Elevator Music

Okay, not music. But at our bookclub the other night, we got talking about people we wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with, and it was determined that we should all blog our top ten list. So, here is my list, in no particular order.


Ernest P. Worrell, even though he always seemed to make Heather cry (we knew you were faking, Heather!)

Charlie Weis. For those of you who don't know, he is the coach of the football team at Notre Dame. I don't have anything against him personally, but I would just feel uncomfortable trying to stay out of the way of his pear-shaped body.

Hilary Clinton. I would hate trying to defend my belief that being a stay-at-home mom is the best thing I could do for my kids (wasn't she known to say, "What should I do, stay home and bake cookies?" Um, what's wrong with that?).

Mike Tyson. Thanks to Jeff for helping me come up with this one. I don't think there is anyone more unstable than he is. I'm afraid he'd want to "eat my children."

Former Senator Larry Craig. Regardless of what he was planning on doing in that bathroom, I wouldn't feel comfortable being stuck with him, and I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with him if Jeff were there.

Howard Stern. Not Anna Nicole's lover. The other one. No further explanation needed?

Gilbert Gottfried. I will always think of him as Iago from Aladdin. And not with any degree of fondness. I'm just glad I haven't had to hear his annoying voice much lately.

Donald Trump. Is there a more arrogant man on the planet? There definitely aren't any with worse hair.

Jeff, who broke Zack and Kelly up on Saved by the Bell. His name is actually Patrick Muldoon, but I don't dislike Patrick. Just Jeff. I still wouldn't want to watch that episode.

Allie when she hasn't had a nap, or is throwing a tantrum. I'm sure you all would agree...

Who would be in your Ten?

Orlando...again

I love many things about living in Florida (and I keep reminding myself that often when I start to forget). I love the people here, and our ward is so wonderful. Even though we have only been here a little over a year, we feel like we are a part of the ward family and will really miss these people when our time here is up.

One thing I don't love about Florida is the temple here. Please don't stop reading now, thinking I have become an apostate here in the sunshine state, but bear with me. I have posted previously about how I didn't get to do any intiatory on our last visit to the temple because they didn't have enough workers (you can read about it here if you care to). On our most recent trip to Orlando, we had tentatively planned for the men to do a session Friday night and us ladies would get up Saturday morning and go before we left for Sea World. When the guys didn't get out of their lecture until 5:00, we gave up the evening temple trip (the last session is at 8:00--just when we were getting to Orlando), and I called the temple to find out what time the first session was Saturday morning. The sweet lady on the phone told me 7:30 and my heart sank. Sea World opens at 9:00, and we were planning on getting there between 9:30 and 10:00. There was no way we would be able to make it back to the hotel in time, and we decided that we just couldn't do it. I was, again, frustrated. Naively, I assumed that they would have a 6:00 am session, considering that Saturday should be a busy day and Orlando is not a small temple.

Obviously I overestimated the number of people who are going to the temple, hence the lack of temple workers and lack of early morning sessions. I know that we're not in Utah, but I get the feeling that these great people here in Florida could probably do a little more (myself included).

Stepping down from that soapbox now...

We had a great time at Sea World, like we always do. We like Sea World much better than any of the Disney parks (it's less expensive, they let you bring your own food in, if you get hot you can always sit in the soak zone at the shows...) and I won't be sad if we never go to another Disney park again. Here are a couple pics from our day. This is a hungry sea lion. You can buy fish to feed them and they will come right up to you (we didn't have food and this one wasn't too happy about it). Jeff and Greg found it odd that people were willingly paying to do someone else's job.

This is the kids standing by the life size Shamu. We were on our way to the whale show when we ran into him (it?) and we had to get a pic. Jeff was trying to save our seats, practically coming to blows with an English couple behind him who were attempting to steal them, but I think it was worth it to get this cute shot. Allie's shorts are on backwards and one of her hair elastics has snapped, but I still think it's cute.

And here is one of my favorite memories. Jeff took all three kids while Noel and I went on Kraken, the crazy roller coaster that made us both light-headed and a little nauseated. Why is it that roller coasters used to be so much more fun than they are now? The teenagers on the ride with us were racing back to the front to do it again, as Noel and I staggered off, trying to calm our stomachs. We felt rather old just then. But here's Jeff, in a rare appearance on the blog, sporting Kyla in the Baby Bjorn he never liked wearing much.

We bought a season pass (very reasonably priced) and are planning on going back soon. Maybe we will be able to have a better temple experience. I'll keep you posted.

Sleeping Positions

I have more to write about later, but I wanted to post a few pics while I have a second. Damon and Allie have gotten to be pretty good about bedtime. There have been struggles in the past, but I think we have all figured it out and bedtime is no longer a sad time for everyone in the family. Last night I went in to turn off the music and found this:

Damon told me this morning that he wanted Allie to sleep with him, and it appears that he didn't mind being forced to the very edge of his bed. I moved her back to her bed, knowing how uncomfortable it is to sleep with her constant squirming; Damon would have been pushed out of bed at some point during the night. This was the first time we had encountered them sharing a bed (and a pillow!), but not the first time they have wanted to sleep together.

This pic is from July, when the kids decided to sleep on the floor. I don't know what prompted this "campout," but it's fun to see them having fun together.

Kyla is four months old today. Wow. She is still the most fun thing in my life. These are her four month "diaper shots." The first one is her imitation of the Michael Jackson crotch grab. She's still working on the "OWW!" that goes along with it. Notice Allie's hand on the side. She was generously allowing me to put Bexley in the picture, but she didn't want to be too far away from her baby.

This one just makes me laugh. Her eyes disappear into those chubby cheeks when she smiles like this. But it doesn't stop her from showing us her big cheesy grin often. I love this girl!

More Quotes

Two from Damon:

1. Damon, sitting in the back of the van: "A snake has a pattern of red, blue, green. What's that in the alphabet?"
Jeff, confused:"Uh, R, B, G?"
Damon: "No, like ABC, 123, what is it?"
Jeff, still very confused about what Damon was getting at: "I don't know."
Damon, very serious: "Dad, you need to go back to Kindergarten."

2. On the way to the bus stop this morning, Damon noticed the huge puddles of water on either side of the street. "I wish I was Survivorman," he said, pointing to one puddle. "I would drink that water."

And one from Allie:
We were talking about her brother, Chance, that lives in Heaven with Jesus. I asked her if she knew his name. Thinking I was talking about Jesus, she said, "Jesus Karen Trapnell."

Sunshine

This has been the view I have seen repeatedly over the past four days. I have felt like I was back in Ohio; the gray skies never cleared, and it would rain off and on all day long. There are times I really miss Columbus (mostly the friends we had while we were there), but the last three days have served to remind me that I am just meant to live in a place where the "skies are not cloudy all day."

I have been singing "You Are My Sunshine" to Kyla lately, probably in an attempt to conjure up a little sunny weather, and this song has been exactly what we've needed. Even with my limited singing abilities, Kyla smiles at me, making me believe that she's never heard anything so great in all her (albeit short) life. I even sing the creepy third verse that says "if you leave me to love another you'll regret it all someday," just so I can prolong it, and get back to the chorus.

Silly as it may sound, I got a little teary-eyed yesterday when I got to the part "you'll never know, dear, how much I love you." I couldn't help but think about how I wanted to protect her, shielding her from all the gray skies that are in her future. Out of nowhere, I imagined Allie all grown up, about to become a mother herself, and wondered how it is going to feel to watch my own daughter experience the joy and pain of bringing a child into the world. Despite all the frustration she has caused me in her two plus years (she turned two on April 30th, Jaesi), I can't believe how much I love her. I took both my girls in my arms (Damon was at school, or he would've gotten it too) and squeezed them long and hard. I know I needed that after the trying afternoon/evening we had the other day, and I am always grateful for the Lord's tender mercies in my life.

As I type this, I am looking out the window and I can see blue sky. Ah, what a welcome sight! But, strange as it may sound, I am grateful for the past few days of storminess. They helped me find my sunshine elsewhere--in two little girls who make me happy when skies are gray.

Update

If you notice the timestamp on the previous post about Allie's bad day, you'll see that it was 4:44 when I posted the video clips. Allie released herself from the bathroom by cleaning up the tub toys at 7:00. She didn't scream the whole time (in fact, she didn't scream for longer than 30 mintues), but instead she laid on the floor, refusing to do anything. I locked her in there for a while, during which time she peed her pants. I probably would have blamed myself had she been locked anywhere BUT the bathroom.

Damon and I ate dinner at 6:00 (Jeff was at school late), but even the cornbread and honey butter weren't enough to entice her to clean up. I don't know what finally changed her mind, but at 7:00 she announced that it was all done. And it was. So ends another power struggle. Stubborn little thing.

Allie's Defiance

Allie has had a rough day. I'm not exactly sure why, but she decided that she didn't want to cooperate today. This was this morning. I'm not sure what she was refusing to do, but she told me five times this morning, "You not very nice. I'm not talking to you."



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This was a few minutes ago. She has yet to clean up the tub toys from her bath this morning. I told her she could come out of the bathroom when they were cleaned up. After trying, "it's too hard for me," she decided to scream. Unfortunately (or fortunately for those of you watching), she stopped screaming when I grabbed the camera. This is her trying to get her emotions under control, yet still refusing to clean up the toys. I love how she picks one up off the ground, but instead of putting it away, puts it on her finger. You'd think she was sleep deprived, but she actually took a nap today. She is just exerting her independence. I love two year olds...


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I'll let you know tomorrow how long it took to break her. She is still wailing right now. Also, the headband was her choice.

Bubbles and Cooing

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Just because I can't get enough of my baby...here she is telling herself how beautiful she is. I love that she responds to her name. Oh, and I know that her bow is too far back on her head, but it was already stuck there with Elmer's glue and I didn't want to move it. Forgive her.

Kids and Critters

The critters have been coming out lately (and I'm not just talking about the HUGE spider I killed the other day. When I smashed it with the shoe, it bounced off the carpet about three feet in the air onto the table. I couldn't help but squeal, even though I knew my kids would be more afraid. Fun times.).

A lot of you know about Jeff's collection of lizards. He has a few different kinds, but the African Fat Tailed Geckos are the ones that he has been trying to breed for a while now. He has harvested a lot of eggs (which he has incubated), but none had hatched until a few weeks ago. Out of habit, he checked the eggs in the incubator, and with as much excitement as he is likely to show, announced, "We have babies!" Yes, in fact, two of the eggs had hatched. Since that first hatching, four more have hatched. Here are the latest two. As you can see, there are more eggs still incubating, and we should have even more babies in the next few weeks.





He's going to let them grow for a while before he sells them to the pet store (or to any interested party--you want one?) I told him that he seemed more excited at the birth of his lizards than he was when Kyla was born. Hopefully not true, or at least I tell myself that.



Then, on Sunday as we were driving home from church, Jeff said he saw a turtle in the road. I wasn't sure if I believed him, but he turned around for a closer look. Sure enough, a little turtle was sunning itself in the middle of the road, perhaps a bit suicidal. Jeff picked it up and we brought it home to find out what it was.







Turns out it is a Florida Box Turtle, found only in Florida. All box turtles in North America are endangered, and can be covered in ticks. Needless to say, we decided not to keep it, but to release it into the "jungle" by our house. We all got to admire it, though, and wish we could keep it. I asked Jeff if I should put some clothes on Allie, or if we should photograph her as she usually is. We chose to keep it real.

Also, the bugs are eating our lawn. Or something. Jeff was hoping he would just be able to replace the one spot that was nearly a goner and revive the rest, but as soon as he made that decision, the rest of the lawn decided to die. This is majorly annoying because the grass here isn't even worth having. It's scratchy, needs a ton of water, and is always needing to be replaced. Who in the world wants to go to so much trouble for grass that you can't even play on? Here's our pathetic lawn which will, grudgingly, be replaced when the weather cools down.

So ends the segment on critters and such and begins the segment on kiddies. I love having the morning to spend with my girls. Most afternoons I have at least an hour when they are both sleeping (although today Kyla is accompanying at the computer), and it has been wonderful! I am able to get some important things done (like blogging and emailing and watching clips of ladies being asked to cover up on Southwest Airlines) and even have time for other things (like cleaning the bathrooms and taking a shower). It's fun to see Allie in the "older child" role, and she is really a lot of fun to play with (I can say that now that she is sleeping and not locking herself out of the house with a nearly empty jar of peanut butter, like she was this morning). Here is a picture of the two girls. It was a monumental occasion because Allie actually had clothes on AND her hair combed, a rarity.



And you may remember that we have another child. I may not have mentioned him much lately, but he is still a part of the family. Damon, in fact, is doing great at school. We have managed to get him riding the bus to and from school (YAY!) and he no longer sheds (many) tears about having to go. He was chosen as the boy Student of the Month, and is proudly displaying his certificate here.



From what I can gather, here is how you become Student of the Month in kindergarten:

• Attach yourself instantly to the teacher, following her everywhere possible.
• Endear yourself to her by crying about something every day.
• Do everything she asks; sit criss-cross applesauce, raise your hand before speaking, and keep your hands to yourself. Come up with other rules that you think kindergartners should follow.
• Always do your best, but cry a little more when you can't do something perfectly.

Do these things and you, too, could be student of the month.

Damon Jumping Rope

I have a lot I want to post, but I have spent too much time "browsing" and now need to go feed Kyla. I am just going to put on this video clip of Damon jumping rope. He was very worried one day when he came home from school. They had had PE and he couldn't jump rope. He's been working on it. I promise more later...



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My Man

This has been circulating on some blogs I have been reading lately and I thought it would be a fun post for today.

MY MAN:
1. Who is your man? Jeff Trapnell
2. How long have you been together? About 8 years
3. Dating/Engaged/Married? Dated for almost a year, married now for 7
4. How old is your man? 30

You or your man?
1. Who eats more? Jeff, although when I'm pregnant I can compete.
2. Who said "I love you" first? Jeff. When we were dating, I was sure I was going to go on a mission, so marriage was not on my radar. Jeff had been acting kind of strange, and I had the feeling that he was going to break up with me, and I was a lot more sad than I would've thought. Turns out, though, that he had something else in mind. We were in his apartment and all of his friends had gone to another apartment to play games. He was standing by the washer/dryer and making small talk, and I kept thinking we'd better go over to the other apartment or we were going to get teased for taking so long. Finally, he told me that he loved me (a complete surpise) and I instantly knew that I loved him, too, even though I hadn't planned on it. How romantic, stinky clothes and all...
3. Who weighs more? Jeff, thankfully. I would be so depressed if I ever passed him up.
4. Who sings better? Jeff. He's always making fun of me for changing the key on him when we're singing. I just tell him it's because his voice is too high and I can't sing in the keys he picks.
5. Who's Older? Jeff, by three years
6. Who's smarter? I have typed three different answers to this question and erased them all. I think we are both good at different things, and it's too hard to compare.

Different Ways
7. Who's temper is worse? Neither one of us has a temper, which usually makes for a calm home life. I probably snap at the kids more than he does, although he says I have more patience for the things they do.
8. Who does the laundry? Me. About three years after we got a new washer/dryer in Ohio, Jeff asked me how to use them. I don't mind the washing, drying and folding, but I don't like putting the clothes away. Usually because I am jamming them into drawers and there just isn't enough room.
9. Who does the dishes? Me, most of the time. Jeff can't stand doing dishes and apparently my dislike for them isn't as strong as his because I will almost always do them first.
10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me.
11. Who's feet are bigger? Jeff. He's a 10 1/2 and I'm an 8. Both pretty average.
12. Who's hair is longer? Mine. Funny question--how many husbands have longer hair than their wives?
13. Who's better with the computer? I'd say about equal. We both try to figure things out ourselves and sometimes we're successful! Besides having a mechanic friend and a photographer friend, I would love to have a computer friend. Anyone know a good one?
14. Who mows the lawn? Jeff for now. Hopefully Damon will some day.
15. Who pays the bills? Jeff
16. Who cooks dinner? I do. Jeff claims he doesn't care enough to learn how. If I am out of town, he'd rather eat chips for dinner than have to make anything (warming up leftovers is about as much effort as he wants to put in).
17. Who drives when you are together? Jeff
18. Who pays when you go out to dinner? We rarely go out to dinner, but Jeff usually pays.
19. Who's the most stubborn? Neither of us are very stubborn, but he would probably say that I am more than he is. When we were first married, we were wrestling and he had me in a scissor lock with his legs. I didn't want to give up and he always reminds me that I'd rather hurt until I'm crying than give up. Maybe I'm a wuss now, but I doubt it would come to that again. I know he is so much stronger than me and I don't have a chance.
20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong? Probably both.
21. Who's parents do you see more? It's been pretty equal since we moved far away from family--mine might visit us a tad more.
22. Who kissed who first? Jeff. This is kind of a funny story. One night before he left my apartment, we were standing in the doorway saying good-bye. The door was open, and he hugged me and kissed me quickly on the cheek. When I shut the door after he had gone, I started wondering if he was going to kiss me and if I had turned my head. I worried about it for a while (like all girls do) and finally asked him about it. We were sitting in the Benson building watching the weekly devotional (I miss BYU) and we had a conversation passing notes back and forth about it. He told me he didn't usually "miss," and that he wasn't trying to kiss me on the lips, and that I'd know when he was going to kiss me. It was a couple weeks later that he took me on a date, and kissed me in the gazebo in a park in Mapleton (same gazebo we got engaged in eight months later). Yes, definitely better than the doorway of my apartment.
23. Who asked who out? Jeff asked me out. Five minutes later, another guy from the ward called and asked me out for the same night. I like to tell Jeff that if he would've waited 6 minutes longer, I could've been married to guy #2.
24. What did you do? Went to see The Sixth Sense at the drive-in. We held hands on our first date, and Jeff will tell you that that was all me. I blame AT LEAST part of it on the scary movie.
25. Who's more sensitive? Definitely me.
26. Who's taller? Jeff
27. Who has more friends? I think I'm better at staying in contact with my friends, so I'll say me.
29. Who has more siblings? We both have 5 (he has 4 bros, 1 sis, I have 2 bros, 3 sis).
30. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Jeff. He's a great husband and dad!

Hair Today...

I don't consider myself a very vain person. I have adopted a very low-maintenance approach to life, especially when it comes to getting myself ready in the morning. I don't spend a lot of time on hair and makeup and am generally satisfied with the way that I look.


But now I am losing my hair.


I remember the first time this happened, when Damon was a few months old. I was laying on the floor and Jeff said, "Are you going bald?" That's not exactly something you want to hear from your husband (or anyone else for that matter), and I dashed into the bathroom to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, when I pulled my hair back by my temples, you could practically see to the scalp. How could I have missed it? All the signs had been there--the increased handfuls coming out when I shampooed, having to pull the elastic tighter when pulling my hair into a ponytail, and an increase in the tiny, fuzzy new hairs growing in all around my face. Somehow, I hadn't realized what was happening and I was shocked to find just how thin my hair had become on the sides of my head.


Mentally I began the process of researching Rogaine for Women, positive I didn't want to live the rest of my life with only a few wisps of hair, resigned to having to put sunscreen on my sensitive scalp. Fortunately for me, before my plans got too involved, I learned that losing hair is very common among women who have recently given birth, and that it would, in fact, grow back. Why didn't anyone warn me about this?, I wondered, a little relieved, but also dreading the next few months until the bald patches were covered.

In time, new hair grew back, and blended in with the rest of the hair on my head. I had nearly forgotten about the trauma of "the splotchy ponytail," as I recall it now. Then Allie was born and the cycle started again. At least the second time around, I was more prepared and dealt with the situation much better. I wasn't nearly as ashamed to wear my hair back, but just explained matter-of-factly that I was temporarily going bald and I was mostly okay with it.

And now here we go again. Yesterday in the shower I pulled strand after strand loose, wondering how long it had been since the last time I had washed my hair. When I realized that it had only been the day before, I feared that my postpartum hair loss had begun again. An examination in the mirror confirmed that it is, indeed, thinning. I'm hopeful that it won't be as bad as it was with Damon (it seemed to be slightly less noticeable with Allie), but I am offering fair warning now that if I post a picture, and you think my hair looks a little thin, smile to yourself and be thankful it isn't you.

10 Miles

For a while now I have been trying to ride 10 miles on the exercise bike in twenty minutes. I knew it was possible, because I could do it in 23 minutes, but I also knew that I'd have to average 30 mph the whole time, and I wasn't sure my thunder thighs could take that kind of workout. It turns out that they can. I made it! I had to go about 40 mph the last two minutes, and my heart was really pumping, but I did it. I wonder how many more times I'll have to do it before the cottage cheese on my legs starts disappearing...

p.s. Do you like how I left the flower in my Avatar's hair, even with the ponytail and sweatband?

Saints

I have found myself between books. That hasn't happened for a while, and I just don't quite know what to do with myself. I plodded through Wuthering Heights so I could reward myself with Eclipse, but I had already started Saints, so when I had finished the other two, I moved straight to it. I blame my lack of reading material on the priesthood; more accurately, I blame it on the priesthood meeting none of us knew about when we scheduled book club for last week, then had to change to this week to allow our men the opportunity to go. Since I finished Saints, I have been eagerly awaiting our meeting (which is tomorrow) when we will decide what to read next. Until then, I have been looking for other things to fill my time.

I don't know how many of you have heard about Saints. I'm not exactly sure how I came across it, but it was reviewed in BYU magazine this month, so I'm sure it's going to get a lot more popular in the months to come. I love Orson Scott Card and I couldn't resist finding out what his take on life in Nauvoo was like. He wrote the book in the early 1980's, but it was only published in paperback, titled "Woman of Destiny," and made out to look like a cheap romance novel (none of which were OSC's ideas). Recently, it came out in hardback, with the title OSC had meant for it to have all along, and I found it in the public library here in Jax, so I'm sure it's not that difficult to find.

The book begins in England, where the (fictional) Kirkham family comes into contact with a missionary named Heber Kimball. The mother, one son and daughter join the church and eventually make their way to Nauvoo to join the Saints there. The cover of the book shows Dinah, the daughter, standing on the ship that will take her to America. In the small rowboat in the water, you can see her husband and her two children, who are staying behind (don't mind the "Search Inside" pic from Amazon). This was probably the most heart-wrenching part of the book, and I could barely stand to look at the cover while I was reading, wondering if I would be able to say leave my children behind for the church.

In America, Dinah learns the doctrine of plural marriage and becomes one of the Prophet Joseph Smith's plural wives. Even though some of the characters are fictional, you get a good sense for what life was like for those who were close to the prophet. I never claimed to be a church historian (besides what I learned from The Work and the Glory), but there was a lot I didn't know about the church in Nauvoo. The book was extremely thought provoking, and I wonder how it will be accepted in the Mormon community. It doesn't have the same "feel good" quality that The Work and the Glory has, but I loved it for that very reason. I feel like I got to know Joseph Smith a lot better than I had before, and it was very clear that God had chosen a man to do His work, and a far from perfect man at that.

There were many things that made me a tad uncomfortable (when you're dealing with plural marriage, how could it be otherwise?), but I really enjoyed reading it. It made me really think about why God asked the early Saints to do the things they did, and why He would ask certain things of us today. I would love to read it with a book club, but it's almost 700 pages and I don't know how realistic that is. I would certainly love to discuss it with someone else who has read it (I told my dad to pick it up and let me know what he thinks), but mostly I am just so glad we aren't required to live plural marriage today. I don't know how I would do it. If you're interested at all, I would recommend it. If nothing else, you will appreciate the fact that you don't have to share your husband with another woman. If any of you decide to read it, let me know what you think!

Long Weekend

It's always hard to get back into our weekly routine after a long weekend. I'm not complaining, because we had a lot of fun this Labor Day weekend, but I wasn't too motivated this morning to get up and get back at it.

Friday was our last weekday beach trip, as Jeff doesn't have any more Friday's off. It was one of our best of the summer--not crowded, no jellyfish, no crying kids...I have loved our beach Friday and hope that we will be able to still get out there a time or two.

College football started Saturday, much to Jeff's delight. He got to spend a little "quality time" with Kyla, introducing her to the game he loves. Note the remote in his hand. Kyla was almost asleep, so I'm sure that's why she looks so disinterested. It couldn't possibly be because she has no idea what is going on.

Yesterday for Labor Day we went with a bunch of friends to a little water park in St. Mary's, Georgia, about 45 minutes away. It was so much more fun than I even expected it would be, although the day didn't start off particularly well. Jeff and I decided not to wear our swimsuits to the park, but to bring them to change into once we got there. But when we arrived, they were nowhere to be found (in fact, they were still in a bag sitting on the bed--how they didn't make it INTO the car, I don't know), and Jeff and I got to head back to Wal-Mart to browse their clearance section. Although neither of us particularly needed a new suit, we both ended up with one (fortunately for less than $10 a piece) and sported them at the water park. Sorry, no photos from yesterday; having more children than parents makes it terribly difficult to get any pictures taken, even though I HAD remembered to bring the camera. After a fun day of swimming, floating down the lazy river, and even a few rides down the waterslide, we headed back home for a BBQ put on by some of our friends. By the time we got home, it was time to put the kids to bed! Those are the best days and I only wish I had some pictures to remember it by. Oh well.

Here are some other pics that will have to do. I have loved spending time with Allie while Damon is at school. She is so much fun to play with, and is great at entertaining herself (yay!). Today I found her on her way out the door with her stroller, Bexley and her diaper bag. She told me she needed to take Bexley on a walk. How could I tell her no when she had gone to so much planning? The walk lasted about a minute and I snapped a picture of her as they came back in the house.

She has also resorted to talking to Kyla, as Damon is no longer around to tell things to. I love it. Here's a cute shot I got of them. I love Kyla's grin in this one.

One of the funniest things she has been doing is taking a book in the bathroom with her. She must have learned this from her dad, but it cracks me up when I see her in there reading to herself. And yes, she is naked most of the time, even though I am constantly putting her clothes back on her.

We borrowed Noel's Bumbo for Kyla to try out. Her legs are already almost too big for it, but I think she looks so darn cute when she's sitting up like a big girl. Don't ask me what that look on her face is.

Finally, here is one for Tara. I like to call Allie an "Esplin girl" when I put her in b-ball shorts and a ponytail. The shoes were actually Damon's, too, so she's really sporting the boy's clothes in this one. I'm not trying to force her to be sporty, but I will be glad to give her opportunities to do so.

Power of 10

So, has anyone been watching "Power of Ten" on tv? This is the time of year that Jeff calls "the duldrums," after the NBA finals and before college football starts (our lives revolve sports way too much), and between the end of our summer shows and the beginning of the new fall lineup (our lives revolve around TV way too much). We have been enjoying"Don't Forget the Lyrics," and "The Singing Bee," and I think it would be so much fun to play a variation of either with a group of people ("Don't Forget the Hymn" on a Sunday even), and I'm waiting for someone to plan, and host, the activity for me (any takers?). In the meantime, we have been passing the time trying to figure out what Americans (U.S. Americans, even) think about a variety of topics.

If you haven't seen the show, basically contestants try to guess what percentage of Americans polled answered a question a certain way. For example, "what percentage of people polled said that their parents explained the birds and the bees to them when they were kids?" (42%), or "What percentage of Americans say they floss their teeth every day?" (45%). They have to guess within a 40 point range on the first question, a 30 point range on the second question and so on until they either get a question wrong or walk away with the money they have. Kind of fun.

A couple of the questions last night on the show had me thinking. "What percentage of Americans think people are born gay?" (51%). "What percentage of American men would leave their partner is she gained 100 pounds?" (29%). But the one I have been thinking about the most was "What percentage of Americans think it is harder to be a stay-at-home parent than a working parent?"

How many of us have had a conversation like this with your husbands:
Husband: "Today was a long day. I'm so glad it's over. I just want to sit down and relax. "
Wife: "Today was a long day for me, too, and I would also love to sit down and relax."
{Maybe this next part goes unsaid, or maybe it is acutally verbalized}
"Unfortunately, dinner isn't going to finish making itself. And after we eat, all those dishes aren't going to magically disappear. And then the kids need to be bathed, changed and put to bed. Then the baby is going to need to be nursed and played with for a while before she's ready for bed. Oh, and the house is a disaster, despite the hundred thousand times I have straightened up, and it would be nice to go to bed with a clean house. So, even though I would love to sit down and relax, my job isn't done."

*I realize that I am not giving any credit to the husband for the role that he will, inevitably, play in the rest of the evening, but by and large, it is the mom who does most of those things, day in and day out.*

In my opinion, everyone should agree that it's harder to be a stay-at-home parent than a working parent. It is. It's a lot more fun, but it's a lot harder. There is no escape, and there is very little relaxing on the job. I love being a mom and I can't imagine anything being more rewarding than staying home with my kids every day and experiencing life with them. But just because it's rewarding doesn't mean it's easy. There are days that I envy Jeff as he walks out of the house, able to trade in the whining and complaining for actual adult conversation. There are times that I feel that if I have to put clothes on a naked Allie one more time I might actually lose my mind. There are moments when my head aches, yet still one (or more!) of the kids won't stop crying and I feel like crying myself.

But those moments pass, and are replaced by things that I would never want to miss: Damon's face lighting up when he tells me he gets to have a trophy on his desk for being student of the month; Allie talking incoherently, in what I can only assume is her "voice of authority," explaining who's in charge; and Kyla discovering her hands as if they are the most amazing moving objects she's ever seen. Being a stay-at-home parent is the best. But it DEFINITELY is the hardest. That's why I was more than a little surprised to find that the number of Americans who agreed with me was only 43%. A little low, don't you think?

So, here's to all the moms who have had a long day today. You're doing an amazing job, and the hardest, most important, work you could possibly be doing. Let's band together and figure out a way to pawn off some (or all) of our responsibilities for one night. Maybe not tonight, but some night soon. I know I could use it. And now if you'll excuse me, I hear one of my many responsibilities crying and my brief moment of "me time" is over.

Kyla collage

One week, one month, two months and three months. Amazing how time flies! Do you like how I finally got around to start with the collages? I don't know how often I will do them, but at least for comparison's sake I really like it.

Girls Girls Girls

What do you do when you run open the drawer, looking for another set of panties for the newest toilet-using member of your family, and find that there are no more clean ones? Have her wear a pair that her older brother has outgrown, of course. Personally, I think she looks pretty cute in boy's underwear. Thank goodness it wasn't the other way around, with Damon wearing her panties. Jeff would never have forgiven me for that (just to clarify, I highly doubt I would put my son in panties, even out of desperation, but I can't be entirely sure).

Kyla is three months old. She is getting old, and in fact, I think she may be checking for wrinkles in this picture. It's safe to say she didn't find any, although I will tell her that there are no such things as "wrinkles," only "lines of experience." Please tell me that in a couple years in case I forget.

One shot of "tummy time." The headband definitely makes her look like more of a girl. The fact that she now has eyelashes helps, too, although you can't really see them in this picture.

This is Allie singing "I Love to See the Temple," if you can't tell. I could've gotten her dressed, fixed her hair, and perhaps even wiped her nose before I took this video. I did none of those things. I hope you enjoy it anyway.

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Report Card

In honor of Damon surviving his first week of kindergarten, I am going to give him (and the rest of us) a report card on the past week.
Damon: C+I think he does fine once he's at school, but tears were shed every day last week, either when I picked him up or dropped him off. One morning, he cried all the way to school because he knew he was going to have to draw what he did before school and he couldn't do it right. He had grand visions of drawing himself sitting on a chair, at the kitchen table, eating breakfast, and the thought of not being able to draw that was sending him into panic mode. I tried to reassure him that his teacher was not going to expect anything more than he was capable of and that he just needed to do his best. As is always the case with Damon, once he realized he could do it, he was fine and he has been drawing nonstop all week.

It's still hard to be tough with him when he is so obviously upset, but Jeff and I both feel that babying him isn't going to make things any better. I'm hoping that as he continues to realize that he can do hard things (one of my mottos for him), he'll start feeling more confident and be able to handle the anxieties that he is dealing with right now.

Allie: B- Of course I am mostly talking about pottytraining with her and she has done about as well as I expected she would do. Of course there have been accidents, but only one that made me question my judgment that she was ready for this. We went to the park on Saturday evening and it was too much for her to take. She peed in her underwear, then about a half an hour later, pooped into them. That one accident alone earns her a one-half grade dock, as she would be holding solid in the B range without it. She managed to stay mostly dry at church yesterday (because the humidity makes everything damp anyway, I'm not sure if the moisture was from "a couple drops," or from sweating), which was a miracle. One of my most vivid memories of potty-training this week was one morning when I knew she opened the door and it took me a couple of minutes to finish what I was doing before I could go outside and see what she was doing. Dressed only in a pair of underwear, she had seen the neighbor's sprinkler on across the street and had run over to it. When I peeked out, she was pulling down her underwear and letting the water wash over her body. I called for her to come home, but ran to grab the camera, hoping she would delay her obedience long enough for me to get a picture. Sadly, and contrary to her nature, obeyed instantly, and ran home with her wet underwear sagging below her bottom.

Also taken into account in her final grade was that fact that she has been taking naps again almost every day, for which I am giving her a solid A+. Her mischieviousness gets her a few more deductions, but overall she is doing really well. Yesterday she was holding the "modider (monitor)" up to her ear and talking into it like it was a microphone. I could hear her wishing the person on the other end good luck and then asked if they would send her some Starbursts (a common request from Damon and Allie to their Aunt Tara). I asked her who she was talking to, expecting it to be one of her aunts, and she replied, "Jesus." Great. Ask him if he could send some for me, too.

Kyla: A- She only gets the half grade dock because she's woken up at 5:00 three times this week. She hasn't needed to eat, and I have been getting her to go back to sleep by just sticking the binkie back in her mouth, but sometimes it takes 5 or 6 tries before she falls back asleep. I'm not giving in, though, unless 10 attempts of offering the binkie fail. Last night she slept from 10:30 until 7:30, so I know she can do it if she wants. Other than that, though, I am falling in love with her more every day.

Trapnell Family: A We finally managed to read scriptures together 5 times last week (our goal) and rewarded ourselves with some brownies and ice cream last night. Let's see if we can make it two weeks in a row (the Sunday treat thing should motivate us enough!).

My Sister, Heather: A Not only did she get both parts of my previous challenge right (Jeff could never love the Buckeyes more than the Cougars, even though Ohio State is so much better, and the quote was from Ever After--ten points to Laura for figuring that out, too--), she also went through 28 hours of labor before having to have a C-section on Friday. Kalia Ruth Bigler was 9 lbs (the main reason she ended up with the C-section) and, from what I hear, was worth every minute. I can't begin to imagine all that Heather went through to get her here, but we're all so glad everything is fine. And yay for a new niece whose name goes so nicely with Kyla's! Unfortunately, I won't be able to see Heather, or Kalia, until Christmas, but thanks to modern technology should be able to see a ton of pics as soon as Heather gets home from the hospital!!

Okay, that's all for now. I just (minutes ago, actually) finished Eclipse and will post about that after I process it a little more. I also finished Wuthering Heights for my bookclub (strange coincidence, because WH is quoted a lot in E) and I may write a little bit about that, too, once we discuss.

Miss South Carolina

This is just too funny! Thanks to Patti for posting this on her blog so I could enjoy it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. A couple of notes before you watch it:

1. You can clearly tell that she's trying not to say the word "like," but is trying to replace it with the more scholastic "such as," although she fails at that.

2. She doesn't answer the question, but instead rambles on nonsensically about South Africa and THE Iraq, and so typifies the very "U.S. Americans" who can't find the U.S. on a map. Did anyone test her on that, I'd like to know?

3. She made it to the top five. Yikes!