Why Ever is Wonderful

I need to blog about my San Francisco/Reno trip, but I'm going to post this one about Ever out of order. Much of it just happened tonight, and it's fresh.

Last Sunday, I asked Ever, "What did you do in Primary today?" She answered, "I hit everyone and punched them. I really did." Hilarious (but only because I know she would never touch another kid).

Later that day, Jim pulled out our Christmas stuff, and we decorated the house. Afterward, Ever asked me, "Do you feel the Spirit?" I said, "Sometimes." She said, "Do you feel the Spirit now? Because I do." I asked why, and she said the Christmas decorations make her feel the Spirit. I told her that she helps me feel the Spirit because I love our family so much, and I'm so grateful that we can be together forever.

Monday, I was telling her about how the Silversteins do this "breaking and entering" thing every December with an organization that helps families get out of homelessness. The Silversteins are assigned a family and on a specified day are given access to that family's place. They deck it out in Christmas decorations and leave food, presents, and whatever other items would help the family. I told Ever we were going to donate a little wreath we have, along with some food for Christmas breakfast, toiletries, etc. Ever likes the wreath and didn't want to give it to this family. She wanted me to buy them stuff but not give them ours. I asked what Jesus would want us to do. Would he want us to give some of what we have to help people? She said, "No. He wouldn't. You have to do what I say, opparently." And then she kept saying "opparently," like "apparently" but pronounced "oh-parently." It was pretty funny.

Wren has been doing this thing for a few days where instead of flipping onto her belly and going to sleep when I put her down, she stays on her back and screams and screams and screams. Bizarre. Wednesday and Thursday she refused to nap, although she did OK at night after crying for a little while. This was Wrenzo yesterday after screaming for at least an hour instead of napping:

     

Today at least she did finally nap some. Then this evening, Ever came up with me when I put Wren to bed. Ever and I sang to her a bit, and she was calm. I put her down, and she started screaming. I rushed Ever out of the room and closed Wren's door most of the way. Ever stood right outside it and sang "Let it Go" from Frozen, rather loudly, trying to calm Wren. So ineffective, but so wonderful.

Back downstairs, I told Ever I had invited Ella, Kara, Christian, Luc, Aven, and Lelei to her birthday party. I told her we want it to be a fun day with her friends. Then I told her I had asked her friends not to bring presents. (Nobody does no-present parties here. I'm trying to start a revolution, although I know it's doomed.) Ever started crying. I let her cry a second, and then she let me explain. I told her that she would still get presents from Daddy and me and other family. Also at least one of her friends (Ella) supposedly really wants to bring her a present, so I told the invitees that if they really felt the need to bring something, they could bring something they already had that they didn't have to buy at the store. So Ella, and maybe others, may bring something like that. I told Ever we want her to have toys and things to play with. We love her so much. But sometimes kids who have too much stuff start to care only about stuff instead of caring about other people. We want her birthday party to be about her love for her friends and their love for her, not about stuff. Also, some parents need to spend their money on their house, food, clothes, and things like that, and I don't want them to feel as if they need to spend money on presents. Somewhere in there, I repeated that Ever would get presents from Daddy and me and other family, including probably the Wilsons. She said she had already asked Auntie Trisha to give her presents. I feel bad about this, but I said something like, "Why did you do that?" She just started crying and said, "I didn't know!" I tried to comfort her, told her it was OK, and said, "They like to treat us like family and probably want to buy you presents." I also got emotional telling her we have so much. We have this wonderful house, clothes, all the food we want, everything we need, and so many kids in the world don't have food, clothes, or even mommies or daddies. We have so much. We are so lucky. Then Ever added another reason to request no gifts: "And we wouldn't have anyplace to put it." I said, "Yeah, we could fit a little bit more in the playroom but not much." "Yeah," she said, "we could fit a little more in the playroom and upstairs, but not much." And she was totally fine. I cried and told her how amazing she is and how much we love her. She is the sweetest, sweetest thing.

After the birthday talk, we had dinner. I was trying to clean up burrito leftovers, so I had a second burrito even though I was pretty full. Not long after I started eating it, I said, "I'm too full. I got too much food." I ended up telling Ever how eating too much, or eating food that's bad for you, does bad things to your body. I started explaining how your heart pumps blood all over your body, and every part of your body needs that blood to work. But eating too much, or eating bad food, makes this stuff in your body that clogs up the little tubes that go to your heart (my medical knowledge is seriously lacking). Her eyes got big, and she said earnestly, "You shouldn't eat that. Don't eat anymore!" She so solemnly tried to convince me to stop eating. She asked if my heart would stop working. I said no, I would have to eat a lot more than that. I told her I was almost done and would just finish it, but I wouldn't eat any more after that and would do better tomorrow. She said in her serious voice, "Don't eat breakfast!" She thought I would still be full in the morning, and I agreed that if I were, I wouldn't eat breakfast.

After we finished eating, we sat down with paper and a pen. I drew a person who originally maybe was Tutu, but then I gave her freckles, so she wasn't Tutu anymore. I drew a heart and veins and arteries, and we talked further about that. (Jim's going to have to give her this lesson again but with accurate medical facts.) Ever said, "After tomorrow, I won't eat treats for the rest of the month." During dinner she was begging me to let her have a gingerbread cookie for breakfast (we made some with Luc today), and we also talked about how she'd get a treat at the ward Christmas party tomorrow night. I'm not sure which of those things (or both) made her carve out tomorrow. In any case, she doesn't really grasp how long a month is and will be begging me for treats every day, but it was cute.

We didn't spend all of dinner talking about serious subjects like heart disease. At one point, she said, "I heard something. Like a toot, but I didn't toot." I realized they were bombing on Camp Pendleton, and that's what she heard/felt. We had a good laugh about that.

I just really think she's the cutest, sweetest, funniest kid. I texted Jim after she went to bed and said, "Our eldest is extraordinary."

Halloween

Our ward Halloween party was the night before Halloween. Ever went early with Jim to help set up. I was going to take Wren and meet them there. Wren lost it as I was getting ready to go. She was so tired. She's a six-o'clock-bedtime kind of girl, and the 6:30 start time just wasn't going to work for her. I stayed home and put her to bed. Later, my visiting teachee and friend, Gwen Holm, sent me this picture of Ever with Gwen's mom, Betsy Young:

I was pleased that Ever would sit with Betsy. Betsy has severe dementia, so although she loves kids, I don't know if she ever really remembers Ever specifically.

On Halloween we had dinner at Paul and Susan Oddou's with them and the Goodwins, and then we all went trick-or-treating in the Oddous' neighborhood. This is the only shot I got of the kids before we set out:

L to R: Lincoln and Addi Goodwin, Ever (as Elsa from Frozen, of course), & Luc

It's impossible to describe how over-the-top the houses in that neighborhood are with the decorations, and my pictures don't do them justice. This place was Pirates-of-the-Caribbean themed, complete with music from the movies playing outside:

This house had giant spiders, webs, a ghost, and all sorts of things all over it, along with a movie being projected onto a screen on the right side of the yard:

One guy sat on his porch and played his electric guitar all night. The music was blasting through his speakers. Wrenzo slept through it, though. Another house had a big popcorn maker on the driveway, and the residents passed out bags of popcorn.

That street was a zoo. I don't remember Halloween's being a very big deal when I was growing up, but some people here REALLY get into it.

Back at the house, Ever and Luc sorted their candy and did some trading:

Jim told Ever that Halloween is her night, and she can stay up as late as she wants. We had mentioned the possibility of meeting up with the Karners in Rancho del Oro (the crazy-decorated neighborhood we went to last year) after we finished with the Oddous. Jim and I really just wanted to go home and were very pleased when Ever seemed to forget the whole Karner thing. Jim was so pleased, in fact, that he let Ever watch some short videos when we got home. She was a zombie, but that kid can fight sleep like nobody's business:

Wren wore the Halloween onesie that Nana gave Ever when she was a baby. Festive enough for a seven-month-old, right?

Those pictures show Wrenzo doing her favorite thing: sticking out her tongue and curling it up over her upper lip. She does it all the time and has for many months. It's unfortunate I don't have any better pictures of it.

That concludes Halloween 2015.

Wrenzo Grows - 6 Months Plus

Wrenzo had her six-month doctor's appointment right after she turned seven months old. (We got a little behind.) She weighed 15 lbs, 14.5 oz - about the 30th percentile - and was in the 85th percentile for height. Tall and light! Her head circumference plummeted to about the 37th percentile. I was glad about the downsizing of the head, as long as her skull and brain are still growing OK, and the doctor wasn't worried.

Right around her six-month birthday, she got her two bottom teeth. (Now, at eight months old, her top two teeth have broken through.)

She also got the sitting thing down:

She was spending lots of time in her "lab," as I like to call it:

She swiveled and bounced and hit the toys around like a madwoman. She'd keep busy in her station for long periods of time. It was very fun to watch her work. (Today, she protests when I put her in that thing.) 

One day, a few days after her seven-month birthday, I set Wren down on her belly in her little pink play area and didn't watch her for a minute. I heard her screaming as if she were in pain, but I couldn't figure out how she possibly could've hurt herself. Then I found her like this, stuck up on the support piece under the table:

She hasn't made any progress on the crawling front, but she sure can spin herself around and push herself backward.  As evidenced by the picture above, she can slide amazingly fast on the hardwood floor. I need to be a little careful now because she's semi-mobile in a weird way:

She is so sweet and funny. She always smiles back, and she laughs a lot - especially when she's being mischievous. She likes to hold onto things I don't want her to hold onto - like her diaper when I'm trying to take it off or her legs when I'm trying to put them down to put a diaper on. Then she'll laugh and laugh when I try to pull whatever it is out of her hands. 

She also eats up everything her sister does. It's hard to feed Wren when Ever is moving around the room because Wren's head will jerk all over the place trying to follow Ever.

Wren is working on her communication. It started with clucking. Then she began shaking her head. It's pretty cute. This was tonight (chronology be darned) when Ever tried to feed Wren and Wren was not hungry:

I came home from San Francisco/Reno last week to Wren saying "dada" in the sweetest little voice. She has no idea what it means, but still - it's progress. 

She's also crying when I put her down or do something she doesn't like. I used to be able to do whatever I wanted with her, but she's getting a will and letting me know about it. She's still good-natured, though, so she usually stops crying after a second.

She still sports the best cheeks in the business, and they get a lot of love:

Because I have one other post-Virginia, pre-Halloween picture, here's the best big sister, practicing her baby-carrying skills:

(Ever has at least two babies in there. Maybe three.) She actually likes on occasion to hold Wren in the air and walk around with her. Wren loves it, but it makes me nervous. 

Ever continues to be a loving, sweet, helpful big sister. These girls are adorable together, and we love them to pieces.

Virginia is for Family

On Thursday, October 15, we left for Virginia. Packing and preparing stressed me out, as always, and I was extra-short on sleep before we left. But we made it.

The girls did well on the flights. (We had a short layover in San Francisco.) When we booked our tickets, we couldn't get seats together on any leg except San Diego to San Francisco - meaning Ever was going to sit in a row by herself on three flights. I had bought a few "presents" from the dollar store for her to open on the flights (coloring/activity books, a calculator, stickers). In anticipation of her spending hours on planes flanked by strangers, we had also gotten five videos from the library. Somehow we ended up all together on every one of our flights without even having to switch seats with anyone. Ever didn't even open all her presents during our travels; she was mostly just interested in watching Frozen (and Doc McStuffins on the way home) on my laptop.

Cornyee, being the world-class hostess that she is, had done much in the way of preparation for our arrival. She had many ideas about things to do and had lots of amazing things to eat, including a delicious birthday cake that was waiting for us when we arrived. We ate and got the girls to bed. They were happy but ridiculously exhausted:

Wren had a hard time that first night, but she got better after that. The last few nights we were there she slept through the night, and she's been pretty much keeping it up since we got home. Hooray for 12-hour stretches!

Cornyee helped lots with the kids while we were there. She fed weird-haired Wrenzo breakfast Friday morning:

I showed Courtney one of the Aunt Jemima headresses that I ordered on Amazon and promptly regretted. (I was desperate for some sort of hair thing that would fit Wrenzo's giant head, as I couldn't find any in stores.) Turns out the knot is still huge, so I couldn't bring myself to let Wrenzo wear it in public:

Jim and I had registered for the Baltimore half-marathon happening on Saturday, October 17. Jim originally wanted to do the marathon, but he didn't enjoy (to put it mildly) his long training runs. I encouraged him to run the half with me because it would be a lot more fun to run together. So the half it was. We had to go to Baltimore on Friday to pick up our race packets. The girlies passed out in the car:

Jim ran in to get the race packets, and then we found parking by the harbor and changed a happy Wren in the trunk:

First stop was Shake Shack for yummy burgers and ice cream. Ever was happy about the treat, even though she struck a zombie pose for the photo:

After lunch we walked around the harbor and enjoyed the glorious weather. We also enjoyed the bus/limo-loads of men and women dressed in very fancy (and, for most of the females, incredibly tasteless and revealing) evening attire who were all over the harbor area going to or coming from the restaurants. I was intrigued, and we wondered what sort of prom-for-grownups might be occurring. Eventually Bags asked one of the women what was going on, and she said it was an annual red-carpet event for the lifestyle club they all belong to. We thanked her for the explanation and then wondered what a lifestyle club is. Google taught us that it's a group of swingers. I became more intrigued but also appalled and disgusted beyond words. What is wrong with people?

Here's a harbor shot, not featuring any of the swingers:

Wrenzo loves sucking on the wrap:

We enjoyed the Barnes & Noble (formerly a power plant) and purchased a birthday card there for Ever's preschool friend who was having a birthday party while we were gone:

We got home late Friday night, and Jim and I got up really early Saturday morning to get to Baltimore for the race. Cwonza and Dustique readied the girls in the morning and came to meet us as we finished.

The race was a bit of a bust. When I first thought about running, I worried about my knees. I tried to run consistently for several weeks before the race - two short runs during the week (3-5 miles) and a longer run on weekends. I did fine until our 9-miler. Then I started to get shin splints and became confused about how to proceed. I always feel as if my knees hold up better when I run consistently and build up slowly. After the shin splints began, I wondered if I should (a) stop running to spare the shins but risk the knees, (b) keep running to continue to build up the knees but risk the shins, or (c) not do the race? I decided to register and hope for the best, and I didn't run much the last two weeks. So - back to the race. I felt great at first. The weather was cool (probably close to 50 degrees when we started), and I don't ever feel as if I'm exerting myself when I'm not hot. We registered for a 10-minute-mile pace, and we started off way faster than that. I didn't feel as if we were going very fast, but the pack was crowded and everyone was blocking our way. We weaved and passed people. My biggest complaint was my bladder. My daughters really wrecked me. I needed a port-a-potty pretty immediately after we started, so that was unfortunate. We stopped as soon as we found one. I pretty much stopped at all the bathrooms, and there were lines, and it was annoying. But other than that, we were doing great. The race goes through downtown Baltimore and through a lot of ghetto. It was interesting to see neighborhoods we would never otherwise see. People were out on their stoops or standing by the road (or sitting in wheelchairs) watching us go by. We passed dilapidated buildings and people were who totally drugged up. We went down a block or two where many of the row houses sported signs saying, "We must stop killing each other." I thought about the recent controversy surrounding the Baltimore police and their treatment of blacks. As we passed all the cops lining the race course, I thought how awful it would be to be a cop in that city.

About mile seven, the race took us down around Lake Montebello. And then my knee crapped out. I tried to limp along for a second, but once it's done, it's done. I get excruciating pain that I just can't run through. Then it was really sad because we had to walk over 5 miles. That's a really long, boring walk. Periodically I tried to run again, but it just wasn't possible. After a few miles we came upon a Popeye's fast-food restaurant. Jim asked if I wanted to go in since the race was a bust anyway. I said, "Sure, I could use the bathroom." On our way in, we passed a lady who was heading out. She looked at us and our race t-shirts. She looked confused for a moment. Then she smiled as I laughed, and we shared a moment. Inside, I used the restroom while Jim ordered seasoned fries and biscuits. He used the restroom while I ate the fries. He came out and ate a biscuit quickly, and then we took the other biscuit on the road.

Those miles we had to walk were really embarrassing. Since we had to stay to the right, we were next to all the cheering spectators. It was awful having them all tell us we looked great, keep it up, we were so close to the finish, etc. Pathetic. It was so frustrating not being able to run when my body felt completely fine but for my dumb knee. Jim said we had to run across the finish line, at least. "I can't let my girls see me this way." I was able to jog the last little stretch, and then we were reunited with Bags, Dunford, and the girls.

Bags took these pictures of Wrenzo in the car while they waited for their train to Baltimore:

And this one of Miss Leigh on the train:

Looking amazing after the race:

We all took the train back to where we'd parked. Jim and I changed at the car, and we headed to Annapolis. (Good thing we hadn't run harder/longer, or we would have been more in need of showers.) Cornyee's military ID got us VIP parking at the Naval Academy, where we enjoyed an interesting tour. I don't know what J. Paul Jones looked like, but I'm pretty sure Ever's cuter:

Ever got a ride from Uncle Dun Dun:

This is where they used to practice putting guns together or something like that. Now it's an event hall:

Court wore Wren all day, which was nice for me.

The hall contains a replica of one of the Wright brothers' planes:

They did some exciting flight right near that spot. I had just recently read a book to Ever about the Wright brothers (from the value-book series Jim bought), so that was fun. Ever was excited:

This torpedo had something to do with the Japanese and World War II:

Submarine memorial:

Dustin chatted up the tour guide as we walked. So cute:

This is where the head of the school lives:

The tomb of John Paul Jones. We learned all about him, but I don't remember a thing other than he was French and important:

We saw at least three wedding parties. The guide said you can't be married as a student, but tons of couples come back to get married after graduation. One of them has to be an alum.

Each year the upperclassmen grease up this obelisk and put an object on the top. The incoming class has to form a human ladder and climb to the top to remove the object. One year they decided not to lube it up, and the incoming class got it done in 14 minutes or something. So they went back to lubing.

This amazing building is where all the students live:

Some visiting Canadian students were getting ready to play some music:

The memorial to fallen midshipmen made me sad.

 But this picture of the twin men cheers me up:

There were murals of famous sea battles around the room:

This building also contained a wall of photos of a bunch of famous Naval Academy alumni, including Jimmy Carter, John McCain, and Ross Perot. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture that wall. John McCain was pretty good-looking in his day.

Cute street where only faculty who are officers can live (mostly duplexes):

After the tour, we walked around the athletic facility, and I reminisced about my diving days:

We enjoyed some seafood in a really cute section of Annapolis and then headed home. Ever enjoyed some ice cream before bed. No drop left behind:

Sunday morning Bags made us waffles and homemade whipped cream for breakfast, making all of Ever's dreams come true. Church was at 1 P.M. Wrenzo and Coco were looking fab:

In sacrament meeting, we sat behind a couple I recognized. Turns out it was Becca Rowan. Her brother, Jamin, was in my geology class at BYU, and I had been a huge fan of him. Then I got to know Becca in the singles' ward in L.A. I recognized her husband from the singles' ward, too, although I hadn't really known him. Small world.

After church, Ever put Dustin in jail in the back room. He tried to come out of jail at one point, and she cried. So he stayed in jail a really long time. When she finally let him out, he put her in "Dun Dun jail" on the couch. Then it became "Dun Dun double jail," "Dun Dun ultimate jail," etc. To get out, Ever had to answer questions like, "What is 1 plus 1?, "What is your favorite color?," etc. Fun was had by all.

We had dreams of going for an evening walk on Sunday, but we didn't make it out. I think I took a nap that afternoon. Wrenzo and I had come down with a cold. (This sickness eventually spread to everyone and ended up plaguing us Kringels for about a month.) Meanwhile Cokes made us some delicious homemade pizza for dinner. We ended up just eating, hanging out, and watching the movie Rudy. 

Coco and Dun Dun rented a minivan so we could all drive together to Shenandoah on Monday. (They had to drive a ways to pick up the van and drop it off. So nice of them.) Wrenzo got her warm gear on:

We hit up the Apple House for some apple doughnuts and cider on our way into Shenandoah. We'd hoped to get in a couple of hikes, but with a late start and kiddies who ended up melting down, we just did one. It was lovely to get out, though. The park was beautiful, and we enjoyed the leaves. 'Twas a gorgeous day. 

Wrenzo was hungry when we got to the top. My elfin ear glowed while I fed her:

Jim tried to bring back shenaniquinning:

We left early Tuesday morning. Despite the very early departure, Coco made us Trader Joe's chocolate croissants for breakfast. We took Ever's to-go, and she enjoyed it in the airport:

Jim and Wrenzo dozed on the plane. Ever, who was totally exhausted, forced herself to stay awake so she could watch movies. She blinked about every second, her eyes were so tired. But she didn't give in. 

She watched a Doc McStuffins movie and loved it. Jim let her start it over again. Shortly after she started it again, we began our descent. She threw a fit about having to stop the movie. She was crying. Wrenzo was crying. I was very unhappy with Miss Leigh. I guess I have to take some blame, though, since I had just totally sleep-deprived her for a week. 

The trip went way too fast, as trips generally do, but we were so glad we got to go. It was fun to see the Homers' cute new house and spend some time together. They are wonderful with the kidlets and are such generous and wonderful hosts. I think this should be an annual event.