3 days before we are supposed to be having a good time.

my dad told me today that he was waiting for more blog posts.  i think what he meant was pictures of the kids, so i will include a couple in this post.  what you are mostly going to get is me whining about my not good day.  sorry.

you know its time to look back and re-evaluate yourself when your kids, your husband, and your good friends are driving you nuts.  i realized this at about 7:00 tonight.  i am sitting here stressing and complaining in my head about all my favorite people.  wow.  time to take a step back.  it must be me.  i would love to blame it on pregnancy, the effing hurricane, being on hold for hours with various insurance and/or realty agencies, and at the same time as that being stuck in front of my laptop for over 5 hours trying to find a replacement vacation home at the last minute, while wondering the entire time if my original plan is going to miraculously come through, leaving me and my friends missing  a lot of dollars, plus a lack of kids napping when i need them to, not to mention the fact that i burned dinner, bryan broke a plate (i am down to 6, so looks like we are limited to eating on paper plates when we have guests...), the garbage guy only decided that only 1/2 my garbage was worth taking so i have a pile of trash still out in my yard, and my shift key isn't working.  i don't think i can put the blame on anyone but myself.  that sucks.

so, to all my good friends, kids, and husband, i am so sorry.  tomorrow is a new day and a better one.  i promise to be happy and less beastly. 

brooke loves pickles.  she could eat them all day.  and she calls them 'kkkkkkles'.  its pretty awesome.

she is also obsessed with shoes.  she puts them on and takes them off all day long.

Cupcakes!

Need I say more?

August so far

We have been busy.  That is for sure.  Bryan and I had the opportunity to ditch the kids for an afternoon and go on a date.  It was so great to be out with him.  We went kayaking along the Yougiogehny (pronounced Yauk-a-gain-ee if you were wondering) River.  We had seen this shop along the bike trail and talked about doing it 'someday'.  I was very pleased that 'someday' actually happened!  I didn't get any pictures because I was afraid of dumping over in the kayak and ruining the camera.  So it stayed safely tucked away in the car.  It was a fabulous time.  There was not a soul on the river and we paddled about 5 miles or so total.  I even have a slight sunburn to prove it.

As a family we have been outside a ton! I LOVE being outside.  The kids (finally!)  have bikes.  They are loving them!

Last Saturday we took a boat ride on a big ferry along the river downtown.  It was kind of lame, but Peter and Brooke enjoyed it.

(notice her trying to EAT the balloon???)

As if that isn't enough activity!  We went to "members night" at the Zoo last Thursday with the Rivard's.  Food for a dollar, great weather and letting Peter and Brooke run around until all they wanted was sleep.  It doesn't get much better! (The only disapointment was the train ride.  We stood in line for 30 minutes and they told us it had broken down.  So we got out of line only to have the stupid thing show up.  We got back in line and were not as far up as we were before so we were first people cut off to get on the train because it was full.  Sad.  The kids were bummed.)

In "Brooke" news, I finally consented to cut off the 'mullet'.  She has a cute little bob now and looks a ton better.  I really should have done it sooner.  I was just afraid to cut the length for fear that her hair would always end up being short or something.
Here is what I like to call "Dinosaur Hair"  (pre-hair cut)

Finally, a preggo picture.  Here I am at 18 weeks.

Bathroom Horrors

I seem to recall posting a couple months ago about my kids and toilets... But they have brought it to a whole new level. 

I will start with Peter.  He is potty trained and has been for about 8 months now.  I have to give him credit to the fact that he goes in by himself, can pull his pants on and off and get on and off the throne by himself.  The one thing he cannot do (because I have never even attempted to put the thought in his mind that he could) is wipe his bum after going #2.  

I feel like Peter is a pretty well behaved kid.  For the most part.  He tries to be considerate of his sister who is sleeping 2x a day and then nights... So he won't yell "MOM! Come help!" or anything of the sort.  When he is done doing his business, he whispers, "mom!....mom!....Mom!!!...."  And NEVER gets any louder.  It is kind of nice, but most of the time it creates a slight problem.

He ends up sitting on the toilet (especially at night) for hours.  I kid you not!  I have put him to bed at 8:00 and go upstairs to go to bed at 10:30 or later and find him sitting on the toilet just chillin (sometimes not so chill...) waiting for me and his poor behind has those huge red indentations from sitting too long on a hollowed circle.  


The example that takes the cake:  
We left Peter at a friends house so Bryan and I could go out on a date.  I always warn whoever is watching him that he tends to do his business at night, so be prepared... My friend put him to bed at 8:00 and all was quiet in her house.  She came back upstairs about 2 hours later to find Peter ASLEEP, sitting up, on the toilet filled with ,ahem, #2 (for lack of a better word).  His arm was resting on the ledge of a little heater that came out of the wall and his head was propped up by his arm. (When I heard this it made my night. Classic!)


I would think by now he would learn to raise his voice a little so he could get some assistance...but I can't seem to get through to him that that is a good idea.


Story #2
Brooke.
She gets her own toilet stories.  She is obsessed with the toilet as well.  If I ever leave the bathroom door open I can almost guarantee I will find her there splashing around in the toilet.  She will be soaking wet with nasty toilet water down her shirt, pants and all over her face.  (ew...you may involuntarily shutter now...)


The ULTIMATE is when I was (again, at a friends house) and she disappeared upstairs.  It was just too quiet so after a couple minutes I went to check on her.  I found her in the bathroom playing in the toilet with a wad of soggy toilet paper.  I honestly have no idea if she pulled it out of the toilet or found it elsewhere in the bathroom.  I hope I never know.
Here is the worst part: 
      She was sucking on it.

Catching up

After our crazy busy trips to Arizona and Florida, my mom flew back with us to Pittsburgh and we spent some time seeing Niagara Falls and the Church Historical Sites around Palmyra, NY.  We got to see the "Hill Cumorah Pageant" which was something I have wanted to do since I was a little girl.  It didn't disappoint!
We brought our bikes with us and were able to bike around the falls and to the wirlpools.  It was awesome.  And of course we found a playground for the kids which made everything worth it to them.  We wanted to eat "buffalo" wings since we were in Buffalo, NY.   We stopped off at this wing/pizza place that Yelp had listed as really good food, but terrible service.  They didn't lie.  The pizza was even more amazing than the wings, but I have never sat SO long at a table in my life.  We waited about 15 minutes before the waitress even brought us our menu's.  That should have been our first sign. (Usually this sort of stuff only happens when my Dad is with us.  He seems to have a permanent curse of getting poor service, uncooked/overcooked food and sometimes the wrong order or a forgotten order altogether!)  He wasn't with us so we mistakenly thought we were safe....
Anyway.  Not to make my post all about the food...

Sliding with Daddy

Greatest picture EVER of my mom.  I laugh every time I see it.  It just makes me happy!

Palmyra was amazing.  We saw the Joseph Smith farm, the Sacred Grove, the Peter Whitmer Farm, and attended the pageant in the evening.  It was truly amazing to be in the place where the restoration began!  I loved the Sacred Grove.  It was an experience I will never forget.  It was so peaceful and calm.  I could feel the Spirit from the moment I set foot in the place.
The pageant was incredible.  If you are thinking about seeing it- DO IT!  It is worth it.  They really go all out.  We had great seats, and brought the pack-n-play for Brooke and set it up in our row.  It was perfect.  She sat in it and watched "Baby Signing Time" while Peter fell asleep on Bryan's lap and all the adults got to enjoy the show!

Whitmer Farm

The Sacred Grove

Us with ALL of our stuff at the Pageant.  Pack N Play. (Check!) Big Awkward Bike Trailer/Stroller. (Check!) Kids. (Check!) Toys. (Check!) DVD player. (Check) + all other needed baby items are in the back of that blue monstrosity!

Baking Skills

My oven is baking up a little hot cake.  Expecting the timer to go off around 

January 20, 2012.