pictures to post

pictures from wednesday/thursday of last week... i think.

using her lego toy (upside down) as a way to carry all of her other toys.  i was impressed.

"building a house"

she wanted her trains all in the sun. and then needed me to take a picture of her with them.

alfalfa

another mirror shot of the three of us.  i'm really liking these.  also, brady looks like homestar runner.

she really got the hang of pedaling lately and LOVES it.

i told you brady has a gift for spitting up all over everything.  this time it pooled in my crotch.  babies are great.  so is motherhood.  not glamorous, but still really really great.

she rolled up her own diaper

baby girl still really loves shoes.  her thing lately is saying "i need to put on these sandals because my feet are getting cold" or some variation of that.

i was putting brady to sleep and she wanted to help but she wanted to watch thomas too.  i think she was just scared to be downstairs alone at night.

she thought it was cool to sit on the toilet while she brushed her teeth.

this is still her hiding place of choice.  when she gets super excited to hide, she'll run and dive under here and bang her head against the wall.  she doesn't cry about it but she doesn't learn either.

oh hi there.

baby girl likes to hold toys with her while we shop.  we don't buy them but they're something for her to look at.  you know she loves her little brother when you look in your cart and see this.  she's really good at sharing.

at monkey bizness for elle's birthday party.  abigail is obsessed with elle's brother.

we got home and she put her trains to sleep.  once or twice i've seen them sleep upside down but it's almost always just on their side like this.

just chillin'.  sometimes he slides down a little much.  he's fine as long as he can put his hands in his mouth though.

just looking at the moon as i fall asleep.  so gorgeous.

i have since googled this.  what would we do without google?  i would have so many unanswered questions!

my kids were a dream

my kids were a dream today.  we all slept in til after nine and honestly, the whole day just went so smoothly. we didn't go anywhere but i was super productive around the house.  i got in two loads of laundry, some random picking up around the house, and a few hours of yard work... i filled our entire huge rolling trash bin!  brady was happy (i got a full 20 minute shower while he just hung out on the bathroom floor (without a binky even!) when he was awake and went down easily for naps.  AND his first two naps were full length (2.5 hours long) and he didn't even wake up at the 45 minute mark!  and baby girl didn't get out of bed til closer to 10, went right to sleep for her nap, and played happily for an hour after she woke up.  and while she was awake she was so sweet and fun to hang out with.  all today she did this "okay" thing.  where in response to anything i'd say, she'd immediately respond with an "okay!" and i wish i could record the intonation in her voice because it's hilarious.  it actually makes me think of my lil friend lynell.  i really can't describe it any other way.  ha.  anyways, i absolutely loved it.  she's got to be the most agreeable two year old ever.  she played in the backyard while i made breakfast, we did yard work together, she watched thomas while she ate lunch so i could get brady down for nap and a load of laundry folded, and the whole time was just so much fun to be with.

i walked in her room to get her this morning and found this in her crib.  she doesn't do it all the time, but it's a pretty regular thing for her to take off her diaper when she's done sleeping.  

she needed gloves to help me with yard work.  and a shovel.  and for the record, i cleared out all the dead leaves from those irises you see.  they look much better now.  and how cute was abigail when she kept asking me about flowers and i got to explain to her how they grow and all that good stuff.  her questions are so fun.

today we broke out the sunscreen... and we were definitely sweating while we were working in the yard.  it is so crazy that exactly a week ago, it was snowing and parker was covered in a fresh blanket of white.  and apparently wednesday will be snow too.  most bipolar weather ever.

brady decided he doesn't hate tummy time anymore.  he still only likes it on a boppy and only for 5 or so minutes before he decides he's done, but, man, does that kid look so cute when he's hanging out all propped up on his elbows.  seriously adorable.

baby girl climbed on top of him.

you know your two year old is a lightweight when she can climb on your baby and it doesn't even phase him.

abigail was all about the pictures tonight, wanting to take pictures of brady and me.  she's actually getting really good.  this picture below hasn't been cropped or edited at all!

abigail wanted me to take a picture of her doing "belly time" and insisted that the burp cloth was exactly as it appears.  i told her she didn't need it because she doesn't drool like brady but she was having none of that.  

this girl loves pictures.

my honey had a rough day at work and actually passed out on our bed tonight while i was nursing brady and reading abigail a story.  so i put both kids to bed myself.  while i did this, brady got super fussy and i didn't know why and then he projectile vomited all over the place and continued to be fussy because then he was soaking wet and i was ignoring him to get wipes to clean our carpet.  and then he got mad because i had to change his clothes and swaddle him so that all sent him into a screaming fit.  this was right when i was supposed to be reading abigail her bedtime story and i ended up just getting up from her sofa to put brady in his crib but he was getting sooooo worked up that i had to just hold him and rock him.  during this time, i heard abigail go downstairs and when she didn't come up for a little while, i figured she was trying to wake chris up and had maybe succeeded.  when i finally got brady calmed down again, baby girl appeared... like this.

eating a whole fistful of pringles (actually they're the lay's stax version).  i laughed out loud and asked her who gave her those (i thought maybe christopher in his sleepy state of mind or just trying to get her to leave him alone) and she responded with a sheepish "i did" while backing away from me.  i told her it was okay and then she shared with me every time i asked for one (or two!).  she is insanely good at sharing.  i came downstairs to check out the situation and found this on my honey's nightstand.  i'm not sure how many were in the container when she found them but it is safe to say that there was no chip left behind.

and then on my side of the bed, the floor looks like this.  so let's add vacuuming to tomorrow's agenda.

 

so grateful for this day today.  it was amazing.  and really, i have the best kids ever.

ps- i'll have to tell the story later but i finally called joanne to thank her for getting me a spot in the hospital tour even though they were booked out for weeks.  i told her about how i went into labor the falling morning and probably would have had brady in the parking lot if it weren't for that hospital tour.  i'm ashamed that it took me 4.5 months to call her.  it was crazy though when i talked to her on the phone and she said "i actually saw you yesterday and almost introduced myself and said hi."  i forgot she's in the same ward as my inlaws.  anyways, i think i'm in love with that woman.

pps- if i don't get my watch battery fixed soon, i might die.  i am someone that neeeeeds a watch.  

ppps- yesterday was john's farewell talk at church... i can't believe he leaves on his mission next week.  this is emotionally way harder for me than i was anticipating... but on a lighter note, abigail's prayer today included "thank you for our church.  and for john's church and for nate's church."  i guess she had fun at their ward yesterday.  and she also thankful for "ducklings" just in case you were wondering.

tummy time with a view

some pictures from saturday morning...

morning is brady's happiest time.  honey is never home to see it so when brady was so happy and laughing and smiling and my christopher just laid him in his crib and he went right to sleep... he couldn't get over it.  brady is a master jekyll and hyde.

i set him up with a view so he could watch dad and big sister building legos downstairs.

he enjoyed it thoroughly.

they made this road.  but of course it was actually called "tracks" and it was for trains.

and you better believe they all got a turn to puff through there!

baby simba.  kinda like this.

and then i had to kick it in gear to get ready for the temple.  our babysitter cancelled on us the day before because she got sick... and the six or seven other girls we called were unavailable.  i know i could have called at least 15 other options but i'm a little more particular now that i have a high maintenance baby.  and it would have been scary to leave him with a new babysitter while being completely inaccessible at the temple. my in laws were all going to the temple together since my brother in law, john, is leaving soon on his mission to argentina.  i told my christopher that if we couldn't find a babysitter then he should go to the temple because it's his family.  his exact response was "no you should go since you're always with the kids.  and it's your family too."  i love that guy.  i love him soooo much.  the temple was awesome and he brought the kids and met us all at texas roadhouse (ummm the company has a whole lot of credit for texas roadhouse since they buy a million dollars of gift cards for clients... if that makes sense) so we all got to hang out anyways... except for brady who slept in his carseat the whole time.  and then we went to the hilliers for games and hanging out until 10pm or something and the whole day was perfect.  start to finish just wonderful.  i'm related to some of my most very favorite people.

autocorrect

sometimes autocorrect is annoying (i need to learn how to override some things) like when i text my honey "eta" and it always changes it to "era" or when i try to type "think" and it always ends up being "honk."  

my two favorite autocorrects from the last week were this one with weed...

yes, that was exactly what i was trying to say!

 and when i was texting diana and wrote "she doesn't call me unless she's trying to kill me."  whoops.  me = time.  she doesn't call me unless she's trying to kill time.  luckily i fixed it before i sent it.  sadly, i didn't get a picture of it first.  it made me laugh out loud.

have you ever searched "autocorrect" on pinterest?  that made me laugh out loud too.

talented children

this one has the most beautiful smile in the world.

and this one can put on her own diaper.

 

 

 

i can only imagine what amazingness our third child will exhibit.

the very hungry caterpillar

i'm so excited for summer.  i went shopping tuesday night after our young women activity... all by myself (what a luxury!) and could actually fill my cart up with food since all of the space wasn't already taken by my children.  i price matched and saved soooo much money (i wish they would tally it for you at the bottom of the receipt like they do for coupons and whatever) that i didn't even feel bad about getting so much food.  one of the things that made me happiest was all of the fruits and vegetables on sale... and i kind of went crazy.  i got tons of oranges and a canteloupe and even a $.99 pineapple.  my fruit basket looks glorious.

this has made lunch time around these parts so much easier (at least for the time being) because my kid is obsessed with new foods (otherwise known as "something else").

so here's today's "what she ate"...

1/3 of a canteloupe
1/2 of a tomato
a few bites of avocado
1 pringle
a slice of home made wheat bread (courtesy of my awesome laurel adviser, jen)
and one of the biggest bananas you've ever seen

and then of course she just kept alternating between wanting more banana and "something else."  how was she not on the verge of vomiting after all that food?!

for the record, i told her she wasn't allowed to eat anymore until after nap and luckily she was okay with that.

an ulterior motive

i know i've said it a million times before, but brady could not have asked for a more adoring sister.  ever.  she is so sweet to him and tolerant of all the inconveniences of having a high maintenance baby brother.  she uses infant directed speech and constantly gives him kisses and hugs and tells him that she loves him (for the record, she has not ever not even one single time told me that she loves me... but brady and pooh bear get that luxury daily) and is willing to do anything that will count as service towards him like throwing away his diaper (she won't throw away her own anymore... just his) and bringing me his burp cloth or binky.  seriously, she is the most amazing big sister ever (except for my two.... love you liza and emmy!) in the whole universe.  so tonight he was hanging out on the floor when i turned around to see him surrounded by baby toys.  two minutes later baby girl came to me with this question...

"when brady gets bigger he can turn on thomas for me?"

and i said yes.

all this time i thought she was just being sweet... turns out she may have ulterior motives.

other notables from tonight:
"brady cries a LOT."  as we attempted to eat dinner while brady screamed in his swing every 5 seconds after his binky would fall out.

"don't throw it in the blocks!  i told you not to do that!" after she found brady's burp cloth in her big bin of legos.  and then she just kept telling me "i told you not to do that!" over and over again.  whoops.  i guess i made a mistake.

so we can conclude that abigail is only nice to brady because she wants him to grow up and turn on thomas for her (i can't blame her, i want him to grow up and kill spiders for me), this little boy is still very angry at life, and i discipline my child too much and she's ocd enough to call me out when i don't follow my own rules.  awesome.

hosting playgroup

the day so far... in pictures.

good job brady!  

i woke up and fed him and brought him downstairs to hang out while i pumped the other side.  i knew he  was going to spit up any second so i grabbed this bib that i could just pull over his head real quick.  and somehow he managed to spit up inside of the neck of the bib.  he's got a knack for spitting up on everything.

i was making my bed this morning and discovered...

our camera.  i hid it there yesterday so abigail wouldn't be tempted to use it to take pictures.  well, thanks to having a huge king bed, i can just add it to the list of things that have slept in our bed with us (tv remote, glasses, and cell phones being the most common).

happy... and blurry.

just looking at that smile, you wouldn't know what a hellion this kid has been.  he's just so sweet in the mornings.  and then it all goes downhill from there.  ; )

being a psychology major, i've always been really interested in nature vs. nurture (what we're taught vs. natural instincts) and this morning, i came to the conclusion that girls going to the bathroom in groups... is nature.  we must be born with it because when one said she had to go to the bathroom, they all flocked right behind her.  and somehow knew to stand around making small talk while she went potty.  seriously.

for our activity, i gave them cherrios and ribbons (to thread) so they could make bracelets.  they succeeded in order of age... with my kid definitely being the worst.  although i think her ribbon was a little flimsier, making it more challenging to thread.  she didn't mind though... she just ate a whole lot of cherrios.

and then she started doing this, enthusiastically telling her friends, "i'm flossing!!!"

girls love having their picture taken.  and then they all clamor "i wanna see!  i wanna see!"

this lasted all of two second before everyone ate all the cherrios off and then wanted their soggy ribbon removed.

my second instagram picture ever.  (i'm crarrie, just in case you want to follow both of my pictures!)  leave me a comment or text me your user name so i can follow you!  i am currently following exactly one person.

abigail didn't wait long to eat the few cherrios on her bracelet.

the jumping game again

one thing about this kid is super predictable... first he burps, then the second one is spitup.  so i had this blanket all ready for the spitup that i knew was about to come.  so then he turned his head to the side and it went straight down from his chin to his hip and onto my belly and then my pants.   

i can't beat him.  i'm just covered in baby vomit.  all. day. long.

she put together this outfit and then danced in front of the mirror to celebrate her good fashion sense.

this guy is kicking my trash in words with friends (i just started that two days ago and i think i'm already over it) but i pulled this little move together and... am still 100 points behind.  i think he uses a cheat.  i should not be losing that bad.

 anyone want to come over and hold my baby for me?  my days are start to finish terrible back pain.  my body is going to break in half i swear.  let this kid learn to walk or crawl or SELF-SOOTHE already!  or we can just start collecting donations for chiropractor visits...