pre-conference brunch

Where we used to live, one of our friends invited us to a family tradition, a pre-conference brunch. Since general conference starts at noon out here in the East, there was plenty of time to eat, enjoy each others company, and head off to the conference experience of one's choice. When they moved, another set of friends took on the challenge, because they enjoyed it so much.

When we moved here, we took the tradition with us. This was to be our third time hosting, except our girls got sick that day, so we rescheduled for yesterday, after church. Life doesn't always work out as you planned.

Kiddo took some pictures, so you can see how much fun we had.

Our good friends, including Babs best amigo, with the two elders about to be double transferred out. (Both from Utah, so I figured they'd appreciate our brunch, where the main course is scones.)

Here they are again.
A woman my daughters, and I, dearly love.
Our fearless branch president, and the do-everything guy that manages to serve everyone.
Kiddo's cute friend, and her mom, my friend, who is also the tireless nursery leader, an important role in for our family.
And us. Yes my eyes are closed. Apparently Babs isn't the only one who thinks the flash is really flashy.
(Babs is not in any pictures. Shortly after the first guests arrived she insisted on going to bed. She slept through the festivities.)

button up

When Kiddo was very young, she started holding the collar of her onesie while sucking her thumb.
She continued to do this more and more as she grew older. But only while sucking her thumb, and she only did that when she was tired, hungry, or upset. I loved that thumb sucking was a distress indicator, not just something she did.
The problem was, what would happen when she stopped wearing onesies? Obviously at some point, it is not convenient to have snaps across your bottom. She solved this problem herself. First she started holding onto the collar of either her jammies or onesies (they both have the same scalloped edges). And since we still put her in her warm jammies at night, with a pull-up on, we were still using jammies and onesies, which she started carrying all over the house. And needing an extra pair when she went to bed. Where most children have a stuffed animal, a blanket, my child has "jammies and onesie." (Which, for me, is way better than the child at the library who has a comfort washcloth... ) She would carry as many as possible. Laundry day was a blessing in her life, because they were all convenient.
When she outgrew them all, we put them away for the next child, except one pair. She still faithfully sleeps with them every night. And she still has one pair of jammies currently with the correct collar, her favorite pair, cupcake jammies.
And she has a name for it. One night she explained to me, "you hold the jammies like this, and button your finger in them." She has been sighted trying to button her fingers into Babs' jammies (while Babs' was wearing them) in a pinch.
While this is very important to her, don't try to button your fingers in her jammies. It's not allowed.

comfort item

Kiddo has her jammies and onesie, Babs has me, or more specifically, my hair. Ever since she was capable, she wraps her little hands in my hair and holds on. She will do this especially when upset, but mostly whenever possible. When upset she also sucks on her bottom lip. She started doing this about the same time she decided not to suck on her palm.

She definitely prefers me to everyone else, and has become quite protective of me. When she sees her sister cuddling with me, she crawls to me, then cries until I pick her up. She wraps her arms tight around my neck so that there is less room for anyone else. If other children are visiting, she will soon find her way to being held. Yesterday, Kiddo stood by my leg and pulled on my pants, asking me to pick her up. Babs quickly came to me, pulled herself to standing, then pushed Kiddo's hand off my leg. Kiddo laughed, and put it back. Babs pushed it off. This continued, with Babs getting increasingly frustrated, and Kiddo laughing (not realizing she was upsetting her sister) until Kiddo cries out "We're having fun!" Or at least one of them was.

packages!

As previously mentioned, my goal is not move a single thing we haven't deemed valuable in one way or another, so this means going through every box of stuff we have. Given that everything we owned went into storage when we left our old home, and moved into a smaller home (with less storage space, no room for our washer and dryer, and we added a fourth person), some things are still in boxes. So every week or two I go to the storage unit and bring home another box or two. (We're almost through them all!)

Kiddo thinks this is super fun. "Packages!" she yells. As if she never got one. But every box has at least one thing that is very interesting to a three year old. Like our old shower head. This is providing days of entertainment.

morning

We get a slow start around this place. Let us know if you plan to be by before 9.

little fatty

Babs has seriously thinned out since she turned six months, then started crawling a few months later. But she's still delightfully squishy.

wink and a smile

While shopping with my parents, we noticed Kiddo had found a mirror. (Her love of mirrors is intense, even for someone her age.) Then we noticed what she was doing. She was pushing up a cheek with one hand, and down on her eyebrow with the other in order to close one eye while the other was still open. "Look! I'm winking!" she announced. She pushed and practiced some more.

She's been practicing ever since then. She can now do it without help from her hands. She can also do it with either eye. She looks very awkward doing it, but she can.

My husband thinks that all her effort is a little odd, it's just a wink after all. I think it makes perfect sense, because I had to practice to wink with both eyes, and to do it with any degree of proficiency. I'm just glad she's practicing now, while she's young and it's easy.

Winking is important in our family, it's one of the ways we say I love you.