Senorita Madelyn

I do not like Dora the Explorer .

And not just in a "I'm totally sick of this show and wish my two-year-old would develop a taste for Psych and Doris Day movies" kind of way, but in a true "This show makes me want to throw puppies at other puppies" kind of way.

And Maddy loves it. I'm crossing my fingers for a "phase." Except when I use them to make air quotes for the word "phase."

But anyway, Dora's saving grace is the fact that Maddy has actually learned some Spanish from the dang girl.

I first discovered this a few weeks ago, during a car ride in which my sister was in the car with us. Maddy was jabbering away happily in the backseat, and then she started counting (in English). I guess my sister thought it would be cool to teach her to count in Spanish, because she said, "Maddy, say 'uno.'"

Maddy replied, "dos."

I was seriously blown away. I had no idea she could do that.

And now she can *pretty much* count to 10. It sounds like this:

"Dos. Tres. Taco. Tsinco. Seis. Sete. Ocho.....Noobe.....Diez! Ocho, ocho ocho."

She doesn't say "uno." You have to say that to get her started. And it's likely that "ocho" will get thrown in there several times. Which is kinda funny, because when she was learning to count in English, she wouldn't say "one," and "eight" would get added in wherever. Hmm.

Oh, and yesterday she said "Abre" at her booster seat tray.

So, I guess it's a good thing we watch Dora, because I wouldn't have known what "Abre" meant otherwise.

Why I have pink hair

If you've seen me over the past week, you may or may not have noticed that I have a pink streak in my hair.

I say "may or may not," because if you are like my father, you had to get within a foot of me to be able to see said pink streak. He's a little color blind, I believe.

But if you are not a little color blind, you probably noticed it.

(Yeah, I took that picture while sitting on the couch, holding a sleeping baby. I carefully thought out things like lighting and angles, obviously. I take my pictures seriously...)

Well, I'd just like to say that I am not, in fact, embracing the punk rocker that I never was.

In the ward (church congregation) that I was in during my adolescent years, there was this sweet family. And it was obvious that much of its sweetness (as is the case with most sweet families) came from its mother. She was my Sunday School teacher for a while. She had six kids and an awesome Spanish accent. She was a truly good person, beautiful from the inside out.

The whole ward (and everyone that knew her, really) was heartbroken when it came out that she had breast cancer. And I've yet to see so many people at a funeral.

I wasn't super close to their family or anything, but I guess I was close enough, because it still makes my heart ache a little to think of their story, and to see this lady's daughters grow up and get married and have babies of their own.

One of her daughters does hair now, and as part of her fundraising for the 3 Day walk, she is doing these pink extensions for the month of October. So me, my mom, and my sisters went and got them done last week.

It's obviously not a huge contribution or statement, but I plan on leaving it in all month. Call it a small show of support, or a reminder, or whatever you want really...but yeah, it's going to be there. So there you have it - why I have pink hair.

Oh, you're too kind.

The lovely Mrs. Katie Devey (I'm writing her full name like that because she's a newlywed and I'm pretty sure it will make her happy, because my new full name made me happy when I was a newlywed, and she and I are practically the same person, and this was a really long parenthesis statement) nominated me for a blog award or something - the Versatile Blogger Award.

Really? Me? Oh, thank you, thank you!

Ok, but really, I don't think this is an award where I'm going to get a trophy or a certificate or special blog button or anything...I'm pretty sure it's more like a "tell 7 random things about yourself and then nominate 7 people so they can tell 7 random things about themselves" kind of award.

But you know, cool.

So here's 7 random things about moi. I'm sure some of you know about some of these things, but I'm sure all of you don't know all of these things, so here we go!

1. My favorite TV shows of all time are (in no particular order): Gilmore Girls, 24, Boy Meets World, and Psych. Honorable mentions: Lost, So You Think You Can Dance, Monk.

2. I'm pretty sure my request for my last meal would be either (a) a bacon cheeseburger, french fries, and a Dr. Pepper, or (b) macaroni and cheese and a Dr. Pepper. I'd probably take 2 days to decide, and who knows if I'll have that long, so you'd better bring me the Dr. Pepper right away, just to be safe.

3. If you'd asked me this morning, I would have said my favorite color is pink. That's what it's been for several years. But just today, I realized it's not pink - it's purple. I'm so glad I could share this special day with y'all.

4. I don't have pierced ears. I wanted to get them pierced SO BADLY in my tweenage years, but my mom always told me to just wait and see if I still wanted it in x amount of time. I grew out of the desire, and now I'm so glad I don't have em. I'm 1000% sure I would never wear earrings.

5. I was on my high school's Academic Decathlon team. We won state and went to the national competition in Chicago. I got a gold medal in the essay competition and a bronze medal in the speech competition, and our team got second place overall. I really wasn't a huge asset to the team...but I was on it! Awesome!

6. I sing. Not like professionally or anything, but I really like to sing and am decent at it. You probably know this already if you've known me for a while, since I sang a lot in high school, but if you've just met me in recent years, you might not have known. Now you do.

7. I'm a nail-biter. It was a pretty serious problem when I was younger, and now it's kind of on and off. And even when it's on, it's usually only 1 or 2 nails, most often my middle finger and thumb on my left hand. Random, I know, but true. And this is a random list, after all.

Woo hoo! Wasn't that fun?! So now, unless I'm mistaken, I'm supposed to choose 7 people to nominate for this award. I hereby choose:

- Lacey, of Wulf Pack -
- Jenna, of Jenna Allen -
- Laura, of The Momart -
- Lisa, of The Griers -
- Lisa, of The Allens -
- Melanie, of Robbie, Mel, and Gracie Lou -
- Katie, of The Katie-Did -

Can't wait to learn more about you, friends!

Deep questions

The following questions have initiated actual discussions in the Harris household lately:

How did Mother Gothel learn the song to sing to the magic flower?

Would Rapunzel have lived forever if Eugene hadn't cut her hair?

And will her hair ever grow again?

AND are the rest of her tears magic, or was that just a one time thing?

Do mermaids have gills..or lungs? Or...BOTH?!



Don't all the people that were on the wedding boat now know about the existence of mer-people?

Can you guess what movies Maddy has been loving lately? (That isn't one of the questions that we've talked about...it's a question I'm asking you.)

She's also been into "Lady and the Tramp," but apparently that one is normal enough that the only question we've had about that one is what year it happens in. We decided early 1900s, which Wikipedia confirms. 1909.

Maybe we need to watch the news more.

Also, feel free to weigh in on any of the above questions. Any and all opinions are welcome.

Today

Did you like my wonderful spouse's wonderful post yesterday? I think my second favorite part was the flashing red title. It proves that he's a computer nerd, which, as we all know is super cool. My first favorite part was the sweet stuff he said, of course. Most of it was undeserved, but I guess that proves that I've fooled him into thinking I'm actually worth praising. My third favorite part was simply the fact that he wrote my post for yesterday. It was nice to have a little break (no offense, blog).

Don't ask me why I listed my top 3 favorite things in that odd order. I dance to the beat of my own drum, or whatever that overused expression is.



Anyway, today, I discovered a few things. Allow me to share:


1. I don't want Dallin's riding of motorcycles to become a hobby. Does this require more explanation? I guess what you need to know is that:

a. Dallin rides a motorcycle to and from work nowadays.

b. This was allowed because a motorcycle was a cheap and convenient alternative to a second car

c. Today, Dallin and his Dad rented Harley's and went "cruising."

d. I don't like "c" because it makes motorcycle riding seem like a hobby rather than a convenient, temporary alternative to a second car

e. The end.


2. I don't like turkeys. I like to eat turkey, but I don't like actual turkeys. They are ugly and always look grumpy and seem generally twitchy, which freaks me out.




3. If I pull my hair into a tight enough bun, it will make my head hurt even after I take out said bun.


4. I need to have good chocolate constantly available to me, in the form of Milky Ways, Mounds, or Chips Ahoy. Why I haven't internalized this lesson yet is beyond me.


5. I'm going to be pushing it to read ONE book this month. ONE. That's so sad. Especially since I've been on vacation for the past almost week. What kind of vacation doesn't allow time for leisure reading? Mine, I guess.


6. I'm not very good at Pinterest. I forget to pin things, and I forget to look back at what I've pinned. This makes using Pinterest completely pointless for me. Note to self: use PInterest correctly. It has a high potential for greatness.


7. I've been generally disappointed with my blogging performance during this month of daily blogging. It definitely hasn't been how I imagined and planned it. Oh well, you're still reading, right?



Wow, 7 lessons in one day. If I keep this up, I'll know everything in no time.

(p.s. This post was definitely written on the right day (Wednesday), I promise you. But Blogger was being silly and refused to let me publish it. I put it on Facebook, if you want proof, but really, you should just trust me. Trust is important for relationships.)

Impatience

I consider myself a pretty patient person. And I'm not saying that to make you think I'm awesome or anything (because face it, you couldn't think I'm more awesome, right?), I'm just saying it because I really think it's true.

But there are some times when my patience is tested.

And then there are some times when I am just not patient at all.

As I've thought about it, I've thought of 2 examples of when I'm consistently impatient. For no reason other than this is my blog and it's where I write down things I think about, I'll share them with you.

The first is bedtime. I love going to bed (who doesn't, really?) but I do not like getting ready for bed. Nope nope nope.

The sad thing about this is that it doesn't really take very long to get ready for bed. PJs, contacts, brush teeth, wash face, say prayers. Less than 10 minutes, for sure. Especially since I use those face towelette things to wash my face at night. Those things are bomb.

And yet, I still hate the process and find myself wanting to skip it every night and just jump right into bed and fall asleep.

Impatience.

Also, coming home from trips. I'm cool with taking my time to pack before I leave for a trip, and I'm fine with however long it takes to get there. But once I'm on my way home, I want to be home, unpacked, and back to "normal." Trips home, unpacking, the laundry that necessarily comes with unpacking...I just want it to all be over as quickly as possible.

Impatience.

What makes you impatient?

On my mind

In no particular order... except the order in which I think of them, which I guess technically is an order, but maybe not a particular one:

-Maddy's sleeping in her "big girl" bed for the second night.

-My back hurts badly today plus I have a weird (probably nerve-related) foot pain that's come and gone several times over the past few days. Major ouch.

-I really need to get my nails done for Dallin's sister's wedding on Saturday. And also probably a pedicure. But not a labor inducing one.

-I have to have to have to get my homework done before Friday. I've been late turning in pretty much all of my previous assignments and it is no bueno.

-Essie nail polish sucks. Stunning colors, sucky polish. Anyone agree?

-JP is my fave on The Bachelorette. Not that I watch it...oh, who am I kidding? You know I do. You know you do, too. I haven't watched the most recent episode though. So if JP goes home, don't tell me. Also if he goes home, the show sucks. Also even if he doesn't go home, the show still actually sucks.

-It's so hard to imagine having 2 kids. I honestly can't wrap my head around it. Does this happen with every child?

-The dishes aren't done.

-I'm making the supposedly awesome NY Times chocolate chip cookies for my cookie of the month. The dough is resting in the fridge as we speak, "fully incorporating the egg" or some nonsense like that. I have a feeling the excitement is going to keep me up tonight.

-Maddy currently really loves Photo Booth on my computer and the iPad, but she really only loves the "thermal camera" and the "pop art" effects. Anything else and she'll get mad at you until you change it.



And that's all she (aka I) wrote.

It's Flag Day, Flag Day...

Gotta get down on Flag Day...

And now I've made a Rebecca Black joke. I'm becoming a real blogger, here.

But seriously...

IT'S FLAG DAY!

Don't ask me why I love Flag Day. I really couldn't tell you. I kind of just decided to like it one day. So let it be written. So let it be done.

You could probably guess what Flag Day is about, but in case you don't feel like guessing, it commemorates the adoption of the U.S. Flag, which happened on June 14, 1777.

Since Tuesday nights are not very conducive to celebrating (even on Flag Day), we had a little Flag Day shindig at our house this past weekend.

Since I decided that this was going to be "the" party that I was going to throw to cross #21 off of my "Things to do" list for the year, I wanted to go all out. As it turns out, "all out" included:

-nifty invitations that I do not currently have a picture of...

-festive banners



-quite the yummy food spread



-cheap (yet spectacular) favors for our guests to "spangle" themselves with



-swimming

-chatting

-general reveling in the Flag Day spirit


Good times, in my humble opinion. And yes, I feel as though enough effort went into this party to allow me to cross #21 off my list. Can I get an "Amen?!"

And so, until next year, Flag Day. Thanks for giving me a way to be unique.

I want...

A vacation with Dallin...possibly Maddy-less. Yep, brutal honesty, people. Couldn't tell you why this is appealing to me so strongly right now...but seriously, a little getaway would be so fabulous.

To know for sure when baby will come. Seriously. I would kill for this. If I could be sure that she wouldn't come during my student teaching, well, a lot of stress would go away. I'm the kind of person that stresses over things I have no control over. It's pretty cool.

For blob to go away. Blob=cyst. Nuff said.

Chips Ahoy. No longer a want. Currently eating.

To be able to read all day long. So much I want to read. So many other things to worry about. Boo.

To be done with school. So close, yet so far.

To know for sure if I did actually leave my phone at church today. I can't find it, and don't remember having it since church. So it's gotta be there, on the piano in the primary room. But it would be nice to know so I could just stop looking.

This necklace to commemorate baby 2's birth (the one on the right, of course):

{Hint, hint.}

A backrub before bed. I've been promised this, so yay!


Hope you've all had a great day and weekend! And that you're getting ready for FLAG DAY, which is Tuesday. Happy, happy day.

4 things that made today magical

One.

Today was National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day. True story. We love us some strawberry rhubarb 'round these parts, so I ordered some goodness from Village Inn. We had some friends over to help us eat it...which is good considering the four of us still only made it through half the pie.

Also, I didn't take any pictures. Because I'm non-awesome like that.

Two.

I have been drooling over the Blue and White collection at Target for a while now. Yep, that's how classy I am: I drool over things at Target. Anyway, I have also been going to Target a lot lately in preparation for Flag Day.

Today, I was at a not-my-usual Target looking for Flag Day things, and I saw the Blue and White collection - on clearance. Like, half off clearance. 5 seconds later, my cart and my heart were full. THEN later, I had to go to my usual Target because not-my-usual Target did not have sufficient Flag Day supplies, and lo and behold, the Blue and White stuff was not on clearance. Or even little sale. At all.

I know! Magical, right?!

Three.

I found a swimsuit. I've discovered that many difficult problems that arise in the maternity wardrobe department (e.g. jeans, swimsuits) are best solved by just getting non-maternity type stuff in a size up. That is what my new swimsuit is. And it is grand.

Four.

So many errands. So much driving. Such a hot day. ALL SHADED PARKING SPOTS. No, seriously, I parked in like 5-6 different parking lots today and got shaded spots in all of them. You'd be amazed at the difference the shade makes! It's nice to not feel like I'm putting Maddy in an oven when I put her in her car seat. So nice. Note to self: hold out for the shady spots whenever possible.

And that, ladies and gents, makes for one magical Thursday.

BFFs

Lately, this little group has been pretty much inseparable.



Madelyn, "Bayee-bee" (Baby), "Up-per" (Thumper), and Piglet (Maddy's pronunciation varies) go everywhere together.

Maddy has never really been attached to any "thing" before, so I think it's adorable - especially since it's not the "I won't do anything except scream unless my toys are in my hands" kind of attached.

Yet.

For now it's just cute. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Guess what I just found out.

Remember how Baby Girl is due August 8?

Keep that in mind.

With that in mind, see what you think about this:

My Pre-K student teaching is during the second summer term at ASU (this is the only time it's offered). This is from July 5 to August 5.

And may I quote: "This is a full-time field experience, so you need to plan accordingly."

{It might be a little late for that.}

Also, since I'll be done with school, the student health insurance that I'm on will go bye-bye on August 15 (happy birthday to me).

In summary:

No early baby. No late baby. 10 day window, baby.

Thank you, that is all.

When you're pregnant and don't have church until 3

Your Sunday morning can easily become full of mindless munching and computer browsing.

Also, Poore Brothers Three Cheese Jalepeno chips are yum.

For the sake of putting up a new post...

Random thoughts:

1) Did you know that the lowest zip code in the United States is 01001, which is for Agawam, MA? BUT there are two exceptions: (a) 00501, which is in NY but is used only for the US Internal Revenue center there, and (b) 00601, which is in Puerto Rico. The highest zip code is 99950, and is for Ketchikan, AK, which is mighty fun to say.


2) Many Valentine's Day cards out there are waaaaay too wordy. Like, I was looking at the cards for husbands and couldn't really find a single one that didn't have a novella in it. What if I'd rather just have the card say something simple and sweet so I can write my own novella, if I so choose? The fact is, Hallmark doesn't want us to become novella-ists. They want to make us illiterate so we have to say everything we ever want to say with a Hallmark card.

And look at that, I'm a conspiracy theorist.

3) Dallin was gone for 4 days last week, in Mexico doing some awesome work/church stuff. I didn't tell you because ~hello~ this is the internet, and I didn't want the internet to know that I was home alone for 4 days. I missed him terribly.

4) 14 weeks pregnant. Dallin and I have kind of been thinking boy from the beginning, but in the past couple days I've been questioning that hunch. I guess we have a 50/50 shot, and we'll know March 7.

5) I have to be a reference for a guy I knew in high school that is applying to be a police officer. It's really hard to answer questions like "What is the applicant's temperament?" when you haven't spoken to said applicant in 4 years. I mean, I could tell you what he was like when he was 19...but...do you really want to know that? Humph. It's annoying. But necessary, I suppose. So, I plow on.

The end. Have a happy day!

Positivity

Is everyone ready for Debbie Downer/Negative Nancy/any-other-sad-word-and-name-combo to be gone?

I totally am. I know I haven't blogged very much over the past several days, so you haven't really gotten to see grumpy/tired/generally-bummed-out Katie in all her glory. But she's been here - believe me. And now, I'm ready to get rid of her.

BECAUSE:

-Food and drink have stayed inside my body for two, almost three, days. Woot. I say again, woot.

-I just got back from a nice little trip to Sedona with Dallin. We flew up with my uncle (a pilot) and my dad, had lunch, and flew back. And even though I am not really so much a fan of small aircraft...fun!

-The Valentine's wreath I am making is turning out quite nicely, and I am proud. Also, I love Valentine's. I need to do more for it.

-Madelyn gets cuter every day. It doesn't seem possible, but it is.

-My house actually looks decent, thanks to my amazing hunk of a husband who cleaned it from top to bottom last weekend. Now I just need to keep it up. I can do that.

-Maddy is napping at Grandma's right now (Grandma watched her while we went to Sedona) which means I've got the time AND the energy (simultaneously!) to get things done.

Let's go.

Ay yai yai

Is that really how you spell that? "Ay yai yai?" Really? That's odd.

Just thought I would let you know that I am still alive. But just barely.

The past 5ish days have been so.so.so.so. bad.

Food doesn't stay in. Weight doesn't stay on. Sleep isn't constant. Energy is nonexistent.

I'm convinced I've had some sort of other bug that is making me sick. Like, I'm not just pregnant-sick. I'm sick AND pregnant-sick. And it's bad.

It's especially bad because one of those past 5 days was Dallin's birthday. And I was simply unable to do anything to get ready for it or make it extra special. Oh, except...


Thankfully, I got this done right before the major sickness came on. Also thankfully, my mom and sisters helped me out with it. Cool, no? I'm a little proud.

I'm also still trying to make up for his birthday, which was now two days ago. We'll see what I come up with. He deserves so much.

Anyway, I'm feeling better today than I have in a while. Hopefully it keeps up, because I would really like to get back to life now.

Happy Thanksgriving

I haven't told you about our Thanksgiving. Silly me.

I loved Thanksgiving this year.

So much good food! So much good company!

We went to my grandma's house in Thatcher. We ate, had our traditional rocket launch, played games, took naps, etc. It was yummy, relaxing, and perfectly enjoyable. Everything Thanksgiving should be.

But I don't have any pictures, which...well, let's be honest, is typical.

And I SO wish I had a picture of what was easily one of my favorite parts of the day, but I don't. So I'll just tell you about it.

We drove up to my grandma's house, made our way to the back porch, and saw a nice little scarecrow adding a little fall flavor to the back porch. The scarecrow was holding a little sign to welcome us all there.

And what did it say?

"Happy Thanksgriving."

It made me laugh. Every time I saw it. And now, just thinking back on it, I still laugh.

My grandma is the best.

So there, a Thanksgiving post. Glad I got that off my chest.

Dam Jenna

If any of you have ever made the drive from Arizona to Utah, you'll know that you have to pass over the Glen Canyon Dam.

And if you've ever driven over a dam, you've probably made a dam joke.

You know what I'm talking about....the dam Visitor's Center, the dam tourists, the dam tour guide, dam pictures, etc.

Wellllll...

on our trip to Utah earlier this month, we were driving over the dam and snickering at the dam wordplay.

"Watch out for all these dam tourists on the road!"

"Anyone need to use the bathroom? We could stop at the dam visitor's center!"

And so on. So hilarious.

Just as we were crossing the dam, my sister Sarah's phone rang. It was our other sister, Jenna. While I was obviously not a participating member of the conversation, I still got the idea, and have reconstructed said conversation here:

S: Hi Jenna.
J: Hi Sarah. How's the drive?
S: Good.
J: Where you guys at?
S: Just driving over the dam.
J: Oh really? Cool. Well I'm calling to see if I can borrow your dam car. (She was no doubt chuckling at her cleverness.)
S: .....
J: .....
S: Jenna, you can't say -
J: But I need to borrow your car! Are you still at the dam? Where are your dam keys?
S: Jenna! Just because we're at the dam doesn't mean you can put "dam" in front of everything!
J: Oh. Well, can I borrow your car?

Bahahahaha. I sort of thought this was hilarious.

But perhaps you have to know my lovely sister Jenna to really appreciate it. You know, the girl who was sure that the phrase "might as well" was actually "mineaswell" (one word), who was convinced that she was stuck in an elevator before realizing (after 15 minutes) that she hadn't pushed the button, and who asked if a football game would still be considered an "upset" if everyone was happy about it.

Those are just some of my favorite Jenna-isms. I just love her to pieces.

xoxo

Some things just don't get done right away

I'm not getting everything entirely done tonight. Observe:


What I did do today:

*woke up early
*accepted the fact that it was going to be a bad hair day
*internshipped
*went to lunch with my lil sis
*grocery shopped
*put Madelyn down for nap
*started homework
*washed & dried 5 loads of laundry (nope, not folded. see above)
*made dee-licious dinner for missionaries
*quick-cleaned the house so it wasn't a total disaster for the missionaries
*ate dinner with the missionaries
*listened to spiritual thought from missionaries
*woke Maddy up from her (FOUR AND A HALF HOUR) nap
*went for a walk with Dallin and Maddy
*visited my recovering-from-knee-surgery grandma in the hospital
*had a 23-year-old crisis
*finished a substantial amount of super stressful/annoying homework
*felt extremely grateful to Dallin for putting the baby down
*peeked in at Maddy because she's so gosh darn pretty when she's asleeping
*decided to put off finishing the dishes and folding the laundry until tomorrow
*decided to blog about putting off dishes and laundry...instead of doing them
*realized that my life is pretty good
*said goodnight to my blog buddies
*signed off

Phone-less

Last week, while I was out running a few errands, I left my phone at home. GASP.

After realizing that I was in fact phone-less for the next hour or two, I had a few thoughts.

My first thought: "I should post on Facebook how helpless I feel without my phone. Hm...I'd need my phone to do that." (palm smacks forehead)

My second thought: "Haha silly me...I should text Dallin and share my funny story about wanting to use my phone to post on Facebook about leaving my phone at home. He'll laugh! Oh....wait." (palm smacks forehead)

My third thought: "Dang. I should write a blog post about how I try to use my phone even immediately after just realizing I don't have it. The world must know my pathetic-ness! I should put this idea on my "To Blog" list before I forget about it. (Reaches for phone, since that where my "To Blog" list is kept)

Oh my freaking heck.

(palm smacks forehead)
(palm smacks forehead again)
(because let's face it, I deserve it.)