We are expecting!

Well, I want to start off with the most exciting news . . . we are pregnant! I am soooo excited! I feel amazing, too, and I think that is in huge part due to the anti-depressants I have been taking. Plus, all my headaches have gone away. I feel incredible. It's such a neat feeling not to have migranes and headaches every single day! I have been a little sick, but not too bad. It's wonderful. We are due around February 17.

Our girls are getting bigger by the minute, it seems. Annalee talks so much and actually talks really well. She learns so many new words a day that I can't list them all here. Some of them, though, are "popsicle," "cheese," "potty," and lots others. Annalee has gotten a lot more playful lately. She and Violatte chase each other around the house and the girls and Jimmy have lots of fun with pillow fights and tag and things like that. Annee seems to enjoy it more and get involved more all the time.

On Friday we went to a pool birthday party for a friend of mine. There were a lot of our friends there and all their kids and we all had such a good time. Violatte swam every free minute she could up until we left at about 9:30 pm. She had such a great time. Annalee loved it, too. Annee learned to swim on her back and was so mad when we got her out of the water.

This week the girls have had a lot of playdates. They are fabulous because I have been switching babysitting times with other moms and I can get what I need to done and the girls have a wonderful time playing with their friends. Violatte asks every day to have a friend over. She loves playing with other kids. Violatte and Annalee both get along really well with other kids, too. I rarely have to break up a fight.

Violatte had her dance recital a couple of weeks ago. She was a little lion cub in the Lion King. She seemed a little nervous before they went on stage, but once she got on stage, she did good. She really seemed to enjoy herself. She kept reminding me that I should clap for her, and was so happy to hear that I did. This week we have been preparing Violatte for her pre-school. I really love the Montessori methods of teaching and I really have wanted her to go the Montessori here, but it is pretty expensive. I found out that they do scholarships, so I applied for it. Now, we are waiting to find out if we got in the school and if we got a scholarship. I really hope she gets in. She loved it there when we went to visit.

Violatte has gotten so independent lately. One day I was showering and I got out of the shower and Violatte had pulled the leftover pancakes out of the fridge, heated up the pancakes, gotten the jam out and spread it on the pancakes and then was in the process of trying to cut up the pancakes for her and Annalee. She also prepared hot dogs for her and Annalee one day while I was folding laundry. It scares me that she doesn't ask for help, but it is really neat to see that she is learning and growing and being independent. Some of Violatte's new phrases are, "Oh, cool!," "No, thanks," and "No way." Another cute thing she does is that at prayer time she fold her doll's arms. She really has gotten attached to her baby doll since we told her that we are going to have a new baby at our house.

This week, when we were at the Montessori school, I got some really neat ideas about how to organize the girls' toys. (If any of you know me really well, you'll know that I have an obsession with things being organized.) I was so excited about it that the next day I went and got the things that I needed and organized the girls' toys. Now, we have eight small bins that they keep similar groups of toys in, for example: puppets, cars, blocks, etc. Then, they have a couple of big toys that they can keep out. Everything fits perfectly on some shelves we have. They can't get anything else out until they put the first thing away. Then, we will switch out what is in the bins every month or so. The girls have been really excited about it, and the way everything is set up makes it really easy for the girls to put things away. Everything has been so much neater, also. Violatte just seems to love having things organized. Since we did that, she has been wonderful at picking up any other clutter she sees around the house. She is one amazing girl!

Jim has had a very interesting couple of weeks. Last weekend he went on a camping trip. It was supposed to be a scout camping trip, but no scouts ended up showing up, so it was just three of the guys in our ward. They had a really great time. They had some scary moments because they could hear some bears outside of their camp. They ended up taking turns keeping watch. They hiked into the camp site and fished and camped back out. They were tired by the time it was over, but they had a good time.

Today Jim had a really fun moment. He was asked to give a talk (again) and then last week they told him that instead of talking today (the 22nd) they were going to have him talk next week (the 29th). We got to church a couple of minutes late today and didn't get a program. After sacrament Jim started walking out to walk around with Annee and they announced that he would be the first one to speak on the program. The look on our faces clearly showed how surprised we were. So, he went up and spoke about temples and how to prepare and go. He did a really good job. He was so scared, but he did a really good job.

As for me, things have been going well. Our dishwasher is working (finally!). That, alone, is fabulous! It was about three weeks that we didn't have a dishwasher. I didn't realize how many dishes we use until I had to do them by hand. One of the missionaries here described it perfectly. He said, "Dishes are like rabbits, you put two in the sink, and all the sudden they've multiplied!" How true it is!

This past week I had a dentist appointment and I am so impressed with how far dentistry has come! I was in the dentist's office less than half an hour to be checked in, prepared, and have a cavity taken care of. It was the most pleasant dentist experience I have ever had. It hardly hurt!

Another wonderful thing this past while is with my business. I have been working very consistently and I have had a lot of sales. It has been a huge blessing to us, especially now that we are expecting. We are so blessed. We have so many wonderful things happening in our lives.