Molly Talking

I couldn't get this video to load on blogger, but here is the link. ENJOY! We do, everyday. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNiuOhoh8qs&feature=youtu.be

Family Pictures 2012

A big THANK YOU to Camie for taking these pictures for us. I loved how they turned out and will be calling again next year. Here is the best of the best of the James Stewart Family Fotos 2012.

Good Morning!!

This is why I love Saturday mornings! (PS. We don't sleep like this in case that thought crossed your mind)

Catching Up

So I am not sure what I did but I lost a whole bunch of pictures from the last couple of weeks. Which is really a shame because lots has happened in the last couple of weeks. I guess I will just have to paint a few pictures with words and the others I will steal from family members. Let's start with the present and work backwards.
We blessed Molly on Sunday. James did such a great job. I was so touched by the whole thing. I don't often seek for spiritual experiences like I should. I think perhaps I am too occupied with a day full of tasks that mostly include caring for these two sweet little girls. As I thought about spiritual gifts that I would hope my Molly would possess I think the one that stood out in my mind is a strong character. One that would not be moved by an ever changing society but instead one that would stand ever immovable with a knowledge of the truth and the path that would lead her there. I think that is what our children are going to need most in the future. It is easy to succumb to every trend or popularity but for one to stand alone in the right that is most difficult but necessary to enter into God's kingdom.

A good family foto on the blessing day.
This is one of those I lost. Darn it. 

As I prayed I also thought of my father. The last time I asked my Heavenly Father to let me feel of his presence was the day I was married. James told me later that he prayed for the same thing. I don't know why it was this occasion that I felt that desire again. It has been a challenge taking care of two. And I admire any and all that do raise multiple children. I guess I needed something to strengthen my testimony of the eternal nature of my family. Although my father is on the other side of the veil, I know I will see and live with him again. I know that my responsibilities raising these children is the most important I will have on this earth. I know that if I do a good job and teach correct principles I will get to live with them always, no matter the amount of time anyone of us spends together in this life. I think that was the purpose for my prayer that night. I did feel a calming feeling all day that James will tell you is not like me, preparing to entertain family and friends. I also thought of my dad holding me as a little baby dressed in the same dress that Molly was wearing and I was reassured that the same priesthood keys that he used to bless me were the priesthood keys and power that James used to bless Molly and that bless our lives every day. So I am ever grateful for a prayer answered on Molly's special day. I love her more and more each day. I am ever grateful for her calming spirit in our home.

 This is going to get a little out of order, but those are my thoughts. We bought Lucy a potty yesterday! WO... I KNOW! Honestly the thought to potty train Lucy had not even crossed my mind until two days ago when we were at the park with some friends. I noticed one of the little girls that is about 6 months older than Lucy was not wearing diapers. I asked when she decided it was time. She said she bought her a potty when she was 18 months and just let her sit on it every night before she had a bath. Two months later she accidently went pee when she was sitting on it and a few weeks later she was trained. (Not with out a few messes of course). I thought, I can do that. So I bought her a potty. She peed on it the first time she sat on it and again the second time. She loves it and wants to sit on it all the time. I guess she's ready to get started. I had no idea. Way to go Lucy! I will let you know how this venture plays out in the next few weeks. We will be taking it slow for now.
Thanksgiving: Was a lot of fun. I was very nervous for this trip up to northern Utah. We hadn't driven further than St. George with the two of them, and a few of those trips were even a little long for Molly's liking. So I had reason to be nervous. But we shortened our trips a little both ways by staying a couple of nights in St. George, and actually she did great. We only had to stop once going up and I don't think we stopped at all coming back.

We visited James' family in Tooele. The weather was perfect. Not too cold at all. We had a good time eating pie, visiting, and eating more pie. I say pie because James and I are not really a fan of Thanksgiving dinner. So we (I) mostly ate pie. But I DO love pie. On Saturday we were all able to attend the temple with Anna as she is preparing to serve the Lord in the Dominican Republic. It was so nice to be there with family. It was such a good session. Thank you to Traci and Russ for babysitting and allowing us to rest in the temple.
We also got to meet Harrison for the first time. That was so fun. It is one thing to see pictures, but to hold these little ones in your arms is quite different. He is a cutie and smiles so much. It was brief but I am so glad we got to meet him. It was a lovely holiday. I am so glad we made the trip.

25 books is a lot. I spent several months collecting them
but it has totally been worth it. 

I wrote in a previous post about the 25 days of children's books,... Well, I am happy to report, that to date it has been a huge success. Lucy loves it! We open one each night before we go to bed. She is so cute about the whole thing. She loves to open it by herself, and when she sees it she brings it to one of us to read and immediately brings it to the other to read again. She continues this pattern until it is time to go to bed. In the morning she is equally excited to read her new books. She knows which ones she has opened up and we read all of them before we go on to other, older favorites. I am so glad she loves books so much. I hope her enthusiasm continues into her schooling years. I may not be a good example of a reader but I never hesitate to read to her. Lucy is getting so smart. Her language has really taken off. And she can now say and point out about half of the alphabet with about 75% accuracy. We do our best to encourage her learning but we attribute a lot of the success to Signing Time as well. Even though she is signing less and less, she still love the show and it teaches her so much. I enjoy watching them with her as well. I'm thankful for Alex, Leah, Hopkins and Rachel. In my book they rock and feel like part of the family. (Is that awkward to admit???)
Molly is getting better at sleeping through the night. She will now consistently sleep about 7 hours, eat and sleep for 3 more hours eat and sleep for 2 more hours. She still only takes catnaps most of the day, but I can handle that now that she is doing better through the night. Molly smiles so much and loves to practice using her voice. I will try and upload a video of her talking. It is not her best but whenever she starts talking I listen for awhile and then scramble for the camera only when she decides to stop. But all of these moments are recorded in Heaven right? So I can go back and enjoy them again later.

Molly and her cousin Harry. He's just 12 days older than her.

We bought a tree this year. It's our first tree and we love it. The lights are plugged in most of the day. I love this holiday season, more now that we have this fun family to share it with. I do sometimes get a little carried away with the Christmas cards, and other holiday projects, but I am thankful that most of that is done and I can sit back and reflect more on what this season is really about. I want my family to know the story of our Savior's birth better than Santa and his reindeer. I hope that we all can remember the real reason we celebrate this holiday.

Smiles.

I can't say enough about this sweet little girl. I love her to pieces. She has the sweetest personality and is such a joy to have around. She has started smiling. It is difficult to capture on camera, at least my camera, but it is adorable. She also loves to "coo and goo." It is so cute. I could just sit and look at her all day. I would to if I didn't have Lucy to distract me. Lucy loves Molly. When ever we put her down on the ground, she loves to go lay by her and pet her gently. She really is so very soft with her. Occasionally she forgets that she is not something to push off with when she is getting up from the ground, but mostly she loves her little sister.
Lucy has started talking and imitating  It has been a lot of fun to watch her learn. She knows and recognizes several letters including, h, i, r, q, and her favorite is o. She can find it on any sign, book, or t-shirt. She leaves off lots of sounds at the end of words, but she can say socks, hat, cat, owl, cow, dad, duck, cheese,... and so many more. Those are the ones I hear most frequently. She still loves signing time, and recognizes sign language whenever she sees it. On Sundays we like to watch Mormon messages on youtube. Her favorite is "I am a child of God." It shows snip-its of different people singing, "I am a child of God." There is a small part, 7 seconds or so, where a girl is signing the words. Lucy knows exactly when it is about to come on and tries to sign along with her. It is so adorable. She really is such a good kid in every way. You have never seen a better eater. We like to eat at Sweet Tomatoes, because she eats for free. If they only knew that she can out eat us there sometimes they might change their age limit or at least make the exception for toddlers with BIG appetites. She LOVES nursery now which is wonderful. She had a few bad weeks but now her teachers report she is one of the best kids in class. I can't tell you how much I love to pick her up and see her there enjoying bubbles or looking at books. She is growing up so fast, but I do love to make her happy. She is the cutest "happy" girl I have ever seen. She is still a great sleeper too. Thankfully. Molly is still working on it, so I am glad to only have to worry about one at a time.

James is working hard at school. We started a new semester 2 weeks ago, and with that a new schedule. I don't like his new schedule, because it makes for really long days the first three days of the week and by the time Thursday rolls around I am so ready for a break that when James decides to use his afternoons off to study, I nearly crash every time. This semester they are focusing on Pediatric Occupational Therapy, which is the emphasis that he prefers most in the field, so he really is trying to take it all in. I am proud of all the work he is doing. He always manages to find time to help out around the house too. I don't know how he does it. I love him for it.
As for me, even before Molly was born Christmas has been on my mind. I don't know why. I have never felt such an urgency before to make a wonderful Christmas. But with two kids now, I guess I feel like this family needs to start some traditions. We bought our first Christmas tree tonight for family home evening. We haven't put it up but we bought a few things to put on it and will add to it through out the years. I've also been making some felt ornaments, and hoped to have them ready in time for this tree, but that was a high hope. I am learning that if I want any project to get done, I have to do it in little segments not all at once. That is a really tough lesson for me. When I start something, I will usually stay up all night several nights in a row to make sure it is done. With these two girls, I need sleep to have patience with them, and I hate sacrificing that for some silly project. So I have learned to just put it away, and go to bed and save it for another day. They will thank me for that one day. James too.
We are getting ready to travel up north for Thanksgiving, and quite frankly, I am so nervous about the trip. It will be the first "long" trip we have taken with both the girls. St George is a little less than two hours away, and Molly, with out fail will scream for the last 10 minutes of the trip either way. So that turns a six and a half hour trip into nine hour trip if we have to stop every two hours, to calm her down. We are going to break it up a little by staying a couple of nights in St George on both ends of the holidays, but I'm nervous. We will see how it goes.

Enjoy the cute pictures. Have safe travels this season, and remember what matters most this season. (That's another one of Lucy's favorites to watch on Sunday).  I know I will need reminders along the way.

Good Morning!!

Halloween and a few other gems

 I apologize for the lack of updates, but I will make up for it here, with lots of pictures. Annual pumpkin carving went well. 

Lucy enjoyed helping with her own knife. She did not enjoy the touching the insides of the pumpkin.  

 The finished product. This is as fancy as we get when carving pumpkins. We do it more for traditions sake and less for any sort of artistic outlet. 

 We headed up to St. George for my mom's annual Birthday Bash. This is proof we were there. I have a hard time taking pictures when so many others are there documenting the occasion. Click here more about that. I think we even made it into some of the pictures. 

 I love my girls in pj's. 

 This is a cute one of Lucy. 

 I love love love this face. Molly is getting to be so much more awake and interactive. 

 Lucy is loving Molly more and more too. Which is great and not so great at the same time. 

 Saturday we did not leave the house. It was one of those kind of days. So this was Lucy's accomplishments for the day. 1. Yes she fits in our giant sized fry pan. 

 2. She learned to say cheese, and this is the hands that come along with the word "cheese" from then on.

 3. Yes she can stand up in our giant sized fry pan. 

 4. Sing "If you're happy and you know it... " Yes she clapped her hands. (obviously doing her hair was not one of her mom's goals)

 5. Pull out all other pots to make space to climb and hide in. (and she did. but I didn't get a picture of it.)

 6. Sautee some fruit snacks. DONE.

Second matching outfit pictures. You are welcome to assume now that all pictures of these two girls together will be on this giant sized bean bag. You are welcome to assume that because usually this bean bag is in front of the TV and Lucy is distracted and poking Molly's eyes out. This matching outfit was given to us by Aunt Traci. She's the best, because she knows that two sisters should dress alike. Thank you Traci.