bag it and freeze it, it wasn't in the fridge. Nor was it in the freezer already. Nor could I find it in the car, the kitchen, or anywhere else. Nor have I smelled it fermenting anywhere. Obviously I either left it at the store or somebody took it out of my cart on our walk to the car. Sure is a good thing I'm saving money on babyfood!

Already reading

My friend Ginger posted a video on her blog of her little boy reading "Brown Bear Brown Bear" to his baby brother. Miriam saw the video and immediately decided she wanted a movie of herself reading the book to Elijah. When I told her that Eli was asleep, she confessed that she didn't care if Eli was there, she just wanted to make a movie of herself reading the book. So here it is. One of her most-common phrases right now is "I do it all by myself!" I love how it slips in there during the "silver fish" page. Oh, and so you don't get confused, instead of "black sheep," Miriam says "black lamb," and she calls the "goldfish" a "silver fish." So maybe she's not reading the words after all. I still think she's brilliant. At least after seeing Axel's stellar performance and realizing that it was possible...

Just chattin'

I overheard Miriam playing in the corner the other day. She had her hand up to her ear and she said, "Hi Nana. Doing good. I love you. See you next time won't you sing with me." I asked her if she would like to call Nana. "No, I already talked to her on my pretend phone."

What more could I ask for?

I love being a mom. I adore my kids and I have so much fun with them. I also selfishly love being the one that they turn to when they're excited, hurt, happy or sad. I love being able to be with them all day every day because I get to see every little thing that they do and really know what's "normal," versus what's not and that they might not be up to par. And I love being the one that they cling to and want to be with. Tonight Brent and I went to the second round of Harvest Days Heartthrob, Midvale's form of the always-popular Idol singing competition, and we got a babysitter for the evening. To make a long story short, the babysitter called midway through the concert and said, over his screaming in the background, that she couldn't get Elijah to stop crying. I immediately came home to a sad little boy and a justifiably frazzled little babysitter. Thankfully Miriam had slept through the whole ordeal. Eli isn't hard to calm down usually, so I knew something was up. Even after doing everything for him, he was still tense and worried. I finally decided to just stay home rather than go finish out the concert and said "I think I'll just stay with him." As soon as those words were out of my mouth, the little guy took a big deep breath and his entire body completely relaxed. His binkie-sucking started to be more relaxed rather than panic-stricken. As the babysitter walked out the door (thankfully she just lives down the street and it was light enough for her to walk home), he smiled at me and his eyes started to roll. I almost cried. All he needed was his Mama, and I was the lucky one who got to be everything for him. I sat and rocked and sang to him until he was completely asleep, his binkie finally falling out of his mouth and his little hand finally growing limp after grabbing my finger the whole time. As I kissed his fuzzy little head for the hundredth time, I thought OH I JUST LOVE BEING A MAMA!

Cow Appreciation Day!

I'm so glad I stumbled upon an article about this or else I may have missed it! And that would have been tragic! For those who for some reason may have missed my blog post last year, Chic-fil-A gives away FREE CHICKEN SANDWICHES to those who are partially dressed up as a cow, and FREE COMBO MEALS to those who are fully dressed as a cow. For more info, go to www.CowAppreciationDay.com. See you at Chick-fil-A!

Update...

Last night Eli shuddered and gagged on his homemade babyfood dinner. Sigh. So today we opened it all up and put it in the blender. OH IT WORKED SO MUCH BETTER! If there is a next time, I'll skip the meat grinder all together and just focus on the blender. It would cut the time down dramatically. Plus, with the added water, it made a lot more than I had before. I didn't count the containers, but it's feeling more worth it. We'll see if I ever feel like it would be worth my time and money to buy more food and mash it up for the kid. But see how happy he was? Sometimes all it takes to get some real recognition is to feed the kid a gloopy meal so he realizes how good he normally gets it!

It might not be worth it

Today for the Fourth, I kept trying to think of something we could do to celebrate, but every time I stepped outside it was too hot to think of packing two kids up and going to the park. So I took Miriam to Macey's to get some groceries and picked up a pizza on the way home. I declared that we were going to have a party at home instead of going to the park for the party. Miriam immediately ran into the front room and yelled "SURPRISE ELI!" Apparantly every party is a surprise party. She handed out pretend party hats, frosted everybody's pizza with pretend frosting, and threw pretend confetti into the air. No matter how many times we told her that it was America's birthday, she kept yelling SURPRISE and HAPPY BIRTHDAY at Elijah. Anyway, lately I have been trying to find ways to live more frugally and thriftily. After spending more money on Eli's food than on the other three of ours put together last week, I decided to try my hand at making my own baby food, being more independent in honor of Independence Day. Some of you, I'm sure, are aghast that I've ever bought store-bought baby food. Others are shaking their heads now thinking "OH PAIGE WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?!?" On our Macey's trip, I purchased some sweet potatoes, as well as some frozen veggies that were on sale. After everybody was in bed I got things boiling in the kitchen. The sweet potatoes were cake. I mixed them up just like normal, but added a bit more water. They were fast and easy and made quite a bit. The peas, carrots, and beans weren't quite so easy. After boiling them, I put them through the meat grinder twice and then used the hand mixer. They're still pretty chunky and I'm not sure if Eli will be able to eat them. Well, he's actually not that picky so he probably will. Still, I don't know if I didn't boil for long enough or if I should have blended... Anyway, I ended up with 24 little servings of veggies. Normally priced, this would have cost about $12. I saved $6, but I spent $6, along with an hour and a half or more of time that really is pretty precious. Verdict: I'll think about the sweet potatoes again, but the others weren't worth the time or effort. Now I know. And knowing is half the battle. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY EVERYBODY!
Below: Miriam and Elijah at the surprise party. Thankfully, it was a lot more fun than it looks.

Click! Click! Take a pic! Pic!

Lately, Miriam has been fascinated with the camera. More specifically that they take pictures. And even more specifically that she can control what pictures are taken. For a while, I would pick up the camera and there would be twenty or so red-fade-to-peach shots of her fingers over the lens.
Then she got better and there was a whole bunch of this:

I'll spare you the hundred or so other virtually identical shots, varying only in which portion of face is included and the degree of overexposure. She for some reason kept pointing the camera at herself. It may have been the egocentric take-pictures-of-yourself thing that all the kids are doing these days, but I don't think so. For one, she would say "SAY CHEESE MAMA" as she was doing it.

Anyway, her aiming skills have improved dramatically. When I picked up the camera the other day, there was a pictoral diary of her day. I loved seeing the things she found important enough to document by photo. See for yourself. And don't worry, I've trimmed it down from about 30 to just a few.

Her pink bear Zeebo:

Her dirty clothes:

Her baby doll "Baybuh Baybuh" sitting in the doll stroller:

Herself in the mirror:

And... her brother Eli:

There were lots of pictures of Elijah. The first one he was clear across the room, just in the corner of the shot. In the following ones he got bigger and bigger until he was the main subject. I love that he is important enough to her to be so prominent in her picture-taking. And I love that she is important enough to him that that he's watching her in most of them. I wondered a little bit why I wasn't in any of the pictures. She must have known that I would have taken away the camera.

Good Eater

The other night at dinner after polishing off two and a half baby food containers (the Gerber 2nd Step size), Elijah was still not satisfied. He finally took the spoon away from Brent and carefully put it in his mouth. Each time Brent took it away to put more food on it, Eli would break down. But once he he got the spoon back he was all about the concentration again. This kid is four and a half months old and already feeding himself! That's genius if I've ever seen it. Treat yourself to another Moore family post-dinner video. Bon appetit!

The happiest sound in the world

The hardest part is figuring out which is Elijah and which is Miriam!

Two-year-old logic

EXAMPLE #1
We are on a walk with Elijah in the sleepy wrap when Miriam vacates the seat of the stroller and is now pushing it. She stops on a regular basis to pick up rocks and sticks and other sundry items to put them in the undercarriage part of the stroller. I realize that she is trying to crawl into the area, which is made of a thin canvas-y type of material upon which is stamped very clearly that it is not to be used as a baby carrier.
Me: Miriam, don't crawl under there.
Miriam: I want to go under there.
Me: You can't fit under there.
Miriam: Yes I can fit.
Me: It says it's not for little girls.
Miriam: Oh.
She immediately stops trying to get in and turns to me.
Miriam: Put Eli down there? For little boys?

EXAMPLE #2
We are in Boise with Miriam crying in her bed. Due to the facts that we are transitioning to no naps and that we are on vacation, I get her out. When it's time to go back down, I lay her down to change her diaper and find it is completely dry.
Me: There's nothing in this diaper. It doesn't need to be changed.
Miriam: Yes! Change my diaper!
Me: But there's nothing in it.
Miriam: Yes! Change my diaper! Clean diaper please!
I show her the empty diaper.
Me: There's nothing in it! It IS a clean diaper!
Miriam: There's toots in that diaper.
I changed the diaper. Without letting her see me rolling my eyes.

Great book. Not so great movie.

A while back, I listened to "Marley and Me" on my ipod. It was absolutely wonderful! I loved Marley and thought about him all the time. I also loved John and Jenny and completely felt like a member of their family as I listened to the book. I laughed right out loud at times at the crazy situations that Marley would get himself into and imagined how I would react. The writing was fabulous, the story flowed, I laughed right out loud at times and I got a little choked up at others. I would and do recommend the book to anybody.
As soon as I finished the book, I requested the movie from the library. It came this past week and we watched it over the weekend. It was one of the worst book-to-movie transitions I've ever seen. Honestly, I couldn't stand Jennifer Aniston as Jenny and Owen Wilson was just not John Grogan. It seemed like the whole plot of the book was Owen Wilson (and I say Owen because it wasn't John) wanted a different job and didn't want to be stuck with his wife and kids but by the end he realized that having a family was great. Oh and he had a dog named Marley. Owen spent the whole movie wishing he was a news reporter, whereas John in the book loved being a columnist. Sebastian, his movie best friend who goes off to Columbia to write a big article on drugs was not to my knowledge a part of the book. And maybe because it's just the movie, but you really don't see much of Marley at all. Yeah, he gets kicked out of obedience school and he chewed up some couch cushions, but that was about it. You don't really see how he's the "worst dog in the world" or how he just loves the family he has. I know it's hard to put an amazing book into two visual hours, but it would have helped to stick with the plot and have more about Marley. That could have been done with a simple narration. The point is I really didn't like the movie. But I LOVED the book. So don't let the movie keep you away from one of the most enjoyable reads I've had for a long time!

Lovin' this boy!

Elijah is officially one of the most amazing little four month olds ever. We had his official appointment on his official fourth month birthday, and the doctor said he was a "perfect specimen." Yep, those were his exact words and nope, I don't think he's ever used them about any other kid before. He lands delicately into the 80th percentile for both height and weight, making him a perfectly proportioned little big guy. Although four months old, his 9 month clothes are getting pretty snug. The doctor commented about the congestion, which he has had virtually all his life causing the growly breathing that first led to one of his nicknames being "Beast," but that didn't affect his perfect rating at the end. Miriam was an attentive older sister, telling the doctor that Eli's favorite color is blue and demonstrating how he grunts. She also was extremely empathetic, crying as loudly as he did when the shots came. He quieted down as soon as I had him wrapped up in the sleepy wrap with his binkie. It took a sticker from the nurse for her. Either way, it was a magnificent appointment for a magnificent little boy. I LOVE THIS KID!

Five Six Seven Eight

Miriam attended her first official dance class this morning accompanied, of course, by her Mama, her Daddy, and her brother Eli. It was at the community center and advertised on one flyer for kids 2-5, on another kids 3-5. Either way, it was a pretty big span of ages and I was afraid my little 2.5 year old would be the littlest and most immature one who wouldn't follow directions and would make all the other kids and parents mad. Especially if they had the 3-5 flyer. But when you go into something expecting it to be rather awkward, you're usually pretty pleased with the results. Positive negativism, as I always say. Miriam did great. She was one of four little girls. One girl is three and a half, exactly a year older than Miriam, and the other two were twins who are three turning four. All of them were extremely attracted to the wall-sized mirror and the barre. I was glad that both the other moms and the grandma had cameras. Miriam was the second tallest of the four, the only one not in a leotard, and usually the first one to raise her hand and say "I KNOW" when the teacher asked a question even if she didn't know the answer. She followed directions during stretching and was able to at least attempt the things. She did fantastic at walking on tiptoes across the floor with her arms up in a ballerina position. She did surprisingly well at the gallop step. Skipping was an issue, but she wasn't aware that she was just running, so all is well there too. She was a fabulous hip-shaker, partly I'm sure due to her love of the Wiggles. They hip-shake quite a bit. Brent's favorite moment came when one of the twins seemed sad and was standing apart from the group. Miriam walked up to her and threw her arm non-chalantly around her shoulders. She looked at the girl and gave her a big cheesy grin. I could not but laugh. The class was scheduled for 45 minutes. Forty two minutes into it, Miriam turned towards us and lolled her head to the side, her body virtually limp. That's always a sign that she's not going to be doing anything anybody asks her anytime soon. Sure enough, she made a beeline for the sidelines and said "ALL DONE!" She collapsed and watched her friends finish the last three minutes. All in all, it was a perfect class and Miriam was a perfect little lady.

Welcome Home!

We've been home for three days, but since I haven't finished unpacking this is still current news. We had a fantastic time in Boise and flying with one adult, one two-year-old, and one baby is really not that bad. Eli slept the entire flight there, and Miriam was just thrilled with life on an airplane. On the way back, our flight left at bedtime so I figured they'd both drink their bottles and fade away. Not so.
Miriam not sleeping on the flight back to Salt Lake:
Eli not sleeping on the flight back to Salt Lake:
As you can see, they were both in great spirits. I think they knew that they'd just had a fabulous week with their Nana and Papa who love them and were heading back to their Daddy who loves them. How much happier could two kids be?

How cheap am I?

Brent wanted a Master's celebration camping trip to Southern Utah and I wasn't willing to take a baby and a two-year-old. Nor would I think that the baby and the two-year-old would want to participate in the hikes that Brent had planned. So he went south and I took the baby and the two-year-old to Boise to visit my parents and their Nana and Pop. While I was there, I left the kids with my mom for an afternoon so I could hit a few thrift stores and hopefully replenish my dwindling supply of clothes that I enjoy wearing. I was thrilled to find quite a few things at St. Vincent's, all at an amazingly low price with an additional 35% off for Memorial Day, and brought them all to the counter to purchase. Cindy, the surprisingly stylish bleached-blonde cashier, was gushing with the customer ahead of me about the American Idol finale. When it was my turn, I continued the conversation which led to, among other easy-chatting topics, my having attended Utah State and the NBA Playoffs. As she was ringing up the last of the items, she casually asked if I liked anthropology. For about three seconds, my mind raced as I tried to come up with a connection between the topics we had skimmed and the study of humankind. Was USU known for their amazing anthropology department and had they just come out with a groundbreaking study in anthropological discoveries? How did I not know this? Or perhaps I just seemed like the kind of person who would have studied anthropology? Or maybe the big "NBA Cares" campaign originated with the Jazz and so as a Jazz fan I should obviously have some anthropology connection? Apparantly as my mind raced, my facial expression froze because Cindy said, "you know, the store?" Oh! Anthropologie! The store! Of course! "Oh yes, I do but I try to stay out of it... the prices here are much better!" The truth of the matter is that I've never been there, although I am aware the I do like their style. I'm pretty sure I fell pretty high on the fashion-lameness scale by not responding immediately to the question. But I'm going to take it as a complement that perhaps the clothing I had selected and therefore myself as a person has an Anthropologie-esque-ness to them. Man, I am stylish!

Master in the House

It is with great pride and deep honor that I announce that Brent has finished the requirements for his Masters of Urban Planning program. He is now Brent Moore, MUP. Ah it's nice to have letters! It was a little sticky after he turned in all his stuff on time yet it wasn't finalized even after the deadline for teachers to give grades came and went. Gulp. After talking to one professor who forwarded everything onto another professor who finally got this put together, Brent recieved an A for his final professional project, which had to do with comparing land values across Salt Lake County, how they change over time, and devising possible reasons for the value and the change. Fun stuff. Anyhow, when you refer to Brent in your thoughts and conversations, please remember to call him "Master Brent." CONGRATULATIONS BRENT!

Still insinkerating

For those who have checked this blog over the past month, you must think I use my disposer a lot. And I do. See, I have two great kids who love to eat......but despite what they look like and the enjoyment they get from it, they don't always finish their food. Their mama has no qualms about it anymore, however. If you wonder where I've been or what I've been doing for the past month, just listen to the whir of the garbage disposer and know I've been pretty happy. Oh, and don't mind Eli's demon eyes. He's really a nice kid; I just didn't feel like editing out the red...

In-sink-erating

Most of my adult life has been lived without the aid of a garbage disposal but with the desire to have the aid of a garbage disposal. It was a luxury that just didn't come with any of the apartments I lived in nor the house Brent and I bought. I figured the decision to purchase one would be like other major purchase decisions... the one of us that wanted it least would finally want it enough to justify the purchase. That's how we finally got a sprinkler system, a couch, and a computer. Every time I visited my parents, I would toss stuff down the sink and sigh, thinking about how nice it was to just scrape and go rather than to push stuff into the garbage unless it was too gross and then all the way into the outside garbage unless it was too watery and then into the toilet. But then I realized that Brent's parents don't have a garbage disposal and therefore Brent is not aware of the glory of just rinsing away globs of gross stuff rather than having to transport it first to a garbage can and then outside. He therefore would never want one because he never knew the glories of it. You can never know the good if you've never known the bad. So I decided to do it myself. I used my birthday and Christmas money from last year and shopped around. I found a good deal and a coupon and with a deep breath, set up the appointment. The plumber came, took one glance under the sink and declared I needed to call an electrician first. I was so excited to get going that I didn't even think about needing to get power to the thing. Sigh. So I called the electrician who came over for a few hours last week. Miriam dubbed him "Nice Guy," and was amazed by his yellow sunglasses. She asked politely for her blue sunglasses so they could wear their sunglasses together, but sadly we didn't find them until after Nice Guy left. After the electrician graced us with power to the netherregions of the kitchen sink, I called the plumber back. He showed up, and Miriam referred to him immediately at "Nice Guy." I'm not sure if she thought that the original Nice Guy was back or merely that anybody who would come over and help mom fix the sink is a Nice Guy. Twenty minutes later we were up and running. Or more appropriately, up and grinding. I turned over my coupon, and Nice Guy #2 said he didn't have a calculator and did I know what 15% of the total was? Anyway, I LOVE HAVING A GARBAGE DISPOSAL! It is complete freedom in the kitchen. Clearing out leftovers is a breeze, rinsing a toddler's plate is cake, and oh I love the smell of ground up citrus rinds. Sometimes I'll eat an orange just to grind up the peel and breathe in the scent. I should have made the purchase years ago!!

Primarily talent

The big Primary Talent Show was Saturday morning. Miriam chose to sing the ABCs, and we practiced all week long, using a glue stick as a microphone. She was doing awesome, but I wondered how she would do in front of people. I shouldn't have worried. The first little girl who volunteered to go shared a video that she had made with her toys acting out a story. Then Sister Thomas asked who wanted to go next. Miriam immediately hopped up and went to the microphone. She asked me to go with her, but stood and proudly sang the song without crying or laughing or turning away. She ran back to her seat so excited and smiled and laughed and clapped throughout the rest of the 10 minute show (it doesn't take long to showcase about 9 primary kids). She was so proud of herself and told everybody that we saw that day about the "Talent Show." Here's a shot of her in the spotlight!

Have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay!

Miracle #1: I am back in the swing of church and was giving my lesson to my Beehives on Sunday. Because Eli does so much better if he's not getting in or out of his carseat, we walked to church. I pushed Miriam in the stroller and had Eli in his wrap. He fell asleep on the walk to church, stayed asleep through opening exercises (we have Sacrament last), and continued sleeping peacefully through the entire lesson. He started fussing and crying after the closing prayer and as the girls were filing out of the class. Perfect timing!

Miracle #2: Brent opted to stay home and utilize the three hours of nobody-else-home time to work on finishing his Master's thesis (barring an unforseen catastrophe, we should have his degree in May). Which meant I was going to be in Sacrament meeting with a two year old and a two month old alone. And being in Sacrament meeting with the two year old and two parents was hard enough! But Miriam was an absolute angel! She sat and talked with Eli and Piper, the baby girl behind us, most of the time. She asked for some goldfish and sat munching on them until some of them swam off the bench (it was more like getting thrown off, but as she let go, she said "swim swim swim!"). When asked, though, she quietly got down and picked them all up. She then colored until the closing prayer. Elijah was awake at the start of the meeting, then finished his bottle and fell asleep. And stayed asleep. Easy as that. It was the calmest and most relaxed Sacrament meeting I have had for the past two years! The patriarch and his wife even commented how good Miriam had been and that she definately earned an A+. Hooray!

Miracle #3: This morning at 5, Miriam started screaming and crying saying "OW! HURT!" She has constipation issues (considering the last post, it may be in the genes) and hadn't pooped for a while. An hour and a half later after two enemas (she hopped on the potty after the first and it all fell out), 12 ounces of pear juice and a lot of straining, she finally produced. Exhausted, she went back to bed and back to sleep. Eli had gotten up in the middle of all this. Brent gave him a bottle and put him back to bed. After washing the night's bottles, I decided to risk going back to bed myself. I hate having to wake up to crying, so frequently I'll just stay up once I'm up but I was so tired... Anyway, I woke up sometime later and felt rested! I checked the clock and it was 9:30. YES! NINE THIRTY IN THE MORNING AND BOTH OF MY CHILDREN WERE STILL ASLEEP! I luxuriated in bed for about fifteen minutes, which really is my favorite thing to do in the world and which I needless to say don't do much these days. There just is nothing like the feeling of being rested and still in bed, stretching and thinking. Ahhhh! Anyway, they both started stirring about 10 and have both had marvelously happy days. And so have I. It's amazing what a little (or a lot of) sleep can do for a mama and her two kids!

Can I get an HALLELUJAH!?!?

Focus

Some of my favorite Elijah expressions come when he's trying to poop.

When he is all done he can finally rest.

Our Ikea makeover

I am sometimes terribly frustrated with our bathroom situation. We have one full bath and then a tiny little powder room. And our full bath is pretty little, too. We've just always lived with it, but lately the lack of liveable space due to storage of bath toys and towels has really been bugging me, especially with the addition of a baby boy and all of his bath stuff. So a few Saturdays ago, I left Brent home with the kids and made my first excursion to Ikea. Wo. I was overwhelmed and all alone. I looked at all of the displays upstairs for like an hour before feeling like I could make a decision and even then I stared at the shelves and the hooks in the home organization area for about a half hour before putting anything in my big yellow bag. Then as I trekked towards the cash register, I doubled back about four times, changing my mind with every pass. Anyway, I finally made it to the registers and then home with a shelf and some wall hooks, feeling pretty successful. Miriam and I got the drill out one morning and put everything up. She was so proud to show Daddy the new shelf when he got home from work (I was too). And I love it! I've never liked towel racks because they're so unfunctional. But now I feel that we are making our tiny space work for us like it never has before. Plus, our door hit the towel rack and could never open all the way. I never knew it bugged me, but I cut the shelf to fit in the space and now that the door CAN open all the way, I am amazed at how much more I like the place.

Before: lots of towels shoved onto the rack, a plastic milk crate of bath toys in the corner and a door that doesn't open all the way. This picture was taken standing on the toilet, just to give an idea of how little the place is.

After: towels accessable, toys off the floor, with the door opened all the way adding mere inches to actual area but feet to perceived space. This was also taken from the toilet, hence you can see into the toy bins which you normally can't from a standing position.

I feel like it's a complete success. And although Miriam has always loved baths, she has really gotten into them lately. I like to think it's because she put up the shelf that helped the bathroom to be organized so well. Today she asked for a bath during the day, which I really like because it keeps her contained, content, and clean. All good things. She really got into it and was there for over an hour. Once when I peeked in on her she was playing waterslide. What a girl! And don't worry... the video is only 13 seconds...