The Past 6 Weeks

Well, I feel pretty lame for going oh, one day short of a month before updating my blog. Obviously, I've been a little busy. Wanna know what I've learned?

-Two kids is tough stuff. 

-Thrush is quite possibly the worst thing that could happen to a new mom!
-Sometimes natural remedies are really great, but when something goes unresolved for over 4 weeks, it may be time to get a prescription. Thus was the case with our Thrush infection. Oh, and it's still not completely gone.
-No new mom should ever be banned from chocolate (or any other treat) in the first few years weeks of motherhood.
-It is critical for me to get at least one 3-4 hour chunk of sleep every night. Crucial for me to get at least 6 hours total. Helpful for me to get 7 hours. Glorious if I get more than that. Thankfully, Kyson has been cooperative and sleeps like a rock from 10pm-around 2-4 am. It's lovely.

-Probably a good idea to give your newborn a bath more than one time in 4 weeks... Just sayin'
-Having an energetic dog in a third floor apartment with a new baby, a toddler, and a recovering mom, is enough to make anyone want to toss her off the balcony. Don't worry, it hasn't happened and won't happen.
-Sometimes the dishes don't get done, and it's okay.
-Sometimes the laundry doesn't get done, and it's okay.
-Sometimes the house is a disaster, and it's okay (for about 2 days).
-Taking a shower and putting makeup on now takes much longer and is reserved only for special occasion days. (jk...kinda)
-Sometimes we have experiences that force us to learn how to ask for help. Everyone is always willing to serve, but most people have a hard time asking...myself included.
-Breastfeeding and I do not get along well. Thankfully, someone invented pumps and formula.
-I am a much happier, less stressed, and more loving mother when I'm not freaking and stressing about trying to struggle through nursing my baby. I think emotional and mental stability for me is equally, if not more, important than exclusively breastfeeding.
-If I can drive 246 miles, ALONE, with a two year old and a newborn, I can pretty much do anything.

"Stop crying, Kyson!" 

(he got the binky himself and put it in)

-If I can survive 4 days and 4 nights by myself with those two boys, after driving 246 miles twice, I consider myself Wonder Woman and feel nearly invincible.
-I am so unbelievably grateful for my husband!!!!!
 

This is what a chunky Karissa-baby looks like.

-When it feels like all hell is breaking loose, the walls are crashing down, the kids are crying, the house is a mess, the dog keeps barking, and you haven't gotten more than 4 hours of sleep in the past 3 nights, remember, Heavenly Father takes care of his children and sends special angels in the form of friends to help out. I have never felt so blessed, loved, and taken care of by some of my very best friends. I don't know how I would've survived some of the days if I didn't have people that truly love and care for me help out!!

After a really, really, difficult day, I opened my scriptures and found this verse: 1 Nephi 1:20 (last half) "I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
This really struck me because I realized that my friends who had reached out and helped me the entire day, taking Blake, making us dinner, doing my dishes, were definitely tender mercies from the Lord. It was a blessing from God so that I could gain a little strength and feel closer to deliverance of the hard times. I can honestly say, after that day, I did feel a little stronger and like I could continue on for at least one more day. After that, things continued to improve and I have been doing better every day since then!

4th of July

Finally, one of the best things I've learned, or experienced really, is that it DOES get easier!!!!

Every day is easier than the last. I've figured out issues with myself, I've figured out routines for my kids, I've figured out how to multi-task better, I've figured out how to be more efficient. It's amazing how our capacity to love, serve, and work, expands with experience.

Re-purposing my maxi skirt into a dress. (6 weeks pp)

I love having my two boys! It has not been an easy 6 weeks, in fact, it's been terribly difficult, but I finally feel  like I'm getting the hang of things and I'm finally starting to feel like myself again! Now I just need to find a double stroller so I can start doing power walks and build up to running again...  No more excuses. 14.5 weeks until my Half Marathon. Better start training!

Love these guys!!!

Boy Marks

Years ago my mom told me about her friend that had a young boy. Whenever this kid would fall down, get a scrap, or a bruise, his mom and dad would say "Cool! Look at that boy mark!" I always thought it was super cute and a great idea to use when I became a mom.

Now, along down the road, I am a mom. To a boy. Who loves getting boy marks.
He doesn't really know what they are yet and I don't think he really loves getting them, but he's awful good at it.

Just the other night he gave himself a particularly exciting boy mark, right on the back of his head, hidden by his shaggy blonde hair.

The story goes like this:

It had been a perfect evening to round out my birthday weekend: delicious bbq pork sandwiches and Texas Fudge Cake with Scott's brother and their family. They had just said their goodbyes and left in a whirlwind of 4 kids hyped up on chocolate. Scott and I were picking things up and tidying up around our apartment. He happened to be helping put toys away while I was finishing the dishes. All of the sudden I heard him gasp and Blake scream. Then hysterically start crying. The next instant was Scott stammering in slow motion: "I need a...something...get a...hurry a...rag...I NEED A RAG!!!!" 

I grabbed the closest dishtowel to me, later realizing it probably wasn't really the cleanest thing to be putting on a wound, and darted around the corner. I nearly had a panic attack at what I saw:

Scott had pinned Blake to the ground, face down, and was holding his hand tightly on the back of his head. Blood was trickling down Blake's neck as he was screaming and writhing trying to move. 

My first thought was: Oh my gosh, he cut an artery in his neck and it's squirting blood. 

The first thing out of my mouth was: Should I call 911???? 
Then: Do we need to call an ambulance???
Then: Do we need to go to the hospital??
Then: Do we need to call the Cutler's or Sanders?
Then: Does he need stitches?
Then: Are you sure???

Once Scott assured me he had only hit the back of his head, I scooped up Blake and held him against my chest so Scott could clean up the blood. While doing so he explained to me exactly what happened since he was trying to catch him as he was falling. Blake had climbed on his chiro table that was folded up and propped unstably against our brick wall. The weight of a child caused the table to slide down, causing Blake to essentially fold in half with the back of his head catching brick. I guess he made initial contact then scraped down the wall, thus causing the blood.

As every good parent should, we calmed our baby down, put him in the tub to clean off his head and get a better look, slapped a couple band-aids on, then snuggled him and gave him oreos before bedtime. Hopefully he didn't really need stitches because he didn't get them. But he seemed fine and was perfectly normal the next day (plus it stopped bleeding pretty quick and didn't look too deep).

It was a very exciting night to say the least.
I also realized the next day that I sure as heck better get some guts, and quick, because we're about to have two little boys around here.
Boys get hurt. Boys conk. Boys bleed. Boys break bones.
Oh boy.
I'm sure glad my hubby is doctor, and much more calm than I am.

Paint, Mud, and Baby, Oh my!

Not only do I have a miniature clone of my husband, he is a complete and utter copycat. Our kid seriously loves his dad and wants to do everything exactly like him. Which is really cute when they're lounging outside on a beautiful afternoon...

Not so cute when it's throwing balls up to the ceiling in my kitchen...

Since Missouri can't seem to decide if it's Winter or Spring yet, and was cold and rainy the other day, Bubs asked to "paink". I happily agreed and intelligently covered him in an apron. It started off as a nice, casual, calm, activity...

Then he suddenly remembered that one time we went to a ceramic store with Grammy and she painted his hand and foot to get hand and footprints. Of course he had to try it himself. All the way up his arm.

And since painting your own hand and arm is most definitely not satisfactory, you must, of course, paint mom's hand too. See that evil little grin poking through?

Then, because painting mom's hand is still not enough, you must squeeze out half the bottle of paint onto the plate, let mom start painting your hand, then realize it's much faster and more efficient to dunk your hand in the paint. Smear, smear, smear. Rub up the arms. Smear on the table. Smear on the chair. Smear on the plate. Smear on the paper. I had to stop taking pictures because things were getting far too messy.

However, he had a blast. And he was happy and calm for 20 minutes. Score!

Thank you to whoever invented washable paint. Pure genius.

Later this same morning, on our way inside from the car, in true boy fashion, Bubs decided to jump off the concrete step and land in a puddle of mud. Of course mud is slippery, but he didn't know that, so he immediately fell back on his butt, slid on to his back, and finally bumped his head on the step (softly). I laughed. He freaked out. Why? Because he got dirty. Oh dear. At least he's tough. I've accepted the fact that boys and mud come as a package deal.

Last but not least, we finally had our 36 week ultrasound this week. I wish could have been longer because I love seeing the baby move, but having a short ultrasound usually means having a healthy baby, so I can't complain about that. Here are the comparison pictures of our boys. Who is who!? I'm pretty sure they could be twins based on the pictures.

Kyson is on the left, Blake is on the right. They both have their hands across their face, pudgy noses, and luscious lips. I can't wait to meet our baby!

Playground Parenting and other random things...

Gosh I feel like I should have so much more on my mind and something interesting to write than the blank nothingness that is floating around in my head.

And when I say nothingness I really actually mean tons-of-ness.

Things like:
-tornado watches and Midwest thunderstorms
-hiding in the bathroom on our 3rd floor apartment for the first time in almost 3 years because we were actually worried about the possibility of a tornado. I've never heard wind that loud before, but it wasn't a twister.
-the bombing at the Boston marathon. Blows my mind (no pun intended) that someone would do something like that. It's so sick and wrong on so many levels.
-two days later President Obama receiving a letter that contained the poison Ricin. It was intercepted by the mail room, but still. Is it connected to Boston? Is someone trying to send about message about the stupid gun control bill and immigration laws that are trying to be passed?
-do we need "bomb control" laws now, too?
-parenting, and specifically, how to raise boys that are tough and don't cry.
-parenting, specifically on how to not be a helicopter mom and how to raise confident kids.
-parenting, and how to take care of a newborn and a 2 1/2 year old.
-what are pain medication options other than an epidural for labor & delivery.
-how to effectively teach 4 year olds about Baptism


Last weekend we had an opportunity to house and babysit for some friends who had to go out of town. They have two, sweet, six year olds (not twins). We had a great time and lots of fun, but it made me think. I wondered how on earth I'd ever be able to have my own three kids, how people pay for kids, and how to raise and discipline kids with such. different. personalities. I guess I'll find the answers to those questions when I have three kids of my own!

I also had an experience at the park, while watching these kids plus my own, that really made me wonder. My sweet little Bubs was playing and saw a girl that had a stick. Somehow (I didn't see it), he apparently got/stole/took? the stick from her. Her mom (and grandma??) immediately went to go find her another stick, or three, and said "oh, it's okay, here's more sticks for you!" The girl I was watching also went out to get a stick for the little girl and brought it back. The gals said thanks and one of them said "we'll just keep these other ones too just in case..." So with Bubs and his stick, he decided to start banging it on the rail of the stairs that went up a hill. He was bothering nobody, doing nothing wrong, when the same girl decided to walk up the hill right next to the rail on the grass, right in front of where Bubs was playing with his stick. She could've walked behind him on the stairs, behind him on the other side of the rail, or further away from him. But she chose to walk really, really, close to where he was. The mom (and grandma?) suddenly jumped up and got mad at BUBS telling him to stop hitting the stick and be careful with it. Even reaching out to try and grab the stick in an effort to get him to stop banging. Eventually they scooped up their girl and took her somewhere else.

All the while they kept glancing at me, who was standing at the top of the hill watching this unfurl, and clearly making quiet comments to each other.

This lead me to wonder....
-Was I in the wrong for standing and watching my child without jumping in? (he wasn't intentionally harming anyone)
-Was I in the wrong for not trying to protect the girl from the choice she made?
-Was I being a "negligent parent"?
-Should I have walked down and taken the stick from Bubs?

In my mind, I felt like he was doing nothing wrong. He was simply playing with a stick on the railing and not trying to hurt anyone. He was not aware of the girl walking up and he didn't make any sort of gesture to try and hit her. (nor did he ever actually make contact with her)

I'm not sure how it is in other areas, but I feel like the city/county we live in is full of helicopter moms at the playgrounds. I'm the type of mom that as long as I can see my kid and see that he's safe, I don't intervene. I let him climb, jump, run, trip, fall, get hurt, and deal with other kids. Because of this, several times I have felt immature, young, incompetent  and unwise as a mother in the eyes of older mother's because I'm just standing there. I know I can be sensitive to things, so maybe they're not thinking I'm a young, immature, and incompetent mom, but it can be frustrating and chip away at my confidence.

I read a really great article that my cousin shared about the detriments of being too protective of your kids. It made me feel alot better about how my husband and I parent, and made me think I'm really not incompetent, immature, or unwise. Though I may not agree with the entire article, I think the main message it's trying to express is pretty accurate. Check it out by clicking here

In the end, every kid is specifically given to the parent they need. So who am I to say one mom is better than another? Because we're not. We're exactly who we need to be for our own children. Yes, there are always things we can do to improve and be better, but God sent us the kids we got for a specific purpose and reason! Which means that really, nobody can be a better mom for Blake than I can. The same goes for you and your kids, and doesn't that make you feel AWESOME?!

"it's too bright!" (the flash)

30 week picture comparison & a Name!

Okay so I'm not 30 weeks anymore, but I found these comparison pictures and thought I'd share.
Mostly because it's a self esteem booster for me.
With Blake I started out 10 pounds heavier than this baby. I also gained 40 pounds by the end. So far, with this one, I'm doing much better and on track to gain 35. Wahoo! If I manage to stay on track, when I deliver I'll be 15 pounds lighter than when I delivered Blake. Wow! That will definitely make dropping the baby weight easier.

Anyway, this makes me feel much better when I have really crummy feeling days.
Now that I'm 33.5 weeks, I'm getting much bigger and much more uncomfortable.
My worst discomfort is something that happened with Bubs too: a stretching, burning, pulling, pain right under my rib cage on the side, wrapping around to my back. It's no fun. Being adjusted helps temporarily, but it's annoying and can be really painful! I guess that's what happens when the baby starts getting big and tucking his little legs under my ribs...


I'm getting more and more excited each day to have a new baby around the house! Bubs is pretty excited too and makes comments almost every day like "Wanna have a baby brother!" "Find my brother!" He's such a smartie pants. Scott loves feeling my belly and feeling this little guy party all the time. His favorite party hour? Between 11pm-12 am. Sweet.

And, last but not least, we've decided on a name. Well, a first name anyway. We're still working on a middle name since we thought it was a little too much to have him and his cousin have identical full names with only one letter different. Hehe. I have a middle name in mind that I love, but I don't know if Scott is on board with it yet (read: we haven't really discussed it).

So now that I sparked your curiosity, the name we've pretty much decided on is....

Kyson!

Unless something crazy weird happens in the delivery/recovery room, that's what his name will be. We've already been calling him it. A little weird for me and out of my normal comfort zone since I'm not huge on naming a baby before they're born, but nothing else has stuck or felt right. Plus, I looooove the name, so why not?

  
psst. My hair looks so much better blonde, doncha think?

Babies, Brother's, and a Blog Tragedy

In case you haven't noticed, there are a whole bunch of random grey boxes with minus signs in them all over my blog. Especially once you get to the posts that are older than Christmas. Why???

A blog tragedy.

Last night I was looking at the gallery on my Android phone and saw that an album titled "One + one = 3" was taking up 694 photos of "space" on my phone. So I thought, I need some more storage space since I'm nearly out, why don't I delete that album?

What I didn't know: That album was in fact a collection of EVERY SINGLE photo I have ever posted onto my blog in the past 6 years. That album was also NOT really on my phone taking up space. It was actually showing up by way of being connected through Google+ and was merely "floating" there via Picassa Web Albums.

What I really did not know: When I proceeded to delete that entire album via my PHONE, it actually deleted the entire album from Picassa Web Albums, which meant it deleted the album completely. Gone. Poof. Deleted.

The Consequences: Hours of time spent adding photos to blog posts in the past 6 years are gone. I have every post I've written, with words, but absolutely no photos. Nearly 700 pictures. Gone.

Needless to say, when I realized what had happened, I was devastated. Heartbroken. Crushed. In complete shock. A little research and a desperate email to my brother in law confirmed the awful: the album of pictures is non-recoverable and the delete was permanent.

The "Good" News: Fortunately while the album was deleted, most of the original pictures are safe and located somewhere between our desktop and two hard drives. So, we didn't completely lose the pictures, we just lost them off the blog. Now all we can do is put in hours and hours of work locating what we think are the appropriate pictures to match the blog posts in an effort to repair as much damage as possible. As soon as that is done, I will be printing off as much as I can into Blog Books. Something I have been wanting to do for years, never did, and now highly regret.

My Advice?: If you have Google+ and use an adroid device (I don't know if iphones have the same problem?), don't ever, ever, delete an album in your gallery from your phone to try and save space. The only prompt I received was "confirm deletions?" and once I said yes, there was no way to cancel or back out once it started deleting. I think that Google+, Andriod, Blogger, and Picassa Web Albums have a serious problem by allowing something like this to happen so easily without any warning or knowledge. I honestly had absolutely no idea what I was doing until it was permanent. I also know that others have had the same problem. Which means you think they would fix it and make it more difficult to have happen and/or make a way to recover the album.

Please don't let this happen to you!

Now, on to Babies and Brother's. 

Bubs was in a particularly delightful mood this morning, which was a tremendous blessing considering the night before and the severe lack of sleep I received. During breakfast he suddenly piped up, out of nowhere with no prompt: "I gonna have a brother! A baby brother! I find my brother." He lifted up his shirt, pointed to his belly and then decided he needed to actually go find his brother in the toy room.

He left and was back a minute later with a little stuffed turtle, announcing that it was his brother. He then proceeded to hold his brother, feed his brother eggs and toast, and say he needed to give his brother "cool hair." We went to the bathroom where he combed the top of the turtle's head and then applied some hair gel before saying "Cool hair! Don't touch it!" and returning to the table. After breakfast he said he wanted to watch Curious George with his brother, so we did.

I couldn't believe it. It was seriously the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. He obviously has the baby on his mind and is somewhat realizing he will have a brother. I am sure he has no idea what that actually means, but the fact that he is thinking about it is pretty impressive. I wish I had a video camera rolling the entire conversation, but I was only able to get bits and pieces and a cute picture.

Blake and his "brother"

Blake-isms

My fabulous sister in law hung a poster on one of their doors awhile back with the title: Dodds-isms. Then whenever her kids, or hubby, says something funny and/or quotable, she writes it on the poster. They have some pretty hilarious quotes!!

I thought it was a fun idea and a perfect way to quickly jot down funny things kids say. So I started a Blake-isms poster a few months ago. It's been lacking in quotes for some time, seeing as how his language is developing, but the past couple weeks he's said some pretty funny things.

Keep in mind these are coming from a 2 year old, who speaks very clearly, but with added typical 2 year old cuteness.

"I wanna drink the yuckies!" (in reference to mom's dr. pepper which is "yucky")

"No! No. You go to time out!" (when mom tried to help him not spill a drink)

"You. You listen. You go to time out now." (when mom tried to help with a drink again)

"See baby ____? See baby ____ now?!" (when mom and dad were talking about middle names for the baby, Bubs looked over with a big grin at mom's  tummy and said the baby's name)

Should we put some clothes on? "No, I have clothes on." Should we put real clothes on? "No, I have real clothes on."

Yelling: "Daddy come! Daddy come! Daddy come!! ...thank you."

"Kaiya eat Blake!"

"Uh-huh. Yes."

"Oh maaaaan. Shoot."

"You go to time out. 2, 4, 10 minutes."


"Banana! Banana in the sky!" (when getting out of the car at night and seeing the moon)

Boundaries, Bloody Noses, and Potty Training

We had quite the busy morning today! Full of all things completely unexpected and slightly unprepared for. However, I will return to that more after I get this off my chest....

Our ward boundaries we changed last week at Stake Conference. It's something that has been rumored to happen for at least the 2 1/2 years we've lived here. Our former ward, Parkway, was a very, very, small ward with some incredible families! We saw countless families move out during our time spent there with very few big move ins. Despite being in a small ward, we formed some amazing friendships and I've never, ever, ever, felt so welcome and loved in a ward. I knew I could call anyone for help and they'd be there in an instant. I never felt lost, alone, or friendless in our former Parkway ward.

Anyway, we knew change was bound to happen, and change came in a big way. The Stake (read: with permission from Salt Lake), basically squished former Parkway and Chesterfield ward boundaries, tossed in a few families from Rockwood and Frontenac, and then split everyone East and West, prior it was North and South, thus creating two completely new wards with new bishops, presidencies, callings, and members. They kept about 1/2 of each former ward in each new ward, so we still know tons of people in our new ward. I think it was the best way they could have split it!!

It was amazing to be in a huge ward on Sunday. The time it took to pass just the bread for Sacrament was equivalent to the time it took our former ward to complete the whole Sacrament service. There were people in the overflow and when we arrived 5 minutes early, it was a small struggle to find a seat. I haven't been in a ward that large in years. It was exciting and joyous but slightly overwhelming. I'm sad I'm not working in Young Women's anymore either, but hopefully I'll have another opportunity later in life. All in all, I think the changes are wonderful and will be amazing.

Now, back to our morning....
I've never been one to say that my child had to be potty trained at a certain age. I've always had the mindset that he'd be closer to 3 than 2 and that it would just happen when it was time. I was also planning on starting the process after the baby was born.
But, apparently I may be wrong.
At breakfast this morning, Bubs said "I pooted!" which usuallu means he went a little pee pee. Then he told me "I go potty on Mommy's toilet! You stay here, I be right back" and he ran to the bathroom. I followed him and he was removing clothing and saying "Pants off. Socks off. Diaper off." Then he climbed on the toilet. He didn't go, but we pulled out his little toilet and he spent the morning pantsless and sitting on it. He knew that he needed to poop and he wanted to go on the toilet.
While he was watching a show it happened. He came running into the bathroom where I was getting ready, yelling "I pooped! I pooped! Kaiya eating the poop!" and low and behold, he had pooped in his little toilet!!
I cleaned him up, we celebrated, danced, cleaned things up and he got some chocolate chips. He was ecstatic!!
He spent most of the next hour on, or near, his toilet trying to go again.
Then he was terribly upset at me for putting on a diaper and taking him to run errands. After we got back, he got distracted by toys and pooped in his diaper without saying anything (I was distracted on the phone too). So, does our potty training journey begin? I'm thinking so!

I've gotten some really awesome tips and advice from lots of friends who are moms. Thank you!! Hopefully I'll be able to utilize some of them. My goal is to let him potty train himself. I definitely want to make a big deal of it and celebrate when it happens, but I also don't want to nag him and force him to potty all the time. He is a smart kid and really good at communicating, so I think we'll be successful. I don't want to digress once we start, so I just want to take it slow and not force anything. He's really excited about chocolate chips,  the potty dance, new underwear, and sitting on the toilet, so I'm just going to go with the flow and see what happens!!

Last but not least, poor guy was so excited about putting on 3 pairs of new undies, plus one on his head as a hat, that he decided to run and get his real hat. On his way back in the kitchen he tripped and fell flat on his face. The result? His first bloody nose.

He was a trooper and was right back to normal after a quick screaming cry and a few snuggles. Then he decided to be sneaky and lock me inside his bedroom while he was on the outside. No, I didn't have a key. After a quick, urgent, trying not to panic, prayer, I managed to turn the knob hard enough in such a way that the latch slid out of the hole and the door opened. For once I'm glad we've had issues with our doors staying shut tight and hanging in the frame straight. Could've been tragic, for sure! At least I had my phone in case of a real emergency.... 

I'd love to hear your potty training stories! Successes, failures, frustrations, tricks, etc. Please share!

p.s. 30 weeks down, 10 to go. Wahoo!

A Saturday in Pictures...and words, because I'm wordy

Sometimes I think it might be fun to take pictures all day of everything that happened that day and then write a blog post about it.

Usually it doesn't happen.

But on Saturday, I was actually thinking, we had a relatively fun day, and I took lots of pictures. 

Here's how it went down.

"Hey Bubs, do you want waffles, pancakes, or eggs for breakfast?"

"Uhmmm, waffles!!"

So, waffles it was. I decided to try a new recipe. They turned out like this:

Thin, floppy, and meaningless.

So I added more flour, fixed the batter, and they ended up great!

After breakfast, we had a family coloring party.

Please, don't steal my amazing art work, I'm working on a copyright.

Following the coloring party, we conjoined in our "play room" and had a "test Karissa's ability to name the artist and song title" with songs on my ipod. Bubs had a great time dancing and Scott was surprised and impressed with my mad skills until The Beatles came on and I had no idea what we were listening to.

Sorry, I was born in the late 80's and not raised on The Beatles.
I know they're like iconic and everything, and they have a couple neat songs, but I much prefer Michael Jackson. Thanks.

Apparently my lack of knowledge was shocking (and devastating) enough to my husband that for the next hour all we heard was The Beatles. Until I couldn't take it anymore and turned everything off.

Moving on.
Bubs really loves laying in bed watching Curious George.
Funny how this happened, because the day before I was telling Scott that I felt a need to limit Bub's tv time a little more, especially when I'm getting ready in the morning. He agreed and said to think of other options. Then I walked in to this sweet scene...while he was getting ready.
"....waaaait a minute, didn't you tell me yesterday I should not do exactly what you're doing? hmmm...."

Regardless, it's precious.

And easier.

Remember when our dog looked like a mop?
Because someone (me) thought it would be kind to let her hair grow out during the winter so she would stay warmer.
Then someone (me) decided months later that that was a dumb idea and she needed a hair cut. Bad.

An hour later...

1 hour, 30 minutes, and a pound of hair later...

Much better.

Then it was time for a trip to the mall.

This cold weather is making me stir crazy. I just want to play outside! Thankfully, the mall has a play place and Bubs loves it. After playing for awhile, we walked around.

He was mesmerized by the giant trampoline with people bouncing and flipping. 

(psst, see that paper in his hand? I drew some trucks on it. He held onto it the whole time at the mall)

"You are not taking a picture of our son in the Princess car!" 

...even though he was so cute and buckled in and smiling.

Mesmerized by the carousal. 

Lions, tigers, bears, oh my!

Of course we had to ride the escalator. 

Which sounds like "alligator" when coming out of a two year old's mouth.

Our day ended with some delicious pork chops and me watching The Taste while hubby played NBA12 on xbox, before we both watched most of the BYU basketball game.

The end!

P.S. Remember how in Missouri it can be freezing, then hot, then freezing again? We took advantage of a 70 degree day and played outside for hours. It was glorious! Bubs loved throwing rocks into the duck pond. 

He also loved when I dropped bread behind us and got the ducks to follow us around. 

He sure is a cutie no matter how much of a stinker he can be!

p.p.s. It's really hard to take a picture of Bubs' face because he gets so excited, grins real big, juts his chin forward, yells "cheese!", and then moves real quick. All in less time than it takes my phone to snap a picture. Thus, blur.

Night Escapee Escapades

Our baby is turning 2 in four days!!!!

How on earth did that happen? How did time go so fast? I'm too young to have a two year old!

....not too mention number 2 on the way....

So what is this trouble maker up to lately? 

Trouble.

With sleeping, that is.

He has perfected the art of departing his crib in 0.003 seconds flat after the door is closed and the last "goodnight, love you!" is whispered. 

From there he runs to the door, screams, cries, bangs, jiggles the knob, sometimes removes the child lock (aren't those supposed to be "child proof?")  and then falls asleep on the floor. 

This happens every single time we put him to bed. Regardless of nap time or night time. Night light or pitch black. Thirty minutes of books and songs or five minutes. Bath or no bath. Big dinner or little dinner. 

We even removed the front piece of his crib so he could climb in bed easier and feel like a big boy. 

Now he climbs out in 0.001 second flat.

Sometimes we let him sleep on the floor until we go to bed, and then we quietly move him. More often than not, he wakes up right as we're shutting the door. Cue crying, running, and sleeping on the floor again. Sometimes Scott sleeps on the floor to ensure no crib escaping. It works until he gets up to leave.

We're both a little frustrated. A little annoyed. A little tired. 

I've come to the conclusion that: is it really that bad to let my toddler sleep on the floor???

I'm sure he'll grow out of it one day....

*side note: this all started happening after we came home from an almost 3 week long trip to Utah.

Aside from these super fun escaping escapades, he really is developing quite the personality.

Tantrums in Costco.

Waking up at 5:50 am.

Squawking "water! water! water!" or "binkeeee! binkeeee! binkeeee!" in desperation whenever he needs it. You'd think he was having a panic attack. We're working on the "please, mama." But he still needs "what do you say?" first.

...maybe it's just been one of those days.

Because he really is very sweet, and hilarious. He is incredibly obedient when we ask for his help and he cleans up his toys like a boss.  He loves "helping" me cook, wash dishes, unload the dishwasher, do the laundry, vacuum, etc. His favorite show is Curious George, which I don't mind because I think it's super cute. For now. He loves giving kisses. He also loves people! When we go to a party or get together, he'll usually find one person and become obsessed with them. It's pretty funny. He has no fear of strangers. Or dogs. 

He is a serious talker and starting to put sentences together. Of course, Scott and I have to interpret for others sometimes, but he's pretty easy to understand. He also totally understands the concept of "do this, and you get a reward!" For example, apparently in Nursery they give out marshmallows for standing against the wall. This morning I got the marshmallows out for hot chocolate, and immediately he went to the wall and said "Stand wall. Marshmallow." Cute, funny, and sad at the same time. 

Okay I'll stop boring you with how awesome our son is. 

But if you have any suggestions for the whole sleeping issue, let me know! Otherwise, the floor it is.

Fall Pictures, for your viewing pleasure

I'm pretending it's Friday today.

Mostly because Friday will consist of lots of packing, last minute prep, and travel.

*my dog just fell off the top of the couch! hahahaha!*

So, in honor of the possibility of me not posting for several days, here are some pictures to keep you happy!!!

Tri 7 Card Ceremony.

This is Scott's class. Can you find him? (3rd row center)

They had a yummy lunch with the ceremony and I got to go kid-free!

Isn't my hubby handsome? I'm so in love with him!

Some of his buddies.

Brandon, Scott, Michael, Jaron.

Don't they look sharp? We have become such great friends with these people (and their wives)!!!

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of the rest of his buddies. Oh well.

Tractors at Rombach's Pumpkin Patch.

Bubs really hates looking at the camera.

I just thought this was funny and cute.

Ooh, sort of looking in the general direction of the camera! 

"She think's my tractor's sexy..."

Our ward Trunk or Treat!

Cowboy hats on cute boys: hot hot hot!!!

I'm in love with this picture. Love my boys!!

Bubs and his friend "Nana"

It was freezing and windy that day. But look at that sky!

Getting ready for trick or treating!

Cutest frog ever!

"When can we get candy!?"

"Please, Daddy? Candy?"

*I did take a picture with Bubs and Scott, but it was blurry and it was the only one I took. Bummer.

Happy Thanksgiving next week! I hope everyone has a wonderful and delicious holiday!!

Be back...someday!