Girl Talk!

At Dinner tonight, The Girl kept saying she wanted candy.
Girl: "I want candy."
T: "Well, I want a million dollars."
Girl: "No, Dad. You have to eat your dinner first. You can't have a million dollars now cause it's dinner time."

Earlier today:
Girl: "I want to be a Katie when I grow up with lots of curly hair so I can go to Jerusalem."

And this morning:
Girl: "When I grow up, I'm going to be a mommy so I can have a room like you, Momma. Then I can have a Momma bed."

We had babies!

Today our fish (formerly known as "Simba") had babies! I noticed earlier this week that lots of the rocks were moved around, but I thought they just liked hiding in there. T was walking by the tank just a half hour after I fed them and saw all the babies. There must be 30-40 fry! Pretty exciting. So, our big fish had to switch names. Now the big one is "Nala" and the smaller one is "Simba". The momma keeps all the fry close to the rocks. She goes back and forth over them, pushing them down with her fins or putting them in her mouth and spitting them out by the rocks. So cool to watch. Pretty exciting day! We'll see how many survive! (Click on the picture to see them bigger.) More info here.

Great Video for you!

Here is a cute video of some fun noises from The Boy. Don't mind my silly "mommy talk" and super unsteady camera. I was just working on making him laugh.

Sweet Sleeping Baby

The Boy is the best baby ever. Last night I put him to bed around 10 and he didn't wake up until 7:30. I was laying in bed at 7 a.m. thinking... did I just sleep through the whole night and The Boy didn't wake me up? I had to go in and check on him just to make sure! He is such a good baby. This isn't a rare occasion, just a night when I really needed it. (He usually wakes up around 5:30 or 6.) After our long day yesterday and lots of time in the sun, I was soo exhausted!

I can't believe I haven't had to "train" him to sleep through the night. He's been doing it for many weeks now and he's now only three months old. Such a great kiddo!

Beautiful Falls and Temple

On Saturday we got to attend the Open House to a new temple. It was beautiful. We went on a pretty busy day, but the wait was well worth it. The Girl did really well for such a busy body that she is. She even said that her favorite part was the room where everyone was quiet. :D If you live near by, I hope you get a chance to go see it! You can't see it well in this picture but The Boy is wearing an outfit that Katie got for him in Egypt! Only three people called him a girl... he is just such a pretty baby.

We also went to the beautiful waterfalls. They were very spectacular! It was a fun trip.

Do you see the rainbow?

Look at the huge tree trunks!

The Friday Five

Another week that seemed non-eventful... but I'm sure there is something I can blog about.

1) I love my Husband! Poor guy has been sick with strep throat this week and now that he is getting better I am just so grateful for him! It is hard to do everything on your own. I'm so glad to have my husband back!

2) Swim Lessons. Oh boy... The Girl does not like to go underwater. She cried for most of her swim classes and especially hated it when the teacher said she could have a Starburst candy at the end of class and tricked her by putting it on the bottom step in the pool. All the other kids went underwater to get it and The Girl just cried. Hopefully, after some practice with mom in the hot tub, The Girl will be better next week. Cross your fingers for us!

3) My tomato plants are producing and the tomatoes are starting to turn red. I'm really looking forward to taking a big bite of my first home grown tomato. That will be pretty awesome.

4) More baking with The Girl. She sure loves to bake. This week we made brownies with a peanut butter/chocolate rice crispy top. They are yummy! The Girl liked licking the bowl and spoon when we were done but got her shirt dirty right away. I let her lick the rest without a shirt while I cleaned up. She stood up, with chocolate all over her arms and belly and announced "Look, I have a body mustache!" It was so funny.

5) UPDATED since I wrote the other four: The Girl went underwater like 20 + times tonight in the hot tub with me! It was soo great. It was like a huge mountain that she over came. She still comes up from the water with the most terrified look on her face, wide eyed and spitting out water, but she is getting the hang of it. I told her we could go buy some little kid goggles tomorrow. I hope we find some that fit her face! Totally made my week!

Aussie Jewelry

A friend of mine shared this website with me and I just love their jewelry. I used to have a necklace like this one with the tree and it reminded me of The Tree of Life. I loved it, but lost it somehow. :'-( I also love this one with dots and coordinating earrings! But the thing I love the most is the jewelry stand (LOVE the white one but it was hard to see with a white background).

Yep, I'm a Batman Fan

Last weekend, T and I went to see the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight. I really enjoyed it even though there were many things that would have made it more enjoyable. That tells me, not only that I want to see it again, but it was a pretty awesome movie. At 2 and a half hours, it seemed a little long, but the plot was packed with action. T wasn't feeling too well and I had to get dinner and sneak it into the theater in my diaper bag. We brought The Boy and we will be retelling this story for many years to come: When The Girl was a newborn we took her to see Batman Begins. She slept through the whole movie, which we were amazed with because it was pretty loud. Well, The Boy didn't sleep much and if he did happen to fall asleep while I was bouncing him while standing on the side exit area, he would wake up to any loud and sudden noises. There were lots of those. Christian Bale is awesome. Pretty much I'm looking forward to seeing it again, without the baby, sick husband, and dinner.

Our First Friday Five

It doesn't seem like it has been an eventful week but Kirsti asked me to do this and it seems like a good tradition to do each week. I know it is Saturday but I'll try to do it on Friday from now on.

To wrap up the week, here are our favorite five things from this week:

1) I really fell in love with The Boythis week. It may seem strange to say I didn't "love" him before... it is just different. Any mom can probably relate that it just takes a little while before you feel like they are really yours. I love him like I love The Girl. He is such a sweet little boy and has a tender spot in my heart.

2) Finished a book. I read "The Wednesday Letters" in just four days and really enjoyed it. I got to go to my book club group and visit with friends, discuss the book, and just have some good girl time! I don't know what book we will read next but I hope I enjoy it as much.

3) Cooking with The Chef Girl. One night this week T and The Girl made cookies and I just sat back and watched and visited. It was pretty fun. Then Friday, The Girl and I decided to make T's favorite: Texas Sheet Cake. We brought it to him at work so he could share it with his coworkers. They've had a tough week and needed some sweet cheer.

4) Wheat Enrichment Night. Another girl time out which I enjoyed and I also learned a ton of stuff about wheat. Did you know that it is one of the only crops that can be grown all over the world? From wikipedia, "Wheat genetics is more complicated than that of most other domesticated species." More on wheat next week when I get the handouts from church.

5) Cleaning with "Mommy (Girl)". She says she is a "mommy" when she is doing "mommy" things. She helped me gather all the laundry today and throw it down the stairs. She had lots of fun doing that. Then she helped me scrub the cookie sheets. While we were taking the sheets off of my bed she started singing, "Just whistle while you work," from Snow White. It was really sweet and fun to work with her.

New Wishes

Here are a few things on my "wish" list. Aren't they beautiful? :D

Peter Pan Influence

The Girl has been watching Peter Pan a lot this week. Today at the park, The Girl met a little boy, probably four years old.

"Hi, I'm Ethan. Will you be my friend? I'm really cool."

After convincing The Girl that she would have more fun playing with Ethan than us, she ran off to play. For over twenty minutes, in between her playful screams and squeals, The Girl was repeatedly saying, "Off to Neverland! Off to Neverland!" T and I were both convinced that Ethan must not have seen Peter Pan yet.

The Girl: "Off to Neverland."
Ethan: "Me too! I'm never going to land!"
The Girl: "Off to Neverland."
Ethan: "Up to No Land!"
The Girl: "Off to Neverland."
Ethan: "Off to Safety Land!"
The Girl: "Off to Neverland."
Ethan: "Look there is land, over here!"

It was pretty funny to stand back and watch them. She had such a great time trying to get him to help her climb up the slides, which she does perfectly on her own. He would say to her (on numerous occasions), as she playfully cried out for help, "Climb up the stairs. It's not harder than the slide."

My Beautiful Family

The Boy is such a happy little baby! He smiles and giggles all the time. He even seems to be trying to talk while blowing bubbles at us. The Girl is so crazy and full of energy and life, but she is also very fun and loving. I love to make her laugh.

I love my husband soo much! I feel so lucky because he is my best friend and a wonderful father. He works so hard to provide for me and our kids.

Cute Little Snugglie

I needed a creative gift idea for a baby boy so Kirsti told me to make a cute little snugglie out of a stuffed animal and some minkie fabric. It felt really strange cutting a stuffed animal in half! Here's how it turned out!

Caught Red Handed!

While The Boy was asleep in his swing, The Girl and I went outside. I was doing some weeding and noticed The Girl had gone inside. After another minute, I thought I'd better go check on her. Not only had she woken up The Boy, but she thought he would like some lotion all over his face. She said to me, "I was really careful not to get it in his eyes." I thought it was really sweet of her, but I obviously couldn't have her doing it again without my supervision. It was pretty hard, but I held back my laughter and smiles and explained we needed to take a picture so she knew not to do it again. She's pretty funny and she really is a great big sister.

Going to the Zoo. How about You?

The Girl loved climbing on and in and around all the animal statues. Here she is as a turtle and penguin (with her friend Ryan).

Here is my make-shift two-person stroller. It works great as long as The Girl doesn't sit on The Boy's feet! :D

"Cute" Recipes

Check out this website for some cute recipe ideas!
http://itsacircusaroundhere.blogspot.com/

Fresh Tuna

T got to go fishing with his dad and some close friends off the coast of San Diego and Mexico. He caught lots of awesome tuna.

We had some friends over and ate the delicious tuna. One friend loves sushi so we gave it a try and it was pretty good too. (Notice how T's plate is the one with the salad left on it.)

What a Song!

The Girl seems to be singing all the time now... songs we know and made-up songs. Here is a great one she just made for you! ENJOY!!

Grinning Boy

Our little two-month-old is now a grinning baby! He smiles and makes the cutest "goos" and "coos". It is really fun to hear. He is now 11 lbs. 3.5 oz. which is the 50th percentile for his age and in the 55th percentile for his length. We'll see how much of that "normal" weight gain he can keep up with before he hits below the mark like The Girl is. Can you even believe my three-year-old is only 27 lbs?