Scriptures

"Parents must have a knowledge of the standard works to teach them to their children. A child who has been taught from the scriptures has a priceless legacy."--President James E. Faust, Ensign, May 1983, 41

Katie Bear!!

Just a quick post because we're about to watch American Idol, and it's getting late.

Miss Katie Katie is teething!! We were at the mall play area tonight, and Braden felt a tooth coming in on the bottom just left of center. Jenna starting teething at 3 months, so I'm not surprised at all. Braden then proceeded to insert his thumb in her mouth to give her something to chew on, and she promptly obliged. He said he felt like blood had been drawn, to which I replied, "Well, don't put your thumb in her mouth!!" :)

It does make a lot of sense now that she's been sleeping more than normal the past couple of days. Yesterday she slept so much that I was worried that she wouldn't sleep through the night. Thankfully, she did, though, and regularly sleeps about 8 hours at night now, sometimes more. No whammies, no whammies!!!

Jenna Sayings

Jenna is right at that stage where she is starting to put words into sentences, and she cracks us up on a regular basis. Here are some examples, just within the past day:

Braden (while changing Jenna): Where's Jenna booty?
Jenna: Where'd Jenny booty go? (reaches for it) Oh, there it is!

Jenna (in the bathroom; Jenna always comes in with me): Mommy potty!
Ker: Mommy went pee-pee in the potty!
Jenna: Mommy goldfish? (She gets a reward of goldfish when she goes in the potty)

At the mall play area, Braden, Jenna and a 4-year-old girl were playing tag:
Braden: I got you!
Jenna (screaming at the top of her lungs but touching no one): I GOT YOU!!!!!!

In the car tonight:
Ker (after an annoyed comment about the car in front of us driving so slowly): Mommy cry?
(I said this jokingly because a couple of days ago, I kind of chewed out someone who cut me off; nothing bad or anything, but Jenna's response was to say, "Mommy cry" because she could tell I was upset, and she's really in tune to people's emotions.)
Jenna: Noooooo. Mommy E [insert our last name]!!


She also jokes around with us, too. She's such a comedian. This conversation happens on a regular basis when Braden puts Jenna down for the night:

Braden: Bye, Jenna.
Jenna: Bye, Mommy.
Braden: I'm not Mommy; I'm Daddy.
Jenna: Bye, Katie.
Braden: I'm not Katie; I'm Daddy!
Jenna: Bye, Gama (Grandma). [rinse, repeat....inserting whatever random name she wants]

She is her parents' daughter for sure; she thinks she's sooooo funny. :)

GOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's "goal" in Spanish, for those who don't know. It's a pretty easy word to remember and very fun to say loudly.

Anyway, I mentioned in an earlier post that I've been exercising regularly (5-6 times a week) since January (I started slowly in December). It's been my goal to get down to a certain weight by July. Well, I'm .2 ounces away from my goal, and it's only March! I'm thrilled. That's down 12 lbs since I actually made the goal the first week of January. I still actually look like I could be 2 1/2 months pregnant, because my stomach refuses to work with me, but I have plans to target that area shortly. I'm actually only 1 lb. away from my pre-pregnancy weight (for both Jenna and Katie). Despite my mommy stomalage (stomach-lage), I feel great and have made leaps and bounds in terms of stamina and endurance since I started exercising. It's been so great for my health and overall happiness. I have plans to continue my exercise kick for the rest of my life!

I am also continuing to enjoy the pool at the Y. If we're still here when we decide to have our next kid, I plan on using to pool to keep in shape during the pregnancy. I was in the pool once during my last pregnancy, and I LOVED IT. I was 7 months pregnant, big and luggy, and as soon as I got in the pool, I didn't feel pregnant anymore! It was wonderful. Maybe I should just live in a pool for the entire 9 months of my next pregnancy. :)

And I have to give props to my mom, because I tried to swim laps for a little while, and it exhausted me. That is tough stuff!! It exercises muscles that I didn't even know I had. And here my mama kicks my trash in the pool exercise arena. You go, Mom!!!

Mama Bear

I took Jenna to the park today, because it was an okay day weather-wise. I was about to go down one of the slides and was trying to get Jenna's attention, so she could watch me (she'd already gone down right before me). Suddenly, someone shoves me in the back and yells, "GO!" It's this 4-year-old punk whose dad is 15 feet away yapping on his cell phone, oblivious to his child's behavior. I turn to the kid and say, "Hey, wait!" and then proceed with what I was doing. No apology and nothing but defiant stares from this kid. Anyway, we go over to the smaller kids' area and Jenna looks inside the window of a little house there, and all a sudden the kid starts screaming at her, saying not to do that. She thinks he's playing and goes around to go in the house where he is. I'm seriously right behind her, because I sensed what he might do, but he was too fast, and I turn the corner right as he shoves her to the ground. I didn't think, I just acted. I'm ashamed to say that I actually grabbed his shoulders and shook him a couple of times, shouting, "HEY, YOU DO NOT PUSH MY DAUGHTER TO THE GROUND!!!", amongst other things, like how rude he was and to stay away from Jenna. I should not have touched him, but I just snapped when I saw him hurt my child. When I calmed down a little bit later, I regretted actually touching him. I doubt anyone's ever done anything like that to him, because I could tell he was a bully. There is a difference between accidental and on purpose knocking someone over, and this kid KNEW right from wrong, plus he was twice Jenna's size. If a kid is being a bully and is a little bit younger and still learning right from wrong, that's one thing.

Just so people know, there is no way I would have reacted like that if he had not pushed me before. I could tell that he was oblivious to consequences and just did whatever he wanted. I mean, that takes guts to push an adult and still be defiant. There are some serious issues going on. Also, if the father had been around, I wouldn't have done that, either. But he was still yapping away on his cell phone and moseyed on over a couple of minutes later. I told the dad what his kid had done, and the dad had to tell his son like 4 times to apologize to Jenna. The kid just stared at both of us and finally said, "But she doesn't even talk yet!" And yet the boy was trying to communicate with her earlier!! And I said, yes, she does talk, and stood there waiting for his apology, which he finally said sullenly.

No worries, I'm not to go crazy on some kid in the nursery who pushes Jenna. Like I said, there was a clear understanding of right and wrong in this situation, and I'm not going to stand by and let someone hurt my child.

My adrenaline's pumping again just thinking about this situation. What would you do?

Quote

"Every home is a house of learning either for good or otherwise. Family members may learn to be obedient, honest, industrious, self-reliant, and faithful in living gospel principles, or they may learn something else. "Learning the gospel in the homes of Church members should be centered on the scriptures and on the words of the latter-day prophets. The Lord has commanded parents to teach their children."--Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, May 1993, p. 70

Primary Split

So today was our first Sunday where we split the Junior and Senior Primary. It was really hectic trying to get it all figured out, but overall I think it went well. I do think that it will be even better with time, and now I'm a believer in splitting. I wasn't in favor of it first, but the reverence sure was better this Sunday than last Sunday, although last Sunday was the worst I'd ever seen it.

Anyway, the Primary President is gone for a couple of weeks, so I have Sharing Time the next two weeks in a row. BUT, then I don't have to do it at all the month of April, so that will be a nice break. I'm actually getting better at teaching the kids, I think, but it is a lot of work, and I still get really nervous in front of people, no matter what age they may be.

In other news, I am starting to get my birthday restaurant free stuff! So far today, I got emails from Old Country Buffet, Qdoba, Hooters (yes, Hooters), Cold Stone, Dairy Queen and Buca di Beppo. Hooters and Cold Stone are the only ones so far to actually give you something for free with no strings attached; all the rest are buy one, get one free type deals. I'm still waiting for my Red Robin free meal email. I'm excited about that one! Braden said that he guesses it ultimately was a good thing that Olive Garden screwed him over on his birthday, since it was a result of that that I started looking for places that actually give you stuff for your birthday.

It just occurred to me that this may be the first post to ever mention both Hooters and Primary. "Today we took the Primary to Hooters for our ward activity, and they had a blast!!..." :)

More Bally Fitness Fun

For those of you who don't know, we have a very heated conversation going on in the comments section of this post, due to someone who works for Bally finding our blog a month ago and actually defending the Bally salesman's behavior. Read the post to refresh your memory, and then scroll down to see what's being said. You may notice that neither I nor Braden buy his/her BS for a second and have said as much.

The Y

I tried out the Y Water Aerobics class (55 minutes) and Modified Water Aerobics (about 45 minutes) yesterday afternoon. LOVE IT. I think it's what sold me on the Y. I'm going to join either today or tomorrow. I was the ONLY one my age, though. Fully 3/4 of the class is over 65. I peeked in before I joined it, and actually went back to the front desk and asked, um, the water aerobics class is for all ages, right? And the guy was like, heh, yeah, it's not just for old people. :)

I need to get better swim shorts, some good goggles that actually keep the water out (novel idea, I know), a backpack or something similar that I can put my stuff in, and a lock so I don't have to check in my stuff at the front.

I am one of those people that has really big privacy issues; I ended up just putting on my sweatshirt and pants over my wet swimsuit after class. Can't deal with the world seeing me naked, especially since I just saw one of the families in the ward there yesterday. Oh, look, there's Sister E from Primary, and she's totally naked!!! I'm sorry, can't do it. (One of my 11-year-old girls was right behind me coming out of the locker room.) I've been like that since middle school gym class pretty much. And do *not* ask to come in the bathroom while I'm taking a shower if you're my roommate who I don't even know that well!! That actually happened to me, and I ended up switching to taking showers at night, because I couldn't handle it. :)

And can I just say that one of the most annoying things in the world is having to take off your entire swimsuit if you have to go to the bathroom? Guys just have no idea. No idea at all.

More Primary Quotes

We had our Board Meeting last night at the church, and all Primary workers were supposed to attend. We didn't get everybody there, but we had a decent turnout, I would say.

Anyway, I had just gotten done with my little talk on discipline and reverence, and two girls (6 and 8, I think?) come running up to me saying that Jenna has had an "oopsie". I had brought her with me since there were supposed to be some older kids in the nursery babysitting any little kids of Primary workers, and I thought that she would have fun. Anyway, all the kids were VERY worked up about Jenna's accident, and when I went in there, I could SMELL why. Oh my goodness. The entire room reeked...her lovely "oopsie" had permeated the whole nursery. Anyway, a 10-year-old boy said, holding his nose, "Do we have to live with this??" It was so funny.

Then I was running around trying to find a diaper, because I hadn't brought one, thinking that Jenna would be just fine. Luckily, I finally checked in the van and found the baby backpack that had ONE more diaper in it. I need to restock it. The nursery, believe it or not, *still* reeked to high heaven when I went back in there to get Jenna after the meeting was over. Wow.

Another funny quote was at the end of the meeting:

Bishop: Can I say something?
Primary President (announcing from the pulpit): ...Now we have to listen to the bishop.
(much laughter from the audience)
Bishop: Well, you don't *have* to listen to me. :)

Again, English isn't her first language, so she actually meant, "now we're going to hear from the bishop." She's such a good sport, though. Gotta love her. :)