New Friend

We finally have found a friend for Emily. I went into the nursery to see if there would be a good friend for Emily to play with. The nursery leader was new though, just like me, and didn't know anything about the kids. I finally figured out that another little girl was about Emily's age and quite the talker (which is exactly the kind of friend we need. We don't talk around here.) So today was the first day we had her over. Our nursery is kind of small, but I think there may be one other little girl about Emily's age. We're excited that we have found a friend :)

Swing

I have another post! I'm sure if anyone is reading this they realize that I always have a new post. Well, it's fun. But more than that, this blog has in a way replaced my journal. It just hits more birds with one stone and it's fun, and it's fun to have pictures with the journal, and it even has a hint of scrapbooking to it. I also made the mistake of not journaling enough when Emily was Meredith's age. I got better and better as time went by, but it is still never enough. I have a pretty horrible memory. I think most people do. People remember a lot of something but spend so much time remembering the one thing that they forget the others. Anyhow, that's my excuse for blogging so much. I still keep a journal for some of the more "personal stuff". The labels are fun to use too. I can find the stuff I want to look at quickly. I can click on milestones and find all of that stuff. In my journal I was using stars and hearts. One for one girl and one for the other. This labeling stuff on blogger is a little nicer :) They grow up so fast I want to record all of the memories I possibly can.

Anyhow...

For Family Home Evening we put up our swing. We bought it on Saturday for a family outing and then Nathan went to get the hardware on Monday and then set it up. The girls couldn't wait. They stared at him the whole time.

Emily in the swing

Meredith in the swing. (Learning to take turns is hard :)

And last. A video. Turn down the volume (the girls were very excited and loud). Emily wanted to push Meredith in the swing, and Meredith was squealing she was having so much fun.

"Peek-a-boo"

I finally caught Meredith playing "Peek-a-boo". Boy was that hard. She really wanted the camera, but I finally got it. The first one I put on here because she just said "Peek-a-boo" so well. The second one is the whole thing. We had been playing and trying to record for a while by the time I got a good one and Emily was starting to play in the background too. I didn't realize it until I was stopping the video though and I didn't get them to cooperate for another one like that :( But I'm sure glad I've got something though :)





I put the label as milestone for this post. It is a milestone though I got a picture of it late. As long as I have something at one point I'm happy.

My Reader

Meredith loves to read. I have to read a book many, many times before we can go on to something else (typically another book). Emily did this about the same age. It's so cute. Meredith comes to me with a book and says "book, book", so I take the book. Then she says "up, up", so I pick her up. Then we start to read the book. If I say "the end" to early (even after we've read the whole book and I get to the last page and say "the end") she cries. But, I love to be able to hold my baby and read to her. It's the best way to get her to hold still.

Fixing the Computer

Nathan's laptop just died the other day. We just bought it a few months ago. So, we sent it back to HP and they are supposed to fix it. In the meantime Nathan needs something for classes that begin on Monday (the computer will take up to 2 weeks to get here). So Nathan took the old laptop and stripped it down to get to the power to fix it and then he put it back together. He must be even better than the computer factory because he didn't need as many screws as they did :)

Silly Bath Time Fun

So, remember the time when you're mom used to give you baths and she made funny hair dos for you after soaping up your hair. I sure remember that. I love to do that with my girls.

Fruity Play Dough

Here's what we are going to do today. It just looked like a fun recipe and Emily needs something fun to do so she doesn't keep asking for "Nemo". Emily got sick a little while ago, so I wasn't going to potty train then because I was afraid of the mess that would make if she didn't make it. It's bad enough when it's normal. So, we quit for a while and now we're back to it. I've been having Emily watch Nemo while she sat on her potty chair. Meredith is begging for Nemo now as well. It's so cute at the same time it is exasperating. She goes to get her little chair (which is as big as she is almost) and brings it to me crying, "Nemo, nemo, nemo". It takes so much effort for her to carry that big chair (at least for her it is big). So cute. I hope someone else can enjoy this recipe as well :)

Fruity Play Dough (courtesy of Recipezaar.com)

1 cup flour
1 package Kool-AidKool-Aid (any flavor)

1 tablespoon cream of tartar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup salt
3/4 cup boiling water (the original recipe called for one cup of boiling water, but I found it made the dough too loose- aim for 3/4 cup and add more if needed)

Mix all dry ingredients in bowl then oil, then pour boiling water in and mix thoroughly. Wrap in cellophane or air tight container and store in fridge. The play dough should last a few months.

Motherhood

The following quote comes from Elder Robert D. Hales from BYU Education Week.

"My dear sisters, don't ever sell yourselves short as a mother or as a woman," he said. With emotion in his voice, he said it "never ceases to amaze me that the world would state that being a mother is a form of servitude which does not allow a woman to develop her gifts and talents.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. ... Do not let the world define, denigrate or limit your feelings of the lifelong learning values of motherhood in the home, both here in mortality and eternally."

It's just nice to have a reminder now and then. I don't feel like I need it right now, but the next time I do, I'll just have to look at my blog :)

"PG Youtube" for families

Itsagoodday.org is the newest Youtube, but they have someone actually check to make sure the content is clean. So, it's safe for families. I just thought that was an interesting little note for anyone who'd like to know. I found it in my google reader (rss feeds) this morning on the LDS Media Talk. The google reader is so nice because I can get all of the news I want, check blogs, and see fun deals in just minutes. What a great idea.

Piano Lesson

So, today I have a piano student coming over and two interview students. In a week of just posting piano lessons on craigslist I already have 3 students. I'm debating whether or not to put up fliers. I'm excited to start teaching again and a little nervous about the girls. I'm busy trying to get stuff put together for piano lessons and the girls are busy "helping" me. They are so cute, I just hope they haven't ruined something while I got away for a little while.

More Sunday Posing

Daddy took pictures of the girls while Mommy was getting ready for church. These pictures were taken before Mommy was able to do their hair. But they are still very cute little girls.

We dream. We dream of one day potty-trained children. :)

If they'll sit on it, we'll put it just about anywhere.

It's so fun to sit on the potty chair. And take Mommy's mascara and smear it on the walls (see streak top center)

Sunglasses

Daddy took these pictures while Mommy was getting ready for church. Meredith loves to try on sunglasses. She's trying on Emily's sunglasses in these pictures.

Popcorn Popping

Meredith's favorite song is "Popcorn Popping". I ask her what she wants to sing and she sings, "I". When I sing it to the girls I sing the first note really long so that they know I'm singing and it prepares them to do the actions with me. So, Meredith holds out the "I" for a very long time. It's so cute. She got bored in the first video, but in that one you can really hear the "I".



The second video she sings it all the way through. You can hear her singing, "pop, pop, pop" in the background. And look at those hands. She is sooo excited.

Babysitter

So, yesterday for the first time we left our girls with a babysitter (other than family). We have left them with family (his mom, my mom, my sisters, even my brother). I went and picked up the babysitter after scripture study last night while Nathan put the girls to bed. They weren't quite in bed when I got back, but went down with little trouble because they were tired. And then we left. It was nice to get away. We went to play mini-golf and arcade games. :) Then went for some ice cream and then came back and I took the babysitter home. She said the girls didn't wake up. We're still not sure what we should have paid our babysitter, but we tried to go on the higher end so she'd come back.

Pacifiers

My kids would not take a pacifier when they were babies. But they're sure fun now.

I may never have a child who takes a pacifier (my mother didn't and my first 2 haven't) so these I just let the kids play with. Emily got them out of the utensil drawer because I had just washed them.

When I got Meredith out of her crib this morning she was a little chatterbox. She had all sorts of things to say. She's starting this much earlier than Emily did. She does say "I want more" pretty well. At least I can understand it. Other people may just here the "mo" part at the end.

Emily's Milestones

Well, Emily can now lock and unlock the bedroom and bathroom doors. There are a few that you kind of have to lift the handle on before you can lock it, so that doesn't work, but it's a good thing that we found out how to unlock our doors pretty early. The place we moved into didn't had the handy little key. I called the hardware store and they couldn't get me anything. Finally, after major phone chasing, someone told me just to use a small screwdriver. At one point I lost the screwdriver (it got put into the locked room) so I grabbed a spare pair of tweezers (a set of the cheap ones that don't work anyway) and unbent them and that worked too. So, just in case you lock your doors, there you go.

The second thing is something that I've more recently learned to look for as a milestone. Emily was pointing to a picture of me holding her when she was about Meredith's age. She said, "That's Mommy and Meredith." And I said, "No, that's Mommy and Emily." We went back and forth a few times until she said, "No." She was laughing at me! She thought I was telling her something funny, like I had forgotten who was who. Anyhow, I don't know when children are supposed to cross the milestone, but lately Emily has covered leaps and bounds in her speech. I am so happy about it.

Family Home Evening Lessons

Nathan and I started a habit of having Family Home Evening at the beginning of our marriage. Habits are wonderful things, so even though Meredith won't repeat after me the words of a prayer I still pray with her and we get what we can. Also, I brushed Meredith's one tooth (when she only had one tooth) just for the sake of habit. Anyhow, I've really enjoyed finding ways to make FHE interesting and fun for our girls, so I started a blog for all of the lessons I have. It is http://familyhomeeveningfriends.blogspot.com/

I hope you can use it.

"I Love You"

The most precious words in the whole world are the words "I Love You" coming spontaneously from your two-year-old. On Saturday I was pretty upset. So, Emily came up to me and said, "I Love You. It's ok." And after she gave me a kiss, "it's all better." And it was definitely much better after that. That was the first time she's ever said "I Love You" spontaneously to me. She has since said it a couple more times and then I get a hug. My sweet girl.

Pretend Play: Eating

This video is of Meredith trying to feed me. Then I bent over to eat the "food" and couldn't keep the camera still. Oh well. Just ignore the last part.

Lotion Mess

So, Emily really loves lotion. My girls have always loved lotion. They ask for me to put it on them all the time, and when I do they always ask for more. Anyhow, here is what Emily did to my lotion (my nice facial lotion).

It is difficult to get a guilty child to smile for the camera. lol.