We Love you Daddy-O!

Husband

2010-08-31T21:23:00.003-07:00

Well after my last post I was able to sit down (lock myself in the bathroom to be precise) and unload via email to my dear husband. And he did a wonderful job "listening" and went on to share some things he had also been thinking about. And there was one part that stuck out to me that I thought a lot of other moms/wives who read my blog could relate to. So I decided to share...hope that's ok babe. I mean, I am giving you credit for this wisdom, right?

"Remember, because we learn best by analogies and stories, and our day to day

lives generally revolve around running a household, the prophets tell us to
make our house a refuge from the world. Running a household is our life.
Life is work. Most days, it's HARD work and we get to the end of the day
exhausted. Even if we had nowhere to go, just keeping the house in order is
a full time job (just ask Omi...). Well, I thought there is a spiritual
lesson here to be learned. "

Omi is Jason's never resting always cleaning something or feeding someone Grandmother who we named Lydia after, so to say we adore her is quite accurate. And yes, I am having a much better week, so far...knock on wood! The biggest difference is in Noah's moods. He has been very joyful and easier to talk to and get interaction from this week than he had been before. And for those of you who have met mini Jason then you know how rough life is when Noah is cranky. We start piano lessons with a Sister in the neighboring ward tomorrow. For both Elina and Noah a half hour each, so I am excited and so are they! We'll let you know how that goes!

Sundays

2010-08-29T14:35:00.003-07:00

I am absolutely baffled at how quickly my children came home from church today, inhaled some rice pudding, and passed out! And the worst part is how I am actually frustrated and complaining to you all that all three of my children are asleep. And at the same time, that is no small feat. But when you go to church from 11-2 and start your after church nap at 3, well you do the math. We are going to be up until 10 at least. Oh how we miss you 8am church!

So I got a lot of "How are you doings?" and "Man, I can't imagine coming to church with three kids while my husband is deployed" after sacrament today. I didn't think we were that bad. I only had to leave with Noah twice, one timeout with his nose on the wall in the hallway, 3 string cheeses, 2 color wonder books, one flying puzzle piece and we didn't even scare off the nice Young Women who was probably bribed by her parents to come sit with us. So when I get the sympathy check ins from all the ladies afterwards, all I could do was laugh. No answer, not even a "keeping up appearances" answer, just a laugh. I guess I didn't have anything nice to say so "just say nothing at all"!

Someday they will be big enough to sit by themselves. And someday I will be able to hold Jason's hand and actually hear what they are saying during the talks. And someday I will only carry my scripture bag to church. And someday I won't have to leave from teaching my primary lesson to change a poopie diaper. But that day is NOT TODAY! :)

Renaissance Festival

2010-06-22T08:39:00.008-07:00

On Saturday we went to one of our family's most favorite place to be. The Colorado Renaissance Festival! To my children, this is the equivalent of Disneyland!

Noah and Elina with Twig the fairy.

Lydia and her beautiful French Braided hair with flowers woven into it. Yes, she pulled it out as soon as her Mummi would let her!

Elina and Noah getting their face/arm painted by the same lady we have been going to for 4 years!

Mummi the Fairy Queen!

Lydia CRASHED after a chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick!

Noah and two knights after the joust show. And then below you will see Poppi bandaging the good knights wounds. Yes, Poppi and Noah wore matching outfits, courtesy of Mummi's sewing talents. She also made her own purple dress!

Elina and Noah were both heavy enough this year to do the jumping ropes. And they had so much fun! Elina was even doing backflips and frontflips like a pro! Noah was a little more reserved, but still had a blast going "really, really high!"

Last video is of Noah in the Washing Well Wenches show! They pick people from the audience to participate and when Noah saw allthe guys raising their hand he jumped right up on the bench and followed suit. ADORABLE!

cache valley cheese factory

2010-06-10T12:26:00.003-07:00

On your way from Cedar City to St. George is a little town called Beaver UT. And in Beaver you will find the Cache Valley Cheese Factory. All my life I can remember stopping there with my grandma and grandpa Burnside to get a special treat we called "squeaky cheese". It is really just the fresh cheese curd from the big cheddar batches they process there, but when you chew it it makes little "squeaks". What a treat it was from me to be able to share this with my children as we drove to my grandma's house this summer!

LG ALLY

2010-06-09T17:53:00.002-07:00

WOOOOO HOOOOO! I just got a new phone, if you can't tell from the title of this post. And it is amazing! I can already tell how convient it is going to be in my busy life like directions and online banking. But the best thing I am looking foward to is a free app called skypemobile. I can call jason in iraq anytime from my phone as long as we are logged into skype! Oh my goodness! I'm so spoiled!

Elina's PreK Graduation

2010-05-24T20:26:00.002-07:00

Noah's End of year Preschool Performance

2010-05-24T13:11:00.003-07:00

src="http://www.youtube.com/v/omkvAxSZ8y4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385">

Skateboarding

2010-05-14T18:13:00.003-07:00

A lot of the "big kids" on our street have real skateboards. And my "little kids" were a bit envious. Until their Mummi found mini skateboards at the PX and included them in their easter basket bundle. So the other day I sat at the bottom of our drive way and took some pics and a video shot so that Mummi could see what delight she gave them!

Taking the trash out...

2010-05-09T20:55:00.003-07:00

I had lots of help taking the trash can out to the curb this evening. Well...Ellie was pushing. I think Noah was surfing!

TP Mess

2010-05-09T20:24:00.003-07:00

This morning while putting in my hot rollers for church Elina comes into the bathroom and informs me "You've GOT to come see this!"

So I followed the trail...

And followed...

And found a geniunely happy little boy who exclaimed "Look at the mess I made for you, Momma!"

What could I say? I think it's worth one roll of toilet paper.

Bedtime

2010-05-02T20:26:00.003-07:00

Its Sunday night and after a long day at stake conference my kiddos were jammied and put to bed about 2 hours ago. And I watched some Amazing Race and doodled around on the internet for a while. Then I got up to go get some mommy love aka double lemon supreme pie from the schwanns man!

And found my girls in bed like this:
and can't forget my Noah:

Ahhh, life as a mommy is good! Goodnight everyone!

Cinnamon Rolls

2010-04-30T17:06:00.004-07:00

Yesterday evening we went to grab a few groceries at Walmart. Elina was being such a good helper by taking bags of frozen things into the basement and putting them in the freezer. But I was a little worried that she might forget a bag or forget to close the freezer lid, so I went down just before bath time and checked. Everything looked good...til this morning. I found a bag of Rhodes rolls (72 count!) that I forgot to put in the freezer!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! That bag apparently had an amazing seal, because it was very full of air and yeast! And I couldn't very well through away a $7 bag of dough. So what you ask is a woman to do...make cinnamon rolls!
This is the picture right before I started cutting them up to bake. Mind you by this time my kids are FREAKING out! They haven't had breakfast, gone potty, or gotten dressed. None of our morning routine because I was so focused on getting this dough baked and not wasted.
Unfortunately things were way to hectic to take a picture of the finished product. But my neighbors can attest to how delicious they were. I choose to give all but the ones we ate for breakfast away, because the more you eat the less I do! And let my tell you, in all of my 25 years of baking I have never made such yummy cinnamon rolls. We got 2 dozen very large, very gooey amazing cinnamon rolls. And topped it off with cream cheese frosting of course. I just might have to leave out a bag of frozen rhodes rolls every time I feel in the mood for cinnamon rolls from now on.

Garden of the Gods

2010-04-14T19:55:00.005-07:00

Sunday afternoon we packed a picnic dinner and headed up to the Garden of the Gods State Park here in the Springs. Keira put it very well on her facebook "Garden of the Gods is a natural red rock formation in Colorado, and you can walk around and some people rock climb, but its just really peaceful and beautiful :)" I grew up camping at Red Rock Canyon just outside of Las Vegas, so taking my kids here is very special to me.

In this picture Noah is adamant that he is ok to go by himself. Luckily Keira was insistent that he needed help! Because there was about a 4 ft. drop off the other side.

I love this pic of Elina! Like I SOOOO see it going in her wedding slideshow some day!

Awesome way for the kiddos to get all their wiggles out. They slept so good that night, and went to bed very easy!

These pictures are of "kissing rock" formation. And the last shot is Elina appearing very embarrassed when we told her to imagine she was kissing Troy Bolton for the picture!

Best Helper

2010-04-13T19:06:00.003-07:00

Elina was the biggest help tonight with everything. I am so proud of her and I just need to brag on my blog tonight, it bring tears to my eyes just getting started. It started with her getting a bag of rice and a can of cream of chicken soup from the pantry for me. See our cansolidator shelves and the bulk of our food is in the storage half of my basement. And it is Elina's new "trick" to be able to undo the latch on that door and get my "order" for what I might need to cook that meal. And she is especially proud when she is able to sound out words and sounds from the letters on the cans she doesn't recognize by sight. Then she measured the water, sprinkled the salt, pepper and onion powder on the rice and soup mixture, topped it off with the chicken and cheese and even went so far as insisting that she put it in the oven. After the timer was set we went to work in her messy room. She did the bookshelf while I put the babies toys back on the shelf. And then we went to work on the overflowing drawers. See, Colorado Springs can't decide whether it wants to be cold or warm for these past few weeks. On cold days we use the jeans and hoodies from winter and on warm days we have been pulling out the new summer clothes. So the drawers have become stuffed with too much good stuff. And Elina helped me fix that and with such a good attitude. I went through Lydia and her drawers and pulled out the winter clothes. While Elina went through the old navy box that has been accumulating all the new summer clothes. And she made a pile each for herself, brother and sister and of course was glad to put them all away. At dinner she (and Lydia) CHOWED on chicken and rice casserole and green beans and even had seconds. Noah was having a meltdown about not being able to watch the "whole thing of Hercules and see him become a true hero!" (his words exactly, I swear!) After clearing the table Elina quickly jumped in her jammies and offered to help with the baby while I was fighting, I mean helping, Noah with his. Next thing I know I find Elina helping Lydia sit on the toilet to go potty before bed. Quickly followed by a new diaper (including Desitin) and a wrestling match ensues between the one year old and her jammies! LOL, don't worry...Mommy won! Last great deed of the night for the five year old: holding the story book open for me so that I could hold both little kids, one on each leg to avoid all contact between the two, while I read 101 Dalmations. AMAZING! She really made all the difference in the mood of our family tonight and I am so proud of her! I even slipped her a piece of chocolate from my stash for her to eat in bed and made sure to give her lots of praise. Lets pray, hope, beg, bribe, whatever you want to call it, that this wonderful child decides to frequent my home more often!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

2010-04-11T19:57:00.005-07:00

Awesome day at the zoo with some of our favorite Chandlers! I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Avatar The Last Airbender

2010-04-11T19:19:00.004-07:00

So Noah lost a fight with a pair of scissors...MY WORST NIGHTMARE! Actually it's not that bad because it didn't happen to one of my girls. Boys are ok to have really short hair right? And I swear the scissors were put away in the back of my closed makeup drawer. Anyways, the kid put them flat on the very top of his head and cut out a silver dollar size hole. It looked like he had male pattern baldness. And yes, you are all guessing it, he now rocks an extremely short buzz cut that the lady did to "fix" it. Halfway through the haircut (buzzed to the skin on top and front and a good inch long around the side of his head) she holds up the mirror and shows him. Noah got a very ugly face and said he didn't like that lady's hair cut at which point I explained to him that she was just fixing the hole he cut in his hair. Lets just say that showing the mirror halfway was very good at influencing him to not cut his own hair again so hopefully this will be problem solved. I am sure this is all humorous and familiar to you all that have raised children. But the sad part is that Noah is very conscious and even embarrassed about his lack of hair. And Kylee and I have been doing our best to encourage him and remind him how handsome he is even without hair. The real trick came when we told him he looked just like Avatar The Last Airbender and showed him the trailers.

Now he thinks it is the coolest haircut around! And he has to carry around a stick so he can do motions that he saw in the trailer and the "whoosh" sound effect to play with. And what, you might ask, is the closest thing to a "stick" in my house?

Yes, that is my mop. My heart is happy to have two problems solved tonight! A "fixed" haircut and a son with regained confidence in himself!

Converse Family

2010-04-08T14:31:00.002-07:00

These pictures are for you Uncle Wade! Because in the words of Elina "We are a converse family just like the Chandlers!"

Bath Tub

2010-04-08T14:27:00.002-07:00

This is what happens when you think you are being smarter than your kids by getting the baby out and jammied first so she won't pee on your carpet while you are helping the two big kids get jammied.

On the way to Iraq

2010-04-04T17:13:00.006-07:00

This amazing photo of my husband was taken in Bangor Maine by a Ms. Lynne Tower. Maine is one of the big stopping points for the flights in and out of Kuwait. And they have lots of welcoming people that go around and take photos and then post them online. So thank you Ms. Tower for capturing my soldier so perfectly!

Movies, movies, movies!

2010-04-04T10:44:00.002-07:00

Holy movie splurge!! In the month of March I bought:

The Blind Side

Princess and the Frog

AstroBoy

Tarzan

Sherlock Holmes

Hercules

Snow White

High School Musical 2

Are you kidding me? I am the biggest Redbox fan in the world. And here I am buying everything instead? I guess it is just another coping mechanism. That or a really good excuse to indulge in "things-that-will-distract" while Jason is deployed!

Sour Grapes

2010-04-01T14:20:00.005-07:00

A few weeks ago we bought some grapes from Costco. And oh my goodness! They were SO sour, we couldn't even eat them. So Kylee got a game going of Chubby Bunny! And we had a blast! Just for the record: Jason fit 30! Kylee did 20! and Elina mastered 7! and this mommy didn't even try...to many years of being pregnant has seriously heightened my gag reflex! And you had to spit out the grapes when you were done because they were THAT SOUR!

Today

2010-04-01T12:04:00.002-07:00

This week at home has been very hard on my kids. We spent our Spring Break at my mom's house in Cabot Arkansas. And that was the perfect distraction for my kids to not be focused on their dad leaving. But I think only Elina really understands what Daddy being in Iraq means. Noah is so whiney and prone to crying. This week he has been constantly on the verge on tears. It is really driving me nuts! I try oh so very hard to be patient once I remember that the whininess is because of Jason being deployed. But that is a hard feat at 1am and he is screaming "I need you Mommy or Don't leave me" Noah never tells me "I miss Daddy or I am sad because Daddy is gone". Noah is very confused with the meaning of "Iraq". So a few days ago I switched to saying that daddy is going to be at work for a long time. Well, what is a long time to a three year old? A week...two? And I am sure Lydia doesn't have a clue that she will not see her dad for a year. I would imagine that infants and toddlers do not have time recognitions like a five year old would. She just screams "DAD!" at every picture she sees of him!

On a happier note: I just picked up the new family picture we had made before he left. And I am more than pleased with how good they turned out! Here is a preview:

Noah

2010-03-30T18:37:00.002-07:00

I think Noah is having the hardest time so far with this deployment. Today he told me that we lost our first Daddy and now we have to get a new one. Hmm...I told him No, I like the one we have. How about we just wait for him to get home from Iraq? And Noah thought that was "cool" (his new favorite word). So then this morning while I am encouraging Noah to hurry and get dressed for preschool he informs me that he will hurry so he can be dressed before Jason gets home from exercising. And he always says his prayers "thank you that Daddy can be safe if Iraq, and thank you that he can home home soon". I guess the poor kid is going to be waiting for a while!

The Great Wolf Lodge

2010-03-30T18:32:00.002-07:00

A few weeks before Jason deployed we made it a priority to visit the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. It is an indoor water park that poses as a hotel and a friend here in Colorado highly recommended it. And let me tell you...it was worth every penny and even the NINE HOUR drive in the car!

Grandma Hiett

2010-01-20T21:55:00.003-07:00

I love this woman!

Let me introduce you all to Jason's Grandma or (Omi), Theadora Lydia Hiett. She is the most amazing, caring, beautiful, funny and loving woman I have ever met, and when I grow up I hope to be just like her! And yes, Omi is my little girl's namesake.

Here are a few snapshot of the fun times she had with my children this Christmas while we were home in Etna. There are not many people that my Noah will just latch onto, but Omi is one of them!

Elina + Basketball = ROFLMAO

2010-01-20T21:11:00.003-07:00

After Elina's last ballet recital we asked if she wanted to dance again or try something different. And she chose to do basketball with the 5-6 year old group here on Fort Carson. She had her first practice tonight and only cried twice. The first time was when I told her to wait for a drink of water and she could have one after practice. Apparently she was not only taking a water break, but a break to rest her arms. And the second crying episode was when her team came in for a huddle at the end of practice and to say their team name "Forest Fires!" Apparently they yelled to loud and hurt her feelings again! D-R-A-M-A! Wish us luck these next few months!

Christmas

2009-12-27T08:48:00.003-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas here at the Brown home, and here are just a few pictures to share our joy with you. We are up one family member because Kylee Chandler is staying with us for a few months while she has a school break from BYU Idaho. Of course there are none of the momma, she was to busy being the photographer!

Lydia and the Whoopie Cushion

2009-12-27T08:22:00.002-07:00

Noah has had a few whoopie cushions and loved playing with them. Until they popped or until his mommy got tired of blowing them up over and over and over. So Santa brought him a whoopie cushion that is self inflating and will not pop! Yeah! Little did we know how fast his baby sister would pick up on the fun...

Surgery

2009-12-21T21:19:00.002-07:00

Thanks to the comments of my adoring blog fans : ), I realized that I have given no details regarding my recent surgery. So I will give a short version and a long version. Short version: after delivering 3 very large babies I had to have some repair work done down south. Long version:

Be warned! Unless you are looking for all these juicy details, if you keep reading you will probably come across a bold case of TMI!

In case you didn't know the story of my sweet Lydia Belle she was an accident baby. Jason and I were done having children (so we thought) and I went into the GYN at Fort Huachuca and set up for a Mirena IUD placement. And much to my surprise when I went in for my appointment a month later I was already pregnant. Needless to say, no IUD for Ariel. So it took a few months and a lot of tears and I finally got over the shock. And of course we just LOVE Lydia! And she is perfect for our family, and we just don't know what our life would be without her. So now that we are moved and settled here at Fort Carson I went into my GYN and said I think I have a cystecel (sp? my bladder was falling out). And the doctor checked and said well, yes you do. But you also have a prolapsed uterus and a bulging urethra that needs to be fixed as well. So after lots of talking to Jason, a ton of research and family history to learn more about this, and a few prayers we decided to go with the surgeon's recommendations for the repair work. And on Dec. 3rd I had a hysterectomy for my prolapse, a cystecel repair for my sagging bladder, and a monarch sling put in to help my bulging urethra. I was in the hospital for three days and had great nurses and a very supportive room mate that had almost the same procedure done. And my recovery is a long six weeks of no lifting and lots of bed rest. Which the lifting is the hardest part because of Lydia being 14 months and not quite walking yet. She really misses my contact the most. Luckily I have had the help of so much family and friends that are doing their very best to love my kids and take care of my house like I do. And that is where I am right now, coming up on three weeks since my surgery, and doing my best to stay in bed. Who would have thought it would be so hard to rest?

Elke!

2009-12-21T21:16:00.001-07:00

I need you to send me an invite to your blog...we have been missing out on you and your family! ariel.brown@us.army.mil Thanks!

Noah's 3rd Birthday

2009-12-20T21:40:00.003-07:00

A few years ago I did a teenage mutant ninja turtle birthday cake for my friends little boy. So I figured we would "recycle" the cake pan and do a ninja turtle cake for Noah. And that was the plan all along, I even had Noah on board with it. Until...I went to the party supply store and there is not a ninja turtle to be found! So last minute we switched to Batman. Luckily he loved it! And I sure was second guessing myself for taking on this huge task of a homemade cake when I should still be in bed! But I had total guilt trip because last year he had a store bought kung fu panda cake. Blah blah blah, I survived and it turned out perfect!

Poppi

2009-12-20T21:23:00.003-07:00

When I had my surgery at the beginning of the month my sister Corinna flew out with her 10 month old son, Gage, and did SO much to help me and my kids and all the work in my house for two weeks! And even my sister in law Lucia was able to fly out for 10 days in the middle and do an awesome job, especially with Lydia! I was so blessed to have my sister's help and to be able to rest so much. But, nobody can compare to Poppi! My dad just walked into my house on Sunday (the day Lucia was scheduled to fly home) and surprised us all! He got word of the girls needing to go home and me still needing to rest. So he went to his WTU in Fort Sam Houston and got an airplane ticket to my house for the week! And to top it all off, Jason's grandpa Hiett passed away the day before my dad flew in. So because my dad was there to save the day, Jason was able to fly to Opi's funeral and I was able to stay in bed and rest. And let me tell you, he did it all! Cooking, dishes, sweeping and moping, laundry, diapers, chauffeur to preschool, playground, car maintenance, shopping, installing child latches on the cabinets, baths and bedtimes! We LOVE you Poppi! You are the BEST!

Painting Pumpkins

2009-12-17T15:56:00.002-07:00

Better late than never...This mother has too much anxiety to carve messy pumpkins. So we just paint and make a huge mess that way! And I LOVE the sound Lydia makes when she tastes the paint!

Halloween

2009-11-01T16:31:00.003-07:00

My brother Jacob is getting ready to serve a mission in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So we are driving to Arkansas next week to go with him to the temple and church before he heads to the MTC. Well, my Memaw was able to fly out one way and have Halloween night with us. And on Tuesday when we head home she is going to help us drive down south. And let me tell you, if you can't tell from the pictures, my kids are LOVING every minute of Memaw time!

Lydia's Birthday

2009-11-01T16:25:00.004-07:00

Lydia's first birthday was about three weeks ago, but I lost my memory card. And then found it in the bottom of the washing machine...yes, after running a complete wash cycle! So, needless to say, I am happy to still be able to post these pictures, even if it is so late!

Scentsy Candles

2009-10-06T14:26:00.002-07:00

Elina and Noah's preschool is doing a fundraiser by selling Scentsy Candles. This is my first exposure to this brand of wickless candles, and I think I am in love! So if you don't know what the heck I am talking about, you can go to the website for the lady at school that is the consultant. www.scentsy.com/brandypair

She is donating all 20% of her commission to the school. Just click the link on the left that says "A Fundraiser". Don't feel obligated to buy anything, I just thought a blog post would be easier on everyone that us going door to door (gag me!) But if you see something you like, have a blast! Your order will ship directly to you, and just let me know if you do place an order so I can tell Brandy to count you towards Elina's totals!

Above All Others! Peanut Butter Cookies!

2009-10-02T20:41:00.003-07:00

1/2 C. Butter

1/2 C. Peanut Butter

1/2 C. White Sugar

1/2 C. Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 Tsp. Vanilla

2 Tbls. Milk

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 + 3/4 C. Flour

You know how to do it...cream the creamy stuff, add the wet ingredients and then the dry ones. Roll into 36 ping pong size balls. Bake on flat ungreased cookie sheet at 375* for 8 minutes. The cookies don't look done, but trust me, they are perfect! Remove from oven and press a Miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cup into the center of each cookie. Carefully remove from pan and allow to cool before you rub your face in them! P.S.- we ran out of Reeses, so used some Hershey Hugs for the last dozen, and they were delicious too. Matter of fact, Jason liked them better!

Markers

2009-10-02T20:20:00.004-07:00

This is the first time we have ever just handed a marker to Lydia and I think she did just fine! Better than her brother, who thinks that once he has scratched out enough random lines on his piece of paper he can move onto his face, hands, and clothes! And Elina is so proud of her new skill: drawing hearts! We sure had fun making your letters, Mummi!

Doritos

2009-10-02T20:14:00.002-07:00

In TRUE Burnside fashion, Lydia crawled over to my tupperware cabinet and sniffed out the Doritos! For those of you who don't know my Dad, his family and all of his children, we LOVE Doritos! The best is with plain ole sour cream, but we will take them any way we can get them. Heck, we even make a casserole with cheese, chicken, rotel, rice and doritos just so we can eat them for dinner. And when I ask my husband what vegetable should I make to go with said casserole to make it a more wholesome dinner Jason's response is: There's corn in the chips, right? Hhhhhh, guess I am going to have to move my chip stash up to higher grounds!

Poppi's Birthday

2009-10-02T20:07:00.003-07:00

Going with Angie's great idea to do birthday cakes for our family members that live across the country, we made an apple pie for my dad's birthday last week. Homemade everything, even the crust (sorry Pillsbury) and we used the apples we picked from the orchard too.

Then we called him on Skype, sang happy birthday and showed him his birthday pie. It was so yummy! (Now, Angie, my dads only request was to figure out how to mail our family members a piece of their cake!)

Apple Orchard

2009-09-26T09:56:00.005-07:00

On Saturday we tracked down an apple orchard about a half hour south of us with my neighbor Lisa and her little girl. And it was awesome! We have been to orchards before and I just have to say: Apple Annies, eat your heart out! This was by far the most friendly and enjoyable experience we have had. The owners, a husband and wife, were so easy going and personable. They had over a dozen different varieties of apple trees, pumpkins, rasperries, grapes, chickens and all the different homemade type things to sell in their shop. We went on a tractor ride first that took us down into the orchard.

Then, on the way back up we stopped in the pumpkin patch and took some pictures and got a couple of pumpkins. As happy as Lydia was to get a break from the stroller, I don't think she liked all the weeds and grass all over her.

Last was the raspberry bushes, and that was my favorite part. We caught the bush at the end of the season, so we really had to dig for fresh berries, but my kids loved it. We got a ton, nearly filled the bowl, and the man only charged me $2.00, since it was the end of the season! The best part was watching Lydia and even Noah chow on them.

I'm supposed to be doing better...

2009-09-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

About posting on my blog. And wouldn't you know, the week after I get my new computer I misplace my card reader. And what is a blog post without pictures, right? So I hemmed and hawed and searched for my card reader, to no avail. Come the weekly diaper run to Walmart I decided to look and see about a new one, because my SD cards are almost full. What do you know...$9.00 for a new one...seriously! I fretted for nearly a month and could have bought a new card reader all along. So does that mean I am spoiled? That it makes more sense to just buy a new one than work to find the old one?

Soldier Noah

2009-09-20T19:46:00.003-07:00

Jason just got in today from a week long field rotation, and you can guess the first thing Noah picked up from his gear...

Swimming at Breckenridge

2009-09-15T20:04:00.004-07:00

We recently attended an army sponsored marriage retreat at the Ski Resort in Breckenridge Colorado. And we had a blast! This was the first one where everything has worked out for us to go, and I would totally recommend it to any army couple who has the opportunity! So thanks to Angie for letting me in on the Picasa secret, I have a wonderful collage of the pool pictures we took at the hotel.

Fun with Uncle Wade

2009-08-24T20:31:00.003-07:00

Lydia had a blast with Wade this day playing in the grass. Wade had a ton of fun too, until he had to walk around the next day!

Birthday Cake!

2009-08-24T20:24:00.003-07:00

So every year for my birthday, since we were first married, Jason has taken it upon himself to make my birthday cake. Well, this year he was sick with strep throat and in bed the three days surrounding my birthday. But as soon as he was better he and Elina went right to work! And this is the end result this year: a butter pecan cake mix, buttercream icing, and toasted pecans throughout and decorating! It was delicious, especially with vanilla ice cream!

Happy Birthday To ME!!!

2009-08-18T08:33:00.003-07:00

Jason surprised me with a MacBook Aluminum for my birthday today! And I am beyond stoked! I will definitely do more posting and picture work now. And it is just so much fun to play with...I just hope that I don't neglect my children too much over my new toy!

Fun with the KitchenAid

2009-07-19T20:45:00.001-07:00

Fun with Noah

2009-07-19T18:40:00.003-07:00

While waiting for Jason to get home one day, Noah and I had a fun photo shoot! Noah just loves to play with the camera, so I took a few minutes and let him take a few shots. And also showed him the pictures on the camera screen after each picture was taken. We had a blast!

Hail Storm in Colorado

2009-07-19T18:31:00.003-07:00

So this hail storm is the reason we were in the kitchen getting crazy with the cookies last week! If you listen closely you can hear my kids yelling "Snow, Snow" about seeing the hail bounce around. But we sure do love the mild weather and green grass the summer storms bring to Colorado!

Pina Colada Smoothies

2009-07-14T10:51:00.003-07:00

Jason's momma (Nana) makes the most yummy Pina Colada Smoothies. So the other night after making Chicken Coconut Curry, we had leftover coconut milk and pineapple. And there is only one thing to make with that...Smoothies! Well Lydia really liked them, especially when I gave her her own cup. It was very entertaining to watch her drink it down and even more sad when she started crying because it was all gone!

Making Cookies

2009-07-14T09:41:00.002-07:00

Inspired by my good friend Angie, I got a very brave and let the big kids help with the chocolate chip cookies yesterday!

Everybody needs a little cookie dough once in a while,

But where are the Chandlers when you need help eating it?!

After washing out the bowl and finishing up in the kitchen, this is what I found in the living room! One of my big kids decided their little sister needed a chocolate chip cookies too. Darn the stinkin builder for putting white carpet in my spec house!

Luckily, I had just bought a Little Green steam cleaner. So I got to try my hand at it with the chocolate mess!

Kinder Eggs!

2009-07-10T19:18:00.006-07:00

Yeah for KinderEggs! And Yeah! for my brother marrying a sweet sweet German Girl last month so I always have the hook up! We Love you Lucia!

Lookin for Jill!

2009-07-06T20:26:00.002-07:00

Jill Moore! You commented on my blog yesterday, and I have no idea how to get back in touch with you! We have been looking for your family since you left AZ...please email me your contact info! Its ariel.brown@us.army.mil Just in case you didn't want to put your info up for the world to see, I will gladly put mine up if it means hearing from you, we miss you guys so much!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

2009-07-06T19:39:00.005-07:00

So we get to the zoo today and first thing sit down to take a family picture, before we forget! And we get the camera all set up on the stroller and figure out how to use the timer. So we get Ellie and Noah settled around Jason and I press the button and run over to pose and make the timer. Then I pick up the camera so see how the picture turned out and realize we forgot a kid! I quickly reset the timer, put the camera back on the stroller and marched over to the bench to get a picture of our WHOLE family!

The monkey house was awesome! All of the apes were so active and engaging with each other and the people too. Very entertaining!

I think the funniest part of the day was hearing my kids singing while we were at the hippo exhibit. Elina's chanting "Moto Moto in the house, Moto Moto break it down!" And here comes Noah, not missing a beat, "I like 'em big, I like 'em chuncky, I like 'em round, With somethin somethin!" Jason and I were dying laughing! (If you don't get this humor you NEED to watch Madagascar 2, trust me, you will be happy you did!)

OK, giraffe tongues are disgusting! Elina is obviously brave enough to feed the giraffes, but Noah will have none of that. He very quickly threw his cracker over the fence and went around the corner to find some buttons to push!

And last, of course, is our sweet baby Lydia. She was so good today and loved being chauffeured around the zoo in the style of our jogging stroller! We did buy a family pass, and are looking forward to going again soon!

My baby is growing up...

2009-07-05T17:44:00.003-07:00

This is a picture of Lydia the day she was officially boobie free! We are just a few days shy of nine months, but her teeth just had other plans...mom and baby are adjusting well to bottles and a little more freedom! Haha! Jason said translation: Now daddy gets up to nurse the baby in the middle of the night!

Swimming with Poppi

2009-06-29T15:33:00.005-07:00

Guitar Hero

2009-06-28T19:04:00.003-07:00

We had some new friends over this evening from our new ward in Colorado. And when dinner was over we pulled out the Wii and Guitar Hero, and I got to thinking about how long it had been since we played Guitar Hero with the new baby and then a big move. Then I found these pictures, and couldn't resist!

Garden of the Gods

2009-06-25T11:58:00.005-07:00

My dad spent last week with us being my "honey-do", and it was wonderful! He installed ceiling fans, carbon dioxide monitors, a garage door opener, new locks and latches on the tops of doors so Noah couldnt escape, numerous hooks and latches for towel and pot holders, waxed my new bakers hutch in the kitchen...I could just go on and on! But we did go out and play, too. Here are some photos from our trek to Garden of the Gods. For those of you who don't know, we spent a lot of time and holidays in Las Vegas growing up, because that is where my dads family is. And one of my favorite memories is camping at Red Rock Canyon several years, esepcially for Easter. So going to see these "red rocks" in the middle of Pikes Peak area was a ton of fun. Esepcially climbing around them and taking pictures with my kids!

Yes we are alive...

2009-06-24T15:41:00.002-07:00

And thriving in Fountain Colorado! Just south of Colorado Springs, Jason is assigned to Fort Carson and we arrived the 1st of June. Long story short I was lost in the deep south with my family while Jason was going to school in Fort Leavenworth Kansas. Not an excuse, but definitely the reason for no post for nearly six months! The best I can do is put up a picture of my munchkins and do my best to pick up the blogging habit again here!

2009-01-04T20:18:00.002-07:00

Lydia was named after her Great Grandma Hiett. So we had a lot of fun taking pictures with all the great grandparents, especially "Omi".

Lots of Snow!

2009-01-04T20:07:00.002-07:00

One day while we were in Etna we drove up the mountain to where Granddad plows. There was a ton of snow and we were freezing! But still had tons of fun. Elina loved making a snow angel, and the one on one time with her Daddy. Because Noah was asleep in the car and Lydia was hungry. Twist my arm to stay in the warm car, I don't think I have ever been happier to nurse the baby!

Christmas with Nana

2009-01-04T19:53:00.002-07:00

Noahs Birthday

2008-12-19T20:33:00.005-07:00

Today Noah turned 2! We had fun opening gifts from Nana and Mumi and then daddy set him up a new trampoline. And Noah was so happy when he saw it, he said "Not broken!". (the mat was half way to the ground from ripped out springs on our old one) Here are some highlights:

Couldn't resist this funny video! ... Am I a bad mom/person for finding humor in this?

Ballet

2008-12-17T22:33:00.002-07:00

We had a ballet recital last night and Elina was so proud to dance and be a "baby doll". She made invitations for her friends, (Charlotte is 13 and Madeline is 9 at church) to come to her recital! And even had to sleep with the invitations in her hand on Saturday night so she wouldn't forget them on church day!

Chandlers!

2008-12-17T22:10:00.003-07:00

Thanks guys! You really made my night! And made me cry...we really miss you!

Santa!

2008-12-13T20:44:00.004-07:00

We had our ward Christmas party tonight and it was pretty good. A little overwhelming having to herd Noah away from the GLASS Christmas tree ornaments! But right when Jason and I were about to tap out and go home early, the activities coordinator announced time to decorate sugar cookies and drink hot chocolate. And our whole family LOVES anything sugar...so we survived.

Anyways, here are some snapshots: The girls are adorable on Santa (aka Brother Rices) lap!

But Noah could care less. So when we got home I took a quick photo of him stuffing his face with an orange, just so the boy wouldn't be left out.

Herding Cats

2008-12-10T07:20:00.003-07:00

A friend of Jason's from school, Geoff, recently wrote us an email about our new assignment, Fort Carson. Anyways, he had this to say by way of congratulations on our third child. I thought it was right on the money, should be copyrighted, and printed on t-shirts that should be handed out at the maternity ward once you have your third and move into a different class of motherhood!

"I've always felt that once we went from 2 to 3 kids, the wife began the process of herding cats. The lead two scamper around wherever sunlight hits something shiny and she's one-arming the baby, the diaper bag, the car keys, 3 jackets, etc. Good luck Ariel! Being a mom is way harder than going to work."

Can I get an AMEN!?!

Where did the month go?

2008-11-30T12:01:00.004-07:00

So...here is my excuse for being gone from blogging for a whole month: Life with three kids is HARD! You just don't know what your in for 'til you don't have a hand for each one of your children. Noah is the monster of getting into all things, and Elina is almost too much of a big sister helper. Heaven help me...

Anyways, when my family moved home from Germany they got a super ultra mega cell phone plan with a phone for mom, and a phone for each of the boys. With like a gazillion minutes and texting to share, and for only $10 bucks a month you can add a line to share even more. So Momma got me a phone on her plan and said "I want a picture of my grand kids everyday!". And I have been on top of that, then I realized...because I have been taking tons of pictures with my phone and it is so handy and convenient , I have been neglecting my camera. Meaning no pictures of the past month will get into the photo albums or scrapbooks. So I pulled out the camera this Thanksgiving weekend, and this is what we ended up with to make up for the "lost" month of November:

Elina loves it when I pump a bottle and let her help feed Lydia!

Noah loves it when I pump a bottle and Lydia doesn't drink it all!

The family starting to put up the Christmas tree. Jason loves that job ; ) !

My beautiful Christmas tree, I love my Angel Moroni tree topper from my Memaw!

Like I mentioned earlier, Noah is one crazy two year old. But I have noticed that when I take a moment to let him hold his sister his whole countenance changes. You know that feeling you get in your heart when you hold a new born, well it works for kids too!

In case you couldn't read it earlier, this is Lydia's Thanksgiving T-Shirt!

Trick or Treat

2008-11-01T17:06:00.003-07:00

With "pumpkin" being our theme with this new little one, we thought it appropriate for our families Halloween costumes this year. And since we couldn't find an adult male jack-o-lantern shirt, Jason was the "farmer" of our "pumpkin patch"!

Long time no blog...

2008-11-01T16:59:00.004-07:00

Well, with my momma leaving last week and mastitis setting in the day after she left :( I have done little blogging. So here are just some random pictures from the last two weeks.

Pumpkin

2008-10-15T08:23:00.004-07:00

Since our "little pumpkin" waited until October to come, my mother and I thought this photo shot as totally appropriate!

Ellie Mae

2008-10-15T08:17:00.003-07:00

So much has been put up recently about the baby, so I thought I would just take a minute and devote an individual post for my bigger kids. They do love to see their own pictures on the computer.

Elina has been such a good helper with her big sister. Very excited to hold her and help burp the baby. She is esepcially great about running to get things, like diapers and nursing pads, so mommy doesn't have to move around too much. . .

And Daddy helps her get out her energy when he gets home at night!

My BOY Noah

2008-10-15T08:14:00.003-07:00

Last night during family scriptures Noah tooted and was hollering "farted, farted" and just laughing about it. So I asked him "well, what do you say?" and he said "KA-CHOW!". I guess we have been watching a lot of Cars lately...what a little boy!

Lydia Update

2008-10-14T11:37:00.002-07:00

Lets just start by saying: Lydia is an awesome baby! She is a good sleeper and very good eater considering she is a newborn. I am a very lucky momma. She is a little restless the first half of the night and has ended up in our bed. But after I nurse her at about 2 or 3 then I lay her in her pack in play and she sleeps until 6-7, which is awesome for us and our bigger kids schedule. Anyway, I think the secret is the boppi that you see in this picture. I think it is very comforting to having something soft and warm touching all sides of her.

This is a picture of us getting home after her followup doctors appointment. She weighed 10lbs 1oz and was 22in so that was really good.

And here is a picture of all the kiddos in the bath. I am amazed that they all three had their privates covered at the same time for the picture. It is very important to Jason to not have any genitals in photos so this was almost too perfect.

Anyways, we are just loving every minute of our new baby girl!

Baby

2008-10-10T19:36:00.003-07:00

Lydia in her carseat wearing her "coming home" outfit!
LOVING hairbow usage again!
Noah's two year old (almost) foot compared to Lydia's two day old foot.
My AMAZING momma... I really don't know how women have babies without their moms help. Especially number three! I am so grateful that she is here to help and twist her arm to spend time with her grandchildren!

More pics!

2008-10-08T19:39:00.001-07:00

baby makes 5

2008-10-08T19:13:00.005-07:00

FINALLY!!! I thought the day would never come. On Wednesday, in the wee hours of the morning, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl to our family. We have chosen to call her Lydia Belle Brown and she weighed in at a health 10lbs 3oz and was 21 inches long. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing great. Elina and Noah are tickled. It's like the Christmas spirit around here.

The Great Pumpkin

2008-10-05T09:08:00.002-07:00

What can I really say? I can not believe I am still pregnant, we thought for sure I would never make it through September. So to celebrate we got a little crazy with some orange paint and wow...found ourselves a few pumpkins!

Kiddos Swimming

2008-09-23T17:11:00.005-07:00

Don't ask me why but I am getting no sound out of my speakers. So I hope this video has decent sound and no foul language :) Mummi and Poppi have been here visiting getting ready for the new baby. And Elina could not wait to get her Poppi to the Cove to show him her cannonball and how far she could swim. Now if we can just get her to come up for a breath she would be a certified swimmer.
Noah on the other hand is all about the slide. Sure, he will jump off like Elina, but that is only to not be outdone by his sister. His real love is that water slide, which he has been doing by himself for months. And as soon as he hits the water is yelling and signing "more, more"!

Baseball

2008-09-02T19:23:00.003-07:00

Jason had the four day weekend off, so last night we were pulling our hair out trying to find things to entertain the kids. And then I remembered a birthday present Noah got at Christmas last year that was too big for him, this tee-ball set. So Jason pulled it down out of the toy closet and put it together and Noah played with it for a while and enjoyed it. I have a few video clips of him just setting the ball on the tee and swinging away, and loving it. But none of those are as funny as Elina, when Noah was over the bat and she got her hands on it. See if you can guess what is going to happen before you play the movie!

Just the look on her face, after the ball hits her brother. And then when she asks if he is ok you can hear Noah say "yes" and go right back to vacuuming like nothing was ever wrong. And the look on her face when she hits the ball a second time, even though she didnt hit anything but a bare wall. Oh my! We laughed so hard, I thought I was going to go into labor! No luck though, just a good afternoon with the family!

Ryleigh

2008-08-28T20:21:00.003-07:00

Ryleigh came over to play with Noah this morning and they had a blast! Well, let me back up with the Noah and Ryleigh story. Noah is a very agressive player when it comes to kids that are his size and smaller. He basically attacks them, especially Ryleigh, because he is so excited to play and love them. Well, her mom has figured out that these "occurrences" are less frequent if Ryleigh doesn't have hairbows in. So now they are easier to watch together while their older siblings are at preschool. Anyways, they had a blast just pushing each other around in this baby stroller this morning. Thought it warranted a blog posting!

Hair-Do

2008-08-28T20:18:00.002-07:00

Elina got pretty fancy with her momma's hair do tonight! She was very proud of my "rock star" braids and couldn't wait for her dad to take a picture. Well, while she was waiting for Jason to get the camera she did spray and spike her brothers hair too!

Nutella

2008-08-21T06:55:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love nutella? Mummi sent some nutella snack packs and when the crackers run out then Noah just uses his fingers. Can you blame him...

First day of school

2008-08-21T06:53:00.002-07:00

Elina had her first day of preschool on the 7th and here is an adorable picture of her. She just loves Ms. McDonald and the kids in her class. And it is wonderful to have a few hours of quiet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2008-08-21T06:42:00.004-07:00

Every year for my birthday Jason makes my cake, and of course as the kids get older he gets more and more help from them! Ellie is actually doing her best to spread the frosting, while Noah's only contribution is eating the sprinkles! They love it and so do I!

I got a wonderful "Mary Poppins" bag from Jason and the kids. A new (big) maternity shirt to finish out these last few weeks, a new blow dryer (mine was dying), blue nail polish, The Host by Stephenie Meyer, and Giradelli caramel filled chocolate. Top that off with dinner at Chilis and a strawberry cake, what more could a mom ask for?

Toilets

2008-08-21T06:36:00.002-07:00

This is how we found Noah on Sunday afternoon, hollering "Peepee-Peepee". Of course he had emptied the toilet paper roll into the toilet and was squashing it around with his feet. All I could do was smile! Potty training is coming soon, but we will leave that to Mummi. What else would my mom do when she comes for me to have a new baby if there wasn't an almost two year old around to potty train?

Family Reunion and Nanas House

2008-08-21T06:19:00.002-07:00

Well, long time no post, but we spent the last three weeks at Nana's house in California. It was a wonderful trip, just hanging out, and the highlight: Jason's family reunion! We loved it, especially my kids and all that wonderful dirt and fun fun cousin time! Most of my pictures were on Nana's camera and have already been printed off, but here are a few that I found on my big camera...

While we were there, Nana's washer and dryer died, so when she get new ones my kids thought the boxes were wonderful! And Elina even got to paint her new "house", which was loads of fun. The problem came when she went inside her house to paint her brother and found an amazing shade of lipstick for herself.

Noah was quite the little climbing monster at Nana's but luckily we made it home without any stitches. I know that day is coming soon...anyways, he did find a great friend in his cousin Brock. Noah just loved "Rock" and Brock was such a good help following him around in the mountains so Momma could sit down for a minute!

4th of July

2008-07-07T16:16:00.002-07:00

So we didn't do much for the 4th of July. We had company for the first four days of the week, so come Friday I was all hosted out. Luckily our friends invited us to a last minute Bar-B-Que and I only had to show up with a plate of sugar cookies in hand. Here are a few shaps of frosting the cookies.

I can't exactly place why, but for some reason, letting my children have their way with cookies just makes me feel like a great mom. Maybe the patience involved or the willingness to clean up the inevitable mess or the picture opportunities, something about it just gives me a "good mom" fill for my tank!

Daddy Daughter Date

2008-07-07T16:09:00.002-07:00

So I was talking with my good friend about the importance of girls knowing that their Daddy's love them, and after a particularly rough Saturday morning I suggested that Jason take Elina on date. So they went to see Wall-e, and as you can see from the picture, Elina was beyond herself excited. She even packed a purse complete with a $20 bill and a pack of starburst to sneak into the theater. HA! I have taught her well. Poor Jason though, looks like he has ended up with two attention thriving women in his life...

18 months

2008-06-26T12:29:00.003-07:00

Noah had his 18 month appointment this week and we learned ( or should I say confirmed what I knew) that he is a short kid! He is 40% for Height 50% for Weight and 95% for head circumference. The doctor said "How do you like that lollipop?" Great...but he is really on top of the whole talking thing. My mom tells that story of my 18 month appointment and the doctor asking her if I could say 7-10 words and her reply was "Why don't you ask her yourself?" So of course by the time we had gotten to that part of Noah's checkup he had already given Dr. Lundell the answer to that question. It made me think though, about how many words he can really say, so I came home and started a list. I stopped writing yesterday when we went over 75! I guess my KIDS are just chatter boxes, not only the girls!

Man Hugging

2008-06-19T16:17:00.004-07:00

Jason has been doing an army training with his students called combatives. Well, that isn't what he told Elina it was called and now everyday when he gets home from work she asks her dad if he did "man hugging" today! It is pretty funny...but I got some good shots of Jason and the kids wrestling around yesterday night. It was sentimental for me to watch because I have very fond memories of my dad wresting around with us kids before he got old and broke. Something about a dad taking time to roll around on the floor with his kiddos just hits home for me!

Uncle Eli

2008-06-19T16:13:00.003-07:00

One of Jason's good friends from college and Fort Irwin had a training to do here on post yesterday, so my kids got to spend some time with Uncle Eli. Daddy also got to spend some time with his "girlfriend". Jason received two golf gift certificates for Fathers Day. So the boys went golfing after work and had a good time. Wish I had a picture of Jason swinging away in the dirt though...

Birthday Party

2008-06-10T20:00:00.006-07:00

Yea for birthdays and excuses to go out to eat! Just a few snap shots of Kace's Birthday Bash with the Browns at Chilis. Yummy food and good company...perfect!

Noahs Dinner

2008-06-10T08:42:00.004-07:00

Well, last night we had steak, artichokes and potatoes for dinner. I am still going through a little meat aversion phase so I just buy one large steak for Jason. When he got home and saw what was for dinner he asked "What are the kids going to eat?". I said "Elina likes artichokes and might eat a few potatoes". And I consider that a great meal by her eating habits.

So Noah has always been a good eater, amazing would be the word to describe it if you were to compare his eating habits to his sisters. And I told Jason that Noah might eat a little of his steak, so he cut some up into really small bites and put it on his plate. The kid inhaled it! We "refilled" his steak three times all the while he was eating the potatoes along with it.

About this time Noah started signing/waiving that he was "done", but Jason and I were just getting to the heart of our artichokes. I had to run and help Elina in the bathroom and when I came back to the table Jason was eating his heart and Noah was pointing to my plate for mine. So I handed it to him, figuring he would think it was slimy and give it back or not know what to do with it. Not the case, the kid went to town, again!

This boy sure knows how to make his momma (and his Nana, I'm sure) proud!

Kiddos

2008-06-04T20:28:00.004-07:00

Just a quick note on each of the kiddos. First Elina loves to do puzzles. We had one or two up in the top of the toy closet that were still new in the box. I figured she wasn't old enough to do them and with Noah being the crazy boy that he is I just never got brave enough to sit down with her and do a puzzle. Well, Mummi cured us of our puzzle-phobias. She bought Elina an Ariel one at the store and Elina loved it! The first time Mummi sat at the table with her and gave some pointers, but now she does them all on her own! And we have gates blocking out the kitchen, so it can be Noah proof, and I can just set her in her booster and give her a puzzle (or six) and she is content for a good hour. It is wonderful! It especially helps her calm down and focus when she is a little feisty...

And now for my sweet baby Noah. This picture is just of him eating a go-gurt, but it explains the phase of development he is in quite well. He will be 18 months next weeks and man is he stubborn. He has to feed himself everything! And it is very frustrating, especially yogurt and oatmeal, very messy foods for a little boy who is just learning coordination. But I am learning that a warm rag to clean him up with is better than a fight! Here is a perfect example of what a sweetie he is too. This morning we grabbed breakfast on the way to playgroup, so he was eating in my lap in the front seat of the car while we were waiting for more people to arrive. Noah was being very wiggly, barely able to get a bite of biscuit in before turning to explore all the buttons and gadgets of the car. I would get a little frustrated with him and move or twist him back to the sitting position on my lap and say something like " Just sit there and eat" or " Can you just be still and take a bite". And he would turn his head and look at me with the sweet face and give me a big kiss! He did this about five times before he was over all the buttons and just wanted food.

Return with pictures

2008-05-28T16:10:00.003-07:00

As mentioned earlier, I was planning on posting some pictures of when my mom was visiting. Well, I have found them on the computer and finally have a minute to post some more as Elina is entertaining Noah with water. A little bit of water mess is worth cleaning up later just to have a minute of peace!

Noah sneaking through Grandma Burnside's doggie door.

Elina "nursing" her babydoll.

At the Tucson Zoo with Mummi. We love the Tucson Zoo! It is very small, so easy to trek around, but with all the "big" animals like elephants, giraffes, lions, polar bears... And with a family membership we just go for about an hour in the morning before lots of people get there and before it gets to hot. It is wonderful!

Nap time with Mummi. If you look close you can see Noah rolled up in the corner blankets.

I thought about not posting this picture because it is of me and this post is about the time we spent with my momma. But, I never would have gotten such a good picture with my kids if my momma hadn't been there to take it. We love you Mummi!!

Ballet

2008-05-26T08:01:00.006-07:00

We have a new video to share with you all of Elina's first Ballet Recital. I think that should do it! Have fun, we sure had a good time watching it!

Sam...

2008-05-15T19:56:00.004-07:00

Our very good friends Sam, Will and Angie moved last week and we miss them! How are we going to make it all summer without Angie's garage to hang out in, Sam to play with Elina and Will to bite Noah?!

Momma Visit

2008-05-15T19:45:00.003-07:00

Well, I thought I would be able to do more little things around the house while my mom was visiting. Like rearranging my bedroom and posting more pictures on my blog, but we just ended up doing a lot of shopping and eating out. That comes from two things: 1) I am over the prego sickness from the beginning (Translation: bring on the heartburn!) and 2) my mom lives in Germany and doesn't have Ross and Sonic. So twist my arm and hers to just indulge ourselves for two weeks! Anyways, here are a few pictures from my camera.

Ok, so these aren't quite the pictures I had in mind. My moms camera must have all the good ones. She has this cute little camera that fits into her purse and we have a monster of a canon. I guess that is the sacrifice you make when you own a nice large camera. Wonderful picture quality when you remember to dig it out of the closet, not so convenient. Oh well, I will just have to steal some pics from Momma :)