Merry Christmas, and the Problem With Having an Older Brother

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We enjoyed spending Christmas here at my parent's house, but my computer is broken, so I can't post any pictures. I will say that this year is the first year Ian (and therefore Kellan) really understood presents, so we got them one or two things, and they loved it! I could see how one could get caught up in buying kids a lot of toys. I'm glad we didn't, though. It felt nice to have a small Christmas.

Kellan recently decided he wants to do everything Ian does. He wants to sit on the potty (he has only produced two drops, total), he doesn't want me to put a diaper on him (fortunately, once I get it on he forgets rather fast), he wants to put his own clothes, socks, and shoes on (which he does to some very small degree of success), he doesn't want his high chair anymore, he will only use real silverware and a real cup...the list could go on. He even has taken to trains, which is slightly frustrating, because we got Ian a little train set for Christmas but got Kellan a Little People barnyard. Why didn't I follow my gut instinct and buy two little train sets?

I guess it's probably okay, though. They're kind of playing together. Right now Kellan is playing with a Little People sheep on the train tracks, and I KNOW Ian has plans to run it over and see if the "cow guard" on his train works.

PS:

I know our family picture is super-sized and needs to be shrunk. I just am too lazy to fix it. So if it annoys you, please accept my non-apology. At least I'm still using capital letters and punctuation. And correct spelling. It could get worse, people!

Makes My Tummy Sad

Whenever we go out to eat, Jesse always chooses something tastier than what I get. Both my mom and sister said the same thing happens to them.

Who else has this problem?

Strange, Indeed

Austa walked into the kitchen and Ian was laughing to himself. Austa asked him why he was laughing and he said, "I tooted and it was bubbly."

Austa asked Ian what he had in his mouth. His reply: "I have a little green gum in my little cheek."

We were complaining about onions hurting our eyes and Ian said, "Strange. The onions aren't clawing my eyebrows."

Ian asked me if he could have an "unfortune" cookie.

The Beast

Kellan has been waking up for good anytime from 3-5:30. He always wakes up randomly a few times during the night. Previously he would just roll over and fall back asleep, but now he immediately starts screaming, "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Also, every time he wakes up during the night, he wants to eat. He will cry and cry and cry, insisting he's hungry. And I know this is going to make me sound like a very negligent parent, but every time he gets up at an obscene hour, I always have to convince myself that it's not okay to let him wander around the dark house on his own while I go back to sleep. In addition, he has started hitting--not in anger, but just randomly. And he'll laugh or smile when he does it. He's still not completely over his biting either.

He needs to get cuter, because right now his bad behavior outweighs his cuteness.

I Don't Love Trees That Much

The Arbor Day Foundation sent us a letter awhile back asking for a donation, and if you donated more than a certain amount you got 10 free seedlings and a free calendar. I love trees, so I donated. Our trees came in the mail, along with our calendar and a letter. The letter thanked us for donating and asked us to return the bottom portion letting the ADF know we had received our calendar. At the bottom of the form we were asked to check one of two boxes. Next to the first it said that we had received our calendar and would like to donate ____ amount more money. Next to the second it said that we had received our calendar and would like to donate $5 to cover the cost of the calendar.

Miss Manners would be very affronted to hear that the ADF was asking for a donation to cover the cost of our gift. And so am I.

I'm going to plant those trees, Arbor Day Foundation, and I will water them and love them. But you are dead to me. Except I still might donate once a year. But your calendar is lame.

The Danger of Letting Your Kids Self-Serve Craisins:

Realizing after you've eaten a handful that the Craisins have left sticky, thick, wet red residue on your hand.

Tasty.

Any Input?

I was asked to give a talk for Young Women In Excellence on the importance of self-worth. I am completely overwhelmed; I don't think that we could talk about this subject enough, especially to adolescent girls. Does anyone have any particular feelings/recent insight on this subject?

Attention Politicians:

I am making a list of people who call our house more than once a day. And I'm not voting for anyone on the list.

Some Sunday

Today at church Jesse got asked last-minute to teach a lesson for today. I got asked to give a 20 minute talk for Young Women in Excellence in a week and a half. Kellan bit a little girl on the cheek. Someone hit our car in the parking lot. I had to sit in our Primary room for two hours while crazy kids practiced for the Primary program. After practicing for two hours, they somehow decided to still do closing exercises (talk, theme, scripture, closing song, and prayer). And Ian still hasn't fallen asleep.


Happy Halloween!

Mini Heart Attack

Ian was walking around singing "I am tired of God". I almost laid an egg...until I realized he was singing "I am a child of God". He finished the line with "and he has sent me here yesterday."

Ian has started thanking me for everything. He has given verbal thanks to me for washing his underwear, cleaning under his chair, making his bed, and picking up his toys. It sure makes doing those tedious mom tasks a little nicer !

Kellan gives "thumbs up", but instead of sticking his thumbs up, he sticks his hands as high in the air as they'll go (which is just to the top of his head) and does two finger guns. It's hilarious.

Poll

Is it appropriate to wear leggings to church? I feel that it makes a church-worthy outfit too casual. But then I start to wonder if I'm being ridiculous.

What does everyone think?

We Don't Get Out Much

I took Ian and Kellan out for french fries while we waited for our down comforter to wash at the laundromat. Ian kept referring to the fries as "stir fries" and the fry sauce as "stir fry sauce".

Odd

You know in Meet The Parents, how the girl's dad does the "I'm Watching" thing where he points to his eyes with his fingers and then points to Ben Stiller? Ian does that all the time. Saturday he told Ashley that she looks like "Santa's knee" and then said "I'm watchin' you" as he pointed to his eyes, and then at Ashley.

I like to assume my kids are well-adjusted, but I don't know....

Smart Plan

We bought new sheets for Ian's bed, and I carefully selected a color that wouldn't get stained when his diaper leaks or he has a sick stomach. The charcoal color I got works great for hiding stains, as we've already found out a few times. Unfortunately, Ian drools a LOT in his sleep, and on charcoal sheets, drool stands out. A lot.

Keepin' It Fresh

The other day I heard Ian screaming from the bathroom. I went in there expecting to see a little boy who needed cleaning up. What I saw was a little boy perched on top of a 10' high, 6' wide, 10' long Tupperware that was in turn perched on top of his potty chair. The Tupperware was tipping off the potty, the boy was tipping off the Tupperware, and the only thing staying put was the poo inside the Tupperware, which was firmly attached to the top of the pile of spare Tupperware lids that had been stored in the larger container.

When Is That?

Today I asked a little boy in my primary class when his mom was going to have their baby. He said, "Around rodeo time."

I hope that wasn't the due date her doctor gave her.

Wonders of Wal-Mart

Yesterday we went to WalMart. Parked next to the front doors on the sidewalk was a huge four-wheeler with an Australian shepherd sitting on the seat.

Our closest Wal-Mart is in Airway Heights, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that on the way to Wal-Mart I saw a man in a suit getting gas, and my first reaction was, "What is someone doing wearing a suit in Airway Heights?"

So, needless to say I wouldn't let him take the picture of the four-wheeler because I was afraid of the owner. Sorry, People of Wal-Mart Blog, to deprive you of yet another funny picture.

At church I spilled some of Ian's water on the pew. Ian said (loudly), "Mom, you spilled water on Heavenly Father's bench!"

Today I waited 2 1/2 hours at the Department of Licensing to get a new license.

I'm just saying, I'm over this recession. Stop the furloughs. This state can't operate with a DOL that is only open three days a week. Insanity is the result of cutting back on DOL employee hours, and my new driver license picture proves it.

The American Life

My sister works at a movie theater, and Jesse and get to see free movies, which is really nice. But I consider it a serious hardship to have to watch all of those Tron previews over and over. And don't even get me started on the Smurf ones.

Picture Review: Seattle

Bainbridge Island:

Ferry Ride:

Some lighthouse--I forgot the name:


Chittendem Locks and English Gardens:


REI Flagship Store:
Pike Place Market:
Railroad Museum:
Snoqulmie Falls:
A Park:
Botanical Gardens:





Karen flew up and met us in Seattle, and we had a great time. Unfortunately it's been a long time since we've gone, and I don't have time to research the names of the places we've visited that I can't remember. But it was fun! Thanks for coming up, Karen!

Ian Goober

Yesterday my siblings were playing the Disney game, Scene It? On the box they have a bunch of Disney characters, and Ian pointed to Mickey Mouse and said, "That's dad." Then he pointed to Pumbaa and said, "That's mom. Sick." Then a little while into their game Ian grabbed a big black garbage bag, ran into the living room where my siblings were, shook the bag open, and said, "All right! Get in the bag, everyone!"

The other day he wanted me to cut up some pickles into a Ziploc bag. He had found a little tiny lunchbox and put his pickles in the box. After carrying it around for maybe five minutes, he ran into the kitchen, slammed it down on the table, and said, "Pickle time!"

Kellan Update

Kellan had his 15 month appointment last week. He's between the 25th and 50th percentiles for height, so he's still shrimpy.

A few days after his appointment he climbed out of his crib when I put him down for a nap, so now we start this game. We'll see who wins, though after the first baby, I don't know if I have confidence in Jesse's and my team.

Surprises I Do Not Like

The other day I was trying to wrangle Ian into going to sleep and I fell asleep instead, as per usual. I woke up who knows how much later, and the first think I noticed was that Ian was laying down right next to me, giggling, with his hand in his mouth. The next thing I noticed was that my neck was completely wet. Conclusion: Ian had repeatedly licked his hand and used it to moisten my whole neck. I'm not Sherlock, but that's what he continued to try to do after I woke up, so I'm pretty sure my deduction is spot on.

Usually he just pokes his fingers in my eyes and up my nose, but I got really mad at him the last time he was doing that, because he ALSO pulled down my pants a little bit and was sticking his fingers in my crack. That is the worst way to wake up. Ever.

PS: I don't like typing the word "crack" and don't like asking people to read the word in relation to myself, but...I couldn't describe the event any other way. So, sorry.

Haircut!

We gave Kellan his first for-real haircut. I've cut his bangs a few times, but decided after seeing a kid at church with an intense European mullet that I had better suck it up and get 'er done.


Kellan was surprisingly well-behaved. Maybe because he saw Ian go first?





Ian also got a cut:


I wanted Jesse to trim Ian's sideburns but he just cut them instead. Party pooper. I think it would be awesome to have matching daddy-son sideburns.

Since we were cutting Ian's hair, and it was warm outside, we just let him run around naked. He peed in the dirt four times, and pooped once. We resolved to stop putting off the horrors of potty training.

The family:

Belated Utah Post

In (late) celebration of having visited Utah a month ago, I will now post about our trip. I would have posted earlier, but I was facing the task of going throught 1400 pictures, and that's no small task.

We planned out Utah trip around Jesse's marathon mission reunion. Enough said about that.

We were able to celebrate Easter at Grandma Karen's house, and Ian had a blast.




Kellan didn't really know what was going on, but he loved this hopping bunny that Karen got him.


Jesse's family was great and played with the kids a lot.


After Conference and Easter were over, we went camping down at Zion National Park. Wait. I meant to type, "after Conference and Easter were over, and all the SNOW melted, we went camping down at Zion National Park."

We were going to camp in the park, but just outside of it we passed some BLM land, which is free to camp on. No water and overrun with weed-smoking hippies, but free. As soon as we got there, Kellan was eating dirt and Ian was running around like a crazy man.

This is what bedtime looked like every night that we were there:




We stopped by REI and bought a double sleeping bag so the kids would be able to sap my warmth and sleep well. It worked well, except Kellan doesn't really sleep well if he's touching anything. Consequently this is what we all felt like after a long night:


The first day we spent in the park, riding the shuttle and going on hikes. It was very pretty.








Near the end of the day we were walking toward the Narrows and we almost got his by rocks. We heard thunder and I looked up and saw a rock falling. Jesse ran forward and I turned around and ran back the way we had come. It was so scary. I was running trying to cover Kellan's head, and rocks were falling onto the sidewalk all around us. When we stopped, there were pebbles and dirt all over our hair and clothes, and I was hysterical because I couldn't see where Jesse and Ian were, and because I had almost been killed by rocks. A tree was broken in half, the fence broken, and the sidewalk cracked. Luckily nobody was hurt.



The next day we hiked through backcountry to see Kolob Arch. All day I was twitchy because we kept hearing rock slides, and Ian kept saying, "A big rock fell and almost hit us!" The hike to the arch was 7 miles and we didn't start until noon, so we got back really late.






Ironically, we could hardly see Kolob Arch once we got to it. You can see it way better in the pictures. And you can hardly see it in the pictures.

The two days after that we played around on red rock with Janna, Jesse's sister, and her son, Tyler. We found some petroglyphs and some sand dunes up on a mesa. It was pretty fun.





Kellan just wanted to walk around on the red rock and step on plants:



After we got back from camping, we only had a few days left in Utah. We spent more time with Jesse's family, visited with Kristen (from freshman year) and her son Cole, and saw some other friends.


We had a ton of fun.