Days 104-113: On Pause

I've been so terrible lately. Once I get behind, the task of catching up is daunting and it turns into a big mess really quick. So, a brief summary of days 104-113:

Day 104: Monday: Kids are on the mend from being sick, I clipped a lot of coupons, have a lot more to go. Boring day, no highlights., and Monday night TV is terrible.

Day 105: Tuesday: Something really funny happened today that I was excited to write about. Wish I had, now it is forgotten for the ages. That said, I did clip more coupons.

Day 106: Wednesday: Another day of little happenings. Lucy is coming along really really well on the piano, she is obsessed. I think I will start punching holes in the wall if I have to listen to Mary Had a Little Lamb one more time, but I'm happy she loves it, and I know this is something I need to get use to and encourage. Thank goodness she is starting to play Jolly Old Saint Nicolas and Old McDonald just as much, at least I have variety.

Day 107: Put Jack down for a nap in my room since it worked wonders yesterday. Ran back up to his screams of pain 10 minutes later to find that Jack had gotten into my deodorant and picked it to pieces with his fingernail, then he rubbed it in his eyes. I could see chunks of white antiperspirant in his eyes, and Jack was screaming. I had to fish chunks out with a q-tip. Jack: lesson learned.

Another highlight of today was the kids and I were in a tornado storm. No, we did not see the actual tornado, but it definitely was crossing my mind before I even heard there was one. I took Lucy to dance, which was only a half hour today. When we got there the weather was calm, cloudy, but calm. When we walked out it was unbelievably windy. The gusts were so strong (even by Colorado Springs standards) that the thought of a tornado crossed my mind. As soon as I shut my door after loading the kids the hail started. As we drove home out of the major part of the storm, sure enough a tornado warning came across the radio warning people to bunker down and get the heck out of mobile homes. Lucy has been very paranoid about this ever since.

Day 108: Just in case I didn't learn my lesson about Jack sleeping in my room for naps yesterday, we got the message today. I put him down, Shawn came home from work early to leave for Utah, I went back into our room to find this:

No, he was in our bathroom dumping 3 different kinds of cleaners into our toilet bowl and stirring them up with my toilet wand. He poured a bunch of Commet into the bowl, sprayed some Windex in it, and tried his hardest to pour the Lysol Toilet Bowl Cleaner in there, but that was closed with a child proof lid. Oh he's so lucky he is cute.

Day 109: My full day with Shawn gone. Kinda had a knot in my stomach most of the day. We had a rough morning. At one point I finally just made Lucy call her dad because she was having attitude issues. She burst into tears before I even handed her the phone. Shawn asked her what was going on and she said through giant crocodial tears and sobs "I'm just having a hard time being obedient." My poor little girl hates to disappoint. I couldn't help but hold her in my arms while she talked to her daddy. As naughty as she was being (throwing little tantrums) so that we got to the point that she had to call daddy, she still wants so bad to be our helper and make us happy. I've got news for you, she has me wrapped around her finger.

Tonight at about 6:00 I was ready for the kids to go to bed, more than ready. They weren't being bad, I was just EXHAUSTED! So, since I couldn't put them to bed yet, I laid on the living room floor by Alivia and let Lucy and Jack play with my hair. This is something Jack did for a full hour! Good thing I have a hard head and actually like pulls and tugs. It was so relaxing, I LOVE when people play with my hair, LOVE IT! And it got me through the hardest part of my day.

Day 110: Sunday. You know my feelings about Sundays. It's a love hate relationship. This Sunday wasn't going to be too much different. Shawn is always gone all morning anyway so it wasn't going to be any different for me until we got to church. My friend Megan Vest called before church to see if she could help me with anything, she's so sweet. Her husband and Shawn went out to Utah together for the BYU Rugby game, so she knew I was on my own. I just asked if she would sit by me at church. She gladly helped me man the kids, but they were actually really really good. Then she even brought dinner over to our house and we all ate when the boys got home. It's so great to have such awesome friends in our ward, I don't think I ever want to leave this place.

Day 111: Shawn is home, but I got no weekend. I was given a really big project of articles to tackle for work, and that has consumed every extra minute I have. I worked on it through the weekend (one reason why I SO didn't want Shawn to leave me this weekend), and all through today. My house was spotless yesterday, but took a major hit today, and I still have 3 more articles to get done tomorrow.

Day 112: Worked on articles again all day today. Jack decided to take advantage of my distraction and throw our Blu-ray remote into the toilet bowl. I love my little boy, I do, I love him. That remote is now sitting in a bowl of rice on our counter and we are offering silent prayers that it will work again. I'm a little concerned about it since I had to hold it upside down for 10 minutes to let the water drain out of it.

Day 113: Good news in the Blu-ray department, the remote has been saved. I took a day off from work today partly because I couldn't force myself to sit at the computer for one more minute, and partly because my kids needed there mom today. That big project took more time than my normal ones do and my kids were starting to notice by yesterday afternoon. We didn't do anything exciting, weather was pretty crummy. We just played. My kids have become big fans of tickle parties as we call them. That's when I sit on the floor of the living room for 20-30 minutes and they run around me. When I catch them, I pin them down and tickle them. Easiest thing in the world, and the LOVE it!

Later tonight we went to Johnathan Farr's graduation party. He is one of the young men in our ward and our kids LOVE him. It was so fun. We ate hamburgers and hot dogs, and the kids got to take a minute to enjoy a real back yard since ours (for lack of a better word) sucks. It was a good, laid back night out of the house, something this mom desperately needed.

Day 103: A Sick Day

This Sunday I stayed home from church on account that Jack and Alivia were both sick. Jack was way behind on sleep, so when we got home from Denver I got Lucy ready for church as quickly as possible. Since Jack was beyond exhausted and actually sick with a cold, I gave him some cold medicine, prayed that it wouldn't excite him like it did Lucy at his age, and put him down for a nap. I love when I'm allowed to drug my kids and they actually get drowsy. The moment Shawn pulled into the driveway from his meetings I laid the baby down, sent Lucy off to church, and climbed into bed myself.

At 4:30 or so I woke up. I have never needed or enjoyed a nap so much in my entire life. I'd forgotten what those feel like, and just writing about it now makes me want one terribly bad again. I didn't cook dinner this night. We had left overs from feeding the missionaries on Friday. I guess my lazy attitude from yesterday carried over to today. I'll have to write more details about feeding the missionaries another time. All this talk about naps has made me more than excited it is bed time.

Day 102: Running to Catch Up

So, blogger being down about a week ago now has really messed me up. I went to post on Friday when it was down, and that put me behind a day, so Saturday I posted for Friday, and now today, Thursday I post for Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and today. Needless to say these posts will be brief and to the point, at least to the best of my abilities.

Saturday was probably one of the laziest days of my life. Jack woke up at about 5 am with a cough. We were all sharing a room, so I made Shawn take Jack downstairs so he didn't wake up the baby. I spoke too late, the baby was up, and Jack never went back to sleep so neither did Shawn.

Fast forward several exhausted hours, I put Alivia down for her morning nap and Shawn and I went for a 6 mile run together. It was so fun to do that together. We've been running for several weeks now but we've always had to do it on our own. It was so nice to have someone to talk to, and even better to have some uninterrupted time to talk with Shawn, even if most of our conversation was about how horrible running is. Big thanks to my in-laws for watching my kids, sorry about Jack wetting his pants.

The rest of my day was 100% lazy. I have to admit it was pretty nice to have a lazy day, it's been a while. That said, my definition of lazy is a lot different to day that it was a few years ago. I was popping up and down every 15 seconds or so for one kid or another. I watched Les Miserables with my in-laws, oh how I love Les Miserables. Shawn went to the BYU rugby game, so I spent my evening on my own. I'm pretty sure my kids exhausted their aunt Rebecca who may or may not ever want to see us again, and somehow I ended my lazy day slightly frustrated, it must be the stress of manning 3 kids.

Day 101: Blogger Down?

I tried to blog yesterday, on the real day 101, but blogger was down. Did anyone else have that problem? Well now it's a whole day late and I'm a whole lot less creative. All and all I think I am a pretty funny person in my mind. Unfortunately my mind and my communication skills have a disconnect, so when it comes time to get that really funny joke out, I always mess it up. I think I panic a little when I'm put on the spot. What can you do?

That was my random thought for the day. Jack and Lucy had a really funny interaction today, but now that it's tomorrow I can't remember it. I blame blogger on this one hundred and ten percent. I need to write all about tomorrows crazy day, but I can't right now because it's 1am, and I'm too mad at Shawn for not coming to look at my running route that we had hoped to do together tomorrow, no wait, in two days from today (that's getting confusing). He told me to wait, but this just in, I don't wait at 1 am. Goodnight!

Day 100: A 100th Day Miracle

Wow, 100 days (give or take). I really thought I'd make this a monumental day, but nothing all that monumental happened. There were no joyful 100th day celebrations or thoughts even. Just another day, except for one little thing...

Today is marked as a milestone in the potty training of Jack. Something clicked in his little mind today and he's learned that when he goes potty, he gets candy (which is a very big deal to this little guy who has mastered climbing and scooting chairs since Easter to get the aforementioned treat). Not only did it finally click to him that candy is the joyful consequence of making potty substances, but even bigger news is that he has learned to tell me when he needs to go. It was funny to watch him connecting the dots this afternoon as he told me that he needed to go pee pee, went, and then told me again 15 minutes later that he was ready for round 2. Usually when he makes this announcement it is after the fact and it just means I have a puddle to clean up, so instead of excitedly racing to the potty, I moan in annoyance that I waited too long as I fetch the carpet cleaner or mop.

Imagine my shock, excitement, and amazement when I went to my boy to find that he was still dry and actually needed to go. There was some seriously ridiculous celebratory dancing going on around here after the successful completion of that potty trip. He received 2 potty prizes, one for going, and one for telling me. What's even better is that it happened at least 5 more times before bed. Each time my heart felt lighter. Here I've sat for so many months stumped that their is a potty trained male in all the world, how did their mothers do it? And now I'm slowly preparing myself to join their proud ranks. It truly is something to be proud of.

What is funny about Jack learning to tell me when he needs to go potty is that I don't think holding it is involved in any way. I think Jack's entire motivation in going potty right now is his precious candy prize. I think that Jack has learned that if he wants candy, he has to go potty. So whenever the thought of a chocolate treat enters his little cranium, he decides to sucker his mom into assisting him empty his bladder so that he can indulge in a little piece of chocolate bliss. Hey, at least he knows he has to work for it right? I wish I had something I had to do before I allow myself to satisfy a chocolate craving, maybe then I wouldn't find myself perplexed by the pile of 15 Wonka wrappers that mysteriously accumulated around me in less that 5 minutes.

But seriously, I'm just stoaked that my little boy is catching on to this whole potty idea. Can you tell? He's worn underwear for weeks now except for during naps and at night, but I've been the one doing all the work, so there have been a lot of accidents and cleaning up as I've misjudged his bladder capacity and the length of time between bathroom visits. But today I will take back the mind that is rightfully mine as I begin the transfer of my son's bladder responsibility to him. Truly a marvelous 100th day.

Now if I could only bribe Alivia to sleep through the night... I kicked her out of my room last night at 1am. To do this I also had to kick Jack out of his room and he and Lucy are sharing for a few months. I'm only thinking of this now as I'm listening to Alivia squawk upstairs, not cry, literally squawk, and how is she making that thumping noise? I sounds like she is jumping on her bed, but I just know she isn't.

Day 99: Personalities

My kids have very opposite personalities. Shawn decided to evaluate our kids tonight over a dinner personality test. It went something like this:

Shawn: Jack, what color is your shirt?
Lucy: Green!
Jack: Green!
Shawn: Jack, What color is Lucy's plate?
Lucy: Purple!
Jack: Purple!
Shawn: Jack, what do you see at the zoo?
Lucy: Giraffes!
Jack: Giraffes!
Shawn: Jack, where do we go on Sunday?
Lucy: Church!
Jack: Church!

Test Results: Lucy is the brainy know-it-all that sits in the middle front row right under the teachers nose whose hand pops up before the question has completely left the teacher's lips. She cannot not answer a question. When we confronted Lucy on this issue,it went like this:

Shawn: Lucy, why do you keep answering the questions that we are asking Jack?
Lucy: "Because I wanted to win this game."

Lucy's Personality: A sad combination of Shawn and myself. She is the sweetest little girl who is more than happy to help out, she gets this from Shawn. She hates to disappoint, this is so me. She is a bit of a know-it-all, which both Shawn and old family videos have recently taught me is 100% little Shawn. And most of all, she is extremely competitive, but that is both of us (but me just a little bit more than Shawn) and I don't think any of our kids will escape this.

Jack's Personality: Jack is a bit of a copy cat, but I don't think that is really part of his personality, I just don't think he has a choice. One thing is for sure, he's patient little bug to never get annoyed at his sister's constant insistence of stealing his thunder. Jack is a stubborn little boy, this is becoming more and more evident as we get deeper and deeper into the terrible twos. Jack is also a very tough little guy, which might not be obvious, and I don't think he even knows it yet. Because Jack is such a copy cat, he thinks he needs to cry at the bat of a butterfly's wings, like his extremely dramatic big sister. But when Jack get's in trouble and we have to swat his hands or his little bum, it DOES NOT phase him. It get's fairly frustrating as a parent trying to discipline an extremely stubborn little boy.

Alivia's Personality: A bundle of few words and all smiles that is more than happy to sit on the table in her bumbo to be a part of the family dinner. When she has something important to add to the conversation she'll let out a high pressured sigh of excitement usually accompanied by a small projection of spit up. When she is acknowledged (which happens a lot with her mom and big sister melting over every little sound she makes), she snaps her hands together in excitement and shoves them in her mouth, smiling all the while.

In the end, I wouldn't change a single thing about my kids. We love them to pieces and it is so fun to sit and analyze who they are and how they got that way. I want to give them each a big squeeze right now, sweet little buggers. I'm one lucky lady.

Day 98: Snakes and Mice

It's time to start pooring more creativity into my blog. I want to document a couple crafts that I have done around my house that are both cute and functional. I think I'll start tomorrow. I know, I'm a total slacker on my blog lately, but hey, it's for me, so what does it matter anyway?

So, about that title? Yeah, I woke up early this morning to go for a good old run. Just under 4 miles to be exact, I've got a training schedule to stick to. I got back home by 7:30, and the only person in the house awake, other than Shawn, was my little Alivia. Serious, this girl has got to start sleeping past 6, I think I'm going to kick Jack out of his room for a few months until she get's her life in order because I just can't live like this.

As the chaotic hurry of Shawn rushed out the door with him this morning, I sat with my little girl in her Bumbo chair on my table and just enjoyed her company for a minute. That is when I heard a dreaded sound. Since we purchased our house, we've had the same problem each fall. The temperature drops, and the rodents somehow get in. This was a problem we fixed this fall (which for the record was only our second fall in the house, the first fall we bought the house, so we moved pretty quickly), I plugged a hole and we bought several traps and a electric rodent repellent thingy and we didn't see another mouse all winter. And then I heard it this morning. I heard so much noise behind our stove that I was certain if I just looked under the oven I would see a small clan of rodents enjoying a banquet. Not the case, I didn't see anything. I pulled the drawer out from under the stove and still, nothing. I was surprised to see that it wasn't even messy under there except for a little dust and a couple pieces of dried spaghetti from the spill of February. But I sat and waited, and sure enough, a mouse flew up the back of the stove a minute later. But I think my rodent repellent thingy still works because this guy was acting weird. It didn't even bother him that I was hitting the stove or pulling out the drawer, I could still hear him working on what ever he was working on, like I wasn't there.

On to later that morning. The kids and I headed out to water the lawn. Jack played in the dirt as is natural for a little boy. I walked around the side the house looking for any possible hole or gap that a mouse could have gotten through. I've done this several times since we bought the house. The only hole I found I filled with steel wool and felt good about it. I noticed today that over the winter a lot of soil has been carried away from this area and I'm sure more of that hole is exposed now. As I rounded the corner I was startled by a garden snake. I brought the kids over to show them the snake and educated them on what to do if they ever come across a snake. Then Lucy sprayed the thing with a squirt bottle and it took off for the hole under the patio that the erosion of the winter created, right where I suspect the mice are getting in at. I thought to myself, "Wow, I need to find a way to keep him there. He'll be happy with a good source of food, and I won't ever have to get a cat." Then I decided this snake sucks because he didn't catch the mouse in the first place. Stupid wild life, they're all lazy around here. I ran right by a rabbit and 4 deer this morning and none of them cared I was there.

Now I'm lazy, I'll get crafty tomorrow. My baby doesn't sleep, so I use this as an excuse for all the areas of my life that are lacking.

Day 97: Mothers Day

Mothers Day! The one day aside from my birthday in the entire year that there is no question that I get to sleep in. Unfortunately early church disrupts that every other year, but not this year. There were no early meetings for Shawn in honor of my sleep schedule. My kids tried extra hard to be obedient in honor of me today. Jack even kept the ear drum shattering screams to a minimum today, sweet boy. Alivia took extra care to wake up really really early this morning (which I'm blaming on Lucy's ballet yesterday and the damage it did to her sleep schedule), but like a good man, Shawn woke up with her at 6:30 and came down stairs.

I was served breakfast in bed. Oh wait, no I wasn't, but I was given that option. Shawn asked if I wanted breakfast in bed or if I wanted to eat down stairs with the kids. I opted for the later for 3 reasons. 1- Our bed is new and I don't want to hurt it. 2- It's more comfortable to eat at a table, even if you have a breakfast tray. and 3- Alivia was napping in our room at breakfast time, and her naps are a sacred thing not to be toiled with.

Church was great, there were some really good talks given. One fairly ironic thing that happened at church today is that I took Alivia out to feed her during Sacrament Meeting to find that the Mother's Room was locked. Seriously? The mothers room locked on mother's day? That felt like an injustice. The problem was fixed before the end of church, but I want to know why no mothers in the other ward before us fixed the problem. I mean I had to nurse Alivia in the empty Relief Society Room hoping no one would barge in on me before it was fixed. It was a little awkward.

We enjoyed a good dinner tonight as a family, the kids and I made and decorated a chocolate cake. Yum. The kids colored me pictures and Shawn got me a massage for Mother's Day. Can't think of anything I'll enjoy more as I'm spending long hours day in and day out just trying my best to keep up on all the crap I have to do. I don't get to sit and watch TV anymore, except for when I'm folding laundry, and I'll be honest, that doesn't happen near enough, just ask Shawn. Reading books? What's that? When I have a minute to read a book I fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion. Someday I'll enjoy a book again, but I don't see it happening any time soon. A massage will be INCREDIBLE! if I can stay awake long enough to enjoy it. Man, I've got to get Alivia to sleep through the night to make things a little easier on me.

All and all it was a great day! I have wonderful kids regardless of how much they sleep. My husband is the best, sorry if you think yours is but you're wrong, you really just are. Now I need to go call my mom and wish her the bestest day ever.Life is good.

Day 96: Swan Lake

Today was the day of Lucy's ballet, Swan Lake. The production was huge and it went really well. Lucy was ADORABLE if I do say so myself. My only complaint is that Lucy wasn't in it near enough for all the time we put into it. We do 3 days of rehearsals and spend hours driving across town and Lucy's part is literally no longer than 2 minutes. It's something that has annoyed me a little every performance we have had. Lucy loves it though, and we are actually going to try out another dance option for the summer I think and we'll see which we like best.

Aside from Swan Lake which consumed our entire day, we actually had a crazy busy morning. We woke up bright and early and headed to the Neilsen Challenge. The Neilsen Challenge is a 2 mile run that they do here in Colorado Springs the first Saturday of every month. Two months ago I ran it, last month Shawn ran it, and this month we had high hopes to both run it. Unfortunately our ward members that usually show up to support a spouse didn't come today, so Shawn had to sit this one out to watch the kids. As we were driving Shawn asked me what my goal was. Last time I ran it in 18:56 or there abouts. Keep in mind that it was my first run since Alivia was born, so the time met my goal of under 20. Today I wanted to run it in 16 something since I haven't been as on top of my training as I had hoped I'd be. I ran it in 15:55, and I actually come in 3rd for the girls. That isn't saying much since the competition isn't all that competitive, but there were two girls that were pretty good, and they beat me. Next month I hope to do it in 14 something, and I hope Shawn can run it with me.

After the race we had to hurry home because Shawn had to do baptisms for the dead with the youth today. He was really sad because he was probably going to miss Lucy's dance, but it ended up that he made it in time. By the time we came home the kids were are MESS! There was screaming and crying from Jack for more than an hour straight. I got to the point that I totally tuned him out as he sat wailing on the couch of a good 30 minutes, then I took him up to his room until he was done. Poor little guy didn't get a nap today and it was not a pretty picture. Alivia also had her sleep schedule messed up by this ballet so she spent a fair share of that hour sobbing too. Both kids were inconsolable, so I just did the best I could thinking of Wendy Mack often. I love my kids, and today they truly put that love to the test between the hours of 4 and 6.

Day 95: A Reminder

Since Alivia was born I've kind of felt a little like I'm in survival mode. I have so many days that I have to take one minute, one melt down at a time. It's hard when ever I leave the house to not covet the days before I had kids, or the days when Shawn was working at home. Life was so much easier back then. It's unbelievably hard to load 3 kids in and out of the car (especially battling our seat belt situation with Lucy) any time I have to leave the house. It's getting easier, but I know it's still hard because whenever I pull into the garage and park the car, I just sit there for a minute to get up the courage to unload. So I have to be honest, I do ask myself from time to time why we didn't wait a few years to have kids. I mean don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids, but they are a lot of hard work, and financially I know we've done it the hard way.

Well today when I checked my email I had an HRBB email that informed me of the Mack family in Utah. Honestly, probably the most heartbreaking story I've ever heard. Wendy Mack was the mother of 3 ages 6, 4, and 2. She was 34 weeks pregnant with their 4th when she suddenly passed away. He husband Denny posted a detailed story of the events of the day that she passed on the family blog. I took the time this morning to read it entirely and as a result I spent the remainder of my day breaking down in sobbing tears. Poor Jack could not figure out what my problem was, I'm not a cryer. I just am so heartbroken for this family.

Their story hits close to home as they have a 4 year old daughter, 2 year old son, and the baby Wendy was about to deliver was a baby girl they named Maylee. When Wendy was passing they did an emergency c-section to save the baby, but by the time they were able to deliver her she had been deprived of oxygen for 45 minutes. She only lived a day. Such a terrible tragedy.

After reading this story about this family that I don't even personally know, I found myself trying to understand it all. Why would God ever take a young mother from her family? Wendy sounds like she was the most loving mother God every created. I just don't understand why this would ever have to happen. But then I thought about it a little more. After reading this story, I spent my entire day holding my kids closer, hugging them more, kissing them more, telling them how much I love them. Wendy's story helped me remember why I didn't wait to have kids. Her story makes every minute, every melt down, every puddle of puke or pee on the floor completely worth it. Wendy reminds me how blessed I am to be a mom, even if loading and unloading the car is the worst part of my day. Wendy taught this to me and hundreds of other mothers through her death, but also through her life as her life is the legacy that taught us so much. And their precious baby Maylee? What was her purpose, why should she have to die too? Well, Wendy loved her children so much that it would have been more than she could bare to be separated from all her children, so Maylee was her tender mercy, her baby that she get's to have with her on the other side while she waits for the glorious day of their reunion.

I hope I never need another reminder. I hope I can treasure my kids without needing to be reminded how blessed I am to have them. I love them so much. Today I was reminded just how much, and not only through Wendy's story. We had to take Lucy to a dress rehearsal tonight, and I got her there and then sat down to watch. Jack decided he wanted to run up and down the isle, and I was fine with that because Alivia was ready to eat. So I sat and nursed her, and when I finished, Jack was gone. I couldn't find him anywhere. After looking for a good 5 minutes worry started to set in. After 10 minutes I was saying a silent prayer over and over again. We were in a really scary part of town and I was praying my little boy hadn't got out of the building some how.

Shawn showed up about 10 minutes after Jack disappeared and stared searching the halls with me. I thought Jack must have gotten out of the auditorium and gotten lost in this extremely confusing building. I was listening for terrified screams, but I wasn't hearing anything. We had several mom's from our old ward helping us look, and finally my old visiting teaching companion came running up to me to tell me they found him. He'd never left the auditorium, but it was so dark and there were so many rows of seats that I could not see him even though I checked a hundred times. I picked that little boy up and held him so close and told him I was so scared I'd lost him. He was so sweet and kissed me in his little kissing pattern. I love that boy. On a happier note, this same trip to the high school was Jack's first trip away from home in underwear and we were 100% successful, no accidents. I'm one happy mom.

So, if you want to read Wendy's story on your own, be ready with a big old box of tissues and read it at night because it will mess you up all day if you try to read it in the morning. But you can read it by clicking here. It's just a good reminder. Now I'm going to go cuddle with my husband until I fall asleep because I'm so lucky to have him and my kids in my life, and I hope I never forget that for even a second.

Day 94: Watch My Corn Pop Up in Rows

Today Lucy had a tech rehearsal for her Swan Lake Ballet this weekend. I'm pretty impressed with this ballet, it's probably just more fun because I actually know the story. But holy crap, this was a TERRIBLE rehearsal. Lucy wasn't suppose to get there until 6:00 tonight because she isn't in it until Act 3. I totally got lost in the ghetto neighborhood that this high school was in, so we showed up at 6:20. I was a little worried that we'd have missed her dance, but when I got there a friend told me she was really behind. When I walked in I found out she was still in Act 1! We didn't leave the high school tonight until 8:45, and they weren't done when we left.

Lucy loves ballet so much. I'm a little torn about what to do. I'm not putting her in it over the summer, it's just going to be too crazy this summer. In the fall I'm trying to decide if I want to put her in this same program or if I want to put her in a different program over on this side of town. I can't decide. I was all set to switch her over here, but then I go to this thing and see so many mom's I've gotten to know so well, and Lucy just LOVES it so much. I guess we can try the other program and see how it goes, if we don't like it we can always switch back.

Aside for the dress rehearsal, we planed our garden today. Well, we planted half of our garden today. Do you know how hard it is to plant a garden with the help of a moose of a two year old? I planted my corn weeks ago, and they are about an inch or so tall now, so I had to get them in the ground. Well, I planted those first, before Jack was all that interested in what I was doing. Then he decided he needed to help. Do you know how many times he walked on my corn? We'll see how many survive the boy. We also planted pumpkins, zucchini, and butternut squash. I still need to plant peas, carrots, broccoli, lettuce, and of course tomatoes. Hopefully my garden will do better this year then I've ever had it do in the past, I'm not much of a green thumb.

Day 93: Another Day, Another Vacuum

Today I didn't have any work to do, my boss is getting articles ready for me to type, so I had a day off to catch up on some much needed house work. Just so it's out there for everyone, my house looks incredible (you have to say incredible an octave higher than the rest of that sentence)! I also spent the first 2/3 of my day looking for my cell phone which I eventually found in my stroller out in the garage.

When I started cleaning today, I focused on the top floor and worked my way down, which is opposite of my daily routine. I usually get the main level presentable and the bedrooms are an after thought. Today, I owned those bedrooms, all three of them too. They were looking so incredible, the last thing they needed was a good vacuum. Well, I pulled out my vacuum and got Lucy's room all done when I realized I needed to empty the canister. That's where all my trouble started.

In December my Grandma Turner sent our family a $100 check for Christmas. Score! She wanted us to get something nice that we needed, so when I pulled out our vacuum that I bought Shawn for our first Christmas for $30, I decided it was more than time for an upgrade. So Grandma bought us a new Bissell vacuum. When I first used it, it worked like a charm. It worked great for the next 3 or 4 uses too. But once I had to empty the canister, things changed. Suddenly my vacuum had ZERO suction, and I was not happy. It actually took me a good month to figure out that there was no way to fix this.

One day I was complaining to my mother in law about it and she told me to take it back. Even though it had been close to 2 months since I bought it, I took it back and Costco exchanged it for me no questions asked. I decided to risk it and go with the same one because it was the only one at Costco in my price range. I figured there was no way all these vacuums could be bad. I brought it home and it worked like a charm. Seeing a pattern here?

Well, about 2 weeks ago I watched an infomercial for the new Shark Navigator vacuum. It's suppose to be like a Dyson and never lose suction. I was so made that I had just bought a new vacuum because I totally would have gotten this one instead. So you better believe I was excited when I emptied that canister today and found the same problem. This stupid Bissell had NO suction to it at all. It couldn't even power the brush for the hose because there wasn't enough suction. So, I loaded my kids up and took them all to Costco with my vacuum and receipt in hand. I'm so glad I kept that receipt because they were clearance out those stupid bissells and I would have lost $30. But I got refunded the full price in cash.

I got everything I needed at Costco and was just about to check out when I decided I would go see if they had any new vacuums since my last visit to the vacuum section. You can imagine how excited I was to see the Shark Navigator there waiting for me for only $30 more than I got back. My plan was to go buy a Shark where ever I could find it, I thought I'd have to go to Target. But with the one at Costco I saved a trip and I was able to get the upgraded version with all the bells and whistles.

When I got home I gave it a test drive and I'm pretty dang happy with it. The infomercial did make it sound way cooler than it is, but it has great suction, and I love the hardwood floor attachment. My only complaint so far is that it cannot hold all the attachments it came with, so I have to keep them in a separate bag hanging in my closet, so not convenient. It also has a little bit of a hard time on my shag rug, it can do them, but it stops the brush if it's not held at just the right angel. But it is quite, and light, and it doesn't lose suction. Overall, I'm a fan.

In other news, Lucy is really picking up the piano well. It's only been a couple of days, so she is still excited about it, but she has learned Mary Has A Little Lamb and she couldn't be happier about it. She may not last with me that long because I'm just not that good, but I'll do what I can. I feel so accomplished when I'm working with her and seeing improvement. She is one smart little cookie.

Jack is coming along in potty training swimmingly. Swimmingly is the best word for this because we take a lot of baths, and if I get lazy and he has a pee pee accident (something that only happens when I get lazy now), he usually slips and swims in it. That and he likes to try to stand in the bowl of water, which is what he tried to do pretty much the entire time we were reading scriptures tonight (something we've never done with the kids, but Lucy really wanted me to read the scriptures to them tonight, we should be better at this). Good day, I'm tired, I will sleep now.

Day 92: A Random Thought or Two

Today was fairly uneventful. I worked, picked up a large amount of newspapers with coupons, pretty excited about that, took care of my kids, and went to the park. So today I will focus on a few random thoughts I've had throughout the day.

I'm getting older. People don't tell me this, and the mirror doesn't show it too much yet, unless you are really looking closely, but none the less, I am getting older. In an attempt to slow down the aging process before it hits me full force, I've started using anti-aging skin care products. I've used these for a few years now, but since I've started couponing I've been able to buy a lot more of these items from the fountain of youth. So where am I going with all this? Today I thought to myself "My anti-aging stuff is really working! I'm getting my teenage acne again." Ok, my skin isn't near as bad as it was when I was a teenager, but I am having a minor breakout here and there. What's funny is that I had to take a health screen last week through Shawn's work's "Healthy Me" program. This screen told me that my projected age based on my life style and blood screen is 16 years old. Too funny.

Jack needs to work on his target practice. This is true in both potty training and playing with his Buzz Lightyear disk gun which he has accidentally shot himself in the head with several times as he's tried to watch the bullet come out.

Lucy is a sweet angel, I love my little girl. She didn't do anything special today to make me remember this, I just did.

I live a blessed life, I am a happy girl.

Day 91: Ceiling Fans, Nap Battles, and Funny Phrases

Alivia is like the dogs of Up, only instead of being excited beyond all reason about squirrels, it's ceiling fans. She can be so fussy and if you lay her on the floor under a ceiling fan she will start gooing and cooing at it. That's even when the fan is off. You can imagine how excited she gets when you flip the switch just long enough to get the blades spinning slowly. I swear I have a built in baby sitter.

Today I realized just how obsessed she is with the thing. I was nursing her in the rocking chair looking out the window. I didn't have her covered because the kids were very into their game in the basement, but don't worry, the blanket was on standby. Anyway, she'd been eating for a good five minutes and all the sudden she caught a glimpse of the ceiling fan out of the corner of her eye and instantly whipped her head around to just stare at it. I was totally a "Squirrel!" moment. It made me laugh out loud, but even my unexpected outburst of laughter didn't phase her focused attention on the blades of glory that hang from our ceiling.

Pretty much my entire morning was devoted to the battle of a nap for Jack. This little boy woke up so cranky this morning, crying and whining from the get go. I was so done with him by 8:15. This boy just does not sleep enough, no matter how hard I try, he won't go to sleep. But today I was going to make it happen. By 8:45 Jack was down for a nap, down, not asleep. He probably spent a total of 2 1/2 hours crying or playing in his room, but every time I felt mean and let him come out he quickly reminded me why he needed a nap. After an hour battle in his room I moved him to the crib in Lucy's room. He cried another 45 minutes or so and then he was out. It was a glorious moment in my life as a mother. The remainder of the 2 1/2 hour battle consisted of me trying to rock him to sleep, and letting him come back downstairs to watch a movie.

While I was rocking Jack and trying to get him to fall asleep (something that worked last night and I loved it), I asked Jack why he was crying so much and why he wouldn't just go to sleep. He said "Because my goo boy bed is yucky." I asked him why his big boy bed was yucky to which he responded "Jack licked it." It was such an unexpected response that I just busted up laughing and told him not to lick his bed anymore. Then he showered me with kisses. He has this routine of kisses he gives me. He says "Kiss chin." then kisses it, then he says "Kiss cheek", kisses it, then "kiss nother cheek", "kiss nose", "kiss eye", "kiss nother eye", "kiss borhead" and finally "kiss mouth". It's the same pattern every time and he is so sweet when he does this. Funny boy.

Lucy was just a little angel today. Sometimes I feel like I don't write enough about her, but that is because her good behavior is overshadowed by Jack and Alivia's chaotic moments. But Lucy is such a helper. Today she did my dishes and steam moped my kitchen floor (the best a 4 year old can). I also started teaching her piano today. She is picking it up really well, but now the eternal battle of practicing begins. We'll see how it goes. Love that little girl.

OH! And a couponing side note. Today I found the best motivation to run! We have a Walgreens just down the street from us. This week they have a deal where I can get Fusion razors for basically $.89. Shawn told me yesterday that we are out of razors and he's needed a new one for a couple of days. Then a friend filled me in on this deal and I decided that when I went for my run today I'd swing by Walgreens and pick it up. It was a success! I'll have to get more tomorrow. What a motivation to go for a run!

Day 90: A Poopie Morning

We started out morning with a bang. More of an explosion really. Alivia woke up at 5 this morning. I hate those kinds of mornings and they are happening a lot lately. I just put her in bed with me and nursed her in hopes of getting her back to sleep. It must have worked a little because I fell back to sleep. At 7 Alivia woke me back up with loud squills of excitement and delight, she was one happy little girl. I quickly learned why when I smelled a whiff of buttery popcorn, which is little baby poop. I laid there ignoring it for a good 20 minutes or so. Then I decided I was going to ask Shawn to change her since I can't remember the last time I got to sleep past 6 really. I mean by 6 at latest every morning Alivia is in my bed and it's just not comfortable with here in there. And sleeping in? What's that again? Seriously, no idea when that happened last.

As I was about to open my mouth to ask Shawn to do me this honor, I reached under Alivia to try to scoot her over. My hand was instantly covered in gooey slimy warmth and I knew we had a major problem. All I said was "Oh, crap!" Quite literally. Alivia had one massive blow out all over our brand new sheets on our brand new bed. Shawn and I both popped up so fast. Shawn got the bath ready while I stripped Alivia down. Then he bathed her while I threw our mattress pad and sheets in the washer, and then our sheets. I love Oxi Clean Spray and Wash, it works magic.

After that bang of a morning, we got ready for church, made it there, Shawn bore an amazing testimony because Lucy asked him if he had a testimony. When he said yes, she told him to go up and say it. After Sacrament Meeting Shawn had to run home because he forgot his lesson. By the beginning of Relief Society I had to go home too because Jack was poopy, and we had already used our only extra pull up for him at church. I look forward to a day when I can sit through 3 meetings at church and just sit.

After church we went to out friends Ben and Sheryl's house for dinner. Love those guys, I love spending time with them and just what we talk about. That and Sheryl is an amazing cook. I hated that we had to leave when we did, I would have loved to stay longer. Anyway, gotta run, breaking news: Osama Bin Laden is dead, gotta watch this.

Day 89: Sleepy Saturday

Today was just a nice day to kick back and relax. Steff was so exhausted from yesterday's intense drive and finals week, and we were all pretty tired ourselves. So, we spent the entire day kicking back and doing nothing and I loved every second of it. I don't think Lucy and Jack loved it as much, they got a little stir crazy because it was too cold to send them out to jump or play in the back yard. Jack went out and jumped anyway, but what can you do?

I hit up some coupon specials today and was pleased as punch about it. I was sent to the store for some Orange Juice for breakfast this morning, and I was happy about it. I've been itching to get to Safeway for a couple of days now because with my glorious coupons I was able to purchase Dunkin Hinz Brownie mixes for $.25 a box. I only wish I had more than 9 coupons, but that's all I had. I also got several bottles of Kraft salad dressing (18 to be exact) for $.50 a bottle. When I told my mother in law that I stocked up on those, everyone was annoyed with me and said "How in the heck are you going to use 18 bottles of salad dressing before it goes bad?" Well see, I'm smart that way. I mainly stocked up on Italian and French dressings because I use these in marinades and recipes I have. I did get some Ranch which Jack has just discovered and fallen in love with, and I got a couple vinaigrette verities. Couponing, it's the way to live I tell you what.

By the end of the day we'd played a rousing hand of Speed Uno, which I came in 2nd place and I'm proud of it. Jack and Lucy were helping us play this at one point and it was very entertaining. Jack was sitting on my lap and we gave him 3 cards of his own to hold so he'd leave mine alone. Well, he's no dummie, and as he sat and watched us all throwing our cards into the middle he decided that's what he needed to do. It really complicated things. We ended up sending Jack and Lucy into the living room to play their own game of Uno.We all enjoyed Papa Murphy's Pizza for dinner and then we loaded our kids up and headed home. It's nice to make a good weekend visit out of our Temple trips up there, especial with gas prices the way that they are.

Day 88: Temple Day

Today Shawn and I got to go to the temple. That means I spent a good chunk of my morning working, and the rest of my afternoon getting ready to go. I showered of course, got dressed and ready, and then packed bags for the kids and I. See, with Shawn's parents just up the street from the temple we like to just spend the night when we go. That way they can just put the kids to bed and there's no worries about them being over tired the next day.

As we were driving up, Lucy wanted to call Steff who was driving over from Utah. It turns out that Steff was trapped in Vail because the roads were closed due to a horrendous accident. It was 5:00 when we were talking with her, and she had been stuck for an hour. Traffic wasn't treating us all that well either, so we hung up the phone and focused on getting where we needed to be. We had a 6:30 Chapel Session we were trying to make.

When we arrived at the temple we learned that our entire ward had been misinformed of the chapel session time and it was in fact at 7:30. This was for the Stake Leadership, so we were all expected to be there. Well, all the other leaders from our ward came up together on a bus, so when we got there we all just decided to do our own 6:30 Session and call it good. It was one of the more special temple sessions I've sat through. It was so fun to be there with these leaders from our ward we have grown to love so much over the last few months. Our bishop pulled a fast one on me and made me tear up at the end of the night. I never do that!

When we got back to Bob and Pam's, Pam wasn't the happiest person I've ever seen. Alivia was a stinker and wouldn't take the bottle, and both Bob and Pam were stressed beyond capacity about the whole Steffani situation. She was still stuck on the mountain. So, without hesitation Shawn and Bob jumped in the car and rushed to her rescue. This calmed Pam down quite a bit and we passed the time playing phase 10 and watching William an Kate's wedding. The boys and Steff arrived safe and sound about 2 1/2 hours later.