The Haps and the Craps

The Haps first, then we'll move on to the more important and wildly exciting craps....My sister inspired me to make a Moby-type wrap for my friend's baby shower, so here's the picture of the finished product. Thank you Luke for modeling how it's used. (Well, at least one of the ways you can use it.) I have one extra one that's almost identical to this one, except it was my practice one, so the bottom edge of the paisley fabric has ribbon on it to cover up a mistake :) If you want it you can have it, just let me know!

If you want to make one of your own, all it takes is 5 or 6 yards of fabric, depending on how long you want the ties to be. You actually get two wraps out of one piece of material, because you cut the 5-6 yard piece down the center. I finished the edges of mine with a rolled hem on my serger and added the paisley fabric, but some materials you don't even have to sew at all. Voila, it's done! When I make one again I will use stretchier material--this one was good for a bigger baby because it had less give, but when they're teeny tiny I think it would be better to have more of a T-shirt, cotton jersey type of fabric so they're snuggled up really tight right next to you.

The Craps: LYDIA IS USING THE POTTY, HOORAY!!! I don't know what happened to change her mind, but we'd been having talks for a while about how when she was three she'd be a big girl and would be ready to use the potty. She would usually cry because "I'm not a big girl!" if you even suggested that she sit on the potty. Since she'll be three in about two weeks I suggested that we practice sitting on the potty to get ready to be a big girl. She resisted, until Wednesday. She voluntarily sat on the potty for 20 minutes trying to go, but couldn't. I suggested that she try after taking a bath, because that might help her pee-pee come out. She was in the tub, stood up and told me she had to pee-pee, so we sat on the potty and she did it! In her own words, "I felt the tickle and then I sat on the potty and my pee-pee just fell out!"

She's doing GREAT at peeing on the potty--even at night. She'll wake me up when she has to go, which is exciting to me even at 1:45 am. Our problem is pooping. She already has constipation problems, so going poop on the potty is going to be a big challenge. She hasn't really gone since Wednesday, despite me loading her up with fiber supplements and starting Miralax yesterday. Today she had to go a few times, but she can't really control the urge when she has to go so she ended up peeing and pooing just a tiny bit in her underwear. I put pull-ups on her this afternoon and told her to just poop in them and she could have any treat she wanted, but she's so focused on NOT going in her pants now that she won't do it. So, here we are--her with tons of poop in her bowels but refusing to go, and me pleading for her to poop in any way, shape, or form. Any ideas of how to get this cute underwear-clad lady to poop?

Luke, on the other hand, has no problem pooping and peeing his pants all day long. He is now fascinated with the toilet and loves to flush it. Yesterday as I was getting ready to go to the shower he managed to stuff half a roll of toilet paper and a block in the toilet and flushed it several times, causing it to overflow. It made me think of the book "Love You Forever" and I actually smiled when I first saw it. His new word is showcased in the following video. I sure love this goofy little guy!

Now you know what we've been up to for the last few weeks!

The Little Lady in My Life

My little bundle of sunshine has really been on a roll today. A small sampling of her quotes of the day:

*We've been putting Lydia and Luke to sleep in the same room for the last several nights, and it seems to be working out pretty well, although Luke always wakes up first. This morning I got him up when I heard him, and Lydia came down a while later. I asked her how she slept. "Well, apparently Luke woke up and was crying," she said with a furrowed brow (and she put a very special emphasis on the word apparently--long and drawn out with a pause afterward.) "I had to put my blanket over my head to keep him out!"

*I handed her her vitamins. She started scarfing them down and I said, "Say thank you, please." She looked at me for several seconds before saying, "Thank you please" with a smirk on her face.

*Tonight for Family Home Evening Tyler was reading from his journal about Lydia and Luke's births. Lydia was running around wildly not paying attention except to ask every few minutes when we were going to have our FHE treat. In Ty's journal entry about Lydia's birth he wrote about how her eyes were open when she came out and he wondered what she was thinking at that moment. "Lydia, do you remember what were you thinking about when you were born?" he asked. "Yes, I was thinking about our Family Home Evening treat."

She's such a sassy lady sometimes but I do love that little girl....I can't believe she's going to be three years old in a few weeks!

Merriest New Year!

Happy New Year! I have a New Year's resolution to contribute more to the blog. Nah, not really. But I guess since my recent contribution equals zero I've already met my goal with this post anyway. Very nice.

We had a wonderful Christmas break in Pendleton. Lydia has figured out the true meaning of Christmas - presents. It was fun to see her get so excited opening the presents. Though sometimes it seemed as though she was just feeding off of us as we were excited for her. She didn't want to let us down. Luke was a big fan of other people's presents. He picked up his cousin Tate's new dog toy, started playing with it and called it a "schweka." In fact, schweka became his word for a lot of things that week. Everything he pointed at was schweka. It must have been so frustrating for him that we couldn't figure out what he was talking about. It's so simple.

Just before New Year's we were hit with a beautiful snow storm. It came hard and fast and no one was expecting it. It was perfect timing. It started to stick to the roads just before rush hour. As I rode the Max home I watched as cars spun out, bumped into other cars and on highway 26 no one was moving. It was a good day to ride the Max.


By the time I got home Lydia and Luke had already built their snowman. Though Luke was more interested in eating the raisins that made up the snowman's mouth.


After the New Year celebrations were over (We watched a movie and fell asleep. We really like to party.) We went to the zoo to see the Zoo Lights. Very cool. Yes, they were just lights, but there were lots of them and they were pretty. Plus, we got to see some monkeys and that's always fun.



I also celebrated by not shaving. It started because I was lazy and didn't feel like shaving. Now I'm past the point of no return. I think I'll at least let it go a month.


And there you go. Hope everyone's having a wonderful start to 2010.

This One's For Daddy and Grandpa Stoddard

A short summary of our lives...

I thought this video was a pretty good summary of our life in general--mostly happiness and joy,

while occasionally getting smacked over the head unexpectedly :)

A few funny stories about the kiddos, starting with this one:

Yesterday she was really into talking about the garden we're going to plant in the spring. We were discussing what to plant and I suggested planting broccoli since Luke really likes it. "Okay," Lydia said, "I want to plant quesadillas for me!" What can I say, the girl loves her cheese.

Tyler bought her "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and has been reading it to her nightly at her request. Today she was riding her little car around the house and I asked her where she was going. "I'm taking the Christmas tree to my shop, because..... I'm the Grinch!" (Insert a very mean Grinch-like sneer here) You probably had to be there, but it was hilarious.

Picture taken shortly after Luke peed through his diaper all over Tyler's pants :)

This little guy has been doing better napping, but he will now let me know when he wants a nap by laying face down on the floor and not moving. Today he did it in Dick's Sporting Goods. When I went to pick him up I noticed he was licking the linoleum floor. Awesome.

He's started saying "ank u" (thank you) and "ere go" (there you go) all the time. He likes to bring you something and say "ere go," then take it from you and say "ank u!" I love it!!!

Photo courtesy of Ashleigh Hansen Photography, who took our family pictures, which I will post soon

No cute stories from me or Tyler, except that our car battery died and we had to buy a new one. But I don't think that really qualifies as cute, do you?

Help!!!

So I've been a delinquent blogger lately, but we've been gone a lot in the last few weeks. First we had Thanksgiving with my family in Sun Valley, which was amazing. Unfortunately, I can't find the pictures now to prove what a great time we had. Last weekend I headed to Utah to meet up with some of my best friends and ex-roommates for the wedding of another best friend and ex-roommate. Tyler took the kids to his parent's house in Pendleton, so I had a baby-free weekend! (Thanks Stoddards!) It was fabulous to get some girl-time with some of the best ladies in the whole wide world, but I forgot my camera (and my temple recommend to get in to the wedding--no worries, I still made it in) so I have no pictures of the trip. Clearly I am lacking in brain power and this is why I need your help.

Luke is having napping troubles and I can't figure out how to get the kid to nap effectively. For the few weeks before the trip I thought he was trying to transition to one nap a day, and I was getting him and Lydia to go down at the same time. Hooray!!! It was great, but those days are gone. He wakes up at about 6:30 am every day, and is cranky and wanting a nap by 9:30am. If I put him down at that time, he sleeps for about two hours and then refuses to take an afternoon nap. (By refuse I mean moaning and crying endlessly, which wakes up his sister and grates on my nerves.) So, he is irritable and goes into destruction mode by 5 pm. I refuse to put him down then because he will wake up at 5 am if I do. So, we have a very unhappy few hours until he goes to bed around 6:30-7pm.

Yesterday I thought that I'd try to get him to stay awake in the morning by running errands, since that usually keeps him interested in his surroundings. I got to JoAnn's at 10 am and after ten minutes he put his little hands on the cart handle, laid his head on them, and went to sleep. This from the kid who screams bloody murder every Sunday when we try to hold him and get him to nap at church! So, I'm just at a loss of what to do. If I let him nap in the morning, then I basically have one hour to leave the house between his and Lydia's naps and I'm stuck at home the rest of the day. Does anyone have any great ideas of how get him wait until afternoon to take his daily nap? I can't take being a prisoner in my own home much longer!!!

(P.S. Thanks for reading my rambling mommy frustrations.)

The Boy's Got Skills!!!

Sunday afternoon we were relaxing on the couch when Luke began "reading" to me. As you can see, he's very serious about what he's reading and only reads the words on the page when and how he wants to. No messin' around with this kid!

Now, if only he would let ME read a book to HIM. He spends the entire time trying to eat the book or knock it out of my hands. I guess my reading skills aren't up to par--his interpretation sounds a little different than mine. Next time I'll just speak gibberish and see if he'll sit still for reading time.

Randomness

Forgive me for my rambling. I haven't posted in a little while so this is a collection of recent events/thoughts.

So this thought actually ties to the picture; the rest, not so much. I just threw the other ones in for fun. The other morning Lydia was in the other room yelling, "Mommy, I broke my leg!" "Oh no!" I replied. "It's okay," she said, walking into the kitchen as you see in the picture. "I already put a cast on it." I wonder if the guy who invented air splints got the idea from his 2 year old putting a water wing on her leg. Probably.

Tonight Tyler was trying to do something (I can't even remember what it was and it just happened a few hours ago--sad!) and he couldn't get it to work. I heard him turn to Lydia and say, "When things are really hard, don't try to do them anymore. Just give up." Of course, he was laughing as he said it, but I don't know if she is old enough to catch on to his sarcasm. I can't wait to hear her repeat that line to someone in a few days.

Lydia is getting into the "why" stage of her life, and it seems that she likes to use it most when I am frustrated, and it really annoys me. For example, I stubbed my toe and made a groaning sound, and was not really in a talking mood for at least 30 seconds afterward. "Why did you make that noise Mommy? Why? Why did you? Huh mom? Why?" When I slipped going down the stairs this morning (while holding Luke, I might add), her first question was "why did you do that Mom? Why did you fall? Why did you do that?" spoken in a tone insinuating that I had purposely fallen down the stairs. As I'm writing this I realize that it only really bothers me after I've had some kind of bodily injury, so maybe I just need to stop hurting myself and the "whys" won't annoy me so much. Maybe.

A while ago I noticed that there was this kind of film forming on my bathroom floor, I think it's hairspray residue that falls after I spray my hair. Anyway, today I finally got around to cleaning it off the floor. I started with this environmentally friendly cleaning solution that the previous owners left behind because I like the way it smells (lavender and tea tree oil) and because if Luke got a hold of it somehow and ate it it wouldn't kill him. (I really think about these things because he eats everything--today it was my deoderant. He left little tooth marks in it before I could wrench it out of his death grip.) The eco-friendly stuff didn't work AT ALL. After scrubbing for a while I busted out the Scrubbing Bubbles and let that stuff sit on if for a minute or so, and watched the residue just lift off the floor like magic. Way to go eco-unfriendly cleaning solution!!! That poison-in-an-aerosol-can stuff is amazing!

(Don't worry, this doesn't stay sideways for long at all--Lydia refused to cooperate due to her wet pants from earlier puddle jumping adventures.)

Last random question--does anyone else's hair grow in really weird after having a baby? I grow all these tiny bang-like things around the front of my head and they stick out like horns from the side of my head every time I try to pull my hair back (hence the hairspray and hairspray residue on the floor mess.) I am concerned that if I have another baby I may never be able to pull my hair back again without a fan of little baby hairs in a semi-circle around my head. Any ideas?

Halloween

Happy Halloween! I know I'm a little late getting pictures posted, but we sent them to our families and I don't even know if anyone besides our family members even looks at this site, so I figure I'm okay!

Lydia was all psyched up about getting dressed up for Halloween; however, once we arrived at the church for the trunk-or-treat activity she changed her mind. The millions of kids in costumes, some of which were scary, was a little much for her delicate nerves and she spent most of the time clinging to my hand. She loosened up a bit once we made it back to our car, she parked her ladybug bum next to Daddy, and realized that what all those people had been putting in her bag was candy!

Luke (the "stinky stinky skunk" as Lydia referred to him) spent the time climbing up and down the curb, running between cars, and rolling around on the ground--probably pretty close to what a real skunk would have done, minus the raising-the-tail, spraying bit. Tyler and I were un-festive and didn't dress up, but honestly, when the kids are dressed up who actually looks at the parents anyway?

We had a fun Halloween--low-key and spent filling my tummy with Tootsie Rolls, quite possibly the best Halloween candy ever. I'm enjoying my kids' younger years--they could really care less what you dress them up to be and as long as they each have a few suckers they're happy for hours. Life doesn't get much better than a sucker in each sticky hand and a trail of pink drool down your chin and onto your Halloween costume!

Five

Yep, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on Friday, October 23rd, although from the space between us in the picture below you'd think we had known each other five days :)

Tyler's sister Breann and her husband Tony came and watched the kids for the weekend while Tyler and I escaped to Seaside, Oregon. (Bre and Tony's report here.) We found a great hotel, Rivertide Suites, which we liked so much we took our picture with it below. If you're going to Seaside anytime soon, check it out.

We had lunch at a charming restaurant right off the beach front Promanade and then snagged some salt water taffy to take back to the kids...

But my favorite activity of all was walking the beach with my best friend. The only bummer to our trip is that I got sick last week and wasn't feeling so great even by Friday, so I basically layed around a lot Friday and Saturday morning recuperating. Tyler took great care of me, getting me whatever I needed/wanted, and wouldn't let me even start feeling bad that I had tainted our weekend away by getting sick. He is truly the kindest, most sincere, loving, and handsomest man I know! Seriously, how could I not love this guy with my whole heart???

It's hard to believe that in the last five years we went from this young couple riding bikes on the Provo Trail....

To the happiest, "my cheeks hurt because I can't stop smiling" couple ever married at the Mount Timpanogos Temple!

We've had a few diplomas on the way...

But by far the most fun and most challenging additions to the last five years would be this:

and this.

I've loved the last five years of my life and I love my husband. The end.