Our sweet Jessica, what can I say. She is, what is the phrase? Oh yeah, a "bottomless pit." She eats all of her dinner and anxiously awaits the inevitable moment when Cailyn refuses to finish hers and then Jessie gets that too. I think that if she had the coordination to do so, she would lick off her tray after each meal. She has always been an excellent eater, which explains why she is bigger than Cailyn was at this age. I will say that she moves constantly now.

We were so excited for her to start crawling and I forgot all the stuff that goes with it. You know, the sitting up in bed without knowing how to lie back down, the wiggling and turning over during diaper changes, and following people into another room just to find out that they are ready to leave again. We are still adjusting to Jessie's new skills, but are very glad that she can move so much with all the food she eats.

Sometimes it is weird to look at our lives and see 2 children. We wonder where the time went, but we wouldn't trade it for all the worldly possessions that many hold so dear to their hearts. Children truly do bring JOY into our lives. I just wish that there was some way to tell people that who don't have children of their own, but they just wouldn't understand until they have them.

This poor little Angel gets so smothered by me all day long that by the time Jason gets home she is ready for some "sfathering".

Article of Faith #3

Everything these days seems to need a lot of coaxing and this was certainly no exception. I believe this was take 15.

How many Mindi Holloways?

My sister-in-law, Rachel, put this on her blog and I was interested to see how many Mindi Holloway's there are. I was SHOCKED to find that I am the one and only Mindi Holloway. Boy do I feel special and unique. So, for those of you who know me, congratulations!(just kidding)

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

My old friend the piano

I am beginning to realize that I truly miss my piano. Yes, it is still in my living room, but I don't get a chance to truly play anymore. I am not even close to being considered a pianist, but I have come to really love playing by letting the concentration of the music remove me from troubles, concerns, sorrows; the world I guess.

Jason gave me the opportunity to attend a rehearsal at the High School last week. It was an hour and a half of pure bliss. Weird huh? After about 17 years of choir rehearsal almost every day I thought that 10 months of a break would be nice. But, in all honesty that was a complete love of mine, and I miss it terribly. I love to see a new piece of music and figure it out, sing/play it over and over again until I master it. Competitions and concerts are not exactly my favorite thing, but preparing the music for them is rejuvenating to my spirit.

Cailyn can handle about 5 minutes of me playing. That is all fine and dandy but I am just getting started at that point. I could play for hours at a time with a new book to play and sing. But, my girls just don't have the patience for it. What ends up happening is they are screaming or crying and I am struggling to tune it out while I try to lift my heart. Then I am more frustrated than I was before I even started(kind of like an enormous craving for chocolate and you get a tiny lick and they take it away).

I am longing for the day when they either enjoy my playing and singing or they are away from the house long enough for me to have some private time with my piano.

Oh piano, I desperately miss you!

Another Milestone

Jessica started crawling about a week ago. We are so excited. She seems to be much happier. Although she doesn't like to be held anymore(I am pretty upset about that-my BABY is gone). I wanted to post a video earlier, but couldn't get a good one until now(that I was willing to share-you know-house a mess, Cailyn or me screaming). Tell me what you think about Jessica's crawling technique.

One of Jessica's all time favorite thing to do is twirl/spin. I think it is absolutely adorable. Cailyn was busy dancing in her Genevieve dress to ballet music. What am I going to do with these prissy little girls?

A Mom's daily words!

I got this video from a friend and laughed the entire time. I hope you all enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxT5NwQUtVM

Mineral Wells Branch

After 10,920 miles of traveling for church over the course of last year, the Weatherford Stake FINALLY announced the creation of a Mineral Wells Branch.

If you have never experienced something like this, it is very interesting. The Stake President stood in Sacrament meeting and released literally EVERYONE in the Weatherford Ward, then called a new Bishopric and the new Branch Presidency(and the Executive Secretaries). Then off we go, to start a new ward/branch.

As Executive Secretary of our new Branch, Jason has been very busy helping the new Presidency put together an entire Branch in 2 weeks. We have been very fortunate to have this happen the week before Conference to give us an additional week for preparations. The building we will be meeting in is small, BUT it is only about 5 minutes from our house. WAHOO! As Jason was preparing for a Presidency meeting, we had to carefully think about what callings were absolutely necessary for Church to flow. I have never experienced a new Branch/Ward so it will be very interesting to see it all fall into place. Not to mention the missionary opportunities we will have again. How exciting!

Needless to say, we are ecstatic about going to church in our own town. It has been almost 5 full years since we have been able to say that. It is funny how you take it for granted until you don't have it anymore.

I am so elated I can hardly wipe the smile off my face.