{WiCKED}

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to see WiCKED at Capitol Theatre in downtown Salt Lake a week ago. I went with my Dad, Rondi, Ramsi, Julie and Grandma McDermott. It was very cool to have Thomas S. Monson, Dieter Uchtdorf, and L. Tom Perry in the audience with us. L. Tom Perry was sitting right across the isle from us. Very cool. I have to say that the show was incredible. The second it was over I wanted to see it again. I lauged and I cried. It was an awesome night! Thanks, Dad and Rondi for taking me!

Here are the only two pictures I took that night.






Julie, Grandma McDermott, Rondi, Ramsi and me.

{First Cut}

Yesterday I took Eli to get his hair cut for the first time. We went while Isaac was at preschool so that I could focus all of my attention on Eli. I had a feeling it might not be the greatest adventure for him. He did pretty well, although he is terrified of the buzzing sound the clippers made. Luckily she only used them to trim around the edges and she used the scissors most of the time. I was amazed at how blonde Eli's hair ended up looking after it was cut. I knew it was getting a lot lighter, but I didn't expect such a difference. Anyway, here are the pictures of Eli's 1st haircut.

This is the 'before' picture, but it isn't very good. You can't tell that his hair is two inches long all over and that it hangs halfway over his ears.

This was after she used the clippers the first time, and was about to take the length off the top. You can tell he's been crying--poor little man.

As you can see, he is not impressed with this whole situation.

All done. Doesn't he look like such a big boy? Hard to believe he is already 10 months old!

{Stood Finder}

I thought this was too funny not to share...

Two weeks ago David and I were working together to put up a gate at the top of our stairs so that Eli couldn't fall down them. The top part of our stairs leading to the basement is very wide and the wall is on an angle, so we had to custom order a safety gate to fit it. $200.00 later we finally found one that would fit. Isaac was 'helping' us put it together. We had to mount the hardware onto the wall--into a stud. So, David got out our stud finder and we explained to Isaac that it helped us find the stud in the wall. He grabbed the tool and started rubbing it on the wall. When it beeped at him he said, "I found the Priesthood". I asked him what the tool was called and he said it was a 'stood' finder and that he found the Priesthood. David and I thought it was the cutest thing, ever! I don't know where his little mind comes up with these things, but I can't get enough of them!

{Easter Fun}

So, I feel like I have been a bit of a slacker-mom lately in the picture department. Eli always seems to be sleeping when I have the camera out. Therefore, he isn't present in any of the Easter pictures...what's up with that? I'm a little irritated about it, actually. We waited for him to be in bed before dying eggs because we knew that would be trouble, but I meant to take pictures of him with his basket. He is too small to fit in the Easter outfit that matches Isaac's. Maybe I should have bought a smaller size...but, I really feel that my runt of a baby should be big enough to wear it right now. Poor little kid only weighs 16.1 lbs right now, which isn't even on the charts anymore (according to his 9 month check-up last week). I still can't believe how different my two kids are. Isaac was 19.6 lbs at his 9 month appointment. Interesting.

Anyway, so here are some pictures of Easter. It was a beautiful day. Isaac got lots of candy in his basket and from his Primary teachers. He was thrilled to hunt for the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid around the house. He woke up at 6 am and found his basket--it wasn't even light outside yet, so we made him go back to bed for a while. It was funny. Then...this is the funny part...when we were ready to head to David's mom's house for Easter dinner we locked BOTH sets of house/car keys inside the house. There we were sitting in the car, ready to drive away and David asked me where the keys were. I looked at him and asked, "Are you kidding me?" For those of you who know David, you know that he NEVER makes mistakes like that (according to him). He's pretty sure he is perfect and without fault in any situation. Ha, ha! If it had been me leaving the keys inside he would have been so mad and irritated at me, but he thought it was pretty funny that he did it. Interesting. We sat in the car in the garage with no keys, and the only person with a spare is my dad. Soooo, 40 minutes later my dad had arrived with the spare and we were off to dinner. It was delicious!

Isaac and David dunking eggs in the colors.

Isaac with his newly died eggs--waiting patiently for them to dry.

Isaac after Church, with his bag of candy from his Primary teacher.

Isaac with his and Eli's baskets...he got a new game, new Church outfit, some new books, fun toys, cotton candy, whoppers and plastic eggs filled with candy. He was so excited!

{Happy, Happy Easter!}

{Thinking}

I'm not sure why, but I have been doing a lot of thinking about life lately. It is so interesting to look back at life, the choices I made and remember the people who, maybe it didn't seem so at the time, had a major impact on my life. It is so easy, during trials and tragedy and heartache, to wonder "Why me?". I wonder, do we ever take the time to look back at those difficult times and try to see the silver lining? It is so easy to put the past in the past and try not to remember times of difficulty that at the time we felt were so unfair. But if we look back I wonder if we will now see what we have gained by going through those times? I wonder...if I hadn't made a certain choice that caused me heartache, would I have ended up with the job I did that allowed David and I to buy our first home? If I hadn't had that job would we have been able to have a baby when we did--would I have my precious Isaac? If I hadn't had that job that eventually led me to another job with greater flexibility, would we have had Eli? Until recently I would look back at that part of my life, where my choices hurt myself and others, and have had regret. Yeah, I wish I hadn't made certain choices, but looking back now I realize how much I gained for going through that and that I should be grateful for the relationship that started my life in a new direction. Does that make sense?

After losing Jarrod I was so angry. I felt like I had been robbed of an older brother. It just didn't seem fair to me. I still struggle to see the silver lining in that, but I know that because of it I have a greater appreciation and love for family and relationships. In my eyes, nothing is as important. I can look back and feel that I was so lucky to have had Jarrod living with David, Isaac and me for the nearly two years just prior to his dying. He was there at the end of my first pregnancy--we were comparing swollen legs and feet (at the time we didn't know the cause of his). He and I used to joke that because he was diagnosed with Leukemia the day after I had Isaac he stole all of the visitors that would have come to see us at the hospital. Hee, hee. Even though we sometimes argued and fought while he lived with me I wouldn't have changed a second of it. I feel like his living with us was such a blessing. I feel like in some way his relationship and deep love for Isaac was supposed to exist knowing that he would die before having kids of his own. He was like a second dad to Isaac. Would I have appreciated it or looked at it this way if he hadn't died? Probably not. Losing my mom less than a year later was devastating. But, I look back on that as well, and I see the silver lining there. She struggled and struggled for years and her health wasn't good. She was so unhappy and missed Jarrod terribly. She had lived her life, and knowing how much she struggled makes having lost her easier to deal with. Yeah, the cause was complications from Diabetes, but I feel like her heart wasn't 'here' anymore long before her death. She is at peace and is no longer suffering. How can I wish her back knowing that she was miserable?

I just really think that we all should take time to look back at our lives--even the difficult times, and see if we can see the silver lining in the trials and pain that we have endured. Maybe even take time to find and thank those who somehow had something to do with the course our lives have taken--even if at the time it hurt. Yeah, life isn't always a 'bowl of cherries', but I can't look back on life and wish the difficult times and heartache away. I feel like it has made me a much better and stronger person. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my life--big or small. I know that without you life just wouldn't be the same.

{Short Cut}

We have this area between our couches and our lamp table that seems to be a favorite for both kids. It is Isaac's favorite hiding spot when playing hide and seek, and Eli has decided that it is his favorite short cut around the couch. When he isn't playing with it we put his play gym away between the couch and table so it isn't in the way. A few weeks ago I watched Eli crawl into the tight spot to play with the play gym. It was so cute. He couldn't get out, though, because he doesn't know how to crawl backwards and it's too tight to turn around.

Here's the area I'm talking about.

Eli playing with his toy. His expression is so funny, and his feet look huge!

Just playing with toys