The aquarium

Sometimes after Texas Roadhouse, we take the kids over to pet smart to look at the fish and birds and little animals. It's free and our kids think it's great. 

So tonight we're going downtown for the nuggets game but didn't want to have to worry about driving there in rush hour traffic. So here we are driving up at 2pm so we can spend a few hours at the aquarium before the game. Talking to Abigail about what the aquarium will be like (she's been here and to the one in Atlanta before but she doesn't remember), we were saying stuff like "it's like a glass wall where we can see fish and sharks and stuff... It's really cool."  

So as we're driving then Abigail is all "is this gonna be like the aquarium we go to at the store after Texas Roadhouse???"  Yes. Just like that. But a little bigger. 

Abigail was good!

The pictures don't reflect it because I wasn't focused on taking pictures, but today, Abigail was wonderful! Like super super wonderful. She actually got herself dressed before school without daydreaming a million times in thirty minutes. And she helped Brady with a puzzle before school. She picked out my favorite Jean jacket of hers because she wanted to make me happy (I had her wear her pink fleece instead because it was going to be kinda cool today). And just in general was really pleasant and eager to do what she was supposed to. 

After school (especially the first 30-60 minutes) is typically horrible, but today was great. In the car on the way home, she devized a plan (getting input from Brady and me) of what we should all do after our "first things" and when we got home, she was mature and responsible about everything instead of crying and lashing out. It was AMAZING. The kids watched Angelina ballerina and did the Thomas puzzle more and played around a bit. Honey got home super early around 2:45 and took the kids outside to play since I was busy doing laundry and dishes and putting Elizabeth down for nap and making dinner (because stuffed peppers takes so long that you'd better get started by 2:30 if you want to eat at a decent time). I know he was checking emails and stuff the whole time because the work day was still going on, but the kids were thrilled and it helped me not feel so guilty about ignoring them so much. 

Elizabeth is a gem. So adorable and happy. She's been doing this thing for the last 24 hours where she only eats for a minute and then just coos up at me over and over while we "talk" and love each other. Kinda annoying since I'd like her to just eat more. But holy cow it's even better than making her laugh. It's the cutest thing ever. 

Dinner was ready by 4:45 and we were eating by five. I used to think that was a ridiculously early time to eat, but with slow poke kids that wake up during the night, it's just the best time for dinner. 

That way we have plenty of time to eat, a little time to play/clean up, and plenty of time for our bedtime routine and books and the kids can still be in bed with the lights out by seven. Which is also ridiculously early, but Abigail has been waking up during the night and is crazy tired every morning so this is the best I can do for her right now. She was asleep tonight the moment her head hit the pillow and Brady fell asleep just a few minutes later. 

Abigail put the puzzle like this and helps Brady through connecting the pieces. They each have their own strengths. By this age, Abigail could complete any 24 piece puzzle conpletely by herself. Brady can't figure out how two matching pieces can fit together correctly. ; ) But Abigail is determined to help him learn and I appreciate it. 

He's so silly. 

They've been liking sleeping together. Also, I've stopped putting a diaper on Brady at night (he's been waking up dry for at least a month now) and having him on the crib mattress instead of our guest bed makes me feel better. 

I'm so over the constant dishes and cleaning and laundry. Also the muscle aches in my whole entire back and neck and shoulders. My body is aging too fast. Since I only have twenty something days left of being a twenty something. ; ) 

What am I busy doing?!

How am I so busy all day and I get to the end and wonder what on earth I've been up to all day?!  

Today I took Abigail to school and then played cars with Brady and did some laundry because Elizabeth slept in til 10:30 or something. We brought Greta home from school with us because I wanted to be a nice mom and provide a friend for Abigail. The kids all played and we made banana muffins and read books. Greta left around 4 and then all hell broke loose because I asked Abigail to put a book away. Abigail continued to be a ticking and exploding time bomb for the next few hours. I actually fed the kids at 5:30 and had us upstairs to start our bedtime routine by 6. Abigail has been having some insomnia and was awake last night for at least an hour and a half.  And she's a beast when she's tired so I think that was the main reason she was so horrible this afternoon. But still. She even smeared a gob of soap on Brady's head because he "didn't put the soap back in the right spot."  The phrase of the day was "you're the meanest mom ever!!!" with the runner up phrase being "if you don't _____, then I'll hit you!" Out of control. But, the plus side of this (because it's been happening a fair amount) is that Brady sees first hand what not to do and how sad and angry Abigail gets when she doesn't listen but still wants rewards... So he is really good about making good choices and then asking for things he wants. He's a little energetic bundle of enthusiasm. My favorite thing he said yesterday was "mom! Elizabeth's awake! Yeay! Let's go upstairs and make her SMILE!!! Woohoo!" I wish I could type it out in his voice. Special emphasis on smile. Ha. 

Anyway, today was good. Brady was cute, Elizabeth kept blowing out of her diapers, Abigail was a tornado of fury, and honey is back from Omaha. 

On to tuesday! 

When fall comes...

Y'all, tonight marks the third night in a row that I will have made dinner (it's in the crock pot right now) which is probably more times than what I made dinner all summer long. ; ) cooking during the summer seems like such a waste of time because I'd rather be outside or at the pool even if it means eating sandwiches and grapes or smoothies or cereal for dinner again. But, we've been having fall weather over here this week and I've been all about staying inside and actually making food to eat. Tonight we're having the six sisters crock pot lasagna. Last night was beef teriyaki bowls with rice and stir fry veggies. And the night before was cream cheese chicken taquitos (http://lecremedelacrumb.com/2014/05/slow-cooker-cream-cheese-chicken-taquitos.html)  and asperagus. I'm on a roll!  Although maybe it helps that at least part of every meal has used the crock pot. So I just keep it out and clean it up and load it with more food to cook. ; ) It's working well for us. 

Anyone have any awesome and easy recipes I should try? 

Here's my newest favorite... It's amazing... http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2015/05/garden-zucchini-chowder.html

Emmy's baby and a loooong night

Thursday 10.15.15

I hung around the house all morning, crazy attached to my phone and waiting for news about Emma's induction. Then I did the same thing all afternoon but with news about her baby. ; ) 

By late afternoon, I had to start being responsible (just a little) and start dinner early with the kids so we could start bedtime early so that honey could get to bed early. He needed to wake up at 2:45am to go to Wyoming so he'd wanted to drive there the night before. I'd told him about Kelsey's baby shower and promised that if he stayed home to watch the kids, I would have them in bed at 7pm and he could go to bed early and get some sleep. 

I left the house with all kids awake but in bed and got to the shower only 20 or so minutes late. Although half way there, chris texted me that the kids were both crying for me. And an hour later texted me that Elizabeth woke up (which is sooooo rare to happen anytime before 2am) but all things were solved with cuddles (for the first two) and a bibjy(for the babe). 

The shower was fun. It was at kneaders and I spent the majority of the time talking to my mother in law since we were sitting next to each other. I never get enough of her. 

After the shower I went by Walmart to get groceries. I spent way too much money with impulse buys and yet more money buying tons of food because I got a renewed motivation to cook (since the sun sets earlier and it's getting colder). 

I got home by midnight or something since I always go extra leisurely when I don't have kids. I'd put away most all the groceries when I heard Elizabeth (again, unusual) so I went upstairs and texted me while I nursed Elizabeth. Then Emmy called me because she was awake. So I sat in Elizabeth's closet to talk to Emmy (because I didn't want our conversation to wake chris up since the monitor was on in our room) and then kept talking to Emmy (in Abigail'a room because she's a deep sleeper and doesn't wake up) after I put Elizabeth back in her crib. So that was an hour of bliss. I'm so excited for Emmy. I was wired (because I get that way at night) and couldn't fall asleep til 2am. At 2:40, Brady was at the top of the stairs calling out to chris... "Daddy!!! Daddy!!!" like he normally does to me. Chris was all "is he saying daddy?!?!" And was excited to go up to help him. He said he'd rescheduled his first meeting so he could sleep til 3:30, but Brady kinda killed that. But it meant that Christopher could sit with him for 20 minutes or so. Brady was still awake at the end of it so Christopher said "do you want me to get mommy for you?" And Brady apparently whipped his head around all "mommy's here?!?!?!"  Ha. But he fell asleep and Christopher never woke me. But I was up by 4:15 with Elizabeth (man, roughy night for her!) and then Abigail was awake in her room when I checked on her ("I'm closing my eyes and trying to fall back asleep").  After I fed Elizabeth and put her back in her crib then I hung out with Abigail for a few minutes although she was still awake when I left. I got back in my bed by 5 I think and hadn't really fallen asleep when Brady woke up at 5:30. I couldn't get him back to sleep after 20 minutes and told him that I was going back to my bed. He was still wide awake and didn't like that so I told him he could sleep on Abigail's sofa. As we walked in there I wondered if Abigail had ever fallen back asleep. As we walk in the room with Brady's blankets, per head "so that's how Brady always gets into my room at night!" So I left Brady and Abigail in Abigail's room, both wide-awake.… And went back to my bed. I can't remember what time I was up for the day, but, I'm sure you're shocked, I didn't feel too rested. ; )

Friday

Primary temple trip

10.14.15

This morning was the primary temple trip. The tour wasn't too engaging for the young kids, but there must have been something they loved about the temple because they both reeeeally wanted to stay longer. 

Brady is so cute to watch. He's very observant of people around him and likes to distance himself a bit to observe everyone else. 

He also looked for patches of shade because it was HOT. 

Abigail is so insanely social. 

This guy cracks me up. 

All the time. 

Forever. 

Sometimes I look at her and I'm all "you're a girl! When did you grow up?!?!" 

She's just this silly little person. 

And I think she's so beautiful. 

Brady loved the bookmark he got at the end of the tour. 

Elizabeth has started making funny faces in the past two days. No idea where it came from but she pouts out her bottom lip and also sticks out her tongue. 

And continues smiling. 

I'm teaching her about the art of selfies. 

Has anyone else noticed how she does he arm thing that Brady does? I forgot to give her her reflux medicine today and noticed her doing her arm like this. Could be a coincidence and maybe she does it all the time, but it made me feel bad that maybe she was doing it because I didn't give her her Zantac. Whoops. 

I fixed her arm though. 

And then made her smile for me to let me know that she forgives me. 

Abigail helped Brady undo the buttons on his shirt tonight when it was time to get pjs on. I love their matching hair in this picture. 

Also, like their apologizing hugs, this situation lacked some balance from Brady (my opinion is that it was semi on purpose) and they tipped over. ; ) 

And then Brady picked out these pjs because he wanted the ones with the boat.  And he asked me if he broke his pjs shorts. He's always keeping me laughing. 

Always. 

Other notables:

I talked to Em for almost two hours today. SHE'S HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!! 

After that, I put Elizabeth down for a nap and talked to mom for an hour. Mostly about how excited I was that EM IS HAVING A BABY TOMORROW!!!

The kids watched a lot of curious George because I forgot it was the dvd with a million episodes on it and I kept waiting for it to end. It didn't end. Finally I just turned it off and took the kids outside. By that point, they had overdosed on tv and were excited to do something different. 

Even though the house was messy with just random stuff like blankets and stuff, we left it there and went outside to play and ride around the block. I literally was giddy that I legit didn't care about the mess in the great room. I wish I could always not care, but I'll take it as it comes... It was glorious. We took our leftovers from our temple picnic and ate on the driveway while we played. I left my phone inside (let's be honest, to charge, because after three hours of talking it was almost dead) and loved just enjoying the weather, people watching our neighbors all walk their dogs and get the mail, and laughing at my kids. So, we had goldfish, granola bars, banana muffins, and snap pea crisps (which is Abigail's newest favorite food) for dinner while I sat in my lawn chair. We rode around the block and played until honey got home and then he went around the block with them again while I got peas and spaghetti for dinner. Eventually Elizabeth woke up and honey and the kids cleaned up and came upstairs for us to all do bedtime. It was really great. Minus that little part where honey told me his nerve can't handle when I burst out yelling at our kids. ; )  whoops. I told him that I'll try not to do that when he's home and instead I'll just turn the situation over to him whenever our kids aren't listening. Win win. We'll have to see if that works. But other than that little part, the night was excellent. I can't believe that tomorrow is already Thursday. Fall break is flying by! 

I really like raisin bran lately. With whole milk of course. 

Call me grumpy

I've been so out of sorts lately. I know the fatigue and backaches are contributing to the situation, but seriously, I'm reaching the end of my rope. My sad attitude is killing me. I know my situation hasn't changed... It's just my perception. 

So, with that in mind, here's my attempt at appreciation some of the things today that have annoyed me.

Brady actually cleaned up all of the golf toys that were scattered around my bedroom. 

Abigail wanted a new bandaid so she went to take care of that on her own. I got annoyed at the big mess of wrappers and that she wasted too many band aids, but the truth of the matter is that the waste probably cost two pennies, and my kid is independent and confident in her abilities to take care of situations and solve her own problems. Also, I was annoyed because after all of this, she didn't even have a bandaid on her toe... turns out it's too tricky for a five year old... But I should have been more grateful that she was okay with it and didn't whine or complain or curse the world that her efforts weren't working. 

The kids were playing so well together outside. Even though I got crazy upset that they broke our neighbor's lawn decoration, I'm trying to remember how happy I was when I saw the two of them riding together on Brady's tricycle as if they were on a motorcycle... With brady in back, arms wrapped around and holding on to Abigail's waist. And both of them just laughing and laughing. They really played so sooo well together today.

Also, that they cleaned up the playroom and Abigail's room tonight... Helping each other and doing their part. It took a while, and they still whined and got distracted a bit, but (probably because they still knew they were on my bad side from breaking the neighbor's thing) they did it well. They also ate dinner well and got ready for bed well. Here's part of the problem, my kids behave way better if they think I'm angry at them. I can ask them nicely to do something all day long... They can even start a conversations with each other while I'm still in the middle of asking them to do something... But when I raise my voice or start acting angry, they take me seriously. How do I get them to take me seriously when I'm being nice? I don't want to be a mean drill sergeant, but if I make a normal "would you please clean up your books now?" or "I need you to get dressed now" request, it 90% of the time won't get done. In the meantime, I'm grateful at least that I have a way I can for sure get them to listen and obey. Even if it does involve some role playing with me in the part of Hitler. 

Every night, I look at Abigail sleeping and I hate myself for being so hard on her. For not gushing over her more when she's awake. For being annoyed that she's breathing her sick kid germy breath on Elizabeth and me. I'm so grateful for her forgiving nature. For all the hugs and kisses she gave me today and for the random things she did for me just because she wanted to make me happy. 

I'm grateful for Brady because he is adorable and funny. He makes me laugh with all of his crazy antics and when he repeatedly asks me "mom? Am I big?" during the day. He and Abigail got upset at each other today and were mean. He was so quick to forgive her and apologize and give her a hug and a kiss. And later, when she was apologizing to him, he was so excited about it. "Okay, now give me a hug and a kiss!"  Apologizing works so well for them because they almost always fall over laughing when they do the hug and kiss part. I know this won't be the case in ten years, but I love it right now. Also, Brady is totally rocking the whole self potty training thing. He wears underwear at home (because it's easier for him to put back on... Instead of a diaper that requires me to help him) and words can't express how much I love hearing the toilet flush throughout the day. The only way I know he's gone potty is by hearing the toilet flush. He stops what he's doing, goes potty, flushes, puts his undies and shorts back on, and then washes his hands. If I'm nearby, he'll sometimes ask me for a mellow creme pumpkin. He's 100% self sufficient. He just needs more practice pooping on the potty... But with time, I know he'll master that as well. I'm thankful for his enthusiasm. It's actually helping Abigail a not too I think. 

And Elizabeth. That girl is perfection. She has a smile that almost blows the roof off our house. Never did I know that a kid could smile so much or so easily. Just making eye contact or hearing the sound of my voice sends her into a kicking smiling frenzied ball of happiness. She's a great eater and a great sleeper and a chill and happy kid. She typically takes two long naps during the day... 4 hours, give or take. She's always happy for an hour and a half after she wakes up... After that, she may want you to smile at her on occasion. She drools like a waterfall and I change her onesie probably five times a day. And she blows out of her diapers a lot still too. She reminds me so much of baby Abigail. Except the smiles. The smiles are uniquely hers. Because honestly, I swear no baby has ever smiled as much as Elizabeth. Her legs and cheeks and chin are adorable beyond words and I love her so much I can't even believe it. 

Also, my honey. I rarely write about him because he's a private person and I want to be respectful of that, but goodness knows I love him so much. He is so patient with me and such a good dad to our kids. I love that he's always so excited to do fun stuff with our kids like take them to the pumpkin patch and to the circus. He's the fun parent that I don't have the energy to be right now. And he so willingly makes sacrifices for our family without complaint. He's got a meeting in Wyoming later this week and I have a baby shower to go to the night before. So instead of driving to Wyoming and staying at a hotel that night so he'll be close by for his morning meeting, he's going to stay home with the kids that night while I go to a baby shower, and then he'll wake up at 2:45am to drive to Wyoming for a day of meetings and drive back that night so he can be home again to be with our family and play and be present for bedtime. I'm sure he's not looking forward to waking up before 3am, but he hasn't given me a moment of grief about it. 

If anyone has ever wondered why I take the time to blog... This is it. It's because I can have a crappy complaining day and somehow, when I blog about it, I have the opportunity to reflect and record the many ways in which I am so, so blessed. 

My [previously unhappy] heart is so full. 

just take my money

when i had elizabeth, i got a bunch of target gift cards from generous friends and family.  this is great except that i don't really shop at target so i have to make a concerted effort to use my gift cards.  today i went to target to get an item that i needed that walmart doesn't offer and that i can get at vitamin cottage, but for a lot more money.  perfect reason to use a target gift card!  so i took all three kids in the store with me to find out that my parker store (actually most of their stores) don't have it in the store... just online.  oh well, i'll just order it online and have to wait for it to be shipped.

i got on my computer to order it and put it in my cart.  it was $24.57 and i could ship it to the store for free... or add something cheap to my cart so i could qualify for the $25 free home delivery.  so i went to add a $1 elf mascara to my cart but the target.com page wouldn't open.  the address bar said i was at the right page, but the page was just blank and white.  ugh.  that happened with a million other things online that i tried to load.  can i please just add a $1 item to my cart?!?

i finally gave up.  whatever, i'll just use my phone instead.  so i added my main item to my cart and my $1 mascara and entered in the card numbers and pin numbers for two gift cards.  then, trying to actually checkout, it wouldn't go through, fiddling around with it erased my payment info so i entered in the gift card information again (for the two cards) and clicked "review order" and then "checkout" and then "review order" and "checkout" and on and on.  it just kept looping me through.  apparently target.com sucks no matter what device you're using to access it.  at this point i was almost screaming to my computer because what other options do i have?  i can't buy it in the store or on my laptop or on my iphone.  i find a customer support number online and call it.  i give the impossible to understand indian guy my cart number and request that he just submit my order for me.  "okay, i just need to review this information with you so you can confirm that it is accurate."  but he's quoting me a price $6 more than it should be so i tell him there should be no shipping charge.  "well, if you spend $25 then you get free shipping."  "yes, i know.  my items are $24.57 and $1 and when i had my order pulled up, it confirmed that the shipping charge was waived."  "okay, i will waive your shipping charge for you... is everything else about your order okay?"

so i got off the phone with him and immediately got an email about my order and that my shipping charge was "refunded" to me.  still confused why it wouldn't just ring up like it should, i looked closer at the email.  somehow my $1 mascara had been dropped from my order so it was just the $24.57 (which explains why the guy on the phone was going to charge me shipping and had to waive the fee manually).  well, wonderful... my item will be shipped to my house free of charge (as it was supposed to) but i can't help but think... "how annoying would this be if i had actually wanted that $1 mascara that randomly disappeared from my order and i had to do this all over again?!?!"

target, you more than just a little suck.  i tried to give you my money in person, on my laptop, on my iphone, and on my phone through customer service... and you still dropped part of my order, therefore charging me less than what should have been the case.

i swear, it has never been so hard to get someone to JUST TAKE MY MONEY.

that was the longest process of my life.

Saturday

I've had a hard time falling asleep at night. I'm exhausted all day and even nodding off in the afternoon, but come 8 o clock, my mind is racing and my body is tense. So I fall asleep after midnight. And then typically Elizabeth and Brady wake up sometime between 4 and 6am. And then everyone gets up for the day around 7:15 or so. I've been really tired lately. 

But this morning, my honey was home, so the kids hung out with honey and I fell back asleep (I was only partially awake to begin with) until 9:45!  Woohoo!  Honey had taken the kids to sports authority and then to a pumpkin patch. I sure love that guy. 

Tonight we went to see singing in the rain at the Parker theater. I looooved it. I'm pretty sure the only reason we all went was because I was so excited a few months ago and asked Klaudette if she wanted to see it with me. So she made a Hillier family fun night out of it. I know I loved it the very most. I was in heaven with the songs and the 20's style costumes and the guy that played Cosmo was awesome and hilarious and all the characters were just really talented and likeable. I wish I could see it again and again. I thought maybe it wouldn't be super cool because I've seen the movie, but it was awesome. Now I need to get my hands on the movie to watch it again. 

Thursday shopping tennis book group