Happy Birthday Baby Nathan!

We don't get to see Annie & Ellie's only two cousins all that often, being that they live far, far away. But Annie talks about Connor and Nathan ("Baby Nathan" is the only way she'll refer to him) all the time, even getting 'reports' from Doh doo and Iah about their visits to Indiana to see her cousins. We look at lots of pictures, watch and rewatch as many videos as we can get our hands on, and fortunately Annie seems to have a strong attachment towards her cousins, no matter how little we actually get to see them in person.

Well, today is Nathan's first birthday, and we got out some pictures to show Annie of when he was born, the last time he was here, and we pulled up an email of the most recent pictures we've gotten of him. Annie is very excited, and wants to make cupcakes. I'm cool with this, 'cause I love cupcakes. "He is one years old like Ellie!" she exclaimed. (Ellie is 8 weeks older than Nathan). I definitely wish we got to see them more often, but what an amazing time we live in, where we're able to talk and share info and pictures so readily, that sometimes it feels more like they just live across town than across the country.

All of us are very extremely excited that Nathan & Connor are coming into town and we're all going camping in August. Annie's been picking out 'matching' Disney Princess and 'Cars' sleeping bags and camping chairs for her and Connor ever since she found out we're going and that such products exist. It'll be fun to see how big the boys have gotten, how much they've grown and all that they've learned. We may not get to see them as often as we like, but how cool is it that we get to create memories that'll last when we do!

Happy Birthday Nathan!
And I can't wait to see my only two nephews next month!

Here's Ellie (8 weeks old) and Nathan in the hospital when Nathan was born.
It was pretty much the last time she was ever bigger than him. :-)

New Years 2008 . . . Nathan was definitely the happier of the grandchildren at this (and every) family event.

January 1st, 2009. I love how much they just 'look' like cousins in these pictures . . . almost the exact same hair, chubby cheeks, adorable 'chewing' habits.

Look at those cheeks people! It does not get much cuter than that!

Here's Nathan a week or so before his birthday. What a cutie!

I can't wait to get new pictures of all the kids together in August. If Annie has her way, Connor and her will be toting matching Disney backpacks and water bottles. We may have to keep that girl away from the stores until after we get back from vacation!

Playing with Friends

So, Annie went to a friend's house to play.

This is still new and kinda weird for me. It's so nice to some good quality Ellie/Mommy one-on-one time, and I'm able to get more done around the hosue, but I do spend a great deal of that time mildly freaking out in my head, "Where are they now?! What are they doing?! What if they're playing in the road?!" Having Annie out of sight, and in the company of other 3 & 4 year olds is taking some getting used to. It's a good thing though, and we're making some social headway as Annie's learning to get along better and better with peers.

So, I was a tad disappointed when she showed up again at our front door approximately 5 minutes later. "Why aren't you still playing with the other kids Annie?" I asked. No matter how I asked or prodded, she never really gave me a straight answer. I was told all about how they were going to play school, that they'd had fun playing with toys, Lily's older sister was watching a movie downstairs, and a dozen other things, but nothing that led me to understand why Annie had so suddenly come home. She was fine, had had fun (for approximately 4 and a half minutes apparently), but was just done and had come home.

Finally, I dropped it. Figured I'd milked Annie for all the info I was going to get, she just wanted to come home. Suddenly though, she piped up, "You know Mom," like she's suddenly decided to offer an explanation, "my friend was wearing a Barbie shirt . . . "

Yeah, I don't take that kinda crap from my friends either.


Edited to add: She had actually been wearing a "Wizards of Waverly Place" shirt, but oh well.

Just So You Know . . .

. . . yesterday Annie used an entire large tub of vaseline on herself. On her face, her legs, her belly and my bathroom floor, counters and rugs. The entire thing. Then I gave her a bath. So I have been scrubbing the tub and my floors with harsh cleaners and abrasive pads, just trying to get that slippery, slimy film off of everything. I thought I had it all done, except that when I gave her a bath and washed her hair, we kinda missed some in her hair, not getting it all out. You couldn't tell when it was wet. Which meant that she was beautifully dressed up for a viewing we went to last night, with one side of her hair a strange, groddy looking grease ball. It was a good look, let me tell ya. It kinda looked like I have very lax hygiene standards at our house. :-)

My poor Ellie is a miserable, cranky baby as of late (except while bathing, of course). Like unbelievably clingy and grumpy. I know that tooth coming in (just break through already!) has to be miserable, so besides tylenol, I've now added Hyland's Teething Tablets to the mix as of last night, on high recommendation of my sister in law Liz and all her many agreeing commenters. These things never made a difference for Annie, but I'm hoping it's different this time. I gave Ellie some after she woke up at 6AM this morning . . . and it's 8:30 and she's still sleeping . . . so here's hoping! Keep your fingers crossed!

I Think It's Genetic

Do all kids love bubble baths and books as much as my kids? Or did they somehow get it from me? (Combine the two, and you pretty much have heaven on earth).

Here's some pictures of Ellie from Saturday, clearly thinking bathtime is, in fact, so much fun. (Although, no rubber ducky, she is playing with a floating hippo instead).

Doesn't she just look thrilled to be there?! (Annie was outside the bathtub, singing "Splish Splash" the entire time . . . yet another reason Ellie was so amused.)



My heart just about melted last night when I looked in on a sleeping Annie . . . who had fallen asleep with her book she'd been 'reading' propped up.

And despite our house being in the mid- to high-70s at night, Annie has lately insisted on wearing only flannel pjs to bed. I don't get it. It's so warm I can't even keep the covers on at night, let alone footie pajamas! (And, I may not have mentioned the ritual of the blankets before. Each and every night Annie has Greg tuck her in, with all her blankets in a very specific order. First you have the pink fleece butterfly blanket, then the purple afghan, then the blue fleece butterfly blanket, then the white afghan, then the princess blanket or comforter. I don't know why it's so hard to get her to sleep . . . how this child doesn't pass out just from the heat is a wonder!)

Here was Annie 'reading' the "The Berenstains' B Book" to her Daddy on Friday night. (She could actually do it perfectly when I wasn't recording . . . but with the camera there, she was much more likely to get flustered!)

Just for reference, the book reads:

Big brown bear,
blue bull, beautiful baboon
blowing bubbles biking backward,
bump black bug’s banana boxes and
Billy Bunny’s breadbasket and
Brother Bob’s baseball bus and
Buster Beagle’s banjo-
bagpipe-bugle band…
and that’s what…
broke Baby Bird’s balloon.

Playing Games

Ellie's been grumpy lately. And last night while trying to make dinner was no exception. (She has an obviously swollen gum where one of her top side teeth is trying to come in, which explains the poor kid's foul mood. Annie's also grumpy, but just 'cause Ellie gets tylenol and she doesn't. Every time she seems Ellie get any kind of pain reliever before bedtime, she suddenly starts to whine, "Oh, I'm sick Mom. Sooooo sick!" She's very dramatic. I informed her that anyone who is sick has to go to bed immediately and take a nap the next day. Suddenly she feels 100% better. It's a miracle.)

Anyway, as Greg and I were trying to prepare dinner, Ellie was crying. A lot. She would whine and cry and call, "Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma," and Greg would hand her to me. About 30 seconds later it would be a pathetic cry of, "Da da da da da da da," and I would hand her back. Each time she'd dramatically throw herself to the desired parent and cry like she was being kept from the one thing in the world that would keep her happy. After yet another such exchange, Annie suddenly spoke up, very 'knowingly' saying, "You know . . . I think she is just playing tic-tac-toe with you guys."

Protecting One's Heart

Sometimes I imagine what it will be like when Annie's a teenager. (Probably because the passage of time seems to be speeding up beyond my control and it'll be here before I know it!) I have this fear. I picture a time where Annie and my relationship will be volatile and downright nasty at times. (Karma has already kicked my butt with colic, severe toddler independence, a complete aversion to naps and sleeping . . . why wouldn't my own teenage horribleness not come back to bite me in the butt as well).

I mean, sure, I hope that for the most part we can be close, communicate openly, be supportive and loving and all that . . . but I know there'll be times I'll wanna strangle her angsty teen self. I know some night I'll be up late, possibly most of the night, maybe hurriedly putting the finishing touches on a prom dress or something (OK, that example is almost laughable, since I will never be a part of sewing a single thing for my children, but it was the example that popped into my head), and in the morning she'll be 'eternally' grateful, gushing about the amazingness that is her Mom. And I'll glow. Then, she'll stay out an hour or two past our predetermined curfew that night, and in the morning will be sat down by disappointed (and sleep deprived) parents and given some form of consequence for her disobedience. Then it'll start. Suddenly, I'll be the 'mean' Mom. Who's trying to control her, who isn't treating her like an 'adult', who won't let her make her own decisions. Then she'll start telling her friends, our neighbors, her Young Women leaders, all about how mean and cruel her Mom is. How controlling and practically abusive. Every last nice thing I've ever done, any loyalty I should have earned from her, will have suddenly disappeared, and all anyone will hear is about how mean I am.

Should it bother me? Probably not. Who really cares if her friends think I'm a 'cool' Mom or not. As for the adults she'll talk to, they'll recognize at least a portion of her rhetoric as being highly influenced by teenage drama and hormones. And yet, I find it all very terrifying. The idea of someone I have never done anything but give everything I could to make happy, suddenly 'hating' me, even if just for awhile, is horrendous. The idea of my 'cruel' actions being broadcast to the masses is just as horrifying. Should it really matter? Probably not, I would hope by the time I'm 40 years old I'd have a little more control of my emotions, and be able to simply look at the situation and think to myself, "I'm not going to let the silly gossip of a teenage girl hurt my feelings." But, right now, I can't imagine it not hurting. I may be years from Annie talking trash about me with her friends (or much, much closer than I realize), but similiar situations in my life already break my heart. What will it be like when it's my own daughter? I haven't posted anything really but pictures and videos for most of this week, and that's mainly because my heart has been breaking. I have a hard time writing when I'm hurting. And I've definitely been hurting. I try and be a good friend. I don't always suceed, but I think most of my friends recognize (and even appreciate) that I try. Some friendships are easy. Like, I can go a month or two without actually even talking to Jessi on the phone, and we can one day decide to meet up somewhere, and we'll happily talk for hours, like time hasn't even passed. I talked on the phone yesterday with a friend, Mindi, who I haven't seen since right after her two year old was born (see, I was being honest when I said I'm not always the best friend), and we easily fell into a comfortable conversation and promised to meet up next week at the Dinosaur museum. Some friendships require more than others. Some give back more than others. But it's the variety of friends and relationships that make up the whole of who we are, and who we have. It works for me that I have some friends I only see every few years, and still count them among my closest friends. But some friendships require more to stay strong though. One particular relationship I have is a pretty constant relationship. We tend to see a lot of each other. It's also a friendship that I give a lot to. In a lot of ways, it's a big priority in my life. It comes before a lot of things. Although I would like to think I would drop anything to help out any of my friends, this relationship is one where I actually am frequently required to drop everything, and fairly often. I really have put a lot of effort into being there for this friendship. I have honestly given a lot of myself. Which I think is when we are the most vunerable. 'Cause currently, this friend is mad at me. And I can see why, I'm not a perfect person, I make mistakes, and I know I inadvertently hurt her. This is someone who quite frequently gets mad at me, so I can handle that pretty easily. She's in a rough spot right now, and if I occassionally become the punching bag to her raw emotions, I'm both OK with it and used to it. It's part of our friendship, and always has been. And I've always been able to handle the situations that come up with a quick cry to my Mom, my husband or my sisters, then with a little time I'm over it. Usually. Sometimes I write long, rambly letters about how hurt I am, then after reading it a few dozen times, I delete the file and get over it. But now, like I picture my own daughter's teenage angst, the pain is spreading rapidly as I'm finding out what is being said about me to others. About how horrible I am, how I'm barely a friend at all, how I 'interferred' and 'made things up'. I can't quite tell what hurts most, that people are hearing all manner of untrue things that I've supposedly said or done, or that someone who knows me actually feels justified in saying them. Actually, I do know what hurts the most. It hurt the most when I tried to contact her. Tell her I was sorry that I'd hurt her, that I hadn't meant to, that it'd all been an attempt to help her gone awry. How my heart was breaking that she was really saying and thinking these things about me. How, even if I did do something wrong, I have only ever tried to be there. To be a good friend. To be what she's needed from me. And I really feel that should earn me some small benefit of the doubt, a belief that there's even a small chance that I'm not as bad of a friend as I'm being painted. That it should be enough that even if she's mad at me, and her other friends are mad at me, it should have earned me enough loyalty for her to say, "Yeah, I'm mad, but I know she's not a bad person, we'll get over this like we do everything else. We're just mad at each other, don't you be mad at her too," to those who suddenly think I'm the worst person/friend ever. (Trust me, I know . . . I have the emails to prove what they think of me.) The fact that the situation has been 'spun' to garner more sympathy for her, but making me out to be this bad person, is so intensely painful. I cried as I left the message. I hadn't meant to. I was going to be 'strong'. But I couldn't help it, I cried. And I never got a response. Well, not true. I got a text message that said, "I'm at work, so I can't be on the phone." That was two days ago. Since then, nothing. That's probably what hurt the most. (And just an FYI, this post isn't meant to serve as any kind of 'message' to her or anything. She never reads my blog, only rarely even getting on the internet. I don't know if she's ever even seen the blog. None of her friends see it either. Our friendship is quite unique, there's something that despite us having nothing in common, keeps us together. We have very few common friends, and hang out in completely different circles. This is just me writing through my pain.)

Then today I came across this quote:

"The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose ones attitude in any given circumstance.”

- Victor Frankl

I think that's absolutely inspiring. And yet, easier said than done. I want to choose to thave a better attitude. To not be offended, or even worried about it. To let time just take away this pain and this situation, and not worry about it anymore. And that power to chooose is all mine, nobody gives it to me, it's mine to grab ahold of and run with. But, how do you do it? How do you protect your heart? How do you tell yourself, "I know I'm not a mean/horrible/unfair/uncaring/cruel person/Mom/friend/sister, so I'm not going to let what's being said about me bother me?" How do you let it just not bother you? 'Cause I try . . . and I can pull it off for awhile, but then it seeps in, starts to corrode the shell I built up around the pain, and I end up a sobbing ball in Greg's lap after the girls are asleep. No matter how many times I tell myself if doesn't matter what people I hardly know (and even some I love fiercely) are saying about me, that I know I'm a good friend and my intentions were good, I can't seem to actually make that noble thought penetrate deep enough to really make the difference I need it to. I do know from experience that time will heal all wounds, no matter how raw and horrible they feel right now. And in this particular case, a month from now, we will both ignore such hurt feelings even passed between us, and things will be back to 'normal' again. Even when normal seems to hurt me so often. Can one change normal in a relationship that has lasted nearly a decade? Can you break it down and build it up as something new? Or is it doomed to continue on like this forever, or until a friendship just drifts apart, either naturally or because of a willful decision to make it happen? Or can one affect real change on the status quo? And is it possible if only one of the participants in the relationship seem to think there is a problem or a need for change? If the other person is perfectly content with how things are, then is change even possible?

And seriously, the first time Annie tells all her friends about her 'horribly mean' Mom, I think I'm going to cry.

And I now feel a need to apologize to my own Mom. Sorry, I know I was a rotten, ungrateful brat of a teenager sometimes (a lot of the time), and if it's any consolation, I now realize and recognize that I was blessed with two of the most amazing, supportive, capable, loving parents one could ever hope for. Also, for anyone who I was friends with during my teenage years, please note that whatever I said about my Mom was most likely completely biased by teenage angst, flavored by righteous indignation, and just all around blown out of proportion and wrong. She's amazing. End of story.

Playing Hard

This is why every little girl needs a 17 year old Uncle Cody . . . who else comes over and spends hours finger painting, sponge painting their own feet, and playing with play doh . . .

(Cody & Annie's feet print . . . Cody asked if next time we can do 'full body prints'. My answer was no. I'm just mean like that.)

Here's Annie and Ellie (in cute matching shirts) playing in Annie's tent. Seriously one of the most used toys we've ever bought. This and the activity table and the ball popper were probably the most bang for our toy-budget-buck.
My favorite use now for the tent is when Annie and her Daddy are playing 'Monster' games and it's her 'safe' . . . she'll basically sit in there and mock him about not being able to come in.

Here's Annie showing off her awesome outfit. She picked it out herself. She wanted to 'be twins' with Ellie, who was already wearing her blue shirt this morning . . . then Annie just loves to pair up this skirt with random shirts. I love this skirt when there's a nice white, orange or pink shirt of the solid (or mostly solid) variety . . . Greg and Annie both don't seem to share my same 'restraint' when it comes to matching this skirt up with ridiculous looking shirts. :-)

Annie ventured out of the safety of her fortress, only to be captured and tickled nearly to death. She loved it. When she escaped from Daddy right after this picture, she waved her arm around 'magically' and declared, "OK, you are no longer a monster, you are a Daddy again!"

So then she gave her human-no-longer-a-tickle-monster Daddy a kiss (which I missed, 'cause my batteries were dying and my flash was being SOOOOOO slow . . . so here's right after they kissed).

Then there was Ellie, showing off her amazing 'look-I-can-carry-stuff-while-I-walk' trick she's perfecting . . . she's so proud of herself, like, "Look Mom! I have a bucket, a pair of underwear and a shoe!"

Mobility

This is what I call perseverance.
(I love how she reacts to mine and Greg's names.)

She's practically an expert now . . .

How it looks from the other side.


Partners for life.

Oh, and a little good Mom/bad Mom confessional for the day:

Good Mom moment: I took the girls to the park today. In the heat of the day. For over an hour. Even thought it was hot. And let them play and run to their hearts content. Despite the heat. Did I mention the heat? They had so much fun. Ellie tried to eat a lot of wood chips and I think I rescued most of them from her mouth.

Bad/Inventive/Mildly Evil Mom moment: On the way home, Ellie was long overdue for a nap, and only 15 minutes from home, she started to nod off. I could not let this happen. This would be a 15 minutes nap for the afternoon, instead of the beautiful, glorious, wonderful one hour nap she's started taking more often lately. So, I stopped at Wendy's and got a frosty and three cups. I got one little cup of ice cream for Ellie, despite her inability to use the actual spoon I handed her, entirely in the hopes that the activity and ensuing mess would keep her awake for just another 15 minutes. And it did. She loved it, had the time of her life melting frosty in her little hands and all down her face, for the first five minutes. The last ten minutes of the drive was her screaming uncontrollably about being a wet, sticky, gross mess. But, it kept her awake, so I considered it 'mission accomplished'. Even if her and her carseat needed a good sponge bath when we got home. But, she slept for one hour and fifteen minutes once I got her in bed. So, it seemed worth it to me. Even if the mere thought of chocolate ice cream may send her into a PTSD triggered fit now.

Little Savage & Walking

Annie got into my lipstick. Again. (The confessional part of this post: I totally KNEW she was into the makeup, but it was keeping her occupied and busy in the other room, and I figured the several minutes of peace and quiet would be worth a little clean up.)

I loved how much she reminded me of some little savage, with her whole face made up (she usually sticks fairly close to the lip area).


In other news, Ellie officially walks now. I mean, she took her first steps MONTHS ago, but it's suddenly becoming her actual preferred means of transportation. To cross a room, she will stand up and walk it rather than crawl more times than not. She's still slow, unsteady and falls quite a bit, but she is definitely walking. The other day I was coming out of one room, and when I rounded the corner I almost ran into her as she came walking down the hall towards me. I was kinda shocked to see this little person walking by herself. She's been walking more and more all week; on Saturday she was walking back and forth between Greg and I over and over and over again . . . but the sight of her just up and walking around the house kinda threw me a little.

It's like she's growing up.

Here she is walking around, 'helping' me do the laundry (by dragging clothes from the folded piles back over to me to fold again.)

Many, Many Years Ago

In July 1988, our best friends from Barstow, CA came out to visit us in Utah. My Mom took my two best friends Bobbi and Marlie, my sisters Star and Talina and their best friends Beth and Tricia, and me, all to the Salt Lake Temple grounds to go walk around.

My poor Mom was getting a LOT of stares, with 7 girls in tow . . . and to top it off, she was 8 months pregnant.

She finally had someone walk up to her and say, "I bet you get down on your knees every night and pray that this next baby is a boy!" My Mom explained that four of the girls were visiting friends, and that she was in fact pregnant with another girl, Lacy. :-)




Then, last week, Bobbi came into town with her own kids and we had the chance to get together and all go to the Oquirrh Temple together. So here we are, 21 years later (that makes me feel old!) with our six kids in tow.
It was so great to catch up and see each other . . . and to see Bobbi as a Mom, to four adorably cute children (including a set of twin boys!) It was amazing to me that it had really been so long since we'd seen each other last (probably not a full 21 years, but it's been a LONG time), and yet it felt like time had hardly moved at all. If there wasn't evidence of children/husbands in the mix, I'd hardly believe we were two 30 year old grownups! :-)

Time flies!

And now for some more recent 'then and now' photos . . . here's my girls every 4th of July since they were born . . . Annie is wearing the same outfit this year as she was last, and Ellie is wearing the same outfit at one years old as Annie did at this age. I'm cheap like that. :-)

Pool Party at Our House!

Annie had been playing in our backyard, in her little swimming pool, for awhile when she came in and asked if she could go play at the neighbor's house in their little pool.

"OK," I said, "Why don't you come in for a minute though, and I'll help you get your swimsuit off so you can go potty before you go play . . ."

"Oh no Mom, don't worry about it," she said sweetly, "I just went ahead and peed in our pool in our yard. It's practically a potty."

(She's been using 'practically' about as much as humanly possible lately "Ellie is practically asleep" and "It was practically my bedtime" to name a few from yesterday).

Acting Like an Adult

What does it mean to be an adult?

'Cause I've heard a lot of "nobody can tell me what to do, I'm an adult" lately.

But doesn't being an adult mean having the maturity to look at consequences? To look at the big picture, and put others (mainly, childrens') well being ahead of our own and stop and say, "Yeah, maybe this decision doesn't make the most sense to me, and maybe it doesn't seem 100% fair, but sometimes as an adult, we have to do what's best in the long run, not in the right now." And not defy every single thing, just 'cause we can. Just 'cause we're adults.

I just personally feel the attitude of "you can't tell me what to do, so I'm gonna run out and do the opposite just in defiance," is a lot more teenager in its leanings than adult. And what's scariest is when so-called 'adults' let their hubris and 'I'm not going to listen to anyone' feelings put children in sad, sometimes dangerous, situations.

But hey, we're entitled to run around and do whatever we want all day with no concerns for the future, for authority, or for planning ahead and doing what's best in the long run. 'Cause we are adults afterall.

Not that I'm frustrated or anything.

Fourth of July Photo Extravaganza

We had such a great 4th of July. I love getting together with family. I especially love seeing the girls experience new things with wide eyed wonder and all that. Yesterday afternoon we headed over to Greg's parents' home for a BBQ, driveway fireworks and the traditional mentos/diet coke flooding of their street. We had my little brother along for the ride with us, as the majority of my family was out of state/country for the holiday. (Later, my only other in-town family, Talina and David, joined us at my in-laws house. For me, it was truly the best of both worlds . . . I would love all holidays to include all of the people that love me and my girls in one place and at one time . . . but I guess that's kind of less than practical. But in my ideal world . . . )

Anyway, here is Ellie, apparently reading up on the safety warning or something on the back of these 'snakes'.

Annie & Ellie watching Grandpa's firework show with Uncle David.

Annie, with an ice cream and chocolate covered face.

Ellie with Grandma Ruth (or "Mam ma", according to Ellie).

Annie checking out Grandma's new bike. There are actually several pictures of me taking this bike out for a test drive, but for some reason (me looking like an idiot) I didn't post them.

Ellie with Daddy. Not even exaggerating, but something like 75% of the pictures we have of Ellie yesterday, she is sticking something in her mouth. Mainly the cookies that she consumed in copious amounts, like in this picture, but there were also several pictures of her trying to chew on glow sticks, blankets, Annie and a lawn chair.

My girls and me on Grandma's front porch.

Around 8:30ish, Greg's parents party was in full swing (i.e. all their friends are over and visiting) and we headed over to Murray Park to get ready for the big fireworks.
Here's Uncle Cody with Ellie. There's a chunk of Ritz cracker on her lip, but she wasn't actually shoving anything in her mouth in this picture.

Daddy and his girls . . . Ellie trying to eat a glow stick. Which are non-toxic, of course.

Annie with her glow stick halo.

Ellie getting more and more slap happy as the sleep deprivation started to really take hold. It was adorable.

OK, one-year-old-Ellie watching fireworks is something I never want to forget.
For the first several minutes, she stared up silently at the sky, unmoving, unchanging, just like this:

Then, all the sudden, she giggled.
Then she was silent again for another minute. Then there was a chuckle.
A minute later, a squeal of sheer joy.
Then she actually started to get into it.
She'd sit up when the fireworks were lower, and throw herself back into my arms when they were up higher again. She stared at them pretty much non-stop, never once seeming upset, or even surprised, at their loudness or brightness (that frankly, sometimes, kinda throws me a little.)

Annie really love them too, but she was hilariously distracted by EVERYTHING else around her. She had to get her blanket just right. Had to get Baby Belle's blanket just right. Had to get situated. Had to have all of her glow sticks in proper order. As the finale was starting, all of us were frantically trying to get her attention back to the sky, "Annie, look! Annie! Annie, watch! Annie, it's almost over . . . Annie, you can fix your glow-stick seatbelt later! Annie, look up!"
She couldn't be bothered. She had things to do.
All in all though, she had a blast, so what else could I ask for. Even tonight during prayers, she interupted me to add: "And thank you that we got to see fireworks right before bedtime last night!" They definitely left an impression. Even if she did seem to be ignoring them half the time!

Then today we got to go see family, as one of Greg's cousins was having his sweet new baby blessed.
Then we had Sunday dinner with Greg's family at his parents house.
Then we came home. And crashed.
It has been such a wonderful weekend, but after throwing off the girls schedule so much, with back to back really late nights, I think I'm just ready to sleep now. Even if it is only 8:45PM.

The Zoo, Fortress of Solitude, Sleeping Angel & Paint Wars . . .

Greg had yesterday off work for the holiday, and so did Aunt Talina & Uncle David, so we all headed out together to take the girls to the zoo (for the second time in 5 days! It feels nice to be getting our money's worth outta the annual pass!) We had fun, even if all Annie's talked about today was how we "didn't get to ride the carousel this time!" I keep trying to explain that it's not an 'everytime' activity, but she ain't hearin' it.

Here's Annie & Greg, while they were supposed to be looking at rhinos but were mainly just putting on an acrobatic show for the other zoo-goers.

Aunt Talina & funny-face-making-Ellie in front of one of the monkey cages.The only picture that proves that I was actually at the zoo too.

We refused to bring in the stroller, since Annie has suddenly become the world's LAZIEST toddler, and wants to ride in the stroller constantly. This way she was forced to walk most of the time . . . her work around was just planting her feet on Dad's and make him do all the walking, but it actually seemed like more effort to do this than just walk.

The baby oragutan (well, juvenile now) was playing peek-a-boo from under this blanket . . . Annie and Ellie found this hilarious.

Uncle David & Ellie inside the reptile house . . . where all the meerkats seem to have gone missing! I swear when we went a few weeks ago, there were a half dozen or more meerkats, then Monday there were none in any of the three different cages that normally house them, and Friday we only saw one.

Annie and Ellie hug constantly now. It's so adorable. They probably throw their arms around each other and hug and giggle a dozen times a day or more. It's awesome.

Annie & Uncle David getting a drink from the worst water fountain ever . . . it sprayed randomly, in a wide, dispersed pattern . . . after several attempts, I just told Annie we'd go get her a water bottle . . .

Later that evening we went out into the front yard and watched while Uncle David put on a fireworks show in the middle of our street! Annie was mildly freaked out by the first one, so she insisted on her tent being placed out on the front lawn for the duration of the show.

Annie telling me about the fireworks I'd missed while I was inside putting Ellie down for bed.

Annie and I both hanging out in the fortress of solitude.

Annie didn't get to bed last night until almost 10PM! This is unusual for her, as she's usually asleep between 7:45-8:30PM. We have now had NINE nights of sticker-earning-bliss! She's gotten kinda fussy a few times, but if we just go in, remind her that she's a big girl and doing such a good job filling up her sticker chart, she calms herself down and falls asleep on her own. Last night I noticed she had her 'Bambi' book clutched tigthly to her chest, and just had to go grab the camera.

Then, this morning, Annie, Daddy & Ellie decided to paint pretty pictures for awhile, while Mom got some stuff cleaned up. It was Ellie's first time painting, and she loved it, although Greg told me he's pretty sure she got way more paint on herself, on him and in her mouth, than even made it on the paper!

In other Ellie news, she seems to be right on the verge of using walking as an actual transportation means . . . she walked back and forth from Greg and I across the hall like a dozen times or more this morning, just beaming with pride as she did it. She seems to be really getting it! She also added a new word, when reaching desperately for my water bottle last night she suddenly called out, "Wa wa!" She doesn't really use anything besides Mom and Dada consistently, but she does surprise us occasionally by using a recognizable word in a proper context . . . only to frustrate us by seemingly never using it again.

I'm Not the Only One?

I can't really explain this bought of writers block. It's just here, and I'm stuck.

It may have something to do with the my two beautiful children conspiring to drive me completely insane, as of late. I don't know what it is, but they've paired their grumpiness and unreasonableness, teamed up together to present a united crazy-inducing front, and been pretty much nothing but whiny and cranky for days now. I can handle a day or two of this . . . but after more than a few, you start to feel like you're losing your mind. And your cool.

I'm not quite sure it really happened, as I'm sure in my agitated state I could be remembering things wrong or possibly hallucinating, but I vaguely remember a fifteen minute argument with Annie where I was trying to assure her that the yellow lemon flavored dessert was not chocolate, as she was so insistent it was (why it mattered if she thought the stupid thing was chocolate or not, in hindsight, seems rather unimportant); where it is possible that the debate only ended because I threatened to dump her chocolate milk out on her head if she didn't stop talking already. It's those moments in motherhood where you wish you could just crawl into a hole and hide in shame, and yet, for some insane reason, in the moment you cannot seem to stop insane statements from spilling out of your mouth despite every thing inside of you telling you to just shut up already and stop arguing with a three year old about meaningless crap.

Please, tell me I'm not the only one who's ever been here.

It's been the kinda week that drives me to call and harass my poor husband 2-3 times a day every day this week to inform him that his children are still insane and tormenting me relentlessly trying to drive me to an equal level of insanity, and that when he gets home it would probably be best for all if he took them somewhere. Doesn't matter where, as long as the girls of the house all get a good 30-60 minute break from each other.

Y'all have these weeks too, right?

Then, Annie was a complete doll while going out with some friends to the temple tour, happily talking about the beautiful chandeliers and the cookies. She gave me a big hug afterwards and told me she loved me. She also told me her favorite part of her whole day was playing with Mommy, Daddy and Ellie in her room, "with just our whole family." Then there was Ellie; waving enthusiastically to all who would look her direction, she gave me numerous hugs and kisses, decided tonight was a good night to start saying Grandma ("Mah-ma"), proudly showed off three or four new animal sounds she'd suddenly perfected for her Great Grandma, and she spent all evening blowing big giant open mouth kisses to everyone at my parents house, all the while giggling uncontrollably.

Thank goodness for those moments, huh? They kinda wipe the slate . . .

Adorableness Caught on Film

Writers block still in full force.
But we got a ton of cute video yesterday . . . here's a few short clips of my favorites . . .

"Mommy, save me!"

Where's Ellie?

"OK, let's ALL hug!"

"I'm getting bigger. I can do a flip now."

My graceful girls getting off the bed.

This really is how Ellie gets off Annie's bed almost everytime.

It's why I keep the blankets piled up on the floor during the day!

Any Day Now . . .

Most pregnant women have a love/hate relationship with their 'due date' (which anyone who's been there can tell you it should be more of a 'due week' or a 'due month'.) The due date is revered, it's one of the first things people ask you about when you're pregnant. You have it circled on calendars. Your first pregnancy you can usually tell people how many days are left 'til the due date, even like four or five months out. And yet, it's just an estimate. And in our society, kind of an 'eviction notice' date . . . a 'get out soon, or we'll take you out by force' kinda deadline.

So, I was feeling for the pregnant pachyderm at the Hogle Zoo. The zookeeper we were talking with the other day told us, "Yeah, she could have the baby anytime between now and sometime in late August." Dang, how'd you like that due date!? (Not to mention their gestation period being almost two years long.)

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705304919/Hogle-Zoo-awaiting-its-really-big-blessed-event.html

If anyone wants to head out to the zoo with us one of these days, email me . . . we have the family & friends pass where we can get two guests in with us for free! Who knows, we may end up there the day the elephant has her baby!