Snow

Miss Samara got to attend the Snow Queen Ballet a couple weeks ago with her cousin.  They lucked out and got second row seats and were the first ones to meet all the dancers afterwards.  She had a great time!

We had to to get a few photos, of course.  Here she is explaining to Lizzie that it's in her best interest to cooperate and just get the picture over with.

 Ah!  So sweet.  Gotta love that Lizzie at 18 months is wearing a size 3-6 month coat.  I think you need a graduate degree to decipher how all the different brands figure their sizes!

We haven't had much snow so when it snowed one Sunday a few weeks ago, I jumped on the chance to get pictures in their Christmas dresses.  I'm a wee bit behind on everything....but we are getting there.

L: What is this stuff?  Pollution?  Ashes from the fires in Malaysia? I'm cold!

(We really did have smog come our way from the agriculture burning there.  I don't miss that but I do miss being 10 miles from another country.)

S: It's snow!  Smile, you silly.  She has mini eggs in the pantry.

Keep smiling.  It's a family size bag!

 Now do your serious angel look.  Good.  I can almost taste them.

Say, "mini eggs!"

Denise, thanks for the darling dress!  She refused to wear her original Christmas dress because it was only black and not different colors or pretty like Lizzie's.  We compromised with this one.  Your dress saved the day and now I have pictures of them in their Christmas dresses.  :)

Speaking of mini eggs....we were walking home from the grocery store today.   We opened a bag and the part of the wrapper we ripped off fell on the ground.  Samara promptly picked it up and said, "Mom, I'm going to put this in my journal." I have taught her so well. 

V-A-L-E-N-T-I-N-E

I loved Valentines Day this year!  It was so fun helping Samara make her Valentines and box for the school party.  It brought back memories of childhood celebrations.

 

We had a super hectic day running from one thing to the next.  But we had 15 minutes to spare before we had to leave for school so we snuck in some photos in their christmas valentine sweaters. 

  

It started raining hail(weird how the weather changes so fast!) so we had to call it quits but not before valentine hugs and kisses were given.  

What more could a girl ask for than christmas shoes for Valentine's Day?

Change

I've missed blogging.  I  feel like the last six months were lost in some black hole.  A maniac took over while we were building the house.  We just got internet a week ago after a month of not having it.  I didn't even know it was humanly possible for me to go a month without internet!  I must be super human.  Basically, they run a racket here in Provo.  And we live in some black hole where our only options were a super-slow speed from one company or pay a $600 install charge for another company that would install high-speed.  We kept trying to find another option but there isn't one.  Bleh.  The monthly fee is the same so I finally talked myself into paying the $600 by reasoning that it's just an extra $5/month for the next 10 years.

Another racket...our area code.  Apparently, they ran out of 801 numbers so ours is 385.  Gross.  I feel, like Elaine, cheated and so annoyed.  I'm from UT.  I lived here before they even had 435 as an area code.  I don't want no stinkin' 385 area code.  When internet and the phone line were installed it was exactly like this Seinfeld episode minus the deaths threats at the end.  But then Elaine perseveres and gets her 212 area code back because an old lady in her building dies.  Would it be wrong to ask any of my elderly neighbors if I can inherit their phone number when they pass away? Because I will have an 801 area code!

I created this blog when we moved to Singapore to keep in touch with family and friends back home.  I found it was actually a nice outlet and great way to journal our family happenings.  When we first moved back I thought, "I'll change the blog name 'awaiting winter' when the first snow falls because our wait for winter would be over."  But I could never think of another name.  Then the cold came but it has still barely snowed.  What is up with rain in January?!  Cold rain is no fun at all.  And I have to admit I TOTALLY get why people don't like winter--it's COLD!!  Cold is a lot more work with coats, socks, (how do you keep track of those?!) scarves and boots.  I don't know why everyone considers setting the thermostat to 72 as turning the heat up.  I'd turn it to 80 if Ben would let me.  Thankfully, January came and we've started skiing regularly, which has reminded me why I like winter.  Skiing makes my soul happy. There are fun things you can't do without the cold.  And freshly fallen snow is so beautiful.

I love change.  I love learning or doing something new.  I've always been more of a nomad than a home body.  But I also struggle with the adjustments major change brings.   Singapore was challenging and a learning experience for us in many ways but it was also equally rewarding.  There were definitely moments when I wished 'the experience' was over, but I tried to appreciate that the challenges were temporary and that they presented wonderful opportunities and adventures. One of the best compliments I received was in a note from a photo client/friend who wrote, "I live in Singapore, but you experienced it."  I've always struggled with fully living in the now.  I start to feel down if I don't have a trip to plan or something on the calendar to look forward to.  And I have definitely felt that way since moving back.  The day we moved into our beautiful new home I was overwhelmed with so many different emotions.  We've been on this path to the professorship job with real benefits and a retirement plan and owning a home for 10 years.  I thought I should feel nothing but joy that "we've arrived at our final destination".  But instead I was thinking, "we really aren't going back to singapore.  This this was our goal...our dream?!  I have to clean this place! I have a real kitchen so I have no excuse but to cook regular healthy meals."  Long before Ben and I started on our path together, seeing the world and photographing it was my dream.  Easily and affordably traveling to new places, experiencing new cultures and the photo opportunities in Singapore were all so amazing and ideal.   But I have to trust and know that the travel and cultural experiences I want will come again in another season.  And we are very lucky to have experienced all that we have.  It's been strange to think of possibly being in one place forever or at least knowing this move isn't temporary because so much in our married life has been.

I decided that I didn't need to change the name of the blog after all from "awaiting winter"-- just the subtitle from "The tropical adventures of a little family who loves winter" to "Our family adventures through every season"(or something similar but maybe not as cheesy sounding....suggestions welcome).  Enjoying the now and every season of life (because there are benefits to them all, except teething) is my goal.   I'm working on finding the right balance of appreciating the past and looking forward to the future but living in the present.  I need to enjoy the simple happy moments of everyday life with my sweet little girls, who will all too soon be grown.

And to those who aren't asleep yet and have asked about the house, pictures really are coming.  My battery charger has been lost since we moved in but I finally found it.

Our new view--I forgot how beautiful the sunsets are here!

Fighting Skills

The other day Lizzie and Samara were playing.  Lizzie can get quite rough with her affection.  She'll poke, scratch, grab Samara's hair, etc.  I hear them playing and giggling.  Then I hear, "Oww.  LIZZIE!" voice calms "I wish I didn't teach you so many good fighting skills.  MOM! We need to get Lizzie in a more appropriate class like dance or yoga or something.  No, that would be weird.  Yoga is only for adults."

Fighting skills are pretty useful--something poor Samara definitely did not have when she was Lizzie's age.  Lizzie just turned 18-months old -- the age when kids can start going to nursery at our church.  She went for the first time last Sunday.  She was so happy to have toys and snacks and not have to be confined and quiet in Sunday school.  She came over near me a few times but didn't seem to need me around. Today, I explained to her she'd stay alone and when it was time for me to say goodbye, she gave me a kiss and only fussed, "mama mama" as I walked away but was totally fine when I left.  It sorta...well...really blows my mind.

Lizzie's first day of nursery

excuse the low quality phone pics

Samara's first day in nursery

What a huge contrast to Samara's nursery experience.   Lizzie certainly has been babysat alot more than Samara was.  Ben, almost in tears, the first day Samara went to nursery went with her as a "bodyguard" to fend off any kid in a 2-ft radius.  We were so worried about the nursery thugs hurting her.  Samara started babbling when she was a few weeks old and hasn't stopped talking since.  She would tell a kid if he/she started taking her toy, "my toy. keep." She didn't take toys.  So when they didn't follow the rules, a meltdown would ensue.  We moved from NC when Samara was 19 months old and we were here and there and everywhere the two months before we moved to Singapore so she never ended up going to nursery and certainly not alone.  When we got to Singapore, we stayed with her the first couple weeks and one of the nursery workers really encouraged us to leave her, insisting she'd be fine.  I could tell she was thinking, "what cute overbearing first time parents who think they need to stay with their daughter".  But I knew my daughter.  The next week we left her like the teacher wanted.  About ten minutes later, the teacher came and got me and said, "Well, we normally really try to get kids to stay alone.  They cry and we distract them but your daughter is very specific about what she wants.  When you left she went to the door and started screaming,""Get me out of this place now! I want my mimo!  Let me out!"  I tried not to smile when she said, "You're welcome to just stay with her until she's comfortable."  Samara has always known how to speak her mind!

So many people tell me their first born is difficult and that the second born is easy going.  I know this is not always the case but it often seems to be true.

At first I worried about not being able to give Lizzie full attention like Samara got, but now I think quality time is more important than quantity.  Plus not having the attention on you 100% of the time seems to foster independence.  Poor Samara didn't stand a chance of not being high strung.  We gave her such a phobia of being messy that she still won't eat certain things because they get her hands sticky.  She couldn't spoon feed herself until she was older than I will admit.  Lizzie, on the other hand, often won't eat unless she can use the spoon herself, which means she and the whole kitchen need a bath afterwards.  Once she opened her diaper and played with the poop.  Samara would never have done that.  Samara never drew on walls or got into things but she also never left our side.  At Samara's 9-month wellness check-ups we had to mark "does not do yet" to one of the questions on the "milestones" handouts they give you.  We were so worried she couldn't mark that off that we picked up the one for the 12-month check-up so we could do "homework" and make sure all the questions could be answered "does all the time".  We should just set up the therapy fund now!  I've never even done one of those questionnaires for Lizzie.  The other day I thought she should probably be stacking blocks by now.  So I got the blocks out and tried to show her how to stack them.  She threw them again and again and had a marvelous time doing it.  It is torture for Samara to have to do anything alone.  Eating breakfast alone is practically a life sentence.  Sometimes, I can't even get Lizzie to play with me.  She'd rather explore on her own.

The girls are so different but equally adorable and delightful.  There is nothing in the world better than hearing them laugh and play together.  We love having two spunky girls.

Anyone else have a first and a second child who are so wildly different?  I know kids definitely come with their own personalities, but how big a factor is parenting and birth order? What about your third and  fourth?