We leave today for utah. It will be a great trip with both sides of the family and we get to bless Baby Jake too. I won't be posting while I am gone (since I don't have extra entries waiting to be posted), so the site will be pretty boring while I am having fun. But hopefully, I will get back into the swing of things upon my return. Keep having a great summer!
I have seen these Wilton Brownie Pop Molds and am always tempted to buy one, but then I think... why would I? Well, now I know why. Look how cute these brownie pops are. Perfect for a kids party. Perfect for a little gift. Perfect for a fun activity with the kids. So, why not buy one.
here are directions on how to do it (not that they aren't self-explanatory), but just in case you need directions, here you go!
okay, to share some good news and show that I am not all doom and gloom. I took all the kids to Target today. We said a prayer in the car before we went into the store that everyone would be good in the store... and guess what it worked. Ella did really good. Hannah was great. and Jake slept. I got everything done and we could even stop and get drinks and treats at the cafe. I am so happy!
And to top it off... I haven't felt my c-section at all for 3 days. I think I am recovered. I even slept on my stomach last night... was that a treat or what! i am not sure what it does to my milk supply (I will have to google that), but it was worth it.
And it gets better. Jake slept 5 hours and then 3 1/2 hours last night and didn't wake up at 6:00 am grunting and crying.
And (even more) this weekend Jake hardly slept (so I was worried, of course), but today he is back to sleeping like a baby for his naps.
I am happy, happy, happy!. i am starting to feel like myself again and the kids are good (right now)!
Well, that is it for me. I just wanted to share the good (and not just all the bad)! Today I am a happy girl/mom!
Hannah loves to recognize patterns (she is much like her dad).. every time she notices a pattern, she let's me know about it. So, when I came across this idea of making colored macaroni necklaces.. I thought perfect, she can practice making patterns. So, when we get back from our trip (or maybe while we are on it), I will be doing this fun little craft project.
Since, I haven't had the time or energy to do things (projects, creative-ness, fun things, etc), I thought I might share the things that are taking up my time and mind these days. Instead of projects, I will share thoughts. Mostly, because I need to vent and share my feelings with family and friends (and some strangers).
My current thoughts are about my two-year old Ella. She is smack-dab in the middle of the terrible two's. It is constant fits, crying, "no's" and tantrums in my house (and the stores which is what really puts me over the edge). The inability to communicate only makes things worse. As a mother with little sleep, hormones raging, lack of energy and recovering from a c-section, I really can't put up with much more of her.
And I don't like that I feel like this. I don't like that my life doesn't feel like anything I remember it to be. I don't know what to do. I know it is stage and it will all pass at some point. But I feel like I have been dealing with it for the past 6 months and probably have another 6 months to go .... and that is a long time in passing.
I pray constantly to have more patience with her. To not get emotional over what she does. I pray for guidance in how to relate to her, how to talk to her and how to help her to not act out and be "terrible". But I don't know if any of it is working or if I am even doing my part. I don't know what the solution is except maybe time.
Everyone always says that time passes so quickly and before I know it they will be older. I always think to myself, I can't wait for her to be older and not TWO.
I really do love my daughter and someday i know our days will be full of more fun moments and laughter instead of the crying and disciplining it tends to be these days. But until then, I have to share my thoughts and write my feelings down, just to get through it all.
I don't have much to write about these days and I am not doing much as far as projects and my calling. I hope to be back to myself before the summer is through, but you never know... maybe life with three kids is my new normal and it means I can't do what I used to. We will have to wait and see.
But until this does or doesn't happen, I thought I would share other people's cleverness... (since I am not clever myself these days). I found this cake idea and thought how fun. I love how real it looks and then come to realize it probably taste better than it looks (by a long shot).
There are so many fun ideas out there... it is just a matter of finding them and then doing them ourselves... I hope to someday get back to be able to do them, but until then... maybe you can!
We just had nana and papa Williams come and visit for a whole week. It was so much fun to have them here and the kids loved every minute of it (as did mom). Most of the days were spent playing games, reading books and creating fun memories, but the best day was the day trip to Yosemite.
I wasn't on the trip (I decided to stay home and enjoy the peace and quiet with Baby Jake), but the crew came home and you could tell they had a great time. Mostly because they were covered in dirt, tired and had just had ice cream.
Thanks nana and papa for a great week. You are the best!
This was so cute, I had to share it. It is amazing what they can do these days.
Enjoy
Thanks everyone for the great ideas. I loved them and they are so helpful. I am putting them all here, for others to read and for future reference. thanks again you are life savers!decorating flip flops with strips of material or even water balloons. You just tie the different strips of material or balloons to the straps of the flip flops.
a frozen t-shirt contest is always fun. Just get the t-shirts wet beforehand, fold them like a department store and freeze them. Whoever can get their t-shirt on the quickest wins something. Then have ice cream or something to go with it.
Do a "by choice or chance" activity. Pick a special location (we picked the temple, but you could choose something closer to you.) divide into as many cars as you have. Flip a coin at every stop sign or stop light. Heads - turn right. Tails - turn left. Keep flipping a coin until you reach your destination. At the end, talk about if you are going to ... get married in the temple, graduate from high school, go a mission, (whatever you want to focus on for your girls) ... by choice or by chance. Talk about making decisions now so you reach those goals by choice!!! Good luck!
Sidewalk chalk the bishop's driveway...lots of nice notes, let the girls be creative and draw fun stuff.
Homemade pizza night - have each girl bring a favorite topping...you provide dough, sauce and cheese. (you can do the pop-open dough or make your own...)
easy service project - go to your local library and have the girls clean the children's books. (our library provided all the supplies - we just provided the girls!)
Take the girls to your nearest temple grounds (hopefully you have some nearby?), divide them into groups of 2-3, give each group a point and shoot digital camera and have them take photos of each other. (you can give them a quick photography lesson at the beginning) Each girl gets to pick 10 pictures to have printed. My girls LOVE doing this...and they don't have many inhibitions about posing for their peers!
We just had a mutual night where we introduced the girls to New Family Search. My beehives were the most into it out of the whole bunch! We spent 15 minutes introducing it to them on a large projector screen (at a memebers house) and then had several laptops all set up so that they could sign on create a username (member number and confirmation date needed) and then they entered in their pedigree chart they brought with them. Many of them now have names to take to our next temple trip and they are SO excited!
Ice blocking is always a hit! You just need to find a park that has some good hills but its a good time for all.
They could write letters to the missionaries serving from your ward and/or put little packages together for them
a food drive -- collecting canned goods from members of your ward (you could ask people to sign up and then leave the things on their porches for pick up).
I have to put together an activity for mutual next week and I haven't been able to come up with anything. I am still "recovering" (Or should I say adjusting) to life with three little ones. So, what i need is some ideas for an easy but fun mutual activity for my beehives. Please, any ideas (easy, please-y) would be great!
July 3, 2009
Ever since our bout with the flu, our kids love (I mean love) Phineas and Ferb. It is a cartoon on Disney Channel and it is pretty funny (even for adults). Even Ella chants "phineas and ferb". The girls love it.
I am trying to adjust to life with a newborn and a terrible two-year old. It is hard and I know it is only a moment in time and it will pass, but it is proving to be quite trying.
Now that Ella is old enough to notice and care about things. There are many things Hannah has that Ella wants or steals, so I have to start buying two of things. For instance, Hannah's red sox hat (ella loves it). There is Hannah's arts and crafts apron that barely fits her, and Ella has adopted it. Hannah's doll "sophia", Ella has been found many times with her which is causing problems. So, with that, I hired Jill to make Hannah and Ella new arts and craft aprons. They are sooo cute. I have Hannah's and as soon as i get Ella's I will take pictures and post them.
I am coming to terms that my children might get to watch a bit more TV than they or I am used to. I struggle with feeling like a bad mom when I let them watch more than 2 hours of TV. I dont' know why I have such a hard time with it but I do. But with a newborn, lack of sleep, 100+ degrees and the lack of doing anything... TV it is.
For a week, Hannah would wake up by herself at 5:00 am and tell me she had to go potty. So, I would tell her to go. I thought, great she potty trained herself at night, but that has stopped. She doesn't do it anymore. Isn't that weird.. for a week, she did it all on her own and then nothing... it is like it never happened. So, this is something I still have to tackle... in a few months (after I get my other child sleeping through the night).
Jake is great. He is a pretty good baby. He loves noise and when you talk to him. If I get close and talk to him, he just focuses on me and acts like he is intently listening. He also loves to hold on to my finger. He has a great grip. And he has great neck strength. He is very good at holding up his head and trying to look at you while he is on your chest.
I think Jake just had a growth spurt at 3 weeks old because he was eating every 2 hours, but hopefully this is ending. He seems to be sleeping longer and not eating as much. Feeding every 2 hours takes a lot out of you... mostly at night!
Ella loves to twist her hair. It is a bad habit and she does it constantly. I keep having to rip out clumps of tied up hair. But the crazy thing is she doesn't cry. She has one tough head, because I rip it out and not a peep, flinch or worry about it. I keep hoping that maybe it will hurt and she will stop, but no such luck.
I will have to continue this later... Ella is yelling at me to come outside and push her... see ya!
So, life right now is about sleep, children and just surviving. So, not much these days in terms of projects, lessons or creative stuff. But I found this clever dinner idea and thought I would share. What kid wouldn't think this would be just tons of fun for dinner.
See, if you can figure out how they did this, before you click here to find out.