Miracle

Hello world. It's been a while. I have started to write posts a few times, and then I always think of something more important I should be doing during nap time. :) And right now, I also have a very long list of things to do, but I wanted to share this story.

A while ago, the lights in our bathroom stopped working. We flipped the breaker several times, but nothing would get them back on. Peter figured that there was a short in the wire, and where it was, and cut the wall open to fix it.

Turns out that our builders nailed through the wire when they were building the house 10+ years ago, and there was a very small fire in our wall when the metal recently all touched in a way it shouldn't have.  We were annoyed that our lights went out, but really, we should have been grateful that our house didn't burn down. And we are!  Miracles are sometimes disguised as inconveniences, but if you look closely, you might see how many more blessings you have than you thought.  God is always watching over us.

Lately

Sometimes, I wish I had a smart phone. My phone does take pictures, but it isn't very easy to share them. And I never think to go and grab our camera.  So, no pictures today, sorry. Maybe someday I will remember to take them, or even a video.

Lydia rolls over now, and sits up by herself all the time. She doesn't roll often, but she can. She also can eat solids, but has been in a phase of not wanting to eat anything, unless she puts it in her mouth herself. And the spoon causes tears too often for me to want her to play with liquidy foods that way.  So we've been having lots of tiny pieces of banana (that mostly get squished around the high chair tray) and some rice cracker things.  If anybody has suggestions for other non-choking baby foods that they can feed themselves, I'd love to hear them. Our pediatrician suggested getting her a mesh bag so she can gnaw on bigger things without the choking risk, and we'll probably get one soon.

Being a mom is the best job in the world- I love it! I am tired a lot, but it is so fun to spend time with Lydia and watch her learn and grow.

Adventures with Stinky Cheese

Around new years, we acquired a cheese.  We thought it was brie, which we both like. It has been living in our fridge and we sort of forgot about it, but last night I thought I'd bake it with some berries and we would eat it.  I opened the package, and thought, wow this doesn't smell like any brie I know. But it had been a while, so I thought maybe I just didn't know what brie smelled like. I decided to cut off the rind in case that would make it smell not quite so strong. It didn't. I had already made the berry sauce, so I decided to bake it in case that would make it seem more appetizing. After I put it in the oven, I went upstairs to take care of Lydia.  After a while, I noticed a smell. The cheese, which had a repulsive odor before, smelled 50 times worse and had permeated the entire house. I honestly thought that maybe if a skunk had gotten into the house, it wouldn't smell quite so bad as that cheese. Peter was brave enough to try one bite, and then we threw it away, and baked a chocolate cake to try to replace the odor with something more appetizing.

Turns out that we did not have a brie, but a camembert.  As you can see from the picture, they look about the same. If you ever have the misfortune to have a camembert in your house, I suggest that you throw it away. Whatever you do, DON'T bake it. Unless you happen to love stinky cheese. :)

February Update

Where has the time gone? I didn't realize it had been so long since my last post.  Here's what's new with us-

We went to Oregon to be with my family before my sister leaves on her mission. It was a wonderful trip, and Lydia was awesome on the airplane.  I flew out with Peter and Sara, and thought I was going to fly home by myself. However, my former roommate's mom ended up being on my same flight, and she was a huge help. It was so nice to have somebody else to help with Lydia and all her belongings- traveling with a baby requires a lot of stuff!  Small miracles. :)

Lydia got sick for the first time. That was awful. She had a really bad cold, and we had to take her to the doctor to have her nose suctioned out with this little machine.  After we did that she could breathe and got better within a couple days. It was a pretty miserable week.

Lydia has been moved into her own room, and she is sleeping wonderfully. The first night was rough, but she has been getting used to it and hardly cries when we put her to sleep- sometimes not at all.

I have been working, slowly but surely, on my thesis. I neglected it over the Christmas break, but I am back on track.

Lydia & Lorenzo

A few weeks ago, Lydia and I were over at a friend's house. She has a 1-year-old who is very sweet, and he and Lydia get along as well as can be expected considering Lydia can't really do anything but smile and coo to interact with him.  He wanted to share his stuffed llama Lorenzo with her, and she LOVED him! And I love this picture. 

It made my day when I discovered it in my email inbox this morning. I hope it brightens your day too!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior!

Rebecca is going to...

The Texas Fort Worth mission, Spanish speaking! We are all very excited for her. She enters the MTC in April.