Business Trip

Did I already blog about this? The week before Thanksgiving my husband had a business trip, it had been a year so apparently it was time. During the trip I bought my kids stuff animals, I realized it was the first time I had ever bought my children new stuff animals. Sad I know. They love them, and carry them everywhere. Motherhood is all about pushing your emotional needs on your children, so that is why they got presents well their dad was out of town. I can't handle my husband out of town without buying something to sooth my loneliness. Normally I buy my kid a new movie for both of us to watch like, a Disney or something, that I can handle being in the room for, but this time I could tell they needed stuff animals. They also do a surprising job of sharing them with each other.

My son of course picked out a bunny.

And my daughter a dog. She loves doggies, do you see that maternal hold?

Primary Lesson

My primary lesson was on not taking the Lord's name in vain. It started off with "an enrichment activity" involving a pretend baby (doll) and teaching the importance of names. I ditched that and looked up all their names and printed out the meanings to share with them. They all found it very exciting to hear their meanings. While I was at it, I looked up mine. I knew it would say "from the grey fortress" or "from the grey forest". Except I was wrong! For whatever reason this is what it told me:

The meaning of the name Leslie is Joy

The origin of the name Leslie is English

Speaking of joy I was overjoyed to be have a real meaning. Although now I don't match with my husband, who is "from the hill". Overall I'm totally lost on how magically Babynames.com changed the meaning of my name. Every source I've ever looked at, which is a lot, has never told me joy before.

Thanksgiving

A few weeks ago at a Relief Society Gratitude dinner, our guest speaker asked each of us to quickly say one thing we were thanksful for. I slightly cheated when I said,
"We don't get much time with my husband because is doing a MBA and working full time so I am grateful that we get to see him everyday, even if its only enough time to eat dinner. And I'm grateful to stay at home with my kids because at least one of us gets to see them." (It was Relief Society so a lot of woman said a much longer statement than me.)
I could list a good dozen or so more things I'm grateful for, but I would inevitable miss a good thousand or so, I should have listed.

For History sake: I spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family, which over the years has become just as much my family. We also went and visited the motherland of Logan the other weekend. We had a great time both times. Our kids had fun with cousins, and it was nice to talk to the other adults, and be the old boring adults that just sit around and talk. It was especially fun to see my nieces, that are part of my son's triplet cousins. Three cousins all born a month apart. Recently I keep thinking, you guys grew into people, I remember when you were babies, like my baby. One day my baby is going to be a person. Recently when I see these girls, I think, I remember when you were born! I have been your aunt your whole life. (There is something about watching a child grow up, who you saw only hours after their entrance into the world called birth. Even if you only see them every few months or years.)
Overall I can't believe how long I've been any of their aunts on my husband's side.
I recently told someone that my husband comes from a family of 8 kids, and I'm from 7 kids, and most are married with kids, so there is a lot of us. Her response was that is way too many, no. I thought well that is rude. Then I thought I wouldn't want it any other way, even if its crazy chaotic and super loud when either side gets together even partially.

Lame-o Blame-o

I have been a pretty crappy blogger as of late. I wait in anticipation for other's updates on google reader, thinking this is hypocritical, where are mine? I have none, my brain is mute. I have mental break downs occasionally, when I hang the same ad hoc curtain separating my children's beds for nap time, and it falls 5 times in the process. I stare at the wall, and at my sewing cabinet, wondering why I'm not finishing the last few presents.
All I want to do is hangout with my husband and be lazy. No dinner cooking, no taking care of children, no work, no school, but yet, we are no longer newlyweds. You can't really play hookie in a professional MBA program, and well my daily chores still have to get done whether my husband goes to work or not, so he might as well go. I keep thinking, the two crappy things about having kids, its hard to go on vacation, and you can't sleep in on the weekends. My husband informs me that those aren't even needed unless you have kids.
I'm exhausted as all get out, it took me a while to figure out, then I realized oh I have to pick up a lot of the slack around the house, because my husband just isn't home and doesn't have time to help. I don't blame him, but I sleep solidly every night, out of pure exhaustion, and usually take a nap during the day.
Today was preschool, I had to teach, I was not looking forward to it. Four hours later I was prepared, luckily only 4 kids showed up not 6. Mental note 6 is too many, don't allow little brothers and sisters when I do it for the next child. It was almost enjoyable today, I just am not cut out for this small child business. My biggest complaint is the snottiness of the some of the kids. Suck it up!
I was completely functional while my husband was on his business trip last week, ever since, I've been crazy mommy. My husband says, he should leave more often because I'm more capable without him, I think don't think I could handle being solely capable more than 4 days in a row.
When he came home, my son was so excited for hours leading up to it. Then when he came in the door, he was not. He was clingy on me, he wouldn't even look at his dad. We were concerned we knew this is always a possibility. Children form and break attachments very easily its for survival. Within a half an hour he had completely gotten over any hesitancy . I expected my daughter to be worse, and my son not to care. It was the exact opposite. It was my daughter he acted like he never even left, she was so happy to see him, she didn't even care about eating.
Thanks goodness it is Thanksgiving, my husband will be with us for four days straight. I'm not pregnant, last year, by this point, I was very comfortable and very 9 months pregnant, life was not pretty. Now I have an adorable girl who eats more food in one meal than her brother consumes all day.
This is probably chalk full of typos, errors, misspellings, misplaced words, missing contractions, prefixes, suffix, and overall confusion, but like I said I'm currently brain mute.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Shirt Day Tomorrow.

Thanks to Caroline for the idea.
We made these in preschool one day. CRAZY!! 6 kids plus my baby, and no other adults. That day of preschool was only about 10 minutes of learning, and the rest of the time was playing with toys while I made the shirts one on one with each kid.

I love this

My son is HUGE into letter writing. He gives the girl next door on average four letters at a time. This one he let me keep, because I love it so much. He told me, "it means No babies" I just love that, every time I see the picture, I can hear his voice saying "no babies".

Her favorite things

And now its time for her favorite things. I actually needed these pictures for her baby book, but then also decided to take Lauren's idea of her favorite things.
A cow that has a rattle in it, someone gave us when she was a newborn.

Her sippy cup with a straw and her boots.

Her tricot blanket/rag with ribbons sewn on and a fleece blanket. The bizarre thing about the fleece blanket, it also came from the same giver as the cow, but it is a blanket I never once gave to my daughter. I can't give my children fleece blankets to cuddle with, because I hear my mom's voice in the back of my head. But I do let them play with them. I never once gave her this blanket, but she has latched on to it for all its worth, she carries it everywhere. I think she actually loves it more than tricot.

And lets not forget her bald baby.

His favorite things

After finding some pictures on my camera that my son took, I'm taking Lauren's idea of her favorite things. Here is my son's favorite things photo montage.

This acorn is probably from the seventies, my son found it at my mom's house and he loves it.

Actually I took this, but he arranged the picture.

Here is a shot out to Honduras. And the apple seeds that came from an apple in a fridge that my son is growing.

Big Truck

I hope I didn't post these already. We took this over a month ago, up on campus, when we went to go visit Dad before his final one night. The digger was very large.

snowman

It snowed last weekend, and my husband and boycotted making a snowman in less than two inches of snow. See I figure its never my job to "play" that is the what the fun one is for. My job is hold crying children, and feed them, while my husband job is to be the fun one who plays. My husband is fine being in the snow unlike me, he just thought two inches was a waste of time. Three days later, in the remnants my son took matters into his own hands and made this.

I think it looks pretty darn good. His words, "My little snowman is so cute. But I feel sad for him." Why? because he melted, "Yeahhh"

My mom thinks I'm cute

...so she took this picture.

My daddy thinks I'm cute

...so he took this pictures.

Filling out.

Am I the only one a little wierded out that my 11 month old is almost filling out the umbrella stroller?

Cake Debate

In four weeks I'll have a one year old baby. I'm currently trying to decided what to do for her birthday cake. Yes, I know this doesn't have to be a big deal, but hey in the words of my husband that isn't my style.
What I was originally planning was a princess and the pea cake, because she was a reflux baby, and was/is a princess and the pea. For the first few months of her life, she wouldn't sleep unless her bed was elevated on an incline. It took us a while to figure this out, but when we finally did, my husband declared she had princess and pea syndrome. Its really not her fault, he has labeled other females in our house with the same syndrome. But then I decided that was a little too much work for a one year old's birthday. It wouldn't actually be that much work for a decorated cake, but she wouldn't get it. Anyway, for whatever reason I scrapped that idea.
What I'm currently debating is

• a castle cake or
• just pink cupcakes with sprinkles.

As far as tradition goes, either works. I had a castle cake for my first birthday. While my son had cupcakes with sprinkles for his birthday, which is probably the reason I'm not doing the princess and the pea cake. I was leaning toward the castle just because some pictures are so darn cute, until I saw these pictures on Design Mom blog, now I'm back to thinking pink cupcakes with sprinkles. Plus I do love to use my cupcake stand. After looking my son's first birthday I think I'm going to go with the cupcakes.

But the problem with cupcakes is they are top heavy, so they always flip upside for a wee one. Oh well, I'm sure she won't mind we already know she loves cake.
What do all y'all think? Please weigh in on your opinion on the three cakes. My husband didn't give me his opinion, he only ask what type of cake he had on his first birthday. I haven't the slightest idea. Please weigh in.

Two

Two children for me, has been way more challenging than anyone let one. But it has also been liberating. I won't lie, its been a steep learning curve. I'm positive a peep never came out of my son's mouth until he was 2 and half and learned how to coherently talk. Also he got rather stressed out during a difficult pregnancy and started having temper tantrums. So for the first time in my mothering life I had to learn how to deal with noise.
But in other ways its been liberating. I remember when my son was my daughter's age and eating table scraps. Anyone who has a table scrap eating child knows more food ends up on the floor than in their mouth. With my son, I found it so stressful to have such a dirty kitchen, I remember wishing for when this phase would be over. Then realizing he was my first and this was only the beginning, made me want to curl up in a ball. Now that I'm on two, I sweep two to three times a day, and don't care that the kitchen is covered in crumbs. Sure I'll have crummy floor for probably a decade, but one day she will be much less crummy. And right now, I don't care that she is, it is where she is and who she is. And it comes with the territory. I would rather be sweeping twice a day, than wake up all night long to nurse. So right now I can handle this.

A cold

I guess I'm a rather healthy person, I rarely get more than "the sniffles". Every few years I get a flu, and every few years I get a cold or a sinus infection. Right now I have the phantom night cold. Sometimes I wonder if it is swine flu, but I have no aches and pains and no fever. Plus I feel perfectly fine during the day. No cough no nothing, night rolls around and suddenly my throat constricts, and I start fearing sleep.
You see I love my sleep, always have, as a child my mother switched me to afternoon kindergarten because I didn't wake up early enough. I love my sleep, but only long uninterpreted sleep. With as much as my throat is constricted I know I will not be able to sleep through the night, even if I do sleep on a mound of three pillows. I will wake up undoubtedly at a 4 am, if not more, in a coughing fit. I will be warm and sung in my bed, except for my head with will be freezing from my drafty window. We need to move our bed, which is not an easy task, it will involve moving about 20 boxes of food storage/boxes of number 10 cans.
All of this reminds me of when my daughter was a newborn. I dreaded going to sleep with her, because I knew she was going to wake me up every two hours. I would count down the feedings, knowing in only 3 more feedings I would be able to get up for the day and end this madness.
Last night luckily I only woke up at 4 am, I was coughing bad enough I got out of bed, and walked around a bit, and turned down the heater it would only make me angry to stay in bed. I get angry when something is preventing my sleep.
After a minute, I turned on my mini laptop, and started researching easy to clean humidifier on amazon. Ours is getting to old to be effectively washed. It was frustrating work at 4 am. I gave up after a little while, and went back to bed.
Its good to get sick occasionally, it makes me more sympathetic. I hate humidifiers, I planned on totally giving up on them, and made my kids suffer through dry winters. Until I got sick now I know how miserable it is to be coughing while the dry heater is blowing on you. I bought another humidifier, although who knows if it is easy clean, our old one is supposedly easy clean. At least the new one has an on off switch.
Off to bed.
Morning update: My husband took the drafty side of the bed, then shoved a pillow in the window and solved the drafty problem. Miraculously I slept through the night. The only other thing I did different was put out Eucalyptus aroma therapy. Say what you will, but that really does help dry hoarse coughs.

The Farm

I needed out of the house today, and I needed something that wasn't a retail store.
We went to "The Farm".
It being fall and all, I didn't know if they would have animals, I told my son there would be no baby animals. Turns out there were! Baby Piglets, they were so cute!
And some really big mamas.
Plus plenty of chickens.
There is something about the farm, that ends up be idyllic. I love that you feel "like you are wandering around someone's backyard", the NO FEEDING animal signs everywhere, and the fact that is free, you can't really hear the traffic at the end of the block, and you only see about three other people other than farm hands while you are there. The animals are just going about there business, they are not looking for quarter hand out of grain. The animals are really well taken care of and happy looking, since most are FFA projects. In my opinion Petting Zoos never turn out to be idyllic, I love that its not a petting zoo and its free.
We scored big time, I think. During October they had a pumpkin patch and a hay maze, that cost money but there were still there, unmanned, and free.
Can you see my three and half year old wandering in these maze pictures? He loved it, he LOVES mazes right now.

And really it is still the season for corn and pumpkins, its November-- Thanksgiving time.


This is the best I could do at getting pictures of both of them.

See it was a good day, because I uploaded more than four pictures.
We ended our adventure by stopping at the store for donuts. It was great.

First Shoes

My daughter has an utter hatred of shoes. No matter what type I put on, she arches her feet and screams until they fall off, or I get sick of her crying and pull them off even the little soft leather ones. Until these came in the picture.
She loves these boots for whatever reason. Allows me to put them on her on feet, has learned to walk in them, and keeps them on. Its amazing. I think she likes them for the whole accessory of them, the fashion statement they make. I'm just happy if I chose to actually put them on, I don't have to have strangers give me dirty looks for a shoeless child in public.
And to go with her new shoes, she needed a new hair cut to feel complete. She's ready to go party.

Dear Santa

Yesterday morning, my son told me he wanted Santa to bring him Candy Canes, and that he wanted to write him a letter telling him so. So we started to write a letter to santa. In case our pictures are a little confusing I've included so more.

The gold ring will be a cheapo CTR ring from distribution, I'm not about to pay money for something he will lose.

After he said a monster I thought great, that will be totally easy to whip up after bedtime with fleece scraps. I thought of the free Joanns pattern monster. After further conversation I realized my son meant a Bionicle in the Lego magazine. I had to stop that idea, I was not buying a bionicle, too many small pieces to break off and make him cry as it crumbled to pieces. Plus we have had cheapo Happy Meal one piece Bionicles that he doesn't play with. As I tried to convince him he wanted a fleece monster, buy showing him pictures online, he found this one he was excited about. I wasn't about to pay $99 for a toy I don't even want. But then we found this. This is something I can work with. I have no idea why he wants a monster.

After making the Santa Letter, I decided it was time to hang up our stockings. They have been floating around my bedroom because I got a new nephew to make a stocking for. I also put the santa letter up, because it was better than on the computer desk.

Haircut

I have been toying with the idea for a good month now. Cutting my daughters hair-- tonight I did it. She is just barely growing enough hair on the top to cover her cradle cap (no cleaning ideas needed, I have tried everything, nothing fixes it, we do do thing that help it), but she has more than enough hair in the back. As her hair has grown in and become thicker, the ring on the back of her head with the hair she was born with has gotten progressively longer and longer, to remind me of a balding mullet. Like I said I've been toying with the idea of a trim for a month or more. I remember when my boy was a baby thinking thank goodness I have a boy and I cut his hair so it doesn't get straggly as it grows out like girls. Then a month ago I realized there is no reason for my daughter to have straggly hair. Sure with her trim it will still be straggly, but at least her mullet won't be so long. I was totally planning on cutting it, then I second guessed myself and decided not to. "Let her be a baby" Then two nights ago was the last straw when a friend of mine who has a baby girl one day younger than mine, who has short hair, but the most perfect uniformed baby hair you will ever see, said, yeah I noticed on Sunday her hair is growing down the back of her head. I was shocked, "are you talking about my baby?" She laughed saying yes. That was too embarrassing for me, I decided I was cutting it, I was just debating on who to ask to help me. When tonight when I got her out of the bath, and I noticed all the wet hair pulling off her neck as it dried. I decided right now, right here. I looked to see if our hair cutting supplies were in that bathroom or the other. Darn the other. I thought maybe I should go get tiny sewing scissors, no, I didn't want to poke her, when she wiggled. Then I thought of my son's new school scissors, still new so they won't be too dull, but not pointy on the end. I grabbed them, and started chopping. I just cut a straight line along the bottom of her hair line. It felt so satisfying after weeks of indecision. Then I got sad it was her first baby hair cut, so I carefully stacked her clopped mullet locks, and then when I finished, I put them in a pink envelope. It is done, it is still mulletish, but at least it isn't growing down her back anymore. And I still think she is darling looking.
While I was at it, I trimmed around my son's ears. I'm loving his curly hair, so I don't want to cut it, but it needed a trim around his ears. I let his hair grow out from a buzz every year around this time.

Too cool for school

The other day my daughter was playing on the neighbors trike and it reminded me of a back to school ad with the leaves and the plaid since plaid is so trendy right now. I missed it as far as the pictures are concerned but before I got my camera she was leaning against the bike like it was her hog, it was so funny and cute.