Mostly January

Every January 1, the Silversteins have a big tamale-making party. (Jimmy is part Mexican, so I think that's the inspiration.) They munch on various niblets and spend hours making millions of tamales, which they then cook and deliver to friends. We were invited for the first time this year. Wrenzo was well-behaved. Her tongue keeps her busy:

The Karners, Jim, and Ever hard at work:

I mostly just hung out and didn't help much, but I did make a few so I could say I did. That night the Silversteins delivered a bag of tamales to us, along with some salsa to serve with them. They were really delicious. Ever even loved them, despite the spice.

One day I was doing dishes when Ever came up to me and started trying sort of discreetly to get me to look at her. I didn't know why. She finally said, "Look at me when we're talking." I looked down, and there were her little bare buns. She had turned her back to me, and her britches were right below her bottom. Sort of a had-to-be-there moment, but it was hilarious. She said her pants had fallen down, and she thought it was funny.

Ever loves making cards for people. She wrote this one for Wren all by herself. She asked me how to spell each word; I told her the letters, and she wrote them. I couldn't believe she knew how to write all the letters without even copying them. It's a little hard to follow where she continued each line/word, but it's all there. She did an amazing job.  "Dear Wren, thank you for being sweet."

I can't remember what we did this day to wear her out, but she almost never falls asleep outside her room. Sleeping beauty:

I was recently converted to the Turbie Twist. It makes the post-shower routine easier and faster. Ever likes to borrow it:

Ever honed her photo-taking skills:

As soon as we got back from Christmas, we got sick. (When I say "we," I mean primarily the littles.) Then we got sick with something else. I couldn't go to work for two weeks, thanks to the girls' high fevers, then some diarrhea and vomiting. The vomiting inspired me to french braid Ever's hair for the first time - to keep it out of her face in case she threw up again.

When we got back from Christmas, we discovered a bug infestation. These brown bugs with rarely-seen wings seemed to be coming in and dying in droves. Every day, multiple times a day, I was cleaning up carcasses:

I kept thinking it was some freak seasonal thing that would stop. Eventually I got Terminix involved. After way too many weeks, as well as multiple Terminix visits and telephone calls, the technician discovered that our firewood was infested. The fireplace and wood box were cleaned out, and the bugs disappeared. Hallelujah.

Jim has finished a play area in the backyard. He hung a baby swing on the hanging-plant hooks, and Wrenzo laughed so much when she went for her first ride.

Ever loves wearing my shoes. She looks so much like my cousin Nicole's daughter Avenlee in this picture:

I haven't been good at taking and posting videos of Wrenzo's various modes of transportation. This was the first way she started getting around:

Special bonuses in that video: 

1) A glimpse of one of Wrenzo's first tricks: clapping. She automatically clapped when I said, "Yea!" One other trick she learned around the same time was touching her head. We'd say, "Wrenzo, touch your hair" or "touch your head," and she'd clap her hands to the top of her head. Once I was using that to try to get her hands out of the way when I was feeding her. I told her to touch her hair, and up went her hands. I started to go in with the spoon, but without thinking I said, "Yea!" because she'd done a good job touching her head. Down came her hands, clapping right into the spoon. Oops. I forgot that she always claps when I say "Yea!" 

2) Ever's bubble voice asking, "What tastes different about the crackers?" Her voice is so great.

Sometimes Wrenzo is so cute I can't handle it:

She gets into cupboards now:

(This winter she has also suffered from dry weather-induced red cheeks, featured, along with a lanolin slather, in the above picture.)

I braided Ever's hair for church. Normally she doesn't like it all up like that, but she was a little pleased that she looked like Anna from Frozen. The picture doesn't really do her justice. She looked so grown-up:

Dustin told Courtney he didn't think she could go two weeks without desserts. She took the challenge, and I joined her. Since I generally each chocolate and junk all day every day, I was actually amazed that with Bags' support, it wasn't so bad. I had plenty of sugar in my meals and drank fruit juice when I was wanting a treat, but I did it. After the two weeks were up, I thought I'd have dessert only on the nights we've designated as "treat nights" for Ever - Sunday, Monday, and Friday. I did that for about a week. At this point, though, I'm back to my old self. Wish I could lose the last few pounds of baby weight, but my compulsions are hard to overcome.

We were on a family run in Carlsbad one Saturday morning, and I saw a sign for an outdoor showing of Frozen on January 31. Obviously a daddy/daughter date was in order. I sent them off with beanies, jackets, blankets, and hot chocolate. I took this of Ever before they left:

Jim took this of her while they were there:

I was a little jealous that Jim got to take her - until they got home. When he walked in, Jim said, "You have no idea what I've been through." Shortly after the movie began, so did the rain. Ever refused to leave. They watched the whole movie in the rain. Jim said many others stayed for a lot of it, but almost nobody else was left at the very end. Jim was drenched through all his clothes and was freezing. Ever for some reason refused to put on her jacket and wore only her long-sleeved t-shirt. Although Jim was completely miserable, I think she considered the evening a big success.

Lastly, some Ever quotes:

1) She was singing one day and making up the weirdest lyrics. This is what I caught: "I can be a social prize. I can know the Lord. With angelic hosts proclaim..."

2) She was riding her scooter and kept saying, "Go faster, scooter! Thank you!" I thought it was so nice that she thanked it.

3) We were talking about baby names. Jim asked, "What about Erin?" Ever said, "Errands are trips. Why would you want to name your child after a trip?"

4) "Mama, sometimes it makes me sad because other children have earrings."  (She wants earrings, too.) I don't know why she always says "child" and "children" when I say "kid(s)," but it's adorable.

5) Ever is OBSESSED with baptism. She talks pretty much every day about getting baptized, when she can get baptized, etc. Almost every bedtime, she requests that we sing the Primary song "When I Am Baptized (I Like to Look for Rainbows)." She almost always wants to talk about baptism for family home evening. Once, she said something about how you can repent when you get baptized. I said, "Yes, you can repent and be forgiven when you get baptized, so you're all clean. But what about after you get baptized? Do you think Daddy and I have been perfect since we got baptized?" She said, "No. You can get a little bit baptized when you take the sacrament." (I incorporated that into the presidency message I gave in Relief Society this month.) Today she asked how many birthdays till she can get baptized. I told her four. She said, "Four plus four equals baptism."

6) Tutu bought Ever a Frozen memory game on their post-Christmas shopping spree. When she pays attention, Ever is really good at it. I think she's played it every day since she got it, usually multiple times. She has certain cards that are her favorites. Others - the ones of the mean character, Hans - she and Jim have designated "P.U. cards." When she gets those matches, she keeps the cards face down because they're stinky, yucky P.U. cards.