Ending Holiday Thots

• I know, I know, I KNOW I need to do some serious blogging!


• The girls and I have only been in St. George for two weeks, but it literally feels like two months.


• I'm not gonna lie... I've loved each of them having their own rooms to sleep peacefully in... We had our own too!


• 2012 is almost here. I'm setting some major goals and I'm sticking to them. For more than just a month. Anyone remember how many times you have to do something before it becomes a habit? 11 o'clock (or earlier) bedtime for me and Nate is one goal, and its the one that needs to happen for so many other goals to happen.


• Nate and I went to a Thai restaurant yesterday. I whipped out the notebook to discuss our resolutions for 2012. We only got around to one (the bedtime one...). Lets blame it on the delicious food, shall we?


• I love not overdoing Christmas. Why on EARTH would my three year old need hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas presents? She doesn't. I've decided in our family, we'll spoil kids on their birthdays, but leave Christmas for the true reason. A few presents, but mainly focus on Christ.


• I promise I'm not complaining about this... Nate got me some really cute boots for Christmas, but there was literally four inches of space around my calves. In our recent quest for replacement boots we had the same problem. I can't decide if I should curse or love my slender calves.


• I love that our church now starts at 9 a.m. YAY! And in happy/sad news, this time next year, Whitney will be in nursery. Happy because, well, its nursery! And sad because my baby is growing up...


• BYU football is OVER! But BYU basketball has started... I suppose my husband having one guilty pleasure isn't so bad, but why do the games have to be so blasted long?!

Hope you all had a fantastic Holiday season! I'm looking forward to reading lots of blog posts in the next few weeks. I'll definitely be posting some of my own.

Family Pictures 2011

***I don't remember what I put in my last family picture post... sorry if I repeat. (Cuz clearly its too difficult to go back and read it...)***

For our family pictures this year I really wanted to capture part of our new life here in California. Even though we don't go to the beach too often (it is a LOT of work) I really wanted our pictures done there. After some recommendations from friends we decided to go with Laguna Beach, at a place called Heisler Park. BEAUTIFUL!! If you ever come to visit, this is the beach we'll take you to. My cousin's husband, Trevon Angulo, was kind enough to come take our pictures and I couldn't be happier with them. The girls were so good. Maybe not chock full of smiles, but at least not crying and screaming :) I'm excited to get prints of these and hang them on my wall. YAY!

Random

Bear with me... This annoys me.
We're sitting here watching the news (ok, Nate was watching the Sports segment of the news, and I was brushing my teeth... Its no secret I'm not a sports fan.) and a story came on about the best hitter in Major League Baseball just signing a new contract with LA Angels. His ten year contract is for 254 million dollars. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR MILLION DOLLARS! That is freaking insanity! Its also no secret if I had to pick a sport that is my least favorite, hands down, baseball. So boring, so lame. I'm sure he's got talent, I'm sure most professional sports players have talent, but seriously, there are some insanely talented people out there who are struggling to get by. I used to dance when I was in High School, and I LOVED it. It was hard and really pushed me, physically and emotionally. There is a girl at the studio I used to dance at and she is ridiculously, no, OUTRAGEOUSLY talented. So talented, in fact, that she is currently studying at Julliard. Wow, right? This past summer she was doing fund raising and looking for sponsors just to help pay for tuition. Maybe I'm biased, but I feel like it takes more talent (MUCH more talent) to be a dancer and all of the things that entails than to whack a ball and run in a square. So lame. Why does he need that much money? Why is it ok for them to get paid so much and my mom, who is a 2nd grade teacher, shaping the future dancers/baseball players/politicians, gets paid hardly enough to get by? Seriously, I'm not politically inclined (no secret there, either), but this country/world has some messed up priorities if they think that is what is important.

Consider me bugged.

Squinkies

Ok, so I just have to tell you all about my AMAZING deal today. It might be kinda long, but I'm so excited about it I don't even care.
I was perusing Target.com today, and saw that their Disney Princess Squinkies were on sale for $6 each, but when you buy one, you would get one for 50% off. BARGAIN!! Two sets of Squinkies for $9, regularly $12 each. Then I was going to have to pay $5 shipping, which I hate hate HATE doing, so I didn't get them. Walgreens was (is, go check it out!) having a sale, all of their $9.99 toys have a $4 coupon, sweet! So I was just going to get Rachael one pack of Squinkies and then exchange them for the princess ones when they got more in. I also got some cheese and milk and went to check out. Total? $7.12. I didn't notice until my card had gone through, then I said, "Wait! How much?? How much were the Squinkies?" "Two dollars." "I'll be right back, I'm getting more of those!" They only had one pack left so I went to check out again, ready to pay my two dollars, but he just handed me my receipt. Confused, I said, "They're FREE???" "Yep, it looks like the coupon takes it all off." "Is it supposed to do that?" "I don't think so..." but this kid didn't look like he was wanting to mess with it, so there you have it. AMAZING RIGHT?! They didn't have any more or else you better believe I would have stocked. up.
The problem with Squinkies are they are quite a choking hazard, especially to a mobile six month old... So instead of giving Rachael 32 Squinkies, I'll probably just fill her stocking with them then give them to her two at a time... we'll see. Squinkies are pretty cute and I'm over the moon about my deal!

Family Pictures Peek

Blogger is being annoying and will only let me upload one picture at a time, so instead of spending then next four hours putting pictures up, I'll put three. Eventually I'll collage them, but I'm lacking the motivation to do anything that takes even the tiniest amount of thought... sigh... Enjoy this little peek, I have some pretty DANG cute girls! And my husband ain't too bad, either. :)

Twenty-FIVE

Holy moly. I. Am. Old. Ok, not really, but 25 sounds WAY older than 24. Am I right or am I right or am I right? My birthday was on Sunday and it was pretty low key, being on a Sunday and all. This weekend my mom, sister, and two nephews came for a visit. We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific (NOT fun, sorry mom. Rachael was a living terror. Pictures later.) on Saturday. Friday night, Nate took me out to the Cheesecake Factory. SO YUMMY!! I've only ever had their cheesecake (ironically we didn't get a piece because we were stuffed to the rafters.). But the pasta we both got was to. die. for. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
So since I continue to age, I'm trying to become better each year. This year is gonna be good... I don't know exactly how yet... but it will be, and I'll let you know when I figure it out. I'm thinking about having a positive outlook on EVERYTHING, using anti-aging face/body wash (never to early to start, right?), drawing nearer to God, and being more thankful for all of the wonderful blessings/people/both I've got in my life. Some people want to stop making excuses for not being the weight they want to be, I'm going to stop making excuses for EVERYTHING. I heard a quote once, but I won't quote it cuz I don't remember it exactly... Something like if its not that important you'll find an excuse, if it is important you'll find a way. I totally agree with that. Anyways, I'm gonna go do some laundry and be THANKFUL that I have a washer and dryer. (For reals, last week it was broken and it was terrible...)

#4

Today, I took a nap. Yes, my friends, a nap. Not an, "I'm going to close my eyes while Rachael watches this movie and hope that she doesn't jump on my back or take the knives out of the drawer." Nope. Rachael was at school and Whitney was unexpectedly tired, and instead of spending the three hours Rachael is at school watching TV or cleaning (haha, right...), I did the dishes then took a NAP. Happy Birthday to ME!! And then, instead of going to the park (cuz let's be honest, sometimes going to the park is NOT a walk in the park. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here until next Thursday. Try the veal. [Gilmore Girls]) we came home and played with playdough. Much more low key. Now I've got company tonight, but my vacuum is broken, so I'm just letting it slide. They really don't care anyways. Have a good night. I know I will!!

#3

Today's present worked out for me!
First off, I'd like to give a shout out to my amazing husband for training our daughter so well. When Nate is home, he's the one to get up with Rachael if she does get up. Sometimes she gets up at an outrageous hour, like 4 a.m., so Nate goes in and says, "Rachael, its still dark outside, all of the cows and horses are still sleeping, so you need to sleep too, ok?" So this morning Rachael woke up at 5:30. Not happening, my friend. So I took her potty and put her back into bed. "Close your eyes and go to sleep, ok?" "Mom." "What?" "Cows see-ing? Horse see-ing?" "Yep, the cows and horses are still sleeping." "Shae-shae (what she calls herself... I'll take what I can get.) see-ing." "Yep, Rachael needs to sleep." Done! She slept until 9.
Today for my present, we went to a place called Pump It Up with some girls in the ward. Its just those blow up slides and bounce houses and such. I got an AMAZING deal through groupon for it. Amazing as in 6 passes for $5. Nice. It was a lot of work for me actually, especially because Whit only slept for like 15 minutes after we got there. After we left we went to Chili's for lunch. (I actually sat in the car for like 5 minutes debating on whether or not to actually go in, or just get it to go. We went in.) The girls were amazing and so good, and the food was ok. As fun as it was go to out to eat, the REAL present I got for myself was getting the Avocado and Ranch dip. YUMMY! If you've never had it, go get it. Like right now. Its only $3, and you get it instead of the salsa. I have that ranch and the fresh chips sitting in my fridge, waiting for the girls to go to bed so I can watch Gilmore Girls and Parenthood while snacking. Best. Present. Ever.
Now Rachael is watching Cars and Whitney is still sleeping. Once she wakes up, heck, maybe I'll treat myself to a shower! How nice would THAT be!

Uuuuuugh

I'm about to share one of my least favorite things about parenting with you. Ready?

When you kid does something {REALLY} naughty and you can't get mad at them because you weren't paying attention to them.

This could be something like writing on the walls/couch/carpet with pen/crayon/permanent marker. Or squishing their bread into their water cup, then proceeding to let their play horse "eat" said concoction. Or they could pull all of the books off of the bookshelf. All extremely obnoxious. All things little kids do, its just how it is.
Tonight's episode is bad, and annoying, and {mostly} my fault.

So here I am, happily typing away at my post (see next post) and I hear Rachael in the bathroom playing in the sink with her toys. A usual occurrence in this house. I usually end up with water all over the floor and a sopping wet kid. Not a big deal, I'd rather have her doing that than wasting her life away in front of the TV. Tonight, I thought to myself at LEAST four times, "There are so many worse things she could be doing."
Then I hear the splashes. She occasionally dumps cups of water onto the bathroom floor, quickly putting a halt in her water-play. I thought this would be no different. I was wrong. After plugging the sink, she took the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper, basically a new roll, and torn it up (including the cardboard roll...) and placed it in the sink. Then filled it with water. The splashes I heard was the result of the T.P. plugging the emergency drains near the top of the sink, thus allowing the water to leak all over the counter and onto the floor. Joy. I had to scoop the sopping T.P. out, allowing the least amount to go down the drain. So annoying. And to keep Rachael away (and to keep her from waking her sister) I just shut her into her room, no reprimand.

I need to be more vigilant in watching what my three year old does, but sometimes I'm just too tired. Then I end up with more work later. Such is parenthood, I guess...

#2

So today's birthday present to myself didn't go according to plan. The PLAN was to go to Kohl's and use a gift card we've had for a while to buy myself a new pair of pants or shirt or something. Well, its pretty difficult to try things on when you've got a baby strapped to your front. So I meandered around Kohls, wanting so badly to find something to buy, even if it wasn't for me! I looked for clothes for the girls, but didn't get anything because I was determined to find something matching. Nothing for Nate. Then I thought, "Ah-ha! Perfume!" Nope, nothing was on sale. Then I thought, "Ah-ha! Kitchen gadgets!" (which I love.) Nope, nothing was on sale. Then I thought, "Ah-ha! I'll buy something online!" And that is what I just tried to do. I tried to buy this beautiful maxi dress. Its exactly what I've been wanting. Neutral-ish colors so that I can wear a plethora of cardigans as a coverup, and its SUPER long so it won't hit me awkwardly at the ankle like I hate. Get this, I even found a 15% off all dresses coupon AND a 15% off your purchase coupon. SWEET! Minus the fact that the website wouldn't apply the gift card. It said it was applying it, yet my balance was still 22 bucks. No bueno. So I called customer service and spoke with a very nice man (whose native language was NOT English, so I could barely understand him... no bueno [pun intended]) who after about 20 minutes told me it was a problem with my credit card. So I hung up and tried a new card. Still no go. Lame. So I'm giving up. I tried to be nice to myself, I really did... maybe tomorrow I'll try again.

#1

Nate is in LA this week for some training, so I'm trying to find ways to keep a positive outlook and not lose my sanity. (I would make a TERRIBLE single mother. I'm so thankful for my amazing husband!) Since this week is my "birth-week" (aka: the week leading up to my birthday, YAY!) I've decided to do one thing for myself every day. So tonight, since the girls went to be like champs, I'm taking a bath. My first bath in this apartment. I. LOVE. BATHS. Seriously. This is a picture of my dream bath (just slide a copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a bowl of delicious popcorn, and a big bottle of ice water, and I am SET!). However, tonight's bath will look nothing like this. For one thing, we have one the obnoxious bathrooms that the fan automatically turns on when you turn on the light. No bueno. And the tub has the sliding glass doors. No bueno. And the tub is super narrow. No bueno. But it is full of hot water (I had to fill it with ULTRA hot water about an hour ago before I put Whitney down, the plumbing in the apartment is really loud.) and I'm headed to pop a bowl of popcorn. (No, I'm not reading HP4 currently, but not from lack of desire. From a conversation I have with my mom a lot about how I should "read new things." Whatever, mom... HP still rocks my socks.)
Stay tuned for my other "ME" presents, I've got some good ones coming up that I'm REALLY excited for!

Laugh Fest

Whitney was laughing hysterically at Rachael in the swings today at the park. So cute!

(It looks like I'm shaking her a lot more than I really was. Don't fret, Whitney isn't going to get shaken baby syndrome, but my phone probably will...)

(Oh, and don't mind my double chin. Gross.)

Halloween

We had a great(ish) Halloween! It was a crazy day because it was Rachael's first day of school, but everything worked out. I made soft pretzels shaped into pumpkins and "fingers" for dinner. I wanted to make sure Rachael got something not sweet for dinner, so I had to make something I know she'd like. It was a hit!
Once Nate got home we headed out to go trick-or-treating. We went to a part of town that I had heard from girls in the ward was a good place. There were a TON of people there. It was pretty chaotic. I had Whitney in the baby carrier I borrowed from a friend, and we lasted a good 50 minutes out there. As we headed back to the car, Rachael spotted a playground and that was the end of everything. Whitney was shrieking, literally shrieking. I've never heard that noise come from a baby before. So we had to pull Rachael away from the slide, and she was not happy. Nate had the screaming Rachael, I had the shrieking Whitney, and after much struggle we got both girls into their seats. We got home and snapped a few pictures, then they headed to bed. PHEW! I'm not gonna lie, I'm glad this Halloween is over. But next year we're ALL going to dress up!

I made these fun peacock costumes for the girls. Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration! I love how their headpieces turned out! Now what am I going to do with them... and the 125+ yards of tulle...

Preschool!!

FINALLY!! Rachael got in to the District's Early Childhood Education program! She'll be going to preschool every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12:20 to 3:20, with two 30 minute speech therapy sessions during the week. This is such an enormous blessing! (One downer is that we live 1.1 miles away, and in order to qualify for transportation, aka the little school bus, you need to live 1.5 miles away. But its ok at the same time, because it makes me really sad and emotional to think about sending my baby girl on a bus all by herself... Sad!) But I'll be biking her there and back, four days a week... Ugh, that's what we get for paying off our student loans, no extra money for another car. But I'm 100% ok with it because this is my kid's academic future. I'm so excited to see her develop and start talking and learning!

Rice Cereal

Whitterkins got rice cereal for the first time on Saturday night (Oct. 29). I was hoping to wait until she was at LEAST five months old (in a few days she'll be five months...) to start her on food, but she's been waking up every two hours to eat. No bueno. So we thought we'd give this a shot. She didn't love it, she didn't hate it. But she did sleep better! She only woke up once that night, it was amazing! The next night, however, she did not sleep better. I think it gives her gas or something... We'll probably take a break for a few days and then try again.
Here is a post of Rachael's first time trying rice cereal. We were living in NYC when I posted this, so there is some other things in the post. Enjoy!

Farm Gal

While in St. George, my sister, Lindsey, invited us to go to Staheli Family Farms with her Preschool class. To say Rachael loved it is an understatement. She loved seeing all of the animals and going on the wagon ride. Thanks for taking us, Linds! Rachael asks to go to the "harm" every day!

Today, we went to another farm. It was a different type of farm. The Staheli Farms is a farm full of animals, this one today, Tanaka Farms, is a produce farm. We went with some friends from our ward (thanks again for the invite, Lacey!) and it was awesome. Rachael got to pick some carrots, onions, and radishes. She also got to pick a small pumpkin. Going to the farm today made me excited for when we have a garden someday, and also made me excited for our next Rexburg trip to pick stuff out of Grandpa Russell's garden. There is nothing more delicious than fresh produce straight from the garden!

Dream Come True

While the girls and I were in St. George, I went to see the play The Little Mermaid at the Tuachan Amphitheater. I went with my mom, sister, friend Chelsea, Aunt Melanie, and her girls, Emery and Ella. It was SO good! Since it is outside they had a sheet of water every time the scene was under the sea. Amazing, I LOVE Tuachan!And you better believe I waited in line with all of the little girls to meet Ariel and Prince Eric! I wanted to shove them all aside and say, "I've loved The Little Mermaid for the last 22 years! Back. Up. Off." But I didn't. I waited like a good girl, and then I got to hug Ariel and Prince Eric! Loved it! (Let's not talk about Eric's gross man-ponytail. THAT wasn't in the movie!)

If you're ever in the Southern Utah area, try to see a play at Tuachan. Next year they're the first off-Broadway theater to get the rights to Aladdin. Woot woot, we'll be there! Maybe Rachael will go!

The Beach with Brit and Bret

A few weekends ago my best best BEST friend/cousin, Britni, surprised her hubby, Bret, with a trip to Lego Land for his birthday. And lucky us, they came to stay! It was so fun! They went to Lego Land on Friday, and on Saturday we all hit the beach. Nate and I are still trying to find our "go to" beach for when family comes, and this wasn't it. It wasn't a bad beach, just not ideal. But it was, of course, still fun.

Aren't they so cute? Aww!

Aren't we so cute? Aww!

The water was too cold to get in, but Rachael liked just playing in the sand.

Whit and I just kicked it in the shade (mostly).

B and B
(feel free to steal this picture Brit, its UBER cute)

We had a few projects going on on the beach. Bret made this amazing rock tower. 20 rocks, I do believe. And don't worry, Rachael came and kicked it over about three seconds after this was taken. In fact, I think that's her shadow on the left...

Since we didn't ever put Whitney's suit on her, I made a sand baby with it. Creepy or creative? You decide.

Thanks again for coming to play, you guys, come ANY TIME! And I'm sorry if my crazy children dissuaded you from wanting children, cuz you guys will be amazing parents someday! For realsies.

Snit

Oh. My. Gosh. Everyone should read this article! My friend, Brittani, posted this on her Facebook and it is seriously amazing. So deep and so true. I think a lot of times the role of "mother" is looked down on, but at the same time there are some amazing people who stand up for it, and don't judge and don't question what we do all day. I'll admit, sometimes I do get lazy and turn on a show for Rachael so I can peruse Facebook/Pinterest, but the majority of my day is NOT spent on the computer, or lounging in front of the TV, even crafting (which I would LOVE!), it is spent doing what this journalist says. Staying one step ahead of my kids, keeping them happy, teaching them, cleaning up after them. And when I do have a second to do something for myself, maybe I don't want to call someone or e-mail someone, sometimes I don't even want to write a Facebook message. Not only is everything we do time consuming, it is completely exhausting! Toss another kid into the mix and it is amplified to the max. It is only 8:00 right now and I am so ready to hit the hooskow (do other families use that term for going to bed? Ours does.). I think if you click on the picture it will get big enough to read. Seriously, do it.

(Actual picture of my children will be coming soon, I promise.)

Journaling

So I'm not the greatest journal writer. And when I say "not the greatest" what I really mean is "I never write in my journal." I feel slightly overwhelmed when it comes to journals, like I need to record every minute of every day. I have this blog, which obviously records some family events and some of my emotions, but lets be honest, I'm not going to blog about everything that goes on in my head. I've always worn my heart right on my sleeve and haven't been afraid of letting people know how I'm feeling, but I typically keep my deep feelings in. They're nothing fantastically interesting, just things people don't necessarily need to know about.
I had an eye opening experience at my mom's this last week. She was searching through her nightstand looking for her Disneyland Pass (yes, my mom AND sister both have Disneyland passes, and we don't. How dumb is that.). She found it but she also found her old journals. It was SO interesting to read through them. She was my age when she wrote them. It was fun for me to picture her with her long (occasionally permed. Excuse her, it was the 80's) red hair pouring out her soul into these journals. What I loved about them is she didn't document every single activity they had done that day, and some of the entries were only a few sentences long. It was her space to record her feelings. And really, in 20 years from now, no one is going to care the we went to the park or used sidewalk chalk today.
As we were sitting there on her bedroom floor reading some of the entries my mom says, "This is so weird. Its like I'm reading someone else's life, not mine." Then I said, "Its like I'm reading MY life!" And it really was. She had a lot of the same emotions. So it hit me that I need to start documenting my feelings as I go through my motherhood experiences so one day it will help my daughters. I can't dwell on the fact that I've missed so much already, but I'm going to do better and hope that one day my daughters will gain strength knowing that all mother's have close to the same emotions. Happy and sad. Joy and frustration. Fears and triumphs. Stress and calm. Everything.
So I started my new journal last night. It started off with an apology to my two daughters, and any future children. But then I recorded the emotions I remember feeling when I had Rachael. Tonight its Whitney's turn.

*Funny entry: My mom found a piece of paper in one of the journals that said something to the effect of, "Remember Allen? He just left on vacation and I don't think he'll call me when he gets back. I guess things just won't work out." Bahaha looks like things did work out. 30 years and going strong!*

Baaaargain!

So I just wanted to share about my super amazing find at the D.I. the other day.

I've know what Rachael is getting for Christmas for a long time. A pink Radio Flyer scooter, with the two wheels on the front for stability. Cute, age appropriate, and compact (convenient for both our small arpartment and the fact that we're going to St. George and don't have a ton of room in the car). I was ok with paying full price for a new one (only like $30 on Amazon), but was also on the look-out on Craigslist. Well what do I find with an $8 price tag on it at the D.I.? You guessed it! A scooter! Just take a magic eraser to it and it'll be good as new! So I was having them write up a tag for it in the back so I wouldn't have to try to hide it from Rachael while we were shopping and the {old} man writing up the ticket looked down and said, "Does that say $3? I don't' have my glasses on." Being the honest person that I am :), I said, "Nope, it says eight." The man, whose name was Reed, by the way..., said, "Eh... We'll give it to your for three."

SWEET RIGHT?!

I know, I'm stoked about it. Now I just need to get her a helmet and knee pads and we're all set.

(I won't even tell you about my amazing skirts I found there, too.

You'll be too jealous of my deal finding skills.)

Psychic

Sometimes, I'm laying in bed, so dang tired I think it will be mere seconds before I'm drifting through Dreamland. But I don't fall asleep. Still don't... An hour passes and I'm still not asleep. How annoying, right? Right. Then, for example, last night the alarm clock goes off. Did I set it. No, I most certainly did NOT set the alarm for 12 a.m., it set itself. Needless to say it woke up my sleeping babe. Not really a big deal, all I did was feed her and put her back down. But the point of this story is to tell you that this has happened before, multiple times. Different methods were used in waking up children, being it a honking horn, a slamming door, or her waking herself up somehow. My body seems to know that it shouldn't completely shut itself down because it will just be disturbed. Freaky right? My body is most definitely psychic. I have mixed feelings about it because as precious as my sleep is to me, it does make for less enjoyable sleep if I'm yanked from REM sleep to a crying child. Whether or not I approve of my psychic body, there is nothing I can do about it.

What I REALLY want is a full night of peaceful, lovely sleep. At least 7 hours. If that dang alarm clock hadn't gone off last night I would have most likely had it. Dumb.

Rockstar Mom

I'm not gonna lie, I feel kinda weird doing a post about myself. Taking pictures of myself, really weird. Let's be honest, I'm just not as cute as my girlies are. Anyways, I just discovered something I want to share. I've been Pinterest-ing? it up looking for an easy hairstyle. I don't have gorgeous locks, I have limp, straight, volume-less hair. Its true, and I've accepted it so don't try to tell me otherwise. I've always wanted the "tousled" look, but I just can't get it without perming my hair. This hairstyle I've dubbed "Rockstar Mom" because pretty much you need to stay in your home for this to work. It involves bobby pinning nine little buns into your hair, not particularly attractive. Here is how you can do this look, and you CAN do it, cuz its so super easy.

• Put some form of product in your slightly damp hair, gel, mousse, even plain ol' hairspray, just something.
• Twist each section of hair away from your face and roll it into a bun. It does NOT have to be pretty, just a bun. I have really thin hair so all of my hair fit into nine buns, but if you've got thicker hair you might want to do a few more.
• Secure with a bobby pin
• Walk around your house, make some bread, do a load or two of laundry. Your hair just needs to start drying
  
• After a few hours, take your blow dryer (preferably with a diffuser, but it could work without, I don't know) and blow the buns to speed up the drying (you could do this periodically throughout the day too)
  
• Take the bobby pins out and continue to diffuse your hair.
• Flip your head over while blow drying and wiggle your fingers through the roots to break up the hair.
  
• Whip your head back to maximize the volume, and spray with hairspray.
• VOILE! You're a Rockstar
  

This was the result today, with unwashed hair (no, I do not shower every day. don't judge.), just sprayed with a spray bottle.

This was yesterday (excuse the crazy eyes...), I think it turned out better yesterday right after the shower, after letting my hair air dry almost completely. Lets not talk about my studded top and black leggings to make me feel even MORE like a Rockstar.

I really want someone to try this out and let me know how it turned out for you!

(Maybe you could do this at night, wrap a silk scarf around your head and sleep on it? I'll buy a silk scarf and try it out.)

Side Note: Not that anyone would necessarily
want to, but if you do want to "Pin" this, please
don't. Since my blog is public I don't want it
circulated more than it already is. Thanks!

Thots.

K, I'm going to write this real fast while the chocolate shell on my ice cream is hardening.

Here are a few thoughts I've had. I know you're interested.

• I won't ever NOT be a mother ever again. Weird.
• Even almost four months later, I still find it strange how I only go to the bathroom maybe twice a day. Its still weird not being pregnant.
• Along with that, I still find it strange how I have so much energy. I just got so used to being tired ALL of the time.
  
• I'm glad the thing that I LOVE to do (hair) is something I can do and still do another thing that I LOVE (be a mom). Nice!
• I hate it when Nate gets home late, but if he gets to take Friday off (or come home early) it makes it all worth it.
• Is there anything sweeter than your baby smiling up at you after she's done nursing? Let me answer: No, there is not.
  
• I don't like being paranoid about my downstairs neighbors. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I'd rather not get after my child for acting her age, thank you very much. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
  
• I h.e.a.r.t. Craigslist! Post on my findings is coming.
• I also h.e.a.r.t. chocolate shell on brownie ice cream. So I'm going to go eat it and watch Parenthood.

Have a good night!

Bumbo Girl

We never had a Bumbo chair for Rachael, so its been fun taking all of these cute pictures of Whitney sitting up. She has the prettiest smile, and her eyes literally light up when she does. Its easier to see in person than just a picture, but we sure adore this little girl and her sweet personality!

(Can I just give a shout out to Craigslist? Ten bucks for this Bumbo, what a deal!)

Bawoo, hoh-se, and zoo

Friday September 16 was a GREAT day. It was the day after Nate's tax deadline and they have this awesome thing called "Flex Fridays." That's when you can take Friday off if you've already worked your 40 hours and there are no more deadlines. Sweet! So we decided to do something fun as a family. We we wanted to go to the Santa Ana Zoo and we were out of the house by 11. We headed to Costco, then decided to wait to go to the Zoo at two so we could get half price. To kill time, we headed to the Orange County Great Park or something like that... Its pretty cool, they have this HUGE orange balloon that takes you 400 feet high and a Carousel. Both for FREE! Who doesn't love that? Rachael LOVED the carousel, I HATED taking her off of it (a fit was pitched), and we all loved the balloon ride. We left at one to head for the Zoo, and ended up waiting 30 minutes to get in cheaper. It was fun, nothing too fantastic. The big exhibit was the Anteaters. The female had a baby in April so it was fun to see the baby riding on her back. They do that for ten months, I think. I'm glad my kids don't do that... That whole day (and every day since) Rachael has been asking for "Bawoo, hoh-se, and zoo." She has also been asking for "Gwah, Pah, and Zee" (Grandma, grandpa, and Lindsey. Good thing we get to see them all this coming weekend, YAY!) I love family outings and I'm excited to find more family favorite places!How cute are my girls?? Pretty darn, right?

Noisy

So, apparently, we're noisy. Our downstairs neighbor just came up to request that we control our three year old a little better. Ok, she didn't say it like that, but it was clearly implied. She had a rough day today, and Rachael has already woken her four month old baby up twice today.
I'm really not MAD, and not super annoyed, just bugged. And I also understand where she is coming from, but all I can say is this: What would you like me to do? She's three.
It is a known fact to mothers of toddlers, they get wound up when bedtime starts to roll around. Trust me, downstairs neighbor, no one wants her to be calm more than me, but at around 7, after she's passed her crazy tantrum throwing time of the day, she gets hyper. It doesn't help that daddy comes home at that time and she wants to play with him, and I want to let her play with him. She said that she realizes that in about two years she'll have to deal with her kid being crazy, but still... she doesn't understand what it takes to control an uncontrollable child. And its only going to get worse as Whitney becomes mobile.
I have two suggestions: 1: purchase a noisemaker 2: move to a place where you won't be inconvenienced by other people's obnoxious children.
It was Nate who answered the door (I'm still in my jammies with mascara half way down my face and bra-less... My current appearance would not have helped her bad day.) and he basically told her that we'll do our best. I love him. He totally gets me, and is nicer than me. And we really will try, but we didn't promise anything. We currently have Primary songs playing, hoping to calm the crazies inside of Rachael down.
Someday we'll have our own place where our children can run wild without annoying anyone but me. Someday... But for now we'll just have to tough out this year lease we've got and next time move to a floor level apartment so we can deal with other people's noise, not them dealing with ours.

It also didn't help that Rachael has been
crazy running around in just her panties.
We're so white trash.

Advice?

Ok, I need some advice. I don't usually ask for advice, in fact, I want the onesie that says, "My mom doesn't want your advice" for my babies to wear because I HATE getting advice from strangers when they clearly don't know my situation OR how I'm trying to raise my kids. (ie: Grumpy lady in Church who told me to take my NOT screaming toddler out of Sacrament Meeting. We, as her parents, have decided to not remove our children from S.M. with the slightest noise because that teaches them that if they make noise, they get to leave church. No no no. So, if you don't like the loud children in the back [because we showed up late and didn't get a comfy seat because we have um, CHILDREN. And we're not the only ones...] why don't you go sit on the front row so you can enjoy the meeting??) ANYWAYS! Basically, I don't love advice, I'd rather find my own path. But now I need it, because I'm an ignoramus when it comes to the P.T.

POTTY TRAINING
dun... dun... dun...

Ugh, bane of my existence. We've tried P.T. three, count 'em THREE, times before now, all with no success and a LOT of frustration. But apparently she's ready and doing a great job! (I hope I didn't just jinx it, cuz I really do believe in jinxing since I've had kids) She goes most of the day going #1 and #2 in the potty, unless we go out, and with occasional "I"m going to stand right beside the toilet and pee on this toy, just to see what happens." Yeah, good stuff. My question is, when can I trust her to go out in public w/o a diaper/pull up? We went for a walk the other day and didn't even make it across the street before she #2'd her panties. She even "tried" right before we walked out the door. Ugh.

Side note: they say to not get after your
kids when they have an accident.
That.
Is.
Hard.

So basically, all you mommies who have endured this potty training adventure, what should she be doing when I can trust her to not have an accident when we're not at home? I'm thinking maybe 3 days accident free? Also, how do I get her to not be so scared of the public toilets?

(She still won't use her words to tell me she has to go, she usually just runs in and does it. But when we're in public she doesn't know what to do and can't tell me. Maybe that's the main problem. Ok, that is most definitely the main problem.)

On a happier note, Whitney woke up dry this morning. Not joking. I seriously think Whitney is going to be ready to be potty trained before she's 18 months old. She hates having a wet/dirty diaper, where Rachael is completely content to sit in her own filth all day long.

Chit Chat

Adorable

I freaking love this kid. She is such an angel.

Get Over It

So lately I've been thinking about things I've done wrong when raising my kids. Ok, not wrong, just things I wish I would have done that I didn't do. There is a LOT. But here are some things I need to get over, and not just about kids, about life.

• That I didn't blog thru my first pregnancy/Rachael's first three months of life.
• That I haven't kept track of every single paper from the Pediatrician stating the girl's stats. I don't know how big Rachael was when she was two months old, and that makes me sad.
• That I haven't taken pictures of my girls in the same outfits. Some, but not too much...
• That I don't have any coordinating furniture. Our life has just been crazy, and this is the first time ever that we've had a steady income, therefore we have a crazy mixture of furniture/decor.
• That I can't go back in time and do all of the DANG cute ideas I see on pinterest.
• That we don't have a second car... This is a BIG one to get over.
• That Rachael loves Mickey Mouse more than she loves to read. Believe me, I've tried to read to her in the middle of the day, she wants none of it. Only bedtime.
• That Rachael isn't in school anymore, therefore I don't get a break in the morning... Also a big one.

How do I keep myself from beating myself up over these things? The guilt that comes with motherhood is RIDICULOUS!

Three Years and Three Months

In my completely unbiased opinion, I have the most gorgeous girls in. the. world.

Rachael at three years old

Whitney at three months old.
(What?? Where did the time go?)

I really love getting these pictures taken. I love the simplicity of them. Don't get me wrong, I love the girly girl ruffles and bows, but for these milestone pictures, I just like to keep it simple so you can see the child, not just their outfit or the huge bow on their head. There is nothing cuter than a genuine smile, so I try to keep these low key.

Ducks and Just Plain Sweet

On Sunday evening we went to a nearby lake and fed the ducks and geese. Rachael LOVED it! I was kind of in panic mode because she was getting so close to the edge of the water, but we all came out completely dry. This will definitely be something we do often.

And here is my sweet little angel baby. I'm so thankful to have such a good baby. She loves her big sister so much and smiles whenever she sees her. Or if Whitney is crying, then Rach pitches a fit, Whitney will stop crying until Rachael has gotten it out. Seriously, if babies are patient, Whitney is definitely a patient baby. I love her more and more each day!

The girls went to the doctor today. Rachael is just over 39 inches tall (90th percentile) and just under 39 pounds (95th percentile). Whitney is just over 25 inches (97th percentile) and weighs 14.8 pounds (97th percentile) and her head is 41 1/2 cm (I think 85th percentile). They're both tall, evenly proportioned, healthy girls! Man, oh man, it is SO sad watching your baby getting shots. Rachael didn't need any shots, just the flu nose mist and a toe prick to check her iron, but Whitney needed FOUR shots, plus one orally. The saddest part about it was she was giving the nurse a huge smile right when the needle went in. :( She hasn't been too grumpy today with her sore little legs, just not napping so good, which I can understand.
Rachael has her last day of pre-preschool tomorrow. In just these three weeks she's been going to class she's improved SO much! She's using a few two word sentences, like thank you (dit doo), and been trying to say more words. Don't hurt me for saying this, but I secretly hope she doesn't get any better because she still really needs to get into this district program. Hopefully I still ride my bike even though I won't have to go pick her up anymore. Trips to the park I suppose...

What Would Your Sign Say?

My wonderful sister-in-law, Heidi, shared this link on her blog. You should really read this. It says that its long, but its not too bad. So, my friends, look away from Pintrest for five minutes and read this article! Truly inspiring.


I'm really trying to think of what my sign would say... I'll share it with you when I think of it. This one she's wearing gets pretty close though...

Friends

Yep, I still don't have any friends here in California. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it, after all, we've only been here for two months. (That doesn't really make me feel better...) Anyways, I've been thinking about making friends, and I've come to this conclusion. Making new friends after marriage is worse, by far, than dating. Maybe not quite as awkward, but more difficult and time consuming. Example: There is this girl in our ward who I've only talked with a few times, but we clicked and had a lot to talk about. I actually refer to her as my best friend (haha, don't think I'm too weird, this girl probably doesn't even remember my name.) so I told Nate that he needs to be best friends with her husband. Nate said he just didn't "click" with her husband. Craaaaap. Then the other day after church Nate said, "I've found you a new best friend. I don't know her name, but her husband's name is _____. We talked in Elder's Quorum." "Oh yeah... I met his wife in the mother's room last week. Yeah... we didn't really click..." Craaaaap.
Now I realize you can't judge a person entirely on one conversation, and in reality, Nate is at work so much he doesn't really need a BFF. But I'm at home all day and the only interaction I get is with a speech delayed three year old and a goo goo ga ga baby. Cute, but not entirely stimulating. I've always been fairly good at making friends, I'm reasonably but not overly outgoing, but this has just been HARD, especially for us only having one car which I don't always have. Ugh, I can complain and whine until I'm blue in the face, but I just need to DO something about it. So today I sent a Google Group message to my Relief Society people to see if someone wants to go to the new Winnie the Pooh movie tomorrow, cuz I'll have the car. Hopefully someone signs up to be my friend :)

I'm losing motivation...

To bathe myself... Here's why...
The new ride.

We still just have one car. We could maybe, maybe, afford another car if we want to scrape by again every month with a car payment (Mallory the Malibu is paid off, thank goodness!) plus car insurance. But we've decided to put off getting another car until it is absolutely necessary. Very lucky for us, there is a park less than a mile away, and Rachael's school is only 1.1 miles away. Easy peasy with a bike! So we took ourselves to Costco (we're so grown up, with our own Costco memberships!), got a bike, and found a new bike trailer on craigslist. The girls LOVE it. Whitney is so good in it and falls asleep every time we go somewhere. But this bike and trailer is why I don't want to bathe anymore. In the mornings, Rach has to be at school at 8:35, the perfect time for Nate to take her before work. Then I have the morning just me and Whitters. I took a shower, got ready, all stress free, wondering what the heck Rachael was getting into. (P.S. Don't anyone take offense to this, but it is SO easy having one kid. Seriously. I remember one being hard when I was there, but holy moley, two is much more stress.) But that 2.2 miles (there and back. I can do math) in this heat and humidity is KILLER. I start sweating the moment I push the pedals down. Yuck. I hate feeling sweaty and grimey and having my hair pulled into a pony every day, but showering so much is a lot of work. Once Whitterkins is better at supporting her head, she'll be able to sit in a baby floaty and maybe we'll get home from our ride and hop right into the pool. Ahhh... that will be amazing.

Although I am loving having a low-key workout every day. Its good for me.

Preschool... What??

When did she get so big?? Miss Rachael started preschool on Monday. Ok, its more of a pre-preschool. Here in Irvine, the school district has an AMAZING program for kids with different developmental delays. Right now Rachael is in a class to be observed and see if she'll qualify for that program. I really have no doubt that she will. She'll be in this class for three weeks, we'll have to wait for five weeks, then have a meeting to see if she'll qualify. Ugh, such a long process, but it will be well worth it. Right now, and if she makes it into the program, she goes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, for about three hours. She loves it, and I'm excited to go watch what goes on.

P.S. Isn't our blue door so cute? Oh, and the kid in pink, too. And a word of advice: pur your kid in tennis shoes for preschool, cuz teachers don't like it when sandals come off.

Pooped.

Rach barely made it in the door after church this past Sunday. That's what she gets for waking up at 5:30. Did I get a nap, too? You're silly. Of course not, but it was nice to make dinner in peace.