Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Midnight Wisdom

George has been waking up multiple times in the middle of the night lately.  I'm sure you can imagine how annoying this is.  A few nights ago, he wanted to carry on a full conversation sometime around 4:30 am.  One early morning, he crawled in bed with us and kept touching my face.  Last night, I was starving at 12:30 am, so I got myself a bowl of cereal.  We were in the living room when George walked out.

G:  Whatcha eatin', Mommy?
ME:  (offering him a bite)  Want some?
G:  (thinks for a second) Babies eat Cheerios, Mommy!

As if even the suggestion that he eat Cheerios was beneath him.  We had a good laugh and then sent him back to bed.

Three Things

Dear Friends,

Sometimes I get mad at you when I discover things on my own and think, "WHY did no one tell me about this?!"  So here are a few things that you should probably know about:

1.  The blog Six Sisters' Stuff.  I think it originally started out just as the title suggests:  a place where six sisters kept in touch and shared their super-domestic-sickeningly-perfect-homemaking ideas.  I have made a bunch of their recipes and they have all been big hits!  They also have a website called My Recipe Magic that is pretty cool if you are all out of ideas.

2.  The new John Mayer cd, "Paradise Valley."  I feel like it came out fairly quietly for some reason?  Anyway, it is wonderful and I love it and I feel like every time I listen to it, I have a new "favorite song!"

3.   The new show, "The Blacklist."  I didn't watch last night's episode because I wandered around Target, but I plan to watch it tonight because I was intrigued by the first episode.

You're welcome.

-K

Friday, September 27, 2013

This Week in Review

Welcome to a typical week of my life.  Is there a hidden camera somewhere?  Boy, I sure hope not... that would be embarrassing!

Monday:  Nice and cool in the morning.  We went to the playground.  I already blogged about this.

Tuesday:  Ruthie was supposed to have her check-up echocardiogram in the morning.  We woke up super-early, got George to a friend's house, and drove on over to the local children's hospital.  She was great in the waiting room, but not so much while they were trying to get her vitals.  In fact, she went so crazy that the nurse could not get her blood pressure.  Since blood pressure is pretty important when checking out her heart, we couldn't just skip it.  So she took her weight and length and tried again.  Nope.  Not happening.  She screamed so much that the doctor came in and told us that they could not do the echocardiogram with her so worked up.  So they scheduled an appointment for us next month where she will be sedated for her check-up.  She said about 1 in 8 appointments end this way around the 1st birthday.  She made it seem like it was common, but 1 in 8 doesn't sound that common to me.

We also went to the aquarium.  I bought a Groupon a while back that was going to expire this week.  I'm glad it was a Groupon because it only took about an hour to go through the whole place.  Granted, George was running... and he's not interested in reading all the facts on the wall.  He really liked it, but not "full-price"-worth.  




Wednesday:  I sliced my toe open on a Ritz cracker shard while rescuing Ruthie from whatever predicament she put herself into (I don't remember what she was doing, but I had to move her).  At first I was like "that kind of hurt!" but then my toe felt wet... and I realized I was bleeding!  It was a lot of blood.  I can't remember the last time I had to use a band-aid!  George was intrigued and watched me clean it and bandage it.

While getting ready to run errands, George started hitting Ruthie and I with a stuffed animal.  I told him he couldn't do that and took it away.  He went crazy.  I put him on the "naughty stool," which sent him into a full psychotic rage.  Like, crazy-pants style.  I put him on the porch so that he couldn't hurt us/himself anymore and he pulled the screen door off its track.  I put him in his room and he started throwing everything he could get his hands on.  Oy.  Why do the kids on "Super Nanny" sit so calmly on the "naughty stool??"  Are they being sedated?

An hour later, when he calmed down and forgot all about his crazy episode, he informed me that he still wanted to run errands.  So we ran errands.  A nice man in front of us paid for our dinner at the drive-thru.  The teenage girl working the window said (in a confused tone), "The man in front of you paid for your meal?  He said... 'God loves you.  Have a good day?'"  It was so nice of him!  I wish he had told me that before I ordered ;)  But it really was a nice thing to do and we all know I needed it after the tantrum I just survived!

Thursday:  Woke up at 7:30.  Steve asked me what I had going on that day.  I said, "I have to take Ruthie to the pedi for more blood work.  SHOOT!  AT 8!"  We looked a little like a scene from "Home Alone."  So I took Ruthie to the pediatrician for some follow-up blood work.  It was all clear, thank goodness.  Then we went to the bank, post office, and Hobby Lobby.  Hey... if I am going to do one errand, I might as well do all of the errands I have been putting off for weeks, right??  The kids cooperated.  After lunch and naps, we went to Target to get a few things.  George pooped and continued to tell everyone in the check-out line while begging me to change his diaper.  He couldn't wait.  I was literally sliding my debit card while he needed his diaper changed RIGHT THIS SECOND.  Of course, I didn't have wipes in my diaper bag.  Who has those??  My diaper bag is full of things I never touch, but often lacks things like wipes and ironically, diapers.

Thursday was also the 5th anniversary of our first date!  September is a special month for us.  Two birthdays and the anniversaries of us meeting and dating!  Anyway, Steve worked late which lead to me staying up way too late.  Sometimes, late at night, I forget just how early these little children wake up.  And they always want stuff when they wake up.  Breakfast?? New diaper?? You're getting really selfish, small children!  Can't you just leave me alone and watch cartoons???  Just kidding... but I really need to go to bed earlier.

Friday:  The weather was beautiful this morning, so we went to the playground.  We stayed there for over an hour!  This playground is covered by huge trees and the breeze was so nice.  Somehow, by the time we got back to the car, George was sweating like a beast!  He did some intense running.  Ruthie loved the swings and then got a full hour of her favorite thing in the world: cuddling close to Mommy in the baby carrier.  After, we went to Costco to return some things and we got lunch.  On the way home, a gallon of milk tipped on the passenger-side floor.  My mat was soaked with milk.  George was crying, Ruthie was asleep, Mommy was almost in tears.  We came in and I fed Ruthie and then a magical thing happened:  they both napped at the same time!! So I took a nap, too!  When George woke up, all he wanted was milk and to sit on the couch and watch a movie on my phone.  Wonderful!  I got to sleep until Ruthie woke up.  



We went to visiting teach my friend Sarah, which always turns into a full afternoon!  It is so fun to hang out with her while the kids play!  George touched the bug zapper in their back yard.  That was when it all went down-hill pretty quickly.  Got home and put the kids to bed (not as quickly as this sounds). 

I am tired.  Thank goodness it is supposed to storm, so we might have Daddy home all day tomorrow!  Also, the Relief Society broadcast is tomorrow night.  Our stake is having a dinner/service project before the broadcast.  I haven't been able to go to one of these stake activities in a long time (I usually watch from home after G is in bed), so I am excited!  

Monday, September 23, 2013

This Sounds Legit...

I got this email a little bit ago... read it....


Hello,
I am sorry for reaching you rather too late due to the situation of things right now,my family and I came down here to Manila Philippines for a short vacation and we were mugged at gun point last night at the park of the hotel where we lodged,all cash and credit card were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us..
We've been to the Embassy and the Police here,but they're not helping issues at all they asked us to wait for 2weeks but we can't wait till then and our flight leaves in few hours from now but we're having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let us leave until we settle the hotel bills,we are freaked out at the moment.Well I really need your financially assistance.All we need is ($2,350 USD) or anything you can afford.I'll refund it to you as soon as i arrive home Hopefully today.Please let me know if you can help us out,Write me back so i can tell you how to get it to me.Thank You
Best regards,Anna

And now tell me... has anyone EVER fallen for this??  Oh, goodness.

Birthday Party, NICU Reunion, Playground

Here are the birthday party pictures that I promised last week:
The cake table

Ruthie was hesitant about the cake!

But of course she liked it because she loves food.

My mom's side of the family who live close by.

We went to a reunion party at the hospital where our babies were born!  It was so fun to see the nurses and doctors who took such great care of our little NICU babies!

Shaheena was in the room when George was born!  She took care of him the most out of all the nurses.  She was also one of the main nurses to take care of Ruthie!

George got a spider painted on his arm!  I didn't know how he was going to like it, but he was so still while the lady painted!

All of us with Shaheena

Michelle was the other main nurse who took great care of Ruthie!

And today we went to the playground.  This is the outside portion of the indoor playground we usually go to.  It was so nice, so we played outside.  They had a Ruthie-sized slide and she had so much fun!  George was off playing with some kids he met.  They were "Henry and Maggie" and when we talked about them in the car he said, "No.  Henry and Maggie are not my new friends.  Henry and Maggie are my cousins."  I couldn't fight him on that one.  He does have cousins named Henry and Maggie.  I don't think we are to the point where he understands that lots of people can have the same name.  Anyway, here's a cute picture of Ruthie!  How excited was I to pull out fall-ish clothes?? Even if we were roasting on the drive home!


Friday, September 13, 2013

My Baby is One!


I can't even believe that this little girl is ONE today!  Seriously, where has this year gone??  She had a pretty low-key birthday.  We put on a pretty dress and got her pictures taken.  Then, we drove to Daddy's work.  We took all of her presents and went to McDonald's so that George could play.  We had a little party just the 4 of us!  It was so fun to spend time with just our little family!  We came home, ate dinner, took a bath, and the babies are in bed.

Tomorrow is her party!  So, I guess I should start cleaning, huh?  It will be so fun!! I will post pictures tomorrow!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

This Week

The news is on in the background.  This really happened just now:
Anchor:  He was linked to two of the rapes by DNA.  He is suspected of two other rapes, but those victims did not have samples. 
George:  (stands up)  Mom!  He said 'samples'! He got samples at Costco!  
Me:  Umm.... yeah....
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Driving in the car, we passed a school-

G:  That's a playground!  Mommy, it's so beautiful!

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George spilled a whole bag of white chocolate chips on the floor.  I would like to document that this is the first time that he has ever, ever offered to help me clean up anything.  Yup.  He ate them all.  Off the floor.

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Ruthie's birthday is Friday and I can't believe it's been a year already!  I was looking at pictures from this time last year.  George looked so little!  Also, I couldn't help but notice that George is wearing a jacket in a lot of those pictures.  We have yet to need a jacket this year.  It was 96* today.

In related news, I am very excited:  For the first time, I looked at the 10-day forecast and we are expected to have a day under 89*.... next Friday.... as in September 20.  Oh wait... the news said Tuesday might be 89*!  Whoo hoo!  A cold front!

Can you tell I am ready for summer to be over?

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This is the birthday girl at the playground yesterday!  She is no longer content to be held at the playground... she needs to get down and play!

 

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And George learned how to use a glue stick:




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

My Birthday!

Yesterday was a fun day!  I turned 27 and everyone had a whole day off to celebrate!  

First, I hung out with the babies while Steve went to take a check-ride.  The check-ride didn't end up happening because it was too stormy.  So then he came home and we got to spend the rest of the day as a family!  I got awesome presents!  (Most of them were a surprise, despite George telling me "I went to Costco with Daddy.  We got Mommy shoes.  Then we went to another store.  Then we went to Sonic."  When I got my presents, I realized that they didn't go to Sonic, but the second store was beside Sonic.  The kid loves Sonic lately.)  Then, we finished the last episode of "Downton Abbey" while we waited for babies to nap.  Seriously, I don't know if I can watch "Downton Abbey" next season.  I can't deal with all of this sadness.

Once the babies woke up, we went to the outlet mall because they were having great sales!  I got a really cute headband to go with Ruthie's birthday picture dress.  The best part is that it's really an adult-sized headband, so we can share!  I guess there is a benefit to having babies with monster-sized heads!

After walking around the mall for a long time, we went to Red Robin for dinner!  It was soooo good.  I really love Red Robin, but Steve doesn't... so I pretty much only get to eat at Red Robin when he's doing something nice for me!  After dinner, we went to a fun little playground and let George run around.  We had so much fun and the kids were up way too late.  We really paid for that last night (or I did, at least... I am pretty sure Steve slept well)  I feel like one of them was up every 10 minutes and I hardly got any sleep.

Here are some pictures from our fun day.  We will start with a few that George took:



And George was sooo proud of this pictures he took of Ruthie:


Ruthie lounging in the stroller with her feet up on the bar:


For most of our dinner, George ran around in circles.  It's a good thing the restaurant was pretty empty:


He was ready for ice cream, though!




Earlier in the day, Daddy and Ruthie relaxed while we waited for George to wake up:


So that was our totally fun day!  Today, Daddy is taking his check-ride for real and we are so excited!! This is the last check-ride he needs before he can really start accumulating the last few hours that he needs to apply for jobs!! Hooray!! 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Funny George Stuff

Here are some funny George quotes lately:

G:  My birthday is not yet.
Me:  Nope... it's Mommy's birthday, Ruthie's birthday and then George's birthday!
G:  For your birthday, I get you a Mommy-Toy

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G:  And Leo's friend is Sofia?
Me:  Sofia is Leo's sister.
G:  Leo doesn't have a baby like our Ruthie.
Me:  You're right.
G:  Leo's mommy is going to give him a baby brother.

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(While walking around with a little notebook)
G:  Mommy, this is my secret book.  I write secrets in it.
Me:  Can I see it?
G:  Yeah...
Me:  What does this say? (pointing to a scribble)
G:  It says, "kite."

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(Handing me my dead phone after he ran the battery down)
G:  Your phone needs a new battery, Mommy?  We will go to Costco later and get one.

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(Picking at his little nipple)
G:  Mommy!  What is this?? Get it off of me!

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(Giving Ruthie a "check-up" with his doctor's kit)
G:  Settle down, settle down.  I need to listen to your heart.






Thursday, August 15, 2013

A Little Vacation

The babies and I took a little vacation.  Erin & Mark were visiting my dad, so we decided to visit at the same time so that we could see everyone!  It was so fun!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week (I didn't take many... oops!):

George took his first-ever ride on a steam engine!


Ruthie started transitioning from laying to sitting all by herself!
Then she started trying to pull-up on everything!


Ruthie met my Pop-Pop

We went to Merry Mead Farm!






George:  "not tired" after a day at Merry Mead Farm and a local zoo. 


Helping Pop Pop water the plants.  I thought for sure this was going to end badly.


The nice weather followed us home.  It was cool enough to go to the playground yesterday.


This picture is out of order.  Dubs & Mark with Ruthie on the train!


We also went to see "Planes" which was really cute.  George did pretty well... and Ruthie slept through it.  I don't know how... it was SO loud!  She woke up as soon as people started talking when the movie was over.  So not as loud as the movie!

We had a good time, but by the last day George kept saying that he wanted to go back to his house and play with his toys and see his daddy.  We sure did miss Steve!  Hopefully he can come on our next vacation with us!

So now we are home and I am trying to unpack and do a little laundry (luckily, my step-mom did most of it before we left).  Seriously, though... why does my clean laundry smell awful after being on the plane?? What is going on in the cargo area??

Ruthie had a consultation for possible occupational therapy as soon as we got home.  She didn't qualify!  Whoo-hoo!  She is a little behind in her gross motor skills, but they liked what they saw and expect her to catch up soon!  She was on-track for her fine motor skills.  She is way ahead in her social, communication, and problem-solving.  She gets that from her momma :)