February 19th- February 25th 2012

I actually feel successful! With Activity Days, that is! At the beginning of the year, I came up with a calendar where we rotate doing an activity from the requirements, an Article of Faith and a fun activity. This activity that I was in charge of this week was to be a 'fun' activity. After looking around online, I came up with an idea to have the girls write a letter to a missionary from our ward and then give each member of the Bishopric a 'heart attack.' I thought this could show them that doing something simple but nice for someone is a type of service. We have three missionaries serving from our ward right now so I had the girls choose a paper from a cup for the name of the missionary that they would write. After they were finished with their letters, we split into three groups and made a thank you card for each member of the bishopric. Each group went to one house to decorate the front door with hearts and a sign and left treats and the thank you cards. Then we rang the door bell and ran! The girls LOVED this activity! They were all so excited. I finally left Activity Days feeling as if I had done something worthwhile.

Saturday evening we were just hanging out. Somehow I came up with a brilliant idea to update our hallway bathroom. I found a couple pictures on Pinterest that I loved and wanted to do our bathroom that way. 

I love the wainscoting and hooks in this picture

And the blue paint in this one

Ryan graciously accepted the challenge. Late Saturday evening we headed out to Lowe's to get the supplies. While I got the kids bathed and ready for bed, Ryan started to work on it, but of course it turned out to be a bigger project than I expected. I thought maybe it would take a few hours, turns out it will take a few days!
I can't wait to see what it looks like when it's finished!!

This is what our bathroom looked like pre-update 

Cute pics from this week...

Ellie LOVES her daddy! And she is getting good at posing for the camera.

Kailee loves to 'do dishes.' She will play for forever in the sink if there are dishes to 'wash'!

February 12th- February 18th 2012

As of today, Sunday February 19, 2012, I am 33 posts (33 weeks, 8 months) behind on my blog. I have outlines made for each week, but haven't had the time to actually sit down, write them out and upload the pictures. Ugh. I think about it every single day. I have the desire to do it, but I just don't do it. It frustrates me. I want to do it, so I can make it into a book and have a record of our lives, but it's hard to find the time. And, it's hard for me to find the words. I read other blogs and I love the format of all of them. But they are all sooo very different and I can't decide how I want mine to be. Simple, short and sweet or a complete detail of our daily lives. I am not a writer. I don't like to write. I get embarrassed when I know people will read this. But I like to look back and read about the things we've done and how the girls have changed and grown. Ugh. A constant battle for me. Until I figure it out and get caught up, I guess I will start from today and work on this past week. Whether it will be 10 pages per week or a single sentence, I don't know, but I guess I will get started again.

We stayed home from church on Sunday because we have all been sick and now the girls both have croupy/ wheezy coughs. We lounged around watched TV, played with toys, browsed around on Pinterest and made a birthday card with finger paints for Grandma Colleen. Later we got ourselves together and headed to Tawnies for Grandmas Birthday dinner. We ate dinner, had brownies, ice cream and fudge and talked and laughed. Grandma gave all the kids balloons, coloring books and lots of candy for Valentines Day. Kailee and Ellie even got a cute pair of Big Sister/ Little Sister heart pj's! Good times with good people! Happy Birthday to a wonderful mom, mother in law and grandma!

On Monday my mom and Steph came up to help me make some treats and gifts so I could take them to Ryans office. I decided last minute (at about noon) that I wanted to surprise Ryan and decorate his office for Valentines Day. To make it happen I had to get the treats and gifts made before 3pm so I could make it to his work after he left at 3:30pm and before 4pm so his boss could let me in. Why I always think of things at the last minute is beyond me! Even so, my family jumped in to help me and make it happen. They came up and made the treats while I made a hand print/footprint picture from the girls and put together some decorations. Once we had it all finished and together, we headed down to SLC in a hurry to decorate his office and leave the treats. I am so thankful that my family was willing to help me with something that I should have been able to do myself. While we were at Ryans office my mom and I were standing on the desk counter to hang a banner on the wall. Kailee asked, "Mom, why are you standing on the counter?" After saying it a few times she said, "Mom is being naughty!" Haha! I know I have said it before, but that girl makes me laugh! We aren't allowed to get on the counters and tables in our family and she knew I wasn't supposed to be doing that! Cute kid! We all got a good laugh at that!

For Valentines on Tuesday, I took the girls to Kneaders for breakfast (actually brunch since we didn't get there till 11am!). When we got home Kailee found her and Ellie's Valentine Baskets sitting on the counter. She was so excited and kept asking, "Mom, what did you get for Christmas?" They each had princess fruit snacks and a little princess doll. Kailee got an I Spy valentines book and Ellie got a book called Mommy, Will You Hold My Hand. Ryan had bought both of them new cups too, but I forgot to put them in the baskets. Ooops. When Ryan got home from work, we got ready and headed out for the evening. Ryan had made dinner reservations, but didn't tell me where we were going. Ryans mom agreed to watch the girls for us, but since our reservation was so early she had to watch them for 1/2 at her work till she got off. Ryan surprised me with a wonderful dinner at The Melting Pot, one of my favorite places! The food was yummy and we had a good time! I am definitely lucky to have a husband that still likes to surprise me and plan fun dates!

Kailee had preschool at Ghislaine and Chloe Richards house on Wednesday. The lesson/activity was on Valentines Day. She took candy conversation hearts and a mini coloring book kit (compliments of Grandma Colleen) for her 7 friends. She came home with candy and valentines from her friends too. They also made a cute little Valentine for their parents. It was a cut out of a hand print with candy conversation hearts glued to each little finger tip. On the palm it said, This isn't just any hand print, as you can plainly see. For it is a special hand print, made with love by me. Along with the hand print I send hugs and kisses your way, and wish you a very "Happy Valentine's Day!" Cute! I love the little things that she brings home from class. I struggle with knowing what to do with all the cute little things. I know we can't hang on to all of it, but it sure is hard to get rid of them! Kailee seems like 'going to school.' She always comes home so happy and so full of energy. She is even getting to the point where she will talk to her teachers. Sometimes this playschool/preschool seems so silly, but Ryan and I have noticed a difference in Kailee. If it wasn't for 'school' she would never get out of the house to socialize.

Poor Ryan came home after work feeling sick again and it just got worse through the evening. He was feeling as if he was re-living Christmas, but thankfully it didn't get that far.

Kailee had her second dance class Wednesday evening. Since Ryan was feeling crummy I decided to take Ellie with us so he could just rest. Kailee got a little nervous to go into her class when she saw a 'dance dad' there, but when he walked away she went into her class just fine. I don't know what it is, but she gets sooo nervous around other men. While Kailee was in class, Ellie and I sat in the waiting room. I worked on my blog via Ryans laptop and Ellie sat calmly next to me for an hour eating graham crackers and a granola bar. She hasn't been feeling the best either. I ended up giving her a dose of a steroid mid-day because her breathing was getting pretty wheezy. The medicine helped, but I could tell that she was still feeling yucky too. I will be so very grateful when we are all better. Kailee seemed to enjoy her dance class and came out as happy as could be! When we got home, Ryan was still feeling yucky and ended up falling asleep on the couch with Kailee while Ellie was next to me on the other couch asleep. The longer I sat there, the more I started to feel sick. I thought for sure I was going to have a repeat of Christmas too. Ugh. I left everyone on the couches asleep and headed to bed. Ryan eventually brought Kailee up to sleep with me and he went back downstairs to sleep with Ellie.

Thursday Ryan ended up going into work around 10am. We both still had a stomach ache, but were starting to feel a little teeny tiny bit better. I didn't feel like I had the energy to stay home to be a referee for the girls all day so we got ready and went to the mall to walk around. We were there for a couple hours and it totally wore me out. It seemed to wear the girls out too. Kailee fell asleep on the way home, which is about a half mile, and Ellie fell asleep shortly after. I can't wait to have our health and energy back!

When Ryan got home from work on Friday we tried to go out on a family dinner date to Olive Garden. When I say 'tried' I mean, we went and Ellie was absolutely miserable. She cried and screamed and cried and screamed. We ate quickly and left. Ryan stopped at Walmart for me and Kailee and I ran in. Ryan sat in the car with a crying Ellie. We then stopped at Hancock Fabrics and we all went in. Again, Ellie cried and screamed and cried and screamed. I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL WE ARE ALL FEELING BETTER!

Ryan spent Saturday working at Kate's house tearing out carpet and installing a new front door with Tawnie and John. I decided to let Ryan go solo so I didn't have to go and chase two little kids around the whole time. Instead, my mom and I spent the day at Ikea. Every time we go, we spend hours and hours and this trip was no different. I think we ended up staying there for about 4 hours. We like to wander and look at everything! I went there for storage containers for the snacks in the pantry and pillow inserts for pillows I want to make for the couch... and that's what I left with. I was tempted to purchase a whole lot more, but I didn't. After Ikea, my mom took us to lunch at Zuppas, her new favorite restaurant. Once we got inside, Kailee decided to have a tantrum. I picked her up, took her outside, stood her against a wall and turned my back. She cried and cried, but I had her stand there for two minutes. Just like she would have had to at home! Once the time was up I talked to her, she calmed down and we went back inside to enjoy our meal. I know it's my fault for keeping the kids out past naptime and bedtime, but I get so frustrated with the tantrums. I don't think I will miss them when they stop. After lunch and on our way home, I made one more stop at a dance store to get Kailee some ballet shoes for her dance class. So cute! I love dance wear for little girls. It's all so stinkin cute!

Ryan had a service- filled day and I had a fun-filled day spending some time with my mom.

I forgot to mention...

Ellie has started to really talk a lot this week. She says help, shoes, 'I want cheese' (meaning the camera), mine (when she is being possessive and doesn't want something taken from her), juice, drink, book,  poopy (for a clean diaper) and I am sure many other things that I am forgetting. She even sings parts of the turtle song and the peanut song (that I sing to them when they are wrapped up in their bath towels). My cute little baby is starting to seem like a cute little girl now. Oh yeah, when we ask her to do something, she takes off running with excitement. When tell her we need to do her hair, she will run and find Kailee's step stool and put it in the bathroom in front of the mirror. Silly girl! She is a smarty!

And Kailee. Her memory blows us away. It seems like this girl remembers an awful lot for how young she is.

I was laying with her one night and she said, "mom, I want to go to the dance class by the hair cutting place." While Ryan got his hair cut a couple weeks ago, I took Kailee and Ellie with me to get some info from a Dance and Tumbling studio that was a few doors down. The studio must have made an impression on Kailee because she remembered it. Then, Saturday night we stopped at Noodles to get some dinner. Before we got out of the car Kailee said, "I don't want to go to Noodles." After sitting in the car for a few minutes trying to decide on somewhere else to go, she said,  "I smelled like this at Noodles last time (followed by a sniff, sniff) because I falled. Daddy made me falled." Again, what?! Back in October, after our Ward Halloween Party, we went to Noodles for dinner. Kailee was playing around with the stuff on the table and ended up falling off her chair. She was holding soy sauce and it spilled all over her. On the way home that night she kept saying she smelled. Haha! Neither Ryan or I could believe that she remembered that. We had both forgotten that that had happened. Seriously. The things that this girl remembers amazes me. I sure hope her memory stays that way. How lucky!

Kailee has also been so cute with Ellie occasionally. These two are really starting to play cute together at times. On Sunday while we were lounging around, we caught these two playing nicely with each other. Kailee was talking so softly and sweet to Ellie trying to trace her hand onto the drawing board. Cute girls!

Good Times!

February 5th- February 11th 2012

What a week!

On Sunday we were actually going to be on time for church until Kailee decided she wanted to exercise her 2 year old rights. She wanted to wear her big, fluffy, pink pettiskirt again and Ryan didn't want her to. Then, she didn't want to get her hair done and I didn't want her to leave the house with her bed head. Needless to say, we ended up being late, Ryan and I were frustrated and Kailee was as sad as could be. Not how we wanted the morning to go. Later in the evening, Ryan and I talked about it and admitted that we should have just let her choose what to wear and then the whole problem with her hair most likely wouldn't have occured! Afterall, it's not like she wanted to wear her sweat pants! She just wanted to wear a skirt that twirled. Thanks hindsight! We learned our lesson. Sorry Kailee, we are learning how to be parents. Sorry you have to be our trial kid.

Lately I feel like the days are so very difficult. It seems like we all wake up happy, the mornings are good, the kids play together well, I have motivation to get things accomplished and then mid-day, everything falls apart. The girls start fighting over everything, crying and screaming and I lose my patience. They typically take a nap around 1pm, but I am starting to think they need their naps at 11am! Ugh. Monday and Tuesday were really difficult. I am thinking I need to make some changes in our daily schedule. I can't keep having days like this.  

For the past few months Kailee has been telling me that she wants to go to dance class. Ryan and I talked about it and decided that I would try to find one. So Monday I spent the day calling around getting info on the local studios. Tuesday night I took Kailee to try a dance class at Touch of Class. Kailee was so excited to go and even told me that she was going to go class by herself and then I would come back and pick her up. She seemed like she was actually going to do it too. But then we got inside the studio and she got nervous and didn't want me to leave. After a while in the class she started to leave my side and participate a little bit, but she still wanted me right there. After going to class and checking out the instructors, I am not sure about that studio. I think we will keep looking.

  

Wednesday was a busy, busy day for us. Kailee had preschool at Carlee and Kyson Hoggans house. They talked about the weather and made a picture with the clouds, raindrops, the sun and snow. Every time I drop her off I am not sure how I feel. I walk her to the door, help her take off her coat and shoes, tell her I love her and send her in. She walks away, turns back around and smiles at me and then continues on. I love that she is now so comfortable staying without me. But I can't help but feel like she is growing too fast. She is starting to find her independence.

As soon as Ryan got home he took me over to the church for Activity Days. Libby was in charge of the activity, which was on the 1st Article of Faith. We spent the majority of the time repeating it and trying to memorize it. It is an easy one so I hope the girls took it seriously and actually learned it. At the end of the activity we decorated Valentines cookies. When the activity was over, Ryan and the girls picked me up and we headed to the popcorn store. We rushed to get it cleaned within 45min and then rushed home to drop Ryan off. I took Kailee over to the Jazz Dancer Studio to try another dance class. This time the instructor had me stay in the waiting area and took Kailee and another new girl by the hand and led them to their class. Cute, cute, cute. I sat in the waiting area with Ellie and talked with the mom of the other new little girl and a mom who has two kids enrolled at the studio. It was so fun to talk with them and I was surprised that I was actually able to do that. I am usually more comfortable sitting in my own little corner all by myself. These two ladies were so fun and easy to talk with. And that was for sure more fun than sitting by myself. Ellie was so good the whole time too. She sat on my lap most of them time and then towards the end got down and started to roam around. Thank you Ellie for helping to make it a pleasant time waiting for Kailee. While we were at dance, Ryan went to Young Mens. They had a call-a-thon to raise money for the Friends of Souting. All the leaders had a list of ward members that had contributed in the past years and they were to call them to see if they were interested in donating again. Interesting activity, but whatever. Ryan is really trying hard to do better with his calling, so I am glad he had a good attitude about it and went and participated.

After Kailee's dance we headed to the church so I could have an interview to get my temple recommend renewed. When I got there, Ryan was busy on the phone, so I took the girls in with me. Wow! What and experience. I swear sometimes people look at me with my two little girls, who are 17 months apart, and wonder why in the world I have kids! Sometimes I feel so out of control! As soon as we got in the office Kailee wanted my chair, Ellie wanted the other chair and both would get upset and cry if I tried to sit down, then Ellie fell off of her chair and started to cry, and Kailee was upset about something else and was being loud. It was an interesting experience to say the least. Pretty soon Ryan came and knocked at the door to get the kids. But thankfully we were finishing up. We made it home around 8:30pm just in time to get the girls in their pjs and calmed down for bed!

Wednesday night/ Thursday morning Kailee woke up and came in to our bed. She kept saying that her belly hurt and she didn't want to throw up. Ryan took her downstairs and shortly after I heard her start crying and then she threw up. I ended up taking her and laying on the couch with her the rest of the night. She only woke up a couple more times to throw up and then slept the rest of the night.

 Ryan and Ellie were up pretty early, but Kailee and I slept in till after 8am. Once she woke up she seemed to be feeling better. I don't know if it was all in my head, or just being up most of the night, but I woke up feeling really crummy. Ryan had called in late, but eventually ended up just staying home. I am certainly glad he did because I don't think I could have survived at home with the girls by myself. 

Friday we went to Jolies house for a Birthday Brunch for Colleen. She served crepes with a variety of toppings. It was seriously so good. I had four and I still wanted more. I love Jolies parties. There is always good food and great company! Ryan even stopped by for a little bit to eat, hang out with us and wish his mom a happy birthday!

Late Friday night/ Saturday morning, I heard Ellie crying (which is very normal for her) so I went to get her and found her and her bed covered in throw up. Great. Ryan woke up while I was getting a bath ready for her and got up to help. He cleaned up the bedroom and got everything into the washer while I bathed her. After throwing up a few more times, she seemed to be feeling a little better and started to play with her toys. It was so sweet to watch her sit and play in the middle of the night after feeling so sick. Ryan was generous and offered to stay up with her while I went back to sleep. I feel so lucky to have such a great husband who is such a great father. He truly makes our marriage a partnership. I never have to do anything alone. I am grateful he loves me enough to want to make life easier for me! Thank you Ryan!

Even after getting very little sleep, Ryan and Kailee headed out to help my mom pick up her tile for her house. He had to make two trips, to get all of it, 52 boxes total. Hard work, but he did it and didn't complain at all! There he goes again, trying to make life easier for other people! I am glad he is there and willing to help. While they were gone, Ellie and I stayed home to STERLIZE the house. I cleaned the bedrooms, both bathrooms, washed the bedding, cleaned downstairs and wiped down everything with clorox wipes. I worked all day and finally got it mostly done around 5pm. Now I just hope the bug has finished its rounds in our house and won't come back. We have definitely had enough. We finally decided we needed to get out of the house for a little bit so we took a drive to Costco in hopes that the girls would both fall asleep. When we got there, both girls were asleep so Ryan ran in and I relaxed in the car and enjoyed the peace and quiet.On our way home we stopped at Sports Authority and Dicks so Ryan could check out some running shoes, then headed home for the night. While Ryan got the girls ready for bed I quickly mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed downstairs. The house felt clean again and hopefully the bugs are gone for good!

Now we are hoping for a good nights rest!

January 29th- February 4th 2012

At church on Sunday all the talks in Sacrament meeting were about the temple. One sister talked about how her daughter passed away at the age of 16 and as a gift for her birthday, she went and did her temple work. She said because she was an immediate family member she was able to do her work before earlier. That made me think of Ryans dad. We will have to find out if Ryan would have to wait a year to do his dads work or if it he would be able to do it sooner. When the Bishop got up to close the meeting he added a few remarks about how important it is to keep our recommends current so we don't have any surprises when we get ready to go to the temple. Hahha, that was totally directed to Ryan and he knew it. Yes, we know. We need to keep up on the things that matter the most.

One day this week Ryan was trying to get Kailee buckled in her car seat. She was wearing her big, fluffy, pink pettiskirt so it was kind of hard to get to her buckle. Kailee says to Ryan "this is going to be intrasting!" That girl cracks us up! She hears and repeats everything that we say.  Funny girl. She makes us laugh and totally keeps things "intrasting!"

Ellie has learned how to crawl up onto the bar stools this week. Ugh. That makes me sooo nervous. She still seems so little and like a little baby. But, she has to do everything that Kailee does. She wants to be right by her all the time.

Kailee loves to play with Ryan's Iphone and takes lots and lots of pictures. Here is a sample!

Our silly girl that makes us giggle. 

She loves to dress herself and definitely picks out some interesting outfits.

All her favorite pieces put together.

Just a picture of the winter sky. The clouds look so cool.