Isabelle's 1st Sport

Isabelle's very good friend, Riley, (they've been friends since they were babies), wanted her to play basketball with him. She agreed, so they played on the same team for 7 weeks starting in January. She had lots of fun and wants to play again next year. Grandma Clark would be so proud!!

Isabelle's Latest Eye Exam

Isabelle started wearing glasses back in June of last year right before she turned 5. We took her in for an exam because she had been looking at us cross-eyed. Her optometrist said that she was very farsighted, and possibly her vision could correct by the time she is a teenager and she wouldn't even need glasses. He did say, however, that it may take a few weeks or months for us to notice a difference with her crossing her eyes, and that he would probably need to change her prescription at her next exam.

Well, at the beginning of this month, I took Isabelle in for her second exam, and to the optometrist's amazement, he recommended NOT changing her prescription and not doing an exam again for another year! He was very pleased with her progress and very proud of her. She needs no prompting to put on her glasses. She puts them on immediately in the morning and if she has taken them off for something (like roughhousing with her sis or Daddy), she puts them back on right away.

Isabelle has adjusted very well to her glasses! Yay!!

This is for you, Rachel!

I first remember reading about the Twilight series on my childhood friend Rachel's blog, quite a long time ago. I quickly said, "well, that's not for me," and that was that. Never even gave it a second thought, until probably a year or two later when I found out that many friends were either reading the series or had finished it. I still didn't think it was for me, but then I would read about it on a favorite blog or hear about it some other way and I began to give it some thought. One day I opened the mail and found $20 that an aunt had sent me with instructions to buy myself something. So, I ran to WalMart and bought the first two books in the series:

I was immediately drawn from page 1 of the first book and was hooked! I couldn't put the book down and finished both books within a matter of days (reading while putting Melina down for a nap and after the girls were in bed). During the day, I was drawn to the books, wanting to abandon motherhood and just read. Somehow I made it through my days though, and read, read, read at night (thankfully this was in the first couple weeks of my pregnancy, so fatigue and nausea hadn't hit yet).

I borrowed book #3 from my friend, Sher, and finished that one also in a couple of days.

I still have #4 to read. It's the last one though--I do WANT to desperately read it; however, I know I'll race through it and be done in a couple of days again, and then it's over...no more. I guess I could do what lots of my friends have done and just read the series over and over, but that doesn't appeal to me at this point.

I have not seen the movie. It is in our Netflix queue, but I tend to be disappointed by movies after I've read the book. Still not sure if I want to watch it yet or not.

So, there you go. If you're looking for something new and exciting to read--this is it! Go get the Twilight series--you won't be sorry!

Spring Craft

We made spring trees yesterday. Last fall we made fall trees that were lots of fun, and I thought the spring trees looked even prettier. Here's how our Monday morning went:


To get the great effect for the tree, you are supposed to blow the paint up your paper with a straw.

I skipped this step with Melina and just gave her the paintbrush.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT:

Melina:
Isabelle:

Looking Like Spring

We grabbed some dinner and took an evening trip this past Sunday to a place about 10 minutes away that overlooks Ridgecrest. Because of my morning sickness, we really haven't made any of our usual day trips. It felt so good to get out and be in the fresh air! We ate our dinner here (Ridgecrest is in the background)
And as we ate looking out at Ridgecrest, if we looked to the left we could see this area, the spot where Jeff took me to a year to the day we met and proposed. It was a chilly, dark night in November 2001 (the day after Thanksgiving to be exact), and the view of our town was beautiful, as was the proposal!
We took a little walk. Melina was quite jealous that she couldn't be at the top of this rock with her Daddy and sister. She kept trying to find a way up there!


We then loaded up in the car and went for a drive. Jeff had been goldmining the previous weekend with Uncle Pat and had seen some beautiful yellow flowers already in bloom. We were amazed by gorgeous carpets of yellow flowers across our desert. So pretty!!

This is what we've been doing since I found out I was pregnant...

Like my pregnancies with both girls, I had lots of nausea that lasted all day with extreme fatigue. Same thing this time around, although the nausea didn't seem quite as severe. I've made it through the worst and at this point am only having nausea for a few hours in the evening, usually after dinner. Thankfully, it should get better from here on. As I usually get on the computer and do any blogging after the girls are in bed, I haven't blogged but one or two times since I found out I was pregnant because I usually go to bed too right after they're asleep. Jeff is outside on a beautiful spring evening with the girls right now so I have a little extra time to show everyone what we've been up to (not much though).


One day when I was getting dressed in the bathroom, Melina found a lipstick that had fallen out of my pants and gladly helped herself:

I can't get enough of these sweet pictures of the girls sleeping together:
Painting with watercolors:
Playing the piano together:
Making Valentines:
Sorting pompoms and putting them in the ice cube trays kept Melina occupied one afternoon while I got dinner ready (Isabelle was at gymnastics and Jeff was bringing her home)
Happy Valentine's Day:
Enjoying a beautiful day:
Enjoying some quiet weekend morning time with Daddy:
Melina wishing she could ride Isabelle's bike:
Both girls are infatuated with ladybugs right now. We've had some very beautiful weather, so they are out in abundance. Isabelle has been catching some each evening and letting them go in the morning. Melina "helps" her.

Also this past week we planted some seeds in our front yard. Wow, LOTS of patience is needed with a 1 and 5 year old. Something I was quite lacking that morning, but we made it through thankfully!

What does Jeff look like these days??

Is it because he'll once again be a new daddy soon? I like it. I think he looks quite handsome!

Guess What??

A couple things to remember:




The best-laid plans are never final.




God always has the final say.




To our utmost surprise, we found out I was pregnant at the end of January. We never even anticipated it, certainly weren't trying, and were quite shocked, especially since it took us so long to get Melina.

We have made it through most of the first trimester, and now I am 12 weeks pregnant and feeling much better! Our newest little Morgan shall make his/her entrance some time in October. Isabelle is very excited and hoping for a sister and can't wait to hold a newborn again! Melina: well, Melina is Melina and will only be 26 months old when the baby is born, but she does say the word "baby" a lot and kisses Ginger's little girl Yasmin quite frequently. They will be great big sisters!! We are very blessed!

Here's the latest picture of our little one: