too soon

Bekah, sighing wistfully and looking at the folded laundry: "I hope when I'm older that I can have some bras."

Analee is 2!

Analee one day old, Analee one year old, Analee two years old.

We celebrated Analee's birthday on May 24 by going to church. Okay, only because her birthday happened to be on a Sunday this year. But we did sing "Happy Birthday" to her in nursery, and then we came home and had our family festivities. These included presents:

Getting ready to dive into the gift bag.

Present No. 1: a kangaroo doll that has many buttons, zippers and Velcro tabs to open and close. About half the time, Ana forgets what kind of animal it is and refers to it as "my bunny rabbit."

Present No. 2: A "choo choo choo train" set, as Ana calls it.

... and cake, along with another rendition of "Happy Birthday."

Ana picked out her cakes months ahead of time. It's a ladybug cake. Well, it's supposed to be a ladybug. I'm no professional cake maker.

We won't know Analee's statistics (weight, height, etc.) until we go in for her checkup in July, but here are some more facts about our favorite curly headed brunette.

Analee is beginning to learn her colors, although she doesn't know all of them yet. She talks in complete sentences, and when I ask her questions such as, "Ana, why did you take off your shoes?" she often replies, "Because." Her favorite TV show is "Little Einsteins." If I'm ever working in the yard and wonder where Ana has run off to, the first place I check is the sandbox; we regularly change sandy diapers and have to wash her gritty feet off.

Ana loves to give hugs to whomever lifts her out of her high chair. She is at the point where she can climb up into her high chair and car seat "all by mineself." Ana loves to sing, and often sings songs she has made up about people she knows ("Uncle Jason, Uncle Jason, UNCLE JASON!") or recent happenings.

Although we had to wait a long time for it, Ana now has curly brown hair long enough to do in pigtails or a half-ponytail on top of her head. She has big brown eyes and a dimple in her right cheek that's visible when she smiles. She wears a size 6 shoe and clothes that range in size from 24 months to 3T.

We love our little "Ana Banana" and "Cute Curly Sue." Here's to another great year of learning and growing!

Something's fishy

We spent our Memorial Day eating watermelon, gutting fish and going on poop hunts. ("We're going on a poop hunt. Gonna find some big stuff. What a beautiful day! We're not grossed out!")

Seth's Uncle Doug was kind enough to take all the kiddies and their parents out on his boat on Henry's Lake. This was my second time on a motor boat, and all the trauma I suffered during a high school boater's safety program seemed long gone; I didn't even have flashbacks of the slide show with boating accident fatalities.

The girls loved the boat as well. Fearless Analee kept trying to stand up on the seat and lean over far enough to test the buoyancy of her life jacket. Good thing Seth caught a hold of her leg in time.

Here are the fishing highlights:

• I had the first bite of the day on our boat. Unfortunately, I was busy taking pictures of the girls and didn't realize I had a fish on my line until Seth shouted, "Andrea! What are you doing? You've got a fish!" By the time I set the camera down and grabbed the pole I had been holding with my knees, the fish was gone.
• Seth's brother Jason ended up catching the first fish due to my negligence.
• Seth caught the second fish, but he caught it with my pole. I had handed it to him so I could fill up one of the girls' juice cups.
• I caught the third fish of the day (on Seth's pole ... he was busy casting mine or something), and the group's only brook trout. (It was also the smallest of the group's fish, but I am not daunted by this because, hey, at least my fish was special. BROOK TROUT!)
• Seth caught the boat's last fish (on his own pole, mind you), and the biggest one.

Enjoy the snapshots:

Analee chomping black licorice and enjoying the ride.

Seth reeling in his big catch.

Ever-cautious Rebekah wouldn't steer the boat like the other kids did on the way in, but by the time we were ready to head back to the shore, she wanted a try. Uncle Doug let her steer the boat in circles before he straightened us out.

Grandma Susan, Analee, Calvin, Seth and Rebekah with our catch of the day. Seth tried to persuade Bekah to hold the stringer for the picture ("You don't have to touch the fish, Bekah. Just hold the chain.") to no avail.

Andrea with her brook trout. Man ... I love those braces. Can't get enough of 'em.

To see more, click here.

Guess what we're eating tonight? I'll let you guess. It starts with an F and ends with "ish."

After a long morning on the lake, we went back to Seth's grandparents' cabin to eat lunch and pack up. While Seth and I were loading our bags into the van, Bekah excitedly reported, "I found moose poop! Come see!" After that, she had to go on a hunt for any other droppings she could find.

We came home last night, exhausted but happy.

To complete the vacation weekend, the girls and I actually slept in until 7:45 this morning. Woohoo! (Seth had no such luxury; he had an assignment at the bishop's storehouse at 5 a.m.)

Gearing up

In 18 days, Seth and I will be traveling to Salt Lake so I can spend a sleepless night at my Aunt Susan's house before going to the hospital the next morning. Although I've known for half my life that I needed this surgery to fix my jaw, I'm not sure I'm ready. It's kind of like waiting for a baby. Allow me to draw parallels:

By the time I go under the knife, I will have had braces for nine months. At first, the braces were exciting—they were the first step toward having the surgery. But the excitement quickly wore off as I experienced raw spots, canker sores and loose brackets (the braces-equivalent of morning sickness). I have monthly orthodontic checkups, which result in thicker wires and sore teeth.

Now that I'm in the “last tri,” I CANNOT wait until this is over and done with and I have my new baby—a set of jaws that line up the way they're supposed to. I know the recovery will be less-than-fabulous; I'll be sucking liquid out of a syringe for a week, and after that I'll be limited to soft foods like yogurt and ice cream.

I'm experiencing my own kind of nesting. I want to have the middle floor completely painted and put back together before the Big Day. I whipped up a pair of car organizers that hang over the front seats on a whim yesterday. I've started stocking up on apple juice and Ensure. There are half a dozen meals in the freezer for after we return from Utah.

I'm getting ready to pack my hospital bag, too. This bag will be slightly different than the bags I've packed for Grover babies #1 and #2, though. I'll be taking a travel pillow so I can sleep upright, a Magna Doodle so I can communicate, and Breathe Right strips so I can respire since my mouth will be stuffed with gauze and a splint.

Fun stuff.

Don't worry about missing out on anything. We'll be taking the trusty Nikon so as to record this momentous occasion. I'm sure my swollen face and bruised neck won't be as cute as a newborn, but that's all we'll have to offer this time around.

Photo dump

I can't stand that we have ultra-cute pictures of the family just sitting here; they must be posted for the world to see! So enjoy the hodge podge of images. (Click on them to see larger versions.)

April 5, 2009. Seth and I decided to take advantage of a rare sunny day to feed the ducks some bread at the Idaho Falls Greenbelt.

Ana, who is not very adept at throwing yet, decided she could drop her bread in the water for a gutsy duck that would dare to come close enough to eat it.

The girls and their bread.

April 25, 2009. Seth's sister Rachel wanted to host an Easter egg hunt for our girls and their cousins, but we didn't get around to it until weeks after Easter. It didn't matter to the young'uns, though--they enjoyed the hunt and the candy nonetheless. Analee has found an alternate use for her bucket; she's carrying around her sippy cup.

Tav found an egg on the playhouse's picnic table.

Mack is searching ...

Bekah found one back by the fence.

Tav with his spoils.

May 7, 2009. For some reason or another, I decided to shoot pictures of Seth playing with the girls. Looking mighty pensive there, Seth.

I had to include this one because of Ana's crazy hair. Teehee!

Analee, Seth and Rebekah playing with Ana's Little People house.

May 10, 2009. Ana had woken up from her nap, so we went to retrieve her. Apparently she had been busy making her baby doll/blankie contraption.

Now you can see the base for her creation: the musical aquarium.

Bekahism #14

While eating breakfast ...

Bekah: Mom, is it a good idea to eat gun powder and then swallow a match?
Andrea: What do you think?
Bekah: No. But Daffy Duck does it!

Chop chop with a little wax

So I realized that the "after" pics of the twice-previous post don't do the 'do justice. I had just come straight from the hairdresser, and I think we all know that we don't look our best without a little bit of styling. Well, maybe that's just me.

Either way, here I am all stylized. I'm still experimenting with ways to do my new hair, but I think I like this one. (Seth says it's sassy. )

This is a mommy camera self-portrait, so try not to laugh too hard. Nasty flash shadow ... deer-in-the-headlights look ... lovely closet door in the background ...

Nearly six years ago

Feeling a bit nostalgic, I decided to scan a few engagement, bridal, temple and reception pictures dating back to 2003. Those were the days before my dad had/used his incredibly awesome digital SLR, so don't mind the dust spots from the prints.

To view the entire selection, click here. Otherwise, enjoy one from each venue:

Seth and I at the columns on Constitutional Avenue in Idaho Falls. I've shot many a senior/engagement pic there myself.

One of my bridal pictures shot at Sportsman's Park in Idaho Falls.

Seth and I outside the Idaho Falls temple following our wedding on August 22, 2003. My Grandpa Wirkus was able to perform the sealing.

Seth and I outside the Iona City Building where we held our reception on August 23, 2003.

Chop chop

When I left the house at 8 p.m., I looked like this:

If you look closely, you can see the traces of white paint on my face and in my hair.

When I returned home shortly after 9 p.m., I looked like this:

The first two things I noticed: (1) My neck looks humongously long. (2) My elf ear is prominent.

Why the change? Because I can.