Greetings...

You know how when you get so far behind in something that you start avoiding it because you don't know where to begin? Like laundry, or journal writing or scripture study? That's how I feel about this blog. Here's a list of what we've been up to during the last few months.

1. We bought a house! We bought a fixer-upper because that's all we could afford out here in California. It was two bedrooms and we made it three bedrooms and put new floors in. You'd think building one wall and taking down a few others would be easy enough. Ha! We would never have been able to accomplish as much as we have without the help of so many friends. It's unbelievable how much time our friends and family spent helping us. Seriously, the amount of help we got is straight from an Ensign article about charity and Christlike service. It's been a humbling experience to receive so much help.

The house is cute and we love it. I think we're both tired of working on the house and are anxious to be "done" at some point in the future. My definition of "done" included loads of things that I'm beginning to scratch off my list just to have some peace in our life. We'll post more pictures later.

2. I'm pregnant again. We're having a baby boy and I'm due August 4, which makes me 36 weeks. We don't have a name for him yet. We have a few names that we both like but nothing that we love. I think choosing a name for your child is an agonizing process, there's so much responsibility.

Penny loves to talk about the baby brother. One day, there was only one Oreo cookie left and I ate it instead of giving it to Penny or Ginger. I told Penny the baby needed it and she was suddenly okay with me not sharing, as long as it was for the baby. I know, I'm a mean mom.


3. Penny just finished taking a swim class and it was traumatic for her. Above you see Penny crying while her teacher looks away with a blank stare. The poor guy had no idea what to do with her. That's Ginger on the side, waving encouragement to Penny and longing to be in the water. The sad irony is that while Penny would scream from the pool, Ginger would cry from the pool side begging to get in. Too bad I couldn't swap Penny out and throw Ginger in the water in her place.

She's not as fearless and brave as her dad had hoped. Unfortunately it looks like she's on the same track as her mother—the fearful, worrisome type who thinks about things too much and then is afraid to try. Stephan hopes it's just a phase, but I'm 30 and still have similar mental issues. Although, for the record, I can swim and am not afraid of the water, just the open ocean.

The picture on the left is on the first day of class, before Penny realizes that they'll actually be getting in the water. She failed her class and will have to repeat the Seahorses level before continuing.

4. We moved the girls into bunk beds. I thought it'd be a much easier transition than it's been. Penny was of course elated to move to the top bunk. She kept saying over and over that she was growing up and that's why she could sleep "up high." Ginger also was excited to be in the bunk bed, but I think only because of the freedom it offered from her crib. It's been a real battle convincing her to stay in the bed at nap time. I think we're finally beginning to win the battle, although it's been a long few weeks.



5. Now that we have a house, we have a backyard and we love playing outside. The girls love swinging in the hammock with their dad.