Timed Post

I only have a few minutes to write this post. I've decided to limit my time on the computer when my children are awake so I can spend more time with them. Daniel is keeping a watchful eye on the timer so he can let me know when it beeps. Then off to play his new board game "Memory."

Christmas was wonderful. Daniel has yet to realize he can wake up early, so we got to sleep in until 8:00 am. Well, Carlo slept in and I got up to nurse Coral around 7:30. I wanted to have her fed and all ready before Daniel woke up. I knew I couldn't contain his Christmas excitement while he waited for me to nurse Coral. The timing was perfect. I was just finishing feeding her when he walked in, rubbing his eyes and said "Did Santa come?"

Santa left Daniel a play tent and he has pretty much lived in it since. We have to drag it into each room we are currently occupying. Carlo suprised me with a digital photo frame. He knows I love to blog and take pictures, so now I can display all of them! He was sure to mention adding a few pictures of him surfing. He is such a funny guy. I commented that two of his favorite things start with s- surfing and you can figure out the other one!

Christmas is here?

Thanksgiving came early this year, which meant decorating for Christmas sooner and the season taking FOREVER, but now it is here! I haven't been much in the Christmas mood, but today will be full of Christmas movies and a little hot chocolate to get me ready for next week! Yea!

We had our ward party and the children sat on Santa's lap. I am in amazement at how tall my children are! I know they are tall, but it seemed quite obvious to me in these pictures. Daniel told Santa he just wanted toys for boys and Coral checked Santa out for a minute and was done.







I received a surprise package from Germany the other day from a really good friend, Kathrin. She sent me something I love, but never get- German chocolate. Carlo and I have been stuffing our mouths. Along with the chocolate, she sent a Christmas Pyramid and Daniel some really fun toys. He has played with them every day! I love Germany and hope I can go back again. Thanks for making our tastebuds happy Katrin!





I go on a walk/run with my kids every morning and it has become much colder. Just to get out the door is a process with all the steps involved in bundling. I thought I'd share a picture of how cozy my children look. Do you think I put enough clothes and blankets on them?

The Finger

I had never thought about my children having their own special bond. Anytime Daniel pays attention to Coral, her eyes light up and she grabs his head. Daniel just chuckles and says "Look Mom, she's getting me. She likes me!" Until recently . . . Daniel has started to annoy Coral. On Friday, he kept pulling her arm away from a toy and she finally yanked it loose, screamed and hit him. The whole episode was quite funny, but it only confirmed that our little girl does have a temper. This temper is brought to the surface in a few situations: If I am feeding her solids and get up to do something, when someone is bugging her and if she wants something and you are too slow to take care of it. She is certainly off to a good start as the princess of our family. Even so, I walked into the room the other day and found the two of them cuddling and having a "picnic" as Daniel called it. Of course, it was a "Kodak" picture moment for a mom.





We finally put up our Christmas tree this past Sunday. Sadly, we resorted to a fake tree again this year (I know it is such a disappointment Cory). We didn't have the time to go together for a real tree. It is in our future though! Daniel, surprisingly, played with two ornaments the whole time- his plane and train- and left everything else to us! There was no late night visit from Christmas Elves to rearrange the tree! Coral just hung out and watched the festivities; or more accurately Daniel, as he ran around the room.



We started a new tradition this year. I have been gung ho on getting our own family traditions started since Daniel is getting older and can remember last Christmas already. So, we went to Target and picked out a family ornament that reminded us of something from the year. We probably could have picked out a baby ornament for Coral's birth, but Daniel doesn't have one, so we opted for a lantern. It is in remembrance of our trip to The Grand Canyon Caverns. A lantern is needed to camp and they also used them in the olden days in the caves. Perfect ornament! It even attaches to the string of lights!



My highlight this week was- drum roll please- smashing my finger in Coral's closet door! Daniel, Coral and I were going about our evening clean up of the house when I pulled Coral's closet door shut and my diamond caught on the door and pulled my finger right into the danger zone. My finger hurt a little, but when I looked, it was bleeding, swollen and squished due to my ring bending around it! And I have a platinum ring . . . Carlo was working, so I called my dad. He was a great help and supported me through my crying as it took five, very painful minutes to remove the ring. The process involved holding my hand in freezing ice water, lathering it with vaseline and repeating the process over and over so my finger would not swell too much. I was determined to get that ring off and endure the pain rather than visit the E.R. and have my wedding ring mutilated beyond repair. Now I just need to go and get in reshaped. I can hardly wait to see the jewler's face when I bring it in.

The Minds of Children

I am fascinated by Daniel's thought processes. This morning I took one of his toys (it was extremely annoying) and played the magician trick of slipping it from one hand to another and then under a pillow. Well, that is about as tricky as I get. As long as the toy disappeared, that was all that mattered! Daniel tried to find it in my hands and when I asked him where it was, he yelled "In your ear!" Yep, that's usually where the magician will pull out the item from. Silly kid.

Daniel knows he's funny too. Quite often throughout the day he'll crack up at himself and ask me "I'm funny, huh Mom?" Perhaps Carlo and I should keep our "Daniel's funny" comments to ourselves or else Daniel is on his way to being one big class clown. Who knows, he probably is already.

Now, I am just getting through the stage of a three year old, so I am not certain what is "normal" for that age. However, I am quite shocked at Daniel's skill to barter and reason his way out of chores and other things. I asked him to clean up his room before bed and he nonchalantly told me "I'll do it tomorrow." Then as I pressed him more, he began willing and dealing with me! He also told me his fingers were broken so he couldn't pick up the toys! I did win the battle and watched him clean his room up all by himself. He even finished with a smile on his face. I think I ended this day as a pretty good parent.

Coral has been keeping me up the past two nights. I try not to complain because she really has been an angel baby; and she is teething. Poor girl. I can tell she doesn't feel well and just wants to be loved and held, but at two in the morning? I need my sleep, so these past few days my house has gone to shambles and so have I. There's always tomorrow . . .

My mom bought all the grandkids coordinating outfits for pictures. We all gathered at my parent's home last night and after much primping and prepping (of course Daniel was not into it at all- poor kid- he's the only boy), here are the results.

Just a Post

My argument with Daniel today:

Daniel: "Mom, Where did I get that Dancing Santa?"

Me: "From Nani. She is your Dad's grandma."

Daniel: "SHE'S NOT NAUGHTY, SHE'S GRANDMA!"

Me: "Yes, she is Grandma, but we call her Nani."

Daniel" NO! SHE'S NOT NAUGHTY, SHE'S GRANDMA!"

Naughty . . .Nani . . . amazing how much they sound alike, but only a three year old would actually confuse the two.

He also helps me do dishes and while stirring the water begins yelling:

"Soups ready! I've got your soup and enchiladas!"

The imagination of a child is so vivid. I remember. I was watching a movie called "Bogus" with Whoopi Goldberg, where she gains custody of her recently deceased best friend's child. The little boy draw a picture and thus creates his imaginary friend "Bogus." By the end, Whoopi's character also sees and interacts with Bogus. She also needed someone in her life and Bogus appeared for her as well. Interesting concept. I've been asking Daniel the names of his imaginary playmates to see if there is one constant, but there hasn't been yet.

Besides Coral being a cute baby, she only has one new trick. If you lightly tap your hand over and over on her mouth, she'll do the Indian chant. When you stop, she'll grab your hand and pull it to her mouth again. She can almost do it by herself, but hasn't quite grasped the skills.

You know how you have preplanned pictures before you even have children? Well, I did and the picture below was one of them. I always knew I wanted to take a picture of my children in the bath. I was a little concerned for Coral's life, but she lived. I get so worried because he is so big and active and she can fall over in the tub so easily.



Coral's "banana face." She does not like it when I feed her bananas.



The building of our Gingerbread House. Grandma Terrie gave us a kit. Less stress, no hassle and super easy. It was a winner.

50/50

I really love spending time with Daniel, and some days I don't. In my ignorance, I thought there was the perfect way to raise a child. Right now, I am taking it day by day and am turning to the Lord quite often. I just want my children to grow up and be decent, respectful persons. Of course, I also want them to have a testimony of the gospel and be active in the church. As a parent, I guess I can do my best and let them make their own choices. But for now, it really is a battle some days.

I often wonder what it will be like to have Coral as a three year old. I dream of her playing lovingly with her dolls; unlike Daniel making any object into a gun. We wrote out letters to Santa tonight and his number one request- a big gun. He loves to run around the house "killing" monsters. What's a mom to do? If there is any advice from you veteran mothers, I have a listening ear.

And then there was today- he helped me do the dishes, take care of Coral, cuddled with me on the couch, had normal and pleasant conversations with me and I just loved him to pieces. Daniel can be one funny kid and alot of fun to be around.

I am just beginning to realize how much Daniel picks up from Carlo and I and also from the outside world. As we both walked into his room this morning, he pushed his door and said "Stupid door." After asking where that came from, he simply said "Dad". I know that last night Carlo went into Daniel's room and said that very thing. Daniel was also giving me a renactment of "The Simpsons" episode Carlo was watching last night! Oh boy.

Unfortunately, Daniel has picked up a few bad things from myself, but of course I can't think of any right now! I do tell him quite often "You're not listening to me." and when I tell him something like "It's time for bed," he replies "No, I don't want to." and I reply "Yes." and he replies "You're not listening to me. I don't want to go to bed." How's that for genius! Using my own parenting strategies on me! As the old man I passed on my walk today said "You have your hands full." And yes I do.

Independence

I know every sound in my house and can monitor my children and even my husband by the noises they make. Perhaps I like to know exactly what is going on or I am just nosey. Earlier this evening, I heard the beep beep of our camera and knew Carlo was reviewing pictures I had taken. I had, however, forgotten the pictures were of paintballing. Thus, my post. Carlo asked me to post some of them.

Here is our excursion into the desert. It was extremely cold, but a fun family time. Daniel pretended to drive Carlo's truck the whole time and I even got in a few paintball shots at Carlo! I missed . . .





The other night I was in the middle of making dinner when Daniel was expressing his dire need for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He told me he was starving. He asked me over and over to make him one and I finally told him to make it himself; if he wanted a sandwich, he could make it on his own.

I firmly believe in independence as I do not want to be slaving for my children the remainder of my life. Well, Daniel must have gotten desperate. He asked where he could get the necessary items, if it was okay for him to handle the butter knife and made himself a PB&J. It wasn't the best of sandwiches, but he was happy. My three year old made himself a meal!

Are You Thankful for Where You Are?

As Daniel is running around the house yelling, "I got you Butt Man" (probably confusing our physical anatomy with the infamous hero, Bat Man), I am pondering Thanksgiving. Too often I get caught up in the holiday buzz or altogether try to avoid it. This year, I have been making my prayers more meaningful and grateful. Well, the one I said for lunch was anyways. I'll work on the rest. Meanwhile, I'll attempt to teach Daniel what this holiday is really about. I think this may just qualify me as a good mother.

Carlo is rushing me to get showered and ready. Yep, I have yet to take care of myself today; such a surprise for a stay-at-home mom. We are off to the paintball store in preparation for our first family paintballing event! There will be no gun pointing at Coral, Daniel or myself, but he did invite us to watch the festivities. Personally, I think he is afraid of what will happen if I play. Domination.

Our early morning activity means I will be over at my parent's home tonight preparing the turkey. The new tradition (starting last year) involves me gutting and basting the turkey. My mom politely transferred turkey duty to me. I am almost 30 years old, so I probably ought to step up to the plate and take one for the team; or at least prepare the bird who took a chopping for the team. Yikes!

For the last bit of my post . . . I have such a hard time keeping my chuckles to myself when Daniel's maniac cruising through the house results in his injury. As I was putting away clean dishes today, Daniel's indoor activity involved running around and around the center island shooting imaginary monsters. I am not sure how the next event occurred, but it did happen in slow motion. He was propelling himself forward, mouth open with a smirk on his face when he made contact with the corner of the island. A loud thud sounded through the kitchen with some crying to follow. Blood was oozing from his mouth and I had to play the cool and collect mom card. After ascertaining the minor damage (he had pierced his tongue in two places with his canines), I pulled Daniel to me and laughed silently. That was perhaps the funniest, slow motion injury I have yet to witness from Daniel as it was highly unexpected. I'm sure there are many more to come. The best ending is Daniel's soft whine saying "It'll feel better in a minute Mom." And it always does.

Life is Just Life

Has my enthusiasm about blogging worn out or is my family in a blah phase with no exciting news? There just does not seem to be much to write about lately and my picture taking has almost screeched to a halt. As a matter of fact, I just imported the pictures from my camera- a shocking total of three. I may be slacking as a mother and missing those picture perfect moments.

I did manage to click a memorable moment the other day. Carlo and I were searching the whole house for Daniel- usually he is right at one of our hips. He had disappeared. Well, I bought him a bath activity center the day before,(due to my throwing out of all the squeaky bath toys. Gross moldy things kept shooting out of them.) and he had climbed into the bath tub, shut the shower curtain, and was happily playing away without the need of water. He has pretty much begged for a bath every day since we made the purchase.



For my friend Veronica, and anyone else who is interested, I bought the faucet cover at www.booninc.com for a total of $14.99. It makes washing Daniel's hair much easier, makes a bubble bath when soap is added to the top and you can still pull the shower handle up! My other faucet cover went over the whole thing.

Well, I am off to submit my first Wildtree order from my parties! Yummy stuff. I ordered me some soup from my hostess free product and can hardly wait to try it out.

Feelin' the Love at Target

With a baby, you often receive a pluthera of attention from strangers. They like to ooh and aah and standing near by is my sweet little Daniel. He'll try to get in on the conversation by announcing "She is my little brother/sister." (Daniel gets a little confused as to who is the brother and who is the sister.) The stranger will then ask some questions about Coral, ask his age and then tell him to take care of his little sister. I think he has been quite well mannered during the one-sided attention conversations. It's not easy for a three year old when he use to be the apple of everyone's eye.

While visiting Target today (a common stomping ground), an elderly couple followed the above dialogue almost to a tee. I can pretty much pick out right from the start which person will present these monologues. Yep, monologues, as they never speak to me; purely directing their attention at Coral, who cannot even return their praise. Which puts me onto another thought- why don't they ever speak to the parent? After all, they are strangers.

But I digress . . . A Targer employee walked up to Coral and said how cute she was and then immediately turned to Daniel and started talking to him about him. She told him she was the "older" sister and understood what it was like for him. Immediately, Daniel's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "I love you!"

How sweet are those words, even when uttered to a Target employee. This just leads me to believe that he really has felt the neglect these past six months and truly did love this lady for paying attention to him for once.

Let us all try to acknowledge the older siblings of tiny babies, and who knows, maybe we'll be the recipient of an "I love you" statement.

Pictures Say a Thousand Words

May the pictures exlain our current affairs.

Coral's new trick. Yes, she can finally sit up. We still have our "Weebles Wobbles" moments.



My Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin with the kids. Not too many children have great grandparents alive still.



Daniel the day after Halloween. Do you see the sucker stick in his hand? He must have been tired because that is how he crashed!



Coral eating her first cracker. This girl is obsessed with food. You wouldn't think so since she is so skinny, but she begs for everything. She can even chew some foods already and is just barely six months! No pushing food out with her tongue! She figured out eating solids quick.



My clean and suppose to be clean glasses from my dishwasher. I've been on the hunt for something that won't leave residue behind. My friend Amy found something that works for her washer and I was bound to have sparkling glasses too! So, enter Lemon Shine and my eyes had to divert from the dish washer when I opened the newly cleaned load. Lots of bling. I love it!



Coral is going through an extreme stage of separation anxiety. If I leave the room, she starts screaming like someone cut her finger off. Well, I suppose to her it might feel that way since she only views herself as an extension of me right now; so they say. Well, in an effort to curtail the crying, she became my load of laundry. I did this with Daniel and it was an instant success. She took some warming up. Not until I was almost done putting everything away did she finally brave grabbing a piece of clothing- and of course, my exercise underwear seemed to be her prefered choice.



Daniel wanted some tape and then proceeded to wrap it around his wrist. After inquiring about his activities, I was informed he had a broken wrist. Oh such an imaginative child.



Coral has now taken to cruising around in her walker. Her little toes can only manage to push on the non carpeted surfaces, but that means fun times for her while I do dishes and get ready in the bathroom. Oh, but doesn't she seem too little to be graduated to a walker?



As Coral has accomplished the feat of sitting, she has graduated to taking baths with her brother. I still put her in the infant tub, but poor Daniel is squished into a corner and no matter how much water I put into the little blue contraption, it likes to float. I plan on researching bath seats and think our evening ritual will be much more pleasant with one. For now, after I take Coral out of the tub, Daniel sneaks into the floating boat and acts as Master Sailsman.

Take A Moment

Please take a moment to check out this story and video. There are some really amazing people in this world. I couldn't hold back the tears.

Copy and paste the link.

http://cjcphoto.com/can/

Digital Scrapbook Pages

Here are a few pages I scrapbooked in 30 minutes using the Quickmix feature on Memory Mixer. Love it!

Grandpa Steve, Grandma Debbie and Aunt Lea came to visit when Coral was just a few weeks old. We love every moment we get to spend with them as they live so far away in Arkansas!

Two Memory Mixers

I ordered this program called Memory Mixer to do my digital scrapbooking. I love it and am thankful my friend, Lila, told me about it.

Last night, the doorbell rang and there was another package containing Memory Mixer! I called today and was informed that they accidentally shipped double to a few customers and to keep the extra program.

So, if anyone is interested in buying this program without paying shipping and handling- let me know. It was $79.95. I'd give it to someone as gift, but I don't know anyone who digital scrapbooks and let's face it, I don't give gifts that expensive!

Lots of Wii Time

Yea, I haven't been able to post. My fingers have been busy working their muscles playing Super Paper Mario and my right arm is now out of proportion to my left arm from continual swinging. I wish.

Actually, we have been busy and sick. My high school was in town over the weekend playing in the zone conference for volleyball. They are now in 1A and play mostly Christian schools from Las Vegas. So, we were able to watch prayer before, during time out and after the game. I suppose my old home town of Tonopah could use the religion.

My high school coach is still coaching. It was good to see her and listen to her gloat over me from my glory days. Yep, I could relive those days over and over- up until we lost the State Championship my senior year. I'd sure like to have my body from back then!

So, that was our little adventure on Saturday and then Sunday night I was up with Coral every half hour. She would fall asleep and then wake up because she couldn't breath. The cold has now gone from Coral to Carlo to Daniel and now me. And not one of us is completely over it. Fun times- between Coral spitting up mucas, sucking out her snot and Daniel costantly yelling that he needs me to wipe his "bloody" nose (he still doesn't get the saying of runny nose), I'm a little worn out. And I feel like a billion germs are crawling all over me! Yep, I know my friends who have told me many times that I am a germ freak will get a chuckle out of that one. Just wait until we are all through being sick and I walk through the house with bleach and disinfectant!

The good news . . . Coral had her well check yesterday and she's doing great. She still runs in the "tall string bean" category. Her stats are below:

14 lbs 12 ozs - 25 to 50th percentile
26 inches long - 75th percentile
and I don't remember what her head measured, but it is in the 50th percentile.

And then, even though it wasn't his appointment, Daniel told the doctor he needed a shot to make his tummy feel better. When I was buckling him into his booster seat, he exclaimed "Uh oh, they forgot to give me my shot!" I sure do hope he keeps that outlook.

Here are my first two digital scrapbook pages! It is sooo much fun.

The Perfect Close to My Birthday

As I was about to prepare for a relaxing bath while watching my two children (we all know how well that goes), I heard the sounds of a key turning in the front door. It was only four O'clock and he was home to wish me a happy birthday. Yes, I did get to take a bath in quiet. I was even able to do some digital scrapbooking- my new favorite hobby.

After my enjoyment of alone time, we were off to Target. Carlo purchased my birthday present- the Wii!!! As some of my readers know, I have been wanting this little item for awhile. We stayed up until midnight competing in bowling, tennis, baseball and golf. I, of course, am the champion in all sports- except for tennis. I cannot figure that one out. If you had seen me play in real life, I think it would help you to understand my poor playing skills.

I also had a couple of surprise visits. My next door neighbors, Amber, Keith and Jordan, appeared on my door step with cupcakes, a candle and a birthday song. Sure brought a smile to my face since I hadn't had any candles to blow out! Then the next visit from my visiting teacher, Heather, brought some Ben and Jerry's! Cupcakes and Ice Cream; and Carlo didn't even have to bake, buy or anything!

Oh, I do love birthdays. And, disregarding my previous post, they always do turn out to be magical. The best part- Carlo put both our children to bed! While I played the Wii, of course. . .

Happy Birthday to Me!

For some reason, I always think my birthday is going to be full of fairy dust, magical events, sparkles, smiles everywhere and people yelling "Happy Birthday" to me on the streets. Well, I'm finding out that birthdays get less and less eventful each year; not because I'm getting older, but because life gets in the way.

However, I am grateful for friends who call or email to remember me. Those do make the day much better. For now, I can concentrate on making my children's birthdays full of sparkles and excitement! I want them to enjoy life to the fullest!

Halloween Family Birthday Party

My side of the family has a Halloween Family Birthday Party each year. My brother, niece and I all have birthdays in October, so we have fun by dressing up and carving pumpkins. My mom always makes a "surprise" Halloween style cake. It is one of my favorite times of the year.

My birthday is tomorrow. I'll be turning 29 years old. This morning, I went for a run/walk with my kids and looked down at them in the jogger. All of the sudden I was overwhelmed with how blessed I am. I have beautiful, happy and healthy children that I get to stay home with every day because my wonderful husband works hard for us to do so. I always thought I'd be through with my baby bearing years by this age and well established. I wouldn't change a thing though. (I probably ought to come back to this post when I'm having bad days!)

Our Royal Family



Aunt Jenny helping Daniel with his pumpkin degutting!



This years spooky cake! I carved the pumpkin on the left.

A Spoooky Shark's Reef

Sharks Reef held a Halloween event yesterday. The kids could dress up and go trick-or-treating in Sharks Reef! So, my sister, a friend- Jordan and the kids and I decided to go and check it out. Daniel had fun, but he wouldn't touch the fish in the petting tank and he was all spooked out when it was time to go to bed. He never lets me cuddle him, but I got to last night! Now I know I just need to get him scared!

Coral received many comments on her princess costume and Daniel was her knight-in-shining armor. Oh, and thanks to Paula for letting me borrow the sling. It made the trip much easier. And so many people made comments on how cool it was!

And Coral's costume was a loaner from Michelle- thanks to you too!

Enjoy the pics.











Coral holding her trick-or-treat bag. She held onto that thing for pretty much the whole time!

Daniel's Picture

 

He was much harder to photograph. He wanted to get his picture taken, but after a few shots, he was done! Hence, he looks mad. Oh well.

Beautiful Girl