Our Pet Fly

I forgot to mention that we got a pet fly too....


The other day when Elaina, Erin and I were eating lunch, there was this annoying house fly flying around the kitchen. Elaina turned to me and asked me if we could keep it as our pet. I told her sure, totally amused by the fact that my three year old is so desperate for any pet that she can possibly get! The girls went on and on about the fly all lunch long. They were giggling and laughing at their new pet fly and kept trying to get it to land on them. Elaina referred to it as "my sweet little fly" and Erin was holding her hands out for it saying "come here little fly, come here..."

Oh my goodness, it was one of the most adorable moments of their little lives! Unfortunately our poor little pet fly died at dinnertime when Daddy smacked it with a towel before I had the chance to inform him that this was the new family pet.

We're still grateful Elaina doesn't understand death yet, since she's now lost a pet fish and a pet housefly

Just because I want to record these things, for my own journaling....

Erin says:

"here-go-Mommy-go" (as in, "here you go, Mommy") every time she hands something to me.

"I keek" = "I can't"

"Mommy! I missed you too Mommy!" every single morning when I first see her. Then she walks around saying "good morning Mommy" over and over again. And then she grabs my face between her two hands (to make sure she has my undivided attention...) and announces "I hungy. I want eak (=eat). I want cereal." This routine repeats itself every morning within the first 5 minutes of getting her out of her bed.

"I kuck" = "I'm stuck" (she seems to always be getting herself stuck!)

"Watch this!" (And then she'll do a trick, like balance her tummy on a chair and lift her legs off the ground, or attempt to do the splits, or jump off the couch)

"We can fly!" (From Peter Pan)...and lately "Birdie can fly!"

"I hold you" - Elaina said that too. This means that she wants to be held.

"I want nack" = "I want a snack" (also, "I want candy" "I want cooooookie" and "mak"=milk)

One day I asked Mike to bring me the wet wipes (he was preoccupied) so I asked Elaina to get them (she seems to go deaf at very opportune times each day...). Next thing I know, Erin was running to me, from the other side of the house, yelling "I got it!! I got it!!" What a sweetheart

She says lots of things. I'm amazed at how well she speaks (but then again she listens to Elaina all day and Elaina doesn't stop talking!). These are some of my favorite phrases though.

New Additions to Our Family

We added three new members to our family today: Pemberley, Cranston, and Buppy. Mike and the girls have been pestering me for a long time about getting a puppy or kitty (and as of last night, Mike is now begging for a hampster!) but I haven't caved and don't plan to for a long time. I'm not much of a pet person. But I couldn't resist Elaina's face this morning when she asked for a pet purple fish! So she and Mike went to the pet store and came back with 3 guppies.

Elaina came up with the names Pemberley and Cranston on her own. Mike named Buppy after the pet fish he and I had when we were newlyweds.  

Unfortunately the "purple fish" that Elaina so desperately wanted turned out to be grey and white (thanks to Mike's colorblindness).  

And even more unfortuate...this story has a sad ending.  I walked in to the kitchen about 3 hours after putting the fish in their new home to find that Pemberley (the grey/white -supposed to be purple - fish) had died.  She had a weak fin from the beginning, like Nemo, but we still had high hopes for her.  If Nemo could make it, surely Pemberley would!  I told Mike that he had to break the news to Elaina but then quickly changed my mind since I tend to be the more sensitive one in the relationship.  I haven't had to explain death to her yet, and thank goodness she doesn't totally understand because she just said "it's ok, we'll get a new Pemberley."  This time, we'll make sure it's really a purple one :)

The Moms in my life

First of all, happy Mothers Day to all the Mothers that read my blog!

Here's a conversation Elaina and I had a few days ago:

Elaina: Is it Mothers Day yet?
Me: No yet, but it in a few days it will be. Is that going to be my special day?
Elaina: No.... it's my special day because I have a Mother.

I love it! I think it's great to have a perspective like that. So it gets to be Elaina and Erin's special day too because they have a Mom that loves them more than anything. :)

The primary kids sang to the mothers today and for the first time I got to be sung to! Elaina practically shouted it, and I loved it. She was so happy to be up there singing for everyone. One song that the primary sang is called "I Often Go Walking." I love this song, and it actually reminds me of my Dad - I guess I kind of consider it "our song" because he and I both remember when we learned it in primary together - back when I was a Sunbeam and he was a primary teacher. One of my first memories is going with him to buy my Mom flowers for Mother's Day when I was three years old and singing this song together. Every time I hear it, it brings tears to my eyes, so you can imagine the state I was in today when my little Sunbeam sang it to me.

So, on this mother's day I feel especially grateful for both my Dad and my Mom. My Dad because he taught me how important my Mom is. President Kimball said that the most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their Mother. I cannot think of a better example of this principle than the way that my Dad esteems my Mom in his life. I'm grateful that he helped me realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful mother. She is deserving of every bit of praise that he gives her. She is an absolutely incredible person. She always puts her family first, even from halfway across the world, and even when her kids are grown up. I'm amazed at how well she can mainain a beautiful (organized!) home, devote time to her many interests and often-demanding callings, and still make sure that her priority is her family. And she was even able to do this when her kids were young. I'm realizing as I get older that she has sacrificed a lot in order to make her family happy. All mothers do, but I'm amazed at what my own Mom has done for me. I have been feeling overwhelmed lately with the responsibilities of motherhood and the feelings that if only I could be a perfect mother, for my childrens' sake. Well, if not perfection, I wish I could be as good as my own Mom. Trying to be that good really overwhelms me, but I'm glad she set the standard so high because I have a have an example to try and live up to. I'm at least trying to live up to it :) I have along ways to go.
I'm also blessed to have such wonderful in-laws. My Mom says that when your kids get married, they just get another set of parents to love them. I'm lucky to have married into such a good family and to have such an incredible Mother in law. I'm not sure how she was able to raise 7 kids and still be as patient and composed as she is (seriously, I feel like I'm going to go crazy sometimes...and I only have 2!). She is one of the kindest people I know. I'm amazed at how wonderful she is and how welcome she makes me feel in her family. I feel like the luckiest person in the world today because of the two great Moms that I have and the 2 wonderful children I've been blessed with.

Happy Mothers Day!

P.S. My Mom was so sweet and made this photo montage for me for Mothers Day and I wanted to share. Click on the link below the picture to watch it. Thanks Mom!

Happy Mother's Day Allison 5/10/09