A Lack of . . .

Forgive the whining, but we're lacking a few things at our house and it's making me crazy.

• routine - Everything I read said that babies need a routine.  I have one for Amelia, but can't seem to get a routine for Sophia.  I think I'll just stop reading baby books/blogs/etc.
• sleep - Sophia barely sleeps during the day and it's driving me crazy.  Amelia did the same thing, but it's a whole different ballgame trying to deal with that while taking care of Amelia too.
• patience - Due to Sophia's lack of sleep, and Amelia's almost-terrible-two tantrums, I have a lack of patience most days.  Sorry Ken!
• motivation - And due to my lack of patience, I have a lack of motivation to move Amelia from her crib to the toddler bed.  But I can't keep putting it off, or Sophia will end up in our bed until she needs the toddler bed.
• initiative - And then there is my church calling - the ward web administrator.  It's a "train yourself" and then train everyone else sort of calling and I am lacking initiative to get started on it.  It's simple, in theory.  Learn how to manage the ward calendars, with every organization's activities, then train the organizations how to manage it themselves.  Hhm? Maybe next week? 

But despite all of that, I was the "fun" parent tonight and made cookies (gluten-free) with Amelia.  We've never done that before, and frankly, I thought I must be crazy to make cookies with Amelia, without Ken's help, with Sophia needing a nap, and bedtime for Amelia just around the corner, but crazy or not, I did it and I even had fun.  Amelia didn't like all the waiting involved, but she did like licking the spoon at the end.  Thanks Amelia for being a great helper!

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Things I Learned with No Power

• 47F inside a house is cold enough to see your breath.
• Being in a house with no power is NOT like camping; it's worse.
• When your camping, your prepared for no power and cool temperatures.  I was not prepared for a loss of power.
• I have a minimal food supply, but almost none of it can be eaten without cooking.  We have a camp stove, but neither Ken nor I were motivated to use it.  It was easier to go eat meals at the hospital where Ken works.
• Sophia did fine in the cold; I just bundled her up and she slept through it.
• Amelia had a harder time with the cold, and it didn't help that she had a cold too.  It's hard to take a nap when it's cold and you can't breath.  But I think she did better than I did with no TV/ Internet.
• I can live without TV but it was harder to be without the internet.
• Being without power was harder than I thought it would be.  I really feel for people who had to do it longer than the 1 1/2 days we did.
• I think I saw my neighbors more during this week than during the last few months.

Back to Normal

Our power came back on about 1:30pm on Saturday and our internet came back on today.  We are loving being warm and connected again. 

And no power follows ice

Our power went out last night about 9pm.  This morning we all went into work with Ken for heat and warm food. . . and the internet.  Back home to the cold house for naps, then back to work to pick up Ken.  More warm food and internet before heading back to the 49F house for the night.  Who knows what we'll do tomorrow?  The neighborhood trees have all taken a beating, so it's really no surprise that the power is out.  There are a ton of power lines down.  I can only hope the power comes back on tomorrow, but that is probably wishful thinking. 

Ice Follows Snow

I wish I had pictures to add to this post, but what I can take from my window just doesn't capture the essence . . . and I'm not about to go out in this weather.
It stopped snowing yesterday, but then it started raining, and since it's not above freezing on the ground, the rain hits and turns into ice.  This morning, the neighbors yard across the street looked like a giant ice skating rink.  There is about a 1/4" of ice on everything.  There are downed trees all over our neighborhood, which has also resulted in power outages throughout our area.  Thank goodness we still have our power, for now.
As I type, I can hear trees/branches snapping and then falling, and I keep praying that the wind doesn't start blowing.  For now, the falling branches in our yard are just falling down, away from the house, but it will be a whole different story if the wind starts blowing.  I can also hear chainsaws as people work to clean up the mess.  Ken went into work this afternoon, but his 15 min. commute turned into 45 min. as he had to take continual detours to get to the hospital.
The worst part for me - Ken and I were going to go on a real live date tonight, complete with babysitter and everything.  And what were we going to do?  USU is playing Seattle Univ. tonight and Ken bought us tickets.  I'm not sure what I was looking forward to more: watching the Aggies play?  a night out with Ken without Amelia (Sophia gets to come since she needs to eat)? or the 2 hour driving time that would give us a great opportunity to just talk?

Snow Day

It snowed yesterday.  We got a few inches of very wet snow.  I took Amelia outside to play in the snow while I shoveled the driveway, but she wouldn't keep her gloves on, so she was ready to come in before I got finished with the driveway.

Today we got dumped on.  The news says we got between 12-20 inches of snow today.  Ken stayed home from work today so he took Amelia outside to play in the snow (he's the fun parent) while I shoveled the driveway (I'm the practical one).  The snow wasn't as wet today, and Ken was more entertaining, so Amelia had more fun outside today.  And I should mention that even though I started shoveling, I didn't get very far - there was just too much snow and I am too wimpy.  I'm not sure how we're going to get out of our driveway . . . guess we'll have to wait until it melts.

 This is not a snow bank; Amelia is standing in our driveway.

 We don't own a sled, so while I rested from shoveling, Ken tried giving Amelia a ride on the shovel.  (And again, Amelia didn't/ couldn't keep her gloves on.)

 And this afternoon, we did a quick photo shoot with Sophia in her blessing dress, since we had neglected to do that while we were in Portland.  We were obviously only prepared to take Sophia's picture, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of Amelia with Sophia, even though Amelia wasn't dressed up for the event.

 Sophia loved having her picture taken.

The Perfect Weekend

I had the best weekend . . . and it didn't hurt that it was my birthday too!  We went to Portland on Saturday and spent the weekend at our friend's house.  The Bullock's are like 2nd parents to Ken and I, and grandparents to our girls.  What fun to spend a weekend with the Bullocks.  

On Sunday, we blessed Sophia in the Bullock's ward, and were so excited to have Ken's mom come, as well as our friends the Cinquinis and Ericksens.  Dinner and visiting with everyone made the day even better . . . thanks Ken for the Ben & Jerry's ice cream birthday cake!

We ended the weekend on Monday, stopping at IKEA on our way home to buy a dresser.  We had measured our trunk before stopping, and figured it would be a tight fit, but Ken still had to take it out of the boxes in order to get it all to fit.  Way to go Ken!  

Photo Shoot

I had a few spare moments and took a few pictures of Sophia in the same dress that Amelia wore when she was that age.  I'm too tired to write something cute or funny . . . just wanted to post the pictures.  And speaking of tired - I'm off to grab a quick nap since both girls are asleep at the same time!

Amelia - in case you couldn't tell them apart.

Randomness

• Amelia is into everything lately, and it's driving me crazy.  Some days I can tolerate the diapers, candles, car keys, anything she can reach strewn all over the floor, but most days, I can't.
• I got 2 new callings - I am now the Relief Society pianist and the ward web administrator.  The pianist calling is easy, a no brainer, except for when the chorister picks songs that neither I nor the majority of the women have heard before.  The web administrator I think will also require little of my time, just an occasional update or two.
• Sophia loves to "talk" and I never get tired of "talking" with her or listening to her babble.
• Amelia has a new fetish - she likes to rub her binkie in her hair before putting it in her mouth.
• I am ready for Sophia to be out of our bed (she sleeps in a co-sleeper in our bed), but that means I have to get Amelia to sleep in her toddler bed, and I don't have the energy to put up with the crying as we make the transition.
• Amelia continues to love to hold Sophia on her lap, and she's getting better at not just letting go of Sophia when she's done.
• Sophia has discovered her hands and loves to suck on them . . . but still won't take a binkie (but that may not be so bad, considering Amelia can't do without hers).
• Based solely on the amount of time Amelia plays with her new Christmas presents, I would say that her favorites are her pads of paper (for endless drawing) and her mega-blocks.