Sleep or lack thereof

It is 11:30 at night and here I am still wide awake. Since Thing 2's birth I haven't been able to get to sleep. The funny part is that it has nothing to do with Thing 2  She sleeps better then I do. The other night I was wide awake and went to the grocery store at 2 in the morning sans children. (Yes, B was home. In fact, Thing 2 did wake up and I scared him because he couldn't find me and the car was gone. I'm not known to go places that late at night)

Even when I am dead tired I just lie in bed for hours wishing I could sleep. Sometimes I think I should get up and do something, like laundry or dishes, but seriously who wants to do them at midnight. 

The hardest part is come morning, after I have finally fallen asleep and had maybe a good three or four hours of sleep and then Thing 1 wakes up and is rearing to go and talks so loud that she wakes Thing 2 up and then I have to get up because I cannot sleep with her chattering. I love to hear her though. Sometimes I am lucky and Thing 1 sleeps in and I wake up on my own, but even then I wake up around a quarter to 7. 

If I knew there was no chance of needing to get up with Thing 2 during the night I'd take a light sleeping pill, but the last thing I want is to be doped up and her need me. 

My body is starting to adjust to very little sleep. At least I think it is, but maybe I am missing somethings and I don't even realize it. 

30?

(This picture is courtesy of Thing 1)
I seriously can't believe I am 30. My birthday was in Mar and I can't believe I am 30. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think 30 is old; it just doesn't seem that long ago I was a freshman in college.  I used to think I'd be done having kids and settled by now.  However; life is still up in the air for Bri and me-where to live and things like that- and we're definitely not done having children. I'll take as many as I can have.

It is always interesting to me as I review my life and see how my priorities have changed as well. I used to think that I just wanted one girl and the rest boys, now I have Thing 2 in addition to Thing 1 and I would be happy with all girls if that is what I get. I used to want only a few children-like two but now I really would like quite a bit more. I hate to put a number on it because we aren't sure how many I can actually have, so we'll take them one at a time. 

 I'd rather live in a smaller home and drive a minivan if it meant being able to afford sending our children to college and having more of them around. Part of me still wants to have my children close together so Bri and I can enjoy our later years in life together. Part of me wants to have as many as possible so my home is never quiet again, but rather always has the little pitter patter of children's feet echoing through the home. 

All in all it has been a good 30 years and I hope the next 30 years bring me just as much joy as these have.

MoJo

These pictures do not do MoJo justice, but I had to grab a few shots of her. 
She is warming up to us nicely, contrary to what it looks like in the first picture she is actually very nice and likes to be around us. These cats are a great fit for our family. They are independent enough that they like to hang out by themselves, but enjoy us loving on them as well. MoJo followed Mike and Mal around all weekend long while they were downstairs. She even snuggled in between them one night. Mike, who doesn't like cats, said he'd get a cat if he knew she'd be like MoJo. That just shows how good these little girls are. Although MoJo isn't very little,

Thing 2 and her feet again

I was able to get a quick clip of Thing 2 sucking on her feet. She is such a funny little girl, always making us smile. 

Teenager in the Making

Every day we clean up Thing 1's room and without fail by the end of the day it looks like a tornado ran through it. So I thought I would take a picture of it so you could all witness the destruction created by a three year old.

Here is a funny story too. This morning while I was taking this picture Thing 1 heard the camera click and asked what I was doing. Then she asked if I was taking a picture of her room. I said, Why yes, actually I am because it is so cute. She then asked if it was because her room is so messy. I laughed and said yes. Then she told me she left it messy so that I could take a picture of it. Great foresight from a girl so young, don't you think?

Auntie M and Uncle Little Brother

My brother and his wife came out to visit us this past weekend. We all enjoyed their company especially little Thing 1  On Memorial Day we went to SLC to see temple square and some of the sites down there. Amazingly enough the town was pretty much shut down because of the holiday. It was hard to find something to eat and the mall closed at 6. Part of me understands that you want to give your employees a day off for the holiday but at the same time it is a holiday and so people are off and looking to do something. B had the day off as well, which was very nice, so he came with us.

music to a mother's ears

Here is a sample of the talking that Thing 2 does almost all the time. We love her little voice. She is really just content to sit and chatter away as long as she isn't tired. 

 Sorry for it being so dark and my raspy voice, allergies are starting to get the best of me. 

New Adittions

Thing 1 and her cat, Sleepy.
A few weeks ago the girls and I went to Boise to fix up the rental to put it on the market. The tenants have a sweet little cat and while we were there Thing 1 LOVED to play with her. So when I came home I talked to B again about getting her a cat. He thought it was a good idea as well and so we went shopping online for an adult cat from a home with children. I am one of the few people in the world that does NOT like kittens. They gross me out to be honest. I love puppies, but not kittens so much.

I found Mogami, which is not pictured above, on KSL.com. She is a sweet cat and really cute but as I write this she is downstairs under the bed where my brother and his wife are asleep, so needless to say her picture will come later. While I was talking to her previous owner she mentioned she actually had another cat to find a home for as well. Since she too is good with kids I took her as well. I am so glad that I did. 

Sleepy loves Thing 1  She follows her around and loves on her.  Great fun for Thing 1  Mogami, who we call MoJo, is a fun cat as well but she likes it downstairs and is still working on getting comfy with us. Each day is better and better. 

Thing 2 and her feet

Look at those pretty big blue eyes and peaches and cream complexion. 

Thing 2 has discovered these cute little things attached to the end of her legs- her feet. She loves to hold on to them and big surprise-suck on them. I was hoping to get a picture of her sucking on her toes but she was too involved with the camera and what I was doing with it.

Day trip

Daddy and Thing 2 hanging out. She thought it was great fun to be tilted from side to side. She is such a happy little person. 
This picture is funny to me because of Thing 1  She is such a child of modern technology. After I took the picture she wanted to look at it, upon seeing she wasn't in the photo she had me take a few with her in them as  well. She is such a sweet little girl. We truly have been very blessed with our children.

These pics are from a little trip to SLC to meet aunt Linds for lunch and to get a new Mac. I love it. I am in heaven with this new computer. There are so many fun things on it. I don't know if I can ever go back to a PC. 

Spring

Spring time is my favorite time of the year. I love it. Everything in blossom and beautiful soft colors. This year was a bit crazy weather wise. I was hoping for cooler weather for a longer period of time then what we ended up with. It was flat out cold for far too long and now it is getting hot. 

 

I still can enjoy the tree in our front yard for a bit longer though. 

Physician Appreciation Night

Every year McKay Dee has a party for the docs and their families at the dino park. We have a membership for it but it is always fun to go, especially for the free dinner. I know silly reason to go but if I don't have to fix dinner I am all in.  It was a lot of fun. Thing 1 was able to pan for gold and she was able to cut a geode. All of which we normally don't do because it is a bit pricey. She had a blast, more then anything it was due to her dad being there.

I thought I'd include a picture of the girls and I sitting in front of the triceratops. It really is an awesome park, much better then you would think. 

Promontory point

Thing 2 and Grandma, hanging out by the building waiting for the show to start.
One of the two trains at the whole extravaganza
Thing 1 and her dad, notice the corner of Thing 1's purse in his eye.
Thing 1 and her Aunt Lind
Promontory Point has a show every year on May 10th. I have never been but B went once when he was little but didn't really remember it. They reenact the golden spike ceremony where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific train companies met. It is out in the middle of nowhere. Seriously there is nothing out there but the visitor center. It was fun seeing some of B's family but other then that... I'm not sure when we'll head out there again.

 I should tell you though that the actors in the reenactment go all out in costume and all. That was fun too. 

Music

I decided to put the music on the blog. I have been hesitant to do so. I listen to these songs and I feel that they are sometimes the soundtrack to my life, whether they are now or have been at other times in the past; and I feel they deserve a spot here as well. I think many times a song can tell a story better then I can. Then of course there are just a few of my favorite ones on there too, just for fun.

All about my mom

This post is contrary to what the post's name is. It is not about my mom but is about Thing 1 and what she thinks about me.
Yesterday at church they had the kids fill out papers about each child's mom. I love Thing 1's and thought I would share with you all. I will put my answers in () after each

How old is your mom? -19 (I am so not 19. The other day as I was buckling Thing 1 into her seat belt, she looked at me and said, "mommy, you have wrinkles." Pretty sweet)

What is your mom's favorite color?- red (this used to be when I was growing up, now it is also, orange, and yellow)

What is your most favorite meal that your mom cooks? - bread and jam and honey ( so does this mean I shouldn't even bother cooking anymore; although the bread and jam are homemade so that is a plus right?)

What do you like to do most with your mom?- Play hide and seek and chase. (we do this regularly. My favorite is when she is hiding and while I am looking for her she yells out I am hiding in (wherever she is).

What is your mom's favorite thing to do?- watch T.V. (I don't really watch TV, so what does that tell me. My favorite thing to do is really dance with her and to go shopping)

What color of eyes does your mom have?- RED (I am wondering now if I scare Thing 1 and sometimes she thinks I am the devil or something)

What is your favorite thing about your mom?-Playing with her (So I guess I must be doing something right).

B and I got a good laugh out of these when we were eating dinner with him at the hospital yesterday. I can't help but wonder if Thing 1 got lost at some sort of function and was found by good people that didn't know who she was or us and when they asked her, "What does your mommy look like?" What is going to be her reply? They would probably be looking for a 19 yr old punk rocker with red contacts fruit cake.

life flight to the rescue

One of my good friends, Krista, is in town for a few months while her husband does an internship here in Layton area. We've been able toget together a few times and catch up while our girls play. Krista invited us to the Children's museum in SLC and it was really very fun. This is the only picture I managed to get of Thing 1  Life flight has a helicopter there that the kids can get in and pretend to fly and so on. It is pretty cool. Thing 1 thought it was pretty cool too that her dad has flown in them to help out before.

Thing 2 and the strange little cube

Hello little cube are we going to play today?
She is thinking about the cube, what to do what to do?
reaching out to the cube, OK lets try this.
WHY HELLO there, you make noises and have lots of fun colors. Yes yes I think I will eat you, come back here, little cube.

With the weather getting warmer, finally. I had to change out Thing 2's wardrobe. While I was in the garage I found a box of Thing 1's baby toys. I had forgotten all about these little guys. Thing 2 has a love hate relationship with this little cube. She is fascinated by it and wants it in her mouth (which really doesn't say much because she wants everything in her mouth right now) but it is still hard for her to work her little hands and get the cube to do what she wants it to do. So her play with it doesn't always last too long. But for the first few minutes it is heavenly.

Yeah for the dentist

Our sweet little Thing 1 had three cavities in those pearly whites of hers. This was her first trip to the dentist, ever. I knew she had two because they were in her two front teeth. One day in Boise she was walking around with a pen in her mouth and as I am telling her to stop she tripped and chipped her two front teeth. Right in the middle of them. I should have taken her to the dentist earlier but I never did, no excuse just didn't. I did however keep an eye on her teeth. I made sure to always brush and even floss them, still the spot was getting worse and when I'd floss, the floss would get caught on the chip. So I put a call into the dentist and we went in. Only one other cavity besides the ones on her two front teeth.
All in all the trip was pretty traumatic for her. She wouldn't even let the dentist look in her mouth. I had to sit in the chair and hold her (strap her down is more like it) We had to come back to fix them and we had to sedate her to do the work. Completely sedate her, out cold. It was really unnerving to see her that way too. But one hour later she had beautiful teeth again. HE was able to fill them and not have to put crowns on, yeah.
Needless to say, we brush better now so we don't have such a difficult visit at the dentist's office next time.

Smiley Googley Bear

This is Thing 2's nickname. She truly is our smiley googley bear. She is the happiest little person I think I have ever met. She has problems with keeping her binky in her mouth because she is always smiling at people and letting it fall out. she usually gives people great big smiles too. We love 'em. Plus, she is a talker, making the true goo goo ga ga noises babies make. they are too cute.

Don't you love how her hair sticks out to the side. Thing 1's was striaght up, Thing 2 goes to the side.

How quickly time goes by

Looking back on Thing 1's picture it amazes me how much she has changed. I know she still basically looks the same only older, but it amazes me that my baby girl is all grown up.

Here we are in Reno just before she turned one. She had her first taste of watermelon and as you can see from the picture above she loved the juice and put her face in the bowl to drink it up. It made quite the mess but she loved it.
Thing 1 after getting a hold of her birthday cake.
Thing 1 decorating Easter eggs at our home in Boise. We quickly decided to move her to the tub to avoid any huge mess.

Thing 1's favorite thing to do- talk on my cell phone. She will talk and talk and talk. She plays so hard and then just like that she is asleep. She thought it was pretty cool to wear my shoes. She still does too. It makes me a little nervous when she pulls out my four inch heels and clomps around in them though.

You can see her scar really well here, it was still pretty new. this is why she has bangs now. Poor little girl. It happened when she and her daddy were playing and she fell and hit her little head on our tv stand's corner. we didn't send out Christmas pictures that year either because it happened just before I was going to have them taken and the fall gave her two big black eyes. She looked like we beat her. It made your heart melt for her.

This face is typical Thing 1-  "what do you think you are doing?" She is such a loving little girl but it really does have to be on her terms. She is most often leary of what we do at first.

This was in Seattle, just before her second birth day. I can't believe we are already coming up on her 4th birthday in just a few more months.

Kids these days

I remember when I was in elementary school the first encounter I had with a computer was in 2nd or 3rd grade and it was to play Oregon trail. Today though kids are smart as whips when it comes to technology. Thing 1 carries around an I Pod shuffle, just a cheap little one but she loves it. She knows how to work the portable DVD player and well she will indefinitely know how to do things better then me sooner then I would like. Not to mention we are constantly working on her not being sassy.

Blocking out the world

 

This is what Thing 2 does when she is tired. She can fall asleep anywhere but she almost always puts her hands over her face. It is as if she is saying it is too loud or too bright and she wants things to be quieter and more calm. The funny thing is that she does it even if it is quiet and dark. I love it. She is a good little sleeper too. When we aren't going anywhere and are on schedule here at home she sleeps through the night, from about 9 to 5 or 6. No complaints here. I need to video her when I go and get her from her crib. It is so fun. When she wakes up she doesn't cry, she talks. She talks and talks and talks. When I peek over the crib she is so excited to see me, her little body spasms with joy, her arms fly back and hit the crib mattress, her little legs kick straight out, and she starts grinning from ear to ear. I tell ya, this baby is easy to love

shame shame on mommy

I have been horrible with taking pictures of Thing 2.  I am the first to admit it. I have been horrible keeping up the blog since she has been born as well. I think over all I would rather be loving on this sweet little girl then typing. She is hands down one of the best babies EVER! People are always stopping and talking to her. Every time we go out people comment on how cute she is. I think she is beautiful, but I have to admit I am a bit biased. It is fun to hear others comment on what a pretty baby she is. Thing 2 then gives them one of her endearing smiles. They lite up the room. Super cute little girl and just happy to be alive.

Cousins

These three were born within one month of each other to the day. Thing 2 on Dec 26th, Juliette around the 4th of Jan (I really should know what day she was born but I don't remember) and Ryan on Jan 26th.

Here the three are just hanging out as the adults are trying to get a good picture of them together. Each kid is of course looking at his or her mom.
Thing 2 LOVES to suck on things, not necessarily her binki though. In the first picture she trying to figure out what I am doing. The second picture you can see she is realizing there is something next to her and she is trying to get her little arm in a position to bring it to her mouth.
Look at Thing 2's little fat rolls on her legs. Her joints on her arms are starting to look like they are part of a toy that you click together.
In this picture she is still working Ryan's arm to her mouth. I wish I had the next picture where she is sucking on his sleeve. It was funny to see her in motion via the pictures.
Look at all the hair on these babies. It seems to never end. Hopefully they will all keep it.
It is too bad I couldn't get a picture of Juliette and Thing 2 both looking at the camera. For some reason S's (B's brother just above him) kids look an awful lot like B's. At least the last two do. I have to admit it is a bit eerie even. When Thing 1's was about 6 months old she looked like Laurel's sister, twin almost. Now they look nothing alike- nothing at all. But it was weird seeing how much the two resembled each other. Then we had Thing 2.  We all wondered if Juliette would look like her, sure enough there is a resemblance. There is enough difference to tell them apart easily but still. When I first saw her I was taken aback. Every time I saw her out of the corner of my eye I thought she was mine. They look more alike when they have their binkis in their mouths.