Sally's Halloween party

Today was getting ready, story time at the library, our first welcoming committee meeting, Sally's Halloween party, and hanging out before bed. It was a fun and busy day! 

I picked out the sweater and skinnies. She picked out the shirt, shoes, and headband. After three minutes I vetoed the headband... But unfortunately not until after it left a crease in her freshly washed and styled hair. 

Hanging out with Elle after story time. Apparently it was too sunny for a normal picture. 

Story board at Sally's. 

Reading Halloween books together. 

The flash really adds to the spookiness of the picture. The kids all got these crazy glasses, along with other toys and treats, in big Halloween trick or treating bags. 

Abigail was thrilled that she got the pink glasses. As if it was such a huge coincidence and blessing to get glasses on her favorite/second favorite color. 

Treats!  Baby girl was most excited about the juice boxes. 

And not as much a fan of the green cupcake she picked out. 

In front of the Halloween tree. Complete with orange lights that look like candy corn. 

And they all loved it and didn't want to go home. Christopher got home at the same time we did but had to leave shortly After to help set up tables and chairs for the trunk or treat tomorrow. So I spent the next hour or so helping her play with her Halloween bubbles and stickers and coloring and other things in her bag. When I told her that daddy was setting up for another Halloween party we would go to tomorrow she was all "but I went to a Halloween party already!" And kept telling me she didn't want another one. She just liked the one she had. Sweet. We call that a success. 

Weed, we still love this bib and use is alllll the time. Just in case you were wondering. So thanks again and again. 

Yesterday was rough (crazy congestion and runny nose from a constantly crying teething babe) and busy (running to the store and preparing dinner and the house for dinner with drew and the hackings) but today was just all sorts of wonderful. Thank goodness for that. 

Busy Sunday sickday

Today was an out of the ordinary Sunday. I slept in til 8 because I don't have to go to ward council anymore, and honey as gone when I woke up because he doesn't have to go to bishopric meeting but he does have to go to ward council. Brady woke up at 8 but I just fed him and put him back in bed so he would be rested for church. But his crying woke Abigail up so I got her out of bed and we read together. Then I had fun dressing her to up in different outfits to decide what she should wear to church. When we went downstairs for breakfast, Honey had just come home... super sick to his stomach. Said his pepto bismol wore off during his meetings and he felt miserable... So he laid in bed while I fed Abigail. We're out of French bread so I ate my cheese eggs on biscuits. Sooo sinfully delicious. 9:45 rolled around and I finished getting myself ready for church while my honey got Abigail dressed in the outfit we'd picked out. They got in the car while I grabbed Brady and got him dressed.  While I was eating breakfast I got a text asking if I could lead the music in sacrament so honestly there was no time to feed Brady and I didn't even know if we would get to church in time. I jumped out of the car while Chris parked and brought the kids in and then I tried to review the hymns in my head during the announcements. And then I prayed that Brady would behave because Chris was in no position to walk the halls with him. And then I realized that I wasn't going to have time to feed Brady because I was leading hymns and had an intermediate hymn and then after that I needed to drop Abigail off at nursery, pick up the primary manual from the library, and go sub the valiant 9 class teaching a lesson about winter quarters that I'd skimmed over the night before because I'd just been asked last night to sub and didn't have the time or energy to come up with anything quality. I was late finding the classroom and didn't hear the bell because that classroom is at the very very very end of the hallway so the whole class was late for singing time. Thankfully the primary president told me I didn't need to sit with them for singing time so I was able to take Brady to the mothers lounge to finally feed him for the first time in five hours. He was an absolute angel during sacrament and my lesson. The kids even asked "does your baby ever make any noise?" Because he just hung out in his carseat without making a peep to the point that for the majority of the lesson I forgot he was there. Literally. I am so add. So I fed Brady and took him to rs and the lesson was great and I even made a comment and honestly.... RS is amazing. I've missed it terribly. I love it so so much and it felt so good to be back. Then I picked up Abigail from nursery,wandered the church looking for Chris, finally found him in our car in the parking lot and then reminded him I needed to stay to get set apart for my new calling. He said he felt atrocious so I sent him home with our kids. Getting set apart was great. I loved the council and promises I was given. I am so excited for this calling. 

I got a ride home from a friend and when I walked in the door, mickey mouse Christmas music was blasting and Abigail was running wild around the house. I asked her where daddy and Brady were. "Daddy is in bed and Brady is sleeping in his carseat in the bathroom... Oh look!  He's awake now!"  Of course, because that's like 10 inches from the door I came in and I probably woke him up not knowing he was there. Sigh. I fed Abigail and Brady while getting texts from Chris like "do we have any chicken noodle soup?"  The only kind I had left wasn't traditional (it had spiral noodles and chunky veggies) and honey said that would not do. And he asked if I would get him some of the right kind later. At first I was all "seriously?!  Because the noodles are the wrong shape?!" But then I remembered what it was like to have morning sickness and yes, something like the shape of a noodle can make it or break it. But I really didn't feel okay breaking the sabbath for that so I brainstormed while I fed the kids. I kept receiving the impression to use Facebook. But I disregarded it because I normally don't ever post and I didn't want Chris to see and I didn't want to invite discussion. So then the thought came to post something on our small and unofficial ward fb group. I felt silly doing it, especially specifying Campbell's and straight traditional noodles but I did and within minutes had a friend text me that she had a can but it was the kind with double noodles and no chicken. Good enough!  I cleaned up the kids and got Abigail down for nap before packing Brady in the car to pick up a can of soup. Driving back home I couldn't help but feel like this was a story like the ones in the friend magazine. I had a problem, I received an impression, I acted in faith, and I was blessed with what I needed. Small and simple but it was important to me. I needed a can of soup for my sick husband but didn't want to break the sabbath for it. Worthy of the friend, don't you think?!  I can just see the cartoon picture to go with it. 

So when I got home, I heated the soup on the stove and opened the spiral noodle soup and picked out the chicken to add to the chickenless Campbell's double noodles soup. And got rid of all the evidence so honey will never know that actually I didn't go to the store and buy him a normal can of soup. 

Never stops moving. 

And y'know what?!  After all of that, I found out later that he was too sick to even eat it. Like this cereal and oatmeal. He thought he could manage it but in fact his body could not. Do I still get those good wife points for making soup?!

And today was one of those backwards nap days where Abigail naps when I wanted her to just stay awake and play in her crib and Brady doesn't nap because he got an awkward carseat power nap. Oh well, somehow fitting with this type of day going on. The kids played well, ate well, and hung out while I cleaned our disaster of a house and the piles of dishes in the kitchen. And we made these Thomas ornaments from the holiday edition magazine that came this week. Our junk drawers are so out of control full and messy but they happened to include perfect color and length ribbons and four little jingle bells. Junk drawer for the [super huge it's almost too perfect] win!

Brady went to bed at 7:45 and I got some quality time with Abigail. My favorite was this impromptu "blonde" moment where we looked in the mirror and talked about hair color. She said my hair color is brown and hers is gray. So I taught her about "blonde."  She was fascinated and eager to learn more. And when there was nothing more to say she just kept asking me "tell me more".  Huh?  Tell you more what?  "Tell me more about our hairs."  More and more these days we butt heads (and yell to each other "BE SWEET!!!" In pretty angry voices) but this moment was precious and innocent. Thank goodness for those precious moments. All was right in the world. 

And then we read Saturday is dadurday and I headed downstairs to finish cleaning the kitchen. Sweeping, unloading the dishwasher, wiping the counters, picking up stray toys. 

Then this guy woke up. But thankfully went to sleep again without a problem. Similar to what my friend Sarah posted on Facebook today... It wasn't a Sunday funday, more of a Sunday sickday... But we made it through. It was one of tips kinda hard days that wasn't fun in the moment but left me feeling accomplished for getting it done. 

Once again, I'm just excited for Monday. Mondays are awesome. And hopefully will be kinder to my honey than this sunday was. 

Blackfish

Today was one of those days where I felt like I just kept wandering in circles around my house, not able to ever actually get anything done. 

But tonight my Christopher got back in town and we carved a pumpkin, put the kids to bed early, and were in bed ourselves by 8:30. Did anyone else watch blackfish on CNN?!  I'm gonna have nightmares for the next ten years probably but I'm sure it was worth it. It was one of those things that's so horrifyingly chilling but every time I tried to look away, I couldn't because my eyes were glued to the tv. I already want to watch it again. And see the beginning because I missed that. But seriously, did anyone else watch it?!

Also, my kids have done a serious role reversal from the beginning of the year. Abigail is the bipolar drama queen (last night at old navy?!  Ohmygosh. I was seriously worried someone would question if I'd kidnapped her because she was screaming and yelling and running like she was terrified of me. 100% cross my heart serious I thought someone would try to rescue my daughter from me) and Brady is the most happy go lucky kid ever and you can't even make eye contact with the boy without him busting up laughing. Regardless, I love both of those precious bundles more than words can say. So incredible. 

20

That's the number of girls (and brothers) it took for me to finally get a babysitter for tonight. Literally it was exactly TWENTY. Hallelujah that persistence pays off. One of my first picks finally texted me back exactly one hour before we needed to leave and was all "Sorry! I was at school and then I went to soccer! And yeah I can if you still need me!"  Yes please... Be here in an hour!  What an answer to my prayers!  And this is actually the first time she's babysat for us and I loved her. In all honesty, we've used a ton of different babysitters but I only really really like two. This one will be added and now I'll have three favorites to call. Makes my day. 

What else made my day... More free clothes. 

I always love seersucker but Abigail isn't a huge fan. Hopefully she'll come around by the time she'll fit into these shorts. Also, I thought this shirt was cute. Reminded me of catching fireflies when I was younger. But of course we get home and Abigail is all "can I hold my shirt that has the trash can on it?"  Awesome. Kids really tell it like it is. 

So tonight after we left our kids in good hands with the babysitter we went to a one year old birthday party and then to a byu ballroom dance performance. It was really great but holy cow those costumes were a little out of control at times. Who designs those things?!  I can only imagine... "And then lets add even more flowy fabric! Of every color!  And then let's dip the whole thing on sparklers and glitter and rhinestones!"

We saw a ton of people. It was like a huge Mormon party reunion. 

And then when we got home I had to check on my babes. So perfectly precious. 

It was a good day. 

too many hours of shopping

tonight i didn't get my kids to bed until between 11 and 11:30.  we didn't even get home from shopping until close to 10:30.  have i mentioned lately how much i hate being home alone (especially at night, especially during the winter when it gets dark at 5:30) when my honey is out of town?!  i dread it all day long when i know he's going to be gone.

this morning we went to the library with friends and then to target with those same friends.  i got a bunch of clothes for abigail (and a thing or two for brady) and didn't get home til after 2.  brady only took a 45 minute nap and after 30 minutes of waiting for him to go back to sleep i realized that was a lost cause and woke abigail up from her nap.  and by 5 or so we were off.  gone when it's still daylight... just how i like to do it.  we dropped off [HOPEFULLY!] the very very very last of the yw stuff to the new president and i am FREEEEEEEEE.  we stopped by a girl's house to maybe go out for frozen yogurt but apparently she's sick so we'll have to do that another time.  i took the kids shopping instead.  i'm sure my honey loves that i spend all of his money every time he leaves town.  he's going somewhere next month for 3 nights and 4 days so i decided that would be the perfect time (for other reasons as well) to go to utah.  even buying plane tickets for myself and abigail (hallelujah that brady's still free for another year), i'm pretty sure this will be "cheaper" than staying in town and shopping every night because i don't want to be home without my honey.  i mean, we got an amazing deal on airfare and everything and my parents will be in utah and i'll get to see my friend's play so it just makes sense, but really, it's a small price to pay to avoid this i'mafraidofthedarkwheni'mhomealone feeling.

anyways, we went to old navy and ross.  i got soooo much stuff at old navy for super cheap.  two new swim suits for brady at $.97 each and two new swim shirts at $.97 each as well.  i could have gotten abigail a cute ruffled white and navy polka dot swimsuit for $.97 a piece but.... those two pieces didn't add up to be a modest swimsuit so we left that little bikini behind... although i did let abigail wear it while she had a dance party in the dressing room.  i got good stuff for all three of us.  but on that note, should you see any of us wearing something that seems a little out there or the sizing seems a bit off... well, remind yourself that it's probably because i got it for cheap.  don't hate.  ross was disappointing this visit (our last visit there was pretty incredible though... you win some you lose some) but we still managed to find a few things there too.  of course.  this is really the first time that i've had to buy clothes for abigail... more than just the occasional "she needs a pair of jeans" sort of thing to fill in the gaps in her hand me down wardrobe.  and even though brady has an incredible selection of clothes right now (thanks to generous friends and my wonderful sister), i have to think ahead to next summer (and future seasons) so he won't have to run around nakey when the weather warms up.  two main thoughts about all of this... kid clothes add up fast (they cost just the same as normal adult sized clothing!) and ohmygoodnessthisissomuchfun!  i was not at all excited about shopping for boy clothes because i thought girl stuff was so much cuter.  well that's definitely true for little baby stuff but not at all true for toddler stuff.  i am loving shopping for boy stuff.  like really loooooooving it.

and now hopefully i'm sufficiently tired to go to sleep.

Half and half

The first half of my day was awesome and productive. The second half sucked. 4:15 was the turning point and it was down hill from there. I hate that one thing can set me off and make it impossible for me to bounce back and recover. 

Here's just one picture from today. As Abigail said, "and this is the shirt I wear when I go pee pee in my crib?" 

Will someone please tell my baby girl to stop purposely wetting her pants when she's in her crib?  I'm just fresh out of patience for that crap. 

In other news: last week, Brady started consistently crawling on his hands and knees (instead of that wounded soldier army crawl) and it is the cutest thing ever. I'm absolutely loving it. Also, he is a bottomless pit. Tonight he ate a bunch of stir fry veggies and then I fed him oatmeal made with a few ounces of milk, 4oz of peaches mixed with oatmeal cereal to make it thicker, a few more ounces of milk and oatmeal, and then 4oz of peas. I've never seen a baby love food as much as he does. Seriously... I've never seen it but i swear his stomach is a black hole. 

Big momma

One of the more memorable books we've enjoyed lately. 

Although I don't entirely agree with the message and for sure didn't appreciate the page bashing thin moms... I had trouble not laughing as I read through it the first time. But four or five times is about as much as I want my kid exposed to this book right now.  So have no fear, we returned it to the library for some other fortunate kid to check out. 

I finally got released

Maybe I'll come back and add more thoughts to this later but I just wanted to make sure I got something down. 

I got released today. I've had forever (since sept 1 actually) to prepare myself for this but yet it's still surreal to me. Especially because I wasn't even at church for it. I already feel lighter and hopefully will continue to feel the burden lifted. Two years ago I could have never imagined the weight of this calling. I knew there was responsibility involved in being president but I've felt like I'm just constantly sinking under water with a ball and chain attached to my ankles. I'm so so sad to be leaving the young women that I've gotten the opportunity to know and love so really, there are just two things that are actually helping me to be happy about this change. 

1. I will no longer have the young women president weight on my shoulders. I've been dreaming of this day for the last 23 months. Before I was even sustained as president. 

2. I get to be on the welcoming committee which is the calling I wanted from the first moment I ever heard about it in ward council last month. I could not be more thrilled and excited about my new calling and I am so excited to magnify it to the best of my ability. 

Just kidding... Three...

3. I absolutely love the new yw president and presidency and all of the new advisors. They are going to totally rock it and I am so excited for our girls to get to know and love the leaders. 

I've spent at least six hours this past week counseling, training, emailing, texting, and meeting with the new yw president. I know I'll still be forwarding on emails for a little while but I have plans to meet with her one last time on Tuesday morning to hand over the last of the yw stuff I have and talk about a few final things. I've done as much as I can to get things in order (like planning out the Halloween party and making assignments and purchasing and organizing the prizes and games) so that the transition is as smooth as possible in these beginning weeks.  I remember the biggest thing in the beginning was a fear of the unknown. I only met with the previous president for like two hours and didn't feel prepared or like I had a grip on what was expected of me or what needed to be done right out of the gate. I want to pass along as much of an advantage as I possibly can. 

I am someone who naturally resists change, but in this case, don't mistake my nostalgia with resistance. This is absolutely the right thing for me right now and I could not be more pleased to be passing the torch on to the next person in this crazy relay. 

Life is good. I can't wait for this next, new chapter. Bring it on! 

Double date

the inevitable

is life in fast forward?!  how is it already thursday?!  seriously i feel like just this morning i was comforting a crying abigail because she was sick and we had to stay home from church.  well, both kids are just as sick as ever (luckily it doesn't seem to bother either of them too much and brady is making up for it in sleep) but really... how does life move so fast?!  i'm being to wonder if i'm losing it.  i honestly feel like i am.

anyways, this morning we went to the library and met up with friends.  heaven forbid should our day not include hanging out with elle.  we returned this stack of books to the library because we're either bored of them, they're weird (obesity appreciation, girl with divorces parents celebrating seder, y'know), or it's actually a dvd and our dvd player is broken.   

well, i got online tonight to check our book count and realized i had A MILLION AND ONE things that were due on the 10th.  colossal fail.  seriously, i swear i JUST renewed everything.  so now i have almost $10 in fines i need to pay off.  which brings my library fines total for the past 2 years up to maybe $15.  not bad considering we've probably checked out thousands of books (the nerd in me wishes there was a way to track those stats... but mostly a way to keep track of a comprehensive list of the books and movies we've checked out) and really, this is just a nice opportunity to give back and donate a few bucks to the library, right?  even if we paid $15 a month, it would still be worth it.  although i love that that's not necessary.  this is a fine i'm happy to pay.  but really... did the last seven days actually happen?  i am so weirded out right now i'm having trouble finding words for it.  obviously.

brady was so excited to get this ball, he crawled right out of his pants.  that's what happens when skinny babies army crawl on their belly.  abigail never army crawled so i'm just kind of wondering how long it will be until he starts using his knees.  don't think i don't try to teach him correct posture.  it doesn't work though.  the second i touch him, he collapses in a fit of giggles.  most ticklish kid ever.

things for my calling have been so busy lately.  it's just "lds exhausted cont." all the time.  last week we had conference weekend... all ten hours of it.  monday was family night... i can't even remember what we did.  tuesday night christopher had a presidency meeting.  wednesday night christopher met us at a park for family pictures and then i stopped by home for two seconds to drop off kids before i went to my presidency meeting.  thursday night my honey was out of town so i dropped off my kids with a friend while i went to the church for stake auxiliary training and didn't get them in bed until after 10.  friday night i left the kids at home with my honey for a few hours while i went to the church for young women volleyball.  and saturday i found myself waking up at 6am and being gone from 7 - 2 for the youth temple walk.  i totally thought things would be so much easier once the temple walk was done on saturday but that's not quite the case yet.  

monday night i spent about four hours doing training.  tuesday i started planning for our ward halloween party and we had young womens at the church that night.  this morning was great because i took the kids to the library and the park and i was a great mom because abigail got to play a ton with elle and brady got to eat woodchips but then i dragged them around the dollar store for something like two hours (while abigail ran around like she was on crack and shattered a glass snow globe with glitter water all over the floor within five minutes of being there... although thankfully brady slept part of it and was in an exhausted coma zombie sort of state even when he was awake) while i scoped out prizes and did all sorts of math.  it is really a shame i could never get anything but straight C's.  raise your hand if you hate math!  alwaysandforever.

but happy day, if that isn't perfectly staying within a $50 budget then i don't know what is.  sadly, i got home and went through everything for the girl who i'll be turning this over to (don't you love when you get to hand over stuff like this?!) and realized that none of the whistles work.  so now i gotta go back tomorrow and convince the cashier to take those back and let me have something else (dollar store doesn't do returns so i'm interested to see how this will play out) and get that all organized before i drop it off at the girl's house.

we just hope this girl appreciates my over the top organizing skills of all of these prizes and the games they go to and who is running the games in which rooms and who will be bringing the games, and on and on.  just kidding... i know she's grateful.  i'm pretty much wrapping this neatly with a bow and placing it right in her lap.  she actually offered to make me baked goods to help return the favor.  i assured her i'm only doing it for the intrinsic value.

 

 

i always feel so heavy like i have such a weight... and this week, tonight especially, i feel like i am personally amputating my own arms, and both of my legs as well... the weight is lifting and i'm getting lighter but at what cost?  it's painful, a surreal, and life changing in a way i can't yet wrap my head around.

so, the next few days are doing to be awesome.  equal parts busy and awesome.

thursday- wrap up my part in this halloween party planning and go on a doubled date to the avs game!  the avs are one of two teams that are undefeated right now so let's all cross our fingers and toes that they pull of another win for us tomorrow night!

friday- not sure yet what fun the morning will hold, but that night i'm going to time out for women.  this is a first for me and i'm pretty excited!

saturday- time out for women until later in the afternoon.  hopefully we can do something fun together as a family that night... i cherish that time with just the four of us.

sunday- i've got byc but then i won't even get to be in our ward (three weeks in a row since it was general conference and then the kids being sick and now this...) because we'll be in my in law's ward for mark's homecoming talk!  i'm so excited for this.  of all my brothers in law, mark is the one that feels most like an actual brother to me.  he reminds me of my own brother, we have a sibling feeling relationship, and he even has the same birthday as my brother... i love him to death.  and ever since he got back from mexico, he speaks english with an accent and spanish voice intonations... just like walter did when he got back from his spanish speaking mission in san francisco.  anyways... all day hillier family fun.

and then it will be monday again... and i love mondays.  life moves fast.  i feel like i'm trying not to blink and yet somehow i'm still missing it!  just gotta soak it up as best i can.

ps- something else inevitable?  i finally had the opportunity to be THAT parent.  tonight while my honey and i were talking, abigail locked herself and brady in the upstairs bathroom.  try as i might, my efforts to describe to her how to unlock the door were not at all working and i didn't really want to send my christopher spidermanning on our roof in the pitch black, especially since i knew that window to our bathroom was locked.  so after a few minutes of abigail telling me the door was broken, i went got a wire hanger from the downstairs hall closet (tender mercy that i hadn't thrown them all away like i had previously wanted to) and worked it in the door handle.  miracle of miracles it actually worked and opened the door almost instantly!  i am still shocked... i've never been able to successfully break in like that... using a bobby pin might as well be an urban legend or something hollywood made up... and it actually worked!  i am so grateful for this and not really allowing myself to think of what would have happened if that didn't work.  what are you supposed to do when your three year old and your baby are locked in a room?  call an after hours lock smith?  just kidding... is that a job for the fire department?!  seriously... i'm so curious about this.  it's not like we could break down the door since brady was riiiiight there.  close call.  i'm one step closer to experiencing every parent horror story i've ever heard.

Better than nothing, right?

I really want to blog about our family pictures last week and the awesome temple walk on Saturday and our pumpkin patch visit this morning but it's 12:30 and I've been talking yw for the last six hours I swear.  so really I just need to go to sleep. Here are two pictures from today. 

When I'm trying to get a normal picture of her without the squinty eyes that come with a huge "cheeeeeeese!!!!!"  I told her to open her eyes and look out the window. Didn't work. Abigail for the win. 

On our way home after the playground. Pictures of the pumpkin patch and playground are on my big camera. But a shot of kids in carseats?  That's a job for a low quality phone camera. And yes, I have my 3.5 year old still rear facing. She likes it. Judge me all you want. And while you're at it... She still sleeps in a crib. 

And a third picture... Bonus from Abigail. You're welcome. 

It was a good day. Also, fall is in full bloom around here. Everywhere I look, Parker is absolutely breathtaking. What a gorgeous world we live in. 

my goal is "soon"

i suck at blogging lately.  which makes me sad... because i am a much happier person when i blog every day.  when i blog every day, it is impossible for me to not see the blessings that surround me and even during the day (while i'm not actively writing a post) i am a happier person because i am in a different mindset.  blogging helps me see my kids in a different light.  it makes everything funny and a story worth remembering.  i feel like the main character in one flew over the cuckoos nest in the parts of the book that he's doped up on medication and everything is blurry and confusing.  i swear that "soon" i'm going to get my life back on track.  i'm going to keep my house clean, start cooking again, actually do a half decent job of keeping up with family and friends, and BLOG.  what i would give for a bottle of adderall...

so, my goal is "soon" and hopefully that means next week.  wish me luck until then!