Reasons to Love Texas

Every once in a while there are things I really miss about living in Utah (I can't really say too much about Nevada since I haven't actually lived there since graduating from high school in 2000).  Besides family and friends, I miss the Macey's grocery store, being able to walk to two large and wonderful libraries, mountains, and having just about everything within walking distance.  But I really do love living here in Melissa, Texas (google that, it's about as big as it sounds).  Ellie and I went grocery shopping the other day (couponing is a new favorite pasttime), and to do so requires visiting a few other towns since Melissa doesn't actually have a grocery store.  The trip prompted some thoughts about a few things I really enjoy about Texas.  So here is my list:
1.  Feeling like you're a foreigner living abroad.  Not because Texas is so different, or even because it thinks it's really big (hello Alaska!).  But because everyone has such wonderful Texan drawls in these small Texan towns.  As I was carrying Ellie in the carseat into the grocery store in Anna TX, one of the employees was pushing in a cart and offered it to me, saying(imagine the drawl), "Doya needa buggy?"  To which I replied, "What was that?"  "Doya needa buggy?" he said, pushing the cart towards me.  "Oh, yes, thank you."  Yeah, a cart is a buggy.  Love it.

2.  Everyone wants to be your friend.  Or at least they act like it because everyone waves when they drive by (on small streets, obviously not on the freeway or there would be significatly more accidents).  This fact is especially true when you have an adorable baby in tow. 

3.  Being polite is a way of life.  Yes, sir; yes, ma'am.  On this particular trip we went to two different grocery stores.  At both they didn't even bother to ask if I needed help with my bags to the car.  They just picked them up and followed me, chatting it up about my adorable baby (I was advised not to "go crazy" like one particular lady and have five.  I then informed her that I came from a family of seven, so five doesn't seem so crazy).  It was so nice because I really did need the help.  Previous to Ellie's birth, I always said I was fine with the groceries, even when I was 8 months pregnant, because I really felt that I was.  But it is rough going carrying a carseat with baby and transferring groceries and returning the cart and then putting the baby in the car...you get the idea

Those are my top three reasons to love Texas.  Number four is the generally nice weather.  I love the snow, but I'm kind of glad that winter is basically over here.

The only exception to these is something that Ben would like me to point out, and I tend to agree.  Numbers 2 and 3 are thrown out the window once they get behind the wheel of a car.  They do not care if you have right of way, or even if it's just polite to let someone on the freeway whose lane is ending, or if you are getting cut off by a semi.  It matters not to them whether your life is in peril or not.  They were there first (or so they believe), and their truck is probably bigger so you should get out of the way.  Because everything is bigger in Texas.  To which I reply, if Alaska was cut in half then Texas would have to settle with being the third largest state.  So HA!

And here is the obligatory cute picture of Ellie.  She's laughing.  She has a big mouth like her father and a loud, raucous sort of laugh like her mother.

And she's going here from down-dog to plank.  We do yoga in the morning.  Really she's trying to figure out crawling and thinks her toes ought to be involved.

Late Night Snack

I'm so proud of Ellie for being on such a great regular schedule.  Well, I'm also proud of me for helping her get there too!  She usually goes to bed around 6:30 and then wakes up sometime between 8 and 10 for a little late night snack and then back to bed.  Last night it was business as usual.  I laid her back down and though she clearly wanted to play, it was bedtime.  I kissed her goodnight and left the room and went to brush my teach.  She was talking to herself a bit and then all fo the sudden I hear a little screech, and then another.  I quickly finished and then went to check on her.  She had rolled over (as usual) and I picked her up and saw a little puddle of spit up.  I laid her in on the changing table and flipped on the light and was greeted by this cute little face!

I guess the snack was so good she wanted it twice.

The Dangers of Reading

Before Eleanor was even born, my dad picked up this book to give to her called "I Already Know I Love You" by Billy Crystal (which is really a fantastic book).  So the other day we sat down to read it together.  Like many babies, Ellie is enamoured with paper.  She wants to grab it and put it in her mouth-like everything else.  So it's a delicate dance to read her a book without letting her destroy it.  This time, I lost.

I didn't notice anything until she was trying again to grab a page as I turned it and I saw a little red spot on her finger.  She'd gotten a paper cut.  She didn't cry or make any fuss about it.  We went and rinsed it off and got a bandaid from Grandpa Lewis.  She got her first owie and didn't even complain, until I was trying to hold her hand still to get the bandaid on.

It was a cool one with Sesame Street characters on it. 

Which she promptly tried to put in her mouth and chew on. 

What a girl.

Six Months Old

It is sometimes hard to believe that six months ago I was struggling through 20 hours of labor in order to bring Eleanor into the world.  It was completely worth it.  My only regret is that I didn't shower before leaving for the hospital (not a mistake I will make again).  She is such a wonderful baby, even when she is cranky I think she's cute. 
I was at a funeral yesterday, and had to take Ellie into the foyer because she was getting way to exhuberant during the eulogy, and there were two other mothers out there with tiny little newborns.  I sat Eleanor on the ground on her blanket and gave her my mom's old cellphone to play with and looked in wonder at how much she has grown.  As I looked at the newborns I couldn't believe that she was once that small.  But she was.  And she isn't a terribly big baby still, but she has grown so much.  She sits up on her own perfectly and rolls over lots, though gets stuck on her stomach trying to crawl and then screams about her inability to do so.  It's okay by me.  As soon as she starts crawling I know I'll have to be better about picking stuff up.

She recently discovered the joys of a cardboard box.  I poked some holes in the flap and threaded some rings through and voila!  her new favorite toy.

There is just so much to explore with a diaper box!

Plus it can double as a car.  I pushed her around the living room in it and she was thrilled.

So that's what's up a the Lewis home.  We're just the proud parents of a thrill-seeking, box-loving six month old.  We couldn't be happier.

Things I'm Thankful For

1.  My wonderful little family.  I have an awesome husband who works so hard at everything he does and is a good man.  And my little Ellie is such a joy.  It is a wonder to look at her and think about where she came from and how much is ahead of her, and a little daunting to think about the important role I play in that, but still the most exciting thing I've ever done.

Seriously, how can you not love these two faces?

2.  A wonderful extended family.  I married into such a great family.  They are so talented and generous!

3.  And food...because it's Thanksgiving!  Last Thanksgiving I was 8 weeks pregnant and very nauseous all the time, so I didn't get to eat as much as I wanted.  This year...well,  let's just say I want to start training for a 5K.  Just kidding, I didn't over do it, but I do want to start training for a 5K.  It's my newest goal.

That's all.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Silly Faces

Yesterday I put a bright yellow dress on Eleanor and took some pictures, trying to get one that I liked enough to blow up to a 5x7 to give to grandparents.  Mostly I got some seriously silly faces, and her trying to eat her dress (everything goes into her mouth these days).  I did get some nice ones, but I love the silly ones maybe even more.

I think this is the one below I'll print out, unless I can get a better shot today (though it may not be in the yellow dress because she spit up all over it...at least it wasn't anything out the other end!)

Helping Dad

The other day Ellie started fussing after Ben and I had finished eating dinner, so Ben volunteered to go up and get her out of her crib and play with her while I finished loading the dishwasher.  Since Ben isn't able to be home very much while she's awake, it was a great arrangement ("doing the dishes" isn't so bad when a machine actually does them).  So I filled up the dishwasher and then went upstairs to get Ellie and feed her.  I walked into the computer room and was greeted by this sweet sight.

She was a happy camper just sitting in Ben's lap watching him work on the computer.

These are definitely my two most favorite people in the world.  Heavenly Father must really love me to have made them part of my family!

And a token picture of happy Eleanor at 4 months.  She was trying to grab the camera...silly munchkin.  Oh, I meant to include this in the last post.  We have a lot of little nicknames we call her (like munchkin, or chica), but my personal favorite was first uttered by my brother-in-law Aaron when we told him we were having a girl and naming her Eleanor and calling her Ellie--Ellie, Ellie, Jelly Belly.  Now, I happen to love Jelly Belly Jelly Beans, so sometimes I call her my Jelly Bean.  I'm totally making that as her costume next year...

4 months

Ellie is officially no longer a newborn.  That's what my mom says anyway.  But she certainly is bigger and smarter too!  For instance, today I was working on the computer but she sure wanted some attention and was squealing to get it.  So I got a blanket and I tossed it over her, holding onto one end and slowly pulled it off, playing a kind of peek-a-boo.  She grinned as it came off and started kicking and quickly realized that she could kick it off.  So we just kept doing it over and over.  I'd through the blanket on her, and she kick and kick till it came off and then grin at me.  She's a pretty quick learner, I think anyway.
I'll get a better picture of just her soon, but in the meantime, let me do a little bragging.
Here are things that 4 month old Ellie loves to do:
squealing-not necessarily our favorite thing, but sometimes it's cute and she KNOWS she'll get attention if she does it.
blow spit/milk bubbles-this is cute, until there are so many that they are all over her clothes.  But she get a big kick out of it
playing with her toes-this is by far the cutest and never annoying, so she can do it all she wants.
playing with toys-she's progressed a lot in holding onto things, bringing them to her mouth, switching hands and the like.  She just doesn't do a good job of picking them up on her own yet.
sporadic rolling over-she's gone from tummy to back a few times now, and even from back to tummy.  She's mostly good at getting onto her side and then sucking her hands.
trying to crawl-when she gets tired of laying on her tummy she puts her face down and tries to scootch forward by doing a crawling action with her legs.  It's frankly not very effective and just makes her more frustrated.  But she gets points for trying
standing-obviously assisted by a grown-up, but she holds her own weight and she loves it!  It seems to be her favorite vantage point because she can see so much more from up there!
laughing-usually this are kind of silly-not-exactly-laugh-sounds, but every once in a while we get a soft chuckle or a nice real big laugh.  It's my favorite noise in the whole world.

Guess who?

I know I already posted something today, but I couldn't help doing another one.  I found some pictures of Ben and I as babies and I can't believe two things: 1.  How much we look like each other, 2. How much our daughter looks like us.  The question is, who does she look more like?  Now taking votes.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, because you get to dress up.  Last year I was going to make Ben a ninja costume (he was really excited), and I was going to wear a kimono my Brown grandparents brought back from their mission to Japan.  But it never happened because I was stage managing a show at BYU, and we had our first night on stage on Halloween.  Sad.  We'll have to resurrect that costume idea next year or something.

But this year we had a family theme.  My best friend Tiffanie Player gave us a Tinkerbell costume for Ellie at my baby shower.  I dyed her cap from the hosptical green and tied it with some yellow ribbon, and voila!  a weatherized Tink! 

So I made Ben a Peter Pan costume and I dressed up as...Peter's shadow (all black, very easy).  I didn't want to be Wendy and wander around in a flannel nightgown (especially since I don't own one). 

Some of you may know, but I've got a thing for Peter Pan.  I directed the a shortened version of the original script for my senior direcing project at BYU and it was pretty great.  I had to do tons of research on the play, J.M. Barrie, and the likes.  And Tiffanie was my roommate at the time, so she knows it all. 

We went to our ward Trunk or Treat and gave out candy and let everyone see what a cute baby we have, and admired all of the other kids in their costumes.  I really love Halloween because you get candy and you get costumes.  What more could I want?

Some pictures

Nothing very new or creative here.  I've just taken a couple photos of Eleanor I found amusing.  She's gotten very good at laying on her tummy and holding her head up.  She even rolled over three times in a row one night, but hasn't done it since.

We went to the little park next to the house and enjoyed the fall weather.  I love how her eyes turn into little crescent moons when she really gets grinning.

Because every baby needs a naked picture (mostly to show to potential boyfriends to embarrass your child).

And Ben playing with Ellie.  It's so fun to watch the two of them watch each other.  These are definitely my two favorite people!

Ellie, Conference, and the love of God

I haven't always loved listening to General Conference, in fact,  I didn't really "get into it" until I was in college.  But now I love it.  This October session was no exception.  I may have spent a lot of it rocking Ellie, but it was absolutely worth it.  In fact, having a child now gave additional meaning to my Conference experience.  I just want to share one example.

Elder Callister gave a wonderful talk on the restoration of the gospel, specifically about the truths restored about God and Christ in the First Vision.  One point he elaborated on was that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two seperate beings.  He explained how this is confirmed in the Bible and in the life of Christ.  Christ submitted his will to the Father's will, the ultimate example of obedience for us to follow, in taking upon himself the sins of the world.  And we are taught that "God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son."  If God and Christ were the same being, he would simply be offering up himself.  This really made me think. 

We all agree that it is a truly awesome thing for someone to give up their life for another.  But I think I better understand now, as a mother, what it must have been for God to sacrifice his Son.  I know that I would give up my own life for Eleanor, without hesitation.  But I don't know if I could do as Abraham was commanded, and offer her up for a sacrifice for others.  The thought breaks my heart.  How much then must God love each of us as his children to be willing to let Jesus suffer and die for our sins.  I know he did, and was resurrected because of his perfect obedience to the will of the Father, his perfect sacrifice for us.

I guess I had just never thought of the Atonement in this light.  I know that I will never be able to fully comprehend God and Christ's love for me in this life, but I see a small part of that now as a mother.  What a great blessing from my Heavenly Father to have the opportunity to be a mother and experience a fraction of what He feels for me.  And for that I am eternally grateful.

*I just thought this was too funny.  We packed a picnic and stayed in between sessions on both Saturday and Sunday.  It was rainy on Sunday, so we ate in a classroom off of the foyer, and Ellie took a little nap on the picnic blanket we brought.  Now if only she had napped more during conference.

A Good Story and a Sad Story

Which one do you want to hear first?  I'll save the best for last.

A Sad Story
Ellie had a doctor's appointment on Monday.  She's just a few days shy of 3 months and she was "supposed" to start immunizations at 2, but whatever.  I scheduled the appointment for 9, since usually she eats at 7, plays a little, then naps and then is ready to eat again at 10.  Silly Summer, of course the doctor's office is going to be running behind, I just didn't count on how much.  Here's how it all went down (with a little venting about mixing sick and healthy kids).
We arrived at 8:50 and there were two entrances-one for sick kids and one for healthy kids.  When I got inside, I noticed the lobby nicely divided by a wall, with a walk through by the window for check-ins.  There was a window on the sick side and the well side, but only the sick side was opening.  Initially irratating, but not a huge deal.  I got paperwork and sat down.  Ellie had woken up, but wasn't fussing too much so I let her be.  When I took the paperwork back, I got more paperwork (hurray), but Ellie was unhappy about staying in the carseat and clearly having her nap cut short.  So I worked on my one handed writing and baby juggling skills.  But I was starting to get irritated at the wait.  By now it was 9:30, and I had overheard that one of the doctor's was a half hour late, so they were behind.  Splendid.  At 9:45, Ellie would wait no longer, so I whipped out my nursing cover and she went at it.  As I was nursing I noticed that more and more sick kids were spilling into the well child area.  The lady sitting across from me saw a friend of hers and invited her to come sit by her, which meant that her son was sitting next to me.  Not a big deal till the mom said "Yeah, my daughter has been sick and then my son woke up with a fever this morning."  WHAT!  Why are you letting your feverish son sit next to a nursing mother, whose baby is perfectly healthy!  The flu season has started pretty early here in the Dallas area, and that is the last thing I need!  I fumed.  Then the nurse called us back at a little after 10. 
But Ellie is doing great.  She weights 12.5 lbs and is almost 24 inches long.  She's definitely putting more effort into growing tall than into getting chubby.  It's funny because a lot of her 0-3 month onsies are big enough, but not long enough for her anymore.  She was having fun at the doctor's until the nurse came into to do immunizations.  I thought Ellie had cried hard at her two week checkup with the PKU heel poke.  I was sorely mistaken.  The nurse was great, and very quick, but Ellie got a shot in each leg and was not happy.  I held her little hands and arms on her chest while the nurse did, and boy did she wail.  I almost feel bad at how cute I think she is when she cries.  I might as well enjoy it now, because I know toddlers aren't very cute throwing a tantrum.  The nice thing is, she took excellent naps all the rest of the day. 

A Good Story
It was General Conference weekend!  We watched all four sessions at our ward meetinghouse in Mckinney and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I particularly liked President Uchtdorf's talk on the love of God and Elder Holland's testimony of the gospel.  I also really enjoyed Elder Callister's talk, and it gave some new insight into the gospel truths restored that I hadn't really thought about.  But more on that in a later post (mostly cause Ellie is going to wake up any minute now).  Here is the cool story:
On Sunday morning a very short woman and her two sons walked into the chapel just a few minutes after Ben and I.  The brother that was in charge of the building greeted them and they sat down and conference started just a few minutes later.  There weren't very many people at our chapel, but it was also being broadcast to the stake center, and I think a lot of people get BYUTV and watched it at home.  Anyway, when it was all over the brother introduced himself again to the woman and asked her name, which was Arlene.  I was standing in the backe rocking Ellie and overheard the whole thing.  She commented how she remembered this church being built (it's a faily new chapel), so she and her sons decided to come here today.  The brother explained that this is a very different meeting than what normally happens and how wonderful it was that she could come.  Then asked if he could introduce her to the missionaries, who taught people a little bit more about the church. She agreed, met the elders, chatted with them and they set up a time to come visit them.  Ben and I grinned at each other the entire time because we both knew what was happening inside the elders' heads.  Then the family left, and the missionaries looked a little shocked at what had just happened.  The one turned to the other and said, "She said she lived by Walmart, right?"  "Yes."  He pumped his arm and said "YES!"  I laughed and said how wonderful it was to have someone just show up for church and I wished it had happened to me.  He asked if I had served a mission, and I replied that I had.  He said "Do you know how golden that is, to have someone show up like that, and for conference?!"  We were really excited for the elders, but even more so for the family. They had just picked a church to come to that day and happened to stumble in on the one day when the prophet of God was addressing the entire church.  It was awesome. I pray that they come to experience the same comfort and joy I feel from having the restored gospel. 

A Quick Family Picture

It's been a little over 11 weeks since Ellie joined our family, and we couldn't be happier with her (unless of course she changed her own diapers and never cried).  She holds her head up really well now, and is even okay with a little tummy time.  Ben's tutoring is going exceptionally well and he is working hard to make math fun and easier than ever.  We've finished house-sitting and have moved in with Ben's wonderful parents.  We are so grateful for them and they willingness to put up with us.

So Ben is busy working, and I'm relatively busy with Eleanor, but when she is sleeping I have a tendency to get a little lazy myself.  So I've decided to write down some goals, perhaps a bit of a bucket list, but we all know that writing down goals is the best way to help make them happen.
1.  Get moved in (really, that should be finished tomorrow).
2.  Finish box of sewing projects
3.  Write a play. This has been a pet dream of mine for some time now.  I read a non-fiction book called Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel and I fell in love with the story.  I highly recommend it.  At any rate, I think it would make a great play.  One day I mentioned this to my mom, and she said "Why don't you do it?" or something to that effect.  So I've been working on it off and on, doing research on Galileo and his daughter, Suor Maria Celeste (she was a nun).  And on playwriting, because that is one of the few classes I didn't take in my many years in the theatre education program at BYU. Now that I've shared this secret little goal, I do feel a lot more motivated to do it.  I think the story has so much potential, and I really love writing.  It's something I always felt I was good at, but haven't had a lot of opportunities lately to do creative writing.  So now I better get to it. 

*Ben feels I ought to remind anyone reading this not to steal my idea.  I do own a sword.

2 Months Old and Ben's Business

Ellie is officially two months old. To celebrate, I tried make a video where she smiles at the right spot when I sing "If you chance to meet a frown..." She really does too, it's pretty funny. But I've noticed something about our darling daughter. She's a bit of a ham. I've pulled out the camera several times to do this, and she just starts grinning every time. I really shouldn't be shocked; look who she has for parents (and grandparents at that). So you'll just have to believe me when I say she does smile on cue during that song. It's adorable. In the meantime, here are some still photos of the cutest, silliest grin ever.


And asleep. How we love her. (PS. I made the hair bow. I'm pretty proud. I cut up some old white knee high and voila! headband for hair bows.)


While I've been at home making hair bows and taking pictures, Ben has been hard at work building up his tutoring business. And he is seeing some tremendous growth. He has even purchased a domain name and has an online site all about his business and thoughts on learning math. You can visit it at www.bensmathtutoring.com. His dad-who is a fantastic graphic designer and illustrator-designed a logo for him, which now graces his business cards, website, and letterhead. I'm pretty proud that all of his hard work is paying off and he is doing more of what he loves, teaching. Go Ben.
(and Go Cougars!...we watched both games and are working hard at teaching Ellie the fight song)

Why 2 am feedings are worth it

That's all.

Adventures in Diaper Changing

Ellie doesn't really like having her clothes changed...


so you would think that she would do more to prevent this terrible thing from occurring so frequently! I know, she can't help that she spits up all the time or when her diaper leaks. But lately she has taken to peeing just after I pull out the old diaper and reach to put the new one under. It's hysterical! Today she did it twice! I've been cautious about wiping her off with the old diaper underneath, just in case. But when I look away for the briefest moment, I turn back to find the changing table wet, along with her entire backside. And she just lays there, looking innocent (which she does exceptionally well).
So she got two mini-baths, which she loves...perhaps that is why she does it. At any rate, it really doesn't matter. She's cute. She's cute when she smiles and makes faces, when she cries (throwing back her head so you can see her, as if to say "Look at how sad I am! Don't you want to comfort and love me!"), and even when she pees all over herself.

One week in Texas

Well, we have been in Texas for one full week now. We are officially members of the Melissa Ward, as our records have arrived. Here is Ellie all dressed for her first foray at church. This dress was mine when I was a baby. My mom can correct my if I'm wrong. I just love how she looks like she's posing for this picture, but in all reality it is a suspended moment of her random arm failing. Ben taught Elder's Quorom today, so that makes it even more official. I can drive myself to Walmart, my in-laws, and church (though I haven't actually done that one yet), and probably Target too. I can turn off and on the alarm system, use the fancy "high efficiency" washer and dryer, and the dish network TV at the house we are staying at (we are currently house sitting).

I cannot, however, find a satisfactory substitute for the bread we used to purchase in Provo. This seriously irks me. It's a problem I didn't really forsee-that we would have to find new staples for our food. They don't have the same tortillas, bread, applesauce, or western family brand foods(at least I can't find it). It's strange. Margarine comes in a different shape. Why is that? Why does it matter? How much does it cost Imperial margarine to produce two different shapes of the same product? I can't fathom the reasoning behind it. Luckily these aren't life and death matters. Just strange little things I hadn't thought about. So if anyone knows were you can purchase a multi-grain bread with plenty of dietary fiber that is larger than the palm of Ben's hand for under $2, please let me know. I'm missing my bread.