California Dreamin'

So we're here in CA, sans Daddy :( But we're surviving! I'll post all about it when we get back and I'll post our Sedona pictures too.

5's

I've been asked to do this...so here we go.

1.) 5 things I couldn't live without under $5
- Bath & Body Works peppermint lip gloss
- Email
- Reading everyone else's blogs
- Emma's pacifiers
- My "to do" list

2.) 5 favorite movies
- Pride & Prejudice (the A&E version)
- Top Gun
- The Princess Bride
(I don't really watch movies enough to have 5 favorites)

3.) 5 Baby names you love but won't use.
- Caleb
(Yeah, that's it.)

4.) 5 songs you could listen to over and over again.
- Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman
- I Surrender All
- Good Mornin' Life by Dean Martin
- Be Thou My Vision
- Good Morning Beautiful by Steve Holy

5.) 5 People who influenced your life in a positive way.
(in no particular order...)
- My mom
- Cathy Duhm
- My sister
- Ken Ramey
- John MacArthur

6.) 5 things that stay in your purse at all times.
- Lip gloss
- Baby wipes
- A pen
- My camera
- A pacifier

7.) 5 moments that changed your life forever.
- The day I was saved
- The day I was married
- The day Charis was born
- The day Emma was born
- The day we moved to Arizona

8.) 5 Obsessions you have right now.
- My "to do" list
- Keeping my inbox empty
- Brushing my teeth (it's always been that way)
- Reading
- Trying to think of 5 obsessions that won't make me look like a complete weirdo

9.) 5 places you would like to go.
- Heaven!
(But in the meantime...)
- Massachusetts
- NYC
- California
- The beach

10.) 5 people I would like to see their top 5
Everyone!

Baby doll Emma

As I was making everyone's bed this morning I suddenly realized that Emma had been a little too quiet for a little too long. So I went in search of her and this is what I found. Look at all that hair!

Ear infections, the flu & swimming lessons

I don't think I've updated you all on the recent influx of germs in our house...On Tuesday Emma woke up covered in throw-up. It was on her jammies, her paci, her face, in her hair, her sheet, her blanket, her crib bumper, the slats of her crib and on her stuffed duckie that she sleeps with (used to sleep with). It was a nice combo of milk & craisins (TMI, I know). Anyway, she went right in the tub and everything else went right in the washing machine. After she was cleaned up I brought her down stairs put her in her high chair and fed her 2 saltines and some pediatlyte. Blah! All over her high chair, her clean clothes, the floor, her sippy cup...Charis almost lost it. She doesn't deal with this kind of stuff very well. So the clothes came off, Emma went in the sink, the high chair went outside and everything else went in the washing machine...again. So now Emma is on her 3rd outfit of the day and it's not even 8am. The day was pretty horrible, her stomach flu apparently didn't want to just stay in her stomach, it moved down to her diaper and on every piece of clothing I tried to put on her. She threw up 2 more times that day to make a grand total of 4 which came out to about 6 loads of laundry...for one day...for one baby. She favored me for the day...in holding, crying to, and throwing up on. I don't know how many changes of clothes I went through. Since Tuesday night she hasn't thrown up again but she still has the diarrhea and she is so sad.

Then on Wednesday morning Charis said, "My ear hurts." OH, NO! So yesterday we went to our favorite place in the whole world...the pediatricians office! She has another ear infection...ugh! It's an outer ear infection this time...we like to change things up a bit. So she is on antibiotic ear drops but she also has a fever and is miserable. You should have seen our house yesterday afternoon...In the middle of the living room were 6 chairs with a giant quilt over the top...my attempt at building a fun fort, next to that was a trampoline, a scooter, a tricycle, a little red ride on fire truck and our Step 2 pink car, then strewn all around that were dolls, puzzles, sippy cups, crayons, etc. Then I'm sitting on the couch, Emma's on my laying on my lap whimpering, Charis is leaning against me crying and we're watching Baby Motzart...again...I can't find the remote and I don't want to disturb the girls. Then this morning I came downstairs and Charis is reading a book...

do you notice what book it is? Manners and Customs of the Bible...she's 3! And she was actually enjoying it!

On a happier note (and the cause of the ear infection) Charis has been taking swimming lessons. She loves it! And she is doing so well!

What?!?!

As we were driving to JoAnns the other day, Charis looked out her window and saw 3 birds flying by. She said, "Hey, look! Those 3 birds remind me of Orions Belt!"

It's Not Fair!

I haven't seen my sister since Christmas time...she's changed a lot since then. Peanut (as we affectionately refer to her baby since she won't tell anyone the name) is growing leaps and bounds and I can't see it :( I'm so sad! But Deidre emailed me some pictures this week and I just had to share them with you...isn't she adorable!?!They were just in Albuquerque and had a chance to visit with Jesse's family.

I can't wait to see her in 13 days!

My Brain, Your Brain, Left Brain, Right Brain

My dad shared this with me a few weeks ago...I had to share it with you...it explains a lot!

Long Time, No See!

Someone reminded me that I haven't blogged in awhile. And right she is....I apologize. Things have gotten crazy busy around here. I was talking to my sister on the phone the other day and I commented how I feel like we're back in CA with how busy we are. See, when we first moved here we had a lot of free time. Since we weren't involved in very much and we didn't know anyone we had a LOT of time on our hands. It was good, a nice little break, but I'm so glad to be back into the busyness of life. From birthday parties to baby showers to friends over for dinner and family visiting...it's been fun! Anyway, let me catch you up on the last 3 weeks in our household.

My parents came on March 16th and stayed until the 28th. We had SO much fun! My dad took most of the pictures so I'll see if he can email them to me and I'll post them. After my parents left we had a garage sale, went to the zoo, started swimming lessons for Charis, toured a kindergarten for Charis, not to mention all the other things like mountains of laundry and piles of dust that I needed to tend to. It's funny how when you have company all those "dailys" just slip by the wayside. I've also been mentally working on a post that might take a while to actually get up here. Since we've been here for a year now I've been mulling around the idea of "One Year in AZ" post or "A Year in Retrospect". Anyway, I'll come up with something and get it up here.

Another thing I've been working on is my sister's baby shower. Did I tell you all? SHE'S HAVING A GIRL!!! Woohoo! I'm super excited and I'll be flying to CA later this month to show her just how excited I am! We're going to have a fantastic baby shower, paint the baby's room, set up the baby's room, feel my little niece kick me through Deidre's belly and just have a grand old time visiting with Mimi & Papa (& Uncle Jesse too, of course).

But before we head to CA (actually 3 days before we head to CA) we'll be driving up to Sedona to celebrate Ben's grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. I haven't really spent any time up in Sedona so I'm excited to go and Ben promised we'd go for a hike. I can't wait! I bought a new book all about hiking in Phoenix, Prescott, Payson & Sedona. Hiking has become a weekly outing for our family. I estimate we can only do it for about another month or so then it'll be too hot.