Blast to the past

I take it back!

Sleeping issues have returned. Really am I just destined to not sleep from here on out?

There has been an awful lot of screaming going on at our house as of late.

But in Brooklyn's defense, she has been teething and we just found out that she has an ear infection and possibly a sinus infection.

Now on a happier note. I bought some material a while back to make matching aprons for Madison, Brooklyn and I and have just barely gotten around to making them. I am finished with the little girls' aprons and am still in the process of finishing mine but I love them.

I actually ended up making a bigger sized apron for Madison because that one was a little short on her but you get the picture.

And look what I caught on camera. Brooklyn was actually standing up all by herself in this picture. It didn't last long but she is one step closer to walking. Way to go Brookie girl!

Bad Mommy Moment.

I had a bad mommy moment today. I went outside to throw a letter in the mailbox but forgot to unlock the door knob. Maddie came running out after me and slammed the door shut behind her in order to keep Brooklyn from coming outside. Well, it did its job. Brooklyn was stuck inside for 20 minutes while Maddie and I stood on the porch in our bare feet waiting for my WONDERFUL aunt Julie to bring us a spare key. I am so glad I gave that key to you Julie and that I actually had my phone with me!

The whole time we were outside I was in complete panic mode. My very curious, in to everything, 9 month old baby was inside- by herself! I tried peaking in the window to keep an eye on her but it wasn't long before she had crawled out of my view. All I could think was how all of my sewing supplies were sitting on my couch- scissors, rotary cutter, pins, etc. They were in a box but I wouldn't put it past Brooklyn to get it open.

When my aunt finally arrived I ran into the house to find this...

Yeah, it didn't phase her at all.

FHE

When I was in high school my friends and I had a little Friday night tradition where we would walk to Smith's (all of us wearing cowboy hats) where we would sit on the cases of beer (to prevent people from wanting to buy it) and then we would walk over to Sonic where we would get ice cream or slushies. I have so many fun memories of those nights. When I think back on it I realize how goofy we really were but we always looked forward to Friday nights at Sonic.

For FHE tonight we went on a family walk around our neighborhood. We decided to walk to Walmart that is just down the road and then on over to Sonic for ice cream and slushies.

We didn't sit on the beer or wear cowboy hats but the memories were still made.

I think we might have to start a new family tradition of Monday night slushie nights at Sonic (since Sonic is just around the corner from our house).

This is how Brooklyn enjoyed our trip... maybe next time she too can enjoy the slushie fun.

P.S. We got to spend last weekend with my family and my sister Heidi and her husband who were in town from Oregon. We had a wonderful weekend full of adventures. I have lots of pictures to blog but didn't have enough time right now... so be on the lookout for pictures coming soon.

On the plus side

One of the hardest things about moving away has been adjusting to not being able to jump in the car and go visit our families any time that we want to. Really we haven't been away from our family for more than 3 days at a time yet but I am still having a hard time with this. I think the reason may be just that I know that I can't go visit even if I want to. So to make things easier on myself I have been making mental notes about all the things that I really like about our new life. Number one on my list right now is this...

Brooklyn is actually sleeping!

Any of you who have either slept over at our house or let us sleep over at your house recently would know that Brooklyn has not been the best little sleeper lately. She was waking up a lot and since we weren't living in our own place I resorted to just putting her in bed with us when she would wake up. She would go back to sleep fast and we wouldn't wake up an entire household, which everyone probably appreciated. The problem though, sleep for me was not very restful.

Now that we have our own place again I have just been putting Brooklyn in bed at night and letting her cry herself to sleep. It took about 15 minutes the first night, she cried until I left the bedroom last night, and then just laid down in bed and didn't make a sound when I put her to bed tonight. When she wakes up in the night all I have to do is go in and give her the binkie and lay her back down and she usually calms down after a few minutes.

(knowing this may help all of you understand my obsession with taking pictures of my sleeping children)

All I can say is, Hallelujah!

Sunday Dinners

Did you know, that in the entire 4 years Karl and I have been married I have cooked about a total of 5 Sunday dinners ever? And no it's not just because I am lazy and don't want to cook but rather that I have the best In-laws in the world. Since we only lived 5 to 10 minutes away from Karl's family we were able to go over every Sunday and enjoy an exquisite dinner with all of the family who lived in town. Dinner was always a big ordeal with lots of yummy food followed by lots of play time for the cousins.

Some of our favorite Sunday evening activities included swinging on the porch swing, reading the newspaper, being silly and just plain having fun.

Today was the first day of many where we had to actually had to think of something to make for dinner. So guess what we had? Turkey Sandwiches, salad and chips.

I think I might need to start working on my Sunday dinner cooking skills. Ü In my defense, I did make our yummy homemade pie tarts.

So I guess the point of this post is to say Thanks to my wonderful Mother-in-law and Grandma who have spent many hours and lots of money to feed all of us every single Sunday (minus those we were visiting my family where my also wonderful mother would feed us delicious food or the in-laws were out of town)

Thank you Thank you Thank you

We love and miss you all already!

A home of our own: well at least the apartment style home

We finally made it to our new abode.

After living the last month going back and forth between our two families, or as Karl would say, "like those little floaties in your water everyone tries to avoid" we are finally settled in to our own little place.

We have worked really hard moving boxes and cleaning but we can finally say we are officially unpacked and moved in.

The girls are tickled to have all their own toys back and other things they had not seen in well over a month.

We've been trying to make the most of our new life, in a new town, where we know hardly anyone. (We are so grateful to have my Aunt Julie and her family in town! Thanks for taking us under your wing) But have so far been enjoying it. It's a beautiful place and the weather has been perfect. If only it wasn't a 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 hour drive to see our families. We are excited to see what kind of adventures are ahead.
(notice Brooklyn's foot? When she sits on the grass she will not let her right leg touch the ground)

Imagine my surprise

Exp: 12/20/2009

Who knew I was driving illegally for the last 6 months? I sure didn't. Not until I was sitting at the bank this morning waiting to deposit some checks, that is.

How does this happen?

Well according to the website, "As of December 21, 2009 the renewal-by-mail and renewal-by-internet option was discontinued due to changes in legislation."

My license expired on December 20th, so why didn't I receive a letter telling me my license was about to expire?

All I can say is ANNOYING! The website also informed me that if your license has been expired for over 6 months a 25 question written test must be taken before renewing your license. My 6 months happened TWO weeks ago!

So, I guess I will be getting myself an Idaho license after all since you don't have to take a written test unless your license has been expired for more than a year.

...

In other news, we found the reason for Brooklyn's irritability lately. At least 1 new tooth has been discovered so far.

Anything you can do, I can do better!

Anything you can do,

I can do better.

I can do anything better than you.

No you can't.

Yes I can.

No you can't!

Little Miss Brooklyn... what can I say.

When you were born you were so calm and easy going that I often wondered if you were going to let your big sister walk all over you. But as you are growing I have quickly realized, that is not going to be a problem. You are a very determined little girl and once you have made up your mind about what you want to do, you stick with it until you accomplish what you set out to do. You love your big sister and want to do everything she does which has motivated you to accomplish things much faster than I could ever have imagined. You were crawling by 7 months and are already practically walking at just 8 months. It really won't be long before you are out there riding that bike for real.

We love you and love watching you learn and grow.

P.S. Check out Maddie's new big girl bike. It was an early birthday present (since her birthday is at the end of the summer and she wouldn't be able to enjoy it by then) Can you believe she is already riding a bike that big? She has been begging me for months to let her ride a big bike, but I didn't really think she would actually be able to.