a first time for everything.

One of the true perks of parenthood is a hypersensitive appreciation for "firsts". It doesn't matter how many people have peed in a potty, drawn a stick figure, sat upright on their own, or slept through the night; when your kid does it for the first time, it is monumental.

This can also be said for us and life with the duo. Things with two babies instead of one are exponentially trickier, and every time I accomplish a "normal" task for the first time, I feel incredibly accomplished, like a door that was closed to me was opened up again.

On one of Chris's later days this week, I took the kids to the library in the late afternoon. Anything to pass the time. On the way home there was a wreck, so I had to reroute and ended up driving through the Bob Evans parking lot. "Are we going to a restaurant?!" Carly asked, her eyes wide and excited. A quick phone call to Chris, and we were, indeed, going to a restaurant. For the first time ever, the C Family of 5 went out to dinner. The host was kind enough to seat us in a back corner with no one around us, and we only spilled 1 glass of water and handled a little bit of screaming. But considering how it could have gone, it was a huge success. Carly dominated her pancakes and John ate half of Chris's (whole wheat, no syrup, don't you worry). And the best part? No dishes to wash when we got home.

Another big first for me? I did a big grocery shopping trip with all three amigos. Chris usually does the grocery shopping early Saturday mornings, and if I end up going with the kids during the week, it is in and out as fast as possible, grabbing milk and formula at warp speed. Well, poor Chris is a bit busy these days, and our fridge was downright barren. So I strapped John to my chest, locked Quinn in the child seat, and put Rapunzel to work (I wasn't going to fight her on that . . . ). We were there for almost two hours. And it worked. I looked insane, and got all sorts of sideways glances and "You've got your hands full"s, but it worked. I was walking out of the store with a full cart and three still-happy kids and I felt pretty good about myself, even if I was flushed and sweating and my back was snapped in half because John weighs 80 lbs. Then I remembered I forgot mayo. And cream cheese. What can you do?

And on General Conference Saturday, the kids had their first bath all together. We have been splitting the labor, I bathe the babies and Chris does Carly, but I had to do it on my own with Priesthood session. Now we do it every night, and that means they all get pjs at the same time and enables us to read scriptures, say prayers, and read some bedtime stories all as a family. It has been nice for the most part, thought there are many nights when 1 or 2 (or 3) of them are throwing a fit and it makes scriptures interesting. I just have to remind myself of the David A Bednar talk where he said sometimes all the matters is that you do it.

Another first that took place during General Conference . . . . Carly's first real drawing of a person. Her drawings usually come out pretty abstract, but she said she wanted to draw President Monson, and she sure did! She even added a striped tie for good measure.

And last of all?

Miss Carly made her first visit to the dentist's chair. I have to admit, this one got me a little emotional. Going to the dentist is such a big kid thing to do. We talked it up for quite a while before she went, and when we got there she did so good to be calm and happy and keep her mouth open wide. She really was excellent. When she was done and got her baggy with toothpaste and toothbrush, she said "Thank you, dentist!" The dentist did suggest that the sooner she stops sucking her thumb the better (she only does at night and when she's nervous, now). It is going to be a hard habit to break, but I think it helps that the directive came from a professional because I tell her "Remember, the dentist said not to suck your finger!" I'll have to come up with some sort of reward, but as we learned with potty training, rewards only go so far with this girl.