Nope, I'm not pregnant. Nope, we didn't buy a house. Nope, we haven't bought a natural gas car. SAVVY TOOK HER FIRST STEPS!! On Saturday night, we were just playing with her, and Phill (who is REALLY excited to see her walk) decided to see if she would walk a couple steps to me. He let go of her little waist, and she really shakily covered the two steps to get to me! She did several more that night, though usually not more than two in a row. She doesn't really trust herself yet, and gets a little freaked out when she realizes that she just walked a couple steps on her own. :) With Reed having walked at 9 months, Jaxon at 10 months, I haven't been overanxious to see our third delight running with the boys--she gets knocked over enough as it is! But it was really adorable and as exciting as ever to see. Yay for Savvy!
"She was a selfish grumpy old woman. She had pale brown teeth and a small puckered-up mouth like a dog's bottom...Most grandmothers are lovely, kind, helpful old ladies, but not this one. She spent all day and every day sitting in her chair by the window, and she was always complaining, grousing, grouching, grumbling, griping about something or other."
-George's Marvelous Medicine, p.2, Roald Dahl
Me: "Reed, can you make the same face as George's grandma?"Reed:
My awesome friend Jenn came to visit Thursday from SLC. We took the kids to the splash pad yesterday and ended up staying for almost three hours! But it was great to have her here, because I was starting to feel pretty lonely! And when I don't have sisters very nearby, it's nice to know I have a really close friend who can help ease the ache until somehow all five of us sisters will live close to each other again! (Hm. Probably not in the next twenty years will we all live within 100 miles of each other, just because of our husbands' various occupations. But a girl can dream, right?)
On a related subject, the gas prices continue to soar, and I keep wondering if soon it's going to be cheaper for Jenn to fly to visit, instead of driving. I get really worked up about the gas prices, mostly because I feel helpless to change them, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. We've looked into converting our van to natural gas, and it would be $7,000. Sadly enough, it would be worth it, because it would balance out in the end! I don't know whether to just accept that it's going to keep being expensive to go anywhere at all, or to become angry to the point of some sort of more aggressive action. What kind of aggressive action, I have no idea! I just know that I feel rather imprisoned by the gas prices, and I don't think that's very American. I mean, we're #1 for consumerism and materialism and money, money, money, but aren't we supposed to be free, too? Shouldn't we feel that there is some way to fight the rising ceiling of gas prices? Am I alone in my thinking? It's really frustrating....we need fuel. And so we keep getting bled dry, because there is the demand.
Speaking of another kind of fuel, I am completely unmotivated. I should exercise, but I don't feel even 2% like actually moving past the Should to the Did....in fact, I fight against it. For instance, making brownies instead of exercising. That's definitely fighting it, huh?! And although I've been keeping the house at least minimally clean, I'm also completely unmotivated in this area. I don't know what my problem is! Usually after a few days, I'm absolutely losing my mind from it, and totally ready to tackle whatever mess there is. And usually I kind of enjoy keeping house, because it's satisfying to see the visual effects of my efforts. I know I just need to go ahead and clean, instead of waiting for motivation to kick in, but.....I just don't feel like it. :)
And on that note, I'm going to go do several things I don't feel like doing. This post has accomplished its purpose--I'm motivated, or at least slightly ashamed of myself, enough to go do something!
So we watched the game tonight, and holy COW what a win!! At first I thought it was going to be a close game as they stayed within one point of each other for most of the first quarter, but then the Celtics ended up pulling ahead by so much that they won by 39 points. It was fun to watch! Anyway, during all the celebration afterwards, the team sat down for (what I assume was) a group picture. As they got comfortable, Ray Allen reached over to his toddler son behind him and tenderly cupped his chin in his huge hands, gently bringing his little face in for a quick kiss. Out of that entire game, I think that's what I will remember the longest! I have such high respect for great athletes in general, but when they display tenderness and unexpected softness, you can knock me over with a feather, I'm that impressed.
Love it.
Although I already posted photos of this shoot, I just today made their birth announcement, and I had to share it, too. :) Oh, and by the way--I have not died from the 3-in-1 oil poisoning, and I don't have chemical pneumonia, although the 36 hours after initial inhalation were pretty terrible! (Dramatic wording totally on purpose.) 
