Yet another Brynn-ism

During one of our several visits to the doctor last week, I lifted Brynn out of the car and into the parking lot. As she got outside and the wind blew against her bare arms, she exclaimed "It's freakin' cold!" I promptly told her that we don't say that word. She said OK, and then without missing a beat, corrected herself with "It's freakin'!" Yeah, wrong word, sweetie! Sometimes I feel like living with kids is like living in an Amelia Bidelia story (does anyone remember those books, or am I just dating myself here?). They take things so literally, and are so innocent when they misunderstand what seems obvious.

Saturday Happenings

Today has been such a fun day! We met my parents for breakfast this morning at a little place we hadn't been to in awhile. The kids did well, the food was delicious, and we always have fun with my parents. After breakfast, I took Brynn with me for pedicures. She has been so well-behaved lately and going to bed without crying and screaming, so I thought I'd reinforce that with a fun "big girl" activity. She was a little overwhelmed by all the people at the nail salon and the funny chairs there, so she ended up on my lap the whole time. Not quite as relaxing for me as I had anticipated, but that's OK. She loved picking a nail polish out of the 100+ choices and then giggled in delight when the guy painted a little white flower on her big toes. I could tell she felt like a grown up when we were sitting at the nail drying station reading magazines. It's fun having a girl!!

After getting our feet sandal-ready, Brynn and I headed back home for awhile. For lunch, we went to our favorite pizza place, a Saturday tradition. We ran into some friends from church, so it was great chatting with them a bit. Then, it was home for some quiet time. When I checked in on Collin during his nap, this is what I found:

I guess he wasn't as uncomfortable as he looked, because he was actually asleep. Brynn and I ran a couple errands in the afternoon. In the evening, we met Dave's sister Cyn and her husband Mike at the Cheesecake Factory. I hadn't seen them in a long time, so we had a fun visit over our mounds of food and dessert. Um, yeah, I think it will take me all of next week to work off all the food I ate today. After we said goodbye to Cyn and Mike, we took the kids to ride the carousel at the mall. Collin enjoyed the carousel much more than he did last time (remember that picture of him from a previous post with his look of absolute terror?). Brynn was smiling during the entire ride, and as soon as she got off, she kept chanting "Thanks for the carouself, thanks for the carouself..." to Dave and I. (Who is this child these days? I am certainly hoping that all her extra sweetness signals an end to the terrible twos phase that seemed to have lingered a bit too long... Did I just jinx myself by writing that down?).

I absolutely love Saturdays. I feel so blessed to have a husband who loves to spend time with his family. I love watching our family build memories together. I love having the opportunity to catch up with family and friends. And I love having time where I don't have to focus so much on my to-do list, so I can better enjoy the fun parts of being a mom and wife.

Awwww...

I couldn't believe it, but after my last post Collin ended up with pink eye too and Brynn got sick with a fever and tummy ache. I just had to laugh at the bad luck we've been having with all these random little sicknesses and things. If you know Brynn, you know this girl has crazy energy. It can be a challenge to keep up with her because of that. By the time she goes to bed at night, I practically collapse from exhaustion (only slightly exaggerating here). B quit napping months ago, so when I found her asleep on the chair like that yesterday, I was very surprised. One of the first signs that she was sick was that she kept falling asleep during the day. She has been so sweet though! Sickness doesn't usually do that to people, B included, but I have been grateful for it after a rough few weeks. When I've taken a moment to lay down, she has taken her little minkee blanket and covered me with it. She also told me today that I'm a great "cooker" when I made them lunch (leftovers, pbj sandwiches, and mangoes--don't you love how easy kids can be to please sometimes). She's also been calling us all "Sweetie". Everything is "sweetie.." this and "sweetie..." that. She has really made this past week not only bareable, but enjoyable. I am glad she is finally feeling better, and I am grateful for the things (even temporary illness) that make you set aside the housework and errands and just spend time together.

Happy Birthday Natacha!

Today is my sister-in-law's birthday, so I hope she is having a good day! We don't live nearby, so I don't see her often, but I am looking forward to her next visit. She's been so fun to have in our family. She has a great sense of humor, and cracks us up on a regular basis. She is a great mom and a fabulous cook! Happy Birthday Natacha!

We made it!

So we made it through the weekend just fine. Dave was helpful with the kids, and he let me get out of the house for a little me-time on Saturday too. I even got a nap on Sunday morning. Brynn has been especially sweet the past few days also. Several times a day, she says, "Mommy....I love you SOOO much!" She has been giving lots of sweet hugs and kisses too, and when she isn't trying to wrestle her brother, she has been so cute with him too. She has several nicknames for him, so instead of "Collin", she usually refers to him as Buddy, Brother, Muffin Man, or ChunkaMonk. It is so sweet, and definitely gets me through the more difficult parts of being a mom. OK, so when Collin fell the other day and started crying, Brynn was quick to tell me that we need to get a new brother, but they do love each other. And Collin's rash never got very bad, and is already gone. Weird.

Speaking of making it through the weekend, Brynn has been having a tough time going to bed the past few weeks. I have literally had to pry her little hands off of my neck to put her in bed, and then she screams for at least 20 minutes until she falls asleep. Well, the other night, we had a talk about it. She was never able to communicate to me why she was doing this, but she finally told me that she is scared of things getting her in her bed. I guess she has been having nightmares, and now she thinks frogs or alligators or whatever will bite her in her sleep. Poor thing! She tends to be pretty dramatic, so I still wasn't sure how scared she was versus how much she was trying to manipulate me into staying up late. We had a talk about how she's safe in her bed, and nothing is going to bite her in her sleep. She still wasn't convinced, so I suggested she say a prayer whenever she gets scared, so Heavenly Father can help her feel safe. She immediately wanted me to say a prayer with her right then. In fact, we ended up saying two prayers. Then, she layed down and went to sleep without any crying. The same thing happened again last night. It is so sweet to see the faith and trust of a child. I hope she will always hang onto that faith, and know that her Heavenly Father loves her and is always watching over her.

You've GOT to be kidding me!

I spoke too soon. Apparently, we are not yet immune to everything out there. We ended up going to the doctor again today, because Collin got a weird rash. Of course, it didn't start showing up until after we left the doctor's office yesterday. Its not really a big deal, because it doesn't seem to be bothering him or causing him to be sick. It just means that we don't get to go out all weekend, since it might be contagious. Oh well. Maybe I will finally get around to those same projects that never seem to get crossed off the to-do list.

Sick...again

Since September, it has felt like one of the kids or I have had something. This time its Brynn. Just before we were supposed to go meet a friend for dinner, Brynn started acting really strange and her eyes were red and goopy and she wouldn't open them. Needless to say, Dave had to go to dinner without us. Brynn is way over napping these days, but she slept for 3 hours in the evening yesterday. I couldn't even wake her to eat dinner. A doctor's appointment this morning confirmed that she has pink eye in both eyes and an ear infection. Great. We were just at the doctor's a couple weeks ago because Brynn had a weird rash that turned out to be Fifth Disease. I figure that the way the last several months have gone, we should be immune to just about everything. Actually, Brynn is feeling much better today and seems to be back to her feisty self. She's already on medicine, and the doctor assures me we can get out of the house and back to the outside world again tomorrow.

This past year has really taught me not to take health for granted. I have also learned how blessed I am to have a husband who is so helpful and involved in his kids' lives. He was the one who stayed up with Brynn until midnight last night, when her nap gave her a "second wind".

Saturday Morning

Can you guess where we went today? Dave had a seminar this morning, so I decided to take the kids to the zoo. Dave's mom was able to join us also, so the kids were excited to get time with their Grandma Cheryl. I was wishing I had brought my SLR, because there were some great little spots for photos. We actually took all the photos above at the zoo. Unfortunately, I had my only-focuses-half-the-time-and-has-terrible-white-balance-problems point and shoot, so they aren't as technically good as I they could be. Oh well. We were there to see the animals any way. Our favorite animal was probably the orangutans. There was a whole family of them--a grandma, a mom and dad, and a baby. It was cute to see them interact together, especially since it was pretty close to how humans interact. The little baby even played peek-a-boo using a piece of material they had in the exhibit. Brynn was absolutely captivated by them. We literally had to pull her away from the exhibit.

The other highlight of the zoo was when the kids got to play in the water area. Brynn was pretty timid at first, but ended up standing right over the shooting water. Collin, on the other hand, had no problem running right out there.

After they ended up drenched we decided it was time to head home. It was a fun day and we were all ready for a nap! Thanks for coming with us Cheryl!

Remembering

I just wanted to wish my brother Justin a Happy Birthday! We are less than 2 years apart, so we grew up fighting quite a bit, but then would often end up defending each other whenever we would get into trouble. I am so proud of him and the person he is. He is always helping other people out. I remember several years ago when we were moving and most of our friends and family were out of town or busy, and we couldn't afford a moving company. Justin showed up with his truck first thing in the morning and spent the entire day helping us. Oh, and did I mention it was the middle of the summer? That is just one example of his generosity. He's also a really good dad who is very involved in his kids' lives. I hope he has a great day! Here he is entertaining Collin:

Today also would have been my Grandma L's birthday. Its been about a decade since she passed away, but I still think about her alot. She never got to meet my kids, but I think about how she is probably watching them and the delight she would get in them. I also feel like she was there during Collin's ordeal after his birth, and how she must have been one of his little angels helping him and I. She was a beautiful person, and I am blessed to have had the relationship with her that I have.

Perfect Day for the Park

This time of year I start feeling like we're in a countdown until the 100+ degree weather will be here. We've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather while we have it. Today, we got some lunch with my mom and took it to a park near her house to eat and play. My kids love the park, but this one was especially nice...rock climbing walls, tons of slides, climbers, swings, a tunnel, etc. Here are some snapshots:

I also wanted to add a Happy Birthday to our friend Kelly. We hope you have an extra special birthday!

Bubbles and Sidewalk Chalk

I've really been trying to spend more one-on-one time with Brynn lately. The goal is to do fun things together. Nothing too elaborate, just some quality time with my daughter. Today Dave took Collin to the gym, while Brynn and I stayed home. The weather was perfect outside, so we grabbed the bubble mixture and the sidewalk chalk and headed outside. It made me so happy to see Brynn with such a huge smile on her face.

After we filled the front yard with bubbles and the bubble mixture got knocked over a couple times, we moved onto the sidewalk chalk. I have to admit it was the first time either of us have ever used it, so Brynn was surprised and excited that she was being allowed to draw on the "floor."

And here is the (disgusting) evidence of a fun afternoon:

The Little Moments

This past weekend was the LDS General Conference. I always seem to forget how much I love conference until I am actually watching it. For me, it's sort of like New Year's--a chance to reflect on where I'm at in my life and where I would like to be, and make some "resolutions" to help me get there. It is always so uplifting to hear how the leaders of our church speak about women, and especially mothers. They hold the role of mothers in such high regard. It is very motivating when someone can see potential in you when you don't always see it in yourself. And when you're doing so many things for your family that often go unappreciated, its nice to know that someone else sees the value of it all. There was one talk in particular, I felt was specifically for me and some things I have been struggling with lately. One part of the talk that especially stuck out to me is that as mothers we need to appreciate the little moments. I know that is something I really need to work on. I don't hold onto those sweet little moments that my kids give me. As soon as the difficult moments come I tend to forget the good ones too quickly. It was ironic, because as I was listening to this talk, I was laying on the couch with a migraine, and my daughter kept coming up to me and rubbing my arm and giving me little kisses and making sure the blanket was covering me. She would ask me throughout the day if my headache still hurt and if I was OK. She and I have had some tough days lately, so that was definitely one of those little moments I need to remember.

We had a few other sweet little moments today as well. This morning was Collin's 15 month well-check, and his dr was asking if Collin was speaking yet. I have to admit that is a topic that I have been very aware of lately. I told the dr how Collin has only ever said 3 words and its rare that he even says those. He rarely "babbles" and basically grunts when he is trying to communicate. He's still young, so I haven't reached the level of being concerned yet, but it has been on mind lately. Any way, we went to my mom's house this afternoon, and Collin was pretending to talk on a "phone" with her. He would hold it to her ear and then hold it to my mom's ear. My mom kept saying, "Hello!" After they went back and forth like that a few times, my mom noticed that Collin was responding as well. Sure enough, he had started saying "hello" too. Not only that but he repeated it over and over for the next 5 minutes. Maybe that was Heavenly Father's little gift to me so that I won't worry so much about Collin. (For those that know Collin's history, you can probably understand why I'm prone to worry in regards to his health and development). Just moments later, Brynn started dancing around with a plastic Barbie guitar and Collin was standing in front of her dancing right along too. They were having so much fun! Like I said, they are little moments, but those are the moments that I need to hang onto and appreciate more. I am so blessed to have both of my kids. They are my miracles (literally) and I am so grateful to be their mom.

Easy Bake Oven

Do you remember these things? It was one of those toys I would have traded one of my siblings for when I was little. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world when I actually received a coveted Easy Bake oven for myself. I remember being so proud of my delicious creation when I first used it. My fond childhood memories of it end there, however, because my mom wasn't as excited about the mess or the cost those little cakes created. She pulled that mom trick that I have already mastered myself, and hid the oven away until it was forgotten and she could get rid of it.

Maybe that's why I was a little excited myself when our friend Amber offered to give Brynn their used-only-once Easy Bake oven (am I seeing a trend here?). Brynn had that same look on her face that I must have had when I got mine. As she looked over the pink plastic oven (so much cuter than the one I had), she got even more excited when she learned that it actually bakes real cookies and cakes. We just had to try it out (well, as soon as we could get Collin down for his nap)! We patiently played with playdo while we waited for the little cake to finish. Brynn loved being able to mix up her own frosting and put it on the cake herself. I think her favorite part was licking the frosting bowl. Exhibit A:

She ended up with frosting on her forehead, neck, nose, everywhere. She was loving it! OK, so our home is not going to turn into a bakery now, but I think we're keeping the oven. Brynn and I had some good quality time together today, I got to feel like a kid again, and maybe she'll end up being better at cooking/baking than I am (not a difficult feat).

You know, I always loved my little Snoopy Snow Cone machine too...