Falling Apart

Do you ever feel like you're falling apart?

You know what I mean... It's not something that glue can fix (... although, that might be worth a try.....)

I'm currently going through the shedding of excess hormones stage- that happens every time I've given birth. After 9 months of excess hormones making my hair extra lush (don't you just love that word?)- and my nails growing faster than a speeding bullet- it appears to suddenly be coming to a halt. My nails are now breaking when they are less than a millimeter long.... and my hair is falling out in clumps. The picture above is after I brushed my hair this morning after my shower..... I cleaned the brush before I started too.

Scary isn't it?

My shower drain is begging for mercy. It's literally getting choked up.

I fear that if it doesn't stop soon, I will need a wig.

Well... there's always a bright side- with Halloween right around the corner, I will have a nice spectrum of wig options. Clown hair, Glitter hair, Sparkle pink hair, Mad scientist hair....

The Crack Up

This girl. Man. This girl just might be the end of me.

I figure that if I can survive being her mother, I can survive A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G!

110% pure emotion. She never hides what she is feeling on the inside. The most snuggily of all of children- and the most venomous as well.

I thought after the Alli post, I should probably post on this kid too. (Don't worry- I'm going to do a post on the boys after their Dr's appt next week- so I can include stats. Smart thinking, right?)

- Today I had a play date with a new friend of mine.- It was a mom play date and a kid one too. Those are the best kind. My friend had brought her little boy and a little friend too. We thought the kids were playing very well together. They were pretty funny to watch. After we were done eating, playing, and chatting and the kids were packed up in the car ready to go, I asked Maggie how her play date went with her new friends. She said she really liked them a lot, but the boys were pushing her a little, so she pulled down her pants and shook her bum bum at them.
I DIED LAUGHING!
How could you not? I had one of those bad mom moments, where you just laugh so hard that tears fall..... and no discipline or correction actually takes place. I tried telling her it wasn't appropriate, but I don't think she heard me all that well through my giggles. I had to call Chip up and tell him what HIS daughter had just done.
Sigh...... That kid.
(My child corrupts other kids..... anyone want to do a play date?)

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A few weeks ago, before the ban on TV- We had a movie night.

Popcorn was involved.

The next morning, I found a bowl full of un-popped popcorn kernels. They were hidden under some books on the coffee table. Maggie saw me start to clean off the area and she had a royal hissy fit. I tried to understand what I was doing wrong. But she was throwing such a major tantrum that I couldn't understand her. Finally I got out that she didn't want me to throw away the popcorn kernels..... they were her friends. She loved them.

Thinking that this was simply a panic scenario that would pass more quickly than it came- I disregarded her thoughts of them being her friends- but I did promise her that I wouldn't throw them away (I figured that it'd be safe to do so in another hour or so... with them being long forgotten.) Wrong. She played with that bowl of her friends All. Day. Long. In fact, she played with them all day long for quite a few days.

I'm guessing that they didn't mind being mooned when they were unruly.

Insight

Saturday night my church had a meeting for all the sisters in our church- General Relief Society broadcast. Since our ward is newly formed we thought we'd make an activity out of it, and play a game together, and then watch the broadcast together. We had such a great time being in each other's company.

In our ward there is a man who is stuck in an adult body, but mentally he is only about 3 years old. High pitched noises make his ears hurt and he often cries out loud and covers his ears whenever he gets bothered- which is a lot. He is curious about everything and loves to eat lots of treats. At times you don't think he understands anything that you say to him, but sometimes which are few and small between he'll look at you, and you can almost swear that he's looking in at your soul. At church Chip and our friend Adam take him to class with them so his mom can attend her classes. On Saturday night, she brought him with her to the broadcast.

During the broadcast, President Thomas S. Monson (The Prophet) gave a beautiful talk about not judging others. (Click Here if you want to see the clip {it's the first one}- There is also a link to see his whole talk) I know I fall into this category. I tend to judge people on things I assume about them- without even getting a chance to know them. It's horrible. I'm so quick to place a judgment where there shouldn't be any. He gave a quote from Mother Teresa "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."

I kept thinking that our life here on earth is just a pit stop for our life in the eternities to come. I know that each person is a beautiful soul. Our earthly bodies are just here as a vessel of sorts.
President Monson talked about a flower that was in a greenhouse. It was beautiful. An absolutely stunning flower- in fact, it was more beautiful than all of the flowers in the greenhouse. The flower was potted in an old rusty bucket. Someone asked the gardener why they would plant such a beautiful flower like that in such an ugly rotting old thing and the reply came "Because I knew that it would be a beautiful flower, so I didn't think it would mind starting in this old pail. It's just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden" The woman who inquired then thought about how in the eternities God must have said concerning some people "Here's an especially beautiful soul... I'm sure it wouldn't mind being put in an old rusty body... it's just for a little while". (I'm paraphrasing). It was at that moment, that this man- a three year old mind- stuck in a grown man's body- who had been moaning, crying, and rocking himself the whole meeting in pain- started applauding. It was as if he understood what the Prophet was saying at that very moment and just had to express himself. This man is truly a beautiful person.

It was a humbling experience.

I just had to think about judging others. How many friendships have I lost out on because I was to quick to judge? I judged on their financial position (obviously those with more are to good to be my friend... in a different 'class' than I), I judged them for having family in the area- (How would they ever have time for me?), I judged on their eating... (who could be friends with someone 'granola'- who judged me back for liking bacon??) I judged on hygiene ..... Story about that: When I was in 7th grade one of my favorite things in the world was to have my mom come to lunch with me at school. She always brought life to the table (and Taco Time to eat..... all you who've eaten it, KNOW what I'm talking about). All of my friends wanted to sit by me and my mom. One time that she came to lunch, she got there a little before me and just happened to sit by this girl named Jessica. Jessica was the poor girl in our school. She wore the same three shirts over and over, and they were all dirty. Her teeth were decaying and 'fuzzy'- as she didn't brush. She had greasy hair that was never brushed nicely. Her face was broken out so badly that I would have been mortified if it were me. She was an 'early bloomer'- and the weight of her chest made her back hunch a little. Jessica was in a few of my classes. Keep in mind- that I was not a popular girl.. in fact, I was quite a nerd. I was awkward, had braces, chubby, and completely intimidated by any pretty skinny girl that came my way.... and Jessica wanted to be friends with me. I of course, had all pre-teen hopes of ONE DAY becoming a 'popular girl'- so there was no way in the world that I wanted to be linked to someone like her. When I saw my mom sitting by Jessica, my heart sank. I marched right over to my mother and demanded that she come over and sit at the 'wanna be semi- cool' table that I was sitting at. My mom politely and kindly told me that she would not join me, but I should join her. She was already sitting down by Jessica, and wasn't going to move. I turned on my feet and marched on over to my wanna be cool table and sat down with my "real" friends- leaving my mom to sit by Jessica, alone. I could see the hurt and pain in my mom's eyes. But- being the 12 year old unpopular girl that I was, I just couldn't back down. TO THIS DAY I deeply regret that choice that I made almost 17 years ago. It haunts me. I vowed to never do that again. I never wanted to disappoint my mom like that again, and I never wanted to crush another person- like I did Jessica, ever again.

I also think of those who might be judging me by my appearance as well. I wonder how many people were turned away from me because of my 'so -last -season' wardrobe- or because I'm a little "fluffy"- or because I live in an apartment- or because my flowers outside are wilting because I haven't had time to water the poor things... I mean, the list can go on and on... Those people who are judging me are not only missing out on a friendship with me, but I'm missing out on a friendship with them.

I felt the Spirit so strongly during his talk. So many things rang true.

I just wanted to write down those feelings and thoughts that I had- so that I'd be able to remind myself of them whenever I felt myself slip back into judging others.

Jesus said “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

This Girl

This girl. Man, how I love this girl.

My first baby. The one who made me a mother.

With having two new babies and and an over active 4 year old, this little girl so often gets overlooked. I feel incredibly guilty about that. I wish I were super mom so that I could always give her what I know that she needs.

Even though she's often not the center of my attention, I do notice the small things that she does. She is such a funny, funny child. She is also sweet and charming. She also tries her hardest to make us proud and to make her life emulate that of Christ's.

Here are some Alli stories of the past few weeks:

- In the middle of class one day, about 10 kids got in trouble for talking.... as you can guess, Alli
inherited my gift of gab.... and she was one of those kids. The teacher continued her lesson, without writing down the 10 kids' names on the board (as she does after getting a kid in trouble). By the end of the lesson she had forgotten who got in trouble. She asked the kids to raise their hand if they were supposed to have their name on the board. I am so proud to say that Alli was the only child in the classroom to raise her hand. Because she was honest, her teacher told her that she didn't have to put her name on the board anymore.

- While I was making dinner the other day the boys started fussing. I am usually very good at not giving Alli any responsibilities over the babies. #1- I know that she isn't "into" babies. She has never been the baby lovin' type- she has never played with baby dolls- she doesn't even like to play house. Don't get me wrong- she loves her brothers and she even loved when Maggie came along- she'll talk to them and play with them for like a minute- and then she's done, ready to move on to the next thing. #2- I'm a firm believer that since I'm the one who's the mom and brought my children in the world, I should be the one raising them- not my daughter. It irks me off a little seeing people just pawn off their younger children onto their older children and making it their responsibility. I understand that in larger families everyone should pitch in on helping- just not on the raising of siblings aspects. Let kids be kids- let the older children just be siblings- not mini-parents. (I'll get off that soap box now....) ANYWAY....... I asked her if she wouldn't mind entertaining the babies for a few minutes while I finished up dinner. I was expecting a 'no', but she perked up and enthusiastically said "SURE!"- then she skipped off into the living room. Then I hear her really excitedly saying "Hey boys!-- Knock, Knock!......."
I guess when I said "entertain" she took it literally. It was really funny.

One last story:

- This week Alli was really sullen and her eyes were cast down. She handed me this note and said "Dad told me to give this to you. He's really sorry." It instantly made me curious as to what the note said, so I took a peek.

I asked her what "dad" was sorry about and she said "Dad broke the lamp, and he wants you to know that he's sorry."

I started cracking up laughing.

How could you not? I mean, there are a few things not believable about that. #1- Chip wouldn't hide from me if he broke a lamp. #2- Chip has a favorite pen, he doesn't write notes in crayon. #3- Chip has an extensive vocabulary and he's a spelling bee champ (If he wasn't, then he should have been.) I ask him to spell words for me all the time.... he wouldn't misspell 'Sorry'. #4- Chip doesn't call me mom. #5- Chip doesn't have 'fancy' hand writing with half cursive letters.

Sometimes that girl just cracks me up. What was she thinking?
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Alli really is an awesome child. I am a lucky girl to have her in my life....

Me - now.

This post is all about me in my life right now- Just a little something to document what is the low down on me, in case my great grandchildren are someday interested....

~ Two weeks ago I joined a community choir. I am SO excited about it! (It's open for anyone to join, and like I said- it just started back up again, so if anyone else wants to join- let me know... I'll hook you up.) It is every Wednesday at 9:30-11am. The cost is $10 per month, but that includes babysitting (One of the babysitters, Amanda, is another twin mom friend of mine- She is completely awesome, and I know she can handle twins... because, hello- been there, done that.)
I LOVE the choir. It's so nice to meet with different people in the community, who I would have never had the opportunity to meet before (and let's face it, those little old ladies are a riot... what's not to love!) We are practicing Christmas music. It brings such wonderful feelings inside my soul so sing songs about Christ.- plus it is making the impending winter season not seem so daunting and dreary.
It feels so good to be apart of something outside my 'circle'- and I get to sing again too!

~Also two weeks ago, I got called to be the ward enrichment leader. (It's been a busy two weeks!) The Enrichment leader is in charge of coming up with activities and putting them on, once a month for the sisters in our church. Exciting, huh? I am really thankful to have this calling- I feel that it will be a great way to bring unity to the sisters in our ward. We had a ward split (They divided 2 wards and made it into 3) a few months ago, and I know that a lot of sisters feel displaced. Our ward had lots of close friends that are now separated and in different wards. (For those not of my faith- Wards are divided geographically. Where you live depends on what church building you attend, and what time you go to church.) It's really good to see the church growing so much to warrant the split. Basically- I'm really excited to be doing this calling- and I get to work with AMAZING ladies that help me get the job done.

~ I also started to do pre-school with Maggie moo. We do it during the day while Alli is at school. Maggie has responded really well and I have really enjoyed spending that quality time with her. It's only about 30 minutes each day, but we've been having fun.


~I have projects galore lined up to do for Christmas. Quiet books for church, curlie q head bows (Think Gymboree hair bows), wreaths, quilts, mini-scrapbooks for each kid, etc...etc... Now to find time to do it.


~Last week had two bad things happen. #1- My camera broke. It's at Best Buy right now getting fixed (hopefully), but since it's under warranty (I LOVE their warranty) if they can't fix it, I get a new one- So I'm not completely heart broken. The bad news is that I just have to wait for 2-4 weeks for them to have the chance to fix it and tell me if it worked or not. So, I'm out a camera until then (Which is horrible! Do you know how cute my kids are?!?!) and #2- My crock pot got recalled. I use my crock pot at LEAST 3 times each week. Now I have to send in my form snail mail- which includes filling out the form, which they want how much I paid for the stupid thing. I don't remember how much I paid for it! I bought it a year ago! Ugg. Just another thing on my to-do list.

I have to be off now, Need to go pick up Alli from school. .... Speaking of school, I'll have to write a post about it. When I get time....

Fiesta Jalisco

Remember my blog post about our favorite Mexican Restaurant, La Hacienda Real? Well, sadly it closed in like January this year. Chip and I cried a few tears- like lots. Since it closed Chip and I had a mission: Find new authentic Mexican restaurant. We tried 'fancy' ones like Abuelo's at Easton (Seriously... it was gross! Who in their right minds would pay that much for such lame Mexican food?!?- You are just paying for fancy decor.) and many holes in the wall places- (Usually you can find the best authentic food at dives.) It got to the point that Chip and I didn't want to try any more Mexican restaurants- because we were just so tired of BAD Mexican food and didn't want to be disappointed One. More.Time.

We saw one place that we had yet to try- (oddly enough, it's just a hop, skip, and jump from us...) and we thought "What the heck, let's just give it a shot."

I am SO GLAD WE DID!!

Now to Introduce our new FAVORITE MEXICAN RESTAURANT:

Fiesta Jalisco
2640 E Dublin Granville Rd Columbus, OH 43231

(On the corner of Cleveland Ave and 161)

This place is AWESOME. We you sit down the waitress instantly brings the kids cups of Sprite (apparently it's the kid's version of water)- and and Chips and salsa for the table. The salsa is freshly made every day- so are the chips. The salsa is wonderful: not to spicy, chunky, and great flavor.
All of the food we've had (and we've gone a few times now, just to make sure)- has been FABULOUS. The kids menu is awesome as well- and our picky girls have always eaten until they are full to the brim. (and bonus: Every Wednesday, KIDS EAT FREE)- Plus their prices are really cheap too!

All of the staff is super friendly and very attentive- refills come quickly. ;)

Click Here for their website

I hope you have a chance (If you live in Columbus) to try this place out. You won't be disappointed.

The Big Change

Two weeks ago something changed in our home.

Without me yelling, threatening, or beating anyone- the girls have decided they were going to start being super nice to each other. They play nicely. They've brought out toys that haven't seen the light of day in ages, and they play with them for hours- without fighting. They have started being silly sisters together- Inviting each other to the other's bed for a "sleepover" at night, then whispering sweet sister inside jokes.

The girls are kinder to each other. More considerate of the other person's feelings.

They have become more helpful around the house. Two weeks ago, It was all I could do to have them help me willingly. Now they are asking "is there anything else I can do?" on a regular basis. (Helping so much that it's almost a problem- because there is always to many people trying to do one thing.)

They read more. Alli has been reading to Maggie a lot- and Maggie in turn will 'read' to Alli her version of the story. Whenever Chip says "Who wants to read a story?" He gets pounced on by two eager girls.

The boys are super calm too. They have been falling asleep without the need of snuggles and rocking to urge them on to dreamland. In fact- both of my twins sleep 10-12 hours STRAIGHT through the night. (don't hate me.... they are my only children to ever do that.) Yeah- they aren't even 4 months old yet.

We have been eating dinner at the table. Now, we always eat dinner together- but it's been made a 'picnic' every night. The girls could eat as they pleased- Maggie preferred to eat laying down. My kitchen table is also the crafting table- so it was always full of scrapbooking supplies. Now the table is cleared off- and we eat using manners. (good concept, huh?)

So. You might be asking yourself what inspired all of these changes in our home. What has made the general feeling in our home go from "GRRRRRRR" to "Ahhhhhhh".....???

Drum Roll:

WE TURNED OFF THE TV.

Yep. Mr. TV hasn't been on at all while the children have been awake.

It wasn't something that we thought about doing- it just happened quite by accident. One day we were to busy to have it turned on, and I noticed the girls were calmer and nicer- So the next day, just as an experiment- I kept it off again. The same results: Better Children. The next day, when Alli asked if she could watch TV, I just said no- and re-directed her to something that needed done. She didn't whine.

On Saturday, after a week of no TV- Chip and I thought a family movie would be fun. Guess what happened after the movie? Fighting. Whining. Fits. Bad attitudes. These kids just can't handle the TV being turned on anymore.

I was always the type of person that needed noise on. I hate silence. I become a paranoid person and hear all the tiny groans and noises in the house.
I didn't think I could be my children's playmate 24/7- I thought that the kids and I would be dreadfully bored without the TV on. Granted- the TV was never on 24/7- but it was on A LOT.

Without the TV on, I find myself not having time to do much- as you can see by my lack of posts- but there just isn't time to fit it all in one day anymore. Since I'm becoming a better mother and actually being their mom and playing with the kids- instead of letting Mr. TV be the babysitter- I'm more busy now, than I ever have been before. We are going out and playing more. We are interacting more.

Has my scrapbooking been done? Nope. Has my chores all been done? Nope. Has my laundry been caught up? Nope. But- I feel good about it. My kids, who should always be put at #1- have always been pushed back to # 83. It was always "In Just a Minute", or "Just wait until I have time"... now, it's "Sure... let's do it!"

I'm not saying my children will never watch TV again- but I think right now, this is the most peaceful our home as been in a very long time. And... I like it.

I dare you to try it in your home. I bet you'll see a difference too.

Falling Summer

With Alli in school, Maggie and I get to go on adventures- just us (and the boys in the stroller....). I have to say, after 3 months of solid competition with her older sister, it has been nice to have "sweet" Maggie back. "Sweet" Maggie doesn't argue (that much), she obeys (mostly), and she's pretty dang funny.

Last week we went to Inniswood Metro Park to see the last of the summer glory, and see fall being ushered in.

(Falling leaves.... crisp, fresh smelling, crunchy....)


Acorns weighing down all of the branches of the acorn trees- acorns plunking down on the ground randomly. Squirrles and chipmunks going nuts... ohh, I'm so punny.

Little green wormy caterpillars, buzzing bumble bees, beautiful butterflies- all enjoying the last bit of summer sun. The flowers all seem to know the end is coming- as they all are at their brightest and biggest.
Even Maggie seems to be making the most of the last summer days.

I have to say- As much as I love the Fall (it's my favorite season....) I dread it coming. I know that right around the corner winter looms. I know that when winter is here- I get gloomy. I should just probably focus on the here and now. Focus on the beautiful foliage. Focus on the awesome cooler weather (without humidity). But most of all- Focus on the Buckeye's kicking major bum and taking it all the way!!

The Good Wrinkles

Today Chip and I went out to lunch with the boys and the Mags. (Alli was in school....).

I enjoy going out with Chip. He's good company. He makes me laugh.

I like eating out with Maggie too. She's so curious about what other people are doing- She LOVES to stare people down as they eat their food. (If you see a random red-headed 4 year old doing this in a restaurant, I'd like to take this moment to apologize. We're trying to teach her etiquette it's just not working as well as we'd hoped.) She also likes to let you taste her things, and appreciates if you share yours as well.

I like people to coo over the boys and hear "awwww- You've got such sweet babies!".

[I equally like to go with Alli too. She's pretty funny. She gets that from her mother.]

Back to the story:
Today as we were sitting at lunch {Taco Bell}, an elderly couple sat down beside us. I LOVE elderly couples. I could watch them interact with each other all day long. The years that they have spent together just warms my heart. They know each other's preferences, they have every inside joke in the world with each other, they have a solid history.

I love trying to picture the wife back in her glory days. Back when the PTA meetings were going- back when she fixed dinner for a brood- back when she was fast as lightening. I try to picture her putting on a slathering of pink lipstick before her husband came home from work. I try to picture her back then.

I picture the husband-young, vibrant, working until his fingers bled to get bread and milk on the table. I picture him in a 50's suit- wearing his hat- and then taking it off and resting it on the hat stand as he walks through the door. I picture him embracing his wife and giving her a kiss. (She's wearing a lovely set of pearls and a floral print dress, just if you wanted to know.)

I picture them slowly growing older through the years. First welcoming babies, then kids, then children-in-law, then grandchildren and possibly great- grandchildren.- They do this all together.

I envy what older people have.

Time moves slowly.

No rushing here and there. No kids running a muck. No stepping on the rogue Lego. No laundry out the wa-zoo. Everything has it's place- and it stays there. (aka: No mysterious 'ghost child' moving things)

Evening walks are enjoyed hand in hand.

You get to wear polyester pants and sweatshirts with silk screened kitten pictures on them, and dye your hair blue or pink- and nobody says anything. You get to wear white nursing shoes- even though you have never been a nurse. You get to drive a boat (usually a Buick).

I just really LOVE the season of their lives. It's enchanting to me.

As I was watching this elderly couple I got warm in my heart for them. While the husband got the food, the wife went to the table, unwrapped the straws for the drinks to come, laid out brown napkins across the table, and sat and smiled at her husband while he was waiting for the food. When he finally came to the table, he set out their tacos, set out the perfect number of mild sauce packets, then they held hands across from each other and prayed. After the prayer they were just adorable to listen in on.

I found myself wanting to be them- in that stage of my life. For Chip to know exactly how many sauce packets that I need.

As we were getting up to leave, the woman was instantly attracted to Maggie's red hair- and told us of their little red-headed daughter. They smiled and coo-ed over the boys. As they did this, I could tell the wife was picturing me doing all my motherly duties- just like I pictured her doing.

I could tell she envied me. Beautiful kids at home- being needed 24/7- in the 'prime' of life.

Just as I was longing for her moments- she was longing for mine.

We are all connected on this earth. It was one of those connecting moments.

I know one day, I will be her. My children will be long gone- they will visit on holidays- I will have so much time on my hands that I'll probably go stir crazy- my husband and I will go to Taco Bell by ourselves for lunch, and watch another young mother with her family.

It's all a cycle. Such a lovely one at that.

Relax

Rarely does our family have the great privilege to hang out together for the entire day. (Aside from Sunday- which we always have together.... thanks to the Keep the Sabbath Day Holy commandment, and our religion's firm belief to do so.) With Chip doing this start up it's like he works two full time jobs. That pretty much means no time with us. I must say that it will be WONDERFUL for him to finally launch the site- and eventually go down to just working one job (aka: Telesaur.)

This weekend was double awesome.... We got to spend not only Saturday together.... but also Monday too! No plans. No interruptions. No traveling. Just us.

We spent the whole day at Easton (out door shopping mall), walking around, talking, taking the girls on separate little 'dates', eating at the California Pizza Kitchen, playing with make-up samples, and playing with the rocks around the fountain.

I have no idea what is so appealing about putting gravel into piles... but it kept the kids busy for like an hour.





With a cool breeze going through the 70 degree day- it was PERFECT. And.... The kids were wonderful- no fighting or bickering.

Someday this will be much less of a rare treat- but a constant. Someday.

Punk'd

As a mom, I almost feel like someone should be hiding around every corner about ready to jump out at a moment's notice and say "You've just been Punk'd!" or "You're on Candid Camera!" My kids are just those kinds of children. Sweet, Cute, Fun.... but always leaving me in tricky spots.

Here are a few stories of which a practical joke TV show would have made the situation a little more funny and not quite as mortifying.

1) When Alli was about 2 months old I was sitting in church when a very lovely woman sat next to me. She had on a gorgeous white outfit, beautiful jewelry (which I later found out she made herself), and of course she was just beautiful. She asked me if she could hold Alli. I, being the proud mama and wanting everyone to see how adorable my beautiful baby was, said "sure!". About 15 minutes into the lesson this sweet lady leaned over to me and gracefully whispered "I think she needs a diaper change."- to which I looked over and this whole lady's skirt was baby poo yellow. Yep. Alli's diaper had a complete blow out all over her. Come to find out a little later: This lady was also the Stake Relief Society President. If I could have dug my head into the ground and hid, I would have. She just smiled and said "No biggie, I have 9 children." No matter how many children you have, it doesn't make it okay for my child to poo all over your lap.
** Thankfully now this lovely lady and I are friends and I'm pretty sure that she's forgiven me.
**** This was also the first and last time I ever bought store brand diapers. It just doesn't pay to save $1.

2) When Alli was a few days shy of turning 1 we flew out to Idaho for Christmas. I had a severe cold... like a 'please just shoot me now and take me out of my misery' type of cold. Alli was teething and not in a pleasant mood. We were also scheduled to take a red-eye flight. I had heard from plenty of mom's to just give your child Benedryl before traveling and it knocks them out like a light. I was down with that- I was going to be the one who had the best behaved child. Ever. About 30 minutes before we boarded the plane, I gave Alli that serving of Benedryl... plus a little more... I mean, when you need a kid to sleep.... you need a kid to sleep. Little did I know that like 25% of kids who take Benedryl actually get hyper. You guessed it. Alli is one of those kids. Alli was miserable. She was screaming the whole plane ride (.... like 12 hours with all the layovers.) and couldn't fall asleep because of the stupid medicine. I couldn't do anything because I also took medicine that made me woozy.- Which left all responsibility up to Chip. I'm pretty sure he wanted to jump out of the plane- and I'm pretty sure that all the rest of the passengers on that completely full plane wanted us all to jump out too.
**Lesson learned: When trying something new on a child, do it before the big event.

3) Right after Maggie was born (Alli was 3 1/2) I was at the grocery store. We were walking up and down the isles and Alli said "Mom, I need to go potty." I started heading up to the restrooms. Unless we were Olympic runners, we never would have made it to the bathroom on time. Right in the middle of the cereal isle Alli got the worst case of diarrhea, ever. On top of which she started violently throwing up. It was awful. Maggie then decided to start screaming at the top of her newborn lungs (remember how I said before that Maggie refused to take any synthetic thing: aka: No binky and no bottles? A binky would have been nice to plug her up at that moment.). I couldn't leave the mess to go and tell someone that I need "clean up on isle 10", Alli was dripping from both ends and was the type of child that hated any sort of mess on her... so she was screaming, I only had a change of clothes that would fit a newborn, and I didn't have enough wipes in the world to clean her up. Someone finally came down the cereal isle and saw my predicament and got someone from the store to bring over a mop and bucket. The store worker- being in his late teens decided that "Dude, this is too sick.... You do it." and then walked/jogged away leaving me the mop and bucket, two screaming children (one completely stark naked by that time), and a huge mess to clean up. Let's just say that I still cringe when I go into that store.

We'll fast forward about 1000 more stories and move onto today.

4) I don't know what it is about church, but my babies don't seem to feel the Spirit there.... well, the sweet, calming. peaceful Spirit anyway- They always seem to feel the 'Holy Roller's' type of Spirit... because they are always a little restless and refuse to sleep or calm down, and they are always on the edge of their seats. (I guess church should be that exciting to all of us, all the time.) Anyway, church is three hours long. So for three hours I get to hold one or another exhausted little baby who refuses to go to sleep. They are fussy, they are squirmy, and they are a little gassy (yeah... right after the prayer today Miles let out a burp that would make any co-ed proud.) As I was holding Miles trying to calm him down- he let out another burp.... but this was a burp that came with treats. Six ounces of warm curdled milk treats to be exact. I was lucky enough that he was standing on my legs facing me... and just the right height that all of his happy curdled treats went down my cleavage and filled my bra. (Back from whence it came.) It was Bra Soup. Lucky me! I tried sopping it up the best I could with the blanket that I had- but that pretty much worked as well as cleaning up mayonnaise with a leather sock. I excused myself to Chip and went to the bathroom to try and clean it up with a wet low-grade paper towel. I think I got most of the goop off, and managed to also pick all of the brown paper towel lint off too. As I was walking back into the chapel (with half of my dignity still in tact) and I was half way to the pew our family was sitting in, Miles then threw up huge gobs of white goo all over my shoulder, in my hair, and down my back. What the heck? Did he save all that up from previous feedings- just to chuck it back on me when I wanted to look nice? Figures. I tried to nonchalantly walk to our seat, figuring that I could just wipe it off up when I sat down. One very kind hearted woman practically ran up the isle behind me and very loudly whispered "Do you know your baby just threw up HUGE all over you?". Bless her soul.
Thanks for letting me know..... and letting everyone else within a 12 pew radius also know. Such a good saint.
Miles then decided he could take a nap in peace.

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I'm sure that I am not done experiencing these types of stories. I think that when my mom cursed me to have kids 'just like me'.... it worked.

I guess that just goes to show you that when your mom is going into a local TV station with a troop of boy scouts to do interviews with the TV personalities.... you should probably tell her BEFORE the interview that she has black mascara running all over her face, and not after.

My lesson is learned.

In my defense... I was like 6.

Maggie-isms

I know it must seem like Maggie is my favorite child- she does after all get a lot of attention.... mostly due to the fact that as soon as she is out of sight, she's up to something naughty... but it's not true- All of my children are my favorite. I tell them each that very thing too.

Anyway- This past week Maggie has been on one (Check out the colorful post)... but she's also been on a comedic one too. I needed to document these on my blog- If you are my FB friend and have already read them... sorry, this post is redundant- come back tomorrow, and you'll probably have a new post to read.

-"So Polar bears live in the water, right? Just like the mermaids?"

-I told her to fold her arms to stop hitting her Alli and she says " Fold my arms? Just like the puppies?"

-Maggie drug me over to a corner and pointed and then said "I had a big toot over there"

-Alli isn't gone to school for one hour when Maggie came up to me and whispered "Mom...... I just went potty"... Me: "Good job"... Maggie: "Mom... *giggle, giggle* it was in the sink!"

-After church Maggie came showed me a picture of the Salt Lake Temple and asked if that was the temple I got married in. I told her no, I got married in the Boise Temple. She looked puzzled then said " Ohh, So the Salt Lake Temple is the one DADDY got married in..."

-Every night we ask the girls at dinner what is one good thing and one bad thing that happened in their day. Maggie's bad thing was " I can't see when my eyes are closed"... and then she started crying.

There are so many other ones that she says that completely crack me up, but I can't write them down fast enough (or remember them 10 minutes later for that fact....). This child gets sarcasm and spits it right back at you. What four year old does sarcasm? Not many.


Basically: Maggie = funny.
It offsets the also true: Maggie = trouble.