When I Look Back on the Day. . . .

. .. .and realize I could've exploded or gotten frustrated a million times. .. .

but I didn't!

#mommywin

Today was a looong day. We left the house at 9am to head to Blanding.

Instead of getting frustrated in the one-way traffic by Halchita. . .. we listened to Under the Sea a million times (which is a pretty clever song, actually). Even though we were almost 15 minutes late to Sam's doctor's appointment. . ..they let us in anyway because they knew we traveled so far to come.

The doctor was super friendly and nice, and the nurses and reception ladies were really nice in trying to help entertain the girls and calm down Sam when he had a melt-down. One of them brought out bubbles and crayons for the girls to play with (so they wouldn't play with the stirrups on the check-up table .. .haha), and another lady rocked Sam while I changed the girls' poopy diapers. Another one helped me carry my stuff back to the exam room. I nursed in peace. An older lady came in to pick up some paperwork and offered some garden produce to anybody who wanted it. We went home with a bag of the most delicious tomatoes!

Then we went to the convenience store/bowling alley and had some pizza for lunch. Easy and simple.  .. .except when we're trying to leave and I'm literally chasing the girls around the aisles. Instead of getting frustrated, I pretty much just laughed. Especially when Lucy grabbed a bag of marshmallows and tried to eat one through the bag.

Then we went to the library. Luckily, their shelving system is pretty easy, because my kids pull off a million books at a time. A nice librarian named Nicole helped Laura find the one and only Sofia book on the shelves. That is L's new prized book for the next few days. A few tidied messes and changed diapers later, we went to the store.

Guys, shopping with three kids .. . .that's all I'm going to say.
But, I'm also going to congratulate myself in the fact that the only things that ended up in the cart that I didn't really need (aka, Laura sneaked them in the cart) were chocolate chips and poptarts. She was actually quite helpful in pulling things off of the lower shelves when I couldn't reach them (I was wearing Sam in the carrier). We only had one tiny accident when she got over-excited and plopped a carton of eggs in the cart. Luckily only one broke open, and it fell on the floor instead of in the cart. The nice worker who cleaned it up was also the same guy who helped us load the car (seriously, I LOVE that service! Every store should do that.). Oh! I'm also remembering that one of the workers asked if all these kids were mine, and I said, "Yup!! These are all my beautiful munchkins!" It reminded me of a story I read in a Conference talk this morning about standing up for womanhood and motherhood (here).

Then I left the car running while I stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. I was in there longer than I'd hoped, but all three kids were asleep by the time I got back to the car. And they all pretty much stayed that way on the drive home. [cue: another dozen listenings of Under the Sea]

We got home just in time to toss the pizzas in the oven for the missionaries for dinner.

Later, Jacob and I did Jillian--level 2 kills, I tell you. It was rough.

Is it okay to feel proud about how you remained calm and non-reactive during the day? Because today would be the day to feel that. =)

Good Things

Short and sweet today, folks.

1) I've been more diligent at working out the last few days. I do Jillian Michael's 30-Day Shred Workout DVD. It's only 20 minutes, which is about the time I can (safely) ignore pressing needs of my children. ;) But, usually the girls watch it with me. LSr just likes to watch anything on a screen, and LJr sometimes tries to get on the floor and do things with me. My hand weights are two giant containers of applesauce. The girls get canned food for their weights.

2)LSr is pretty good at recognizing letters and letter sounds, so I'm trying to do some more math-related (i.e. counting) activities with her. I found an awesome website here for anyone who needs ideas. LSr often skips 14 and 15, and LJr likes to start on 3 and count in order until she gets to 8. Then she just repeats 7-8-7-8-7-8. Although, with prompting, she can get to 12. Mostly because she is a little parrot and repeats everything.

3)And in the #mommyfail department today .. ..pulling out leftover popcorn for a snack .. ..after vacuuming the house. But the girls are having a blast playing in it. Call it sensory play, I guess. ;)

Now I hear some suspicious sounds from the girls playing in the bathroom.

Over and out.

ScreenFree Week 2016 (Aug 22-Aug 28)

I Hope You Like Reading . . .

 .. Because our internet is so slow, uploading pictures to the blog is like a day-long ordeal. And it’s already been (quite) a day, so you get to read instead.

I read an article once a year or two ago about a family that had an annual ScreenFree week in their home. They put away tablets, computers, TVs, SmartPhones, etc and focused on spending more time with each other. For some reason that idea stuck with me, so Jacob and I decided to try it out with our family.

Compared to other homes, I’m sure our screen time is limited. We don’t own a TV. The only computer we own is a desktop (actually, neither one of us have ever owned a laptop. . . .how about that?!). Our phones are basic talk-and-text phones. We have one tablet that we got for free and kind of by accident. In regards to social media, we don’t have Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr accounts. We’re not much into news channels or Pinterest (I use that for the occasional Christmas gift and/or recipe ideas), and our YouTube use is to listen to certain songs that we don’t own. (And Studio C sketches.) And actually, our computer pretty much is our main method of listening to music now that I think about it . . .

Buuut . .. I’m sure I’m not the only one gets sucked into the computer. What is it about Facebook in particular that just sucks time and energy away from you? You scroll and scroll the newsfeed and maybe once in a while you actually look up or message something semi-important. My well-deserved mom-guilt kicks in when I realize I’ve been sitting at the computer for too long and (shall I say) ignoring my kids. Granted, maybe I was doing something worthwhile. . .checking my bank account, writing a weekly email to my family, looking for some home-schooling ideas, finding new recipes, etc. But also a good percentage of that time was also probably on Facebook.

Well, this week, I put the mommy guilt on the shelf and I spent some real time with my kids. Of course, this ScreenFree week corresponded with sick kids and rainy weather, the two biggest components that made it a little more challenging. ;)

All in all, this past week was awesome.

We played outside. We went to McDonald’s and played on the play place (for a good two hours!). We went to the school book fair. We read books. We learned about seeds and plants. We learned lots of new songs and song games. We went for a drive to the riverbed to find rocks for the garden bed. We barbecued. We played games. We played the piano more. We played outside some more. We read more books. We played with puzzles. We played with magnets. We did a counting game or two. We visited the library twice. We colored. I did some deep cleaning (which was necessitated by the vomit and diarrhea). We cuddled. We tickled. We laughed. We read some more books. We rocked. And rocked some more. We played with a big tub of recyclables that I’ve been collecting. Jacob and I praised our children more and gave them fewer time-outs. We did laundry. We fed the missionaries. I pulled out my paper copy of the scriptures to read. I handwrote my journal (Heck, I journaled! That’s a biggie!). I used my trusty-dusty cookbooks to find recipes instead of searching online. I called my sister-in-law on the phone to say hi instead of just emailing. Any school work that Jacob needed to do on the computer was done at school instead of at home.

Again, I say. This week was awesome.

We will do this every year. I think my kids are still a little too young to understand all of what’s going on. Every so often Laura would ask for a dancing song or a princess song (AKA a YouTube video), but when I gently reminded her that we were doing ScreenFree week, we were easily able to find another activity to do. But for me as a mom—this was one of the most rewarding weeks I’ve had.

I’m not saying screentime is bad. You can use it for so many good and awesome things. But sometimes . .. you just gotta simplify once in a while. 

Silly things

I love the way Lucy climbs on the playground. She gets onto the lower platform squirming onto her belly, then finally up to her feet. Then she goes up the steps and down the slide. She used to be scared of the slide, but that didn't last long! At the bottom of the slide, she has to turn around on her belly to get off the slide. Then she repeats this process a billion times.

She likes to cover my nose with her palm when we play Peek-a-Boo.

She loves to kiss the end of your nose.

And if you ask her, her name is Ya-ya. For all intents and purposes, it's practically true because she IDOLIZES big sister.

She dances by shaking her hips.

And I'm pretty sure she's starting to sing the tune to Twinkle Twinkle (Larua's favorite song).

If she's walking towards you and looking at you, she often tilts her head to the side as she walks.

Laura does silly things, too. But mostly the things she does are mean touches. Sigh. At least she says really funny things!

Me: Are you wet?

L: Yes. Because I am pee-pee.

"Take off your boobies and put them in the bathroom!" (Side note: Yes, she sees me feed Sam all the time, but she gets this particular phrase from a YouTube video linked here)

She has a friend named Carrie. And Laura loves to ask to play board games. Her favorite to ask for is "Carrie-um" (Cranium)

Our local grocery store is called Gouldings. Last time we went to Blanding, we ate at a burger place that had a small bowling alley. She asked what they were doing, so we said it's a game called bowling, to which she exclaims, "I want to play Gouldings!"

"Oh my Josh!"

"Can I watch Ger-jus George?"

"What?"

"I wanna watch Jer-chus George!"

. . .she says it differently every time! =)

She loves to play in blankets and call herself "Mary." Because Mary, the mother of Jesus, has a covering over her head. She does this little skip-in-place thing with a blanket over her head. That's her form of dancing. 

She LOVES her monkey book and her Beauty and the Beast book. Which means that Lucy loves them too and takes them when Laura is otherwise occupied. 

Both girls love to play on the piano keyboard we have

Between the two of them every single book is pulled off the shelf. Every. Single. Day. 

Both love eating Ramen with frozen peas. And eggs and toast. 

And they both have a propensity to bonk their heads on stuff. Yesterday, Laura bonked her head probably four times on the bed frame (Daddy was putting it back together after we got the railing welded back on). Lucy bonks on chairs or furniture.

Both sing, rock, and "read" books constantly. 

Cleaning

I love it when I finally get around to cleaning. Not so much because I enjoy cleaning, but because I like having my kids help me. 

She kept asking, "When's it my turn? I want a turn!"

Laura hijacked some sponges from under the sink.
So they naturally wanted to clean the floor. 

It's payback time, Laura! --With aggressive love, Lucy

Nursery

Our Primary is very short-staffed right now, so in the meanwhile before we get callings, we've been filling in for Nursery--I think almost every week since we've been here. Except maybe one week.

Normally, it's our whole family, plus another girl Laura's age and a little boy Lucy's age. Now there's another boy a couple months older than Lucy.

Yesterday we spoke in church. Which means that one of us was left to herd the children while we sat in the congregation. Luckily we had some help; some women helped to hold Sam or take a girl out in the foyer as needed, but it was still pretty crazy. (Translation: girls running in the hallway, Sam having projectile spit-up ALL over, and Laura having poop leak out of her diaper)

Oh, and then we had Nursery! Another two hours with our own kids! I mean, not that I terribly mind, but it was pretty rough for a while. Between just our three kids, we had 3 poopy diapers, 2 changes of clothes, at least 2 time outs (with some scratching and biting involved .. .guess which kid!), and Sam was nursing during some of that time. And we had another boy in Nursery who is a few months shy of 18 months. We gave him a try in there with us, but being the little guy that he is, he was crying non-stop until we decided a few minutes later to take him to his mom. The other 3 yo had to be taken to her mom twice for help going potty, and one of the new little boys is a bit like Laura in the aggression factor.

Whew. It was rough.

Finally, after clean-up, we had snacks. The 15 mo old boy was with his mom, as well as the other 3 yo who needed her mom for the potty. Sam was asleep on Jacob's shoulder (and Jacob was dozing, too). It's amazing how calm it can get when all the toys are put away and you pull out the fruit snacks and crackers. We had a short little lesson on temples, then some coloring and some songs to wrap up the time. Those last 15 minutes were so precious with those kiddos.

I'm just hoping that maybe we don't get called to Nursery .. .especially since our kids comprise of half of the nursery. Then again, whoever does get called to Nursery will probably be needing us every 15 minutes or so for a diaper change or to solve some behavioral issue . .. .=)

After church, we had nice long naps. Then we had our neighbors Cindy and Stephen over for ice cream. Though they are not LDS, they are good people and it was really awesome to get to know them a little better. Then we had a fire pit at the compound with some other families who stuck it out. Great time visiting, roasting marshmallows and getting all smelled up like smoke.

Saturday is a Special Day

Here's why:

Morning Cuddle Time (1 out of 4 is dressed, btw)

 The girls and I walked to the elementary school playground. Which is awesome. Buuut it was deathly hot today. Lucy wanted to be carried on the way home so she could just drink contently from the water in my CamelBak. Laura saw a concrete tube; she called it a bear's home. Then she cried that she wanted Daddy (translation: I want Daddy so he can carry me).

We got back, and Laura saw that she had left her beloved silly putty out on the apartment playground. She immediately went inside to wash it, but it was dirty and awfully dried out. I suggested that maybe we can ask (or "aks" as Laura says) Sarah to help us make some more. So, Laura immediately ran out of the house to go ask Sarah for more. And again, the silly putty is her beloved toy.

Later the Muhlesteins watched our girls while Jacob and I and the little guy went on a date to The View, which is basically what it sounds like. Although it's also a hotel/restaurant/gift shop/museum about anything and everything about the Navajo Nation. We live in a pretty cool place with some awesome history.

Meanwhile the girls got to play in the wading pool, play with shaving cream and play with play-dough and dolls. To say they were reluctant to come home is understating it by far.

Oh, and this li'l guy had a birthday. Time is flying.

Love those li'l dimples. .. =)

After bedtime for the kiddles, we finally attacked the three baskets (or bak-sets, as Laura calls them) of clean clothes that have been washed over the last couple of days. We recently got some new clothes hampers . ..some cheap-o ones, but hampers nonetheless. Normally I try to do ALL the laundry on Tuesdays, but I decided I should dub one of the hampers the "pee hamper." That way, the smelly peed-on clothes don't stink up our closet for a whole week, and they don't make sorting out the clothes a smelly chore. Then when the pee hamper is full, regardless of what day it is, the whole load gets washed. I think I created the pee hamper idea yesterday . ..maybe the day before.

Today I did the 3rd (or was it 4th?) pee load of clothes, sheets and blankets that had pee and poo on them.

Hence, the very large pile of clothes to fold and put away. Which included making at least two beds.

We were putting all these clean things away when Laura says to me from her recently-made-less-than-ten-minutes ago bed, "I pee-peed, Mommy!" Then the dreaded realization that she is wearing PANTIES!!

Sigh . . .

Well, pee hamper . ..you are full again, ready for another load tomorrow . ..

Fun Friday

Mostly is was fun because Laura didn't get time-out at all today.

And it was super fun because our neighbor Sarah helped all the kids make their own homemade silly putty. Laura has been inseparable from hers all day.

And as usual, we had the missionaries over for dinner. Cranberry chicken and couscous with a side of green beans. Yum! And this deliciousness for dessert. (The brownie stuff, not the kid. Although I want to eat her every stinkin' day)

Cards and Kisses

We have an old wipes container full of random cards. There's face cards, color cards, number cards, letter cards, Pooh cards, Elmo cards, and a few church pictures. They all used to be complete sets in and of themselves, but with kids .. .yeah right. So, we just pile them together and let the kids play with them every so often.

Here's how they were playing with them today.

Now afterwards, there was a big mess. I did not want to help the girls clean up cards AND toys AND books AND who knows what else. So I told them that they couldn't play with anything else until the cards were picked up.

My three-year old really knows how to push my buttons sometimes, and I'm sad to admit that I reacted just as she anticipated. I got angry back and grabbed her a little too roughly and spoke a little too loudly. (Am I the only mom that wants to squeeze something really hard when I get frustrated? Like my fingers instinctively clench together and my jaw clenches and I am ready to just grab a hold of something. Sadly, one of the things I grab is often my kids' arms . . .)

So, I realized. . perhaps a bit too late . .. .that my reaction was not appropriate for what was going on. I took a few minutes and locked myself in my room to cool down, pray and do some repenting. When I came back out I spoke gently with the girls apologizing for being too rough and too loud. She immediately responded with the sweetest kiss and said, "It's OK, Mommy!" And Lucy--who does absolutely everything big sister does-- gives me a big smacker on the cheek, too.

These girls melt my heart.

Of course, when I have a gentle enough heart to see it.

Repenting is hard. Changing how I react to things is unbelievably hard. But it's worth earning those sweet kisses and hugs.

But it also  makes me wonder. . .how many sweet kisses am I missing out on when I react poorly in the first place?

Only So Much You Can Do

You probably heard the phrase "There's only so much you can do."

To me this sentence indicates that you have limits -- you can't do something because there's only so much you can do, and you can't do more than that. 

That phrase popped in my head this morning when I two inconsolable babies, a frustrating hour on the phone with customer service, a floor covered in popcorn and mystery poop somewhere in the apartment.

Well, if I have limits, then I'm going to see how much I can do. Sweep and mop the floor. Wash and put away dishes. Wash diapers. Finish laundry and put it away.

And you know what. . . .it felt pretty good.

I felt almost as cool as this little goose. 

Better When I'm Dancing

I decided the real reason that I'm keeping up with my blog. It's tough being a mom to young kids, and I have a least one little melt-down every day. OK, some days it's LOTS of BIG meltdowns, but you get the idea.

So if I can find something happy and joyful to post on my blog each day, then it's something to look forward to. And it's a good way to remember my kids' "magical years" as a friend recently reminded me. So whenever I am tempted to have one of those highly explosive moments that all moms have (hear, hear), I can think on the joyful and funny moments I've added (or hope to add!) to my blog.

I was reading a book with Laura today, and the last picture was this:

She was excited to see the carousel since we rode one together at the zoo a couple of months ago. She saw the car ride in the corner of the page and said, "A car-o-sell! I wanna ride the car-o-sell! Let's jump on it and ride it, OK?"

Then she set the book on the ground and jumped on the page.

Not even kidding.

And I don't even think she's seen Bert and Mary Poppins do that either. My child is just brilliant. =)

Come 5:00 and she's getting tired and I REALLY did't want her to nap that late. So, I decided to put on some upbeat music and get us dancing.

Heidi first introduced me to this song on a lull in a day at Grandma's house. Normally, I don't like Meghan Trainer, but I really like this song. And I really like her hot red dress in this video . ..just sayin' . . .. And well, I Feel Better When I'm Dancing . ..don't you?

And apparently my kids do, too. #mommywin

Aaannd .. .I'm bookmarking this page for future use. =)

Returning the Favor

I read in a book of fiction yesterday that a character asks another if she prays. The female responds that no, she doesn't really pray to God, yet she tries to live an honest and true life. To this, the first states, "God is talking to us every day. Ought we not to return the favor?"

I like the truth of that statement. God really does talk to us every day, although we don't hear or see Him directly. He talks to us through the kind words and actions of others. He talks to us through the pleasures we enjoy every day. . .a beautiful sunset, a rainstorm, a delicious piece of cheesecake or a nice juicy burger. He speaks to us through stable employment, through education opportunities, through humor and physical touch.

I realize more and more every day that I am an imperfect parent. But I sure love it when my kids ask me for something, "Read this book to me?" "Please may I want some milk?" or when they express gratitude or joy. Jacob taught Laura to say "This is amazing Mommy!" when they're eating a particularly yummy meal that I made. And even Lucy's little "Deenk Ooo!" when I give her something is just adorable. And sometimes (or maybe a lot of times), they get into trouble because they don't do what their all-knowing-and-wise parents tell them to do. (I can't quite decide the level of sarcasm in my self descriptors there . . .)

Surely my Heavenly Father wants to hear the same from me, His daughter? He loves me infinitely and knows what I need, far better than what I need. He loves it when I ask Him for things. He lives it when I express my gratitude. He loves me despite my poor decisions and short-comings. And sometimes I wonder . .. do I act like a stubborn, tantrum-driven three-year-old to Him sometimes? That's some food for thought right there. ;)

Jesus taught:

Or what man is there of you, whom, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, so ye even so to them. . . .

You may notice that this is one of the teachings found in the record of the Old World and the New World. Is it perhaps because there were parents in both audiences that needed to hear the parallel?

In speaking now of food (bread and fish, right?) and returning the favor, I now move on to my non-sequitur follow-up topic. That being ice cream.

Some of our dear dear friends in Magna would often invite a family over to their home for homemade ice cream and visiting on Sunday evenings. We were the recipients of their delicious desserts and fantastic friendship on more than one occasion. =) So when we moved, one of the first things we ordered online was our own ice cream maker. And we are "returning the favor" and inviting friends over for ice cream and visiting. And well, we love our ice cream maker so much, not every batch we makes ends up being shared with others. So far, we've had the Carlsons and the Muhelsteins over, and in a few minutes, our neighbors the Ellots are coming over for some delicious peach cinnamon ice cream with fresh peaches from our school orchard.

We might have filled this one just a bit too full. . . .

So if you're reading this, find some way you can "return the favor," whether it be to God or your fellow man.

"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

P.S. We have some neighbors who are vegan. Anybody have any tried and true recipes for vegan ice cream or something equivalent?

Monkey See, Monkey Do

I am amazed at the things that Lucy learns from Laura. Lucy's vocabulary is booming, and she will repeat words, especially words of prayers, songs, or stories. She's just at that age where any word coming out of her mouth is the cutest thing ever.

They sometimes "argue" with the following dialogue:
LJr: No!
LSr: Yes!
LJr: No!
LSr: Yes!
. . . .and on and on until Laura either gets frustrated and hurts Lucy or Lucy starts laughing. It's so funny because Lucy is just being silly and saying a word she knows. However, Laura thinks Lucy is actually opposing her, so she gets into her frustrated argue phase.

Lucy gives super sweet kisses and folds her arms when she sees LSr do it. And Lucy LOVES to climb, mostly so she can be closer to whoever is sitting on the couch or on a chair. Wherever or whatever Laura is doing, Lucy wants to do with her. Lucy wants to play with the book or the toy that big sister is playing with, which leads to a few (or maybe several) altercations a day. Lucy likes to sit on the potty (fully clothed, mind you) because she sees Laura do it. Lucy follows Laura outside to play, and she wants to eat something every time LSr is eating something. Unfortunately, Lucy also learns naughty things like hitting and biting, but for the most part it warms my heart to see Lucy idolize and play with her big sister. This is why I'm so glad they're close in age .. .so they can be besties for life! =)

Here's some pictures of the kids, where in each instance, LJr wants to do what LSr is doing.

Sam's getting a facelift from big sis.

Lucy: There's room for me, right?

Just like Mommy.

And the video proof of LJr doing exactly what LSr does . . .

Bread

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. ~John 6:35

We're having the missionaries over for dinner tonight, like we do every Friday. I decided to be ambitious and try out a new recipe for some awesome homemade spaghetti. The sauce is looking and smelling fantastic so far. I have yet to try it (weird, I know), but Jacob says it's great.
Now for the garlic bread to go with it. Since I was planning on going hard-core with the sauce, I bought a bagged salad and was going to do some frozen garlic bread. But, since our local grocery store is itty bitty, they didn't have any. 

Plan 2: Toast up some bread and put butter and garlic salt on it. But .. .I used the last of our bread for my sandwich at lunch. 

Well, says I, let's go ALL OUT and make some breadsticks. This is very risky, folks. The few instances I've tried to make any sort of bread, I make a huge mess, the dough doesn't turn out right, and the finished product is so-so, leaving me and myself as a giant ball of frustration. Side note: This is why my husband is the bread maker in the family. Alas, he had his first school meetings this afternoon, which made the bread situation up to me. 

Let's do it.

Oh, but let's add to the mix a three year old.

>And you know what .. .it turned out alright! Thankfully we have a big table now, so Laura could just sit plopped up there while I sat in a kitchen chair. Granted, she didn't have any clothes on besides a shirt (that's the mom-laziness factor of not putting a diaper on after her last attempt on the potty), and we both made a huge mess. But, I decided I was going to have fun with this .. .and we did! I can see how I easily could have gotten frustrated and shooed Laura away, but I didn't. I think because of that I held myself in check better .. .I was more ok with the mess and the sticky goo-y dough because I wanted it to be a fun experience for me and my daughter. She was so good at pulling out a wad of dough and holding it in her hands. Once I was done shaping what was in my hands, she'd hand me her wad, "Here you go Mommy, another one!"

She also pretended to add salt, sugar, and milk ("This needs more salt. And milk. Sugar and milk. Yum!") And she called them "poopsticks" more than once (#facepalm #toddlerforthewin). When we were all done, she wanted to lick the bowl, so I let her. "Can I eat the flour? Yum!" My most favorite thing was when I said, "This is fun, huh?" and Laura said, "No, it's not fun. It's DANGEROUS!!"

Someday she will smile for pictures.

Home

I decided I want to be more regular in posting on my blog. I got the inspiration from reading Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson. (Side note: this is a great book, and an easy read in one day if you need something to read. It was a DI special =). Perhaps you've heard or seen of Stephanie-she is a popular LDS mommy blogger who had burns over 80% of her body in a plane crash. In her book, she explains that while she and her family were living on the East Coast, she felt really homesick for her family and friends in Utah, so she decided to start a blog to reach out to those she was no longer physically close to.  I was inspired by her dedication and love for motherhood, and like her, I have felt the everyday joys of being a mother to beautiful children.

While I live hours away from the closest family, I feel so at home right where we are. I don't feel homesick, but I do want a way to document to myself and others what home and motherhood is to me on a daily basis. We have made friends quickly here, and we love the low-key environment and close community. This is our sixth place where we've lived in our 4 years of marriage. Our first few homes that we lived in were each temporary, mostly because we were still in school and we didn't know where our post-school plans would take us. Because we didn't anticipate living in those apartments for very long, we were able to endure tight, old, dirty or inconvenient living spaces.

When we took our first job in Magna two years ago, we were excited to have a real job and be in the real world on our own. It was the biggest apartment we had ever lived in, and it felt huge to us. (And then we had two more kids there and started to feel just a bit cramped by the end. . . .) When I look back on those first few months there, I remember feeling mixed emotions. Even though we had a good home, I remember feeling a heavy weight of worry. Mostly I worried about three things: not having a car, having a baby soon, and not having home internet. In time, each of those situations worked out well for us, and the absence of those things taught me self-reliance. We had good friends there, and we were sad to leave.

But here-we felt right at home from the first day. This was really the first move we've had that had ward members help. Previously, we lived close enough to family that they helped us. When he got here, someone brought us dinner that first night, someone else watched the girls while we unpacked, and we had a neighborhood fire pit that night. Our kids love playing with the neighborhood kids here in the complex (often nicknamed "The Compound"), especially the Gosneys (Spencer, 9, James, 7, Carrie, 3, and Leah, almost 1) and the Muhelsteins (Joy, 4 and Ammon, 18 months). Laura plays outside every day, rain or shine (unless she's grounded). Jacob has a garden that he loves. Lucy is just happy wherever we are or whoever she's with. Sam gets cuddles and lovin' from all the soon-to-be-grandmas in the ward. We have 7 closets in our apartment. Jacob walks 100 yards to go to work. We walk across the street (and two cattle guards!) to church. We have the missionaries over every Friday for dinner.

Life is good. We are so happy here. And it feels like home. Magna felt like home, but I think it took a while for me to really feel like home there. Perhaps that was because of the lack of those things mentioned above, or perhaps because our closest friends there moved in after we had been there a year or so. This feels right. This is right. I thought I would miss Magna, and in a way I do. But now it's just one of those previous homes that carries wonderful memories. .. similar to the home I grew up in. I had wonderful times there and I will never regret living there, but right now I am where I need to be.

I've got two naked girls who need to go potty, and a baby who's crying, but I'll throw in a picture of the view from our kitchen window.

Until later--

This was during a thunderstorm, and you can barely see a rainbow in the picture. Isn't this beautiful?!

Mommy Win! (They Happen Every Once in a While. . .. =)

Laura threw a book at me today. She was genuinely surprised when it hit my head. Before I could even get upset (which frankly, I am prone to do sometimes!), she came up to me with wide eyes and hugged and kissed me and said, "I'm sorry Mommy! It's OK, Mommy! Calm down, Mommy! It's OK!"

My heart melted at that! I love how she is learning the natural consequences for her actions (i.e.-throwing a book at someone's head will most likely result in some sort of owie). And I love her gentle nature that had her comforting me right away. She's seen Mommy and Daddy comfort Lucy when she's crying by saying the same things--it's okay, calm down, etc.

Today I also fully implemented a new reward system, and we've had EXCELLENT results so far! I've had some packages of raffle tickets that I bought several months ago to use for my Usborne business. Since I wasn't using them, and the girls liked to play with them, I decided to put them to use. So now Laura can earn tickets for things like:

-reading a book with Mommy or Daddy
-sharing toys
-helping with household chores (laundry, dishes, etc.)
-putting away clothes, toys, dishes, etc.
-sitting on the potty
-making pee pee or poo poo on the potty.

She loses tickets for things like:

-hitting, poking, pushing, etc.
-not finishing a meal
-having potty accidents in her panties
-screaming

So I did that for a few days, letting her earn and lose tickets, and then I attached rewards to them. So, for 15 tickets, she can watch one episode of Dora the Explorer (then she's not watching 15 million of those a day!). She can get an ice cream cone for 25 tickets, a candy for 5 tickets, etc. Granted, right now, all she wants to use her tickets for is watching Dora, but something is finally working! She gets so excited when we count the tickets together to see if she has enough for her desired prizes. Sometimes she was so close, I had to quickly decide something I needed help with so she could earn a ticket. "Hey, let's draw a picture for Daddy!" or "These blocks need to be put away." It's a good motivator for me too . ..I have to find positive things for her to do, instead of just letting her watch Dora after Dora all morning. . . .=) Hopefully this excitement continues over the next several days and weeks! =)

p.s. She always asks for a snack cup full of carrots while she's watching Dora. If my kid is asking for vegetables for a snack, I certainly won't deny her of them!! =)

The Girls.

Laura loves to climb up on my lap and say "Read me a story!" In saying that, she really means that she wants me to make up a story on the spot and tell it to her. She likes to climb into laundry baskets and hampers, and she loves to color. She'll scribble something and say, "Ah! It's my name!" Then, when every paper has one tiny mark on it, she claims, "I need more paper, Mommy!!"

The other day I was singing the Dora the Explorer song "Dora Dora Dora, the explorer!" and I tried getting her to fill in the "explorer" part. Instead, she says "The giiirrlll!" She fake coughs so she can try to ask for medicine. She loves candy-nola (granola) bars and always wants them for her treat for going potty. Speaking of potty, she'll pull out her potty into the living room and say, "I need to do my exercises." She then promptly climbs up and jumps off her her potty several times in a row. She likes jumping down curbs and jumping out of the car, too.

It's fun taking the girls to the pediatrician's office. If it's for Lucy, Laura likes to say, "Not for me, not me." But she loves watching the doctor do her thing, "What her doing to Lucy?" And inevitably, she always grabs at least 3 urine sample cups, opens them and asks me to put water in them. So yes, she drinks water out of the urine cups. =)

She loves trying on and wearing shoes. Any size. She likes to climb up on the stool or couch and say, "I am tall, Mommy!" Her favorite phrases lately are "What _______ doing Mommy?" & "Are you happy, Mommy?" (She's even learned other emotions, "Are you upset Mommy?") She likes to talk about her upcoming birthday: she will be three, and she will eat cake.

Earlier today, I heard the girls playing in the bathroom, then I heard Lucy crying really hard. It turns out, Laura had grabbed the dishrag from the kitchen sink, soaked it and tried giving Lucy a sponge bath, "I clean Lucy, Mommy! I clean Lucy!" Besides the hysterical crying, it was pretty funny.

Lucy makes the CUTEST faces. I love when she nods with her little lips puckered over her teeth. She's a food magnet and finds anybody who has food. She GUZZLES milk and will drink her entire sippy cup within just a few minutes. And then she usually burps pretty loudly, and it's cute. She has the darlingest grin with a dimple in each round cheek. Besides Mama and Dada, she can say "Baa" (ball), "App-uh" (apple) and "Eh-eh-ooo" (Let it go). I love her little bow-legged, big belly waddle! When we go outside on the playground, she is content just to walk on the sidewalk, rarely venturing to the sand or even the grass. She had her 15-month checkup yesterday, and it turns out she has a little ear infection, so she gets to take medicine day and night for it for a few days (which is why Laura thinks she should get medicine, too).

I am so blessed to be home with these two little munchkins every day! Some of these little things that they do are so endearing, I don't want to forget them, so I write them down. =) Being a mom is the best!

Sewing Bits

Now that my sewing machine is fixed, I've worked on a couple of projects lately. I had a couple of yards of coordinating fabric  that I was going to use for a car seat cover. Then I  decided that I  hate those things, so I put that fabric to  good use. I made two little pet pouches to hold the girls' stuffed animals! One is pictured here, and  the other is like unto  it. . . .just a pink, teal, and yellow birdie  fabric.

I have also been working on  Baby  Sam's quilt. I finished a couple dozen pinwheel blocks, which will make half of the quilt top design. They look  like this. 

Hooray for some fun projects!

The Little Memories I Want to Remember Forever

Sometimes when Laura is hungry, she says, "Dinnertime!" So I said, "Yeah, we should probably have lunch, soon, huh?"

So she goes to the fridge and brings me the tupperware of leftover cookie dough. "I need cookie dough, Mommy! Eat cookie dough?" Well, she's obviously seen us do it before, and with the sweetness overload (of the cookie dough and the cute kid), I couldn't say no.

We snuggled on the chair picking out and eating cookie dough with our hands. Laura grabbed a toddler-size fistful and said, "Big bite Mommy!" and stuffed it all in her mouth. And then for no reason at all we both started giggling with our mouths full of cookie dough. Here we are a pair of dirty ragamuffins (both overdue for a shower/bath) snuggling, eating cookie dough and laughing like little miscreants.

Another funny thing-on Sunday, she was playing with her little go-car thing, and she said out of the blue, "I go to Bethlehem!"

Recently she likes to ask, "What (someone's name) doing?" Or "Where (someone)?" She had a whole series of "Where Stephen? Where Charlotte? Where Kyle?" questions. I usually answer those, "At Stephen's house," etc. She asked a whole series of those questions and ended with, "Where's Heavenly Father?" Ahh . ..what a sweet moment! Now she knows that Heavenly Father is in heaven. =)

I love being a mom. =)

Giggles and Grins

Often I feel like I talk about Laura more because she's older and more active, vocal and physical. But this post is about my little chubby baby girl who captures my heart every day.

Have I mentioned how much I LOOOVEE Lucy's giggle and grin? She has the chubbiest, roundest cheeks, a mouthful of teeth, and the cutest dimples and little roundy nose .. .aaahhh! I just can't get over how cute she is! (I really should post pictures since just talking about her doesn't do her justice)

Right now, she's in her high chair just giggling away. 'Course, she did just have lots of food for lunch . ..including juice and some cookie dough for dessert. =)

She's really good at clapping (often when other people are), and pointing to her nose. I say, "Point to your nose!" and she puts her finger and thumb in a gun pose and points to her teeth. Sometimes she'll just rub the side of her head with her palm. Bah! Cuteness overload. And she still has the out of control arms sometimes that like to bang on things or just wave.

Somehow she's learned to get one arm out of her bib, so she usually has a bib half on at mealtimes. I love when she laughs at silly things .. .like a movie or her sister's antics or something random. She actually loves being tickled on her bare belly. And she loves to watch videos of herself .. .she just laughs and laughs at herself because she thinks she's so funny.

This is one of my favorite videos of the girls--mostly because Lucy is giggling like none other, and she's super duper happy. And because Laura is doing what she does best--playing with non-toys with her little flair for movement and drama.

Dr Seuss

As we were leaving Storytime at the library today, the librarian said that next week, we'd be learning about Dr. Seuss. I mentioned that to Laura later and she said,

"I listen to your heartbeat. I a doctor. I use a stethoscope."

It took me a moment to realize that she thought Dr Seuss was a real doctor. Then I explained that Dr Seuss isn't a real doctor. He writes books for kids. Like the Foot Book and The Cat in the Hat.

"What Dr. Seuss do Mommy? Daddy is Dr Seuss?"

Man, I love this kid.

Plus also, she earned a million stars today for helping me unload the groceries! She went back and forth to the trunk with me, brought a bag in and placed it on the table and followed me out for another bag. Then she helped me put stuff away, She was so cute at the store today. She got a cookie from the bakery-one of those sugar cookies with thick yummy yellow frosting on top. The rest of the time we were shopping and checking out, she picked off the sprinkles one at a time and would take tiny licks of the frosting. She still had almost an entire cookie in her hand when I put her in the car. Then, when we got home, her cookie was gone. It took her less than 5 blocks to eat her entire cookie! =)

The Little Things

Today was a fun day with my kiddos. We went to Toddler Time at the library. Laura was so excited to go, she was running to fast and slipped and skinned her knee on the way in. When I offered her a band-aid, she said no. Which is funny, considering she woke up this morning sobbing and crying for a band-aid for a non-existent injury. Normally at Toddler Time, they read a few stories and then have a bunch of different toys/blocks and stuff out for the kids to play with. The regular librarian was out sick today, so it was just play time today. But, oh boy, there were a TON of kids there today! Laura ended up finding a corner to be alone with her bus so that she wouldn't have to share. Lucy found her anyway. =)

Then we went to Daddy's school so Mommy could practice piano with his choir. Then we bought and ate lunch at Smith's Marketplace. Lunchables and free produce from the produce box. =) Lucy again ate more than Laura. I bought a bag of chips for us to share. . ..it was easily gone before dinnertime. =)

Once again at home, we all took naps. Laura woke me up because she was likely rocking a hole in the wall with her big fat head. =) Laura has been pretty good today about going potty and playing with her sister. Oh, I guess she did have a poopy accident this morning. I guess I already forgot about it.  They have this set of blocks, and for a while this is how they played. Lucy would pull one out of the box and hand it to Laura. Laura would then run it over (with dog-panting) to the table and set it on the table, then she'd come back and get another block from Lucy. It was cute.

Lucy had a cute moment today. She had a chip in one hand, and I handed her the sippy cup. Normally she has to grab it with both hands, but she couldn't figure out how to do it with a chip in her hand. =)

Laura also liked to pretend to go to school today. She'd grab a ball, a book, and her bag of blocks and say, "I go to school!" "Oh, who's your teacher?" "Um .. .Michelle!!" Then she'd dump all that stuff at Lucy's feet and say, "You go to school now, Lucy?"

Also this morning, Laura's favorite word has been "Dangit." Oops . ..I guess I'd better watch my language more! I keep trying to convince her to say "Donuts!" instead. "No, Laura, we don't say that word. We say 'donuts,' remember?" I think she kind of learned--while we were Facetiming with Lisa, she kept saying a word over and over. I couldn't figure out what she was saying until I realized she was saying DONUTS! Yay! It kind of worked! =)

Plus, during nap-time I got to listen to one of my Hypnobabies tracks. It seems like with the rarity of both girls napping at the same time, the only time I have to listen to that is when I'm going to bed. And then I just fall asleep within the first 5 minutes anyway, so I'm not getting much out of it. Today, it helped me feel so relaxed and rested. Ahh . ..'twas rill nice. =)

So, you know. Not all days in the Bahr household are crazy.

Something Fun for Mommy!

Well, it was one of those mornings.
Laura got time out 4 times for the exact same thing. All before noon.
I admit, I got a little frustrated.

But, it's Monday, so she gets to (has to?) take a nap so that she's not super duper cranky at her dance class at 6pm. So, miraculously both girls were napping AT THE SAME TIME!

Aaaannnddd. . .I just got my sewing machine back from the fabric store, all fixed and good as new (well, as new as this trusty old model can be). So I got to start on my quilt today!! Hooray!! Lucy woke up halfway through, but I put her in her high chair with some food and she was content. Later Laura woke up, but she was in the Pack-N-Play, so she was content just rockin' away.

And me? I did something for me today and it felt AWESOME!
Here's a sneak peak of the pattern. Sorry it's a really really bad picture, but you get the idea.  I actually hate the scrappy look of the sample, so I'm doing a more straight forward color scheme. Won't it just be bee-u-tiful for my little baby boy?! =)

A Day in the Life

Years from now, when I look back on what it was like to be a mom with young kids at home, I may forget some of these little things. I imagine I'll look through these experiences with rose-colored glasses thinking everything was just so wonderful and fun.

To be honest? Every day is a challenge in one way or another! It really is a roller coaster with high and low points of every. single. day.

Here's an example from today. Laura has a sticker chart, mostly for potty training, but sometimes we use the stickers as part of her consequences for her actions. If she has a pee-pee accident, she gets a sticker taken off, but she also gets a sticker taken off for hurting Lucy or for screaming (both of which she does every day at least once). She can earn stickers by going pee-pee or poo-poo on the potty, but she can also earn stickers for doing nice things like helping with the laundry or helping me change Lucy's diaper or something.

In the last hour, she's lost 6 stickers. Argh! Come on child. ..when do you learn?!

And, she locked herself in the bathroom. Again. I don't really know how she managed that, since the child lock rubber grippy thing is on the inside of the door. How did she reach in there to turn the knob?

Sigh. Ok, so being a mom has some rough points, but there's also other things she does that just melt my heart. In the last couple of days, she's learned how to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (which comes out Tinkle Tinkle). She has also learned to ask the question, "Are you happy, Mommy?" And even if I'm frustrated at her or something, it's really hard to say no to the question when your darling, innocent, smiley-faced two-year old wants you to say yes. =) I love watching and listening to her play or sing on her own or even with Lucy (when she's nice to her).

One of her favorite song videos to watch is this one:

Not only is the video so sweet, but when Laura sings along, it melts my heart and almost brings me to tears every time. (She even says the words "Who are you? And so are you!" when they are on the screen) 

It's so refreshing for me to make a little blog post when I feel frustrated. It takes me just a few minutes to get all the frustration out, and then I usually am back to my normal self again. I just need to remind myself that it's no big deal and that life goes on. 

Mommy Fail

To be honest, sometimes I feel like I do a pretty awful job as a mom. The house constantly looks like a tornado ran through it, dishes are eternally piled in the sink, and dirty clothes (especially little girl socks) end up everywhere.

I think my biggest worry is that I don't do enough for my kids. I get frustrated easily with certain things. . .like how Lucy is constantly hanging onto my pant legs. But, she's still little, so I can handle most of that.

What worries me the most are certain behaviors that Laura does. We have yet to find successful discipline techniques to get her to stop bullying her sister. Unfortunately, this aggressive streak spills over to other kids. The bishop has specifically asked for one of us to be with Laura in nursery for the next several weeks because she hits and scratches the other kids. Yup, my kid is THAT kid that makes nursery a horror experience.

She pushes or kicks Lucy all the time, and it seems like no matter what we try to do to discipline her, she STILL does it. Every. day. A million times a day! Things like time out and taking away special books have had progressively little effect.

She gets into stuff ALL THE TIME. ..the computer, things in the bathroom, things in the kitchen or the fridge. She colors on things that aren't paper-her sister, the iPad, walls and furniture. And lately her favorite thing to do when she's frustrated is scream.

Potty training is getting worse before it gets better. For every time she goes on the potty, the next time is almost always an accident. This is its own ballpark because it's more of a physical skill, but seriously .. .I am so tired of cleaning up accidents. She can't seem to get past four stickers on her chart because I take one off every time she has an accident.

Oh, and the frosting on the cake? How about this. I got out of the shower and went to check on what she was doing (often it's something she shouldn't), and I didn't see her. No less than 30 seconds later, just when I'm wondering if maybe she left the apartment, I get a knock at the door. It's a couple of maintenance guys from the complex asking if I'm missing my little girl. Sure enough she had got out of the apartment, wandered over to the next building. . .in just a shirt and shoes. (Needless to say she had just had an accident and I didn't bother putting panties or pants back on her.) A nice neighbor mom had found her and put some pants and a coat on her, and another lady from the front office came by to convince Laura to come back. I had no idea she would even leave the apartment like that! Yeah, she can open doors, but she's never opened the front door on her own and just left! Argh!!

When did being a mom of a toddler become so hard? I know I need to start making some changes now. ..especially since we'll have another kid soon. We really like the idea of homeschooling our kiddos, but I have no idea how I can do that without going crazy. I mean .. .how can I even be a mom without going crazy? Sometimes I wonder what Heavenly Father was thinking when he let us be parents. Somehow I need some encouragement that I am doing at least something right with my kiddos. .. because today feels like an epic Mommy Fail.

What does she LEARN that?!?

Here are some incredibly hilarious things that Laura has said or done lately that make me ask myself. . .Where are you learning this, kid?!

-She likes to play with Daddy's gangster hat. She puts it on and says, "I am a boy!"

How fitting that she's wearing her dance costume with this hat! =)

-She likes to play with blankets. She wrapped one over her head and said, "I am Mary." The next day she was playing with a bunch of "Marys" and draping them over the posts on her bed frame. =)

-She begged for a fork from the dish rack when it wasn't even meal-time, and she threw a fit when I wouldn't give her a fork. "I NEED A FOOORRRKK!!" (But then I started making fun of her little fit and got her laughing. Mom win. =)

-She stinkin' colored on the iPad screen and cover. She KNOWS that pen only goes on paper, and she still did it! Grrr .. . .

-She told me an entire paragraph narrative the other day when we had hot dogs for lunch. "I eat hot dogs at Gramma's house. I hit Lucy. Lucy fall down and bleed. I get time out." (All of which is a true account) She then told me the same story when I put her in time-out later that same day.

-Sometimes she says things, and I'm like .. .did you just say that? So I ask her, "Did you say . . .?" And of course, she always repeats what I said whether or not it's what she actually said. Here's a couple of those instances:

-Look, a ninja!
-I cut off your head!

A the library, she likes to find a specific type of book and hoard all of them. She grabbed a bunch of Dora the Explorer books and carried the whole stack of them around everywhere. Then, when I sat down with her to read one, she got super bored and ran off. Go figure. We also read a book about animals, and I was surprised that she knew what a seal and a peacock were. When did she learn that?

Some other things, she's able to put into context super well. For instance, she knows the shape of a circle is "roundy roundy roundy" (Thank you Sesame Street!), so the other day she picked up a frisbee and said, "Roundy roundy roundy!!"

I read a book with her where there's a picture of two kids and their giant tower of blocks. I asked her what happens on that page, and she said, "They build a castle!" (That's what she always "does" with her blocks.)

Bedtime Stories

Laura often asks me for bedtime stories. If I don't happen to have a book with me, she wants me to make up a story. I am TERRIBLE at making up stories, but I've tried to somewhat follow an outline of stories that my mom used to tell us when we were kiddos. We called them Draggie stories because they were about a dragon who lived far far far across the sea. He had green skin and blue eyes, but unlike other dragons, Draggie was a nice dragon. So then after that lovely intro, you make up a story about how Draggie helps those in need and saves the day.

I have very limited creativity when it comes to making up stories. Last night, Laura woke up in the middle of the night, and even when Daddy came to calm her down, she insisted on having Mommy come. So, I crawled out of bed (probably the fourth time I had woken up in the middle of the night last night), and crawled into Laura's bed to tell her a story. Since I have limited creativity, I let her choose some elements of the story. "Will this story be about a boy, an elephant or a train?"

Anyway, I attempted a Draggie story while giving Laura choices, and we ended up with a story about a brown-skinned, pink-eyed dragon who lived in the library. He went to help a little girl named Laurie because her mom was busy changing her baby's diaper (Laura insisted on telling me it was a poopy diaper). Draggie helped the girl choose a book about doggies and he read it to her, and they were happy.

I think I tried telling her another story, but I fell asleep mid-story. I love that it's only at bedtime that she wants me to tell her stories, and she will consistently ask for "More stories, more stories?!" I hope I can get more creative in telling her stories, because I know this stage of begging for made-up stories won't last forever. =)

Playing

I LOVE watching my girls play! They don't often play well together since big sister tends to be a bit aggressive. .. .but each of them does little things that just melt my heart.

Laura talks and babbles to herself the most random things. Just now she was chatting about her tap shoes and her fairy wings and Baby Bear (from Sesame Street). She is now at the toy and bookshelf (which has spilled out into an entire corner of the living room) carefully selecting certain books to take back to her cuddle station in the rocking chair. Every so often, she grabs a couple of blankets and some books and just cuddles up to read. She learned that from me. =) When I catch her doing it, she sometimes will lie down and say, "Goodnight. Sleepy time." I stinkin' love when she reads books aloud to herself. She'll point out random things from pictures or say words and phrases she remembers from the text. Right now she's looking at a book, and each page, she points to a picture and says, "His house. And his house. And his house."

Lucy likes to look through books, too. She's definitely more of a people person than her sister, but she likes books, too. She likes to turn them inside-out if possible (if that makes sense). My favorite thing that she does lately is when she's sitting looking at something and she'll just rub her head. It reminds me a bit of her Uncle Spencer (who is notorious for rocking and scratching his head when he gets excited about something) I'm trying really hard to get a video of it, but I never seem to catch her at the right time.

When Lucy is playing with something that Laura doesn't want her to play with (usually her special books -AKA library books), I gently tell Laura to give Lucy something else to play with. One time Laura gave her a block. Just one block. It cracked me up! Sometimes she'll give Lucy some other books from our shelf, but then Laura gets more interested in them anyway and Li'l L goes back to looking at the special books. Oh man, they are such goobers!! =)

I don't much care who reads these blogs, but lately, both Jacob and I have felt an extra need to document all the cuteness of our kids at the ages where they're at. They won't stay this little forever, and often times it's the little things they do that just melt my heart. I should definitely try to get some more videos and pictures on here, but sometimes just writing it out will help me remember, too. =)

And That's OK!

We've watched Elmo's Potty Time a MILLION times here at our house. Laura has learned the words so well, especially to this song. Sometimes, it surprises me what she's learned. Take a listen to the song (you won't regret it!), and then these following scenarios will seem even funnier!

Today we were watching a movie, and at one point, one of the characters said, "We all understand that accidents do happen" (10 pts to anyone who can figure out what movie we were watching.) Laura turned around and looked at me and sang, "And that's OK!!"

She had 3 potty accidents today (and just as many times going on the potty .. .), and after each one when she got a sticker taken off her potty chart, she sang, "Accidents happen, and that's OK!"

Later, Daddy was making up a song about how cute Lucy is, and he made up a random tune, "Lucy is a chunker yeah, yeah, yeah." And Laura chimes in "And that's OK!!"

Accidents happen, folks. And that's ok! =) Life lessons from a 2 year old. 

Sickies

The girls are sick. Laura has this nasty cough .. .the deep chest-rattling kind. Lucy has some beautiful diarrhea, and both girls have the biggest runny noses I have ever seen.

Regardless, they are staying pretty happy . ..once they have enough food, juice (apple juice is our friend lately!), special books (aka library books) and cuddles.

Laura has been rocking it on the potty lately! She has had fewer and fewer accidents during the day, and ends up putting her pee pee and poo poo (which lately she likes to call wee wee and woo woo) in the potty or in a diaper. We still put her in diapers if we're going out or to someone's house. At her cousins' house, she voluntarily goes to their potty on her own . ..mostly missing by just a few seconds and getting it on her clothes, but at least she's going there on her own!

Lucy begs and begs for food "nana! nana!" This girl out-eats her sister on a regular basis. She is really getting the hang of walking, and she still has the most infectious grin . ..even when she's a little sick.

We gave the girls some giant stuffed mice for Christmas. They are loved. Laura calls them "Poopah!"

Just had to get a pic of the cute li'l lopsided piggies. =)

In other news, I've been stage managing a show at the Empress. Mostly my duties have been super easy . ..attend rehearsals, call lines, make sure props and set pieces get placed, start the music tracks and give lighting cues. It's such a fun show, and it is a pleasure to watch each time. We opened last weekend, so it's nice to only have my weekend nights occupied instead of every night. =) Can't wait for Jacob to come see the show!

And in case you haven't seen the video on Facebook, here's a little peek into the new one joining us in May! 

She kept saying the wrong gender for each video we tried taking. . ..we finally got her to say the right thing after at least half a dozen attempts! 

Jacob has been swamped ever since school started again. . .. end of term testing, grading, school musical rehearsals and recruiting meetings at his feeder elementary schools. Whew. He's still a gem, though. .. .one night while I was at the theater for a performance, he did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen and eating area, put both girls to bed, vacuumed the living room, washed, folded and put away 2 loads of laundry. I think I'll keep him. . ..=)

Musings of a Mom

Well, regardless of how long it's been since I've posted, sometimes I feel like sharing funny things that happen to us during the day. If I don't write them down, I will forget them, and sometimes I don't care for the whole Facebook world to read them.

Today was a clean up day. Besides the normal cleaning up diapers, cleaning up after meals, cleaning up toys and cleaning up dirty laundry (that somehow gets scattered everywhere .. .especially little socks!). .. . I also got to help clean up. . .

-two pee pee accidents (with no more carpet cleaner. Laura dumped all that out yesterday, of course). 
-three containers of baby cereal. Luckily, this was spilled on the kitchen tile, and I caught Laura before she spilled ALL of it
-a thousand (it seemed like) little clear ponytail holders on the bathroom floor. That was a fun one. Now they are out of reach of little hands.

Today Laura's favorite words have been "Lucy's awake!" --but only shouted really loudly when Lucy's trying to sleep. She will randomly say "BYU bib" even when it's not meal-time. She got this BYU apron from Grandma and she LOVES it! She also likes the word "weapon" because I took away an extension piece to the play pen. I told her it wasn't a weapon, and now that's her favorite word.

She also likes to read aloud her Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Mickey Mouse Three Musketeers books. They sound something like this: 

"Let's bite them and eat them. It's a big one. Simba is the boss the boss. Oh the babe the babe. Susa-pea. When no when no. Zappa zappa zappa zis. A happy ending passa baby buy 'em. What's a bee. Get help. Bessa bessa bessa. Some mighty days. Heavenly Father." 



"Do wee wees Do wee wees. Where's dad where's dad where's daddy. What found him. Find him. Find daddy find daddy! bessa bessa bessa. Um, Nemo. zappa zappa zappa zis. Um, Dory and Nemo. Dory eat them. wee wee woo woo wee wee woo woo. Say wee wee woo woo. There story Nemo. Daddy. Where daddy. Right here. Find daddy. We read stories. The end." -Finding Nemo


She still likes to play with lightswitches, tear off wrappers of any food jars/cans in her reach and strew toys (especially blocks) everywhere. And this morning she was singing non-stop the ABC song and Jingle Bells. She also likes to run away and say "No get me, Mommy!!" Today she cried when I took away her colored pencils (that were somebody else's anyway) and when I took away her toothpaste.

As challenging as it can be being a mom to these two active girls, there are so many sweet things that happen each day that make me just love being a mom. Even right now Laura is screaming "Mommy Mommy!!" in my ear and making a mess of some trash I have yet to throw away. =) I love these goobers! Now, she's knocking off blocks off the kitchen counter with a carrot peeler. . .in true Dennis the Menace bathtub style.


Lucy has been pretty chill. ..doing her normal things. Opening up a sippy cup and spilling all of its contents for the second time in two days. Luckily, both of those happened on the kitchen tile. She is walking with more and more steps, and she even likes being put down on her feet instead of on her bum. She always seems to have her biggest farts when she's seated in her high chair. Laura often gladly informs me "Lucy farted!!"


In other news today, we toured a preschool that we may enroll Laura in . . .the only thing that worries me is the price. Both of my girls successfully ate leftovers for lunch, as did I. With a side of Chick-fil-A fries. Both girls napped in the car (which is of course why I had to drive out of my way to Chick-fil-A in the first place . . .=). And I FINALLY organized all my receipts and expenditures for the month of December. I only had two transactions that I don't know what are (but I'm pretty sure Jacob does), and our total spent was less than I anticipated. Go team.


Alright . ..back to being a mom. . ..=)