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!

street cred

my dad called last week and told me he got a shirt for brady.  he said abigail would think it was cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

he was 100% correct.

seriously.  despite what the following pictures would have you believe.

 

 

 

 

baby girl is just a little vigorous in her affections and luckily, brady is okay with that.

THANKS DAD!!!

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.

out with a bang

my whole weekend has been kinda magical.

obviously, friday night was awesome.

saturday was really great too though.  we all slept in and then hurried out the door to run errands together.  hit up vitamin cottage for some tahini (so we can make hummus now!) and then to costco where we filled up on a ton of amazing samples (greek yogurt cheeescake, delicious cheeses, chicken sandwiches... some old favorites and some new stuff i hadn't ever tried before) and got groceries and these cubbie things i've wanted forever, and then i ran in walmart for a they're-never-ever-quick return.  it was a luxury to be able to run in vitamin cottage and walmart by myself without having to drag two kids along.  even if i did always have to hear from honey about how long that took.  yes, but it would have taken me even longer if i'd taken two kids... and would have been infinitely more painful for us all.

after lunch, i put brady down for a nap and honey took baby girl to see monsters university.  we're not big movie theater people and honestly, the only reason he even took her was because we got four free movie passes when we recently bought new tires for my car, but baby girl had never seen a movie at a movie theater before and honey really wanted to take her.  he wanted to use the other two passes to take me on a date night but long story short, i'm actually going to use the other two to take baby girl to see turbo (that snail movie) later this week.  i'm excited for our girls night.  while honey and baby girl were gone, i put together all those cube organizer things.  the first one took almost an hour but the other two were quick.  like 20 minutes.  steep learning curve.  i really like putting things like that together.

we went on another walk/bike ride to the playground and it was great.  perfect weather and baby girl is so adorable.  she's so quick to make friends.  or at least try to make friends.  a little boy at the playground looked to be her same age and was wearing a thomas t-shirt so baby girl  kept following him around and talking to him like they were bff.  he ignored her much of the time but there did seem to be some moments that they were actually communicating and playing together.  i think one or both of his parents speak german... so maybe he just doesn't understand english that well.  either way, it's always a whole bundle of emotions watching baby girl make new friends.  it fills me with pride that she is so sweet and innocent and friendly and it wracks me with fear that she'll get her feelings hurt or learn how to be mean.

so then we all walked home and got our kids in bed early (brady has been crazy tired lately... probably from a growth spurt or something) and baby girl didn't nap (we put her down for a really early nap in case she wanted to sleep a bit before the movie but she just played in her crib the whole time) and finished our movie from the night before.  i actually really enjoyed the movie (the big year) which probably means that most people wouldn't enjoy it.  i don't like movies that are too emotionally charged and this one was perfectly middle of the line without being too boring.  it's a given that i don't like movies that are too sad or scary but i also don't like movies that are too happy or uplifting.  romance movies portray an ideal that can make it hard to be satisfied with the day in, day out of your wonderful but simple marriage.  and movies like ruby or the blind side make me feel like i'm not doing enough with my life.  i do really love super funny movies though... but then you get in to the question of if it's risque or inappropriate.  so here's my plug for a funny enough to make you smile but not too emotionally charged in any way sort of movie.  also, i like the bbc pride and prejudice.  but i bet you already knew that.  (even though it portrays a romantic ideal, my honey is actually a lot like mr. darcy and it only portrays the courtship, and it takes place in a time with completely different social norms).  it's a perfect movie... i can find no fault.

and then today.  i wasn't really looking forward to today (maybe i'll look forward to sundays again eventually but not quite yet... too busy and hectic) but, as usual, i was pleasantly surprised.  byc was good.  sacrament meeting was awesome.  i got to go to some of sunday school (like maybe ten minutes) which was really good.  and yw third hour was good.  it was a bit hectic because i was on my own since honey was tied up with a church auditing meeting and i took baby girl to the bathroom twice (she never ended up going til we got home) and brady needed two diaper changes (neither of which coincided with the time i took him to the mother's lounge to feed him).  so it was like most other sundays where i'm making my way back and forth across the church building in heels with my church bags and a baby carseat and a three year old that only knows two speeds, one of which is running and the other which resembles a drunken kitten.

but it was okay because we all left happy and honey's auditing meeting actually got out on time so he got home right after we did.  and after a quick lunch, all four of us took spectacular naps.  we went on another walk/bike ride tonight around the neighborhood a little bit and just sort of hung out as a family.  those walks are amazing though.  abigail is so cute on her bike and so obedient stopping and looking for cars at each intersection.  brady is so happy and content in his stroller.  honey is removed from technological distractions and just puts his arm around my waist while we walk and talk about life.  is there anything more to want?  i think not.

so that was my weekend.  start to finish, just wonderful.  sometimes it's rough to have a stellar weekend when it starts out so great because it's hard to keep up the greatness.  but this time, it was great the whole time and we went out with a bang.

the birthday day

happy 3rd birthday baby girl!

i would have loved to do something extra super special for baby girl's birthday today but with us getting in town late saturday night and not having sunday to prepare anything and monday night being family home evening and baby girl's bff elle out of town... it just wasn't gonna happen.  we semi celebrated at the hilliers for a sunday dinner but there was no cake, and it was just a few small presents.  i really don't mean to sound like i'm complaining, i only say all of that because i'm not quite sure how much a three year old comprehends birthday celebrations.  like i don't think she really got the picture with our sunday shindig even if it was really really fun.  all day sunday though, we kept prepping her.  "how old are you?" two.  "yes, and tomorrow when you wake up, it will be your birthday and you will be three!"

she did great.  this morning i heard her wake up and when i went to get her i said "happy birthday baby girl!!!  how old are you?!?!"  "i'm three!!!"  adorable.  since it was too cold to go to the pool and too windy to do anything outside actually, i decided our day should consist of no crying and just doing whatever baby girl wanted to do.

want a bath?
yes.  but i don't want to wash my hair.
fine by me... it's your birthday!

let's eat breakfast!
i don't want to eat breakfast, i'm not hungry.
want watermelon?
yeah!  and i want yummy cheese eggs too!
excellent... i can do that for you!  how many would you like?
umm, two.  and i want this toast too.
well then you shall have it all... because it's your birthday!

brady slept the majority of the morning so baby girl and i got a lot of one on one time.  she had a fun bath, picked out whatever she wanted to wear (poofy dress), and played in the playroom.  we cleaned up the ball pit (i told her i was going to clean up all the balls and it was all "oh.  i'm gonna help you!") and she did some trains, some driving in her car, some baby dolls, some hammering with her tools to fix her car, and asking me to throw the aflac duck and smash it into her face (video to come).  we both had a blast.  we also watched some thomas together and hung out with brady before it was nap time.

almost every inch of my house is covered in suitcases, clothes to be put away, dirty laundry, and a million other things that just materialize out of nowhere... and instead of attending to any of it, i spent the whole day focusing on baby girl.  i didn't multitask and do laundry or housework while she watched tv or played in the playroom and i didn't talk on the phone, text friends, or browse the internet while she was playing.  i gave her my full attention and y'know what?  she was perfectly well behaved and more hilarious than ever.  baby girl, sorry this was a special birthday thing and not the everyday thing i should do for you... i promise i'll do better.

this precious girl never left my side (remember the wind?  we were always in the same room as each other and pretty much never more than ten feet from each other) and it was amazing.  i should do this for my birthday too!  anyways, she went down for nap around 2:30 and was fast asleep until almost six.  you can tell she's still wiped out from our trip (she woke up at 9:45 which is late for a kid that's been hanging out on the east coast for three weeks).

check out that tan!

"mommy, can i take pictures of brady?"

"i'm a big girl baby!"

while she was napping i tossed up a few balloons and streamers and gathered some presents from around the house.  really we were only intending to give her a bike and the $5 thomas umbrella i picked up a month or two ago at walmart... but it looked pretty sad and lonely on the fireplace (tradition) so we shopped the house for a few more things and baby girl was thrilled to pieces with her birthday puzzles, games, coloring pad, mickey mouse notebook, bike, and thomas stuff.

when she came down the stairs and saw all the birthday stuff, her face lit up.  she immediately ran to her bike, hopped on, and started riding all over the place.  she's really good at it because she rides elle's all the time.  christopher convinced her to take a break to open her other presents and it was so precious seeing her unwrap everything.  she would be so serious and intent and telling me every time she ripped the paper and then she'd see the toy inside and get such a huge smile on her face.  she played a bit with each of her presents and then rode her bike around the house again.  while she was riding, christopher asked her what her favorite thing was and we were both fully expecting her to say the bike.  ummm, "i like all my thomas ones!"  what?!  her top pick was the thomas umbrella.  she really is my mini me.  when i was really little i had a kid sized snoopy umbrella and i absolutely adored it.  that was actually my inspiration when i saw the thomas umbrella at walmart.  so, i'm sure she probably likes/will enjoy the bike way more but i found it humorous that she told honey her favorite was the umbrella.  especially since he was skeptical when i told him i bought it for her.  two points for me!

then we ate grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner (because i knew she would really enjoy that and because our fridge is almost completely empty and i'm procrastinating this whole "cooking dinner" thing as long as possible) and went around the block and got our mail and hung out on the driveway while baby girl pedaled to her little heart's content.  but then the sun was going down and baby girl's first crying of the day was when i made her get in the car so we could go out for gotcha.  what's up with that?!  she loves gotcha and it didn't matter how many times i said "we're going to get ice cream and all of your birthday stuff will still be here when you get back!" she was still distraught.  i insisted though and i'm pretty sure she's forgiven me.  also, she eats so slowly she didn't even finish her ice cream and the remainder of it is in our freezer.  so now i know that when it takes her an hour and a half to eat breakfast, it's not because she's trying to kill me or drive me crazy, it's just because she's really my daughter and can find a way to "savor" something eighty times more slowly than everyone else present.  sometimes hanging out with her is like watching home videos of myself as a kid.  when we were growing up, my friend lisa always finished her food before i was even done chewing my second bite and she always asked why and how i could eat something so slowly.  actually, she still does.  weed, if only you were there to see abigail go three minutes straight without taking a bite and then at my promptings, merely dip her spoon in melted ice cream and just give it a quick lick before dipping it again.

and then brady was getting fussy so we all went home and honey and baby girl played with puzzles and games and stuff a little more before bedtime and she was out like a light.  except that as i was saying goodnight she made mention of having another birthday tomorrow.  hmmm.  once elle gets back in town i'll have to plan a little friends birthday party for baby girl.  and because she's been talking about it for months, it'll have to be thomas themed.  anyone want to help me out with that?!

thanks for the diaper liza!  baby girl was sooo excited to find an elmo diaper in her drawer tonight!

i can't believe my little girl is three!  baby girl, i love you so much it hurts.  happy birthday!

a little here and there

this morning i woke up in a good mood.  what makes it be like that?  i was hanging out with brady and waiting for abigail to wake up and just doing all the normal stuff and then as i was getting brady's medicine i looked at us in the mirror and thought to myself "why are some days better than others?!"  if you know the answer, go ahead and leave it in a comment... i'm at a loss but grateful that today was a good day.

since it's summer, we're taking a break from playgroup/joy school/sassy girls club, which meant that we had our day wide open.  we went to the pool on monday, did the library and grocery shopping and cleaned the house yesterday, so i decided to grunge it and just hang out at home with no plans to see anyone or leave the house.  we did a few loads of laundry and ate breakfast.  if you ever ask abigail what she wants to eat she'll promptly respond "crunch" which means captain crunch cereal.  which is terribly bad for you.  sugar is not only the second ingredient but also the fourth.  guess which parent got her hooked on that?  i'll give you a clue... it wasn't me.  anyways, we compromised and she got that pumpkin flax granola cereal.  she's going through a phase right now where she's just not interested in eating (unless we're with other people and it's someone else's food... then she's starved as if she hasn't eaten in weeks) and it's only worth her while if she can eat while playing/watching thomas/hanging out outside, or it's crunch.  anyways, it was nice not to have that battle this morning.  but she woke up late and we were doing other things and it still took her an hour to eat (she can find a way to play with any food you give her) and she didn't finish til noon.  i know i've said it before but her daytime is only about 11 hours long, and she will hang out in her crib for 2-4 hours for nap, and each time she eats it takes at least an hour.  factor in a potty break or two, getting dressed (for the day, then nap, then for the day again, then for bedtime) and there's really not a whole lot of time for anything fun.  very frustrating for me since she's at such a fun age... but then again, aren't they all?!

so we went on a walk with the jogging stroller/bike trailer thing i got for free (maybe i saw it in my neighbor's trash and asked her if i could have it... i have no shame) and baby girl and brady had a blast.  well, baby girl did.  brady put up with us well enough though.  and we stopped by the playground for a bit and then came home and hung out on the driveway a while before nap time.

baby girl didn't nap.  she played in her crib for two hours before crying for me to come get her.  it was almost five so i just pulled her out and had her help me make dinner.  we made this recipe for sloppy joes and i was pretty impressed.  it was kind of like that meatloaf recipe i love so much except in a sloppy joe sandwich form.  also, instead of writing different posts to try to keep up with what i cook that i like and want to make again (yes, i know that's terrible english and doesn't make sense) then i'm just pinning it all to my "been there, made that" board on pinterest.  way faster and easier to find past recipes and i really don't know why i didn't do this sooner.  also, i love scrolling through the pictures to see what i'm in the mood for.  it's allllmost like a menu at a restaurant.

honey came home and we all ate dinner together and hung out for a while outside doing yard work and stuff. brady watched us all from the comfort of his carseat.  he really is turning into such a chill baby... sleeping easily and well and following a schedule and being pretty low maintenance during his waking hours.  he smiles and laughs like crazy and i'm thinking maybe he'll turn out to be a pretty fun loving guy.

bedtime for the kids at 8.  i went back outside to do just a bit more yardwork and when i came back in at 9, honey was out.  he's the sleepiest husband i've ever had.  but he's also pretty hardworking so i try to cut him some slack sometimes.

anyways, there's always so much that needs to get done but it's tricky when you have limited time and two kids to care for... but today i feel like i was able to do a little bit of enough stuff to suffice.  here's my checklist of sorts for today.  we got out of the house for several hours of fresh air and i exercised and took the kids to the playground.  abigail didn't watch any tv and hasn't for over a week (did i mention last week that i finally got so upset at her whiney and disagreeableness that i returned every single one of her thomas movies to the library and hid all of the ones we own?  i told her she wasn't being a good listener and that is why all of her movies had to go away.  and yesterday when we went to the library she wanted more thomas movies and i told her no because she still needed to work on being a better listener and she was okay with that.  and today too when she asked if she could watch thomas.  i'm secretly hoping she'll forget the tv exists because honestly, it's so wonderful not to have to give a precious hour of our playtime to watching thomas.  like she can just drive her little trains around the kitchen island while i make dinner or clean up lunch or something... wow!  playing with toys instead of being bored and whining to watch tv!  amazing!

well that was a bit of a digression.  back to the checklist, i also kept my kitchen clean and the rest of my house didn't get any dirtier.  i did two loads of laundry.  i didn't get frustrated with either child.  i made brady's naps a priority so he was well rested and happy (he only naps for 30 minutes at a time in his carseat and you can tell it just doesn't cut it for him).  i did yard work, improving the appearance of our home, spending that time with abigail, and using my body since i count stuff like that as "exercise."  i was nice to my husband and made him dinner.  i did something for my calling.  i talked to my mom on the phone.  i fed myself foods more healthy than straight sugar and chocolate.  i was happy all day long.  and mark my words i will get myself to sleep before midnight!  so it's not like i did awesome in any one area of my life but i did a  little here and a little there and i feel like it was good enough.  so i call this a success through and through.

here's to another good day tomorrow!

some little clothes

just when we thought baby girl was catching up to her proper clothing size, she dropped the diaper and is wearing all the same shorts as last summer.  including brady's pants.

she just did this to be funny.  just to be clear, this was not part of a real outfit.

it was part of his real outfit.

shorts size 18 months

shorts are actually baby capris.  size 6-9 months.  and she's got the same ones in pink too.  and that thomas shirt is 18 months and still fits her great.  good thing because her love for it is never ending.

but rest assured, she has plenty of 2T and 3T clothes.  especially shirts.  because goodness knows that girl is looooong.

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!