Wet PJs and the Importance of Attitude

I had to relay this account, as it was such a great learning experience for me. Jeff was at work tonight, so I was home alone with the girls. After dinner I gave them a bath. They, like most kids, love the bath and after the actual bathing portion want to stay and play until the water is cold. Tonight, as I usually do, I took Helen out first while Felicity finished up. I dried Helen off, put her in a new diaper, put lotion on her, combed her scalp (heehee), and put on her PJ's. As soon as I put her down on the floor she laughed hysterically and ran to the bathroom. As I grabbed Felicity's towel and walked toward the bathroom, I yelled out to Felicity to make sure Helen didn't get wet. Her reply was "she's already wet". As I turned the corner I saw that Helen had climbed back into the full tub (I didn't know she could do that) and was happily playing again! I was initially really mad. The bathroom floor was wet, her PJ's were soaking, and a new diaper was ruined, but I looked at her radiant giggling face and recalled the words of President Monson in a recent conference. He said "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved". So I laughed too and grabbed my camera because one day my babies won't be babies anymore and I'll regret not capturing these moments. I felt impressed to share my feelings about the importance of having a positive and patient attitude with our loved ones, and embracing moments to love and relish the beautiful gift we've been entrusted with, Heavenly Father's precious children. My feelings echo that which President Monson felt when he said: "Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, 'They do not love that do not show their love.' We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."

Merry Christmas!!

We had a great Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my family and had our traditional Mexican feast, which is what I always look forward to each year. The girls had a ball and got some really fun things from Nana and Papa as well as some clothes for the coming year which I am very grateful for. I was surprised that my brother and his wife decided to come as they have not participated the last few years. For whatever reason, my sister-in-law doesn't like the girls and really doesn't like me, which always makes things rather awkward, but this year took the cake! She put together HUGE gift baskets for my grandparents and parents with all sorts of lavish items and gifts, they were truly impressive. We got a 6 inch fruit cake "log". I can laugh about it now, but I was really hurt, which was without doubt the intention of the gift. My grandmother said that they bragged about finding the "oldest, most stale" fruit cake log in the bunch.  Oh, well!  They're only robbing themselves of a potentially great relationship with me and the kids. Any excitement my mom and grandma may have had over the extravagant gifts was lost by their disappointment in their poor treatment of me and my family. Alas!

Christmas morning was a lot of fun too. We tortured the kids for the first hour of the morning. We watched the nativity story, had a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate breakfast and then Jeff read the Luke account of the first Christmas. When he was finished Felicity asked him, "Dad, can we please just open our presents now?" Any doubts I had about our "homemade Christmas" were quickly dispersed as each moma-made gift was opened and then ooh and ahhed over. What a blessing it was to not have guilt over not being able to buy the girls lots of gifts.

In the evening we had the Tucson Davidsons over for dinner. We had a lovely time, it was so low-key and enjoyable; we played games into the evening. I only wished they lived closer so that we could hang out more often, as I know that gas is expensive and things are tight!

We had a very nice Christmas. We missed the family that we didn't get to see, but that's life, hopefully we'll have opportunities to see everyone soon!

Graduation!

So yesterday was my graduation day and what a great day it was. It ended up that my dad had to work and my grandparents weren't up for driving down to the University, so Jeff and the kids and I picked up my mom and headed for campus. About half way there, I decided to bag it! We took some pictures on campus and then we went out for breakfast instead! The kids wouldn't have enjoyed the ceremony and they don't give you the diploma at the ceremony anyway, so we had a great breakfast and I got home and prepared for my open house. The open house was great, I actually had 13 people come, not to mention the 20 kids! It was a full house, and a lot of fun. I know we live a ways away from everyone not in Sahuarita, so I was grateful for those that traversed the distance to come celebrate with us.

Christmas preparations are coming right along. We're doing an exclusively home-made Christmas this year and I think it will be the best yet. It's a win-win because I really enjoy crafting, baking, and sewing, and it saves us some money.

With school behind me, the job search begins! It was my intention to teach; however, we really need something a little more lucrative until Jeff can take over the earning for the family. I'm going to try and talk to some individuals in the ward and see if I can get on at Raytheon. Teaching is still a very viable option, and one that is certainly appealing down the road when the kids get in school. I'm excited to be able to provide for us for a little while regardless of what path we go down.

The kids are doing well. Felicity is as clever as ever and has really begun to assert her personality. We have had to try some new techniques in discipline to counteract some of the negative aspects of one asserting themselves! However, positive reinforcement seems to be the key. She really desires, like every child I suppose, to know that she is loved and that her good behavior is appreciated. She is so excited to be going to Primary next year, mostly because she has wanted to sing in Primary Program for the last two years! She's really ready and I think the transition will be easy. We can't wait for Helen to start nursery! The 9-12 month stage is such a challenge at church! She is doing great though. She chatters up a storm and occasionally a real word comes out. It seems that Felicity spoke a lot more at this age, but I think being a second child makes things different. She is definitely different than Felicity was, she's very cautious of strangers and has a select few people she will willingly go to. She loves Felicity though.  A couple of weeks ago my mom took Felicity out and Helen was here alone with us and she didn't know what to do with herself.

We're having our second annual gingerbread house FHE activity Monday night and I'm looking forward to that. Felicity wanted to take one house to the elderly couple who live next door. I think it will be a real treat for them. We're doing a Christmas dinner with Chris and Emily and Richard and Beth and their families. I'm really looking forward to that too. I love the holidays!

Time Marches On

Time is really flying by! I have been tired with the end of the semester here and preparing for the holidays; I've been burning the candle at both ends. Because Jeff is home when I'm at school, and I'm home when he's at work, we find ourselves staying up pretty late to steal a few hours of time for ourselves. I have two more ASL finals on Tuesday and Wednesday, a lab presentation on neutrophils and recombinant proteins with regard to dairy cow health on Tuesday, and then a lab final on the 14th. Then I'm done! I did really well throughout the semester so I don't have to take any other finals. I'm graduating Friday the 18th and we'll be having an open house-type party that evening. The only down side is I have to seriously start looking for a job like a responsible adult! I have been finding some time to work on Christmas presents in my spare time. I made Helen a bag for sacrament meeting that I hope to fill with fun, Sunday appropriate activities. I am really proud of the design. The girls love to watch Veggie Tales on Sunday and I was afraid if I tried to copy the characters they would look hokey, but it really turned out well. The only thing I have to worry about is if Felicity wants a Veggie Tales bag too, hers has butterflies on it.

Felicity continues to be quite the chatter-box. Her new favorite banter is to repeat phrases from movies. It's really very cute. Helen is very smart, although I wish she said more. She is really less of a baby and more of a toddler every day, although she is just as bald as the day she was born. She brushes her scalp and tries to put hair bows on her head when I do Felicity's hair; she knows she's missing out! I can't believe she'll be in nursery at the first of the year and Felicity will be starting Primary. Felicity is ready, two weeks ago she told me she didn't want to go to nursery anymore, she wasn't a baby, she wanted to go to Primary with the big kids.  She can't wait to participate in the Primary Program, she is such a little diva. We're really proud of her, she has learned the first three Articles of Faith and does really well.  She has problems with the word "transgression" and it usually comes out as "trench-trench-on".

Here are some pictures of the bag I made for Helen and some hair clips I made for Felicity as Christmas gifts.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was FABULOUS. The best since I've been married and fixing. We got together with our good friends, Jan and Victor Bryson, and split the menu in half.  I also invited my friend Tammy from school to join us.  Jeff and Victor brined and then fried the turkey which was delicious!  I love cooking from scratch. I made cranberry cherry relish, garlic mashed potatoes, fresh sweet potatoes, green bean casserole with fresh green beans, and pumpkin pie from our Halloween pumpkins. My favorite was the pecan pie, which turned out great. This year I made my own pie crusts which were kind of a pain, but well worth it! We ate around 1:30 pm and then had invited Jeff's in-town siblings to come for dessert and game night. We had a blast. We played games until 11 PM! We missed Beth and Richard because Warren was sick. It was a great time.

This afternoon was the Bryson's little girl's birthday party and Felicity's gift was a cake. I made a completely edible tinker bell tea kettle cottage with tree branch, log, for-get-me-nots, awning, leaf-roof, and with beautiful edible foliage all around the base. It has to be my favorite so far! The girls had a blast dressing up at the party and then they watched the new Tinkerbell movie. I have so many things left to do before Christmas! I think maybe we'll start decorating the house the first weekend of December.

In the Beginning

I'm embarking on a new adventure!  Inspired and encouraged by my sister-in-law Tracy, I've decided to begin a family blog to chronicle the adventures of the Davidson family.  I hope that this blog will serve as part of my contribution to my own family history; that it will be part of the legacy that I leave my posterity.  I want to share our lives with those we love and those who just wander in and out of our lives.  I want my children to be able to look back on the pages that will be written and remember a life of love with good times and hard times.  I want them to enjoy the pictures and reminisce about their adventures and share with their loved ones what their childhood was like.  I hope that they are able to feel the love that I have for them through its pages.  I want them to remember that Love is [was] Spoken Here.

So I'm getting really excited about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I have all my recipes together and I've done my shopping. Maybe I'm mostly excited about only having class on Monday and Tuesday. I checked my planner and I only have two weeks of classes left, including the coming short week. I can't believe it! I bought my cap and gown on Friday and picked up my tickets for graduation; it's really happening, finally! I'm very proud of myself, and I'm grateful for my beloved husband who has really stepped up to the plate and taken over the house while I'm at school. I almost feel a little jealous. Last week I came home and he had baked home-made bread from our food storage, then this morning he made tortillas. I take comfort in knowing it won't be forever! I have to start looking for a job and preparing to take my Arizona educator's exam. I'm already registered for a teaching certification program at Pima Community College which will be done online in the evenings for A LOT less than the master's program the University of Arizona offers. Jeff is registered for classes at Pima for the spring semester.

I have been diligently working on home-made Christmas gifts and have sewn eight crayon keepers as well as a baby blanket and some other things here and there. I'm trying to stay busy!