My baby turned 2.

All the Webb cousins!
Sporting her new "princess" apron my mom made for her. It's SO cute.
Aunt Chelsey gave her Purplicious, the sequel to her favorite book, Pinkalicious. She loves it.

A few pictures from our Moab race

Home at last.

We are back from our fun vacation. We came home to a not-so-clean house, but I didn't care. It smelled like home and I was so happy to be back. I love my house. The kids were thrilled too - we all just couldn't stop smiling.

We had three fun packages waiting for us that caused screaming celebrations. My scrapbook kit of the month from Scarlet Lime (actually I was the only one screaming over that, but seriously it is SO ADORABLE), Eva's new princess dress for my sisters' weddings, and her new bed set from Little Miss Matched, which is cute beyond words.

Now the kids are in bed and Andrew and I are about to enjoy a late dinner of chicken and potatoes. I don't care what it is as long as it's not greasy and coming from a drive-thru window - ugh. Then we're going to relax and catch up on our TV shows we missed. It's so good to be home.

On vacation

Sitting in a hotel in Pendleton, Oregon. On our way to Moab for the race. And guess what - I'm not running it! Think what you may about me, but I have decided that it's not in my best interest to torture myself like that. So I'll be cheering Andrew (and everyone else I'm related to) on from the sidelines.

Eva has been deathly ill the last several days. Yesterday we finally got a diagnosis of her first ear infection and possibly atypical pneumonia, whatever the heck that is. So she's on steroids and antibiotics, and doing much better tonight.

So good, in fact, that she's refusing to fall asleep here, although it's going on 9pm. But I say, what the heck? She can sleep in the car all day tomorrow. And anyway, WE'RE ON VACATION!

Hi, ER? It's your best friends the Webbs. We'll be right in.

Yep, that's right. Another ER trip for poor Eva today. Every time she gets a cold, her asthma hits full force. She's definitely her mother's daughter. I hope she grows out of it, as I never have.

Andrew took her to the hospital and I went to church with Leighton. I'm not sure which was more fun. :) She's fine now with her steroids and breathing treatments and "special juice" Motrin. Let's hope tonight is better than last night. I guess it couldn't be any worse.

Why I like Twitter

I recently started Twittering. I have thought about this long and hard for a couple months now. I wasn't sure if I wanted to start something that just might end up being a waste of time and pull me from other, more productive, things. In Andrew's absence, I have a lot more time on the computer. (When he's home, I just want to be with him and don't think much about my internet life.)
But let me tell you why I'm hooked on it, for now. Because it's addictive to think in snippets. On a blog, you are expected (for the most part) to write a full, cohesive thought. Paragraphs are standard. But in Twitter, you can just write down any old thing you are thinking. Writing down little, random thoughts like that is totally fun. Just answering the question "What are you doing?" can lead to thinking in a different way about your life.
However, I don't know how consistent I will be with tweeting when Andrew gets home - TONIGHT!!! - because I will probably abandon my alter-ego of being an internet junkie the second he walks in the door. But for today, I really love Twitter. Try it - but only if you have nothing better to do.

More negative publicity about Mormons.

Nothing new, but still highly irritating.

HBO ‘Big Love’ is airing an episode this month including depictions of the temple ceremony and actual temple clothing. Many have started a email chains boycotting AOL TimeWarner(parent company) and HBO. Many of you may have already seen these emails. I found this article on the church website as the church’s official statement in response to the HBO airing.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-publicity-dilemma

Abba tribute

Once upon a time, I watched Mamma Mia. And no offense to any of you, but it was pretty much the stupidest show I've ever seen. I was totally disappointed because I was really looking forward to it.

After those 2 hours were wasted and gone, those songs were stuck in my head. Several hours after watching the show, I was singing, "Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man's world," over and over. Eva just sat there watching me with this confused look on her face, intensely concentrating on my words. I looked at her to see what she was doing, and she said, "Henry, Henry?" She thought I was singing about her beloved frog. So I did. I changed the words to say, "Henry, Henry, Henry, must be Henry, in Eva's world."

And thus started a trend. Any 2 syllable word that Eva loves must be put in the song about "Eva's world." She simply asks me to sing it with new words by repeating the word she wants twice. Barbie, Bubba, baby, Barney, candy, Henry, sucker, Annie (she is recently in love with the little red-headed version from the musical), nursery, Daddy, Grandma...you name it, we've put it in the song.

Although the movie was a waste of time, I'm glad I watched it so we could institute this song game. I know it won't last long, but I love it. "Blogging, blogging, blogging, must be blogging, in Mama's world." See? It even works for adults. Try one of your own songs to that tune. You just might get hooked.

A video explaining the LDS faith

I don't know how many people consistently read my blog who are not members of the LDS church. (I know of at least one - Marelize. :) Hi, Marelize.)

Anyway, I found this video today on cjane's blog - it's an interview of an LDS girl named Rachel Esplin who attends Harvard. It answer several questions and shares alot about what we believe as Latter-day Saints. If you have some free time (it's about 20 minutes long), please watch this video. Whether you are Mormon or not, it's well worth your time.


Day of Faith: Personal Quests for a Purpose - 3. Rachel Esplin from Harvard Hillel on Vimeo.

Single-mom Sunday

The hardest thing I do each week when Andrew is gone is go to church. I realized that this morning, and for the first time in my LIFE I actually contemplated not going.

But I went. And I'd better get blessed for it, because at this point I don't feel like it was totally worth the effort. For real. I get there all hot and sweaty (and you all know how much I hate that) and I leave with blisters on my hands and elbow pits from carrying that blasted infant seat. My back and neck hurt. My face is flushed. I'm sick and tired of trying to be all nice and polite when really I just want to scream. And as I walk to the car, I want to cry every time thinking how much easier it is to have a husband around on Sundays.

(Side note: I LOVE how people ask me, "Isn't he a little big to be carrying him around in that thing?" I want to say, "Wow, I guess I never noticed that he is 20 pounds. Now that you mention it, I guess my back is killing me from carrying him around. Silly me. Thanks for pointing out my mistake." YES HE IS TOO BIG. But isn't it a little more convenient to have a place to put him when I'm playing human circus? Don't judge me, people. I'm just doing my best.)

Church is not an option. It never has been. I've always gone, and I always will, no matter what. (With the exception of contagious illness, of course.) But on days like today, it really tries my faith to go. It's not that I don't get anything out of it; I do. Thankfully, Leighton is typically well-behaved for all 3 hours, and Eva can't get enough of nursery now. It's not like I don't have the ability to sit and listen and feel the Spirit. But still, I am left wondering: is it worth it? Is what I'm getting out of it comparable to what I'm putting in?

It is such a relief to get home and put the kids down and have a little while to just BE. No mouths to feed, no cries to attend to, no high heels to totter around in while trying to look more composed than I feel.

Although I know that motherhood is the noblest of all callings in life, sometimes I just feel so...clumsy. And foolish. And totally NOT noble. Sometimes I long for the day when my kids - even the ones not born yet - can all walk and feed themselves. When mothering is not such an intensely physical and exhausting chore. They say I will look back and long for these days. But let me tell you, sister: I will NEVER long for single-mom Sundays.

Tweet

Well, I did it. I gave in. I am now an official Twitterer. I started last night, and so far I really like it. Because honestly, sometimes I just want to write one sentence. And that's not really blog material, you know? So I'm glad to have somewhere to record random stuff that doesn't deserve a whole post.

But the real reason I started is because of my idol, Cathy Zielske. The same woman who introduced me to the wonderful world of scrapbooking, kind of. I mean, I did it before her, but she taught me WHY I do it. And she is teaching a fun little class at Big Picture Scrapbooking called Everyone Can Write a Little. Here is the promo video.

Really, anything Cathy does is something I want to do, in the scrapbooking realm. And if she thinks Twitter is valuable in recording your life, then by gosh, I'm going to try it.

Up to date

Remember last summer when I was living in Altus and having serious computer problems? I was taking a Photoshop class from Jessica Sprague and, although the class was incredible, my computer was incredibly inept to handle the tasks I needed it to do. Just opening Photoshop alone took several minutes, and every time I clicked it would be over 30 seconds of waiting - on a good day.

Well, I am happy to announce that my computer problems are solved. Last week we got a new computer! And where my old computer had less than 1/2 GB of RAM, this one has 6. Which means it's like the speed of light to me. Opening Photoshop, editing pictures...it's all fun once again. I got the new Photoshop Elements 7 and bought some AWESOME actions for editing pictures, and I have been having so much fun playing with my new computer.

Andrew also got a new computer - a laptop - and we've been having lannie parties and sitting on our computers side by side. It's so nice! Nerdy, but nice. I'm so happy to finally be current on my technology.

Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

That's what they say, anyway. And I think I agree - loving affects you in a positive way, generally. But tell me if this statement is also true:

Better to have cleaned and seen your house get destroyed 5 minutes later than never to have cleaned at all.

Do you agree? I am evaluating my thoughts on the subkect after cleaning the floors several times today. Again, generally, I think cleaning affects you in a positive way. But COME ON PEOPLE. How messy can a little family of 4 be? Can we really not prevent ourselves from making a mess for more than a few minutes?? EVA??

I spent a while cleaning the kitchen floor this morning. I thought, "I'll get it done in the morning so it can be fresh and clean for the rest of the day." MISTAKE.

Less than 2 hours later, Eva was sitting on the counter eating a plate heaped with delicious snacks like cheese, strawberries, blueberries, and a warm, fresh scone topped with lemon curd. And how did she thank me for providing such yummy food for her nourishment? She threw her plate on the floor. I didn't see it happen, and it was probably an accident, but I still wasn't happy. So I picked it up and swept the floor again, thinking how that one incident was rendering my good mopping job obsolete.

Then, several hours later, she was sitting at the island painting with her watercolors. She hasn't done that in a while, and I thought she would enjoy it. She was having a grand old time - still using more water than color - when I left the room to...ahem...use the ladies' room. (Actually in our house, it's one bathroom fits all genders, but for propriety's sake...) Not 10 seconds after I left the kitchen, I hear her watercolor container crash to the floor. "Uh oh!" she says.

"Uh oh, Eva!" I echo. "Did you spill your paint?"

"Yes."

"Did it make a big mess?"

"Yes."

"Can you clean it up?"

"Yes." Except for that she can't get off the barstool by herself, so asking her that was just wishful thinking. It was pretty cute that she said yes, though.

I returned to the kitchen to find my once sparkling floor spattered with a rainbow of paint. I growled, wiped it up, and swept up some more leftover lunch crumbs I found while I was down there wiping up paint.

See, laundry is one thing. I know that's inevitable. People get clothes dirty, period. Making your bed? Of course that has to be done everyday. Counters wiped off? Definitely. But floors? Why can't the turn-around time on floors be slower than clothes? In my humble opinion, floors should only need to be deep-cleaned once a week. Maybe I should have outlined my housekeeping standards before I decided to have 2 babies. Because they (a certain one in particular) is out to prove me dead wrong.

So, although my house is pretty clean most of the time, it still might be a good idea to call before you come over. Because - let's be honest - even I never know what might be on my kitchen floor.

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My official housekeeping routine

Well, it's been over a week since I started my new routine, and it has been going very well. I divided it up into very doable chunks, and I feel so good each day when I get my tasks done. I don't like the word "jobs" because I have very negative associations with that word ("Did you get your jobs done?" was a very overused phrase in my childhood), and the word "chore" doesn't really resonate with me either. So "task" it is. For any of you who are interested (probably just Linds) and for my own record's sake, here is my weekly routine.

Monday: Major housecleaning day (neaten, dust, and vacuum all rooms)
-Bedrooms
-Closets
-Loft
-Living Room
-Dining Room
-Scrapbook room
-Vacuum stairs
-Wash sheets and towels

Tuesday: Laundry day and bathrooms (I do all the laundry on one day, and it is amazing not having to think about it for another week!)

Wednesday: Deep clean the kitchen (stove, refrigerator, oven if needed, countertops, sink, floor), meal plan and make grocery list

Thursday: Grocery shopping, make babyfood, vacuum main floor and as needed upstairs
Friday: Odd Jobs (mailing things, cooking freezer meals ahead, paying bills) and organizing (closets, drawers, etc.)

Saturday: fun day. (I hated how Saturdays were the work day in my house growing up. So I'm stopping that tradition in my own home. I much prefer getting my work done during the week, having a fresh clean house for the weekend, and having a day to just play and not have any big jobs. It's very refreshing.)

A few good quotes from my housekeeping bible, which I am definitely going to purchase:

"Living in your home constantly uses up its good things - food, clean clothes, linens, shiny floors. Housekeeping routines provide for their continual renewal. The best way to begin keeping house if by setting up your routines and schedules. This can be done piece by piece and little by little; housekeeping is never all or nothing." (p. 20, emphasis added)

"A housekeeping routine not only prevents your home from growing seedy and sour between cleanings but also helps assure that you are willing to do the work, for, as experienced people all know, housework motivation can be a psychologically delicate matter. Cleaning, laundry, and other chores are far harder after you have let them go for two weeks; the energy you must summon to tackle them becomes greater the longer you have procrastinated. Not doing some housework leads to not doing even more housework. "(p. 20)

"People used to be fond of the old saying that a housewife's work is never done, but you do not hear it much anymore, perhaps because today, so often, the housewife's work is never started. In any event, this maxim, like most, is only half true. Yes, you can always think of something else that could be done, and yes, you will do more tomorrow, but in fact there really is an end to what your routine calls for this day or week or year. You, however, are the one who sets limits. Beginners should recognize the importance of setting plausible and explicit goals in housekeeping so that they know when they are done. In my experience, the most common cause of dislike of housework is the feeling that the work is never done, that it never gives a sense of satisfaction, completion, and repose.

To avoid this, you have to decide what ordinary, daily lebel of functioning you want in your home. [...] Otherwise you will feel trapped and resentful, in danger of becoming one of the many unfortunaates who hate taking care of their own homes." (p. 18)

After watching Mommy put mascara on SO many times,she felt ready to put some on herself.

Better than a Coach bag

This afternoon after church, I drove home and parked in the garage as usual. And, as usual, I thought about what I would do if I came in and found that a man had broken in my house. I went upstairs to put Leighton down for a nap. I walked out of his room and turned into the hallway.

Simultaneously, I hear Eva say, "It's Dada!" and see a man holding her. It scared me half to death and I almost peed my pants for an instant - until I realized it really was Dada. He had come home early. I had somehow failed to notice his car in the driveway and was completely surprised to see him.

He brought me back a Coach bag from Korea - another happy surprise. But far better than the new purse is having him home again.