Lost in Translation

Hailey has been talking a lot lately. It seems like she learns at least one or two words a day. She has also been saying a few sentences here and there. She said her first sentence a couple of weeks ago after she handed me a Tigger doll. I asked her who it was, and she said, "It is Tigger!" Most of her sentences after that have been short two-word sentences like "All gone," or "Want juice." I'm so excited because she is getting much better at communicating what she wants, which has drastically cut down on the guessing games.

Some of her newer words still need practice, but I think they're so cute, I don't mind of she says them her way for a while. For example, she calls monkeys "bunkeys" and calls shoes "shiz." She still calls me "MomMom," which I hope she keeps forever. I think my absolute favorite is "Kank you!" (Thank you).

Sometimes, it does cause problems, though. The other day she was standing in the kitchen pointing at the cupboard and asking for a "gooky." I looked through the cupboard and couldn't find anything that looked like a "gooky." I was getting frustrated, as was Hailey, so I said "I have no idea what a gooky is." She promptly walked into her bedroom, got her copy "If you Give a Mouse a Cookie," and said "GOOKY!" Ohhhhh, cookie. Why didn't you say so?

Stumped by a Third Grader

Last Friday after we had picked up Jesse and Marie, we were eating dinner and I asked Jesse what he was learning about in school. He started telling me about how bears hibernate and sleep all through the winter. Then he asked me this:

"Why don't we hibernate in the winter?"

Now, that is a very simple question, but for the life of me, I could not think of a good answer to why we don't hibernate in the winter. After all, after the excitement of the holidays are over, I usually do feel like hibernating through January and February. After thinking long and hard about it, I came up with a thoughtful, philosophical answer that works for almost any situation like this:

"I don't know....Go ask your dad."

What I learned in Primary

My current calling in church is as a Primary teacher. I love it, especially when I get to learn new things. This month, the theme is "Prophets teach me how to strengthen my family." In Sharing Time last Sunday, the Primary president spent time talking about different Bible prophets and then we would sing the corresponding verse in the song, "Follow the Prophet." When it came time to talk about Noah, I assumed she would talk about how he was commanded to take the animals "two by two" onto the ark. After all, I think that is what most children are taught. In fat, she did not say that all the animals were gathered "two by two," but that Noah brought seven of every clean animal onto the ark. What?!? I know I don't space out that much in church, so how had I missed that my whole life? It clearly states in Genesis 7:2-3 that Noah was commanded to gather seven of all the fowls and clean animals. Now, in my not-so-vast knowledge of gospel doctrine, I'm still not quite sure what the "clean" animals were, but I think it makes a lot of sense to gather more than two of each so they would have some for sustenance and sacrifice.

The Old Testament has always been the most difficult section of the scriptures for me to understand, but this has motivated me to increase my study of the Old Testament. I have decided to look for some good study guides to help me out, and I will hopefully come to a better understanding of these scriptures.

Why I don't sing in the car anymore

I love to sing in the car. Nothing makes a long car ride pass faster than cranking your favorite tunes and belting them out at the top of your lungs. I love the weird looks I get from the guy in the car next to me at a stoplight when I'm playing the air drums on the steering wheel. It's like you're in your own little world, in your own little car, and you are your own little rock band. No one can hear you except for your fellow passengers who, if you are lucky, are singing along just as loud.

Last Saturday, I was making my bi-monthly trip to Holbrook to pick up Jesse and Marie for our weekend visit. As usual, I had the radio on and was singing along with the songs I knew. Then the latest Nickelback song came on, so of course I had to turn it up and belt it out as loud as I could. Well, halfway through the song, I looked back, and this is what I saw......

Hailey had her fingers jammed in both of her ears and looked truly miserable. She must not like Nickelback. OK, its probably that she doesn't like me singing along. Oh, well. My one man band shows will have to wait for times when I am alone. If you're ever in the car with me and are in the mood for some air drums, let me know and I'll crank up the volume!

Journaling

Well, I have a confession to make. I am TERRIBLE at writing in my journal. I have only filled up...let me count...oh, that's right. Zero. I have never actually filled up a journal in my life. I have started a few journals in my lifetime, but each only have a handful of entries. I recently came across my very first journal that was started in July 1986....before I had even turned three years old. Each Sunday, I would sit down with my dad and tell him what to write in my journal, and he would write it. This journal entry was dated July 26, 1987:

"Two weeks ago I caught a catfish at Lyman Lake. It was the first fish that I ever caught. It was a lot of fun. I had a brand new fishing pole and wound the fish in. Then we wrapped it up in cloth and took it home.

Yesterday, we watched the 24th of July parade and some people threw candy to us. I ate a lot of candy yesterday and I didn't get sick.

Yesterday, I went to a rodeo but didn't like it very much because it had a wild west show and some shooting and I got scared."

Thank you, Dad, for helping me write in my journal so I have these precious childhood memories to read about.

Shauni and I in the summer of 1987.

It's About Time!

I signed up for this blog back in January with every intention on starting a family blog. Well, it's August and I'm finally getting around to creating my first post. Procrastinate much? My husband and I live in Lakeside, AZ, and we have a beutiful daughter named Hailey who is 22 months old. I also have two wonderful stepchildren named Jesse and Marie who live in Holbrook, and we get to see them every other weekend.

I work at home as a medical transcriptionist, so I spend almost eight hours a day on my computer. Usually the last thing I want to do when I'm done with work is get on the computer again, but I promise I will try to post regular updates!

Lately, Hailey has been finding the smallest spaces she can to squeeze into (and get stuck in). Here is a picture of her in a small wicker basket that she crammed herself into. She thought she was pretty funny until she realized she couldn't get out!


Since Hailey was about 10 months old, she has attached herself to a grubby old Spongebob blanket that she calls her "Night Night." This blanket came in a box of hand me downs, and the only reason we kept it was that it would make a good blanket to take camping or other places where our nice handmade quilts shouldn't go. Well, we took it camping, all right, but it has also been to Utah, to the park, to grandmas, to family barbeques, to the lake, and even to church (and virtually everywhere else Hailey has been). I've had brief moments of wanting to wean her from it, but when I realize it usually comforts her better than me and helps her sleep through the night, I'll just let it be. She'll let it go when she's ready.

Lately, though, she has found another "comfort" object in addition to her "Night Night...." a Spiderman beanie!!

I may have taken Spongebob to church, but this one has got to stay home :)