watch this

and be grateful

well, hello!

We do brush her hair every now and then. I promise.

idiosyncrasies

Abby, like most two year olds, has little quirks about her. One big one is that she likes to cram her little bags FULL of random stuff around the house. This often happens as we are walking out the door. (so frustrating, by the way.) She'll suddenly disappear and I will find her in the playroom stuffing extension chords, an old cell phone, doll clothes, one of Carter's paci's, a fork, or any other number of random things in her bag. You never know what you're going to need... And when she can't get it all to fit, she gets really MAD. So of course I try to eliminate an item or two from the bag as I try to fit it all in there, which is completely unacceptable to her. I have such a demanding boss. Remind me to list "purse crammer" on my mom resume.

Anyway, her other big quirk lately is her fashion sense. She's taken the word 'layering" to a whole new level. In this picture, she has two bathing suits on, a pair of pink underwear over the suits, tights on TOP of it all, and some sweet little purple shoes to top it off. Work it, girl.

relief. society.

The bishop called me into his office a few weeks ago and said even though I had only served in nursery for five months, he felt prompted to release me and call me to be the relief society pianist. Now, although I will accept and serve in any position with enthusiasm, I was having a really hard time liking nursery, so I was SO excited for the change. I love being in relief society and being back in a musical calling. YAY!

what an idiot

Have you heard the story about the pro football player, Chad Johnson, who said he could beat Michael Phelps in a swimming race? Read about it HERE, and then read a great little satirical article about it HERE.

The best thing about it? Phelps said bring it on.

15 months

Carter had his 15 month check-up today and here are the stats: He weighs 24.2 lbs, (25-50th percentile) and Abby weighed 24.6 lbs at her 15month. He is 31 in. tall (50th percentile), and Abby was 31.25 in. at his age. And he has a 25th percentile head too.

His percentiles (all though they really don't mean anything) are a little suprising, cause this face...

does not look like a 25th percentile kid.

Anyway, our doctor has a questionairre that the parents fill out at every well visit that shows where the children lie on a developmental scale. Carter was registering at 19 months, which is awesome. Even his speech/verbal is good and so I'm very encouraged. I guess when you're going through physical trials with your children, those developmental milestones seem sooooo important, and when they exceed them, its like a miracle or something. I mean, I know I have smart kids despite their hearing imparements, but its nice to have a test here and there to prove it.

enlarged vestibular aqueduct

We got Abby's MRI results today. I was honestly expecting him to tell me they were normal.... but he didn't. She has an enlarged vestibular aqueduct in her right ear only, and its difficult to explain what it is, so click on the link if you want to learn more. But basically its a condition that will more than likely cause Abby to lose more hearing in her right ear, and possibly all of it. It doesn't explain the loss in her other ear, and Carter doesn't have the same thing, so there is obviously an additional reason for their hearing loss. We're hoping its the basic, nonsyndromatic genetic hearing loss (connexin 26) and the genetic tests that we did today will give us the rest of the answers we need, and we should get those in about a month. This discovery has actually made things even more confusing, and scary. Dr. Bauer brought up the cochlear implant word today.

I'm not ready for that yet.

.

fun for all

We finally got our kids a playset yesterday. Carter is too young (and daredevilish) for a big fort swing set, so we got this one to use until they both get a little older. The kids LOVE it and I do too. It's so nice to let them play outside while I work in the kitchen and know that they are safe and entertained. And for a mom of a really grouchy 15 month old, it is a sanity saver.

'sup?

turns out

that Carter isn't just teething. I took him to the doctor yesterday for a diaper rash that wouldn't go away, and the doctor diagnosed him with folliculitis and she also said he still has a red throat, which he's had now for two weeks, so he has a lot of reasons to be so grouchy and irritable. So he's on an antibiotic and hopefully he'll be feeling better quickly. Poor kid.

Read about folliculitis

there are days

There are days when being a mother is the greatest thing in the world. Then there are days, like today, where I live for naptime and bedtime. Carter's molars are coming in, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that he is whining, crying and begging for me about 90% of his waking hours. He is miserable, and unfortunately he gets like this any time a tooth is coming in, which has been a lot lately.

*sigh...*

yeah...

she's mine.

welcome to mommyhood

I am officially a mom now.

So we got a 2007 Kia Sedona with 20K miles on it. It was a rental before and someone got a little happy with the cigarette lighter. Also, the car smelled fine when we got the car, but now after a week I smell a hint of cigarette smoke and it's driving me crazy. Other than that, it's roomy, has some great features, drives great and we love it.

I'll post pics of our new van later today. Meanwhile, enjoy my happy beach ball picture.

i heart my bug

I have lots to blog about, like our new car and Abby's surpise from Grandma, but right now I've got Carter on the brain. See, Carter just cut two teeth and now his top molars are coming in, and he's taking it REALLY hard. He fusses, and cries and sits on my lap for the majority of the day, and he's been doing this for weeks now. Oragel, Tylenol... nothing helps. It is exhausting, for me and for him to I'm sure.

But when the sun is going down and its cool enough to go outside, Grumpy Molar Man turns into my sweet, happy, curious little bug again. It seems like that is the one lengthy period of time when he forgets his pain and has a little fun, and boy, am I grateful!

So when I'm totally frustrated and drained from dealing with Molar Man all day for who knows how much longer, I'll look at these pictures and smile. And then send him outside.

cousins

Our husbands all went to a Ranger's game tonight, so some of the sister-in-laws got together to let the kids play. I borrowed my father-in-law's Canon Rebel to take some shots of the kids and had a lot of fun!

Huh?

What??!

The little boys were longing to go outside.

Some kids get really excited about popcicles.

Some take it more seriously.

Carter thought the sprinkler was kinda cool at first.
And then I think he got spooked...
Woah, sprinkler! You stay right there!
Cause you don't want to mess with these guns!

Why do my kids make such faces?




I love this shot.

I call this last group Ethan In Black and White.