Trying

We are trying our best to keep busy around here. It is a hard thing to do when the weather is so cold and yucky. Thankfully, we had some sunny days last week that allowed us to bundle up and play outside. While we were in the car, headed up to Nana's to swing, Lilly shouted "Mom, the sun has come up!". Sad. I know she misses being outside. To me, January is always the worst month...so I am kind of glad we are on the tail end of it.

*To help keep us busy during the day, we went shopping for lots of new arts & crafts. She is loving her new paints. Her room is full of her creations. I love that she loves it.

*I have this silly plant on our table. Claire loves to get it. Usually I am pretty good at keeping her away from it. Not this time. She is so proud!

*Sunday we went to the school that is just down the street from our house so we could let Lilly and the Cooper run around. As you can see, she was in heaven.

*Look at that face. Ooh, I could just gobble her up!

In other news:

*We have been watching the TV show "Lost" for what seems like years, and we finally finished the series last night. To be honest, I am kind of sad that it is over.

*Lilly had three teeth when she turned one. Claire is going to have 8. What the heck?! Currently she has 4...and she is cutting 4 more. 

*Both my girls are great sleepers, so with this teething, I am struggling. I feel like I have a newborn again. Getting up twice in the night isn't the most fun.

*Last week, I had a melt down. Anton was so sweet and just let me cry and cry. I worry myself sick sometimes thinking about what I would do if something happened to one of my girls. 

*Lilly and I got sick last week...with the stomach flu. NOT fun.

*We finally got our California trip all planned. It can't get here soon enough! So excited!

Way Too Funny

My moms dear friend sent this to her. She in turn passed it on to me and my sisters. I thought it was too hysterical not to share. Not too far from the truth either!

11 Step Program for Those Thinking of Having Children:

Lesson 1
1. Go to the grocery store.
2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home.
4. Pick up the paper.
5. Read it for the last time.
 
Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.
Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.
 
Lesson 3
A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...
1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)
2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3AM.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and watch an infomercial.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)
 
Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.
 
Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out...
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.
6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?
 
Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
 
Time allowed for this - all morning.
 
Lesson 6
Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.
 
Lesson 7
Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.
 
Lesson 8
1. Hollow out a melon.
2. Make a small hole in the side.
3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.
 
You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.
 
Lesson 9
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.
 
Lesson 10
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.
 
Lesson 11
Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

The Rut

So, Anton and I have both come to the conclusion that Lilly is really an easy child...most of the time. Every six months or so she gets into a rut. That rut is the following:

*"NO!" (a million times a day)
*Kicking
*Screaming
*Yelling
*Hitting
*"I DON'T WANT TO!"
*Crying
*Slamming the door (I thought this wasn't supposed to start until she hit 14 years old)
*Lots of quality time in the time out corner.
*A few spankings here and there.

Lets hope she doesn't stay in this "rut" for too much longer. I hate it when she is like this. It is a battle ALL DAY LONG. Kill me now.

In other news...Anton watched the girls for me on Saturday while I went and spent 3 hours at AquaVie day spa. 3 hours! It was glorious! I had a massage, a 45 minute pedicure, and a 45 minute manicure. Bliss. My parents gave me a gift certificate there for my birthday last year and I finally got around to using it. It was so needed, and even more appreciated.

Claire has finally gotten her top two teeth! We have a grand total of 4 teeth now. She is enjoying those chompers...she will bite down on everything. Yes, everything. And, it hurts. And at the moment, she has no interest in crawling. She gets into position (with our help) and panics. She would much rather just be a house plant, and I am OK with that. I don't love the crawling stage!

Again, lets hope Lilly is back to her old self soon. I have a feeling it is going to be a long week. Ugh.

Miss Lilly

I just love this little face...

A New Year

Favorites of 2010:
*Claire Elizabeth Brog. Born April 8th.
*The holidays with Lilly. This year she finally got them. Halloween and Christmas will never be forgotten.
*Girls Trip to Arizona. Can we please go back?!
*Being a mom. I look back on the year, and it seems like most everything I loved or enjoyed was because of my family. They have brought a joy into my life that I can't hardly explain.

Looking forward to 2011:
*Lilly's first real trip to Disneyland (she went when she was like 4 months old. we don't count that one!)
*It should be an exciting year with Anton's job. I am really proud of him.
*Lilly will start preschool. I don't know if that is really something I am looking forward too though.
*A vacation for just me and Anton is in the works. Can't wait!

Hopes for the year:
*Become more organized, and get rid of "junk". I really dislike my small little house having clutter in it. It makes it even that more small.
*Less TV, More books. For everyone. I read books with Lilly today for about 45 minutes while Claire was down. It felt SO good.
*I want to have at least one day a week day with my kids where I devote the whole day to them. No cleaning, No laundry, No Vacuuming...just them. Well, I will still have to cook - but that's ok! :) This will be a hard one for me. Sad, I know. It drives me nuts to have a messy house, but what would drive me more nuts is to think back one day and say "why didn't I spend more precious time with them". It scares me how fast time flies, and I just don't want to have any regrets with how I spent my time.
*Grow in the gospel. Become more Christlike. Remember all of my many blessings.
*Get in better shape. I am working on it...but, want to work harder.

Here's to 2011...looking forward to another great year!

My Girls

I laughed when I took these pictures, because they are SO typical of their personalities.
Lilly:
So flippin funny.
My sister in law describes her as being "Zany". Perfect description.
She has such a tender heart.
She is hysterically funny.
"What Happen to Wiwwy" is the funniest phrase she says.
Decided the Nutcrackers mouth was the perfect place to put her booger. Sick? Yes. Funny? Yes!
Is such a home body.
Loves to "snuggle on the couch".
Favorite foods: popcorn, chips, grapes
My favorite 2 1/2 year old in the whole world!

Claire:

Has two little teeth that are crooked! So funny!

Does the stinky face on demand.

Shakes her head when we say "No No No!"

Every time I go to put a bow in her hair, she shakes her head No.

"Ba Ba Ba", "Da Da Da", "Ne Ne Ne" is her language.

Doesn't do well in crowds or when people get really close to her face to talk to her.

Finds Lilly so funny

Is really wanting to be mobile. 

Loves her new lamb and play table she got for Christmas

Loves to suck her thumb.

My favorite baby in the whole world!

Christmas 2010

To start off Christmas Eve, Anton played a mean game of racquetball with my brother and I took Lilly with my parents and most of her cousins to go see Tangled. It was so fun!! Each year, I cook a fancy meal and we stay in and watch movies. This year, we decided to mix it up a bit. Neither of us were feeling like cooking a big meal, and cleaning it up, so we decided to go out! If you know us, you know we love Mexican food...so thats what we decided on. Not your traditional Christmas Eve meal, but it was so fun. After dinner, we decided last minute to go downtown and take the girls to see the lights at Temple Square. We chose a good night...it wasn't that cold, and really not that busy. The girls loved it! After the lights we headed home to get working on "Santa's gifts". wink wink. Setting up all the toys and laying the presents under the tree, brought back that feeling of being a kid again. I left the room for a minute, and came back in and when I saw all the presents laying there...I could barely wait for morning. All I wanted, was to see how Lilly was going to react to her special gift from Santa. Christmas Eve this year was so much fun. I loved that it was just our little family. It was a perfect night.

Christmas morning was truly magical. We both went in to wake up Lilly, and she SHOT out of bed. I had to grab her hand to slow her down so Anton could get it on film. Of course the moment she walked into the living room, she said "A Kitchen!". We had to convince her that her kitchen wasn't going anywhere, and that Santa had brought her more gifts. Claire was just Claire...mellow and happy to be with us! She loved the paper and the bows....more so than her gifts. Typical baby! Lilly's new toys have been a life saver for me! She just plays and plays and plays...she pushes her babies up and down the hallway with her stroller, she cooks for them, she is in pure heaven. It is really fun - and quite nice!

Anton and I don't really do much for each other throughout the year, so we take the opportunity of Christmas to really spoil one another. And, I tell you what...every single year, I think "oh man, he is going to love what I got him", and then he always manages to up one me. He is so sweet with how much thought he put into my gifts. I just adore him.

This time of year can be hectic with going from here to there, making sure you have gifts for everyone, schedules are off etc., but really the best part of the holidays is the time spent with our families. We don't get to see Antons family very often because they live in St. George, so around the holidays they always come up and it is great to see them. Lilly adores her Grandma (and pompa of course!), and loves every moment she gets to spend with her. It is also so fun for Anton to get to have his family around for a few days. There are always tears shed between Lilly and grandma when it comes down to saying goodbye, but we are grateful they come up to see us for a couple of days during this crazy time of year. And, we are grateful that they live in St. George and not farther away! I am so mad at myself for not getting pictures with them this year. There is always next year!

I am so in love with my little family, and this Christmas could not have been any better. It really, truly, was a magical Christmas...one I will never forget!