Emma Jane

Oh, how I ADORE this little one!! There is nothing like cuddling with Miss Emma and all her cute baby chub! Seeing this smiling face makes my day every day!!

Now if I could just find a way to keep her from growing up SO fast!!

I Love To See the Temple

Brooklynn has been obsessed with the Temple since she was about 18 months old. We are fortunate enough to be able to see the Jordan River Temple from our upstairs windows, including B's bedroom. Brooklynn LOVES to point the temple out to us. Whenever we drive anywhere she makes sure that she shows the temple to us or whoever is in the car with her (which includes any stuffed animals she may bring). We sing 'I Love to See the Temple' constantly. It's fun to have a little one that helps us remember the things that are important.

We have been trying SO hard to be better about having family home evening every Monday (it's easy to be better when you are going from NEVER to some!!). It seems that every Monday evening our kids are super happy until we sit down to have FHE!! Suddenly, Emma is screaming and Brooklynn can't sit still...Gotta love it!!

One Tuesday morning Brooklynn when into the living room and sat down at the piano. She told me that she needed to have family night. She played a little song on the piano and sang to herself. After her opening song she said a prayer. Then she started talking to herself about how Heavenly Father gave us the animals and we need to be nice to them. Her lesson was followed with a closing song and prayer. It was awesome!

Brooklynn is in charge of prayers at our house. She always makes sure we say our prayers before we eat...this includes any snacks we may have throughout the day. B loves to say prayers and it has gotten to the point where no one else is allowed to say the prayer. She has a few things that she ALWAYS prayers for. She always thanks Heavenly Father for the temple and Jesus. She always asks for blessing for Mommy, Daddy and Emma. There are usually a few other people thrown in, it varies depending on the day. The one thing that she NEVER forgets to do is to ask Heavenly Father to "bless Chelsea on her mission". Lately, if she ever forgets to ask for blessings for Chelsea, after she says amen she will say, "WAIT! Wait, wait, wait...and bless Chelsea on her mission." I love it and I'm pretty sure the only one who prays for Chelsea more than Brooklynn is my mom!! :)

I am SO grateful for my two little girls! And although this week they have been little monsters (I'm blaming it on daylight savings!!) I wouldn't trade being a mom for ANYTHING!! I'm grateful that Brooklynn helps me to remember what's important in life!

Brooklynn-isms Part 2

A few recent gems from Miss Brooklynn:

I was teasing Brooklynn the other day. Tickling her and chasing her. I lightly squeezed her thigh. She turned to me and said, "No! That's my squishy leg!" I couldn't stop laughing!

Brooklynn woke up on the wrong side of the bed the other day. She was NOT happy about anything! This kid is not a morning person...much like her mother. After a few meltdowns Mark turned to me and said, "That child!" To which Brooklynn responded by screaming, "I AM NOT A CHILD!!"

That same morning I told B she needed to stop being ornery and try to be happy. She screamed, "I AM NOT ORNERY!" We had a great day that day!!

There is a Chinese restaurant in Holladay that we LOVE! It's called Mountain City China. They have the BEST food...but even more than the food we love the owner! She is so sweet! When ever we go get food from her she always sends us home with a big bag of fortune cookies for Brooklynn. B was eating on and she dropped half of it on the floor. Gus came over to check it out. She very sweetly said to him, "No Gus, don't poop on it." Seriously, of all the things he could have done to it, she picks that...

I often tell my girls how pretty they look when they get dressed in the morning. What can I say I have adorable kids!! The other day I was getting ready and Brooklynn came in and said, "Oh, you look pretty." Best compliment EVER!

My aunt Becky is the best and we love to go to her house and play. Brooklynn loves Becky, Anthony, Grandpa Ed and all the kids. The other day Brooklynn saw a picture of Becky. She turned to me and said, "That's my Becky. I love my Becky!" I love our Becky too!!

Mark was chasing B around the other day. He caught her and started tickling her. After a minute she breathlessly told him, "I need a break!"

Love that girl!!

Welcome to the ZOO!

It all started with a text...

Mark: Want a puppy?
Me: What kind? (Wrong answer! I should have said NO)
Mark: A Lab.

I was done for right then! I grew up with a Black Lab named Maddy. She was a great dog (when she wasn't chewing up our toys, jumping on our friends or participating in other obnoxious dog habits.) I LOVED that dog! She was the BEST! Maddy is the reason I believe that every kid needs to have a dog.

My mom got another Black Lab about two years ago. Her name is Londyn. I often refer to her as my dog. I LOVE that dog!! (Side note...We got Londyn from the grandparents of one of Mark's students. Apparently teaching is a dangerous profession if you are incapable of saying "no" to a puppy.) Brooklynn was five months old when Londyn came home. They have been the best of friends since day one. When we talk about going to Grandma's house Brooklynn talk non-stop about seeing Londyn when we get their. She tells me often that Londyn is her friend. We LOVE that dog!



Me: How old?
Mark: A puppy, not born yet.

At that point I called...The PTA Pres at the school where Mark is a teacher told him that she had a lab puppy she wanted to give us. A FREE Lab puppy. Seriously?? Free Lab puppy...Who could say no to that?? Not someone as weak as I am.

The puppies were born on February 6th. We went to see them and pick one out a few days later. Brooklynn picked out a sweet little golden Lab. She is the biggest puppy in the litter (does that mean she is going to be monstrous?? YIKES!?!). Now the waiting begins. She will be ready to leave her mom in about 6 weeks.

We decided to name her Lucy. Or in the words of Brooklynn-- Ducy. I'm pretty sure that this puppy will be called Ducy forever. Poor thing!!

I should add...Our house is currently inhabited by our two cats, Gus and Roxy, and our dog, Ursala. Am I insane for adding another dog into the madness that is my life? Probably. But how cute is this face?? Could you say no?

B&E

My kids are growing WAY too fast!! When Brooklynn was a newborn the time seemed to go slowly enough that I felt like I was watching her grow. Now that I have two, I blink and they seem to be bigger than they were the day before. I'm already dreading the day when I will have to send them off to school and not have them here with me.

We are really working on potty training right now with Brooklynn. She could totally be done with diapers if she decided to be. She loves getting a special treat when she goes in the potty but she also likes being the one in control of the situation (not sure where she gets that).

The other day I went in and used the bathroom and when I came out Brooklynn was VERY excited for me! She came running up and said, "Good job Mom! Now you get a treat!" That's right, I'm awesome!

One of the thing Brooklynn loves to do is ride the carousel at the mall. She is under the impression that the zebra is hers, that they reserve it for her even when she isn't there. We were at the mall yesterday and a little girl was riding the zebra. It was very traumatic for her to learn that other people are allowed to ride what is clearly hers. Oh, the difficulties of a two year-old!

I'm very grateful that Brooklynn has come around to liking her role as a big sister. When Emma first came into our home it was not an easy thing for Brooklynn. She wouldn't look at, talk to, or touch Emma. And if Emma were to touch anything that belonged to Brooklynn...well, let's just say many tears were shed the first few months. Now Brooklynn helps me ALL the time! When B is around Emma is never without her binky and always has all her toys piled on top of her. Emma is a loved little girl! And the way Emma lights up when she sees Brooklynn says that Brooklynn is too! I'm so happy that my two girls will have each other as they grow up. I hope that they feel about each other the way I feel about my sisters (and brothers too!)!

Bribery is a Mom's best friend

I have mentioned before that Brooklynn is addicted to her sippy cups. She has them with her at all times and that includes nap and bedtime. Well, I'm sick of two kids in diapers and Brooklynn is ready to be potty trained...the problem: the dang sippy cup. She drinks more milk than Mark (which means about a gallon every two days). There is no potty training until the sippy is history.

So, Thursday I had a brilliant idea. So brilliant I called my awesome mom to make I wouldn't ruin my child doing it. BRIBERY!!! I told Brooklynn if she would throw her sippy cups away that I would take her to Build A Bear and we would get her any animal she wanted. I pulled up the Build A Bear website to get her excited. She agreed to it, although if she really understood what she was agreeing to she may have thought about it a little longer.

Friday evening we helped her bag up all the sippy cups in the house. She kept telling us she needed to go "build my bear". She was ready. We dropped Emma off at a babysitters, this was Brooklynn's special night!

Now, my child is stubborn. I'm not sure where this comes from. It can not possibly be from my side of the family. There is not one person in my family who is at all stubborn. Or sarcastic. I had this nagging thought in the back of my mind that my sweet little girl may just decided she'd rather hang on to the sippy cups and pass on the new stuffed animal. That my brilliant plan may backfire.

Luckily, standing in the mall looking through the window into the world of un-stuffed animals waiting for her was all it took to convince my child that she no longer needed her sippy cups. She tossed them in the garbage and didn't look back (at least, not right then).

We looked at every animal, twice, she couldn't decided which she wanted. Bears, bunnies, and dogs, oh my! Finally she decided on a bunny. We took it to the stuffing machine. The girl who worked there was really sweet, but these machines were big and loud and scared Brooklynn to death! I think she thought it was eating her new bunny.

Once we got away from the stuffing machines she fell in love with her new friend. She gave her a bath...

Picked out a shirt with the Disney princesses on it (We asked if she wanted pants for her bunny too, she looked at us like we were nuts. Bunny's don't wear pants, duh!).

Then it was time to pick out a name for her new bunny. Brooklynn inherited Mark's creativity. He named his stuffed animals when he was young too. They are Koala, Kitty and Puppy. Bet you can't guess what animals they are. So the new bunny is now known as...Bunny Rabbit.

We have had a few teary moments especially when it is time to go to sleep. But overall she has been awesome! Out of habit she will start to ask me for her sippy. It goes something like, "Mom, I need my..." and she just lets it trail off. Hopefully, things continue to get even better over the next few days.

Is bribery worth it...You bet it is!!

As a side note...B has had just as much fun with the box as she has with the Bunny.

Happy Birthday Pops!!

Christmas was fabulous!! Brooklynn truly brought the magic of Christmas into our home this year. She was SO fun!! She talked constantly about the baby Jesus and it really helped everyone in our house to have a more Christ centered Christmas. We also learned that Santa should bring a 2 year-old a total of two presents. That is all her little mind could handle at once. Hindsight...

Emma was fun too...although she was fun in more of a "we are SO blessed to have these two miracles in our lives" kind of way.

The highlight of Christmas was definitely talking to (and getting to Skype with) this girl...

Oh, how I love and miss my sister missionary!!! She is an awesome!! Brooklynn constantly asks if we can call Chelsea again. She doesn't understand why we can't just pull her up on the computer and see and talk to her for a little while. And while I do understand why we can't, I can't wait to talk to her on Mother's day!!!

Now the holidays are over and I'm ready for spring!!! Bring on the warm weather...

Today is one of those melancholy days for me. It's my Dad's birthday. I miss him. I long to be able to talk to him, if only for a few minutes. It's a day that causes me to look at my life and ask myself if I am living the kind of life that would make my Dad proud of me. Am I carrying on the legacy my Dad left to me? I hope so.

I wish he were here to see his beautiful grandchildren. He would have LOVED seeing all these little ones that are starting to fill the house when we get together. He would have been in the center of it all. I think there are times when he is!!

And though today is a melancholy one for me I'm grateful for the time it gives me to reflect on all the great times I had with Dad. The times we talked, played and most definitely laughed. The lessons he taught me about the gospel and what truly is important in life. I'm grateful that he not just told me what kind of person I should be but he actually showed me by the way that he lived his life. With a twinkle in his eye, a smile on his face and a room full of laughter.

Happy birthday Pops!! I love you!!