We don't have good luck...

...with cameras.

In February Lizzie dropped our camera on the stone pavement outside Independence Hall in Philly. We went pictureless for a time. And it was not fun.

On Friday, the Beast camera fell off of the stroller while the girls and I were at the park. While it continues to take pictures, something is wrong with the focus/sharpness and now all the pictures are blurry. I've tried everything I can think of but the blurriness remains.

Sigh.

So I guess the next few weeks/months of pictures will be blurry. In the meantime I'll research some options for new cameras for the Killion family. A small sleek number that can fit into the most protective case ever. Any suggestions on camera choice? (I like 10x or higher zoom.)

Last week was good. I don't ever remember such a hot September while I was growing up, but that's what this month has been like: high 90s. We've received some rain over here, which has cooled things down considerably.

Cate is now sleeping in a crib! We put her there on Sunday night and she slept straight through without any problems. Same thing last night! I'm still working out the details with bedtime. I brought out the bathing chair and Cate used it for the first time last night--she really likes it! Lizzie likes to "help" me wash Cate. Such a good big sister!

Bedtime seems to go more smoothly if I take Lizzie to her bed first. While she falls asleep, I feed Cate. Then Cate falls asleep and I drop her off in the crib (once I know that Liz is asleep for sure). Lizzie woke up before Cate this morning and Cate didn't even move a muscle. So far, so good!

School is still good for Chris. Sometimes the life/work/school balance can be very stressful but Chris handles everything so well. He's a good example for us when it comes to that sort of thing.

We skyped with my family and Chris's family last week--thank you Skype! It's nice for our families to actually see the girls, especially our Texas family because we can't drive there in 3.5 hours. (I wish we could drive there in that amount of time!)

Pictures from our week: the second half of the pictures will be really blurry, due to camera injury :(

Week in review

We went to the J. Reuben Clark Law Society dinner on Wednesday. We took the Metro down to GW, which Liz loved. Chris studied for class on the way and Liz took notes!

Cate had fun with her hanging animals (she loves these things)!

It was definitely nice to meet the other LDS students who are in the GW law part-time and full-time programs (and it was definitely nice to get free dinner)! There is a Student Spouse Association, which I joined. The majority of the students reside on the Virginia side of DC, and as a result, most of the SSA activities are held in VA. I hope we can make it to a few!
Chris had to leave the dinner early because he had class. When the dinner ended, we ladies had an hour to spare so we walked the four blocks over to the White House.

We stopped to get a picture:

We were about to go all the way around the building when all of a sudden a ton of police officers appear and ask all of us pedestrians to go across the street. They cleared the place in under five minutes, and many people were gathering to see what was going on. Someone important was either leaving or entering the White House while we visited that night!

Chris finished his first paper for the semester. He was very smart to make an appointment to the writing lab early before all the slots filled up. Some of his classmates lost out! I sometimes feel like I'm going to law school (on a much smaller scale, of course) because Chris tells me about his classes; we sometimes discuss what his class discussed a few hours earlier. It's pretty cool!

The Clark ladies and the Killion ladies went over to the Unique Thrift store today. It's by far the biggest thrift shop I've ever been in! We all had fun, especially the girls. Their favorite spot was the toy section :)

Liz has been trying my patience a lot recently. She's so smart and it gets her into trouble! I tell her not to do something but she will find a way to do it. Thank goodness she's so cute.






At least Cate behaves herself...although it's because she has no other choice ;) She's becoming more vocal every day. She's very talkative at night. Liz likes to "hold" Cate a lot and Cate is always very patient with that!







In the end, these sisters enjoy the time they spend together and I enjoy watching them grow!

Friday Confessions

I know, I've been great with keeping up my Friday Confessions ;) Both girls are napping so it's the perfect time for me to write.

1. I've always been a total summer girl. But as I've gotten older, I've begun to appreciate the fall season. There's just something about the crisp air, colorful trees, the hoodies--hot chocolate--soccer games atmosphere that I'm beginning to admire fully. I think I appreciate the fall so much more now because I have some time to look around and enjoy it, and I want my girls to enjoy it when we go outside. Dear Autumn season, you're amazing!

2. Well, it happened. We were at the JRCLS dinner at GW and a fellow mom saw us Killion women; the girls were on my lap. She looked at Liz--smiled at her, looked at Cate--woman's eyes grew wide, then looked at me and asked: "Did you birth those babies?" In that exact tone as the italic and bold print imply, a tone of utter incredulity. I answered, "Yes, these are my girls. Aren't genetics amazing?" And she shut up.
First of all, who uses the word "BIRTH" as a verb anymore? (Besides doctors.) Second, there are far more tactful ways of asking me if I'm the mother of Liz and Cate. (Are they sisters? Are they related?--we answer these questions on a weekly basis.) I feel bad for my Miss Cate because I think we'll be asked questions of her for the rest of her life! I promise you all that she IS my child!!!

3. I miss BYU a lot more now that Bill's back on campus.

4. I think I've lost most of the baby weight, although I'm not completely sure because we don't have a scale in the house. All I know is that I am a lot more saggy around my middle, which I'm not liking too much.

5. I'm starting to discover that I've begun a few new projects around the house rather than complete one and move onto the next. A big change from my teen years!

This isn't a confession, but I wanted to share it--So last night Chris gave me a beautifully written card, celebrating our very first date (9/16/06) to the Utah State Fair. How lucky I am to have such a thoughtful husby! :)

The sweet life of Liz and Cate

*About last post: Chris wanted me to clarify that he doesn't really have "lazy Saturdays" anymore; he spends the majority of the day prepping for the upcoming week of school. So maybe they're lazy Saturdays for the girls and me! :)

On Friday night, the Clark's and the Killion's drove up the road to Frederick for an Olive Garden dinner. Olive Garden was having their "never-ending pasta bowl" special so we took advantage of that! SO GOOD! Afterwards, we went to the Key Mall and let our girls play with cute puppies from the pet store and tire themselves out at the indoor play area. We all had a great night :)






Lizzie is now twenty-one months old, as of yesterday! Still speaking up a storm and learning new words and phrases. Our favorite: Chris was driving and he sneezed. Before I could say "bless you," we heard Lizzie's little voice from the backseat: "Bless you, Daddy." Tonight we skyped with my mom, Joe, and Julia; my mom told Joe to take a shower before he went to bed, so Lizzie reminded him: "JOE! Go shower!" She keeps me on my toes, that is FOR sure.

Cate will be three months old on the thirtieth. We've discovered she has inherited some of her parents' allergies, poor lady. Sometimes when we venture outside, her little eyes become red-rimmed and watery and she sneezes like crazy. The worst part about it is the fact that she's too young for allergy meds. She weighs close to 13 lbs. now, our Miss Chunky Monkey! Growing so fast and laughing, laughing. She's especially smiley when she gets her diaper changed, when she wakes up in the morning, and when she's about to take her bath at night.

Both girls like Mom and Dad's bed for naptime!

Watching big sister blow some bubbles

The master at work

Miss Mischief

Smile!

Sleeping in after a congested night

Who needs fries for ketchup dipping? My fingers work just fine.

I really like how bright Lizzie's hair looks with the flash

Remember September...

I started to feel bad about not writing my blog on Mondays, but then I realized I wrote them on Mondays because they served as a letter to my brother Bill while he was on his mission. Now that he's off his mission and back at BYU, I don't have to feel bad about not writing on Mondays! haha

As I said last week, Julia was with us and we had a great time. She is a big help with the girls and both girls love her very much! (They love you too, Aunt Katie.) The house is much quieter without her presence. Liz woke up from her nap this afternoon and asked for "Carly"-- aka the TV show iCarly. Thought you would appreciate that, Julia! Ohhh the many things Aunt Julia teaches us! ;)








I made some updates to the girls' room, mostly rearranging to get everything to fit! haha These girls just have way too much stuff! (Thank you grandparents, aunts, and uncles.) I also got Cate's letters up on the wall *FINALLY*




A trip to IKEA resulted in a new desk and chair for Chris. Law school necessitates these things, after all! Really though, it's nice to have your own workspace.


Don't know about your house, but here in our house, we watch football. Football season has officially begun! Here's to those lazy Saturday afternoons ;)