Cupcakes

OK, for all of you cupcake lovers out there - I made these cupcakes on Sunday and I thought they were absolutely delicious. They're about as basic as you can get: vanilla cake and vanilla frosting, but very moist and tasty! Here is the recipe~

Today

Today:
I woke up to the sound of poring rain. I longed to stay in bed and enjoy the gray light and the soothing patter above me.
Two adorable girls fought over who got to lay next to me on the couch.
I laughed when I said, "Look at those feet!" to Sophie while I was changing her diaper and she said, "My feet are pretty!"
Emmy and Sophie had the time of their lives playing in a gigantic puddle with their friends. By the end, all six little girls were naked and loving it.
I let Emmy watch too much TV.
I enjoyed Sophie laying her head on my shoulder after her nap.
I read "Emmy and the Fantastic Seahorse Race," "Who Pooped in Yosemite Park?" "Skippyjon Jones" twice, and "Where is Baby's Belly Button?"
I cleaned my kitchen until it was almost shiny. (It is so old and lived in that it will never really shine).
I enjoyed a quiet and peaceful lunch to myself.
I almost tore my hair out while Emmy raged in her room, not wanting to go to bed.
I found something that was lost.
I am happily enjoying the latest episode of LOST.
And that is all.

A Reminder

I was reminded of this quote by Minnie Louise Haskins today. You've probably heard it before, but it is always nice to hear these things again.

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,

"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied, "Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!"

Thank You!

OK, it has been so much fun to read all of your great name suggestions. I have a long list for girl and boy names now, so it will be fun to see who we end up with and what we choose.

I haven't posted pictures in awhile, so I thought I'd give you a brief update of the goings on of 2010 with a few fun pics.
This is Emmy, all ready to go to her friend's Fancy Nancy Birthday Party. This was quite a posh affair that required a long time of choosing the right accessories and attempting to curl her stubbornly straight hair to look like Nancy's ringlets. She was ready by 8:30 in the morning, but by the time we left for the party at 9:45, she'd removed almost all of the accessories - deeming them itchy or in the way. I should have taken a picture earlier - she was quite a fancy girl.


Whenever we color with markers or paints, Sophie becomes preoccupied with painting herself. One day, I was tired of trying to get her to stick with the beautiful blank sheet of paper in front of her, so I stripped her down, gave her the paints, and stuck her in the bath. When Emmy saw what was going on, she was close behind. This ended up being a wonderful activity for a cold day. The body painting lasted about an hour and the bath that followed was almost just as long.

A visit from Nannie and Opa. In the middle of January, we were thrilled to have my parents come stay with us for a week. We had the most wonderful time. Emmy and Sophie were so excited to see them. On the day before they arrived, I asked Emmy if she thought we should do anything special when they came. She, apparently, had been thinking this through, because she immediately answered by saying, "Well. I was thinking. I can wear my most beautiful dress, and when they get here, I will be hiding. If they can't find me, I'll jump out and say, 'Boo!'" I thought it was so funny that she'd come up with that little plan and was very excited to carry it out. So excited, that she refused to drive with me to the airport because she wanted to be hiding. She reminded me that she would not be able to hide very well in the car. So we stuck to her plan, and the smile on her face when they found her was priceless. Both Emmy and Sophie were all smiles, and I got a little teary-eyed seeing how happy they were. We really had a very fun time with them, despite the uncharacteristic torrential rains that poured down upon us each day of their trip. (See previous post entitled "The de Jong Curse" to be reminded of the terrible weather that follows my parents wherever they travel).

Let the Name Game Begin

Now that I have passed the 20-week mark with flying colors, it is now time to start discussing names. This time around, our discussion will be more complicated. We do not know if we are having a boy or a girl, nor will we know until the day that little cutie-pie makes his or her entrance into the world.

As many of you know, Matt and I are a pretty indecisive couple - and very indecisive when it comes to naming our children. My problem is that I like too many names and have a hard time narrowing down my list. Matt, on the other hand, is much pickier than I am. Here is a sample conversation between us:

Katie: Hey, Matt. Maybe we should start thinking about names. Do you have any ideas?
Matt: No, I haven't even thought about it. Maybe we should wait until the time gets closer before we talk about it.
Katie: But it might be nice if we didn't have to wait until the moment we leave the hospital to make a decision.
Matt: We have plenty of time.

So - you can see that even trying to talk about names can be a struggle for us. When we finally do have the conversation, this is usually how it goes:

Katie: Do you have any names that you like?
Matt: How about you tell me names and I tell you if I like them or not.
Katie: OK, how about Ivy.
Matt: No.
Katie: Megan?
Matt: Fine.
Katie: Noah.
Matt: No.
Katie: Ben
Matt: Fine.
Katie: Aren't there any names you like?
Matt: I like Emmy and Sophie.
Katie: Sorry, those are taken. Remember that you didn't really love those ones at first?
Matt: I didn't? Oh, I thought I did.
Katie: I think you said something like, "No," or "Fine."
Matt: Oh.

Basically, Matt's answers are limited to those two responses. Now, I don't want to make Matt out to be a dud. He's not. He is a lot of fun. But he does have a hard time with names. And now our work is doubled!

So, I would like to solicit you, my readership, for ideas. That's not to say that I don't have any. I do have some names that I really like (which I won't say yet.) But I would love some suggestions. At least so I can have the chance to say, "No," or "Fine." Or maybe even, "I LOVE it!"

What have I been up to? Or not . . .

To all of my fans out there (all five of you!) I must apologize about my lack of blogging in the past couple months. Since I hit the six and a half weeks pregnant mark, I've been neglecting many of the things I enjoy doing (reading, blogging, photography, exercise, cooking) and ignoring all of the things I don't like doing (mopping the floor, laundry, grocery shopping, dishes).

To give you a few examples:
I just put Christmas cards in the mail. Today. Yes, it is January 4.
I have a stack of books on my bedside table to read - and these are books I want to read! But the problem is, the moment I open one, I fall asleep. Here they are, in case you're curious:
In Defense of Food
Outliers
Room With a View
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Olive Kitteridge
The Best American Essays of the Century
I haven't composed my children's traditional Christmas letters yet (and I love to do this!)
I haven't written in my journal in at least six weeks
I've only gone to the mall about twice in the last eight weeks
I have not reorganized my office space
I have not cleaned out my files
I have not cleaned out my pantry
I have not finished Sophie's photo album that I wanted to finish before her 2nd birthday (10/31)

BUT - lest you are tired of my whining about what hasn't been done - I will now detail a few things I've accomplished despite nausea and fatigue:

I made my first real cheesecake and it was sensational
I baked and decorated sugar cookies with Emmy
I sang and danced to Christmas songs with my girls - several times
I've made a new and wonderful friend
I didn't complain too much
I went to bed early, often
I made dinner for my family most nights
I sang in the church choir Christmas concert
I lost my voice caroling at the top of my lungs while cruising through San Francisco in a cable car
I read many books to my children (a few current faves: The Three Trees, A Small Miracle, Snowmen at Christmas, Who is Coming to our House?, Fanny's Dream, The Paperbag Princess)

And there you have it. My life during the past two months. And now that I have some perspective, I can see that even though I've felt crummy the majority of the time, I've been living a happy life. And I'm starting to think about what really matters to me.

Today I spent several hours cleaning and de-junking my kids' room. During this time, they begged and begged that I play with them, read to them, color with them, paint with them, do puzzles with them . . . I denied most of their requests. I was on a mission and I was not going to be deterred. I'm glad I finished my task. But when I think of how Emmy wrapped her arms around me while I sang to her at bedtime and kissed me square on the lips, and how Sophie said her prayers in the softest, sweetest, whispery voice and then went right to bed - in the end I think I'll find more joy in spending time with them than in a clean bedroom.

1.1.10

Doesn't that date look like a great beginning?

I started the new year by sleeping in (thank you Matt!), eating a bowl of Oatmeal Squares, and flipping through the January issue of Real Simple.

And now it is 9:45. We'll see where the rest of the day takes me, and for that matter, the rest of the year.

Happy New Year!