Willa

Two more pictures from Jayden's party. I need a nice camera like theirs!

 I need to write some details about Willa before the new baby comes and steals the excitement!
Willa is TWO years old and she is becoming so fun and so much more challenging all at the same time! I think I've got the mindset that if I let her play or do something that she wants to do for long enough, that after a while she will get it out of her system and then come do what I ask (like get her hair done or get dressed). I'm learning that that is not the case. Most of the time, she just wants to do MORE of what she has been doing. She is very independent and likes to shriek "mine, mine!" if I try to help her put on socks or shoes or other similar tasks. Ryan taught her how to squirt the squirt bottle that I use for her hair, so now she always wants to do that instead of letting me do it. She especially likes to sit on the bathroom counter squirting it all over the mirror as she yells "a mess, a mess!"

She is an awesome sleeper and takes two hour naps each day and sleeps about eleven hours each night. We read books, she gets two pacifiers, and then I just plunk her in her crib and she goes down without a fuss each time. When I tell her it is time for a nap or night night, she puts her hand over her mouth and gives a big, fake yawn.

She is talking so much and constantly surprising me by the words she knows and how well she is stringing some of them together. I love to hear her little voice chatter. My very favorite is to hear her say "mommy" while she comes running over to me. She is getting more and more loving towards Ryan these days now that she realizes that he is a lot more fun to play with than me. She likes to run after him on her tiptoes saying "daddy, daddy."

Her favorite activities are: running around the house naked, jumping and climbing on couches or beds (all the more fun if she can do this naked), playing outside, going to the park, playing at Bridgett's house, dancing to music in a very silly manner, tucking her babies into bed and giving them kisses, pretending to jump like a frog, "helping" mommy with every task, playing and banging on pretend drums, and of course, watching t.v. She is still very much enamored with Caillou, but thanks to a little boy I babysat a few weeks ago, she has branched out to enjoy the occasional Diego episode.

She often plays the "drums" and then after says, "Thank you, Thank you!" and takes what looks to be a bow. I was kind of surprised when I first saw her do it. A week later, there was an episode of Caillou on (which she had seen before), where Caillou is imagining himself as a drummer and does the exact same thing. It was hilarious and shocking, I guess these shows really are influencing her! I also think she got her frog imitation from watching Caillou. I surely didn't teach it to her, she just came to me one day and say, "Mommy, mommy, frog" as she started hopping. I need to be more vigilant about Caillou because not all she learns from him is so innocuous. For example, there is a song completely about machines and the chorus goes, "Machines save all of us." This is very strange and worrisome. Is Caillou a cartoon from a future ruled only by robots who have come back in time to try to indoctrinate us early about their dominance? Very troubling.

I hope I'm not complaining too much about her. Most of the time even her naughtiness is very hilarious, but as I reach the end of the pregnancy my patience wears a little thin. Sometimes she'll have been running around at the park for over two hours with Bridgett and there will still be a large tantrum when it's time to go. I've been trying to help her close out her play by giving a lot of warnings that it is time to stop a particular task. It helps, but she's not a perfect child. She's pretty nearly there, though, and I love her.

37 Weeks

Yesterday was my 37 week mark. I'm officially full term! My stomach has pretty much doubled in size recently. Ryan looked at me the other day and said, "Huh, I must not have looked at you much recently because you suddenly seem a lot bigger." I'm starting to feel the aches and pains of being nine months pregnant, which is probably good because the excitement to have the baby begins to overpower the fear (at least for me).

My friend Shelley once talked about savoring the status quo towards the last weeks of pregnancy. I'm trying to think about that. I've felt badly and been frustrated with myself because I have a really hard time keeping the clutter from building up while Willa is awake, and when she naps, I basically have to just lay down too so that I can keep up with her in the afternoon. I've had a goal to pack the hospital bag every day this week, but it still hasn't happened yet because I just can't get myself to do anything! Not huge complaints in the scheme of life, just the reality of what's going on here.

But back to savoring - Ryan and I went out on a date this weekend. I'm trying to get lots of snuggle time in with Willa while she is still my best little buddy. I want to savor going on an errand with just one child. I also want to do little things that make her so excited while I still can - lots of park visits, letting her run around the house naked (though, I suppose this one can still be done with a baby), playing outside, taking time to let her help me with daily tasks. I know the baby will be an adjustment for her, but I'm feeling a little positive right now. We were at a swimming pool earlier this week and two little six-month old babies were sitting in the wading area. She was extremely interested in them and wanted to sit next to them and show them how to splash in the little fountains.

I just wanted to add this sweet little photo of Willa from yesterday. Our sweet little friend Jayden turned two years old and they had the funnest birthday party. There was a little bouncy house with slide, and then my friend Lisa had set up little kids stations all around the backyard. There were so many activities set up that there was almost no fighting. If a toddler had gotten to a favorite toy first, there were plenty of other fun and interesting things close by for others to play with. We had a great time and are so grateful for good friends. It was a little funny to us as Mormons, because there was an open bar for the adults, but hey - everyone had a good time and the hot dogs were delicious!

Cookies With Willa

Some other friends' blogs have mentioned making cookies with their little kids. I had never really thought about cooking or baking anything with Willa because it seemed like a huge hassle and mess. Once I started considering how much fun she would have (and mentally prepared myself for a disaster of a mess) I decided to try it.

First, we tried some basic chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. This recipe is from the Ivory Homes cookbook that they sell to raise money for the Make A Wish Foundation. It is the best cookbook, everything is amazing and easy to make. These are the best chocolate chip oatmeal cookies ever. For the oatmeal hater, their regular chocolate chippers are the most amazing regular chocolate chip cookies I've ever had too.

Willa LOVED it! She learned very quickly to dump the ingredients in. Oatmeal got all over the floor. She started using the teaspoons as little spoons to transfer cookie dough to her mouth and it was a total mess with very fun and delicious results! Unfortunately, due to her excessive double dipping, I deemed the cookies too unsanitary to share with others and we were forced to keep all of them for ourselves.

 After that, I thought about trying sugar cookies. Valentine's Day was kind of putting me in the mood. I don't think I've ever made sugar cookies on my own, they are just too much work. When I was in Utah, though, my mom and I had wanted to make some but we never got around to it. My cousin Danielle posted a new recipe on her food blog that looked really delicious.

SO, I prepared myself for an even bigger mess and invited Bridgett and Abby over to help with the cookies. I had the brilliant thought to give each girl a cookie tray with her own rolling pin for rolling the dough and icing the cookies. It was the best decision! We hardly made any mess at all and there was no fighting or squabbling because each girl had her own little space. Willa was so cute using her little rolling pin and patting the dough. After the cookies had baked, each girl was only interested in icing about one cookie and eating it right there. We sent them outside to play, finished icing them all and cleaned up the kitchen with very little blood, sweat, or tears. I was expecting total mayhem with flour and dough everywhere, but it was a really pleasant activity! Plus, the cookies were really, really good - a combination of using cake flour and the new recipe, perhaps?

The only downside to this all is that Willa LOVES to help in the kitchen now. Whenever I am there, she runs over and yells, "help, help, help." She especially loves to put the brown sugar in her oatmeal (sneaking a spoonful to her mouth) and also pouring in the cream. Sometimes it is irritating, but other times it's just so cute.

Nutrimill, New t' you

I wrote previously that I went to a bread making class in Utah. The reason for this is because my mom got me the most fabulous Christmas gift ever, a L'Equip Nutrimill wheat grinder. Actually, it will grind any kind of grain, but I will probably mainly use it for wheat.

I know some people might not want a wheat grinder, but I definitely did/do! It shipped down to Texas a few days after I got back in town, but then I had to find some wheat to grind. Where do you find wheat when you're not in Utah? It's not at Coscto, that's for sure! In the end, I ordered it from an online company with reasonable rates. It arrived just two days ago, and today I had the energy to put the two together for some magic making.

Let me just tell you, the quality of the flour was SO much better than what I have bought at the store. Until the wheat arrived, I was using 100% whole wheat flour from the store and following all the steps from the bread-making class. My bread was better than what I was making before, but still not spectacular and not like the class's or my mom's. This first batch of bread with the ground wheat is still rising, but the quality and consistency of the dough was so amazing! Much better than anything I've been able to do with store-bought wheat flour. I think it's partially because I can grind it a lot finer, but also perhaps because it still has the wheat germ, oil, bran, and everything else that they have to remove for store-bought flour to extend the shelf life.

The whole wheat bread we made in the class and at my mom's had the consistency and texture of white bread. I have never had whole wheat bread that was so tender and tasty - and we used 100% wheat flour, no white flour at all. It tastes good to everyone and it's a perfect snack for Willa, she gobbles it down and it makes her poops a whole lot easier to pass :).

And now a quick ode to my Bosch. I love my Bosch so much! I think other kitchen mixers are good. I like what our teacher at the bread class said about the Kitchenaid, "It's a fine mixer, but it's not built for making bread." That's how I feel. I think the Kitchenaid is expert in whipping batter for cakes, cookies, muffins, and things like that - maybe even superior to the Bosch. The Bosch is just so great for breads. I put the ingredients in, turn the Bosch on for eight minutes, and the dough is so well kneaded and the gluten is well enough developed that you only have to let it raise once. I just love hearing its motor grrr grrr grrr as it works the dough.

We're plugging along these days. Ryan got work on a job that has unlimited hours, but which may only last a few weeks. He's been putting in a lot of time working and on the job search, so sadly we don't see much of him. Willa is lucky to see ten minutes of him a day, some days she doesn't see him at all, which is sad for all of us.

While I was in Utah, I wrote how I felt full so quickly after eating. A few days after that post, I noticed that that feeling had gone away so I assumed the baby had moved. At my sonogram two weeks ago the baby was so low that they had to do a vaginal ultrasound and at my appointment just two days ago, the doctor checked to see if the baby had dropped and found out she was low low low. Luckily, it's not really bothering me - I can't really tell any difference. I feel like delivery day is coming soon, but I'm often wrong about these things. I'll be 36 weeks this Saturday. I bought some newborn diapers and got out the old baby clothes. They are so tiny! I can't believe how they used to drown Willa. I tried to find the few premie outfits and put them on top. The baby is measuring on the small side, not worrisome small, just small enough so that premie clothes will be the only things that don't totally drown her, which is how Willa was. All the easier to push out, that's what I say.

I'm still running and feeling well. I just know that when Willa's naptime comes, I have to take some time to sit and put my feet up. Even if I still have a lot of energy at that point, I know that if I don't rest then I will be exhausted by the time Willa wakes up. It's more fun for both of us (and I will be a more patient and loving mommy) if I have energy for her in the afternoon.