Crazy Cooking Gals - what lies in the hearts of 10-year old girls

I love these girls, both of them.

I love that they love each other.

I love that Halle has a best friend who is so kind and funny and creative and GOOD.

I love that they are so silly together.

On this day, making cookies turned into filming a cooking show with crazy accents and LOUD voices.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd9XX_K-SVY

you just can't top this:

Every three hours,

this is what I get to see

for twenty minutes:

This beautiful baby girl's

giant eyes looking up at me

and the occasional milky smile

peeking out from behind the bottle.

* * *

Big brother reading her

story after story.

* * *

From where I sit,

the view couldn't be

any better.

do you know the Muffin Men?

My boys love to help in the kitchen. Too bad they have a mom that 90% time says to their offers of assistance, "I just need to get this done really quickly. Maybe next time." (That's something I don't like about myself - trying to change.)

A few weeks ago we made some blueberry muffins.

These two bakers did a GREAT job.

The muffins were delicious!

the look of hope...

I can't get over the feeling I had when I first saw this painting by Liz Lemon Swindle. Immediately your eyes are drawn beyond the movement of the apostles to the look in their eyes. It is the expression on their faces that Liz Lemon Swindle chose to use as the title of her masterpiece: "HOPE". It stirs within me my own feelings for my Savior. My own hope that I can live my life in a way that is pleasing to my Heavenly Father. That as I utilize the atonement in my life, to right my wrongs and heal my hurts, I will earn a seat at His table and live with Him forever. I love what Ms. Swindle wrote about what inspired her to paint this image:

When Mary came to the tomb, she found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. She ran to the disciples crying, "They have taken away the Lord…and we know not where they have laid him" (John 20:2). Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb.

What did they think as they ran? Were they simply curious to see for themselves? Did they fear, like Mary, that their enemies had stolen the body? Or did they remember His promise, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up"?

The decision that faced Peter and John that Sunday morning is the same decision that faces each one of us today. Will we doubt? Will we hope? Or will we know that He lives? I know that He lives.

And so do I. This Easter weekend I desire to shout from the mountain tops that I know my Savior loves me, understands me, died for me, and lives for me!

"How great, how glorious, how complete,

Redemption's grand design,

Where justice, love, and mercy meet

In harmony divine"

my thoughts on City Creek Center...

For datenight we checked out the new City Creek shopping center downtown Salt Lake. Our conclusion? It's a beautiful facility with 90% of stores that we cannot afford and will probably never shop in. But it's nice to have something to revitalize downtown, and the best part of my conclusion was...

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

\/

IT SMELLS SO GOOD!!

(lovin' the perfume counter at Nordstrom's!

Here were my absolute favorites from

the night...they're now on my wishlist!)

wonder which sibling Charlotte most resembles?

Since her birth, Charlotte has appeared to have her own "look" about her. Maybe it's the coloring that has thrown us, where she seems to have a darker complexion (relatively speaking, mind you) than the rest of our kids. I once came upon a photograph of Wyatt at his 1st birthday and there were little snippets here and there about him that made me think of Charli. So I wondered if it was Wyatt she was going to look more like. But no...after looking through baby pictures of all three older siblings, the one that takes the cake is...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

(drumroll, please...)

.

.

.

.

CARSON!

See? Even their torticollis is the same -

both had longer neck muscles on the RIGHT side at birth!

Baby Tresses: lovin' these locks!

I've never had a baby with this much hair before!

Halle had some but the helmet she wore for her plagiocephaly wore it off by 9 months (so sad!), Wyatt also had some (although the least of all my kids), and Carson had quite a bit more than the oldest two. However, NONE of them has had hair like Charlotte! I realize some people have babies with even more hair than this (how would that be!) but I am having so much fun with Charli's dark mop. And I do have to say I love that it's dark. It's even showing hints now of having some red highlights in it...think it will change to auburn?

I got a ruler out so I could measure the length - I'm sure it may have grown a tad since birth, but I honestly don't think a ton. It's over 1" long! Just a hair shy (pun intended) from being 1 1/2" long!

You may have noticed in the above picture that her head leans towards her left shoulder. She is the third child out of four in our family to have what is known as Torticollis. It's when the muscles of one side of the neck are longer than the other, most likely caused from either 1) the baby's position in utero, as though they grew and developed in a cramped position or 2) one side of muscles being pulled or stretched during delivery. Since this is child #3 to demonstrate symptoms like these, I'm assuming reason Number One is our culprit. It's discouraging, because it will likely cause her to lay with her head in the same position, causing plagiocephaly (when her skull flattens on one side and bulge in the other), resulting in the need for wearing a helmet to reshape her head. That's sad because presently her head is such a lovely shape. The helmets are also expensive for the parents and uncomfortable (hot and sweaty!) for the baby. But as bad and shallow as it sounds, the idea of her having a helmet concerns me most of all because...I don't want it to rub off her beautiful hair!!!

We feel fortunate that we've noticed it early on and are being very aggressive in the physical therapy stretches we had to do with Carson and Halle to stretch the shorter neck side and retrain her to lay her head in varying positions. We're prayerful and hopeful that we'll be able to do a pre-emptive strike, resolving the problem before any plagiocephaly occurs. But if it does, we do have enough of a perspective to realize other children experience problems much more invasive, painful, and heartbreaking than this. We're grateful that overall Charlotte is in excellent health and that at the moment, her life has no other medical complications.

"THE" smile - the first of many to come!

For weeks now, Charlotte has seemed on the verge of smiling and yet had never brought herself to really grin for us, no matter how big of fools we made of ourselves (begging in high-pitched baby talk, making funny noises, wiggling and dancing like we have ants in our pants, etc). It never quite got past a look of pleased contentment.

Finally, at 7 weeks she rewarded our humble pleading. Naturally, I didn't get it on film since my battery died after taking these. But below are the pictures that were snapped just minutes before, leading up to the monumental display of happiness! (You can see how playful she was, swiping her arm at the toys dangling from her playmat. It's so fun to see her become more connected to the people and things around her!)

And of course AFTER the big moment

it dawned on me I had a fully-charged camera battery upstairs.

Once I got that, I tried to get another smile from her.

This was her reply:

"What do you people want from me?

After all that, I'm exhausted!

Please leave me alone!"

8 weeks - 2 Months!

a Name and a Blessing

Naming and Blessing Children

“Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70). In conformity with this revelation, only worthy men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood may participate in naming and blessing children.

In modern revelation, parents who are members of the Church are commanded to bring their children “before the church,” where the elders “are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70). This is why parents bring babies to a sacrament meeting, where an elder—usually the father—gives them aname and a blessing.

I cannot express the gratitude I feel to have the power of the priesthood in my home.  It truly is heaven-sent and a blessing in our lives.  I know that we are extremely fortunate to have a husband and father who wisely honors his priesthood!  


Charlotte's blessing was lovely and heartfelt.  It felt great to have friends and family supporting us.  Some traveled many miles to be there, some traveled just a few but we are thankful each and every one made the effort to be part of our day!  Afterwards we had a luncheon at our house or soup, breadsticks, and - in honor of Grandma B. - some German Cake for dessert!  It was a breathtakingly beautiful day, unseasonably warm and sunny!

More information about priesthood blessings can be found HERE or at the website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is www.lds.org.