Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Big Boy

 Kasen is officially in a big boy bed!
Tai has been sleeping in the pack and play, but Kyle wanted her to have the crib.
I didn't want to buy a toddler bed when the crib converts into a toddler bed.
So, we bought him a twin that he can keep for a very long time!
He has to use a little box to even climb up onto the bed and we have to lay with him to get him to fall asleep in it, but once he's out he stays there all night.  And thankfully hasn't rolled off yet either!
We have a body pillow on the edge of the bed to help keep that from happening.
 He looks so little sleeping in his new bed.
 I haven't taken down his nursery shelf yet though, I just love it too much!
 
 I've seen these baby turban headbands on Pinterest before and a DIY to make them, so I did!
It's still a little big for her, but I think they are so cute!
Just need to try it with some cute, better quality fabric now.
 This must be her smoulder :)
 Mom Fail for the week:
I put Tai in her swing while I made dinner and when I looked over the couch she was not in her swing anymore...
She never cried, must have just sort of slunk right out of it! Poor girl.
Now I know to always strap her into it.  She's just so wiggly!!

Monday, March 27, 2017

First Sleepover

Tai had her first sleepover last week!
We got to sleep at Naomi's house and practice sleeping with Tai and Kasen in the same room to get ready for all the summer camping trips this year!

Right before going to bed I saw Tai roll from her back to her tummy for the first time too!
She's been so close and I think she's done it before, but this time I saw it so I know for sure :)

 I had gone up north to photograph my mom's dogs.  She's starting another company, Golden Grove Golden's to breed golden doodles!  My first session not photographing people :)

 Deja vu going on over here!  It's so fun to watch!
 The only one behaving was Tai Lynn here.  I thought it would have been the other way around for sure!
 This one is my FAVORITE!
I love that my kids have cousins to grow up with.  Cousins are the best!
This was right after he pushed her over.  Sometimes he can be sweet!
Also, Kristi was my angel last week- Thank you so much! 

Kasen and Tai got to see their cousins on Kyle's side this week too at Charly's first birthday party!
We love cousins!

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Please Come Back!

I've been asking myself this week, Why? Why in the world has my patience left me when I need it so badly right now?!  Usually I have a good amount of patience and I haven't been praying for more so I don't know whats going on.

Kasen is just pushing EVERY button.
Yes, I know I am OCD.  Kyle tells me on a weekly basis.
If I were a FRIENDS character I would most definitely be MONICA!
When my house is dirty I cannot relax.  The muscles in my shoulders get so tight and my anxiety so high that I could cry.  It has to be clean when I go to bed or even just leave the house.

Oh how I envy the mothers that get to enjoy a clean house for longer than the rest of nap time.
Not the ones that pay a house keeper while they take their kids to Zupas everyday, but the ones whose kids go to school or the ones with babies that can't move yet so that they can get other things done :)

Kasen knows how to open the sliding glass door now and wanders outside, leaving the door wide open. I so wish we had a fence and some window well covers! #savingsgoals
And that he'd wait for me to clean up the poop before going out.
But still, he puts his feet in the water bowls for Peeka and Meeko (or drinks out of them), wanders into the neighbors yard so I then have to pull stickers out of his feet, gets knocked over by Peeka's cable (which secretly makes me wish he would learn to just come inside when he starts crying) or just lets her out to run away and takes hand fulls of rocks to throw on the grass.
I hate the rocks.
Long story short, he can't just go out there alone without me knowing.
P.S. Walmart does not carry child locks for sliding glass doors.

I can handle the toys and books everywhere.
What I cannot handle are the crumbs, from him taking the lid off his cracker cups, and pouring them all over the floor and couch and then crunching them into the carpet.
I cannot handle when his old egg and oatmeal and cereal pieces get stuck to my feet in the kitchen.
I HAVE to sweep and I HAVE to vacuum!  Sometimes it just cannot wait till nap time.

I try so hard to let it all go and just play with my babies the entire day, but really how long do I let it go before restoring my balance?!  Where is the balance between getting THINGS done with kids and doing things WITH my kids?
I read books, I sit on the floor in his room with him a build train tracks, I sing "No more monkeys jumping on the bed" while he jumps on the bed and I don't mind that some days Tai wants to be held the whole day, but as soon as I start nursing her Kasen heads straight for the pantry or the back door.

So I start to sweep.  But Kasen wants a snack.
Fruit snacks. So that he can suck on them and then stick them to my wall!
During the time it takes me to open it, he has taken my broom, spread my pile of dirt AND whacked Tai in the face with it!
She by the way hates her swing now and wants to be on the floor, where she is more likely to be trampled.
So while I try to calm her down Kasen has climbed up on the counter and turned on the kitchen sink.
When I ask him, "What are you doing?!" he turns and leans his head over and says, "Flick"
Yes, he knows I'm gonna do it, but now he wants me to! DOES NOT EVEN CARE!
Same as when I ask him to close the sliding glass door.  He'd rather I flick him than just close the door.
 What am I going to do with him?!
AAAHHHAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!! 
Then Tai has a major blowout all over an outfit I put her in for the first time right as I pick her up to put her in the car seat to leave. #stainedforlife
And that was just Tuesday.  Today he cut her head open with the baby finger nail clippers while I was cleaning, what I can only assume was milk soaked animal crackers, out of the crack of my couch.  Not long after poop came out of the top of his diaper, in the FRONT!

But seriously, what do I do?
I try thinking about how stinkin cute he is most of the time and how much I love him to death, like when he gives me hugs and really squeezes and kisses me and says, "uuuv ooo" or the way he says "beek" and wants it to cover his toes or when he learns a new word like alligator and is so excited to tell us over and over, BUT sometimes it just doesn't work and I wonder what is wrong with me?!

I'm doing what I have always wanted to do.
Stay home with my kids.  And most of the time it is all about the huge amount of JOY I feel watching them learn and grow.  Just sometimes it's hard. And sometimes I want to sit and eat 1/2 a gallon of chocolate peanut butter ice cream.
It makes me feel a little better knowing that every other mother out there gets it.
And Heavenly Father gets it.
Somehow I'll get through the next probably 8 years, even if it feels like there are not enough child locks in the world for that to be possible, because Heavenly Father will make me enough for this most important work he has called me to do.
And it will be worth it.

Just please, if you see my patience out there, send it back!
I could really use it and so could Kasen.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Lucky Me!

 Happy St Patrick's Day on Friday!
 I am one stinkin LUCKY mom to have these two.
Tai has been sitting in the Bumbo lately and eating her hands and I'm pretty sure she rolled from her back to her tummy when I wasn't looking too.
 We didn't have our traditional green dinner this year because we went to see Stephanie's choir/orchestra concert.  She's rockin the cello!
 We also missed eating pie on Pi Day last Tuesday so we had pie Sunday today and I made a homemade apple pie to go with our Hawaiian chicken kebobs!

 On Monday Kasen went shooting with Kyle and Lyndsey.  He got to shoot the gun, but doesn't really understand how the trigger works so he tightens every muscle he has, with all the flexing noises, then says, "Ba Bang!"
 That night we went to Top Golf for the first time! I got a score of 10.
Kyle got like 334 or something.
Yeah, I am not good.  Much better at bowling for sure, but it was still fun being there with friends!
So this happened...
We've been playing in the backyard more.  Mostly because Kasen has figured out how to open the sliding glass door.  Even when I lock it!  Drivin me crazy! 
He also knows how to take his diaper off...
 He's always cute when he sleeps though!! Always with his hand behind his head now.
 His favorite thing for the week is these boots!  He gets them out of the closet and puts them on all by himself.  I take them off for his nap, but then he puts them back on again when he wakes up.  
Sometimes on the wrong feet.  Love it.

Friday, March 10, 2017

3 Months Old

Tai Lynn is 3 months old today!
Kyle and I were just telling each other that the time with her has gone way faster than it did with Kasen.
 In this outfit Kasen calls her "meow" :)

 Tai went on her first walk today too!
A lady on the walking trail told me that I have my hands full....
Yes, yes I do.
But mostly because Peeka has no idea how to walk on a leash, not get her paws ran over or keep the leash from getting caught under her leg!

This month we got our temple date in early, on March 1st!
We went to Ogden temple since Kyle had still never been to that one yet.
 "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.  Anything that opposes Christ or His doctrine will interrupt our joy." -Nelson
Kasen got to play with Naomi while we were at the temple and they are so cute together! I love when he says her name too, it's the best!
There is no way to keep up with all the new words he says every day, but some of my favorites are "Thank you", "booger", "hug" and "Ranch".
He loves Ranch!
Also, he's able to open doors now... So NOT excited about that! All the table chairs have been moved downstairs to keep him from climbing up everywhere too.

He's been sick ever since Tai's blessing and now Tai is coughing too :(
BUT he has all 16 of his teeth in now!  We gave him his teething rings from months ago to cut the last 4 because he kept trying to bite other things!
 This is how he uses his hands to make binoculars and explore like Daniel Tiger!  He cracks me up!
Sometimes he makes me want to put him in a box and send him away though too... :)

 We got our tax return back! And so Kyle got an early Easter/Father's Day gift that we used for the first time this week to grill some awesome steaks AND pineapple!  We wanted to grill some kabobs a couple weeks ago with our old grill, but it was broken and baking them in the oven just wasn't the same.
 Every time I lay her down...