Today was a bad day. Well, Abe had a good day–his promotion interviews went well, and he came back very happy and energetic. I immediately turned over the girls and went to bed.
Mary woke up with pinkeye this morning, which was sad. Taking my mom to the airport was sad. Going to the doctor’s office for Mary’s pinkeye was sad, as was dragging my sobbing toddler across the parking lot (she’s scared of our super-sweet doctor). Grocery shopping with two children was…actually, not that sad. They were great at the store.
Coming home was sad because we spent the rest of the day eating on and off and cleaning my kitchen. I HATE meal time. And the whole day felt like one big meal. Then Mary developed pinkeye in her other eye, which means for the next week I will be administering eye drops to both children’s eyes four times a day. They kick and scream and swat away the eye drops, and the whole process stinks.
Also, my house is a mess:
Okay, okay, Abe cleaned up those messes, but there are plenty more around the house.
To top it off, while I was kneeling by the bed helping Lydia find Frozen on the iPad this evening (Abe didn’t make it home until 8pm), Mary tripped over my feet and her teeth ripped a whole in her chin. An inch below her lip is a big, tooth-shaped tear, and the poor thing was soooooo sad. I felt so bad for my poor baby with her ouchy eyes and ripped-up chin.
Today we all slept in after yesterday’s birthday festivities–and it didn’t adversely affect our punctuality at church, since today is BOTH daylight savings and stake conference. For stake conference, our stake meets at the Tabernacle at Temple Square, which is an incredible experience. Sitting in that historic building by itself would have been wonderful, but having served my mission at Temple Square, I felt an added measure of enjoyment.
A discreet shot of conference.
Mary slept on a bench for the first part of conference.
One of our speakers was 102 years old, and she was the granddaughter of both President Heber J. Grant and Joseph Fielding Smith. She herself was the General Young Women’s president at one point and was the impetus behind the restoration/building of many church buildings, including the Beehive House, the original Joseph Smith Farm in Palmyra, and the Church History Museum. She told some wonderful stories from her life, and we were all impressed that at 102 years old she could still “rally the faithful.”
But my favorite part of conference was when we learned about our new “forty days of holiness” program. For the next forty days, members of our stake will read through the entire four gospels and 3 Nephi in anticipation of Easter. It’s kind of like Lent, only we’ll be reading about seven pages of scriptures a day instead of giving up something. I am so excited to get started, so I’ll post pictures and start already!
Eventually, the girls couldn’t handle conference, so Abe took them outside and let them play on the square.Mary wanted to push Lydia home.She made it pretty far.We took a walk after dinner, and the girls fell asleep.It’s been an exciting weekend.
Most of all, we will miss my mom soooooooooo much. But we know she’s going to another happy spot, and we are happy she and Grandma have each other for company. We love you, Grandma!! We’ll give Mom lots of hugs and kisses tomorrow to give to you when she gets back.
Happy birthday, Lydia!! We tried to make this the happiest, most fun day for Lydia we could think of. We started off by watching videos of when she was a baby while we cuddled and I told her how exciting it was to meet her this day three years ago. Abe headed downstairs to make pancakes with pureed strawberry syrup, which both girls had fun dipping their pancakes in.
My mom went to the church to fulfill our cleaning assignment so we could have the morning with Lydia together. She is the most selfless person I know. We are so happy to have her here!
Then Lydia and I baked the other half of Lydia’s cake while Abe played with Mary.
Abe did all the dishes while I read to the girls. Then my mom gave the girls matching dresses to wear for Lydia’s birthday. We took Mary’s off so she wouldn’t get it dirty climbing around the movie theater, but they played at home in their matching outfits (my heart pitter-pattering the whole time).
Lydia giving Mary a birthday kiss.
When Abe and I were both finally dressed and ready to go, all of us (including my mom!) headed to the Gateway where we had Dairy Queens before going to Frozen.
Tom joined us for the movie, and he was a great help when Mary escaped near the end and started climbing the stairs at the movie theater.
After the movie, we played outside in the sunshine for a while and let the girls run around. Lydia loved twirling in one of the new dresses Nana gave her for her birthday.
Then we headed to the library and read Lydia a book about birthdays. The protagonist was not only her favorite thing in the world–a cat–but she was wearing a startlingly similar dress to Lydia’s. Then we checked out some pink books in honor of her birthday and headed to the store to pick up some things before going home.
At home, we made frosting and assembled her yellow and strawberry cake. The strawberry turned gray when Lydia dumped in the sprinkles (THE essential ingredient of her cake, in her opinion).
I basically injected pureed strawberries into a regular buttercream icing, and while the result was tasty, the texture left a LOT to be desired. Basically, it fell off of the cake. But Lydia didn’t care since the cake was pink and full of strawberries, and after dinner she enjoyed the whole song-candle-blowing-cake-and-ice-cream-eating process.
Pinterest fail. Maybe I’ll learn how to make a successful, fresh, fruit icing when I take my baking and pastry classes.
Then Abe gave the girls baths and changed them into jammies before we opened presents.
Nana brushed their hair.
Eyeing presents.
Mary was dying to wear a costume, too, so she got to wear this hand-me-down shirt from a family reunion we had years ago. It made her SO happy.This diaper cover completed her look.
For the last hour the girls have been playing with Lydia’s new presents, and right now Abe is trying to make sure they sleep in tomorrow by playing vigorous games of chase-and-throw-the-children.
Then Clark, Swathi, and Balu called from New York and wished Lydia a happy birthday. She relived her whole day in their conversation and kept repeating that she had a fun birthday. She especially loved telling them repeatedly about how the game of chase made her laugh and giggle.
I am beyond ready for bed, so I’m blogging early and will be retiring as soon as I hit publish (hopefully). Happy birthday, my sweet and beautiful Lydia!!!
The day started by me leaving to work, and Georgia babysitting Lydia and Mary while Lily went to a yoga session. Yoga is one of the few really great ways Lily can excercise without aggravating her shin splints. After Yoga, Georgia got a ton of things done on her t0-do-while-I’m-in-town list and Lily started the festivities with Lydia. They baked her cake and made cupcakes together.
Meanwhile at work, I found out that I am interviewing for promotion on Monday. I am very excited to take the next step in my career and I hope it goes really well. I also hope that I don’t have to interview with a case of pink-eye. Lydia came down with it today and I’m hoping to last at least three days until I too have the bug!
On my drive home, I finished Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Of the four C.S. Lewis books I just read, I would say it is my least favorite, which is interesting because C.S. Lewis says it was his least favorite book to write. He said it was fun in the beginning, but after a while it was not fun at all for him to have to spend so much time thinking and writing from the point of view of a servant of satan. My reading experience echoes those sentiments. In short, it was insightful, but not uplifting.
Then I met Lily at school and picked up the kids. Lydia was in a better mood than Mary on the ride home in the beginning. Lydia was cheerful as she talked about the fact that she is going to watch Disney’s Frozen on her birthday tomorrow and as she had imaginary conversations with her cat (which was at home, not in the car). Her mood soured later in the ride, though, and she got really upset because Mary was crying, and Lydia said that Mary was being too loud and just woke up her cat. I started to explain that Mary could not have woke Lydia’s cat, because Puss (the cat) was not in the car. Lydia didn’t buy it, so I just kept driving while they both fell apart…..I think my tolerance for crying is increasing!
We then stopped at Smith’s to get Lydia’s eyedrops and animal crackers. We got the ceremonial free treat at the bakery and made our why home where we had a great pasta and brocolli dinner with Georgia. Mary was crazy about the brocolli Georgia made (it was delicious) and screamed when her plate ran out. Although I was not happy about her antics, I was happy that her antics were over wanting more brocolli.
After dinner we had family home evening where I taught a lesson about the organization of the church. We have Stake Conference Sunday and I wanted to try to explain a little bit to Lydia about why this Sunday will be different. I’m not sure that I was able to communicate anything meaningful to Lydia, but it felt good to be spending time as a family and talking about meaningful topics. After the lesson I drew a cat on the chalkboard per Lydia’s request. Before drawing the cat, I whiped the chalkboard clean and Lydia had a complete meltdown because there was a red mark on the board that simply would not come off. It completely threw her off her emotional equilibrium and it was a few minutes before we were able to calmly move forward with the cat-drawing.
Lily is at cooking school, so it’s me, Abe, again! I’m a little worried about Lily because earlier this week she developed killer shin splints while working out and her cooking school involves five hours of standing……..let’s just say I’m impressed that she is gutting it out.
I left for work around 7AM and made it in time for our weekly company TGIT (Thank Goodness It’s Thursday) breakfast and meeting. After that I commenced grinding it out on phone calls and e-mails. I did not have any great results today, however, I know that I did great work and the results from that will surely manifest in time. Not too much more to report on the work front.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Lily had a play-date with her friend Jen. After that she took flowers to Marilyn, one of the great ladies she hometeaches, because Marilyn just had surgery. After that, Lily took the girls to a lunch date with Misty at the City Creek Food Court. The only complication was that afer Misty and Lily met up, they split to buy meals at separate places and then could never find each other after that. And so, they didn’t eat or play together, but they certainly intended to!
At home Lily put Mary down for a nap, cleaned the house, taught piano to Lydia, cooked dinner, and then picked up Georgia from the airport once Mary woke up.
You heard right! Georgia was back in town today! We’ve missed her greatly and it’s so nice to see her again! Lydia was so excited to see Georgia (Nanna to her) that on the car ride to the airport she forced herself to stay awake so she could see Georgia, even though she was so tired that her eyes were rolling to the back of her head. When she finally did see Georgia, Lily reports that Lydia gave the biggest smile she has ever given to-date. Mary was very happy too and played peek-a-boo with Georgia in the car.
Lily and Georgia got to catch up a bit at the house before Lily dashed off to cooking school. When I arrived home, I ate with the girls, bathed them and put them to bed, and Georgia cleaned the kitchen and the kid’s room. After the kids were down, Georgia and I had a great time chatting for an hour and a half. She gave me updates about her life as well as how Grandma Cullen is doing (Hi Grandma) and I told Georgia all about how much I am liking my new job at Qualtrics. And now I’m blogging!
Pictures!
Lydia having a tender moment with her cat
Mary being happy!Mary laughing in the car as she played peek-a-boo with GeorgiaMary being content
This morning was beautiful outside, so I packed breakfast snacks and let the girls eat in the jogger while I took a two hour walk. We walked up to the part of City Creek Canyon where bright green clovers grow in the creek; ever since we’ve moved here, that’s what I look for every year to tell me it’s Spring. And wow, is it Spring! The clovers were lush, bright green, and much more abundant than I’ve ever seen them. Too bad I didn’t take my phone–I wish I could have taken a picture. The birds were chirping, the creek was gurgling, and that bright green clover made me really happy.
The sad part is that I have had shin splints for over a week, and the two hour walk (with a couple short jogs in the middle) exacerbated them to the point where I spent the rest of the day in a mild state of pain. Happily, on my walk home, I ran into Aria and Anique, both avid runners with lots of shin splint experience, and they gave me some tips. There’s hope!
Then I came home, cleaned the house, fed the girls, and gave Lydia a piano lesson. We make such little progress in these lessons that sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. But then I always conclude that it is worth it, just because Lydia and I get so much one-on-one time, and, if nothing else, Lydia is learning to sit and focus at the piano. At first I’d give her a treat when the lesson was done, but then I started to worry she’d confuse sugar with happiness, so now at the end of our lesson we take water breaks and read together. It’s my favorite part.
Then I finished my book, fed the girls, practiced the piano, and cleaned the house. Abe and I had planned on going to the temple tonight, but as soon as Abe brought the baby-sitter over, he checked his wallet and could not find his recommend. He searched for fifteen minutes and finally gave up. Truthfully, I was so disappointed. I had been looking forward to going to the temple all day, and I almost suggested that I go by myself–but then I didn’t know what we’d say to the babysitter, who was already at our house. We ended up going to the Cheesecake Factory, since Abe’s mom gave him a gift card there a while back. When it came time to pay, Abe found his recommend behind his credit card. I guess it wasn’t meant to be a temple night, and even though I was initially disappointed, I always love talking to my husband, so it turned out okay.
The flash on the camera phone is blinding. This is Abe enduring it. Abe took a picture of me, but my lopsided squint in the face of the flash made me look inebriated, which I was NOT.
I spent all morning cleaning, although my house is in shambles right now and there’s no way anyone could ever tell that. I am also exhausted because we just got back from a dinner party in Park City that was so fun we lost track of time and arrived home after 10 pm. Good thing we didn’t have to bathe the girls tonight!
Here are some pictures from the day:
Our friends from Chicago invited us over for the most delicious jambalaya dinner–and there were cupcakes afterward! We met a couple at Kristin and Adam’s November sealing that we loved, and so they came too. We loved visiting with all of them, and the girls loved running around the humongous house Kristin and Adam are house-sitting.While I was cleaning, I stepped out of the bathroom for a minute and returned to find Mary thus perched. The fact that I took a picture of her probably detracted immensely from my post-picture scolding.A happy moment from our piano lesson.Lydia’s hand.Look at that technique. She actually found it very difficult to play the first two notes of “Twinkle,” and for the last ten minutes of the lesson my heart broke for her because she had tears in her eyes–but didn’t complain or fuss or even cry at all. She just felt bad that she couldn’t play it correctly, and I felt bad that she felt bad. This is such a tricky, complicated time for us. On the one hand, our relationship has really deepened with these piano lessons and one-on-one time, and on the other, I am terrified I am being too hard on Lydia. I wish I always knew the best way to give my daughter the best of everything.
I stayed at preschool this morning. Misty had the kids make “giraffe skin” out of yellow paper, cut sponges and brown paint. Afterward, we took the kids out to the back yard to play.
Then we came home and I gave Lydia another piano lesson before lunch. Her technique is really coming along, although I was a little impatient today and our lesson ended in tears and hugs. I had a little bit of an emotionally down day today, and I felt so bad for taking it out on Lydia.
Abe wanted to take me out to Smashburger to celebrate my cooking competition on Saturday, so we met him there before school.
While I was at school, Abe was home with two very melodramatic girls.
This was after Mary got put in her crib for not behaving, and Lydia was denied a princess puppet show because she refused to clean up. Misery loves company.But they did have a princess hair night again.
Then Lydia attempted to knock Mary in the head with the iPad. Thankfully she missed. While she was being disciplined, Mary ran around the house naked. When Abe found her, this is what he saw:
She was typing code into his laptop.Lydia perked up and joined her.
Guess my night learning about different dry heat/wet heat methods to cook food was pretty tame in comparison. Abe’s downstairs running off the evening’s stresses on the treadmill, and I am just about to try to forget mine by picking up my book.
Oh! Mom and Grandma, I am about to post some pictures from yesterday onto yesterday’s blog. Abe forgot to email me some cute pictures he took from his phone. I’ll just tack them onto the end of yesterday’s blog.
Today at church we talked about Abraham’s sacrifice and what that means. During the course of the discussion, the importance of personal revelation came up. One woman made a comment dismissing the importance of revelation, and I could almost see Abe’s allergic reaction to her words. He controlled himself and didn’t allow himself to respond, but afterward we spent a long time discussing how grateful we are for personal revelation.
Then Abe bore his testimony in church. Lydia was perfectly behaved and sat quietly on the bench the whole time, but I missed most of what he said because I was chasing Mary around the halls the whole time. She has a lot of energy.
This afternoon my lovely visiting teacher, Erika, came over. I always feel bad because I talk to her for such long periods of time, but she is just so fun to talk to.
After she left, Anique called and invited us on a walk to a playground. Mary had just woken up, and it was too early to break our fast, so the timing was awesome.
The girls had so much fun playing, and Anique and I spent the whole walk back talking about food. I get so hungry on fast Sunday that I was literally drooling while we talked. It was a little embarrassing. We made plans to start a monthly lunch date. I’m so excited.
Then we went home, ate dinner and Face Timed with Clark and Swathi. They amused Mary with funny faces and listened patiently to Lydia ramble on about whatever was on her mind. Then I talked their ears off about the culture at culinary school and the drama of preschool hunting. At one point, I laughed so hard I cried. That felt fantastic.
Then we played with the girls until Tom and Suzanne came over for a visit.
They all had “princess hair,” including Abe and the cat.
It was so fun to see Tom and Suzanne. Suzanne taught the Sunday School lesson in her ward today, and it was interesting to hear where her ward went in the Abraham discussion.
And now Mary is crying because she doesn’t want to go to bed. She’s saying a new word! “Daddy! Dad! Daddy!” Awwww…Abe can’t resist and is going to her. I wish she would learn “Mama” one of these days…sniffle.
**I’m adding these last pictures a day later because I just now received them from Abe’s phone:
I won my cooking competition this morning!!! Well, okay, okay. They announced it was a tie, but when I got home and looked at the scores, I realized that the judges forgot to circle/add up one of my scores, so I technically won by one itsy bitsy little point. But still! I got a ticket for two to our school restaurant and a Ninja chopping machine. Abe and the girls came and cheered me on, and it was so fun to see their smiling faces through the glass.
The surprise ingredients weren’t that hard, really. They told us to use orange roughy and apples on our plate, which had to contain a starch, vegetable, sauce and garnish. Here’s what I did:
I made a blue cheese polenta cake, beet/carrot/apple/poppy seed slaw with raspberry vinegar, baked orange roughy and a candied lemon garnish. The blue cheese was rancid; I thought it was tangy, but I didn’t realize it was rancid until the judges absolutely tore me apart for it. Also, I plated my fish upside down. Oops! Thankfully, the other two competitors in my division made the same mistake. We’re all learning.
Then we came home and ate lunch. Ironically, I had to throw out my food before eating it all because we were in such a rush to clean the kitchen. Also, Abe had to leave early because he forgot to put a diaper on Mary this morning, and there weren’t any in the car. Oops! Mornings are hard for him.
I spent the girls’ hours of quiet time finishing my most recent book, Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, today. It was a total page turner, and now I am scared that we’re all going to get blown up by the crazy people in power around the world. I sneaked to the library just before they close to get some more books to help calm me down.
My relationship with Mary deteriorates by Saturday afternoon because I’m gone all evening Friday and all morning Saturday. She gets so mad at me that when I finally get back, she screams if I touch her and clings to Abe for dear life. The only way we get back on friendly terms is if I play peek-a-boo with her feet and let her step on my face. I’m not kidding:
Also, Lydia found grown-up socks today and wore them the rest of the evening.She also made Abe wear her headband.
Lydia and I had another piano lesson today. I remember how hard it was to sit still when I was little, and I’m so proud of her for enduring. We made it to thirty minutes today. When I told Abe I want to try for an hour on Monday, he asked me to keep it to thirty minutes because he’s a more fun, compassionate parent than I am. Maybe we’ll compromise at forty-five. Our poetry session was truncated by my need for a nap, but we did read “Tiger, tiger, burning bright” and “The Lamb” by William Blake.
