Pahysee?

This one is one of the cutest things Emma says. It is also one of the hardest to phonetically spell. Say "spicy" without the 's' at the beginning, with a strong southern drawl and start high and go higher like a question. Got that? Also - look at whomever you are addressing with an earnest, quizzical look. Emma has started saying this in response to almost every new thing that she tastes. I'm not sure why she has started applying it in this way. We tell her that she won't want any of daddy's food because it is too spicy for her - Tuan loves really spicy (read: hot!) food.


On Christmas day my oldest sister joined us at another of my sister's farm. Whew, got that? My brother-in-law pulled the kids around in a sled behind their 4-wheeler. All of the kids had tons of fun and I loved watching them. Emma joined her daddy on the sled, bundled up to the eye-brows and not exactly sure what was going on. My brother-in-law reved the engine and pulled forward a little bit. As soon as they began moving forward, Emma got this look on her face that I regret so much not catching on camera. Her smile literally took the rest of her face off! We don't get many white Christmas's in Oklahoma, so this one in Idaho was a real treat.

Oh min!

This morning Emma decided to climb into the bathtub (still in her footed jammies, I don't know how she made it over the side without breaking her neck!) and pile all of her bath toys into her toy bowl. Then she dumped the bowl onto the floor and promptly moved on to other toys. This evening when we went into the bathroom for her bath, I turned on the light, she took one look at the toy-strewn floor and exclaimed "Oh min!" (Oh, man!). It was so adorably grown-up sounding. *Sigh* I can't believe she will be two in only two months!

Now I would like to take a moment to brag. *Ahem* As you probably know, we use elimination communication with Daniel as we did with Emma. I am much more confident this time around and have found more little extras to make things flow more smoothly, like poquito pants - a fancy, extra-absorbent cloth diaper for when I am doing other things and not as focused on our communication. The others are as follows. I have made several pairs of fleece split-crotch pants and a potty cover for Daniel and his potty, respectively! Hooray for me. Now I can keep his little legs warm without having to remove his pants every time he needs to pee and his little tushie won't get cold when he sits down.

Ok, I know that he is naked (at least from the waist down) in this picture, but after he did this to me well, I say "all's fair in love and war"!



Boys! After all the trouble I went to in order to lay him on a pad! :o}

Two pairs of rosey cheeks!

The other day Tuan commented that Emma had not one but two pairs of rosy cheeks! Remember the clothing strike? It was pretty adorable, but I got concerned when she said that her bum and cheeks were "owie". So I put some medicine and lotion on them. After her bath I rubbed some major moisturizing gunk (don't want to advertise!) on them and the next morning they were no longer rosie and "owie". Thank goodness for major moisturizing gunk, huh! I took an absolutely adorable picture, but she's "nated" and I can't post it on my blog. Oh, well! She'll thank me when she's older, right!

Wherza da cookie?!

Last night, our family enjoyed our Christmas Eve traditions. Every year we go out to eat - at a Chinese Buffet since they are usually the only places open on Christmas Eve and also very yummy! This year, we didn't realize until too late that Christmas Eve was a Sunday night. But we decided to go out anyway and really had a great time. It was late in the evening and so nice to have the restaurant pretty much to ourselves. Then we drove around and looked at "titty heights" (see previous post for translation) on our way home. Tuan put on some lesser known (read: obscure!) Christmas music and we danced around a bit before reading the Christmas story from the Bible. As Tuan read the story, Emma and I set up the nativity. Then we popped in "The Polar Express" and waited for midnight to roll around so that we could each open one present. We then added the last ornament,baby Jesus, to our advent calender tree. Despite a late morning and late nap, Emma was pretty tired and cranky while we were setting out a cookie for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer. (One carrot - 8 reindeer = not enough, I know, I know!) I wasn't sure if she was really getting what we were doing. So, Christmas morning rolls around and we all come out to the living room. We point out that the cookie and carrot are gone now. Emma looks at us in surprise and asks, "Whereza da titty?" (where's the cookie) We explained that Santa came last night and took the cookie and carrot after leaving presents for Daniel and her. She excepted this fabrication completely and without question the way only and innocent child can. It really got me thinking. For Emma, we are her entire world. If we tell her that something is truth, she has no reason yet to disbelieve us. This really impressed upon me the importance of my position in her life right now and the influence I have. I am humbled by this responsibility and more resolved to teach and nurture in Emma and Daniel the self-worth and courage it will take for them to become who they want to be and do what they want to do with their life. Wow - all of that from a simple cookie and carrot! Merry Christmas!

Ahhhhmen!

This is Emma trying on the costume I made her for her part in our church nativity. I decided that I wanted her to be able to be a part of it and didn't want to find a babysitter for her. So I asked the director if we could be Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus and a Sheepheardess. She said that it would be fine, so we handed Emma a stuffed lamb and headed out onto the stage. If you don't know, Emma LOVES to sing. She loves to sing loudly, too. As we were going to be on the stage for 3 musical numbers, I was pretty nervous that she would break into song and be very distracting. Very lucky for us, she was entranced by the wisemen, the hay and the audience and only sang a little bit and softly. Whew! Oh, and after sewing nursing slits into my costume, Daniel slept through the entire ordeal. Double Whew! During the closing remarks, Emma started veering off to the side and the only thing that would get her to stay close to us was to sit on my lap and hold Daniel. It was a really precious moment.

I love the way Emma says Amen after we finish praying. Withy her usual chin-to-the-ceiling-then-down-to-her-chest head movement: "Ahhhhmen"

My two handsome guys!

This would be me, trying to catch a moment with all of us together. They are both on my lap and I'm holding the camera out hoping it's aimed correctly. Not bad, if I do say so myself! :o)

The leopard may go shopping naked - you may not.

I think that this one flows quite nicely after my last post. Nothing, absolutely nothing that we had sounded good to eat, so I decided to take Emma shopping with me and let Tuan have some Daniel time (and I get some Emma time). So I tell her that we need to get dressed to go shopping. "Eopard dess?" Sure, let's get the leopard dressed. After 5 minutes of choosing the outfit and getting him dressed, Emma was ready to go. Thus I found myself uttering the words: "The leopard may go shopping naked, but you may not!" Wow, things I never thought I would say until I had a toddler!

On a scarier note, our family went to tithing settlement tonight. No, that's not the scary part. The bishop offered Emma a piece of hard candy. I explained to her that it was like a sucker (which she has had) only without the stick. So you suck on it until it's gone. She did really well until she got into her car seat. I'm not sure exactly how I knew she was choking, there was a look on her face and momma instincts kicked in I guess. I started to reach my finger in before remembering that you should NEVER do that if someone is chocking on a piece of food. I grabbed her out of the car seat and held her upright while she coughed it up. Oh. My. Goodness! I was very, very scared. But everything turned out all right. I guess she isn't ready for hard candy after all. No loss there, right!

Eppard nated

Ok, I can finally write a proper post! Our internet has been down all weekend and off and on throughout the week. Ugh! I am not ready for Christmas!! As all of you who are reading this well know because your mailboxes have remained curiously empty of any Christmas card (or indeed a birth announcement for Daniel) from us. Here's to hoping that all of you are ready for Christmas - or at least more ready than I am!

A cute yellow onesie that once belonged to Daniel is now the leopard's onesie! The leopard is now Emma's favorite stuffed toy. I am a bit over-proud of this because I chose this stuffed animal for my baby before she was born. So the leopard gets dressed and therefore undressed! I didn't realize this was an obvious fact until Emma pulled him out of the onesie and declared: "Eppard nated!" And indeed, her leopard was now naked! Nevermind that he was always"naked" before the onsie was ever introduced. :o)

Why take turns when you can enjoy it together!

While cleaning up the kitchen I was slinging Daniel on my back. Emma decided that she wanted to sling her bear as well. It's a good thing Daniel isn't half my size like this bear is to Emma!

Emma is enjoying the brief snow we got on Friday. So is her leopard - I think ;o)

Oh, Homer, come on - Marge isn't here!

We went to visit my sister and her family for dinner the other night. The excuse was that she had apron patterns and I want to make an apron for Emma and me by Christmas - wish me luck! But we really just wanted to get together and let the kids play. This sister and I have daughters a year apart (hers is older) and a daughter and son a month apart. The girls had fun playing with a dancing/singing Santa doll. But the most fun was had with a dancing/singing Homer Simpson doll. (My bro-in-law loves the Simpsons - heck, he married one! Little joke, our maiden name is Simpson.) At one point after dinner, Emma pushed the button on the silent Homer. When he started singing and dancing, she about jumped out of her skin! My niece is so precocious. Homer says - "Marge come scrub this santa suit" to which my niece says: "Oh, Homer come on - Marge isn't here!" How cute is that! My sister said that she nearly drove off the road when she heard her daughter say it! :o)

Titty Bum

I'll make you wait for the end of the post to find out what this one means! Today I got the kids all dressed and ready to go to the library for storytime. It isn't the best storytime - most of the books are a bit long and the librarian doesn't like the kids to get up or make any noise. But I met a girl my age who is expecting her second in the same age gap as Emma and Daniel. Emma and her little boy were having fun together before we left. I said that I hoped to see her again at a storytime because I wasn't sure where else I would see her. So I really wanted to go today in case she was there. Unfortunately, she wasn't there and Emma wanted to go in and out of the storytime room. It really didn't help that the librarian had picked books way too long for toddlers to sit through or be interested in. Lots of moms were having problems. So we left before it was over and came home less than an hour after we had left! Ugh. It is way to much work to get them out of the house to have such a short trip. Oh, well. There's always next time!

While I was fixing dinner yesterday, I peeled the sticker off of a piece of fruit. I then gave it to Emma who later gave it back to me - she stuck it to my tummy. A few minutes later, I picked up Daniel and the sticker transfered onto his bare bum. I didn't realize this had happened until Emma looked up at me, pointed to Daniel and said "titty bum!" I guess she wanted me to know that Daniel had a sticker on his bum.

Emma nated!

"Emma nated!" is what I heard and when I turned around I saw my beautiful daughter just as the day she was born. Well, about 11 in taller and, oh, 13 lbs heavier, but my point is that she was wearing nothing! What is funny about this story (hang in there with me!) is that 15 seconds earlier, she was wearing socks, a shirt, pants and panties! This girl is fast! Apparently Emma nated means Emma naked!

Ok, can I rant for a moment? Thanks! Almost every time I go out into public with Emma some well meaning stranger will let me know how frightened they are of my cute little girl falling off of whatever object I have placed her on and braking her head open! Yes, I realize that they are caring people who love children and don't want to see my daughter hurt. And yes, most of the time I don't really mind that much and just brush it off. I mean, come on! She is nearly two and has been sitting on counters for at least half of her life! Plus, I am right there. Plus, I would not put my daughter on a surface that she is not comfortable sitting on. Plus, if I never let my daughter sit on anything higher than a kitchen chair, I believe that I would be doing her a disservice in not teaching her to be careful, et all. But today took the cake. I was in a grocery store and Emma was in the front of the cart. We were waiting in line and she had turned around and was rearranging the items in the cart. This wasn't a deep cart but one where the child seat is level with the basket. A worker came over to us and said to Emma in a cute voice (passive aggressive, much?!) "you're gonna fall out of there little girl." Then she looked at me and said "I'm just scared to death watching her!" Sheesh! I was quite irritated. Whatever - Emma has yet to fall off of anything I put her on. *End rant. Thanks for reading!*

Poop Hole

While this may have been how I was feeling all weekend, the title of this post is actually what Emma calls the peep hole on our front door.

This last weekend was a real wake-up call for me. I participated in a nativity as Mary. I stressed all day over how Daniel (baby Jesus) would be during our part. I didn't eat or drink very much all day because I was stressing over making Emma's costume and finding my own - thank you, thank you, Cindy for the pattern- you know who you are! :oP (I know, I know -but I didn't procrastinate. Honest! I just didn't realize that it was last weekend instead of this one!) Then we got there and the sets weren't completed yet - so no run-through. Even more stress! I didn't get a chance to eat much for dinner as we had to start our parts. Afterwards, we (I) tried to take some cute pictures of Emma and Daniel in costume for our Christmas pictures. Say it with me everyone: More Stress!! (Do you suppose I need to relax?!) When we finally got everyone change, bundled up, home and unbundled, Emma was wired from the candy-cane the Wise (or not so wise) Men gave her, Daniel was very overstimulated and I was exhausted and very sick. Ugh. Tuan gave them both a bath with him while I ate every scrap of food we had in the house and drank a pitcher of water. Once Emma was in bed, I crashed next to her. It was a pretty bad night and lets just say that Tuan ended up taking Emma to the couch and sleeping there. :o( The next day I slept for 3 hrs in the morning and 3 more in the early evening while Tuan took care of the kids. Whew! This was a real wake-up call to me that I need to take better care of myself. I am breastfeeding two children - one exclusively and the other a toddler for goodness sakes! Remind me of this fact in two weeks for our Christmas music program!

Thanks for waiting so patiently for this latest post! I hope to post more pictures soon - I am currently having trouble with the program I always use.

I am NOT a sucker - so stop smacking on me!

Tonight I made hamburger pizza for dinner. To the grill seasoning and Worcestershire I added a bit a brown sugar - shh! don't tell. ;o) During dinner, Emma kept adding more parmesan cheese to her pizza. It reminded me of one of the first times she ate pizza. She kept asking for more cheese and then nibbling it off of the top. She kept going until there wasn't enough crust to nibble off of. It was so cute. I thought I would always remember this every time we eat pizza w/ parmesan cheese. But sooner than I know it, Daniel will be eating pizza and creating new memories for me to remember. So I choose to right this one down.

Lately, Emma's latch has been off. The result is that when she nurses she makes a smacking sound and feel. It. Drives. Me. Nuts! As she was nursing to sleep tonight I just wanted to scream, "I am not a sucker - stop smacking on me!" :o) But she was peacefully drifting off to sleep, so that wasn't an option! C'est la vie. I will address the issue tomorrow perhaps. If I'm not too tired. Also, Tuan and I participate in a nativity tomorrow night - wish us luck! (Peaceful sleeping vibes for Daniel would be much appreciated!)

Danna potty eat!

Today Daniel, Emma and I went to see my midwife and her apprentice. We put Daniel in the sling scale. He now weights: 12 1/2 lbs! Funny, he wasn't as heavy until I knew just how much he weighed!

While Emma was sitting on the toilet today she informed me that "Danna potty eat". I was quite confused as to why eat and potty would be in the same sentence. I finally figured out that eat meant sink. Daniel goes potty in the sink until he gets a bit more body control and I can help him sit on his baby bjorn little potty. (We practice elimination communication - for more info: www.diaperfreebaby.org) She's learning words so fast now, we can hardly keep up!

titty heights

Emma is finally getting over her cold. Yea! We went for a walk today and saw lots of twinkle lights on people's houses and trees. Emma enjoyed saying hi to a friendly golden retriever and crunching through the snow while Daniel slept through the entire adventure, thank goodness!

Tonight we all went to a rehearsal for a Christmas program in which Tuan, Daniel and I will be playing the parts of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus! Mary is singing one verse of a song and I'm hoping that I can get it all memorized and do well come performance time. *bites nails* We also have to provide our own costumes so wish me luck with that. Any ideas and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Have you figured it out yet? "Titty heights" = twinkle lights!

Butt Dance

From now on, I think that all of my post titles are going to be things that Emma says - because she is always coming up with more cute ways to say things. By way of explanation, this title means 'bug dance' - more specifically, the 'dead bug dance'. Tuan taught her this dance one evening when he was really tired out but Emma wanted "more dance". (I gave it the attractive title!) You simply lay on your back with your knees to your chest and move your arms and feet to the beat. Tonight Emma laid on her side and kicked one leg out while telling us "butt dance" Mommy! Our poor daughter!

This evening we were able to go to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional - an hour-long broadcast which is mostly music with the Prophet and his two counselors each speaking. Emma loved all of the music and sang along to every piece. Everyone around us were great sports and didn't seem to mind a toddler singing along. I just love that my daughter loves music!

Vive la Butt Dance (in honor of exhausted parents everywhere!)

Big, big hair!!

After asking various people in the ward whom they used, I called around town to find the best deal on a haircut. As soon as I walked in, I knew that the price might not be worth the cut. However, since I had just left Tuan in the car with two screaming children I decided to stay and deal with the consequences! I'm pretty sure the cut is just fine, but I left the salon with my hair looking just like each if the hairdresser's - fluffy and ginormous! Tuan was smirking before I even got back into the car, smug man! But since I cut his hair, I may just "accidentally" forget to put the cover on the razor. Oops, I guess I will have to shave your whole head now, honey! Hee, hee. I straightened it as soon as I got home.

I must add to this post. I really feel I should post a GINORMOUS thank-you to my husband for taking our children to the library while a was pampered with a haircut and eye-brow waxing. (yowza - really making me rethink that interest in getting a brazilian. That may not be something I ever need to experience!) Thank you very much, Tuan! *smooch*

I'm learning to juggle!

No, not with balls or bowling pins or even knives! I am learning to juggle children! Emma still takes a nap every day - yea! However, Daniel is a snugglebug and upon being laid down will soon commence crying. So, nursing Emma to sleep for a nap is not really feasable - unless I am also holding Daniel. I am learning fast and can now confidently nurse both at once and when Emma is asleep, maneuver Daniel off of Emma onto the bed and then lay Emma down. I am so awesome! Hee, hee!