Sister Haley

Ask Haley or me if we got along when we were younger, and you will most likely get laughed at. This laughter is no offense to you; it's not your fault for asking, but, if we are being honest here, our childhood relationship left something to be desired. And by something I mean hugs and kisses, sharing, general kindness and cooperation, maybe even an agreement or two thrown in there for good measure. It would be an understatement to say that we weren't the best of friends growing up.
The almost 4 year gap between us didn't bode well when it came to that typical, tempestuous sibling relationship. We were close enough in age that we were always in competition (although, looking back at it, I would have to admit that it was most likely one-sided competition on my part. Haley's generally fairly easy-going and I USED to be, generally, NOT), but far apart enough in years that there wasn't a whole lot of understanding going on behind the scenes. In fact, that past misunderstanding has most certainly left us with fingernail scratch scars on our backs and perhaps a few handfuls of missing hair to prove it. Embarrassing.
In fact, there was once a year-long battle over nothing but a white t-shirt with a sparkly 'California' decal on it. We wrestled it off of each other in a jealous, possessive, rage, on more occasions than I am willing to admit or even remember. Classy, ain't it? That T-shirt now has a permanent home in a keepsake cedar chest, because it is not only quite hilarious to reminisce about, but also represents a "coming of age" for both of us as sisters, and eventually, friends. Best friends, actually.
Ask us how our relationship is now, (what? You don't want to because you were laughed at before? Don't be scared.) and we will tell you that our battle wounds are now beauty marks. Our past arguments and word-wars (and fingernail wars) now provide our family with hours of entertaining anecdotes to be told and fights to be laughed over.
Since those "dark ages" of our relationship, we have spent hours on the phone and in person, laughing and crying with one another over many of life's triumphs and heartbreaks. When I needed someone to talk to at 3 am about a decision I was pining over, Haley was only a phone call (and an ocean, no big deal) away. When Haley needed relationship advice or was feeling lonely on her island out in the Pacific Ocean, I made it a point to answer her cries. She has held my hand and acted as the "bigger" sister as I have wept on her shoulder out of loneliness, confusion, fear, sadness, and happiness over the years. We have shared deep secrets and had hearts-to-hearts in the quiet hours of the night where hidden thoughts and feelings come out of their cobwebbed corners.
She has become a very real part of who I am, and I can only hope that the feeling is reciprocated. She has mothered my girls, and told them they are beautiful. She has calmed their cries and mended their broken hearts when no one else could. She is my sister, and the love that I have for her is really more than even the most beautiful words could ever hope to explain.
That sister, my closest friend, was dropped off at the Missionary Training Center (AKA basic training for missionaries) last Wednesday. Due to their new "drive by drop offs", we decided to forgo the trip to Provo and said our goodbyes at my parents' home last Monday night after a very tender family home evening together. I would be lying if I said it was an easy goodbye for me. Easy, I suppose, in the way that I couldn't ask for anyone to take better care of her than a Heavenly Father who always knows better than I do. But, hard in the way that it is difficult for me to imagine anyone needing her more than I need my sister. That irrational and completely incorrect, but very tangible, feeling has caught me off-guard already on more than one occasion. I keep having to remind myself that I can't keep this beautiful soul to myself. I beam with pride, however, that I have had some, albeit very small and seemingly insignificant, part in teaching her to be a "Sister."
Now that she is "Sister Pratt," I have realized that her job as a missionary will not be too far away from what my "Sister Haley" has been for me all along. A sister teaches learning from mistakes, as she has taught me to do from my own, on too many occasions to count. A sister teaches forgiveness, as she has taught me, as well as given to me, despite my cruel words or actions. A sister teaches joy and happiness in living the gospel, as she has taught me by example. A sister holds your hand, despite being younger in age and perhaps experience, as your cry because of mistakes you have made or at the beautiful cruelty of life. A sister laughs and celebrates with you as you rise triumphant over life's trials. She will be celebrating so many victories as a "Sister" to the people of the Philippines as she helps teach them repentance and forgiveness, and brings them into the fold. She magnifies the sacred calling of "Sister," and I couldn't be happier or more excited for those that they get to experience all that is 'Haley' for the next 18 months.

Who is the mother here?

Reagan is both a free spirit and a wise soul. Sometimes I look at her and I have to ask myself if, possibly, long before this life existed, she was perhaps older and wiser than me. I like to think that she took care of me, and we laughed at the idea that I was actually going to be her mother, changing her diapers, and teaching her the ABCs, and not the other way around. Although she is spunky and very, very funny, she has this sweet countenance that shines through on even her "naughtiest" days.
She loves secrets, and will whisper the most sort-of-non-sensical-but-sweetest-things-you've-ever-heard that just make my heart melt.
"Hey mommy. I need to love your heart."
"Um...probably you and me are a princess and Jesus is in the temple."
I love that, despite her lacking vocabulary, she expresses herself so well.

She has grown really close to my Grandma Pratt lately. Grandma Pratt calls herself "Grandma Great" which, logically, translated into Reagan language, is "Grandpa Grape." We were even eating grapes the other day, and she asked me if they were from Grandma Grape's house. This bond that have formed between them could not have come at a better time. I truly believe that children sense things that they couldn't have possibly known otherwise. If I was a skeptic before, Reagan has made me a believer that even the "littlest" folk have insight on many of the deepest and most serious situations that occur in life. My grandma has been having serious health issues (she is doing a lot better now, thank goodness), and literally the week that we found out about them all, Reagan started explaining to me, in her words, what was wrong with Grandma Grape. She got an old doll out of my cedar chest that my grandma made for me years and years ago and has been sleeping with it since. She won't let go of it. She has asked to go visit Grandma Grape every single day, and the last time we did (right after she had surgery), Reagan just wanted to lay next to her in bed and hold her hand. It is a beautiful thing when souls connect beyond just our day-to-day earthly relationships, and I feel priveleged to get to watch it happen between these two.

I had to share these pictures that Reagan drew. She drew them in the bath, so, sadly, I will not get to tuck them away into her baby book. I thought I would take pictures before I washed them off of the tub walls. However, I just can't get myself to do it yet. So precious. I am so excited for her that she is starting to be able to really draw faces and people, with eyes, noses, mouths, hair, arms, legs, and yes, even bums...all of the important body parts. =)
The whole masterpiece:

"Mommy" (with all of her body parts)...see the cute arms and legs?

The bigger one is Reagan, and the little one is Sissy. Notice her little arm reaching out to hug Reagan? How cute is that? It's even cuter when you're having it explained to you. =)

I got punk'd

Someone played a mean trick on me today. The alarm on my phone went off, as it does every morning, and I hit snooze, as I do every morning. But, before I could fall back into that uncomfortable, in-and-out of consciousness, knowing that I have to get up any minute now anyway because my kids will need me, sleep....the date caught my attention. September 27th...the 27th...Sissy was born on March 27th. That means sissy is...gasp...6 months old?! This isn't happening to me!
My NEWBORN all of the sudden turned 6 months old. In the blink of an eye. I should have known better; all of the signs were there. She is a rolling, scooting, sitting pro. She gobbles up her baby food and growls for more. She coos, she squeals, she laughs at everything her big sister does...and yet, I could have sworn she was only a few weeks old. Like I said, someone must have played a mean trick on me. Oh well, she is pretty dang cute no matter how old she may or may not be.
Tonight, right before her bedtime, we were doing our nurse-burp-cuddle routine. Jason hadn't yet left for work, and was sitting next to us. Sissy's eyes were getting heavy, and she had finally succumbed to resting her little (big) head on my chest. Just as she was millimeters away from drifting off to dreamland, she suddenly lifted her head and gave Jason the HUGEST grin I have possibly ever seen on a small (big) baby. With a smile on his own face, Jason said, "That face just made my life."

That statement, right there, pretty much sums up her role in our family. She is the most joyful baby. Her smile is like a big, warm, cuddly, blanket. No matter what kind of day you are having, the minute she sneaks you that enormous Joker-esque (except it's on a baby so it's cute and not at all scary, except when she paints her mouth red and says "let's put a smile on that face"...) smile, it just makes your hour, your day, your life, whatever...she is precious and jolly and makes us feel warm and fuzzy all over. We love her.

...and yes, those thighs are for real.

Back in Business

10 minutes ago, my plan was to curl up in bed and take a nice long nap while the girls did, but my sweet Ember had other plans. Both of my girls have been swaddle babies from day one, but she is growing out of even our biggest stretchy muslin swaddle blankets. Don't get me wrong, I am a swaddle pro. I wrap those babies up like burritos...no, even tighter than burritos...taquitos? Anyways, when she is tired and wrapped up tight, she sleeps great for naps and bedtime. When she is in a feisty break-out-of-my-swaddle mood, decent naps are a no-go. Which is okay. She slept her best night so far in her 4 months of life last night, so I should be adequately rested.
I decided it was a good day to update the old snoop bloggy blog. (Do I sound hip when I say that?) It has been nagging at my mind lately, but sometimes I find blogging daunting. Which is funny...because it's blogging for goodness sakes. It is supposed to be enjoyable, and I truly enjoy writing down the funny and sweet things that happen in my day-to-day life, but when I go this long without blogging, I feel like one blog post can't do our recent happenings justice. There are only a few who follow our blog that would like to be kept in the know about things we have recently been doing, so it shouldn't be too big of a deal, but brevity never really was a strength of mine...obvious no? 2 paragraphs already and nothing actually said. Stay with me here! I'll do my best to fill those of you who care in on what we've been up to this summer.
At the beginning of June, my beautiful, sweet, smart Reagan turned 2. I didn't have as much of a mid-life (hopefully not really mid-life) crisis as I did when she turned one, but birthdays are always a little bittersweet for me. There is nothing "baby" left about her. I still call her my baby, and she still asks to be "wrappied up" sometimes...see? I am a swaddle pro. But she is definitely one of the big girls now. She talks and talks and talks like it's going out of style. Some of the things that she says are absolutely hilarious, and sometimes they are rather embarrassing, especially when we're in public. I have had her say "Whoa, biiiig" out loud when we were standing in line at the supermarket behind a "Whoa Big" person. The other day we were playing in an arcade at a restaurant when a family speaking French walks in to let their kids play. The minute Reagan hears how they talk and that it is different than the way we talk, she starts yelling "Blah blah blah blah, kids! Blah blah blah. Kids are silly!" Because she thought they were just speaking nonsense. It's hard not to laugh when these things happen, because she is very observant. She is entering a very curious stage and is always asking me, "What's that? What does that mean? Who's that?" to questions that I sometimes can't even answer. Like yesterday, I mentioned to Jason that something made me nervous. She overheard and asked, "What's nervous, mom? Why mommy nervous?" Try explaining "nervous" to a 2 year old. All morning today, she was saying "You're makin' me nervous" in a funny voice. She has me rolling in laughter with the things she says sometimes. Because she is so observant, we really have to be careful about the things we say. Did you know that some words in the English language really sound like cuss words when one letter is left out? And did you know that 2 year olds frequently leave one one letter when they're saying them? Catch my drift?
Besides the hilarity that is Reagan Penelope, she has a very sweet and sensitive side as well. She rarely complains or throws tantrums, and when she does, she looks at you with these eyes that seem to look into your soul, trying to understand why you might be telling her "no." She and Jason continue to be best friends, and I love watching them play and talk. Jason always mentions that he hopes she will always cuddle with him and caress his face and give him kisses. For both of their sakes, I hope she does too. She is a doll and so much fun, and she continues to teach me more than I could ever teach her.
Jason also recently had a birthday. I won't mention how old he turned, in case he is embarrassed, but he shouldn't be embarrassed because he is still really young and really cute and has a lot of life left in him! (That sounds like I am describing a car). We had a great day, complete with a barbecue in honor of him, where he got his very own gas grill. If he wasn't officially a man before, he is now. Jason has been busy this summer with his internship at Comcast Arena, helping out in the marketing department. He was lucky enough to catch his very own "Bieber Fever" when he attended his first...and probably (hopefully?) last Justin Bieber concert. And by attended I mean work alongside the Bieb Man himself, back stage. No, not back up dancing, although I'm sure he'd be happy to do that too, but organizing the sound check and meet&greet. That's right, folks, we've got a real VIP on our hands now. Last weekend he also helped out at the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA for all you hard core fans) show, and could be spotted on showtime if you looked closely. I am very proud of him, and am excited for him that he is finally making a name for himself doing what he is good at. He works hard, and I am grateful for that.
Shortly before Jason's birthday, his parents came to visit us for Ember's baby blessing. We were so lucky to have them to ourselves for a week, and we all had so much fun. Reagan especially enjoyed her time with "Grandma GG and Papa Kent" and loved all of the attention she got. She loves her some attention! We were able to relax and watch movies, eat good food, get very spoiled, and visit our neighbors up North in Canada to see the new Vancouver temple and explore the city. Ember's blessing day was so special. We blessed her in my parents home, and we had lots of family and friends present. It was such a personal and intimate experience having it at home, and will be a day I always remember.
Speaking of Ember, or "Sissy Goo" as she is still known in our house (Jason almost called her Sissy Goo when he did the baby blessing), she is exactly 4 months old today and is such a source of sunshine and joy in our home. She is absolutely adorable and sweet and rolly-polly and I couldn't ask for a better baby. She is so relaxed and easy going, and I honestly don't know how or why I got so lucky. She allows me a full night's rest at night, eats great, and is always just smiling from ear to ear about who knows what. Something must be going right in her life. She is a very quiet and soft spoken baby for the most part, but as soon as her older sister goes to bed, she giggles and coos and tells me all that she has been waiting to tell me all day. She must like her one-on-one time. She loves Reagan, and watches her antics all day long with wonder in her eyes. She is a trooper too, because Reagan loves her a little "hard" sometimes, and all she does is scrunch up her nose and tense up her shoulders when she knows Reagan is about to smother her with love and kisses, all while keeping that infamous grin on her face. Like Reagan did as a baby, she looks so much like Jason, but we think she may have my eyes...and my rolls and double chin, but don't tell me you noticed that even if you did. =) I celebrated her 4 month birthday with her last night, just the two of us, and gave her a tiny taste of rice cereal, which, as I accurately predicted, she hated. I gave Reagan a taste of it hen she turned 4 months as well, and she equally gagged and pushed it out of her mouth. Just a tradition I guess. I know Ember doesn't need it, but it was fun to try anyways. We will wait 2 or 3 more months before trying it again.
Jason and I just celebrated 4 years of marriage last month. It has been the best 4 years of my life and I love who I am becoming and who we are becoming together. I truly feel lucky to have found him. We didn't get to do anything too outlandish because he was working, but he did give me tickets to go see good old Jack Johnson in concert at the Gorge in October. We are beyond excited for that. I have seen Jack (yeah, we're on a first name basis, don't be jealous!) in concert twice before and it's always guaranteed to be a good show. We are going with my sister, who, by the way, will be leaving on her mission for our church just a few weeks later.
Speaking of Haley, she will be going to the Naga Phillipines Mission and I couldn't be more excited, proud, (jealous...in a healthy, sisterly way), and nervous for her. So many emotions. I will really miss her so much. I don't know how I will handle not seeing her for 18 months, but I know what she is doing is so important and I love the gospel she will be teaching to the Naga people, so I guess I am going to have to be okay with it, huh? I love her. She is an inspiration to me.
And...the current. We just got back from a lovely and much needed trip up to the beautiful Mt. Baker wilderness with my family for the very first Annual Pratt-Wilson Family Reunion. It is fun for me to look forward to the future when all of my siblings will be married with kids as well, and we can all get together just like we did this weekend. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We stayed in an amazing cabin and just spent time together. There was no cell service or internet, so we really were roughin' it (kidding). In all honesty, it was so nice to just get to sit and talk and listen to each other, without any outside distractions. I could really get used to that. We hiked, swam, played games, ate, fished, played tennis, and just soaked in the gorgeous scenery. I felt like I was on the set of the movie "Heidi" or something. There is really nothing like it. We live, in my opinion, in the most beautiful place in the world.

The Many Faces of Sissy Goo