Ten Thoughts I Am Thinking

Warning: This list gets pretty random.

1) I wish I lived in a society where a woman's appearance and sexual attractiveness wasn't considered more important than any of her other qualities like virtue, integrity, compassion, and ability to eat mass amounts of fried things with cheese.

2) It makes me sad that so many of the pins that pop up on Pinterest say things like, "You don't have to let your body go during pregnancy."  Then you go to the link and it talks about staying skinny, with pictures of a mom who wore normal jeans out of the hospital right after having a baby.  Or pictures of moms with six-pack abs and no stretch marks.  While I am impressed by all of my friends who want to take care of themselves when they are pregnant, I think it is important to remember that in a healthy pregnancy you gain weight.  You gain enough weight that typically you still have some when you leave the hospital, and that is okay.  You work (reasonably) to reach an ideal, healthy post-pregnancy weight for you.  And you know what?  Even when you get back to your pre-pregnancy weight, you probably won't have your pre-pregnancy body.  Some skin might have stretch marks.  Other skin might sag.  Hips might be wider.  You know what?  That is okay, too.  You know what else?  You can still be dead sexy with pregnancy stretch marks (but remember, sexiness is not more important than other qualities, like I said above).

3) I want to home school the girls but the more I try to teach Peyton colors, the less she remembers.  The more I try to teach Loralie animal sounds, the more she insists that every animal says, "Moo."  Maybe I wouldn't be as effective teaching as I would hope to be.  On the bright side, I know several people who are effective teachers and I think they could teach me a thing or twenty.  It is good to have resources.

4) I like living in Oregon more than I liked living in Idaho.  The folks who live in the neighboring complex scare the crap right out of me, though.  Their dogs bit us hard enough to draw blood twice (Chris once, Hillbilly Dad once).  They flip us off from across the yard because we won't give them our parking space.  They also have people coming and going regularly because they sell drugs.  One of their....customers dumped their soda all over our vehicle.  The police know it and say that they have had several run-ins with them.  They tried to break in to our apartment complex recently (the neighbors, not the police).  But they don't even ruin Oregon for me.  It is awesome here and we have had so much fun.

5)  I am very blessed to have neighbors who live below us who are very tolerant of the noise that comes when you have 2 kids in the house.  They are fun, friendly, and we hang out.  In the 2 weeks that I have lived here we have had dinner together 5 times.  AND, my favorite part is they go to the same church as us!  What are the odds that we would move to a place with a very, very small LDS population and get LDS neighbors who live right below us?  Even more stunning, they are the same age we are!  Every other person in our ward (a ward is a local congregation), is just shy of elderly.  I feel like we won the jackpot with these neighbors.  I prayed and prayed for neighbors like them before I moved.  The power of prayer is real, guys :)

6)  In the 2 weeks since my family has been reunited, nothing dramatic has happened.  No serious illness.  No car malfunctions.  No kid shinanigans.  I have loved being a stay-at-home mom and I love that we are all together again.  I can't wait until I graduate and can make the stay-at-home mom thing permanent.  It is incredible.  Non-dramatic happenings are quickly growing on me.

7)  If you ask Peyton what she wants to be when she grows up she will tell you that she wants to be a princess....and maybe grow a beard.  She also repeatedly informs me that I don't have a beard.  Like it's a bad thing.

8) I love my new apartment.  It is nice.  Nicest place we have ever lived.  It is the first apartment we've had that our kitchen table actually fits in.  I really love it.  Have I mentioned that I love it?

9) I want to listen to Adele forever.  Well, not forever.  But for a long time.  Then I want to listen to ABBA.  Then Ben Folds.  What happened to all of my CD's from my favorite musicals?  Finding those is on my to-do list.  So is paying tuition, which is due tomorrow.  Totally forgot.  I should probably do that first.

10) Loralie has the cutest pot belly.  And when she is sleepy (or concentrating) she twirls the hair on the left side of her head.  She is almost always walking around with this twisty loop of hair sticking out of the side of her head.  She has the cutest, funniest quirks.

Probably

Recently Peyton became very interested in her toys marrying one another.  Also, the dandelions from the yard marrying each other. Also, her macaroni noodles at lunch and the rocks in the parking lot....you get the idea.  After talking about that for a while we had this conversation.  This isn't the first time she brought up marrying her dad, but it is the first time we really were able to discuss it.

Peyton:  I think I will marry my dad. 

Me: Really?  Why do you want to do that?

Peyton: Well, he's nice to me and takes me on walks.  And he buys me candy when I'm good.  He's strong like Batman and he knows how to grow a beard.

Me: I see.  Those are nice things. Well, Peyton, I hate to have to tell you, but your dad is already married.

Peyton: What!? Why?  Who did he marry?

Me:  Peyton, your dad is married to me!

Peyton:  You are his girlfriend?  Like a princess? (Pause, disappointed sigh)  Mom, you took him from me.  That's not choosing the right.

Me:  I am sorry Peyton.  Can we still be friends?

Peyton: ...Probably.....

*~*~*~*~*~*

Tonight I am making homemade pizza for dinner.  We love that stuff, especially since Peyton gets to help with the process a lot.  After making the dough I instructed Peyton not to touch it because we needed to let it rise.  She completely ignored me and started stabbing the perfect dough ball with a fork.  I was frustrated that she would deliberately disobey me.  Who did she think she was!?  I strongly encouraged her to stay in her room and pick a different activity for a little while.  After about 45 seconds....

Peyton: (Crying) Mom!  May I get out?  I want to get out!

Me:  Well, I don't know, Peyton.  Will you try a little harder to follow the rules?

Peyton: Yes!  I probably won't touch the pizza dough anymore!

Probably?  I needed a little more reassurance than that.  I explained that to Peyton. Her response?

Peyton:  Okay!  I will really, really try to probably not touch it!

I love that kid.  And pizza.  I wonder if the dough is done now....