thoughts on a sunday

• Jana and Carson are here visiting!  Carson is the cutest little boy and I love getting to know him.  And how can I not love having my best friend/sister hanging out with me all day every day?!  I absolutely love it!  We are hardly doing anything, but even just doing nothing with her is fun.

• So one of the effects of having scarlet fever is having the skin on your hands and feet peel off.  Several weeks ago my hands finished peeling.  It was so frustrating and gross.  My hands felt like sandpaper and Brian refused to hold them.  I didn't think my feet were going to, but a couple weeks ago they started peeling too.  This is totally gross, but also kind of one of the funnest things that's happened to me.  I enjoy peeling the skin off the bottoms of my feet.  Yes, that's disgusting, but it doesn't change the fact that I really enjoy it.  That's all.

• Speaking of feet, I should note that Layla has an imperfection.  Her second toe is longer than her big toe.  She gets this from Brian.  Her feet are still cute.  

• I know you may not want to admit it, but is anyone else watching Sister Wives?  I can't look away.

• Ellery.  My sweet, feminine little miss.  She's driving me about crazy.  You see, she is pretty much obsessed with kissing Layla on the face.  She wants to do it all the time.  And at the most inconvenient times.  And she takes about two whole minutes to do it.  And if I try to rush her and she doesn't plant a good one, she'll have to do it again.

• Today was my second Sunday at church since Layla was born.  I was very happy for the chance to go.  Ellery, on the other hand, was not.  Since Layla was born, Ellery has gone a little inactive. . .or she'd like to be.  She was not at all happy when I put her in the car, and even less happy that McKay got to stay home and watch a movie because he was sick.  But once we got there and sat right in front of her little friend Kenzi the princess figurines came out and the two girls played like they were on a playdate. After that, it wasn't hard to get her to go to nursery. . .although the princesses had to go along too.  She did great and I hope that the good memories from this week carry over for the next.

• In relief society today we discussed knowing, living and defending the Proclamation to the World.  This brought up some really great discussions, as well as some pretty intense/uncomfortable discussions.  One thing that I did enjoy talking about was the term "just a mom".  I've said this before about my job.  I've downplayed the importance and honor that motherhood entails.  And I made a resolve today to not do say that anymore.  Maybe I'm not as educated as some and I certainly don't have a glamorous career, but I'm not just a mom.  I am a mom and I know that there is great value in what I'm doing.  It may not be glamorous but it is certainly important.

• One last thought on church.  A guy in our ward bore his testimony today.  He was so emotional that he couldn't even talk- very unlike this guy.  He talked about how one of his brand new sons has to have heart surgery.  He talked about how the Savior is aware of each of us and each of our struggles.  This touched me on two levels.  First, yes!  It's true.  He is aware of each of us and aware of our needs and our struggles.  That's always a good reminder, as simple as it may be.  And second, it just hit me that everyone has struggles.  Sometimes I can feel sorry for myself especially with what I've had to go through lately and it can seem that my trials are the only ones out there. . .like everyone else is fine while I'm dealing with really hard stuff.  Hearing the news about this new little baby in our ward reminded me that everyone is dealing with something.  It's just that most of the time we're not aware of other people's struggles.  It makes me want to reach out more and really reminded me of the importance of service.  When we moved here a year ago I had a distinct impression that my happiness would be directly related to my service towards others.  I'm sad to say that I haven't done as good of a job as I would have liked to do.  Going to do better.

• Can you tell it was a good day at church for me?  So sorry if that was all really boring. :)

• Okay, having a hard time transitioning out of church mode.  How about a vomit story?  The other night we checked on Ellery before we went to bed and to my complete surprise I found her sleeping in a pile of her own throw-up.  She was SLEEPING!  And it was a lot too.  How?  We clearly had to give her a bath because it was dangling throughout her hair and when we woke her up she denied that she had done it.  She didn't know how it got there, but she sure knew it wasn't hers!

• If you want to imagine me riding a bike, leading a group of eight cub scouts down a path for one mile, then go ahead.  But make sure you imagine one of the rotten cubs taunting me, yelling, "My grandma can ride faster than this!"  

• I've been testing little Layla by sneaking some dairy in my diet.  Mostly a little bit of cheese and some yogurt.  No screaming yet, so that's good.  She seems to be tolerating it fairly well.  Yay!

• Um, Layla does not tolerate pizza.  Learned that the hard way last night.  Poor girl.

• Since Layla was born I have had a totally bizarre craving for rootbeer.  I am not a soda drinker at all, but man oh man I might just be turning into one.  Rootbeer of all things?  I don't get it.  But Jana said that she had the same craving after her baby was born too.  The best treat I can think of that doesn't have chocolate, which is forbidden by Layla:  a rootbeer slurpee!  Mmmmmm.

• Layla is definitely filling out and the rolls are comin'!  I may have small babies, but I sure know how to get them big fast.  Her eyelashes are starting to come out too.  And the baby acne is still looking real nice on her torso.  She is adorable.

• So I decided that having a private blog is totally annoying.  I hate having to sign in all the time.  Sorry to be so annoying.

Happy Sunday!