Let your soul delight in fatness.

My soul certainly delights in this fatness! Mommy's got the good stuff apparently. Weighing in at about 18 pounds at 4 months, this girl is chubby! But we love our chubby bubby! They are so fun that way.

I just can't help but smooch this baby all day! She is such a happy baby. She is very patient with her sisters. They love to hold her and talk to her, and sit on her... She smiles and giggles and coos. She has the cutest little pink tongue that she spends a lot of time exploring. She loves to such her thumb, but will suck any finger she can get. In fact, I can tell how hungry she is by the number of fingers in her mouth. 4 fingers is very hungry--mommy better feed me NOW! Just the thumb, and she could take it or leave it (of course she always takes whenever food is offered).

If only Zenna would learn to be gentle with the baby... She can't wait for Phoebe to grow up so she can have a playmate to boss.

We love baby Phoebe. Can't believe she's 4 months, but at the same time, can't believe she hasn't been here forever!

Daddy, will you play Star Wars?

Lately, the girls have been very intrigued by Joe's Lego Star Wars game. It's like a movie for them, only they don't have to wait until Friday. Zenna loves Darth Vador. She calls him "Darfa Fader" and on her birthday, asked if she was getting darfa fader for her birthday. All day she reminds me that when dad gets home, she will ask him to play star wars. And when Joe walks in the door, he is greeted with squeals of delight, loves and kisses, and requests that he play Lego Star Wars so they can watch.

Luckily, though he has not been blessed with sons, he has been blessed with girls who are receptive to Star Wars.

Tonight, Abigail wanted to play with him. This was the scene:This was the dialog:
Joe: Over here! Not THAT way!
Abigail: Giggle
Joe: NO! Follow ME!
Abigail: Giggle giggle.
Joe: The OTHER way... turn around!
Abigail: Rolling on the floor with laughter.

She plays like her mom.

Kittens

For those of you who know Abigail, you knew it would only be a matter of time. We had a cat when she was a baby, and they were best friends. When we moved, we gave Jack to a neighbor (from whom he eventually ran away, and that was the end of Jack...). Since living in Washington, we haven't had a cat. About a month after moving, I noticed some very pleasant changes. We no longer had cat hair all over our clothes. I no longer had to tell Abigail to stop eating cat food (she set up tea parties with Jack, serving up plates of cat food for everyone to eat). We didn't have a litter box to empty (although, to be fair, Jack almost always did his business outside, and not in our yard...). With all these pleasant things, I was very glad to be rid of pets, and thought perhaps we'd keep it that way.

Then, Abigail began to realize that pets are very cool. For her fifth birthday, she wanted a puppy and a kitten. She began telling us this in July. She finally asked Joe point blank if she could have a dog for her birthday. He said no. She asked why (or why not... her very favorite question). He said that they were slobbery, and stinky, and messy, and loud. But her friend has a dog. Her friends dad likes dogs. She saw his point. "OK. I'll get a cat." Hm... not exactly the way this conversation was supposed to end.

The next day we got a call from a lady in our ward. Her daughter had kittens she was trying to place in a home. They wanted to get rid of two. We decided to go for it. They were delivered on Friday. The rest is history.


They are named Callie and Frances. They are very very loved. If they survive this love past kittenhood, my life will be more peaceful.

Happy Happy Birthday Zenna Dear!

Yesterday was Zenna's Birthday. She had so much fun. The girls sang "Happy Birthday" to her about once every 15 minutes all day. She wore a marker lid on her finger all day pretending it was a birthday candle. She practiced blowing it out all day long. She got to eat tortillas for dinner. It was a great day to turn 2!

For Mommy, this birthday was a little stressful. It had to be a birthday made out of what we had on hand. So, Homemade Birthday, here we come! I made a skirt our of some fabric scraps, and a set of fabric balls also out of scraps. I made a "Family Picture Memory game" using some chipboard squares and scrapbook paper. We had a lot of fun playing that for her birthday party. Then came the cake. I had to make a cake from scratch. No pressure.

This was the cake process: As soon as I took the cookbook from the shelf, I had a swarm of little people join me in the kitchen. "Are you making the cake?" "What kind of cake?" "Can we have chocolate cake?" "Will it have sprinkles?" "Can it be a pink cake?" "Will it have sprinkles?" "I want chocolate chips!" "Can I have a taste?"

Once they realized it would be a while before edible cake emerged, they left the area.

Then the oven timer went off, and the swarm returned. "What kind of cake is it?" "Is it done?" "Will it have sprinkles?" "Can I have some?" "Don't forget the sprinkles." "I want chocolate chips!" "I want sprinkles." "Can I have another taste?" "I want some sprinkles." "Will it have sprinkles?" "Don't forget the sprinkles!" "Can I taste the sprinkles?"

Minute by minute my sanity was slipping away... The swarm was getting louder... Phoebe was crying, so I escaped to go feed her, the girls left the area, and peace was restored.


I was a little ashamed of the cake (which tasted fine), because this is the kind of cake I grew up with:This is the cake my mom made for Olivia's birthday this year. A huge hit, and much more beautiful than mine. I am ashamed. I must learn those made cake decorating skills soon, so that my girls can have lovely birthday cakes...