Yay for warm-ish weather!

The weather warmed up a bit this week, so I took advantage and took the girls to the park. I wasn't sure if I would be the only parent there with her kids, feeling like a dork, desperate for some fresh air. But, actually, there were a ton of people there. Even though the weather was still a bit cold, as soon as the tempeture rose above freezing, everyone flocked to the playground. Gwen didn't mind the cold at all. She loved being able to run around and make friends. Gwen is the most hyper child I know, and yet when it comes to playground safety, she is a champ. She won't go near the sides, she's very cautious going over the bridge. She used to army crawl over the bridge. Then when she felt a little more confident, she clutched onto the railings. When she felt braver, she clenched her fists and stomped acrossed it. She's hilarious. She had to cross that bridge to get to the slides. That's basically all she does while we're at the park. She can go down the slides a hundred times and not get bored.

She'll sometimes stop her sliding to run around with another kid and scare him or her for while with her excited laughing. The kids don't know why Gwen's chasing them. She usually chases five to seven year olds. I say they need to toughen up. She also loves the swings. I get my arm workout from just pushing her in the swing for 20 minutes. She screams and laughs very loudly. Other mother's smile over at us, saying how cute she is, but after five minutes of screaming, I don't think they find it very cute anymore. It's the park, people.  Kids scream. Especially mine.

The next day the weather was even warmer, and since Logan had the day off, he came with us to the park. Phoebe woke up from the stroller ride this time, and she had a ball going down the slide. She figured out how to lean forward and slide down by herself. She did it many times with absolute glee. I can't wait for consistent warm weather. I'll go to the park every day. I'm so sick of being cooped up in the apartment all the time.

Here are some pics I thought were pretty funny.

Phoebe chowing down on string cheese.

Gwen doing something. Maybe dancing. She insists I put her in the little skirt thing, and she runs around, twirling.

My Two Sickies

It's been a while since I last posted. My camera is freaking out on me because it's not liking a video I had taken with it, so it freezes and won't let me erase it. I hate posting without pictures, but I'm not sure when I'll get my camera working again. Oh well.

Last week my girls were pretty sick with colds. Gwen actually had a double ear infection, poor thing. She kept waking up in the night, crying and grabbing her ear. One night last week was terrible. Phoebe woke up sick and in pain at 1am and Gwen woke up shortly after. They were so sick and weak, but couldn't sleep because of ear pain, hacking coughs, and fevers. If Phoebe dozed off, she woke up 15 minutes later crying. It wasn't until 5am that the girls finally fell soundly asleep. It was a rough night. We took them to the doctor's the next day and they were put on antibiotics. That whole day, Gwen slept on the couch. I had never seen Gwen so calm. It was eerie and I felt so bad for her. But the antibiotics helped almost right away. That night, Gwen got up and started to play. She continued to get better from there, and Phoebe started feeling better within a couple days. Sadly, we had to miss Logan's brother's wedding. Logan got to go, but he had to miss the partying afterwards so we could take the girls to the doctor. I still can't believe I missed it. I'm so glad my girls are back to normal, though. Sick babies are very cuddly, but excessively so. The girls began fighting over who go to sleep on my lap, and it got pretty stressful. I hope they take turns over who gets sick next time. Two at a time is just too much!

The girls are changing so much. Here are some new things they've started since the last time I wrote:

Phoebe

Blows kisses whenever she feels like it (melts our hearts every time)

Says "ball"

Kisses her stuffed animals

Throws away her diaper after a diaper change, sometimes without even being asked

Runs!

Gwennie

Dances the hula along with Lilo and Stitch, or whenever I put her in a dress

Exclaims, "Oh my gosh!" whenever she gets excited or drops something

Started potty training (whenever she's on her potty, she wants the rug around the toilet put around her own potty - still no success yet)

Surprises us everyday with a new sentence - "Are you reading, Mommy? Is it fun?"

It's amazing all the new things they do every day. If they let me, I could watch them play all day long. They are so entertaining. We can' wait for the weather to warm up so we can take daily walks and play at the park. We have such cabin fever! I'm already making plans what we're going to start doing this spring. Zoos, museums, parks, everything. This summer I won't be pregnant or still recovering from pregnancy, so we're going to have a lot of fun. Hurry up, May! (Because you know it's still going to snow next month...)

Just Another "Love You" Kind of Day

This year for Valentine's Day, Logan and I agreed not to spend money on each other. (We're saving up to have our eyes checked. We're going blind.) So we agreed to write each other heart felt, hand written sentiments (hahaha.) Logan certainly got spoiled from his three Valentines. The little girls gave him a hand made card (on red card stock, cut outs, and everything) and I gave him a couple sappy letters and a Bountiful Marriage Card (like the Starving Student Card.) We had good fun all day long, playing games with the girls and making puppy eyes at each other. It was basically like any other day, but it was fun to do our them in the name of St. Valentine. 

Gwennie in her new dress. She loves her "pretty cloves." 

Phoebe's "love me" look.

I made a special dinner. It was bow tie, roasted red pepper Alfredo pasta with salmon and cheese. Turned out pretty good.

Hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day!

I love you, hot stud of mine!

Phoebe Turned One!

Yesterday was Phoebe's first birthday! My baby has grown up so fast. She can now walk up to 10 steps at a time, she says "mama" and "dadda" and will mimic just about anything you say. She waves bye bye backwards (with her fingers fanning her) and gives kisses on demand. She can rough and tumble along with Gwen, and she adores her big sister fiercely. She's still a mama's girl and I wouldn't have it any other way (though I wouldn't mind if she warmed up to the rest of the family.) I love my Phoebe. I absolutely, positively love the name Phoebe. I liked it before, but seriously, I've come to think it's the perfect, greatest name for our lovable, gorgeous, funny, playful daughter. She's been a great addition to our family, and I can't imagine our lives without her. She's definitely teaching me patience and how to be a better mother. I am so blessed to have her! 

Here's Phoebe in her princess tutu that her sister wore on her first birthday. 

This is the cake Lindsay made for her for her party. It's adorable! Thanks, Linz!

Phoebe loved the cake. She had her own cupcake, and she made a complete mess of herself. She had cake packed in two fists, trying to get it all in her mouth at the same time, only most of the cake didn't make it inside, as you can see.

After cake, I had to stick her in the sink. You couldn't touch her. That's how your first cake experience should be.

Happy birthday, Phoebe Princess Love!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a very interesting day. Phoebe must be cutting the biggest tooth in the world, because she's been clingy and cranky more so than usual. Gwen cannot be stopped no matter if my arms and full and I can barely keep up with her. So while I'm in the rocker with a fussy Phoebe, trying to get some scripture reading in and at the same time trying to dull the baby to sleep (am I instilling a bad habit here?) Gwen is jumping on the couch, watching Lilo and Stitch (or was it Little Mermaid.) I tell her not to jump, but she knows I can't do anything about it because Phoebe is on my lap, about to fall asleep. Needless to say she doesn't stop. Not too long after she started jumping, I hear a "thump!" and Gwen falls off the couch, clutching her face. Very, very, very calmly, I place Phoebe (who is now screaming hysterically) into her crib and find Gwen, crying softly, behind the rocking chair. I notice blood on her face, so, calmly, I pry her hands away. She's not crying anymore, but she won't let me look at her wound. I practically had to sit on her to look inside her mouth (she thought that was pretty funny, thankfully.) I pulled back her upper lip and cringed. There was a bloody hole where that skin thingy that connects the upper lip to the gum should have been. Up until Gwen's smack I had been very stressed, so Gwen could have lost half her teeth and I think I still would have ho-hummed my way to a wet washcloth and the phone to call Logan. I made Logan come home from work, though. I thought I would have to take Gwen to get stitches. But he looked up on the internet that Gwen's injury is a fairly common one and will heal on its own. Thanks goodness! We gave her some ice cream, and she never complained about her mouth again. She did stop jumping on the couch finally.

Then later on in the day, Gwen managed to get into my makeup bag and steal some old mascara. This is how I found her.

That is not blood on her chin, by the way. It's from the ice cream. She doesn't let me clean off her face very easily, so when Phoebe's upset I just let Gwen's face get messier and messier until Logan gets home. I did manage to get the mess off her face, to an extent, but not all the mascara. Logan's boss invited us out to dinner that night, so to onlookers, she probably looked like she had a black eye. Oh well. It made me laugh. She kept smiling at her work in the mirror, calling herself pretty. I hope she will always have a good self image. She's such a tough, happy little mess maker.

Sleeping Cutie

Yesterday, Logan and I decided to summon our courage and buy Gwen a toddler bed. We had been hesitant to do so, because we were sure Gwen would run away in the middle of the night. But we bought a fence to put in her door frame and, with some peace of mind, tried to get her to sleep for the first time (since she turned one, anyway) to sleep in a bed. Logan and I couldn't believe the success we had! She did not get up once. She thought her bed was the coolest thing ever and slept peacefully all night long. (Nap time today was a different story. Too many tempting toys and not sleepy enough. And she managed to soak herself and her bedding with milk.) We are very proud of Gwen. She's growing up! Now if only she would use the potty with such ease! 

Lovin' her bed.

She's wearing an old 18 month Disney Princess shirt that I dug out of storage for Phoebe. When Gwen saw it she snatched it up, carried it around for a while, then insisted that I put it on her. I don't think she'll let Phoebe ever wear it.

Look What I Can Do!

Phoebe's been getting to the standing position all by herself. She can stand for close to a minute now and Gwen thinks it's awesome. When Phoebe stands, Gwen rushes over to kiss her on the forehead, which usually knocks Phoebe off balance. Pretty soon she'll be running after her big sis! I tried to post a short video of this, but it wouldn't let me. The picture isn't the greatest, but you get the idea.