Keepin' Busy

I haven't been posting much, so I decided to show some pictures of what has been keeping me busy.

My brother-in-law came home from a mission. Don't worry. He's learning quickly how to hold Jill. It's the first time they've met! (And her skirt really isn't that short; it's just hiked up in this picture. Promise!)

Jill and Uncle Ry Ry

We adopted a second kitten. We decided that Cosmo needed a playmate. Welcome: Chloe. Sadly, he seems to view her as more of a play toy instead of a playmate, and she has no fight in her. She'll growl, hiss, or run, but she does not play back. This is very disappointing for Cosmo, but he keeps trying. Much to our dismay. I can't decide whether Cosmo is being too rough (and I'm fostering an abusive relationship) or Cosmo is being a normal kitten (and Chloe is just annoyed by him). It was a rough transition initially with lots of hissing and cleaning up of messes, but now they get along great and nap somewhat side by side (provided of course that Cosmo is in cuddle mode rather than frisky mode). 

Cosmo and Chloe

This little one. She's always keeping me on the go.

We've also had lots of fun adventures recently. Jill went to the zoo for the first time. She rode a train, and she went on a river boat. She went to reading time at the library (because she really is close enough to the 18 month cut off), and she has gone to nursery (accompanied by a parent) three or four times now. Her favorite activity is watching her cousin dance through youtube videos and playing "Ring Around the Rosie." She sings all the time now, but I can't always tell what song she is singing. It's not always very close. :) The lyrics or the melody. She currently wants me to sing the "skimer-a-dink-a-dink-a-dink I love you" song. (What is that song really called?) She loves it. We also went on a road trip down to Tennessee for a wedding and got to see lots of lovely and lovable family. We're enjoying the fall weather, and my husband recently installed four new shelves for me THAT I LOVE. If you thought it was not possible to love shelves—you were wrong. (At least if you were talking about me.)

People are referring to Jill as a blonde more frequently now than as a redhead, so some change is happening there. Who knows what hair color she'll end up with.

Life is good. Oh, so very good.

And here is a picture of what is keeping me happy these days. 

Jill watching her first BYU football game with her daddy.

My sister recently posted about the song My Favorite Things. She listed hers and asked about all of ours, which made me think of mine, which is turn made me wonder about all of yours. If you're not familiar with the song (is that possible?), it lists things like "brown paper packages tied up with strings," "warm, woolen mittens," "crisp apple strudel," "girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes," etc. As I'm listing these, I just realized that her favorite things are all actually things in the song, and when listing the flip side ("when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad . . . "), those are all actions. Well, the favorite things that I came up with are all actions, too, so perhaps I cheated a bit with my list.

watching Jill splashing in puddles
cuddling with a purring cat
smelling something good cooking in my oven that I made
watching my husband clean
watching Jill dance
seeing Jill's delight when I sing to her
brightening someone's day
revisiting with old friends
finishing a satisfying book
singing my heart out
spending time with my extended family
feeling my baby move inside me

Feel free to cheat with your list, and definitely feel free to share! I am curious what makes your lips curve into a smile. :) (Perhaps that was sappy, but it's true!)