In my mid- 20's

24 weeks:
25 weeks:
26 weeks:

xoxo
lys

Gratitude

I am grateful for two little boys.


I am grateful for Britain. Every morning he patiently waits for me to finish my make-up and hair before we go down to breakfast. He either tells me, "You are so pretty, Mom" or "Your hair is really beautiful" and then he tells me that he wants a bagel with grapes and kiwis to eat. He teaches me all about superheroes and Transformers. He asks me questions like, "Do you know what a cornucopia is?" and "Do you know what happens when animals hibernate?" and always has an answer 100 times better than mine. Whenever he gets a gift or treat from someone he always tells me, "That was so nice. We need to make sure that we say 'thank you.' " He is patient when we take too long in stores (which I almost always do) and he is well-behaved when we go out to eat. And, although he craves structure and scheduling, he is always understanding when things don't go according to plan.



I am grateful for Stratton. Stratton is excited about life! From the moment he wakes up until the moment he goes to sleep he is non-stop motion. He grabs me by the hand and says, "Mom, Mom, Mom!" and leads me over to something that he thinks is just wonderful. He loves animals and he gathers up heapfuls of little plastic ones in his Tonka dump truck and calls them his "babies." He has a smile that lights up his whole face and big deep, dark brown eyes make me just about melt. Stratton is excellent at sharing and wants to make sure that if I give something to Stratton that there is also one for Britain. One of the things that I admire most about Stratton is that he is completely fearless-- on the playground he dives down the longest, steepest, fastest slide without a blink (Brit and I just stand back and watch). I wish I were just a little more like Stratton.

xoxo
lys

Language Acquisition

I believe language acquisition in humans to be one of the most fascinating things that a person can study. As an English major in college I took a class on linguistics and we studied everything involving language: syntax, phonology, phonetics, the evolution of language, etc. I found the subject of language acquisition in children to be most phenomenal, but it wasn't until now (a good 12 or 13 years later) that I've had my only little petri dishes to study.

Stratton is at the most amazing age for language development. This is the age where toddlers are learning new words every day and beginning to put them together to clearly express their thoughts. It all happens so fast! First came the pointing and the one-word exclamations of "dog!" and "more!" and "milk!" Then came the linking of two concepts together: "Brit! No!" "More! Cookie!" "Done! Juice!" Now, he's started to understand English speech patterns and is just beginning to link subject-verb-(and sometimes direct object) together: "share Dad" (he wanted to share his fruit snacks with dad), "help Dad snow" (Dad was outside in the snow and he wanted to help him), "Brit truck broke" (accompanied by lots of tears), "Brit give snacks" (he loves to be the delivery man), "chair pinch hand" (also accompanied by lots of tears).

Another amazing thing about language development is the expression of abstract concepts: emotions, numbers, time, colors, etc. It's one thing to verbally express what you can SEE, but quite another to talk about something that is not necessarily tangible. Stratton is just beginning to tell me when he sees someone "sad" or "mad." Also, he can identify the colors of many things-- "blue" came first (probably because the "b" sound is one of the easiest), then "black," then "red," then "green," then "brown," then "white." He's about 50% right when he says "pink" or "purple." "Yellow" we are still working on. . . and he can't quite say "orange" yet (that was a hard one for Brit too-- I think he said "ornange" until he was almost 3).

Now that I have two children it is interesting to see the differences in what words/concepts they pick up first. That said, I'm very careful not to compare their levels of proficiency (i.e. "Oh, at this age Britain was already saying _______"); they are VERY different children with very different strengths.

Fascinating.
xoxo
lys

Delightful

I quite enjoyed this collection of short stories entitled "I Cannot Tell a Lie, Exactly." Mary Ladd Gavell's sons collected her stories and had them published for her posthumously. They were truly delightful. I always think that "a book in hand is better than on the shelf," so I'd love to pass this on to someone. Emily, are you ready for another book?

xoxo
lys

Warm wishes

After mailing a package this morning at the post office, the USPS employee asked me, "Would you also like to buy some holiday stamps?" Although I really like the Kwanzaa ones, I decided that the Hawai'i ones seeemed much more inviting. Would it be weird to mail my Christmas cards with them?

xoxo
lys

The Hand-Me-Down Kid

I love, love, love that Stratton and Brit are almost exactly two years apart (23 months, to be exact). Stratton's clothing has cost us nearly nothing; when the season changes I simply open the giant Tupperware bucket of Brit's corresponding old clothes. It's just fabulous. It's weird to think that with baby #3 (A GIRL!) I won't having any buckets to open for her.

The other day after I got the boys dressed I realized that I had inadvertently dressed them in similar outfits. If you'll notice, though, Stratton's sweater has seen a lot more wear and is quite a bit faded. Good ol' Stratty gets to look forward to the same outfit again in two years. . .

Version 3T
Version 5T


I love kid-to-kid clothes!

xoxo

lys

Yes, I do shop at Wal-Mart

Someone the other day commented to me that they "could never imagine me shopping at Wal-Mart." I'll admit that I don't love Wal-Mart, but, sure, I shop there. In fact, I recently even bought some clothes at good ol' Wally World. Sometimes their prices are just too good to be true. Look what I got for a little over $40:

1) Sweats to go under Brit's Halloween costume ($3.50 per piece)

2) Two jean skirts (clearance rack) I bought in 2 sizes too big to fit my not-ready-for-maternity-clothes belly: $3 each

3) Six long sleeve white tees for my boys (perfect for extending the life of those short-sleeve t's from summer you still love or for a layering piece)

4) Two Halloween shirts: $5 each

5) Two Miley Cyrus tees (do you love that I have Hannah Montana in my closet?!!) in XL to fit the growing belly: $10 total

(Sometimes you've got to admit that Wal-Mart hooks you up. )

xoxo

lys

2010 Holidays

Earlier today I was taking a peak at next year's calendar and I learned the following:

• Valentine's Day is on a Sunday
• Easter is on April 4th which is either Fast Sunday (no raiding Easter baskets before church?!!) or General Conference
• 4th of July is on a Sunday
• Halloween is on a Sunday
• My birthday is on Thanksgiving (Ugh. I'd never pick turkey and stuffing as a birthday dinner. . .)
• Christmas is on a Saturday
• New Year's Eve is on a Saturday (with church bright and early the next day. . .)

It'll be an interesting year.

xoxo

lys

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: a seasonal favorite at our house

This is the recipe that my mom has always made. They are so moist and so tasty!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
½ cup shortening
1 Tbsp grated orange peel
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 – 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.
Mix sugar, pumpkin, shortening and peel together until smooth.
Stir in dry ingredients.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Bake on ungreased baking sheet for about 8 minutes.

xoxo
lys

In an attempt to move on to the next holiday,

I made "turkey" sandwiches today for lunch.



xoxo
lys