Compared to my mum, I am quite small

So, here is Emily on the airplane, watching our descent into Salt Lake. Yes, I probably wasn't supposed to have my phone on at this point, but I couldn't really help it.
Our first day in Utah we hit Savers to buy some quick warm clothes for the kids that they'll probably grow out of before they need them here in Austin. This shirt was my favorite. It wasn't really warm but we still bought it.
It says "compared to my mum I am quite small" on the bottom. Joseph allowed me to buy it but swore he would never be the one to dress Emily in it.

Later that day we had lunch at Cafe Rio (can't visit Utah without that, right?) and pretty much took the rest of the day off. We were still recovering from airplane travel with two young 'uns.

Here's an interesting little story though. When Caleb was a baby I was a little concerned about his eyes because his left pupil was always bigger than the right. It still constricted and dilated normally, just differently from the other eye. The doctor told me to watch it but didn't really have any advice. Here's a picture of him when he was about 2-1/2 months old. It's become a lot less noticeable since then.
Then, on our first or second day back in Utah, I was talking to my dad and noticed that he had the exact same thing! His left pupil was more dilated than his right! But it wasn't that noticeable and he's gone through his whole life like this and I'm pretty sure he's not brain damaged.
Okay, just kidding. That picture above is not of my dad. My dad's eyes are way less freaky than this guy's, and my dad does not have a unibrow. Besides, that guy's right eye is the dilated one, not his left. This is the anisocoria picture off Wikipedia.
But anyway, good to know it's genetic and that Caleb has a normally functioning brain, right?

A wedding, a baby, and a camera

We are back in Texas now, and I have to say, I am quite grateful for the humidity here! (I never thought I would ever say that.) Emily and Caleb haven't really dealt with dry weather before and it was pretty hard on their skin. It felt good to walk through the mugginess back to our apartment and know that it would cure them of their rashiness.
The trip started out well. We decided Emily was old enough to put to work and made her pull her own luggage.
I'm just kidding. She was really excited to be able to pull this little suitcase and actually took it most of the way to the gate. She also carried her own carry-on bag, which was a little red backpack.
She waited happily at the gate and was so excited to see the airplanes out the window.





















That's the beginning of the trip, I still have to sort through a bunch of pictures before getting to the rest of it. But, most of you know I was in Utah for my little sister's wedding. It makes me feel kind of old to have a younger sibling married now. Here's a shot of her leaving the luncheon. It was a very small, low-key family get-together at Pizzeria 712 in Orem. I'd never been there but the food was delicious. I was impressed that they were able to make food to satisfy all in the party - a bunch of kids under 8, me and Joseph (the carnivores), a whole slew of vegetarians, and two vegans. That is a feat to be proud of.
Congrats, Mich! Here's a pic of the little ones celebrating for you.
Two other important events:
#1. My brother Daniel and his wife Mindy had their baby and I think she looks a lot like Emily did when she was young. Their first baby was a redhead so did not look Japanese at all. But, here's the new little Olivia and her mom.
And here's Em, just a couple of days old, with my sister Sarah.
Maybe they'll look alike when they're older! Congratulations, Daniel and Mindy! What a beautiful little girl! (I may be a little biased there.)

Important event #2. We finally got another camera! Joseph found a great deal on spoofee.com. Even though it was probably a quarter the cost of our old one, it is an upgrade because so much time has passed since then. You will only have to suffer through those cell phone pictures for a little while longer now. :)

More to Come...

We were able to go visit grandparents this last week for a sister's wedding. We're still pretty busy, but here's a little preview.

Up the Provo Canyon at South Fork Park. We were totally unprepared for the colder weather and had to buy some emergency warm clothes for the kids. I love hoods on little babies!
My sister took family pictures for us. Here's one Joseph snapped of Emily. This was also up Provo Canyon at the Slide Canyon trailhead.

And another one of our picnic with my mom at South Fork again.

I have no words

I just wish I had some understanding of what goes on in that head of hers.

(Watching a movie)

Nap Time

Wouldn't it be wonderful
to have someone
who came to you every day,
gave you a sippy-cup
(or glass -
whichever you prefer)
of warm milk,
tucked you into bed
for a midday nap,
and then rushed
to frantically do
as many chores
around the house
as possible
until you woke up?

No Luck for Pot Luck

Joseph had a neighborhood Cafe Rio potluck planned for Friday evening.
I had an extra long (by my standards) run planned for Saturday morning.
We have been praying for rain for the last couple of months.
We got probably a whole summer's worth of rain during the last three days.

This rain caused Joseph some stress on behalf of his potluck. It was scheduled for 5:30, probably when the rain was hardest. Fortunately we have fantastic neighbors and had two apartments offered to move the potluck into. So, even though it was tight (11 families - 21 adults, 18 kids) for a three-bedroom apartment, the potluck was a grand old success. It didn't really taste like Cafe Rio, but it was good food and a good time.


My run was super fun and adventurous. I was wading through sometimes foot-high water on the trail. The run-off into the river was amazing. I was pretty soaked by the time I got back, but it was still fun. It reminded me of running in high school with the cross country team.

Emily and Caleb bonding at dinner time. This was totally spontaneous hand holding. No coaxing by us involved. Those two kiddos really like each other.
My favorite quotes by Emily this week:
I walk out of the bathroom with a towel on my head. "Cool hat, Mama! Cool hat!"
A friend says goodbye to Emily at the potluck. Emily, without missing a beat, says, "Bye bye, yellow shirt!"


The picture of the water is from the Austin Statesman photoblog and is of Zilker Park where there isn't supposed to be a lake.

A Few Little Things

So, on Monday Chick-fil-a did a deal where if you wear a sports team shirt then you get a free sandwich. We were told about it by a neighbor that morning and headed in for lunch. Chick-fil-a is one of my favorite places to eat because it is so family friendly. And because they gave us free food. Here is Caleb in his BYU outfit (also supplied by a neighbor. Thanks Katharine! And sorry about the picture, Joseph.)

Afterward we went grocery shopping and I thought Caleb and Emily looked like the funniest little mismatched couple in this shopping cart car. Emily loves those things.

And recently Emily has decided that she is way too old and mature to be a little toddler any more. Here she is plugging her ears in the car because Caleb was making too much noise for her, as sensitive and demure as she is in her old age.And here she is listening to a story during a lesson for a joy school that a few of my neighbors are holding. One boy was out of town so they kindly allowed Emily to sit in. I love how enthralled all five kids are by this book. I don't think Emily really understood a lot of what was going on, but she sure had fun. Thanks Kristen!

Obstinate

The picture with Emily standing fashionably in the stream of air-conditioning is from yesterday when she refused to take a nap. Instead, as soon as we would close the door to the bedroom, she would jump out of bed and run over to Caleb to play. He was no help either. He would immediately work his way to the side of the crib, pull down the bumper, and egg her on. The biggest problem was that Emily kept on climbing up and jumping into the crib with Caleb so that they could play better. That didn't seem very safe. Eventually, we gave up and Emily just had an earlier bedtime.
Today it was the same story. After we got home from Church and tried to initiate nap time, Emily kept on jumping out of bed and climbing into the crib. So we pulled her out and let Caleb take his nap. In the mean time, Emily was helping us look at pictures. Although she insisted that she wasn't tired, eventually she passed out on the computer. She had a keyboard imprint on her nose and left drool on the desk. I wouldn't say it's exactly terrible twos, but she's certainly her own person.

The Camera Loves Her

... and so does little brother!

A Day in the Life

Yesterday as I was making space in the trunk for the double jogging stroller (by pulling out a jumbo box of diapers and the umbrella stroller) I realized what a different life I lead now. It's pretty obvious from this blog that a vast majority of my time is spent chasing after two little kids. Two adorable, crazy, and at times, hysterically funny little kids. Here are some pictures from the last couple of days of times that made me laugh.

At Sam's club Emily loved sitting next to Caleb and counting the babies in the cart. "Two Babies!"
She didn't quite know what to make of the mannequins at Old Navy.






















She ended up forming quite the friendship with the toddler-sized one and ran to hug her goodbye before we left.

Caleb is back into his solid foods and loving every minute.

Emily has always loved music and is now trying some more advanced dance moves. We call this extreme dancing.

I have to say, I do love Huey Lewis and the News. Or, more accurately, I really like the two songs of theirs that I've heard.

Emily's vocabulary has just taken off in the last couple of months. The English language is very confusing though, so she does have her mix-ups. My favorites are "choo-choo" for her high chair tray as well as for train, "buddy" for Caleb (Joseph and I call him that pretty frequently), and the same sign for potato and play-dough (taken from the Wiggles' Hot Potato dance).

Yesterday I asked her if she could hop on one foot so she sat down, grabbed one of her feet, coughed on it, and looked at me proudly as if to say, "That was easy, Mom!"

I always think the kids are at the funnest age ever but then they grow a little more and it just gets better.