Since Christmas

Blogging guilt has finally caught up with me. It must seem like I live a really boring life, or am just plain busy. I like lists, so here is our life since Christmas. And the lack of pictures since the holidays is beyond pathetic. 

1. Nesting urge, creative urge, or whatever the heck it is has taken over my time in the last month. The sewing machine has almost constantly been on the dining table working overtime while I sew and sew some more. A lot of fun for myself, not so much for my children who freak out after being ignored for a while, or try to 'help.' I've made more stuff in the last few weeks than I have for 2 1/2 years. Kind of insane. I'm also de-junking like crazy, cleaning the house, the normal nesting stuff. The fact that we'll be moving in 5-6 months also has something to do with it. 

2. If you have carpet made out of recycled plastic bottles like we do, nothing does a better miracle on it than a good vacuum cleaner. Our Black and Decker was no longer cutting it. In comes the Dyson. Ben LOVES it. It's pretty hilarious. He's used it almost every day in the 10 days we've owned it. A remarkable piece of machinery in my opinion. 

3. We went to the Draper Temple open house last night with our friends, the Lanengas. Lots of fun, the kids were slightly crazy, but did as well as could be expected. It was pretty exciting for them, going inside a temple like they've always wanted, riding on a bus like Daddy rides to work, and getting cookies at the end. My kids liked the chandeliers and font the best. My biggest memory is the clear plastic flooring they had laid out on the carpet, because I was watching it while watching Jilly repeatedly try to run away from me. It is a very beautiful temple (aren't they all?).

4. I am ready for winter to be OVER. If I ran the universe, winter/snow would be from November 15 to February 1. Then weather suitable for children to be outside in (not dressed as the abominable snowman) would take over. No inversions, surprise freak snowstorms after tauntingly spring weather, etc. after this date. My children are suffering from incurable cabin fever at this point. 

5. Ben was accepted to a graduate program at Washington University in St. Louis. So as of now, we have two options for the fall. Ben was gone over President's Day weekend in Philadelphia interviewing for U Penn. He was smack in the middle of the big city, and said it was an interesting experience being treated like a VIP. He was the only married with kids (one other grad applicant was married) out of 17 students the University flew out. The other thing he really noticed is how comfortable he's become in Utah Mormon culture. It'll be a definite shift when we move out of here. He'll be going to Irvine and St. Louis next month to visit the faculty and campuses. As long as the traveling is done by the 20th of March, I won't fear going into labor while he's gone. 

6. Jilly's system of weights and measures. She grabs a measuring tape, walks up to my belly, measures it and says, "Hmmm. 39 pounds." Then she'll measure her belly, "Ohhhh, 39 pounds." Then she'll find Evelyn to measure. Everything is 39 pounds. And if we've been to your house recently, and you're missing an important piece of paper, it's probably because Jilly ate it. Any kind of paper is her new favorite snack. And she knows she's not supposed to eat it, she just gulps it down before I can pry it out of her mouth. Price tags (while we're shopping) are a favorite. She tried eating my Bath and Body works hand soap the other day. I don't think she'll repeat that one (hopefully). 

7. Evelyn has really started to get into the creative play mode. Jilly is a willing participant, and the princess dresses are the favorite "let's pretend" object. Evelyn will be saying something about being a princess and then very dramatically, "And all my dreams will come true!" Disney has their claws in my child's soul. 

8. New favorite kid music: Peter Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker Suite,' because the letter T is for Tchaikovsky. I thought T was for turtle. But starfall.com says otherwise. I don't mind, it's better than listening to the "911 song" over and over. 

9. Baby Gordon is as active as his oldest sister was, and gets the hiccups all the time. I hope he's willing to make his entrance to the world closer to the due date than 10 days late, and I think I have a bigger shot at that this time around. I would really like to avoid being induced. 

So there is a sample of the smattering that is my life at this point. And it only seems to get more nuts. I'm slowly learning to find the small "treasures of time" in each day, and wish I could capture them all in a bottle, or etch them into my memory. The times when my kids are doing something funny together, or just want to snuggle on my lap, etc. I'm starting to feel the clock ticking down on the time I have with my kids while they are little and at home with me. It will be a time I will always remember.