The happenings

Potty training is a hot topic around here. We've had some great successes, and some setbacks. I'd say we are about 95% house trained. We haven't ventured out into the real world yet, away from the convenience of the potty chair and in "princess panties."

The things she comes up with... She thinks that reading material is mandatory during potty time and ask for a book if she has forgotten to bring one in with her. Once she is on the potty she tells me,"Go mom, close the door, go see Tucker, Bye mom bye." Say What! Why in the word does a 2-year old need her privacy?! She's very independent and always has been.

Tuck has been busy, too. His new favorite past time is eating... let's be honest, he's always been quite fond of eating but now we're adding flavor. He has tried so many new foods and loves them all! I've been trying to make all of his purees... not because I'm supermom, but because it's so much cheaper and it tastes better. Some of his favorites are: steamed carrots, apple & pear with cinnamon, sweet potato & broccoli, and banana & avocado. I found some great baby food recipes in this book. We don't call him Tuck the Tank for nothin'.

He has also been sitting (when not being toppled over by his sister), rolling under the bed, crib, dresser, couch, table, pack'n'play. About every 15 min or so I have to rescue him from some predicament.

Not a day goes by without hearing the comment, "He is such a happy little guy isn't he!" He sure is one fat, handsome, happy little guy.

Where did July go

July is one of my favorite months of the year. It is the peak of Summer, one of my favorite seasons of the year. It's the month of summer vacations, BBQs, swimsuits and suntan lotion. It's the 4th of July, rodeos, family reunions and sleeping out under the stars. It's berry picking, carnivals, the farmers market and trips to the coast. Best of all, it's a month of SUN... a rarity in these parts.

This month has been no exception. We have celebrated it all and done so with great company too. We have had so many fun house guests and we've loved every minute. There has been little time to write it all down. So here it comes.

6:30pm and no sign of the dad

I know I'm not the only one (because I have heard the same complaint from other moms) but why do my children turn into devil children at about 5pm? There are those days that bedtime cannot come quickly enough. But we still have dinner to make, dogs to be walked, baths to be taken, stories to be read and teeth to be brushed.

Some days it's enough to make a grown woman swear, and boy did I tonight. When I looked up at my microwave clock and it said 6:30pm, hot steam blew out of both ears and my face turned the color of the spaghetti sauce that I was stirring.

The decibel level was rising. Finley had just hit Tuck in the head with ANOTHER plastic baby toy and was now standing, no, dancing in and out of the naughty corner. I was in the kitchen tripping over the dog, while trying to strain the asparagus that Chad was going to complain about eating.

The house was hot, I was frazzled and where was the DAD!!! I'll tell you were he was not...he was not here in this horribly loud and chaotic kitchen.

So I called to give him a piece of my mind. Maybe next time I should pretend to call him and pretend to give him a piece of my mind. I mean all day every day things are not this out of control. Just everyday at 5pm. I loved what I read on this blog, tonight she wrote:

This is what they don’t tell you in those childbirth classes. The lamaze breathing really has nothing to do with childbirth. No, those deep breathing exercises are for later on in your child’s life and are to prevent your head from exploding when you see your child wipe their nose on your silk covered throw pillows.

Pant:: one, two, three. One , two, three.

(She also posted some tips found here, Work it Mom, for making dinner less stressful.)

In the future hun I will: wear a pair of earplugs, cook with a fan, separate the children into two different pack'n'plays, order takeout, hire a dog walker, take 10 deep breaths and ONLY as a last resort will I yell through the phone at you while you are carpooling your co-workers. I mean even I understand an earful of un-pleasantries does not make for a warm welcome home.

Happy Birthday Mom

Me and you 1978

Me and my babies 2008

Thirty years has flown by. Many of my happiest memories have been of you. You are an example of unconditional love, hard work and patience.

We wish you the most exciting birthday filled with new adventures as you travel. We can't wait to hear all about it. Check your email when you get back. We love you!

For Ali

Those who know me know that I can be pretty intense when it comes to art projects, cleaning, reading, learning something knew... Well let's face it I'm intense . I just learned about an easy way to edit photos online and was up until 1 o'clock in the morning editing photo after photo after photo. The only reason I stopped is because I started to get motion sick (And because I am afraid of being alone and Chad was going to bed!!!) The program is called Picasa, and I love it! It's easier to learn and understand than photoshop. And besides, with 2 little bambinos who has the time any more?! Here are a couple of the thousands of photos of our weekend at the coast that I tweaked last night.

(After and Before)

Happy Birthday Chad

In June we celebrated Chad's 30th birthday. Finley scribbled over her birthday wish to her dad. "May you find your path in life...and may it be a crazy one!"

We threw him a pool-party/BBQ, surprised him with a huge box full of fireworks
and tickets to the St. Paul Rodeo (One of Chad's favorite things in the world is the Oakley Rodeo in Utah which he's now missed 5 years straight so the St. Paul Rodeo was a GREAT substitute). Finley loved helping him open "her gifts."

We are your biggest Fans babe, We love YOU sooooo much!

Shark Week!

Who doesn't LOVE Shark Week?!

Just in case you haven't already checked it out: www.Discovery.com/sharkweek

Am I alone on this one?

Remind me to buy a roll of quarters

Anger release machines

Just in case I happen to pass by one of these.

When I was younger my brother and I dreamed of opening a restaurant one day and serving our food on really cheap dishes. At the end of the meal, diners would be allowed to smash their dishes against a brick wall out back. We would call our greasy spoon something like Cranky Sues-furiously good food.

I could really stand to break something right now.
Today has been to much for me to handle politely.

Where the "Hecks" Matt video

Just a little something that made us happy this morning. Finley wanted to dance with me for the entire song. She wouldn't let me have a break! (and I tried several times) I'm too out of shape for such things. I love the power of music and dance. Happy watching!


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

6 months old

he's 1/2 a year old, healthy and happy, happy, happy
he weighs 18.5 lbs and is 27 1/2 inches
we weren't kidding when we said he has a big head
he measures in the 97% for head circumference
he just started eating rice cereal, he hates it but makes some of the funniest faces
he sits up
says dada...da...da...da...da
loves to play "so BIG"
and sing silly songs (but only the really silly ones)
he loves to eat his toes, chew his binky, blow bubbles & smile
tummy time is no longer torture
he can roll from front to back and back to front
we love when he laughs... and boy can he laugh
he's one of the best parts about me
I love being his mom

attempt #23

Written so that one day I can look back and laugh.

our 23rd attempt to help our boy sleep through the night...

7:50 pm Tuck is in his own room sleeping like a baby.
9:15 pm Fin is in our room sleeping in the pack'n'play.
11:00 pm I head up to catch some ZZZZZ.
12:08 am The last time I look @ my clock before I FINALLY zonk.
3:48 am Tuck starts to cry. Chad goes in to comfort him (a new technique).
4:05 am Fin wakes up soaked from head to toe everything must be changed (somehow she removed her diaper without us knowing).
4:08 am Tuck still crying. Chad tries changing him.
4:09 am Fin back in the pack'n'play but crying to be let out, "I wet, I wet." Could there be any more "wet" in her after that last incident?!
4:11 am Fin in bed with us. Tuck still crying.
4:15 am Fin sitting up in bed having a full conversation with herself cause I'm "sleeping."
4:18 am Chad rummages through the diaper bag to find the binki "patiently comforts" our crying boy.
4:19 am Fin is put back in the pack'n'play but is crying pretty loud I shut the window and hope the neighbors can't hear us.
4:30 am Chad's back in bed. I'm back in bed. Both kids are screaming.
4:33 am Fin is put in her bed (but NEEDS! to be changed per her request) she cries for her sippy, Chad gives in. I quiet the baby who is still in his own bed.
4:40 am Everyone is in their own bed. The house is quiet.
4:42 am Tuck starts to cry. Fin calls for mom. Chad and I lay there and laugh but not really.
4:43 am I give in. I grab Tuck, ignore Fin. I nurse the baby put him to bed in the cradle at the foot of our bed.
5:06 am The house is quiet.
5:07 am Everyone is sleeping but me.
6:18 am I'm still awake staring at the ceiling fan, wishing the birds in our pear tree out back would die, and that the sun would fall out of the sky. Seriously, the sun comes up at 4:30 here... what's that all about?!
6:20 am I sneeze and wake the baby.

Family Reunion

(loads & loads of photos below)

What we loved the most about our family reunion was being able to hang out everyday with the people we love.

-eating BJ's pizza @ the main beach in Laguna

San Diego Temple- with some of the little folk
Some of our other favorite memories from a week at the beach with our family:

Scoring a FREE double stroller at the local thrift store-making life with 2 babies manageable

Reuniting with family that we haven't seen in over 2 1/2 years- Tuck with Auntie Angi

Playing with Grandma Ginny- one of Finley's favorite people
Taking our kids to their 1st baseball game- GO METS! right uncle Garth
we stuffed them silly.
cotton candy, licorice rope, hot dogs, nachos, coke, & snow cones. did i forget anything. oh, the gum off the seat in front of us.

Late nights with cousins Danni & Fin- They laughed & laughed this night! They were so much fun to watch.

The Beach- Oh how we love the beach!

BBQ at the villas- Grilled steak and pepper kabobs, hot dogs, soda pop, chips, and watermelon. Can't forget the best part... smores.

Disneyland- 2 days was a little too much for our 2 little kids. The second day we only went on one ride. We got in line to ride others but had to shuffle our way out of line because of a couple of screamers!

we went on this dang carousel 6 times it was her favorite ride and the only one that did not have a line
was it worth the $225 we spent to get into the park?!? i don't think so.

Eating In & Out and chillin' with some of our best friends

And yes folks that right the last hour of our last day this little girl decided that she loved the beach. Go figure!

Happy Birthday to the cutest twins I know!

(You guys are my favorite twins, have I told you that!)

We wish for good things to happen to you all day long.
We love love love you!

Sweaty

After a sweaty afternoon of walking around a crowded zoo I spent an even sweatier afternoon cleaning up after the dog and two kids. Two of them threw up all over the place and the other one pooped and played in it making it the mess of the year to clean up! I'll leave it up to you to guess who did what! Damn, it's like a million degrees in here, I'm sweating like a pig!!!

Jack's House

WHat A WEeKEnd wE HaD!


Finley tried out some new moves

So did Tuck
What's with our kids!?!

Thank you guys for hosting such a fun weekend.
We loved the kids, friends, food, fun, late nights, everything!

If only we lived a state or two closer we could do this all the time.
We'll see you soon (right!)