The Days Before Christmas

I can't write much because I have Phoebe asleep in my arm. But check out these pre-Christmas photos and I'll post actual Christmas pics later with some explanations.

Is it Chistmas yet?

We decided to give the girls an early Christmas present. It's too big to bring with us to Soda Springs tomorrow, so when Gwen woke up this morning, I hid in the living room with the video camera while Logan let her out of the crib. At first, Gwen didn't really notice the play kitchen in the living room; she saw me sitting on the couch with the camera and headed straight for me. I hurried and said, "Merry Christmas!" and suddenly she saw it. She yelled, "Merry Chri-cus!" and immediately went for her new toy. It took Logan three hours to put this little kitchen together, but it was worth it. The girls haven't stopped playing with it yet. Gwen loves the microwave. She puts her food - usually some sort of fruit or a can of soup - into a bowl, puts it inside the plastic microwave, pushes some buttons, then goes "mmmmmm.... beep beep beep!" So funny! She does this over and over again. She started figuring out the stove next. The stoves lights up and makes noises. Gwen's been frying a waffle. Sometimes she moves it with a spoon onto a plate with some ice cream. I'm going to let her make breakfast from now on.

Tomorrow we are traveling to Soda Springs and staying for a few days. I'm very excited for Christmas this year (as I am every year.) This is Phoebe's first, and she's just old enough to pull apart some wrapping paper. She'll probably like playing with the paper more than with what she unwraps, but that's okay. Gwen is old enough this year to understand that toys are underneath all the decorative paper. I'm so excited to see her reactions! When I was a little kid, my mom had exciting Christmas mornings with me opening presents. Everything I got, I gave a huge reaction. My eyes and mouth would get extremely round, and I'd yell, "Crayons!!!!!!" I'm hoping Gwen gets that excited. She may be too young yet, but who knows. I'm also looking forward to Logan's brother calling from Brazil. Last time he got to call, Gwen wasn't talking very much, but now I'm hoping that she'll get to say hello and have a little conversation with him in Gwen language. The convo will probably go like this: "Hello? Hi, Uckle Brenna. Wadda? (Then she'll repeat anything that he says. If he says "I love you" she'll go... ) Love you, too! Bye!"

Christmas is in three days! We can't wait to see our family and make lots of happy memories with the girls!

Can't Get Enough of 'Em

Here are some pictures I've taken this week. Phoebe is all dressed up and ready for church. Her hair is hopeless. There's been so much static cling in the air, it's impossible to get her fine hair to lie down. People at church were playing with it.

I have to be fast taking a picture of Gwen. When she sees the camera she comes running. 

Phoebe has started running for the camera too.

Gwen looks so grown up at the computer. 

So she got into a bunch of Phoebe's clothes and put them all on. She's wearing a hoodie, a onsie, and a jumper. She insisted on wearing these for half the day. 

Happy Update!

I'm not sure what happened, but these last couple days Phoebe has been AMAZING! I've done nothing differently yet, but she's been so good and playing so well, I feel like crying now. She's playing with Gwen, getting into things, being so good! I think Friday night may have helped. Logan and I went to Lindsay's work program. Collin Raye was performing (it was awesome!) so we asked Logan's brother and his wife to babysit our kids. This is no easy task for anyone. Gwen is so hyper and Phoebe is so clinging, that you feel like your watching 10 children. Phoebe screamed and cried for the last hour we were gone, but I think allowing someone else to watch her, helped her relieve her anxiety. I came back! She trusts that I won't just disappear. Hopefully, I'm not jinxing this. It's only been two days. Still, today and yesterday were great days, and I thought I should post that.

AnXiEtY

Phoebe has always been a momma's girl. She was never very comfortable in anybody's arms but mine even when she was only a few days old. For some reason, she is only ever content when she is snuggled up against my chest, watching the world from the safety of my arms. Ten months later, this is getting very stressful! This morning, she cried and screamed whenever I put her down to make breakfast, get ready for the day, change diapers... everything. It's like this every day! I have to convince Phoebe to play on the floor, and it takes several attempts and a couple hours of deep cleansing breaths to achieve this. Gwen was the exact opposite. When Gwen started moving, she rarely came back! Phoebe's been crawling for a while now, and instead of going off to find trouble with Gwen, she chases after me. It's hard to get anything done when I only have one hand to do things with. I'm not sure what to do. Is this normal? Does she have trust issues? Okay, so she does sleep in our bed still. And they say babies that sleep in their parents' bed tend to suffer the most from separation anxiety (not Gwen, though.) But that just brings up another list of issues! How do you get a baby who suffers from separation anxiety - even in her sleep - to sleep in her own bed? I'm not sure.

Oh, but she's just fine if I'm not home! She doesn't scream for Logan when I'm out shopping. It's when she knows I'm home and available for cuddling that she needs to follow me around until I can pick her up and carry her around.

But I must admit that Phoebe is very good at cuddling and she sure is adorable, even when she's crying.

Sorry for the rant. It's part of my self therapy program to prevent premature baldness. If I didn't rant, I'd pull my hair out.

Fun Pictures

Phoebe's bed head. She looks a lot like Logan in this pic.

Too cute. She needs a haircut so badly though.

The girls love to get into the cabinets. I can't wait to give them their own kitchen for Christmas.

It's almost nap time. The girls are making their escape.

Phoebe loves Gwennie's car. She gets so proud of herself when she's on this thing. She hasn't figured out how to make it go forward yet. It doesn't matter to her though. I think she likes being taller.

Gwennie put her coat on upside down and insisted that we zip it up (down?) for her and she refused to let us fix it. I think she looks kind of like a duck.

Gwennie made the mess and let Phoebe take the blame. I had to clean it up, though.

Not fair.

Some Thanksgiving Memories

We spent Thanksgiving in Soda Springs. We all had a great time talking with each other, playing disc golf, and  cracking up (or pulling our hair out) over something the girls were doing. I realize I didn't get very many pictures this time. I took one picture on Thanksgiving (which has a bad pic of me in it, so I won't be sharing :p) and the rest of the pics are of the girls playing. 

Here's Phoebe playing with toy peas. I think it's appropriate because Gwen calls her PP. I hope that nickname doesn't stick though.

Phoebe couldn't get enough of the bird. She'd pull herself to standing and try to poke it. I caught her trying to look innocent.

I can't get a good picture of Gwen anymore. She doesn't like having her picture taken, and when I pull the camera out, she wants to look at the pictures on it. This is Gwen running to help me with the camera.

Gotta love 'em!

Sammy's Coming!

My sister Samantha is planning on coming to visit us in Idaho in the next couple of months. I'm so excited to have her here. The last time she was here was when Gwen was born, but I was a bit preoccupied at the time. This time I won't be pregnant or recovering from surgery, so we're going to have a blast. Because I'm so excited, I decided to create a post dedicated to her and share with everyone who she is!

Samantha Lyn is 19 years old. We used to fight like cats and dogs when we were kids and were as different as night and day. She's dabbled in a lot of activities in her life: piano (she's great), singing (again, awesome. So not like me), and horseback riding. She's extremely bubbly and quite goofy. When we're together, we're always making fun of something, quoting ancient movies that we watched as kids ("So don't you try to go 'oink oink oink!' when you can only go 'weee weee weeee!'"), laughing hysterically, or fighting. Good times. So I'm thrilled to have her visit!

This picture was taken in July when we visited the family in New Jersey. Don't you love Phoebe's patriotism? Oh, and don't you just love the deodorant stick in the focal point of the picture?

Moving On

I think Phoebe's getting sick of breast milk. I turned around after getting Gwen some juice, and found Phoebe flirting with the fridge. Surprisingly, I'm not that jealous. In three more months, we'll be done, and since Phoebe is cutting teeth, I can't wait.

She'll be nine months in two days!

Halloween!

We had a very fun Halloween this year! Logan and I were brave and actually went trick-or-treating door to door in the neighborhood around the corner. Our comfort zone usually makes us wait to hear word about a trunk-or-treat, because we are pretty shy people. Seriously, knocking on a stranger's door and demanding candy is scary for us, even though we're supposed to. But we wanted Gwen to get the full Halloween experience, so we bit the bullet and did it! It was a lot of fun and Gwen had a blast! She came home and chowed down immediately on a couple candy bars. She was in heaven.

The night before Halloween, Logan and I carved our pumpkin. It was our first time ever carving a pumpkin and we were quite proud of the results.
Do you see it? It's a scary face peeking out through blinds. Very startling.
Gwennie loved her cowgirl costume. She wore it all day on the 30th and on Halloween. She even let me do her hair in pigtails. She usually hates for me to do anything with her hair, but I told her that cowgirls wear pigtails, so she let me.
And our Phoebe was an elephant! She laughed and laughed when I put it on her. She must have felt silly, but she was the cutest elephant ever!
Here's us checking the mail before trick-or-treating. Once we turned the corner, Phoebe was sound asleep.
It was a beautiful night. Gwen got extra candy for being so cute. After a half an hour, we returned home and made cinnamon hot chocolate, ate some candy, and convinced Gwennie that she needed to go to bed. I had to wrestle her out of her costume. She looked so confused the entire night, but I knew she had a lot of fun.

My Life's Promises

I feel like I'm a pretty private person, especially when it comes to blogging and exposing too much for everyone in the world to read. But I felt inspired to share a list that I recently composed. I needed to write this list to help myself see what is really important in life. I've viewed my extended family doing things that are hurting themselves, so I've compiled a list of my life's promises to make sure that my own family doesn't get to that point. I feel lucky in a way, because I've learned the hard way what I must and must not do, and I can avoid certain things so my family will succeed. I know most of that doesn't make sense to most people, but I'm sharing this because the list I made, I think, can help many families, not just my own. And I encourage everyone to make a list of their promises to their families. It's inspired me and I'm so excited for my family.

The List

1. I will never be unfaithful to my husband

2. I will never lie for personal gain

3. I will never abandon my children, physically or emotionally

4. I will fight to keep my family together

5. I will tell my children I love them everyday, and everyday I will prove that to them

6. I will always try to understand my husband and strive to make him happy.

7. I will push my selfish desires to the side to meet my family's needs first

8. I will keep the Spirit in my home

9. I will introduce my children to the gospel and help them keep their love for Christ

10. I will help my children with their homework

11. I will encourage them to do their best in everything they do

12. I will discourage them from quitting

13. I will encourage them to be involved as a daughter/son, sibling, friend, and student

14. I will teach my children to be independent but to not be afraid to ask for help

15. I will teach my children to be fierce as a family member - to love and stand up for their family

16. I will raise my children to be proud of their standards and to not feel belittled by others

17. I will never belittle my children

18. I will help my children to develop a healthy self-esteem

19. I will not belittle myself in front of my children

20. I will raise my children to love and to help others

21. I will show my family what happiness is by loving my husband completely

22. I will teach my children by example

23. I will make my children do what they don't want to do, if it is good for them

24. I will be my children's friend while not neglecting my motherly duties

25. I will turn off the TV and play with my children

26. I will never make excuses to not be there for my family

27. I will not mother my husband

28. I will not belittle my husband

29. I will encourage my husband to do his duties for the church and I will never hinder him from doing so

30. I will be my husband's best friend

31. I will make my husband feel like he can do anything, because he can

32. I will hug my husband when he walks through the door

33. I will work disagreements out with my husband in earshot of our children sometimes, so they know that disagreements don't make a marriage fail

34. I will allow my children to feel like a vital part of the family, because they are

35. I will not scream at my children

36. I will never make my children feel unsafe

37. I will make our home a safe haven

38. I will read to my children

39. I will tell my children they are beautiful

40. I will remind my husband that he is one hot stud

41. I will not laugh at my family members' concerns

42. I will be a great listener

43. I will not feel like a failure even when I can't fix everything

44. I will allow my children to develop a deep love for their grandparents

45. I will not discuss marital problems with my children

46. I will make it my life's goal to make my children laugh

47. I will not be afraid to act goofy in front of my husband

48. Though I can't sing, I will sing; though I can't dance, I will dance, so my children will develop a love of music and expression

49. I will let my kids help me in the kitchen

50. I will inspire my kids to love learning

51. I will allow my kids to be involved in the activities they want to be involved in (ie school activities)

52. I will hug my children when they cry

53. I will continue to add to this list when the Spirit whispers to me on how to be a better wife and mother, and when life's experiences require me to.

I love my extended family, but I refuse to lead my husband and children down their road. I love my family and I love my Heavenly Father and Savior, and I hope that will never be questioned.

Old-ish pictures

Thought I would update quickly. I finally found my camera (it was hiding in the hole in the couch) so I figured I'd just post some of the favorites that a took weeks ago.



Some family updates: Everyone in our family except for Phoebe had the stomach bug. Good thing we took turns and we weren't all sick at the same time. We're all feeling better now. Good thing, too, because our car is currently dead, so we've been walking a great deal. I guess it's good for us. I just hope it doesn't snow any time soon. And even Phoebe has taken up being mobile. She's crawling now! It's so cute to see her go. There's no hiding from her now. She'll always be at my heels.

Tiny Family Update

Our family is still doing what we normally do: hanging out, having fun, cleaning up lots of messes. Nothing big has happened yet (still job searching, still praying) but I felt like doing a couple kiddie updates.

Gwen is growing smarter, cuter, and ever louder. She seems to be learning a thousand words a day, and yet I still have to strain my ears and my brain to understand what she's trying to tell me most of the time. She is just dying to speak in sentences. For every word she doesn't know, she replaces with "wa wa wa." The other day as we were sitting down for dinner, she said, "Prayer!" folded her arms, closed her eyes really tight, and before I could get to the table with the food, she started blessing the food all by herself! It went something like this: "Dear Hebbly Fater, Bless wa wa wa, please wa wa wa. Christ. Amen!" We were so proud! She loves to say the prayer now, and she never lets us forget to bless the food.
Phoebe is still as sweet and precious as ever. She's a big momma's girl, and she wants to do everything like me and with me. She's started giving me kisses. We have a game that we play together. I kiss her cheeks really fast, and she laughs and laughs. Then she opens her mouth really wide and plants a big wet kiss on my cheek, then laughs and laughs. She's also learned how to get to the sitting position all by herself. She hasn't attempted to crawl yet. She doesn't have much interest in mobility right now. Gwen usually gets her what she needs to play with and Phoebe is happy to be served. Whenever I put her on her stomach, she immediately pushes up to sit. Not much tummy time, so she doesn't try to crawl. I'm sure it'll happen. Maybe she'll start walking first. She certainly loves to stand with mommy's help! Maybe she'll just skip the crawling stage all together.

Family Photos

We got back the photos from our session that we had in the gardens on BYU-I campus. Here are some of them. I'm having a lot of fun going through the pictures, deciding on which ones to develop. We're finally going to have pictures to go on our bare walls. We have about a million pictures of Phoebe smiling, but only a handful of Gwen smiling. That's okay. Gwen took a very good "artsy" picture. But we never could get Phoebe and Gwen to smile in the same picture. Oh well. One day.