{some pictures worth a thousand words....plus some words}

We got this girl enrolled in a weekly gymnastics class - funny enough, this picture is not the gym that we chose :) We tried out a couple until we found a good fit! She loves it! It helps use up all that energy, learns how to work with other kids, and to listen to a teacher, without it being too structured or intnese [like that baby ballet class that we tried and that ended up making both Evette and I cry. Some crazy Tiger moms out there, y'all - my baby is still a baby, thank you.]

I love this age because "please I help you!" is heard frequently around these parts. 

"Mom, you wanna play yoga with me?"

This big girl can ride her little trike all over the place - she's fast! Maybe thinking about a big girl bike for her birthday this fall... "Please I ride my bike outside? I stay close!" is also a frequently heard phrase.

Bought some orchids at the farmers market and put them in our bedroom - I'm in love with them. I think I'm going to buy at least 3 more this weekend.

I have the most beautiful babies.

Miriam loves to give kisses.

And those eyes.

Evette's little friend Eli came over for a play date.

We love playing trains around here.

I made an exciting discovery. If I put both girls in a box and pull out some stuffed animals and put on a little puppet show they will be entertained for upwards of an hour. Seriously.

Discovered the most wonderful little cannoli and ice cream place by our house. It is seriously amazing. We might make frequent trips here. This is a mint chocolate chip ice cream cannoli. for realz.

  For FHE the other night we acted out Daniel and the lions' den about a billion times in a row. She thought it was the greatest thing. 

So many books to read, so little time.

Dressed in Sunday Best.

Evette did my hair for about 45 minutes the other day.

 We made "magic sand" It was awesome - moldable sand. (4 cups flour, 1/2 oil - mix it all up)

Look who is big enough to ride in the grocery cart! I am thrilled I no longer need to bring in the carseat or "wear" the baby any more. Plus, Evette has gotten to be a pretty good shopper and doesn't need to be in the cart anymore because she rarely pulls things off the shelf or runs in the opposite direction.

One day it was pretty hot [not really, because we're from Texas] but pretty hot because we have no air conditioning and so to beat the heat [since our pool was closed due to some maintenance] we filled up some squirt bottles and chased eachother around the lawn.

This girl is all smiles and giggles on the swing.

 Enjoying some walks along the Bay. We sure did land in a beautiful spot.

{Rolling Over}

We do a lot of tummy time over here. Miriam is not always a fan of this time, to say the least. She's struggled with it, as do many, may I say, all babies. Why on earth would they like to be in a position with their head in the ground where they can't see? Where it takes so much work to lift that big adorable head of theirs up to look around? Where their little arms and legs just flail around until they figure out what to do with them? The whole goal here is gain muscles in the back, neck, and arms, and to figure out how to roll over. 

Even though she's rolled over dozens on times already, she still needs the practice and sometimes she forgets that she knows how to roll over.

She doesn't like it. 

Sometimes she just lays there - trying to decide if it's worth the effort or not.

Sometimes she tries.

Sometimes she gets really close to rolling over.

 Sometimes she cries.

A lot.

Sometimes she gets really really mad.

And it breaks my heart. And it breaks Evette's heart. "Mom! Mir-rum crying! She all done! She don't like this. Turn her over!"

And sometimes I do turn her over - when I feel like she has worked hard enough and put in some good effort.

But most the time nowadays she rolls over! Sometimes it's quick and sometimes it takes a while.

This is her adorable happy red face right after rolling over. Look at that smile! She's so proud of herself! Look at her - just beaming!

But sometimes she's still mad after she rolls over. Like, "why on earth did you make me do this when you could have easily just rolled me over?"

Sometimes life makes us feel like a baby with our face smashed into the ground - seriously! Think about it. This is especially true for me, lately.

Sometimes we are asked to do ridiculously hard things. And we don't want to. And we're not sure that we can. And it makes us cry. And it makes us mad.

But this is when we need to remember to have faith to remember that "The Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." And that He can "make weak things become strong".

We are put in difficult situations to help us grow. To help us gain experience and understanding. To be tested. To be blessed. If we are not given opportunities to prove our faithfulness and our diligence then we would miss out on the blessings of heaven that are awaiting us.

Keep pushing. Keep trying to roll over. 

Because in the end it will be worth it.

{Tough Questions}

Having kids is tough. Seriously tough. And you know what's crazy? There are all sorts of classes and tests that you need to take and pass before you can get your drivers license, but there is nothing, no certification or anything, to have a baby [except puberty, but let's not go there, folks]. When you're driving down the street and you come to a 4 way stop you know what to do thanks to your wonderful teacher and your dutiful studying of that little book. But when your toddler grows up and starts asking hard questions it catches me off guard and I don't always know what to say.
She has "officially" reached the "why" stage of life and everything is a question. She questions everything - which is wonderful because that's how she learns, but it's super exhausting at the same time. Sometimes we just get the "why why why?" over and over again, but sometimes we get some profound, knowledge seeking questions - and those are harder to answer.
The other day our neighbor a few doors down was smoking outside on her porch [unfortunately that's allowed....] and I told her she couldn't ride her bike outside because the lady was smoking which ensued the question "what smoking means?" How are you supposed to explain smoking so that a 2.5 year old can understand but not make your neighbor lady out to be a "bad guy"?
Today we went to Barnes and Noble to read some books and play with the trains there. When we got to the train table all we saw were tracks. "Where the trains go?" We asked one of the workers and he said that they had all been stolen. WHAT?! So sad. "Why kids take trains away?" So then I had to explain to my two year old what stealing was and that sometimes people make bad choices.
This is tough, friends! And this is just the beginning! As she grows older and experiences more disappointments and pains, I'm sure the questions will get harder to answer.
I'm grateful for the gospel and for the grounding it gives me and my family - For the spirit that helps direct my words to help my daughter gain understanding - and for the peace it gives me in this crazy world.

After walking all around town this morning Evette said, "It's been a long day, Mom. I got tired legs." and into the stroller with Miriam she went. She was so sweet and held Miriam's hand the whole way home.

{Sunday Drives}

Sundays are the worst. Just kidding. They are the best in so so so many ways, BUT for some reason on Sundays both babies refuse to nap. It's like they know it's the only day Sean and I can take an afternoon nap together and they want to thwart our plans. Well, tricks on them, folks, because Sean and I have instigated the weekly [or nearly weekly] "Sunday Drive"!

We go to church from 9-12 and then grab a quick lunch at home and then we hit the road. The kids instantly fall asleep and Sean and I drive around the beautiful state of California discussing gospel topics, family goals, and any other worthwhile and important things that are difficult to discuss while we have kids grappling for our attention or when it's late at night and we're tired from a long day and all we want to do is eat ice cream together and relish the silence.

We drove down little 'ol highway 1 along the coast and went to this picturesque town, Pescadero. We were just stopping so Evette could go to the bathroom before we turned around and went home, but once we got out of the car, we thought it would do us some good to walk around this adorable town.

I am in love with this face.

I am also in love with this face.

And I am in love with this face of the hubby! Funny noises to make babies smile require funny faces on Daddy. I love it.

We decided to visit this cute old cemetery just down the road. I am so so so glad we stopped to visit here.

It was a very reverent, special experience with the girls.

This was the perfect venue to talk with Evette about what happens when we die. We told her our bodies go in the ground and our spirits, or our hearts, go up to live with Jesus and Heavenly Father again.

Evette loved all the flowers and picked some dandelions and other wildflowers to put in the vases. 

That's her little purple flower right there in the middle.

We happened upon a grave of a soldier who died just a couple years ago. There was a picture of him on the grave so it was a great opportunity to show Evette this hero who helped to fight the "bad guys". She put a flower on his grave as well.

I loved this statue of Jesus. We told her that the statue of Jesus was there to remind us not to be sad when someone dies, but to be happy because they get to live with Jesus again. 

It was a wonderful Sabbath visit and we had some great spiritual chats.

I think this picture perfectly captures all of Evette's "Evette-ness"

It was a beautiful Sunday.