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!