Cookies and Such

I've had so many things I've wanted to write swirling through my head these last couple days and now that I finally have a minute, I can't think of any of them. Perhaps it will come back to me as I write. Here's some pictures in the meantime.

Ana was quite happy making and decorating cookies this past week, which is good because the break from school seemed to drag on an awfully long time to me and I wasn't nearly as patient as I might have been. Luckily she started back to school today. In the last picture Ana had stuffed socks down Elena's shirt and took the picture. I think it was on the wrong camera setting, but it was the only new picture of Elena. She's not been doing well lately. Her two top molars and a third tooth on the bottom are all coming in and she's been whiny, feverish and having diarrhea. I can't wait for them to come through.

Ah, I remembered one thing I wanted to write. I'm pregnant. (Yes Hanah, you guessed correctly!) I didn't want to come out and say it before because my in-laws are coming this weekend and I wanted to surprise them, but Ana didn't know it was meant to be a surprise and so. . . it's not. Leo had the brilliant suggestion to name our baby Juan Wayne Latorre, if it's a boy. Hee. Hee. What a goof. Actually, we pretty much have the names picked out. (Of course, Elena was never on our list.) If a girl, we're thinking Sofia or Isabel, and if a boy Nicolas or Sebastian. Ana's very disappointed, she wanted either Ashley or Mike. Hmmm. . . that's never going to happen. Poor Ana. Guess she'll have to keep those names for her own kids. Oh, but hey, we're stuck on middle names for the girls, any suggestions?? With the boys, it would be Nicolas Orlando and Sebastian Jack, after our dads. I say Isabel Mercedes or Isabel Grace but Leo doesn't like those. With Sofia it was supposed to be Ana Sofia but that's out now. :) Inspiration on my part, I tell Leo, since Elena was supposed to be Ana Sofia and then we'd have had two Ana's.

Anyway, life is good. I haven't had morning sickness nearly as much as my last pregnancy (knock on wood), I've only thrown up a handful of times. My last pregnancy I spent 5 1/2 months bent over the toilet and was at my lowest weight since junior high. Morning sickness was a misnomer, it was constant sickness. I think part of the reason (or all of the reason) I'm not so bad this time is that I'm not working night shift anymore. Night shift just messes with your body. Uggh. The doctor's office I'm going to was great anyway, they sent me home with a list of things to try for morning sickness and told me if that didn't work to come back for an anti-nausea prescription. Yahoo!

Also good about pregnancy, I was completely motivated to exercise all of my last pregnancy and feel the same this time. Normally, I could care less besides a niggling little worry in the back of my mind that I'm going to be decrepit in my old age. On that topic, I remembered something else I wanted to write about. The last Sunday of December our Bishop spoke at the combined meeting. It was a pretty impressive talk. I think this is the only ward I've ever lived in where the general consensus of the ward members is that the Bishop ought to be translated. Okay, maybe that's a stretch, but he is very intelligent and it shows. (Not that translation is based on intelligence--but you get what I mean right?) Anyway, he's a "social scientist" as he put it to Leo and me when he met with us when we moved in and answered his survey. Literally, it felt more like we were being studied. Hee. Hee. He's a psychologist and teaches at Northwestern, as well as doing statistical analysis of behavioral data of some sorts. Rumor has it he keeps up on Mormon social behavioral studies and has published "scholarly" papers on the scriptures as well. Of course this is all just rumor, and I'm guess I'm gossiping in passing it along, but really, my intent is just to give you a picture of our bishop. I have a friend in the ward that she says she feels like she's being analyzed every time she's around him too--so it's not just me. Anyway, he's really nice and so is his wife and I've had their daughter babysit a couple times. But back to the point of all this, his talk.

He started out with D&C 131:7-8 7,

7.There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;

8 We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified we shall see that it is all matter.

And then progressed about how even though we talk of our spirits vs physical bodies, that really are bodies are spiritual too (as per the above scripture) and hence needing attention. He also gave the example that we would not be as receptive to serve or as alert to feel promptings of the Spirti if we are physically tired. He gave a 4 pg. handout (on our physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental selves) and only spoke about the information on 1/2 the first page. It was a good lead into New Year's resolutions. I just loved how everything he talked about (this was on the physical dimension) he backed up with solid scientific facts that explained how the body works and why it's important to do that, hence "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" translated into how our blood glucose levels drop at night and we need fuel to get body functioning again; and how never to exercise until you've eaten because otherwise you're body burns muscle (not the stored fat) so it's completely counterproductive, etc. Very informative altogether. And it was very pragmatic as well allowing for some wiggle room, according to him, most people will be alright if they eat healthy 80% of the time, giving 20% for the occasional splurges on cheesecake or what not.

Not that cheesecake matters to me right now (it's too rich for me at the best of times except for a couple of bites); I have hardly touched all those chocolates I made before Christmas. I might not be throwing up every other hour, but still nothing looks appealing to me, even chocolate. Ahh, pregnancy, what it does to us poor women.