The Gap

Yes, there has been another giant gap between blogs lately, and I apologize. I should learn to take responsibility, but I have yet another excuse. We switched Internet carriers, and it took almost a full week for the new carrier to get in and hook us up. We are up and running now, so here is what you missed.

Last week after church it took forever for us to get out the door to go home because Lilly had to hug half a dozen different young men. Every few steps a boy would call her name and throw his arms open. These are all boys who love Lilly and think she thinks they are her #1. When we got in the car she was all smiles as she told me "those boys were fighting about me!" And so it begins.

Rachel had her second karate tournament on Saturday. She has been practicing and practicing for this one and was very excited. Until we got there. The turnout for this one was much higher than the last, and unlike the last one, the blackbelts got to compete first, which was a little intimidating. After a few of the blackbelts performed Rachel looked up at me with a slightly panicked expression and said "I need more practice!" Her and Shelby stepped out for some last minute practicing, but it was Rachel's turn pretty much right away. She outright, flat-out, emphatically refused to go on. No amount of reassurance, begging, coaxing, and bribing from us, or cheering from the audience would make her change her mind. Rachel cried and cried on the way out to the car. She wanted to perform, but just was too nervous. Her instructor offered to let her come back and compete in the sparring with another student about her age, and after much thought, and a little snack, she decided to give it a go. There were no nerves this time around, and considering that she was unprepared to spar, she did OK. The other girl she was sparring with won, but Rachel got a second place medal (out of two) that she is very proud of.

Carson is still working on his colors. When I ask him about colors he is unsure of he says "Umm...not green". As in, "I don't know what color it is, but I do know it isn't green." He is also full of surprises. I mean that in the sense of him hiding things from me and then yelling "surprise!" I keep telling people I am not potty training him yet because he is still pretty young. Someone asked me how old he was the other day and I said, "Two-and-a-half, but he will be three in February." As soon as I said it, I realized that is less than a month away. All of the sudden my two-year-old is a near three-year-old.

Speaking of kids getting older, you would not believe Emilia. Shelby observed yesterday that she is getting outright chunky. This is so pleasing to me I cannot even tell you. Yesterday she slept for about 3 hours. I was so paranoid that she might be starving to death I had to keep reminding myself that we are no longer needing to worry about her food intake. Now I get to relax and enjoy her!

We have a rule at our house about my shower time. My mom used to have the same rule when we were kids and I thought it was pretty intolerant as a child. I totally get it now. A hot shower all alone is sometimes the only peace I get in a day. So now nobody is allowed in my bathroom while I am in the shower, unless there is an emergency. What I consider an emergency and what the kids consider an emergency are very different. Lilly barged in yesterday and told me "Mom, this IS an emergency!" I said (insert sigh) "OK Lilly, what is the emergency." Hands on hips she said, "Carson is not eating his cereal!" We have now defined an emergency as someone bleeding or unconscious. We also have a "no touching the baby during sacrament meeting" rule. This is another one my mom had when I was a kid that I did not get until now. The problem is, when I am holding Emilia, everyone wants to be right in her face. She is fine with it but I feel totally mauled.