Thanks for your support of the haircut. I've noticed lately that if anyone comes up to us and says anything about our "boy" (and they mean Joshua), Hannah says, "I'm a GIRL!" So she's getting a little over-defensive, but she smiles when she looks in the mirror and doesn't seem weirded out anymore. So that's good.
For once I'm not putting up any pictures, I'm just going to talk about how cute my kids are. We'll start with Hannah since she's the oldest. For about 6 months she was going through a difficult stage -- partly her age, I guess, and partly from lack of sleep, learning to go from 1 to 0 naps (
not my idea) -- but I just wanted to say how nice it is to have my sweet litte girl back! Hannah is the cutest, sweetest thing alive. With all the gender confusion and things going on in the world today, it is so wonderful to see the development of her distinctly feminine instincts. She is so sweet and tender. She absolutely loves playing "mommy", and by that I mean she actually thinks she's me. I try to lay down with her for quiet time most days, and she puts her arms around me or her little hands on my cheeks and says, "I love you, sweetie" and things like that while she kisses and caresses my face. Whenever she does anything well, she says "I'm a good mama!" Lately she's also been very good at taking care of Joshua, too. If he cries for any reason, she immediately starts singing to him, "I love Joshie, yes I do...", a little personalized song we have for each of them. She also loves to get food for him, and tries to "help" him stand up, take a drink, etc., which he is very patient with, even when she's inadvertantly strangling him. Hannah is also extremely imaginative and loves to make up songs and carry on imagined conversations. Most days she will come up to me, hug around my leg, and start singing a made-up song that starts, "I love you so much..." and varies from that point on. One last thing about Hannah is that she is very helpful and tries hard to be polite and obedient. If I ever lose my patience with her for not listening or doing what I ask, she says "I'm sorry, Mom. It's okay! You don't need to be angry," and then starts doing whatever it is I wanted her to do. She is a true joy to be around and I love having her in my home.
Joshua is just an all-around cutie pie. He is almost 17 months old now, and he is getting so smart. While his pronunciation isn't quite as clear as Hannah's was in some cases, he also seems to have a proficiency for language beyond that of most children his age. Tonight as I was getting him ready for bed, I decided to test his knowledge of Primary songs and found that he can provide the last word of every sentence in "I Am a Child of God"! It was sooooo cute. He can also count to three by himself, which he no doubt learned because he loves to jump off of anything into our arms on the count of three. His favorite phrase lately is "all right", so he goes around the house saying, "all wight, all wight!" and it is the cutest thing you've ever heard. He can also name and point out his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and teeth, but he thinks a "bum" is a vitamin because Hannah always asks for the bum half of her animal vitamins. We're still working on that one. He is so adoring of his big sister and goes around the house calling "Hannah...Hannah!" and loves to give kisses and snuggles to not only his sister, but his parents and teddy bears as well. He is adorable and sweet and I love my little mama's boy so much.
We are so thankful to have our little family and especially thankful for the passing of Proposition 8 here in CA. I just hope the people that opposed Prop 8 understand that we are not trying to keep others from obtaining the same happiness by having their own families; it is just such a true principle that only marriage between a man and a woman can create the kind of happiness they are searching for. I'm so thankful for that knowledge and for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives us the opportunity to enjoy our families now and for eternity.
