Playtime and Teary Eyes

Tears for me, that is.

Today we went to the mall. My brother needed a hair cut so we headed down to the Tree house play area to wait for him. Elliot was in seventh heaven. He was beyond excited. Probably because we haven't really let him play there before (too paranoid about germs....but with bathed him in hand sanitizer when he was done so I'm sure he'll be fine).

I can't believe what a big boy he is. Actually he's still smaller than most of the kids, but he's oh so grown up. And so friendly too. Before I even had a chance to sit down he was running around playing with another little boy and just having the time of his life. At one point he almost collided with another little boy. The boy then pushed him over and Elliot did a face plant. He cried for a minute, but after a quick kiss to his nose he was good as new.

Later, I noticed he had moved to a different part of the play area. There were some older kids there and I don't think they really wanted him hanging around. They said something to him. And he started talking back to them. Now, when he gets excited or angry he generally starts to yell and pace back and forth and wave his arms around. The kids thought this was really funny. I sat there and watched as they would provoke him, watch him get worked up for a minute, drop down on their knees (so they were closer to his height), open and close their mouths in a very exaggerated way, wave their arms around and then just laugh and laugh at how hysterical they were for mocking him like that.

I was shocked. They were clearly just making fun of him. He's only three....he doesn't know. But it made his mommy want to cry. As they started into their third time of this routine I marched myself over there, took my little boy by the hand and said to him "come on Elliot, lets go play over here" then I turned to the other kids and said "these big kids are making fun of you and it's not very nice". Now it was their turn to be shocked. They didn't know I had been watching.

Elliot still didn't understand what I meant, which is fine. There was no reason for his feelings to be hurt....he wasn't doing anything wrong. I know I can't protect him from everything. And I know he's going to come in contact with tons of kids that will make fun of him for his size, or the things he likes, or just pick on him for no good reason. But I want to protect him from all of that. No matter what he will always be my little miracle. One of the things in my life that means more than anything else. My little boy.

Ugh....mean people stink!!

But he's a tough little guy, and he'll be just fine no matter what. Even if his mommy can't save him from all the hurt in this world. He's already overcome far worse than playground bullies.





On a lighter and more interesting note....Elliot went down the slide ALL by himself today. He's been scared until now. But today he did it! BJ and I weren't even close by....in fact it's lucky we even saw him do it at all. When I asked him about it after bedtime prayers he was SO proud of himself :) AND Evie ate her first slice of pizza (all cut up in tiny pieces, but pizza none the less). A WHOLE piece. Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Evie on Christmas Morning

This year was Evie's first Christmas. I think her favorite present was her first doll. We caught her opening it on video....she was just so cute I had to share.

Saturday Mornings

Saturday morning is one of my favorite times of the whole week. Somehow everyone ends up in our bed every week. Sometimes cartoons are on and some times they are not. But there is always a lot of tickles, giggles, and hugs. It's one of the few times during the week that BJ and I get to cuddle up with our two great kids and just live in the moment. For those brief minutes on Saturday morning it feels as though all is right with the world. It's a wonderful feeling. I wish Saturday morning lasted forever.

Thankful Thursday

I have missed Thankful Thursday for the past several weeks so I thought it was high time I started this tradition back up again....

The Disney Channel. Can I just say that this channel is awesome for a couple of reasons? First of all the shows keep Elliot's attention so I can actually get some things done (which is why I normally turn the tv on in the first place, I don't really want my child watching a ton of tv but sometimes it's the only way). BUT more importantly, THEY DON'T HAVE COMMERCIALS!!! At least not typical commercials. I turned the tv on the other day and for some unknown reason it was turned to Nickelodeon and Dora was on. That really caught Elliot's attention so I caved and let him watch it. Unfortunately, not even three minutes later he was attacked by an array of brightly colored, horrendously loud TOY commercials. So then I was attacked by a whirlwind of terribly whiny "I want"s and "I need"s. And before I knew it I was bald from tearing all my hair out because I didn't know what else to do. Okay, that last part isn't entirely true....I still have my hair. But I didn't know what to do. And I apologize that a "thankful" has turned into a rant. To sum it up......commercials = cranky, bald mommy.....Disney Channel = quiet children/productive, happy mommy.

Christmas Lights Every year, for as long as I can remember, it has been our Christmas tradition to bundle up and drive around looking at lights on Christmas Eve. Totally fun. Totally LOVE it, but mostly because it's our tradition. It's not even Christmas Eve yet but I am getting the biggest kick out of the lights this year. Any time we drive anywhere in the dark I hear all kinds of ooooohs and ahhhhs from the back seat. Elliot is completely into the lights this year. "Look Mommy, there's Santa!" "Oh WOOOOOOWWWWWW! I really like THAT one!!" "SOOOOOO cool". Seriously, every night. It's way fun!

My Baby Girl. For many reasons. But on the top of my list this week is that she was a normal, full term, healthy baby. Evie caught a cold this week. Her nose was running the other day and after her nap she started coughing one of those croupy sounding coughs. This sort of thing would have lasted weeks with Elliot. More than likely it would have landed him in the hospital. But we just greased Evie up with some Vick's, planted the humidifier in her room, and said some prayers.....and she's pretty much good as new. Of course there is still a little risidual coughing and runny nose action going on, but it's only been two days. I'll take it! SUCH a difference....and a relief.

Now it's your turn.....go on. You can do it. You know you want to ;)

Lessons in Self Esteem

I have issues in the self esteem department. I've never been very good at it, that I can remember anyway (my mom swears that I had great self esteem as a child). So it's amazing to me how sure Elliot is of himself. He thinks he's pretty great....and he's right! Here's a small example...

We were running late, as usual. But I managed to get Elliot out of the car, run around to the other side, grab Evie and Elliot's school bag, get a hold of Elliot's hand and start our way across the street only a few minutes after preschool had started. As we were walking , we spotted one of the other Mommies leaving after dropping off her daughter . I smiled and nodded in her direction and she smiled back. Then she looked over at my little boy and said "Hi Elliot!". He was oblivious and just anxious to get to school. So I nudged him a little and asked him if he could say hi. He looked up, "OHh, HIIIIIII!!" and waved. She smiled and laughed a little to herself, probably because of his enthusiasm. We kept walking and Elliot looked up at me and said "She thinks I'm pretty cute". He paused. Then added, "I think I'm pretty cute too". I laughed and told him that of course he's pretty cute.

He's the self esteem master. Hopefully somewhere along my journey as his Mommy this ability of his will rub off on me. He does tell me I'm beautiful every day so that should help :)

Finally...

After more than a week of whining (on my part) to put up the tree.....we FINALLY got it up. My grandparents (GG and Papa Sampa) loaned us their very nice 6 foot tree. Thank you!! We love it and it looks great!

We put the big one up in the family room and Elliot gets a special treat....the little tree went up in his room. Super cool night light, huh? I'll post pictures of that once we get in decorated. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do both last night.

Here are a few pictures from our fun evening....

Poor Evie was trapped in her high chair for most of the festivities. We thought she would cause a problem by getting into everything.

But it was Elliot that turned out to be the real trouble maker :)

Evie just wanted daddy to take more pictures of her...and what could we do? The camera (and the photographer) LOVE her!

Eventually we let her down to join in the fun

Elliot was mostly just interested in playing with the ornaments. I think that nutcracker was putting the moves on Minnie....I'm pretty sure I heard him give her a kiss at one point hehe

Evie figured this out all on her own, and I wouldn't be surprised if she put more ornaments on the tree than Elliot did!

Elder Wirthlin

I'm sure most of you have already heard this, but Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin passed away last night.

He died peacefully in his sleep from health complications due to age, with some of his family members close by. He lived a long, successful life. It was just his time to go. I'm sure he's happy where he is now, especially being reunited with his wife(she passed away two years ago). For those of you that aren't members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he is one of the Twelve Apostles. He's a witness of Jesus Christ and he will be truly missed.

When I heard the news, I looked for more information on the internet. The article I read stated that many members of the church felt his last general conference address (from this past October) to be an instant classic. Unfortunately, I didn't remember the address.....I'm not even sure I heard it the first time around since I missed a lot due to noisy children. Luckily, the article had a link to the very address they mentioned, "Come What May, and Love it"

They were right. It is a very good talk. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

"But whenever my steps led through seasons of sadness and sorrow, my mother’s words often came back to me: “Come what may, and love it.”

How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.

If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth, which in turn can lead toward times of greatest happiness."

"Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others."


"Sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that will ultimately suffer us to overcome."

If you didn't hear it, or don't remember it, you might want to read it. It's beautiful and full of hope. I guess I posted all of this to say that I'm grateful for his witness, his legacy, and the things that I've learned from him.

Thanksgiving!

We had a really nice Thanksgiving this year (actually two)! Thanksgiving day was really relaxed. We spent the day with my family. Even Uncle Craig and Aunt Cyndy were in town. It was really nice to see them...it's been way too long! It was really low key and just pleasant....just like I remember Thanksgiving being when I was growing up. We even got a few pictures...

Elliot cheesin' it up before dinner

Evie knew something good was coming

Elliot diggin' in

Evie thoroughly enjoying her first Thanksgiving meal


Then on Saturday we had a second Thanksgiving with BJ's family. That was also really nice and relaxed and an all around good time. We didn't get many pictures of the actual eating but we all went outside after dinner to watch our niece April perform some of her color guard routines (I wish we had gotten some pictures of the actual flag tossing....she's really good!) But here's a couple of Elliot and Evie...

We hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours!

A Day of Firsts

Today was quite the day for us. Elliot helped make his first apple pie (he LOVES cooking).

Evie started really clapping for the first time. She was sure to stop and clap every time someone said "Yay!".

Evie met Uncle Craig and Aunt Cyndy(my dad's brother and his wife) for the first time.

AND.......

Evie took her FIRST steps! I can't believe it.....our baby girl is walking!

She's so amazing. It's been really fun to watch her reach these milestones so quickly. She wants to be just like her brother and I think that really pushes her to do things.

She's going to be running around with Elliot before we know it....yikes!

Am I the only one...

that thinks changing the diaper of a ten month old should be an Olympic event? Maybe. How about if I throw in changing clothes.....into an outfit including tights?? :)

Blast From the Past

So for the past little while my friend Koreena has been doing some "Memory Lane" posts. They are so cute and it's been really fun to read them and learn some things about her that I didn't know. And now I think I'm going to jump on the memory lane bandwagon and share something that not very many people know about me. If you promise not to laugh! At least not to my face ;)

Growing up I was a total fan of these guys......

That's right. The New Kids on the Block. Yeah, I know. I'm not even kidding. Go ahead and laugh.....but I guarantee that at least some of you were fans too.

I was pretty young still when they were popular. I think their big rise to stardom was somewhere in the very late '80's/early '90's. In fact my mom was nice enough to take me to my first ever concert (I saw on another blog they said the New Kids "took my concertginity" and it's the same for me) way back, EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO in 1990. WAY back then I wasn't embarrassed to be seen with my mom(I'm not embarrassed to be seen with her anymore either...just to make that clear) and the fact that she took me to the concert made her the coolest mom EV-ER....even with the older girls at church. I would have been in the third grade. There were much older girls at the concert, but didn't mean I loved them any less. It's pretty safe to say that Joey McIntyre was my first crush. I had it all figured out.....there was a 9 1/2 year difference between the two of us. I knew back then that he'd never be interested in such a little girl but by the time he was 30 I would 21 and that was perfectly acceptable, hee!

I was totally obsessed. I had all their tapes. I had a couple posters and a sticker book (remember it was a million years ago and I wasn't old enough to know about Tiger Beat magazine yet). I had to buy new stickers every time we went to the store so I could collect them all. I think I even had a pillow case and wrote some fan letters. I got a t-shirt at the concert and the boys made fun of me at school. They were SO jealous...you know they were!

Eventually the group broke up. There were no new albums. I grew up and focused my attention on other cute boys. I didn't even look back. In fact, had you asked me last week if I liked the New Kids on the Block I would have answered "Ummm, I DID....like forever ago". Sadly, my friends, it turns out that my NKOTB loving days are not yet over.

I heard a few months ago that they were reuniting and going out on tour. I had moments where I thought it would be REALLY fun to go. But being the "responsible" adult that I am now I just couldn't see spending the money on tickets when there are so many other things we need and want. So I just pushed the idea aside. Then on Friday I got an e-mail from the March of Dimes saying that the concert was on Saturday and they had a code for up to 6 free tickets (see could things come from supporting the fight againts prematurity). No WAY! I couldn't believe it. I gave BJ my best ever puppy dog face (yes, all that time spent practicing in the mirror paid off!) and he agreed to watch the kids so I could go. The problem was finding someone to go WITH. Hmmmm.

My little sister gave in even though she didn't have the slightest clue who I was talking about. She was only three when they broke up after all.....BUT she gets the boy band thing. There was that stint when she was in the third grade with NSync and of course now with the Jonas Brothers. Yes, Ashley, I understand that the Jonas Brothers are NOT a boy band (but they kinda are). Or it could be that she was grounded and this is the one thing our mom would actually let her do.

Anyway, when we got there I thought maybe I had made a terrible mistake. I wasn't too into the opening act and was feeling a little bored and a little tired already. But then they came out and the place EXPLODED! Ashley even said at parts it rivaled a JB concert haha! I could not believe all the now Mom's that were instantly sucked into a time warp and transformed back to their 8-14 year old selves. Many of them were there with their daughters who are fans now because thier moms have passed that NKOTB love along to them (it works, BELIEVE me, or else I wouldn't have been caught dead at that Donny Osmond concert with MY mom) It took me right back to that concert, 18 years ago, and before I new it I was yelling and singing along. Ashley couldn't sing along (she didn't know any of the words) but she was a good sport and yelled with the best of them. And she's had The Right Stuff stuck in her head ever since.

It was funny to me to see so many grown women, many of which are now married, screaming for these boys (actually 40 year olds) that they loved from their childhood. It was little weird but so fun at the same time. The events center was oozing with nostalgia. I even saw my best childhood friend and a former babysitter there. PLUS boys are like a fine wine (or so I'm told I've never had wine so I wouldn't know) they only get better with age.

Oh and at the risk of sounding like an old fuddy duddy....with all the booty shaking and crotch grabbing that went on I'm surprised my mom took me to that concert all those years ago (but she deosn't remember that happening then.....neither do I really......but I do remember it from Saturday). Yikes! How times change, right?

Thankful Thursday

Here we go again :)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. There's just something about them. Maybe it's the fact that you don't eat them all year round so they seem more special once Autumn shows up. Or maybe it's just that fact that they are cookies. If someone dared me to eat my weight in cookies I think I would be very tempted. I might even do it if no one reminded me that it would make me really sick.

Elliot. Yeah, ok, I'm always thankful for him (and Evie and BJ too) but this week Elliot has been really good. Not just kinda good....REEEEALLLLLYY good. Yesterday I swear he didn't get into anything or scream or whine or throw a fit at all. And today he was good too. So polite and obedient. I hope this is a new phase that will last for a little while. I'm also thankful that he likes to help bake and go to the store with me, even if his Papa says those are girly things ;)

Headphones. For a couple of reason really. BJ can wear them while he's playing his games and I don't have to hear the sounds of guns or whatever else is going on in there. AND when Brent is practicing his, umm, how do I put this delicately? Oh, nevermind....I can't. When he's practicing his BORING songs on the piano, I don't have to hear those either. I still love ya Brent :)

The Scriptures. I love how whenever we read them the spirit is instantly brought into our home, even if the kids have been screaming just a few seconds before. I also love that Elliot gets them. We like to keep it short and sweet, just reading a verse or two and then a little explanation and Elliot always adds something that we didn't explain but that is exactly right.

I'm sure there's tons more I could add but I'm going to go work on some projects while I have the chance. What about you? What are you thankful for this week?

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Today when we got up we decided we needed to go to WalMart. I needed to get some more baby food for Evie and we needed a few supplies for the business too. So my mom, the kids, and I hopped in the car and headed on our way. When we pulled into the parking lot I heard Elliot in the back seat saying "We're here.....we came back....you brought me back!". He was really excited. We were supposed to go to the other day but he fell asleep before we got there. So I stayed with him in the car while everyone else went inside. He woke up right as we were leaving and was really upset that he didn't get to go. Fast forward to today.

We got out of the car, grabbed Evie and the diaper bag, got her situated in the cart and made our way inside. Magah gave in and decided to let Elliot walk. As we walked in the store we came across the WalMart greeter. Our WalMart (and I'm sure yours too) has a really cute elderly man as the store greeter. He's there most days we go and usually stops us to give Elliot a sticker and say hello. So Elliot recognized him.....the difference between today and the other times is that he was walking instead of in the cart. So he stopped to chat with the greeter for a minute. The conversation went a little something like this....

Elliot: HHHIIIIII!!
Greeter: Well hello there! How are you today?

Elliot: Good. Look, I gots a new coat.....see! (while point at his coat)
Greeter: I see, that is a very nice coat. I like it.

Elliot: We just gots it at Target!
WALMART Greeter: *Lots of Laughter*

Now, I don't feel guilty about that at all. I haven't ever pledged my allegiance to WalMart. In fact, I probably *like* Target more. And they had better coats, so that's where I bought Elliot's. WalMart has cheaper food. You do what you gotta do.....but leave it to a three year old to spell that out for the world. Or at the very least the WalMart greeter :)

Halloween Fun!

I know these are WAY late, but I thought I would share them anyway (there are more on facebook if anyone's interested). We had a super fun day. First Elliot had his first ever school Halloween party. He got to dress up, play games and have treats. The only pictures I took there had his classmates there and I didn't know if their parents would appreciate me posting them so I'll leave those to the imagination.


Then we hit up Papa Cardon's house. The kids don't get to see Papa Cardon as much as we would like but they always have a blast there! (even if their facial expression don't prove that)

Elliot fell asleep on the ride to Magah's house and was none too thrilled when we tried to wake him up...

But he perked right up for the Trick or Treating
Evie got in on the fun too
Back at Magah's house playing with the glow sticks
Elliot was mad about taking his costume off and had a bit of a meltdown....hence the costume over the jammies

All in all it was a fun day. I did learn a useful equation though.....
Overstimulation + Too Much Sugar = 1 Cranky Three-year old

Thankful Thursday

I know there is always much to be thankful for, but for today I am going to keep it simple.

I am thankful for good doctors. Over the course of my son's short life I have had the opportunity to meet and talk to more doctors than I care to admit or even remember. Starting with the complications during my pregnancy I have seen specialist after specialist. Some have not been so great. One was even heard saying something along the lines of, "well, we really ought to do an amniocentesis to rule out any chromosomal defects because we wouldn't want to jeopardize your life with a c-section for a baby that won't survive anyway". Some have belittled me in order to make themselves feel smarter I guess. Some have just done their jobs the same way a grocery store clerk might go about their job.....day in and day out not really trying but just trying to pay the bills. But some have gone above and beyond, and those are the ones that I am truly thankful for.

For the one that pushed a little known pharmaceutical study that helped save my son's eyesight even though they have since found better alternatives. Or the one who heard when Elliot was so upset at being temporarily lactose intolerant after a nasty case of rotovirus. He personally stopped at the store to pick up some lactose free milk to make his hospital stay a little more comfortable. Or the one I saw today that just took time to sit and reason with me.....to answer every question I had and a few I didn't think of on my own. It's these kind of doctors that remind me that there are people out there that really just care. Care about my son and how to make his life the best it can possibly be. Without worrying about getting the job done, or worrying about how many patients they need to see that day, or what money they might be out of by giving me their honest opinion rather than the one that brings in the big bucks (wether that money comes from me or the insurance company).

I thank you. And hope everyone gets the chance to see one of these kinds of doctors some day.

I've Decided

That I am not a fan of "adult Halloween". Or, in other words....."let's see how little clothes I can get away with wearing" day. Last year I went to the mall and I was SO shocked at how many girls were very scantily clad. Girls that I suspect go to BYU. The honor code doesn't just apply when you are on campus! I don't like naked girls. I don't like blood and guts. I don't like haunted houses. Blech!

BUT......

I DO love Barry Pan and Tinka-BoBo (aka Peter Pan and TinkerBell)


I'm looking forward to tomorrow. I LOVED watching Elliot trick or treat last year and he's much more "in to" it this year, so it will be that much more fun. Plus, it's Evie's first Halloween. Doesn't she look so cute in her costume? AND it's Elliot's first school party. Hopefully we make it out the door with the camera and all the corresponding parts ;)

We are going to have such a blast! Kid Halloween is awesome!

A Couple Things I Love About My Kids

So I was thinking last night and throughout the day today just how content I am with my life right now. I feel like I'm starting to hit my stride a little with this mommy thing. I know I don't really get it all. I'm still learning everyday. But I feel like I'm finally really enjoying myself, rather than holding on for dear life. So I thought I would take this chance to list some of the things that I just LOVE about my kids......

The way they smell (when they are clean, of course). But I'm not talking the smell of the baby soap or lotion....I love the smell of my actual kids. I don't know what it is, but I do.

That Evie has loved to be told she's pretty since she was just itty bitty. I know you think I'm making this up, but I swear from the time she first learned to smile she has smiled EVERY time we tell her she's pretty. She knows what it means. I promise.

How "I love you" is the first thing Elliot says when he comes into our room in the morning. I also love that he tells me I'm beautiful and that I'm his favorite.

The brief moments throughout the day when Elliot says "I wanna hold you" and he really means it. Sometimes he only says that to get down from the kitchen table or because he's jealous when I'm holding Evie, but there are other times when he really wants to be held. I know those moments won't last forever so I'll take as many as I can get.

Similarly, I love it when Evie rests her head on my shoulder and sucks her thumb. That's her way of giving a hug and it means just as much as when Elliot wants to be held.

Watching Elliot wave and blow kisses to his daddy when we leave in the morning.

How Elliot can be found singing various songs at the top of his lungs throughout the day. He'll sing anything and everything.....from Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam to the Indiana Jones theme.

That no matter how many times he has pinched or knocked her down, Evie still LOVES Elliot and follows him everywhere.

How Evie loves ice cream (whoops, I mean of course she hasn't tasted any yet) as much as her mommy does. And how her smile just lights up the room and gets everyone's attention. Her happiness really does spread like wildfire. She's our little angel.

When I'm lucky enough to be able to hold Elliot for a while, I love to put my hand on his chest to feel the gentle rise and fall from his breathing. And the feel the strong steady beat of his heart. There was a time that I was worried he wouldn't be able to do that on his own, and now that it's second nature to him I am so grateful. He's our miracle.

Maybe now each of you can take a chance to list the lovely qualities of someone special to you. If they are old enough to understand, maybe you could even tell them a couple.....you might just hear a couple in return :)

Perspective

After hearing about them on a friend's blog (thanks Angela!) I've really gotten hooked on two blogs

c jane

and

NieNie

they are both now a part of my "favorite things" list to the right....if you want to check them out. They tell a (true) story about a family coping with unbelievable heart ache, but how they are able to stop all along the way and recognize the hand of the Lord. And to show gratitude for the miracles in their lives. They have made me smile and cry. They have made me laugh and have caused my heart to skip a beat (when reading about Nie's recovery). They have reminded me of my own miracles and taught me that life is to be cherished.....even if it seems mundane at times. They have given me perspective.

So this week I will try to laugh a little harder, cuddle my kids a little longer, and love a little more. Truly cherish the things that are important to me.

Thank you Courtney for helping us to all be a little more Nie-ish!

Field Trip -- Take Two

Today was another field trip for Elliot's preschool. After the disaster that was last month's field trip we decided we better be on our A game. I had BJ charge the camera battery last night and get the camera ready. Then we set the alarm for bright and early and hopped into bed.

We got up after just a couple times of the alarm going off...that's HUGE for us. BJ started getting ready while I laid out the kids clothes. Then I made some eggs so as to not have a case of the empty tummy troubles that we had last time. The kids woke up as BJ was shaving and brushing his teeth. Then he changed diapers and dressed them while it was my turn to get ready. There was a lot of other scrambling around including grabbing coats and the camera and making sure the diaper bag was packed. We got the kids to the car, said goodbye to Daddy, rushed to Magah's house and made it to school with 7 minutes to spare....this is also HUGE since we've been late every other day of school for the past two weeks. Woohoo! We did it! We were totally ROCKING this field trip.

We hopped back in the car and headed for the pumpkin patch. It was SO much fun! There was a corn maze and a playground. Not to mention the bunnies and other animals and the TONS of pumpkins. Elliot was here and there and everywhere just having the most fun ever :)

The problem is, you're just going to have to take my word for it. Unfortunately, when I took the camera out to take the first picture I realized we had forgotten one little thing......the stinkin' BATTERY! Ugh!

Guess we didn't rock this field trip as much as we thought.

It WAS tons of fun anyway.

Thankful Thursday

It's that time again. We'll just skip the pleasantries and get down to brass tacks....

This week I'm thankful for/that:

My mom saved all of our kids books. About the 452nd time through "Walter the Farting Dog" (which is not the only book we own but rather we have read the others at LEAST 452 times) I decided that we need some new books. LUCKILY, my mom has boxes of children books in her basement that she was all too willing to share. So now Elliot get's to hear brand new (to him) stories and Mommy gets to reminisce.....and everyone wins!

Macey's. Nope, I didn't spell it wrong....I'm talkin' about the Utah grocery store not the department store. This week they have a great deal going on where if you buy a Stouffer's lasagna for $9.99 you get a bag of lettuce, a loaf of french bread, and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream all for free. Sweet! And yummy too :)

Good friends that will tolerate my talking their ears off and tell me about good deals like the one above. I had the chance to go chat with a friend yesterday (the same one that told me about the Madame Alexander Happy Meall dolls) and she told me about that rockin' deal at Macey's. Plus she just let me chat with her for like a half hour while I left the kids with my husband :) Love ya, Steph! And last week we got to visit some friends we made right after we got married. It was so nice to chat with them for a while and to see their A-DOR-ABLE twin boys. Hang in there Jill and Nate....your boys are precious and they WILL get less fussy as time goes by.

Facebook. I've reconnected with SO manny old friends this way and it's awesome! So instead of just wondering how they are, I can ask them.

I'm sure there are a ton more things I could add to my list, but alas, it's time to get the kiddos to bed and spend some time with my hubby. But what are you thankful for this week? Come on, give in to the peer pressure.....you know you want to!!

I Can't Believe...

He's already in to this sort of thing!


We went to get some ice cream the other night. The store has two floors. The first floor is where you buy the ice cream. The second floor has comfy couches, a TV, and arcade games. Elliot could NOT get enough of the games. He was content to "play" most of them without spending a dime but that wasn't good enough for the Dance Dance Revolution game. He NEEDED to play that one for real (of course it was the most expensive one, hee). He didn't really know how to play so he basically just stood there and danced while Daddy, Magah, and I all tried to hit the arrows at the right time to keep him going (against Aunt Ashley no less). He LOVED it!


Sorry that the pictures are blurry....they were taken on Uncle Brent's iPhone.

PS....if you think Elliot looks REALLY tired, that's because he was. He's trying to give up his nap even though he clearly still needs it :)

Yikes!

So today I had to go get an oil change in the car. I went to WalMart even though I hate it it's not my favorite place in the world.....it's just so dang convenient. So we left the car and loaded the kiddies in the cart and wandered for a while.

We looked at toys, which led to a lot of whining. That gave me a headache was fun. Why do I torture myself like that? Then we went to look at movies. Then we picked up some diapers and found some tights that just might work for Elliot's Halloween costume (yes, I'm putting my son in tights.....he's going to be Peter Pan, what do you expect?) then we ran to meet Ashley in the cosmetics area. My mom was standing by the cart and was helping Ashley pick out some facial cleanser. I turned my back for what I swear was just a second, and turned back and Evie was no longer in the little seat in front of the cart. The floppy seat was still there, and it took a second for it to register that she wasn't sitting in there. UNTIL I saw a little foot poking up over the top of the seat from behind. I RAN over there and she had flipped herself over the back of the seat into the cart and was hanging there by the floppy seat safety belt around her waist. AHHHH! She wasn't crying at all, in fact she got to her bag of Cheerio's(which I'm sure is all she wanted anyway) and was perfectly happy just hanging there. But she nearly gave me a heart attack! I got her back in the seat and everything was a-okay but it took nearly 30 minutes for my heart to stop racing.

I guess I need a reminder every now and again that I can't turn my back on them for even one second.

A quick side note: She had her 9 month check up today and she is 17 lbs, 27 inches and officially less than three months away from being a year old! She is growing up TOO fast *sniff, sniff*.

Thankful Thursday

This Thursday is already almost over but I thought I would try to make my thankful list anyway. So here we go......

Family We got to hang out with my family tonight to watch the BYU game (I know it didn't end so well) and it was nice to just be around everyone. To just laugh and have a good time. I'm glad to know that our kids will grow up being close to their grandparents especially since they all live relatively close to us. Plus we had some yummy snacks that could also be added to my list. We'll also be visiting BJ's family soon and that is always nice.....we don't see them as often as we would like but we will be seeing them several times over the next couple months.

Along those same lines, I'm thankful for my Mother in Law. I know, I know, most girls wouldn't say that, but really....I am. I've never met her. She passed away when BJ was just six years old. But the things I know about her, I love. From what I've heard, she is a beautiful, strong woman. There are many qualities I see in my husband that I can see in his father but others, not so much. I like to believe those came from his mother. I'm grateful for the impact she made on him during the short time they had together. I look forward to meeting her someday.

The Holidays I know it's not even Halloween yet but I'm already getting excited for Christmas. In fact I have Christmas songs running through my mind :) I'm looking forward to all the most wonderful parts of the holiday season....family, friends, food, and fun! And another "baby's first Christmas". Plus, I have some ideas (thanks to some friends) on how to make this Christmas fun and hopefully help Elliot to know what Christmas is REALLY about.

Target Evie needed some new warm clothes so we went to Target yesterday. I got several new outfits and a coat for her, plus some new jeans and a shirt for Elliot and a few other things we needed for a pretty good price. And the clothes we got were REALLY cute. AND the pants I bought for Elliot were a size 2T! That's HUGE! I couldn't believe it!! The waist is still way too big, but they look way cute on him :)

New Discoveries Evie has been doing a lot of new things lately. She's cruising all over the place and getting pretty good at standing unassisted. She had her first ponytail today (so CUTE...I'll post a pic later). She clapped for the first time today. AND she has said her first word, besides mama and dada, which surprisingly enough (or not, really) is Wall-e. Why not, right? I mean, she DOES hear her brother say it about 5,000 times a day. I LOVE all the new things!

So how about you? What are you thankful for today??

Little Copycat

My brother has a new 2 1/2 foot shadow. Brent recently came home from his mission and Elliot can NOT get enough of him. He follows him everywhere and wants to do everything he does. The other night we all went to the store together and when it was time to go I heard Elliot in the back seat saying "we not go home Mommy, we need to go to Magah's house". I told him that we weren't going to Magah's house because it was dinner time and getting close to bed time. That was followed by an ear-splitting scream and shouts of "Brent, BRENT!! NO! I need my Brrrreeeeennnnttt!".

Well Brent decided it was high time he got himself a fancy new iPhone. Now Elliot wants one too! (Yeah, right buddy.....get in line......Mommy first) Thank goodness for his budding imagination....

Elliot now follows Brent (and his iPhone) around with his very own.....otherwise known as the box. You can see it at the very bottom of this picture, courtesy of Brent's iPhone :)


ps. He needs a hair cut in case you couldn't tell :)

I Actually Did It!

I actually followed through and entered the 8th International Art Competition that I previously talked about. It took til the very last minute, but I finished the picture and submitted it yesterday. The first round of judging isn't set to be complete until the end of the year. If they like it enough they'll ask me to bring it to the museum and then judge it again. We'll see what they think. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out though :)

Here it is.....



For those of you who are interested, it is graphite on illustration board, measuring 19 inches by 19 inches. The title is Fear Not, I am with Thee. And here is the description I submitted with it.....


"Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:28 and 30)

"The meaning of this scripture was made very real to me shortly after the birth of my first child. Not only was I filled with the normal fear and apprehension of a new parent, but I was also afraid for his life. He was born premature, extremely small, and unable to even breathe for himself. All I could do during that time was to rely on the love and promises of our Savior. As I prayed for my son and for the strength to face this trial, I felt these words at work in my life. Just as I held and protected my son the only way I knew how, I knew I was being cradled in the loving arms of my Savior. And He gave me rest."

There you go. I'll try to remember to let you know how it turns out.

Oh, and since I missed Thankful Thursday because I was working away.....I just wanted to give a quick shout out to my mom. She took time out of her busy schedule to watch my kids and allow me to follow my dreams......even though I waited til the last minute. So what else is new....right, Mom? Thanks for everything!

Should I Be Worried....

That when my son pretends to talk on the phone, he's usually talking to his pediatrician?

Let's Get Ready to Ruuuuummmmbble!

It's official. Today is the first day of the 178th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Or, more affectionately known around these parts as General Conference Smackdown. In the first corner we have two overtired and slightly frazzled parents, known as Mommy and Daddy. In the second corner we have 6 time, all around champion.....the slightly riled up Elliot (and his new accomplice Evie). Who do you think will win? Only time will tell! But my money is on the little ones.

There's always nap time. And Elliot DOES think that President Uchtdorf (or as he says, Prestident Ooofdorf) is pretty cool so maybe he'll listen some during his talk. It always works out somehow though, and no matter how little we do end up hearing, we will be spiritually fed and uplifted. I'm counting on it:) Plus, there's always the Ensign, right?

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful for trials. I know it sounds a little obscure but hear me out. Right now, one of my favorite people in the world is going through something difficult. Something that I never dreamed would happen to this person. Something I know he is hating right now. But also something I've been through myself.

At the time I could not figure out why this particular trial had entered my own life. But as time went on I was able to see some benefits. It put my life on a path that I otherwise wouldn't have taken. It made me stronger, more compassionate, and less judgmental. And now I see another purpose for this trial.....to be able to help this person through. I hope I can do that for him.

Oh, and just because I can't be all deep and thoughtful for too long (seriously, my head might explode) I am also thankful for the A1 Peppercorn Burger from Red Robin......and the leftovers that are in my fridge right now. It's delicious. A million times better than a Happy Meal cheeseburger. If you haven't had one, you need to. Right now. But keep your hands off my leftovers! ;)

My Secret Obsession

Well, it's not so secret anymore.....the cat's out of the bag. And apparently I am five years old because I MUST have all of the Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls that you can get in a Happy Meal right now. I know I should be ashamed, but there it is. For the whole world to see. I've even resorted to eating Happy Meals myself since Elliot would MUCH rather have the Lego Batman toys. Blah! He's such a boy!

I didn't even know McDonald's had such cool toys. I found out while I was sitting and chatting with some friends outside while our kids played (outside time ROCKS...see what I would have missed out on if I kept my kids locked up inside all day!). I've already missed my chance of getting some of them, but I know better now. And trust me, against my better judgment as a mother we WILL be going to McDonald's again in a few days. And just in case anyone is worried, I am blushing while airing my dirty laundry like this ;) BUT, Elliot's nutritionist would be proud.....they tell me to give him as many calories as I can right?

I tell people that I want them for Evie. But anyone with higher than a third grade education could see right through that. I mean, come on, she's 9 months old! Yeah, maybe sometime she will actually play with and appreciate them, but for now they just become a big slobbery mess when she plays with them.

I can't help myself, they are so darn cute! You should go get a Happy Meal and see for yourself!!

I Messed Up

And forgot about thankful Thursday. Oh well, I guess I'll have thankful Sunday instead :)

1. All of your blogs. I love keeping up with all the blogs that I've found. It is so nice to hear how everyone is doing and to see fun pictures. Especially those that are far away or those we don't get to see very often. Plus, when you keep up on the blogs, sometimes you learn about really cool things. Like if ColdStone was having a free ice cream night!

2. Girls Night Out This is a time when I can step away from my responsibilities and feel footloose and fancy free. I pretty much got two of these nights this week. One was Tuesday night when I hit up the Cheesecake Factory and the So You Think You Can Dance tour with my Mom and sister. It was way fun and I got my cheesecake all to myself for once. The other was technically a girls night in (and husbands and kids were allowed to tag along). The girls from my district in the MTC came over for dinner and we had a really nice time chatting. It was soo good to see you Rhonda, Amy, and Terra!!

3. Brent's good taste in music (with a few suggestions thrown in from Ashley too). While Brent is away on his mission, he is kindly allowing me to babysit his ipod. I'm not allowed to take anything off but I can add however much more to it that I want. But he pretty much has it covered. He's got everything from Rachmaninoff to Killer Tofu by the Beets (anyone remember Doug?). I love it, and I'll be sad to give it back.

4. Three beautiful little letters D V R. Yep, that's right, I said it. It may sound a little silly but there are many reasons I love this invention. I can watch some of my favorite shows (which usually fall right in the middle of bed time) when it is convenient for ME. Plus, then I don't have to watch commercials. AND when Elliot spends a day sick, not wanting to do anything but watch "Bineas and Berb" there are pleanty of episodes saved up to keep him happy......not that that happened or anything.

5. And on a more serious note, Prayer. And having good friends and family around that not only pray for you, but are also there to point out when your prayers are answered. We've had many, many prayers answered here and have witnessed more than our fair share of miracles. And for that I am truly grateful.

School Troubles

Don't worry, Elliot's not failing out of preschool or anything like that. Actually, he's doing quite well. He's just started getting nervous about going.

The first week of school was just like dropping him off at nursery...

me: "come give me a kiss so I can go"
Elliot: *completely surprised that I'm even still there*

This kid really couldn't care less if I drop him of at nursery. He would go by himself if I would let him. It looked like school was going to be the same way. Until last week.

Last Monday we got up and got ready for school. All the while, Elliot would say, "you're gonna come lif me right?" . I would assure him that I was. But when we got there, he wouldn't leave my side. And he got his really pouty, starting to tear up look. He kept rubbing his eyes like he was going to cry. So I closed the door and decided to stay for a few minutes.

He ran off to join the other kids in their morning songs. He would smile and do the actions. So I would think he was fine and inch toward the door. BUT then he would turn around, get all pouty again and say "don't leave, stay lif me" and start crying. So I would step away from the door and he would join back in with the songs. This went on about four or five times when I finally got up the nerve, booked it for the door, didn't look back, and made my escape.

Unfortunately, the door squeeks.

And with the window open, I could easily hear the sobs that followed. "I...want.....my......MOMMY!!!" It triggered a ripple effect, and next thing I new there were at least 5 other kids just as noisily realizing that their mommies weren't there either. I felt guilty but I made a run for it.

Luckily, his teacher has 20 years experience with this sort of thing and assured me that he was just fine when I picked him up a couple hours later. But this one "fluke" day has started a trend. The days since HAVE been better but he still doesn't want me to leave.

In fact, this morning, he had to talk himself into it.

me: "Elliot, we're going to school.....it's going to be so FUN!"
Elliot: "yay! hahaha"
me: "Arent' you so excited?"
Elliot: "yep! we're gonna see my school friends and sing songs"
me: "Yes! It's going to be SO FUN!!!"
Elliot: *giggles*

----long pause------

Elliot (to himself): "School not a bad place......school a happy place"

Gah! It just kills me! I just want to save him from all the things that make him sad or uncomfortable. But I know that's not my job as a mommy. And I know he has a blast once he settles in for the day. Plus it's only two hours. Right?

Thank goodness Friday is field trip day and I'm already going on that anyway!

My Little Dare Devil

I wish I had pictures or a video of this, but I swear it's true even though it seems unbelievable. Especially to me! Yesterday, out of nowhere it seems, Evie climbed up TWO stairs!! They were actually two CEMENT steps...... outside. What is she trying to do, give her mommy a heart attack?

Elliot wanted to play outside, and there were some kids out in Magah's neighborhood. So we went out there. He ran around while I sat in front of my mom's neighbor's house. Evie was in my lap for most of the time. She started squirming though, and really wanted to check out the grass, so I let her down. The next thing I know, she was standing on one step and almost halfway up the other! Yikes! She's only 8 months old! I'm not ready for this!!

Elliot was 18 months before he ever attempted stairs. And our friend Christine taught him how to go up the stairs.....he wasn't even interested on his own. But I can already tell she's more adventurous than him anyway.


Looks like we better find the gate ;)

Thankful Thursday

I've seen this on a couple of other blogs I've been reading lately. And though I swear I haven't uttered the words "but Mom, ALL my friends are doing it" in at least ten years, I decided that it would be cool to follow the crowd just this once :) Especially since I believe more blessings come to those with gratitude in their hearts and I have been a little less than grateful today.

So here goes nothing......

1. A Wonderful Husband- who also happens to be a great daddy. Most days, especially the ones that are rough for me, he comes home and really takes charge with the kids. He gives them lots of attention, plays with them, helps tremendously with bed time, and even *gasp* changes diapers. Plus, he knows exactly what will cheer me up......I think tonight alone he has offered me a new shirt, a new pair of shoes, and some ice cream (none of which I accepted, but the night is still young and I can't pass up ice cream for very long).

2. The Children's Place footy-pajamas. These jammies are A-MAZ-ING. For a girl like me that has two kids with very different bodies, it is great to be able to go into one store and buy something that fits both of them. Elliot is a little longer but very skinny and these jammies don't drown him. Evie definitely has a little more pudge to her, and even though she fills them out more than her brother, she doesn't look like she's wearing spandex.

3. Bedtime. Now I know a lot of us crave bedtime because that is the time of day where we can finally find a moment alone, but that's not the reason I'm putting it on my thankful list. I chose to add this because it's the time of day when all the frustration from earlier seems to just melt away. I can share a quiet moment with my family reading a story and having some chocolate milk, and then I can see the good things our kids are learning especially as Elliot can say more and more of a full prayer every night. And then, of course, there are the hugs and kisses. And the "I love you Mommy"s.

4. My cell phone. It has some really cool features on it, like internet acces and GPS, and I was able to use it to help someone today. He was looking for a street. I didn't know where it was, so I thought I would look it up on my handy dandy phone. Unfortunately, there were some minor technical difficulties (read "I don't know how to work the fancy schmancy stuff"). BUT luckily, I was able to use the phone they way they did in the olden days, rely on good ol' number one again (my wonderful husband) and get the guy where he needed to go. And now I'll learn to work all that other stuff.

5. Ice cream. My mantra really is that ice cream makes everything better. And don't even try to tell me you're too full......because there is ALWAYS room for ice cream. If I'm not careful this will end up on my list every week.....in fact, ice cream is sounding pretty good right now. I think I ought to go ask BJ if his earlier offer still stands :)

How about you? What are you thankful for today?

Why is it...

that when I go out for a little retail therapy, I come home with absolutely nothing for myself?

Sweet Baby Girl

I spend a lot of time talking about Elliot on this blog because he's so darn funny and he's always doing SOMETHING that needs to be told. But we do have another child that we absolutely adore....and it's only fair that she should get some blog time too!

Evie seems to be growing up before my very eyes. I can't believe how fast she's doing everything. She's been crawling for months now and has been able to pull herself to standing for a few weeks now (she did it for the first time on August 28th...at only seven months old!). And she started cruising the furniture the next day. I'm sure she'll be walking before we know it!

It's funny, the other night we were watching an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place (why we don't turn away from the Disney Channel after the kids go to bed is beyond me...) . It's the episode where the mother wants to throw a Quinceanera (which from what I understand is a kind of "rite of passage" celebration similar to a Bar or Bat Mitzvah) for the 15 year old daughter, Alex. It's a pretty cheesy show, but cute. And I was enjoying it. Anyway, they show some of the different rituals that can take place: trading out a flat shoe for one with high heels, a toast, and the father daughter dance. When they show they father-daughter dance, the dad in the show starts to cry. And pretty soon I started hearing some different sniffles. Sure enough, I turned around, and it was my husband! He was tearing up a little saying how that will be our little girl some day.

Now even though we won't have a Quinceanera, because it's not part of our culture, you better believe that the day will come when our little Evie will want to trade her flats for high heels and will prefer lip gloss over Barbies.......BUT we aren't even to the Barbie stage yet, so it will be at least a little bit. I can't believe how sappy these men get over their little girls. It WAS kind of cute though.

And he is right, they DO grow up too fast.

A Funny Little Conversation with Elliot

Well, the other day Elliot was looking at some pictures on the wall at Magah's house. He saw one of my senior pictures (yeah from a million years ago) and said "it's mommy and her stick". So we told him, "no, that's a flute.....mommy plays the flute". And then we went down the list of other family members and the instruments they play. He was really interested and, as I found out today, really payed attention......for the most part. So we had a little chat when he was looking at the same picture today. Here's the conversation....

Elliot: Look there's Mommy! Mommy plays the flute!
Mommy: That's right Elliot! Good job! What instrument does Daddy play?

Elliot: Daddy plays the clarinet!
Mommy: Yes he does! What about Uncle Brent?

*long pause*

Mommy: Does Brent play the piano?
Elliot: Yes! Brent plays the piano!!

Mommy: What about Papa?
Elliot: Papa plays the trumpet!

Mommy: Yes he does! What about Aunt Ashley?
Elliot: *thinking*.....ummmmmmmm...........Ashley plays the Jonas Brothers!!

After a minute or two of laughing we were able to tell him that yes, Ashley listens to the Jonas Brothers a LOT, but she also plays the violin. You sure can't tell me he doesn't pay attention!

Family Home Evening

Tonight we decided it would be fun to go out and do something for FHE. So we hit up the farm at Thanksgiving Point. It wasn't very expensive to get in and Elliot had a blast running around to all the animals. They have horses, cows, ducks, chickens (he was convinced Super Chicken was there for any of you that might remember that cartoon....Papa has showed him episodes on YouTube) goats, ponies, turkeys, geese, and I'm sure some others that I'm missing. It was so fun and Magah even helped him feed some of the animals.

When we were done, it was time for mommy's favorite part....the treat! They have a cute little deli and ice cream shop and Thanksgiving Point also. We got an amazing banana split to share. I swear it was at least half as big as Elliot's head! What do you think?


All in all, it was a really fun night! If you're looking for a fun family evening out, I would highly recommend it!

Is my child the only one....

that would seriously rather eat a tuna sandwich than a brownie? Where did he come from....Mars?!

I asked him if he wanted a brownie after lunch and he said yes. I put it on the table before he had finished his sandwich. He looked at it for a while. Then he took a little taste. Then he picked off all the frosting (note to self: No frosting on brownies for Elliot). He took a bite. He broke it up into little pieces making it undesirable to myself. And then he pushed it aside and devoured the rest of the tuna.

What's with that? He must get it from his father :)

Insecurities

So, many of you probably don't know this about me, but I was an art major back in the day. Actually I started off as an animation major, then switched to illustration when I found out that the computer really isn't my best friend all the time. Then I went on a mission and somehow ended up switching my major to art history, which I love. I was going to graduate and then move to Europe or somewhere equally "cool" and work restoring rare old finds and all that fun stuff. I had come to terms with not getting married right away and had planned out a fun future for myself. But then I met BJ. And had a baby. And then another one.

It's kind of hard to run off to Europe with a baby and toddler......let alone find yourself in that line of work without finishing the degree first. But I digress. (actually, when I finally get back to school I think I'll be switching once again, but back to animation this time).

Anyway, the point is that I enjoy the fine arts. I have a teensy bit of training and (in my opinion) an even teensier bit of raw talent. I've entered a few shows and even been paid to do portraits for people. But that is all part of the things that represent my "former life". And those things got shoved in the deep, dark recesses of our messiest storage closet. The trouble with those kinds of closets is that you have to clean them out eventually. Recently we did just that. And now I've had a husband, a mother, and even a very LOUD three-year old urging me to start drawing again.

I finally decided to give in to the peer pressure when my dad sent me an email about the 8th International Art Competition for the LDS Museum of Church History and Art. Now, I'm madly trying to brush up my rusty skills and have something presentable done in time to enter this competion. Ummmm, wow! Whatever possesed me to do this?

Don't get me wrong, I do feel like I have some limited skill. I WAS all gung ho about the competition when I found out about it in the spring. But as the due date approaches and the speed of light, I'm becoming more and more insecure. Maybe that's why I waited until there was only one month left to even START the piece I plan on entering.

This is something that I would ultimately love to do for a living, or at least as some "on the side" work to help support our family. But, a lot of the ideas that come into my mind are so personal and emotional. To spend the kind of time required to do these ideas justice and then just turn around and have them be rejected is almost unbearable. And before I get too much farther into the fluffy, emotional babble that rolls around my brain on a daily basis I will just ask you all to think of me. Please send me any positive "vibes", or prayers, words of encouragement, or whatever you want to call it before I chicken out and settle for mediocrity. Just wish me luck. I promise to do the same for you if/when needed :)

Quick! Somebody Stop Me!

I have a cupcake in the fridge and a Frosty in the freezer.....I know how to use them......and I'm not afraid to either! I guess that's my problem. No matter how hard I try, I just can not be frightened by the idea that that ooey, gooey, chocolaty goodness will use the momentum it gains from those oh so delicious pirouettes of flavor on my tongue to increase the size of my thighs (stomach or other "too large" problem area) three fold.

Hmmm, looks like I think way too much about the tasty qualities of my food and not enough of the other, less desirable qualities. Guess I better work on that. Maybe tomorrow. For now, I think I'll go get the cupcake before it starts screaming so loud it wakes the kids :)

It's Too Quiet in Here

Last night while I was cooking dinner, I needed some help. So BJ put Evie in the exersaucer and came in the kitchen to help. Amazingly there wasn't any hitting, or screaming, or crying going on. It was a beautiful sound.....until something finally clicked in my brain and I realized that the silence must mean there was something far more terrifying than fighting going on.

We went to see what the munchkins were up to. And of course by munchkins I really just mean Elliot since Evie was contained. And sure enough, we found Elliot "painting". His medium? Balmex. His canvas? Evie. Yikes!




But of course we got the camera out before we cleaned them up.

As Promised......

Here are some pictures from Elliot's first day of school. We wanted to remember everything so we have quite a few :)

First Day of School!

Three years ago you would have had a near impossible time convincing me that Elliot would ever come off oxygen, let alone be starting school someday. Well, that "someday" came and went on Friday. Elliot had his first day of preschool and he LOVED it! He gets to go twice a week for two hours each day. They sing songs and play games and they learn their numbers and letters too. PLUS, once a month we get to go on a field trip....so FUN!

This month he is learning about dinosaurs and we will get to go to the dinosaur museum. I know he will just love it!

Friday I didn't get much out of him when I asked him what he did at school. He just told me that his teacher's name is Mrs. Redd, there's a boy named Logan in class, and then he showed me his art project. He was all worked up though and wouldn't go down for a nap.

Today he was a little more open. He jabbered away during our entire walk from school to Magah's house. He told me all about how they made necklaces (his said Elliotsaurus on it...so cute!). And then he told me that they played outside, and jumped on the trampoline while counting jumps, they watched a video, and ate snacks.....dinosaur fruit snacks and applesauce...and how applesauce starts with A.

It's only been two days but he seems more grown up to me. Or maybe I'm still being a little lot sappy. Oh well, I'm a mommy. That's my job.

Now hopefully he'll pick up on the fact that the other kids use the potty.....I'm not opposed to that kind of peer pressure at the moment ;)

Oh, and I know I promised pictures. But being the doofus that I am I left the disc at my parents house. Guess now you'll have a reason to check back!

What a Weekend

It's been a super cool, super fun, super busy past couple of days. There is so much that I want to write about, but it's going to have to wait for the time being. Partly because I'm waiting on some pictures I want to post (from Elliot's first day of preschool....he's getting so big...*sniff, sniff*) and partly because I'm exhausted! Even though we've had some really fun things going on, we also, as Elliot has been telling anyone who will listen, "had a bad night" last night.

I was having a really hard time getting to sleep but finally drifted off to dreamland around 1:30. At 3:30, a car alarm started going off in the parking lot. Followed by other car alarms beeping on and off as just about everyone within hearing range checked to make sure it wasn't their car. Except for the car that actually had the alarm going off. Elliot woke up terrified, but luckily Evie slept right through it (I'm not exactly sure how, but I'm counting it as a miracle that will of course get many thanks in my prayers tonight).

After another neighbor called the police, and they finally got in contact with the owner, the alarm was silenced (hallelujah!) around 4. But BJ, Elliot, and I were WIDE awake. Elliot actually seemed slightly traumatized. He wouldn't stop talking about it (and hasn't stopped all day). He kept saying "that noisy car scared me. I freaked out. I cried. That noisy car needs to stop....I'm gonna shoot it with my pop gun and make it shut up!". It was really kind of funny, but after two more hours of that talk we were beyond relieved when he finally went back to sleep around 6. But he's still been talking about it all day, we finally had to tell him that the car went to sleep and tonight would be a GOOD night.....I think he bought it :)

The funny thing is, that when we finally felt like rolling out of bed to rush and get ready for church.....the POWER WENT OUT! Holy moly! Trying to bathe a baby and a toddler by candlelight is neither relaxing nor romantic (which are the only reasons why anyone would WANT to bathe by candlelight that I can think of) it is just plain silly. And time consuming. And I was not too keen on the idea of going to church with wet hair. And I was making my opinion known to BJ when the lights came back on. "Woohoo! Somebody sure loves me!" Unfortunately I wasted those few precious moments of light (yep, the power went out again) BRUSHING MY TEETH instead of drying my hair. So I got to go to church with wet hair anyway. And we were late. And Elliot was noisy. And we forgot a spoon to use to feed Evie. Oh well, what can you do?

There's no way our neighbors could have known that their alarm would go off in the middle of the night, and we really do still love them, so I hope they don't feel bad. It really was a circumstance beyond their control and a funny beginning to a series of unfortunate events that acted as the finale to our weekend. And the reason why I'm too tired to write about Elliot's first day of school, or our family fun night last night. Lame excuse, I know, especially since I just spent a half hour writing out this story.

BUT, I did make some pretzels that I saw on Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and they turned out great! So maybe our luck is changing........*knocks on wood* ;)

Oh, and I will be sure to post all the new, fun pictures I have tomorrow!

Boys will be boys

This has just not been Elliot's week. First his burn on Sunday. Then somehow the nail on his big toe came off. And then yesterday he had a run in with sidewalk.....and the sidewalk came out victorious :(

I can't get him to stop running. He runs. He runs everywhere. He runs ALL the time. And yesterday was no different. He was running down the sidewalk when he tripped and did a face plant. He scraped his knees. And his face. AND he has a pretty nice bump on his head. He looks better today but last night it was awful!

Luckily the tears didn't last for too long. It helps when you have 4 adults attending to your every wish. He got some ice for his head, lots of kisses and he even got to watch a movie. At least until he got bored and was up running again....yikes!


And here's an updated pic of his burn

Disclaimer: We may not be spectacularly amazing parents, but I SWEAR we are not neglectful, awful parents.....we are just parents to a particularly busy, curious, and fearless boy.

It's official...

I started my first quilt today. I'm super duper excited about it! Does that make me a nerd? Hopefully it doesn't take TOO long to finish in the midst of all the other projects I have going on at the moment, and my children that tend to get cranky when I'm finally wanting to do something fun for myself. Oh well, we'll see.

Side note: Elliot totally head-butted me in the nose today! Now that is something I would definitely expect from Evie, because kids at HER age do that. I remember when Elliot was that age and that happening all the time. And you can't really get mad at them because they are still little and don't really know. But no, Elliot KNEW what he was doing. He did it on purpose! AND he laughed about it afterward.....until he saw me crying of course. Then he kissed it better and gave me a hug. It hurt, but I guess kisses really do make booboos better :)

Bath Time Fun!

So, I believe I have sufficiently gotten over myself since yesterday's debacle. Now I'm ready to share some pictures from Elliot and Evie's first bath with each other. I'm sure they will bathe together occasionally, but not into their teens or anything weird like that. For now, I thought they were pretty cute having fun in the bath together :)

And the Mother of the Year Award goes to........

So today was just one of those days, and look what we have to show for it. Don't worry, it's not a cast, there are no broken bones. But we do have a pretty good burn that stretches the full length of that bandage :(

Let me back up a little......

This morning we were in a bit of a hurry. Yeah, it's Sunday, and Sundays are always a little chaotic. But today was a little more hectic than usual. We had a missionary "farewell" (I know that's not what they really are anymore) to go to, and we were supposed to pick up Ashley and her friend Sharon on the way. So I got up and started getting ready while BJ and the kids slept a little longer. By the time they were up, we only had about thirty minutes to finish getting ready. So BJ put the kids in the bath (their first bath together and the pictures are really cute....I'll post them when I'm done feeling sorry for myself) and I went to iron my skirt. When I was done, I unplugged the iron and put it up on the counter, safely out of the way, or so I thought. Then I went about my business of trying to get things ready to go.

While I was madly trying to gather the massive amounts of toys, books and snacks that are required to keep two kids reverent (or at the very least....quiet) during church, Elliot spotted a step stool left too close to the counter and an egg timer which must have been calling very enticing things out to him. I barely saw him out of the corner of my eye and briefly said "Elliot get down, and stay out of things that aren't yours!" while shuffling around for the fruit snacks. I forgot all about the hot iron that was mere inches away from where he was playing. That is, UNTIL I heard the screaming. Yep, that's right, his hand met the iron and the iron did NOT make a good first impression.

The burn was pretty bad and I was worried we would need to take him to the doctor. But after some burn ointment, an awesome and slightly over the top bandaging job, and a few silent prayers in his mommy's heart.....it looks like he's going to be okay. Phew!

Needless to say, the stool is no longer by the counter, the iron will not be left out any more, and we were a lot later (but still miraculously on time) to church than we intended to be. Sorry Ash for not making it to pick you up, but thank you mom for dropping her off!

On the positive side.....Elliot's jammies are not lying....he is, in fact AWESOME!

Wait, what?

So, ummm, yeah.....several evenings over the past week or so I've had something so hilarious that I knew I should write down. But, no, I have an AMAZING memory and instead decided to "just remember" and write it down later. So here I am now, which is in fact the "later" that I just referred to, and I can't remember a darn thing. Yikes! That'll teach me!

Since I can't remember the funnier things of the week, I will bore you with some of the more mundane details.

I'm trying to potty train Elliot. It's.........fun. Not going so well, but I do crack up every time he says he wants to "use the potty train". He REALLY wants some Wall-e "unerwear pants" so hopefully that will help motivate him.

We took Evie in for her six month check up (yeah, it's a month late.....what's your point?) And she is just as healthy as can be. She's only in the 25th percentile, but she's also only 6 lbs lighter than Elliot. She's crawling like a pro and can get in and out of sitting by herself!

We did get to celebrate the anniversary of Elliot coming home from the hospital on saturday. He's officially been in our care for three years! He's our little miracle!

And tomorrow is our fourth wedding anniversary. It seems like it's gone by so fast and that it's been so much longer than that all at the same time!

Now that I'm rambling, I think I'll go relax for a while. Unless, of course, I can remember some of the stuff that I wanted to write. In which case I'll jump right up, come right back, and write it all down......because I've totally learned my lesson. Hopefully that will still apply with how lazy I'm bound to feel in about two seconds :)