October 8, 2008 - Pumpkin Patch

I'm never going to get used to "fall" around here. It got down to about 54F last night and was fairly cool this morning, but by midday it was already up in the 80s again. Doing fall activities is always fun, but I feel like I'm in the wrong season somehow. It really wierds me out...

Anyway, we went to a Pumpkin Patch today with our friend Kelly and her little girl, Sadie, who is Esther's nursery buddy. Here are a few pictures of our adventure:

Cool girls!

There's gotta be a horn on this wooden tractor somewhere!

Just ignore the baby weight on me - and I'm not talking Nathan in my lap!

The Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound.

Huge pumpkins!!

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October 6, 2008 - Showing Off

Okay, I just had to show off my cute kids. Check out these sweet pictures we took yesterday morning!

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October 4, 2008 - Bargain Hunter

Esther is really a very good eater, but on occasion she drags her heels eating something or another on her plate. We usually tell her that she has to eat a certain number of bites and then she can be finished with her meal. It works pretty well, for the most part.

But last night we had a twist in our usual routine. Esther didn't want to finish her rice and Daron asked her to please take four more bites. She looked at the rice, then back at him, and said, "No...three bites!"

Then for the next several minutes, she and Daron haggled over how many bites she would take. Esther finally won with her offer of two and a half bites!

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September 28, 2008 - Mahana, You Ugly

Johnny Lingo is Esther's favorite church show. She actually quotes it from time to time and then says, "You know that, Mommy?"

After church today, I was trying to get her calmed down. (She had taken no nap before church and was wired from nursery - what do they feed them in there?) I was changing her diaper and asked her if she'd like to watch Johnny Lingo while I worked on dinner. She said yes. I continued the conversation, trying to keep her from squirming away, and asked, "How many cows did Johnny Lingo give?" Promptly her reponse was, "Not enough for Mahana..."

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September 4, 2008 - Nuts about BYU Football and Just Nuts!

So BYU football started last Saturday. While we were out in Utah, we took a trip to our alma mater and showed Esther all our old haunts. She was especially fascinated with the Y on the mountain and pointed it out loudly every time she saw it - which was a lot. We also bought new BYU t-shirts to wear on game days. The kids got matching ones and they were so adorable together!

Also...My sister-in-law had some Veggie Chips from this website that we tried while in Utah. They are crunchy and delicious! There are even green beans that are still in green bean shape and carrots that have been sliced up and crunchified. It looks like they have a lot of other yummy stuff on their site as well. Check it out: www.nutsonline.com

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August 28, 2008 - A Tale of Two Cities Musical!

The trend of creating musicals from classic novels continues! Check it out! www.talemusical.com

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August 22, 2008 - Scary!

The kids and I went to the mall today for lunch and then Esther got to run around the play area while I nursed Nathan. When it was time to go, I just set him in the carseat as we were headed to the restroom for diaper changes before we left for home. It was getting late and I was in a hurry to get home to get the kids down for naps so I didn't want Esther dawdling behind as she is prone to do. I told her to hop onto the front of the stroller and hang on.

As we neared the restroom, she leaned back to jump off the stroller and pulled on the carseat handle. She fell backwards, pulling the carseat with her. Esther, Nathan, and carseat all went tumbling to the tile floor! I went to grab the carseat and then, to my horror, remembered that I hadn't buckled Nathan in! He was on the ground crying hysterically, as was Esther. I scooped Nathan up and assessed him for damages (all First Aid training of assessing him before I picked him up went completely out the door in my panic). He seemed fine, but frightened. Esther must have bumped herself pretty badly because she is usually not inconsolable with bumps. I sat there in the hallway with both children in my arms thinking that I must have killed them both with my stupidity and feeling terrible.

Fortunately, Nathan calmed down very quickly and Esther followed soon afterwards. We headed to the car which was quiet (unlike the bustling mall with its booming obnoxious music) and I took another good look at the kids while I called Daron to weep. He checked online to make sure that they had no symptoms of serious damage and upon further reflection, we determined that everyone was okay and none the worse for their tumble.

I know it was an accident and in a small way, I'm glad it happened. Esther and I have been having a rough time getting along lately and I was reminded just how much I love her - and Nathan - and was inspired to do a little better at just playing with them and showing them how much I love them. Though it will be awhile before that horrible scene and that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach fade.

The crazy thing is that there were quite a few people around when it happened. I heard several gasps and then everyone disappeared. Not one person offered to help or even asked if my children were okay. One man who was waiting for his wife and infant to come out of the bathroom told me about three times that at first he thought his kid must have fallen from the changing table. Well, buddy, it wasn't your kid falling, it was mine, and thanks for your sympathy! I can't believe how unfeeling we have become as a society - afraid to help people, afraid of doing something good because it may be misconstrued as something bad. So the next time I see someone in need or in trouble, I hope I will at least stop to see if they need help.

Granted, I am slowly realizing that kids and babies have these accidents all the time, but they are scary nonetheless. I'm grateful Esther and Nathan are alright. I know that Heavenly Father watches out for us. My mom reminded me that she prays for her grandchildren every night. I know the power of prayer is real.

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August 5, 2008 - How a Cry Begins

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July 30, 2008 - Playing Dress Up

Esther got a kick out of trying on Mommy's dress up clothes. Though I think she would have preferred them in her own size. She loved the "bing" (the wand) and kept "binging" Nathan and I on the head!

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July 25, 2008 - No Grumpies and Other Funny Sayings

Lately when Esther is having a rough time and throwing a fit about something, I tell her to be happy and throw her grumpies away. For the most part, the tears quickly dry and we're off to a fresh start. Yesterday she was uninterested in taking her nap and I'd been putting her back in her bed for an hour when I finally hit my limit and got really upset. Esther looked at me with big eyes and said, "No grumpies, Mommy. Happy now. I need a hug." Who can stay angry after that?

Esther's cousins taught her a little saying recently. While flexing her muscles in various positions, she says, "I strong! I brave! I mighty!" So as she hefted her dollhouse down the hall the other day, she began to chant her little mantra, reminding herself how strong she was so she could make it with her heavy toy! I wish I'd had the video camera out.

Finally, here are a couple of recent pictures of the kids.

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July 18, 2008 - One Plus One is Two!!

I knew adding another child to our family was going to have its difficulties, but as with most things in life, we never understand just how difficult until we get there!

Life has been rather insane the last few weeks. I feel like everything is always a mess, I don't usually get into the shower until 11 o'clock, I'm always zoning out of conversations because I'm so tired, we stay home a lot because taking two children anywhere is just a nightmare, I have to constantly be vigilant about keeping Esther from squashing her brother with love, it seems that I'm always feeding a child or changing somebody's diaper, and I can hardly carry on a decent conversation with my husband, let alone feel any sort of emotion for him. Oh, and I was called to be a counselor in the Relief Society presidency a week after Nathan was born. Whewph!!

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I know I'm not alone, as many of my friends have two or more children. Now my plea for help: HOW DO YOU DO IT?!!?

Don't get me wrong. I love being a mother. I am so grateful for the choice that I made to become one. I love my children. But this is tough work and I don't want to just sit out the next few months waiting for things to get easier. I know they will. But I want to be able to function, at least somewhat, and try to enjoy this time while Nathan is still a baby.

Any thoughts, advice, funny experiences, prayers, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

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July 15, 2008 - The Janis Family Goes to the Dentist

All last week we got Esther excited about going to the dentist. I'd ask her what she was going to do at the dentist and she'd say "AAAHHH!" and open her mouth wide. We read The Berenstain Bears Go to the Dentist, and did all we could to make it seem like an exciting experience. Then this morning was the big event!

Fortunately, she sat and watched Daron and not me. I get really tense because I really don't like my teeth cleaned. All that poking and prodding and gagging and chaulky gunk they whiz on your teeth. I kept making faces while the hygienist was working and she kept stopping to ask me if I was alright. "Please don't take it personally," I said, "I just hate being here."

For not having been to the dentist for two years, Daron and I have done pretty well and they complimented us on our upkeep. I only had a teeny cavity that happened because the grooves on my molars are so deep. Daron has avoided it all because his dad put composite fillings over all his kids' teeth when they were young to protect them.

And Esther? Well, she was an angel as she sat and watched Daddy get his teeth cleaned. The dentist even let her sit up on his lap and lean over to watch more closely. When it was her turn, she sat right on the chair by herself and let him look in and brush her teeth. Does she let Mommy and Daddy brush her teeth like that? Yeah, right! Don't you love it when your kids behave better for someone else?

She was so excited about her Cookie Monster toothbrush and can't wait to go back! Me, I'm dreading going back in a week to get my filling done. But better done now before it gets bad.

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July 2, 2008 - Welcome Nathan Cristiano Janis!!

Nathan was born at 7:47am on June 13, 2008. He weighed 8 pounds, 6.9 ounces and was 19.5 inches long.

For an update, at his two week appointment, he weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces, and was 22 inches long!

For those of you who are interested in his name, we decided before Esther came along that we would name our children so as to remind them of their heritage. So we came up with names that have a Hebrew first name (as Daron is of Jewish descent) and an Italian middle name (as I am of Italian descent). Hence Nathan Cristiano. Cristiano is Italian for Christian and means "follower of Christ."

Our OB had been hesitant to set up a repeat c-section on Friday the thirteenth, but I nicely chided him for being superstitious and we set up the appointment. Daron said that he would only be worried if we saw a black cat that day. To our great surprise, as we walked into the hospital early that morning, a big black cat ran across the entrance and into the bushes! It's a good thing we are not superstitious or we would have turned right around and gone home!

The surgery was a little more difficult this time around as I was well aware what was going to happen. But we survived and Daron even watched as the OB yanked Nathan right out of me!

I have several complaints about the hospital, which I will not go into detail about here. It was pretty frustrating, though, after seeing Nathan for only a brief minute after he was cleaned up, to have to wait nearly three hours for them to bring him into my room. Unfortunately, I was too drugged up and tired to make much of a fuss then. But now it's over and we are just so glad to finally have him here with us.

Nathan is very much a sleepyhead and is like many newborns who just snooze all day and much of the night! It's odd to us as Esther was alert from day one. She always wanted to be held and refused to nap anywhere but on our shoulders. Fortunately, though Nathan loves snuggling, he is willing to sleep in the bassinet or in his carseat.

Esther adores him and is eager to help out. She is suffering a little from the lack of complete attention on her, but I think she'll pull through alright in the end.

We love our little boy and though I now feel a little chaotic and insane about this whole two children thing, I'll calm down soon enough and try to post more often about the kids. Here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment.

 

Too much love!!

This one turned out really cute!!

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June 9, 2008 - Very Funny Story

Okay, so this story actually belongs to my sister. She posted it on our extended family's blog. It is too funny not to share so here it is!

"Well, I always carry a feminine personal hygiene product in the diaper bag for emergencies, ya know what I mean. So today Brian had Bekah while he was teaching the deacons and teachers. She was sitting on the floor with the diaper bag in front of her quietly taking things out and playing with them. Suddenly one of the deacons pipes up, "Hey, is that a cheese stick?" All these boys eyes divert to Bekah who is holding a tampon in her hand and intently observing it. Brian quickly takes it away and stuffs it back into the bag which he then relocates to the table. Brian answers, "that is a subject for a different time and place." Some of the boys uttered under their breath, "oh yeah, we know, that's part of the 'TALK'!" Brian was able to eventually restore order and he and I had a good hearty laugh over it on the way home. I thought you would all find it humorous as well!"

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May 29, 2008 - Countdown!

Exactly two weeks from tomorrow, our second child is scheduled to come into the world! From the sonogram we had today, it looks like he or she will be just over 7 pounds, a far cry from Esther's 9 pounds 3 ounces! We are all really excited for this new baby to join our family and I am especially looking forward to having one more to snuggle with us in bed on Saturday mornings! Esther is eager to help and has been telling me she wants to give the baby hugs and kisses. My only concern is that she often carries her baby doll by the neck and then upon tossing it to the floor, pats it and says, "Poor baby!" Aside from that, I think she'll be a great big sister.

We'll post pictures and send emails as soon as we can after baby is born!

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May 23, 2008 - Decorating the Master Bathroom

I bought some fun material for our little bathroom window the other day and a yard of it has proved plenty for a curtain as well as a few other projects to spice up the master bathroom. The bathroom colors are warm browns and blues, not the yucky chocolate and aqua colors that are so popular right now (no offense meant to those who like them!)

These pictures were so easy to make! I just bought two 99 cents frames at the thrift store, sanded them, painted them, then covered the mattes in the fabric (hotgluing at the back). Then I popped in a cute picture! Voila! The funny thing is that I was showing Esther the finished project and she said, "Oh...cute..." Then she paused and kept looking at the picture of Daron and I before finally asking, "Where Esther?" I had to show her I'd made one with her picture, too!

Yesterday's project was a tissue box holder, made with...what else?...cardboard and fabric! It was pretty easy and turned out nice. Now I can pop in a new box from the bottom anytime they run out! It looks very colorful on top of the toilet.

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May 13, 2008 - Pulling an Audrey Hepburn

For those of you who have seen Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, I ended up recreating a scene from it last night. We had gone to Marble Slab Creamery (basically a Coldstone) to use a gift card we have had for awhile. (Unfortunately, it wasn't until after we all had our ice cream that we found out that franchise didn't take them!) Anyway, Daron got his cone first and while the lady behind the counter was fixing Esther's little cup, I was trying to snitch a lick from Daron's. He kept pulling his hand away from me and so I went to grab it and as he pulled away again, the cone broke and the ice cream smashed completely on his shirt! We quickly asked for a cup to put it in and I helped him clean up. It was embarrassing but funny. We joked about how his shirt was drip dry! If he'd had a shower right there, he may have continued the joke and hopped in with his work clothes on! Anyway, thought I'd share how Audrey and I both got to smash ice cream on handsome guys!

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April 23, 2008 - Bryan Beach, Freeport, Texas

On Friday night, we took a quick trip down to Houston to see two of Daron's brothers - one who lives there and one who was visiting from Utah. We went to the beach on Saturday. It was the first time I've been to the Gulf Coast. Fortunately, I slathered Esther in enough sunscreen that she only got a teeny red on top of her scalp. I managed to convince Daron to at least put some on his shoulders and face. But like a busy mom, completely forgot to douse myself in sunscreen! I'll save you the horror of pictures of the sunburn I received (the worst was the tops of my feet - ouch!) But it's fading quickly, thanks to aloe vera gel. We sure got some cute pictures out of it, though!

I love this picture!

Esther really wanted to skim board with her bigger cousins, but she was content to ride the boogie board in the surf with Daddy pulling her along. Even when she fell off, she wanted to get right back on!

Esther and her cousin, Emily.

Aren't sandy toddler feet the cutest things in the world?

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April 5, 2008 - Recycling Shoes

I've been trying harder to find small ways to help the environment. Here is something I recently discovered that Nike has been doing - turning old athletic shoes into playground coverings! Here is website which describes the program and which you can look up your closest dropoff location. http://www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe

 

April 4, 2008 - Spaghetti Face

Esther definitely has Italian genes! They show every time she eats spaghetti. This picture says it all...

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March 27, 2008 - "Yiping"

This morning I washed Esther's hands after breakfast, then gave her a towel to dry them on. As she did this, I leaned over the table to wipe it up when I suddenly felt her little hand moving on my rear. I turned around to see her wiping it vigorously with the towel.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Yipe bum!" She replied matter-of-factly.

How helpful.

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March 13, 2008 - Spices and Food Storage

Thanks to a good friend in Williamsburg, I have discovered Penzey's Spices. They have a retail store near the temple and we went there last week to restock our spice rack. (I recently discovered we still had spices from when we were first married!) Penzey's sells high quality but affordable spices. I was amazed to see that they had at least three different kinds of paprika. We bought the Smoked Spanish variety. The best part about their store, aside from so much variety and all sizes of jars and bulk bags, they provide glass jars with the spices in them that you can open and sniff. The labels describe a bit about each spice or herb, what they are generally used for, and where they are grown. Very cool. Esther loved scooting the little basket around after me while I handed her jars to put in. My favorites: freeze dried shallots, and dried lemon and orange peel (great for using as zest!) Check out their website at www.penzeys.com. You can order a free catalog or check to see if there are any stores near you.

On a related note, we are hard at work on our food storage. We have our water containers (which we have yet to fill!) and I've been bashing out a plan for a three month plan. It's going to take several months to see if it works and if the amounts I'm figuring on are accurate, but we should have it up and running well by the end of the year. I have put this off for ages, knowing how long it was going to take me to get myself organized and learned about it all, but so far, it has been worth the effort. In my research, I've learned loads about storing food, probably more than I ever cared to know, and I'm constantly overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. My constant support has been a quote by Spencer W. Kimball. He said,

"Preparedness, when properly pursued, is a way of life, not a sudden, spectacular program. We could refer to all the components of personal and family preparedness, not in relation to holocaust or disaster, but in cultivating a life-style that is on a day-to-day basis its own reward.”

If preparedness is a way of life, it will take me many years to truly make it so. I don't have to have a perfected year's supply right this second. As long as I'm working towards it as a goal and learning to provide for myself bit by bit, I'm doing what we've been asked to do. It really is a great feeling to have made some headway on it. Now to keep it up!

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March 6, 2008 - A Good Example

It's rare that Esther is up before Daron leaves for work in the morning and so she usually misses out on morning prayers and scripture study. Occasionally, like this morning, she is up early and/or Daron is running late, so she snuggles in bed with us to read and then we pray.

This morning, we read, then made the bed and Daron started to get ready for the day. Esther quickly ran to the end of our bed and folded her hands on it and waited quietly for us to notice. We both remembered that we'd forgotten to pray and here was our little (almost) two year old reminding us! I am so grateful for the sweet spirit that children bring to a home and for the many things that they remind us of daily!

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March 4, 2008 - Esther's New Hat

Here is Esther in her cute little hat we got from the thrift store for $1.19. She loves it and hardly takes it off unless we hide it for awhile. She loves to pull it down so far that she has to look up from underneath it to see where she's going! She a cutie in pink today.

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February 29, 2008 - Leap Year Project!

I was getting bored of my blah corkboard so decided to spruce it up a bit. Here are pictures of the finished project. It was pretty easy, but I did run into a few problems. First, I should have sanded the frame because the cheap wood was shiny and hard for the paint to stick to. Next, I should have stapled the fabric on as the glue gun left some bumpiness around the edges. But you can't see it too much unless you get really close. Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out and am looking forward to my next project.

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February 25, 2008 - Pat-a-Cake

Esther loves playing Pat-a-Cake and dancing. Check it out! Click here to see the video.

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February 21, 2008 - Not quite two, but really close!

Esther is just a month shy of two and already she has been exhibiting the "signs." I try not to freak out and give in to stereotyping, but there it is: she's an angel one day and a little rascal the next. I find that her getting enough sleep greatly reduces the bad behavior so we try hard to get her plenty of that!

On the bright side, she has some really cute sayings now. When she wants something to eat, she asks, "Esther crackers (insert desired food) mouth?" Whenever I go in to get her from a nap, she is bouncing up and down saying, "Watch this!" and throws herself down on her bum and laughs. She also does this on the couch or any other high object, which really makes me nervous.

I can't believe how fast she is developing. And how quickly her moods can change! What have you observed about your children during this time? What helps can you suggest for curbing the "two-ness?"

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February 9, 2008 - Esther's Antics