Loooooong Vacation

We had a good Christmas, surprisingly with snow. I expected to have a dead, brown, and wet Christmas, like so many have been in the Pacific Northwest. So it was fun, except for the fact I didn't pack any of the girls' snow stuff so they could go outside and play in it. So we tried to make the most of what we could inside the house. We ate a ton of good food, whenever I'm at Ben's house, I think every dinner is gourmet, and eat too much. There was a lot of chocolate lying around and that was another downfall. It's all part of Christmas Tradition though, and I do look forward to it every year. Christmas morning was kind of a bust this year, Evelyn and Jilly were both so grouchy from staying up late the night before and all the partying, they didn't really want to open presents. We got through about 3 of Evelyn's presents, the last of which was a new movie, and she wanted to watch it NOW. We tried to coax her to open the rest of the gifts, but only received a tantrum. So we saved the rest for later in the day when she wasn't so grumpy. Jilly just wanted to sit on my lap the whole time with her blanket while I opened her presents. Note to self: children must go to bed on time Christmas Eve. The girls got a lot of toys, enough that I now need to go and buy some sort of storage unit to get them all off of the floor in their room. Ev and Jill love all the toys, and it keeps them busy instead of watching movies, their other favorite past time. We spent some time in Washington after New Year's, which was too short, but got some work done on our car, and more presents from Grandpa and Grandma Gibbons. I was also glad the Gibbons family get-together got moved a couple of days later, which enabled us to see the extended family. I made it out to the trampoline with Evelyn and the tire swing, both of which she was really excited about. We almost got stuck in Washington, with the really bad winds that kept closing the freeway back to Idaho. Luckily the weather cooperated and we made it back here to Utah on Sunday, avoiding the need to buy Ben a plane ticket so he would be back to school on time. We are glad to be home, and back to our little routine.

I think the was one of the favorite presents: a collapsible tunnel in the form of a Chinese dragon. The girls were scared of it at first, but quickly got over that. See those penguin pajama pants? This was Ben's parents gift to all of the kids on Christmas Eve. They even had a photographer come over to take our picture wearing them together. Our family was all in light blue. It was a funny surprise.

Playing in the dragon together. Jilly will sit in the middle while Evelyn crawls over her repeatedly, and they both squeal. It's a lot of fun to watch.

Evelyn coloring with her new crayons and coloring book. Her hair looks fabulous, don't you think?

Jilly's favorite pastime, crawling up and down the stairs. She only fell down them twice, and since the house is a split-level, there were only half as many stairs to fall down. I like this face, she was really excited I guess. Her hair is fabulous as well.

Evelyn made cupcakes for the first time, with a lot of help. She got a little apron for Christmas, but didn't want to keep it on for some two-year-old reason.

I think frosting them was her favorite part, what do you think?

While the face is a little weird, this was definitely Evelyn's favorite thing to do. This is Nate and Michelle's dog Bailey, a teacup Chihuahua, who is full grown if I understand correctly. The perfect size for Evelyn to cart around. Bailey would let Evelyn push her in the baby stroller, and chase her around the house. I think Bailey liked that part. She would wait for Evelyn to get about three feet away before running away at top speed and then repeat the process.

This picture is for Grandma Cluff, as she bought the outfit in Disney World. This is Jilly's Halloween costume that she didn't get a chance to wear. It fits now, and is so cute on her. Evelyn is very jealous of it in fact, and when we came home yesterday, this was her outfit of choice.

The waist of the pants rides below her hips, and the sleeves are way too short. I indulge her in her goofiness because it is so funny sometimes.

It is good to be at home, sweet home. 

Happy Holidays to You!

Here is the picture we took in October by ourselves. Ben set the timer on the camera, ran over, and Evelyn actually looked. Jilly wouldn't though. Her face is like, what are we looking at here? Why are you telling me to look over there? It was the first and best picture. The rest look like Evelyn is trying to escape.

Looking over the last year, its been a whirlwind. Each year passes more quickly, and I expect it will remain so. We lived in three different houses, Evelyn started talking, and Jilly is growing from a baby to a toddler. We enjoyed our time with family this summer, and with friends here in Provo. Ben is fully immersed in his Master's program, and that's an entire story unto itself. It certainly makes him busier than he's ever been. I'm just trying to keep up with the girls and the demands of running a household. My visions of scrapbooking and quilting are on hold for now. I'll have more time to do it (I hope) this summer. And as I'm trying to get cleaned up and packed for our trip to Idaho, I hope to remember and reflect on the birth of Christ and the wonderful gift of His life. To all of you, where ever you may be this holiday, we hope you have a Merry Christmas and make some good resolutions for New Year's!

P.S. Jillian has finally broken the 16 pound weight barrier. She's been 15 pounds for nearly 5 months. Most one-year-olds should weigh somewhere around 22 pounds. She fell below the growth charts, and the doctor was all worried, but I guess she's just a shrimp. She is actually starting to wear 9-12 month clothes instead if 6 months. So hooray for Jilly!

Disasters and Silliness

I've been meaning to put up a post with pictures of the latest Ev and Jill antics for about a month now, so there are just going to be a lot of random pictures and short explanations. They are both so busy, playing together, fighting together, eating together, watching movies together, it's like raising twins. I really almost have to buy two of everything in the toy department so they aren't constantly fighting. I try to explain sharing, but how do you reason with a 1 and 2 year old? The person who comes up with that fix should win the Nobel Peace Prize. No pun intended.

Jilly loves electronics and power cords. This one isn't plugged in of course, what kind of mom would I be? She loves to crawl over to the power strips where all the computer hardware is attached to and turn it off in the middle of something important. The TV, DVD player and X-box are all on a power strip as well. She'll get this mischievous grin, crawl over and turn it off in the middle of Daddy's virtual soccer match. He loves that.

The daily disaster of books. At least they're reading. Sort of.

Jilly likes to carry around the little board books, and since she can't walk yet, this is the best way she figured out how to do it. I think it's really cute.

Both girls love the piano, and not just banging on it. I usually get one song played before Jilly crawls over and whines until I pick her up and hold her while I play. Evelyn likes singing all the Primary songs with my accompaniment.

The weekly disaster of the Sunday paper, made worse this time of year by tripling the amount of Holiday ads arriving in the paper. It seems worse than ever before!

So this is a terrible picture, but the only one that shows what is going on. I was catching bills up, and it was quiet. Too quiet. I look down the hall and see Jilly gleefully pulling out all the Kleenex from the box. Evelyn was then helping her tear them into smaller pieces. Lovely.

Not 20 minutes later, Evelyn had quietly raided the pantry for a box of cereal, carried it to her room, and figured out a way Jilly could have some too. At least they were sharing. Jilly had a huge pile she was sitting on, you can see it around her diaper and legs.

Jilly thinks bibs are for wearing on your head or not at all. I do lots of laundry for this kid.

And Evelyn's new passion is my make-up. She's watched me put it on one too many times, and now feels welcome to get into it whenever she pleases. My shimmery cover stick has ended up on her face more than once. It's all over her lips in this picture, and then she proceeded to wipe it all over my aquamarine towel. Thanks dearest daughter. I still love you.

Evelyn is the typical little girl who loves to dress up. She likes to pretend she's going shopping. She gets her purse, some high heeled shoes, preferably mine. This time she grabbed Dad's tie for an accessory.

Yesterday's little adventure

I have always had a good habit of locking my car whenever I get out of it. This is what I usually do: Unlock the car, get Jilly out of her seat, buckle her in, and throw the keys into the front seat. Then I get Evelyn out and put her into her seat. Then unload whatever I bought into the trunk. Then get in the car, and drive off. Yesterday, after getting Jilly in her seat, I chucked the keys into the driver's seat, turned my brain off, and locked the car. Just out of habit, but this time it came back to bite me. And our car doesn't have remote keyless entry, and no spare key on the outside somewhere, so my poor little super-mommy-attached one year old was locked in her carseat in the car. Thank goodness it wasn't in the middle of summer. I couldn't believe I did that. A very nice college student, who was in the same line as me at the bank, saw my predicament and made some calls to get a locksmith sent over. It all took about 15 mintues, for which about half Jilly was fine. And then she got really mad. When it was all over, I was out only $30, and Jilly was able to recover from her little ordeal. Has anyone else done this? I think I am just a big airhead. :)

In all seriousness, I have been very impressed lately by the kindness of strangers. Christina the college student did all the phone-calling, and stayed the whole time until the car was unlocked, and the locksmith took $10 off of his normal fee. There have been other random acts of kindness as well. I only hope I can be perceptive enough to see the chance to serve when it arises, as these people did.

6 things about me

1. I don't care for most '80's fashions, but I don't think you will ever see me wear leggings. I was walking around BYU campus today, and saw quite a few of them around. They were worn with baby doll dresses, and I just shook my head. I also can't stand the ankle-tight jeans coming back in style. I remember wearing them as a grade-schooler, and when I would put them on, I couldn't get my foot through the bottom without a lot of struggle. So as long as flare-leg jeans are around, I'm going to keep buying them. I don't think the ankle-tight ones flatter figures. But hey, I'm not a fashion designer.

2. I have a thing for numbers, like Nicole can remember people's names. I can remember, most of the time, what something cost me exactly, and how much I spent on my last shopping trip at each store. Phone numbers, credit card numbers, and old addresses also come easily. Just a weird memory thing. Maybe it's not as unique as I think it is. It is nice when it comes to balancing the checkbook though.

3. When I was a teenager, I was really gullible and an air-head. You all know the blinker-light fluid joke? I fell for it. Something I'm not terribly proud of. I'm glad to say that I've grown out of it...mostly.

4. I like being pregnant. I think it's the coolest experience in the world. This is probably due to the fact that I don't get sick and really uncomfortable, like many, many women do. I feel bad about this sometimes, but I wouldn't change it. Who knows, I may eat these words down the road. And this is not a declaration of any sort, to anyone who may have speculated. :)

5. I would much, much rather watch a sporting event or concert on TV than actually be at the venue. I can stand sitting in rock-hard, small plastic chairs for only so long. And the noise really gets to me. I don't like feeling deaf when I've left an event. I get bored too. So it's better to be at home and to be doing something else while watching whatever it is. This does not apply to symphonies or General Conference.

6. I'm speaking in Sacrament meeting this sunday. I managed, somehow, to get away without speaking for 5 years now. But I'm excited because it's as much an opportunity to learn as it is to let other people know what you've been thinking about. Which leads to another confession: as soon as my kids are all in school, or sooner, I'm getting a nursing degree. I should have done it when I was still in school, but I was burnt out and chicken. I hope I haven't forgotten everything by then.

Happy really late birthday to Jilly! :)

Getting things posted has been so hard lately! Jilly's birthday was a week ago, on the 7th. We had a little party with just our family, because Ben had class until 7:45 pm that night. I made cupcakes and just put the canned whipped cream on top, because Jilly and Evelyn both love that stuff. They like me to squirt it into their mouths. They got it from their daddy, not me. I can't stand it myself. But on pumpkin pie it's great!

Jilly wasn't quite sure what to make of the candle at first. She wanted to keep touching the flame to see what it was. She did help blow it out, as much as she could.

When Evelyn saw that Jilly was getting a candle on her cupcake, she got really jealous. So we caved and gave her two candles on hers. And she wanted us to keep re-lighting them.

She finally got brave enough to touch the whipped cream.

And it didn't take her too long to figure out what to do with that cupcake. And after we had removed the very messy onesie, it was time to unwrap the present.

Evelyn helped, of course. She has a somewhat guilty/impish grin here. Jilly really hasn't figured out the whole unwrapping thing. Maybe she'll get into it at Christmas.

We got her a little piggy bank that talks and counts the coins as you drop them in. They both think it's great.

And we finally got her to smile as she showed off her new toy. She still is a shrimpy little thing for a one-year-old, but she's trying to learn to walk. She loves her little walking toy she got as a birthday gift, and is learning baby signs now, and doing a little bit of talking. Now that she's no longer sick, she's getting a little more adventurous as well. Happy Birthday Jilly!

Catch-up!

Sorry for not posting! Evelyn was pretty sick last week, and Jilly is even sicker this week. So hopefully fortune will smile on us soon and grant me healthy kids for a while. Really, they've been sick this whole month. It's getting old, fast. I hope you are all having better luck than me. But things could always be worse. I'm not sick, and the girls aren't in the hospital. And Ben is doing fine in school. Just need to count my blessings.

Update: All right everyone, take a deep breath, because this is a long one. The last 3 weeks went somewhere, sucked into the sick kids vortex and Grandma visiting vortex. The girls are finally feeling better now (going on 4 healthy days!!!), I came to find out that Jilly's ear infection had been going on for a month now, and culminated into a fever lasting four days and more than one trip to the doctor. She's now on a strong anti-biotic to kick the infection out, and hopefully keep it that way for a while. Luckily for me, Grandma Cluff came into town to give Evelyn a little attention while I took care of Jilly. The kids always seem to be sick when she comes into town, it's quite the coincidence. While she was here, we went to see Gardner Village, which is in-between decorating for Halloween and Christmas, so they were still pulling down all the Halloween stuff. I've heard that the decorating they do there is half the fun of visiting. We saw all the cool little shops and boutiques, and Evelyn enjoyed the ducks waddling around a pond the most. We also visited Tai Pan Trading, which is the coolest home decorating store ever. If you visit Utah, you need to visit this store. I also saw Ikea for the first time. It's quite the experience. All the furniture and decorations are in a modern European style (for those who don't know, Ikea is a Swedish furniture company). The store is huge, you can eat there, put your kids into a daycare while you shop, and stuff is cheap. It's fun to look at.

Last Friday, because Grandma was in town, I was able to go to school with Ben for part of the day. I mostly wanted to see him teach, and he did well in my opinion. I wish I could take a Spanish class from him. I am biased, of course. We visited the art museum on campus for one of his classes, and talked about feminism as well. So it wasn't completely over my head. I think that was the funnest date we have had for a long time. I'll do it again if I have the chance.

The weekend before Halloween, we went to pick pumpkins, and headed out to a place called Hee-Haw farms. There were animals to look at, Evelyn thought the bunny village and the goats were pretty cool. They had a whole apparatus for the goats to climb, I've never seen something like that for goats before. Only cats. We saw a giant pig, and they had some cows and sheep.

Evelyn went on a pony ride, on some very little ponies, or miniature horses, I'm not sure which. Then there was a tractor, pulling 50 gallon drums that had been painted into animals that you could ride in. About half way through our little excursion, Ben said,"Well, this is ironic. We just paid $10 to do things we could have done at your parents or Grandma Hill's for free."

The only really cool thing there were the slides. One was just a giant corrugated plastic pipe, which was really fast, and the other slide was a bunch of pvc pipe screwed horizontally between two wooden boards. When you slid down it, the pipes would roll you down to the end. There was some cool ingenuity there. While it was fun, I don't think we'll be going there next year. Much less be paying $10 to get in and not get pumpkins. I didn't think you'd have to pay for them on top of the ticket fees. They weren't even in the patch. They were lined up on shelves. I thought that was kind of lame. Guess I'm disenchanted because of my farm girl upbringing. Or just cheap!

The day of Halloween ended up being a bummer of sorts this year, because Jilly just happened to be really sick on Halloween. She went to the doctor instead of trick-or-treating. She was supposed to be Winnie-the-Pooh. But at the rate she's growing, she may still fit the costume next year.

I dropped Evelyn off with Ben in her monkey suit to trick-or-treat on campus at Helaman Halls. The generous single students gave her plenty of candy. Ben said she would knock on the doors and say," Hi guys!" She knew the routine, except for the trick-or-treat saying. We did get one pumpkin carved, and Ben did most of it because Evelyn didn't want to touch slimy pumpkin guts (truthfully, I don't like to either). She would just look inside the pumpkin with a face of disgust. I'll let everyone guess who we carved into the pumpkin. (And Nicole, if you can't remember who it is, I won't know what to think!)


And I will end this forever post by saying there will be another coming very soon. And that I am grateful to have healthy kids again. If I did not live in this time where we have the blessing of medical knowledge and technology, some of the sicknesses my girls have had in the last month could have ended very badly. I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who watches out for my family and has given me patience and comfort when I needed it.