Growing Up

I knew this day was bound to happen. Berlin has decided to wean herself at 11 1/2 months. Atleast she went 2 weeks longer than Finn did. Just like Finley she is quitting cold turkey. Overnight she has gone from nursing 8 times a day to just once (and once is a good day). It wouldn't be so bad except that my kids abhor bottles. Finley went straight to sippy cups, but she doesn't even want sippy cups. I was hoping this time around would be different - that she would nurse morning/night and use a sippy during the day. Obviously this is not the case. Emotionally I am much more prepared this time around (I was one emotional & engorged wreck when Finn did stopped) so if she decides to let it go, then so will I. Thus I embrace saying goodbye to the baby stage forever and I will welcome my little girl who's growing up.

Berlin reading with me the other night. She LOVES to look at books & turn the pages all by herself.

This past week welcomed the fact that Berlin can wear clips in her hair! Yippee!!! Finley didn't have much hair until he was 2 and I was worried that she would be the same. Luckily this isn't the case (not that she has a ton of hair by anymeans) and she wore her first barrette the other day. Isn't she just adorable!!!


Here's my posse in their grey-hoodies. I had the perfect picture and then Finley threw a fit and refused to sit up (hence just his leg is in the picture). Thus I snapped his picture separately as he tried to hide behind his shoes.

Finley & Ryan like to play video games together (Ryan plays while Finley thinks he's doing it all). Here's Berlin getting in on the action while trying to get her own controller out of the drawer.


This last week we made Valentine's Day cards. Finn thought that was the coolest - especially when he got to use scissors. He loves the foam stickers too (hooray for the dollar store!).

Dear People who Bug Me...

Ok, I try to keep my blog happy and fun with pics of the kids. However, I am so urked right now after a couple things that happened yesterday and today while running errands, that I need to vent and I am going to do so here. If this offends you, I'm sorry, but this is how I feel.

Dear Hispanic petition seekers ... please leave me alone. Do not approach me as I enter and leave Walmart, Target, my grocery store, and the park. I will not sign your petition now or ever requesting that all business forms etc be published in Spanish. If you want to live in this country - learn English like the rest of us. Or pay for a translator. You don't see German immigrants asking for forms in German, Italian immigrants seeking Italian, Portuguese immigrants in Portuguese, etc. If you want to live and do business in Spanish, please do so in a Spanish speaking country (there are many to choose from). Also, do NOT curse me in front of my children for not supporting your "cause."

I also will not now or ever sign a petition seeking health insurance for immigrants (legal or illegal). You shouldn't be getting free insurance when the rest of hard-working Americans don't. If you want health insurance either get a job with an employer that pays for it, pay for your own plan, or pay for expenses out of your own pocket. This is not the land of freebies & handouts. Again, do NOT curse me in front of my children for not supporting your "cause."

Dear Dragon Tales, Dora, Diego, Handy Manny, Maya & Miguel ... and all other Spanglish cartoons. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you. One, you are just plain annoying. Two, it is not the responsibility of my children to learn Spanish so that they can communicate with your children. English is the language of this country and that is what kids should be learning - English. Kudos to shows like Super Why and Word World for teaching kids how to read and spell in English.

Dear Litterers ... please refrain from throwing your trash (beer can's, cigarettes, food wrappers, etc.) in my yard. If you want to live in filth, fine, so be it, but do so in your own home and yard - not mine.

Aaaah ... I feel so much better having gotten these gripes off my chest.

Thanks ...

Yesterday I went to Target to run some errands. I knew we had a storm coming in later that day so I got us ready and out the door by 10am. When we got there the skies were partly cloudy and it was windy but no snow in sight. I thought to myself that I had a couple hours before the predicted storm moved in. An hour and 10 minutes later we left Target and much to my dismay it was a freakin' blizzard outside. It was completely white and the wind was so bad the snow was literally being blown horizantally. Luckily we had gotten to Target early enough to get a parking spot right by the entrance. So I rushed outside with the kids in the cart. Needless to say that carts aren't meant to be pushed thru 2 + inches of snow (yep - 2 inches in an hour???). As I struggled to get the kids in the car a nice older gentleman came over and started wiping the snow off my windows and mirrors. Then he helped me unload the cart into the back and took the cart to the store. What would have taken me 15 min to get everything loaded in and the snow wiped off, took me less than 5. I just want to shout out THANKS! to that gentleman. He made my day and I hope he knows how grateful I am for his act of kindness in the middle of a parking lot in a blizzard. It's reassuring to know that good people exist in our world today.

All Tuckered Out

This weekend was full of fun for Finley. On Friday night he got to play with all his "Birth" cousins at Bouncin' Off the Walls in Draper. He had so much fun jumping in the bounce houses, sliding down the slides, and chasing all the kids. He just loves playing with the cousins and I'm grateful that there are lots of cousins his age for him to play with.

Then on Saturday we babysat my friends kids so they could have their date night. Finley, Kate & Tyler played and squeeled and ran around the house for 4 1/2 hours straight - barely taking time off to eat.

Finally on Sunday we had our friends (Kate & Colin) and their two kiddies (Sophia & Baby Nora) over for dinner. Again they played and played and played all night long. And Berlin of course just ate up all the action and crawled wherever the kids went (playing with toys along the way).

Once Kate & Colin left, Finley asked for some cereal. About 15 minutes after giving him some cereal, Ryan found him fast asleep - sitting upright on the table bench. It was just too funny & cute not capture on film. This was Finley below - all tuckered out & fast asleep.

BRRRRRRRRR - it's COLD outside!

Ok, I know that since I chose to live in Utah and marry a man from Utah, that I don't have any right to complain, but for the record I HATE UTAH WINTERS!!! We had a cold front move in yesterday and today was so cold. It was 8 degrees this morning with a high of 20 degrees this afternoon. And apparently it's supposed to be colder tonight???? Thank heavens that I have a warm body to sleep next to, otherwise I'd freeze my little toes off.

And with the cold temps, it's just not worth taking the kids outside. Thus, I have to get creative with how we spend the day. Apparently my efforts haven't worked as I planned and I think in the end I was the one who had more than enough to fill my day :) Here is a picture of Tornado F&B which managed to dispel every single piece of clothing in Finley's clothing cabinet.

Needless to say I am dreaming of nice, hot summers already.

Little Miss Mischief

Berlin has given me a run for my money the past couple days. With her crawling now it seems that she is into everything and I spend most my day just keeping up with her and Finn. Here are the lastest incidents that were too funny.

The first one she crawled over to the tree (while I was loading the dishwasher) and proceeded to pull a candy cane from the lower limb (no doubt Finn put it there). By the time Finley informed me that Berlin had a candy cane and he wanted one too, she had unwrapped it, broken the top curve off and had sucked the tip to a nice round point. Needless to say her pants, face and hands were a sticky mess (as were my floors once she crawled over to me).

My cute little candy cane caper.

The other pictures are from today. It was one of those days where you just go from room to room picking up toys and clothes and junk, to turn around and find a new mess in the room you just left. While I was taking ornaments off the Christmas tree Berlin found her way into the kitchen and created a nice pile of ziploc bags and tupperware for me to clean up. Luckily Finn was a great helper and once she went down for her nap he helped me put them away.

Enough with the Tupperware ... onto the Ziploc drawer.

A New Year with New Resolutions

Ok, I know we all make resolutions for the new year and after a couple weeks, they are long forgotten in the backs of our minds and covered in cobwebs. But I love that each year we can reflect on the past year, learn from our mistakes and even our victories and use that knowledge to make the next year even better. So this year I am going to tell the world what I want to do in hopes that those who know me will help me to keep them. Of course, to make it easy I'm keeping the list small - no more than five. I think I can handle that (we'll see right *smile). I'll even report back at the end of year! :)

1. Read more (I used to read all the time, but having kids makes that hard. But this is the year that I read more and gain back some me-time!)

2. Have regular date-night with Ryan once a month. (Thankfully my friend Melissa and I are helping each other with this one as we trade-off babysitting.)

3. Increase my spirituality. (This sounds vague, but it encompasses alot of things. I just want to grow closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ this year.)

4. Be truly happy with Me (This is the year I want to be able to say "I love me" and mean it. I am my worst critic and I need to be a a bit easier on myself and embrace who I am whole-heartedly.)

5. Laugh more with my kids and not worry about the little things that stress me out and cause me to over-react. (I need to stop, breathe, and think about my reactions towards the kids.) You know like getting upset about frosty spilled all over the floor, toys strewn all over the house, hand-washing turning into a splash fest with water all over the bathroom, etc.)