never a dull moment

My list.

2012-01-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

I just read a list of

70 Things To Do Before Having Children

Among the things to do were, visit the Amazon rainforest, scuba dive to a ship wreck, visit the north pole, spend a night pub-hopping in London, go to a vegas strip club... the list goes on.

What's missing?

Get married.

70 things to do before having kids, and getting married isn't on it.

Reading the list got me thinking. Should I have done a few more fun things while I was single, or before we started a family? What would it be like to "bare all on a nude beach."

It got my mind going on a list of my own. So here it is.

At least 25 things you will totally regret missing

out on if you spend your life on a nude beach.

1. Experience the miracle of childbirth, first hand.

2. Love someone more than you ever knew possible.

3. Get pooped on, and not even get that upset about it.

4. Heal a hurting owie with nothing more than a kiss.

5. Memorize a few (dozen) children's books.

6. Sit front row at your daughters first ballet recital.

7. Cheer from a few steps away as your fast growing baby takes her first steps.

8. Tear up as you walk away from the first day of preschool.

9. Get to know your pediatrician very well with lots of, "everything is fine" visits while you are figuring things out.

10. Feel a sweet little baby moving around inside you.

11. Play Santa.

12. Get to experience childhood all over again, as you watch your kids go through it. And actually, I'll argue to my grave that it is MUCH better the second time around.

13. Learn patience.

14. Learn patience again.

15. Ok, one more time.

16. Learn to rely on others for help. No one can do it alone 100% of the time.

17. Fall in love with your husband all over again as you watch him in his "daddy" role.

18. Hear the first "Mama" from your baby.

19. Get showered with sweet hugs and kisses and I love you's.

20. Have at least one ridiculous piece of jewelry made by a toddler, that you cherish more than your pearls.

21. Have muddy footprints that you avoid when mopping because they are just too cute.

22. Realize, your parents did the best they could, and really- you have a lot to learn from them.

23. Have a tea party with a REAL princess.

24. Have a vast selection of bedazzled tiaras at your disposal.

25. Test the limits of your imagination as you create a new bedtime story every night.

I could go on, but my dishes have piled up. This list I'm sure would be drastically different if we had any boys, but thats MY list.

Do I regret having a baby before I turned 23?

Before I traveled the world, or visited some exotic land?

Not for a second.

I wouldn't trade one stinky diaper or late night feeding for a New Years Eve at Times Square.

And to the person who puts off kids to complete their endlist list of "must do's"...

You will have a great photo album when its all over,

but you will have seriously missed out on the real joy in life.

Forgetting yourself.

You aren't giving up the adventures of life when you have kids.

Trust me, my daily adventure is way better than the Amazon.

“I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.

I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbors children.

I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.

I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.

I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.”

― Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Today was a GOOD day.

2012-01-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

I feel like for the last 2 weeks I have been struggling to keep my head above the water.
The girls haven't slept well since we got back from our trip. They have been keeping me very, very busy.
The house is a disaster.
Meals this week might have included pancakes, apples with peanut butter, and even... popcorn.

I feel like I have been trying to figure out how to take care of Abi, and how to take care of Ellie- simultaneously. Last week, I flat out couldn't keep up. They both wanted one on one attention all the time, and I was simply out numbered.

Today was different.

Today I got to play with the girls.

I got to take care of the girls.

I got to read books to the girls.

I got to make a fresh, healthy dinner while the girls played together.

I think Ellie is finally getting big enough that Abi is starting to see her as a playmate and a friend, and less of the competition.

Did our day start with a bang when Abigail bit Ellie on the cheek?

Yes.

Did Abigail have a few time outs throughout the day for pushing Ellie down?

Yes.

Did the day come to a close with a bruise on Abigail's arm because Ellie bit the crap out of her?

Absolutely.

But in between the timeouts, we had a lot of fun today.

I love Ellie.

I love Abi.

and I love taking care of the girls all day.

So here is our day in iPhone photos.

I mean... I got to workout, shower, and fix my hair. Now THAT, my friends, is a GOOD day :)

Today I earned my Motherhood Badge

2012-01-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

We just made it back home from a fun filled 12 days in Washington. We had a lot of fun, and got to visit lots of old friends while we were there. But that isn't what I am going to tell about tonight.

Our trip home was a memorable one, no doubt. We took the easy way out. We flew.

On our way to Seattle, we had an easy going morning, no rush at the airport, had plenty of time. The girls did great.

Then we got on the plane.

All hell broke loose. We kept joking that we needed a reality show or something because the flight was so bad.

Well today started off bad. Abigail was up a lot last night. We were up late last night, trying to pack all of our Christmas stuff into our luggage. Weighing, shifting things around, reweighing.

All 4 of us have bad colds and congestion. Ellie is teething.

We got out the door about 15 minutes later than we had planned, pretty normal for us, admittedly.

Ellie cried the whole way to the airport. We dug through the luggage, found the motrin, and gave her a dose.

We paid for a cart to carry all of our crap on. Because, well, you only have to do some things once in life.

We got checked in, and got to the bag check, crossing our fingers. The weight limit is 50 lbs. 49.6, 50.2, and 50.8. They let us squeak by.

We take our cart as far as they will let us go, to ease the craziness of carrying our 3 big carry ons, purse, and two backpacks and the two kids, a stroller, and a car seat. Security is where we must part ways.

We grab some lunch to eat on the plane, and then head down to our gate, of course, the last gate of the terminal.

They are already boarding. Why wouldn't they be.

We go to get a claim at gate tag for the stroller, and they have to stop boarding, and shift people already on the plane around, because we were assigned an exit row.

Boarding continues after a few minutes, and we finally get on board, the last ones on the plane.

We finally get to our row, and there is another lap child on the row, so we have to be moved again, and they move another whole row of people because you can only have one infant on a row because of the oxygen masks.

Finally, we are on our way. I joked to Charles that maybe since our morning had been so chaotic, they plane ride would be easy going.

I proved to be very wrong.

Ellie was all over the place. Abigail was in her car seat, and we thought maybe if we could coax Abigail to my lap to color, that Ellie might take a little nap in the car seat.

Success. Ellie napped for about 45 minutes. It was glorious.

We switched and put Abigail back in the car seat for a bit, until she started asking for some Mama snuggles. We got her out, put Ellie in the car seat again, and just as I sat Abigail in my lap, facing me, she got a funny look on her face, coughed, and threw up a little in my lap.

I took one look and knew that wasn't the end of it.

"CHARLES! (in panic) Grab a bag." Trying to be discrete, but seriously in panic.

I cupped my hands for a great catch. She filled them.

A little louder, and more panicked.

CHARLES! HURRY! A bag!!

He looks at me with a blank stare of horror.

She throws up again, with now where to go but my lap.

At this point, I am practically yelling at Charles as he rummages through our trash filled seat back pockets for a barf bag.

And with great timing, the beverage cart pulls up.

Charles finally gets the bag open and looks at me like, "What now?"

"Well bring it over here so I can empty my hands!!"

He finally does, and I get it to Abigail's mouth just in time for the last catch.

I look up and see the flight attendants just as they realize what has happened.

"Oh dear," one says, "I'll get you some napkins." The other flight attendant gags, and pulls the cart out of my way.

We head to the bathroom to clean up, while Charles rummages through the dirty clothes that got shoved in our carry ons when there was no room anywhere else.

I spent the rest of the flight in his pants, and a dirty tshirt.

After I got out of the bathroom, I apologized to the flight attendants. One of them put it well... she said,"Girl, that was all you, you caught every bit of that. Way to go., that was all you!"

The whole way home Abigail had a bag ready to go, but we made it home without any more incidents.

Then she walked in the house, ran to the trash can, and threw up again.

I don't know what is worse... if she has a stomach bug for the second time in a month, or if she is doomed to a life of motion sickness like her mother.

Actually... I do know what is worse.

Now, I'm going to go take some Tylenol for the headache I got when I pulled our carry on bag down and hit myself in the face with a shoebox.

Santa visited us for the weekend

2011-12-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Abigail got a cute little Elf from Nana for Christmas that she got to open this weekend. She named her Elfie and she loves her. She has heard about the Elf on a Shelf thing, and has friends who have elf's that disappear to the North Pole at night. Abi is really worried about Elfie disappearing. She sleeps with her, or puts her high up on the shelf so that she can't get down. First thing in the morning she frantically checks to make sure she didn't 'sappear, as she says it. When my dad was here last weekend, she roped him into playing the role of Santa. They were pretty funny to watch.

The Dance Recital

2011-12-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

Abi has been really excited for her Christmas Dance "Bacital"

Mimi and Pops came down for it. She did a great job, and is so stinkin cute. She is the smallest one in the class by a long shot. It is so fun to see her up there having fun. I think we are done with dance for now, but she had fun, and loved being on stage!

Here is a link to the video if you want to see the whole thing:

I think Ellie is sick of sitting on the sidelines. She is ready to get in on the action!

Santa the Fire Chief :)

2011-12-22T11:43:00.000-08:00

I really love our neighborhood. We won't be living here much longer, but they do lots of cool things. Saturday, they had the neighborhood fire department do their visit from Santa. They have the fire chief dress up as Santa, and they drive through the whole neighborhood and hand out candy to the kids. They were a few minutes early so we were scrambling to get out to see him. Abigail was wearing Ellie's coat, haha. Abi loved it though, and Ellie slept through it :) I love when people go out of their way to do things like this that make it such a fun time of year for the kids.

Christmas Part 1

2011-12-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

My parents came up this last weekend to have "Christmas" with us before we left. They also got to see Abigail's Christmas recital, and that alone was worth the trip :) I didn't take very many pictures, but the girls both got some cowgirl boots from Mimi and Pops and the LOVE them. They got spoiled with several other things as well, but the boots were a big hit. Abigail opened them, her jaw dropped, and she just started hugging them. It was so cute, haha. Ellie put them on and started walking around. Hers have some growing room, they fell off once, and she started crying until we put them back on. I got a cute new Vera Bradley bag that I can't wait to pack and use this weekend, haha.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

We have had a fun month getting ready for Christmas. We just can't wait to fly outta here on Saturday and spend the holidays in Washington this year. The next few days will be a photo blast of the different things that have been going on around here.

First, our Gingerbread house. Charles helped Abigail build it. Ellie kept occupied with other things. Then Abigail decorated it. She instructed me where to put the icing, and then she added the candy.

The Birthday Party

2011-12-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

Birthdays are a big deal to me.

I'm not really sure why. I think it must be because my parents always went out of their way to make us feel special and loved on our birthdays. That, and... buying gifts might be my favorite thing in the world. I feel like there is only one day a year that is ALL about you. It should be special.

I try to keep things toned down, especially for the first couple of birthdays when they don't know what is going on anyway. But any little thing I can do to make it special, I want to do it.

I was a little bummed when I woke up on Ellie's birthday feeling a little queezy. I didn't get to make a big deal out of it like I wanted to, but lucky for me, she didn't know the difference.

I wasn't feeling very well all day, but I did manage to make a cake for her.

She opened her presents with a little help.

The cake was enjoyed Ellie, Abi, and Daddy.

Ellie handled it much better than Abigail did on her first birthday. For Abigail, I made her a little bear cake that looked like a real bear, and it made her cry. Haha.

Ellie dove right in once she got a taste.

Watching the three of them eat the cake pushed me over the edge.

I spent the next 12 hours hugging the toilet.

So did Abigail. Now she thinks cake makes her throw up.

I'm not telling her it doesn't, either.

My Ellie Mae

2011-12-06T12:27:00.001-08:00

The first year of life is a funny thing.

For the first few weeks, you are still wrapping your head around having a little one.

And you wonder if you will ever sleep again. Then before you even realize it, they aren't so tiny anymore. You are thrilled when they start to roll over. Sit up.

Then- holy crap, when did my baby get big enough to crawl? Eat solids?

Now she is One.

She is walking. She is jibber jabbering.

She is getting feisty.

(I wonder where she gets that.)

I can't believe a year is already gone.

I find myself wishing I had taken time to enjoy it more. It has been a little bit of a rough year for me, trying to figure out some health issues going on. This year has been full of blessings though, and having Ellie Mae join or family definitely tops the charts for the year.

She is walking. She just doesn't know it yet.

She can walk all the way across the room if she has the right motivation. Other than that, she is content crawling, or- holding on to someone's hands and steering them around as she walks.

At 11 months she was 24 lbs. We will see what her 12 month check brings.

She wears size 18 months clothes.

(Side note. I just had to make Abigail stop wearing her size 18 month coat so that Ellie could wear it.)

She wears size 3 or 4 shoes. Kind of in between.

She only takes a bottle before bed. And not for long.

She eats.

and eats.

and... Eats.

She is allergic to eggs. Kind of. They give her the worst diaper rash you've ever seen almost instantly. Probably something she will outgrow.

She also has a bad reaction to squash, and possibly other orange/yellow veggies.

Diary is still undetermined.

She does the cutest mean face on demand.

She bites Abigail when she is being mean to her.

She loves, loves, LOVES playing on the stairs.

She likes making a mess of the doll house.

She gets into everything.

She freaks out when you put her in her car seat, but is fine once she settles in.

She wants to be a big girl. She hates having to sit on the sidelines and watch Abigail do certain things, like her dance class.

She loves baths.

She sleeps about 13, sometimes 14 hrs at night. (with the occasional disruption of course)

She likes to sleep with her face buried in the corner of her crib.

So much more I could say about our Ellie.

She is wonderful.

She has made our family complete.

...............At least for now :)

I went through the last year and picked some of my favorite pictures of Ellie to put in a book.

Feel free to quit at any time, but I couldn't stop picking favorites.

Our little Ellie

2011-12-04T12:40:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I feel like this blog is all about Abigail.

The truth is- Ellie is a very "hands on" kind of a girl, if you know what I'm saying.

She likes to be held, she likes to stir up trouble.

It isn't very often that she is awake, and I am able to grab my camera.

Here is an example.

She loves climbing on the stairs. It makes me panic.

There is NO barricading this girl.

Another example:
We had a plain little silver magnet on the fridge. It had been glued to something but had come off. Its really hard to pick up because its small and hard to grab.

Ellie was playing with some other magnets and Charles put it down at her level and said,

"Here, this will keep you busy for a while. I can't even get that one off."

A few days later... Oh, whats that shiny disc in her poop... oh, nice. "Charles!!! She got it off!"

So, when Ellie is awake, she is under constant supervision ;)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

I think it is safe to say, I have not ever in my life been so excited about Christmas.

I have been buying things for months.

It is kind of the pits though. I thought I would be ahead of the game having my Christmas shopping done so early. Turns out it kind of takes the fun out of shopping this time of year. Great deals, but I don't need to buy. Dang. Next year I will wait longer :)

We decorated our tree as soon as we got home from Thanksgiving. Abigail is loving it.

We finished off our decorating with a cup of hot cocoa. mmmm...

What a week :)

2011-12-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

A blog post on Ellie's birthday is in the works.

We got hit with a stomach bug this week, so it wasn't much of a party.

I'll post more later about that.

This post is a picture blast of our Thanksgiving week with my family.

We started the week off with a very special trip to the Temple with Courtney and Daniel.

I couldn't be more proud of these two, and love seeing how happy they are :)

We had fun Thanksgiving treats.

We went on walks.

We played frisbee with Bitsy.

We let the dogs run free.

It wouldn't be a trip to Nana and Papa's without visiting the cows.

We met "new cousins." My cousin came with her two boys. Abigail loved playing with Ethan and keeps talking about her "new cousin."

Of course we did lots of swinging.

We let Abigail dress herself.

We turned Mimi and Pops' garage into a photo studio for a day.

(I'm kind of regretting the zebra... but cute girls none the less.)

Then I got to take some pictures of a couple other cute girls.

We played hide and seek.

Ellie started doing a "mean face" on demand. Pretty hilarious.

And we got LOTS of Daddy time. That's the best.

That is our week in a nutshell. Lots of family, lots of fun,

and lots of excitement getting ready for CHRISTMAS.

Can't wait :)

What a week :)

2011-11-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

We had a great week up in DFW. Lots of exciting things, but I am WORN out.

I'll catch up on the blog this week, but here is a fun pic to hold you over.

Excuse Ellie's chest hanging out of her romper... I need to tighten up those straps ;)

Bragging Rights

2011-11-15T17:42:00.001-08:00

My husband is awesome.

Can I just brag, because I am going to.

Ok, we moved to Austin a year ago- kind of on a whim. The company he was working for was less than fantastic. He got a job offer. I was a month shy of my due date with Ellie, and although I was excited to be back in Texas- we were sad to leave our friends and family in Gig Harbor, and quite frankly, a little scared of the relocation. We prayed about it and felt like it was the right decision, and we packed up and moved 2 weeks later.

The job seemed like a good job. We hoped it would be what Charles expected. He was pretty nervous about going to work for a big company. After all, his prior experience had been working with his Dad, and then working for a small start up with about 10 employees.

Well, it has far surpassed our expectations. It is an AWESOME job, with an amazing company.

And... my husband is a rockstar there ;)

He has been there for a year.

2 weeks after he started, we had Ellie. 2 weeks off for paternity leave... oh, and a huge gift card to Target from his team. Thanks :)

As much time off as he wants, as long as he gets his work done. They encourage 4-6 weeks off.

Um... heck yeah.

He gets cell phone reimbursement, an "education allowance" for books or conferences, a wellness account, free massages once a month, and 2 fully stocked kitchens in the office with free food.

They have a "Science Fair" twice a year. It is basically a big engineering innovation competition. They have had 2 Science Fairs since Charles started a year ago. About 100 participants in each competition. Charles has won the grand prize... TWICE.

Booya.

He won a Star Performance award a couple of months ago.

He has been promoted to a senior level position.

Last week they had their big yearly "all hands" meeting. About a month before the meeting, they send out an email asking for employees to nominate individuals who exemplify the culture of Bazaarvoice. There are over 700 employees. They gave out 5 awards.

Charles won the award for Innovation and Generosity.

Each of the awards he has won have come with cash prizes, and the Culture Award came with shares of stock.

It is awesome to have Charles working for a company that realizes his potential and values his input greatly. The last company he worked for was one of those, like most, where they squeeze the life out of you and pay you as little as they possibly can.

Not Bazaarvoice. No way. They have been voted the best place to work in Austin, year after year. It is no secret why.

They are awesome... mainly because they agree, that Charles is awesome.

Anyone looking for a job? Because for real... it doesn't get much better.

Ok, I'm done bragging. :)

This is the life...

2011-11-10T10:45:00.001-08:00

Me: "I need to go potty, Abi, just a minute."

Abigail:"Can I come have some privacy with you, Mommy?"

The Diaper Rash worth writing about.

2011-11-07T18:46:00.000-08:00

Ellie got a diaper rash about 5 weeks ago.

It was bad. Really bad.

I took her to the doctor after I had tried everything, and things started getting bloody (TMI??).

She prescribed some creams.

It got worse.

It got a little better, then worse again.

I tried more things. Like... letting her go without a diaper while she was teething and had diarrhea (TMI, again, yeah... probably)

After about 3 and a half weeks of horror, we went to visit my family for a weekend. As we got there, it was on another downward spiral to terrible and bloody. We left the girls with my parents for a night so we could go to a football game, and so I could regain a bit of sanity.

My sister is a nurse at an urgent care clinic. I got a call as we were walking into the stadium, that Courtney was heading to her clinic with Ellie, she took one look at it and knew it needed something more. She got a new prescription cream, and oral antibiotics.

Things got better, little by little. By about a week later, there was only one open sore still healing (are you getting the idea here, it was bad.)

Then, hello downward spiral. The red rash started its cycle again. Saturday night, after two days of it, I was up in the middle of the night, holding a screaming Ellie (and crying, myself) and it hit me.

All week, Ellie hadn't had any dairy or eggs. Friday morning, I made eggs for breakfast. Friday afternoon, she had some yogurt and some yogurt melts. Saturday morning I added a teeny bit of milk to her oatmeal.

BINGO.

No Eggs. No Dairy.

Plus, I went out and bought organic diapers, wipes, and super sensitive baby wash.

Sunday... a little better.

Today- things are good, still healing from the brunt of it, but she doesn't scream bloody murder when I change her diaper. And THAT, is a beautiful thing.

I have never felt so bad and so helpless. She was in so much pain, and happened to be cutting two teeth during all of this on top of it. It was horrendous though. I could share pictures, I won't, but I have them. I had to start taking daily pictures to track how things progressed and healed from day to day.

So now, after 5 weeks of.... I really can't even think of a word- and after hundreds of dollars on creams of every kind, we are on to the life of food journaling for an 11 month old to figure out the allergies.

But thank GOODNESS for happy babies and happy hineys.

Sea World

2011-11-07T18:09:00.001-08:00

We went to Sea World on Saturday.

It was a big hit.

We all had a blast. The shows were really cool.

I was afraid they wouldn't entertain the girls, but they loved them and so did Charles and I.

Here are the girls, totally in to the Sea Lion show.

We will be going back LOTS over the next year, so if anyone wants to go, let us know and come for a visit. It was a big hit for the whole family.

Abigail ate it up. There was a Sesame Street show, and she got to meet a lot of the Sesame Street characters. I think one of her favorite things was climbing up this big net they had and "pretending to be monkeys with Daddy." She keeps talking about it.

She also LOVED the carousel. It was the only ride I did with her, and the whole time she just kept saying, "This is SOO FUN!" And the occasional, "Giddy- up! I'm a cowgirl, YEEEHAAWW."

Ellie was a trooper too. She was having diaper rash issues

(...again- that's a whole post in and of itself, Yeah, a diaper rash that is blog worthy. It was just that bad) but she was a good sport and had fun.

I think her highlight was seeing Azul the Beluga whale up close, she just kept touching him and giggling.

(You can thank that diaper rash for how tired I look)

Seeing how much the girls loved it made me REALLY excited to take them to Disney World, some day- but for now, we will milk our annual pass to Sea World for all it is worth.

I didn't get any good pictures of the shows, because I kind of had my hands full. Next time I hope to get some of the animals. The last thing we saw before we went to the last show of the day was the sharks and the aquarium. Abigail like that too :)

I'd recognize that frizzy, curly silhouette anywhere.

Work It

2011-11-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Abigail wears skirts and dresses 90% of the time.
She just loves them. In the summer she would sometimes wear shorts, but its hard to get her to wear pants, especially jeans. I got her these skinny jeans for fall and fell in love with them when she put them on. I think she liked my reaction, because she will wear them. She also liked being a model in them.

Spooky Sellakin Jammies

2011-11-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Abigail loves her "sellakin" jammies.

She is starting to have an opinion on where pictures should be taken, and what the poses are.

She made us go all the way downstairs to take these pictures on her bench with Ellie in her lap.

Do you see the look she gave Charles when he put Ellie beside her instead of on her lap?

That's better...

Whoopsie Daisies... And we're done.

Baby Bear

2011-11-02T07:17:00.000-07:00

Charles may or may not have been late to work this morning.

He was busy being my assistant :)

See what I was workin' with?

(um... yeah, that's Abi in her panties)

More Halloween Fun

2011-11-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

We visited my family again this weekend. Friday night Charles and I went to the BYU vs TCU football game. Abi got to go to a carnival with Pops and her cousins that night.

Saturday, Mimi had a whole slew of fun Halloween treats.

We had everyone over and had dinner in a pumpkin (YUM!)

Abigail always has so much fun playing with her cousins.

I had to take pictures of all the cute stuff my mom did. It is pinterest gone crazy.

Trick or Treat

2011-10-31T20:09:00.001-07:00

Abigail loves her friends.

LOVES them.

I don't use that term lightly.

These two gals are frequents in her prayers.

The live around the corner from them and met up for trick or treating tonight with a cute little witch, a stylin' ladybug, and a spooky ghost.

Abigail just loved going trick or treating with them.

Her and Breklyn are SO cute together. They held hands the whole night.

When Jaylie got tired, and rode in the stroller, Abigail took her basket to the doors and said, "Trick or Treat for Jaylie and Me!"

Those girls are so sweet I could just eat them up.

I was cracking up all night listening to Abigail's door approaches.

She even busted out Chinese at one point.

Or the, "Hi, I'm Goldilocks."

Such a fun night, and so fun to spend it with friends.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

I have to start by saying, I have never been a big fan of Halloween.

This is Abigail's 3rd halloween and her first year trick or treating.

I got the bug about a month ago, when we were out for a walk, and people had started decorating their houses. Abi went crazy. She loved it. Went went on walks and bike rides as often as we could so that she could check out all the "spooky houses." We went to the pumpkin patch, and a few carnivals. She made it all so fun because she just loved it.

When I first asked her what she wanted to dress up as, she said she wanted to be a lamb, and Daddy could be Mary. After my Mom so generously offered to make Charles a dress, we steered Abigail away from that idea, and settled on a family theme- Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Now I was REALLY excited.

Abigail could not have been more thrilled when we all got dressed up tonight. She wanted to act out the whole story, and was telling Charles what to say.

I didn't get a very good shot of Ellie's costume. She wouldn't keep her darn hat on. I'm hoping to get her back in it and get a good shot of her, but don't hold your breath.

Charles was a good sport, and pulled off a headband well :)

Maybe next time I'll do a hat for him instead.

Hand-stitched, thank you very much :)

Goldilocks, as she was acting out the story.

Walking through the forest.

My favorites are when she sees the three bears.

Holidays are SOO much better with kids.

Bring on Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Where are you from?

2011-10-24T15:00:00.000-07:00

Today while we were driving in the car, Abigail busted out with this random bit of knowledge.

I haven't ever talked to her about where she is "from" or Ellie, so it really cracked me up.

"Ellie is from Texas.

I am from Washington, and daddy is from Washington, too.

And mommy? Mommy is from... Target."

I bursted into laughter.

"What's so funny, Mommy?

..... Is Ellie from Target, too?"

Sleepy Sundays

2011-10-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

This Sunday we were all super tired for some reason.

Charles and I decided to "take turns" napping. I went first :)

I had a good nap. Then it was up and going again.

Abi needed some rest so bad, but it just wasn't happening.

Charles took matters into his own hands.

And it was a beautiful thing.

Fall... are you bluffing?

2011-10-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

Last week we went swimming.

And by "we," I mean, Abigail swam, and me and Ellie watched.

I think it was probably our last swim for the year, at least... I am hopeful :)

It finally cooled off this week. I mean, really cooled off. It kind of put me in panic mode.

I need to get these girls something other than shorts, tank tops, sundresses and sandals to wear.

Now we are gearing up for fall and its great holidays.

Last Friday we went to the pumpkin patch, and Saturday, we painted pumpkins.

I've never gotten into halloween to much. Until now.

Abigail is so excited about it, it is contagious.

Her costume came in the mail this week and it is SUPER cute.

Now to make Charles, Ellie's, and mine...

Just a few pictures

2011-10-19T10:45:00.000-07:00

I was sick all last week. Bronchitis. Yuck.

Now Ellie is teething. Let's hope that's all, and not that she got sick too.

Not much time for picture taking, or blogging, but here are a couple of my two favorite girls.

Those rolls... Just love them :)

Always so happy for Daddy to come home

Oh no she just di-unt

2011-10-14T10:51:00.001-07:00

Ok, I cannot believe what just came out of my 3 year old's mouth.

She is upset because I told her we can't go swimming until after lunch.

"Mommy! You are making me really mad."

(stomping her foot down with hands on hips).

Wait for it...

"Mommy, if you do not make me happy, Jesus will be very sad.

He wants you to make me happy. If you don't he will say,

(in her best Jesus voice) 'Oh no, Abi's Mommy is not listening to her.'"

Then she looked at me with a very serious face, like- "Well??"

Oh, Heaven Help Me.

Just to make you smile

2011-10-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Nothing is better than a good, heart felt chuckle :)

The Enemy

2011-10-13T09:02:00.001-07:00

Ants.

Abigail literally got ants in her pants early this summer, and has been terrified of them ever since then.

She won't step foot in the garage without shoes on.

She wouldn't dare go in the back yard without boots on.

If we are in a hurry to get her inside for dinner, "Hurry there are ants coming, Abi"

(I know... we are bad)

We went to the park and she was running around, hopping over all the ants, avoiding them at all costs. When I tried to get her to sit still for a minute to take a picture, she had to resort to scaring them away.

She started off pretty aggressive with the roars, but backed off to try to get a few smiling pictures. She couldn't completely let her guard down though- that would just be silly.

Tender Mercies

2011-10-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

I think I have a picture of every nap Abigail has taken in the last ten months.

It is a VERY rare, and blessed occurrence.

It happened once this week. I have tried every day since, to no avail.

Ellie helped me wake her up to make sure we weren't all up all night.

Fall is in full swing :)

2011-10-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

I think fall has arrived bringing it's low '90 degree weather, and cool nights and mornings.

We are enjoying the chance to be back at the parks.

How often do you feel like your kids clothes need an explanation?

I mean, passed the 'dressed themselves' assumption. Here is one.

These pictures were taken on a little break we took from a drive back from Denton last weekend. Yes, we took a break on the usually 3.5 hour drive- turned 5+ hours. We were all taking a beating and had to get out of the car for a few minutes.

Anyway- back to the outfit. We had a fun weekend, Abigail got really dirty every day, as did her clothes. So when we got down to the last day, and the last clean clothes, this is what was left. She put on a really cute skirt, one of my favorites actually. Then she put on her white shirt, not so bad... except that, her and Ellie have the same white shirt, and Ellie's got packed, not Abigail's. Normally I would have switched it out, but we didn't have any other clean shirts, or time to do laundry. So my 3 year old, was sporting her 12 month shirt- rocking the bare mid-drift, and if the crocs don't top off the look, I'm not sure anything else would have. Except maybe the strawberry stains on her shirt from the car.

Storytime with Mimi

2011-10-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

Abigail loves reading books, and our selection at home is a lacking a little bit.

Friday we got to go visit Mimi in her classroom, and pick from an endless selection of books to bring home and read with Mimi. Abigail loved it. I need to read to her more often, but I get bored with the same old books and have a hard time finding good ones at the library. Mimi's selection is the bomb though. I need to just make a list and get after it.

Sharkarosa

2011-10-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

There is a place about ten minutes from my parent's house called Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch .

We went there this weekend because I had another doctor appointment up there, and we decided to give this place a try, mostly because I got a groupon a few weeks ago (you know I can't pass up a good groupon). It was a lot of fun, pretty small, and allergies were ca-razy- but the kids had fun and it was a unique place.

They have lots of animals, several endangered, that they have rescued. They have kangaroos, wallabies, lemurs, sloths, camels, zebras, deer, etc. They are building a habitat for two black bears right now. While we were there we got to pet and touch several of the animals they had there. The only ones we couldn't touch were in the "safari" were we took a 'train' to go see them, they were close, but don't come up to the train to eat like the other animals did. It was lots of fun, and a new experience.

They are only open to the public on Saturdays, the rest of the week, it is used for field trips and other educational things. I was amazed at how educational it was. I didn't realize how much Abigail learned from it until she told my sister, "Do you know that baby kangaroos sit in their mommy's pants?"

Nothing gets past her!

When it rains, it pours...

2011-10-03T14:04:00.000-07:00

...but only for a couple of minutes.

I can count on one hand the times we have seen rain since we moved here a year ago. We are in the midst of a terrible drought, that shows no signs of letting up any time soon. We are told, conditions are likely to continue through next summer.

A few times we have seen storms coming. Had thunder and lightning, but no rain.

Abigail gets really excited when we think it will rain. She will say, "We really need water, huh, Mama? The ducks water is almost all gone." It is true. The duck pond we frequented in the spring is almost completely dried up.

Anyway, it FINALLY rained last week. Abigail could hardly contain herself. It rained pretty hard for about five minutes. We all went outside and played in it and Abigail loved it. Maybe living her first two years in the PNW made her quite fond of the rain. Or maybe its just that absence makes the heart grow fonder. We all loved it. It wasn't enough, but we will take what we can get.

Like our grass? What can I say? In a rental house,

when the watering restrictions set in, we pretty much gave up all hope.

Girls Night Out

2011-09-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Charles went camping with the scouts last weekend.

We took advantage of the girls night and went out and had some fun.

Something I would normally never do.

I love a schedule, and don't veer from bedtime often. But tonight I saw there was a movie in the park playing not to far from us, showing Toy Story 3.

So we packed up a blanket, chairs and a little Chick-fil-a, and had fun with it.

Abi was pretty bummed about Daddy going "night-night at camping."

I felt like I had something to prove, we miss Daddy when he is gone...

But Mom lets me have chocolate milk and stay up late

watching movies and eating chicken nuggets.

Bed time was a piece of cake.

The were sleeping like babies as soon as they got in their beds.

Poor Babies... they go through a lot.

2011-09-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Abigail has twin babies as part of her doll house family.

They go through a lot.

What's that? ... Oh, you'll have to excuse me.

Abigail says I better come get some dinner before Ellie gobbles it all up.

A call with Santa

2011-09-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was having Abigail pick out some things she wants for Christmas. She was very set on a lunchbox and a backpack... or so I thought. After her talk with Santa, I may need to get her a watch too, I guess.

A few minutes after we were picking stuff out, I was listening to a message on my phone, and Abigail thought she had caught me talking to Santa. I told her she would have to make the call to him herself.

Lucky for us, he had an opening in his schedule.

Santa Call from Heather Himmer on Vimeo.

Thanks Uncle Brad, for fitting us in withe the big man.

Abigail Vs. The Cricket.

2011-09-28T15:11:00.000-07:00

This morning, Abigail ran and jumped on the couch- Terrified.

I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was trying to

go upstairs and she saw something scary.

For about 5 minutes she followed me around saying,

"Mommy, I want to show you the scary thing!"

So she took me to the stairs where I screamed over a stupid cricket.

What can I say... It was a scary thing.

We talked about what we could do to get it out.

I refused to go get it with a napkin, which was Abigail's idea.

I suggested a broom, and she hopped to it.

Abigail vs the Cricket from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

Abigail vs the Cricket- take 2 from Charles Himmer on Vimeo.

Afternoon Snack

2011-09-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to make better eating choices around here lately.

Not just for me to lose weight, but just to help us be healthier as a family.

I'm trying all kinds of stuff to get Abigail on board with it.

She will eat fruit all day long, and she gets vegetables pretty well, because I hide them in other things. But she doesn't like eating just plain veggies, other than a few favorites.

We tried ants on a log this week, she wasn't too sure what to think though.

A little celery.

A little organic nut butter.

A few raisins.

And a subject to photograph that doesn't wiggle or run away.

I stand corrected. They will still run away if you aren't quick enough.

Whoops.

2011-09-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

Charles wanted a haircut.

He had been asking for a while.

So at ten o'clock, I got out the clippers, and got after it.

I was a little tired.

I may or may not have put the wrong guard on the clippers.

He may not have much hair, but he is a good sport.

It is a good summer cut to start off the fall with, right?

The Moments I Want to Remember

2011-09-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

Our girls get along so well.

The never fight.

Abigail loves sharing everything with Ellie.

Abigail never gets jealous, or possessive.

.... insert reality....

As Ellie gets older, the sister relationship gets gradually closer to a love/hate.

Abigail really does love Ellie. She says it all the time.

Abigail really does not love sharing all of her toys with Ellie.

She also says that all the time.

I think it really bothers her that Ellie puts them in her mouth.

She is getting better and better about sharing, but it is a learning experience.

Toys are still a sore spot a lot of times, but they are having fun playing together- especially when no toys are involved.

The other day, Abigail wanted to play doctor and have Ellie do a check up.
Abigail thought it was so funny that Ellie was "checking her" when she was on the floor.

Her bedside manner isn't anything to brag about...

But she knows her stuff.

Cat Nap

2011-09-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sundays can be a napping challenge. Ellie normally takes her first nap about 9am.

Our church starts at 9 am.

See the problem?

She fights through all 3 hours of church without falling asleep. Usually as soon as we put her in her carseat, and start the car, she is out. The problem is, then we get home, and she wakes up and her 10 minute car nap replaces her 2.5 hour morning nap.

Last week, I thought we were going to get her from the car to her bed, without her waking up. It is such a rare thing, that I grabbed my camera to snag a picture of her sleeping on her Daddy's shoulder. Just before I turned on the camera, she started to open her eyes.

Then, she was wide awake and ready to play.

Those two pictures were taken about 3 seconds apart.

That little stinker sure is cute.

Full of hope

2011-09-23T19:29:00.000-07:00

We started this football season full of hope for our Alma Matter.

You can see how excited the girls are for the opening game against Ole Miss.

3 games into it... we aren't so hopeful.

But we are still just as cute on game day.

Follow-up

2011-09-23T14:10:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the Dentist.

The first thing Abigail said to the hygienist was,

"Guess what! Did you know JESUS is our BROTHER?"

A Sunday Picnic

2011-09-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

It is "cooling off" around here.

We are embracing the weather in the 90's rather than the 100's.

We took advantage of the good weather.

Sunday Picnic Checklist:

Bicycle ride or walk to the desired picnic spot

Lots of water

Some yummy fruit

Peanut butter and banana sandwich

And of course, it wouldn't be a picnic without an enormous

quilt with lots of room for Ellie to crawl around.

This Little Girl of Ours

2011-09-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

I love teaching Abigail things these days. She loves learning new things and gets so excited when something clicks. I just had a funny conversation with her. It was one of those nights that I left a few things out of the routine, in an attempt to expedite the bedtime process. An hour later... all the things that I left out, have been requested, and completed, and she is finally going to bed.

I thought I had her down a few minutes ago, but she called me back up, and giggling, said "Mommy, we forgot to read Book of Mormon! That's so silly, huh Mommy? Let's laugh."

So we read scriptures, which is always filled with a million questions. I encourage her asking questions... but seriously.

Anyway, she saw the picture of Jesus and the questions started. First, she noticed that he had curly hair, like her. She was pretty excited about that.

Then more questions, "Is Jesus our Father?"

No, Jesus is our brother.

She got this shocked look on her face and said, "Mommy- I didn't know I had a brother! Ellie didn't know either! I want to tell my friends."

So then I explained that He isn't just her brother, He is my brother, and Daddy's and everyone's brother.

Another shocker- "You mean He is my friend's brother, and my friend's mother's brother?"

Yes, that is what I mean.

Gasp- "Wow... I want to read another story about my brother."

Birthday Boy

2011-09-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

I had some grandios ideas for some cute pictures for my dad's birthday.

I made these little signs for the girls to hold.

That didn't work out quite as planned- not quite the picture I had in my head..

We did pretty good until we got to the shot together, holding the "Pops" sign.

It went downhill fast.

Abi saw these little bows by the wrapping paper and wanted her and Ellie to be Pops' presents.

I guess we will keep it simple.

Happy Birthday Dad!

My Helper

2011-09-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

Abigail loves when I let her help me with whatever I am doing. She loved helping me make "french fries" (butternut squash, sliced, seasoned, and baked, YUM).

I couldn't help but think of the old Shake n' Bake commercials.

Phew.

2011-09-07T19:14:00.000-07:00

It is bedtime at our house... and not a minute too soon.

Today was a doozy.

Picking Flowers

2011-09-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

When Abigail goes in the back yard alone, every couple of minutes we hear a little knock on the door. Normally she is standing at the door, with some sort of treasure for us.

Sometimes its grass, rocks, bubbles... whatever she can find.

She never stops at one.

Every couple of minutes she will knock at the door with another surprise,

often handing it over with a, "Happy Mother's Day Mommy."

Due to our weeds a' plenty- she found some real treasures this weekend.

I love those chubby little hands.

She picked flowers for all of her friends.

Naming them one by one as she picked the flowers.

My Dance Girl

2011-09-06T14:53:00.001-07:00

I got this idea a few weeks ago on a friends blog and we started doing it.

I got a jar and some "warm fuzzies."

When she does something good, she gets to put a warm fuzzy in her jar.

Since we had such a big jar, we were pretty liberal with the warm fuzzies.

She got one pretty much any time she did what we asked her to.

Abigail worked hard for about 3 weeks to fill her jar of warm fuzzies. (I was really surprised how many it took to fill the jar, next up, smaller jar)

Much worse than a time out- if she was naughty, she lost a warm fuzzy.

Today she put her last warm fuzzy in the jar, and then got her reward.

Ballet Class.

She loved every minute of it.

This is going to be a fun addition to our little lives.

Big Sister

2011-09-05T19:58:00.000-07:00

Abi still loves to "hold" Ellie.

It doesn't last long. I hope Ellie doesn't out weigh Abigail soon...

They are already sharing clothes. Yikes.

More sprinklers

2011-09-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have really loved the heat this summer.

... but with nearly 80 days of 100+ degree heat?

Enough is enough.

We try to make the best of it though.

I tried to go out undetected, when we looked out the window to check on her, she was standing in the middle of the sprinkler glazed over... cooling off.

Of course as soon as she saw me with the camera, she hammed it up for me.

Princesses for a Day

2011-09-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

One of Abigail's best buddies has a birthday on Monday.

We got invited along for a special treat today with the birthday girl.

The girls got their toe nails painted, and got hair cuts (Abigail's first!)

These two are so fun to watch. I can't wait to see the pictures from Jaidyn's mama's camera too, I know she got some good ones! Thanks for the treat, and Happy Birthday Miss J!

Lesson learned

2011-09-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am convinced, when we buy our next house it MUST be one story.

This age and stairs- stress me out.

Plan B

2011-09-01T19:53:00.001-07:00

We drove up to Denton last weekend for a couple of reasons.

It was Jeremy's last weekend here before he flies back to Abu Dhabi... Lori and the girls following not to long after. Courtney and Daniel will soon be moving to Colorado. So the family is going to be spread out, so we wanted a good family picture before everyone disperses. It isn't often that we are ALL together.

I scheduled a doctors appointment for while we were there too.

Well, Mom went and got sick. Really sick, the day we were set to take pictures. So instead, we cancelled the photographer, and I busted out my sidekick (camera) and we had some fun.

I wish we could have had some with everyone, but at least we had all the grandkids together.

Seriously though, Abigail NEVER picks her nose. Of course...

in more than half the pictures she is digging for gold.

Didn't have to pose these girls- they worked it.

Waiting for Daddy

2011-09-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Abigail has certain things that she wants me to do with her, and certain things she wants to do with Daddy. Sometimes she surprises me. Today was one of those days. Normally- Daddy is the good kisser (for kissing owies). Mommy is the good maker, of food (see, that home and family living degree got me somewhere). Daddy is not a good dancer (but it sure is fun to watch). Mommy always has to drive.

Today was something new though.

Abigail waited all day for Daddy to get home and play Polly Pockets with her.

I'd be lying if I said I minded. Maybe she can sense how under-enthusiastic I am about Polly Pockets. Maybe if those darn clothes weren't so dang small and hard to get on...

Anyway, this was one I gladly surrendered to Daddy.

9 months... already?

2011-08-31T11:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Ellie turned 9 months old.

How is that even possible?

My baby will be one in just three short months. Woah.

My Ellie girl has been such a sweet addition to our family.

She is such a good tempered little lady. She is almost always in a good mood.

She LOVES Abigail.

She kinda likes mommy and daddy too :)

She doesn't like baby food much, so we are constantly trying new things to see if she can gum them down ok with her 2 little teeth.

She puts everything in her mouth.
She really fights me when I try prying something out of her mouth (all the time).

Yesterday, on the way home from her checkup, she managed to pull the bandage off of her toe, and get it stuck to the top of her mouth. Yuck.

She laughs at Abigail and just about anything she does.

She is on the move, all the time.

She crawls.

She pulls up to stand.

She has 2 teeth.

She wears size 12-18 month... and even a few 24 months.

She weighed in at a whopping 22lbs yesterday.

27.5 inches tall

Her rolls are plentiful.

She loves playing with Abigail, but Abigail isn't quite ready for that...

She loves story time at the library.

She takes two good naps every day- at least 2 hrs each.

She sleeps about 12 hours at night. (can I get a hallelujah?)

Her chubby smiles brighten my day...

and our family would not be complete without our chubby little Ellie Mae

The Experienced Traveler

2011-08-29T07:11:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in North Texas for a few different reasons.

We had fun visiting family, as we always do.

Abigail is always really excited to go visit anyone, or to have visitors come to our house. She looks forward to it for a long time. She packed her suitcase for me this time. I opened it up and she had a few toys, the entire contents of her "bottoms" drawer (skirts, shorts, capris, pants). And a shirt. She was all ready to go.

I had to secretly repack for her, and then we were ready to go, just waiting for Daddy to get home so we could leave.

Before we drove back, I was trying to get Abigail to go potty. She insisted that she didn't need to, and I kept pushing it. Explaining that we would have to stop at a yucky gas station if she didn't go now. She stuck to her guns, and I knew there was no reason to keep pushing it.

Well, we made it home, without a stop, then while she was going potty- she looked at me and pointed her finger at me and said,

"See, I told you we wouldn't have to go at a yucky gas station."

While she was sleeping...

2011-08-24T18:26:00.001-07:00

After Ellie went down for her nap today, Abigail wanted me to take some pictures of her doing "silly things." After that, I got her to agree to a few of her doing "happy things."

This girl loves to be silly. Don't know where that trait came from...

She took the camera and made me do silly things.

Those photos were deleted as fast as they were taken :)

A new era...

2011-08-23T19:02:00.001-07:00

Today I looked in the baby monitor and saw something new.

Tell me she's not up to something...

Abigail was so excited about Ellie standing up in her crib, that she wanted to go check it out for herself, so I grabbed my camera and we had some fun.

First Abigail climbed in with Ellie, very gracefully...

Luckily, this resulted in hysterical laughter from both girls, and no one was hurt.

These two are really starting to have fun together. I love it.

Beat the heat

2011-08-23T10:58:00.000-07:00

I have taken a little break from blogging and taking pictures. We have been doing a lot of playing around the house- getting back to normal life after a few crazy months. I am excited for the "fall" weather to come around so we can start doing things outside again. Abigail has always had an abnormally high tolerance for heat. It has been a bit of a burden as she could just go, go, go outside all the time no matter the temperature. The last two days I think it is finally starting to get to her. Yesterday, we didn't even do anything outside, but just getting in and out of the car- by the time we got home, she stripped down all of her clothes and told me she needed to cool off, cuz she was sweaty in the back.

Girl- I know all about that.

Guess we will keep it inside for a few more weeks until we drop below 100 again.

Team Jaylie 5K and Fun Run

2011-08-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

10 weeks of planning.

Nearly 100 volunteers.

40 Sponsors.

More food than we can count.

One very sad balloon arch.

750 T-shirts.

75+ raffle prizes.

907 registered runners.

2136 Miles run for Jaylie.

Over $30,000 raised for Jaylie.

Lots more pictures of the event at teamjaylie5k.smugmug.com

Team Jaylie on the news

2011-08-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Fighting cancer at 5 years old: kxan.com

A Day of Laughs

2011-08-05T19:02:00.000-07:00

Abigail is at an age now, where she makes me literally crack up every single day. Today was one of those days that by bed time, I thought, I HAVE to go write down the things she has said to me today. So here you go: A day in the life of Abigail. Each story will come with a bit of background.

We have been teaching Abi about privacy; letting people go potty all alone, get dressed, take showers, all of that with out an audience. I've also been trying to teach her, that she should not just strip down wherever she pleases. She has a tendency to be a poolside stripper. Anyway, now she insists that I close the door and give her some "pridacy" when she goes potty. As soon as I shut the door, she started singing a song she made up about privacy. I opened the door a few minutes later to check on her, and she looked appalled- "Mommy, I'm not all done with my pridacy!"

Last night, I closed the door to get dressed after a shower, and Charles tried to come in, Abigail intervened, arms out, guarding the door, and reprimanded him- telling him that Mommy needed Privacy.

Last week Abigail got bit by two ants on the way back from the pool. I don't know if she will ever fully recover. Today, for some weird reason we had an endless train of ants along the wall in our front room. Abigail saw them, her jaw dropped, eyes widened and brought her hand to her chest, then looked at me and said, "Poly cwap! Why are der ants in our house?!" I was so taken off guard that I burst into laughter so suddenly that I scared Abigail. I have been laughing about it all day picturing her expression in my head.

This morning after breakfast, I was trying to get her to get dressed. She took her jammies off and was just hanging out in her panties. I told her to go get dressed, and she, of course, asked why. I said, because you are naked, you need to get your clothes on. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I'm not naked Mommy, I'm not hiney naked." I guess naked is ok, hiney naked on the other hand...

Charles, in a stroke of genius one night, helped Abigail get all her wiggles out before bed, by using a little massager that we have. He did it on her feet, legs, arms, hands, and head. We call it our wiggle machine. It has become part of the nightly routine for bedtime. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it makes matters worse. Tonight, we forgot to do it, and just before we finished tucking her in, she gasped and said very seriously, with wide eyes,"Mommy! My wiggles are here. I need the wiggle dachine." I busted out laughing again, and she joined me for some good giggles. Then we got her wiggles out, and even sang a wiggle song, and she went to bed.

Days like this, I sit back and think- Life is good.

The big Event.

2011-08-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of months, I have been working on organizing the Team Jaylie 5K and Fun Run for my good friend's five year old daughter, Jaylie.

Back in May, their lives were turned upside down when sweet Jaylie was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. She had a baseball sized tumor on her brain. Since then, she has had surgery to remove the tumor, and has completed 6 weeks of daily radiation of her head and spine. In about 2 weeks she will continue treatment with 6 months of chemotherapy.

On August 13th, here in Austin, we are holding a 5K fundraiser for Jaylie and her family. We have had lots of community support. We have had 3 newspapers do stories on Jaylie, and Sunday morning, KXAN news here in Austin will be interviewing Jaylie and her parents on their morning news.

If you want to check out more about what I've been working on, go to teamjaylie.org. You can follow the registration link there to see more info about the race. It is going to be a fun event.

Please come be a part of it. Register for the race and come support Jaylie, or if you can't make it, consider making a donation to the cause. Our $25,000 goal will only cover their deductible. It doesn't take into consideration all the other things that are coming up as an expense through all of this. We want the Nielson's to be able to focus on Jaylie, and not the financial ramifications of her illness.

They are an amazing family, and Abigail loves these girls dearly. They are close to our hearts, and hope you will help support our cause.

Cedar Park Citizen Story

Leander Ledger Story

Hill Country News Story

Appearance on Freefuninaustin.com

Look for the live interview on KXAN.com this Sunday.

Spaghetti Girls

2011-07-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

Spaghetti has always been a go-to meal for Abigail. She eats it better than just about anything else. I don't make it very often, and feel like it is kind of a special treat for Abigail when we do have it. Well, this week, we decided to let Ellie have a go at it, and she followed right in her sister's {messy} footsteps.

I know what you are all thinking when you see Ellie's arms... "Does she work out?"

Of course she does. Arms like that don't come easy.

I'm a Lucky Girl

2011-07-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

Some of you might know that my husband is the oldest of 5 boys. No girls for them :(

I hadn't really every thought about it TOO much, until this morning, when we were getting ready for church. I thought about the stories I have heard about their ritual sunday morning pat-downs before church, to make sure they weren't taking anything into church that they shouldn't. I thought of the stories I have heard of my dear brother in law standing in the pew, and opening fire with his toy guns on a fur coat a few rows ahead of them.

This morning, I was really sad for my mother in law having all boys... because I know her Sunday mornings never looked this sweet.

Sorry, Himmer boys. I love you all, but you just can't compete....

A few select people will appreciate this

2011-07-30T19:38:00.000-07:00

Not everyone that reads this will get it.

But there are a few people, you know who you are, who will look at this,

and probably die laughing.

This one goes out to anyone who has ever tried to wake me up in the morning.

All her Glory

2011-07-29T19:29:00.000-07:00

My sister Lori is visiting for the summer, from her far away home in Abu Dhabi. She and her girls spend the summers visiting family here. She couldn't wait to get her hands on my Ellie girl after seeing lots of pictures. After changing her diaper Lori insisted that I take some pictures of Ellie without her diaper on, because "her diaper covers up like 4 rolls!"

That's my Ellie girl.

I won't share all of them, but I have to share a few... :)

Trouble

2011-07-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today was a dark day in the Himmer home...

I found Ellie's stash in her room.

I wasn't prepared to deal with this...

My Big 3 Year old

2011-07-25T19:21:00.000-07:00

Abigail had a birthday- a day late.

I took tons of pictures.

My camera is being ghetto. Or my lens. Or Both...

Either way, I am pretty upset right now, that I don't have much to show for her party.

It was pinkalicious. I guess we can just leave it at that.

The night before her birthday, she was barfalicious and her baby sister was poopylicious.

Me, I spent the night washing sheets, car seats, and carpets,

trying to clean up after all of our mishaps. Yuck. A big thanks to whoever brought

their sick kid to church for that one.

We had to reschedule the party. It threw me off a bit. I felt so bad for her on her birthday, but she recovered, and she is enjoying all of her presents. She is pretty spoiled by all her friends and family who love her. Thanks everyone!!

A conversation I never thought I'd have...

2011-07-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Abigail: (giggling, and "rattling"...) Look, Mom, Ellie's toys are on my bum!

Me: What? Ellie's toys are on your bum?

Abi: (Turning around and lifting up her dress) Yeah, see?

Me: (Reaching in her panties to get them out, but only getting one of the toys)

Abi: HEY! Don't take them out!

Me: Abi, you can't put Ellie's toys on your bum, it has germs and she puts those in her mouth.

Abi: But its not IN my bum, just in my panties.

Me: Ok... You can't put Ellie's toys in your panties.

Abi runs out of the room, rattling.

She returns, quietly.

Abi: Ok Mom. I'm sorry. Look, its gone. (She moons me)

Ok... one thing at a time, I guess.

I will save the lesson on the evils of mooning for tomorrow.

Anticipation...

2011-07-19T14:13:00.000-07:00

This week is boiling with anticipation for Thursday.

Thursday we will celebrate a special birthday for a little gal in our house.

I can't believe she will be three.

My mind is going crazy with all we will do for her, it is the one day I can spoil her rotten;

and you better believe... I have big plans.

Here is a sneak peak:

Weekend visitors

2011-07-18T14:03:00.000-07:00

Last week was a quiet week in our house. Abigail left on Tuesday to go visit her Mimi and Pops, and the rest of our family up there.

She didn't come home until Friday.

By Friday, I had the shakes, bad headaches, and wore only pink (or something like that). You get the picture, I was having serious withdrawals from my girl. Actually, I had dusted the blinds, cleaned the house, done the laundry and grocery shopping, finished up some birthday shopping, and lots of stuff for the rapidly approaching Team Jaylie 5K.

I had run out of things to keep my mind off of missing her. It was fun to spend some one on one time with Ellie though. I always love that.

Friday came, and so did Abigail, along with my sister Lori, and her two girls. They got to stay the weekend with us, and we had lots of fun. Abigail just loves her cousins!

Waiting on the rain...

2011-07-11T20:33:00.000-07:00

Today we heard thunder. We got excited. We checked the radar and saw what we thought would be a pretty good storm coming. We went outside to check it out, Abigail grabbed the essentials- rain boots and a lace parasol.

We waited... Ellie watched.

And the rain came :)

As soon as it started to rain, Abigail realized she was not dressed appropriately. She took me upstairs to her bedroom and pointed out her "rain jacket."

By the time we made it back outside, the rain had stopped. She insisted on keeping her winter coat on and sweat it out while she pretended to play in the rain.

Now if only our grass would pretend it rained for that long..

Summertime

2011-07-10T20:06:00.001-07:00

What do YOU do in the summertime?

Every morning now, Abigail wakes up, goes to the bathroom, and then puts her bathing suit on. We pack up the swim bag and wait for Ellie to wake up. Then we load up the stroller and walk to the pool and stay for as long as Ellie will allow. At first, it was pushing it to be there for an hour. Now, we are getting 2 or 3 hours in before it is time to come home. When I think of my summers as a child- this is EXACTLY how I remember them. And as far as I am concerned... this is what summer SHOULD be like.

And what is a summer in Texas without some grilling? My parents got Charles a grill for his birthday, to welcome him to Texas I think. He has taken to it nicely and has made some awesome burgers so far. We are going to get lots of yummy dinners out of that thing :)

And yes, Abi is eating her hamburger while wearing her bathing suit. What else?

OHHH, Texas... it feels so good to be home :)

Family Reunion- That's a Wrap

2011-07-09T19:13:00.000-07:00

On the last night, every year, we all gather up and take a picture.

So here is the whole clan.

Well, almost the whole clan. A few come and go during the week, and I lucked out and got to be behind the camera this year :)

Now, back to normal life.

Bingo

2011-07-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

We have had lots of different games throughout the years.

When we were all teenagers, we'd play capture the flag after dark.

When we are feeling really brave, we play spoons... but that gets dangerous. I think we have broken a chair or two.

This year, a few of us adults even played a riveting game of Old Maid.

One thing is constant, every year.

BINGO.

Papa is the caller, Nana hands out the prizes. The stakes are high :)

This year, Papa had a helper.

Birthday Celebrations, Early and Late

2011-07-07T19:03:00.000-07:00

While we were all together, my family did a little surprise birthday lunch for Charles. His birthday was the week before, but my mom wanted to celebrate anyway.

Any reason for a party :)

The real party was Nana's early birthday party.

We all went around and said something we love about Nana. It was fun to hear memories and favorite things about her. I have lots and lots of fun memories of her growing up, but I really love seeing her play with my own kids now. They love her, and she is so sweet with them.

Then we went outside and the kids went after a pinata, and topped it off with cake and ice cream.

Diamond

2011-07-06T18:56:00.000-07:00

One morning, I got up and took Abigail horseback riding with some of the other cousins. She loved riding on Diamond. The ride was about an hour long, and she just talked to me the whole time about all kinds of stuff. We were riding through a pretty heavily wooded trail, so she loved seeing all the different stuff back there. We saw spiders, a turtle, a horse shoe, and a deer. She really liked getting to ride, and talked about it a lot after.

It was fun getting time to spend just with Abigail, with no distractions.

That doesn't happen often.

Riding on the Tuba

2011-07-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

We took the girls out on the boat with my brother and his wife and kids.

Our kids are about the same age, so it worked really well. Abigail LOVED riding on the Tuba (innertube). It took some persuading to get my nervous nelly out on it with me, but she loved it once we were out there. About every 15 seconds, she would say, "I don't want to fall off, Mommy." Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh?

Henry on the other hand, wanted to go all by himself, and decided after a few minutes, that he would be a daredevil, and ride sitting up on his knees, without holding on.

Ellie loved the breeze of the boat. It was roasting hot, and, you tell me, how comfy does that lifejacket look? She had a rough time when we were stopped, but eventually fell asleep to the breeze and the lull of the motorboat.

Grandma Camp- Pirate Style

2011-07-04T18:28:00.000-07:00

This year my mom (Mimi) and her sister decided to hold Grandma Camp during the week for the kids. This year the theme was Pirates. Abigail still talks about going to Pirate camp, she loved it. Every day they did a few crafts, and games. It was great to have something organized for the kids to do, and get out of the sun for a little bit every day. Lots of pictures from pirate camp today.

Henry wins "Pirate of the Week"- he was digging the dress up,

wonder where he gets that from, Kyle?

Family Reunion- Lake Murray Edition

2011-07-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Every year for as long as I can remember, we go to Lake Murray for our family reunion. As the years go by, I get more and more excited about getting to spend a whole week with my entire family. It doesn't happen often- once a year, in June, if it is a good year and everyone is in attendance. I would say most of us have a love/hate relationship with the Lake Murray Resortand Lodge. I think they throw in the word resort just to throw you off. Nevertheless, we love getting to see everyone and are so glad that Nana and Papa make it happen every year, and that so much of the family makes it a priority to be there.

I love that there are lots of helping hands to hold and love on Ellie.

I hate that the floors and bugs are such that, I would never put her down on the ground :)

I love that there is a pool we can take the kids to, when the boat is out of commission.

I hate that the boat is out of commission at some point in the week, every year. Actually... that part has kind of become part of the fun of it, as long as you aren't the one paddling it back to shore :)

I love that this year, for the first time since I left home for college, I didn't burn to a crisp. So glad to be back in Texas and soaking up the sun again.

I love seeing Abigail play with her cousins, and how nice they are to her. This was one of the hardest things about living so far away from them all. She just loves them. She was thrilled to get to sleep on the bunkbeds this year in the big girl room with her older girl cousins.

Here is the deal breaker. I HATE spiders. Nothing eeks me out more, not much anyway. What's worse than a spider? A nasty, big, hairy taratula scurrying towards your feet.

I encountered this booger twice in one day. No one believed me the first time, so when I saw him again, I grabbed my camera for proof. Lots of spiders take up residence at Lake Murray. Don't leave anything on the ground...

Lots more pictures to come from the week :)

A Little Batty :)

2011-07-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in America?

Yeah, you know you are jealous. We went and checked it out. It was pretty cool.

We had fun checking them out.

If you are in town March-October, you should go check them out.

Beat the Heat

2011-06-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Abigail loves going to the pool, but I am a little freaked out about taking her there with Ellie, by myself. I don't like being out numbered where a swimming pool is involved.

So we improvise. With our stellar drought and watering limitations, I do my best not to waste to much water filling, and refilling her little pool. Once a week or so, we fill 'er up and take a dip.

This week added a new element though. On Monday, we went swimming with some friends. Since I knew I would be out numbered, I went and got a lifejacket for Abigail. One that she could still move around well in. She really likes it. Safety first!

So She wore her life jacket in the 3 inches of water.

At one point, we had Abigail, Ellie, Me, and Mr. Turtle all in that tiny pool. There are moments I am thankful there is no one else around to document moments like that. Although, I'm sure it would have been quite hilarious to see big mama in that tiny pool.

Safety First

2011-06-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Abigail is always taking care of her toys.

Do you have any idea how many teddy bears drown each year??

I think you'd be shocked.

Our luscious lawn.

2011-06-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

When your lawn grows like ours does, it takes 2 to handle the yard work.

Who says a lawn can't flourish in a drought?? Pffff....

2011-06-19T11:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

I love any chance I get to focus on the people I love for a whole day. I love birthdays and other special holidays like Father's day, Valentine's day, stuff like that. In reality, I should treat every day like I do those days. Where I show my love the best I can, I think of myself less, and try to make that day special for someone else. The fact of the matter is, I get caught up in life, and am not always the nicest, most loving person I ought to me. I get mad. I get moody. I am not always patient with my kids (or my husband). And once or twice, we may have even gotten in arguments :)

NOT today though. Today I honor fathers. I honor my own dad. He helped raise me... so you know he must be good, right? Being a Dad to girls is not an easy task. I love my dad, and love seeing him in his roll as Pops. I even see a hint of myself in Abigail, as her feelings for Pops tend to be either thoroughly amused, or slightly irritated with his tricks and teases. Always laced with lots and lots of love. When it comes right down to it though, she knows pops is the one who will push her forEVER on the swing. And for that... he has won her heart forever. and mine. He won me with his BBQ though.

I can't forget my father in law. We miss being so close to "Baba." He has handled the culture shock of little girls really well :) He also took his demotion very gracefully when his grand-daughters were born and his bride blossomed into grandmother mode. We love Baba and all he has done for our little family.

I honor my husband, the father of our two beautiful girls. They love their daddy so much, and yes... have him wrapped around their fingers. He adores them. Charles comes from a family of 5 boys. When we found out we were going to have a girl (Abigail), he was nervous. He said he didn't know what to do with girls. Well, by the second time around, I asked him if he wanted a boy this time. He said, he couldn't imagine a baby without all of the girly stuff that has become such a part of our lives. He wanted another girl.

Well, he got it, and he loves it. They love him, but what is not to love?

Happy Father's Day!!!