Getting Back to Normal

Well, after 10 days of having Grammy, Kelyn, Samuel, and Isaac here - things got turned a little upside down! We loved it! We had so much fun while they were here and I was so sorry to see them leave yesterday! Samuel and Isaac are SOOOO unbelievably cute! Isaac is the smiliest, nicest little guy you will ever meet! Samuel is so cute and hilarious! He loves to dance and he eats like a little horse! It's so fun to watch when Kelyn starts singing "Circle circle round and round!" and he starts dancing around the room. Anika has been asking me to sing that song and "Samuel's song" over and over since they left. Samuel's song goes something like: "Look at my man so handsomest..." sang to the tune of THE THONG SONG! Kel - you will have to post a comment with your actual lyrics. It's quite the cute little diddy! We did a lot of fun stuff while they were here. We went to a few parks and farms - which was nice because the kids loved it and it was cheap! We also went to Salem, MA in hopes of learning more about the Salem witch trial. Word to the wise: Never take 4 kids under the age of 2 into a guided tour!! It just doesn't work very well. =) The drive there was absolutely beautiful and we did have a fabulous seafood lunch. I have to admit, I'm starting to enjoy eating our underwater friends! On Saturday I took Kelyn to some tag sales. I couldn't let her come all the way out here and not show her what I do religiously every Saturday morning! She went home with an extra suitcase full of stuff! Hello! How could she pass it up?! Me, Kelyn and Grammy spent a lot of the evenings playing Hand and Foot. For those of you who don't know - Hand and Foot is only the BEST card game ever!! I seriously never tire of it! Grammy is so much fun to play cards with! Some classic Grammy comments were: SHOOEY, SHUCKS, and DARN!, Oh, Phoo! , Piffle!, and I could probably come up with some more. She was so much fun to have around. We got to hear so many fun stories about her life and I just love her so much! She is such a sport. After 10 days of being around 4 kids she was still smiling - at least on the outside! I think that everybody was ready to be back in their own beds and back to their own routines by the end. We took lots of pictures. I'll post the link with this blog entry and also stick it on the side in the MY PHOTO ALBUMS section. We have some awfully cute kids! Feel free to post a comment telling me how adorable they are. Ha ha!! Love and miss you all!

http://www.bubbleshare.com/myalbum/70455.c4c2129b2ba

CONGRATULATIONS to Afton and Cam!!

We are so excited! They just had our first niece yesterday! Carolyne! Isn't that a DARLING name?? We just wanted to say how happy we are for them! Babies are the most AMAZING, PRECIOUS things in the world. Enjoy every second of it! They grow up so fast.

We love you guys! Good luck with everything!

I always knew that I would love being a mom but I never imagined how much I would love it. Sometimes I fear that my heart is just going to BURST! I hope that my girls know how much I love them. I wish that I would be better at taking them to the park or playing pretend with Anika. These are the best years of my life so far. I just wish that they would slow down! Anika did the cutest thing last night. Nathan and I died laughing. Her hands were talking to eachother (imagine the quacking motion you make with your hands).

Left Hand: Hi! How are you?!
Right Hand: It's a great day.
Left Hand:Do you want it? (sippy cup)
Right: yeah!
Left: Do it like this (she then shows her right hand how to wrap it's fingers around the cup)
Right: Thank you!
Left: You're welcome!

Pretty darn cute. Update on Anika: She is doing GREAT at potty training - potty being the key word. She hasn't figured out how to do the other thing on the toilet. She'll get there. She knows that if she does it she will get a Mickey Mouse lollipop. Nana and Papa sent those awhile back and we've been saving them for a very special occasion. She has already gotten out of bed 3 times to try. She really wants that lollipop! I'm losing my patience with her faking it. One of these days she's really going to need to go and I'm going to make her get back in bed without even trying!! She has become quite the little artist and singer. She now can draw a little face with eyes, ears, eyebrows, a hat, a mouth, a nose, and shoes. She leaves the whole body out. It's SOOOOO cute!! She can pretty much sing any song nowadays. I almost always sing a little song to the girls when I go get them in the morning or at naptime - something like this:
Good Morning! Good Morning! How are you today?! Good Morning Good Morning - That's what I came to say! I really love you! I really love you!
Yeah - you can tell it wasn't written by a professional! Anyway - the other day Keslie was crying after her nap and Anika went in and sang the entire song to her! It was DARLING!
I want to know what is so cool about Blue's Clues. She can't get enough. We have two videos and she never tires of them!

FIRST STEPS!

Our baby is soon to be a toddler! She took 3 steps today - all by herself!! Without Nathan and I helping her along! I wish you could all see her! She is so funny! She stands up and sits down over and over and gets so excited about it that she starts jumping right in the middle of standing up. We love her to pieces! It's cute to see how proud of herself she gets. Today at church she escaped and was almost two rows back before we realized she was gone. I swore I would never let that happen. It just goes to show that EVERYTHING you say your kids will never do - they do. That's just how it goes. Maybe it's to teach us a lesson. =) Other Keslie news: She says Mama, Dada, Nana (banana), and uh oh. She claps her feet really loud! She will not drink anything except in the morning. I've tried it all!! Any suggestions? AND she has a terrible diaper rash that I can't get rid of. Let me know if you have a miracle diaper rash cure!!

Keslie walking with her hippo

This was Keslie's first time to walk with a walker! This was probably a little over a month ago. She is growing up way too fast!

Well - it's naptime! We've had a fun - kind of scatterbrained - day! This morning I was running late and couldn't find my keys - which always seems to happen when I'm late! My friend ended up having to come and pick us up so that we could get her son on the school bus while she took her other son to the doctor. Then I just moved into her house for the morning! I even had my visiting teachers visit me over there. Good grief. Will I ever learn to put my keys away - or at least get copies?!! FYI - I found them in the diaper bag. Why didn't I think to look there? The girls have been awfully cute today! Keslie is going to be walking soon! We've tried getting her to do it a couple times - but she does this funny little tippy toes thing. We had Macaroni and tomato juice for lunch - which both girls LOVE. Anika finished her bowl and then asked if she could have mine. Usually I would say NO WAY JOSE! But I was in a loving mood and let her finish it up. Then she wanted Keslie's. I guess I'll have to make more next time. I kept saying "MMMmmm - it's delicious! It warms my soul!" and Anika would copy me and say the same thing. Well - 5 minutes later she took a drink of her water - and said "Yumm - it colds my soul!" Oh my gosh - can she get any cuter?! She's still doing great with potty training. No accidents. We'll see how long that lasts. Keslie is getting so big! She has quite the gap in her teeth - which we love! OH great! She's definitely not suppposed to be awake yet!! Little pill! Better run!

Brittanie

Time Out For Women

I went to this fun Time Out For Women thing over the weekend and I just wanted to tell you all about it! It was so fun and uplifting. I came home really motivated to be better all around. A woman started off by introducing the host and among other things she said "I think he's really dreamy..." then went on to introduce Michael McLean! Okay - I've never been a Michael McLean fan and I have definitely never thought of him as "dreamy" - but let me just say that I am his new biggest fan and I would even say he IS a little dreamy. A little. =) He was so funny and so nice and I LOVED him! He sang some of the best songs and his son Jeff McLean (who is an amazing singer) sang with him and sang some of his old songs. I hate to say it - since I'm Michael McLean's new biggest fan - but some of his songs sound better when he isn't singing them. Although - sometimes I liked it when he would sing...I'm rambling. So, the music was great. The speakers were great. We heard from Emily Watts, Sheri Dew, S. Michael Wilcox, and a REALLY weird guy named Jerry Williams. I have never seen hair like his! I took a picture and as soon as I get them on the computer I'll post it. I think he might curl his hair. He was really hard to take seriously! The other speakers were all really great. My favorite was Michael Wilcox. He spoke about Prayer and I really enjoyed it. Sheri Dew didn't hit my spot as much as usual. She still did a great job. She told us that she has been through the most grueling, difficult, hard 16 months of her life and it's still going. She is an amazing lady and it's neat to see how someone who's testimony was already really strong can be tested and it can become even stronger. I guess it goes to show that there is always room for growth. Anyway - I would definitely recommend that all you women out there take the opportunity if it arises and go to a Time Out For Women. I got to make a whole weekend out of it! My friend Sumer and I went and stayed a night in a hotel! It was so fun - I felt like a teenager again! We went swimming - without kids and painted our toenails and laughed and giggled and stayed up talking WAY past bedtime! It was exactly what I needed. I think it was fun for Nathan to have the girls all to himself. They love him so much.
http://www.deseretonline.com/time-out/ - Here's the link to TIME OUT FOR WOMEN.

Brittanie

Potty training!

Well - we started potty training! I've been absolutely DREADING taking this on and guess what?! It really hasn't been so bad! Anika is so good at telling us when she needs to go and she's even doing really good at naptime and bedtime. We are so proud of her! I think she's pretty proud of herself, too! I don't know what made it click with her - maybe she just wasn't ready before or maybe she likes gummi bears better than the "prize" we had last time. I'm not sure - but I definitely think it pays to wait until they are good and ready!

I love 2 year olds!

Okay - we all know that 2 year olds can be a little rough at times. They throw tantrums, they have issues with sharing and hitting and pushing, they are bossy and opinionated and good grief! You have to potty train them! But I just have to say that I think this age is the BEST! I'm having such a tender day for Anika. She is two and like I said - it can be a little rough at times - but there is nothing better than watching her play pretend with her little people or tuck in her dolls (or whatever she is taking care of at the moment) or just listening to her talk. Holy cow! When did she learn to do that?! Time is going so fast and she says the cutest things! And her little voice is so cute! She came up to me earlier and gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek and asked "Mom, how are you?!" It's those everyday sweet little moments that make going through "the terrible 2's" TOTALLY worth it!! I can't get enough of my 2 year old.