Asia Elizabeth Ball Lowe

Happy Birthday, Asia! I love this picture of Asia and Andrew that we took when we were living in Austin.  I hope you have a wonderful year, Asia,  it should be an eventful one! I miss you and wish we lived closer together and could see each other more often. I am grateful that you are my sister and my friend.  I am still waiting to hear from Ben about our spa trip! :)

Memories of Asia:

1. Asia used to say she was older than me because her birthday is four days before mine, only I was born three years before. :)

2. When my family was living in Germany, we starting calling her Little Miss Sunshine, hoping it might wear off on her attitude.

3. She went to a dance in Heidelberg castle. Isn't that romantic?

4. She cooked for her own wedding reception.

5. She once etched my name in the window sill with a screwdriver, hoping I would be the one to get in trouble for it.

6. She studied Art at Texas Tech.

7. She is the only one of us kids that didn't go to BYU.

8. She has beautiful blond hair and blue eyes.

9. She is so fun.

10. She took care of my boys when I was in the hospital after Michael was born.

11. She is very generous - my boys love getting presents from her.

12. She loves my boys.

13. When I was a senior and she was a freshman, it was fun to have her in Drama with me.

14. She is a great scrapbooker, I love the pages she has done for me.

15. I love going shopping with her.

16. She was born in Singapore and will maybe have her baby in a foreign country, too.

17. She made and decorated my wedding cake - it was chocolate.

18. When we were in Europe, we (mostly me) had eaten so much chocolate and I made her exercise with me, doing lunges, etc in the hotel hallways. We tried to look inconspicuous  every time we saw someone. 

19. I made her go on a date with me once when she was visiting me in Utah, my date (the guy) wasn't too thrilled. But, she made it so much better for me! 

20. She has a beautiful daughter.

21. She has visited me everywhere I have lived, except for Arizona. What's the deal, As?

22. She helped me go buy a pregnancy test when I thought I was pregnant with Jacob. ( I was )

23. She is so brave to drive across the country all by herself to see her husband before he left for Iraq.

24. She has always been one of my best friends.

25. She used to bite me as a kid. 

26. She used to share a bedroom with me and once we doing running somersaults onto the bed and we put a hole in the wall.

Happy 26th birthday!

My Valentines

Yesterday, Andrew and Jacob told me I was a princess.  I thought it was pretty cute.  I will be a princess surrounded by my princes.  Last night, Andrew and Jacob were changing into their pajamas and were taking turns using the bathroom before bed. Andrew came running out of the bathroom completely naked and Jacob was running into the bathroom wearing only underwear and they ran right into each other. I thought it was so funny. For some reason, it warmed my heart, like I was really experiencing motherhood. I know that sounds silly, but watching the looks on their faces and how they literally take life at a run, I feel lucky that I am their mother.

Jacob slept on the top bunk last night for the first time and I am surprised regularly that he is growing up and ready to be a big boy.  Michael loves Nursery as long as he can see me. Hopefully, he will get used to it and be ready to be in there alone once he is walking.

Shark Teeth

What a great morning picture! 

A little while ago, Andrew told me a new tooth was coming in.  Come to find out, his new tooth was coming in behind one of his baby teeth. It worried me a bit that we would need to get the baby tooth pulled and that his tooth would stay back there. But, I looked it up online - hooray for the internet - and found that it is fairly common ( they called them shark teeth). That the tooth will usually come out on its own or if we had to, it wouldn't be a big deal to pull it. And that the tooth typically moves to the spot it ought to be in. That baby tooth was a little loose, so we worked on it to loosen it a bit more.  Andrew was determined to get it out. He had a hard time going to sleep, he really wanted something to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy.  So, two days later when I picked him up from school, he smiled really big to show me his new smile - without one of his teeth!  They said he was wiggling it and it came flying out and one of the aides caught it. :) They put it in a cute little treasure chest and sent it home with him. I was a little sad that I wasn't there when he lost his first tooth. Oh, well. Anticipating the tooth fairy made getting to sleep a bit harder than usual, but he put the tooth in an envelope under his pillow. And woke up a dollar richer. :) He was so excited to go buy a toy with his money. My baby is growing up! The big tooth is starting to move up to the right position. Hopefully, all the other teeth come in the right way! But, for now he is our little shark. 

Taco Bell

I think that last night I got a taste of what feeding three boys (and Jeremy) will be like as they get older.  The boys had a fun time completing a quest Jeremy had created for them and part of the treasure was to get some dinner. They wanted to stay and play in the cave -  I will post some pictures later - so I went and drove through Taco Bell. This is one of the few places we go out to eat. Sad, I know. But, I ordered their usual, a cheese roll up.  We had dinner and Andrew asked if he could have another one. Then two minutes later, Jacob asked where the rest of his dinner was. Jokingly, I asked if I needed to go back to Taco Bell. Jeremy sheepishly told me that he could eat more. So, I made a second trip. And the woman working the drive through, asked if I had been there earlier. What will it be like when they are 18, 16, 14?

I like this quote by Sister Tanner. I hope I can live up to it and shout for joy about my role as a mother instead of all the times I just shout. :)

I take great delight in my role as a nurturer, which allows me to express my deepest identity as a woman. I never fail to be struck by the way that women, young women, and even little girls seem to have an instinctive interest and ability in nurturing. It is not only a mother's primary responsibility but also part of our 'individual premortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose' ("The Family: A Proclamation to the World," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). To nurture is to teach, to foster development, to promote growth, to feed, and to nourish. Who would not shout for joy at being given such a blessed role? "The scriptures use the word nurture only twice and in both cases speak of the responsibility of parents to raise their children 'in the nurture and admonition of the Lord' (Ephesians 6:4; Enos 1:1).

Susan W. Tanner

Little Boys

On Sunday, we had a bit of a transition. Jacob is now officially a sunbeam. He is in Primary, the children's sunday school - like portion of our church. He was a little thrown off, but once they made into their classes, he had a great time. And Michael went into Nursery. He is 18 months old. I went in with him, which I will most likely do for a while. But, he had a fun time. I just can't believe it happened. I have two children in primary and one in nursery. How does this happen?
Today, four members of the Selim family left our house dressed and breakfasted at 7:38. We did it. Andrew made it to school on time and he didn't even have to run to make it in line on time. Then Jacob, Michael and I preceded to Michael's therapy and were even there before the therapist. It is a rare thing to be so ready to go in the morning. I am proud of us. Before Michael's therapy changed times, usually Andrew was the only one out of pajamas when we took him to school. So, here we go 2009 - we can do it. I can be a little more on top of things. I think. :)

Home again!

Jacob had a crazy accident in the snow and this was the result. Only pink skin remains now. :)

Making a gingerbread train

I love this picture of Eva

Lots of Texas spirit

He was so excited about his dinosaur :)

Michael and Joy

Jacob couldn't believe his luck

Our little wise men

Four babies in one year

Joy, Michael, Aurora and Victoria

We are glad to be home and for real life to resume. We got back into Tucson late Sunday night due to an extended stay of the stomach flu keeping us in Phoenix. But, we had a great Christmas break. We drove to Texas and had a wonderful Christmas with my family. I realized how much I miss Texas.  All of my family was there, except for Bob and his family. The boys loved playing with their cousins ( and their aunt and uncle :), depending on how you look at it ) and we were sad to go.  We then drove to Phoenix and spent time with the other side of the family. We had fun having sleep overs with Lynne and  Taylor and Justina's family - the boys loved sleeping in their own little tents. :) We spent a crazy day in the snow in Flagstaff and enjoyed our time at Grandma's house until we got sick.  I  feel blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives. And for our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birth gave us a reason to rejoice together.

Mama

I just found out that my Granny is on life support. She didn't want that and so sometime tomorrow when her family is gathered around her, they will take her off. Although I don't like some of the decisions my Granny made as a young woman and the effect it had on my mama's life, she was the parent and the constant in Mama's life. And I ache to think of the pain Mama is feeling now. I am sure she is remembering her right now and seeing all the good things she did for her. And it has made me remember again why mothers are so important and that no matter what, the deep love you have for them. I want to remember some of the good things my mother has done for me.
I know she loves me and thinks that I am important. And some days when I am not sure if anyone else feels the same way, I can call her and she will listen to me and lift me up.
She has always been my cheerleader. She and I started my journey as an actress together. She was the one who took me to all the classes and auditions and sets. I will always remember her confidence in me and the fun times we had together. Now when I have an audition (very rarely) I have to go by myself. :) She is a part of every one of my successes.
She taught me to be strong. She has taught by example and has turned out five strong women. She is so capable. She can do almost anything. I always had the best costumes of everyone on stage when she was the making my costumes. She makes beautiful blankets and she was telling me of the matching suits she made for Daddy and Bobby when he was little.
She holds our family together. She is the connection between all of us.
When I got married, I subconsciously tried to become her. I knew if I could do all the things she can do, I would be a good mother and wife. I love my Mama and want her to know that I think she is a wonderful woman and I am so grateful for her and that she is so many things to me. And that if she ever left this earth, I would be left with a void in my life. And so, I hope the void for her own mother won't be too painful and too hard to overcome. I love you, Mama. And I love Granny and am glad for the good changes she made in her life and that she did the best she could to make the most of a hard life. I wish her joy and peace.