A party fit for London.

     It took an army of Hartwells, but I'm pretty sure London's "Fancy Nancy" birthday was everything she (I) dreamed it could be. When I curled her hair, dressed her in a tutu, wrapped strands of beads around her neck, and covered her in glitter, she responded over and over again with, "Ooooooooooo! Thank you, Mommy!" I plan to ask God someday what I did to deserve her.

A HUGE thank you to Aubry Bennion for making this darling cake!

     She spent the last two days clicking around the house in her new princess heels and asking me "Again! Again!" to read her new stories. I have to bribe her to take off her "Rella" (Cinderella) night gown from Auntie Sierra. And on her real birthday, I want to say thank you to everyone who loves my London- to our friends and family, thank you!

My way-too-soon-to-be 2 year old.

     London turns 2 next week. 2. In some ways, I feel like--"Wait, I'm MARRIED?! I birthed a CHILD?!?!" ----and in other ways it feels like that little curly-red-headed angel has always been mine. My mother keeps telling me that I need to write down all the funny things she says, so I figured a blog about our life together would be the perfect place to document her hilariousness. 

     Before London could talk, she would reach her arms up for me and moan, and I would say, "Do you want Mommy to hold you?" So once London could talk, she would ask me, "Mommy hold you?" Over the months, that has somehow morphed into, "Mommy, heed you?" And so it remains how she asks me to pick her up.

      "Ma, Nunun" means she wants to do something all by herself.

     
     She is obsessed with pancakes. She wakes me up every morning with, "Mommy, besfast? I want pe-eetes? Pease, Mommy? Up!" I now make about 80 varieties of pancakes to satisfy her addiction. This morning, she ran to get Kyle from bed with, "Daddy, pe-eete time!"


     She thinks every "ouchie" needs "bedcine" and a "beendeed". If I get hurt, or even if she thinks I'm hurt, she says, "Oh, no! I sorry, Mommy!"

     London is disgusted by anything that touches her skin. One hair from her head gets tangled around her finger, or a string hangs from her pants, and she comes sprinting. "Uh, oh! Mommy, YUCKY! Help you, pease, Mommy?"

     If London had her way, she would wear a "princess dress", or absolutely nothing at all. Lots of outfits qualify as a "princess dress" to London- basically anything that is long, has ruffles, bows, flowers, lace, etc. A few weeks ago, she put on one of Kyle's work shirts, asked him to roll up the sleeves, and danced around the house saying, "Princess! Mommy, princess!"

     Every single thing she completes is followed by, "TADA!"

     She dances to all music. "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift is her favorite song on the planet. She tells me every morning, "Mommy, I want trouble, trouble, trouble." And so we dance in the living room.

     Last night, we were sitting on a blanket under the tree in our front yard when she realized the moon was out. She cheered, "The moon! Mommy, the moon!...........(a pause in deep thought)............ I want touch it." So my mom and Taryn held her up and she reached with all her might. She was so happy.

     She is gentle, polite, sensitive, graceful, and fiercely independent. This is my way-too-soon-to-be-2 year old. 

Patience.

     I started looking for a new place to live. Three bedrooms and a backyard. I had it ALL planned out. It's a good thing I have a mother to set me straight when I let my wants run wildly away in a completely Bristyl way. So instead of signing another contract to potentially trap us in Utah when an amazing new job comes along, I went with the practical choice. The girls will share a room! And once again, my mother came to my rescue. She just happened to have this darling bed tied up with a ribbon, like only Joy Hartwell would, and it matches everything already in the nursery. So London got a big girl bed that she is completely obsessed with, and my expectant-mother-nesting need to have everything perfect 4 months before this child is even born was met---and exceeded!

     Now London spends her days putting all of her stuffed animals to sleep in her bed. Over and over again. She'll come running to me, "Shhhhh! Dollie sleeping! Shhhhh! Turtle night night!" I love it. 

     Kyle even set up this little book shelf for me, made from 3ft segments of a rain gutter. 

     





     Father's Day was lovely. London was able to help with Kyle's present, and even delivered it to him in bed. She was so proud of herself. And after church, my family came over for a barbecue. We all sang Happy Birthday to Taryn, while London laughed in the background. 

My husband is better than yours.

     I've been married to Kyle for 3 glorious years. I try my best not to brag about how awesome my husband is, but I think for this post, it's fair to say that I have the nicest, most selfless husband you will ever meet. We really just make each other HAPPY. In life, there is nothing more I could ever ask for.

     For our first anniversary, Kyle took me to a Broadway show, dinner at The Roof, and a stay at a fancy hotel in downtown Salt Lake. Last year, we stayed at a cabin in the Uinta's and went horseback riding along the Flaming Gorge. This year, Kyle had a really good idea: San Francisco with some of our favorite people in the world.

     The trip was only possible because my fabulous family watched London for 4 entire days. I think it's safe to say that London and I missed each other equally, but I'm a firm believer that couples need a little time alone to keep the flame going. Needless to say, she enjoyed being spoiled by people who love her only second to me.

       We hit all of the sights: The Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, the farmer's market on the Embarcadero, China Town, Alcatraz, Muir Woods, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

     It's rare to have friends you can spend 4 days with and come out on the other end only loving them more. Wives against husbands, we battled about what to name our little girls, due within a week of each other. The Adams somehow endured our PDA. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much! Next year, I think a cruise sounds perfect...

Henry-etta.

     I'm humiliated. I was POSITIVE that I was carrying a boy---and I was WRONG! Yesterday, we had our gender reveal ultrasound. The technician started by asking what we thought we were having. I said with conviction: "It's a boy." He started laughing. "Well, it's a girl." And, with a smile on his face, he typed it on the screen. "What?!?! Are you sure? Because I really think it's a boy." So he turned to a different angle, where a blind person could tell that it is definitely a girl. All I could say was, "No way. No way. No way." It's not that I wanted a boy more or anything, it's just that I had total faith in the Chinese gender calendar. Boo. The good news is, we have everything we need for a girl, including all the newborn clothes that London was too large from birth to fit into. The bad news is, we have no idea what we are going to name her. I picked out London when I was twelve and Kyle and I loved Henry before we even got married. So as crazy as it sounds, I'm horrified that I only have 5 months left to pick the perfect name! 
     Thinking about having another girl is so exciting! Will she be a daddy's girl? Will she be a tomboy? Will she have curly, red hair too? There's no question that our girls will be best friends!!!!

     Last weekend, my mom, siblings, Kyle, London, and I drove my uncle's minivan to San Diego for Taryn's graduation. We were there long enough to watch the graduation and enjoy a celebratory Italian dinner. It was by far the shortest trip home I have ever taken, but being there with her for such a huge milestone was priceless. She was glowing! 

London sleeping on Auntie Tarynie's bed.

Baby Henry

     It's official. Baby #2 is on the way! My due date is Nov. 6th, but there's no way I'm giving birth to another ten pound baby, so I'm thinking late October is slightly more practical. Technically, we find out  the gender in three weeks---but it's a boy. The Chinese Gender Calendar says it's a boy, and if not for the excuse to have new 3D pictures of my baby, that would be good enough for me! But, I'm married to Kyle- who thinks all my "hocus pocus" beliefs are about as entertaining as an episode of Wipe-Out. WHEN it is a boy, Kyle's promised to take me to the Nike outlet to buy new running shoes, which I am in desperate need of.  It's a win-win.
     London is really excited to be a big sister. She started asking me why she couldn't have the vitamins/anti-nausea pills I take regularly, and I told her they were special and just for baby Henry. Now, every time I take my pills, she laughs, "Snack! Henry!"-- which sounds like, "Snat! Heny!"
     For a few weeks there, I was completely convinced that I was carrying AT LEAST two babies. At 5 weeks, my bump was the same size as it was halfway with London. It was insane. I feel like I've leveled out a little bit, but, holy cow.
     In other news, Kyle graduated from BYU! The poor guy has been working full time and going to school full time SINCE we got married. Yesterday, we slept in until ten, planted all our flowers and herbs, and went on a long walk with London. Kyle was ecstatic. He said with the biggest smile on his face, "Every day is Saturday!" As badly as I want him to get hired somewhere fabulous, I wouldn't mind just one more week of having him around like this.

     London has suddenly become a toddler. There's something about your baby saying, "Thank you, Mommy." when you bring her dinner...or "Bless you!" when you sneeze that makes a mother think--- who are you, you perfect little angel!? Her brain is a sponge and she probably learns ten new words a day. With each new word, she points and repeats it about thirty times, until she's sure she's making the sounds as well as she can. Some words come out more correct than others. Chapstick is "ba-at" and crackers are "dadoos". Every color is purple. She even explains specific things as "awesome" or "cute" -[you can guess that she learned one from Kyle and one from me]. The other day, she was talking to herself and counted to thirteen. I never knew being a mother could be this fun.

She's 18 months.

 We had been home in Orem, Utah for three days when I realized that our mattress had seen better days. Like most newly-weds, family members donated various forms of furniture to our humble little home, and a queen mattress from 1998 was one of those items. I had no hope of Kyle agreeing with my "need" for a new memory foam, pillow-topped mattress. He came home from work and I had a speech perfectly prepared----he sort of bought it!! We spent that night driving from mattress store to mattress store, and finally came across a store called Mattress Dealzzz, which honestly horrified me. With Kyle's reassurance, we walked into the store and laid on almost every one. We finally found one that Kyle described as "sleeping on a cloud". They strapped it to the top of my little car, and through the snow, we drove it home.  It might be my favorite purchase I've ever made-with Kyle's money. I haven't slept this well in years!

London will be 18 months in 3 days. This means a few things: 1) It's time to start planning for her 2nd birthday- how will I EVER top her 1st?!, 2) Potty training is an option, and 3) Having another baby is a definite possibility.

Sure, London is little, but she started telling me when she had to go to the bathroom- so she was practically BEGGING me to teach her how to go in the toilet. Right?!? We bought her big girl buns with kitties on them, lots of fruit snacks and marshmallows, and a princess toilet seat. We've been at it for 4 days, despite all those mommy bloggers who promise it only takes 1 day, and she has a 50% success rate. Most importantly, London LOVES it. After all, she gets rewarded with an episode of "Elmo" (Sesame Street) every time she does her business like a big girl. 

Life is much slower here. My days are filled with play-dates with the neighbor kids instead of hikes on ancient ruins. It's wonderful to see our friends that we love and missed so much, but I have the itch to see the whole world.