HELP!...just venting

Heavenly Father is having a HUGE laugh right now. He switched it up on me and gave me the "good" child first and now I'm SUFFERING with Bree. This child is the devil. No way around it. I can already picture the future: she's gonna be the one that terrorizes all the nursery kids and anyone she runs into at the playground. And I can just see it now, she's gonna be... "the biter." You ALL know the one. I'm apologizing now for any future teeth marks on your children's arms. Oh ya, and any missing clumps of hair. I'm seriously losing my mind with this one. I know you're all gonna tell me it's b/c she really wants to talk and can't communicate what she wants or needs. But that's not it-I can feel it in my guts...and I think I ruled that one out through trial and error. She's out to ruin me and make sure we don't have any other kids (she already won that round-scheduled for an IUD-we'll wait awhile and see if she becomes normal). She is so bipolar. Not kidding, she'll come up to me with a smile on her face and babbling something. So, like the WONDERFUL mom that I am, I respond with a smile and excitement. So then she has the NERVE to go all crusty-eyed on me and scream out and pinch my skin. WHERE IN THE WORLD DID THAT COME FROM?????? I figured out today that if I completely ignore her then she's okay for a little bit. Mind you, I said a little bit. Out of the blue she'll throw herself on the floor and scream like she's been wronged in the worst way. Or she'll be walking around and then suddenly start crying like she's been hit over the head with an anvil (and don't think I haven't thought of doing that at this point!!!!). She'll come to me wanting to be picked up, but the second I touch her I either lose hair, get my skin gouged, or get a smack in the face. She's not sick, there aren't any teeth coming in, she's getting enough to eat (and THAT'S a whole other story-just think bottomless pit), she's getting enough stimulation. I've tried going for walks, playing outside, swimming, having her be my "helper", coloring, watching a movie, etc.

So...I already know I'm losing my mind. If anyone has any thoughts on the matter, I'm willing to try ANYTHING! I want my happy baby back!!!

It's Official!!!

We'll be in Utah for Thanksgiving!! I'm so excited to see all our family and friends. We weren't sure that we'd be able to get there before graduation next spring, but I'm so happy it worked out. Dave won't be coming with us-he's going to take his boards during that week. He'll need the peace and quiet to study :)

But we'll be there for 2 weeks, so PLAN THE PARTIES!!! It's been so much fun to reconnect with blogs, so when I get to see everyone there it'll be like we've just seen each other.

We'll see ya'll soon! (okay...it's a few months away, but the time will fly!)

Friends

Well...they're gone. And we miss them already! Here's our tribute to the Sweeneys :) We had a girls night out at Cheesecake Factory.

When we were all searching through our purses for pens, guess what we found. You know you're a mom when...

And on the night they loaded the truck we hung out for a bit. I hadn't told Emma yet that Evie was moving, so when I told her why she needed to give Evie a hug goodbye, she broke down crying. Talk about heartbreaking. She's still asking if we can go over to Evie's house. So am I.

We miss you guys and can't wait for our 5 year reunion in the Maldive Islands :) heehee. We can dream, right? (Thanks Paul and Anna for sending the link!)

Girls Trip...Who wants to come???

Okay all my lady friends-I'm planning a girls trip. Right now the dates are August 7-9 that last week of the break before the guys start back up. I've been trying to think of places close by and Alison suggested this place called Crystal Beach, which is in between Niagara and Toronto. If you have other ideas of places to go that are sunny, warm, and where we can jump in the water to PLAY and not chase after a kid, let me know!

Here are some other details I've thought of:

Transportation-Since most of us only have 1 car, we'd have to rent a car.

Hotel-If we're able to find a vacation rental with a kitchen then we could save money on food. But...do we want to cook on our vacation? Just another thing to think about...

UPDATE: I found this motel and read some good reviews about it:
http://www.crystalbeachmotel.com/index.shtml

SO, most of you have my email address. So email me thoughts, ideas, and commitments :) If we're gonna do this, we've gotta get it scheduled pronto.

YIPPEE!! I hope this works out!

HILARIOUS!

Maybe only we find this hilarious, but if you want to laugh, go to Von & Lindsey's blog and check out a video clip of Bree in the pool. Lindsey was on a conference call at the same time she was filming it, so you'll kind of hear that phone call in the background, but you'll mostly be laughing at what you see. LOVE IT!

Summertime Fun

Catching the water...


...to drink it...

...and wash my hair with it...

"What hair?" you might say-I'll just have you know that our little Miss Bree has a full blown curly mullet, and it is BEAUTIFUL in all it's frizzy glory. I will understand that girl's pain when she is older and any humidity makes for a bad hair day. But there are little curlies back there and I AM NOT CUTTING IT!

Enjoying some summertime popsicle treats...

Bree in the new dress I made-Emma wasn't cooperating to take pictures-Bree's wondering, "what's the fuss?"

This is the girls new game-roll off the couch onto their heads. They get a kick out of it-I just wait for one of them to start crying because it hurts.

And it's finally happened. I never thought Emma would do it-she's never been the curious child that gets into everything and she's usually so obedient! But in her early-morning boredom before Mom and Dad are awake, it was bound to happen. She wanted to comb her own hair, but when the comb got stuck in her snarlies, what was she to do??! Cut it, of course! She pried open the drawer with the child lock on it to reach in and get the scissors (which she has NEVER done before) and voila! So our good friend Celeste saved the day with a cute bob (shown in later pictures).

We went to Patterson's Farm on Saturday to enjoy the outdoors. There used to be a golf course behind the store, but they turned it into trails, and we had them all to ourselves! The girls started out in the stroller, then Bree wanted OUT. She carried her blankie for a bit, but then she wanted to be a helper! Towards the end we heard a rumble, so we quickly put the girls back in and started running! We didn't get too drenched, but it was enough to make us laugh and feel a little like kids playing in the rain!

Emma gets a little crazy at church :) I think they were learning about being grateful for their eyes, and I LOVE how her teachers taped the paper glasses to her forehead. She wants us to put them back on her when she wakes up in the morning. I'd love to see some reactions to THAT when I take her out in public!

Since we had a "moment" of sunshine after church, we drove to the Case farm to take some pictures of the girls...

Umm...can I go over THERE? I think I'm done with pictures!

Emma's still looking out the window...Bree just wants something to smell so sweet!

This one's for Dad and Mom-here's our FLOURISHING garden! It's so pretty to look at and Emma loves noticing the new things sprouting up through the dirt!

Dancing Girlies

We've known for quite some time that Emma is ALL GIRL, but we thought with Bree's personality she might be more "sporty". But, nope, she is following in Emma's footsteps. Emma can usually be found at our house in some sort of dress up and dancing and prancing around to music, and Bree now does the same. When Emma first started dance Miss Tracee taught her the "upside down" with a pointy toe, and Emma always does it. And now Bree does it too. She totally dances then pauses in a dance pose. It's hilarious, and of course, whenever you laugh at something your kid does, they do it over and over. So now whenever we go somewhere (drop off Emma at school, the doctor, in a store) if someone stops and says hi to Bree, she'll stop whatever she's doing and go into a dance pose for them-the upside down or sitting on her bum with her foot pointed out and up. Poor Dave. He's doomed to a life of dancing.









Did I ever post about Dave being the prince? Well, Emma and I were talking to each other on the couch and she was talking about princes and princesses. I told her that when she was older she can find a "prince" and get married in the temple. She already knows that to get married you "go to the temple and get a diamond" (priorities!!). But she always would say that she's going to marry Elizabeth. So I had to clarify that she will marry a boy. Well, she asked me if I was married and I said, "Yes, I'm married to Daddy. Daddy is my prince." And she looked at me defiantly and said, "No, Daddy is MY prince. You go get your OWN prince!" She was very protective of Dave after that. Now we've settled down to a compromise that we are sharing Dave. There's gonna be some BAD competition when Bree starts in on this.

And this is Emma on her last day of school. I just think she looks cute :)

Life's Lessons

I learned today that I haven't been very diligent about teaching Emma the all-important life lesson of not always saying what is in your head.

Case in point #1:
We went to the grocery store today. We picked up some apples and bananas, then I headed over to the grapes. There were about 3 other women all around me, getting grapes. I started picking through them to find a "good" bag when Emma yells out, "Mom, you can't get grapes! Grapes give you diarrhea!"

Let me clarify. Grapes don't give ME diarrhea. Ever since Emma was a baby, any time she had raisins or grapes she would end up with a BAD diaper and the rash that comes with it. So when she would ask for either of those (before being potty-trained) we would always tell her no, it will make your bum hurt. I really don't know where she finally made the connection that they DID give her diarrhea, or where she even learned the word diarrhea. But, alas, the damage was done.
The ladies around me, plus some employees IN THE OTHER AISLE, were laughing hysterically. All throughout the store, any time we went through an aisle and ran into someone who heard it, we were applauded for giving them the best laugh of the day.

Case in point #2:
After putting Bree down for her nap, Emma and I decided to put on swimsuits and go outside to play in the water. Emma quickly put hers on and came into the room where I was getting dressed. I am the first to admit that my body doesn't look so fabulous since getting swollen with 2 kids. She takes one look at my unclothed body and LAUGHS! I tell her it's not polite to laugh and she says, "But Mommy, your (insert any body part you want here) is JIGGLY!" giggle giggle giggle. There's more that she said that I will share only with Dave and laugh my head off about.

So, yes, we have some work to do.