What joy

Our sweet little girl doesn't have much lung capacity. Three candles took some time to blow out, even with the air-conditioner helping. She didn't care though. I think her wishes had already been fulfilled since she opened presents before cake. She had a happy day. When it came time to open presents, she did her happy dance. I haven't been fast enough with the camera yet to record that particular gem. Hopefully I'll get it soon.

At a minute and a half, this video probably clocks in beyond the typical blog attention span. Grandma, on the other hand, will enjoy it. I just love how much enthusiasm and joy she has. The boxes make her squeal with delight. The actual gifts put her over the top.

You probably don't remember the aprons my mother made for us. Mine says, "I rule the roost." Amanda's says, "I rule the rooster." This year, Emily got a matching one, "Chicks rule." She wears it every day. She also got a little one for her doll. They head into the corner and shuffle pots and pans together for several minutes before emerging with plastic food for everyone. Emily's careful to always remind us that we can't really eat the food, though: "On'y 'tending, okay?"

This one looks kind of like a wedding day photo. The cake is mostly my handiwork. I have no idea how to actually use the frosting tips we have.

Caleb enjoyed the festivities, but he had a hard time dealing with all of the attention he wasn't getting. He really wanted to open some presents of his own.

Once the cake came out, though. Things were alright.

Taking the Plunge

Well, I've been in the country since I was eight, so about 16 years now. Today I took a big step and mailed in my application for citizenship! I figured since I have a husband and two (almost three) kids who are all citizens of this country I should probably jump on the wagon. My Permanent Resident card doesn't expire for another three years, but Joseph and I thought it would be much less stressful to just get this taken care of. Especially since I expect it to take a while before everything is taken care of. So, I'll let you know in a year or so when I can actually call myself a citizen!

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately:
Lounging luxuriously...

Reading on the couch...
... and that's about it. We're not planning to go on any big vacations this summer, but we definitely need to plan something. We'll work on that.

Caleb working at his favorite activity - cleaning. We love this boy!

Stolen, but I had to post it

My friend Catherine posted this a little while ago and it took me a while to actually click on it and read it, but once I did I immediately saved a copy for myself.
I'm sorry to say that I used to kind of share the opinion of the girl writing in. Hopefully I wasn't quite so ignorant or offensive, but I did wonder...
I love the response. Definitely worth reading through. Enjoy!

RPE Results

So, a Research Preparation Exam is where Joseph has to present the research he' s been working on for the last couple of years and talk about where it's going and how it fits into other research being conducted in the field. And he has to convince his committee that it's worthwhile.
Anyway, he did that today and was told that passing him was a "no brainer." He is hoping this will lead pretty quickly to his dissertation proposal, after which he will only have to work on the actual dissertation and defense. Maybe we'll be outta here in a couple of years? We are excited about this big step forward in the program and the committee's enthusiasm for Joseph's research.

Today Emily made her tummy big like mine. She told me that now we both have babies in our tummies. She's kind of a spaz.

Three Thoughts

Last year I complained bitterly about how hot it was. This year has been much better. I am so grateful to be pregnant right now and not last year! This morning I heard on the radio that we have yet to hit 100 degrees here (though the heat index has definitely been up there) and last year we had already had 33 days over 100 by now! Wow.

Joseph's Research Preparation Exam is tomorrow and he has been working like crazy for it. He's a smart kid though so I am confident things will work out. It has been a little hard on all of us - yesterday he was in his lab until midnight (he did come home for dinner and FHE and to help put the kids in bed) and this morning he was gone before 8:00. We will have to do something extra fun tomorrow afternoon to celebrate having that behind us.

Is biting an instinct? Are some kids just born with the desire to bite other kids? Is it a personality thing or a gender thing? Emily has never bitten but Caleb has started and it is awful. He makes Emily cry a lot and he makes me frustrated. Punishing takes a lot of energy and I don't have that right now. He also tackles Emily and pulls her hair. I wonder if it's all in self-defense. Maybe he has to be the aggressor in order to not be completely run down by Emily.

Sorry no pictures today. The camera and computer with all the pictures are both at school with Joseph.

Raisins in his foots

Funny Emily.

This morning she led our breakfast conversation.
It went something like this:

"Mama, look at those foots with raisins in them."
"That's not very good. We don't put raisins in our foots because we don't have holes in our foots. They would fall out when we are walking."
"But why do those boys have raisins in their foots?"

It's a good question.

***

Today Emily was humming "If I Only had a Brain" to herself (she's been on a Wizard of Oz kick lately) and said, "Mama, that boy was singing about a brain because he needs a brain."
I answered absently and she continued,
"... because boys don't have brains."

She's figuring things out early!

Indoor Activities

Lately we have been busy, but nothing eventful has been happening. While the temperature hasn't been too bad this summer, thanks to a couple of tropical storms/hurricanes out by the coast, the humidity has been pretty horrible. We have been stretching our imaginations to come up with fun things to do inside, especially because a lot of days are drizzly too so the water parks would not be so fun. On one occasion we were doing laundry and the day was perfect and sunny as we walked to the laundromat, but pouring rain when we came out with all our clean clothes five minutes later. I put the clothes back inside and let the kids play outside in the water with some of the other kids in the neighborhood. They were drenched by the end of it, but I figured it was just like going to the water park but with less driving and less hassle. And more mud.

Here is Emily with one of her favorite things, the always awesome play dough. We pull this out probably once a week and it always brings much excitement and joy.
Our playdough man.

Emily's flying Barbie. Emily has been frustrated lately because she flaps and flaps her arms but she can't figure out how to fly.

After having multiple suggestions shot down, I asked Emily what she wanted for lunch one day. She wanted salad. I told her we didn't have tomatoes or mushrooms, but she was cool with eating romaine lettuce and spinach dipped in ranch with a few baby carrots. I wish my cravings were as low-cal!

Last night we had vegetable beef soup with biscuits. Emily decided this half biscuit was her tiny little baby and held it in one hand while eating with the other hand all through the rest of the meal. I asked her to put it down but she said it would cry if she wasn't holding it. I guess she has a good understanding of babies!

I am so glad to have these two so close in age. They are great playmates for each other, even though poor Caleb often ends up getting beaten up and having his toys stolen. He still loves big sister though and follows her all around.

Emily and Caleb are best friends, but it's always better with Daddy around. Here they are just hanging out with their popsicles.

Here is Joseph's new toy - he discovered his dream phone a couple of weeks before our Verizon contract ran out. So we ordered it (late Father's day present) and switched to T-Mobile. Now he can use his phone to access our wireless internet and not pay the extra $20 per month for a data plan through the cell phone company. We still have the basic family talk plan but he gets bonus internet. The phone has lots of other fancy features as well, but I don't really know too much about it.

I am now thirty weeks along and really feeling it. I think I am either getting old or the weather is getting to me. I just feel huge and sluggish all the time. Two weeks ago was especially awful - I think the baby must have been growing a lot then. I am feeling a little better now but I sure hope this baby decides to break with the Cooper baby trend and not come a week late! A week early and under nine pounds would be nice. :)

As Promised...

Image found at http://www.seasaltwithfood.com/2009/02/lemon-poppy-seed-bread.html

Well, I told a friend that I would post this recipe a while ago, but then I never did because she wanted pictures and I haven't made it since she tried it. So I found a picture on the internet that looks kind of like our bread and maybe later I'll replace it with a picture that I actually took. So with that confession out of the way, here we have my family's favorite recipe for poppy seed bread!

Poppy Seed Bread
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 C. vegetable oil
1 t. almond extract
1 t. vanilla
1-1/2 C. flour
3/4 t. salt
3/4 t. baking powder
3/4 C. milk
2 T. poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and flavorings in medium bowl with electric mixer. Combine dry ingredients. Alternately add milk and dry ingredients to make a smooth batter. Fold in poppy seeds. Pour batter into greased and floured pans (1 large loaf pan or two medium loaf pans). Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until surface browns and bread tests done with a toothpick. Let stand for 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool.

When we make it, we usually continue to use the electric mixer when adding the milk and dry ingredients so we're not left with lumps, but we have to be super careful to not over-mix. Too much mixing makes the bread rise weird because of something to do with how much it activates the baking powder.

Glaze:
1 T. orange juice concentrate
3 T. water
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 t. almond extract
1 T. butter or margarine

Combine orange juice concentrate, water, and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and add almond extract and butter or margerine. Spoon over cooled bread.

Joseph and I often sub in 1/4 C. of orange juice for the concentrate and water since it's the same and a lot easier.

We got this recipe at BYU when we took a cooking class together and have made it regularly ever since. The bread is super easy to make and super delicious as well! Give it a try!

Snapshots of Today

Photography by Emily:

A Work of Art

Emily and I ended up making Joseph a card for Father's day. I made the cover and wrote a message and Emily did the decorations. She worked carefully to cut out a shape and then she placed it where needed to go on the card and told me what to write.
Front:

Inside:

Back:

A couple of months ago our little nephew Derek went to his mom with some of his old favorite toys and said "Mom, I want these special toys to go to the poor kids." Suzie thought for a minute and said, "I know some poor kids... why don't we give them to Emily and Caleb?" Derek thought that was an okay idea so we ended up with some really great new toys. I can see why they were so special to Derek - Emily and Caleb love them and play with them almost every day. Here is a picture of them enjoying the toys. I did not set these pictures up. They just love these toys.















Here are Joseph and Caleb during Family Home Evening last night. Joseph could never get me to wear matching clothes with him, so now he does it with Caleb. Aren't they cute?