Business trips, shots, haircuts, and hurricanes

Well Dan left today for a two week Canadian work adventure.



Two weeks feels like an eternity right now.

I miss him already.

Thankfully my parents are here with me and between their visit here and my visit there, I won't have to go it alone too much.

Ava starts preschool this week and we are both excited. I met her teacher at an orientation this past week and she is very nice. A couple of kids from the ward are in her class including her pal Quentin so hopefully it won't be too scary.

In preparation, she got the last of her shots. She hated it from the second we walked into the doctor's office up until we found the new princess shoes I promised her in Toys R' Us.




We even made a pit stop at McDonald's for an early morning soft serve cone. Poor thing is her mother's daughter, but at least she didn't pass out.

I am very happy, though, with the fact that she is now fully vaccinated and I didn't have to do them all crammed together. I feel good about how it's worked out.

Luke also paid the doctor a visit this week for his 12 month (14 months-ooops) check up. He is healthy and happy and big.

He is in the 90% for both height and head and 50-75% for weight. He has big hands and feet and we've taken to calling him puppy. His teeth are still making their way through his gums and he is often very wet, as evidence.

Can you see his slobbery tummy?

He had an appointment with Grandma, the hairdresser, and fortunately she is very accommodating. It was quite entertaining to watch her try to get him on the move.



He positively freaks out if he's strapped into his highchair and you try to cut his hair. This is about the only way to work it at this point. And for the method employed, the results are really surprisingly good.
And what it lacks in technique and symmetry, he makes up for in cuteness.

While Luke was running football patterns through the living room with Grandma and her scissors not far behind, Dan and Dad were happily glued to the TV for College Football.




Especially BYU. Thank goodness they won yesterday, or the mood in the house would have been much more somber.

Hopefully, Gustav will not head this way, especially while Dan isn't around.

1 day down, 12 more to go!

Brotherly Love

Ava seems to be growing up right before my eyes! Next week she will start preschool (if I can get her vaccinations all squared away!) and she is excited.

She said a few things I want to remember.

Yesterday, while I was otherwise occupied in the bathroom, I could hear Baby Luke fussing for more food in his high chair. Ava was talking with me and I asked her if she would go and give him some more Cheerios. And she said, "Shore. It would be your pweasure."

I wasn't positive what she said and I clarified, "It would be your pleasure?"

"Yes, it would be your pweasure to get Wukey more Cheerios." And she trotted away to help her brother.

Luke is a very loving little guy who likes to lay over on people and give hugs, and wet slobbery kisses. We were sitting the floor when Luke walked over, sat down right beside Ava and leaned his head onto her shoulder. Ava said, "Aaaaawwww!"

Then he sat up and patted her legs. "Aaaaawwww, Wukey, you lub me!"

Then he leaned over onto her lap, "Aawwww, Wukey, I lub you!"

The other night I got home from somewhere and Dan said that Luke had been trying to kiss Ava over and over. The next time I uploaded our pictures I could see that he had taken some.




I was excited and thought they were so cute.





Then as I looked closer I saw that he actually took some video too. It's a bit dark and perhaps only entertaining to me or a grandma, but if you are so inclined, enjoy!



I'm so happy he thought to get out the camera!


Luke is also doing a lot of growing. He's an easy going kind of guy, who plays well and entertains himself. But he also loves to run around after the big kids. And 98% of the time, he's just a lover, not a fighter, but lately more Ava-like pieces of his personality are showing through.

Though she usually does very well, sometimes Ava reacts loudly when Luke tries to swipe something from her (writing that just reminded me of a totally different story I must write down, too). And now Luke is beginning to "squawk" back at her. If she yells when he tries to take something, he just yells right back.

And he hates getting his diaper changed. He always tries to roll and squirm and get away. One time, Dan was fussing at him to stay still so they could finish the job. When it was finally done, Luke crawled away as fast as he could, stood up, turned around, gave Dan a dirty look, and said, "SQUAWK!" (he didn't say squawk, it just sounded like a squawk) as if to get the last word. It was hilarious.

So when he's in one of his funks and you take something from him, or tell him no, or basically do anything he doesn't like, he just screams. It seems like this attitude has slowly crept out of nowhere. It must be in their genes, and unfortunately, I think they got it from me.

There has been a lot more funkiness around here than usual as Luke's been working on 6 teeth for the past little while. The 4th one poked through yesterday. He has been having trouble sleeping.

He woke up from a nap cranky, snotty, crusty (the glue coming off his eye), and still tired. I did what any responsible mother would do and gave him a lollipop.



Which made him noticeably more agreeable.

Then he stole mine.
And was pretty happy about it.
And hopefully, his few little teeth won't be rotten before the rest of them decide to show up.

Pretty personal, possibly boring, Sunday sermon

Tragedy in the lives of strangers has left me haunted and weepy and contemplative this week.

What is frustrating is that, sometimes I end up contemplating, wondering, and/or not understanding ideas that I have previously contemplated, wondered about, and/or not understood. And somehow that first time I found resolution in my heart but by not writing it down, when a situation like this arises again, I am left thinking about the same things, only even more frustrated because I knew that at one time I had the answer or at least was at peace with my level of understanding.

Among some other things, I have been thinking about prayer and the line between our prayers and the plan our Father in Heaven has for each of us. I have been thinking about the cloudy area between what our prayers accomplish because of our faith and the things that happen in our lives because it is the will of the Father.

If it is in the cards that someone is meant to die, or less morbidly, attend a certain college, or have a certain life experience, then how are our prayers in faith for a contradictory experience involved? Are there instances in which the outcome of these seemingly requisite experiences changes based on our prayers? I guess I'm not really thinking of the smaller instances of life but rather the larger, life changing, earth shattering ones. When we pray for what we want, if it is not the Father's will, what is the point? (don't worry I figured it out)

And I'm not thinking about how sometimes the answer to our prayers is a "no". I am talking about intercessory prayers and pleading in faith and sorrow and desperation for something when trauma hits. My thoughts flittered between the circumstances of these strangers and circumstances of my own life. Futhermore, my thoughts here are mostly about my own experiences and not meant to illustrate my opinions or feelings towards anyone else's circumstance.

Let me also say that I have a testimony of prayer. I have seen small miracles in my own life and the lives of others through prayer. I know that prayer changes things.

But these recent events brought back these questions. Naturally, I called my mom and also my Gospel Guru, Leah (my sister). Through discussion with them I came back to some realizations that I've apparently had before and maybe some new ones. And I am writing them down here and now. Next time I will know! Here they are in bullet form:

• One of the main purposes of prayer is to align our will with the will of the Father. When we pray with the spirit, the spirit can dictate to us, what to pray for. When praying in faith with the spirit, your prayer will line up with the will of God. I have prayed with the spirit minimal times in my life. I think this is a goal (for me) and not the norm, necessarily. D&C 46:30- "He that asketh in the Spirit asketh according to the will of God; wherefore it is done even as he asketh."
  
• Assuming that the will of God will be done (which it will) and therefore not praying, disregards His presence, mercy, omnipotence, love, grace, etc. People who choose not to pray do not acknowledge Him.
• As far as these tragic events in our lives go, and our faith and fasting and prayers in regards to them, I was comforted to remember that in our lives, if there had been no challenge, we would have proved nothing. And we are here to prove ourselves.
• I believe that there are instances in which faith, fasting, and prayers, can extend a life on earth. I also believe that there are times when no amount of prayer or fasting will save a life, because it is the Father's will that they must die at that time.
  
• I do know that no prayer is ever wasted. Whether it is a prayer dictated by the Holy Ghost or it is the sincere pleading of our own desires, the prayers are heard by one who knows and loves us and has far greater understanding and perspective than us. And I trust that He will do what is best.
  

Big Puppy

After a post a while back, when I mentioned that Luke would like a dog, I may have led some of you to believe that we were considering getting a dog. And just to be clear-We are not considering getting a dog.

I would love a dog, but I know that at this point of my life I could not handle a dog or give it the love and attention it deserves. Dan says he will NEVER support my decision to get one either. So I must wait until the kids are grown up and I need another baby.

Dan, in fact, has conditioned Ava to the fact that we will never have a dog. It kind of breaks my heart because both her and Luke love animals. One day, after picking her up from the Child Watch at the YMCA, she related a conversation she had with one of the workers there. She told me that the woman asked if she (Ava) had a dog at home. I asked Ava what she said and her reply was, "I told her we don't have a dog, cause dogs poop."

Can you hear Dan's work? I can.

"Where did you learn that, Ava?" I asked.

"Fwom Dad." she said.

So bless her creative little heart. Yesterday she started pretending that this cow statue was her "big puppy". I kept slipping and calling it a cow and she would insist that it was not a cow it was her big puppy.




She has been carrying it around everywhere.

I thought she might forget about it overnight, but this morning he accompanied her for breakfast.


And while I was snapping this picture, Luke the Trash Bandit, recovered this banana peel from the garbage and took off!



And because I already had the camera turned on, I caught him in the act.


Really, I could not handle a puppy right now. Or maybe it's more like I could not handle ANOTHER puppy right now!

Are You Ready to Wiggle-O?

Apparently I suffer from selective amnesia. I already knew that, but I forgot.



It has happened with high school, with pregnancy, and now with girls camp.

A few years ago, in preparation for a trip back to New Hampshire and Boston with Dan, I excitedly anticipated a small reunion of sorts with quite a few former classmates. I loved high school!

But when that reunion happened and memories and feelings from that time came flooding back to me, I said to myself, "What the heck? I didn't love high school! I pretty much hated high school, aside from basketball and a few of my friends."

And when we decided it was time to have another baby I thought, "It wasn't that bad being pregnant."

And when I thought about girls camp I thought, "I'll only hate one thing- the heat"

I have come to realize that I have this habit of blocking out the negative and only remembering the good things. And it's not because I'm an optimistic person, unfortunately. It's seriously an unrealistic memory problem.

So Girl's Camp, overall, was a good experience for everyone. Even the girls who couldn't let on that they were enjoying themselves at least part of the time consented at the end that it wasn't that bad.

The girls liked to sit on this random purple hippo and even made up a cute little song about her.

Henrietta Hippo

And the canoing was one of my favorite parts. Because a few of our girls were not certified to a certain swimming level prior to camp they had to have a leader in the canoe with them and that ended up being my job. It was great fun. Especially on the last day when we canoed and swam in the lake as it poured rain.

"Swamped"

I taught our girls the cup game. I remember playing it at girls camp and now the legacy lives on.



There was just about zero drama, which is just how I like it. What a nice surprise.

Eating dinner with the Bishop

I know the girls even better than I did before and had the added bonus of getting to know the other leaders. And you never know someone as well as you do when you live with them. In August. With no air conditioning. In Houston. We had one night of delirium in which the girls thought we had gone out of our minds and told everyone they saw the next day that their leaders had "gone crazy".

Making friends with the gorilla who tried to scare them

But one thing? Really, Elise? Just one?

I hated the heat, along with everyone else, just as I had anticipated. But how could I forget my phobia of public bathrooms? I know I should just be grateful for the flushing toilets, but I hate going in a "stall". (Probably too much info here but I only went potty 3 times in the 4 days I was there!) And just knowing I had to wear shoes in the shower didn't mentally help me feel clean. In fact I might have felt dirtier. And bugs. And spiders. And snakes. We (meaning they) killed 3 copperheads in our very campsite! And I know I said I liked the singing and there is no good reason why, but I lied/forgot. Now I remember that most of camp singing is annoying. Especially when the song involves sitting and standing repeatedly, excessive hand motions, and any booty shaking.

A pictorial metaphor of the week

So how in the world I only anticipated hating one thing, is beyond me. But even with the memories only days ago, camp was a lot of fun. I feel lucky to have been able to go. And while there is now a whole paragraph about all the things I didn't like, I'm sure that in a few days, I won't even remember them!

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho it's Off to Camp I Go!

I'm off today for Girl's camp. As usual I have procrastinated some (most) of the preparation, but I am not feeling too frenzied, which is good.

I really want the girls to have a great experience at camp this year. For most, this is their first year and if they can have a positive experience from the get-go, all the better for helping them want to go in the years to follow.

I had a love-hate relationship with camp as a Young Woman. And as a leader I am anticipating the same. I am excited for every thing except one, which I will hate. I hate the heat. The heat makes me feel ornery and not nice. I will be saying lots of prayers for emotional stability.

But I love the cooking, the eating, the talking, the campfires, the singing, the hiking, the crafting, the swimming. And I love the girls.

I know that in the setting of nature, surrounded by the beauty of God's creations and removed from the busy world of concrete and text messaging, it is easy to feel the spirit. I hope these girls will feel it!

But in all of my excited anticipation of camp, I overlooked how much I am going to miss this,



this,





and this.

Dermabond and Sunday Sermon

Staying true to his Toddler Boy status, Baby Luke took us for a ride to the Urgent Care.
From down the hall I heard a thud and the kind of cry that turns your stomach because you can tell from the first breath and wail, that something is really wrong.



He tripped and sliced his forehead, right above his eye on the entertainment center, which resulted in our first, and unfortunately not likely our last, experience with Dermabond skin glue. I was really glad they didn't do stitches, because just the sight of them makes me sick.



He was checked out by our pediatrician the next day and seems to be healing fine. They said we won't be able to tell how it will scar for 6 months.

Unrelated, but worthy of update, is the fact that our bed smells fresh as a daisy and Sophie has not relieved herself anywhere but her litterbox since. Hooray!

And my little Sunday Sermon happened yesterday, while I was feeling pretty peeved that I had agreed to go out with the Sister missionaries. I'm too scared to do missionary work and yesterday was a busy day. Some Saturdays we are dreaming up things to do but others, like yesterday, had filled up on Monday.

Anyway, I was on a negative thought train, all focused on how I didn't want to go, it was so inconvenient, etc. As I left, Dan told me something, about bringing in the spirit, and I replied that I didn't think it was possible because I was too ornery.

But I picked up the Sisters and drove them to their appointment, where I had such a strong feeling of the Holy Ghost, where I was able to participate in the lesson and bear my testimony. It was wonderful and just what I didn't know I needed. I was reminded of the idea that when I am feeling the most like I don't want to pray, or don't want to read the scriptures, or don't want to go out with the missionaries, those are the times when I need it the most or may find the most benefit.

Cat Pee and the Case of the Vanishing Comment

So Sophie peed on our bed as I mentioned last time. And it smelled A LOT. I doused it, "saturated it", as was instructed on the How To Get Rid of Things Blog . But Unbeknownst to me, while the bed soaked (for days) in 2 bottles of cleaner, Sophie was sneaking out from under her lair and PEEING MORE!


I realized it, finally, as the mattress was remaining wet and smelling worse not better. I had Dan help me take it off the box spring as I should have done in the first place and tip it up against the wall. When we did this, the light hit it just right and illuminated pee spots that I had not seen before. Almost the entire mattress had been hit! I hate that cat right now.




What it boils down to for me is this-I hate the idea of people getting pets because they look so cute and fun but then after a while they realize that there's too much work involved and they just get rid of it. I am not that type of pet owner. Or so I thought.



I did realize that I am not going to allow our house to be stunk up (real word?) by some cat with psychotic tendencies.

Here's what I decided-Finish cleaning the mattress. Encase it with plastic sheets. Put it back on the box spring, stinky side down. And if she goes on that bed (or anywhere besides her litterbox) one more time-it's over, she's gone.

So, I just finished getting the bed all back together this morning and now, we wait. I really hope she'll get her act together, because I don't really hate her. I just feel like I hate her. I love the stupid cat and I don't want anything to happen to her.


That's my worst fear now and it was when we made the decision to de-claw her. That day, in my mind, we symbolically said, we're going to keep her for the rest of her life. I couldn't stand the thought that someone would get her and either let her outside or put her outside. And even if I found some really nice person to take her tomorrow, how could I know that they would always keep her or be selective about who they gave her too?



So far the bed is dry and it's been about 4 hours. Please Sophie, use your dang box!


And finally, I seem to have lost a comment on my last post. How does that happen? It vanished without a trace. In my limited experience and knowledge, if a comment is removed by someone it leaves a big smudge saying, "this comment has been removed by the author" . But this one is just gone. In fact 2 were gone this morning and then one showed back up again on it's own this afternoon. But Val, have you seen your comment laying around? I can't find it anywhere. Weird. And in case you're worried I deleted, I didn't!

Random Stuff, most of which is inconsequential

I guess that implies that most of what I write on here is consequential which is not the case. But you knew that already.
So we went up to Lake Conroe for a little overnight getaway. Our friends Tiffany and Andrew were generous enough to let us stay at their condo with them (thanks, guys!). Unfortunately, when we arrived and I went to pull out my camera, I found the case was empty. Bummer.

We did have a fun time though, hanging out and playing in the pool. The only bad part of the weekend was that when we returned home, we could see that Sophie had inadvertently been shut in our bedroom while we were gone.

And any of you who have had the unpleasant opportunity to be familiar with cat pee, know how I am feeling about now. The stuff stinks to high heaven and it does not come out! My mattress is soaking with enzymatic cleaner but I am starting to think we'll have to throw it out and buy a new one. And I don't even like that cat. And I really liked my bed.




Anybody want a free cat? She's nocturnal, hates children, is litterbox trained (except when shut in a room without one), and she's free. Anyone?


Luke would like a dog. He needs a dog. Whenever he's hangin with Mr. Cooper, he just lays all over him, and leans in for snuggles and hugs. It really is cute.



Look at these lovelies I bought myself from the grocery store last week! On sale for $3.99! I had to have 'em!



Look at this nasty, very hungry caterpillar eating away in my garden. I'll have to do a separate post about the sad state of my garden, but just look the size of him!


And it looks like Dan has come down with the same stomach bug we had last week. Poor guy, he took such good care of us so I guess it's time to return the favor. He's home from work today and tomorrow the office is closed for the Tropical Storm headed our way. Ever since the false alarm (in our area) that was Hurricane Rita, I've have a hard time getting worked up about these.

And lastly, what do ya think of this skirt?



I made it the other day and it is not what I was planning. I'll need different fabric for that idea I think. But I think I like this? Do I like this? Do you like it?