Boring little me.

"Your blog's so boring these days." That is what Andrew just said to me. On the phone, because he's gone again. Of course, you knew that because, hello...I'm blogging. He's right, though. My blog is pretty boring. Sorry. My life, however, is not. Eva turned 3 last week, we took a little family trip to the Oregon coast (see above picture), and we've been busy enjoying Andrew being home. For 20 days straight! That was a record, I think.

One thing that is strange is when I see people/talk to relatives on the phone and they ask how I'm feeling. Every single time without fail, it takes me a few seconds to realize they are referring to my "condition." Why is it that I momentarily forget - all the time - that I am pregnant?

Eva put a hair elastic around her wrist after we had put her to bed the other night. She woke up with a very swollen hand and I freaked out. Thankfully, she was fine and the swelling was gone by the next day. I was grateful she didn't put anything around her neck.

I am almost finished with my Personal Progress for the second time around, as a leader. I am so excited to get my new (silver!!) medallion before we move in May. I have been working so hard and trying to get it all done, and it's way better the second time around. I am so going to miss being in the Young Women's program.

Leighton is impossible to discipline. He thinks any stern talk is a game and starts laughing. Which makes it really hard for me not to laugh. I just don't know what to do with him. He's too cute for his own good.

That's all. Boring, yes, but at least it's something new for Andrew to look at.

He's back.

Andrew got home last night. 2 days earlier than scheduled. Hallelujah.

I think it was because I never once prayed for him to come home early, only that he wouldn't come home late. So I was blessed, doubly.

I cooked dinner tonight, for the first time in a few weeks. Because there was someone to eat and appreciate it. Alfredo sauce, yum.

I am keeping busy planning Eva's third birthday party, set to take place next weekend. It will be my biggest birthday party yet, and I'm so excited. It's an art theme, and I'll be sure to post pictures and details as they happen. Tonight we delivered most of the invitations (it will be small) and she felt pretty big handing them to her friends herself. I can't believe she's almost 3. She drew the art for the invitations herself, and they are adorable. I can say that, because it's true, and not just because I'm her mother. I think she could get a job for Pixar for Monsters Inc. 2. My little artist - this will be the perfect party for her.

This boy

This boy thinks his daddy lives in the sky.

Wherever we are, whatever we are doing - every time an airplane flies over (commercial, private, or military), he stops what he is doing, waves at the sky and shouts, "Hi Daddy!"

I wonder if he ever wonders why Daddy doesn't just land and come home if he's always constantly overhead. But of course, when my answer for his "I want Daddy" pleas is always "Daddy is in an airplane," of course he thinks that. If Daddy is in an airplane, then every airplane is where Daddy is. No matter how long Andrew is gone, this boy always says hi to him in the sky.

My first quilt, phase 1

Back in July, just a few days after Andrew deployed, I was staying at my parents' house in Houston. We went to a quilt store and I fell in LOVE with some Moda fabric. I decided to buy the jelly roll (the line is called Hello Betty) and make my first quilt. I sewed all the strips together and cut them in blocks, and then I came home.

The fabric sat there that way, in a stack of blocks, for months. On my desk, and then put away in a bin. Until this week when I pulled it out and fell in love with the fabric all over again. So I put it all together. I was scared to work on it without my mom there, but I decided to overcome my fear of quilts and just dive right in. I sewed all the blocks together in rows and then sewed the rows together.

There are a few mistakes, but overall it's pretty straight. I love how it turned out. I am waiting on the rest of the fabric to come (totally didn't think about borders, binding, and backing back in July when the fabric was still in stores, so I ordered it online last week) so I can finish the top, and then it will be sent off to my mom for quilting.

I'm so proud of my pretty quilt, and especially that I made it ALL BY MYSELF.

I just might make a prom dress yet.

First day of preschool

It's finally March! I felt like February would never end. I have been waiting for March 1st for a long time. Today was the day I started Eva's home preschool. After a recommendation from a trusted and wise friend, I purchased a book called Teach Me Mommy. I have been planning and preparing for about a month for our first lesson, Me and Myself.

This morning when 9am rolled around I enthusiastically welcomed my two kids to preschool. (They're thinking, Um, Mom, we're still in the living room.) We said the Pledge of Allegiance, the months of the year, and days of the week, and looked out the window to determine the weather (cloudy, of course).

We learned about Eva's name, looked at baby pictures of her, practiced writing the letters E,V, and A, read books, sang songs, marched around the room, marked their heights on a growth chart on the wall, colored, and made sugar cookies with the letters of our names. Lucky Leighton has a long name so he got the most cookies.

It was harder than I thought to keep things going. Eva often fought what we were doing. She didn't like being directed on her letters at first. Getting her to stand against the wall to measure her was a battle. Making sugar cookies was a total mess.

But at the end of the day, I feel really good. My house isn't spotless, but I spent the day teaching and playing with my kids. And although it doesn't get a check on my to-do list, it still feels pretty good.