You're Welcome!

So, you can thank me whenever and however you feel like it. Several months ago, I wrote a letter to J. Crew, asking them to please create just one dress with sleeves. They have the most gorgeous dresses, but no matter the season, they are all sleeveless, and therefore not quite compatible with my modesty standards. But look!


They listened to me! So, you're welcome, and if you have $188, lucky you, you could even buy it!

I know I'm shallow, but come on, we all love clothes, right? This catalog really made me excited for this baby to come and my body to (hopefully) go back to a semi-normal size. So here are some other cute, yet completely unaffordable items I like in J. Crew's new collection. Like my friend Natalie said the other day, "I can't wait for the day when I can afford quality clothing!" There's just something about it that feels and looks better, don't you think?

Oh baby!

Ok, my friends. Prepare yourselves. This is precisely why I don't take pictures of myself pregnant. Gone are the days of a cute little bump; I've now embraced the days of young children stopping and pointing and grown men turning to look again. Only the women are sympathetic and sweet, of course, as they make guesses as to the baby's gender. All the girls at the Vietnamese nail place are sure it's a boy. They say since it sticks straight out and you can't tell that I'm pregnant from behind, these are sure signs it's a boy baby. But the checkout girl at Target swears it's a girl, and made me say I'd come back and tell her if she was right.
My body looks extremely silly and strange: skinny in all the same places, and a very protruding, semi-pointy, and quite shocking belly. Feel free to laugh; go get your family from the other room so they can laugh, too. I can't hear you. The kids in Primary do it all the time. As I was uploading this picture, I laughed, too. It's pretty comical, and I'm getting a little embarrassed to go places, but here you go. I need to think of something else to blog about quickly, so this won't stay up too long!

35 weeks

Our Week

This was a rather uneventful and un-blogworthy week, but here's a quick wrap-up.

If you've ever wondered what you would look like after putting dirt and leaves in the rain gutter and street drain after 3 days of rain, this is it:



And they had looked so cute that day. After this, they had their first real shower. Parker said they were just like teenagers, taking showers and everything! Great, just what I need, teenagers!

I went to the Doctor this week and told him of my fear of going into labor with my twice c-sectioned uterus. Now that we live half an hour from the hospital (and during the day, Neal's within walking distance of it), if I go into labor, I'll most likely have to drive myself that far in the midst of the pain, worrying the whole time that I'm going to bleed to death in my car. (Just a little scenario I keep playing out in my mind in the wee hours of the morning.) I'm sure it won't be that bad, but I'm a worrier. So he assured me we could schedule the c-section for 38 weeks, which puts me having the baby around the 22nd of August. IF (big IF) it doesn't come before then, like my other two did!

Some notable quotes of the week from the kids:

Audrey: "Mommy, one day can you buy us a big, huge pile of candy?"
Me: "Why?"
Audrey: "So we could sleep on it."
Um, no.

Me, as I'm laying down with Parker at bedtime: "Why do you like to hug so much?"
Parker: "I don't know; it just makes me happy." Short pause. "Mommy, let's just hug forevah."
Me: "Ok. I love you."

Dr. Horn was congratulated on his ethical dental practices by one of his employing dentists this week. According to him, this lady is "an idiot" and doesn't know the first thing about root canals. She had him come see one of her patients, expecting him to perform a root canal on a tooth which Neal deemed completely fine and not in need of a root canal. She was so impressed that he wouldn't just do one anyway for the money, and told him so. What a gem, that Dr. Horn.

Thank Heavens for Geeks!

The Riddlesperger Family (from Neal's side) in 1894

My life is better as of today. I went to pick up my computer at the geeky computer repair place and was pleased as punch, and almost brought to tears, when the guy pulled up my whole entire Family History file. The whole thing, completely intact! This problem has caused a pit in my stomach for several weeks now, and I will rest much easier tonight knowing I don't have to start at square one and go all the way back to 1066 to find our connection with William the Conqueror again. I have over 6300 names in that program, and what a blessing that they were all recoverable. We got some pictures and movies back, too, although we lost quite a bit, of course. I was also concerned about my recipe collection, which is stored on a program on that computer. All there! It was a happy drive home, needless to say.

I learned this lesson the hard way: BACK UP YOUR STUFF! A removable hard drive is on its way to our house. Since our CD drive is malfunctioning, due to some certain little hands, ahem, we're usually unable to burn info onto cds, so we're going with the removable hard drive option. Does anyone else have any advice for us, even though it's a little late? How do you store your precious information?

P.S. For all you bloggers who are as mistrusting of BLOGGER as I am, my friend Natalie has discovered an easy way to save your blog externally. Ya girl, we will be having a blog-saving session quite soon, just be fore-warned. :)

Good Times

Neal's dad and his wife, Gail came to visit us these past few days, and despite the utter sogginess from the rain, we had a great time! They live in Oklahoma and spend lots of their time on the Horn Ranch in Kansas, but they were in Texas on other business and decided to fly down, and we are so glad they came!

We paid a visit to the stables so "Daddy Jeff" could see Hunter, the horse Audrey rode for her lessons. We brought him some carrots and looked at every other horse in the place. Audrey loves to see what they're all named. We even found two horses named Spirit, and one that looks just like Spirit, but is named Lilly.

The men did some plumbing (our dishwasher was acting up),

and we were entertained by the kids while it poured down rain outside.

Thanks for coming Daddy Jeff and Issie! Can't wait to see you again, soon!

One Thing's for Certain . . .

It is my firm belief that sometimes, in the middle of the summer, when it's too hot to play outside and Mommy's too tired to go anywhere, when the cardboard "boat slash tent" has been abandoned and outlived its novelty,

you've just got to break down and give your kids a New Toy.

Precious in His Sight

Happy Sunday!

I have a friend . . .

My friend Natalie is the best, can I just tell you? She is the kind of friend who absolutely insists on watching my kids for doctor's appointments, who brings a bag of surprises to me almost every time I see her and who says, when she is at my house, "Give me a job." She won't leave my house until she has cleaned something, whether it's picking up the train set off the floor or vaccumming under my kitchen table. She makes my life easier.

Today she installed new rubbery Ikea shelf liners in all of my kitchen shelves, which, of course, required the removal of all of the cupboards' contents, and the subsequent reorganization of those contents. My belly and I watched and directed from a chair, while Natalie and I chatted and sometimes paid attention to our children.

Thank you Natalie! I'll think of something for you to do next time. Hmmm, the fridge? See what I mean, she would even clean out my fridge. She would sleep better at night knowing my fridge was clean. You need a friend like that.

What were we thinking?

So we've had a pretty slow past couple of days; the kids and I have just been hanging out at home mostly, except for the almost-daily trip to the pool, of course. Well, tonight Neal had to run some errands, so we joined him. We made a stop of Half-Price Books (a used book store), sold about 20 books and got a whopping SEVEN dollars for them. Oh well, seven bucks is better than the clutter they were creating. We found a couple of cute little kid books for 98 cents each and some "wood construction projects," which we thought looked like a fun way to spend time with the kids.

HA.

When we got home around 7:30, the kids thought it would be fun to start them. Sure, why not? This is why not.

We ended up putting the kids to bed around 10. They usually go to bed around, um, 8! But we just had to finish. Needless to say, Parker couldn't really help with his wooden Harley Davidson;

and Audrey was able to punch out a bunch of pieces for the carousel I ended up putting together.

They had a lot of fun, though. We got out the watercolors and they painted the scraps.

Pretty cool, huh? I've sworn to them that I will never ever throw these away. Don't you just love it when they make you say that? Oh well, it was a good night spent around the kitchen table. Good thing we had nothing better to do. :) And tomorrow, they get to play with them. I'll keep the glue handy.

My Favorite Things, Final Installment

Ok, so a lot of things are precious to me. Once I started thinking about it, I came up with more and more objects. But now I have a great list.

My Diamonds

What a lovely surprise my ring was when Neal proposed on his family's upstairs porch swing way back in 1998. I've treasured this diamond ever since, not to mention the two other sparkly tokens Neal has given in the years since then.

This drawing by my sister

I asked Julianne to recreate a "DaVinci face" for me a few years ago. Her artistic talent is incredible! She has a well-trained eye for beauty, and I've reaped the rewards. I love this face, and I'll always appreciate the care I know she put into getting it just right.

My Paul McCartney autograph

One Christmas when I was a teenager, my dad brought this back from London for me. Stephanie and I both received one for Christmas, and we were so thrilled. Our mother passed on her genetic love for all things Beatles to her children. She went to a concert with her dad in her early teenage years, and I always remember her saying that her dad had just as much fun as she did. What a fun memory to have with him. We grew up listening to the Beatles in the Suburban and in our home; we know all the words to almost every song, and my kids call the Beatles "Bramma music." My mom has even managed to convince us that a 64-year-old man is perpetually "cute," although she is always quick to add that he's not nearly as cute as Dad.

My silver tea service

Neal's mom gave me this a few years before she died. Sometimes when we'd visit her house in Tyler, she would bestow upon me some little trifle I had admired. Well, this was no small trifle, and it holds a special place in our home. I use it occasionally for special parties like baby showers and such, and I don't even mind polishing it. It was given to her as a wedding gift in 1958.

What are your favorite possessions?

My Favorite Things, Part 2

Some more of my favorite objects . . .

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

This is my copy of a beautiful document put forth by the leaders of our Church several years ago. I put together this little montage and am so proud of how it turned out! It's hanging right by our front door, reminding Neal and me of our commitment to each other and of our responsibility as parents to our precious children. You can read it here.

My Family History Wall

This wall represents so much work, and in my mind, it's some of the most important work I'll ever do. The chart records the names of both my ancestors and Neal's. The pictures are visual representations of people who gave me my life and my name. They made me who I am, and I hope to meet them all someday.

My Sand Collection

Disclaimer: This is not my sand collection. Mine is not nearly this picture-worthy, yet. Although my sand collection is still waiting for a lovely organizational session, I still treasure it. I've collected sand from beaches I've visited over the past several years, and had friends collect it for me from places I know I'll never see, like Mozambique for example! I wish I had started it long ago, before I visited the Mediterranean and the Baltic seas, Fiji and New Zealand. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back! One day I hope to display it in a special spot in my home; dozens of small glass bottles filled with sand from places I treasure.

This Letter to Audrey from her Grandmother

When Audrey was born, Neal's mom wrote her this letter. She implied that it was to be given to Audrey when she was "of age." I think we'll probably give it to her when she's 16 or so. Until then, it is something I treasure for Audrey. An envelope full of loving and inspiring words for my daughter from one of the most incredible women I've ever known.

Vimeos

Audrey has some new videos on her blog. More favorite objects to come! (I have 12.) :)

My Favorite Things, Part 1

The other day, my friend Rachel sent me a "Getting to Know You" email, where you answer questions about yourself and email it on to your friends, hoping they will answer the same questions and send it back to you. One of the questions was "what are your favorite possessions?" It got me thinking, and I thought I would document them here on my blog, if for nothing else but for posterity.
I know "things" aren't the most important things in life. We learned that quite well last summer when a hurricane threatened all of ours. Obviously I treasure my family more than any thing in the world, but some objects really are treasures to me, and these are a few of them.

My Degas

My mom and dad gave this reproduction of "Petite danseuse de quatorze ans" for Christmas one year before I left home. It's really, really heavy and has been carefully wrapped in towels and packed with me through six moves now. The graceful stance of this young girl brings elegance to any room into which she is placed. She inspires me to strive for beauty in even small things. Before I had children, I signed myself up for a ballet class, and although I was quite alarmed by my body's inability to be graceful in dance, I can at least look at her in admiration.

This old photo album

I have many small treasures in my trunk full of family history paraphernalia. My mom gave me this little album last year after her mom passed away. It is full of very old and amazing pictures of ancestors of mine and their friends. Some of them I'd love to frame, but I'm very scared about handling them, so they will stay safely housed in this little treasure of a book on the shelf in our guest room.

My London Journal

I learned so much about myself and life in general while I was studying in London. I fell in love with the city and gained independence and self-confidence that will last me a lifetime. I spent many quiet moments alone in a noisy city, and through those moments, I learned not only what I want out of life, but who I wanted to spend it with. My testimony was strengthened and my love for travel was cemented in my heart. I count that all-too-short visit as one of the best experiences of my life. This journal records it all. I started writing in this journal on the airplane trip over the sea and finished it on the ride back. I carried it in my bag each day I spent in England. I can turn to any page and am immediately taken back to the moment I wrote the words on that page.

My Piano

My grandmother gave me my baby grand piano last year when we moved into our house. It belonged to her mother, Evelyn May Potter, and its genuine ivory keys are full of music past and present. I love to spend my odd free moments working on my talent; it needs a lot of work, but I find playing music very relaxing. I can be silent and create beauty, and that, I love.

My Three Best (Inanimate) Friends

There are three things that I can't live without right now, besides my air conditioner:

Oh, this stuff saves me at least twice a day. I am completely plagued by heartburn while I am with child. I even have to give up orange juice toward the end. But this stuff: works like a charm. A really chalky, yucky, green charm.

During normal times, I can get by with one pillow, but I enjoy sleeping with two. Now I NEED four, and when Neal leaves in the morning, I get to have 5.


Audrey got this as her prize at the Space Center a few weeks ago. Little did I know how much I would come to love and need it. It's a grabber. I use it to clean my house without bending over. It can pick up coins and clothes, books and shoes. I love it!

Swimming!

Twice a week, the kids and I hang out at our big neighborhood pool for almost two-and-a-half hours. It's nice to have something scheduled in the summertime, I've found, so we don't drive each other crazy (which still seems to happen almost every afternoon around 4). Audrey has a swim lesson at 9 am and unfortunately, Parker's isn't until 10:30. So we kill some time eating snacks and reapplying sunscreen, trying to keep cool in this South Texas heat! The kids have tons of fun; Audrey always manages to make new friends and learn new tricks, and Parker gets braver every time we go. Now he'll even go underwater voluntarily! If you want to see some video I shot today at the pool, click here!