The Sugar 'n Spice of Life

Children keep us humble. . .

Situation 1: Sitting on a park bench with Kira. A rather large lady walks past us. . .

Kira: Wow! Look at that big, fat one!

Leisel (very red faced): Shhh, Kira, we don't say things like that, blah, blah, blah.

Fortunately for me, I don't think the lady heard her. Whew!

Situation 2: At Wal-Mart. Kira in the front of the cart, Kamber in the back. Looking for a specific toothbrush for Brandon (very picky about his toothbrush!). Man in a kilt also looking for a toothbrush (I should have seen this one coming!).

Kira: Mom, look at that man wearing a dress!

Man: Ha, ha! (I am so glad he thought this was funny!)

Situation 3: Trying to round up my kids from our visiting teaching trip at the Tringali's (one of my girl's favorite places to play).

Leisel: Kira, Kamber, come on! It's time to go!

Kira stomps up to me with this scowl on her face and proceeds to flip me off!!! Yes, my darling daughter brought that one home from church last Sunday.

Aren't parenting experiences the best? Four year olds are so wonderful to have around. Somehow I thought with Kira being as shy as she is that I wouldn't have to worry so much about this type of thing, but she has a suprisingly loud voice for someone so shy.

I know that I am pretty girlie-- not any sort of tomboy or anything. But I am suprised at just how "girlie" both of my girls are. I love lots of different colors, including brown, red, blue. . . anything and have never pushed just pinks and purples. Their bedroom is even brown and blue. But my girls LOVE pink and purple! I also have never been a big fan of princesses (see "Happily Ever After" post) and have never really pushed that, but my girls LOVE princesses-- playing princesses, watching princesses, whatever. All of their toy animals are ALWAYS named Princess, even the boy animals. So, I have decided, looking back to my family psych classes, that whoever thinks that we 'condition' children to be male and female never had any children. My girls were born girls-- girlie girls!!! Poor Brandon! It's probably a good thing that he is not really a "tough guy", manly man. I think if we can talk the girls into at least playing soccer, he will survive. (By the way, I think this new one is practicing soccer already! Her kicking is driving me nuts! Keeping me awake at night! My insides must be black and blue!)

I did the laundry yesterday and as I was folding clothes I realized that the ratio of pajamas to clothes for me and the girls was about 2 pajamas to every one set of clothes. Do you think that is a bad sign???

Okay, so I am going to try it for a while and see. . . you no longer have to log in to read our blog. I hope it works out okay!!!!

Okay, I am sorry to do this, but I just wanted to spend a few minutes bragging about my cute husband. Right now he is doing his ER rotation which means he is on 12 hour shifts, sometimes all night long. He is so dedicated and never complains. He has been in school now for about 2 years and the longest break he has had was about 1 1/2 weeks. They don't get a summer break at all! He was an amazing student for the first year and a half, when they were doing book work. He was most of the time on the top of the class for test scores. Now, the coordinator actually sends him on rotations purposely to help the reputation of the school. (It is not that great at the moment! Some of the other students just aren't impressing anybody, I guess.) Right now, the doctors and PAs at the hospital just love Brandon because he is willing to just jump right in and do whatever. It also helps that he speaks fluent Spanish. He has doctors trying to steal him from other doctors because they need his interpreting skills. I just can't tell you how proud of him I am!!!! He has overcome so many things in his schooling! When we first met, he had a VERY hard time taking tests and it was reflected in his grades. He has worked SO hard to overcome that and now is at the top of his class. He very rarely complains about all the studying he has to do (hours and hours every day!!!). I am very, very grateful that I was lucky enough to win his heart!!! ;0)

Thanks for letting me indulge for just a moment!

My girls love to take baths! They will seriously play in the tub for up to an hour. The water is always freezing when I go to get them out. They always look so cute sitting in the tub with their little princess toys! Just wanted to share!

Okay, I just needed to clarify. . . I AM happy much of the time. I am happily married to a great guy and my three little girls make me smile many times a day. I think maybe the idea of "Happily Ever After" makes me think it should be really easy, which it definetly is NOT, or maybe that I would look beautiful when I had just woken up in the morning being six months pregnant, or maybe my prince charming would ALWAYS adore me and think that I was perfect. . . That was sort of the picture I was hoping for. Hmmmm, I guess this is one of those "if it's not hard, it's not worth doing" sort of things. ;0)

I'm not sure if it is because I grew up in a family of girls, or if it was just because of who my mom is, but I grew up believing in fairy tales. In my young mind I equated "enduring to the end" with "happily ever after." Somehow I thought the hard part was just finding "prince charming" and marrying in the temple and after that, life was good. How naive I was!!! I can't believe how much harder it is to "endure to the end" than I ever expected. Somehow, being a mom, I feel like I am "enduring" almost every day. Because I am at home all day, I don't have the outside, bad influences that perhaps someone working outside the home would run into. But, everyday I am faced with the decision of whether or not to read my scriptures. Whether I should clean the house or sit in front of the computer. Whether I should cook dinner or eat out. There are so many little things, that shouldn't be that hard to resist, but seem to be much more difficult than I realized. I can't believe how easy it is to fall into little "addictions" as a stay-at-home mom. I eat too much sugar, sit at the computer too much, spend WAY too much money, don't teach my children enough, etc, etc, etc. The list is really a very long one. And I can not believe how hard it is for me to overcome these seemingly little things!!!! I feel more like the little engine that could instead of Cinderella. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. . ."

Yeah, baby!!!! What a game!!!! Our Jayhawks (finally) made it!!!!! Hooray!!!!

I love general conference! When I was growing up, it was hard to sit through four hours on Saturday AND Sunday, but now I love it! Listening to the general authorities is so uplifting. And my girls were so perfect today! They played in their room for an hour and a half while I listened on the internet. What darlings!

I have a friend who I just recently became reaquainted with via the blogging world, and she has inspired me. She is the only friend that I am still in contact with that is not of the LDS faith. And yet, often in her blog she references her testimony and her faith. I am amazed at her strength through her trials and the little tidbits of inspiration she shares every once in a while. (Yes, Lizz, I am talking about you!)

After reading her blog several times, it finally dawned on me that I have not ever shared much to do with my faith, and yet it is a huge part of who I am, so I wanted to follow her example and share a little of that today.

The thing that really struck me about this conference was the many talks about parenting. I felt very guilty about my yelling so much at my sweet girls. And that is the goal I am taking with me to work on. I have gotten really bad since being uncomfortable pregnant. And I love them sooo much! They are so darling! I don't consider myself a very sensitive person. I don't cry very often for sentimental reasons. But this afternoon, when Elder Bednar shared the story of the dying four year old girl, I started balling. I couldn't imagine having that happen to me or my girls. And it struck me just how much I truly love my precious babies. I can' timagine life without them and I am determined to try and be a better mom to them.

I love our prophet! I loved Pres. Hinckley and I now love Pres. Monson. They are incredible men that are truly called of God. How blessed I am to know that, and to have the opportunity to hear his voice and his words.

I am amazed at the love the Lord has for me. I feel that I am blessed so often and I am so ungrateful. I make so many mistakes every day, and yet, all I have to do is try just a tiny, teeny bit and the Lord blesses me for it-- again and again! How amazing to be loved so much!

The scriptures are so amazing! I love the Book of Mormon! I always have. I have read it many times. I have read the Bible, too, and I was suprised today, as I thought about it, that I truly love the Bible as well. It is harder to read, but the life of Christ is truly inspiring. And many of the Old Testament stories bless my life and give me a way to teach my children simple truths. What a great blessing!

I am thankful for the Saviour in my life. I don't feel as though I understand the atonement as well as I should, but I know that it was for me. And I know it is a HUGE blessing in my life. I love the Saviour and truly believe he is the Christ.

There are so many more things I could share, but you are probably all bored. Thanks for letting me share! And thanks, Lizz for your inspiration.

Not only did KU win, they wiped the floor Roy Williams and his precious Tyler Hansborough. Oh yeah, oh yeah!!! Thank you very much!

I thought of one more-- it is impossible to cut your toenails!

(Okay, I am sorry to do so many in one day-- I seem to go in spurts, whatever!)

1. Your maternity clothes start getting too small.

2. Doing the grocery shopping wears you out for the day.

3. Your back hurts 90% of the time.

4. Ankles, what ankles?

5. The baby, tickling the inside of your tummy no longer tickles- it hurts!

6. Standing up becomes a real chore.

7. Your children start feeling like they have Hitler for a mother.

8. Any piece of clothing remotely tight (including your bra) starts getting really annoying.

9. Crossing your legs is impossible.

10. Walking becomes more like a waddle.

PS I am so totally there!!!

Oh, one more thing. . . rolling over in bed is one of the most difficult things I do all day!

Okay, one more for today, and sorry, no pictures. I was just wondering if anyone else out there is a sucker for sales? I never used to be that way, but somehow shopping for three little girls is just too much fun to ignore the sales. I have determined that someone out there in retail land is having a laugh somewhere at my expense. You see, there is a 30% off everything sale at Gap, 20% off everything at Old Navy, and my Gymbucks are good all in the same week!!! I can NOT figure out how to budget my money so that I can hit all three!!!! It is very frustrating. So, any ideas on how to work that one out??? I wish you were all here so that we could go shopping together!!! (Or maybe it would be MORE fun if you watched my girls for me and I went all by myself!!! Hee, hee, hee!)

I have decided that I do not like sharing baby names before the baby is born. It is not that I am a secretive person, or that I like to suprise everyone or anything like that. I find that most everyone is very opinionated on names, myself included and somehow BEFORE the baby is born they feel that they have a right to share their opinion on your choosen name. For example, I remember sharing with my mom that we were going to name our first Kira. She scoffed at me! Somehow she had a slightly skewed idea that somehow Kira was an old girlfriend of Brandon's and could not believe that we would actually name our child after an old girlfriend. (For those of you who don't know my mom, she is VERY opinionated on things like that!!! ;0)) So, anyway, Brandon and I have are seriously considering a name, but after sharing it with a few people who have asked, I don't have the desire to share with anyone else. When I share, it is just because I am excited about the name, etc. I really don't care whether or not everyone likes it. (Sorry if this comes across as high and mighty or something. . . I have been feeling kind of cranky today!) So, anyway, if anyone is wondering about the name, you will just have to wait until the baby is born!!! But I will give you one hint, it is a "K" name. (Bri, I think you will smile when you hear it!)