Utah weekend

So, I did something a little crazy this weekend...with 27 days left before my due date, I got on a plane and flew to Utah to speak at a conference with some of my favorite people.

Asher and Luke, missing me, decided to take comfort in sharing my shape over the weekend. Nate did co-op duties at Luke's preschool Saturday morning, worked on reports at night, and used grandmother help when necessary. (Seriously, what do other people do without 2 grandmas living 5 minutes away?!)

My trip had to be pared down to essentials: a dinner with my Exponent bloggers (that I could only stay an hour for, though I was tempted to risk it and stay longer), the conference on Saturday, dinner with family on Saturday night, and then, back to Phoenix on Sunday. I was sad that I couldn't see any UT friends, but I knew that would push my schedule over the edge.

My part of the conference went ok; I hate speaking this late into my pregnancy. I get breathless and my brain is a little foggy. The rest of my panel was fantastic, as usual. The other speakers we heard were so good. And, I got to see one of my lovely friends recieve a well-deserved award for her work in Africa this year. I was bummed when I realized at 3 pm that I was going to be barfing if I didn't get back to Springville and rest.

But, I must admit that I was particularly thrilled to have D'Arcy, my friend, offer to do some pregnancy shots. We kept running out of time, so she did these in a corner of the University of Utah's cafeteria in about 10 minutes. And, she managed to make a tired, bloated, 9 month pregnant lady look pretty darn good!

Incidentally, D'Arcy will be here at the first of December if any Arizonans are interested in getting her to do a photo shoot of their family. (You can find her contact information on the blog link above or email me for it.) She's so good at putting people at ease and really has an eye for staging shots!

Naming #3

So, #3 is coming in 5 weeks (hooray!).

I always thought I'd be wading through girls' names, trying to find just the perfect one. After all, there are so many lovely options.

But, when I actually had to choose a name, I've found that I wasn't excited about the search I had so looked forward to. Throughout my pregnancy, I have had a very specific name in mind, and as much as people try to help me broaden my horizons, I remain set on just one name. My family reads to me from baby naming books, my friends send me links of good baby-naming websites, yet I remain stuck. I just think this baby should be named Emmeline.

I love it because it’s after the founding editor of Woman’s Exponent and former Relief Society president, Emmeline B. Wells. I love it because her nickname could be Emma. Look at that! Two strong Mormon women covered with one name! And, I’ll admit that I love it because she has a cousin who will be 13 months older than she who’s name is Eliza. Seriously, I can hardly wait to get pictures of those two together.

But, perhaps, I'm limiting myself and her by not exploring more options. And, I'm a little ambivalent about this name because it is so similar to my name, "Emily." That'll make things difficult for the rest of the family. And, with the current knowledge of famous Mormon women, I suspect that most people will think I was vain and just made up a name that was similar to my own.

I know that I do so want her to share a name with a strong Mormon woman. I think it is in large part because I hope that such a name will give her power and strength to thrive and grow in the Church. I also want her (and myself) to proudly tell the story of the woman she was named after when the topic comes up; I know I always love to do that with my namesake, Emily Dickinson.

I told this to Nate, and he thought these were good reasons to stick with historical Mormon women. (Well, that and the fact that the only name I could settle on from the Bible was Jezebel because really, that woman gets a bad rap!) So, he went through a bunch of books on Mormon Church history. He came back saying, "Huh, there really aren't many women in that book." Darn!

So, in the past couple days, I have felt like I should make one last push. But, I'm pretty lazy, which is why I turn to you.

What strong names (Mormon or otherwise) have you or would you pick for your daughters and why? Has your name helped you feel stronger or more confident in your life? How so?

Lukey, Caped Crusader

My mom had this great idea that I should take pictures of Luke wearing his cape, and in particular, that I should get some video of Luke flouncing around in his cape. I tried several times to catch Luke flouncing, but he usually does it in front of a mirror, so he can always see me sneaking up behing him.

My other problem is by the time I had the great idea to make a collage of photos of Luke in his various capes or cape-like pieces of fabric about a month ago. Right about the time that Luke stopped being as enamored with capes. Before that, for about 6 months, Luke would wear his capes everywhere...to school, to the store, to Church. It was very adorable unless you were his mother who ascribes to Edna Mode's ideas about capes for superheroes.

Asher's ideas

It's nice when your school picture can make your dad laugh after a 14 hour day at work. I left this out on the counter for Nate, and Nate's response, "Look at those photogenic Curtis genes coming through!" (Then, Nate said something else, but to save Asher the embarrassment as a teenager, please ask Nate what it was the next time you see him. And, Nate, um, let's keep it off the blog.)

I can't convince Asher to be anything but a Hot Wheels race car. The problem is that I remember enough about being a 5 year old to know that Asher has something very specific in mind as to what a Hot Wheels race car looks like and I have no idea what that is.

Asher has added something in his prayers that may make him my favorite..."Please bless Mom that she will get the baby out of her tummy really fast." He's been praying for that for about 3 weeks now (and we've got 5 weeks to go. I don't know if he says that so I won't be such a grump or if it's because he's really excited to meet his baby sister.

Best $12 I Ever Spent

Really, you don't need to watch this video; it's just Luke playing with a train set-up I got. Just be glad I didn't film the whole 5 hours he played with it.

Awesome when a toy works THAT well!