Three More Days to Go

This morning I was cuddling with my cute hubby and thinking how cute he is. Of course, I was mostly asleep and I never really woke up before he left for work. (OK, so I'm not the kind of wife who gets up early to make breakfast before Jake leaves in the morning...) Being mostly asleep, I also wasn't thinking of the mustache he's been sporting for four days now. If I had, I definitely would not have been thinking such sweet thoughts, let alone cuddling!

Can you tell? Facial hair = Katie repellant.

Here's last year's atrocity: Bob Ross (you know, the painter on PBS?)


And the year before: Richard Simmons (with a baby bumblebee)


No facial hair in this one, but this is what he looked like the night before:

Feel my pain!

True Love

In marriage, we all have to make sacrifices in order to succeed. We might sacrifice material items, careers, or social events for the good of the marriage.

Every October, I make a sacrifice for the good of my marriage. This is the time of year my husband grows facial hair and I don't interject my own personal preference. So sacrifice #1 is I put up with nasty full beard. A couple of years ago, I approved the purchase of a high quality curly brown wig. This was actually a mutual promise: purchase is allowed if we get our money's worth out of it. Finally, when it all comes down to it, I allow my husband to be seen in public places with the horrible, horrible combination--facial hair and wig. So sacrifice #2 is personal dignity.

This year's combination: NACHO LIBRE

Doctor Doctor

Ellie loves princesses, real and imaginary animals, and all things Disney. When I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween, though, she surprised us. She said, "a doctor." After Jake called every member of his immediate family to find out who put her up to such a lame Halloween costume, we realized that this was, indeed, Ellie's own idea. I thought she would change her mind, though.

She never did. So, Ellie is a doctor for Halloween. Ellie's Aunt Paden, who is a real life doctor, and her uncle Michael Angelo (that's his real name, I promise) who is almost a doctor doctor (MD, Ph.D.) were in town last week, so we got pics of all the docs together.

Now, I have to interject something here. Technically, Jake, Jake's dad, Jake's aunt Lorraine, and I are doctors, also--doctors of law. But for some reason, lawyers don't get to wear that title. Now why is that? Is there any other kind of doctor that doesn't get to be called Doctor such-and-such? And why does our daughter want to be a doctor-not-a-lawyer for Halloween?

Judd is a turtle.

We weren't just playing in the Halloween costumes. We got the kids all dressed up for our ward's Trunk-or-Treat party. Tons of fun.

A Night at the Ballet

My sister and her two children flew into town a week ago and my house wasn't completely guest-ready. I had them stay in our newly finished basement, which is the nicest part of our home at this point, but there was one problem--the toilet was disconnected.

Why is the toilet in the best part of our home disconnected? It's a long story I won't get into, but it involves a Washlet (computerized toilet) and my mom.

After Jessica arrived, I removed the Washlet and reconnected the toilet. My sister watched as my husband attended to some other domestic chore. Jessica's comment: "It's weird watching you fix the plumbing while Jake is doing...well...whatever he's doing."

What an insightful commentary on our marriage.

Jessica was only here for two and a half days, which was way too short, but we managed to cram in a few things. I forgot to take my camera to the zoo, so there are no cute zoo pics. Somehow I managed to remember to snap a shot of the kids' handiwork, because this is a scene I want to preserve for posterity. (<--that was sarcasm)

This is one of those "find the hidden object" pictures. Can you find the children in this mess? There are two of them...

I call this one "Fish Head."

Judd with his Aunt Jessica who looks, literally, half her age.

Ellie spent the entire weekend following her cousin Erika around and doing everything she did.

Jake scored some awesome tickets to Swan Lake (performed by the Colorado Ballet), so we had a girls' night out. We took the light rail downtown, which I think was fun for the little girls.

The ballet was beautiful. We left after the first act, though, because: (1) it was well past Ellie's bedtime; (2) one act seemed to be more than Ellie could take of staying in one spot; and (3) because of (1) and (2), Ellie was misbehaving quite noticeably. When the lights came back on, Ellie said quite loudly, "I don't like it Mommy! I don't like it!" She was actually referring to the villain in the ballet, but I don't think that came through when she said it.

On the way home, Jessica commented, "That makes me want to do ballet again..." Jessica and I had been pretty committed dancers when we were much younger--we even danced in a local ballet company. My comment back to Jessica was, "You're nuts. I am glad to never ever ever put another pair of pointe shoes on my feet again."

Jessica and her kids had to leave the next morning. I took Ellie with us to the airport. She was not happy about her cousins leaving. In fact, she refused to say goodbye.

None of the kids cracked a smile the entire time I was at the airport. Ellie cried as I took her out to the car. It had been nearly a year since I last saw my little sister and her beautiful kids. Ellie wasn't the only one bummed to see them go.

Today, finally, Jake and I ventured to clean up. I'm not such a diligent or gifted housekeeper--I'm well aware that cleaning up a mess a week after it has happened is not good housekeeping. As I turned on the vacuum cleaner, Ellie came running out of the woodwork, grabbed her kid-sized broom, and attacked the vacuum cleaner. I had never seen her do this before and I was quite surprised. When she did the same thing to my Bissellator (that's my pet name for my carpet shampooer machine thingy), I yelled at Jake to grab the camera. Check it out.

Come visit again soon, Jessica, Erika, and Kalvin!

Jake Wants the World to Know

Speaking of the child who won't use the potty...

Yesterday, as Jake was emptying a dirty diaper into the toilet, Ellie peered at her handiwork and told her Dad, "That's a turd, Daddy...A big one."

Just thought you should know.

A Few of My Favorite Things

My sweet little family. This is the crew on Saturday morning watching General Conference. But...

When you take in the entire picture, you see who dominates my, (mind you, it is MY) home. A 2-year-old. Would you believe that she was able to do this in about an hour's time? When the house gets like this, I can't hang out, but Dad sure doesn't seem to mind...

I love when my kids want to cuddle with Mommy. This scene happens at least once a day. I'll be rocking Judd in the La-Z-Boy (best investment ever, BTW) and Ellie will climb on and wedge herself in the nonexistent space betweem the armrest and me. But do you see what's wrong with this picture?

Yes, the 2-year-old with the pacifier. This is one of our best kept secrets. Ellie is a very bright girl. She articulates incredible complete sentences. She knows the alphabet, can almost count to twenty, and will spend hours looking at books. But this child refuses to give up: (1) the pacifier; (2) the bottle (another closely held family secret); and (3) DIAPERS!!


Here's part 2 of the potty training saga. Ellie refuses to use the potty altogether. She absolutely will not use the potty. Except for this one time a couple of weeks ago when she took the initiative and went all by herself. The potty training book mentioned in a previous entry instructs parents to also teach the child to dump the peepee from the child potty into the adult potty and then flush the toilet. I had really strong misgivings about this aspect, but I decided to approach this whole training thing the same way I approach a recipe I have never used--go strictly by the book. MY INSTINCTS WERE CORRECT. That one time Ellie used the potty? Well, you guessed it, she not only missed the big potty, the peepee also found its way, well, EVERYWHERE.

Another reason why that book sucks.


Enough griping. Just when I think I'm at the end of my rope, holding the last straw, or teetering at the edge of the cliff, I see something like this.
My kids, cute as can be, doing something strange, but doing it together.

The rope grows another foot, I get five more straws, and the cliff is once again a safe distance away. Such is motherhood.

Get in Shape Girl

Today as I was driving, I saw something that really put me in my place. An elderly woman wearing stretch pants with shorts and a tucked-in T-shirt was walking on the runner's path. Obviously getting some exercise. She also was wearing a leg brace on a leg that clearly did not bend, was holding a deformed arm close to her chest, and walked with a cane. She walked very slowly, but seemed determined.

I thought about my aches and pains--mostly brought on by pregnancy and childbirth. Chronic back and hip pain and 20-plus extra lbs., to name a few. How pathetic am I? So I'm feeling determined to really get out there and get in shape regardless of my petty ailments.


Oh, and I'm dragging my kids with me.