Mother's Day

I had a great day today.

My plans for Mother's Day, were to take pictures of the kids to update the frames. Of course it would rain, but I was able to get a few good shots despite the indoor lighting.

Tyler can't shave his mustache until he does his home teaching. I almost like it, he hates it.

Unfortunately we suck at family pictures, and once again Tyler looks 2 feet taller than me.

I think I'm past trying for nice, from now on we will just try for candidly cute.

This is Heidi's response when I ask her to do just about anything. I can just imagine how it will effect my self esteem when I'm getting the same look from her as a teenager.

I don't think I could have hand picked two cuter girls to call my own!

Humorous Happenings

All the entertainment I'll ever need, I get from Alex.

Yesterday morning she was singing a song to her cereal, I tried to memorize the lyrics but all I can remember at this point is her sing song "My Prince, is Dead!" She has been talking so much about Prince Charming lately that I've since decided to start encouraging "Returned Missionary" instead of "Prince Charming". I think it's taking.

We were driving in the car the other day and Alex said "Mommy, it makes me sad when people shoot me with guns." This was out of the blue, I have no idea where she got this idea from unless it was the nerf guns at Grandma's house.

A few days ago Alex visited the bathroom only to come out yelling excitedly "There are Ants in the bathroom!!!!!" I don't really care about ants, and there were only a few so we bought a trap and ignored it. There haven't been as many, but they are still there and I'm only getting annoyed because of Alex's frequent "Accidents" right in front of the toilet, because she is playing with the Ants!

Yesterday She said she had to go and then was in the bathroom for a good 5 minuets. I heard her yelling "I had an accident, I didn't make it". "WHAT" I thought, "She's been in there forever." I opened the door to find her squatting on the carpet with a flashlight in hand and a huge smile on her face, admiring her pets.

Before I went to get the ant traps and about the same time we found ants in the bathroom, Alex gleefully announced that there were ants in the kitchen as well. I think I was changing Heidi's diaper when she casually told me that she had fed the ants. "Great" I thought and made a mental note to go clean up whatever she had done, then promptly forgot. By the time I remembered there was a million ants all over the pile of cracker crumbs Alex had painstakingly formed on the floor.

I gave a big lecture about how we don't feed the ant's and to stay away because they might make her sick. The next day she found a sucker and popped it in her mouth without asking. I told her she couldn't have it, especially because she found it on the ground by the garbage can. She put on her most apologetic face and said "Ok, I'm sorry I didn't ask". When I turned around Alex had put the sucker on the ground and said "I gave it back to the ants! They are so happy!!!" We really don't have that many ants, but I have since decided To up our defensive strategy, and got some ant bait that is really suppose to do the trick. With Alex as their protector and benefactor I'm sure it wouldn't be long before word spreads and all the ants in the neighborhood come running.

We went in for Heidi's 1 year check up yesterday and I discovered that I had failed to take Alex in for her 3 year check up. They allowed us to do both at once and we found out that Alex had missed a shot somehow from when she was 6 months old. The checkups were insane, Alex was running around, climbing on everything and flicking the lights on and off while I was trying to get Heidi to sit still on my lap so the doctor could look in her ears. The Heidi was walking around while I tried to talk to the doctor and Alex was grabbing Heidi's legs trying to make her fall. The doctor was pretty happy to get out of that room. Then came the shots. We did Alex's first. I gave her a sucker and tried to be vague about what was going to happen. She was pretty upset about the whole thing and cried those heartbreaking, my puppy just got hit by a car, cries for 10 minutes. Heidi was just as upset, but she calmed down after a few minutes thankfully.

So there I sat, wondering how in the world I was going to get both kids to the car. I ended up bribing Alex with ice cream. Watching her stand up and limp out the the car with tears dripping down her cheeks broke my heart. Ever since she will randomly tear up and say "I did NOT like it when the doctor poked me in my leg." At one point I mentioned how Heidi had gotten poked 3 times and she was happy. I discovered that this was the wrong thing to say as Alex immediately began to cry and said "I wanted to be poked 3 times." Sometimes you can't win.

1 Year Old!

I can't believe a year ago we were blessed to welcome this little angel into our homes.

I thought that kid number 2 would end up being a clone of number 1, oh boy I was so wrong! Heidi has surprised and delighted us every single one of the 365 days we have been able to hold her. She is her own little person, stubborn, happy, and quite the tease.

She throws tantrums by throwing herself on the floor and knocking her head on the ground over and over.

If you look at he and smile, she can't help but return the grin at twice the size!

She adores Alex and her attention, but isn't afraid to pull hair and fight back.

She is our little shining star.

When Alex was born it changed Tyler and I, forced us to become better people. When Heidi was born it changed our entire family, brought us more joy than I thought was possible and continued to force us to become better versions of ourselves. Our lives would feel so empty without her!

At a year old she is walking everywhere. She will eat ANYTHING except apple sauce and peaches, the crazy kid prefers baby food peas and squash to pureed fruit! She is very independent and hates to be spoon fed.

Her favorite game is the "cup" game, or "spoon" game or "food" game, named after the particular item of the moment she purposefully drops so Alex will pick it up. It's hilarious because Alex falls for it every time and then eventually says "Mom, I don't want to play the spoon game with Heidi anymore." All the while Heidi sits there with a sly grin and a knowing eye, just waiting for you to hand her something else to throw.

You would think after 365 days of diaper changes, Heidi would have figured out that if she just lays still it would be done much faster. She is stubborn, she kicks and cries and fights through 87% of diaper changes.

She hates naps, loves mobiles, pretends to read books and is already great and cleaning up toys and putting books away.

I remember thinking Alex was so grown up when Heidi was born. I look back on those pictures and am amazed how she looks so much like a baby compared to grown up 3 year old Alex.

I never thought being a Mom would be this hard, but I never dreamed it would be this wonderful and rewarding.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEIDI

Easter

I remember, in great detail, an Easter spent at my grandparent's house in Worland, Wyoming. We woke up to find that in our baskets, the Easter Bunny had left juice boxes, grapes and strawberries. However, in our cousins, the Liggetts, easter baskets there was chocolate, gum and all sorts of fun candy. You can imagine that as an child of 8 or so, I was pretty perturbed about this, enough so that it is one of my only memories of Easter growing up. Accompanying it is a memory of the year where we started sharing a family basket instead of individual ones, and this one had nothing but malt ball eggs and snickers in it. The most recent memory is of Dad hiding candy outside and then everyone searching for the stealthily placed treats as a 15 year old.

In my family we wern't really into the whole "Easter as another excuse for presents" thing. As a child I'll admit I felt cheated, especially when I saw the huge chocolate bunnies, or baskets full of toys. Now, though I can say I am grateful for the way my parent's treated Easter. I'm overwhelmed by the commercialism of EVERY holiday. No matter how insignificant the date, it seems parent's are being convinced that children need substantial gifts and sugar highs at least once a month. Call me old fashioned, or maybe I was just raised differently, but I like the idea of at least keeping one religious holiday as just that, religious.

So as a way to balance things out, we decided that Saturday would be the day of egg hunts and treats, a completely different day and celebration from Sunday, when we recognize the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Kate and I took the kids to Orem's Easter egg hunt for kids 3 and under. The kids seemed to have fun, but it actually really bugged me watching adults run around gathering the prize eggs for their small children. I don't want to get on a soap box, but watching a mother fill her 1 year old kid's basket with the coveted eggs, and then later open them for the kid, who could care less, bugged me quite a bit.

Alex didn't want the eggs anyway, she was content gathering as much taffy as she could off the grass, so I guess it doesn't matter. But I think I've decided this was our first and last large scale Easter Egg hunt.

We went back to the Brady's and decorated Easter Eggs, had a great BBQ lunch with all the family, and then hid the eggs and had our own hunt.

Much to my 8 year old self's embarrassment, Kate and I filled the eggs with fruit leather, strawberries, grapes and blueberries. Just me slowly becoming my mother. Alex was actually more than thrilled to find the eggs filled with berries. She shoved each and every blueberry in her mouth like a normal kid might do to jelly beans. It was hilarious and heartwarming to see her glee.

The rest of the day was relaxing. The night before Michael, Danielle and our family had done a Canada night to relieve our favorite foods and swap pictures. Thus on Saturday we got to enjoy a whole pan of super rich and delicious Nanimo bars.

I'm glad we had the opportunity to get together, play and relax with family on Saturday.

Sunday the girls were sick, but we still got everyone dressed up int he adorable Spring dresses Susan had found, and went to Sacrament meeting. I don't think Heidi has ever looked cuter, but with grumpy sick girls we didn't really get the chance for family, or individual photos.

Spring is a beautiful season that brings hope and joy. I am grateful for the chance of seasons, but more than anything I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't express my gratitude and love enough for my savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered for my sins, died and was resurrected, so I can be with my wonderful family forever.

A few straggler picts

Here are some great pictures from Danielle's camera.

The girls making Michel the baby whisperer read them stories. Note how Heidi is awake AND cuddling, I'll admit my jealousy now.

Danielle got the good peacock picture.

Uncle Al works here and there as a school bus driver. Alex loves school busses, so imagine her delight when we not only got to sit in the bus, but drive it around town!!!! Better than a limo.

As thrilled as she was to sit in the drivers seat, she kept asking us how to turn it on because she wanted it to move.

Yep, a bunch of live crabs, in the grocery store.

I don't remember what we had to bribe Alex with to get her to stand by the Mounty bear. Holding it's hand was her own improvising. I think for doing it she got to go in the store.

Vancouver Island, Day5 and the ride home

Friday we woke up, packed up and cleaned the car. It was sad to say goodbye to the Turcotts, they had been such fun and gracious hosts and Alex had really gotten attached to Uncle Al and Auntie Pat.

We got in the car and drove to the Shaw Ocean Discovery Center to finally see some fishies!

The whole place was pretty cool, but my absolute favorite part was the entrance. These doors opened up and you walked into an elevator type room, but bigger. The doors shut behind you and you looked up to see a screen showing you the sky. The whole idea was that you were going to go underwater and visit the fish. So there was a computer voice telling us we were about to submerge and then the screen and sound effects started, making you really feel like you were in a sub, going down into the ocean. Alex's face was priceless, she believed it and immediately needed a hand to hold.

The first adventure (after dropping a carton of complementary chocolate milk all over the floor within the first 30 seconds) was seeing the jellyfish.

super cool.

There was a fun discovery center with puzzles and microscopes and all sorts of stuff to enjoy.

Alex really enjoyed looking at all the bright sea creatures.

Heidi loved being pushed right up to the glass and watching the fish swim around, it was so cute.

At the end of the maze there were touching pools where you could stick your hands in the water and feel the creatures.

You had to use your pinky though, and Alex was great at reminding me.

It was a fun way to end our vacation.

Sort of made me want to live by the ocean.

After the Shaw center we drove to the ferry. The kids were kicking, but Danielle and I were beat after a week of dragging them around all over.

We let the girls have free reign of the car while we waited to load, and then once we had driven onto the ferry Alex said "I'm going to steal your keys and THROW them in the water!" I don't know what made her say it, but it made me less willing to let her out of the car at that point.

We wandered to the kids play area, visited the gift shop, had some more Poutine and went out on the deck one last time.

The plan was to stay with Danielle's cousin's family that night in Vancouver and then leave early the next day for Boise.

On the way we stopped by the B.C. temple for a photo opp.

Alex was thrilled that it was raining so she could use her new umbrella, which had mostly been used to protect herself from the imaginary rain inside the car up to that point.

When we made it to the cousins, it was fun watching Alex play with the little girls. Between the 2 families we had a 1 year old, 2 year old, 3 year old and 4 year old. I should have gotten a picture, they were all crazy with the girlyness and Heidi promptly got put in a baby doll stroller and pushed around the house by 3 giggling girls until bedtime.

I was exhausted but stayed up to watch a bit of hockey with everyone, it was a big game and actually fairly entertaining. We left at 3 am the next morning, made it past the border with no trouble and after cleaning up another vomit mess including cheese and juice, rolled into Boise at 5pm. The girls were thrilled to be out of the car (Danielle and i included) and we jumped on the trampoline and enjoyed walking around, being lazy, and visiting with the Johns. The next morning it was another early start and we made it back to Provo just after noon.

We had a wonderful trip, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Although i'm in no hurry to get back in the car anytime soon. I learned a lot and had a fun time, I've fully grasped the meaning of the phrase "a vacation from your vacation" though. It's been nice to be able to sit and watch the kids in a fairly child proof house where there are plenty of toys, and not worry about wrestling a toddler in public, or nursing Heidi in the car.

Vancouver Island, Day 4

Thursday was bitter sweet. It was the last full day we had on Vancouver Island, and while we had done mostly everything we wanted, it was sad to be going.

Heidi and I slept in quite late, finally catching up on all the sleep lose and time change. Alex got up at her normal time, snuck out of our room and straight to Danielle's. I'm not sure what they did, but i'm sure Alex got her to read at least a few books. It was great to wake up after sleeping in and find Alex fed and happily under the care of Pat and Danielle.

After lunch Pat took the girls and I to visit the lighthouse while Danielle got together with a good friend. I can't stress enough how much fun it was seeing the city from the eyes of a "native". I learned so much about the history of B.C. and Canada and all sorts of little places and fun things. When we made it to our destination, I didn't think I would actually get to see the lighthouse up close, because it was a mile or so walk to get there. Danielle's sweet mother, Pat, went and talked to some people at the office and got me an official ride down right to the steps!

It's an operating lighthouse so I didn't get to climb to the top, but the visitors center was really cool, and the view was unbeatable.

After the lighthouse the plan was to let Alex walk on the beach one last time, but she was asleep, and it was windy and cold, so I took my last stroll alone while Pat graciously guarded the kids in the car.

It was a beautiful beach, you can't tell from the picture, but these logs are HUGE.

I finally woke Alex up and we went to see the swans that lived across the road that was parallel to the beach in some sort of inlet. I'm not up to par on my water terms dealing with the ocean and it's relationship to the land. On the drive home we saw a guy feeding the swans right out of his hand. crazy.

We made it back to the house after a bit of construction caused traffic and switched out Pat for Danielle who graciously took us back to fisherman's warf one last time to feed the seals and get some more poutine.

On the way back to the car I noticed this van parked next to us. I made Alex stand next to it because I could have sworn it was an exact replica of the van driven by the libyan terrorists in Back To The Future.

I have since researched the topic and found my memory to be lacking. Thus making the picture a lot less meaningful and cool.

We then went to the souvenir street and picked up a few fun shirts and magnets. The kids were dying to get home we went back for dinner and then Danielle snuck out to visit the grocery store and stock up on our favorite canadian foods.

We returned home to find Alex enjoying her favorite activity, watching "Best of Friends" from the fox and the hound with her Uncle Al. It was precious.

The night ended the way it usually did, me crashing in bed, while Danielle stayed up to visit with more friends.

I don't know how she was able to juggle being a tour guide, mom, and social butterfly all on the same vacation.