The GREAT storm

Last Thursday morning Marty was let out of school right around 9 a.m. because of threatening weather.  By 11:30 a.m. the entire base was shut down and all personnel were sent home because of the large threat of snow and ice. 

On Friday, the base remained shut down and people were encouraged to stay in their homes.  Those military men and women that live in the barracks weren't allowed to leave, except to go to the dining hall to eat.  All doctors appointments, shopping, driving etc. on the base were cancelled/closed or discouraged.  We were preparing for the worst, including power outages and large snow fall - which is very rare in this part of the country.

At the peak of the storm, this is the worst it got in our back yard:

Miraculously I've survived worse than that.  

I decided to take advantage of Marty being home and go shopping in town despite the "horrible weather". On my way I saw a city bus spun off in a ditch crashed through a fence, three cars off in ditches on the side of the road and people going 20 miles an hour on the freeway.  You would have thought it was the winter of '03 in Utah!

The bonus, however, was that there were only 5 other cars in the parking lot at Target, and I was THE ONLY person at Old Navy when I went to the mall.

I guess growing up in Utah paid off.

To pierce or not to pierce...that is the question

Brielle asked me the other day if she could get her ears pierced.  Okay...she actually asked if she could have earrings like her friend does, she didn't know what that entailed.  I personally think it's super cute when little girls have earrings, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for my little girl to have earrings.  Me and Marty had never discussed this EVER.  I had no idea what his thoughts were on the matter.

My parents were of the ancient (a.k.a. cruel) way of thinking and we were not allowed to get our ears pierced until we were 12.  By then the magic had worn off.  We were too old to have FUN with earrings. I got my ears double pierced (*gasp*) when I was like 15-ish...that only lasted a few months before my ear lobes were protesting from all the holes in them and I was constantly getting infections.  Besides for a few fancy events and for choir in High School, I stopped wearing earrings altogether.

So...when Brielle asked me, I told her to go ask Marty - the classic parenting move. However in hind sight I would have told her that I would talk to daddy about it first. I really was assuming Marty would tell Brielle no, because he seems to be very conservative about his sweet little princesses. 

Imagine my surprise when he said it was fine with him! 

So I did what any good mom would do and began trying to scare Brielle telling her how bad it hurts and that they basically give you a shot in your ear to push an earring through.  She said "Well, I'll just hold your hand and I'll be okay."   I guess she doesn't scare easily when it comes to anything that helps her achieve her princess status more fully.

I go back and forth between thinking we should and thinking we shouldn't.  I know she would love it, but am I ready to have my little girl grow up a little bit?  Am I being too dramatic?  (You don't have to answer that)

I guess for now we'll wait and see if she keeps asking or if she forgets all about it.  

Yes...that sounds like a good plan.

Batman Obsession

If you'll recall back to Halloween, Claire was Batman.  She LOVED the costume and thought it was great to be a super-hero.

Little did we know that Batman would become her constant companion and obsession.  She wants to wear her costume non-stop, she runs around "flying" with Batman and trapping bad people.  After she uses the potty she says, "Okay, Batman, your turn" and stands there for a couple minutes waiting before she flushes the toilet and washes her hands.  If I sit on the couch she says, "Hey, don't sit on Batman!  Can you sit on your chair please so you don't sit on Batman?"  And most recently she has taken to calling her bed her "Bat-Cave".

So what is a girl supposed to do when she has an accident resulting in her costume being dirty?

Wear all the accessories instead.  And yes...that is her "scary Batman face" that she uses all day.  It's great fun...particularly when she does it to people at the store.

The obsession went one step further during Claire's prayer the other night: 

"Heavenly Father, thank you for this day....(slight pause)....thank you for Batman."

Yep, she was more thankful for Batman than she was for her own flesh and blood!

She knows what she likes I guess.  And at least now we know where we stand on her list of priorities.

Oh, and did you know that Batman lives in Moab and drives a scary Jeep? 

Well, now you do.

What a difference...

What a difference 8 weeks makes!

Addison coming home from the hospital 8 weeks ago.

8 weeks old - coming home from an appointment with mommy.

Addison is a happy little baby.  She is smiling much more and starting to coo here and there. 

We all love her to pieces and can't wait to see how her personality emerges.