I Hope You Dance

yesterday was such a long day at work. i left completely tired and ready to veg. i came home to a daughter who was more than overjoyed to see me and wanted to play, play, play. so, veg or play? then a thought came to me....the tutu!! i bought it at a garage sale when Lily was about 6 months old to give to her for her birthday. she got so many other gifts from other people that i kept it hiding in my closet for another occasion.
now was that special occasion! i ran to the bedroom and pulled it out of the bag i had been storing it in. lily wonderingly let me put it around her and clasp it in the back. and the dancing began. We danced to homemade music (as you will see in the video. please ignore the messy house. we did.) and that was all we needed. we spun and spun and turned and turned. then the running through the house began...i don't remember the last time i have been so carefree and giggled so much !
sometimes--especially right now where the world is filled with stores closing and houses sitting empty-- it's good to put on your tutu, pull up your socks (this also helps your legs to stay warm) and dance. giggle. run. i promise you will feel happier, your problems will feel smaller, and you will be ready to continue on with whatever you have to continue on with. at least it worked for me.

This post is dedicated to becky b. and chelsea g...we're praying for you girls!

Morning Ritual

Lily has a funny ritual that she does every morning without fail. She wakes up around 7am and cries for us. I take her into the living room, set her in our La-Z-Boy and cover her with the closest blanket.

Then I head into the kitchen, put some milk in a sippy cup and stick it in the microwave for exactly 25 seconds. When the microwave starts Lily starts to cry. It must be the longest 25 seconds of her life!

As soon as she hears the microwave *beep* she starts to laugh and grunts for me to bring the milk to her.

I keep thinking that eventually she'll realize that 25 seconds really isn't that long but I'm beginning to realize it's all a matter of perspective.

Catching Up

Hey all! Not much going on here but I wanted to get a few things down so I wouldn't forget:

*Lily went to nursery today! She is only 14 months old but I had to substitute in a Primary class and Dan was home sick. So off she went to nursery! When I went to pick her up after church I could tell she was SO excited! She colored and had treats and played, played, played.

* I have a red plate with pretty flowers on it that I just found in my cupboard. Does this belong to anyone? I'm sooo sorry I kept it. It is really pretty and I would like to get it back to it's rightful owner.

* Lily is signing a lot of new words: more (with food it's a constant sign), done, dog, cat, eat (this is her own personal sign of pointing to a plate or her high chair).

* I just hired a girl I used to work with at Liberty to work with me at Vanacore. It's awesome! It was a crazy week training her but i'm glad to have the extra help.

* I just got released from Primary as the chorister. i don't hae another calling so I am enjoying myself in Relief Society but will be excited to get a new calling.

* Lily loves our cell phone. This morning Dan was in bed and Lily was in the living room. She was talking on the cell phone. All of a sudden she yelled "DAD!" into the phone. She was really missing her Daddy!

* A couple of Sundays ago Lily sat very quietly during the prayer with her arms folded. After the prayer she stood up and turned around. Looking at the people behind us she furrowed her eyebrows, folded her arms and pursed her lips as if to say "You need to fold your arms." She's a hoot!

We will download some more pictures soon. Hope all is well with everyone!

Acute Colitis Welcomes Us Home

So the picture is horrible but Dan loved it when he took it and told me I looked great...and I believed him! But, hey, who looks good while taking an emergency trip to the hospital?

I woke up on Friday with really bad tummy cramps. They consisdently got worst so Dan made an appointment for me to see the doctor at 9:45am. We were there by 9:15am and they immediately sent us over to the ER. By this time I was doubled over and screaming in pain. I was immediately shown a room (#10) and about 30 minutes later I was given drugs that made my stomach unfold.

All day long I had tests: xrays, ekg, blood, urine, cat scan tests, etc. We're still waiting on the cultured results. They did find out that my white blood cell count is really, really high so they think it is ecolai or something similar. Who knows where I got that! Dan ate everything I did and he didn't get sick.

So I am taking it very easy because if I don't my stomach cramps in half and I can't function. I did go into work for 2.5 hours today--I have been so tired of sitting and sleeping! So...if anyone gets bored feel free to stop by or give me a call!

UPDATE: Turns out I have a temporary lymph node problem. It is very painful and lasts for about 2 weeks. Lucky me. But it's slowly getting better! Thanks for all your nice comments.

Christmas: Southwick City

After opening our presents at my parent's house we headed into the snow abyss to the Southwick residence. We were hoping to get ahead of the big blizzard that had been forcasted the night before. Instead we got caught in the midddle of it. About an hour into our trip we decided we were going to turn around and head back to my parent's house. The next exit we came to had a big snow drift in it and a semi that was stuck. We knew that it a semi couldn't make it through that we didn't have a chance. So we kept driving. Once we got over the Malad Pass things cleared up and the rest of the drive was pleasant.

Dan's parents didn't know we were coming, either, so we pulled into the driveway and went through the garage door to surprise them. Unfortunately their blinds were open and they saw us. Out came Jerrie in her jammies without any shoes! They were all excited to see us. Here are some highlights from Southwick City:

Shopping! Jerrie and Grandma Ward and I all went shopping: food shopping, gluten-free food shopping, clothes shopping. It was fun to go with all the gals.

We spent a couple of hours in Firth visiting my grandma, aunts, uncles, cousins. It had been forever since I had seen all of them! Grandma fed us chili and ice cream. Life was good.

Watching Christmas movies. So many and so little time!

We went over to Dan's aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner. I hadn't seen a lot of them since we got married! It was fun to get to know his side of the family better.

We found a desk and chair for Lily. She colored and colored to her heart's content. i don't have a lot of pix for this post. Wanless, do you have the group pictures that I can snag from you?

It was a great time for all--oh ya and somewhere in the midst of all the confusion Dan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.

Christmas: Mechamville

Most of you know that I'm not very good at keeping secrets. I'm like a little kid that can't keep her mouth shut! Well this year I kept my mouth shut for a whole month while we planned our get-a-way to visit our families for Christmas. Most of our siblings knew....Shonnee & Eric helped to "mail" the package full of Christmas presents from my mom and dad. Instead of mailing it they hid it in Shonnee's bedroom. For one whole month there was a lot of lying that had to take place to cover up the secret. My parents thought we had rented a cabin at Yosemite for the weekend before Christmas. I told them we wouldn't have any phone reception so we wouldn't answer if they called us. Instead we took of on the Friday before Christmas to head to Nibley. We were so excited! The trip started off pretty snowy. We had to put on chains to go through the Sierras even though there was only 1 inch of snow! It was pretty frustrating...those darn California drivers who don't know how to drive in the snow!!! The rest of the trip was pretty smooth as far as the roads were concerned. But then Lily started cutting a molar. For the next 10 hours she cried and cried and cried! It was so sad...for all of us. Nothing made her feel better...not even baby Tylenol! She finally fell asleep 5 hours before we got to Nibley. (This trip should only take 11 hours but unfortunately it took us 15. Blech)

We finally got to Nibley at 2:30 am. What shoudl we do? Should we sneak in, go to bed and surprise them in the morning? We decided that wouldn't work since Lily needed warm milk and all. So we knocked on their bedroom door and sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas!" They were shocked and happy and surprised--my dad even screamed!! It was great. We all sat and talked until 4am. Thanks Shonnee for staying up and letting us into the house!

Here are a few of the highlights:

My favorite moment was going to the USU vs UofU basketball game. We were supposed to smoke UofU but of course they left it to the last minute to decide if they wanted to win or not. And then at the last minute the timer didn't start. So did the USU last basket count? The referees determined that yes it did count. Whew! I have never heard the Spectrum so quiet while the refs made their decision.

Another fun part of the vacation was heading the Kaysville to see Dan's brothers and their families. It was so fun to see all of them. They even made gluten free food for us which was AWESOME! Bill had gotten the Wii so of course all the brothers had to play. Thanks for everything Bill, Chris and families!

We thoroughly enjoyed getting the cousins together. Lily and Emily were a little wary of each other at first but by the end they were hanging their heads in the toilet and tasting the water like the best of pals. Aunt Shonnee also painted their nails, too.

It was so great to hang out with my siblings and parents! A lot of my siblings had to work so we didn't see them a lot but we were glad when they could come around. And now--for those of you who don't know--another sibling will be added to the mix. Daniel is marrying Kaitlyn in the Bountiful Temple on March 13, 2009. Woot! Congrats!

Christmas Eve was the annual talent show with the Mecham familiy. We also started a new tradition of opening sibling gifts on Christmas Eve while we were all there.

Christmas morning started early. Everyone watched Dan, Lily and I open our presents (thanks for being such good sports), eat quiche (gluten free, yeah) and headed out the door to surprise Dan's parents.