I So Get It

Growing up I remember many, many times that my mom would come up missing for a good ten or twenty minutes several times during the day. As my siblings and I would run through the house frantically looking for her we would eventually find her in the bathroom...with the door locked. We were NEVER allowed to lock our doors growing up so we always thought it was pretty unfair that mom would get to lock hers. Most of the time she wouldn't even respond to our not so quiet questions as to why she was in there/what she was doing? No one really went to the bathroom for that long, right? I remember this pattern continuing into my teenage years and I would still rarely get a response to the questions I would harass her with.

Fast forward to present time and what have I found myself doing? Locking myself in the bathroom in the middle of the day for no good reason except to get a few moments of peace and quiet It usually backfires on me because Banana just pounds on the door until I come out... My point being, I completely, without question get why my mom would barricade herself in the bathroom all those years. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. Really. But I am positive that every mom out there has some sort of coping mechanism they activate at some point during the day, right? I am proud to say that I am turning into my mother :)

Some friends and I have a drop and go playgroup that we do once a week, and this was my first week participating. We're split up into a few groups and it happened to be my week to host this week. My friend C was also hosting so we joined forces and partied at her house. I have to admit it was a blast. Chaotic, but fun. We have a good group of kids participating, and I love chatting with the moms that come. The purpose is to be able to drop off your kids for a few hours and go and do WHATEVER you want. But we all love hanging out together so the go part doesn't always happen.
Making the fun rainbow craft that I found on an awesome website that has tons o' stuff for kids to do. It's linked on the side of my blog, so check it out!

The Banana situation I talked about last post isn't really improving too much. We got her to go to nursery on Sunday after a good half an hour of meltodwns. Her leaders were gracious enough to let her cry most of it out in nursery. And my friend NOBODY sat with me to calm me down, and gave me some wonderful advice. On Monday she refused to stay in her dancing class again...I think she would have eventualy been fine, but I'm not going to make her teachers try and deal with that kind of mess when they are trying to control the rest of the class. I was sad because we did evaluations in class that week, so Banana missed out. But her teacher gave me the list and I went home and tested her and she did AMAZING! She loves to dance and has a great ability to do it, I wish she would get over whatever is going on!
Have a fabulous weekend!

Oh Man

I've been a little blogstapated lately...Actually I have had a lot to write about but no desire to take the time to write it all down. Our week started off with a bang when Banana decided to get sick. Fun stuff. She is such a trooper though. She would throw up, and then be back to her cheerful self two minutes later. I wish we would all do that!! I decided to get sick a few days later...but I have an AWESOME husband who took time away from studying and school to take care of me and the kids. He took the kids to work, and to dinner and cleaned up some of the house for me. It was hard to try and relax and get better, and not feel guilty that I wasn't helping. He is great. It was sad to hear them playing in their bedroom and not be able to go and join in. Banana is absolutely HILARIOUS when she is playing with her dad, sister, and best boyfriend Randy. I need to record it sometime. I am definitely on the mend now and am grateful for that.
Being sick always humbles me and I spend a lot of that time thinking of things I am grateful for and of all of the blessings in my life. The biggest thing that kept coming to mind was the HUGE blessing of being here in Iowa. I complain about the cold (well...all of us out here do), but this place and the people here are incredible. We have moved around a lot since we were married and this is the first place where we have felt at home. Most everyone we come in contact with are genuine and caring. They will go out of their way to make sure you are okay.
I also kept thinking about how grateful I am for family that loves you in spite of...They love you in spite of your many flaws and your quirks. Family that always has your best interest at heart and who will back you up in any situation. Most especially for family who can put all pettiness aside and be your friend. Going home over the break made me CHERISH those people even more. It made me appreciate being surrounded by family that loves you for you. Is that too cheesy :)

Moving on. Banana never really went through a "terrible two" stage. I thought we were pretty lucky. And then this week hit. Oh man. She is still a HUGE sweetheart 99.9 percent of the time. But she has started having major separation anxiety. She went through a phase like this when she was younger and grew out of it pretty quickly when she started nursery. This time it came out of nowhere. I left somewhere with a friend last weekend and she did her usual crying of don't leave me mom...etc. No biggie. So. We get to dancing class on Monday night and she was hyper/excited as usual when I go to drop her off. I walk into her classroom and hurry to leave because I'm late for teaching my class and she suddenly gets teary. Keep in mind that she begs to go to dancing class ALL week long. I just gave her a quick hug, and hurried out of the room. I was about ten minutes into class when I hear someone coming down the hallway sobbing. Her teacher knocks on my door and there she is holding a HYSTERICAL Banana. Not just a sad Banana, an out of control, can't get her to calm down little girl. I have my TA take over for a minute to try and get Banana calmed down. No luck. So I sit her down in my class and make her watch. She refused to go back to class. So out of character. On the way home I asked her what was wrong and she said she just wanted to be a family...Then I felt bad for being so frustrated. Onto two nights later. I had been sick all day and hadn't been around her much. Hubby puts her to bed and shes starts another hysterical meltdown. He gets frustrated so I tell him just to leave so he can get to his bball game. I let her cry it out for a while but it just gets louder and more hysterical. Then she started crying "Mom I just miss you!" She says this about four times and I break down and go in. It broke my heart to hear her like that. Once again her answer to why she was so sad..."I just wanted to be a family." Are you seeing a pattern?
Finally yesterday. Her BFF Eden was having a birthday party, which Banana talked about all week. She was super excited to whole way over, then we walk in the door, I tell her good-bye and hysterics start again. I was pretty frustrated by this point and told her she was staying. Crying got worse...I used every threat in the book (taking away toys, no treats, etc.) She agrees to it all. WHAT? What little kid agrees to punishment so her mom won't leave her? So we leave. I was still pretty upset so I let Hubby talk to her when we get home. After a heart to heart she tells him...she just wanted to be a family. What do you do? Any ideas? I'm drawing a blank. Help!
Sorry, that was a long drawn out story but I need help. I don't want to just tell her she doesn't have to be social, or that she can stop going to dancing class/nursery/playing with friends. I'm curious if this kind of reaction has stemmed from some experience she had recently at one of those places, or if it's just a phase? What do you think? What can I do to help?

We did do a lot of fun stuff this week in spite of the sickies. We went sledding! It was Miss Em's first time and she LOVED it. I think she is the only human being out there who LIKES this Iowa coldness. She grins and laughs every time the we step outside.. Kinda funny. Mostly weird.



Em has started moving around like crazy. She is super fast and LOVES to climb on things. She learned how to crawl onto the bottom part of her exersaucer. (There's usually stray puffs and such down there). She will just hang out there for quite a while content to eat her leftovers. Don't judge me :) It's pretty neat to see her being so mobile, and it keeps me on my toes.


I went and had a pedicure with Liz last week and Banana has been begging for once ever since. So I stuck her feet in the sink and let her go to town. She was content to just let the warm water run over her feet and called it good. I didn't mind!! You couldn't get the smile off of her face. (yes, we're rocking some awesome pink tile in our bathroom).



To end the week we let Banana stay up for her first movie night. We made these fun banana/yogurt popsicles, and picked out the perfect movie. We had all these fun ideas of her cuddling up with us, and falling asleep in our arms. Ha! She was WOUND up the entire time. It was almost ten by the time we put her in bed and she was showing no signs of slowing down. I think we'll wait a while before we attempt that again!
Have a fantastic week! I promise the next post won't be a short novel.

I've NEVER Been This Cold

So what do you do when it's below zero for the fourth day in a row (-41 to be exact), and you haven't left the house in days? Go crazy. (Well techincally I left to go to the grocery store last night, but I'm trying to forget about that). I ran out of things to do with the girls about two days ago. I could give the house a good cleaning, or get caught up on the laundry, or organize some closests...but that would require moving from underneath my warm blanket. My house is FREEZING. Never again will I live in a house that's over 100 years old. They stink at staying warm. It's sad because we get our utilities for free here so we can crank it up as high as we want and it still won't stay warm. One good thing about this crazy weather is that Hubby got a snow day yesterday! There's nothing better than getting a snow day when you're in grad school!! He still had to go outside to do the snow removal for the church, but with the help of one of our awesome friends it got done really quick, and he came out of it with all of his limbs still attached. I am still in schock at how cold it is here. It is ridiculous. If you have any suggestions on some fun things I could do inside with an infant and a toddler please let me know!

First order of business when it's below zero outside? Strip down and take a steaming hot bath! Personally my favorite thing to do. The girls apparently take after me and can't get enough of it.
Next, you can play with shredded paper...Banana took it upon herself to destroy a phone book. And her and Miss Em were fascinated with the sad remains of said phone book for at least an hour. Who needs toys when you have crumpled paper?
Finally, you get annoyed of your mom taking too many pictures.
Hope all of my fellow iowa friends are staying warm! We miss you :)

Nothing to Speak of

So...I really can't think of one single exciting thing that has happened since we got back from Utah. Especially not something blog worthy. But, I am bored at work and need something to do, so I will bore you with this post!! I haven't taken any pictures since we got home and that is pretty impressive. I usually have the camera within arms reach at all times.
It's been a LONG week. It's always hard on all of us when Hubby has to go back to school after a break. This week was no exception. Holy cow I thought I might go crazy. The girls actually did pretty decent in spite of the constant begging to go back to Utah. (Banana now tells me that she has two homes and they are not in iowa. They are her grandma's houses). She tells me every day that she doesn't like THIS iowa anymore. What do you say? I can't tell her I agree because I'm sure that will just escalate an already bad situation. I do like iowa, just not in the dead of winter. Back to the point. I know that i had a much harder week than either of the girls. It was so nice to be back in utah with so many helping hands, and to have more than five minutes to myself. The downside...the wtihdrawal. It feels like the girls need even more attention, and I don't have enough hands to help. It's probably the same amount of attention they needed before, I just got used to the help. I know, poor me right?
For the new year I set one goal for myself, then picked one word to encompass that goal. The word is CHERISH. That's what I want my new year to be about. My kids are growing up too quickly, and our time here in passing by faster than I ever thought possible. There was a time when I thought that I would be so happy about time flying out here but that changed. It changed when I came to the realization that wanting time to fly by here in iowa meant that my kids would grow up that much quicker. So I want to cherish every day, and enjoy each moment I have with them. My eyes have been opened even more to what a blessing those girls are to me. They make me laugh and cry every day. Sometimes in joy, sometimes in frustration...but it's all a growing experience. I've started to notice this past week that Banana isn't my little baby girl anymore. She's a little girl who loves to dance, sing, play make believe and all the other things that little girsl do. When did this happen? It's incredible to watch how her mind works, and how inquisitive she is about the world around her. So, my question to everyone is did this happen to you? Did you wake up one morning and realize that your babies were no longer your babies? Did it hit you all of a sudden or did you notice the little changes every day?

To leave you here are the girls' santa pics. Banana was true to form and hated every minute. She is now old enough to understand the concept that a present is a fun thing, and we had to totally bribe her to get on his lap.
Em, on the other hand, couldn't be more content. Quite possibly because she loves everyone and everything. (Especially if she can put it in her mouth).

...

Just a few of the reasons why I miss Utah...

Holly Jolly Christmas

Christmas Eve!

So I am really slacking at getting our Christmas pics posted. They days are flying by, and I'd rather be sitting with my family than at the computer...go figure. We had an awesome Christmas and as usual it went by way too fast. I loved Christmas growing up, but I am pretty sure i LOVE it even more now that I have my own little children around. Banana was so excited she could hardly stand it. I love christmas eve just as much as Christmas Day because we have so many fun traditions in our family. One of my all time faves is waffle dinner at my Grandma's house. She makes the best butter syrup. It's a good thing she only makes it once a year, and I am too lazy to make it because I am sure the calorie count is astronomical! For those of you who have never tried it you are missing out.
Here's cousin Braxton and Banana in an intense game of mouse trap after waffle dinner.

My in laws always have a musical program on Christmas Eve, and it is always so beautiful. That whole family has amazing voices and I love listening to my hubby and his brothers and dad sing "O Holy Night" every year. I have it on video, but I can't get it to post...The highlight of the evening for me was when Banana sang the song she had been practicing for months. For those who don't know, Banana has been speaking Spanish for as long as she could talk, so her dad taught her to sing the Nativity Song (from the Children's Songbook) in Spanish. She worked so hard, and I was nervous that she wouldn't want to sing in front of everyone. But she did, and it was beautiful. Someone got it on tape, and as soon as I can get it, I'll post it! I was trying to play for her, but couldn't read the music through my tears...I know you can't imagine me getting emotional about something like that...

Miss Em and Cousin Franky were content all night to sit there and eat the wrapping paper...


This picture needs no words.Finally...letters to Santa. Banana wrote a very detailed list of what Santa was to bring, then added a few cute drawing to makei t complete. We put the letter in the fireplace and the ashes flew to Santa so he could read it...