Monday, April 28, 2008

Eye Candy

she's getting bigger!
Got some cute chubbah cheeks - and some sparkling eyes! She's just so kissable right now!



Here's a picture of Brynn at the same age...any similarities?

Grand Canyon hike!

The boys (by boys I mean scouts in our ward, including the Ross's) took off on Friday to the Grand Canyon. They camped out that night and promptly at 6:00 a.m. started their journey DOWN through the Grand Canyon, across the bottom of it - back around and back up...it's 18 miles in total hiking both down and back up...the down part is about 3 miles, goes across to a bridge and then back up - 12 miles - switchbacks the whole way.

The boys got home at 10:30 Saturday night - WORN OUT! They took pictures by signs that said "Do not attempt to hike the Grand Canyon in one day" They heard horror stories of how people lose their toenails because of the "jamming" as they go downhill the first 3 miles...Dh's toenails look HORRID - I imagine he'll lose most of them. Serves him right going against posted regulations!

Here are some pictures...sorry they're not highest of quality - they were taken w/ the cell phone.
About 1/2 way through the hike (He had to get his kerchief wet & hang it from his hat to keep the back of his neck from burning)

Again, about 1/2 way through the hike - near the warning sign not to hike the GC in one day:

Beginning of the hike - going down the switchbacks to the bottom of the canyon

View from - oh - somewhere along the trail...

And if this isn't the ugliest foot you've ever seen, I'll give you money! Okay - really - he's got this beautiful blister on his big toe, you see it's swollen AND if you gander around to his other toenails, it looks like they won't last much longer, either. niiiiiice!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Fun at the Dinner Table.

Sitting at dinner tonight was pretty mellow at first. A few complaints - can't please them all -

Rossi's stating - matter of factly - that he's a carnivore and he doesn't eat veggies. I told him - "Veggies are good for you, they help you....uh...flush the toilet easier."

Simultaneously Howie piped up and spewed forth at least a sentence worth of information from his "lower cheeks" which made him laugh through pursed lips. We all tried to be social upper class folk by politely ignoring it, but his face was so funny, I had to ask him to repeat himself, because I wasn't sure what he said, or even if he was talking to me...which - of course, set out a burst of loud laughter from the surrounding brood. Howie then told me he thought he was a vegetarian, because he wasn't too fond of the chicken, and IF and WHEN he flushed the toilet, it normally went down rather smoothly..."couldn't you tell, my butt was talking to you." Of course, I had to stifle that kind of talk at the dinner table.

Brynn didn't much care what kind of butt talk I stifled, because she grabbed a fork-full of chicken and continued "I no like shicken, it's bum-cake food." At this point, I'm laughing so hysterically on the inside and biting the inside of my cheeks (upper) to keep the appearance of the persona from the upper class folk (it's a rule not to laugh at crass remarks particularly at dinner, but apparently all hades has broken loose at our dinner table). I told Brynn to put her shicken on Howie's plate, there's more room.

Howie didn't like the chicken on his plate, cause he's a self proclaimed anti-shicken vegetarian, so he took it and threw it behind him - hitting the window then watching it fall to the floor.

Absolutely unacceptable.

"Howie, you're going to sweep the floor when we're done with dinner." Brynn liked the idea of throwing the shicken on the floor, and we had to stop her abruptly. I told her that Howie needed to take at least one bite of shicken, so give it to him. He sat there with his mouth pursed closed and still a giggle from his earlier flatulent remark. She tried to put the shicken in his mouth, but he kept moving his head back & forth - and his mouth was glued shut.

At this point, Rossi told Brynn to plug his nose because then he'd have to open his mouth to get air. Kali grabbed two peas off her plate & told Brynn to stick them up Howie's nose.

Hmmm, good idea...however, Brynn is not that affluent in ways to politely plug other people's noses. So she took her two fingers - index and middle - and gently slid them into each of Howie's nostrils...He laughed, mouth still closed, snot blew everywhere and no one could finish their dinner.

Kiesten's my perfect child.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Memories...

I had to go to the doctor today. I realized my legs weren't shaved and I had taken a shower last night. I didn't want to get all wet just to shave the legs - not only that, I was running about 10 minutes late. Far be it for me to keep the doctor waiting - that's HIS job...

Anyway - I grabbed Ross' electric shaver and raced it up & down my legs. Then I tossed it on the bed & went to get dressed the rest of the way.

Howie noticed that Brynn started playing with it - and immediately became concerned for her well-being. When I told him it was okay - it wasn't sharp, he told me of a story that I had forgotten - from when he was 8 - yes EIGHT months old.

I was putting on my make-up getting ready for church - and Howie was getting into things (yep, he started YOUNG!) so I put him in Ross' sink on the vanity and let him go for whatever he could reach. Interestingly enough, he went for the electric shaver.

He knew that it was something that went on a face...because he had observed his father putting it on his own face. So as Howie figured out how to flip it on (yes, he's 8 months old here!) and placed it to his mouth...which all babies do - put things in their mouths. Of course, I didn't see any danger in this - but as he stuck his tongue out - the tripple headed electric razor did it's business - and howie pulled it away quickly showing little blood dots from the taste buds that had been cut! I couldn't believe it - he didn't cry - but he looked at his tongue in the mirror - and I felt like the worst mom in the world for allowing him to slice his tongue up like that.

So as Brynn grabbed the electric razor this afternoon, Howie told her - DON'T EVER PUT THAT IN YOUR MOUTH!!! Uh - he remembered this happening - he even told me the story of how the little red dots of blood ended up on his tongue. UN-BELIEVABLE!

So how good is YOUR memory? Any memories from when you were still in diapers or unable to talk? I think I was 3 at my first memory - but I can't be for sure, my mom had home movies that I watch, then helps the recall sometimes! I remember shaking a crib with my brother - he'd climb from his crib to mine - and shake shake shake the bars in my crib making our own personal earthquake. So I imagine I was under 2 years old?

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Why does this not quite feel like me?

Thanks, Lisa for that little paragraph of curiosity.



Your Slogan Should Be



How Do You Handle a Hungry Man? Heidi.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Just a blogging vent....

Not that I have such a huge following on my blog that I anticipate changing how the whole blogging community arranges their blogs, but I feel the need to...uh...vent about how some of my favorite bloggers have music on their blogs.

So when I start to read those ever-intriguing words of my fellow bloggers, I get a cool song in the background, and unbeknownst to me, I read that someone's daughter is "somewhere over the rainbow"...or how someone wants to move into a different home where they need to be at work from "9 to 5." I can't read and listen at the same time.

Just ask my kids. One of them - (not sure which one, I just remember faintly hearing a voice a minute ago) said something to me about something and then I heard something about detention and 3rd referral...? hmmm, must have been Howie. I should probably go check on that.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The story behind the curl...

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
And when she was good,
She was very, very good
But when she was bad she was horrid.

This poem is the work of American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. He composed it one day when his daughter Edith refused to submit her hair to a curling iron. For many years afterward, Longfelllow denied having written the verse.
When pressed by his friends, he owned up, albeit somewhat crossly; "When I recall my juvenile poems and prose sketches, I wish that they were forgotten entirely. They however cling to one's skirt with a terrible grasp."
- The Great American Baby Almanac

So - I guess great poets can sometimes say things they later regret. Why would Edith feel bad that her father recalled ONE bad day in her early childhood?

Coby has a perfect little curl in the center of her forehead. Howie loves her sweet, perfectly semetrical cow lick. He told me he wanted one like that. He says it gives her super powers. I asked him why he would think that, and he told me that's her "superman curl."

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

YESSSSSS! The pool is opened!


at least while no one is living there, we still have access to it! We LOVE our pool! It's so hard to try to rent the house out again - we love it - we LOVE the accessories! But it was 99 today - so we couldn't resist!



And apparently spending the day in the sun and heat is exhausting - well, at least for those of us who can't keep up with someone who sleeps all day!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Lookie what I got!


My dear friend Mel sent me some good mail! It's so great when a man in brown dings my dong & leaves me mail! It's even better when I open it and have a pile of my very favorite flowers in the world! Thank you Mel! They brighten my day every day they've been out! Love the flower selection - LOVE the color selection!

In other recent news...I have gained 40 pounds in my head - specifically my sinus cavities! OI! My neck can't support my head, my garbage can can't support the kleenex, my nose has begun rejecting snot with the WORST possible timing...drip drip! I have a cough, it BURNS! I'm sure it's allergies. It seems like every April, I go through this hum-drum of a "death" it could be worse. I could be forced to get up every few hours & feed a baby...oh wait, yah - that...

Kiersten is home the next few days - her grade is doing "outdoor education" it's where all the 6th graders go to the zoo for 3 days (I'm sure they fit right in!!) and sleep there, learn how to camp and learn about nature, I guess - but we don't "do" sleep overs - and we certainly don't do co-ed sleep overs, moreover, we know the long term subs can't possibly teach her anything she doesn't already know about camping...she's slightly saddened by our decision - but we'll do something educational here - I'm sure I can find something edu-ma-cational for her to do here.

So things I have to do today would include calling the newspaper and asking them why they've charged my account for our classified ad but haven't posted the ad in the paper...calling the OB and scheduling my post partum checkup, and calling the kidney doctor to have them puppies looked at to make sure I'm okay to be off insurance again! (Well, we have insurance, just major medical, but I got additional insurance to cover the maternity part of my life!!)

I should clean, too - Maybe I'll run over to the drug store and pick me up one of them there whiplash neck brace supports so I don't have to work so hard to keep my head from falling off my neck. I should measure it, I bet it's swollen. There must be some kind of room for all that sinus expansion - it doesn't just seep into the brain and out of the eyes...that would really give me a snotty outlook on the day!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

See Jane Run

Okay - So my name's not Jane, but today I will start my running back up! Last time I ran was August...just before I found out I was pregnant - and back then, I was thinking I had mono so I should really push myself running! (Yes, it makes all different shades of sense, I know.) Turns out it wasn't mono, it was Coby.

I wanted to start it on Monday, but I misplaced my iPod. However, today I found my iPod, while I was walking around the house hiding my cherry frosted pop-tart from Brynn, so I wouldn't have to share. It was in the stroller.

Carma, baby. Shovel a pop tart in - and the iPod will scream your name out. DO you realize that ONE poptart has 5 grams of fat in it? yah - while I'm sporting the jogging bra, I'll leave you with today's eye candy...


Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Entertaining myself.

Well, I know, things can get pretty dull around here with a new baby. But I like to play this game with her called "find the root."

You know how babies root around for the food. Well, I just can't help but kiss her every time I pick her up. Sometimes when I pick her up, she's kind of hungry - and mistakes my lips for - well, uh - food supply.

So - as I kiss her little cheek, her head will turn toward my lips - sometimes I'll kiss that cute perfect little mouth of hers. But mostly I'll move to the other cheek to kiss that. Well of course her mouth will follow what's touching her other cheek...and she ends up shaking her head back & forth trying to attack my kisses! It's really fun to make her head dance to whatever song is on at the time!

It is quite entertaining, I must admit, but I'm pretty sure the little imp gets annoyed by it! Either way - those soft, sweet smelling cheeks scream my name out 24 hours a day! I can't help but attack them when given the opportunity! Plus there's plenty of you out there that require I kiss her for you - and I have to make sure she gets her allotted amount of smooches every day!

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Been meaning to shout out to my friends...

with a HUGE THANKS!!

Here are a few cute items I got from my dear friends!

First, before Coby even took her first breath - we got this absolutely adorable flower arrangement (LOVE the vase, it's got "Dumbo" hanging from it!!) from Coby's favorite Aunt Crysty (and and Ammon & the rest of her brood!) I never get flowers, not even from Ross!! So this was FUN to get!


Next, Kris made me this blanket (well, not ME, but for Coby!) and the accompanying baby bracelet, both of which we used during Coby's blessing! The bracelet was slightly big on her & slipped off during the blessing, so we're going to fatten the little pig up a bit before we try it on again!


And Jannet came to visit me in the hospital and brought with her a cute "I love Daddy" onesie and dress outfit along with robin eggs (oh, can I even say thanks enough for THOSE?!) and - for the other children who she so wittingly knew would be neglected the first week or so of having a new baby sibling, she gave the movie "Enchanted" to, which they've watched on the big screen a total of - umpteen times!


Coby also got tons of other outfits, dresses, a fancy schmancy diaper bag and kisses from other friends & relatives - I so hate sending out thank you cards! But I'll get around to it - because I want everyone to know how appreciative I am that they thought of us! The items we got were all appreciated and priceless! Thank you to EVERYONE who sent things!

And durst I go two whole days of posts w/out posting a Coby fix? Nope, here ya go!!

Monday, April 07, 2008

Time for a change?

All right - I'll trump & bump the snotty picture down! We're going to see the doctor today to do the PKU test and I'm sure we'll get some kind of antibiotics for Coby, as well. I'm a little apprehensive since the only other "sick" baby (snot-wise) I've had was Howie and that ended up being a nice case of asthma! So I'm not excited about this particular visit. Howie's first doctors visit (at 2 weeks old) was a sinus infection - and then perpetual ear infections the first year of life until he got tubes in his ears when he was 14 months old!

I just don't want this one to hit that route!

Anyway - Brynn's decided that she doesn't want to take naps any more...not that she was ever a good napper, but it's been wearing her out. Yesterday after conference, we found her asleep on the stairs...the way she was laying, I thought for sure she fell down the stairs & passed out RIGHT there! But no, apparently, just too tired to climb the rest of the steps up to her room!



Meanwhile, I got strawberies at 80 cents a pound - $7.50 or so for the flat, which is a phenominal price. Of course, I picked up 3 flats (WHAT? was I thinking?!!) to make strawberry jam and have been "jamming" since Saturday morning. (Not jamming SOLID since then, but on & off - chah - I'm not THAT slow!!)

So I've reserved the top shelf of my freezer for jam & future jam.


My refrigerator is infested with strawberries.


And oops, just noticed I'm all outa sugar! Way to find that out in the middle of a batch, eh?


So strawberry jam season is upon us - are you doing your duty to sweeten up your household?

Saturday, April 05, 2008

Giggle giggle...

So, I'm guessing it's allergies? I'm doping up on Vitamin C, but still our little angel face is stuffy.

Here's your daily fix - and perhaps even a little bit of fix to those of you who don't want to be baby hungry...

but to those of you who are...

...eat up!


Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Methinks this is what they call "regression"

"Mom, I need you to put a diaper on me so I can go potty." No, it's not spoken in baby talk, it's spoken in phonetically correct "adult" accent by my 2.5 year old.

I also might add into that bucket the "You hid my dinky (aka pacifier, aka binky) I need it so I can go upstairs and watch TT (tv) in my room" to that my response was "But baby Coby needs the binky" (no they don't use the same one, I just don't want Brynn sucking on a dinky when she's 19, ya know? - so I told her I gave it to baby Coby - who doesn't like dinky's...) so she responds "I will take it from her and I don't care if she's sad. She needs to get her own dinky." indeed.

So here's the daily baby fix - picture of the day!!!