my life is over . . . .

Mike and I were just cleaning up after dinner, having already put the girls to bed. I was in the office, across the hall from Mariah's room. My heart skipped a beat when I heard Mariah's door open. It skipped another when Mariah came walking out. She has conquered the crib! We're finished!

the mind of a 2-year-old

Here are a few recent conversations Mariah and I have had:

Mariah: I'm having a party!
me: What kind of party?
Mariah: Yellow!
me: A yellow party?
Mariah: Hmm. It will be fun!

Mariah: (walking Dolly in the stroller) I'm taking Dolly on walk to park!
me: Ok.
Mariah: I be right back.
me: Ok.
Mariah: (suddenly stopping like she forgot something) Gasp! I need to get my contacts!
(Turned and ran to the bathroom)

The last one needs 2 pieces of background info: (1) The other day, she had a bowl of popcorn in her room. She accidentally spilled some, so I asked her to clean it up. She started to but then got mad about it; she grabbed a handful of popcorn and slammed it into the bowl, tipping the bowl over and spilling more. I told her not to do that and said again to just clean up the popcorn. She immediately did another popcorn slam, adding a yell this time. I quickly scooped her up and plopped her in her bed, saying something like, "You did that on purpose." And (2) She's not allowed to play with Elaine's teddy bear (I want just one thing to still be newish when Elaine starts to care). So . . . .

Later that same day, I came into her room to find her with one leg over the side of Elaine's bed, trying to climb in. She immediately said to me, "I'm getting Laney's bear on purpose!"

A&D, Rats' Nests, and Miss-matched Shoes

This is what happens when Mom leaves the A&D within arm's reach of the crib . . . "Make a big MESS!" Yes, Dear. You did. It took 4 washings to get the stuff out of her hair.

This is the rats' nest we deal with each morning. Maybe the greasy A&D was a good idea . . . .

These are the shoes Mariah has chosen to wear for the past 5 days. The bright pink one is too small, so she has a slight limp, but she puts it on anyway. When she went down for her nap just now, I finally got them put away in the too-small box. Hopefully she won't be too devastated.

And these are just some cute pictures of the people I love . . . .

"Praise to the man . . . ."

203 years ago today, Joseph Smith was born. I'd like to pay tribute to this man, without whom my life would not be the same . . . in any way!

I know that as a 14-year-old boy, Joseph was visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He was instructed not to join any of the churches of the time.

Over the next several years, with divine guidance, Joseph Smith restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness and organized what is now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

If Joseph had not had the courage and faith to do what he did, I would have none of the blessings I enjoy today.

I am so grateful for my testimony of Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and eternal families.

Sickies

Laney has croup, but she's still such a happy baby . . . .

AWOL at Church

A couple weeks ago, we went to my grandparents' ward to hear them report on their mission in Brazil. After sacrament meeting, I saw that my brother, David, was helping Mariah down from the bench. The next thing I new, Mike was asking me where Mariah was. We looked for 5 minutes or more, and I was getting a bit concerned. Grandma Orva started asking people if they had seen a very small pink girl. A man finally said, "Yes. We have a small pink girl in here." Mariah had gone to the classroom that, in our building, is her nursery class. She had left the chapel and walked down the crowded hall all by herself. She went in to what she thought was her class, climbed on a chair, and was waiting, apparently, for her teachers and the other kids to show up. What a goof!

Happy Birthday, Mariah!!

My little Mariah turned 2 yesterday. We're all sick with colds and croup, but we still managed to celebrate and have a pretty good day.

We let Mariah open her doll with accessories right after breakfast. She was ecstatic! She played Mommy much of the day, which was nice since we couldn't go to church in our sickened state.

We went over to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Shaunna's for dinner and a little birthday party. I made gluten-free/vegan carrot cupcakes with "cream cheese" frosting. They turned out delicious! (if I may say so myself).

Mariah is such a blessing to us. We love you, Mariah!

Some of Mariah's favorites:

corn puffs & raisins
Little Einstein
Sound of Music
The Nativity (movie done by the Church)
Elaine's exersaucer
oatmeal & blueberries
chips & salsa
her blue dress with yellow flowers
Fancy Nancy
helping with Mom's make-up
taking a bath/shower
going to the park
Ernie (she has never seen Sesame Street; Grandma Shaunna gave her an old Sesame Street house with the little characters)
helping Mom
reading books
going to the library ("We go to library next week.")
"Just a second."
"It's kinda chilly."
"Dad be home at dinnertime."
"Oh my gosh!"
"I tripped & slipped & did a double flip!" (from Fancy Nancy)
"Tastes like ice-cream!"
"I be right back."
"I take a good nap!"
"I had a good night!"
"It's not working!"
going to nursery
popcorn in a pumpkin bowl
Faux Paw
dancing
leading music
drawing with sidewalk chalk
spelling her name
finding m's & w's
yellow

more mariah

Mariah loves to draw. The other day, I found her drawing in her chair. I guess she was writing her name. She said, as she drew, "M-A-R-I-H! (She almost always leaves out the second A.) Mariah!" (As she said this, she pointed, moving her finger across the paper, like she was reading.) She then showed me the paper, and asked, "How's that?" It was lovely.



She also loves the porcelain dolls that are on her dresser. They were mine when I was little; she's not allowed to play with them, but I let her hold the little one if she sits down. This is her being very careful.

(Notice, she's wearing her favorite outfit again.)

Another random Mariah-ism: She likes to emphasize the ends of words?

"It made a big loud noise-uhhhh!"
"I'm all done-uhhhh!"
"That would be kind of fun-uhhhh!"
"It's kinda cold-uhhh!"
"Make a big huge ('hooj') mess-uhhh!!"

you make me smile . . . .

thoroughly modern mariah . . . .

I've mentioned before that Mariah often chooses her own clothes. Well, this is her latest favorite outfit (she's worn it two days in a row). The top is actually a dress, but Mariah picked it out to wear with her jeans yesterday. I think it actually looks like one of those very modern dress-like shirts (there's probably even a name for them). Leave it to my one-year-old to show me up in the fashion department.

honey dog

Yes. At our house this is called a honey dog. Several months ago, Mariah said it was a dog, and I told her it's actually a bear, and it's called a "honey bear." She promptly said, "Honey dog!" And that's what she has called it ever since. Well, today, I pulled it out, and she told me it was a "honey snowman" . . . hmmm.

*Mariah just saw this post and said, "Honey snowman!" so I guess that one's sticking for a while.

Elephants!!

We've been listening to Christmas music for the past few days--5 CD's on random play. Well, this morning, I was in the kitchen, and Canadian Brass "Frosty the Snowman" came on. Mariah came running into the kitchen, very excited. "Elephants!! Elephants in the music!!" She apparently thought the trumpets were elephants.

more humor . . . .

Okay. My girls are asleep, and instead of being productive, I'm dinking on the computer. I was going through old files and came across this one. I had to share:

The Commute . . . a bit of comic relief.

My mom emailed this to us a while back.


*I showed this to Mariah; her only comment was, "No way."

sitting

This is Laney's latest position of choice:

crazy laney

Laney's latest is jumping. I just started putting her in the exersaucer about a week ago. I was amazed at how quickly she figured out how to move around. She now jumps whenever her feet touch something solid (the ground, a lap, etc.).

my little shepherd

I mentioned in the previous post how Mariah gathers the sheep from all the different nativities and carries them around with her . . . . I think it's so cute. She even has to bring them in the car when we go somewhere, and almost always has her three favorites tucked in her one hand while she uses her other hand to do whatever she's doing.

I tried to get some candid video shots of her . . . impossible. As soon as she sees the camera, she needs to "see babies on the camera." So, this is a conglomeration of clips, trying to capture my little shepherd. Before I brought the camera out, she was playing with the nativity, making baby Jesus slide down the yellow "slide" that is really an arch with a star on it that goes over the Holy Family. (Notice at the very beginning, when she sees the camera, she scoops up her three sheep before coming over to me.)

"deck the halls . . . ."

It's our third Christmas together, and we finally got a Christmas tree! I'm so glad we did. Mariah liked walking through all the trees at the lot, and Elaine was a good sport in the pack. She even slept through our whole shopping trip to buy lights and a tree stand.

When we got home, we put Laney to bed and let Mariah stay up to help decorate. I had visions of my sweet little girl gently placing ornaments on the tree, sitting on the couch, calmly listening to Christmas music as we turned on the lights . . . ha! She was a crazy girl and only lasted for about 10 minutes. (Or maybe I should say she was going strong, but Mike and I only lasted 10 minutes). We put her to bed, and Mike and I finished decorating in peace.

I love the finished product! It made me wonder why I dread the decorating each year (maybe the thought of having to put it all away again . . . .) When we were done and admiring everything with just the Christmas tree lights on, I had a memory of lying on the living room floor as a kid, looking up at the Christmas tree shadows on the ceiling, listening to Christmas music. I love this time of year!

I gave Mariah a little talk about how we just look at the nativities; we do not touch. I did tell her she's allowed to touch the sheep (I figured they're not terribly breakable), and the colorful nativity. Each day, she gathers the sheep from all the nativities and carries them around wherever she goes. Yesterday she came into the kitchen and got a towel. I wondered what she was doing with it; this is what I found (notice the sheep from various nativities):

Happy Thanksgiving!

We joined the Linford/Johnson crew for Thanksgiving dinner and then headed to Rigby, Idaho, to join the Georges. We stayed there through Sunday and had a great time! Mariah was kept happily occupied by Grandma, Cami, or Prince (the dog) for hours at a time, and I truly had a stress-free 3 days. I love family!

french horns and alligators

I remembered some more cute things Mariah has said:

• She was watching the "so long, farewell," song on "Sound of Music." It came to Gretel's part, where she's sitting on the stairs singing. I guess Mariah thought she looked super cute or something; she very matter-of-factly said, "That's Mariah."
• "Just a second." She says this all the time.
• We were drawing outside with chalk. She was making requests. After several "kitty cats" of different colors, she requested I draw some alligators. I thought this was random and funny, but then she outdid herself by requesting I draw a french horn. I apparently didn't do a very good job, though. She said it looked like a pumpkin bowl.
• She's big into saying "also." She uses it whenever possible.
• She loves FHE and will randomly climb onto the piano bench and ask to have Family Home Evening.
  
• We were at the library. She found a book about two caterpillars named Hermie and Wormie (neither Mike nor I like it very much). She brought it over to me, showed me a picture of the caterpillars, and said, "I loooove them!" We read this book several times a day. I can't wait until it's due back at the library.

"I'm good talker"

Mariah is pulling out all sorts of big words and sentences lately. She remembers everything I ever say and pulls it out later on. She knows she's doing it too, cause she often follows up a new sentence with, "I'm good talker."

Today at lunch she said, "I rather take shower," when I asked her if she wanted lunch.

She says several new and surprising things every day, but I can never remember when I want to write about it later . . . .

She also loves watching the songs on "Sound of Music." The puppet show is her favorite. She can be heard yodeling throughout the house.

She's also big into counting all of a sudden. We got a counting book from the library, about 10 little bunnies. I think that started it. She counts everything, but for some reason usually returns to "two" after "seven." Then if I say "eight," she'll continue with "nine" and "ten." She's also usually right about the number of things she's counting. She's very careful to assign only one number per item. In fact, today we were reading "Oh, What a Busy Day," (one of her favorites), and we were counting animals on the animal page. She grabbed my finger and started pointing my finger at things and counting them.

(Mariah just woke up from her nap, and she's in her bed singing the yodel song, "one little goat do-dle-yo-dle-hee--hoo." Funny girl.)

fun in the leaves . . .

Disneyland

Back in October, Mike and Mariah went to Disneyland with Mike's family. I stayed home and played with my sisters and mom. The report was that Mariah was a fabulous traveler and a great sport most of the time. Her favorite part was playing in the water while she waited for Dad to go on rides. Her least favorite part was the haunted house. She still tells me almost daily, "Ghosts not real."

water girl . . .

this is my cute cute mariah in the shower . . . . she loves it!

tagged . . .

ok, marian, just for you . . .

I am: a mom, a wife, a sister, a daughter.
I know: The Church is true
I want: sleep
I have: a fabulous husband
I dislike: when i lose patience with mariah
I miss: my sisters
I feel: content
I hear: both girls not taking their naps
I smell: carob pudding i just ate
I crave: something sweet almost always
I cry: often
I search: for a steal of a deal on a phil & ted traveller bed
I wonder: where we'll be in a year
I regret: being impatient with mariah
I love: mike, mariah, elaine
I care: too much about what other people think
I worry: that I'm not teaching my kids all they need to know
I remember: how hard it was for me to be an "older" single, and how grateful i am for mike
I believe: in a loving Savior who died for me; He has given me what I need to return to Him.
I dance: with mariah
I argue: with myself
I write: sometimes on this blog, but I wish I kept a better journal
I win: rarely
I lose: all sorts of things; if i didn't have mike, i'd be sunk!
I wish: my children would go to sleep
I listen: to silence whenever possible
I can usually be found: at home
I am scared: of spiders. and bad men.
I need: to enjoy the moments of motherhood
I forget: people's names
I am happy: being a mom
I tag: the rest of my sisters who "didn't have time" for marian's tag

interviews

my husband comes home tonight!! yay!!! (i don't know how any of you survive your husbands' long trips/deployments!) so far, mike has interviewed in salt lake (for the program at creighton, in nebraska), indiana, milwaukee, virginia, and oklahoma. he has interviews scheduled in pittsburgh, louisville, new york, florida, and a new invite today -- las vegas. it's a fun time of life; who knows where we'll be in a year! (well, actually, we know Who knows; that's the great truth about life!)

story time

Last week at the park, I met a girl (well, lady, i guess. she's about my age. am i still a girl?) with a little girl just younger than Mariah. She mentioned that they go to story time at the library almost every week. I thought I should do that. So, today we did!! I bundled the girls up, and we walked. I had to speed walk on the way there, cause we were running late, but walking home at a very nice pace only took about 20 minutes. I think we'll start going regularly. Mariah loved it!! The storytellers weren't fabulous this time, but she still had a great time. I let her pick 5 books to bring home. They're totally random, but fun.














This one's my favorite:The images move as you turn the pages and move the book!

they call the wind "mariah"

When I was pregnant with Mariah, one of my co-workers always warned me that if I named her Mariah, I would have a whirlwind child because, well . . . "they call the wind 'Mariah.'" She was right. That girl is constantly going.

We went to Grandma Orva and Grandpa Paul's for dinner tonight. In a very short time span, I cleaned up a water spill, ignored a granola spill that I should have cleaned up, rescued 6 decorative stone/marble things from her mouth (mixed with apple crisp crust), and cleaned her up from eating/drinking some of the oil from the Grandma Byrdenne heirloom oil lamp. (She came to me saying, "Yucky, yucky!" and had oil all over her hands. She had eaten some and spilled a lot on Grandma Orva's carpet and coffee table. Thanks, Mom, for dealing with that so pleasantly).

But . . . I love her dearly. And these pictures were just too cute to not share. The first couple are of her talking to Daddy on the phone. (He's interviewing at VCU and Oklahoma tomorrow and Tuesday). Here hair's all wet because we walked home from church in a downpour. She was a great sport! The rest of the photos were taken by Uncle Davie tonight at dinner.

Random October Pics

happy halloween!

My truly feelings are that Halloween should be outlawed. But we managed to have a pretty fun day anyway.

I took the girls to visit Grandpa Paul at work. Mariah refused to get in her costume, but Laney had no choice in the matter. She was a great little indian; and Mariah was maybe a zoo keeper? carrying her giraffe?

We went from there to see Grandma Orva and Davie. I gave Davie the secret charge to get Mariah into her costume. Mariah was happy to oblige. (She just couldn't do it when I wanted her to; can't wait 'til she's a teenager!) I ran some errands while Laney slept, and Grandpa Paul pushed Mariah in the swing.

We joined the George Family for dinner. Mike's mom made her traditional broccoli-cheese Halloween soup. (She veganized some for me! Thanks, Mom! It was delicious!) During dinner, Mariah was so cute with Mike. (He was gone for the past few days, interviewing for dental school. Mariah is so happy to have him back.) At one point, she leaned over and linked her arm through his, and then would not let him go. I tried to catch it on film, but didn't get there in time. The picture I caught was just her hand-death-grip on his arm. (I haven't told her yet that he leaves again tomorrow.)

After dinner, Mike and I manned the house while everyone else went trick-or-treating. Mariah was ecstatic when she returned!! She thought it was about the best thing to just knock on someone's door and get candy!! (This is one of the parts about Halloween her mother thinks we could all do without.)

We had a great visit with Mom and Dad George while everyone else (minus our kids) went back out. What will we do when we don't have family nearby?!

mariah's new do

Mariah has a new haircut (and a darling new camera smile). Yesterday during her bath, I put a folding chair in the tub, sat her on it, and snipped away. Then, as she stood on the toilet helping me with my make-up, I did quite a bit more snipping. I'd see a chunk, snip, see another long one, snip, etc. She was a good sport but did not sit (or stand) still for the operation. I'm surprised we ended up with somewhat straight lines.

Demographic Winter

Sobering and very interesting . . . . Demographic Winter.

The Johnson Girls Morphed

I stayed up way too late doing this, but it was fun. The site uses face recognition technology to pick a celebrity for you. (I have to admit, I don't know who most of them are). I think Laura's and Eliza's are amazing resemblances!

Mom

Laura

Me

Eliza

Joanne

Marian

Christine

George Look-alike Meter

This was the third picture we tried for Mariah. The first looked 3% more like me; the second (she wasn't smiling at all) looked 23% more like me!!