thoughts on a sunday (with pictures!)

• Brian has five days left in the OR, which stands for operating room, not Oregon.  Anyway. . .FIVE DAYS!  I am so happy about this, I can't even explain it.  What's almost as good as having five days left as a SRNA, is that it's Sunday night and instead of being half way to Seattle right now, Brian is downstairs in this very house.  He has this whole week off and I almost don't even know what to do with myself.

• As excited as I am to have him home for a week, and then have him here permanently really soon, I wonder if it will be an adjustment for us to live together full time again.  Although I haven't enjoyed it, I have gotten quite used to this life.  It will be a happy adjustment though.  I get excited thinking about living with him again.

• So I think it's pretty obvious that we're moving.  We still don't know where.  Yakima is kind of our safety net (if all goes as planned), but Brian has been talking to the Utah group again, and also a group in Olympia, WA.  We are hoping for Olympia, but Brian is in the OR all day every day and has not been able to make or answer any calls, so we're hoping it's not too late for that.  

• I wish we could stay here.  I am getting really sad about moving.  You know when you're in that place where you are comfortable and settled in a ward and area?  It's just hard to walk away from that when you don't want to.  I will miss this place so much.

• My sister Krista came to visit this week.  I am so glad she came- I feel so much love and support from her and it means so much that she came to see me during this time.  The kids were so excited to have her, and so was I!

•  I'd love to say that I toured her around Portland like a little tour guide. . .but sadly, she basically just got a taste of what I do every day. . .for three days.  It just kind of happened that way.    At least we did some fun things on Saturday when Brian came home.  We went to the Portland Market and Pioneer Square downtown, and out to dinner.  But even then, we were so excited to come home and put our pajamas back on. 

• Krista was lucky enough to be a guest at McKay's Thanksgiving Feast in his kindergarten class.  It was crowded and a little terrifying to have Layla loose in a classroom, but we all enjoyed the homemade stew and the program.    

• Ellery learned about Indians in preschool this week, and even got to pick out an Indian name- Heart Love.  But then it turned to Hearting Love, and then Loving Heart.  I think now we're back to Hearting Love, but really I can never keep that Indian straight.

• Something I never want to forget:  Watching Ellery in Sacrament meeting taking two of her little baby dolls and stuff them in her shoes/cribs and then feeding them bottles of chapstick and lipgloss.  

• I also never want to forget how cute it is to see my six year old love coloring so much.  This is huge for him!  He was never really enthralled with coloring. . .okay, he was never really even interested in it.  Now he is drawing like crazy and so proud of his work and I love how I can't even see the color of my fridge due to all this fantastic art happening over here!

• That's Santa up there.

• I am tired of wearing my sheep skin boots every single day.  They are super warm and comfy, but I don't always want to wear them everywhere like I do.  I feel frumpy.  But the thing is, the only other alternative thatI have is little flats- and it's too cold for flats.  Is anyone else in this predicament besides Jana?

• Layla is pretty in love with her dad lately.  They are little buddies.  Also, she had learned the signs for all done and more, and now she's replaced almost every emotion or communication, including those two signs, with her "read, read, read" sign from wheels on the bus.  I'm always confused as to what she means when she shakes her two little hands in their air.  

• Layla is also suddenly so into reading books to herself. She will go over to the basket and just pick them out one at a time, flip through a few pages, then go for another one.  This day she got into the library books, which was especially fun for her, and especially dangerous.  She did get a good rip in Ladybug Girl and Ellery screamed in horror- she knows that you're not supposed to rip library books!

• I couldn't pick just one.  I really, really love this about my baby.  And I really, really love that I have a baby.

• Came across this quote from Elder Ballard this morning.  Really good reminder for me right now.
  "I am impressed by countless mothers who have learned how important it is to focus on the things that can only be done in a particular season of life. If a child lives with parents for 18 or 19 years, that span is only one-fourth of a parent’s life. And the most formative time of all, the early years in a child’s life, represents less than one-tenth of a parent’s normal life. It is crucial to focus on our children for the short time we have them with us and to seek, with the help of the Lord, to teach them all we can before they leave our homes. This eternally important work falls to mothers and fathers as equal partners. I am grateful that today many fathers are more involved in the lives of their children. But I believe that the instincts and the intense nurturing involvement of mothers with their children will always be a major key to their well-being."
  Happy Sunday!