Four Stories

STORY #1:
Seth: "Mom, I made you this juice (colored water concoction)! Can you guess what it's called?"
Me: "No, what's it called?"
Seth: "Cancer."
How could I resist a nice, cool glass of cancer?

STORY #2
Catherine, showing me her wet, clean hands: "Mommy, I did it!"
Me: "Oh, did you wash your hands? Good job!"
Seth, from the bathroom: "Yes, but she did it in the toilet."

STORY #3
Seth, holding an adorable fluffy lamb Beanie Baby: "Mommy, this is my new baby. Do you know his name?"
Me: "Nope. What's his name?"
Seth: "Crusty."
Me: "Crusty?"
Seth: "Yep, because he's been dead for a long time."
(addendum: I have also heard him referring to the lamb as "Crispy." Not sure which I like better).

STORY #4
Seth, after dinner last night: "Mommy, thank you for the poison!"

The Next One

The first time was a surprise. Just a slightly late, slightly abnormal period. But I wondered, so I went in to the doctor. "Most likely a very early miscarriage." But I was okay. It's hard to mourn something you didn't know you had until it was gone.

Also, antibiotics and birth control don't mix. For real.

The second time was harder. The night Catherine was born I was laying on the hospital bed next to her when I got a very clear impression: "The next one is coming sooner." Obviously Heavenly Father knows me VERY well--he gave me plenty of advance warning (this is how it has to be with me--otherwise my kids would probably end up five years apart. Let's just say I get a little terrified).

And so, sooner than I would have chosen on my own, we were ready to try for baby #3. Everything seemed to be going so well--I was pregnant quickly and the baby was due the end of May. We've been hoping for a May baby from the beginning. I felt like my impression was being confirmed--everything would go well because we were being obedient to my prompting.

But I started bleeding at five weeks. And there went our May baby. But even though I was sad, I felt relieved in a way. You hear the statistics all the time--how 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. Other than my little oops above, I had never miscarried. I felt like this was it--I had paid the piper and now everything would be well.

It took longer than I hoped before I was pregnant again. But now it was December and everything seemed to be going well. We would tell our families at Christmas that baby #3 was on the way!

And then, once again, at five weeks I started bleeding. This time I didn't do so well. It seemed so unfair--weren't we doing what we were supposed to? So why wasn't it working out? Why couldn't we keep these babies?

I found myself pulling away from people, which is not easy to do during the holidays. I spent our ward Christmas party sitting in a hallway trying to avoid talking to people. But how grateful I was for two good friends who noticed that things weren't right and stopped to sit and talk with me. I will always remember their compassion that night.

I also need to apologize to Aaron & Ashley, who came out early to spend time with us before Christmas. It's hard to be a good hostess (or wife, or mother, really) when you're mourning and angry. But they were a huge blessing--they were they ones who played with Seth & Catherine and made them laugh when I wasn't feeling up for it.

As the days passed (and the hormones calmed down), I started to feel better. Christmas was lovely and peaceful--just what I needed. But I was still confused. That was our last chance for a baby to come "sooner." Seth and Catherine are 31 months apart. Even if we got pregnant right away (which I doubted) and even if I didn't miscarry again (which I also doubted), baby #3 and Catherine would be 31 months apart.

Which is exactly what happened. Come January I was pregnant again, but this time I couldn't be hopeful. But then I made it past 5 weeks. Then 6. And everything was fine (meaning I was nauseous and exhausted). But I still couldn't bring myself to take a pregnancy test. Somehow I felt like I would jinx everything.

But I told my family at 7 weeks. We were all together for Grandpa's funeral and it felt right to share some good news during our mourning. Plus this baby would be due September 20th--Grandpa Bud's birthday.

And everything was still well at 8 weeks. At 9 weeks I finally took the test, but only to appease Bethany, who was so perplexed as to WHY I wouldn't just take the stupid test. I tried to explain that it's pretty obvious that I 'm pregnant (sick, tired, bloated, eating every 30 minutes...), so why bother, but she wasn't having it. And--surprise!--I was pregnant. And for the first time, I felt safe.

I waited until 14 weeks to go to the doctor, partially because I hate going to all the appointments and wanted to postpone as long as possible, but also because I was still afraid. Afraid that I would go in and there would be no heartbeat--no baby.

My appointment was Friday. I had a slight moment of fear when the doctor announced that I was only measuring at 10-12 weeks instead of 14. But by some miracle we were able to go in for an ultrasound that afternoon. And here's what we saw:

(yes, I realize it's a creepy picture. But they didn't print off any of the cute ones where you could see the tiny arms and legs all curled up. Instead you get The Alien).

A beautiful, perfect little baby with a perfect, strong heartbeat. Even at 14 weeks (or actually, 14 weeks 6 days according to the ultrasound measurements) it already looked just like a baby. Tiny little fingers and toes, a tiny little mouth. And everything, EVERYTHING, was perfect.

And so we're officially announcing the impending arrival of baby #3, who should make an appearance sometime between Sept. 14th and 20th.

And the nurse and I both caught a sneak peek that made us pretty sure that we have another little boy on our hands. But we'll have to wait to confirm that detail for another month or so!

Even though I don't understand everything, I feel at peace. Maybe I got that prompting because we needed to get through all those miscarriages first? Or maybe "the next one" meant one of the miscarriages? I don't know. But I am practically giddy to finally have this little one on the way!

Catherine At Two

Our beautiful little girl.

Dear Catherine,

I thought child #2 would be so simple after child #1. After all, been there, done that, right? And in some ways it is--I'm much more relaxed about the whole thing now. But raising you has been an entirely new adventure. You are, quite literally, nothing like your brother. And I wouldn't change it for the world.

You are independent, always wanting to do things yourself. You are ALWAYS on the go--always jumping or climbing or generally getting into trouble. You make your wishes known very clearly, and quite often. You're also a snuggler--I love reading books with my little Princess bug on my lap. Cooking dinner with you in my arms, however, isn't nearly as sweet, but we manage. You just wants to be where I am--to see (or do) what I'm doing. You drive me crazy and I adore you. 

You bring such joy into our family. You're obsessed with having everyone home together--you run through the roll call every night at dinner (usually during the middle of the prayer): "Mommy! Daddy! Seth!" And if someone is missing, you are so concerned. You miss Daddy desperately while he's at work. Same with Seth during preschool. You're the happiest when we're all there together. 

Baby Girl, I love you so. You've amazed me every day for two years and I have no doubt you will amaze everyone for the rest of your life. Happy Birthday, Princess. We love you so.

Here are some of the things you're up to at two years old:

-you are 100% potty trained, but only when you have absolutely nothing on your bottom. Panties, diaper, or even just pants? Forget it. Which leads to this:

-you prefer to spend your day stark naked. Who cares if it's the middle of winter and 66 degrees in the house?

-you love to draw. You'll frequently ask for your "cunnins" (colors) and set to work creating beautiful artwork. More often than not, however, you'll sneak off to another room and color on your face. Which is why the colors are up high.

-you can finally say your own name! "Cafin."

Trying to get a picture of her in the dress I wore as a kid.

This was the best I got.

-size 4 shoes, size 3 diapers, size 18 month clothing (with a few 12 month holdouts). You were 34 inches tall and 21 pounds at your checkup--50% for height, not even on the scale for weight.

-you're having another word explosion, which means you're speaking in sentences now. Usually only one or two words, but still... You even gave me a full report on nursery this week. "Snacks. In the mouth. Play and play, Emma. Cook and cook." Translation: I ate some snacks and played in the kitchen with Emma. 

-you are completely and utterly terrified of the stink bugs we find in our house. You go into complete hysterics when you see one. Then for days afterward you point to the spot where the bug was and say, "Bug! BUUUUUUUUGGGG!"

(Who wouldn't be terrified of these stupid things? Especially in your house?)

-every time Seth picks up one of the stink bugs and throws it out the door/flushes it down the toilet, you say, "Seth, hero!" And he eats it up.

-you would live in the tub. You ask for "splash and splash" repeatedly every day. Now that Seth can turn on the tub himself I have to be vigilant--twice I've come upstairs to find you both naked in the tub with no help from me.

-your hair is a horrid matted mess after every nap/bedtime. You get it from me--so sorry.

-your favorite part of your kitchenette is the fake cell phone. You'll hand it to me and insist that I talk to Emma before running off with it yourself.

-you'll fight your brother and father for the Kindle now. You want to play "monkey" (Monkey Preschool Lunchbox). You have no idea what's going on, but you LOVE the monkey.

-you also love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which you watch on Youtube during lunch. As soon as I start making lunch, you start asking for "meess mouse, meess mouse!" Goofy is your favorite.

-you spend quite a bit of time pretending to be a cat. You'll be in the middle of doing something and spontaneously start meowing. You'll even drop down and crawl around occasionally.

-you'll turn on the music on my keyboard and insist that we dance. "Daddy, dance! Mommy, dance!" You think it's hilarious. And you clearly got your moves from your father. Lucky you.

-speaking of dancing...when we first started letting you run around naked, I caught you doing this sultry little dance on the couch. The best part? You were singing "stiiiiiiiiink buuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm, stiiiiiiiiiink buuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm" to yourself while dancing (neither of us have any idea where you got this from). So now we call it the Stink Bum Dance, and you still do it frequently, but only when you're naked and especially when you can see your own reflection in the fridge.

-you're starting to give up naps. You'll currently skip about two naps a week. I hate to see them go, but it's not so bad since Seth isn't napping either.

-you love playing with us. You'll stand at the top of the basement stairs and holler, "SETH!! Jump and jump! SETH!! Are coming?" That trampoline you got for Christmas has been put to good use.

We love you baby girl! 

In my make-up. 

For the thousandth time...

Happy Birthday, Princess!

As much as it seemed to come quickly, Catherine's second birthday didn't take me too much by surprise. She definitely had the attitude down for a few months before her birthday. Sometimes I wonder if I have a two-year-old or a twelve-year-old!

Catherine's birthday was conveniently on President's Day this year--no work for Jon! It was supposed to be my day to sleep in (we alternate on weekends), but I was too excited. When I heard Catherine wake up I had to go get her so I could tell her happy birthday and show her her gifts.

This was our big gift to Catherine: a little kitchen for her to play with. She LOVES the one at nursery, and this one was a steal at Aldi (minus the assembly--it's always fun to open a box and find EVERYTHING still hooked together in the injection molds). 

She did like her kitchen, but she liked Seth's gift more:

Nothing like a little candy for breakfast on your birthday!

And what's a play kitchen without a ton of play food to go with it?

And a shopping cart to fill with plastic food? (Thanks Grandpa & Grandma!)

(Notice the sucker from Seth in her hand?)

The kitchen was a bigger hit with Seth, who immediately got to work organizing and preparing food.

Once we were all dressed and presentable, it was off to the dollar store for our traditional birthday balloon:

She knew EXACTLY which one she wanted.

"Mouse! MOUSE!!!"

I know, I know. It's pretty lame.

But she wanted a Mickey Mouse cake and I didn't want to deal with black icing/fondant. So she got a raspberry ganache cake with Minnie, since that was the only character I could find (and I looked EVERYWHERE). It ended up being a big hit, since the set happened to contain both Minnie AND a meow-meow, two of her favorite things.

Also, the cat's bed and food dish were not part of the original decorating scheme--those were added by her loving big brother, who insisted that they needed to be on the cake. He also insisted we buy the '2' candle--apparently two regular candles weren't good enough for Catherine.

(Seth was SO cute about Catherine's birthday--he was counting down the days for her and had a hard time waiting to give her the sucker he'd gotten for her. He was also a champion secret keeper--he'd known about the kitchen since November and made sure not to tell Catherine that it was hidden by the water heater).

We had a very small party for Catherine--just us and the Oliveras again. We've officially adopted them as family at this point.

Not too sure about that candle.

(Jon had to keep her from grabbing it a few seconds later)

Blowing out her candle all by herself.

The cake was a much bigger hit this year than it was last year. Maybe because of the chocolate?

We waited to open her gifts from her grandparents & great-grandparents until that evening (we were hoping to catch some of them on Skype, but failed miserably). Instead I took a bunch of pictures to make up for it.

She knows exactly what to do with presents this year.

Signing Time! Her very favorite movies right now.

Some potty-training dresses.

And my favorite: 

A chef hat, apron & kitchen tools to go with her kitchen.

Seriously, have you ever seen anything so cute? 

Catherine and her two favorite gifts:

A paddleball game from Emma and her balloon (string pictured).

She spent all evening running between rooms with one in each hand.

It was a lovely, relaxing birthday for our baby girl. I feel so lucky to get to raise this little girl! She'll definitely keep us on our toes, that's for sure!

And, in conclusion, some Seth photography from that evening:

Me putting away the game we played with the Oliveras

And a very, very happy Jon.

We really need to get our kid a camera...

Love Day

I spent a good portion of February trying to explain to Seth that Valentine's Day is about telling people how much you love them. Foolish mother--Seth knew what it was really about: candy. And lots of it.

Seth was going to have a party at preschool, but the teacher's daughter came down with a fever the night before, so it had to be postponed. Knowing Seth would be heartbroken, I sneakily re-invited myself to a homeschooling party I had previously declined to attend (we really only need one candy-filled party a day). Luckily Bente was gracious and let us come.

We spent Valentine's morning whipping up a sweet box for Seth's valentines:

(Seth actually took these pictures)

Catherine got a paper bag, which she covered with tiny, tiny dots.

She screamed at me when I wrote her name on it.

The party was at a local athletic club which has this really cool area for kids. The best part is the treehouse, which is basically a huge jungle gym with ladders to climb and really long, twisty slides. Seth had a blast in the "spooky old tree" (thank you, Berenstain Bears). Catherine, of course, wanted to play, too. Which meant I got to spend more time than I ever wanted inside the treehouse. Hooray!

Eventually I was saved by the official handing out of the Valentines. Catherine and I handed out the Valentines. Seth kept getting so excited by all the candy in his box that he would grab it and run off to investigate its contents. I had to explain (several times) that more people were trying to put candy in his box, so he needed to leave it where it was, but I'm not sure that really sunk in. Either way we ended up with way more candy than we needed.

Forget heading back out to play--it's candy time!

Notice the nasty, sticky face?

Catherine was thrilled by this whole Valentine's idea.

And that was Valentine's Day for the Bloods! Jon and I will be celebrating later (when we can find the time to go out for our traditional Red Lobster). 

Saying Goodbye

I knew when Grandpa Bud was with us at Thanksgiving that this would probably be the last time I would see him in this life. He was slower, quieter, thinner. Most of his time was spent in this chair, "meditating", as he called it. If you caught him alone in a quiet moment, he would open up and tell stories. But between my two kids, I didn't have many of those moments to spend with him. I'm glad my mom & Aunt Lori did.

But that didn't make it any easier to get that phone call from my mom telling me that Grandpa had passed away. We knew it was coming, and he was more than ready. As happy as I was for him to be free of the infirmities that were burdening him, it's like a physical blow when you realize that someone who has always been a part of your life is just gone. I'll never get to sit with him in his office while he tells me about his patent cases again. I'll never hear him tell us stories about Korea or Idaho. And I'm heartbroken that my kids won't have a chance to grow up knowing Grandpa Bud. 

This was the first time I've lost someone close to me. As the oldest child of two oldest children, my grandparents have always been a big part of my life. Now I have to face what I've been trying to ignore for so long--that they won't be here forever.

But for a long time it felt like he would always be around. After all, he always had been!

Grandpa & Grandma with me & Kenna

Grandpa rejoicing to have survived his first time driving with me in a manual car.

He was a great (and patient!) teacher.

I was lucky that my Semester in Nauvoo overlapped with their time as missionaries in Nauvoo.

I felt like the luckiest girl in the world to have my grandparents there with me.

(My roommates loved them, too!).

With me at the Logan Temple after I took out my endowments.

They also pretty much planned my wedding for me--they chauffeured me from Provo to Salt Lake to make all the arrangements and paid for more of it than they'll ever tell me.

Meeting Seth (his first great-grandchild) for the first time.

Luckily Jon was able to rearrange his schedule so that I could attend Grandpa's funeral with my family. It was a very quick trip (left Friday morning, returned Sunday afternoon). I was very grateful to not be flying with kids--my flight to Salt Lake consisted of me leaving my house at 4 am, driving 90 minutes to D.C., flying across the country to LA (where Aunt Lori singlehandedly held my connecting flight for me!), and then to Salt Lake. Let's just say I got a good chunk of Middlemarch finished that day. At least I got to spend that last leg from LA to Salt Lake chatting with Aunt Lori!

Sad though the reason was, I was so excited to get to see my family! We usually only manage to get together for the holidays, so this was an extra treat. My parents and all of my little sisters were there. I even planned ahead and got Beth's birthday present (very early)!

We may disagree on which Doctor we like best (she's David Tennant, I'm Matt Smith), 

but we're pretty equally obsessed with the show in general. 

That evening was the viewing. I have to say that I was surprised by how happy the whole thing felt. We got to see many good friends (some who had driven down from Logan just to see us, including my childhood best friend). I was grateful so many people came to support Grandma.

In an attempt to spare ourselves some tears on the day of the funeral, we said our goodbyes to Grandpa and closed the casket right after the viewing. This was the hardest part for me--knowing that we won't see him again for so long. 

Grandpa was a bit obsessed with tractors (skipped his graduation party to go drive the tractor), and he drove a bulldozer during the Korean War. My mom had me place a small bulldozer in Grandpa's hands before we closed the casket. I'm grateful Grandma thought to do this the night before, because we were all a mess. Rest in peace, Grandpa.

The next morning was the funeral. Despite some very-very-very last minute practicing, the grandkids' rendition of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" seemed to go well. At least no one left in horror that I saw...  I also got to play while Marah & Beth sang, "I Believe"--one of the songs Grandpa requested. It's a beautiful song. My favorite line: "I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard. I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word."

I loved hearing my mom, Aunt Lori & Uncle Mike tell their stories about Grandpa. There were so many that I had never heard before.  I'm so grateful to have had such a good man for my grandpa. 

The cemetery was in a beautiful location at the foot of the mountains. Grandpa will have a beautiful place to rest. 

Because he was a Korean War Veteran, he received a military send-off.

I bawled like a baby when they handed Grandma the flag and thanked her for Grandpa's service.

Mike, Lori, Grandma & Mom.

Sunglasses = a brilliant idea. Must remember for next time.

Me & my sisters saying our last goodbyes. 

Kenna & I may or may not have stolen those flowers from the arrangements behind us...

Grandpa, we miss you. Thank you for everything--especially for all the things you did so quietly that we never even realized you were doing them. Goodbye until we meet again.

One Time...

...it snowed in Maryland. 

And I literally mean ONE TIME.

Apparently it also snowed over Christmas, but we were in West Virginia and only got rain.

Seth was finally convinced that it was 'Christmas'.

Nevermind that it was January...

And Catherine finally got to use her Christmas snowclothes from Grandma.

At least she got to wear them once, so they weren't a total waste!

Hopefully she'll stay teeny-tiny and we can get another winter's use out of them.

Maryland, you were so completely lame this winter.

Boo on you.

A Little Bit of Seth

Seth's official preschool portrait. 

Note that he is holding his requested-for-Christmas ghost and that his shirt is on backwards.

Seth is now 4-and-a-half years old, which I find so hard to believe. In July I'll have a five-year-old. For some reason that feels like some sort of boundary crossing. Suddenly I won't be the mom of little kids anymore--I'll be the mom of kids. School-age kids. When did that happen?!

Here's what Seth is up to at 4.5 years old:

*After several months of not really playing, he's now on a full-time Kindle kick. I have to pry it out of his hands at bedtime. Can't wait for warmer weather so I can kick him out of the house to go dig in the dirt instead.

*I still try to do 'school' with him (although I've been pretty pathetic lately). But we always save the messy/complicated/cool stuff for when Catherine is napping. Now he's gotten to the point where every day during her nap he asks to do an "essperiment." If I don't have one ready for him, he'll climb into the cupboard himself and make a concoction of water, food coloring and salt, which he'll use to pour into various containers. I have a little scientist in the making.

*We've started letting him keep his light on after we put him to bed so he can read a book in bed. I love walking down the hallway to see him totally engrossed in a book. Looks like at least one of our kids will be a book junkie like me!

*Seth usually refers to my friends by their first names with either a 'Miss' or 'Sister' in front of them, depending on whether they're church friends or not. But for some reason he's taken to calling one of my piano moms by her last name. "Palmer, can Shea play downstairs?" "Palmer, what are you doing?" "Palmer, what are you reading?" It cracks us both up.

*After three-plus years of normal speaking, Seth has suddenly developed a Jamaican accent. He no longer plays on "the Kindle", he plays on "thee Kindle." "Mommy, can we go to thee store?" No idea where this came from.

*He's started to take an interest in heroes, although his exposure to the genre is pretty limited (by his own ridiculous fear of any remotely scary shows). But he was inspired by an episode of "Word World" and now LOVES to be the hero. The best part is his catchphrase: he'll stand on the couch/playground/etc. and yell, "BEHOLD! The power of the letter 'U'!" and then jump down and run away. 

*He has also taken to photography lately. Any time I leave my camera where he can reach it, I'll return to find the memory card completely full of his pictures. Mostly they're comprised of extreme close-ups of his toys or experiments with holding the camera directly against the wall/sofa/his skin, but he will get some fun ones. Like this one of Catherine:

Or this lovely one of me in all my glory: 

*He still hates writing and drawing (he says it makes his hands too hot), but lately I've caught him spontaneously drawing pictures or writing notes. He even made me a Valentine that I could almost read (I would have taken a picture, but he wrote on black paper with a pink marker). "DER MOM". I love it!

*He loves his preschool friends and his teacher, Miss Katie. I hate that they'll all be separated when kindergarten starts next year. :(

Just the kids

Kids and Miss Katie

I love this little man. Being his mommy is one of the best things in the world.

Kids are Awesome

*Seth was writing on my calendar this afternoon. I looked up and saw what I thought were a bunch of random letters. I asked him what it said, and he responded, "Heh, heh, heh!" Sure enough, the calendar was filled with H's and E's. Then he informed me that "that's how I'm going to laugh now." Heh, heh, heh...

*He's also taken to making up games for us and Catherine to play. Right now they almost always involve keeping away from the lava, but some get very complex with lots of rules and regulations. During Christmas Jon's older sister commented that Seth is just like Jon was as a kid--always making up games for everyone to play.

*Catherine, on the other hand, seems to have a different side of her dad's personality--namely the side that enjoys pestering siblings. Seth is at the age right now where he bursts into tears if he doesn't win. Doesn't matter if it's a race down the stairs or a game of Cootie--if he loses, there is much drama. Which means all Catherine has to do is say, "I win!" in order to start him into a panic. "No, I win!" "I win!" "NO! I WIN!" They can be in the middle of eating lunch or watching a show (no competition at all) and she'll just blurt it out and watch carefully until he freaks out. She knows she can always get a reaction with that phrase. I am in big trouble with this one.

*Other favorite Catherine thing right now? She pronounces "blanket" as "bacon." Every morning she comes wakes up with her two blankets snuggled to her face and announces, "Two bacons!"

*We had her (awesome) nursery leader and family over for dinner on Sunday. He told us that if Catherine's upset in Nursery, all he has to do is start wiggling his hand crazily in front of her face. She immediately stops and starts giggling. Not sure what to make of that one...

2013, Here We Come!

The Blood family rang in the new year with a cheese log, disappointed sparkling apple-pomegranate cider, and a 10 pm bedtime. We party hard around here. 

A few days into 2013, we met up with our good friends at the Storyville library. It was the best time my kids have had there--Catherine was big enough to not be constantly knocked over, and Seth was actually pretending instead of just playing with the cars. We'll have to make an effort to come here a few more times before Seth gets kicked out (6 and over aren't allowed in Storyville).

Seth  with a shopping basket full of things he wouldn't touch in real life.

Catherine in the rocking boat. 

She stayed in this forever--much to the dismay of an overly-concerned mother of another toddler.

(I really, really hope I wasn't that obnoxious when Seth was little.)

Catherine has recently decided that she must be where I am, doing what I am doing AT ALL TIMES. This specifically includes getting ready in the morning (she must put on tiny dabs of my makeup) and cooking dinner. It's actually kind of flattering to have a little shadow, so I generally let her. I remember thinking how cool my friend Kellie was for letting her little Audrey help us make cookies. Maybe I can be as cool as Kellie now! 

Two babies, on the island, with tortillas.

Yum!

Part of Jon's calling with the Scouts/Young Men involves driving them around to pick up Fast Offerings. Which means every Fast Sunday the kids and I get to hang out at the church for an hour or so while he drives teenage boys around in our van. It's actually kind of fun--the kids run wild, and there's usually some other poor mom there for me to chat with.

Catherine in her outfit from Christmas. Check out the boots! Love!

And Seth, being a 'meow-meow' and climbing on the pulpit of the Primary room.