Renae and Zachery tagged us for this questionnaire. It's really only supposed to be Naomi, but how could I do that?
1. What is something mom always says to you?
Naomi: It's not a big deal.
Olivia: We're in a war on crying.
2. What makes mom happy?
Naomi: Clear my plate and put it in the washing machine.
Olivia: When I do laundry for her.
3. What makes mom sad?
Naomi: When you don't get something, but I still love you.
Olivia: I don't know-ow-ow-ow.
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Naomi: Say crazy stuff.
Olivia: It's too hard.
5. What was your mom like as a child?
Naomi: Three.
Olivia: Like Mimi.
6. How old is your mom?
Naomi: Six.
Olivia: Seven.
7. How tall is your mom?
Naomi: Big, like this tall. (Arms stretched high.)
Olivia: WAY tall.
8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Naomi: Do the laundry.
Olivia: Go to the park.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Naomi: Just be so sad.
Olivia: Yes, definitely be sad.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Naomi: For cooking. (I have a contract in the works with Food Network right now.)
Olivia: For doing the laundry. (Has anyone ever gotten famous for doing laundry?)
11. What is your mom really good at?
Naomi: Tickling my leg.
Olivia: Make the good brownies.
12. What is your mom not very good at?
Naomi: Not very good at computers.
Olivia: Jumping on the tramp.
13. What does your mom do for her job?
Naomi: Shut off the computer.
Olivia: Clean up toys and stuff.
14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Naomi: Eggplant. We don't like that.
Olivia: Salad.
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Naomi: When she gets hot dogs.
Olivia: When she cleans up my room.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Naomi: Princess Enchanted.
Olivia: Giselle.
17. What do you and your mom do together?
Naomi: Go to a hotel.
Olivia: Clean up our rooms.
18. How are you and your mom the same?
Naomi: We have the same green eyes and nose.
Olivia: Brown hair, but I have brown eyes.
19. How are you and your mom different?
Naomi: Different eyes and different ears and different elbows.
Olivia: My nose is small and your nose is big. And your belly has a baby and mine doesn't.
20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Naomi: Hug.
Olivia: You clean up my room.
Apparently, Olivia has a clean room obsession. And I have a big nose.
***EDITED TO ADD*** I always forget to tag other people. I guess that shows my general self-centeredness. We tag Meg and Mia DeWaal, Avry and Austin Judi, Simon Born, and Libby and Jenna Soelberg.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Camping in Monticello
This is not the normal Wells family kind of camping (they are really more sleeping- bag- on- the- rocky- ground- but- it- feels- good- because- you- hiked- thirty- thousand- miles- that- day- kind- of- people), but I think that John, Larry, and Karen put away their contempt for us wimps in order to make everyone happy. (And also, I did that kind of camping when I was 3 months pregnant with Mimi and made a sacred vow I would never camp pregnant again. This was the compromise.) The girls were delighted with this tent trailer. They couldn't believe it was a "house" until it was all "pumped up." Then they spent the rest of day in-and-out, out-and-in, back and forth, exclaiming over every discovery. "Olivia, this house has a table." Mimi, this house has THREE BEDS!"
As you can see, I was fairly spry to start off. However, after a walk up the trail, I started in on my eye-swelling, nose-running, sneezing-fit-to-pee-my-pants, seasonal allergies. I wanted Claritin or Allegra, but I have only had Benadryl cleared by my OB, and luckily, ever-prepared Larry had a supply in his first-aid kit. (Which he never travels without.) (Really, my only surprise was that he didn't have it in the pocket of his overstuffed cargo pants. I thought he carried everything in those pockets.)
So, this is how I spent the rest of the afternoon. (I'm lying on a sleeping bag stuffed in its sack, so it looks uncomfortable, but it was lovely. Not that I would have noticed anyway.) And evening. John got me down the trail and into the car because the girls wanted to go see the lakes. I made it that far, but then. . .
. . . I fell asleep again. The girls got to throw rocks into Monticello Lake and Foy Lake for an hour EACH, and I slept. We went to the overlook, where they played for an hour, and I slept. They hiked with Grandma, and I slept some more. It was really ridiculous. I woke up when it was time to roast hot dogs and go to bed. I still slept that night. It's like looking at someone else's vacation pictures to see this.
The girls got as absolutely filthy as anyone could have expected. This picture does not do Mimi's face justice. She was completely covered in Blue Mountain black dirt. Compounded with burnt hot dog, this was quite a sight. I wish it showed on the camera.
It really was wonderful. (The part I remember.) I love Blue Mountain--the smell, the aspens, the pines, even the scrub oak. The irises were blooming, and it was incredibly green from all the snow they got this winter.
As you can see, I was fairly spry to start off. However, after a walk up the trail, I started in on my eye-swelling, nose-running, sneezing-fit-to-pee-my-pants, seasonal allergies. I wanted Claritin or Allegra, but I have only had Benadryl cleared by my OB, and luckily, ever-prepared Larry had a supply in his first-aid kit. (Which he never travels without.) (Really, my only surprise was that he didn't have it in the pocket of his overstuffed cargo pants. I thought he carried everything in those pockets.)
So, this is how I spent the rest of the afternoon. (I'm lying on a sleeping bag stuffed in its sack, so it looks uncomfortable, but it was lovely. Not that I would have noticed anyway.) And evening. John got me down the trail and into the car because the girls wanted to go see the lakes. I made it that far, but then. . .
. . . I fell asleep again. The girls got to throw rocks into Monticello Lake and Foy Lake for an hour EACH, and I slept. We went to the overlook, where they played for an hour, and I slept. They hiked with Grandma, and I slept some more. It was really ridiculous. I woke up when it was time to roast hot dogs and go to bed. I still slept that night. It's like looking at someone else's vacation pictures to see this.
The girls got as absolutely filthy as anyone could have expected. This picture does not do Mimi's face justice. She was completely covered in Blue Mountain black dirt. Compounded with burnt hot dog, this was quite a sight. I wish it showed on the camera.
It really was wonderful. (The part I remember.) I love Blue Mountain--the smell, the aspens, the pines, even the scrub oak. The irises were blooming, and it was incredibly green from all the snow they got this winter. Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Utah Fun
Utah, as always, was lovely. We stayed for the first couple days with John's brother, Chris, his wife, Krista, and their two lovely children. Gabey (or Baby Gabey, as we continue to call him) was willing to acknowledge Olivia as top dog during her stay, but considering Mimi has only an inch on him, and he's got a couple pounds on her, they had a few power struggles. 
He is cute, and his little sister Eve is also darling, although she missed out on this particular photo shoot.
Once we made it to Grandma's house, there were these adorable kittens to play with. The girls tell me that the "white and brown one is nice, but the black one gets scared and grumpy and scratches us."
That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Mimi would pick it up by the part that was closest: tail, head, paws, whatever. Of course not.
We were also delighted to get to spend some time with Aunt Rebekah (or "Auntie Boo", do you think she gets tired of that name?). She came out for John's graduation, and we spent a lovely evening with her watching Planet Earth. Now that is a cool miniseries. Especially, as Chris frequently reminded us, in HD.
Tomorrow, some pictures of us camping. They will be as new to me as to you because, although I was there, I was afflicted by seasonal allergies and the one medicine allowed to us preggos: Benadryl. Definitely a cause of amnesia.
He is cute, and his little sister Eve is also darling, although she missed out on this particular photo shoot. 
Once we made it to Grandma's house, there were these adorable kittens to play with. The girls tell me that the "white and brown one is nice, but the black one gets scared and grumpy and scratches us." 
That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that Mimi would pick it up by the part that was closest: tail, head, paws, whatever. Of course not.
We were also delighted to get to spend some time with Aunt Rebekah (or "Auntie Boo", do you think she gets tired of that name?). She came out for John's graduation, and we spent a lovely evening with her watching Planet Earth. Now that is a cool miniseries. Especially, as Chris frequently reminded us, in HD.
Tomorrow, some pictures of us camping. They will be as new to me as to you because, although I was there, I was afflicted by seasonal allergies and the one medicine allowed to us preggos: Benadryl. Definitely a cause of amnesia.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
We're Back
. . . and we didn't blog at all while in Utah. However, I think we've figured out the internet situation here, and so I'm going to catch the blog up.
Item #1:
JOHN GRADUATED!! He now has those official magical letters after his name. John Spencer Wells, M.D. Isn't it lovely? For all you still-medical student families out there, I'm here to tell you that it actually ends at some point. And then you look back, and it went so fast. (I won't say that it feels fast, especially during the manic-studying stage for the USMLE tests, and the crazy, crazy hours of the medicine and surgery rotations, but I will say that IT ENDS.)
Here is John with Dr. Gold (in red--the Dean) and Dr. Paat (the professor that organizes the medical missions John has done every year). We don't want to talk about how much that little blue envelope in his hands cost.
And here we are. The triumphant couple. I, of course, forgot that I was holding my purse and that I had put my hair up in a pen bun because of the incredible heat, and so the picture includes both. Darn it.
John with his proud parents. We had my parents, my brother Dallin, John's parents, his brother, his sister, and our friends, the Soelbergs. (Sara, I don't have a picture of Dallin. Not one. Can you believe it? After all the work he put in tending the children? What a bad sister I am.)
John with his girls. Mimi tells everyone who crosses her path that her dad is now a "real doctor." Really, considering the 2-1/2 hour length of the ceremony, the girls were delightful. I was very impressed. I was impressed that I was able to sit still for that long.
So, congratulations to the love of my life! We are halfway done--finished at least with the unpaid half. It can only get better from here.
Item #1:
JOHN GRADUATED!! He now has those official magical letters after his name. John Spencer Wells, M.D. Isn't it lovely? For all you still-medical student families out there, I'm here to tell you that it actually ends at some point. And then you look back, and it went so fast. (I won't say that it feels fast, especially during the manic-studying stage for the USMLE tests, and the crazy, crazy hours of the medicine and surgery rotations, but I will say that IT ENDS.)
Here is John with Dr. Gold (in red--the Dean) and Dr. Paat (the professor that organizes the medical missions John has done every year). We don't want to talk about how much that little blue envelope in his hands cost.
And here we are. The triumphant couple. I, of course, forgot that I was holding my purse and that I had put my hair up in a pen bun because of the incredible heat, and so the picture includes both. Darn it.
John with his proud parents. We had my parents, my brother Dallin, John's parents, his brother, his sister, and our friends, the Soelbergs. (Sara, I don't have a picture of Dallin. Not one. Can you believe it? After all the work he put in tending the children? What a bad sister I am.)
John with his girls. Mimi tells everyone who crosses her path that her dad is now a "real doctor." Really, considering the 2-1/2 hour length of the ceremony, the girls were delightful. I was very impressed. I was impressed that I was able to sit still for that long. 
So, congratulations to the love of my life! We are halfway done--finished at least with the unpaid half. It can only get better from here.Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Words from the Dust
Hello, everyone! Did I say that dial-up makes blogging "more time-consuming"? I should have said "makes blogging well nigh impossible, especially when combined with painting my new house, mowing my lawn, raking all the winter leaves out of the flower beds, and growing an entire human inside my uterus." Whew! The pictures are, for the moment, impossible. But I have them, and will post them. It looks as though we have some options for internet again.
I leave for Toledo tomorrow, where we will celebrate John's graduation from the fantastic University of Toledo College of Medicine with friends and family. On Saturday, we fly to Utah for one last hurrah before internship year starts with a bang on June 20th. (Or maybe just starts with a whimper, since orientation can't really be that much of a bang now, can it?)
I have two fantastic neighbors here. Our neighbors to the left are recently from China, so communication has been limited. He is a physics researcher here at Notre Dame, and I wish I could pronounce his name. They have two little girls: a baby and a six-year old, Simone. Simone has already been warped by her interaction with the Wells family. She now knows the words "booger" and "bum," and I think her mom is horrified. Sorry, Guang! (If that's how you say it.)
Our neighbor to the right own a restaurant "in the hood" (as we were told), and Bill took great morbid pleasure in telling us that they had recently lost two regular customers. One because he was shot to death, and the other because he had shot the first and had to be put in jail. He then reassured me that our neighborhood is much quieter than where his restaurant is located.
We let our lawn grow until the girls harvested the first crop of wheat in the front yard, and then we decided the task couldn't be put off any longer and mowed it down. I had forgotten how much I like mowing lawns, especially when I don't own a trimmer and therefore cannot be expected to edge around anything. Very nice. John said it made him feel like a schmo to sit on the porch eating lunch while his very obviously pregnant wife was mowing the lawn, but I was hard-pressed to give up the lawn mower. Thinking back, I probably should have let him have all the joy and glory of the first mow, considering that I will probably be doing most of the mowing for the rest of my life. Or at least the next three years. Yeah. . . that was dumb. (But I still loved it.)
Well, I've been lucky to now and haven't been disconnected from the dial-up, but I don't really want to push my luck. I know I have high-speed internet in Monticello. You might have to wait for any pictures until then.
I leave for Toledo tomorrow, where we will celebrate John's graduation from the fantastic University of Toledo College of Medicine with friends and family. On Saturday, we fly to Utah for one last hurrah before internship year starts with a bang on June 20th. (Or maybe just starts with a whimper, since orientation can't really be that much of a bang now, can it?)
I have two fantastic neighbors here. Our neighbors to the left are recently from China, so communication has been limited. He is a physics researcher here at Notre Dame, and I wish I could pronounce his name. They have two little girls: a baby and a six-year old, Simone. Simone has already been warped by her interaction with the Wells family. She now knows the words "booger" and "bum," and I think her mom is horrified. Sorry, Guang! (If that's how you say it.)
Our neighbor to the right own a restaurant "in the hood" (as we were told), and Bill took great morbid pleasure in telling us that they had recently lost two regular customers. One because he was shot to death, and the other because he had shot the first and had to be put in jail. He then reassured me that our neighborhood is much quieter than where his restaurant is located.
We let our lawn grow until the girls harvested the first crop of wheat in the front yard, and then we decided the task couldn't be put off any longer and mowed it down. I had forgotten how much I like mowing lawns, especially when I don't own a trimmer and therefore cannot be expected to edge around anything. Very nice. John said it made him feel like a schmo to sit on the porch eating lunch while his very obviously pregnant wife was mowing the lawn, but I was hard-pressed to give up the lawn mower. Thinking back, I probably should have let him have all the joy and glory of the first mow, considering that I will probably be doing most of the mowing for the rest of my life. Or at least the next three years. Yeah. . . that was dumb. (But I still loved it.)
Well, I've been lucky to now and haven't been disconnected from the dial-up, but I don't really want to push my luck. I know I have high-speed internet in Monticello. You might have to wait for any pictures until then.
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