Pancakes for Lunch?

So today the girls and I went visiting teaching with my awesome companion Aimee. I have the 2 kids, and she is a trooper, hauling 3 of her 4.

We started out good, arriving on time (10:00), but chatted a little too long, so left a little late. Same with our second visit, so by the time we reached our third and final destination, it was 11:30, the kids were done with travelling from house to house and starting to get hungry.

The third house we were at is a good friend of Aimee's, and they go running every Saturday morning together. Since Aimee's husband was with mine at a winter camp this last Saturday, her friend's husband watched all 7 of the kids. He apparently made them waffles, which Aimee's almost 2-year old Lucee calls pancakes.

Poor little Lucee just kept crying "pancakes Mommy, pancakes" - thinking that since she was at the Jensons, she was going to get some, which sadly, she was not.

So then Lauren starts on the "pancakes, Mommy, pancakes" bandwagon (my daughter, the follower). So when we got home at 12:00, I made her pancakes for lunch.

It took a while, because I do not make pancakes from a mix. That is strictly for camping, and for the record, when I go camping, I pre-make my pancake dry ingredients so all I have to do is add milk, an egg, and oil. No Bisquick in this house (or this trailer), thank you very much. But if I ever were to make pancakes from a mix, it would only be while camping, that is the only excuse in my book.

Lauren helped me mix it all together, and she ate 2 - which made me extremely happy because she is such a picky eater. I didn't want pancakes for my lunch, so I made the rest and put them in little baggies in the freezer - great in the toaster actually. Waste not, want not!
Just wanted to throw this little picture of B in here - she's so cute!!!!

What Happens at Shara's.....

Lauren loves going to Shara's house for many reasons, and this is one of them:
She comes home all tatt'd up! I think it's hilarious! She had one on her hand, on her wrist, her tummy, and her leg. She kept telling me "it's not time for baths today" and freaking out whenever we had to wash her hands because she was afraid they were going to come off. I kept looking for Mya's but couldn't find any. Maybe there's one on her neck, oh wait, she still doesn't have one of those. Shara's such a fun auntie!!

It's Over

Our nice quiet life in the middle of the night, as we know it, is over.
We always shut our door at night - because I just have to have it that way. Always have. Well, one night last week, we were just getting into bed, and I had to go out to grab something that I'd forgotten from the kitchen at around 11:00, and found Lauren standing outside our bedroom door. This has never happened before. I don't know how long she had been there (couldn't have been very) but she didn't knock or make a peep, just stood there. She still can't open door knobs - which is a conflict for me....do I really want her to have all of that freedom? Do I REALLY want her to be in Mya's room waking her up, and getting into the pantry on her own? Really?
Anyway, so I promptly took her back to bed, which was then a struggle to get her to sleep again. So now we've decided that we need to have our door cracked so that if she gets out again she's not standing outside our door for who knows how long. She can just trot her little self right in at whatever time she likes and wake us up. Which totally creeps me out, by the way. Not an issue again until Saturday night, when Bryan woke up to "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy" being whispered right next to the bed - I luckily did not wake up to this, or else I probably would've screamed bloody murder. I don't know why it creeps me out so much to know she's out and about in the middle of the night, but it does.
Maybe it's genetic - when I was a kid I would get these horrible bloody noses in the middle of the night, and for some reason was scared to just walk into my mom & dad's room and just say "Hey, got a bloody nose here, need some help cleaning myself up". So instead, I would quietly get right up next to my mom and just stand there until she woke up. Sometimes I would whisper oh so softly "Mom, Mom, Mom" and she would wake up and freak out because here is her daughter, standing by her bed, being creepy and covered in blood.
So now I am the mom who gets to wake up to the creepy kid coming in to my room in the middle of the night. Let's just hope she's not covered in blood, I think I would have a heart attack.

Tutus!

Who would've ever thought I would encourage "girliness" in my daughters! I have had so much fun making these tutus lately, and I've made quite a few (mainly for other people) - but this one is my new favorite. It's hard to tell in the picture, but it's pink & brown (classic Kiersti) and I just love it so much I thought I'd give myself a little pat on the back by posting about it.

I had enough left over to make a matching one for Mya - I don't have a picture of it, but can you say stinking adorable????? I guess the girly in me just decided not to appear until I had girls of my own - who knew?

FYI

FYI - some of you were wondering why I started moderating comments. Well, I just rejected my first comment - some stupid spam about card/invitation websites that was the whole reason I started moderating in the first place.
Feels good - reject, reject, reject!!!

6th & 6th - I Love These!

I accepted Lindsay's tag of the 6th picture in the 6th folder:

This is Lauren Easter of 08 - the shopping cart was her Easter basket (hoping to stimulate some walking), and all you can see that was in it was 101 Dalmations - never been watched!! Her favorite thing in the world for about a week were those bunny ears - she will still wear them if she finds them. So cute!

I tag you!!!

2 Years and Counting

2 years ago today, our little family of 3 went through the temple and were sealed together for eternity. I'll never forget kneeling there when Lauren was brought in to us, dressed all in white, never fussing for a moment, while my sweet Grandpa Strong performed the sealing.

I'll also never think of this day without thinking of the day, fresh home from the hospital with our tiny #1, that Bryan told me that he wanted to go through the temple. I was so happy then, and even happier now, knowing that my family is mine forever.

And I can't express the joy that I felt when #2 came along, and the reassuring feeling of having her born under that promise.
Thanks Bryan, for making me the happiest wife/mommy ever, 2 years ago today.

Valentine's Day: Act II

Valentine's Day was not as magical as I had planned it to be. Both of the girls had a pretty rough night, therefore, so did Bryan and I. Bryan had to work on a side job, so it was me home with the sickies all day. Very sad, and not fun at all. There is one upside - Mya has been sleeping non stop, which when dealing with a very sick Lo, is extremely helpful.

Here are the poor li'l ones. :(

Lo and I made a couple of valentines for Daddy - she put stickers all over the "personalized" message I had written him, but he got the drift.Thank goodness for washable markers! This kind of put her in a good mood, and we had some laughs, which I desperately needed that day!

This was my big surprise for Bryan - a cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. The most incredibly moist and delicious cake you will ever eat, for sure. And I'm really glad I ordered it, because given the state of my household on Saturday, there would have been no baking going on!

It's called the Nothing Bundt Hugs and Kisses cake - I love this place, and I am pretty proud of myself for taking the sickies out to get it. When we got there and the lady brought it out to us, Lauren said "Oh, is that Daddy's cake?" I said yes, and she said "Let's eat it!!" There were 2 cute older couples in the store that got a good chuckle out of that.

Here are my tulips that Bryan was oh so tricky and sent me on Thursday (since that's the day we went to dinner). He was a little disappointed with them when he got home - he had ordered them from some place online (he normally gets them from somewhere locally) and thy hadn't really bloomed yet. But by Saturday morning they were beautiful, and really helped to brighten up my day.

Valentine's Day: Act 1

We celebrated our "alone" Valentine's Day last night by going to the Cheesecake Factory, all because of this divine piece of heaven right here:

Why anyone would want to get anything other than the white chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake is beyond me. Love!

I'm excited for tomorrow - me and the kidlings have some surprises for Daddy! Will update later!

Erythema Multiforme & Biter Biscuits

Erythema Multiforme - if you want the technical definition, Google it. All I know is that it's what Lauren has. Yesterday morning I noticed she has a few small spots on her stomach and chest, and at first I thought they might be chicken pox. Within an hour, there were 3 times what I had originally saw and most of them were really big, and getting bigger. Apparently she's allergic to the amoxicillin she was prescribed last week for a sinus infection (which she had been taking for a week when this appeared, and has taken before). Before I knew it, her entire body was covered in them - she even has some on her eyelids and in her ears!

We went to the doctor, and he said that basically her body will just get over it on its own within the next 10 days, and to give her Benadryl/Zyrtec and Tylenol. It itches, and is actually painful. Her knees, elbows, and ankles are all swollen, which he says is normal, and today actually look bruised. She could barely walk yesterday because it hurt so bad, it was so sad! We had to carry her everywhere, and she just kept saying "I hurt, kiss it better again". And last night when she went to say her prayers, she tried to kneel down (I was telling her to just come sit on my lap) - she got one knee down and almost started to cry. It just breaks my heart!


Hopefully she'll be over it soon and I'll have my crazy child back!

And now on a lighter note, here are some pictures of Mya eating her first biter biscuit - I've never seen anything like it, you would've thought she was eating a piece of heaven the way she was chowing down on that thing!

Her world ended when I took the remnants away and started cleaning up. What can I say? The kid likes her food!!

Grabbing Goblin

So Mya is starting to really grab at stuff - mainly faces, hair, clothes, etc.

I had the girls on a chair last night, and I looked over and she had a death grip on the end of Lo's diaper. Lo was kind of trying to inch away, hoping that she would let go, but she just grabbed tighter and tighter.

I still don't know why I think this is so hilarious, but I just do. I guess you really need to see the piercing concentration in Mya's eyes.

Lauren finally got on her knees, but Mya still hung on. Lo was laughing her head off saying "Mya needs to let go of my diaper, Mya needs to let go of my diaper".

I'm still laughing about it, and if you don't, I really don't care :)

Cheeser, Cheeser!!

We had Brock last Thursday at our house, and I thought this was so cute - him and Lauren hanging on the couch together playing footsies with eachother.

Here he is, totally oblivious to me taking a picture, which is how I wanted it (and he is not picking his nose, just itching it - I want to clarify that).

Then he spotted the camera....

CHEESE!!!

And now posing with Lauren, who does not even care, she's too busy watching Little Bill. He basically dragged her across the couch to get this one.
The kid totally cracks me up! He is obviously used to getting his picture taken :)

7 Things

Stole this from Jen's blog, looked fun and a little different.
Why do I love these things oh so much?

7 Things I can do:
1. Type really fast
2. Hear music everywhere - I can hear the songs clear as day in restaurants, stores, etc., drives Bryan crazy
3. Multitask - I can do lots of things at once
4. Laugh at myself
5. I learn the words to songs really quickly, and it must be genetic because Lo can, too
6. Get up really early in the morning when going to bed relatively late - I'm kind of a morning/night person, my down time is between 3 and 5 in the afternoon
7. Use the word "yo" way too much

7 things I can't do:
1. Keep my house clean on a daily basis - wish I could
2. Stay patient
3. Play sports - I'm horribly uncoordinated
4. I can't go without my hair being washed even 1 day - it's disgusting. Thank heaven for trailers.
5. Not check my blog every day
6. Learn how to properly apply makeup
7. Make a recipe for the first time and have it turn out - takes me at least twice. I hate it!

7 Things that attracted me to my husband
1. His curly hair and white K-Swiss the night we met
2. He has the greatest profile, I used to take tons of pictures of his profile. Weird, I know.
3. His relationship with his mom
4. He's an extremely hard worker
5. He is the funniest person I know, really, and all of you who know him will agree. He makes me laugh hard at least twice a day.
6. We coudn't stop talking
7. He never yells......NEVER, and he calms me down when I do

7 Things I say the Most:
1. I love my B Mya!
2. Gues what?
3. Daisy, stop it!
4. I love my Lolo!
5. You've got to be kidding me! (usually when driving, and now Lo says it)
6. Yo
7. Listen to Mommy!

7 Goals for the year:
1. Be more patient
2. See our friends more
3. Not get pregnant :)
4. Enjoy my kids more during this stage of their lives
5. Relax about the things that really don't matter (putting the dishes away in the wrong place, etc)
6. Pray more
7. Get to know people better

7 favorite foods:
1. Pizza (I know, I'm like a 5 year old) - especially from Sweet Home Chicago
2. Beef Lo Mein from Janbo Express
3. Rolls, rolls, and more rolls
4. Ben & Jerry's chocolate brownie fro yo
5. Cheese ravioli from Olive Garden
6. White chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory (drool)
7. Reese's shakes from Arctic Circle - why is it that wherever we live there's one right on the corner?????

I tag everyone who feels the need, yo :)

The Hubs

I just have to take a cheesy moment and talk about my husband. Here we are with sick kids, and he has been so great, I can't even stand how good I have it sometimes.
Yesterday night Lauren was up all night long, she's got a sinus infection, and Mya has something going on that is making it hard for her to sleep, too. So all night long, we're in and out of both kids' rooms.
Without complaint, he gets up almost every single time before I do - sometimes I don't even know he's gone until he comes back. He tries to be quiet and not wake me because I have to get up so early.
Yesterday Lauren wouldn't go back to bed after about 5:00 am, so I just stayed up with her - Bryan leaves for work at 5:30, so I was solo all day until he got home at 4:00. I had the worst day I think I've ever had - 2 kids screaming, Lauren not wanting to take a nap, Mya wanting to be held until she fell asleep, both not feeling good, me not able to fix it.
When Bryan got home I broke down, sobbing, telling him what a bad mother I thought I was because I yelled, no screamed at Lauren - I was just so exhausted. He just let me cry and reassured me that I'm a good mom. And he took care of the girls the rest of the night, calling and letting the Young Men's president know he wouldn't make it to mutual so that he could help me. I didn't even ask.
And when I came upstairs from working last night, the girls were all ready for bed in their jammies, just waiting for me so we could say prayers together.
He then told me he was going to get off early today so that he could come home and I could work to make up some of my hours I missed from yesterday.
I just got a text asking what he's supposed to make for dinner tonight, and I know all I have to say is "tacos" and he'll come down in a few minutes when it's ready.
I love him so much, and I am so lucky. I just feel so blessed today for such a great husband. I know you won't read this, but I love you B-Town, you are the best guy in the world for me, and I'm so glad I went to a dumb party on August 4, 2001 and got to meet the cute guy with the curly hair in the KSwiss and plaid shirt who showed me he had mad hops on the front lawn.

Meet the Couple

I've been tagged by J - here goes!

he.
1. Sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen? Lately the Discovery Channel - he loves documentaries, the Office, anything funny
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? ranch or bleu cheese
3. What's one food he doesn't like? tomatoes (and many, many others)
4. You go out to a restaurant, what does he get to drink? Coke, Diet Coke, or water
5. Where did he go to high school? West Jordan
6. What is one phrase he says all the time? "How do you like them apples?"
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Guns, guns, and more guns.
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? French dip
9. What would this person eat everyday if he could? chinese food from Janbo Express, La Puente.
10. What is his favorite cereal? Cocoa pebbles
11. What would he never wear? anything that is remotely trendy/metro
12. What is his favorite sports team? the Jazz (he's only recently begun to even really care about sports, but the Jazz have visited out TV frequently the past couple of years)
13. Who will he vote for? the most conservative candidate
14. Who is his best friend? Me, of course, and Greggy poo
15. How many states has he lived in? Utah
16. Does he have any nervous habits? Seriously? He fidgets CONSTANTLY, with basically every body part that can fidget
17. What could he spend hours doing? Looking at KSL or Ebay
18. He is: hard-working, inappropriate, funny, smart, my bff - I'm using all of J's answers, because that's how I describe my boy too

she. (I actually got Bryan to fill this out - with me typing, because it would take him too long)
1. Sitting in front of the TV, what's on the screen? any reality TV, What Not to Wear, comedies.
2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does she get on her salad? Kiersti: "do you guys have Italian?" waiter: "we have vinaigrette" Kiersti: "OK, I'll have none".
3. What's one food she doesn't like? onions.
4. You go out to a restaurant, what does she get to drink? diet coke
5. Where did she go to high school? k-town
6. What is one phrase she says all the time? "I like 'em just fine" (refer to #6 in the "he" section)
7. If she was to collect anything, what would it be? shoes, facebook friends.
8. What is her favorite type of sandwich? turkey & provolone.
9. What would this person eat everyday if she could? an entire loaf of homemade white bread and chocolate chip cookies (or even just the dough).
10. What is her favorite cereal? any bland/healthy cereal.
11. What would she never wear? hats
12. What does she always wear? clothes
13. Who will she vote for? whoever I tell her to (Kiersti says "whatever")
14. Who is her best friend? Bryan
15. How many states has she lived in? Utah
16. Does she have any nervous habits? biting her lip
17. What could she spend hours doing? blogging, Facebook, working, playing with the kids, snuggling
18. She is: fantastic

I tag:
anyone who wants to do this!

It's Gone!!

And for good this time!

We decided on Saturday night to cut the tip off of Lo's binky and see what happened. So after she said her prayers, she put it in her mouth, took it back out, inspected it, and told me to "zip it up, Mommy". I told her that I couldn't zip it up, it was broken because she got too big for it. She tried putting it back in her mouth again, then took it back out and threw it across the room and said "I don't want it anymore". And that was the end of that!

I was a little worried, because she has a cold, but that doesn't seem to matter. We're finally done, at the ripe old age of 2 and 3 months!!