Two Things

#1 - Jay has completed break-in (otherwise known as field training)! Today is his first day on his own and he is totally excited. I am too, as it means I might actually hear from him during his shift once in a while. Way to go, Officer Fear!

#2 - I am so totally turning into June Cleaver. Check out what I made:

An honest-to-goodness-homemade-apple-pie! And it was even edible! Next thing you know, Jay will come home and I'll be looking like this:

What? It could happen.

Ummmm... remember my last post?

Well... change of plans!

It's a long story, but... we're not moving! We feel really good about it and my mother-in-law still loves us, so all is well. And although we knew things would be just fine in Prunedale, we are happy to be staying here.

Now I'm just waiting for the girls to forgive us! They were really looking forward to moving to Grandma's.

Sorry for the false alarm. I thought things were all buttoned up when I wrote my last post, but I guess a lot can change in 5 days, at least in our household. And who knows what the next few years will bring? We may end up in Prunedale one day after all. But for now, we're staying put.

Here we go again

As I've mentioned before, our family doesn't tend to stay quiet for too long. And since it's been a while since we've had a major announcement, I thought the time was ripe for another one. So here it is:

We're moving. Again.

We are going to be moving to the boondocks Prunedale, where we will be renting my mother-in-law Betsy's house. We are looking forward to spending more time with her, reducing our monthly expenses, and riding on the quad at least once a day. (Ok, Jay and the girls are looking forward to the last part. It's not my thing.) We are also looking forward to the awesome weather. Prunedale makes San Jose look like Phoenix.

We don't have a firm moving date yet, but it will most likely be the end of August/beginning of September, so that we can get the girls enrolled in school.

I have to admit, I have mixed emotions about the move, even though it was my idea in the first place. There are many, many wonderful advantages to making this particular change, but there are so many things I am going to miss about where we live now. Our friends. Our ward. Our neighborhood. The girls' school. Being close to Powell's and Icing on the Cake. BUT, the truth of the matter is, I know this is the right move for us, and nothing can change that. So I'm about to become an end-of-the-dirt-road kind of gal, and it's going to be fun.

The girls are thrilled beyond description. The thought of seeing Grandma everyday is enough to make their tiny heads explode. So far it outweighes their concerns about a new school and new church, but I'm sure once they get their head around it all, a little bit of sadness will set in. I have promised them trips to visit friends. I know they'll need it... and so will I.

So that's what's happening here. What's new with you?

Baby Names... Part 2

The other day as we were driving in the car, Jay and I started asking the girls their opinions on baby names. Why, you ask? That's a good question. It's not like I'm really going to take their opinion into account. (I know that sounds mean, but read on and you'll see why.)

We started with girl's names:

Jay: How about Jane?
Girls: No.
Amy: How about Margaret?
Girls: No.
Jay: How about Alice?
Girls: No.
Amy: How about Evelyn?
Girls: No.
Jay: How about Katherine?
Girls: No.
Amy: Okaayyy... How about Taqueria?
Girls, in happy shouts of exclamation: YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We didn't even bother to ask them about boy names after that.

Taqueria Fear... honestly.

It Starts...

Here's what the girls have been up to:

Nothing says "little brother" like Barbie Mariposa hairclips! Poor thing.

I have a feeling a lot of you are praying that Baby #4 is a boy, for Dexter's sake.

*Sigh*

It's been a rough few days. Nothing major happened, I've just been a ball of emotions ranging from grumpiness to tears to extreme productivity. Nothing like a roller coaster ride! Mostly, I have to admit, I've been feeling a bit under appreciated. Not by Jay, but by those kids of mine! Ugh!

I guess it's sort of my fault. I've been going through a "creative cooking" phase, and not all of my ideas have been as well-received as I would have liked. Not to mention Bea has started to hate every kind of food except "snacks," the girls have been completely disobeying my instructions regarding a variety of topics, and then to top it off, Jay didn't eat the lunch I packed him for work (and went to Denny's instead). So it should come as no surprise that yesterday found me sprawled out on my bed, crying my eyes out in frustration and self-pity.

Then, in the middle of my bawling, Natalie came into my room. Without saying a word, she handed me her favorite bear and laid down next to me, stroking my back. I can't tell you how much that comforted me. It was so sweet. She was soon followed by the rest of my family, who all tried their best to make amends. In only a few minutes, I was tear-free and laughing. There's nothing like having your whole family hugging you and reassuring you that you're loved.

Another thing that made me feel better was reading this post over at Rocks in my Dryer. All you moms (or people who have moms) need to read this. Seriously.

So... I'm feeling better and realizing that my kids probably won't appreciate me for quite a while, although Jay is encouraging them to be better about thanking me for dinner, which I appreciate. It's always nice to be thanked, isn't it? (Unless it's your teenage kids saying something along the lines of "Thanks a lot for ruining my life, MOM!")

And now, since I mentioned my creative cooking, I will share with you a tip I found on another blog that I stalk, Tip Junkie. It is the cutest kid's lunch in the whole wide world: Muffin Pan Lunch. Basically, you give your child a muffin pan filled with bite-sized items and let them have at it. When Bea sat down at the table she exclaimed, "This is a cool lunch!" Aww! Of course, we then had an eternal struggle over the garbanzo beans, but hey, what can you do? Baby steps.

Here's what I put in the girls Muffin Pan Lunch:

Raisins, baby carrots, diced ham, the dreaded garbanzo beans, diced pears, sliced string cheese, hot dog, a marshmallow, saltine cracker, diced apple, a lemon cookie, and goldfish. Yum!

Jay and I, however, had Panera. :)

Seven

Maybe George is right. Seven would make a great baby name! Yes! It's settled. Boy or girl, Baby #4 will be named Seven Fear. What do you think?

Ummm... no. But...

Today is Jay and I's 7th anniversary. Happy Day!

Here's one of my favorite wedding pictures:


Here's one of my least favorites:


I look pregnant! (Foreshadowing?)

In honor of our anniversary, here are seven things I love about Jay.

1) He actually likes to cook!
2) He loves to play "monster" and wrestle with the kids, all the while ignoring my paranoid shouts of "Be careful!" and "Watch out for the table!"
3) He never leaves the toilet seat up (ok, maybe once... in seven years).
4) He knows who Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland, Elinor Dashwood, Lizzy Bennett, and Fanny Price are.
5) He keeps me from taking myself too seriously...
6) ...but he knows when he better be taking me seriously.
7) He just rocks! What more is there to say?

Happy Anniversary, Jay!

Natalie is 6!

I know someday I'll look back on this time and think, "Oh, how young Natalie was!" But right now, she seems so old and mature that it almost makes me cry. When did this happen? Sometime in between the laundry, dishes, family gatherings, school days, time outs, room cleanings, and play times, she started to grow up. In most ways, it is so much fun to watch and participate in her growing up... in other ways, it's dang scary.

Below are some highlights of her family birthday party. She was allowed to invite one guest, and then as a bonus some of her cousins happened to be in town. So it was a larger party than normal (for us), but it was still low-key and fun. The best part was seeing the look on her face when she opened the much-hoped-for Buzz Lightyear action figure. That's my girl.

P.S. I feel like I haven't posted much about Bea lately. Maybe that's because she's not running around chasing after boys. :) I promise that she is still part of the family and is as ornery independent and adorable as ever. Here is a picture of her and Natalie after I took them to Build-a-Bear so that Natalie could spend a gift card she received for her birthday. Luckily, Bea still had some birthday money left so she could buy one, too... it could have gotten ugly.

Bea, "Star," Natalie, and "Lovey"