Cady's haircut

Cadence has been working hard on growing out a beautiful, curly mullet for the past year and a half or so. Her curls started coming in shortly after Megan was born and even then the back was noticeably longer than the top of her head.

Of late, the curls have gotten very sloppy looking, even when I try to brush it out and get them to look neat. It just wasn't working. For awhile, I've been toying with the idea of chopping off the last few inches, knowing her curls would hide any imperfections I might cause with my amateur beauty shop attempts. But, with my good scissors tucked at the bottom of a box, I never really carried through.

Until today. I had just dug through my sewing box last night and had my scissors in reach when I was combing Cadence's hair after her bath this morning. So, I snipped off the bottom few inches before I could think twice. It looks WAY neater than it did before, but she also looks older at the same time.

And if any one wants a before to compare it with:

Moms & Tots at the temple

The girls and I got to go to the temple today! I was talking myself out of it all morning, because I hate doing new things, especially with people I barely know. So glad I went, as things usually go.

Despite living in the same city as a temple, it's still a 40 minute trip. We met with some other moms at the church building and carpooled, giving me 40 minutes to chat with a woman I've smiled at but never had the chance to talk to before. The Houston Temple has a small sitting room in the annex that I assume is for baptisms and the like, but also doubles as a great place to corral a bunch of preschoolers, toddlers, and infants. Half the mom's went in to the temple, and the other half of us tried to keep the zoo under control. It wasn't bad at all, really. Everyone came prepared with toys and snacks and the kids all played well together, give me and a few other moms plenty of time to chat and get to know each other.

After about an hour, the other mom's returned, and the rest of us got to go inside. My first time inside the actual Houston temple and I was kind of completely lost because it's so much smaller than the Los Angeles one (seriously I'm pretty sure Houston's two locker rooms, the sitting area between the two AND the little chapel they have for before services could fit into the one locker room in the LA temple). Thankfully, I was not on my own and the other women were more than happy to politely point me in the right direction.

So, I got to spend an hour doing initiatories. My first time getting to do so since doing my own. It was quiet, and relaxing, and pleasant. Then, feeling uplifted from an hour of that service, I got to walk back into the room and be joyfully greeted by two little girls who love me to pieces. I meant to get a picture of the girls playing outside the temple, but by the time I was finished inside, the girls were anxious for lunch.

Seriously, so glad I once again stepped outside my comfort zone and went. Although, spending an hour in the temple makes me really, really want to get a session in. Anyone want to fly down to babysit?

Long-Term Goals

This is what I want to be when I grow up:

September 13th

Without a working camera, I don't have any cute moments to share in too-cute picture form. So I shall attempt to paint a picture of how the past week has gone with words alone.

It's remained another quiet week. Those weeks are fairly enjoyable in their own way. I get the house clean a lot more often in quiet weeks than I do in busy ones. But the girls and I also get extremely bored in quiet weeks.

Last Friday we drove down to the church building for a Moms and Tots playdate. Lots of other parents from the ward showed up with their preschoolers and infants. Everyone brought bicycles and snacks and I brought the girls' oversized bouncy balls, which were such a big hit they spurred 90% of the fights that went on that morning. I didn't get to socialize much. First my own insecurity kept my tongue tied and then the girls got a little overwhelmed with so many people and started to get really clingy. We only stayed about an hour. In that hour, though, Megan spent most of it wandering as far as she could in the field surrounding the building, following some of the older boys. They ignored her, she ignored them. A few times she got far enough, I was about to get up to get her, but she seemed to realize she'd wandered too far and began meandering back towards the picnic tables. Cadence spent most of the time sulking because I wouldn't let her demand her balls back from the other kids.

The weekend was equally quiet. We did go grocery shopping so James could get six different types of chili, three types of meat, and several cans of different tomato textures to try out a super spicy chili for this Saturday's ward cook-off. He's aiming to get a prize for the hottest chili, but I refuse to let him just dump a bottle of hot sauce and call it good. The chili he pulled off was pretty spicy, more so since there's a sweetness when it first hits your tongue (a can of coke was used as well), then it starts to burn. He's eating it for lunch all week, since I can't feed it to the kids and I'm not a fan of spicy stuff.

My birthday came and went last Wednesday. I'm 26. I've decided that's one of those boring ages. 25 is a cool age to turn, because it's a nice round number. 27 has a kind of "older-20s without being close to 30" zen that makes it a fun age to say. But 26 is... just 26. Kind of like 28. The day itself passed rather uneventfully. A few phone calls, lots of facebook notifications, an email from the head of Writing.Com, and a slice of overcooked cheesecake (so unappetizing, a full 3/4 of the thing is still untouched in my fridge...). Next year will be better. It'll be a Friday birthday and we'll have found someone to babysit so James can take me out on a date. This year, though, a quiet birthday is fine. I've never had high expectations for my birthdays anyway.

Our laptop died on my birthday as well. Since we'd just bought the thing in May/June I was not a happy camper. But a quick email to my computer-savvy got the ball rolling for me to replace the hard drive and get the whole thing up and running without a problem. I consider myself pretty proficient at computers, at least as well as the next person, but with Jim's help the whole process was a breeze and just took a little time.

The girls... continue to tear the house apart and run wild. We recently took away Cadence's overnight diaper, something she's had since we started potty-training at the beginning of the year. It was a rough two weeks as we did everything we could to get her bowels moving, since she stubbornly held it in as much as possible. Saturday, though, she had a break-through and since then has been happily using the bathroom and staying dry overnight. Megan is showing an interest in following her sister's footsteps, but I'm not ready for that yet and she's not even 2 yet, so no rush. Though after some of the diapers she's had the past few days...

It's fun watching them play together. They're both bullies with each other, which makes it frustrating, but with Megan able to communicate more, they do play well. Cadence likes giving her sister orders and Megan loves being able to show she understands by carrying them out. I love watching Megan with James. At this age, Cadence's mommy-preference was strong, but Megan's pretty neutral. She prefers me when she's hurt or upset, but if she can't see me, James is a perfectly acceptable substitute and she enjoys sitting in his lap almost as much as mine. At night, if James is sitting on the couch and I'm busy, she'll happily climb into his lap and snuggle with him.

Megan really is a daredevil compared to her sister. We went to Chik-fil-A yesterday to split a bit of soft serve and let the girls use the play equipment. Cadence risked climbing to the top of the structure before she got nervous and came back down. Megan wanted to follow her and spent quite awhile attempting to climb the steps that were just too tall for her. Cadence lost interest in everything else when an older girl came in and began playing around. She immediately began mimicking the girl's moves, enjoying the novelty of some of the things she did (like attempting to climb the structure's poles). I had to drag them out of the place in the end, then I had to run back in and find the blanket Megan left behind.

Today's another quiet day. Trying to get caught up with the house, since it tends to get away from me when I'm running errands. Gotta make dinner as well. Chicken stew and some biscuits. But biscuits will only happen if I get off my butt and go clean the kitchen. Suppose I should go do that now... *sigh*

Just a weekly update

Labor Day weekend has gone well for us here in the Smith household. James normally works Saturday mornings since there's so much needing to be done at the new shop for awhile, but he talked to his supervisors and got approved to not be needed on Saturday (they can't force him to work Saturdays, but...) so we could spend the full 3-day weekend together.

We didn't do anything super special. Went to a few stores to pick up random necessities (like the ingredients and a pan for a baked cheesecake this upcoming Wednesday. No special reason or anything, just, you know, wanted a cheesecake this Wednesday...). We even bought a new video game, which isn't really new. It's old, but we didn't own it yet for some odd reason. Now we do. Problem solved.

We missed church, unfortunately. Megan woke up crying at 5:30 and I laid on the couch with her and we both fell back asleep. And since James doesn't respond to my alarm clock, we both slept right through it and woke up right around the same time church was supposed to start.

Happily, I still got adult conversation since the Relief Society presidency stopped by for a chat and then later that night we went to a family BBQ. Just us, the host family and one other family. The kids played well together and I got the chance to talk with two other moms in the ward. It was a nice evening and I'm glad they invited us. I'll have another chance to socialize with other moms this Friday at a ward Moms & Tots get together. I'm nervous, as I usually am in new situations, but excited.

Today's been pretty laidback. For such a long weekend, you'd suppose we got more done, but we didn't. We really just sat around with our feet kicked up and enjoyed the peace and quiet of just staying home without any responsibilities for a few days except what to have for dinner. James has done a good job of spoiling me. Chinese food on Saturday and Taco Cabana for lunch today. Mmm. I am crazy about Taco Cabana. They have the best handmade tortillas that are included with every meal and their steak fajita tacos are amazing. We discovered this gem our first few weeks in Houston (when Seaboard was paying for all our meals and we were free to try every dining out option in the immediate area) and have gone back twice since. So yummy.

The girls have adjusted really well, I think. Of course, I don't think they comprehend just how big this move was. It's still hot outside and they still get put in timeout in the corner whenever they do something wrong. Taz still hides in their room and Hanna still hides out of reach. Daddy comes home and we eat dinner. We watch Strawberry Shortcake (albeit, on a bigger, better television screen now). We play with Legos. Life is same ol' same ol' for those two little girls.

I can't even record how much they've grown because I honestly barely notice. Cadence's learning has slowed down to the point I can't pinpoint new things as easily and it's hard for me to notice Megan's growths because they're not as obvious when I've got Cadence to compare her to. For example, it took me several weeks to realize Megan was using sentences. Mostly she was parroting her sister, but she quickly began to understand the syntax rules and coming up with the sentences on her own. It's made her much more vocal recently. Cadence has learned to link descriptive words with nouns to specify things. Not just colors like she used to. But the other day we had star-shaped chicken nuggets and she was calling them chicken stars. She is also learning a ton of things from watching television. The other day I caught her putting a doll on the back of her stuffed dog and telling it to "giddy up, horsie".

They both continue to grow like weeds. I'm afraid to measure them, because I don't want to know for sure how big they've gotten. Cadence was just shy of 3 feet last time I measured her. Not sure I want to see her hit that particular mark yet. I'm already fighting the idea of a haircut, though I know she could use one to even out her mullet.

We've progressed to the last stage of potty-training for Cadence by taking away her bedtime diapers. So far no accidents, but we have had a few issues. Nothing unexpected, but I won't say she's 100% potty-trained yet. Megan shows an interest, but I want a few more months before we get her going. Maybe after she's 2 I'll consider letting my last baby grow up...