Peaceful and Happy Homes

I was just looking through the Sunday School study guide I received on Sunday and found this great quote from Marion G. Romney:

I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity--the pure love of Christ--will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1980).

Isn't this what we all want in our homes?

Are You Smiling Yet?

I'm still reading a book I commented about a while ago (had to turn it back to the library before I was finished) called Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcom Gladwell. Because it is a little complicated to explain, I'll just quote a little bit of the background as well as what the research showed.

"A few years later, a German team of psychologists conducted a simliar study. They had a group of subjects look at cartoons, either while holding a pen between their lips -- an action that made it impossible to contract either of the two major smiling muscles, the risorius and the zygomatic major -- or while holding a pen clenched between their teeth, which had the opposite effect and forced them to smile. The people with the pen between their teeth found the cartoons much funnier. These findings may be hard to believe, because we take it as a given that first we experience an emotion, and then we may -- or may not -- express that emotion on our face. We think of the face as the residue of emotion. What this research showed, though, is that the process works in the opposite direction as well. Emotion can also start on the face. The face is not a secondary billboard for our internal feelings. It is an equal partner in the emotional process."

What can we learn from this? First, if you want people to think your jokes are funny, make them hold a pen in their teeth! Second, if you're feeling down, make yourself smile anyway. A smiling face creates a happy emotion in your brain. Putting yourself into situations where you are forced to smile no matter what will actually help you to really feel happy. Don't mope around and hang out in your room by yourself. Get out there and get smiling!

Please Update Sherrie's Address Book

Please fill out and submit the form below, unless you already did it on Lee's blog. Thanks!

What's your flavor?

I was my favorite flavor! This is what it had to say about me:

"Your personality is as friendly and appealing as strawberry ice cream (especially the kind with chunky bits of real fruit). You've got a slightly sarcastic sense of humor, and you rarely stress out or take things too seriously. You are cute and sweet, but with a mischievous side. You are a bit of a troublemaker, but only because you're determined to avoid a plain vanilla life. "

What do you think? Sound like me?

The Dancing Annalee

Mysterious Monitor

My dad bought a little spy camera for his house, but found it difficult to use for his intended purpose as a security camera. So it was just in the house, not really doing anything. Before we moved we stayed with my parents and we used it as a video monitor to check up on the baby when she was asleep downstairs and we were upstairs. It was super nice to be able to see and hear her without having to go downstairs. My dad was generous enough to let us take it with us and use it in our new house. It has been great to be able to see why she's crying before making the trek all the way upstairs to her room now. But the other day, something odd happened.

When I turned on the monitor one night, I noticed that it had moved. It was no longer directly facing the crib, but was moved slightly to include the rocker that is off to the side of the crib. This has happened before and my theory was that Lee moved it to check up on us. I often do the morning feeding in that chair and sometimes other feedings as well. Lee is pretty groggy in the morning and so in the past we've thought that maybe he moved it to see us, but was too groggy to remember. One time he was sure he hadn't touched it, so I created a new theory that I bumped it somehow while turning it off and it was dismissed again. However, this particular night, it was certain Lee didn't move it because I had checked it later after Lee was up and awake and it was still on the crib. I tried out my second theory by seeing what happens when the auto button is bumped. It immediately began to scan the whole room. It didn't stop. Even when I turned it off, it started scanning again when it was turned back on. That means that I would have had to accidentally bump it twice while in the act of turning it off in order to stop the scanning and not realize it. That was impossible.

Earlier that day I had been with Annalee in her bedroom. I was playing with her and had set her down in the rocker. She loved it! I have a vague memory of thinking that I heard the monitor move while we were there. You can't really hear it move, so the thought never made it completely to my consciousness. But it must of been close because it came back to me when I saw that it was in fact moved to include the rocker. I must have somehow perceived of it moving from the corner of my eye or something. The scary thing is that Lee didn't do it and obviously neither did I. So who moved it??

Since it has a wireless signal, we wonder if the channel is being picked up by someone else who is able to control it somehow. The interesting thing is that a few days previous to the incident, I was talking with my neighbor and she asked about something red I'd had hanging in our bedroom window which is seen only from the backyard. She would have had to really be trying to see them from her yard! She also mentioned that her father was a spy for the US.

Annalee Update

She's moving! She's been able to roll to get around for a while now and she could push herself backwards or around in circles. But this week she has finally started to go forward. She began to push her whole body off the ground in a push-up position. She also started to get up on her knees. Yesterday, though, the real progress came when she learned to push herself and actually get somewhere going forward! She still tries to do it on her knees, but mostly ends up in a face plant! So for the most part it's just scooting around and not really crawling. She is taking off though and is getting faster by the second!

Annalee just finished trying to put her foot in her mouth, but since she appears to have her mothers flexibility, she was unsuccessful so she gave up! Now she's just rolling around making a constant motor-like noise. She is capable of babbling, but prefers the other noises instead. She is getting really good at "bah, bah, bah" and also at the "P" sound as she blows a little from her mouth. She can also say the sounds for M, D, and probably a few others when she babbles. Often we hear a very distinct "hi" from her, though she probably doesn't really know what she's saying. It's still fun to hear!

Monday she was on her tummy and I was encouraging her to come to me. She became fascinated with my hands as the fingers curled in toward the palm in a beckoning motion. After watching awestruck for some time, she began to copy it herself. When we tried to show Papi later, she refused to show off. Then to our surprise, we were on the web cam with grandparents Anderson and she began to do it to them! I don't know if she was waving, or asking them to come to her, or simply showing off her new trick but it was super cute! I'll catch her doing it every now and again intently watching the movement of her fingers. It's the best when she says "hi" while waving as if she actually knows what it is she's saying!

She has also picked up head banging somewhere! Mostly when on her tummy,
she begins to bob her head up and down and gets a kick out of it when we copy her! Hanging upside down is a fun game for Papi and her. Oh yeah, and she really does not like peas!