Updates

Things have been both busy and slowing down here. We celebrated Amelia's first birthday and had a small cake that day. Then we had her actual party 10 days later. It went pretty well, considering I loathe hosting any sort of gathering and it usually stresses me out. It's always nice when everyone is gone again and things are quiet and back to normal. Poor Amelia seemed so overwhelmed that day and was almost ecstatic the next morning when she saw there were no extra people here! But she got a lot of wonderful gifts and we had fun and got some great pictures. So thank you to all of our family that came.
My internship ended a few weeks ago and my class ended two weeks ago. My last internship seminar is tonight and I think that it's basically to turn in paperwork and explain the licensing process, which I'm currently very confused about. Then there's graduation in a few weeks and I officially have my masters degree! Yay!
It's been so nice to have time to myself again. I've started reading (for pleasure!) again. I'm back into a regular workout routine and have regained my definition and stamina. It's great to have time to enjoy the girls again. But in that perpetual grass-is-greener phenomenon, I'm already going a bit stir crazy. I miss the adult interactions and having a reason to change out of my pajamas and leave the house. I think I need to start some projects to keep myself a bit more occupied around the house (potty-training, perhaps?) and find kid-friendly activities outside the house too. Since I have a shortage of friends in this area with kids, I'm trying to get more information about moms groups and story time at the library. If you have more suggestions, let me know.
And here are a few pictures from the party.

The cake.


The birthday girl eating the cake.

Opening presents. This piggy bank was from Great-Grandma Steward.


Both girls playing with the Little People barn.


Becky (30 weeks pregnant) and Tracy (31 weeks).

A wedding with two toddlers...

Happy Easter! Yesterday we went to a wedding for one of Steve's friends. The girls were also invited and it was in town, so we tried to coordinate nap times so they wouldn't be too cranky. Amelia got up from a nap shortly before we left and we planned to put Ella down for a nap after we got home.

It started out well. Both girls were pretty content and sitting quietly - until right after the bride made her entrance. So I took Amelia out to the foyer and took her shoes off so she could walk around out there. That worked until she face-planted. She screamed bloody murder and it took quite a while to get her calmed down again. I finally took her in the nursery (despite there being flowers, purses, and other pre-wedding items in there - why do they always get ready in the nursery?) and she calmed down and started playing with some toys. Then I noticed the blood. It was on her chin and her sweater and her hand (from putting it in her mouth - she's a thumbsucker) and there was a little on my dress too. She must have bit her tongue or lip when she fell. Luckily there was a spray bottle of water to keep the flowers looking fresh so I used that and got the blood out of everything. I found some napkins in there too to clean up poor Amelia's chin and hand. A few minutes later, when she decided to try to go through someone's purse, I scooped her up and we headed back to the foyer for the remainder of the ceremony. We finally went back into the sanctuary in time for the recessional.

Then Amelia started squirming and fussing. It was at this point that I realized we didn't feed her after her nap and we forgot to bring her bottle. Luckily we had a baggy of Goldfish crackers so I pulled those out, hoping that would be enough. The poor girl devoured them by the handful. Ella was still doing well. She was just tired enough that she sat quietly during the ceremony with Steve. A few minutes later we were excused from the sanctuary and went into the fellowship hall for the reception.

Things started out well there too. We gave each of the girls their sippy cups and Ella sat next to Julia while Amelia sat with Doug. They both got some snacks and so Steve and I did too. After a while I looked over to see Steve picking Ella up, leaving a puddle and her diaper on the chair. Apparently the cheaper diapers we bought have weaker tabs on the side, which broke. Then Ella, who was wearing a dress without bloomers or tights, emptied her bladder on the chair. Luckily it was a wooden chair. Steve noticed first, seeing a small puddle and thinking Ella had spilled some lemonade. Then he noticed it was a big puddle and then he picked her up, leaving the mostly dry diaper behind. So I grabbed a stack of napkins and a fresh diaper. Steve cleaned up the chair while I led poor Ella over to a more secluded spot and put a dry, intact diaper on her. I think she thought she was in trouble and the poor girl's lip was trembling and she was about in tears. The bottom of her dress was soaked and she seemed embarrassed. Once she was fully covered again, I asked her if she was okay. She said, "yes, I'm okay." (It's much cuter to hear her say it.) Since I hadn't had a chance to eat my cupcake yet, Steve took her outside to walk around while I ate.

So I sat back down and picked up my cupcake. I started unwrapping it when I lost my grip and dropped it. It hit the edge of my plate, flipping it and sending Chex mix flying, and bounced, landing frosting side down on the table. I'm sure I turned bright red and I cleaned up my mess and mumbled, "I am not having a good day." Needless to say, I finished my cupcake quickly and then we left for home. In retrospect, the whole day is comical, but I think next time we'll hire a babysitter...

Intentional love

First off, I'M DONE!!! I completed the last few hours of my 600 hour internship today. I feel light and carefree. We may be going out to dinner to celebrate.

There's something that's been on my mind recently. In college there was a couple that I kind of knew, more like friends of friends, and they seemed so perfectly matched. I am friends with both halves of the couple on Facebook and lately I've noticed distance between them. There's physical distance (I think due to job availability they ended up living in different states part-time) but I began noticing how in pictures, they were each with other friends rather than together. It made me wonder but I don't feel I know either of them well enough to ask something like that. A week or two ago I noticed the husband had changed his relationship status to "it's complicated" while the wife's was still "married." Then today I read a note she had written about searching for apartments and feeling wronged. While my suspicions have not been confirmed, it appears their marriage is imploding.

Like I said, I don't know this couple well. In fact, I know them mainly by appearance and appearances can be deceiving. But I have to admit I am saddened by it. I don't like the idea that marriages can fall apart after only a few years and that people so young can be divorced. I especially don't like the idea that a couple that seemed like such a perfect fit can let things fall apart.

This has been a reminder to me that even things that seem perfect aren't and that marriage is work and you can't take it for granted. While I don't think I've given Steve any reason to doubt that I love him, I know I haven't been as intentional in showing him that I do lately. I know I could use the excuse that things have been stressful and busy, but that's life. There will always be other things that get in the way if you let them. Marriage takes effort, conscious effort, to thrive and grow. And since I want my marriage to last forever, I'm letting this sad news serve as a reminder and cautionary tale. I also want to have lots of 50th anniversary parties to attend 45 to 50 years from now, so I wanted to share it with all of you too.

So give your spouse a hug and a kiss, just because. Tell him you love him at a time other than bedtime or when you're saying goodbye. Apologize when you're wrong and sometimes even when you're not (it's amazing how much more likely the other person is to apologize if you apologize for your part in it first). Be kind even when you don't feel like it. If you're crabby and feel like saying something mean, take a time out. Be gracious and do something for your spouse that you don't normally do (like take out the garbage if that's something he usually does or fold the laundry for her). Show your love and be intentional about it, without the motivation of getting something in return.

I hope you have a good life. If life is not easy, I hope you learn from it and grow closer through the hard times. Take care of each other. And I'll see you at your anniversary party in 50 years...

Almost done

After months of slowly shipping away at my internship hours and feeling like it was never going to end, I'm almost there. I have 10.5 hours to finish, meaning I'll be done on Wednesday. Already I feel a sense of relief and simultaneously the occasional panic that I added my hours wrong and I won't graduate. It's ironic that my counseling internship is bringing out some OCD tendencies, but I have checked and rechecked, added and re-added those numbers so many times. I have gotten up in the middle of doing something else to check them. I haven't had any nightmares yet or gotten out to bed to double check, but I still have a few days left.

In other news, Amelia is walking more and more and becoming more confident. She even stood up in the middle of the kitchen (twice!) and started walking. (Just to explain, our kitchen floor is very slippery depending on what type of socks you're wearing. I almost bit it yesterday stepping over the gate. So it took a lot of confidence and balance for Amelia to successfully stand up and walk out there.) She turns one next week and we're planning her party. Since we don't know any other little kids and the party will only be family, we keep it simple and small - well as simple and small as it can be with 20 adults and 3 kids under the age of 3.

Ella hasn't really learned anything new lately, but her vocabulary is growing continuously and she can carry on a conversation now. Two of her favorite things this week are coloring and playing dress up with our shoes and hats. It's pretty comical to see her slip her feet into Steve's dress shoes, which are almost as long as her legs and weigh about 1/4 of what she does, and clomp around the house in them. The other day she wore them for over an hour. I, of course, have lots of pictures of this.

We've had a lot of time with extended family lately. My parents have come down to visit a few times and Reid came over too. Leslie comes when they're here too, but she comes over at least once a week anyhow. We haven't seen Tracy, Donovan, and Chloe for a while but will see them about once a month soon (Amelia's birthday party, my graduation, the birth of the new niece, Atherton family reunion, etc.). We've seen Steve's family about every other weekend lately and Linda has been here usually two or three times a week to babysit. Isaac and Julia had spring break last week, so they came with her. Annie also babysat last week and Sarah babysat the weekend before that. We've seen the remaining siblings and spouses (Jonathan, Becky and Zech, and Thomas) over the weekends at family dinners. It's been so wonderful having family close by and having the rest of the family close enough to visit for the weekend. I am honestly not sure how we would have survived my masters without them all.

Overall, I am just very aware of how blessed I am right now. I have a wonderful husband and two amazing little girls. Our extended family is supportive and helpful. We're all healthy and are able-bodied. We have a home and more of anything than we actually need. We have two running cars. I was able to continue my education and am almost done with my masters. We were able to do that on one income so (most of the time) one of us was able to be home with our girls. We are very blessed indeed.