A Miracle

A month and a half ago, I lost my wedding ring at Chuck E Cheese. It flew into the Skeeball machine when I threw a ball, and after countless hours of searching for it and taking the machines apart, they couldn't find it. After a couple of days, Jon and I gave up hope of ever finding it and started making plans to get a new one someday.

Emma and Matthew were convinced though that because we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to find it, that we would find it. Every few days Emma would talk about it and often she reminded me that we would find it because we had prayed. After all, Heavenly Father helped us find the keys when we lost them, so he could find the ring too. Jon and I, not wanting to crush her faith, were trying to explain that sometimes Heavenly Father doesn't answer our prayers how we want because He has a different and better purpose or answer.

So, needless to say, when I got a call from a Chuck E Cheese employee this week, I was in shock. THEY FOUND MY WEDDING RING!!! After almost 6 weeks and completely disassembling the machines twice, they found my ring, just laying on the floor under the machine. I raced there as fast as I could, so I could get it before it got lost again.

This all happened 4 days ago, and I am still in shock. And I am in awe. I have learned a lot about having child-like faith. It was so easy to look at the facts and the amount of time that had passed and say that there was absolutely no way we were ever getting that ring back. But to our little children, none of that mattered. They really believed that Heavenly Father could do anything. And He can.

I was also humbled and touched that throughout this whole experience Emma and Matthew turned to prayer so often. They prayed that we would find it when it was first lost. They prayed throughout the 6 weeks that it was lost that we would find it. And when I told Emma that they had finally found the ring, she folded her arms right then and thanked Heavenly Father for helping us find it. What a sweet example!

I am grateful for this miracle....the miracle of them finding the ring, the miracle that the employee turned it in, and the miracle that they actually kept my name and phone number and called me. I know that Heavenly Father is aware of us and He does hear our prayers...even the ones about lost wedding rings and keys.

Another ABC Book

A couple years ago we made this ABC book for the kids. We thought it was a fun little book, but we never imagined just how much they would love it. Even after 2 years, it still gets read several times a week, and often it gets toted off to bed with one of them. So, when I got a free photo book offer in my email, we decided to make another one. I am SO excited for them to see it! Here is a little preview of our new ABC book.

I really love that we were able to incorporate so much of Emma's artwork and some of our favorite memories from this last year into this book. It really makes it such a fun things for the kids.

 

 

Ellie Walks

Ellie walking at 9 months 1 week! YAY Ellie! This was her third long walk tonight, but the first one we got on camera.

We're Stuck An Hour Behind

I really really hate daylight savings time changes! If we could get away with just not changing our clocks, I totally would. And if I thought I could stand to live in Arizona (and if there was any chance Jon could get a job there) it would be tempting to move there just to get rid of the time changes. UGH!

Our week so far has looked a little like this:

Ellie has no idea when to go to bed anymore. So, she's ended up staying up 1-2 hours late, waking up all hours of the night, and then getting up for the day between 5 and 6 am. Blah...

Because she is up all night, she then has no idea when to take her naps, and her sleep has been way out of whack during the day too. Basically, she's exhausted, I'm exhausted, Jon's exhausted.

I have had to wake Emma up at 7:40 (she usually gets up at 7) to leave for school at 8...obviously this leaves us rushing like crazy!

Matthew stumbles out of bed around 8, right as we're walking out the door to get Emma to school.

And Jon, who usually gets up at 6:30, has been sleeping till 7:15, when I wake up and realize that he's still in bed.

It's been all sorts of good fun. It's okay though, I'm sure we'll have it all figured out by the time we change the clocks back in a few months...

Beach Bums

Friday afternoon. A glorious 70 degrees. Good friends. Warm sand. Gorgeous ocean. The perfect way to spend the afternoon!

Poplar Beach, Half Moon Bay, CA

Mar 9, 2012

Little Scientist

We signed all 3 kids up to participate in psychology studies at Stanford. I think it's a fun little thing to do and a great way to help. And I also happen to find psychology fascinating and love hearing about the studies they're doing and then later hearing the results of the studies. So, luckily my kids go along with it...and actually have a great time.

Ellie was recently asked to participate in a study where they were trying to see how/if the brain reacted differently when looking at a human face as opposed to a jumbled up picture ( I think that was the general idea).

They had her wear this cap thing with nodes all over it and then watch a screen with alternating pictures of faces and jumbled pictures. Easy peasy. I thought she would fight wearing the cap, but she didn't care at all! Matthew got spoiled with toys in the waiting room, Ellie got some cute little puppets to take home, and we got $40 and these cute pictures. Not bad at all!

Two Wheelin'

Emma learned to ride her bike this week! She's had the bike forever, but was deathly afraid of riding it, with or without training wheels. So, back in October we bought the kids these little balance bikes.

 The bikes don't have pedals. The idea is that the kids use their feet to get momentum and then lift their legs to just zoom along and in the process they learn balance. They're close to the ground, and have complete control, since they're using their feet instead of pedals. I have to say, I was really skeptical of them at first. But I had so many people tell me that their kids went straight from a balance bike to a bike with no training wheels that I figured it was worth a shot. And it was totally worth it.

After a couple days of riding the balance bike, I knew Emma could definitely ride her real bike. The only problem was it was a little too tall for her comfort (though she definitely fits it), so she was scared to try. Luckily though, a 3 year old friend brought his two-wheeler to the park and when Emma saw the 3 year old riding it, she was determined to ride it too. She hopped on his (much smaller) bike and started pedaling while I held onto the seat. I let go without telling her and she kept going. After doing this a couple times, she took off all on her own and rode like she'd been riding her whole life.

When we got home, she begged to try her bike too. We pulled it out of the garage, she hopped on, and took off like she'd been riding forever. Hooray Emma!!!!

The irony of this whole thing is that we've been wanting her to ride her bike forever and she wanted nothing to do with it. As soon as she learned to ride it and wanted to ride it all the time, it got a major flat and she hasn't been able to ride it most of the week! New tube should be put in today and she'll be good to go!

9 Months

At 9 months Ellie is:

-17 lb 5 oz and 26 3/4" long (height, weight, and head size were all 23rd percentile)
- adorable, happy, and energetic (these are the top 3 comments we get from everybody...and I completely agree).
- going to bed around 6 pm, waking for a snack around 5 am, and getting up for the day around 7 am.
- crawling, standing, cruising, walking holding one of our hands, getting up stairs....basically getting around everywhere and getting into everything.

 

- starting to talk. She says baba when she wants her bottle or binky, nom nom when she's eating something she likes or sees something she wants to eat, and mom or mama when she sees me (though this is hit or miss).
- waving, pointing, and clapping....so cute! The waving has started pretty recently so it's still a little awkward, but it's so fun.
-teething! She got her first tooth Feb 10 and her second tooth some time later in February...I really have no idea when! By the time we noticed it, it was big enough that it had to have been there at least a few days.
-eating everything! We seriously have a little human vacuum! The kids love to joke that "Ellie thinks the table is food" or "Ellie thinks my finger is food" or "Ellie thinks her shirt is food". They think it's so funny that everything she gets her hands on goes straight to her mouth.

 We love this sweet little girl!

Simple Pleasures

I love the days when we are able to enjoy the truly simple things. Things like pajama day at school. I loved watching Emma's pure joy as she got ready for bed last night and exclaimed, "Now I'm all ready for school tomorrow!" And again when she woke up this morning and, acting like she knew some big secret, told me that she was all ready to go. She has been begging me forever to get her footie pajamas and insisted that THESE were the only ones that would do for today.

 

While Emma was off pajama-partying at school, the younger kids and I enjoyed our own simple pleasures...despite the fact that Ellie was up most of the night because of another nasty rash on her face. Matthew and I snacked on some cookie dough and colored pictures while Ellie napped. When she woke up we enjoyed some yogurt and blueberries...mmm...Then we had a little impromptu photo shoot with our new resident photographer, Matthew. These are all courtesy of his mad skills, and he was VERY proud of himself.  :)  

One of Ellie's all time favorite things to do is to hang upside down. She was giggling like crazy, which made Matthew giggle, and then I couldn't help but join in. Such a fun morning!

 I'm grateful for these rare mornings, when we have nowhere to go and nothing to do, except cuddle and giggle and eat cookie dough at 9 in the morning.  :)