Oh Erin, my Erin

I just thought I'd share some cute pictures from the past couple of days.

After a bath in her princess towel. I love the crown on the hood! lol

Trying to get her to wear the hat Aunt Kim gave her on her birthday. She still hates it.

Playing with the Tigger puppet Grandma Cannady gave her. I had it on my and and I'd tickle her with it. She'd hit it and "run away" screaming. It was so cute.

And leftover spaghetti and meatballs for lunch.


And I have to end with the video. You get her eating a taco bell taco, showing off her teeth, and giggling her pants off all at once.

Erin's teeth

I just noticed that Erin now has tooth #8. And the placement of it made me laugh. It's the left lower lateral incisor. To understand why that is funny, I made a diagram of which teeth she has.

My baby is lopsided.

My little smarty stinky pants

So, The past few days Erin's had a bad case of diarrhea. It means that her poor bum is pretty rashy. ((Yes, I called the doctor. They told me to keep her hydrated and wait it out, which is basically what I was doing anyway. It *seems* to be getting better. Prayer would be appreciated though. I'm tired of cleaning out poopy pants.))


Anyway, so we were watching Deep Impact together this morning, and she kind of wandered down the hallway. The important doors are closed, so I didn't really care. Next thing I know she's walking back out holding a diaper, and repeating over and over "Stinky! Stinky!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Sure enough, she was stinky. And apparently I was taking too long to notice. Maybe potty training won't be as terribly hard as I've been thinking (you know, when we get there).



On a different topic (Deep Impact spurred this thought):

I would totally vote for Morgan Freeman for president! Is it just me, or do movie presidents have really great speeches??

2 already??

Erin is 1 year, 5 months, and 1 week old.

She's not 2 yet. I promise. I would know.

But the last week she has been so completely defiant. It's driving me crazy. Her favorite pass time is to get into things she knows she shouldn't, and when I say no she gives me a "yeah, well what are you going to do about it?" look. SO AGGRIVATING!! She has also started hitting.


I don't know, maybe it's good she's doing this now. Maybe we'll be over the worst of it by the time baby brother gets here. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise.


Argh.


On another note, I broke and started listening to Christmas music. Not all the time mind, but here and there. I have a holiday station on pandora.com, and yesterday it played the most wonderful song.

I have this fascination with Joseph. I mean, I understand Mary. As much as everything she felt was BIGGER and MORE, I still know what it's like to be a mother. I know what it's like to be in awe of what Heavenly Father is sending you. I understand that mother's connection to the child she is carrying.

But he wasn't Joseph's child. Granted he was a man of God, and he willingly did what was asked of him. But Jesus wasn't his child. Now, there are two great examples close to me of men who love children who aren't biologically theirs as if they were their own, so I understand that it's possible.

But I think most of the time Joseph gets pushed out of the picture. That's unfair. My favorite picture I have for Christmas is a painting of Joseph holding Jesus. It reminds me that Jesus had to have an example of manhood and priesthood on earth, since His Father couldn't be there. What kind of man was Joseph? What did he feel about his role in the whole thing?

Which is why I love this song so much.

Joseph's Lullaby, by MercyMe

Go to sleep my Son
This manger for your bed
You have a long road before You
Rest Your little head

Can You feel the weight of Your glory?
Do You understand the price?
Does the Father guard Your heart for now
So You can sleep tonight?

Go to sleep my Son
Go and chase Your dreams
This world can wait for one more moment
Go and sleep in peace

I believe the glory of Heaven
Is lying in my arms tonight
Lord, I ask that He for just this moment
Simply be my child

Go to sleep my Son
Baby, close Your eyes
Soon enough You'll save the day
But for now, dear Child of mine
Oh my Jesus, Sleep tight

The video of Erin and couple other great ones.

Finally!


And a couple good other ones:

An a cappella Star Wars tribute to John Williams




And from Disneyworlds "Star Wars weekends" we have Dancing with the Star Wars Stars (the surprise late entry is GREAT!!)


((Erin loved the big "doggy"))

All kinds of Erin

She's doing so much lately that it's hard for me to keep up with what I've blogged and what I haven't. Her vocabulary is exploding, and she's having so much fun repeating our words now (which I had the hardest time getting her to do before). Lately she's started saying "uh-oh" (which is just so cute!) and "woof." She's gotten really good at identifying animals too. The other day a dog was barking outside and she heard it, pointed to the window and said "DOGGY!" Matt and I couldn't figure out what she was pointing at at first, until we realized she was talking about the barking.

She also has tooth number six. No, it's not the second top tooth on the left, or either of the second bottom teeth. It's an upper molar on the right. So apparently all her fussiness has been because of that, and I haven't been giving her pain meds because I didn't think it was a tooth! ACK!


A couple nights ago Matt turned on his computer Nintendo emulator and started playing Mario 64. Erin was interested, so he put her on his lap and gave her the controller. I've been trying to upload this video to photobucket, and it hasn't worked, so we'll see what blogspot does with it...

Recently we bought Erin a new pair of pjs. As you can see, they're blue and green with dinosaurs.I had picked out a pair that were purple with butterflies or something on them, but she grabbed them out of my hands and threw them (lol, they landed in the cart) and reached for the shelf. Matt grabbed the ones closest to her hand and she grabbed them from him and held on to them. He then took both pairs, and held them out to her. When we finally convinced her she could only have one, she picked the dinos. LOL! I think I'm going to have a tomboy on my hands.

And finally, she's started singing! She usually does it when she's bored or we're in the car, but it's so fun to listen to her. There have been times when she starts singing to the radio that she actually gets a few notes right. Aunt Kim should be proud. =Þ


And a not-Erin bit. I am 24 weeks pregnant today. Why is this a big deal? Well, it's the point of "viability." At this point in pregnant, the baby has a chance of surviving should he be born. While I would definitely rather stay pregnant for a while longer, it's a comfort to know. I need small milestones like that.

Election reflections.

This morning I am proud of America.

I don't really agree with President-elect Obama's politics, but last night I was struck in awe as I realized I was participating in such a hugely momentous election. It was spouted all over the news over and over and over, but that doesn't make it any less amazing. America has elected it's first African-American president. This is the first time in 216 years someone other than a white man has been elected. Yesterday, I was a part of history.

I have been fairly apathetic this go around. I wasn't really thrilled with either of my choices, and to be honest, in Idaho my vote didn't really matter. CNN called us for McCain with only 4% of precincts reporting. 80% of Madison county voted for him. But I voted, since I consider it a duty as much as a privilege (and to maintain my right to complain about the government if I so choose). But America spoke resoundingly against me, and I can accept that.

In the wake of the White House scandal and following impeachment of President Clinton, I told myself that I wanted a president that I could respect as a person and be inspired by. I'm not sure President Bush has done that. There were several days in the wake of 9/11, but since then, not really.

But I admit, I was inspired last night. Last night was such an example of the America I want to see. I was really impressed by Senator McCain's concession speech. I was impressed by his gracious acceptance of defeat. I very much wish that all Americans could be that way. It would be a much better place without sore-loser-y complaining.

And I admit, President-elect Obama's acceptance speech inspired me. He made me cry, actually (but come one, that is SO not hard to do. Even when I'm NOT pregnant). Maybe, just maybe, he can be a president I can respect as a person, though I don't agree with him. Maybe, he can be the inspiring person I've been waiting for. Maybe. Dare I hope that he can be what he says he'll be?

((Does anybody else find it spooky that last night he was compared to 3 men: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther Kind, Jr., and John F. Kennedy; all of whom have been assassinated?))

Either way I am proud of America today. I am proud to be an American. I'm proud that our country can see passed the wounds of a turbulent past. I proud to be a part of history.



And I'm going to end with a question I have had on my mind since Pres.-elect Obama's speech:
What kind of puppy are they going to get???

civic duty

Did you?

Grizzly and Bear Discovery Center (and Yellowstone too)

Okay, this is basically going to be a bunch of pictures, with me adding videos as they upload. The Discovery Center is in West Yellowstone, MT. They have bears and wolves living there that can't live in the wild (one pair of bears were orphaned at 6 months and became dependent on people for food). Then we went into the park and walked around it bit. We didn't do a LOT but it was still nice to be there. Especially since they closed the roads for the season today and who knows when we'll be able to get back?

Marking time...

Why is six months such a big deal? I don't know, maybe some day I'll stop thinking of it. Today Cora would be 2 1/2 years old. It seems like my life has been separated into "before Cora" and "after Cora."


But today is also a happy day. Exactly 2 years ago today, Erin looked like this:


Isn't it amazing? I look at her now and am astounded. What a miracle life is. She has changed so much.



Stay tuned a bit later for pictures of Erin with the bears and wolves at a place in West Yellowstone!