ah, music. sweet, sweet music.
today, she said a word. a word that meant something. a sound that symbolized and communicated meaning.
she is almost 17 months now and hasn’t uttered anything that we could technically call a word. no ma-ma. no da-da. not even a simple no. just grunts and screams and noises but nothing resembling the english language.
of course as a mom you just say to others and yourself, "oh, she’s just developing at her own pace. no worries. she’ll talk when she’s ready." but deep down you say a little more than that. something like, "i pray it’s nothing more than that. please do let her talk when she’s ready."
i think i breathed an audible sigh of relief today when i heard and understood what she said. and i savored the reassurance that she will communicate when she is ready.
and what was that joyous word?
i was putting away groceries while she sat in her highchair eating some grapes. she kept yelling to get my attention and when i turned around she put her hands together to sign and say "mo." and every time she ran out of grapes she would sign and say it again, "mo."
i was so giddy it didn’t matter that she ate half the bag. maybe i’ll re-think that tomorrow when she starts burning up the diapers. but for now….if you want "more" baby, you got it!!

am i the only one who has this problem?
i was in a public restroom the other day and realized i seem to always have the same malfunction.
you know those sanitary paper seat covers you have to pull out, separate, and place on the toilet for your hygenic protection, right? well, the same thing happens to me every time.
i pull it out.
try to separate it and end up ripping it in the wrong place. oh well.
i place in on the seat.
the torn part falls into the water and the race clock starts ticking.
the water begins to soak the paper and it gets heavier. slipping. gradually. slipping. into the bowl.
i’m frantically trying to get my pants undone and sit down before it completely falls into the toilet.
hurry. hurry. uh. oh. wait. too. late.
it slips in. and i stand there wondering if i care enough to pull another one out and try again.
i look up at the wall and read "provided by the management for your protection" and i seriously feel like taking a pen and writing over it "provided by the management for your torture." 🙂

it happenend once again last week. but this time i sat there and laughed and thought jerry seinfeld could have made an incredibly hilarious episode out of this.

been thinking a lot lately about choices. my choices. others’ choices. and the grand effect of them all.
life really is all about choices, isn’t it? after all, the reason why we are here is about allowing us the freedom to choose. bad or good. 
it seems like so often, people feel a need to explain their behavior as a result of what their parents have done or not done or should have done or shouldn’t have done. me included. but when it all comes down to the ‘nitty gritty’, don’t i have the choice? to choose some habits or traits, etc. and not choose others?
i guess i just feel like it is my responsibility to shape who i am and who i want to be. it doesn’t make sense to fault others for my shortcomings. if i want to change them. i can choose to do so.

basically it boils down to this: dallin and ella, if i totally mess up on motherhood, please don’t hate me forever. please choose to remember the good. and forget how i cook. 😉

it’s been an awesome trip! filled with fun, family, friends, and freaky wicked heat. we’ve loved it. but now it’s time to go back, dare i say, home. just this past week i’ve found myself telling people we are from california instead of my usual lengthy explanation that i grew up in utah, jeff in arizona, but now we live in california…yadda, yadda, yadda.
i’ve often wondered how long we’d need to live in a place before we’d both claim it as home. we’ve been married six years and lived three of those in cali. dallin has lived most of his life there as well.
will i eventually call myself a california girl? probably only if i bleach my hair blond and buy a string bikini. don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. 🙂
for now, it is where we are. it is home. we love it. we’re going back to cali…

standing here in the mac store on the magnificent mile in chicago!!!!!
the best word i can use to describe this is EXHILARATING!!
i have forgotten how much i love big cities, the adventure, the exploration.
i am soaking this all in and recharging my batteries. it feels good. so, so good!
off to explore and take some pictures…

can’t wait to hug jeff and the kiddies real soon. I LOVE YOU!!

our new ward asked me to write up a little blurb about our family for the spotlight in the newsletter. so i decided to get wild and crazy and make up a quiz to introduce ourselves. chances are if you read this bloggy thingy, you already know the answers. but i thought it might be fun anyhow. see how well you know us. (answers in comments)

1. How did Jeff and Cherie meet?
a. in
a Food Science & Nutrition class at BYU
b. Jeff’s
dad was Cherie’s mission president
c. they
were in the same kindergarten class and Jeff would chase her on the playground
d. they
sat next to each other on a plane and Cherie asked for his phone number

2. How long after they started dating did they
get engaged?
a. 7
months
b. 2
years
c. 10
days
d. 3
weeks

3. Where did Jeff and Cherie grow up?
      a. Arizona
and Utah
      b. Southern
California
      c. Goober,
Idaho
      d. Argentina
and Spain
      e. a and d

4. Jeff and Cherie have two children ages 3 ½
and 14 months. What are their names?
a. Squish
and Screamer
b. Laman
and Lemuel
c. Dallin
and Ella
d. Greg
and Marsha

5. What does Jeff do for a living?
a. He’s
a professional surfer
b. He
works for Pfizer as a legal drug dealer
c. He
travels the world looking for the cure for flatulance (i removed this one from the newsletter, but had to include it here because it makes me laugh)
d. He
sells encyclopedias

6. What does Cherie enjoy doing with her time?
a. loving and supporting her local drug dealer (hint: this might
help you answer #5)
b. being
a nurturer, teacher, nurse, comforter, nutritionist, cheerleader, entertainer,
and playmate for her two cute kiddies
c. photography
and graphic design
d. running
an occasional marathon
e. all
of the above

7. If you ask Dallin what his favorite toy is,
what will he say?
a. money
b. trains
c. cars
d. dogs

8. What do Jeff and Cherie like most about the
Valencia 2^nd ward?
a. that
everyone has been so kind and friendly in welcoming us
b. that
you tolerate our screaming children during sacrament meeting
c. the
opportunity we have to learn and serve together
d. Dallin’s
amazing and wonderful primary teachers
e. all
of the above