The Russell Family

Hard

2012-02-13T20:32:00.003-07:00

Lately I've been having a tough time. I don't know what it is. Maybe its the fact that I'm stuck at home all day. Maybe its the thought that Nate is going to be gone a lot because Tax Season is heavily upon us. Maybe I'm pregnant. (JUST KIDDING! I'm not pregnant, I can assure you!) Who knows what it is, all I know is that sometimes it takes all of my will power to haul myself out of bed in the morning and do the same thing I did yesterday. I'm trying to have a good attitude. I see quotes on Pinterest that say, "If you want to be happy, be." Or, "Happiness is a choice." Well, whoever wrote/pinned those, I can assure you, didn't feel trapped in their own tiny apartment. I feel like I don't do ANYTHING. I almost bought a table and chair set today that badly needed a facelift, just to give me a chance to do something. (I 100% would have bought it, THIRTY BUCKS!, except they couldn't deliver it to me... total bummer...) Its annoying that I can't do anything, because I love to be crafty! I love scrapbooking, making bows, I want to bust out my sewing machine and sew the girls a skirt or something, but I feel like I have no room and it would just be more of a nightmare than anything. And it doesn't help that my neighbors are at it again, coming up to tell us to keep our kid quiet. UGH. I told Nate that once our lease is up we're either moving to a bigger apartment/townhouse or we're getting another car because I can't live another year like this. We've had one car our whole marriage, almost five years, and we've owned it for three of those years. It is truly a matter of my sanity. Thanks for letting me vent. Felt good.

P.S. Rachael and Whitney are now sharing a room, so at least I have a small part of my life that I can keep kid-free. The transition has been smoother than I thought it would be.

Dream Come True

2012-01-29T21:19:00.003-07:00

So yesterday, I went to a Hair Show with my friend, Stephanie. For those of you who don't know, a hair show is just a trade show for cosmetologists. You don't always have to be licensed, but for this one you did. It was SO AMAZING and I'm so glad Stephanie went with me! I got to just leave the girls with Nate for like seven hours and immerse myself in the industry which I really love. I got to see new techniques for hair cuts, new products, new ideas, everything! (They had this UH-MAZING double barrel curling iron that I wanted so bad, but they were like 80 bucks and it'd be too hard to do on myself. One day!) I did get some fun products (Root lifter in powder form! Who knew? And a heat proof glove which will come in handy when doing upside down curls.) But I DID get some super-duper fun clip in extensions! Sorry, the picture isn't the greatest, and my roots REALLY need a touch up, but I wore them to church today and felt so glamorous! I've always dreamed of having long flowing locks, but my hair is too thin and fine and lame to grow out. These extensions were only $45, and they're real human hair. (You may find that creepy, but it just means I can curl, straighten, color, whatever to the hair. But, I probably will do nothing but curl and wash it.) I. LOVE. THESE. EXTENSIONS. It only took me like five minutes to put them in, and they blended fairly well. I would recommend getting some clip in extensions if you don't want to spend hundreds (literally, hundreds) of dollars on "official" extensions. I will not be putting them in every day, only when I have somewhere to go. (AKA: Church. Hey, it is what it is...) I'm excited to go to another Hair Show soon(ish)!

Whitterkins Update

2012-01-29T21:03:00.002-07:00

I can't believe my Little Miss is almost EIGHT MONTHS OLD! Holy mazolie... Well, here are just a few pictures of my uber cute, squeely little girl who has personality oozing out of her! She officially has her two bottom teeth and is most definitely cutting her two top. (Hence the poor little screamer she was at church today, :( so sad!) (p.s. Those two, almost four, little teeth make for some interesting nursing sessions. Seriously, I cringe just thinking about it... TMI?) She is a crawling MACHINE and has been crawling for almost two months now. Rachael didn't start crawling until she was almost nine months (we blame the cramped NYC apartment we were living in...) so this is crazy for us! She pulls herself up on the couch, the ottoman, the baby gate, the play kitchen, my legs, anything. I truly, truly believe she'll be walking by Easter. How crazy would that be? She is also a chatter, saying, "Mamamamamamamama" and "Bababababababa" and "Nanananananana." Really quite enthralling conversation. And oh my gosh, the BIGGEST mamma's girl in the world. I walk three feet away and she has a melt down. Cute, but also not so much. She squeels like like a maniac when Rachael does something silly. She really, really loves Rachael. Her eyes light up. And Rachael equally adores her baby sister. Seriously, I wish you could all come and see the love. This is the reason to have another child, even though it was SO scary, it is so worth it. We sure do love our baby girl!

Confession

2012-01-21T19:52:00.002-07:00

Sometimes, when Whitterbug is fussin' for no apparent reason, I stick her in the high chair with a few rice crispies to go after. I don't know if this is a good or a bad idea, but the cereal is tiny and easily mushable in her mouth, plus it works on her fine motor skills. I can barely pick those things up but she is a CHAMP at it! Plus it keeps her occupado long enough for me to pick up the room and vacuum (for the 3rd time that day) so she can crawl around like the maniac that she is. She's usually happy just zooming from one end of the room to the other in no time flat, but sometimes mama just needs a break.

December Highlights

2012-01-13T10:32:00.002-07:00

Because I'm not too confident in my ability to blog about everything that went down in December, here's a nice collage of the highlights. Hopefully I can do an actual post on Christmas... Some of them are sideways, sorry...

#1: Bring your kids to work day. It was fun and not nearly as chaotic as I thought it would be. Santa was there and won Rachael over with a Cinderella toy.
#2: Rachael is now in Preschool, which means presents for the teachers. She has one main teacher, two aids, and one speech therapist. The night before the last day of school I was trying to come up with something. Homemade caramel dip and an apple. Lame? Maybe, but it got the job done.
#3: Rachael's last day of Nursery, in which she was a sheep for the Nativity Reenactment.
#4: Whitney's first "sink bath" at grandmas. Rachael was really mad I wouldn't let her take the rubber ducks away...
#5: The plethora of food that Christmastime brings. DELICIOUS!!
#6: Whitney's first Christmas! She was so adorable the entire time. She even learned to crawl and popped her first tooth out!
#7: COUSINS!! My Aunt Melanie's kids took a particular liking to Whitney this year. She's big enough for them to hold without panicking, but small enough to still be a baby!
#8: My cute girls in their SUPER cute Christmas dresses from Auntie Laura!
#9: Whitney's first time hiking in the new (to us. Again, thanks Laura!) hiking backpack. Needless to say, she loved it. And I loved that Nate knows his job is the backpack.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas Season! We sure did!

Jesus Wants Me for a...

2012-01-13T10:19:00.004-07:00

SUNBEAM!

Yes, my friends, this little princess became a Sunbeam this year. The Sunday before we left for Christmas, Rachael's Nursery class did a Nativity Reenactment, and I got a little teary eyed knowing it was Rachael's last time in Nursery. She did GREAT in primary this last week. I was really nervous for her. Her attention span isn't all that great, and every time her Nursery class would "practice" going in for singing time Rachael would always have to be taken out for being too disruptive. But each time we peeked in on her on Sunday she was sitting so still. Not necessarily paying attention, but being still. What more can I ask for?? I love this little girl and I'm so proud of her for her progression with her speech. You wouldn't even recognize this girl she's such a chatterbox!

And just for good measure, here is a picture of Whitney in my favorite dress. Whit is now in the clothes that Rachael wore when we were in NYC so its bringing back a ton of memories! This is the dress my mom brought Rachael when they came to visit. I. Love. This. Dress. And it really makes her blue eyes pop!

Here is Rachael wearing the dress. Apparently it was a rough Sabbath Day...
And apparently Rachael had a bigger head than Whitney, no wonder she wasn't wearing a bow :)

Food Face

2012-01-10T12:24:00.003-07:00

I'm still trying to get into the flow of feeding Whitney solids (in a very liquid state). Its a lot more work when you've got another kid to feed too. Now that the holidays are over I've been able to focus more on it. These pictures were taken a few weeks before Christmas. I think quinoa, breast milk, and sweet potatoes were on the menu this evening. I'm giving the props to Nate because he's amazing at snagging the adorable moments. Some of these are of her gagging, some of her sniffing, some just smiling. Adorable. I love this little face more every time I look at it.

Ending Holiday Thots

2011-12-31T09:14:00.002-07:00

I know, I know, I KNOW I need to do some serious blogging!

The girls and I have only been in St. George for two weeks, but it literally feels like two months.

I'm not gonna lie... I've loved each of them having their own rooms to sleep peacefully in... We had our own too!

2012 is almost here. I'm setting some major goals and I'm sticking to them. For more than just a month. Anyone remember how many times you have to do something before it becomes a habit? 11 o'clock (or earlier) bedtime for me and Nate is one goal, and its the one that needs to happen for so many other goals to happen.

Nate and I went to a Thai restaurant yesterday. I whipped out the notebook to discuss our resolutions for 2012. We only got around to one (the bedtime one...). Lets blame it on the delicious food, shall we?

I love not overdoing Christmas. Why on EARTH would my three year old need hundreds of dollars worth of Christmas presents? She doesn't. I've decided in our family, we'll spoil kids on their birthdays, but leave Christmas for the true reason. A few presents, but mainly focus on Christ.

I promise I'm not complaining about this... Nate got me some really cute boots for Christmas, but there was literally four inches of space around my calves. In our recent quest for replacement boots we had the same problem. I can't decide if I should curse or love my slender calves.

I love that our church now starts at 9 a.m. YAY! And in happy/sad news, this time next year, Whitney will be in nursery. Happy because, well, its nursery! And sad because my baby is growing up...

BYU football is OVER! But BYU basketball has started... I suppose my husband having one guilty pleasure isn't so bad, but why do the games have to be so blasted long?!

Hope you all had a fantastic Holiday season! I'm looking forward to reading lots of blog posts in the next few weeks. I'll definitely be posting some of my own.

Family Pictures 2011

2011-12-17T11:15:00.003-07:00

***I don't remember what I put in my last family picture post... sorry if I repeat. (Cuz clearly its too difficult to go back and read it...)***

For our family pictures this year I really wanted to capture part of our new life here in California. Even though we don't go to the beach too often (it is a LOT of work) I really wanted our pictures done there. After some recommendations from friends we decided to go with Laguna Beach, at a place called Heisler Park. BEAUTIFUL!! If you ever come to visit, this is the beach we'll take you to. My cousin's husband, Trevon Angulo, was kind enough to come take our pictures and I couldn't be happier with them. The girls were so good. Maybe not chock full of smiles, but at least not crying and screaming :) I'm excited to get prints of these and hang them on my wall. YAY!

Random

2011-12-11T00:26:00.003-07:00

Bear with me... This annoys me.
We're sitting here watching the news (ok, Nate was watching the Sports segment of the news, and I was brushing my teeth... Its no secret I'm not a sports fan.) and a story came on about the best hitter in Major League Baseball just signing a new contract with LA Angels. His ten year contract is for 254 million dollars. TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-FOUR MILLION DOLLARS! That is freaking insanity! Its also no secret if I had to pick a sport that is my least favorite, hands down, baseball. So boring, so lame. I'm sure he's got talent, I'm sure most professional sports players have talent, but seriously, there are some insanely talented people out there who are struggling to get by. I used to dance when I was in High School, and I LOVED it. It was hard and really pushed me, physically and emotionally. There is a girl at the studio I used to dance at and she is ridiculously, no, OUTRAGEOUSLY talented. So talented, in fact, that she is currently studying at Julliard. Wow, right? This past summer she was doing fund raising and looking for sponsors just to help pay for tuition. Maybe I'm biased, but I feel like it takes more talent (MUCH more talent) to be a dancer and all of the things that entails than to whack a ball and run in a square. So lame. Why does he need that much money? Why is it ok for them to get paid so much and my mom, who is a 2nd grade teacher, shaping the future dancers/baseball players/politicians, gets paid hardly enough to get by? Seriously, I'm not politically inclined (no secret there, either), but this country/world has some messed up priorities if they think that is what is important.

Consider me bugged.

Squinkies

2011-12-08T22:51:00.006-07:00

Ok, so I just have to tell you all about my AMAZING deal today. It might be kinda long, but I'm so excited about it I don't even care.
I was perusing Target.com today, and saw that their Disney Princess Squinkies were on sale for $6 each, but when you buy one, you would get one for 50% off. BARGAIN!! Two sets of Squinkies for $9, regularly $12 each. Then I was going to have to pay $5 shipping, which I hate hate HATE doing, so I didn't get them. Walgreens was (is, go check it out!) having a sale, all of their $9.99 toys have a $4 coupon, sweet! So I was just going to get Rachael one pack of Squinkies and then exchange them for the princess ones when they got more in. I also got some cheese and milk and went to check out. Total? $7.12. I didn't notice until my card had gone through, then I said, "Wait! How much?? How much were the Squinkies?" "Two dollars." "I'll be right back, I'm getting more of those!" They only had one pack left so I went to check out again, ready to pay my two dollars, but he just handed me my receipt. Confused, I said, "They're FREE???" "Yep, it looks like the coupon takes it all off." "Is it supposed to do that?" "I don't think so..." but this kid didn't look like he was wanting to mess with it, so there you have it. AMAZING RIGHT?! They didn't have any more or else you better believe I would have stocked. up.
The problem with Squinkies are they are quite a choking hazard, especially to a mobile six month old... So instead of giving Rachael 32 Squinkies, I'll probably just fill her stocking with them then give them to her two at a time... we'll see. Squinkies are pretty cute and I'm over the moon about my deal!

Family Pictures Peek

2011-12-07T09:07:00.004-07:00

Blogger is being annoying and will only let me upload one picture at a time, so instead of spending then next four hours putting pictures up, I'll put three. Eventually I'll collage them, but I'm lacking the motivation to do anything that takes even the tiniest amount of thought... sigh... Enjoy this little peek, I have some pretty DANG cute girls! And my husband ain't too bad, either. :)

Twenty-FIVE

2011-11-17T17:01:00.003-07:00

Holy moly. I. Am. Old. Ok, not really, but 25 sounds WAY older than 24. Am I right or am I right or am I right? My birthday was on Sunday and it was pretty low key, being on a Sunday and all. This weekend my mom, sister, and two nephews came for a visit. We went to the Aquarium of the Pacific (NOT fun, sorry mom. Rachael was a living terror. Pictures later.) on Saturday. Friday night, Nate took me out to the Cheesecake Factory. SO YUMMY!! I've only ever had their cheesecake (ironically we didn't get a piece because we were stuffed to the rafters.). But the pasta we both got was to. die. for. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.
So since I continue to age, I'm trying to become better each year. This year is gonna be good... I don't know exactly how yet... but it will be, and I'll let you know when I figure it out. I'm thinking about having a positive outlook on EVERYTHING, using anti-aging face/body wash (never to early to start, right?), drawing nearer to God, and being more thankful for all of the wonderful blessings/people/both I've got in my life. Some people want to stop making excuses for not being the weight they want to be, I'm going to stop making excuses for EVERYTHING. I heard a quote once, but I won't quote it cuz I don't remember it exactly... Something like if its not that important you'll find an excuse, if it is important you'll find a way. I totally agree with that. Anyways, I'm gonna go do some laundry and be THANKFUL that I have a washer and dryer. (For reals, last week it was broken and it was terrible...)

#4

2011-11-10T20:02:00.002-07:00

Today, I took a nap. Yes, my friends, a nap. Not an, "I'm going to close my eyes while Rachael watches this movie and hope that she doesn't jump on my back or take the knives out of the drawer." Nope. Rachael was at school and Whitney was unexpectedly tired, and instead of spending the three hours Rachael is at school watching TV or cleaning (haha, right...), I did the dishes then took a NAP. Happy Birthday to ME!! And then, instead of going to the park (cuz let's be honest, sometimes going to the park is NOT a walk in the park. Thank you, thank you, I'll be here until next Thursday. Try the veal. [Gilmore Girls]) we came home and played with playdough. Much more low key. Now I've got company tonight, but my vacuum is broken, so I'm just letting it slide. They really don't care anyways. Have a good night. I know I will!!

#3

2011-11-09T16:45:00.002-07:00

Today's present worked out for me!
First off, I'd like to give a shout out to my amazing husband for training our daughter so well. When Nate is home, he's the one to get up with Rachael if she does get up. Sometimes she gets up at an outrageous hour, like 4 a.m., so Nate goes in and says, "Rachael, its still dark outside, all of the cows and horses are still sleeping, so you need to sleep too, ok?" So this morning Rachael woke up at 5:30. Not happening, my friend. So I took her potty and put her back into bed. "Close your eyes and go to sleep, ok?" "Mom." "What?" "Cows see-ing? Horse see-ing?" "Yep, the cows and horses are still sleeping." "Shae-shae (what she calls herself... I'll take what I can get.) see-ing." "Yep, Rachael needs to sleep." Done! She slept until 9.
Today for my present, we went to a place called Pump It Up with some girls in the ward. Its just those blow up slides and bounce houses and such. I got an AMAZING deal through groupon for it. Amazing as in 6 passes for $5. Nice. It was a lot of work for me actually, especially because Whit only slept for like 15 minutes after we got there. After we left we went to Chili's for lunch. (I actually sat in the car for like 5 minutes debating on whether or not to actually go in, or just get it to go. We went in.) The girls were amazing and so good, and the food was ok. As fun as it was go to out to eat, the REAL present I got for myself was getting the Avocado and Ranch dip. YUMMY! If you've never had it, go get it. Like right now. Its only $3, and you get it instead of the salsa. I have that ranch and the fresh chips sitting in my fridge, waiting for the girls to go to bed so I can watch Gilmore Girls and Parenthood while snacking. Best. Present. Ever.
Now Rachael is watching Cars and Whitney is still sleeping. Once she wakes up, heck, maybe I'll treat myself to a shower! How nice would THAT be!

Uuuuuugh

2011-11-08T20:45:00.002-07:00

I'm about to share one of my least favorite things about parenting with you. Ready?

When you kid does something {REALLY} naughty and you can't get mad at them because you weren't paying attention to them.

This could be something like writing on the walls/couch/carpet with pen/crayon/permanent marker. Or squishing their bread into their water cup, then proceeding to let their play horse "eat" said concoction. Or they could pull all of the books off of the bookshelf. All extremely obnoxious. All things little kids do, its just how it is.
Tonight's episode is bad, and annoying, and {mostly} my fault.

So here I am, happily typing away at my post (see next post) and I hear Rachael in the bathroom playing in the sink with her toys. A usual occurrence in this house. I usually end up with water all over the floor and a sopping wet kid. Not a big deal, I'd rather have her doing that than wasting her life away in front of the TV. Tonight, I thought to myself at LEAST four times, "There are so many worse things she could be doing."
Then I hear the splashes. She occasionally dumps cups of water onto the bathroom floor, quickly putting a halt in her water-play. I thought this would be no different. I was wrong. After plugging the sink, she took the ENTIRE roll of toilet paper, basically a new roll, and torn it up (including the cardboard roll...) and placed it in the sink. Then filled it with water. The splashes I heard was the result of the T.P. plugging the emergency drains near the top of the sink, thus allowing the water to leak all over the counter and onto the floor. Joy. I had to scoop the sopping T.P. out, allowing the least amount to go down the drain. So annoying. And to keep Rachael away (and to keep her from waking her sister) I just shut her into her room, no reprimand.

I need to be more vigilant in watching what my three year old does, but sometimes I'm just too tired. Then I end up with more work later. Such is parenthood, I guess...

#2

2011-11-08T20:22:00.003-07:00

So today's birthday present to myself didn't go according to plan. The PLAN was to go to Kohl's and use a gift card we've had for a while to buy myself a new pair of pants or shirt or something. Well, its pretty difficult to try things on when you've got a baby strapped to your front. So I meandered around Kohls, wanting so badly to find something to buy, even if it wasn't for me! I looked for clothes for the girls, but didn't get anything because I was determined to find something matching. Nothing for Nate. Then I thought, "Ah-ha! Perfume!" Nope, nothing was on sale. Then I thought, "Ah-ha! Kitchen gadgets!" (which I love.) Nope, nothing was on sale. Then I thought, "Ah-ha! I'll buy something online!" And that is what I just tried to do. I tried to buy this beautiful maxi dress. Its exactly what I've been wanting. Neutral-ish colors so that I can wear a plethora of cardigans as a coverup, and its SUPER long so it won't hit me awkwardly at the ankle like I hate. Get this, I even found a 15% off all dresses coupon AND a 15% off your purchase coupon. SWEET! Minus the fact that the website wouldn't apply the gift card. It said it was applying it, yet my balance was still 22 bucks. No bueno. So I called customer service and spoke with a very nice man (whose native language was NOT English, so I could barely understand him... no bueno [pun intended]) who after about 20 minutes told me it was a problem with my credit card. So I hung up and tried a new card. Still no go. Lame. So I'm giving up. I tried to be nice to myself, I really did... maybe tomorrow I'll try again.

#1

2011-11-07T21:16:00.002-07:00

Nate is in LA this week for some training, so I'm trying to find ways to keep a positive outlook and not lose my sanity. (I would make a TERRIBLE single mother. I'm so thankful for my amazing husband!) Since this week is my "birth-week" (aka: the week leading up to my birthday, YAY!) I've decided to do one thing for myself every day. So tonight, since the girls went to be like champs, I'm taking a bath. My first bath in this apartment. I. LOVE. BATHS. Seriously. This is a picture of my dream bath (just slide a copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a bowl of delicious popcorn, and a big bottle of ice water, and I am SET!). However, tonight's bath will look nothing like this. For one thing, we have one the obnoxious bathrooms that the fan automatically turns on when you turn on the light. No bueno. And the tub has the sliding glass doors. No bueno. And the tub is super narrow. No bueno. But it is full of hot water (I had to fill it with ULTRA hot water about an hour ago before I put Whitney down, the plumbing in the apartment is really loud.) and I'm headed to pop a bowl of popcorn. (No, I'm not reading HP4 currently, but not from lack of desire. From a conversation I have with my mom a lot about how I should "read new things." Whatever, mom... HP still rocks my socks.)
Stay tuned for my other "ME" presents, I've got some good ones coming up that I'm REALLY excited for!

Laugh Fest

2011-11-02T19:29:00.002-06:00

Whitney was laughing hysterically at Rachael in the swings today at the park. So cute!

(It looks like I'm shaking her a lot more than I really was. Don't fret, Whitney isn't going to get shaken baby syndrome, but my phone probably will...)

(Oh, and don't mind my double chin. Gross.)

Halloween

2011-11-01T14:30:00.004-06:00

We had a great(ish) Halloween! It was a crazy day because it was Rachael's first day of school, but everything worked out. I made soft pretzels shaped into pumpkins and "fingers" for dinner. I wanted to make sure Rachael got something not sweet for dinner, so I had to make something I know she'd like. It was a hit!
Once Nate got home we headed out to go trick-or-treating. We went to a part of town that I had heard from girls in the ward was a good place. There were a TON of people there. It was pretty chaotic. I had Whitney in the baby carrier I borrowed from a friend, and we lasted a good 50 minutes out there. As we headed back to the car, Rachael spotted a playground and that was the end of everything. Whitney was shrieking, literally shrieking. I've never heard that noise come from a baby before. So we had to pull Rachael away from the slide, and she was not happy. Nate had the screaming Rachael, I had the shrieking Whitney, and after much struggle we got both girls into their seats. We got home and snapped a few pictures, then they headed to bed. PHEW! I'm not gonna lie, I'm glad this Halloween is over. But next year we're ALL going to dress up!

I made these fun peacock costumes for the girls. Thank you Pinterest for the inspiration! I love how their headpieces turned out! Now what am I going to do with them... and the 125+ yards of tulle...

Preschool!!

2011-11-01T14:01:00.002-06:00

FINALLY!! Rachael got in to the District's Early Childhood Education program! She'll be going to preschool every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 12:20 to 3:20, with two 30 minute speech therapy sessions during the week. This is such an enormous blessing! (One downer is that we live 1.1 miles away, and in order to qualify for transportation, aka the little school bus, you need to live 1.5 miles away. But its ok at the same time, because it makes me really sad and emotional to think about sending my baby girl on a bus all by herself... Sad!) But I'll be biking her there and back, four days a week... Ugh, that's what we get for paying off our student loans, no extra money for another car. But I'm 100% ok with it because this is my kid's academic future. I'm so excited to see her develop and start talking and learning!

Rice Cereal

2011-11-01T12:48:00.003-06:00

Whitterkins got rice cereal for the first time on Saturday night (Oct. 29). I was hoping to wait until she was at LEAST five months old (in a few days she'll be five months...) to start her on food, but she's been waking up every two hours to eat. No bueno. So we thought we'd give this a shot. She didn't love it, she didn't hate it. But she did sleep better! She only woke up once that night, it was amazing! The next night, however, she did not sleep better. I think it gives her gas or something... We'll probably take a break for a few days and then try again.
Here is a post of Rachael's first time trying rice cereal. We were living in NYC when I posted this, so there is some other things in the post. Enjoy!

Farm Gal

2011-10-25T18:48:00.004-06:00

While in St. George, my sister, Lindsey, invited us to go to Staheli Family Farms with her Preschool class. To say Rachael loved it is an understatement. She loved seeing all of the animals and going on the wagon ride. Thanks for taking us, Linds! Rachael asks to go to the "harm" every day!

Today, we went to another farm. It was a different type of farm. The Staheli Farms is a farm full of animals, this one today, Tanaka Farms, is a produce farm. We went with some friends from our ward (thanks again for the invite, Lacey!) and it was awesome. Rachael got to pick some carrots, onions, and radishes. She also got to pick a small pumpkin. Going to the farm today made me excited for when we have a garden someday, and also made me excited for our next Rexburg trip to pick stuff out of Grandpa Russell's garden. There is nothing more delicious than fresh produce straight from the garden!

Dream Come True

2011-10-25T18:40:00.004-06:00

While the girls and I were in St. George, I went to see the play The Little Mermaid at the Tuachan Amphitheater. I went with my mom, sister, friend Chelsea, Aunt Melanie, and her girls, Emery and Ella. It was SO good! Since it is outside they had a sheet of water every time the scene was under the sea. Amazing, I LOVE Tuachan!And you better believe I waited in line with all of the little girls to meet Ariel and Prince Eric! I wanted to shove them all aside and say, "I've loved The Little Mermaid for the last 22 years! Back. Up. Off." But I didn't. I waited like a good girl, and then I got to hug Ariel and Prince Eric! Loved it! (Let's not talk about Eric's gross man-ponytail. THAT wasn't in the movie!)

If you're ever in the Southern Utah area, try to see a play at Tuachan. Next year they're the first off-Broadway theater to get the rights to Aladdin. Woot woot, we'll be there! Maybe Rachael will go!

The Beach with Brit and Bret

2011-10-25T18:17:00.003-06:00

A few weekends ago my best best BEST friend/cousin, Britni, surprised her hubby, Bret, with a trip to Lego Land for his birthday. And lucky us, they came to stay! It was so fun! They went to Lego Land on Friday, and on Saturday we all hit the beach. Nate and I are still trying to find our "go to" beach for when family comes, and this wasn't it. It wasn't a bad beach, just not ideal. But it was, of course, still fun.

Aren't they so cute? Aww!

Aren't we so cute? Aww!

The water was too cold to get in, but Rachael liked just playing in the sand.

Whit and I just kicked it in the shade (mostly).

B and B
(feel free to steal this picture Brit, its UBER cute)

We had a few projects going on on the beach. Bret made this amazing rock tower. 20 rocks, I do believe. And don't worry, Rachael came and kicked it over about three seconds after this was taken. In fact, I think that's her shadow on the left...

Since we didn't ever put Whitney's suit on her, I made a sand baby with it. Creepy or creative? You decide.

Thanks again for coming to play, you guys, come ANY TIME! And I'm sorry if my crazy children dissuaded you from wanting children, cuz you guys will be amazing parents someday! For realsies.

Snit

2011-10-21T20:54:00.003-06:00

Oh. My. Gosh. Everyone should read this article! My friend, Brittani, posted this on her Facebook and it is seriously amazing. So deep and so true. I think a lot of times the role of "mother" is looked down on, but at the same time there are some amazing people who stand up for it, and don't judge and don't question what we do all day. I'll admit, sometimes I do get lazy and turn on a show for Rachael so I can peruse Facebook/Pinterest, but the majority of my day is NOT spent on the computer, or lounging in front of the TV, even crafting (which I would LOVE!), it is spent doing what this journalist says. Staying one step ahead of my kids, keeping them happy, teaching them, cleaning up after them. And when I do have a second to do something for myself, maybe I don't want to call someone or e-mail someone, sometimes I don't even want to write a Facebook message. Not only is everything we do time consuming, it is completely exhausting! Toss another kid into the mix and it is amplified to the max. It is only 8:00 right now and I am so ready to hit the hooskow (do other families use that term for going to bed? Ours does.). I think if you click on the picture it will get big enough to read. Seriously, do it.

(Actual picture of my children will be coming soon, I promise.)

Journaling

2011-10-18T13:38:00.003-06:00

So I'm not the greatest journal writer. And when I say "not the greatest" what I really mean is "I never write in my journal." I feel slightly overwhelmed when it comes to journals, like I need to record every minute of every day. I have this blog, which obviously records some family events and some of my emotions, but lets be honest, I'm not going to blog about everything that goes on in my head. I've always worn my heart right on my sleeve and haven't been afraid of letting people know how I'm feeling, but I typically keep my deep feelings in. They're nothing fantastically interesting, just things people don't necessarily need to know about.
I had an eye opening experience at my mom's this last week. She was searching through her nightstand looking for her Disneyland Pass (yes, my mom AND sister both have Disneyland passes, and we don't. How dumb is that.). She found it but she also found her old journals. It was SO interesting to read through them. She was my age when she wrote them. It was fun for me to picture her with her long (occasionally permed. Excuse her, it was the 80's) red hair pouring out her soul into these journals. What I loved about them is she didn't document every single activity they had done that day, and some of the entries were only a few sentences long. It was her space to record her feelings. And really, in 20 years from now, no one is going to care the we went to the park or used sidewalk chalk today.
As we were sitting there on her bedroom floor reading some of the entries my mom says, "This is so weird. Its like I'm reading someone else's life, not mine." Then I said, "Its like I'm reading MY life!" And it really was. She had a lot of the same emotions. So it hit me that I need to start documenting my feelings as I go through my motherhood experiences so one day it will help my daughters. I can't dwell on the fact that I've missed so much already, but I'm going to do better and hope that one day my daughters will gain strength knowing that all mother's have close to the same emotions. Happy and sad. Joy and frustration. Fears and triumphs. Stress and calm. Everything.
So I started my new journal last night. It started off with an apology to my two daughters, and any future children. But then I recorded the emotions I remember feeling when I had Rachael. Tonight its Whitney's turn.

*Funny entry: My mom found a piece of paper in one of the journals that said something to the effect of, "Remember Allen? He just left on vacation and I don't think he'll call me when he gets back. I guess things just won't work out." Bahaha looks like things did work out. 30 years and going strong!*

Baaaargain!

2011-10-07T15:12:00.003-06:00

So I just wanted to share about my super amazing find at the D.I. the other day.

I've know what Rachael is getting for Christmas for a long time. A pink Radio Flyer scooter, with the two wheels on the front for stability. Cute, age appropriate, and compact (convenient for both our small arpartment and the fact that we're going to St. George and don't have a ton of room in the car). I was ok with paying full price for a new one (only like $30 on Amazon), but was also on the look-out on Craigslist. Well what do I find with an $8 price tag on it at the D.I.? You guessed it! A scooter! Just take a magic eraser to it and it'll be good as new! So I was having them write up a tag for it in the back so I wouldn't have to try to hide it from Rachael while we were shopping and the {old} man writing up the ticket looked down and said, "Does that say $3? I don't' have my glasses on." Being the honest person that I am :), I said, "Nope, it says eight." The man, whose name was Reed, by the way..., said, "Eh... We'll give it to your for three."

SWEET RIGHT?!

I know, I'm stoked about it. Now I just need to get her a helmet and knee pads and we're all set.

(I won't even tell you about my amazing skirts I found there, too.

You'll be too jealous of my deal finding skills.)

Psychic

2011-10-04T13:18:00.002-06:00

Sometimes, I'm laying in bed, so dang tired I think it will be mere seconds before I'm drifting through Dreamland. But I don't fall asleep. Still don't... An hour passes and I'm still not asleep. How annoying, right? Right. Then, for example, last night the alarm clock goes off. Did I set it. No, I most certainly did NOT set the alarm for 12 a.m., it set itself. Needless to say it woke up my sleeping babe. Not really a big deal, all I did was feed her and put her back down. But the point of this story is to tell you that this has happened before, multiple times. Different methods were used in waking up children, being it a honking horn, a slamming door, or her waking herself up somehow. My body seems to know that it shouldn't completely shut itself down because it will just be disturbed. Freaky right? My body is most definitely psychic. I have mixed feelings about it because as precious as my sleep is to me, it does make for less enjoyable sleep if I'm yanked from REM sleep to a crying child. Whether or not I approve of my psychic body, there is nothing I can do about it.

What I REALLY want is a full night of peaceful, lovely sleep. At least 7 hours. If that dang alarm clock hadn't gone off last night I would have most likely had it. Dumb.

Rockstar Mom

2011-09-29T16:07:00.002-06:00

I'm not gonna lie, I feel kinda weird doing a post about myself. Taking pictures of myself, really weird. Let's be honest, I'm just not as cute as my girlies are. Anyways, I just discovered something I want to share. I've been Pinterest-ing? it up looking for an easy hairstyle. I don't have gorgeous locks, I have limp, straight, volume-less hair. Its true, and I've accepted it so don't try to tell me otherwise. I've always wanted the "tousled" look, but I just can't get it without perming my hair. This hairstyle I've dubbed "Rockstar Mom" because pretty much you need to stay in your home for this to work. It involves bobby pinning nine little buns into your hair, not particularly attractive. Here is how you can do this look, and you CAN do it, cuz its so super easy.

Put some form of product in your slightly damp hair, gel, mousse, even plain ol' hairspray, just something.
Twist each section of hair away from your face and roll it into a bun. It does NOT have to be pretty, just a bun. I have really thin hair so all of my hair fit into nine buns, but if you've got thicker hair you might want to do a few more.
Secure with a bobby pin
Walk around your house, make some bread, do a load or two of laundry. Your hair just needs to start drying
After a few hours, take your blow dryer (preferably with a diffuser, but it could work without, I don't know) and blow the buns to speed up the drying (you could do this periodically throughout the day too)
Take the bobby pins out and continue to diffuse your hair.
Flip your head over while blow drying and wiggle your fingers through the roots to break up the hair.
Whip your head back to maximize the volume, and spray with hairspray.
VOILE! You're a Rockstar

This was the result today, with unwashed hair (no, I do not shower every day. don't judge.), just sprayed with a spray bottle.

This was yesterday (excuse the crazy eyes...), I think it turned out better yesterday right after the shower, after letting my hair air dry almost completely. Lets not talk about my studded top and black leggings to make me feel even MORE like a Rockstar.

I really want someone to try this out and let me know how it turned out for you!

(Maybe you could do this at night, wrap a silk scarf around your head and sleep on it? I'll buy a silk scarf and try it out.)

Side Note: Not that anyone would necessarily
want to, but if you do want to "Pin" this, please
don't. Since my blog is public I don't want it
circulated more than it already is. Thanks!

Thots.

2011-09-27T22:01:00.002-06:00

K, I'm going to write this real fast while the chocolate shell on my ice cream is hardening.

Here are a few thoughts I've had. I know you're interested.

I won't ever NOT be a mother ever again. Weird.
Even almost four months later, I still find it strange how I only go to the bathroom maybe twice a day. Its still weird not being pregnant.
Along with that, I still find it strange how I have so much energy. I just got so used to being tired ALL of the time.
I'm glad the thing that I LOVE to do (hair) is something I can do and still do another thing that I LOVE (be a mom). Nice!
I hate it when Nate gets home late, but if he gets to take Friday off (or come home early) it makes it all worth it.
Is there anything sweeter than your baby smiling up at you after she's done nursing? Let me answer: No, there is not.
I don't like being paranoid about my downstairs neighbors. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. I'd rather not get after my child for acting her age, thank you very much. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
I h.e.a.r.t. Craigslist! Post on my findings is coming.
I also h.e.a.r.t. chocolate shell on brownie ice cream. So I'm going to go eat it and watch Parenthood.

Have a good night!

Bumbo Girl

2011-09-25T00:10:00.004-06:00

We never had a Bumbo chair for Rachael, so its been fun taking all of these cute pictures of Whitney sitting up. She has the prettiest smile, and her eyes literally light up when she does. Its easier to see in person than just a picture, but we sure adore this little girl and her sweet personality!

(Can I just give a shout out to Craigslist? Ten bucks for this Bumbo, what a deal!)

Bawoo, hoh-se, and zoo

2011-09-24T23:47:00.003-06:00

Friday September 16 was a GREAT day. It was the day after Nate's tax deadline and they have this awesome thing called "Flex Fridays." That's when you can take Friday off if you've already worked your 40 hours and there are no more deadlines. Sweet! So we decided to do something fun as a family. We we wanted to go to the Santa Ana Zoo and we were out of the house by 11. We headed to Costco, then decided to wait to go to the Zoo at two so we could get half price. To kill time, we headed to the Orange County Great Park or something like that... Its pretty cool, they have this HUGE orange balloon that takes you 400 feet high and a Carousel. Both for FREE! Who doesn't love that? Rachael LOVED the carousel, I HATED taking her off of it (a fit was pitched), and we all loved the balloon ride. We left at one to head for the Zoo, and ended up waiting 30 minutes to get in cheaper. It was fun, nothing too fantastic. The big exhibit was the Anteaters. The female had a baby in April so it was fun to see the baby riding on her back. They do that for ten months, I think. I'm glad my kids don't do that... That whole day (and every day since) Rachael has been asking for "Bawoo, hoh-se, and zoo." She has also been asking for "Gwah, Pah, and Zee" (Grandma, grandpa, and Lindsey. Good thing we get to see them all this coming weekend, YAY!) I love family outings and I'm excited to find more family favorite places!How cute are my girls?? Pretty darn, right?

Noisy

2011-09-20T21:03:00.003-06:00

So, apparently, we're noisy. Our downstairs neighbor just came up to request that we control our three year old a little better. Ok, she didn't say it like that, but it was clearly implied. She had a rough day today, and Rachael has already woken her four month old baby up twice today.
I'm really not MAD, and not super annoyed, just bugged. And I also understand where she is coming from, but all I can say is this: What would you like me to do? She's three.
It is a known fact to mothers of toddlers, they get wound up when bedtime starts to roll around. Trust me, downstairs neighbor, no one wants her to be calm more than me, but at around 7, after she's passed her crazy tantrum throwing time of the day, she gets hyper. It doesn't help that daddy comes home at that time and she wants to play with him, and I want to let her play with him. She said that she realizes that in about two years she'll have to deal with her kid being crazy, but still... she doesn't understand what it takes to control an uncontrollable child. And its only going to get worse as Whitney becomes mobile.
I have two suggestions: 1: purchase a noisemaker 2: move to a place where you won't be inconvenienced by other people's obnoxious children.
It was Nate who answered the door (I'm still in my jammies with mascara half way down my face and bra-less... My current appearance would not have helped her bad day.) and he basically told her that we'll do our best. I love him. He totally gets me, and is nicer than me. And we really will try, but we didn't promise anything. We currently have Primary songs playing, hoping to calm the crazies inside of Rachael down.
Someday we'll have our own place where our children can run wild without annoying anyone but me. Someday... But for now we'll just have to tough out this year lease we've got and next time move to a floor level apartment so we can deal with other people's noise, not them dealing with ours.

It also didn't help that Rachael has been
crazy running around in just her panties.
We're so white trash.

Advice?

2011-09-19T13:31:00.003-06:00

Ok, I need some advice. I don't usually ask for advice, in fact, I want the onesie that says, "My mom doesn't want your advice" for my babies to wear because I HATE getting advice from strangers when they clearly don't know my situation OR how I'm trying to raise my kids. (ie: Grumpy lady in Church who told me to take my NOT screaming toddler out of Sacrament Meeting. We, as her parents, have decided to not remove our children from S.M. with the slightest noise because that teaches them that if they make noise, they get to leave church. No no no. So, if you don't like the loud children in the back [because we showed up late and didn't get a comfy seat because we have um, CHILDREN. And we're not the only ones...] why don't you go sit on the front row so you can enjoy the meeting??) ANYWAYS! Basically, I don't love advice, I'd rather find my own path. But now I need it, because I'm an ignoramus when it comes to the P.T.

POTTY TRAINING
dun... dun... dun...

Ugh, bane of my existence. We've tried P.T. three, count 'em THREE, times before now, all with no success and a LOT of frustration. But apparently she's ready and doing a great job! (I hope I didn't just jinx it, cuz I really do believe in jinxing since I've had kids) She goes most of the day going #1 and #2 in the potty, unless we go out, and with occasional "I"m going to stand right beside the toilet and pee on this toy, just to see what happens." Yeah, good stuff. My question is, when can I trust her to go out in public w/o a diaper/pull up? We went for a walk the other day and didn't even make it across the street before she #2'd her panties. She even "tried" right before we walked out the door. Ugh.

Side note: they say to not get after your
kids when they have an accident.
That.
Is.
Hard.

So basically, all you mommies who have endured this potty training adventure, what should she be doing when I can trust her to not have an accident when we're not at home? I'm thinking maybe 3 days accident free? Also, how do I get her to not be so scared of the public toilets?

(She still won't use her words to tell me she has to go, she usually just runs in and does it. But when we're in public she doesn't know what to do and can't tell me. Maybe that's the main problem. Ok, that is most definitely the main problem.)

On a happier note, Whitney woke up dry this morning. Not joking. I seriously think Whitney is going to be ready to be potty trained before she's 18 months old. She hates having a wet/dirty diaper, where Rachael is completely content to sit in her own filth all day long.

Chit Chat

2011-09-16T22:05:00.001-06:00

Adorable

2011-09-13T22:19:00.000-06:00

I freaking love this kid. She is such an angel.

Get Over It

2011-09-10T23:14:00.003-06:00

So lately I've been thinking about things I've done wrong when raising my kids. Ok, not wrong, just things I wish I would have done that I didn't do. There is a LOT. But here are some things I need to get over, and not just about kids, about life.

That I didn't blog thru my first pregnancy/Rachael's first three months of life.
That I haven't kept track of every single paper from the Pediatrician stating the girl's stats. I don't know how big Rachael was when she was two months old, and that makes me sad.
That I haven't taken pictures of my girls in the same outfits. Some, but not too much...
That I don't have any coordinating furniture. Our life has just been crazy, and this is the first time ever that we've had a steady income, therefore we have a crazy mixture of furniture/decor.
That I can't go back in time and do all of the DANG cute ideas I see on pinterest.
That we don't have a second car... This is a BIG one to get over.
That Rachael loves Mickey Mouse more than she loves to read. Believe me, I've tried to read to her in the middle of the day, she wants none of it. Only bedtime.
That Rachael isn't in school anymore, therefore I don't get a break in the morning... Also a big one.

How do I keep myself from beating myself up over these things? The guilt that comes with motherhood is RIDICULOUS!

Three Years and Three Months

2011-09-10T14:47:00.002-06:00

In my completely unbiased opinion, I have the most gorgeous girls in. the. world.

Rachael at three years old

Whitney at three months old.
(What?? Where did the time go?)

I really love getting these pictures taken. I love the simplicity of them. Don't get me wrong, I love the girly girl ruffles and bows, but for these milestone pictures, I just like to keep it simple so you can see the child, not just their outfit or the huge bow on their head. There is nothing cuter than a genuine smile, so I try to keep these low key.

Ducks and Just Plain Sweet

2011-09-08T19:13:00.003-06:00

On Sunday evening we went to a nearby lake and fed the ducks and geese. Rachael LOVED it! I was kind of in panic mode because she was getting so close to the edge of the water, but we all came out completely dry. This will definitely be something we do often.

And here is my sweet little angel baby. I'm so thankful to have such a good baby. She loves her big sister so much and smiles whenever she sees her. Or if Whitney is crying, then Rach pitches a fit, Whitney will stop crying until Rachael has gotten it out. Seriously, if babies are patient, Whitney is definitely a patient baby. I love her more and more each day!

The girls went to the doctor today. Rachael is just over 39 inches tall (90th percentile) and just under 39 pounds (95th percentile). Whitney is just over 25 inches (97th percentile) and weighs 14.8 pounds (97th percentile) and her head is 41 1/2 cm (I think 85th percentile). They're both tall, evenly proportioned, healthy girls! Man, oh man, it is SO sad watching your baby getting shots. Rachael didn't need any shots, just the flu nose mist and a toe prick to check her iron, but Whitney needed FOUR shots, plus one orally. The saddest part about it was she was giving the nurse a huge smile right when the needle went in. :( She hasn't been too grumpy today with her sore little legs, just not napping so good, which I can understand.
Rachael has her last day of pre-preschool tomorrow. In just these three weeks she's been going to class she's improved SO much! She's using a few two word sentences, like thank you (dit doo), and been trying to say more words. Don't hurt me for saying this, but I secretly hope she doesn't get any better because she still really needs to get into this district program. Hopefully I still ride my bike even though I won't have to go pick her up anymore. Trips to the park I suppose...

What Would Your Sign Say?

2011-09-07T22:59:00.005-06:00

My wonderful sister-in-law, Heidi, shared this link on her blog. You should really read this. It says that its long, but its not too bad. So, my friends, look away from Pintrest for five minutes and read this article! Truly inspiring.

I'm really trying to think of what my sign would say... I'll share it with you when I think of it. This one she's wearing gets pretty close though...

Friends

2011-08-29T11:11:00.002-06:00

Yep, I still don't have any friends here in California. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it, after all, we've only been here for two months. (That doesn't really make me feel better...) Anyways, I've been thinking about making friends, and I've come to this conclusion. Making new friends after marriage is worse, by far, than dating. Maybe not quite as awkward, but more difficult and time consuming. Example: There is this girl in our ward who I've only talked with a few times, but we clicked and had a lot to talk about. I actually refer to her as my best friend (haha, don't think I'm too weird, this girl probably doesn't even remember my name.) so I told Nate that he needs to be best friends with her husband. Nate said he just didn't "click" with her husband. Craaaaap. Then the other day after church Nate said, "I've found you a new best friend. I don't know her name, but her husband's name is _____. We talked in Elder's Quorum." "Oh yeah... I met his wife in the mother's room last week. Yeah... we didn't really click..." Craaaaap.
Now I realize you can't judge a person entirely on one conversation, and in reality, Nate is at work so much he doesn't really need a BFF. But I'm at home all day and the only interaction I get is with a speech delayed three year old and a goo goo ga ga baby. Cute, but not entirely stimulating. I've always been fairly good at making friends, I'm reasonably but not overly outgoing, but this has just been HARD, especially for us only having one car which I don't always have. Ugh, I can complain and whine until I'm blue in the face, but I just need to DO something about it. So today I sent a Google Group message to my Relief Society people to see if someone wants to go to the new Winnie the Pooh movie tomorrow, cuz I'll have the car. Hopefully someone signs up to be my friend :)

I'm losing motivation...

2011-08-25T14:24:00.003-06:00

To bathe myself... Here's why...
The new ride.

We still just have one car. We could maybe, maybe, afford another car if we want to scrape by again every month with a car payment (Mallory the Malibu is paid off, thank goodness!) plus car insurance. But we've decided to put off getting another car until it is absolutely necessary. Very lucky for us, there is a park less than a mile away, and Rachael's school is only 1.1 miles away. Easy peasy with a bike! So we took ourselves to Costco (we're so grown up, with our own Costco memberships!), got a bike, and found a new bike trailer on craigslist. The girls LOVE it. Whitney is so good in it and falls asleep every time we go somewhere. But this bike and trailer is why I don't want to bathe anymore. In the mornings, Rach has to be at school at 8:35, the perfect time for Nate to take her before work. Then I have the morning just me and Whitters. I took a shower, got ready, all stress free, wondering what the heck Rachael was getting into. (P.S. Don't anyone take offense to this, but it is SO easy having one kid. Seriously. I remember one being hard when I was there, but holy moley, two is much more stress.) But that 2.2 miles (there and back. I can do math) in this heat and humidity is KILLER. I start sweating the moment I push the pedals down. Yuck. I hate feeling sweaty and grimey and having my hair pulled into a pony every day, but showering so much is a lot of work. Once Whitterkins is better at supporting her head, she'll be able to sit in a baby floaty and maybe we'll get home from our ride and hop right into the pool. Ahhh... that will be amazing.

Although I am loving having a low-key workout every day. Its good for me.

Preschool... What??

2011-08-25T14:17:00.002-06:00

When did she get so big?? Miss Rachael started preschool on Monday. Ok, its more of a pre-preschool. Here in Irvine, the school district has an AMAZING program for kids with different developmental delays. Right now Rachael is in a class to be observed and see if she'll qualify for that program. I really have no doubt that she will. She'll be in this class for three weeks, we'll have to wait for five weeks, then have a meeting to see if she'll qualify. Ugh, such a long process, but it will be well worth it. Right now, and if she makes it into the program, she goes Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, for about three hours. She loves it, and I'm excited to go watch what goes on.

P.S. Isn't our blue door so cute? Oh, and the kid in pink, too. And a word of advice: pur your kid in tennis shoes for preschool, cuz teachers don't like it when sandals come off.

Pooped.

2011-08-25T14:11:00.003-06:00

Rach barely made it in the door after church this past Sunday. That's what she gets for waking up at 5:30. Did I get a nap, too? You're silly. Of course not, but it was nice to make dinner in peace.

Giggles and Pictures

2011-08-20T17:10:00.003-06:00

We have been SO lucky to catch both our girls' first laughs. This is the real, successive laughs, not the what I like to call "gigg-lets" (less than a giggle). Click here to see the post of Rachael's first. Now this one of Whitney is not the best, because my phone is currently having issues and won't let me transfer the ENTIRE laughing session (about 48 seconds worth), so I had to pick my favorite 24 seconds. Hard. But enjoy, its always a happy day when your baby laughs. Too bad she was laughing at my dumb voice and goofy faces, nothing truly funny... like the movie Elf. We'll get there.

On another happy note, we went to Target this morning to get Rachael's three year pictures taken. Ugh, this girl was sent to me so I could learn patience. We show up ten minutes early, like good appointment keepers should. Rachael would have NONE of the picture business. I felt bad because the woman taking the pictures thought it was cuz Rachael was getting a weird vibe from her. I made sure to tell her that no, Rachael is just uptight. They were SO NICE at this studio and said it was ok for us to take a break, go get her the popcorn and Icee we'd promised her, then come back and try again. Especially nice because it is Saturday, their busiest day. But we came back and Rachael was so adorable! She was especially fond of the photographer blowing raspberries. (Quote from photographer: "It doesn't matter how old you are, farts are always funny." lol she was funny) I'm excited to get these pictures back next week, but for now, here is one I snagged from their website (illegally... don't tell.)

Seriously, kid?

2011-08-18T14:38:00.001-06:00

She snatched this huge piece of Romaine lettuce off of the counter while I was making lunch. Yep, she ate the whole thing. Maybe she'll be a bunny for Halloween.

Thumbs

2011-08-09T10:10:00.003-06:00

TWINS??
Which one is Rachael and which one is Whitney? Can you tell?

Whitney is a sucker. For anything suck-able. I've never been a big fan of soothers (aka: pacifiers, we call them soothers in my family) because I've heard so many horror stories of weaning. Also I hate seeing older kids with soothers stuck in their mouths, cuz that's all you see when you look at them. Not their cute face :) Rachael was never a fan, and she only sucked her thumb a few times. During the day Whitney doesn't have the soother in ALL day, but I can tell she's loving it more and more. Wigwam. I can eventually wean her off of the soother, but I can't take her thumb away from her... I told Nate I was going to put nail polish remover on her thumb to nip this thing in the bud (I didn't) but maybe we'll just have to cross this bridge later. I'd rather her take a soother because they're designed to keep the mouth shape normal, but a thumb can "ruin the shape of her mouth." (Quote: Mrs. Merriweather from Gone With the Wind, go watch it.) *Sigh*

P.S. Whitney is on the top, Rachael is on the bottom. Rach was a little over three months when this picture was taken

A few things...

2011-08-08T18:44:00.002-06:00

I don't spank my kids. I never have and I don't plan to. Today, I've never had such an intense desire to start. (No worries, there were no spanks given)
I'm no longer blaming Rachael's attitude on her speech delay (entirely), I'm blaming TV. Once college football is over (the whole stupid reason we have cable), I am most definitely canceling it. I. Hate. It.
We need another mode of transportation.
I need a mini mode of transportation (aka: stroller)
Sometimes... its just not worth the hassle... (see pic below, second blow out of the day)

(that is until your husband comments on how cute the sleeper is and how earlier that evening he was thinking about how dang adorable she looked in it. Craaaap, now I have to try...)

I hope your day was better than mine.

Tootsie

2011-08-04T13:45:00.002-06:00

Whitney's nickname is Tootsie, a name coined by her Auntie Lindsey. Why, you ask? Because this little girl is gassy! Seriously. And its loud when she lets that gas pass. I'm fairly sure she has all of those bubbles inside because we've had latching problems since birth, which we're working on. I just love this little girl more than words can say! Today is her two month birthday, and she has been such a good baby! She only cries when she's hungry or poopy, or when she needs to pass gas. And she is so smiley and chatty! Rachael didn't start talking until she was almost three months, so hopefully this is a sign that Whitney won't have a speech delay. Enjoy the cuteness!

Rachael's Third Birthday!

2011-08-04T13:35:00.002-06:00

Mickey Mouse cake. The inside was red velvet cake with white chocolate frosting. The fondant was a LOT of work, and I'm fairly happy with how it turned out.

Awesome, super cute play kitchen!

On July 31, my princess Rachael turned the big THREE! She is no longer a toddler, she's a little kid! Oh, how I love this little girl! She's feisty, opinionated, a snuggle bug, a sweet big sister, imaginative, artistic, LOVES being a girl, and gives the best hugs! I'm looking forward to another year to watch her grow and learn and play. I love you, Rachael Face!

This year the party was low key, seeing as how we haven't made any friends yet... My awesome parents and older sister came down for the big day! Rachael loves her gwah, pah, and Zee. And when I say loves, I mean LOVES! Thanks, guys, for coming for the visit! We started missing you as soon as you walked out the door!

End of a Journey

2011-08-04T13:27:00.002-06:00

Last Saturday night, Nate and I went to see the final Harry Potter movie with my parents. I'm so, so, SO glad I got to see it here in Irvine. We saw it on Imax 3D and it was outrageously amazing. Seriously, it was the perfect way for me to end my HP journey. ($19/ticket was a small price to pay, and I would pay it again without hesitation.)
I wonder sometimes if people think I'm weird for my obsession with Harry. During the movie I got emotional with some of the characters who died, but it was in the last 30 seconds of the movie that my emotions really flew. I simply could not believe that it is over! My mom blamed her tears on her hormones, but I am simply just so sad to have this end! I literally feel like I'm losing a friend. Yeah, I know I can read the books as much as I want, but its different this time. I have no new Harry Potter events to look forward to. (Aside from the Magical World of Harry Potter in Florida. When are we going, Britni?)
Love you, Harry

Swimming Maniac!

2011-07-28T15:47:00.002-06:00

We went to the pool again today, without Rachael's huge swimsuit/floatation device. She just used water wings, and let me tell you, this kid is loving the pool! She normally goes in to panic mode major if we let go of her in the pool, but today I had her kick her reach for one of my fingers, took the finger away, and told her to kick her feet. She. Did. AWESOME. Only bad thing is now I have to be extra, EXTRA careful with her because she thinks she's a fish. Oh well, I'm glad she's not as scared as she was a few weeks ago. We haven't showered yet because we're going to go swimming with daddy after work to show him what this kid can do!

Enjoy the videos!

Beach Babes and Boy

2011-07-23T21:56:00.003-06:00

They're switching floors at Nate's office, so he had yesterday off, aside from a little work to do at home. Nice! So we took advantage and went to the beach. So much fun! But a lot, lot, lot of work. We went to a State Park to avoid the crowds, and we found a nice beach. Rach wasn't too sure of the waves at first, but got used to them and had a lot of fun, just as long as she was holding someone's hand, her hat, her bucket, or once, Whitney's leg. (I was wearing a sling to hold Whitney, but you'll notice that there are no pictures of me. I just had a baby seven weeks ago and I'm not ready to have my legs all over the internet. Or even on my blog.)

Whit got some sand in her mouth at the beginning, not her favorite or mine, but after a while she liked being in the shade. Cutest little beach babe.

Sand Castles!!

Who took that picture?? They have some amazing photography skills, catching that bird and everything!

Here are some things I will do differently next time we hit the beach:

Get the girls in their suits in the parking lot, not the beach
Sunscreen before we get to the beach
Take Whitney's bouncer
Take a lawn chair and nursing cover
Take a big sheet instead of a bunch of towels to sit on, the sand sticks to the towels
Get a beach umbrella
Have a big bottle of water in the car to get the sand off once our adventure is done

Tresses Françaises

2011-07-22T21:35:00.003-06:00

If you couldn't tell, the title means "French Braids" in French. (Although I believe more accurately it would be "French Hair," but I'm no Frenchwoman) I thought we'd give these a shot today, and her hair is long enough! One side looked better than the other, plus they were inside out braids and those are harder, but its ok because with all the rolling around on the floor this kid does these braids only lasted about an hour. I did them again before we went to the beach (post on that tomorrow!) and they stayed until we came home for a tub! Awesome. Now if only Whitney would get some hair... oh, and can I just curse the baby bald spot? Ugh. Rachael never got one, and I don't know if that's because she didn't have much hair on the sides anyways, if it was too light to tell, or if I just had the luxury of holding my baby every second of the day. Not so much the case this time around... She'll get hair someday!

3/4

2011-07-18T08:48:00.002-06:00

This post will only include 3/4 members of this family :)

Here is Nate on his first day of work! He was heading off to LA for some training, hence the duffel bag. His first week went well, he just had a lot of training videos to watch, but today he is starting on his first real tax job. Its weird... Nate keeps talking about how he wants to retire (hahaha!) and he's got about 35+ years of work still. We're so used to being students and always looking forward to an actual job, now we're there. Weird. Good (once he gets paid), but weird.

Here is my happy, smiley little girl. Whitney is such a sweet, happy baby who rarely fusses. Once difference between her and Rachael though, Whitney will NOT eat if she has a wet/dirty diaper. Rachael never fussed over diaper problems. Kinda interesting...

Here's the stinkbug. She still loves the swings even after being whacked pretty hard by one last week. Her shoulder is doing better, although not 100%. We're trying to take it easy. I sent my sister this picture and she texted back and said, "She looks like a California girl!" Its true, she does. She's been loving sunglasses lately, and always steals mine!

Swim!

2011-07-18T08:39:00.002-06:00

We have a swimming pool and spa about 50 feet from our front door, and it has been so fun! When my parents were here we all (minus me and Whit, we just dipped out toes in) went swimming at around 8 p.m. Then Nate took Rachael the next day, and this week I took Rachael three times while Whitney bounced on the side. Its nice having it so close and its so fun, but kind of a hassle with Whitney not being so high maintenance (aka not loving her bouncer for extended periods of time, and needing to eat. SO high maintenance haha) but Rachael is pretty good about leaving when Whitney fusses.

Loving the pool! Check out Whitney's uber cute swim suit. Four bucks at Target, yes please!

My mom gave Rach this robe to wear home from the pool and she loves it! This face she's pulling isn't a real mad/stinkerbelle face, she likes to glare, then smile, then glare, then smile. Its pretty funny.

We're working on Rachael being more brave and possibly jumping into our arms, and I've also asked a friend to send me a link on infant/child CPR. Now we just need to go to the pool more so I can get some color on these pasty white legs, ugh. (I also need to swim my own laps to get rid of this dang baby weight)

Friends

2011-07-18T08:30:00.002-06:00

Moving to a new place is always hard, especially when you don't know anyone. Both Rachael and I have been missing friends. I find it hard to make friends when I don't know where any are to be found. (Profound, eh?) But really, I know there must be people around us to be friends with. No one from church lives near, and Nate typically has the car during the day, so that also throw a wrench in my friend search.
Lately Rachael and I have been missing these two little ladies. It was so much fun in Cedar because they were just on the next block.

Here is cute little Brooklyn, Cortney's little girl. Rachael and Brooklyn were what I like to call "frenemies," because they loved to play and jump on couch cushions, or they liked to take toys from each other. Miss you, Brooklyn and Cortney!

And here is little Morgan, Megan's daughter. Rach and Morgan always got along really well, and it was fun because Megan had her new baby boy a month before I had Whitney. Miss you, Morgan and Megan!!

Miss Smiley Pants

2011-07-14T22:06:00.002-06:00

Whitney has started smiling recently, but ONLY for daddy. How annoying is that? Every time I hold her, she starts rooting around looking for a meal, but when dad holds her is smiles all around! Its ok though... It gives me a good chance to video. Enjoy, she's growing up so fast!

Irvine, thus far

2011-07-12T09:42:00.003-06:00

Well.. we made it! With no hiccups or bumps along the way! Last night was a long night so I'm just going to summarize our first week here in list form.

We sold our couches, and its a good thing we did because there wouldn't have been room for them
They didn't take my banana away at the CA agriculture checkpoint, just citrus and cherries
There are a LOT of Asians here. I don't know why that surprises me so much
Our apartment in super nice, WITH a washer/dryer, garbage disposal, AND a dishwasher. Can you say heaven?
I purchased my first amazing Craigslist purchase. A GORGEOUS 150 year old barnwood hutch, painted a lovely shade of red. My first piece of furniture with some character! $40!
Had my first hand dipped ice cream bar from Costco. GO GET ONE. Even more heavenly than my new appliances
I love my parents SO dang much for all of their help with this move! And I miss them even more :(
The California DMV is the worst place on earth, and I truly believe that.
I really love having my husband come home from work NOT smelling like sweat. When he worked at the nursery, he would be filthy and stinky. Now he's clean and looks good in his fancy office clothes :)
Our new ward is AWESOME, although I'm sad to say I don't know anyone's names because there were so so SO many people introducing themselves to us. I'm bad with names anyways, but when they're thrown at me by the dozen I'm even worse...
Rachael got taken out by a girl on a swing last night at our ward FHE. Her shoulder/neck hurts pretty bad, which made for my long night. We may be making our first trip to the Doctor tonight when Nate gets home.

Pictures later, I need to take care of my princess's shoulder :(

Whitney's Blessing

2011-06-30T19:36:00.003-06:00

Whitney was blessed by her dad on June 26, 2011 and it was such a sweet blessing. Her Father in Heaven loves this little girl so much! Whitney was perfect all day and didn't cry at all! (Good during the day, but up ALL night) This is the gorgeous blessing dress that my amazing mother made for Whitney. She made Rachael's, and now she made Whitney's. Hopefully we don't have 5 girls, right mom? :) My sister also made the ultra cute bracelet, and a matching one for Rachael! Nate's parents, sisters Melissa and Elise, and little brother, Kimball, were able to come down from Rexburg for a little while. (More on the actual weekend later, I just figured my grandma wanted to see pictures of Whitney) I love the blessing day, they look so sweet and angelic. Thanks, Mom, for the beautiful dress, I know the girls will cherish these one day!

First Church Appearance

2011-06-20T15:23:00.003-06:00

How do you like the new blog? Pretty creative, eh? I thought so too...

Yesterday was Whitney's first day to church. Rachael decided to wake up at 6:30, but even though it was RIDICULOUSLY early and I was super tired, it ended up being a blessing because everyone was ready to go at 8:30 so we made it on time! NICE! And Saturday night (technically Sunday morning) was awesome because Whitney slept for THREE HOURS STRAIGHT! Yes my friends, I got three consecutive hours of sleep, from midnight to three a.m. Amazing! We're working on her not wanting to eat every hour, because that is no fun for me! We're getting there.
Whitney is wearing the super cute dress I had picked out to bring Rachael home from the hospital in, but she didn't fit into it. It fits Whitney perfectly. She was wonderful in church, so much easier to take care of than Rachael is, even with Nursery :)
Rachael is wearing my shoes, and she apparently is destined to be a model, what with her freakish height and her already knowing how to strike a pose and strut her stuff. Tyra would be proud :) Man oh man, she's a girl alright!

Love my girls!!

Nursery Rhyme: Modern Application

2011-06-20T15:17:00.004-06:00

There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,

But when she was bad she was horrid.

Welcome to the world of Rachael. That Rhyme sums her up.
*Note: these pictures were staged (not the curl in the middle of her forehead, that was natural, and the obvious inspiration for the post), she's not quite this bipolar*

The Name Game

2011-06-12T19:50:00.004-06:00

My Aunt Stefani has asked to hear the story behind the name, so here it is. Its not too exciting, but should be documented none the less.

For the last few months we've been reading the baby name book (I literally looked at every girl name in the book!), watching movie credits all the way to the end (Nate takes the left side, I take the right), looking at family names, asking my mom and sister (who both spend a lot of time with kids as they are both teachers) for cute names, and basically just looking for the PERFECT name. I don't remember when it happened, exactly, but I walked into our room one night and Nate was reading the baby name book. "What do you think about the name Whitney?" Now normally he would suggest a name, and I'd immediately say, "No," but this time, it caught my attention. I was quiet for a second, then said, "I like it!" But, us being us, we could NOT commit. Every once in a while we'd refer to her as "Whitney" but never truly accepting it as fact. I still loved the name Lyla (Rachael's almost name) and Nate still loved Kate (but we're foreseeing a boost in popularity because of the new Princess...). Whitney was good common middle ground. Middle name? LaRee, my mom's middle name. (Unless we had chosen Kate, cuz in Nate's ears Kate LaRee sounded too much like "cutlery." Weird, but I guess legit.)
So the big day arrived and we HAD to name her. We're pretty much forced to. It is STRESSFUL naming a child! Its their NAME! The list we had was: Whitney, Lyla, Kate, and Jenna (thrown in a few nights before because of a credit from a TV show). Immediately we tossed out Kate and Jenna, they just didn't suit her. Whitney or Lyla, Whitney or Lyla? Nate had never been 100% on the Lyla wagon like I always wanted him to be, but all the sudden he was. What the? Now what?? We had "Whitney LaRee Russell" and "Lyla LaRee Russell" written on our white board all day, and we'd just stare at them. Finally, FINALLY we decided. I don't recall exactly how, but we did. She just seemed more like a Whitney.
So there you have it folks, Whitney LaRee.
(P.S. The girl who took Whitney's pictures at the hospital's name was Whitney, the girl my mom picked up my pain meds from was named Whitney, our institute teacher's oldest daughters name is Rachel and his youngest is Whitney, and our Bishop has a grand-daughter named Whitney LaRee! CRAZY!!!)

Whitney LaRee

2011-06-11T17:26:00.003-06:00

She's here!! And she is GORGEOUS!!!

So here's the story.
As stated in previous post, I had my membranes stripped on Wednesday the 1st, no go. So I had them stripped again at 3 p.m. on Friday the 3rd. After I got home Nate, Rach, and I went to the park. At around 5 I started feeling a strange tightening in my belly and noticed that about every 15 minutes they happened again and again. I texted my mom and told her I thought something might be happening and I'd keep her posted. So, posting her through out the night they were getting closer and closer. She, my dad, and my sister came up around 9 p.m., after the kid was in bed. We spent the evening watching the hilarious show called King of Queens my friend loaned us. (Lifesaver!!) We turned it off at about 1 a.m., but needless to say I did not get much sleep. And by much sleep I mean no sleep. At around 3:30 Nate and I headed to the hospital as my contractions were about 4-6 minutes apart. I got checked in and made it through a few more contractions then asked for my epidural at around 5ish. Glad I asked for it then because it took them a while to get my IV in. Since I was Strep B positive I had to get two rounds of antibiotics in me before I could deliver her. Epidural in, me out. Nate and I took a small nap :) I don't remember times too well, but eventually we woke up, had a nurse switch, had my cervix checked a few times, I was only at about a 5 or 6. I was put on pitocin to hurry things along. At I THINK 9 a.m. Dr. Sanders broke my water (the antibiotics were all in!) so we were all (me, Nate, my mom, and sister) just waiting waiting waiting. At about 10:30 they called the doc in. By the time he got situated and robed It was about 10:40. Three contractions later, TAH DUH! She's here! 10:48 a.m. Enjoy these pictures!! More stories later :)

Baby

2011-06-03T20:24:00.002-06:00

Some of you may have been confused by my last post, what with the emotions that were heavily flowing. Let me explain. Tuesday night I was very emotional because I knew on Wednesday I was going to get my membranes stripped, which would hopefully put me into labor. So, with those thoughts running around my little brain, my emotions went on overload and I gushed. I don't regret it, at all, I just haven't had those overpowering feelings since, just mini ones. Well, needless to say, the membrane stripping didn't work on Wednesday, so I had it done again today, with an induction scheduled for next Thursday if things don't work again. Well... let me just tell you that I think something is happening. THINK. I've never done this whole "going into labor" thing, what with me being induced last time. But I'm pretty sure, so my mom and dad are on their way up. And I'm not Facebooking this, for my own good reasons :) so only you loyal readers get the scoop.
I'm also wondering why I wanted this to come so soon... I'm getting nervous :)
And I am REALLY excited about the doll we're giving Rachael when we bring the baby home. I had this doll when I was little, its called a Water Baby. You fill her with water and she feels more lifelike. I have her little doll carseat for her to sit in, and my mom made her a little tiny carseat tent. SO CUTE! I just filled her tonight and put the original outfit on her that I had saved from my water baby, and let me tell you... I may just keep her for myself!! Ok, I think I'll have enough on my hands, but really, I LOVE this doll. I wish Rachael was talking and could give her a name, but I'll just be patient for that. My doll's name was Holly, because I got her on Christmas. Pretty creative for a four year old, eh?
Well... Have a good weekend, and hopefully I'll be back soon with pictures of my beautiful new baby girl. (Name still TBD)

EEK! I'm in labor!!

To My Baby Doll

2011-05-31T21:33:00.002-06:00

Rachael Face,
Tonight may have been the last night I will read and sing to you before your baby sister comes, and I bawled the whole way through. I love you so much, everything. I know you'll still be here after the baby comes (your dad just reminded me of that) but our lives are going to change SO much. These last three years, its been you and me, and occasionally your dad :) You've been my little buddy. You give me squeezes and hugs whenever I want them, and even though there are times when I am SO frustrated with you, you have truly been the best first child a mother could ask for. You're my princess, my stink bug, my baby doll, my kid. I hope and pray that I can continue to give you everything you need. Not just food and clothes, but all of the love and affection you could ever need. If you ever need more love, just tell me and I will drop everything I am doing and give you a nice long cuddle. I love you so much, please be patient with me as I try to figure out this whole "two children thing." I will always, always treasure the last three years and the wonderful, AMAZING memories you have given me. I love you.

Love, Mom

The Best Things in Life are...

2011-05-25T22:38:00.003-06:00

FREE and MESSY!! Today we were pretty bored and sick of sitting around so we went to this pond we found a little ways away from our apartment (I don't think we're technically allowed to go there, its like a subdivision's pond... who is gonna tell, right?). It was only like three or four inches deep so I figured Rachael would love to throw rocks in. I was right... then she plucked up the courage to go in. One thing I've learned in motherhood is that sometimes you need to let your kid get messy, whether its a ice cream cone all over her face/clothes or mud on the bum and wet shorts. Plus it makes for some dang cute pictures, right? My favorite is the top right, one of her hilarious faces.

(Grandma, aren't you SO proud of me for all of the blogging I've been doing? I've got nothing else to do waiting for this baby!!)

Pregnancy (this time)

2011-05-24T21:03:00.003-06:00

I just thought I'd take a few minutes to share my thoughts on how this pregnancy has gone, you know... so I don't forget. Again, list form.

Easy-peasy (for a pregnancy, I did have my sick-ish days), up until around 33 weeks, then (just like last time) I started to get uncomfortable. My dumb veins popped, as well as my "belly," and I just started to feel blah and thought a lot about NOT being pregnant.
Since I'm so close to having this kid, I know what to expect and I'm pretty excited! Not necessarily for the whole labor thing, cuz that hurts, but the after part. And this time I get to look forward to seeing Rachael be sweet with her.
It doesn't make sense for this baby to be inside of my anymore. I literally feel like that. Last time I think I was just floating along, enjoying the attention that pregnant women get, finishing up Beauty School, prepping for my Boards, not really realizing that the pregnancy was rapidly coming to an end. Today I was playing with Rachael, and I really thought it was SO weird that I wasn't holding a baby. Is that weird? Well, that's how I feel.
Today was my 38 week check-up. It was this week last pregnancy that they put me on bed rest for the evening, then the next day Rachael graced us with her presence. (I need to put the whole birth story down for Rachael, be prepared for that huge post.) My doctor told me today she is measuring a little small (based on the size of my uterus) so if I haven't delivered by next Tuesday they're going to do another ultrasound. That was what happened last time, but last time they didn't even get to the ultrasound, they just induced me. So we'll see... but I really need to focus on counting her movements.
I may not look big but I feel HUGE!! I wear my nice four inch heels to church still, and I had a friend tell me she was impressed. Well... nothing else fits.
Old Wives Tales DO NOT WORK. I knew this was true, but I've eaten pineapple, spicy food, gone for walks, everything, all to no avail. This baby just wants to come when she wants to come.
I'm getting annoyed because I feel like she's just not coming out because she wants to bug me. Like there is a big red button on the inside of my uterus that she just needs to poke, or kick, or hiccup on and labor will begin. Ugh, just push the dang button already!!

Current 38 week pictures

37 weeks last time around, one week later I was induced with Rachael

Car Seat

2011-05-20T17:49:00.003-06:00

We got our infant car seat out to clean it, and of course Rachael is obsessed with it and wants to be in it constantly. Here is the comparison picture. Man, oh man, my baby is HUGE!!

Straight Hair

2011-05-20T17:36:00.002-06:00

We were bored the other day (a.k.a. Rachael was being good and I was bored) so I decided to bust out the flat iron. Just to see. SUPER CUTE!! Not as cute as the curls, but I'm glad to know Rachael's whole essence of cuteness does NOT, in fact, derive from her curls. At the end of the day Nate said, "Where are my baby's curls?" Happy to report that after her tub they popped right back where they were supposed to be. It was fun for a change though :)

The Last GradJUBILATION!!

2011-05-20T17:12:00.007-06:00

There goes my little graduate... (Don't ask why this font is weird...)
Nate's actual ceremony where he walked was at 8:30 a.m., but we had to be there by 8, but Nate had to be there by 7:30, which meant we ended up being there then too because our car was in the shop. Nate's parents had to take us. I thought 7:15 was asking too much of someone on a Saturday to watch the kid, but she was actually really good (for a two year old)

Nate getting "Robed" in his Master's Robes

The happy family :) with the TWO Master's Degrees we all have worked for.

The happy couple :)

Nate's parents came down and "surprised" him. I SWEAR I did not tell him, he guessed, I'm assuming because I was running around in panic mode trying to get my apartment perfect. My parents also came up from STG for the ceremony and a picnic afterward. Rachael thought it was SO cool having two grandmas in her house. She grabbed my moms hand and took her to stand right next to Charlotte just to look at her two grandmas. lol Pretty cute

Rachael finally tried on Nate's cap, and even gave me a cute little smirk. I love this kid :) In 15 years she'll be wearing one of her own for High School Graduation. WEIRD.

Thinkin' Spot

2011-05-18T09:37:00.003-06:00

I remember Pooh Bear always had his "Thinkin' Spot." It may have been called something different... Anyways, that is what my blog currently is. Here are some of my thoughts in list form, just because they're crammed into this tiny little brain of mine and they need an escape route.

I freaking LOVE my new diaper bag. Literally obsessed. There may be some things about it that have the potential to become annoying, but currently I love it. See it here, if you want to. (the brown one)
My back hurts. I want to have this baby. But not just because my back hurts.
Rachael has really turned up the sweetness factor to her daddy. I. LOVE. IT. I used to say, "Go give daddy a kiss," which would be responded with a, "NO!!" But this morning after breakfast I told her to, and she went and cuddled with him for another 10 minutes. So sweet!
We woke up to snow this morning so we've decided to move to California.
I'm really sad to be leaving our ward in the said move to California. I think this may be my favorite ward out of all we've had since we've been married, which is like 10. Sorry, previous ward members, not that I don't love YOU, but this ward is particularly awesome.
I really, really might get rid of all of Rachael's toys except for her little Disney action figures and dog/horse figurines. Those are the only things she plays with.
I currently have three Water Babies in my possession. I only need one. (p.s. Water Babies don't count as toys, they're MEMORIES. I loved, loved, LOVED my Water Baby. Getting her (Holly) for Christmas when I was four is my earliest memory.)
Rachael's speech is getting so much better!! Maybe to those who don't spend much time with her its not so good, but even compared to three weeks ago she is at least trying more.
Wigwam is the greatest term ever. Its a family thing :)
Rachael with straight hair is just as cute as Rachael with curly hair (see below)
I feel like I really need to go on a date with the Hubs. At least one more before this kid comes. Thank goodness Auntie Lindsey is coming to play for a few days :)
I need to blog about Nate's most current (and FINAL) graduation!! Rachael was thrilled to have both sets of grandparents at her house.

I know there was more, I just forgot. Have a good day!!

Mother's Day.

2011-05-08T21:43:00.002-06:00

Today technically was Mother's Day, but I'm choosing for it to not be M.D. for me. Why? I've always been one to wear my heart on my sleeve, to let my true feelings show, so here it is. Today was just one of those days that comes along every once in a while when I wonder why people constantly talk about how wonderful motherhood is, how it is such a high and noble calling, next to the angels. The day started off bad. Rachael didn't get to bed until late last night, so I knew I was going to have to wake her up for Church. I could barely drag myself out of bed due to the stress of the weekend and how dead tired I was. But, of course, I did, and everyone looked acceptable for church. She was obnoxious (lets be honest) in Sacrament meeting, my skirt was too tight across my belly, and we were both tired. Nate took her to Nursery, which took a little while, but he was successful. (Let me just interject here with my amazing husband. He truly tried and did everything he could for me today, but sometimes the disciplinary action just needs to be taken by mom, no matter what day it is. He even got me a prenatal massage. YAY!!!!!) We came home from church, ate some lunch, barely got Rachael for a nap, I took a nap, woke up to Nate starting dinner (SO good, by the way. Honey, garlic, and sage pork roast with potatoes and green beans and watermelon w/ fruit dip for dessert. YUM!!!!) The rest of the evening proceeded with the kid peeing her panties twice and pooping once, all with tantrums involved. Big tantrums. I've once again decided that I'm going to put potty training on hold for the third time because it is going to put me into early labor. (Mixed emotions about that! I want to hold this baby and be done being pregnant, but guess what... this kid is going to grow up to be a three year old too...) She hardly ate any of her dinner, has been FREAKING out about a little squishy kitty toy she lost and we can't find anywhere, got out of bed three times, just barely ending with Nate changing a poopy Pull-Up (expensive? yes, she was only wearing it for about 20 minutes.) and now she better stay in bed. I'll be better tomorrow, I just need Nate to make me a mint Oreo shake and watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy with me, then I'll be off to bed and ready to do it again tomorrow. Hope all of you other mother's had great Mother's Days and you got some sort of break, cuz Heaven knows, WE DESERVE IT!

Couch Vent

2011-05-03T22:17:00.004-06:00

I'm a little bit annoyed. Really, just a bit, because sometimes dumb things happen (like just barely my instincts telling me "dumb" is spelled "dome" because that is what my fingers typed... annoying.) As some of you know, we're trying to sell our couches in preparation for California. We've had small apartments the whole time we've been married and I'm slightly sick of feeling squished all of the time. We're still getting a small apartment, that is just how it is, but to make the squishy situation better, we're planning on getting ONE couch (hide-a-bed, we've got it picked and are SO excited!) and possibly a small decorative chair. I put an ad on Craigslist with them listed at $550. They're nice, green couches, used for about 14 months (we've technically owned them two years, but we had them wrapped in shrink wrap in our storage unit from the middle of Dec. 2009 until Aug. 2010). EXCELLENT condition, and cute to boot. So anyways, they're listed at $550, figuring it can give us some bartering room. Here are two text conversations I've had with two people the last couple of weeks.

do you still have ur green couch set 4 sale?
yes we do!
are u taking offers?
what are you offering?
$400
i think my husband wanted to get at least $500, but i'll ask him (knowing full well it was not going to happen)
(next day)
did you get a chances 2 ask ur husband if u can do $400?
yeah, he said he wants at least $500 for them, sorry!
k

That conversation was fine... I guess... she might as well try, right? Here is the next one, and maybe you'll think I'm being obnoxious for being so annoyed by it, but nevertheless, here it is...

Hi, my name is Ashley. I am interested in your ad on craigslist for the Green Microsuede Couch Set. Are they still available?
Awesome and yes they are
What is the lowest price you would take for them? (notice the word lowest)
i think the lowest my husband said was 500 (again, lowest)
would he take 350.00?
probably not
Ok thank you for your time :) sorry for any inconvenience.

UGH! Really? The word lowest was stated twice, and then she drops $350 offer? $200 less than the listed price? If she had said like $475 or $450 we probably would have taken it into consideration. Listen, I know times are hard, but hey, this time in Nate's schooling is EXTRA hard financially for us. $350 for this high quality couch set would be an outrageously good deal, one that we cannot afford to give someone else. I'm sorry if I'm selfish, but I just needed to vent. Here are some pictures of our couches if you're interested, but please don't ask me to sell them for less than $450.

Easter

2011-04-27T15:25:00.003-06:00

Well I've decided to stay on the ball with my postage. I hate posting pictures of things that happened months ago, so with my new balancing on top of the ball act, here is the Easter Post!!

Here is the BIG Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. This was just with the St. George cousins, a few hours later even more cousins came all the way from Canada! Cousins galore!!

Rachael, Liam, and Evey, the "babies" took their turn first.

Here is Rachael scurrying about finding her eggs! (With daddy's assistance, of course)

The whole gang!
(L to R: Rachael, Liam, Owen, Jace, Ella, Caden, Evey, Carter, and Emery)

Sunday was an interesting day. We had to come back up to Cedar for Church because I was teaching Relief Society, then we traipsed back to STG where the Easter Bunny left Rachael's basket. She got some bubbles, a stuffed bunny, CANDY, tub crayons, and he was even considerate enough to bring her a beautiful new, pink carseat, one much more comfortable for Rachael's long legs. Thanks, Easter Bunny!

This is the beautiful Easter dress my mom found for Rachael. I love it! I tried to get a few good shots of her in it, but she's two, so not much to be done. I snagged some cute-ish ones, so I'm not complaining.

Easter was awesome this year. I especially loved it because my lesson in R.S. was on Charity, or the pure love of Christ, so I really focused on Christ. My testimony was strengthened with the studying I did, and I am so thankful that Christ rose from the dead. We are all so blessed!

Payless? or PayMORE!!

2011-04-25T22:27:00.003-06:00

This is going to be a completely useless, venting post that no one really cares about. Enjoy :)

Spring has sprung 'round these parts (finally) and with it has come sandals. Bust 'em out and paint those toenails!! But, just like last year, I am really struggling finding Rachael a pair of cute sandals that she can run and frolic in, yet still look outrageously adorable. I've already bought and returned three dang pairs in the last week. This one isn't long enough, but if I go a size bigger they'll flop around. This one is too high, she'll break her dang ankle! This one is a good length, but its too loose because it was made for a foot with something other than skin on it. UGH. So frustrating!! I took a quick pop into Payless Shoes today and found a beautiful, super ultra cute pair for Rachael AND for myself. And heck, its BOGO (buy one get one 50% off. My accountant of a husband has pointed out to me on numerous occasions how that is technically just 25% off each pair, which doesn't sound nearly as cool. They really know how to trap us women) AND my sister sent me an extra 20% off coupon, so SWEET! Then I looked at the prices. (Ok, I definitely looked at the prices first, but it sounds better for the story)

Aren't these SO CUTE?!?! Yeah, I'm kinda obsessed with them! I'd totally be willing to pay $15 for a cute pair of summer sandals. NEGATIVE. TWENTY FIVE FREAKING DOLLARS. For what? Three skinny pieces of fake leather, a hard plastic sole, and some buttons that will probably fall off? I'm so annoyed. Just because they're "American Eagle," like that even means anything. Ugh.

But wait, it gets better.

I know, right? SO CUTE!! Those flowers are jewels, and Rachael loves the bling bling, velcro sides, no toe thing which really hurts her feet, cute for play or even for the occasional church day. I really do love them. AND Payless comes in half sizes, so maybe I can even get them to last through the summer. TWENTY DOLLARS. Even worst than my $25 shoes, cuz they're half the size! How ridiculously annoying. I was paying $15 for the shoes I returned to Sears. Even more annoying is that I'm probably going to buy them. Last year I waited and waited and waited to buy her a pair of sandals and stressed myself to no end, but this year I'm just going to do it. Even though it goes against every bone in my "Bargain Shopper" body. Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

*Note: I will NOT be getting myself those adorable sandals, a girl can only lower her bargain standards so far. Plus, I've been very, very good at not buying myself "post pregnancy" clothes, because when we get to California and Nate gets his sign on bonus, I'm definitely going to hit those amazing malls, still bargaining along :) *

Hair Care for Curly-Q's

2011-04-15T21:22:00.004-06:00

As I hope all of you know, I was blessed to have a daughter with curly hair. Not just wavy hair, SUPER curly hair. As much of a blessing that it is, it also requires more up keep than you might think. Maybe its just because of my profession, but I try to take really good care of Rachael's hair. Let me tell you our Hair Care routine. About 6 months ago I started using real, big girl Conditioner on her hair, mostly just in the back (I didn't want it running into her eyes) because it would get all snarled and frizzy within about an hour. Bless you, Conditioner. NOW I actually use my professional Shampoo AND Conditioner in her hair. (Shampoo twice to get all of the product and gunk out! I do it, so why shouldn't she?) She's old enough to keep her head back to keep it from running. Out of the tub, it gets a good brushing. (Oh, and I've actually cut her hair about 5 times, to even it all out and including bangs, and that most definitely happens in the tub where she is occupied) In the morning, I brush all of the snarls and tangles that formed on her pillow the previous night, then I spray her down with a water bottle, which she then proceeds to suck all of the water out of (again, occupied). Side part on the left, then I lift the curls with a pick comb, then I scrunch it with a combination of Nate's SUPER hold gel, also professional strength (hey, I'm a professional) and some amazing light hold gel from Garnier. Seriously, if you/your kid/your dog has curly hair, you should get some of this gel, it really perks them up. I swear, Rachael gets more hair product in her hair than I do. I keep scrunching it for about a minute until the curls have really sprung, then either put a simple little bow in to keep the hair out of her eyes or put a pony or two in (always with a bow). Seal it off with some hairspray and there we go! Finished! It may sound like a lot of work, but its not. Thing is though... the scrunching must be done every day, or else she looks ridiculous. Don't ask where these curls come from, because my hair is as straight as it comes and Nate's is definitely not curly. Extended family genes, I guess... Grandma Hancock had (has?) curls like this. Hopefully this new little girl has curls too, or else I won't know how to handle it!Here it is with her first French Braid on Valentine's Day. Finally!!

Brian Regan!!

2011-04-14T19:02:00.003-06:00

Today is our Fourth Anniversary!! I can't believe it, it has gone by SO fast! I honestly can't even comprehend life without Nate in it. Even though today technically is our anniversary, Nate "surprised" me with front row tickets to the greatest comedian around, Brian Regan, last friday ni. Yep, front row. Fancy shmancy! The show was, of course, hilarious. It was fun to have a different night out, not just a movie. Thanks, Nate, for splurging on the tickets, it truly was worth it and was so fun!! Love you, babe!!

Demon

2011-04-05T21:24:00.002-06:00

Tuesdays are sometimes pretty rough on both me and Rachael, but I like them because they're our busy day and we're not doing nothing around the house. Rachael has speech class from 9-10:30, then once a month our ward has "Lunch Bunch" at noon, so we typically take Nate to school so we can go to that. Today I had an ultrasound at 11:15, so even more busy! Then at 6:30 I go to an Institute class at our church that provides a nursery (SWEET!). The little lady didn't get to bed until around 9:30 last night so I had to wake her up to get her ready for class in time, so she is usually extra tired and sometimes takes a nap in the afternoon. Not such was the case today. She wasn't grumpy all day, just kind of weird... even went potty three times! But as we were saying goodbye to her little friend, Morgan, after Institute this evening, this is how Rachael responded. (Keep in mind, this is only because she couldn't play with Morgan anymore, I did nothing more than put her in her car seat) I call it her Demon Scream. (She also has a Demon Laugh, which is pretty cute, actually.) Now, I hate, hate, HATE this Demon Scream, especially when others are around to hear it. I'm pretty sure she just does it for attention so I try to ignore it when I can. Tonight in the car was an ignoring moment, but I HAD to capture it to show her in about 12 years from now. Sorry the picture is so bad, but really all you need is the sound. I was cracking up while she was doing this (very discretely, of course). Sometimes I cry when she gets like this (depends on the day), but tonight I found it hilarious. Enjoy, and all you with infants, look forward to these toddler moments.

Bows

2011-04-03T12:20:00.003-06:00

Sorry, not a belly picture...

So I've been making bows like a maniac lately. My Aunt Melanie inspired me to make and sell these bows. I'm trying to earn some money to buy a nice diaper bag before this new kid comes. I wanted to run some prices past those of you with little girls... I was thinking the headbands w/ accessory (which would be cute on us big girls, too) should be $5 each, or two for $8, the woven headbands alone (which I make, and they take a long time...) $4 each, bigger ribbon flower (bottom left) $4 each, or two for $6, tiny corker bows $3.50 each or two for $5, and the small bows, about two inches wide (bottom right, varying styles and colors, including flowers) $2.50 each or two for $4. I want to make the prices reasonable for people, yet I don't want to basically give them away because they take a lot of time and materials to make... Please give me your honest input :)

Thots.

2011-04-02T08:44:00.002-06:00

So Nate said to me yesterday, "Its been a while since you've posted on your blog. Like half a month." You know its time when a man tells you to put your thoughts somewhere... So here they are, some of my thoughts. Feel free to not read this post, it may get kinda long...

Conference: Today and tomorrow is General Conference. I'm absolutely determined to listen to all four sessions. Last week in R/S I gave the lesson on "going and doing." Basically listen to what your leaders tell you (perfect! During Conference!!) then go and do it. I'm hoping and praying that I will find comfort and answers today and tomorrow.

Pregnancy: I'm slightly freaking out about this pregnancy. Not panicking, just kind of... wondering. How do I know if she is ok in there? Some of you may know that with Rachael I had to be induced a few weeks early due to pre-eclampsia. She came out and was so tiny and literally did not fit into her skin because she had basically been starving for who knows how long. (Probably a little less than a week because I was having weekly appointments by then). Just keep an eye on my ankles and if they all of the sudden get huge and swollen head on in for a urine test? I want a bunch of those little urine test strips to use at home, think they'll give me some? Also, this pregnancy has been painful!! If you ever read on Facebook that I've put myself on bedrest, I literally have. I think the majority of the problem is having a wild and crazy two-point-five year old to chase around, but there are some times when I can hardly walk. Seriously. Pain. I go to the Doctor on Monday for a check-up so of course I'll ask him, but really, what is he going to do unless he puts me on bedrest for the next two months. "Take it easy" has new meaning when you have an active toddler who you don't want trapped inside during this gorgeous weather for the next two months watching movies... And here's a tiny thought: just because you see a pregnant woman who probably looks like she's about 4 months along (AKA: me) waddling around the grocery store, try to not judge her and think, "Honey, you don't even know the meaning of the word pregnant." Because she probably does, and she's probably further along than you think, and the waddling is just a natural reaction to the pain, not just a funny way to walk to support your ginormous belly. Next time I really might get one of those motorized shopping carts, no joke. (Also, 3D ultrasound on Tuesday! We'll be getting confirmation that it is a girl and hopefully have some cute/awesome pictures to share!)

California: Our move to California is coming upon us very, very quickly. Nate has to do his background check for work 90 days before his start date, which is this week... uhh... are you kidding me?! I have to have a garage sale, pack stuff up, have a baby, adjust to baby, possibly make a road-trip to Rexburg, bless the baby, possibly head to Canada for a quick trip, then move to the strange and 97% unknown land of Irvine in 90 days? I can do it, right? Well... I have to. Nate, he has to squeeze one full size class into "Maymester," basically four hours a day, five days a week for the month of May, hold my hand (or my foot...) through labor, start his last semester, road trip to Rexburg, bless the baby, then head to Cali. Can I just thank goodness that my mom gets done with work before this baby is due? (Hopefully...) The goal is to be 100% moved out of this apartment by the last week of June. :S

Clutter: My motivation to clean my house is zero, nil, non existent, out the window. Why? I don't know, but there is clutter everywhere. Some families in our ward are planning on doing a Yard Sale with us in two weeks from today, so as I slowly go through things (and make bows, both for my girls and to sell at the Yard Sale to earn myself some moolah to buy an amazing new diaper bag) I just don't want to clean up the mess. The corner of Rachael's room is piling up with old toys, board games, clothes... ridiculous amounts of stuff. It will feel SO GOOD when it is done, but for now, these two weeks will just have to be ultra clutter-y.

I know some of you want pictures, and I promise to post some soon, like really soon. Even one of my belly, even though it ain't much to look at... :)

Pedicure

2011-03-15T18:04:00.003-06:00

Don't judge. She asked for me to paint her toenails (in her own way) and was sitting incredibly still, so why the heck not french pedicure her toes? Bummer thing is... about three minutes after this was taken they were already ruined. Oh well... it was inevitable since I haven't got her any sandals yet. At least we know its possible for the summer though, cuz I personally think this is ah-dorable on a two year old.

Potty Training: Days 2/3

2011-03-12T20:14:00.009-07:00

*Please excuse the boldness of this post, I can't change it for some reason*
FAIL.
Yes, my friends, I have failed at potty training. She started to catch on somewhat around the middle of day two, but basically she just couldn't tell me when she had to go. So this is yet another thing I have to wait for her to be able to talk. Sign language? She's never really done it. Well the stuff we taught her when she was really little she still does, but she refuses to use any new signs. So lame. We have an appointment on Wednesday with a real speech therapist, so hopefully I get some new information. Until then, I'm trying to not have any more breakdowns over everything. But, I am thankful to have these pregnancy hormones to give partial blame to.

(Pregnancy is going great by the way, I'm getting bigger, though I wouldn't consider myself huge by any means. Nate tells me how huge I am though, and that does wonders for my self image... It is Spring Break this week so I am so excited to go though some of our stuff and get organized for a garage sale and get all of the baby clothes separated into individual boxes, finally! I went through some tonight and found all the baby shoes, and let me tell you, there is one pair of particularly adorable sparkly pink shoes that made me uber excited to have another girl!)

Potty Training: Day 1

2011-03-09T23:13:00.004-07:00

It. Has. Begun. Potty training, the new bane of my existence. The previous bane of my existence was diapers, so I suppose its a fair trade off. We began the experience by "throwing away her diapers." I quoted that because I didn't actually throw them away, I just put a new trash bag in the can and Rachael helped me "throw them away." The method I'm using says to actually get rid of them because I don't want to feel like I have a back door to use, but lets face it, I may need them again. I'm still trying to figure all of this out, because if I'm not supposed to leave her side for three days straight, and I'm supposed to play with her constantly, how in the world am I supposed to catch all of the times she needs to go before she's done going? Ugh. Well, we had a rocky start. First pair of panties: dry for about an hour. Second pair: dry for about 3 minutes. Third pair: dry for about 2 minutes. Seriously?! I thought I was the only person in this family going to the bathroom every 3 minutes, but I have a baby sitting on my already tiny bladder! I was not a happy panda at this point in the day. But I am happy to report that the next four pairs of panties only got wet because I caught her in the act (one of those acts was act two, sick.) And here is a tip: when you decide on what method to train your kid with, and if it says "have 30 pairs of underwear on hand," they're not joking. We had eight today. I was getting a little concerned. But we made it through and even have one dry pair! But we do need some tomorrow, so what do we do when we have no washer and dryer in our homestead? We use the tub. Hence the seven little panties hung on the shower rod. I plan on buying more panties sometime soon, but Nate usually has the car during the day so... we're tubbin' it. Side perk: the tub is now also clean! Wish us luck for day two, cuz I REALLY want to just slap her back in her diaper and be done with it.

(I was trying to get artsy with my photography)

Her throne. Pretty cute, no? D.I. find, five bucks. You may think that is a tad gross, but I sanded the heck out of this thing and put like 19 layers of paint on it after a thorough bleach process. Good as new, plus she isn't scared of it.

Beta Gamma Sigma

2011-03-07T15:01:00.002-07:00

A couple of days ago Nate came home and was telling me about this award he recieved at school. He has be invited to become a member in Beta Gamma Sigma. I honestly said, "What's that? Like a sorority? [Few seconds pause...] I mean fraterinty?" Haha, blonde moment. It all sounded really awesome and prestigious, but I didn't know exactly what it was. I know he received it because of his awesome grades and work ethic, he's received other awards for these things when we were at BYU-Idaho. We got a letter in the mail today that more fully described what the award means, and I thought I'd document it.

"Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive in an undergraduate or master's program... Beta Gamma Sigma membership conveys academic excellence and a commitment to high principles and supirior achievement. It will bring you a lifetime of professional pride."

Pretty cool, eh? I love my ultra amazing husband and all of the hard work he has put in to his schooling. I'm so, so, SO glad we decided to get grad school out of the way, and now that we're almost done and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter every day I'm more thankful for all of the blessings we've received and the people who have touched our lives. Its been really hard at times, but I know it is what we were supposed to do and I'll never regret the path we've chosen to take.

Brian Regan!!

2011-03-04T14:18:00.003-07:00

I am a HUGE Brian Regan fan. Don't know who Brian is. You lead a sad, sad life, my friend. Well when we were at California Adventure, guess who we ran into. While the majority of my family was in line for California Screamin' (the big coaster that those of us "with child" cannot enjoy... Rachael and I were on King Triton's Carousel, yay.), Nate thought this guy in front of them looked familiar so he asked my dad if he thought it was Brian Regan. So my dad goes, "Hey Brian, take luck on this ride!" And Brian gave him a big thumbs up. Definitely Brian Regan. So they all get off the ride and Brian walks by so they stop him and ask for a picture. (Where was I at this time? Dealing with a screaming toddler with a poopy diaper, yay.) Nate runs up to me with a camera and said, "Who is that in the middle?" Needless to say I was not so much in the mood for guessing games, so he finally tells me, "Its Brian Regan!!" Immediately my mood perks, we dump the kid with the grandparents and chase Brian down the midway. "Brian!" Nate calls, because obviously we're all best friends now, "This is my wife who is a huge fan of yours!" So we shook hands and I tell him about how I've been listening to him since 9th grade when my English teacher would play him every morning before class started. (Thank you, Mrs. Ronnow!) He told me my teacher probably should have been teaching, but I said, "No, it was my english class, and you were speaking english so it all worked out." (Look for that joke in his next show) Anyways, his wife snapped this picture and that is my famous person experience. Then, come to find out, he is coming to SUU in April, and guess whose amazing husband got front row seats for a four year anniversary date? Yep, mine. Front row baby! I'm stoked!! Here is a little clip of my buddy Brian for you to enjoy. If you want to hear more, come on over! We've got all of his DVD's and audio clips.

Honesty

2011-02-25T10:25:00.003-07:00

I'm writing about something I've written about a LOT lately. Rachael's speech delay. I seriously cannot tell you how many emotions I have on this subject, all of them negative. I truly, truly, feel like a terrible mom on a daily basis. Not because she isn't talking, but because I feel like I can't try any longer. It is so frustrating to want to play a game with your child only to have both of you get so frustrated that mom ends up in tears and the kid wonders what is going on and starts bringing mom tissues (so sweet, by the way). I want to teach colors, shapes, have her sing songs with me, but I can only take so much of her saying, "Wah" every time I ask her a question. Nate and I have stopped asking her what everything is. I've decided to put a halt on my potty training efforts. Its terrible, but I think, "What's the point? She's not going to do it." (Bad mom feelings again.) Interactive reading, singing songs, asking questions, none of these things do anything other than make me frustrated and emotional. We're going to stop asking and hope that she stops feeling pressure and just talks. And people telling me stories about how their niece/nephew, son/daughter, Einstein didn't talk until they were four really don't make me feel any better. These feelings are truly absorbing my life. I can't focus on the joy of being pregnant, preparing for the baby, on moving, on anything other than my frustration.

Big Foot

2011-02-20T20:13:00.002-07:00

Cedar City has been having some bad weather lately, snow, rain, basically just precipitation. Well the other night at around 4 a.m. we were awoken by a steady "drip" on Nate's side of the bed. Yes, my friends, our ceiling was leaking. So annoying. But, on the bright side, we're organizing our room and rearranging it to prep for the baby (anyone have a glider they're not using?). Well I happened to find this little paper in my journey through all of our crap. Rachael has always had big feet. Seriously, when she was first born her feet looked totally out of proportion to the rest of her tiny body. Now just look at her gargantuan feet. Crazy! (And her toes don't really curl under like that, thank goodness. She has long straight toes, all ten of them, perfect to slip into a pair of pointe shoes one day. If she wants to...) She currently has feet the same size as her 4 year old cousin, but its ok since she's wearing the same size clothes to match. (But he's small for his age...)

Skype

2011-02-15T22:31:00.002-07:00

This was Rachael's first experience Skyping with my mom a few weeks ago. She. Loved. It. Seriously, I'm obsessed with this video. They played peek-a-boo and Rachael even throws in a little hair grabbing action just to make us laugh. Go ahead, laugh out loud, you know you want to.

(Note: While I think Skype is a great way for family members (i.e. grandparents/aunts) to keep in contact with little children, I find it slightly awkward. I have to make sure my kitchen is clean and my make up is on... No bueno. So unless you're a grandparent/aunt, I'll be honest, I'd rather not Skype with you unless you live in a foreign country and phone calls are not possible. Sorry, but that's the truth.)

Disneyland!!

2011-02-13T13:53:00.001-07:00

Here is the whole gang!! This piture turned out pretty darn well if you ask me :) Great job, kind stranger who took this picture!!

Here is our little family. Rachael had a blast and we're so excited to take her again when we live (literally) 20 minutes away from Disneyland!!

Seeing as how this might be the only time I'll post, I just collaged all of our pictures, feel free to peruse.
(Ok, ok, chances of this being my only time posting aren't good, I need to document these memories. Its just Rachael is taking a nap which NEVER happens and I would love a nap, too)

Mickey and Princesses

2011-02-13T13:23:00.003-07:00

I was so so SO excited for Rachael to meet the characters! But, seeing as how Rach doesn't exactly understand the whole "line" concept, I decided to keep that to a minimum, focusing only on princesses and Mickey Mouse (or "Mnah" as Rachael so affectionately calls him). She didn't scream and try to wriggle out of my arms when we went to see Mickey, but this is the only shot we got. What can you do? The princesses was a different story. Disneyland has an area dedicated to the princesses. They open at 10:30 and you wait in line to meet three at a time, you don't know which ones until you get there. Nice-ish, but the line was still long, but we did it. Waited about 30 minutes only to have Rachael have a complete panic attack as we were walking up to Cinderella. Prince Charming took off when he saw us coming. Ugh. These pictures are funny though. I was very pleased with her reaction to Tiana though. They have a Jamboree every hour when Tiana comes out to meet the kids by the river and we were like 4th in line. They gave us some Mardi Gras beads and Rachael actually looked at her and we almost got a smile out of her.

*Side note* Rachael has never seen the movies Cinderella, Snow White, or Sleeping Beauty, but has seen The Princess and the Frog countless times. She and Tiana were best friends before they even met

Rachael and Daddy

2011-02-03T23:12:00.002-07:00

I was just uploading some videos from our video camera's memory chip and came across these from the day Rachael was born. (I know, that was over 2.5 years ago, but I get scared to erase any videos in case I lose them forever! An external hard drive specifically for pictures and videos is on our list of things to get.) This is when Rachael is brand new, like 10 minutes old, and I love this video of her and Nate. He is glowing, and it gets me all emotional. I loved every second of this day (even when I was panicking). I'll do a blog post on the birth story soon because I wasn't a blogger then, and I need to document these things, especially because I have another birth story coming up.

Slowly going crazy...

2011-01-28T11:33:00.002-07:00

This morning my wonderful, amazing husband got up with the kid while I lounged about for another couple of hours. I read a few chapters in my book, even caught a few more hours of shut eye, accompanied by a fun, silly dream. Then I had to get out of bed, so I came in to get some breakfast. I was quickly reminded why, even after the adorable greeting Rachael gives me in the morning, I love to stay in bed. I have currently been up and about for 1 hour, and have heard the word, "MOM," I kid you not, 387,957 times. Ugh. Some of you with sweet little babies lying in their bouncers or swings may think, "I can't wait for when my child calls me mom." Yes. You can.
Here is our usual conversation:
*Rachael sitting, playing with a toy. This morning, it was Sebastian sitting on a starfish.*
"Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom...." (You may be thinking, "Why not just answer her?" Because sometimes I hope I'll get lucky and she'll forget she wanted to show me something for the 34,598 time that day...) "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. MOM. MOM. MOM. MOM. MAAAHHMM!!"
"What?!"
"Weeeh..." In a nice, sweet voice of an angel while holding up Sebastian. (And no, I have no clue what she means...)
"Yeah... cool..."

Welcome to my world, people, welcome to my world.

Post Galore!

2011-01-24T14:47:00.003-07:00

Be prepared for the plethora of posts ahead. I've been slacking in my picture-putting-up, and I'm sure some people (a.k.a. my grandmother) have not appreciated this lack of enthusiasm. So here you go, peeps. Enjoy!!

Skirt to Dress

2011-01-24T14:38:00.004-07:00

I've been having some struggles feeling good about myself this pregnancy. Its just what happens, and it doesn't help that my hair is hideous! I've been wanting some new maternity clothes, especially things to wear to church, but apparently I'm too tall for anything. I decided the other day to make myself a skirt, dang it, because nothing else looks good. It turned out really cute, only problem is... it fit yesterday and probably will never fit again. (Not to mention the skirt had to go on from the top down... I probably need a measuring tape...) So even though I looked cute at church once, I decided to put the skirt to better use by... turning it into a dress for Rachael! I love, love, love it!! It still needs some tweaking and altering, but I'm very pleased and very happy my hours of cutting and sewing didn't go to waste. Please don't ask me how to make this, because it was hard and very time consuming. She wasn't in the mood for pictures even though a treat was offered. Its probably because her hair isn't done... sorry.

Volleyball

2011-01-24T14:34:00.002-07:00

Our Stake had a Volleyball tournament last Thursday, which was right up Nate's ally. (Not mine. Anyone who knows me knows that any sport I participate in, two things happen: 1. I make a complete fool of myself, and 2. We lose. These are facts, so I leave the sports to others...) Nate happens to particularly love Volleyball, having played for a few classes at BYU-I. Our ward had a semi-decent turn out, and didn't make it all the way, but they won a few and had some fun.

School (?)

2011-01-24T14:28:00.002-07:00

As some of you know, Rachael has a speech delay. It has been very frustrating for all three of us, so I applied for a program sponsored by SUU (I think...). We had a speech therapist come to our house to give me some advice and some activities to do with her to increase her speech (i.e. read to her, sing to her, play with her. Ummm... when have I not done these things with her?). Basically, she left and I just felt like a terrible mom and had an emotional breakdown. ANYWAYS. This program also involves Rachael attending a playgroup every week. She had her first "class" last Friday. It was pretty short, only 30 minutes, and I had to hide in the office because I knew if she saw me, she'd only want to interact with me, which is not the purpose of this class. They had snack (waffles and syrup? weird, but effective...), read a book , picked up some squishy worms with big tweezers (fine motor skills), and played. Luckily, we will no longer be going on Fridays, but Tuesdays. That will give her a 90 minute class which I'm very excited about. I truly believe this extra social interaction with kids her age will help her more than anything.

MLK Jr. Day

2011-01-24T14:22:00.003-07:00

We spent Martin Luther King Jr. Day in St. George. The weather was B-eautiful so we headed out for a picnic in the park. We had some store credit at Big 5 Sporting Goods, so Nate got some basketball shoes and we grabbed this cute girl's baseball mitt and ball for the kid. She doesn't hate it, but I don't think she quite gets the concept. It was fun to be out with the sunshine and to get some exercise. I'm ready for Spring, although I'm not complaining... Cedar City is just a little chilly, but we still get out. I'm just grateful there isn't 12 feet of snow on the ground (A.K.A. the current state of Rexburg.)

Puddin'

2011-01-24T14:15:00.003-07:00

So the other day was a LONG day for both of us. I wasn't feeling too great, and as a result Rachael had to do her own thing most of the day. So, as a fun treat, after dinner I gave her a cup of pudding and let her go to town. It took her a few minutes to really get into it, but, as you can see, she got the hang of it. Clearly, she was given a bath immediately afterward. Nate came home from class while she was in the tub and said, "Umm... why is the water brown?" lol, because half of it was pudding. Sometimes kids just need to make a supervised mess all over their bodies. Its good for them.