Happy Fourth of July!

If it was up to Elizabeth, I could actually be super well rested these days. Sadly, all the forces are working against me on this one. First, I have a hard time turning my brain off to go to sleep so I stay up long after everyone else has gone to bed. I have to drag Abigail to the bathroom once or twice a night to keep her bed dry, Elizabeth wakes up once or twice a night to eat, and Brady has decided that his crib is scary, so he climbs out screaming at 2am and again at 7am, waking us all up (or at least Abigail and me). Last night I took Abigail to the bathroom and then went to sleep around 12:30. I think I heard Brady crying at 1:30 but I'm not sure if he really was and fell back asleep or if I just saw the clock wrong. He for sure was crying at 2:30 and by 2:40, if woken myself up enough to get him (he was just screaming by his door since I'd locked it). By 3, the agreement was that I would keep his bedroom door part way open if he stayed in his crib and if he got out then I would come back and lock it. So luckily he stayed in. I thought something happened at 3:39, but I'm not sure what. Maybe I woke up myself and took abigail to go potty? I seriously have no clue. At 5:45, Elizabeth woke up to eat so I fed her and then maybe took Abigail to the bathroom? I only took her twice during the night. I just can't remember when that second time happened. And then at 7, Brady had climbed out of his crib and woken Abigail up which she was a good sport about but obviously not really happy about. They fought back and forth and cried off and on (both being tired and cranky) and Brady came into the guest room every 3 minutes crying about something until 7:45 or so when I think I threatened my kids with something bad enough that they finally went to the kitchen to get a banana and not disturb me anymore. I was seriously so angry at life. I had such a horrendous headache and was so tired I couldn't even fathom how I could attempt to function. Poor Abigail. Got woken up by Brady and then I made her take care of him. I'll have to pay her back for that one. Next thing I knew, it was 11:00 and Elizabeth was stirring. Chris had taken the kids to the pool and gotten there around 10 or 10:30 when it was still empty. 

By 11:00, things had picked up. 

I texted him that I would feed Elizabeth and get us ready and walk up to the pool so I did that (and threw in a load of laundry), and was there by 12. Elizabeth fell asleep a few minutes after we arrived (because she's amazing) and didn't wake up til 3:30. So in the mean time, we hung out and are pulled pork sandwiches and cookies and snow cones and lemonade and listened to music and participated in pool and party games and hung out with tons of church friends and neighborhood friends and it was amazing. So so fun. I wasn't really looking forward to the Fourth of July this year because we weren't going to be in Atlanta running the peach tree and Chris's family wasn't going to be getting together. But seriously, it was such a fun day and I'm a fool for doubting the day. ; ) 

Chris took Brady home around 2 because he was done and thought it would be good for Brady to get a nap and for me to be able to enjoy the pool with one less kid. He slept for several hours.  Like 2:45-5:45 or so. On Abigail's little bed. Because his crib is scary, remember? 

Meanwhile at the pool, I really was enjoying it with one less kid. Primarily because I was hanging out with my two easiest kids. After I fed Elizabeth, I just wanted to hold her and admire her and it was perfect because the clouds came in and cooled things off and took the IV count down enough for us to sit under and umbrella and feel okay about it. I'm so worried about her getting burned that I allllllways just keep her in her car seat at the pool, even when she's awake. But this time she hung out with me while I watched Abigail swim in the big pool and when she got sleepy and drifted off, I just couldn't keep my eyes off of her. Which made it a fun surprise for me when Abigail got out and walked over to me all "mom, I've been practicing putting my head under water over by the steps over there!"  Ha. Amazing! That's a big step for her. I was truly shocked, but her head was completely wet so I got excited and asked her to show me. So she hopped back in and just jumped on the steps for the next forever (until adult swim) popping her head under water over and over and over again. We were both loving sharing that moment together. And having Elizabeth asleep on my lap too... It was one of those perfect moments in time. 

When they called adult swim, she came to the baby pool and kept doing it. I gave her her goggles so she could dive for her pool toys. I think she would barely open her eyes, but I think once she figures it out, she'll think it's super cool. 

And then the lifeguards called it for thunder and lightening and we decided it was time to head home. Practically everyone left was just this one big group of adults all hanging out in the pool with their cans of beer. It was funny because at one point not too much earlier abiGil was all "mom, can we stay until the end of the party?"  I wanted to say "look aroun at our company... This *is* the end of the party!" But I just smiled instead. Because she reminded me of me. 

Chris had carried Brady home on his shoulders and I couldn't push two strollers so Abigail pushed one for me. Barefoot because shoes are just one more thing to keep track of for the pool. Totally unnecessary. She was so helpful. We got along great today. 

She's adorable. 

And was really cute to talk to on the way home. 

She saw everyone having a water fight at Lucy's so she ran over but then it started to rain really cold rain (Brady woke up and I held him in my lap on the camp chair on our front porch while we watched it goether) and so eventually she ran home to get dressed. We bathed the kids and I got Abigail decked out before sending her back over to play. Mu think I got this dress at Walmart last year for $3... Retail was only $5, but whatever, I still thought it was a good deal. The sweater was a gift from Jodi, the headband a gift from Julie (in Chris's office), and the flip flops are old but we're only $1 I think at Walmart. Sorry Brady that nothing. Really came together for your Fourth of July outfit... Some things just happen and so we go with it. 

It had been six days since I gave Elizabeth a bottle so I fed her two ounces of one when she woke up. She took it great! Didn't fight it and had no problem finishing it fast. I cracked up at the end though when I realized that she was holding it... So I let go and took a picture. She's so tiny that even the small bottle seems huge. ; ) 

I got her dressed and wrapped in a blanket and Chris and Brady and Elizabeth and I headed outside. Steph and rob had invited people over. One guy came to play hockey with chris and another couple came over to meet us (they live on our block) and so that was cool too. Dave and carol. They're Lutheran and were in salt lake at the beginning of May for a religious thing. They met with a Mormon person representing and they took a tour around the conference center and the temple grounds and were really impressed by both. The whole conversation started when I told them that chris and I met at byu and then Dave was so excited because he and carol were just in Utah. I had fun telling save that actually chris and I were married in the salt lake temple. It's true, it's a huge and gorgeous building with insanely awesome grounds. 

Then we all started lighting off fireworks. Brady FREAKED OUT like Parker was being bombed by terrorists. I don't think I've ever seen him so scared in his life. I kept hoping he would get over it but it just wasn't happening so I took him inside and we watched the fireworks (the ones on the street that our friends and chris were doing and the ones going high in the air in a bunch of other areas of Parker. Turns out Abigail's room is a perfect place to see them all!) from inside where it was quieter and it was perfect for us. Eventually I swaddled elizabeth and put her in her basket and took Brady outside again with me. He was still freaked out but doing much better since he enjoyed them from inside Abigail's room. 

Pretty much as soon as Brady and I got out there, Abigail said she was tired and wanted to go inside. So I told her she could go to sleep and just to head up to her room and get in bed. She sat on her loveseat and watched from her window which was so cute because her glow sticks were just barely visible and gave our house a hint of Halloween. After a bit, I looked up but didn't see anything do I figured she'd gotten in bed.

Chris lit off more fireworks (he had a bunch he'd gotten from Wyoming a long time ago) and our neighbors loved it because they only had the ones from Colorado. Our neighbors did more of theirs too and then a finale one. We hung out a bit more and then called it a night. 

When I went to check on Abigail...  

She was cuddled and still glowing. 

And then I had to break up this cute setup and drag the girl to the bathroom and then to bed. I think that should I ever have need to hide a body or something, I'll have a lot of experience with dead weight. The girl just doesn't wake up. 

Brady thought this green glow stick was amazing. 

Also, I decided to try out this set up tonight since Abigail was already asleep. How can she never stay on her bed anymore?!

I fixed Brady's blanket so he wouldn't be so hot and I out Abigail back on her bed. 

24 minutes later... This.

Brady had woken up and was head downstairs crying "mommy!!!" as loud as she could, and Abigail had managed to fall off her mattress again. Ha. 

I took Brady back to bed (I think he was wanting to come sleep with me but I can't be sure because he was crying so much that he was super difficult to understand) and sat on the loveseat until he fell asleep... And then forever after because... I can't turn my brain off at night and I write blog posts instead. 

That's how I keep myself sleep deprived even though Elizabeth is such a good sleeper. Like her great night last night sleeping 8 hours and 15 minutes and then another 5 hours. And what did I get?  Just a whole lot of broken sleep. 

Hoping tonight goes better. Even though it's already 1:30... Whoops. 

The last swim lesson

This morning was the last swim lesson for the kids. They did well. Abigail progressed much more than Brady, even though I'd say that Brady started out ahead because of his willingness to get his face wet and whatever. 

The best part of it though is that it normalized things for the kids. So now they know what things are and can practice them since they're legit things like mouth bubbles and nose bubbles and front kicks and back kicks and the star fish float. I practiced with the kids for a good while after our lesson ended today. Abigail is great at kicking... Keeping her legs straight and kicking them just right. She also can float on her back for a few seconds (her record is probably five seconds) but it makes her really really uncomfortable so even though the skill is there, we need to practice to make it more natural for her. She's still hesitant about going under water and blowing bubbles because she doesn't like things that require her face to get wet. Brady is awesome at blowing bubbles in the water. He isn't afraid of getting his face close to the water for it so he's fine to blow really big bubbles and really long bubbles. He's also better at being okay getting dunked under the water. He has trouble keeping his legs straight for kicks, except if he kicks suuuuper slowly. He is terrified of me holding him backwards, so he's pretty horrible at back kicks. Also, his starfish float is nonexistent because he clings to me, completely terrified. These kids are always so different from one another. ; ) right down to their "I finished swim classes!" donuts that the instructor gave them. Brady picked a massive donut with red white and blue sprinkles... almost the size of his head. Abigail chose a normal sized plain glazed donut. Now that swim class is done, they think it was pretty great. 

We stayed at the pool til 1. We would have stayed later, but my friend, Kristina, needed someone to watch her daughter during her grandmother's burial this afternoon and I volunteered because I'm her visiting teacher and Abigail and Brady get along well with natalie. It was sad to leave the pool early on such a nice day when so many friends were around but we can go again tomorrow. Also, the timing worked out pretty well because elizabeth slept forever and I knew she would be waking up any minute. She woke up and was ready to eat right when we got home. Natalie got here around 1:30. 

I had to take a swaddle picture with elizabeth. I used to take pictures like this with Abigail in our Stanford apartment so I though it was great that Abigail photobombed this one. Man, they grow up fast! 

But seriously, how adorable is this tiny little baby burrito?!  Like a mini homestar runner. 

Brady is getting so good at taking pictures. He took some of chris while he held his arm completely extended and had his legs in lunging position. I was wishing I had a second phone so I could take a picture of him taking this picture. 

Honey's day looked more like this though. Drama drama drama. All is okay now though. Just a busy day for him with lots of phone calls. As a side note: we showed the kids a picture at dinner tonight of their uncle John. Abigail said he looked funny because he was wearing funny clothes. When I asked her why then she said it was because he was dressed like a firefighter. What???  Kids are so random. 

Brady also loves taking edgy, abstract, modern sorts of photos. With unusual angles. 

And hip filters. 

And then he pulls the "hold me mommy" thing again. 

Abigail and natalie tipped this car over so many times I lost count. I was going a little crazy. I may have lost it later. I always lose it when there's too many toys out and everything feels messy. 

Brady's molar. The other one has made the same amount of progress. 

Selfie. 

And holding him again. While he gnaws on his finger. 

And yes, I'm still wearing my swimsuit... And did until who knows what time tonight. It's kind of like all those days that I intend to put on real clothes but then suddenly it's 9pm and I realize that I've just worn my pjs all day. That's what keeps happening to me this week with my swimsuit. Honey keeps making fun of me and calling it my "getup."  

Sweet, sweet Elizabeth. Goodness I love this little girl so much. I always look at her and think "dearest, loveliest Elizabeth" almost like song lyrics that I can't help but sing. She gives me butterflies and makes me giddy all over. 

My house was messy today and I can't help but be honest and admit that it drove me crazy and made me grumpy, , but goodness gracious my heart bursts at the seams for my little family and this sweet life I'm living. 

It. Is. Glorious. 

The hectic Thursday

I woke up at 7:15 and realized that I was literally not looking forward to any part of my day. That was sad and discouraging. Luckily, dreading of crying about it, I just tackled it all anyway... Well as much as I could. I did almost nothing that was on my to do list, but somehow the important stuff all got taken care of. 

Apparently the kids woke up at 6:30 (because Brady climbed out of his crib and woke Abigail up), chris gave them cereal at 6:45 and left for work, I heard them at 7:15, and, after searching the whole house, Brady finally found me and was all "change my diaper mom... I pooped" because that's how two year olds say "good morning, how was your night?" or something like that. 

I normally only take a couple of these pictures during the day of Brady snuggling on my chest... But let it be known that there could be soooo many more. It's a constant "hold me mommy!" fest all day and somehow we're always each wearing different clothes each time. Ha. 

This time it was a white shirt and slip... Because the easiest way to suddenly be wearing pjs is to just slide off your maxi skirt. I'm the epitome of lazy. 

We got all ready and kids buckled and everything for swim lessons only to have them call me ten minutes before and say they had heater problems and the pool was too cold. Back inside the house we go. 

And swarming on the bed taking pictures of each other while I was trying to get elizabeth ready for a nap. They were actually really awesome at communicating and taking turns. Maybe they'll turn out to be consciencious human beings after all. 

Christopher and I texted a bit to try to put together the pieces of what Brady does while we're each asleep. Y'know... Since he'd told me the night before tha Brady was in his crib when he actually wasn't. Empty cribs are so creepy. Anyways... Between the two of us and both kids, we've mostly pieced together what went on between 10pm and 8am. 

More of this. 

I should also mention that when the Jehovah's Witness ladies came by (and I yelled to Abigail, "don't open the door unless you know who it is!" ...she didn't hear me), I was still wearing my swimsuit... No coverup, just what you see pictured. And elizabeth was in a brown onesie with no pants or bow and they thought she was a boy. And Abigail was wearing a dress which discredited my swimsuit attire. And I can't remember what Brady was in because it changes so frequently, but I know it was at least a diaper. Because I still panic every time he takes his diaper off.  I'm pretty sure he was in just a regular diaper. Sadly, they asked what church I go to and I had to admit I'm Mormon. It wasn't my finest missionary moment in my swimsuit with my randomly dressed kids and Abigail and brady opening the door for strangers. I'm sure those ladies 100% think I have my act together. Yikes. 

My friend Jenna (who I also visit teach) got a concussion earlier this week so Abigail and Brady and I went around the yard and picked a bouquet of flowers and delivered them to her house. It sounds simple but this was probably a two hour event. Especially with elizabeth having a blowout in her car seat (right before we were about to walk out the door) and then crying about it until we were in the car. To the best of my knowledge, she only cries when she's experiencing something gas or tummy related. Hiccups, toots, burps, about to spit up or blow out... That's when she cries or fusses. Anything else is just a grunt or two. I was amazed at how many flowers we have in our yard. Maybe I need to not focus on all of our weeds so much... Which is hard because our summers just consist of HOA threats about getting fined if we don't clean up our weeds and get our grass green enough. ; ) Can't they try to admire my flowers too?!

I changed the hardware so I can lock Brady in his room now. It wasn't a miracle cure for naptime considering Brady and I both fell asleep in his glider (twice) and he spent forever crying and climbing in and out of his crib a million times, and eventually I snuggled with him and we both took a nap on the rug on his bedroom floor until elizabeth woke up in the other room and I had to go help her. 

Don't worry, Brady whined "hold me, mommy!" a million times until I finished feeding Elizabeth and then climbed on my lap and laid on my chest just like the other times. See how the clothes combos are always changing? And why yes, that IS the same skirt I was wearing the night before. 

He had to wait until I finished feeding Elizabeth, which gave him great practice at his drama skills, which are actually already perfected. 

Luckily, while I was passed out on Brady's floor, honey came home from work early and cleaned our entire kitchen that was covered with dirty dishes and random crap since the missionaries were coming at six. Thank goodness I already had lasagna in the crock pot and that we were only serving a salad and garlic bread and previously cut up watermelon as well... and a store bought thaw and serve pie. Because after Elizabeth ate, she wanted to be held (it doesn't happen that often and chris was all "why is she fussing?!" because what a coincidence that she chooses such a non optimal time to need to be held. And Brady was grabbing my legs and all "HOLD ME, MOMMY!!!" while Elizabeth cried and I tried to sweep. 

When is woken up on beAdys floor and learned that honey was downstairs cleaning the kitchen, I felt guilt like he was going to be frustrated at me for sleeping and not having that done... But when our kids were both crying for me at the same time while I tried to sweep, I thought to myself "nope, I'm pretty sure honey understands why I hadn't gotten to this yet."

Everything turned out fine and great except that the missionaries want to come back (and next Tuesday was our only availability for the next month) so I'm dreading having to do this again. I haaaaate hostesting. 

But the happy part of the day is that I survived. And that Brady went to sleep in his crib without crying while I sat in his glider and spent too much time on facebook. But in the crib with no cryin... That's awesome. 

Crib climbing

We've been waiting for a while for this and the day has finally come...

Around 9...

Around 10...

We only stayed at the pool from 9:30 til 2 today. Mostly I'm worried about all the sun my kids are getting. Also, I'm getting worn out rubbing them (and myself) down with sunscreen every hour of the day. It worked out well though because it started thundering around 3 or so so it's not like we could've stayed much longer anyways. 

Brady keeps telling me his teeth don't hurt... But the fact that he chews on everything and wants me to hold him all the time and wants nothing to do with chris and screams about going to sleep and cries when he wakes up from sleeping... I'm gonna have to call his bluff. 

Last night he screamed about going to sleep. SCREAMED. Honey held him while I finished up with Elizabeth and then I had to hold him and rock him to sleep and then transfer him to his crib and then sing to him more and holy cow, it was a bit of an ordeal. 

For some reason, I thought nap time today would be fine. I'm not sure why I thought that... Maybe I'm just thinking extra optimistically? I'm not sure. Anyways, it went like last night. Well... It was going like last night and there I was texting honey about it when... I hear the fan and the door open and in walks Brady while I'm holding Elizabeth and about to read books to Abigail on her loveseat before quiet time. I didn't even try to out him back. I could have except that Elizabeth wanted to be held, which really doesn't happen often but happened to be happening at this moment in time. 

I read Abigail her books, left her and Brady to play and enjoy quiet time together, and then held Elizabeth and then semi fell asleep with her on my lap until honey texted me about dinner sometime around 4:15. 

Totally unrelated to this post, but I have to say that I'm quickly becoming obsessed with the grilled shrimp appetizer at Texas Roadhouse. Holy cow I feel like it gets better and better each time we go. Also, my steak was cooked a perfect medium this time. That was special. 

We came home, I fed Elizabeth, we got the kids ready for bed (after dressing Brady up like a girl and doing a million different hairstyles on him... that'll need its own post) and I tried putting brady in his crib... But he kept climbing out as soon as I walked out. Honey and I hid out in the guest room and Brady would just walk into Abigail's room and read books with her. Eventually Elizabeth and I snuck downstairs without him seeing and went to Walmart. That was around 8pm... Honey was on his own... I'm not sure of the details because he is a man of few words, but maybe I'll get more of the story tomorrow. 

When I pulled in the garage around 10 (yes, I took my sweet time at Walmart and stopped by Home Depot too to check out their baby door lock options), I was texting honey and he said Brady had stayed in his crib. So that was humorous to me when I went upstairs later to charge my phone and saw Brady's bedroom door half open. I figured honey had left it that way to help Brady stay in his crib... Also, I could tell that the closet door was wide open (because the light was shining so brightly) and figured that was part of the agreement too. Well, I poked my head in to see Brady sleeping and... I only found an empty crib. So I looked all around his room and closet and determined he wasn't there. I thought maybe chris had let Brady climb in bed with him except I remembered that chris had been awake when I pulled in the garage and was unloading groceries and I would have seen Brady if he came downstairs during that time after chris had fallen asleep. So I checked Abigail's room. Sure enough. 

The first time I checked, Abigail was still on her bed (my phone was dead so I didn't take a picture) and when I came back a bit later, she was like this and I wondered how long it would be until she kicked Brady in the head. 

So I checked again after I'd fed Elizabeth...

And again and again. 

And whoooops... I woke Brady up. I'm so used to going in Abigail's room and being however loud I want because I can't get her to wake up even when I want her to. I was slightly quieter because of Brady, but not too careful... As if the room itself held magical deep sleeping powers. 

So he popped his head up as I rushed out of the room. He ran right out to me and to his room while asking "what're you doing, mom?" So I told him I was taking him to his crib. I lifted him up and put him in, he requested his songs, I sang, and he was asleep by the time I was done singing. I turned his closet light on again and then tip toes out and shut his bedroom door. That was lucky. I wonder how much of tonight he'll even remember in the morning. Also, I'm so curious how morning will go. If he'll cry for me or if he'll just climb out. Who knows. 

Now I'm just wondering where we should go from here. Turn the door handles around and lock him in his room or just out his toddler bed in Abigail's room and hope they do okay? Also, not great timing since we're headed out of town soon.  I'm wondering if this will also translate to pack n plays. He can probably climb out of those too. Hmmm... Any suggestions? His sleep situation last year at the beach was a nightmare so I was kinda looking forward to this year being a bit better. I just keep thinking about a few years ago when lucy climbed out of her pack n play at the beach and Marianne and Andrew were completely surprised and all "what are we supposed to do now?!"  

Because that's me. Ha.