Greenwater camping trip

Here is our camping trip photos! The kids loved the river and even though we didn't get pictures of us swimming all three kids dunked all the way under the freezing water and so did Steph and I! Britt only went in to his neck....chicken. Fun times, we are hoping to squeeze one more camping trip in before summer is over(even though weather wise it feels like it today).

Can't believe I'm this far behind!

I put her hair in rags and then we head off to the Enumclaw street fair to see Rick and Linda Morse. Alexis absolutely loves older kids and will follow them around and copy everything they do. Most older kids love her too. She sat so good for me while I did her hair and left it in until her hair was dry. I really love her hair curly and plan to do it for her birthday party(hopefully I have time when we get home from the mother daughter camp out). After the fair on Saturday The Morse's, My family, The Dahle's and the Irwin's(here for the Scottish Highland games with my dad) all came over to our house and we had a big salmon dinner and of course it poured. Rick pulled out the kettle corn kettle and Britt and Rick popped us some good kettle corn, the kids ran around in the rain and got totally soaked, Britt bowled a 300 on the wii and was beyond happy. I think that wraps up the month of July!

Did I ever tell you?

I was just thinking about how silly Alexis is and reminiscing about her cat wrangling day. It was an ordinary day at the end of July and I had put Alexis in her bed and said the usually "I love you and good night," closed the door and walked out. A few minutes later I heard grunting and yelling sounds coming from her room. I waited a few minutes to see if maybe she was just playing and then because it kept going I decided to investigate. I feared opening the door and finding her stuck somewhere like in her toy box or something, but that is not what I found. I found her laying on the floor with the cat trapped between her arms and her rolling around. The cat who is like 16 pounds was laying there with a very pained look on his face "get me outta here fast." I laughed because he was being so tolerable and usually does his best to keep out of her reach. He had been looking out her bedroom window behind the curtain when I put her to bed and was trapped. Now if he had been smart he would have stayed hidden, but he came out hoping to escape and found himself face to face with a toddler who loves to wrestle. He was so good to he didn't scratch her or bite her, just laid there and took all her Rodeo tricks like a champ! I asked her release the cat and he ran like lightening to his bed! She then got in her bed and went to sleep. It was the funniest thing though. Surprisingly he is a bit less jumpy at her now. He was caught in there 3 days later but I looked for him before shutting the door to avoid the wrangling cat event. Funny stuff.

Ebay saves the day

I love ebay sometimes! I have been scouring the stores and internet for knee and elbow pads for Alexis to use with her new scooter. I have been able to find tons of them but most sets only come with one set of pads and a helmet. Well she already has a good helmet and I wanted 2 sets of pads....what is a mom to do? Go to ebay. I found this set that has 2 wrist gaurds, 2 elbows pads and 2 knee pads! Way cool, and for a reasonable price too. To bad I waited so long that she will be trying out her new scooter with only her helmet on. Maybe they will be here by her birthday on Monday though and she will get to open something then! By the way I think I have everything bought for her party on Saturday now I just need to put it all together. I should do it now while she is napping, but nope I am blogging!

what is that bitter taste?

Just now I licked my lips and I had this awful bitter taste and I was wondering what it was. I washed my hands because I had been to the store (horrid experience that no mom should ever go through) and I thought maybe I got something on my hands there and then I remembered. I remembered what I did when I got home. I opened the door to find Alexis's breakfast plate on the floor and I knew Rudy had got it down and licked it clean. This has become a very bad habit of his and we are really at a loss as to how to stop it. Besides the obvious of putting him outside or clearing the counters. Seriously though he has eaten cubes of butter and yesterday ate a whole package of club crackers. Back to the bitter taste I bought that dog stuff that you spray on things to keep them from ripping apart your house. I sprayed it on the plate and had him lick the plate. Must have got some on my fingers and trust me I didn't want to lick them again! Haha so it worked for me. I don't think it worked on the dog though, the food is just so tempting. By the way advice to Rudy "If the people have had a really bad shopping trip don't cause them any reason to be angry with you!"

I really had a bad day so far. I should have know it wasn't a good day to shop though since Alexis had a melt down because of her bath, then she wanted to wear her swim suit and go in the pool, it is raining so that isn't an option. She was having a beyond melt down fit at the dollar store. I was so embarrassed and was getting angrier by the second at her. She is so lucky that we were in public or I would spanked her really hard. At home I would have just walk away and shut myself up into the closet and hide for awhile, haha. She tried 3 or 4 times to throw herself out of the cart, one time she almost succeeded, good thing I have quick reflexes. I really wanted to crawl behind the stuffed animals and hide. As I was walking to the car I told her that my patience level for her had run all the way out and if she cried getting into her car seat I would have to spank her. She didn't cry, thank heavens because I probably would have left a mark I was so upset. So after I got in the car I turned around and gave her a big talk about how she has to start being better in the store. She looked up at me through her eyelashes and just listened to all I had to say. Then fell asleep on the way home. I hate feeling like that. I truly wish that I could find away to help her just sit and be good. It isn't like she was sitting in the cart the whole time either. Just when I was in line to pay, because I didn't want her going outside or back to the toys. So that was my shopping trip to buy things for her birthday party. Talk about ungrateful, then when I told Britt about it he said that was her way of saying don't spend hard earned money. He didn't get the haha result he wanted though....ohwell he will learn not to make light of my day when I am still on the way home from the said melt-down experience.

I will post pictures of our eventful life soon, just need to have some time to down load them.

Is this normal?

This is the first time I have been the one doing the hard work with potty training, when I worked at the day care we would work on it but they stayed in diapers until they were almost done. Ok so she always starts to potty in her underwear and then runs to the bathroom and finishes up. Is that normal? Just now she pee peed in her underoos and then ran on her own to the potty chair. I heard her and went in the bathroom and she had finished going. So I made a big deal about her going and only told her quietly that she needs to try and and get to the potty chair before she starts to go. I am not trying super hard though to train her, this is all her doing. I decided this weekend that I am going to buy cheap diapers though since she takes them off as soon as she wets them. She does recognize though when she has started to pee and then tells me. Maybe it is just a matter of controlling those muscles better and will get better with time. That what I was wondering if this is kind of normal when they are first starting out. As a child I hard a very hard time because my muscles weren't that strong and I had small kidneys so it caused me to have infections a lot.

Get Away

Britt and I are planning a get away, without children. Sunday we had to stop by our friends the Koeller's house to get Britt's phone and as we were talking they asked when we were all going to go on a vacation without kids together. They want to go to Sandals in Jamaica next year and were thinking that we would like to go. Haha I think the look on my face when he said without kids must have been priceless because he quickly said you can bring Alexis though. I laughed and said that if I was going some place that nice I wouldn't bring her, but that I wanted to wait until she was closer to 4 to leave her for a week. So he suggested going to Cannon Beach for the weekend. I can do that. I am just nervous about leaving the country without her. In a lot of those vacation spots the airports are only open certain times of the day and flights out are limited and usually booked, so if something happened it would be hard to get home quickly. Here in the USA you can always get a flight that will get you closer to home at anytime. So I think we are going to Oregon and leave the girl with Grandma and Grandpa Martin for a few nights. I am excited, but it will be weird to not have her around for a few days.

Good bye for now

Well we are for the weekend in the woods. Our power is getting turned off for the day so they can hook up new power lines through our neighborhood and so this is my last chance to communicate to my blogger fans out there. We will come back mosquito bitten, dirty and hopefully full of fun tales. See ya on Sunday.

Warm water

Today Alexis woke up dry and Britt decided that today is the big day to really start potty training. I however will be waiting until after our camping trip this weekend to start full time. Anyways back to my husbands technique. When he lets her out of her overnight prison( her room) he steers her right into the bathroom and sits her down. He was going to read her the potty story book, but changes his mind and fills a cup with warm water. She of course being a child who would live in warm water like a mermaid, sticks her hand in. In 10 seconds she starts to go potty and stands up to see. Britt knows she isn't done so encourages her to play in the water more and she finishes up. Of course she was very excited and said "I go potty!" and then "I want candy," haha she is getting the clue that when she goes potty she gets a piece of special potty candy. I have had a hard time resisting eating this candy too by the way. I laugh because my husband does not do things the normal way but it works most of the time even if he gets funny looks from me. I will still bring the potty chair camping just in case, really hate changing diapers and keeping them around for a few days, yuck. I am so lucky however that she has not had a #2 accident yet. I know that I will not escape this training without one, but so far haven't had that. I am going to make a sticker chart for her, since she loves stickers so much. Well I need to get back to reading Breaking Dawn, thanks Kate for letting me borrow it!

Eggs

Today I got out the eggs to cook one up for Alexis, I personally don't like them very much, and set them on the counter. While the stove heated up, Alexis must have felt that I had forgotten I was making her breakfast because it was taking longer then she felt it should take so she was going to make it herself. She pulled the egg carton off the counter, only 4 eggs it there luckily, and began taking the eggs out. When I turned around I only saw 1 egg in there. She was holding the other three in her arms and tried to turn and run from me. I got 2 before she got away and the other she was holding on to like it was a diamond! I got it and put them in the fridge! I just am amazed at what her little mind decides to do. She got her egg and devoured it and wanted more. If only we could video all of these little moments for others to see how funny life is. Wrestling eggs from a almost 2 year without breaking one! Well gotta run got a fun day.

The kitchen sink

I woke up this morning to a little girl knocking on her door saying "momma" over and over, it was 3 AM. I don't understand why she is not sleeping through the night anymore. So I did something that is very hard for me to do.... I ignored her. I just laid in bed and listened hoping she would get the hint and just go get back in bed and go to sleep. Well she did it took her 20 minutes but it would have taken 2 hours had I gone in there. Britt was not as willing to wait and I had to stop him several times. Alexis then slept until 8:30. I have to get her schedule back on track, she has been going to bed at 11:30pm and waking up at 6 then going back to sleep at 8:30 until 11. Then she is so tired she is crashing at 5pm. Very mixed up and church at 2 doesn't help! Hopefully last night will help get things regular.

If I don't get her sleeping back on the book release on Friday will be crazy. My mom is watching Alexis and I am heading down to a little book store in Sumner for a release party with Amberlynn and Brooke from my ward. It should be a lot of fun, but I want things easier on my mom since she will have Alexis until close to 1am. So excited for Twilight's last book Breaking Dawn I am almost as excited about this as a I was Harry Potter" I saw a trailer for Twilight I hope it is going to be good. I need to reread all of the books, so who knows I may just buy the whole series after all.

We watched Penelope it is so cute. Alexis even liked it or maybe she liked all the candy we let her eat during the movie. Who knows what she actually got out of it but well worth the dollar! I think Alexis is going get a bike for her birthday. It is a tricycle actually, last night at Walmart she wouldn't get off of it. We had to distract her and whisk it away quickly and that left a very distraught 23 month old. It was funny she was holding her hands out in front of her whimpering and would look at me and say "where it go." Britt would have bought it right then had we brought the money for it. Good thing we didn't because I don't want to get her used to us buying her things just because she won't let go off it in the store....that would not be pretty on our budget.

The one at Walmart is pink though! We are going to shop around but it is cute and easy for her to get on and off and push around. I like that the seat back is high so she can't fall off easy. and the little trunk is cute! Ok well I better get going we have a busy day of shopping for the hike Britt is going on this week end. He is going to be a mountain climber guy now, he wants to climb Mount Rainier next year. Some how even having life insurance doesn't make me feel comfortable anymore. I think it would rather him stay home. Oh well I love his ambition!

She did it!

She might potty train herself. Alexis loves to be naked. She will strip her clothes off the second she wets in her diaper, she hates being wet. Today she took off her clothes and I guess really thought that she was going to be grant the privilege of jumping on the couch nude. Nope I got her some panties to wear and she immediately said "Potty, potty!" So we got her potty and she sat down. Now normally if she does go it is a few drops and then she jumps up runs away and finishes the job on the floor, not today. She jumped up and declared "Potty" I looked and sure enough she had gone so I cheered and congratulated her and then she sat down again and went a whole bunch. I made sure that it was a big deal and we clapped and danced. She got to flush the toilet and everything. She is struggling a little since then with dribbles, but it was a huge thing that she went on her own! I am not pushing her I only encourage her since she is a streaker and I might as well. So who knows she might just be mostly trained by her birthday in a month. I think it is going to be harder for me because the most feared part is public restrooms I find it so scary to take a toddler in them to touch things. I may just stay home for the next year until she is older....haha I wish. I got out the new panties and she tried each one on! Britt had her turn around to model them and she turned until she got dizzy. She is so super duper smart. If you have any tips that worked with your kids let me know I might try them out.

REI

Yesterday our power was supposed to be out for 8 hours so we planned a full day of being away from home. Alexis and I went to the park, then we came home(power was still on) picked up Britt and met my parents for lunch at Mazatlan. They offered to watch Alexis for us while we went to the Seattle REI and so we took them up on their offer. Britt and I met the guy buying one of Britt's bikes there at 2:00 and sold him the bike! We then went in to REI. It is huge compared to Tacoma's and has a 65 foot Rock wall you can climb, we are going to go back on a Monday because it is only $15 then. Anyways we went down to the scratch and dent section and found a pair of boats and a whole bunch of stuff people have return, it would shock you what people will return. There was a shirt there that had been bleached and REI took it back, shoes that had been seriously abused and were returned, tents that people had ripped putting up and REI took them all back. OK well we went up stairs so Britt could walk around the testing area. Then for 4 hours more he tried on boots....I am not exaggerating....it was torture. I am so glad we didn't bring Alexis she would not have played on the playground for that long. Britt has blisters on his hand from tying shoes. My brain has become mush from all the shoes he tried on and complained about. Finally this guy named Pete(life-saver) asked how we where doing(probably due to coma like trans I was in) he was a backpacker to the soul and taught Britt all about hiking boots and how they should fit and the difference between Mountaineer, backpacking and hiking boots. So Britt finally picked out a boot, the first ones that we found down in the scratch and dent section. I wanted to shout for joy, he then went and looked at gators, sleeping bags and climbing axes and I was able to steer him to the check out. We got through the line and somewhere Britt had put down our basket and had to run back through the store and find it. We got the boots for $135 they were originally $280, and we got out of there with only spending $50 more then what he sold his bike for. We almost had to go back in because we couldn't find Britt's phone and just as we were turning to go back in the store the cashier came running up to us and asked if it was ours. I was happy that Britt didn't get to go back in because we had forgot our car was parked in the garage and you had to pay. I was happy when our parking only cost us $5, just a few more minutes and it would have been $12. We bought Alexis a monkey that Velcro's onto her with its feet and hands. On the way home we called my parents and Alexis said "Hi" to me I had to really think about who was talking to me because I don't hear her on the phone very often. I asked her if she was being good and she said "Yea" and then I told her we got a surprise for her and she said "yea" and then "Bye" and "Love you." When I got off the phone I got teary eyed because she is just getting so big. I Love her so much. So hopefully he won't need a new pair of boots anytime soon, and if he does I won't be going with him I will go to the spa. HAHA. After all that our power never went out.

Gettin Skinny

I know I wish that title was for me but it is not.... and it can't be for Britt since he can't get much skinnier. So it must be for Alexis. She is 26 pounds same as she has weighed for about 2 months now and 34 inches tall. She has gotten taller though since march when she was 31 inches. That puts her at the 45th percentile for weight and the 61st for height. Now if she wouldn't be such a picky eater she might gain some weight. We had sandwiches today for lunch and she only ate the cheese. Left the meat and bread sitting on the table. Oh well, she isn't starving so she must be getting enough.

All Done

The garage is cleaned out. I am so happy. It was so bad that seriously you couldn't walk into the garage at all without stepping over something and every time I ventured in I would injure myself. So I finally got Britt to help me get it under control(it was his fault it was so messy, only because his organization is patterned after a child's). So we took everything out, except the food storage. I even went through my holiday decorations. I got rid of two boxes of Christmas and one Halloween. I also got rid of all but one box of canning jars. I am not going to get around to in anytime soon so why keep them around. Ok well I haven't got rid of them yet I made an announcement in Relief Society just in case someone wants them before I donate them to the DI. Britt got rid of a bunch of stuff too and still needs to go through his tools. We got all the camping stuff back on it's shelf and the out door toys on their shelf. All the pool stuff is together and easy to access. It is great, we can walk around in there without stepping over and around stuff or getting injured! It is very strange to have empty Rubbermaid's in the garage! The crazy thing is I needed a tape measure today and I still couldn't find one on Britt's tool table....what do you do.

Alexis is really a nice girl

Sometimes I feel really overwhelmed by Alexis and her social interactions with other children and I know that other parents call Alexis a bully and are marking her as a bad kid. I know that you do, because I would too. I just want to express that Britt and I work very hard at trying to teach her that it isn't ok to bite and push kids down. I do have comfort in that most older mom's that I talk to say their children have all done the same thing... all kids go through phases of biting, hitting, scratching, pushing and many other things that embarrass us as parents. I guess I just am upset because Alexis is an amazing girl and has the funniest personality. She captures every one's attention everywhere we go. She is always dancing and singing(even in the shower, it really is the cutest). She copies everything you do only way cuter, she runs and jumps and plays. She has the most infectious laugh especially when she is playing with daddy. Alexis is a choice daughter of Heavenly Father I can feel it every time I look at her, I know that she has a special place with him. She has a special purpose here on Earth and will be a great missionary. When people meet her even for a minute they all love her and I know that she will be a great leader one day. I feel sad that anyone would label her as a bully. Now no body has said this to me I just get that impression. I hope that everyone who has a child that Alexis has injured in someway sees that she is not even 2 yet and most experts agree that she can't be a bully yet....Even though we think she is incredibly smart. I found this article beneficial and I hope you can understand that we are trying to teach her right and that she is still a baby herself regardless of how tall or talkative she is. http://www.parents.com/toddlers/development/social/toddler-hits-bites/ . Well I guess I will go know... just wanted to help ease my mind that everyone knows that we are working with her.

No he didn't

The worst fear of learning to play the piano almost came true today. In Sharing time they wanted a song to be sung and the pianist had stepped out so they asked if anyone played the piano. My dear sweet husband volunteered me. Ok I am petrified to play in front of people and for sure would not have been able to have all the kids sing along to "I'm trying to be Like Jesus." Have you looked at that song....even the top hand takes skill to keep the tempo up for singing.

Anyways they all look at me even the kids and I say no I can't play that song.
They say we just need the top hand
Britt says what have I been paying all that money out for if you aren't going to play in church
My face is a deep red color and I say I will stop coming if you make me play
I corrected myself and said just to primary I will go to all other meetings

Why doesn't he understand that 2 years of lessons is not enough to play in front of people. I am just not ready for that. I would have play a simplified version but didn't have one...and will not ever bring it to church either. One day I will get over my fear, but just like leading the music it won't be anytime soon. So leading the music I did that once in Relief Society, it was very humbling. If you think it is natural it is not, I often thought I can do it I have seen the music lead for years and years. When I got up there I experienced the same color of red on my face and botched the whole thing, it was so awful I begged another lady to take my place for the practice hymn. I think my church service is better left for quiet behind the scenes stuff! Maybe like taking attendence for sunbeams and then letting them run wild for 45 minutes!! Ok well I don't let them run wild but we do have lots of wiggle time.

Hello...Hello....Hello

I feel so out of touch with everyone since my computer died. Well it didn't die but the laptop stopped connecting with the Internet and so it is getting new parts. This is the second time this has happened and the part they are replacing was recalled. don't ask me which one because I don't remember I just said fix it!!! We have been busy and having lots of fun. I will post when I get my laptop back because our other computer is seriously a dinosaur. It is so slow and unresponsive that I can't stand to use it! My computer will hopefully be here in a few days!

Don't put stuff down the drain

While doing my hair today Alexis put her new hair pretty down the drain. I got the sweet look of "What mommy?" when I said "No, No, No Alexis don't put stuff down the drain!" It was too late though it slide down and was gone. Britt took the curved part off when he got home, but it was all the way through. Now had I know that you don't need a tool to take that part off I would have done it myself and maybe could have got it out, but I didn't. Sad so we only have one now and it will have to be for a single ponytail(if we can ever get her hair long enough).

Erin left today to start the trip home to Kansas. We went out to Godfather's pizza lunch buffet with Kate, Chad, Mallori, Jenn, Ashlee and Erin and her kids before she left and to celebrate Alma's birthday again. We had cupcakes at Grandma's house Yesterday and had so much fun. We played in the front yard and played statues... it was great even Alexis was poising. Grandma makes the yummiest frosting, Britt had 4 cupcakes and I had 3 it was that good. Erin left with me checking the air pressure in her tires. The pressure gauge broke apart on the last tire but it went back together easily; said a last goodbye to the kiddos and Alexis blow kisses and said "bye An Ern" and away they went. Good luck on your drive home and hopefully the next time we see you Alexis won't call all 3 boys Alma! Haha!

And the thunder rolls out of control

We have been having some seriously huge thunder and lightening storms this week. Sunday we sat out in the back yard and watched the lightening strike wildly over the roof of our house. Britt had one get so close to him that his hair stood up, well if he hadn't been sitting on the roof of the play set it wouldn't have gotten so close to him. We also were misinformed about how to tell how close it is. Once you see the flash and count to 5 that means it is one mile away, we thought it was a mile for every second we counted, so counting to 10 means it is only 2 miles away not the ten we thought. That storm lasted until late in the night and then last nights was something else. I went to the movies and saw Emma Smith, My story and when we came out we could see the humidity in the air, it was really thick and I had a feeling lightening was on it's way and sure enough as we stood outside the theatre the sky started lighting up and did so all the way home and until about 10 this morning. All night long and it was right over us, it poured and flashed and shook our house. None of us slept very well at all, Alexis is very scared and wraps her arms around us and holds on for dear life. Finally this morning I told her the clouds were growling and that seemed to calm her a little bit. If you think I am exaggerating how bad the storm was last night think again, it seriously lasted all night and every flash and boom kept us from a deep sleep. The rain also kept us from going to the tall ships festival, it last all weekend but I wanted to see them coming in. Ohwell I guess life goes on! Alexis did just take a 3 hour nap though thanks to last nights storm!