a great little negotiater

Our little girl has become master of negotiations.

Example 1:
"cuddle in chair?"
"ok but only 5 minutes and then its time for bed."
"Can cuddle for 10 minutes?"
"No honey, cuddle for 5 minutes."
"Can cuddle for 2 minutes?"
...kid, you're going the wrong way.

Example 2:
"Ok, let's go read a story and then go to bed."
"Let's read 3 stories." (holding up 3 fingers)
"No, just 1 story and then time for bed."
"how about 2 stories?" (Holding up 3 fingers)
"One story and then bedtime."
"One story," (counting fingers) "one, two three."

And last but not least, Example 3:
(Said high pitched, with exaggeration and squinting through one eye at fingers held up closely together) "please just a teeny, tiny movie?"

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taking a sick day

Our little Butterfly is a great actress. No matter how sick, she rarely lets it slow her down.

For example, she had repeated ear infections but since she never acted sick, it took us forever to catch on. So long in fact, that she ended up having to have her adnoids removed and tubes put in at fifteen months old. The fun part was trying to stuff her little tummy the night before since I was instructed to not feed her before the surgery. We ended up at Wendy's, shredding and hiding pieces of chicken in her frosty. (mom of the year, right here). Day of the surgery, she did great. The oral sedative made her giggly and silly (and relaxed before they actually knocked her out). And after the surgery, she bounced right back. Instead of being whiney and cuddly as I expected, she was full of energy, wanted to play and made all kinds of noise (now that she could hear herself).

But today, this little princess is not herself. Due to some stupid virus, my happy go lucky social butterfly is a mess. Fortunately, she's mostly content to cuddle under a blanket to watch movies and take her medicine.

Meanwhile, Ladybug is bored. She ignores the movies and plays with blocks and toys and books. She climbed the bookshelfs and dismantled her toy kitchen. She removed forty-something books from the shelf to stack them around herself like a fort. She emptied the long unused drawer of burp cloths and methodically covered her entire bedroom floor. She took all the bottles out from under the bathroom cabinet and put them in the tub. Curious, creative and driving me crazy. :-)

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happy presidents day

I read my cousins blog this morning and had to laugh because I could have written nearly the same exact thing.

We too spent today as a leisurely day. For my cousin, she had work off in honor of a holiday that few people actually celebrate. Yes presidents day really is a holiday, specifically one that grouped together a couple presidents birthdays so we could honor them. But despite being the history geek that I am, I usually just see today as most do--a welcome day away from work.

Except that I don't work anymore. Other than being a mom. So today was a lazy and leisurely day because I felt unmotivated to do anything else. Daddy had to work today but even given the chance, he doesn't really do lazy days. He fills his free time with projects, errands and the endless list of honey-dos. He is so good to me. So while he was busy at work, we took a holiday for him. Ironically, my tax return came today (on a government/bank holiday).

We spent the morning playing and unpacking. We put together puzzles and had a picnic tea party for lunch. During naptime I paid bills and took a nap myself. After naps, we cuddled and shared snacks (most of which ended up inside Ladybug's sleeper, apparently for the sole reason that it was funny). Then Butterfly playfully launched herself at me and landed on my growing belly (for the second time in two days). She felt so bad she cried at my reaction of pain and was a very repentant and devoted nurse for the next few hours while the soreness subsided. She insisted I needed medicine and was happy to comply when I said her kisses were the best medicine. We cuddled for a movie and finally showered and dressed around 4. We read lots of books and generally spent the day cuddling, playing and being lazy. It was wonderful. Grandma and grandpa joined us for dinner and the post dinner popcorn/cartoon cuddle. And now the house is quiet again, ready for a good nights sleep.

Happy presidents day.

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presidents day weekend

Sorry for the absence, I've been tired.

We spent the weekend in st george, eager for sunshine and time in the pool. Except that it snowed. All weekend. I realize that snow in st George is nothing compared to elsewhere, but its usually expected elsewhere. Snow in st George makes me feel cheated.

Stayed in a beautiful apartment loaned by a family friend. The girls didn't sleep much but at least the bed was big enough for family cuddling.

Had a wonderful time with family! One cousin blessed his precious baby girl and we loved being able to be part of that. My cousin has decided he will be moving from his hometown to attend school at my alma mater, to pursue the same field as my husband. It was great talking to him about this huge and exciting change.

Another cousin had his mission homecoming today. He just returned from Uganda Africa and has changed so much. I loved being around him, seeing his pictures and listening to his stories.

It was an awesome weekend with family, minus the long drive and snow. The girls showed off and were absolutely charming, making new friends with everyone. They loved shopping and getting showered with attention, especially from daddy.

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the 5 Love Languages

Tonight's Relief Society activity was a speaker teaching us about the 5 Love Languages (by Gary Chapman). I've seen it before but now being married and having children, I felt like it had so much more significance. Take this quiz and find out what you are, it's fascinating. Most people have a primary and close secondary language, some will have a tie ("bilingual"). I am primarily words of affirmation and secondly, quality time, neither of which was a surprise. It was fascinating to learn more about how vital it is for each of us to receive love in our in our language and how we can learn to be sensitive to others' when we give love. For me, words of affirmation means being told "I love you", being complimented (particularly on something I have done) or being verbally appreciated. I'm still trying to decide what I think my husband is but it will be fun to find out. Our speakers spoke tonight about how much it can strength a relationship when you know how to give love in your recipient's preferred language, most especially to a spouse or child but even a friend, neighbor or boss.

Unrelated, my little girl was watching Cinderella today. When it came to the dancing scene, she clasped her hands together and held them to her cheek whispering "so beautiful". We also watched part of Beauty and the Beast today (the dancing scene of course) and she insisted I dance with her. Not carrying her in my arms, or even just holding hands and twirling, but she wanted ballroom dancing and corrected my hand placement. When she was with Grammy a few days ago, she picked up a card with a fancy, glittery wedding cake on the front and ask "Grammy, is this my cuppy cake? a cuppy cake for my birthday? oh grammy, it's exquisite!" I love this kid and she is growing SO FAST.

Her little sister is growing in leaps and bounds too, particularly her language. We have enjoyed hearing her occasional new words for several months now. But more and more, she amazes us with her increasing vocabulary and how much more clearly and frequently she is speaking. I particular love hearing her call for her sister or naming body parts as she plays with her doctor's kit. She's begun to identify more family members and friends, as well as favorite characters such as Mickey and 'Rella (Cinderella). Se loves watching baby einstein and constantly reaches for my phone asking "movie? peas?" (but still has a short attention span for it). My other new favorite is her identification of animals. Most animals were "moo" for a long time but her new favorite is "meow kitty" and "woof doggy". Sometimes with or without prompting, she will play tiger. She growls fiercely with her hands held up with claws, dissolves into giggles and then quickly recomposes to growl again. Her facial expressions are priceless, first scrunched up for a menacing growl and then beaming with a happy giggle.

baby shoes

In my parents' entertainment center there is a wonderful collection of charming Hummels and exquisite porcelain figurines and beautiful snow globes. Among these precious treasures is a pair of tiny, black patent leather baby shoes. When we discovered we were expecting our first baby, we gift wrapped these shoes and gave them to my parents, explaining it was a "souvenir" from our trip to Europe and wanted to share with them. This announcement was so unexpected and they were thrilled. So now those precious little shoes sit in the cabinet among other treasures and precious items. They were joined by a second pair of shoes a seemingly short time later. And as of this weekend, joined by a third pair of baby shoes.

Three. Which means we will be completely outnumbered. :)

There are no words to describe how wonderful it is to watch our beautiful family grow. Being a parent is such an incredible journey filled with so many beautiful experiences (as well as chaos). Our first little girl made us wait for her. At the time, it seemed like such a long wait, accompanied by some discouraging and emotional experiences. But then the joy and anticipation of having her was incredible. Realizing the time and difficulty in having baby #1, we decided to encourage another child as soon as we could. Incidentally, that ended up being much sooner than we had imagined. Baby #1 had made us wait, but baby #2 was eager. And baby #3 was downright determined. Our girls are 18 months apart, something that has been both wonderful and exhausting. After having those two so close together, we felt we needed more spacing. But baby #3 disagrees and decided its time to join our family.

The realization was a shock. In fact, I denied my suspicions for several days because it should have been impossible. But once I saw that life-altering little plus sign, I became excited at the possibility, but still in disbelief at the probability. I called daddy and invited him home for lunch. I like making dramatic announcements, so despite my shock, I wanted to make this fun. I made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and as he came into the kitchen and observed his prepared lunch, he pointed out "um, there's a binky in your soup". I clarified that the binky was in his soup and watched as understanding came upon him. (I think he was even more shocked than I.)

So next came the doctor's appointment. I have to admit, I still harbored some disbelief. I half expected him to gently break the news that it had been a false positive test. Instead, he fired up the ultra sound machine and within seconds, I recognized the form of a small but thriving baby. Which meant not only was I really and truly expecting, but that the baby was further along than I thought. I heard baby's heartbeat, a strong and fast rhythm, and such an incredible sound. My baby is growing--a baby that I didn't expect but immediately love.

I'm eight weeks along and due in September. Which means baby 2 and baby 3 will be exactly two years apart. As far as how I'm feeling, I'm doing good (another reason for my disbelief). My stomach usually feels unsettled but I'm definitely not sick the way I immediately was with my girls (and desperately hope it stays that way). I'm exhausted but blessed with wonderful girls who still take naps and usually allow me the same. Baby 3 (as he or she will be called until assigned a more gender-specific nickname) is certainly a surprise but as the doc suggested, this baby simply knows its time to be part of our family.

3 kids under 4. ...oh dear...

'murfs

I kinda love that my daughter loves the old cartoons. We needed a cheap movie on a long drive and the girls picked out a collection of the original smurfs. The cartoons are as charming and silly as I remember, with no real point or purpose. I love that most of the new cartoons are learning oriented and we have several favorites of those too, but there's something fun and nostalgic about the shows I grew up with.

So today's post is a tribute to those great cartoons of my childhood, the smurfs, strawberry shortcake, my little pony, mickey mouse cartoons and more. Ah, the good old days.

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old donalds

More commonly known as McDonald's, and one of my girls favorite places. So maybe about twice a month, on an evening when daddy isn't home and its too cold to play outside, we hang out here for some much needed playtime. The girls will eat exceptionally well and then run up and down the playplace. The one here in our little town is actually the best one I've ever seen and I readily admit to being through it a time or two. We usually find another frazzled mom and rambunctious kids and waste no time in becoming best friends.

So right now, they play and will hopefully burn off some of their over abundant energy while I sip my fruit smoothie and lacking another mom to chat with, I play with my phone. Soon they will come begging for ice cream cones and I usually give in before realizing that I'm just refueling them with sugar.

I miss the ball pits. And now knowing why they were removed, I miss being innocent enough to not worry about such things.

I really like their apple pies. And ice cream. And smoothies. And I find their fries completely addictive.

My lil Ladybug spends half the time playing with the high chairs. She's obsessed with buckles.

On a long trip, McDonald's (with a playplace) can restore my sanity.

Added later: when we left, my daughter passed by the register, turned to the staff standing there and called out "thank you for dinner!" I swear I did not prompt it. Totally adorable.

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the blue jean pony

is one of lil Ladybug's favorite activities lately. I sit, with one knee crossed over the other and she sits on my foot, hugging my leg and giggling gleefully as I sing and bounce her up and down. Then, for some reason, she likes to run to find a pair of dress up high heels, clomps/shuffles back to me in her too big shoes and begs for another ride. I'm not sure why the shoes are necessary but she loves them.

Speaking of shoes, her most recent favorites are her boots. She has a pair of soft, fur lined, ugg-style boots as well as a pair of leather cowboy boots. Both are completely adorable.

Her other recent favorite activity is the play kitchen. The girls got it for Christmas (year before last) and Butterfly was so excited, she didn't even notice the stack of presents for half an hour. It's now become a favorite activity of Ladybug as well. She stands (in her high heels), twisting the knobs on the store, turning the pages of the cookbook or her favorite, washing her hands in the sink. Butterfly plays more with the food, pretending to cook dinner or sweet treats, which Ladybug likes to devour. Sometimes they get so involved in their play that they have fought over imagined food.

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Superbowl Sunday

we don't normally watch the superbowl as we are not huge football fans, but some friends had invited us over to make a party out of it. We had a blast, watching as much of the games as we could with crazy children underfoot and cheering for whoever since we had no real investment in the game. We gorged on junk food (most notably ruffles chips with french onion dip--I shamefully admit to devouring a good portion of the bag by myself) and feasted on tasty buffalo burgers.

I have to admit that I'm the kind of person that gets just as much out of the commercials and halftime show as the game itself. Some of the commercials were dumb but many were downright hilarious or creative (especially loved the Doritos). but I was thoroughly unimpressed with the halftime show. First I was surprised that such notable musicians would do cover songs but maybe that's normal (I didn't watch enough to see if there was a theme). Second, I though the costuming was awkward and strange. The sea of back up dancers was creative but a little strange as well. I suppose overall it was entertaining but definitely didn't stand up to all the hype.

The worst part of the entertainment however was easily the national anthem. This is a beautiful song that makes me swell with pride and marvel at everything it represents. And Christina did a horrendous job. I am complete stupor at how a person could forget the words! I'm sure they rehearsed and furthermore, this is a song that every American should have ingrained in their heart. Beyond making up her own lyrics, the vocals themselves were atrocious. I have always hated the Mariah Carey/cat strangling "style" of wandering up and down the scale in search of the proper note. I think vocal beauty is found in the clarity and sincerity of note, not in the search of it. I know it's a popular style but I think it sounds awful. Some decoration can be "the frosting on the cake" but only if you have the beauty and clarity to make the melody and the message of the song be beautiful and powerful.

The game itself was fun and exciting and the experience with friends was a blast. We chatted, laughed, cheered, etc and kept an eye on our crazy children who were thrilled with the chance to play together. My little Butterfly especially liked the fireplace hearth and claimed it as her stage. She did a little tap dancing and with arms flailing with dramatic flourish, she belted out her own lyrics as if on a Broadway stage. Usually the lyrics are something akin to "youve got a friend in me" or "a dream is a wish your heart makes". Little Ladybug discovered a little chair just her size and played happily in it. Then she found out it was actually a kid sized recliner and was even more thrilled.

a skiing, swimming kind of day

Sometimes the best kind of Saturday are those lazy days without many plans but lots of time for family and spontaneous fun.

So after a leisurely breakfast (my girls will be shocked someday to learn most people don't put chocolate chips in their pancakes), grandpa showed up to give little girl her first (cross country) ski lesson. There was a whole lot of giggling and falling and a little bit of skiing, during which she exclaimed over and over "i love skiing!". Little sister was less sure about being pulled around in a sled but eventually warmed up too. And then both of them had a blast just playing, running, eating and throwing snow.

General honey-dos and naptime made up for a great afternoon and then in the evening, some friends came over for dinner and a family double date to the most amazing community pool I've ever seen. The pool was as warm as a bathtub and full of fountains that the girls could control with cords, wheels and levers. As soon as we got in the water, Butterfly dashed for the playground equipment in the middle of the shallow pool and went tumbling down the slide, shocked when it dumped her underwater at the bottom. But after she recovered from that, together we went down the massive waterslide and she loved it. Little Ladybug's favorite part was sitting in daddy's back as he swam around in the shallow warm water.

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the boys

Did I mention I have cats? Once upon a time they were nearly attached to me. Loving and playful they followed me around all day and slept cuddled against my feet. But enter pregnancy induced allergies, the arrival of babies and the move to a quieter neighborhood, and they now live outside.

Today they sat at the back door begging for attention. My little girls and a visiting friend saw them and went wild. They pressed themselves to the glass to admire the cats and cooed and squealed at them. Finally I relented and went outside.

Apollo came eagerly, always ready for some love. His shiny black coat is a dramatic contrast to his white feet and chin (marked with another tiny spot of black, his "soul patch"). More canine than feline, he loves to play fetch, acts as the guard dog and chases anything that moves. He has even been caught chewing on my shoes and drinking from the toilet.

I carried him into the house and three excited little girls surrounded me, ecstatic for the chance to pet him. Next I brought in Simba, our beautiful orange cat with tiger stripes and gold eyes, a rare and remarkable combination. Less social and more skittish, he clung to me but relaxed as the girls gently pet him and talked to him. He began to purr, his whole body vibrating happily.

Then I dumped them both outside again to finish their dinner. Those three happy girls continued to play, each pretending to hold a cat and argued over who held who. They pet, coaxed, tickled, fed, cuddled, sang to and cooed at their imagined furry friends and insisted I pet them too.

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playtime with daddy

Daddy came home from work last night and the day automatically gets better. Me and the girls race for the first kisses amidst the squealing excitement. They show daddy the stick pony they've been playing with and he joins right in, showing them how to gallop around the room and helping them take turns. It makes me melt when this strong, dignified, good looking man will play and be silly with his girls. They build towers, play guitar, have tea parties and cuddle in the way that only daddy can.

We sit down to eat dinner and within a short time, the girls are stalling and starting to wiggle. One may suspect a fussy eater but really its just a ploy to get daddy to feed them or to hold them on his lap while he eats.

And then the best part of the night, both babies ask and sign and are soon rewarded with their favorite daddy treat--popcorn. They each stand at the counter to help and then cuddle as they eat.

I cannot even begin to describe how much I love that man.

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