hawaii and ding ding ding ding

brady is currently in the stage where he's like a foreigner that's been living in the states for several years even though he's currently a U.S. citizen that's been living in the states for about two years and two months.  he has virtually perfect comprehension of every day english language but when he speaks, most people can't understand what he's saying.  i mean, i can.  because i'm a genius.  and because i spend his whole life with him so i typically have all the context i could possibly hope for, but without that... it'd be tricky.  sometimes i like to text honey videos and ask him to guess what brady is saying.  this happened wednesday night and is my new favorite.  and in case you can't figure it out, which is 99% likely... he's talking about the library and visiting teaching.  ; )  he's so adorable.

video: john 3:16

as i mentioned before, abigail was assigned to give the scripture and prayer in primary on sunday.  since honey and i were kind of slackers about it, we didn't start practicing with abigail until friday night... i think.  so when sunday rolled around, she had it mostly memorized, but not all of the way.  so for whatever reason, sunday, we kept working on it with her.  and in the days following.  well, she got it down pat, and we taught her 2 nephi 2:25, which she has about 90%.  it is surprisingly fun and addicting.  i think christopher and i were both shocked about that.  as soon as she mastered john 3:16, we were instantly brainstorming all the scripture mastery verses and articles of faith we could teach her.  and i want to teach her the young women theme too.  kids learn so fast, the sky's the limit on what we can plant in that little brain.

does this redeem me just a little bit from "crap" and ummm, everything else she's learned from me in her little lifetime?  

and because it's just that adorable, here it is again...

also, thanks again for the bluetooth, mom!  i used it three times today!

and abigail used it once...  obviously.

living in a musical

being with abigail, i feel like i live every day in a musical.  i can bust into song anytime, anywhere, and that little girl will always join in.  it's especially fun because we sing christmas songs together all day and she knows the words almost as well as i do (side note: all day long i hear her sing and talk about "mercy mild" and it never gets old) because we listen to christmas cds and pandora.  anyways, i have no idea how she got this one wrong but it made me laugh out loud.

me: [singing] "oh the weather outside is...."
abigail: [striking some low and awkward note] "cold."

i thought for sure she was just having some sort of brain freeze (no pun intended) but every time i sang it, she just kept filling in "cold."

kids are so entertaining.

friday morning

friday morning i got brady ready and passed him off to my mother while i got myself and abigail showered and ready for the day.  when that was done, i passed abigail off to my dad while i finished packing our bags.  i came upstairs to my parents asking me what that was outside.  i answered a few times (all wrong) before they informed me it was a train platform.

what?  apparently abigail ran to the window super excited and started exclaiming that it was a platform... a train platform for the people to wait!"  i won't lie, i was surprised and impressed.

then abigail went with my mom to start packing the car.  while they were doing this, she asked how the car turned black.  "why is our car not white anymore?  did it turn black because of the night time?"  hilarious.  our rental car yesterday was white.  but remember, abigail fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep during the whole rental car switch and then by the time she woke up, it was pitch black.  so this was her first time seeing the new rental car in the light and she was trying to wrap her head around how our white car turned black.  seriously, i find this so amusing.

on the "train platform"

i looooooved this quilt they had

a lot a lot

and now i want to make one just like it.  it was seriously so tempting not to spread it all out for a picture but i knew i'd never be able to fold it back just right.  especially one handed holding brady.

this is what i want for the wall in our office room.  we have the ikea knock off version though.  it only took a morning.  but someday.... built in bookcases!  

then we went to visit my uncle john and aunt beth. 

mom and dad and i all thought for sure this dog was going to bite off abigail's arm (epitome of the tiny dog with the crazy loud barking and 100% unpredictable everything) but abigail was all about second (and third and fourth) chances and kept going back to pet this little guy, charlie.

brady fell asleep as soon as we got in the car (as usual this trip) but actually stayed asleep for over two hours... even through the crazy loud barking!  he had to be kept up high though.  that pup was all sorts of scary.  in a cuteish sort of way.

we ate an assortment of great harvest breads, muffins, and cinnamon rolls with orange juice and milk and had fun visiting.

 but then once again... we were off!

off to utah!

somehow, the stars perfectly aligned for this trip to utah to come together.  so wednesday was a busy day of watching abigail's friend all morning, sending abigail to elle's house for a bit (because heaven forbid should you spend less than six hours in a day playing together), running errands to the library and frantically dropping off notes for all of my young women, and then arriving home at exactly 4:20, when honey requested we leave ("will you have everything packed and ready to go?"  ummm yessir.  i'll even have the kids in their carseats already!) and really, it couldn't have been more perfect.  it is so much easier to pack for a three day trip than a three week trip with the same luggage restrictions.

abigail was sooooo tired after playing with elle all day.  she fell asleep in her carseat while we were dropping off notes to young women and she didn't wake up til we got to the airport.

my christopher had a flight to south dakota that took off an hour or two after our flight.  so even though he couldn't come with us to utah, it was nice to see him a bit.  he was in wyoming early monday morning until late tuesday night.  he only got a couple hours of sleep before he woke up and left for colorado springs at 4am wednesday morning.  and he came home at 4:15, just in time for us to all leave for the airport, so he could catch a flight to south dakota.  he works so hard for our family and we really appreciate him.  we also miss him a lot while he's gone and plan trips to utah to console ourselves.

we had a whole lot of stuff.  luckily someone left behind one of those luggage carts in the parking lot.  kids come with a whole lot of baggage.

that was quite possibly the easiest time i've ever had going through the airport with kids.  we were flying southwest so i checked the stroller, both carseats, the kids' duffle bag, and my rolling carry-on suitcase.  so i just had a purse, two kids, and a husband to help!  and we were flying on a wednesday evening which is not a busy time to make your way through the airport.  christopher explored the terminal with abigail while i hung out with brady and then we said our goodbyes, waved to my christopher, and got on our plane.  then he went to his gate and waited for a few hours because his flight was delayed.  he's got the worst luck ever with flights.  at least he had his computer and could get work stuff done while he waited.

both kids were awake the whole flight because they'd both slept on the way to the airport... but really it wasn't bad.  and the flight is so short.  only 1h 15 or something.  getting off and to baggage claim was a piece of cake until i had to figure out a way to single-handedly get my kids and all of our stuff to the curb to meet my mom.  i came up with a genius system and eventually made my way out.  hallelujah!  we got in and out on our way to my cousin's house (and of course both kids fell asleep in the car) and then visited for a bit before it was time for bed.  brady was exhausted but wide awake and was frustrating to no end because he cried every time i put him down or was out of sight and it's hard to keep that quiet when other kids in the house are sleeping.  abigail stirred around forever but eventually fell asleep.  brady eventually fell asleep with me in my bed sometime after midnight and luckily i was able to transfer him to the pack in play around 1:30 or so.  and then we were all up by 7.  awesome.

ginny is awesome.  she called a few days ahead to see what kind of set up we wanted.  i told her i wanted my kids in the same room as me and that abigail actually still sleeps in a crib.  so bed for me, pack n play for brady, and crib like toddler bed for abigail.  perfect.

the girls

fail.  all of the kids were waaaay more interested in the train than the camera.

and done.  we'll just call it good now.

her exact words were "i'm riding a real train!!!"  it was battery operated and went on its own.  she was positively gleeful.

 

and brady stands all the time now.  in case i haven't mentioned that before.

 then i called and confirmed the day's plans with my friends and we were off!

lemon bars and trains in the dollhouse

abigail's favorite strawberry shortcake book is the one where lemon meringue makes lemon bars that are salty instead of sweet and then she apologizes to plum and makes her lemon bars again and they turn out great.  so abigail and i made lemon bars and she thought that was the coolest thing ever because it was just like the ones in the book! 

abigail kept talking about the "snowmaster."  i couldn't figure out why on earth she was calling this the snow master until she corrected me for the millionth time.  "nooo, the snowman stirrer!"  laughed out loud at that one.

we were having such a good time baking together but abigail got noticably anxious when i told her we needed this loud mixer.  so i broke out the noise reduction headphones we used when we took her to sporting events as a baby.  worked like a charm.

what's not to love?  she kept her book open the whole time so she could look at lemon meringue's lemon bars while we made our own.

there i was, nursing brady on the floor (i'd just changed his diaper and was too lazy to get up) when somehow, abigail tipped over the glider.  flashback to when brady was a week old and i was nursing him and abigail tipped the christmas tree over.  and also when i was nursing brady at a week old and she tipped over a lamp and the lightbulb crashed shards of broken glass all over my bedroom floor and brady's freshly folded clothes and blankets.  ahh, the good old [nightmareish] days.

he can't crawl yet but he can sure roll and scoot.  he gives me frequent scares when i put him on the floor and then he disappears.  i layed him on the carpet and freaked out a few minutes later when he wasn't there.  brady?!  and then he peeked his smiley face out from behind the corner.  that kid is a playful one.

abigail never stops talking.  ever.  it kind of drives me crazy sometimes when it's all directed at me.  but when i'm just listening to her constant chatter narrating her toys?  it is to die for!  her train, gordon, had a conversation with the dollhouse postal lady.  "hi, i'm blue."  "i'm blue too!"  and the time that every single member of the dollhouse, along with trains gordon and henry all rushed upstairs exclaiming "ohhh!  a bathroom!  yes!  it's a bathroom!  see the bathroom!  yes!  we're all in the bathroom!"  and on and on and on and on.  so much bathroom talk.  i have some videos.  we'll see if i ever get them uploaded.  they are pure gold.

the bad day that wasn't

by all accounts, my day should have been terrible.  

i still have that stupid headache migraine from yesterday and it throbs like crazy when brady cries.  

my stomach has felt super nauseous all day like the beginning (or ending) stages of a stomach bug.  not sure if it's from the migraine or what but it five thousand percent sucks.

and because my body didn't feel crappy enough, we had to throw a clogged duct in the mix.  heavenly father threw me a tender mercy in that after i put brady to sleep in his crib at 11pm, he slept all the way until 5am!  and then he slept again until 8:15!  that is great except that my body is used to nursing all night.  sooo, now i have a clogged duct.  a true testament to how extremely rare it is for brady to only nurse once in a 12 hour period.  anyways, it hurts. 

like yesterday, brady refused to take a morning nap and was awake for HOURS fighting sleep and screaming in his crib before i finally gave up and rocked him to sleep in his carseat (just like the good old days... this is fifteen steps in the wrong direction).

i've had zero energy and motivation for laundry, dishes, food prep, etc.  normally, it's hard to get started but once i get going then i'm on a roll.  all day i tried to unload the dishwasher but i'd put away a stack of plates and then not be able to do anymore.  it's probably about two thirds emptied.  also with laundry.  a struggle.  sweeping, i got the kitchen half swept but then couldn't get myself to finish the job with the dustpan.  elevation changes aggravate my head even worse.  heavens, it was a struggle.

i let abigail watch a lot of tv.  probably at least two hours.  

it was gloomy and rainy all day.  i typically love a nice overcast day but today it just made my body ache worse.

and my honey is out of town.  

i came back to a very quiet playroom after another epic battle to get brady to nap.  

bless her heart i don't think she was even aware i'd walked into the room.  she was so incredibly patient all day today with how much i neglected her to take care of brady.  is this not the saddest, sweetest picture ever?!  i think i'm in love with it.  she is an old soul.  so understanding.

this is chris's kid for sure.  he loooooves peas!  i should have given him peas yesterday.  maybe that would have improved our situation.  he was practically giddy.

glad to hear it.

baseball jammies!  have no fear, his legs aren't mangled... they're just too short to reach all the way to the pj feet.

so looking at that downer of a list... i think everything that made my day rough can be directly traced back to physically feeling so terrible.  the migraine, nauseous stomach, and painful clogged duct... that affected every other part of my day.  because taking that away, my day was great.

we all got to eat breakfast together (well, brady played in his jumper while abigail and i ate)

it was nice and cool so we could keep the windows open all day... no ac necessary!

brady's naps were both 1h45 which isn't full length but only 30ish minutes shorter than usual

brady was in a good enough mood tonight that i didn't even try to have him take his late afternoon nap and he was awake for four hours with minimal fussing!  and abigail and i had fun feeding him peas and puffs.

abigail and i are loving our latest stash of library books and i can't get enough of her saying "lets read LOTS of books!  let's read ALLLLL the books!"

brady went down for his second nap and down for the night in his crib with little to no fussing.

the cool weather allowed brady to wear sleepers!  i normally just put him in a onesie because i love looking at his little legs, but i'd forgotten how cute he looks in sleepers!

abigail kept making me laugh out loud today.  and she helped me put away laundry, unloaded the dishwasher, and took her dirty dishes to the sink after meals.

she was also an awesome eater so instead of having to hound her about finishing her food, i just had to make sure i was replenishing her bowl fast enough.  eggs, toast, two peaches, a whole red pepper, half an avocado, and chicken taquito.  and she just kept telling me she was still hungry.  she probably ate as much as i did today.  also, there are few things cuter than when she asks me for more "quito" and tells me she wants sauce (ranch dressing) with her red pepper instead of thomas (hummus).*

i can tell brady's mood is improving.  i'm excited to see what tomorrow brings.

after i got the kids to bed, i cleaned up most of the toys that were still out, got the remaining dishes to the sink, and folded and put away the remaining laundry.  so i'll feel happy about all of that tomorrow morning.

*i laughed out loud (while simultaneously feeling guilty) today when abigail made a comment about my shirt.  i thought she said "wet" but she said "red" and it made me realize that yesterday, when i got annoyed and upset with her for insisting my shirt was wet, she was actually correct in pointing out that it was red.  to say i was in an irritable mood yesterday morning is a wild understatement.  thank goodness abigail is so forgiving.  i genuinely feel bad for my exasperated, "IT'S NOT WET! STOP SAYING IT'S WET!" comments yesterday morning.  i should have known better.  it's just like the white and brown clouds/cows.

it wasn't all terrible

today was really really rough.  like by 11am i was shoving fistfuls of chocolate chips in my face as fast as i could.  i'm not trying to be dramatic.  just accurate.  y'know... keepin' it real.

anyways, pictures.

last time elle came over the girls begged to ride in this together but we couldn't because of brady.  so today while he took one of his mini naps, i took the girls for a spin.

they thought it was awesome.  also, they love having their picture taken together.

the playroom has hardwood floors and i needed somewhere to put brady that he would be happy enough to quit the constant crying (turns out, that "someplace" didn't exist) while i helped the girls build train tracks.  he wasn't amused.

obviously.  in my lap and on a blanket also were not winners.  actually, he just seemed not to like the playroom today.  or life in general.

watching my sweet girl play trains with her bff?  that was a bright spot in my day.  apparently it was also a bright spot on her head.

a minute of peace and quiet.  looks like he's "sofa'd" as my honey would say.

what a punk.  who taught him to sprawl out like that?

quit toying with my emotions.  we know you're a bipolar little devil.

ohthankgoodnesswethoughtthismomentwouldnevercome!

yesterday was my first time ever buying fresh corn.  typically the price and idea of shucking corn and cleaning all of the silk out is enough to deter me.  well, they were on sale for 20 cents each and i found this awesome method of roasting corn!  no pot, no wasting time and energy boiling a ton of water, no prep whatsoever.  this is the only way to do corn on the cob.  we had a game night* at young womens last night.  mark my words... NEVER HAVE I EVER boiled corn on the cob and NEVER WILL I EVER either.  

 tonight brady woke up crying less than an hour after i put him to bed.  i tried to nurse him and put him back to sleep but he wasn't having it and he was angry about the lack of milk (umm you just cleaned me out less than an hour ago!) so i had to let him cry while i went to brush my teeth.  when i came back upstairs i saw he'd rolled over to his belly.  i picked him up and took him to the glider where he immediately fell asleep in my arms.  it was the most i've loved him all day long.  i don't often get the chance to hold a sleeping baby so it's always pretty special.  this time i was just extremely grateful too.  and while i held him i was texting my long lost friend carolyn, which made my night.  

so, good things that happened today:

i showered and bathed both of my kids.

baby girl had an awesome playdate with elle.

sometime this evening there were brief moments that brady smiled and laughed.

roasted corn... easiest food i've ever ever made.  and so delicious too.

keeping our windows open all day to enjoy the somewhat overcast crisp 70* weather today.

abigail being a total crack up tonight.  also, listening to her say "creme brulee" aka "creme delay."**

* i used to think i was really good at this game (maybe playing with non-mormon people helped?) until i played last night.  i was at negative 12 (or 14... i lost track/can't remember) by the time the last person won.  what the heck?!

** i'll post a video eventually.  she's got a number of things right now that she pronounces great.

*** also, this is totally random but i laugh out loud every time someone asks me about or gives abigail a compliment on her haircut/bangs/layers.  really, it's just a self-induced mullet.  but thanks anyways, i think she's pretty cute too.

pictures from the weekend

brady spiked a fever.  that morning he fell asleep in my arms/lap while i was sitting in the baby pool with him so i should have known something was up.  but on a happier note (i know i've said it before), it makes me feel so amazing that i can feel that he has a fever just by putting my cheek on his face.  i can't do it with my hand, but i put my face on his a million times a day so i automatically can tell when something is off.  i loooooove that.  i'm a real mom.

my budding photographer is starting to feel the necessity of taking pictures of everything.  now i know how my honey feels about me.  just put down the camera already and let's play dollhouse!

closeup of naptime.

seriously made me laugh out loud.

tiniest phone ever.

when i'm feeding brady, she seems to think that's a good time to bring me books to read.  when i tell her my hands are full so i can't hold the book or see the words...

she does this.  we've read many many books in this manner.

taking pictures of brady.  can't remember what time it was but i was still in my swimsuit because naptime kept having interruptions and i never got out to mow the lawn and/or shower.  hence, evening time swimwear.

saturday 

we all went to walmart together.  we each took one kid and i enjoyed getting texts like this during my shopping experience.

i'm loving the cheap produce!  honey and i decided to go meatless this week (well, until the weekend since we'll have his grandparents with us) and so i stocked up on a whole ton of stuff challenging myself to get it all eaten before it goes bad.  ps- the prices are all written out because that's how i do price matched stuff on my grocery list.

 sunday

this made me laugh.  we currently have four wards plus the stake offices in our building.  hallelujah that we're only a few months away from our new building being finished!  even though there will be at least 2 wards in our new building... maybe three.  the church is thriving out here.

she calls these "lines" and i really don't correct her when she tells me that she's going to open the lines or look out the lines.

this little guy went from not sitting for two seconds to being able to sit for a whole minute or so.  on our trip, nothing.  came back, he can sit!  also, i still love that his mouth is always open.  like he's in awe of what a great mom i am.  i'm sure.

monday

this was less than an hour after she saw me put a new trash liner in the diaper pail and commented "wow!  you're AMAZING!"  since then, the compliments have only continued.  "that looks really good" "you're doing great" "that's cute"  and on and on.  anything i've ever said, i'm getting it right back.  i love it.  

not like she doesn't already have a million sippy cups, but i loathe them all.  so i got baby girl this water bottle and we both love it.  my favorite part is that she's a little more enthusiastic about drinking water now.  i swear i will make all of my kids enjoy drinking water.  not like my mom didn't try her hardest, but where i see a glimmer of hope, i will charge full steam ahead (too much thomas?  yes.)

i was so impressed with her creativity.  i can't remember the name of these wrenches but we had a million extra from our costco cubbys (each one came with two wrenches) so i set them aside to put in our tool box.  in ten minutes, baby girl had created at least five different designs/shapes/pictures/whatever.  it was impressive.

i keep finding more and more horseshoe crabs in our books!  

i mean, really.  we had this book checked out before the beach but never had time to sit down and actually read it until earlier this week.  a whole two page spread on the horseshoe crab!  books are so incredible.  i love them with all my heart.

one of my fb posted a link on her status saying she got this book for free for her phone.  so i did too.  and then i looked around the kindle store and got a million other books for free too.  mostly more jane austen and similar (like little women) and related (like tea with emma).  i'm excited for them all.

weed, i saw this and it made me think of you.  because you're my favorite ginger ever.  and that one picture of you holding that cake makes me think of i love lucy.  totally threw my ten year old self (or however old i was... emmy, do you remember?) for a loop first time i heard she was a redhead.  

 and that's a wrap.