New Carpet - Check, Painting - Check

Things are really coming together on the new house. We have been working every spare minute to get things ready for moving in. Our babysitter, who is also named Becca (spelled differently from our Bekah), has been very busy making money over at our house while Kent and I tried to make progress cleaning, prepping, painting, etc. It was slow going with just the 2 of us, but we finally got the master bedroom painted and ready for new carpet to be installed, which it was on Thursday. Now that room is completely transformed. My good friend, Arianne, suggested I do before and after pics, which I'll post when things are done throughout the house.

So, we got the new carpet in, some of the rooms prepped and painted, and then yesterday we had a painting party with some of Kent's family. We are so blessed to have family close by and that they are so willing to help. In one day we almost finished painting the entire house. There are minor things left like floorboards and 2 bathrooms, but the majority of the house looks amazing. Kent's mother who was suffering with an abscessed tooth spent the whole day cleaning while she was doped up. Bless that woman! No one can work as hard as she does! By the end of the day it was so amazing to see a beautiful house emerging from the filth.

On another note, my heart has been heavy with news of so much hatred poured out against the Mormon church. I think many of us who grew up in the church often heard stories of the pioneers' persecutions, and it sounded like a world away. Now thoughts of our ancestors are so much nearer, and I realize that we truly do live in the last days. I'm also sad that the feelings of many members towards people who live alternative lifestyles have been so misinterpreted. I love all of my friends, straight and gay. I would do anything to help any of them and I support everyone's right to make their own choices. But I believe that marriage is ordained of God for the creation of families, binding children to a mother and a father for eternity. I believe that we can disagree and still love each other; we can feel strongly and yet be civil and understanding of our differences. Isn't that what tolerance is all about?

Wheezy!

My little Bekah was called a "happy wheezer" on Sunday, and it was actually a compliment. She's had pneumonia for almost 2 weeks, and on Sunday morning I got a scare when she was really struggling to breath for almost 2 hours. I gave her breathing treatments and the whole nine yards. I was freaking out. I took her to an urgent care, where they basically told me again that she has pneumonia and added 2 more medications to the 3 she was already taking. The whole time Bekah was playing and happy and really showing no signs of distress other than her wheezing. As we were leaving the doctor said, "Well, at least she's a happy wheezer!"

So, this has been my life the last week or so: breathing treatments, sneaking meds into her juice so she'll actually take them, and generally being a worried mother. I've always been a worrier, and I even used to worry about how much I would worry as a mother. Maija has inherited my worrying disorder and catches anything worrisome I might say and then proceeds to...worry! Somehow I feel like a hypocrite when I tell her, "Maija, don't worry about it!" What do they say? Practice what you preach?

On a more upbeat note, we closed on our house! We are pretty excited, even though there's a lot of work to be done. But at least it's OUR house! I'll post pics after we move in.

Some Funny Moments

* Today at another doctor's appointment with Bekah, she said to me, "Mommy, you so funny!"

* Me: "Bekah, we need to change your poopy diaper." Bekah: "No, I don't want poop!" ( Yeah, well neither do I!!!!!)

Too Much Time On My Hands

Yes, that is the title of an 80s Styx song. If you don't know who that band is, you're either a lot older or a lot younger than I am. I'll forgive you! Not that I was a huge Styx fan or anything. I was, however, a Taylor Dayne fan who I happened to meet on a military base in Korea. She was doing a USO tour, and I had to go and check it out. I went up to her after the show and said, "I am a die-hard 80s fan" to which she replied, "Welcome to the 2000's!" Hmmm...I'm guessing I hit a nerve.

Apparently, I did have too much time on my hands because since my last blog everything has kicked into high gear, and we are swamped. Let's just say that when Kent finishes school, is done with his company's merger, we get the keys to our new house (which should happen any day), clean and paint the new house, move into the new house, get Rebekah over pneumonia, go to my cousin's wedding, and somehow still fulfill our church callings...and maintain some normalcy for our children, I will give a HUGE sigh of relief and get ready for the next storm.

Here are some adorable pictures of the girls from various events, including Halloween, of course!

Schnepf Farms

Maija's preschool had a field trip to Schnepf Farms last week where the Halloween season is already underway. They have a pumpkin patch, where you can pick one or two up, and carnival rides, a train ride, a petting zoo, and several other fun things for kids to do. We started out fairly early in the morning around 9:30am, but being Arizona it was already nearly 100F by the time we left around noon. It was hot!!!

Here are a few pictures:


Maija waiting for class pictures to be taken


Maija with friend, Tess.


Bekah came, too.


Maija, Tess, and Bekah after picking their pumpkins.

New House, New Job (sort of)

I've avoided blogging in the last few weeks because of the uncertainty in our lives. We were trying to decide whether to stay in Arizona or to move, whether to buy a house now or keep renting, and basically just wanting to figure out what our future looks like. I felt like it wasn't a great idea to blog publicly about all of this until things were decided and somewhat settled. So, now they are!

Kent will be staying at his current job, sort of. There is actually a merger/take-over underway which will change his employer and his position at work. This is a good and exciting change, which led us to commit to staying in Arizona for several years at least. That led us to decide to buy a house, which we are in the process of doing. So, in the end we are staying in the same neighborhood, same ward, same job, except that once Kent graduates in December everything will be different. We'll be in our own home; we won't have to live off student loans anymore; and I can finally feel free to plant roots where we're at.

What's interesting is how during this time some other changes have been in the works which will bring my sister closer to us; she'll be living about 2 minutes away. The other surprise for me was how much I really did want to stay. Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I am a nomad, and I'm not used to staying in one place. I've lived in Arizona for 7 consecutive years now, which is a record for me. The whole time Kent has been in school, I just couldn't imagine that we would stay here in Arizona. Although Arizona is by far my favorite place to live in the U.S., I always just assumed we'd be leaving. But when decision time came, we both knew and had very strong feelings that we needed to stay where we are.

Now we can begin the process of moving houses...again!

Some Alicia Moments...
Lest I forget to continue the series on my life as Alicia (the cartoon character from Diego), I have to include a few cute comments from Maija:

Our dog, Remy, was chewing on one of Maija's toys, and she said, "No, Remy! You are a wicked dog!" Maybe she's watched too many Book of Mormon and Bible cartoons.

After asking for a cracker to eat, Maija ran outside with it and proclaimed, "I love crackers on a windy day!" Then she proceeded to sing it over and over, "I love crackers on a windy day! I love crackers on a windy day!"

Bekah continues to be cute and full of personality. She has no fear whatsoever and keeps me on my toes.

And I continue to play the role of Alicia occasionally, although now that Bekah is talking more, Maija tends to make her play the role of either Dora or Alicia.

Great Quotes

A Few Great Quotes from the Kids:

"Mommy, when I grow up I want to be just like you." - Maija
(Seriously, could anything be sweeter? Although I hope she is better than me on several counts.)

"It's Pahlo (Pablo). It's Tywoh (Tyrone). It's Niwa (Uniqua). It's Taha (Tasha). It's Ahtin (Austin)." - Bekah
(She was pointing to pictures of the Backyardigans and naming each one of them. I was pretty surprised that she knew any of their names. It goes to show you that even though they can't say much, one-year-olds understand a lot.)

"Mommy, you are making me crazy!" - Maija
(There's nothing worse than hearing yourself when your child speaks.)

"Oh no!" - Bekah
(She pretty much says it for everything - "Oh no! It's tah (a car)." "Oh no! Shoe! (my shoe came off!)" "Oh no! Poo poo (no translation necessary)." )

In Other News

Our family did take a road trip to the Bay Area in California. We had a great time and got to spend the week at my aunt and uncle's house and see my cousins, and we got to see my brother, Rusty. The weather was gorgeous, and I loved all the trees and greenery. Click on the pic below to see a slideshow of our trip.

False Starts

This is my 3rd attempt to begin a new post. I started writing about how I've been working with Cub Scouts, but then I realized there wasn't much to tell, at least not that I'd want to blog about. Then I was going to write about Kent's upcoming graduation in December until I realized that the only thing I had to say was that we don't know what that will mean for our family - and now I've said that in one sentence. Truthfully, the most entertaining part of my life is my children. Lately, Maija has been making me laugh and surprising me with her comments: "Mommy, I didn't hear you say please!" or "Mommy, you are making me so mad!" Yeah, she thinks she's in charge. For the hundredth time this week I reminded her, "I am the mommy." Then she said, "Well, I am Maija." Aha! The "Maija" trumps all.

Mainly, the last week has been a juggling act - getting Maija to preschool and dance class, taking Rebekah to tumbling class, going to Cub Scouts training meetings, planning meetings, den meetings, visiting with relatives on the Farny side, and trying to keep up with my house in the meantime. I'm pretty confident that most of the women I know, especially those with children, are in the same boat. Even though it sometimes feels overwhelming, the truth is that being busy makes me happy. I love seeing my girls learn new things and have a chance to be active, even though it is WAY too hot to play outside. I love learning something new myself with Cub Scouts and other activities. I love the feeling of seeing my house clean for the 2 minutes it will actually stay that way. Overall, things are good.

Life in Music - My Life as Alicia Part 3

You can see pics of Maija's first day of preschool by clicking on this picture -

This is yet another Maija story, but I just had to blog about it. There's a Bekah story, too. I know. You're all waiting with baited breath for the next installment of "Life With Kim's Kids" or what I am affectionately referring to as the "Life As Alicia" series.

Dinnertime presents all sorts of fun challenges, as I know it does for most households with children. With Maija it's getting her to stay in her seat long enough to actually eat something! Usually when she proclaims that she's done, that means she has eaten 1 or 2 bites of food, and she is pretty sure that's enough to get her through until the morning because we all know how important it is to get back to playing.

Tonight she said she was done eating after the usual 2 bites, and Kent told her that she had to wait until we were all done eating. He tried to get her to eat more to no avail, so he told her that even if she didn't want to eat, the rest of us did. She continued to insist that she was done and should be allowed to leave the table. Finally, Kent told her to sing a song while she waited for us. This was, of course, a desperate attempt to divert her attention from the issue at hand. So what does she do? She starts singing, "When can I get down? When can I get down? When can I get down?..." over and over and over!

The Bekah story may not be as funny in writing as it was to see, but I'll give it a shot. She has started standing on the back of our love seat to see over the half-wall into the kitchen. Most of the time she'll practically climb right over the divider wall trying to reach some tempting item on the kitchen counter. No matter how many times we tell her that she is not allowed to climb up there, she will inevitably try again. Once again, this afternoon she climbed up on the back of the couch and was standing on her tippy-toes to see over the wall. Kent told her, "Rebekah! Get down!" She immediately burst into tears, collapsed onto the couch sobbing, then rolled (purposely) onto the ground where she continued to cry as she sat there face down for the next several minutes. At 18 months, Rebekah is already a drama queen, and she knows how to throw a tantrum!

Other than my tales from the front lines of motherhood, there's not much to report. We're just trying to live each day the best we can.

Who's The Boss?

Continuing on the vein of Maija's need to pretty much run our lives, yesterday she was on one! Rebekah had taken a CD which I needed for work. I told her that she needed to give it back, which she really didn't want to do. Finally, I said, "Rebekah, no, no, no. Mommy needs that CD." I tried to take it out of her hands which led to a short tug-of-war. When I got the CD out of her hands, she immediately collapsed on the floor in a pool of tears. It was just about her nap time; I decided it was time to put her down.

As I picked her up, I heard Maija behind me, "Remember, Mommy, no fighting! OK? No fighting, Mommy." I started chuckling a little to myself and replied, "Maija, I wasn't fighting with Rebekah." "Yes, Mommy, I saw you. You were fighting. Now, no fighting, OK? Remember!" This made me laugh more, but I was trying really hard not to let Maija see. Of course, Rebekah who I was still holding did see me laughing and thought she'd join in, so she started laughing and laughing. Then I hear Maija say, "Now give Rebekah a hug and a kiss and say you're sorry!" All I could get out between laughs was "sorry".

Later in the day, Maija began to reprimand me for something else, and I finally told her, "Maija, I am the mommy. You don't tell me what to do." To which she quickly retorted, "But I want to!" Heaven help me!

My Life as Alicia - Part 2

Although I didn't have to play the roll of Alicia today, I did get a kick out of listening to Rebekah watch Dora. She's only 18 months, but she loves "Dowa" so much she will sit and interact completely with the show. When I hear Dora ask, "Can you help us save the pigmy marmoset?" Rebekah will say, "Yeah!" Or she'll answer "No" if she has seen the episode before and knows the answer is no. It's too funny! The funniest part to me is when she tries to repeat the Spanish phrases, especially since she can hardly speak English! Dora will say, "Can you say 'arriba'? Say 'arriba'!" And here's little Bekah repeating, "Iba".

Also, I have to publicly thank my sister-in-law, Jeannie, who took BOTH of my girls all day today! She was even willing to take them overnight, but I figured having them gone all day would be enough. It was nice to have the day to myself, but when I saw their cute little faces when they came home, I realized I had missed them.