Toddler Conversations...

So life has been pretty rough and dramatic and sensitive for us lately. Bella is cutting three teeth right now and pretty much spends her days crying or being held so that's fun! She has always been picky but the teething has taken it to another level which drives me crazy so...yesterday she had chips and fruit snacks for lunch (mom of the year over here). That's about it for Bella right now haha but Riley has also been going through some attitude issues and it seems we rarely have good times anymore. We spend all day fighting and sitting in time out. But this morning she hasn't gotten into trouble yet and is pretty entertaining. She told me this morning "my hair loves me" and "my body heals me that's why I love my body" I couldn't help but just laugh and say "oh that's so nice." But kyle just couldn't let it go and tried to explain to her that her hair isn't alive so it can't love her and she lectured him for a while saying "everybody is alive and they know what they are doing and my hair, she loves me!" So kyle tried telling her her hair isn't a girl it's an it 😂😂 I'm just laughing over here and they keep arguing about it. Finally she says with a stern voice "MY HAIR LOVES ME AND ITS ALIVE!" It was quite entertaining and I enjoyed watching her argue with somebody besides me lol. Oh another funny story. Last night, I had to have a conversation with Riley about boys and girls and their different "private parts"... I wasn't quite ready for that convo but she was convinced Daddy had pooped his pants and this isn't the first time she has said that so we had to finally sit her down and talk about it...but kyle deffered that conversation to me...like I know more than him about boys and their private parts?! That may have been TMI but I thought it was a funny memory I should right down to laugh about later! Haha that's all for now!

Time to Catch up...

So Riley has been banned from electronics until she can learn the listen the first time she is asked/given instruction and so Kyle had paused a movie we were watching because she was in the room and she threw a fit and said "I WANT TO WATCH THAT! It's boring and I love it!" I have been slacking on blogging lately and haven't been documenting enough so I'll give a quick breakdown of Miss Riley and Bella. Riley is going through a stage of wanting to be in control of everything and demands to wear a dress or skirt everyday even if it's freezing cold outside. She still walks on her toes a majority of the time and continues to have her sassy big personality. Bella is FINALLY walking...she falls quite a bit but still prefers walking over crawling. She is a very cautious baby and doesn't enjoy swinging or jumping on the trampoline but loves water...weird. She is extremely picky and throws food in the floor ALL the time! It drives me crazy and she just thinks it's funny. Well that's all I got for now. Oh both girls recently got stuck in our little play kitchen...I've attached pictures for your viewing pleasure 😂😂

This is Riley during her first primary program...it was a bit of a struggle near the end haha

They love riding around in this tiny little wagon and Memaw is the only one nice enough to do it haha

Our annual trip to the corn maze! The sun was a little bright haha

Bella can now climb up onto the fireplace..I HATE it but can't stop her these days

This is just a glimpse at Riley's style..she has a dress on with a shirt and sweater over it and then some pajama pants with bike shorts over them...she wanted to go out like that...didn't happen

This is when Bella got stuck in the kitchen...

and then Riley did it...and I'm the kind of mom who says "hold on let me go get my phone!" and she was even trying to smile through the tears for the camera haha such a poser!

Bella got a "B" sticker stuck on her bum!

Riley's haircut (done by mommy) with some layers

Some labor day fun with cousins and grandparents and great-grandparents!

And crazy uncle Kyle

Riley is turning into quite the photographer..posing her animals and dolls for pictures lol

Riley's Moana party (she says she doesn't like Moana anymore). I had a lot of fun decorating for this party probably more fun than I did after the party started with all the craziness of the kids lol jk I am so glad I went all out for her party this year because she loved every second of it and it made it all worth it! She even loved the decorations and all the Moana details which made me feel extra good.

 

This is the face she made when I told her to "rock out" on her guitar haha such a character

She wanted to help me clean! She is pretty good at cleaning most of the time really!

This is as far as I have made it on our letter of the week haha One day she will learn the whole alphabet...

Our second family costume. I have a limit of only making one costume by hand each year haha last year it was Riley's and this year it was mine...it's so much work! I wish I knew how to sew and owned a sewing machine...someday maybe

Riley was so proud of her "bridge" she drew in this picture...I was actually impressed with it too! Just loved her answers..apparently I have taught her how to use her sword...

One of those rare sisterly love momemnts!

That's my updates...see ya in another couple months after the craziness of the holiday's...if I survive! 

Oh my....

So this is not a happy or funny story today but I'm sure when we look back on it we will find it a little funny. This morning I was sleeping deeply enough to be dreaming (very rare these days) and in my dream Riley is fighting crying because we were making her take a nap. Well turns out, the crying was not a dream. Riley was screaming crying and my thoughts went everywhere thinking of reasons she might be crying like that...she threw up, she had a nightmare, somebody was killing her (just kidding lol)...so I run to her room and open the door and she stops when I ask "why are you crying?" And at this point Bella woke up and is crying in her crib but my first concern was Riley. She stops crying and says "I have a booger and it won't come out!"  WHAT IN THE WORLD?!? I was so angry! I then realized my child has some anger management issues and it's most likely my fault haha that's how my morning started...luckily Bella went back to bed and Riley will be taking a nap today!

Riley's Got Talent #AGT

We were watching America's got talent the other night and one of the performers was a 9 year old girl singing and Riley was so into it. After she performed and got a standing ovation Riley was so excited and said "I want to sing there too and I can sing Let it go and I can wear my pink dress with circles!" It was so adorable she had it all planned out! I know this little girl of ours has such a big personality and will do great things in her life and I'm so excited to see what she chooses to do because I know she will excel at it!

Such a Big Girl

Today was a good-ish day! Riley was playing out in the backyard while Dad was working back there and came running inside with a...Worm in her hand! I freaked out and made her take it back outside. She was so concerned about her little worm and him having more than dirt to eat so she left him on a table outside with some goldfish snacks to eat...he died haha! But it was so sweet! She was so proud to tell me she was feeding her worm a snack.

Later at lunch, Riley was telling us she had a big sister. After many questions she finally told us her big sister is Elmo...she then changed her mind and said "elmo is my prince!"

Tonight for FHE we asked Riley to say the prayer and she didn't even hesitate which is a change, she usually asks for help. She uses the phrase "have fun we can..." instead of "we are grateful for.." I'm not sure where she got that from but we get what she is trying to say haha. So in her prayer she says "have fun we have our house that Jesus bought for us that we can clean tomorrow." It was so funny we were all trying to hold back our laughter. Kyle did a sweet little lesson about families and Riley was so eager to answer all of his questions it was adorable! It is amazing how much knowledge she has of this Gospel even at such a young age!  That's about it for today!

Losing My Mind

So I don't feel very many happy or exciting things have been happening with the girls lately...or I just have stopped noticing haha! No there have been a few exciting things going on around here! A few weeks ago I was called to be the Young Women's Ward Camp leader...I was very hesistant to accept the calling because of Bella and the fact that I am her only source of food (at the time I accepted the calling at least). But about a week after accepting the calling, not sure how it was going to work out, Bella decided she liked baby food when it came in the form of a pouch she could suck on! Yay miracle! Now the thought of going to camp is at least a little less stressful knowing she won't starve to death haha. I know Heavenly Father definitely helped me out there. While Bella is still not crawling at a little over nine months, she is getting closer and closer everyday! I will definitely be documenting those big milestones...Riley might hate me for that someday haha (I wasn't a very good at that for her). So funny/crazy story from today. I took Riley and Brianna (my other child these days) to playgroup today and was kind of exhausted from chasing two toddlers around. I needed to stop by the store to grab a few things for dinner. I get the girls into the basket and go in and get what I need. As I am about to walk out, I realized I didn't know where my keys were and started to have a mini panic attack. I thought I might have left them in the car but before I freaked out and called kyle I decided I would go check and pray maybe I had left a door unlocked or something. Well...I did leave them ON the car haha it's a miracle somebody didn't steal our one and only car! Oh I forgot to mention, I had bought all the groceries or at least thought I had but the sacker noticed some butter I forgot to pull out to buy. As I was freaking out about my keys, I was going to have to go through the line again for this one thing of butter. I told them I would just come back another time. The lady that was getting her groceries said "No, scan that onto my ticket and give it to her." She said "I've had little kids before I know what it's like." It just really made my day and I felt so blessed to still have a car and have this sweet lady buy the butter for me!

Riley is becoming quite the artist these days! She has been begging us to draw Rapunzel all the time and none of us wanted to so she finally decided she would do it! I praised her A LOT for how great she did. Mostly because I was so impressed with her skills but also maybe a little because I'm sick of drawing stuff haha I'm no artist!

Pictures

We got a dog 2+ weeks ago- Buddy. We figured the only way to get a boy into this family was through adoption. haha! He's a good boy and is already well trained. Though he's going through some sleep issues because he slept with his previous owners and we're rude and put him in his kennel.  In the formal dining room. And then ignore his whining.

Other than that we've just been busy turning our yard into a playground and enjoying knocking things off our to-do list!

 Here are some pictures from the last month:

 Enjoying some music together

 silly face! (also note that we still haven't figured out what to put above the mantle...it's low on the to-do list)

 The teeter-totter airplane. We also have a swing set up now, which we built in the cold snap last Saturday while the sick kids watched TV inside. (note all the weeds and the bare dirt... also on the to-do list is to remedy those...I usually spend 5 hours a week pulling weeds and then dump them on top of other weeds to kill everything or on top of the bare dirt to give it a "mulch")

 The girls picked over 200 dandelion flowers for me in 2 days (took about 30 minutes total). I LOVE dandelions if for no other reason than to see the happiness my girls get from giving me a bouquet.

 These crazy birds like to take rides on our fan! It's very entertaining.

 These 2 were when the girls got sick last weekend (end of April). They only had fevers... Though I don't like it when the girls are sick, it was so much easier for them to all be sick at the same time. They sometimes get jealous of what the sick one gets but everybody got all the same snacks and drinks and camped in front of the TV. WAY easier.

Mommy's Defender

We were driving in the car yesterday and I can't remember why I said it but I told Riley that daddy was being "dumb" (not a nice thing to say I know but he was making me mad). Well anyway, Kyle says "did you hear that Riley? Mommy isn't being very nice to daddy she called me dumb!" Riley thought kyle was trying to say I was dumb so Riley starts yelling at kyle "Daddy you be nice to mommy she's not dumb she's nice!" So kyle starts trying to explain that he wasn't calling me dumb and Riley just starts yelling (sometimes what I do when I do want to hear her whine or say the same thing for the millionth time....I'm such  a great example 😂). She kept doing it until Kyle and I just busted out laughing! She is picking up on so many things good and bad lol it's hilarious to see her act like a little adult sometimes. Later in the car she told kyle "Daddy you're not dumb" haha it made kyle feel better. Also, last night we went to Darla's house just for a little bit and Bella FREAKED out about the dog. Maddie (the dog) was barking running around wanting to see everybody and the first few times she came to Bella and I, Bella would yell at her! Not like a yell before a cry, just a loud yell I've never heard her do before. Kyle tried to get it on video but she had warmed up to the idea by then and stopped yelling at the dog.

Tender Mercies

After having a difficult day full of toddler meltdowns and sick babies, I didn't think I really had anything exciting to report for my day. Riley never ceases to amaze me and do/say the sweetest things just when I'm ready to put her to bed and be done for the day. She has been helping us say our prayers and tonight she said "thank you for our sister and that she's so cute" and I added bless her to feel better and then Riley chimed in with "she feel better so much better! Just like doc mcstuffins." I couldn't help but laugh out loud a little bit. I'm so grateful for the love Riley has for Bella and the joy she brings her baby sister. Also, Bella kind of already knows how to give a high five! It's the cutest thing! I'll have to video it tomorrow. That's all for this long day of meltdowns (both toddler and mommy kind haha)

Put her to work

So, I love having lotion put on my feet after I shower and Kyle HATES doing it and does it less and less now that I'm not working outside of the home (like being a mom full-time is any less exhausting?) . I had the brilliant idea to ask Riley to do it and my life is forever changed (well at least as long as she thinks it's fun haha)!! She did such a great job and even got in between my toes!

I was so proud of myself for actually fixing my hair today...as I was bragging about myself Riley said "you straightened your hair all by yourself?!" And I said "yep all by myself like a big girl!" And Riley said "good job mom that is so great!" Haha such a good positive reinforcer!

Love This Family

This was our FHE activity last night...of course only the girls participated in the coloring contest!

Is this not the sweetest thing?!? I couldn't help but snap a picture while I was stuck nursing Bella on the outside of this wonderful prayer circle.

Riley decided only she could "fix" her hair today...This was after I had put it up twice and she pulled it out! This sassy girl likes things her way or the highway that's for sure! A quick funny story...mom and I always seem to have hair ties on our wrists so Riley put one on her wrist and said "I put this on here so now I'm a mommy!" Haha if only it were that easy to become a mommy right?

Tonight Riley helped Kyle say the prayer and she said "thank you that Jesus is in our house," my heart melted! 

London Bridges

I am sad that I have missed out on documenting the hilarious things Riley has done up until this point but I guess it's better late than never! Today I was teaching my youth fitness class at the gym and we played London bridges for a little while. So later this evening Riley was singing the song and once I stopped to listen I couldn't keep a straight face. She was singing "take the key and knock her up, knock her up; take the key and knock her up, my fair lady!" 😂😂😂😂 We gently corrected her and tried to  keep a straight face so she wouldn't purposely sing the wrong lyrics because that's what Riley does haha. Yay for my first post!

What's this all about?

Ok, so Candice had the AMAZING idea to start a blog or a place for all of us to document the crazy, sassy, hilarious things our children say or do! I have moments daily where I think to myself "I should write that down" and of course I never do! But how fun would it be if we all did every once in a while and could read about our cousins too! You of course don't have to document yours here but this is where I am going to make an effort to write this stuff down so we can laugh at it later! I for one can't wait to embarrass my girls with these stories when they are sassy teenagers! Love you all!