Exciting News!!

Announcement! Actually, two announcements (twice the fun!):

First, we are having another baby! Yes, Lily is going to become a big sister in April, and she is very excited about it. She frequently pats my tummy and says "Baby come out y hold you." Then we have to explain that the baby is not big enough yet, but that she can hold it when it does come out. I am fifteen weeks along, so we have a ways to go. Maybe that's a good thing because I'm going to need all the time I can get to prepare for chasing two little munchkins around this place. I hope I don't go crazy! But we are very excited and can't wait to meet our sweet little #2!

Let me also say that I know it is so hard for all those of my friends and family who have struggled to have children, and I am so sorry! It is difficult for me to share this happy news, knowing how hard it is for some to hear it. My heart goes out to you. Adam and I were in that position for only one year, and I know that is not very long, but it was long enough to know that it hurts. I wish I could somehow share this blessing, but that is not possible, so I will continue to pray for you regularly.

The second piece of happy news is that my dad is getting married! Okay, this is not news for many of you since he got engaged at the end of August, and is getting married in less than two weeks. But it is still so exciting! He is getting married to a wonderful woman who lives in Orem, Utah. She is an elementary school teacher, a fun and beautiful person, plays the piano very well, and has never been married before (no, she is not in her 20s or 30s, in case you were wondering. She is almost the same age as my dad). I am so excited for her! I feel that this is a wonderful opportunity for our family to provide her with the chance to be a wife and grandmother, even though she will never have children of her own, and of course my dad will be much better off with a wife. And Lily needs a grandma who can be here for her physically, so I think it is going to work out great.

Of course, everyone I have told has asked if I feel okay about it. You can probably tell from the previous paragraph that I am happy about this occasion. Personally, I feel that if my dad stayed single forever, of course it wouldn't bring my mom back and he would just be miserable and lonely all the time. Getting married is not going to make my mom any more gone than she already is. Don't get me wrong; I really miss her a lot and I know he still does too. He does not love my mom any less because he is getting married to someone else. I just feel like he has something to be happy about now in between his moments of being very sad, instead of being sad all the time.

That being said, I recognize that not everyone in my family probably feels the same way as I do about this. And that is okay. Everyone deals with grief differently, and if this feels like moving on too quickly, that is perfectly valid. But I do feel that our family needs a "mother-type figure" and that in the end, it will be the best thing for all of us. We will just need to make sure to keep my mom's memory alive and remember that she is just as much a part of our family as she ever was. She is still close in spirit, and I know she is happy for my dad.

So our family will be getting a little bigger in the near future! We are excited about these big changes.

As for some every-day kinds of news, Lily is as cute and funny as ever. She frequently wants to sing the "Happy Clappy Song" (If You're Happy and You Know It). She loves her Book of Mormon board book and calls is Book-it Mornin'. She can count to ten, and always counts all the way to ten, regardless of how many items there actually are to count. She loves to wear her "pa-pack" (backpack), and will put it on and say "Bye-bye, see later!" and then go pretend to put her toy key in the door lock as if she's headed off to school like her daddy.

Lily has been telling me about her dreams lately. One morning, she woke up and said, "Jesus help man so sick feel all better." I asked her if she had a dream about Jesus helping a sick man and she said yes. After that afternoon's nap, she woke up talking about flying in an airplane. And the next day, as I was trying to wake her up, she said with her eyes still closed, "I don't like bandaid." Probably the result of a traumatic visit to the doctor's office.

Lily loves singing primary songs when I play, and frequently asks to "play plee-nano". She then wanders around the house singing bits of the songs at the top of her lungs, which is hilarious. Whenever we ask her a question (and she doesn't scream NO!), she will respond, "Oh! Yes." Lily is very sad that the season for picking "black-blayas" is over. And for some reason, she enjoys football, and periodically requests to "Watch fip-ball game."

It is somewhat bittersweet to know that the time I have alone with Lily is limited. I know it will be hard on her to not be the center of attention. But I'm so grateful for all the time we've spent together, and I won't love her any less just because there is another little one around. Hopefully she appreciates the playmate.