Make Believe

Tonight while Henri was playing in the bath he had quite a runny nose so I got him a tissue. (Sidenote: Everyone knows I think Henri is amazing, but really, he is the best nose-blowing two year old I have ever seen!) After a few minutes he asked for a tissue for his "elphanent" (elephant squirt toy.) I envisioned myself actually getting up every 30 seconds for the rest of bath time to get a tissue, so I pulled a pretend tissue out of my pocket and handed it to Henri. He looked at my hand and then at my face and then back at my hand and took the "tissue." He then promptly "drop it in water. Oh noooo." This went on for quite awhile. When he would ask for another tissue I would ask him, "what do you say?" The correct answer would be "please," but he says, "kind voice." Good enough. He loved it when I would ask him for a tissue and then blow my nose. Although it is hard for me to watch him turn into a little boy I love watching him develop and learn and discover new things. So, this post is dedicated to a fun bathtime!

Henri's ABC's

Charles was gone all week for work and when he got home on Friday Henri was in Heaven! He was so happy that his daddy was back! Even today on the way home from church he looked and me, smiled and said, "daddy, home." The night Charles got back Henri was pretty wound up for quite awhile, but he was really tired, so as the evening wore on he was pretty calm. One thing he likes to do with Charles is watch some children's music videos in French (Henri Des is the best!) and also recite the ABC's with a youtube video. Here is a video of Henri saying his ABC's in French, with a little help from dad.

I LOVE the end of the video!!! Doesn't he look so grown up??? Doesn't he sound like a little French boy???
I am so glad that Charles is home and that Henri loves him!

Thinking of Gipper

Today is Veteran's Day and I have been thinking of my grandfather. I grew up next door to him and saw him almost every day. If I saw him walking down the lane I would run out and give him a hug. One of these days I had recently had a haircut. He said that he liked it and I told him I was going to cut it even shorter. He patted my head and said, "not too short."

Today, though, I have been thinking of him flying in WWII. I have been thinking of my grandmother, who let him go fight for his country, while she, pregnant, was left behind to write letters everyday and pray for him. They were both so brave! I have been thinking of their reunion. My Uncle Paul, who was nine months old at that time, recognized my grandfather from pictures that my grandmother had faithfully shown him. I wonder what my grandfather felt as my uncle walked to him at their first meeting.

There is so much I could say about my wonderful grandparents, but somehow it is hard to feel like I could ever truly express even a little part of how I feel. It is amazing to imagine that this example of sacrifice, that means so much to me, has been lived by so many.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Tricks, Treats and Big Boy Haircut

I have to say that taking trick or treating this year was great! We hit about 10 houses and we were done. We came home and gave all of Henri's candy that he didn't eat away to other lucky trick or treaters.

Trying to get some treats from Daddy. Guess what? It worked!

Besides having fun taking Henri trick or treating my goal was to get meet and get reacquainted with some of our neighbors. Since we moved in and I got sick a week later I didn't meet a lot of our neighbors, and those that I did meet I felt like I lost any connections that I had made with them when I disappeared into our air conditioned house. So, in this way, trick or treating was a success. I was able to talk to two of the girls that I have met before and make some plans with them. I was also able to meet two new neighbors on the street (one of which are the street "grandma and grandpa" and are so nice!) It is so easy, as a member of the Church, to only make friends with other members. Coming to Texas, it was one of my goals to get to know our neighbors too and I was happy to feel like last night helped me get to know some of our future friends.

Henri also got a bug, which he likes quite a bit.

Check out his new haircut! He now looks like such a big boy! I love it, but at the same time I can't believe how old my little man looks!

(Oh yeah, I was the first to try to cut his hair, but it looked kind of funny, so Charles gave me a lesson on cutting little boy hair and he made Henri quite handsome! Good job Charles!)

Happy Halloween!

Getting some "bon-bons" mid trunk-or-treating. Henri wasn't that impressed with the whole "storing the candy" concept. He was ready for sugar then and there!

We would kneel down whenever we gave him a bon-bon so when he wanted one he would start kneeling too. Pretty funny.

Happy Halloween from the cutest and bravest lion around!

It's a...

We are all exciting to announce that this new baby is a boy!!! I am so excited. I loved seeing this little guy on the ultrasound. He was pretty active and kept kicking the ultrasound wand...little stinker! Just like his brother. I am excited for Henri to have a little brother and for Charles and me to have two little boys. I am excited to think about names and to use all of these cute clothes that we have again. (I know I keep talking about clothes, but I am so emotionally attached to them! It really broke my heart to have to put the clothes that Henri grew out of away.) I am excited and my mommy heart is happy!

Finding Out Tomorrow!

Well, tomorrow is the big day! I have been VERY aware that for over a month now there was the ability to know this baby's gender through an ultrasound. I have been so excited to find out!!!

New pink clothes or cute blue clothes that I love so very much???

How I feel: I really would be happy either way. I want a daughter... someday. I also LOVE Henri's boyness and would really be so happy with another sweet baby boy. So, why am I so anxious to find out? I don't know, but I am.

Also, I am not bothered that my doctor usually likes to wait this long because when we had Henri's ultrasound at 18.5 weeks there were some spots on his heart that I didn't enjoy worrying about for a month before we had another ultrasound to see that they were gone. Hopefully waiting this long will eliminate situations like that.

I can't help but groan, however, when I read other pregnant women's blogs that say: baby (boy or girl) coming at the end of March! What? This baby is coming in the middle of February!

This pregnancy has been different from Henri's. I have been much more sick. (I am doing so so much better now, by the way! I am so relieved and grateful! About 18.5 weeks was when things started calming down this time.) Another difference is that I think that my stomach is actually smaller this time. I carried so far out with Henri- I was huge. This time I must be carrying closer to my body. Every single person who has ventured a guess has said girl. I don't know if they have taken into account that this time, not only have I been trying to keep up with Henri, but also that I just lived through Houston's hottest summer...ever. Really, I do think that the heat really exacerbated my symptoms. Thankfully, tomorrow will be in the 70's. I plan to spend all day outside! (Except for the ultrasound, of course!)

I am feeling like knowing the gender will help me get into the next phase of this pregnancy: I can think about names, I can think about clothes, I can think more about how things will be between Henri and this new little one. I can let myself dream a little more about everything.

My Morning

The bad:

Charles can't make it for the ultrasound on Tuesday because of work and asked me to reschedule it.

The good:

Charles wants me to reschedule so that he can be there.

The outcome:

The ultrasound will now be on the 18th.

The bad:

Henri threw a fit this morning (he has been doing that lately) and after I put him in the crib he screamed for half an hour.

The good:

He is asleep.

The outcome:

I ordered "Love and Logic" from Amazon and now I am going to take a nap too.

Funny Boy

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

Henri is so silly sometimes and I have been wanting to write down some of the funny things that he does.

This first one reminds me of a Mormonad:

While Charles was on a trip for work I was trying to step in to the father's role and play with Henri using his little soccer ball. Even though I was stationary I thought we were having a good time, but awhile after we started Henri got sidetracked by another toy. I pulled out my phone to make a call and Henri looked up and came over immediately and said (with a very serious, cute face,) "no phone, no phone." He gently picked up my phone and went over and put it away in a desk. So, after hearing in my head, "Isn't it about... Time?" I spent the rest of my night playing whatever game Henri wanted to play.

He has recently started telling me what he wants me to do. "Come on. Up." He also usually wants Charles to stand up if they are playing with any sort of ball and run up and down the front hall with him. Charles got him a new football the other day and Henri likes for Charles to say, "set, hike" (while Charles is holding the ball) and then they both charge into the living room. Henri is funny because he likes things to always go a certain way. In this game, for example, a ball is needed, but Henri never actually even touches it. He only prompts Charles with a, "..set.." and then just runs along beside his day squealing with delight.

One of the things that I find the most joy in is that Henri loves the routine of things. While getting into his carseat (which he now climbs into, thank goodness!) his little shirt will often ride up in the back and because the buckles are still behind him it is uncomfortable. After a, "hot hot" or a "help you?" I will pull his shirt down and bring the buckles in front to buckle him in and he will say, "better." (He also says, "hold you?" which is SO CUTE!)

My friend Drew told me this the other day. She does the music for the nurseries in our ward (I think there are three... Another side note: they just rearranged the nurseries, but before that happened they were just by age group and in Henri's class- 18 month to 2 years- there were 19 kids on the role! Crazy!) Drew has a little boy, Aiden, who is almost 18 months so she takes him around with her while she does music time. This last Sunday Drew handed out some ribbons attached to sticks for the kids to wave while they were singing. Henri noticed that Aiden didn't have one so he went over and gave him his.

Lest you think, as my parents do, that I completely blind to all flaws in my little boy I do want to say that I realize there are flaws. When I ask Henri to, "come here" he thinks that is his cue to give me a grin and turn and run. (That was cute the first two times.) The story with Aiden is particularly sweet since, although sometimes he is okay with sharing he usually isn't okay with sharing with Aiden. When we are playing with friends Henri has no sense of hunger or fatigue... which means when we get home from somewhere he suddenly realizes that he is starving and tired. You know what follows...

On to more cute and fun stories...

Another moment when I felt like I had a huge reward from being a mother:

A few weeks ago Henri and Charles took a walk to a park that is quite close to our house. On the playset there is a ramp that is too steep to be walked up, but has little foot and hand holds for climbing. Henri was going up that the whole time we were there. One time he slipped down to the bottom and said, "try again." It made my mother heart soar when I knew that he had learned that from me.

We have started a little car collection for Henri. He loves having several because he can line them all up and then rearrange them over and over again. One night he started to have a hard time getting ready for bed because he still wanted to play, so I told him that the cars each needed to "fait doe doe" (go to sleep.) Now, each night he lines the cars up just under our footstool in the family room before they go to sleep and says, "night night car" or "bonne nuit car."

On Saturday night I went to the General Relief Society Broadcast (which, of course, I loved) and we had some friends coming over afterwards to play games. Charles stayed home with Henri. I was sitting by my friend and after the broadcast mentioned that Henri would be in bed when we got back. As soon as I said this, I knew that Henri would still be up. I was right. I got back home and Charles told me, "He won't stop letting me play with him." I chuckled and went into the room for a few minutes. While I was in there I heard things like, "Come on" (from Henri) and "Ready, set, hike" from Charles and more running, screaming and laughing. I loved Charles attempt at calming Henri down.

Really, since Henri was born Charles has not been the "calming down" type of dad. At all. Even when he was a tiny baby I would still have to remind Charles to be calm, even if he was carrying him in to bed. This is now manifest at bedtime. After I get Henri bathed, fed, brushed, diapered, etc. I will tell Henri to go tell daddy, "Daddy, priere" Henri will hop up and run as fast as he can to wherever Charles his and shout, "Daaaddddy, priiiieeere." Then, they will have something of a race to the family room rug where we kneel down to say our family prayers.

A few nights ago Henri seemed particularly hyper and Charles said, "just let him play a little longer." but Henri jumped up from the prayer, gave me a hug, then ran as fast as he could to the stairs and started up them. So, Charles did take him up to bed, but I loved his enthusiasm for the routine (because I am sure it wasn't enthusiasm for bedtime.)

Also, Charles helped Henri say his first prayer last night. Henri mostly repeated the last word of each phrase and it went something like this, "...Celeste...cion...bonne journee...beni maman ...bebe ...aide ...avoir ...bonne nuit... bon reves...nom... Christ...amen."

Discouraged

Today has been a hard day. I woke up feeling sick. Not just pregnancy sick, but sick with a cold. Henri has a cold too so I decided that we would stay home from church. Charles went, but I told him to keep his phone on him in case I needed him. My first text message went like this, (WARNING: do not read if you feel sick at all!) "Throwing up while holding Henri's poopy bottom in the air is not fun." The second, "...aaaand Henri just threw up too..." Charles didn't even get that one until he was home, bless his heart.

I have been planning on writing a blog post about how this pregnancy has been going. The title, "For Charles." The subtitle something like, "So that when I want to get pregnant when this next baby is six months old and Charles looks at me like I am crazy then I won't just think he is being insensitive."

Does this tell you how this pregnancy has been going?

This picture is the only documentation of the bruise I got on my cheek from passing out while Charles was at work. Also pictured is the reason for my smile. (Don't I look skinny? I have been on a diet.)

Okay, I am 18 weeks today and I feel tired. Not physically (well, yeah, physically too) but emotionally. I keep thinking to myself, "I don't know how much longer I can do this." It is hard that I am 18 weeks with only the occasional okay day, and really the only end in sight being February 19. So, after an uncomfortable day I cried. Not the pretty type of crying, with tears running down your cheeks, but the ugly type of crying with sobs accompanied by coughs and dry heaves and an extremely runny nose. Not a pretty sight. Since I need to get something into my stomach right before bed I have stayed up after Charles went to sleep watching "Drop Dead Diva" and trying to think of something to eat.

For the past few nights I have also been feeling some cramping. I was sitting on the couch worrying a little bit and wondering if I should reschedule my doctor's appointment from the middle of the week to tomorrow.

At that moment as I was looking down at my little bump I felt a distinct nudge. A little kick from this little miracle that is coming to my family telling me that everything is fine. Everything is fine with it. And that everything is going to be fine with me. I am grateful for this tender mercy. I really needed it tonight. I am grateful to remember that miracles do happen, even if they aren't the miracles that I have been thinking about. I am grateful to a Heavenly Father who is mindful of my needs and who will bless me so that I can endure my trials more cheerfully and faithfully. So, I have ended my day that has been full of tears of frustration and discouragement with tears of peace and joy and gratitude. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Henri Wants You to Know

I hope he is that excited in 22 weeks!

I really really love this boy!

Henri seems to be thriving here. Comparing pictures of when we first got here he looked so much younger, his hair was much shorter and straight. We went to his 18 month checkup (two months late) and he is now in the 25% for weight!!!! Wahoo! Thanks to everyone who has helped and prayed for my little guy who is no longer failing to thrive!

The best thing about the heat and humidity is Henri's curly hair. I can't bring myself to cut it.

Of course playing with his daddy is one of Henri's favorite things. Watching them has also been keeping me smiling.

I can often look over and see Henri reading through his books. The other day he had pulled out one of his toy boxes, poured out the toys, climbed in and settled down with a book. I got a picture with my phone, but couldn't get one with the camera. So, I have learned my lesson and keep the camera close.

House Pictures

So, here are the rest of the house pictures:

Upstairs playroom

Downstairs formal dining that we are going to make into an office/library

Henri's room. There is molding about 3 inches below the ceiling and the ceiling is blue with clouds painted on it. On top of the molding there is a rope light, so you can just have that light on and it is really fun. I would probably not be brave enough to paint a room like this, but we are really enjoying it!

Guest Bedroom: We are READY for visitors. If you come and visit we promise that we won't let Henri climb on the bed while you are here.

Our Home

Here are some pictures of our new house! We are loving it- especially Henri. He loves having more space to run around in!

Here is our master closet. Charles took these pictures after a specific incident that I will blog about later. (The title will be Wedding Ring: Stolen)

Kitchen and breakfast nook

Kitchen leading into hallway (which the laundry room is off of) and Dining Room

Backyard. We LOVE not having backyard neighbors and another thing I am really excited about is that behind the garage (which would be on the right if you are standing where we took this picture) there is quite a large space that seemed to be unusable....BUT I have been watching where the sun shines and that spot gets sun all day- PERFECT for my future garden! Also, I love watching Charles take Henri out after work and playing soccer with him, or running through the sprinklers. The backyard was one of my main concerns when we were house hunting and we are really enjoying it!

The Family Room: where we spend most of our time.

I have been having so much fun watching Henri with Charles. When he is home Henri just follows him around and copies everything he does. It is so apparent how much he needs his dad! And I am so grateful that he has such a great one!

So, that is really all of the pictures that I have right now, and although I probably won't have another post about the house itself I will try to work in more pictures later. We are enjoying our neighbors and our ward. Henri and I have fun things to do every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. On the other days we have enjoyed going to the pool that is a five minute walk. I am excited for it to get cooler (not til October!) so we can walk around a small lake (only a seven minute walk) and play on the playgrounds (one by the pool and one by the lake.)

Charles is also enjoying his job! I am so grateful. Just tonight he said, "did I mention that I love my job?" I do miss Utah, the mountains, the weather, my friends and family, but we know we are where we are supposed to be and we are so grateful for all of the blessings that we have been given!

A Tribute to Wymount

We have finally left our first Wymount home for good! It is a bitter-sweet time for me to be moving on from Provo, especially when I think back on all of the wonderful memories that we have from our time there. When I first signed up for South Wymount I actually cried because I felt like I could make anywhere a cozy home or Charles and I.... Anywhere, EXCEPT cinderblocks! . We moved in after class on the first day of winter semester. We had to borrow a truck that night to pick up a mattress (which sat on the floor until nine months ago.) Our first week we didn't have any furniture. We ate on a package of paper towels.

We borrowed a table from my brother and a card table and chairs from my parents. A few weeks later my Grandma Tigger heard about some couches that were in good condition that some neighbors from my parents neighborhood were giving away. She told them that we needed some!

The funny thing about these couches was that we hadn't even talked about what we were going to do about getting furniture, and we had been married for a month! Apparently we were too young and in love to think about such mundane things!
Now fast forward exactly two years and add couch covers, a rug, a diploma, an internship in Texas and a four week old baby. We moved back into our same quad after four months in Houston. We brought our little Henri back to a beautiful winter in Utah.

Four months of hard work later Charles graduated and we both walked.

Then we went back to Houston for the summer. Then back to Wymount, Quad 2! That's right..I went from crying because of cinderblock walls to only wanting to move back to Wymount! Now, nine months later we have moved back to Houston for good. Here are some of the things I love so much about Wymount:

• The huge windows
• The views
• The playground in the quad
• Tuesday night volleyball
• Our wonderful ward
• Only having to have one car
• The beautiful nature all around us
• The aquamarine and gold speckled countertops (seriously, I don't miss them, but I kinda started to like them)
• The friends

The Friends: I can't really express how much I love and appreciate the girls in Wymount! There have been so many large and small acts of service that I have received. There are girls there that love my Henri, that have listened to me worry about him and have given me advice, that have just been my friend! I have loved our time in Wymount and I will always treasure the wonderful memories that we have made there!

Time Flies

Wow! Life has been so busy since Charles graduated! First, we went to Idaho City where we:

went hiking

played in the forest

had fun in daddy's go-cart

hung out with Grandmaman, Grandpapa and Tante Annabelle

and basically looked cute.

Two days after we got home we drove to California for our first vacation with just our family.

On the way there we stopped at Hoover Dam to see the huge bridge there. It was really cool.

We also saw this cool statue. We touched its feet for good luck.

In California we watched the fountain

played in the courtyard

chased "birdies"

hung out at the beach

cuddled up in a beach towel

surfed

pulled all of the beach accessories in the wagon

(Henri was my favorite beach accessory)

worked hard pushing the wagon on our shell hunting walks

gave hugs

watched sunsets

and looked cute.

We love Huntington Beach! Thanks to both grandparents for these fun trips!

Here is one of my favorite stories from this last month and a half: Driving to and from Huntington Beach we stopped overnight to stay at The Mulberry House in St. George. This house belongs to y Grandma Tigger and we love it there. The last time Henri and I were there was in January while Charles was at a conference. When we arrived there again Henri went into the room where I had slept and went over to a crib that he could barely see into and said "tckie tckie" (tickle tickle) and pointed into the crib. Then I remembered that there was Raggity Anne doll that was in that crib that Henri and I took out to tickle back in January! I couldn't believe it! Then he started saying "quack quack" and wanted to go and play with the ducks that my Grandpa Gipper had carved. That was special to me because I feel like Henri has a special connection with Grandpa Gipper, who passed away 12 years ago. Also, when we were on our way home from California and stopped there again it was late at night so we carried a sleeping Henri up to his room. When he were about to put him down he started saying "quack quack" in such a persistent voice. It was so cute! So, here is Henri with Grandpa Gipper's ducks.