We would like to wish everyone a

Merry and Safe Christmas!

My Realization

A few days ago I was visiting with my brother and I realized just how grateful I should be for the trials I've had. My trials haven't been easy for me, but I made it through with a stronger testimony. Not to brag, but I have just really experienced financial struggles and compared to everything out there I am eternally grateful for that.

I am not an orphan, I have parents (two mommies and daddies) who love me. I was able to find my eternal companion in this life. I have not experienced infertility or the loss of many pregnancies. We have been blessed with a baby every time one of us (Daddy) has been ready to start trying. I have not lost a child, spouse, or parent. Everyone in my family is healthy. I've never lived on the street or gone without food. There are so many more trials I can't think of right now.

When I thought about all the possible trials out there I realized my financial ones should be easy. And I know with my Savior they can be. I am so very grateful for that. I love living the gospel.

Brianna's Shenanigans

This is good. Every day our couch cushions end up on the floor while all the toys end up on the couch. I have know idea why Brianna started this, but Mikayla loves being able to climb on and off the couch all by herself.

Brianna was playing with her play doh. Something she hasn't done very often because she usually picks it into tiny, little pieces. Which is very irrating to clean up. Anyhow, she was playing with it when a customer came in and Ben went to help them. Then the phone rang and I step into the office to get it. We came back to find that she had squished all the play doh together.

We joined in the fun and made snowmen with her. If you can correctly guess who made which snowman I'll give you something! Maybe a pat on the back or a candy bar. I won't say. I like to keep people guessing.

I'm not sure how we missed this, but we did. Ben and I were sitting on the couch and Brianna was coloring at the table. Which are two feet away from each other. So much for washable because it stained her face. It faded after baths, but you could still see it. Church and gerocery shopping was really fun with her faces like this.

Priesthood Blessings

In our house priesthood blessings cure the flu. EVERY TIME. And it never, ever fails to amaze me. And I am so very grateful for it. Story time!!!

Two nights ago Brianna started throwing up around 1:20 a.m. So, I was awakened by a noise that took me awhile to figure out that is was Brianna. I sent Ben to check on her and he found her standing by the rocking chair in her room. I followed. Ben went to get stuff for the floor while I changed Brianna's clothes. I'm not sure why, but I asked what happened and she told me, "my jammies messy, I coughing, run around". That was her entire explanation! When Ben first went into her room he had suspected her of running around and sure enough she did. She threw up all over her floor. I'm still really confused about that because her bed, pillow, and blankets were clean. Did she wake up and start throwing up? Or was she out of bed when she started?

Anyhow, an hour later she threw up again (she just had to have juice) and I had Ben give her a priesthood blessing. We made it threw the rest of the night with only two more incidents. In the morning around 8 a.m. she was drinking water just fine and by 11 a.m. she was completely over it. With Brianna it always seems to take a few hours after the blessing to be fine, but it has ALWAYS worked.

Mikayla's experiences have been different in a more astonishing way. She is always cured instantly. Mikayla has not had what Brianna had two nights ago, but her last time with the flu she started throwing up around noon on a work day. Ben got home form work around 4 p.m. By then Mikayla was inconsolable. I'm guess because she was starving. She would eat something and it would immediately come back up. As soon as Ben came home, he gave her a blessing and right afterwards we put her in her high chair and fed her. She ate everything and kept it all down. She was competely over it. It has been that way with her EVERY time.

In the last year I think they (I say they, but I always get it as well. So I can say that it was the flu because I had it too!) have had the flu 4 or 5 times. I am always incredibly thankful for their swift recoveries and for a loving Father in Heaven who allows in. I'm also grateful for the Priesthood and that Ben is worthy to use it.

Mikayla

I realized something peculiar yesterday about Mikayla. When she started to roll, she figured out both ways the same day. On the day that she started to sit for long periods without support she also started rocking on her hands and knees. First time crawling happened on the same day she started to clap. When she started clapping for attention, she also started having to feed herself (No matter how hungry she got, she would not open her mouth for a spoon. She had to do it). Yesterday she started to pull herself onto her feet. She's been perfectly happy just pulling up to her knees the past month, but now she's standing. Mikayla has accomplished two things every time she has done something new in a day. So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Ben found her climbing up the stairs by herself yesterday, but I was.

It was so funny to watch. She had absolutely no concept of falling. She would stand on the stairs and bounce. And try to straighten her legs which caused her to slide backwards. She tried bouncing constantly. She was so proud of her self. She now screams and cries because we've blocked the way. I am so crazy in love with her!!!

p.s. we get internet on the 10th so we can post more often and post pictures then.

Our Place

Told by me. Ben may tell his own later. Brianna stopped using the potty when we first moved in and to encourage her to use the bathroom Ben let her help put the Spongebob bath decor out. It was so funny! When Ben first opened the box, Brianna grabbed the toilet seat and took it to her room. Ben had to go get it several times. She also would play with everything on the counter tops. She's figured out how to climb up there, so nothing is safe. It drives Ben crazy that she can't leave it alone.

Then three days ago I was cleaning the fish tank and while I was putting the fish back into its home it flopped onto the floor! It's side fin was bleeding and it wasn't swimming around. I was extremely upset thinking I killed the fish, but the fish is still alive and doing just fine. You can't see the bleeding because he fell onto his other side.

We got a washer and dryer yesterday. When we were hired we were told that the only thing we had to get was a refrigerator. And we naively believed that. We were annoyed to find that the house lacked a washer and dryer. Remember Brianna isn't using the potty and the laundry is piling up fast. After going to my in-law's house 1 time to do laundry I was stressed about how I would get the wash done. Ben found a store that refurbishes old sets and gives a 90 day warranty. I was so excited that Ben got me a washer and dryer. We did have some in the trailer, but we did not take them because I hated them. But seriously they didn't get the laundry clean. After I washed and dried a load I would then spray everything with Fabreez so it would at least smell clean. Stains never came out. And the washing machine was incredible loud. The dryer had to be run three times before the towels were dry.

Pictures of our front room, dining room, and kitchen. And you can see our refrigerator.

Boogers

If you've read the title you might have an idea of wants coming. It's going to be good!

A week or two ago I had a friend over and we were visiting while Brianna was playing. When all of a sudden she walk over to the light pole and announced, "booger". I went and looked and sure enough she had picked her nose and wiped a booger onto the light pole. My friend and I had a good laugh about it. She then relaid what her son had done. I think this is common with boys. Anyhow, her son would put his boogers on the wall above his bed. So when you moved the bed you could see a line of boogers. So gross.

Since then I have seen her pick her nose. I explain that it is yucky and that big girls don't do that. Hope it lasts.

Yesterday we returned a van to a nearby school and we were waiting for Ben to run the key in. Brianna spotted a man picking his nose while walking by, when she started to yell at him! She was yelling, "No pick nose. That yucky". Over and over she was yelling it. I'm pretty sure the man heard because he looked in our direction. My window was down so we wouldn't roast. I was so embarrassed. I called Ben to get him to hurry. Which thankfully he did.

Artsy Fartsy

I have always enjoyed taking pictures. Well, recently I have been experimenting with our cheap, little camera to unlock its true awesomeness within and I'm pretty proud of some of the results.

Happy Halloween!

We began our Halloween celebrating last Saturday. The Frisbys (awesome family) invited us to a party. It was so much fun. Thank you for letting us tag along. Their costumes were really good. I loved them all! Their boys, so ADORABLE! I loved watching Peter and Brianna play together and watching Johnathan walking. Ben had the camera the entire night, so no pictures. Well, he did take this one of Mikayla in the host's bouncy chair. She loved their chair. So cute to see. I also saw her clap for the first time in it!

Then later in the week we decided to carve a pumkin with the girls. We have such good helpers! It could have taken us hours to empty the pumkin of the seeds, but they both dug in and got the job done in no time! The tablecloth is covered in jack'o'laterns so Ben let Brianna pick the facial features off of the tablecloth for our pumkin. She was so proud of it.




And tonight we went trick'or'treating! Brianna loved it! We let her go with aunt Emalee. It was so much fun. I may not think so in a few years, but it was tonight! If you can't tell Brianna was a mermaid (I sewed the entire costume) and Mikayla was a kitty (I made the ears and tail two years ago). I'm pretty proud of the mermaid costume. Ben (not pictured) was a ghostbuster. I love my family and everything we get to do together!

On a different note. I was listening to radio on my way to work when they anounced that there are 60 days until Christmas. Crazy!!!

No More Nursery :(

Two Sundays ago our nursery teachers kept bringing Brianna to me. Brianna was completely inconsolable every time. I would get her calm and just to find out that another child simply took a toy she was playing with, so I'd take her back and find that no one was playing with the toy so I would leave her to play. Every few mintues this would happen. I was getting very frustrated and talked to the teachers about it. They said they were watching her and could not see a problem. Well, thankfully church ended and I just figured she needed a nap. This behavior has never happened before. However, it happened again yesterday. After a long singing time with her help, I decided to sit with her for a few minutes and during those few minutes I discovered the problem.

At home she has a doll house with little people that came with a slide, swing, and other items. She likes to set them up and play with them. She even has the little people talk. It is so cute to see and hear. Well, at nursery she tried to do the same thing with other items, like a car, couch, rug and bed thing. As she was playing with something another child would take a different item that Brianna had set out and was playing with.

Needless to say, Brianna didn't stay in nursery. I hope our new nursery goes better, but we have no idea how to handle this. We don't think the, "If you put it down, you're done playing with it," rule is going to work.

We Are Actually Moving!

Ben got a new job. Managing a storage unit facility which requires us to live on site. So we are moving all next week. We are so excited! At first I really didn't want to because I've noticed that storage units are surrounded by businesses. Not a fun place to live at. However, this place is surrounded by neighborhoods, which I like. I'm still nervous about living at a storage unit place, but we'll be in our own place. So it'll be worth it, right? I hope so.

work contest

well, Intel is doing annother desk decorating contest at work for a paid day off and this is what I did. Most co-workers told me I had there vote, but then I tured in my 2 weeks notice and my last day is the day we vote, so Im pretty sure I wont win.

WE'RE MOVING!!!

Eight Months (tomorrow)

It still amazes us how different they look.

Good News Day!

My exercise plan is working! To the right I'm wearing pants that I haven't been able to wear since before I got pregnant with Brianna (3 years ago). You can't see this, but I could even do up the fly! And now the unveiling of my exercie plan which includes no dieting.

All our things are downstairs and we usually spend the day upstairs. So I decided that I would run downstairs to get anything I needed. Like clothes to get the girls dressed or diapers or toys. So I literally go down and up the stairs twenty to thirty times a day, but it's working and I'm excited.

Alleviating My Boredom

Brianna was such a good sport with this. I don't typically do her hair, except for brushing it. However, yesterday I was bored. One would think I would have finished Brianna's costume for Halloween in 15 days and a party we've been invited to in just 9 days, but no. I played with her hair and came up with this cute hair do. The best part is, I didn't even have to bribe her to let me do it. She was excited to get her hair done. Since she'll let me do her hair now I might start doing it more often. This hair do would probably be cuter with more hair and longer hair, but hey I can only work with what she has. The blue flowers in front are there because Brianna needed them all in her hair. If anyone wants me to do their hair or their girls' hair like this, I'm there.

I even did Mikayla's hair into a ponytail. So adorable!

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Tah Dah!!!

How darling is that!?!

Tagged

I'd give the rules, but this tag will probably end with me. I don't know seven people, but I'd like to hear Michelle's answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? PIANO
2. Where is your significant other? GONE
3. Your hair? UP
4. Your mother? UPSTAIRS
5. Your father? ANNOYING
6. Your favorite thing? FAMILY
7. Your dream last night? DISTURBING
8. Your dream/goal? HOUSE
9. The room you're in? SPARE
10. Your hobby? LOTS
11. Your fear? FAILURE
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? ESTABLISHED
13. Where were you last night? BEDROOM
14. What you're not? DISCOURAGED
15. One of your wish-list items? COAT
16. Where you grew up? KEARNS
17. The last thing you did? ROCKED
18. What are you wearing? SPARKLES
19. Your TV? OFF
20. Your pet? FISH
21. Your computer? HERE
22. Your mood? RELAXED
23. Missing someone? YES
24. Your car? FIXED
25. Something you're not wearing? SKIRT
26. Favorite store? MANY
27. Your summer? SHORT
28. Love someone? MADLY
29. Your favorite color? RED
30. When is the last time you laughed? NOON
31. Last time you cried? OFTEN

Festive Dinners

Ben didn't even tell you the best part of the shepards pie mentioned below. Every once in a great while, I can come up with something really out of the ordinary to surprise Ben with and this dish was it. However, you can change it to celebrate every month of the year! How awesome is that?

November-turkeys (green beans as the feathers sticking up in back)
December- ornaments
January- snowmen
February- hearts (of course)
March- green potatoes
April- eggs
May- tulips
June- put the potatoes on like normal (talk about a surprise, they won't even see it coming)
July- fireworks (most likely will look like stars or snowflakes)
August- two wedding bands for our anniversary! (don't want you to forget it)
September- pencils
October- ghosts

Amazing! The possibilities are endless. If any of you do this for your families I want to hear how it went. Ben and I thought the ghosts were a lot of fun and Brianna thought it was great to get to eat a ghost. She loved it too!

My Amazing Wife!!

Tami is so talented and she dosn't even know it. I got her a sewing machine about 4 months back with some cash from a comission and she has sewn some great things... She started with a dress that has hidden zippers for ease of nursing because she wasn't able to find a modest dress to nurse in for church.....Well any way... She has been working on a halloween costume for Brianna. I'm not going to say what it is yet to see what people think it is as they see the progression. Here it is from earlier today (on its side)
She came up with the pattern by herself and has done an amazing job so far!

She also made me my favorite meal.. a "spook tacular" shephards pie!!

She does stuff like this for me on a regular basis. I'm so lucky!

I love you so much Tami, and I am greatful for all the little things you do to spice up my life!

potty training updates

We are so excited and proud of her progress. Brianna is proud of herself aswell. She has been accident free for 4 days! Two of those days we were busy and she still told us in plenty of time for us to locate a bathroom. She is amazing!

Flower Girl

Mikayla managed to pick a flower and got it to her mouth before I noticed. I was watching her and she just left it there. I couldn't figure out why she wasn't trying to get the entire flower into her mouth. And then I pulled it out. She was sucking on three leaves that probably reached to her throat. I guess they were tasty enough. She is so fun to have around.

Tag

I've never been tagged before. This is a first.

1. Did you date anyone from your high school? Yes

2. What kind of car did you drive? my parent's

3. Were you a party animal? no

4. Were you considered a flirt? To a few select (as in not to the entire student body).

5. Were you in band, orchestra or choir? No, but I did do mixed choir for a term.

6. Were you a nerd? Perhaps.

7. Were you on any varsity teams? nope

8. Did you ever get suspended or expelled? No, but the principal did call my dad one time.

9. Can you still sing the fight song? Heavens no.

10. Who were your favorite teachers? I need to go look at my year book.

11. Where did you sit for lunch? Kitchen table.

12. What was your school's full name? Kearns High School

13. What was your mascot? Cougars.

14. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Not even if you paid me.

15. What do you remember most about graduation? Sitting next to a girl at the ceremony who had to pee so bad she was crying.

16. Where did you go on Senior Skip Day? I skipped school two to three days a week, so I couldn't tell you where.

17. Were you in any clubs? Debate.

18. Have you gained weight since then? I graduated weighing 180 lbs. I graduated college weighing 135 lbs. I now weigh around 145 lbs. So I guess I have gained weight.

19. Who was your prom date? Didn't go.

20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Nope, I didn't even go to my five year reunion.

21. Did you take any school trips? Yes, two. Disneyland and San Fransico.

22. What are your best memories from high school? Dreaming of Ben!!!

I tag Loralee, Cindy, and Lacey. I guess I'll find out who really reads my blog now.

Brianna is Potty Trained!!!

Ben and I did it. We finally bit the bullet and taught Brianna how to use the potty like a big girl. We started Saturday and on Wednesday she woke us up telling us her pees were coming. She is pretty good at telling us she has to use the potty. We still have accidents because Brianna won't stop doing what she wants to do, like this morning waiting for the garbage truck to come. So Wednesday and yesterday she had two accidents each day, but I think she is doing really well.

At first it seemed like I was trying to break the will of a horse by taking Brianna potty and getting her to use it. I like to think that I got Brianna potty trained, but the bottom line is, she choose to do it.

What Ben and Brianna Did Last Night

They are so talented!!!

Friday Morning Routine

We watch the garbage truck every Friday! It all began shortly after we moved here, about the same time she discovered airplanes in the sky by the noise. In fact it was the noise of the garbage truck that had started to scare her, so I showed her the truck making the noise. For a few weeks this went on. Then she realized what the noise went to and was so excited to see it again. At this point it became a race. As soon as she could hear the noise she was running to me, grunting and pointing in the direction of the front room window. I would then grab her and run to the window as fast as I could, for those of you forgot I was pregnant during the racing period. I called it a race because by the time Brianna heard the noise and then realized what it was, the truck was in front of our house or the house across the street and running was the only way we would catch seeing the truck.

After a few months of this I acknowledge that watching the garbage truck was not going to end so I began getting Brianna when the truck was a couple houses down. All winter this went on. My stomach made a very nice seat for her to comfortably watch from, but that quickly came to an end. Shortly after I had Mikayla, Brianna figured out how to climb onto a rocking chair next to the window so I started to skip seeing the truck. She also started to hear the noise while it was at the bottom of the street. This was a nice period. Me sitting at the table, reading the paper, and drinking some hot chocolate. Mikayla swinging. And Brianna standing on the chair watching the garbage truck.

Like most good things that ended. Mikayla got curious and she wanted to see what was going on. Now I'm back standing at the window every Friday holding Mikayla up to see. Good thing I enjoy watching the garbage truck. It's incredible fascinating.

My Special Gifts

This is probably dorky of me to blog about, but I thought it was precious. I had a commitment earlier tonight and wasn't home. While I was away Ben took the girls outside. Once outside Brianna found gifts for me. I came home almost two hours later and found her laying in bed clutching one in each hand waiting to give them to me. She was so pleased with herself. I thought it was incredibly thoughtful of her. Brianna and I had had a very stressful day with each other and this was a perfect way to end the day. I'm so glad I got her as my daughter!

She's given me things before, but it was always more immediately. This was the first time she just laid in bed, refusing to sleep until she could give them to me.

Binky Update (I know, you're all dying to know what's happened)

Brianna has been binky free for three days! As mentioned in an earlier post I cut her binky up and she continued to use it. Every so often I would pull on the latex to make sure it was still safe, well a couple of mornings ago I pulled and the latex started to snap apart into pieces. Ben and I talked about it and we decided to take her to the store to buy a new toy that she picks with it (other people have told us they did it and it worked for them). Actually, I picked the toy. Brianna and I had gone to the store the day before and she threw a huge tantrum for it. Anyhow, we took her to the store and she was so excited. When it was time to pay she gave her binky to the cashier. She has asked for her binky a couple of times, but we just tell her we will have to take the stroller back to the store to get the binky and then she quits asking for it.

Ben did such a marvelous job putting it together with all his helpers!

Another Conversation with Brianna...

me: Hey Scott, there's a bug will you get it?

Scott got it and Brianna watched.

Brianna: bug crying
me: I don't think the bugs crying. I think its sleeping.
Brianna: bug crying
me: shhh, the bugs sleeping.
Brianna: No.
me: yes it is.
Brianna: Scott bug squish dead
*pause*
Brianna: oh man.
Scott: Sorry.
Brianna: silly silly silly Scott no squish bugs

She amazes us everyday with what she knows and with what she says. Sometimes I love having conversations with her.

We got a new fish today! Brianna was so excited. She thought it was fun to carry the bag with the fish, but the bag popped so I ended up carrying the fish. We just buy the twelve cent feeder fish. The big one we've had for years and Brianna loves feeding, bathing, and touching it. Every once in awhile I like to get another fish to see how big the old one is and some times I think it gets lonely. Brianna calls them the baby fish and the mommy fish. I guess those would be their names.
Brianna got her first black eye today! She fell down the stairs starting at the top and Ben watched. She also got a hugh goose egg on the back of her head, but I wasn't going to shave her head to get a picture of that. In Ben's defense, Mikayla needed a diaper change and Brianna went to get the diaper to help and Ben was following. We feel very blessed that nothing was broken or seriously harmed.

Five Reasons Why Not to Give Your Baby a Cookie

5. One less for you!



4. A guilty feeling that you should really be feeding them fruits and vegetables.



3. They now can recognize cookies and want one everytime they see one.



2. Have I mentioned one less for you?



And the number 1 reason why NOT to give your baby a cookie: the mess you get to clean up!

My Many Abilities

I posses few abilities/talents. I've never meet anyone else who can do all of these consistently like I can. My first uncanny ability is that I can always pull up the car door handle when someone else is trying to unlock the car, for the next five minutes. In fact the only way for people to get my car door unlock is for me to stand at least a foot away without me touching the car.

I can have an incredibly strong craving for chocolate and be able to wander the entire store and still not be able to find the candy aisle. I usually get the candy bars in the check out lane or I send Ben.

When I walk down stairs I have to concentrate and hold on to the rail or I fall. Oddly enough I can run, skip, and frolic without stumbling. Amazingly I have only fallen down the stairs once when holding a baby. It was with Brianna and she was about eight months old.

My last ability I have is I always want to go see the doctor/ dentist or make someone in my family go when there is nothing they can do to help. Today is a good example of that. Last week I noticed Brianna was getting a tooth in the wrong spot (it was also extremely red and swollen). So I got her an emergence dentist appointment this morning. As of yet he said to watch it. If in two months it is still causing problems then we take her back and get x-rays done. From there they may get more aggressive and cut the tooth out. But other then that there are no problems. She has no cavities.

My Big Girl!

Brianna just peed in the potty!!! She announced that she had to poop and wanted to sit on the toilet and she peed! I'm so proud of her.

Ben and I talk to her often about using the potty. We also read books about it to her and have watched a video about it with her, but I'm not ready to deal with the stress of potty training just yet, so I've been putting it off.

We are also planning on moving in the next couple of months and don't want to deal with a set back (and I recently destroyed her binky). We haven't pushed using the potty, but we do encourage it. Maybe soon I'll get her potty trained.

Pepperoncini!

We had a family reunion on my Dads side om Monday. It was fun! we have a game we do every year where you guess nom many items are in a container and the one who guesses the closest wins. well my increadable wife won me some pepperoncini peppers! They are so good! Thanks sweetie!

Anniversary

As of today we've been married THREE years and three days! Its interesting to think about those early weeks. At the beginning we just wanted kids. Now we just want alone time. Boy, time sure changes things.

I Give Up

I've heard that usefulness is not impaired by imperfection; that you can still drink from a chipped cup, but this is ridiculous.

Brianna's bottom teeth came in perfectly straight, but about a month or so ago I noticed that they are no longer that way (also a little embarrassing to have a two year old with a pacifier). I decided that it was time to actively break her binky addiction so I clipped the top. She cried for a while and asked the binky "why".

I thought great, we're done, but then she started sucking on it anyhow, so I cut a hole into the top. She didn't care. I then cut the top off. She thought it was neat she could put her finger in it. My sister suggested clipping the sides. It didn't sound safe to me seeing how its latex and I didn't want it to tear off and choke her, but I tried it. She didn't seem to notice. I no longer thought the binky was safe so I cut down the sides. Didn't phase her.

I'm now getting frustrated that it isn't working so I cut one of the sides off. She still sucked on her binky. I thought I had her when I then cut the last remaining side in half, but no. Brianna still uses her binky.

I did this all in the last week and Brianna is still enjoying her binky. Although, she does use it a lot less. I give up for now, but pretty soon I'll finish the binky off.



Yep, that's the binky I'm talking about. I broke the plastic a few months ago so we've been gluing it together for a while. Its still very useful. Maybe we'll pass it down to Mikayla.

Rowing

Brianna got to go in a canoe and she helped us row, so we went super fast! Mikayla didn't want to go, so she missed out on all the fun. I love my girls. It was such a fun weekend with them and everyone else.

Camping

I love camping with Ben's extended family. We went to Grassy which is located near Joe's Valley Resevior. It was so much fun. Peter and Brianna loved playing with each other. The two of them were inseperable. With their combined efforts they raised the level of Grassy Lake by atleast an inch with all their rock throwing. I loved watching them run around and play with each other.

Spitting!

Brianna mastered spitting over the weekend while we we're camping! She's watched her cousins do it (all boys), but she has never done it before. She would make the sound effect, but no liquid would escape her mouth. But on thursday she was spraying it everywhere.

My Little Momma

I love Brianna, but lately we've been butting heads over who gets to feed (solids, but in the past she has tried to nurse her), dress, rock, hold, carry, play with, and change diapers for Mikayla. Apparently this is a common phenomenon, substantially more likely to be experienced with first born girls.

Brianna gets so mad at me for taking care of Mikayla in any way. If I even touch Mikayla, Brianna will come running, yelling, "no momma I do it". Over and over until I let her help or I finish doing what I'm doing. Lots of trantrums are involved with the latter of the two.

It doesn't end there. If my mom, another child's mom, or I tell another toddler to stop doing something she will go take over. She is very good at enforcing our rules with other kids, especially cousins. Very irrating, but kind of cute to see. Her standing there with her hand on her bouncing hip shaking her finger at them while saying, "no, no, no". Then she will herd them any or take an item away.

Hopefully this passes soon, but I think I still have several years ahead of me.

Natural Highs

A good friend of Ben's (from the mission) sent this to us and I enjoyed thinking about it so you might too. These are natural highs and I agree with most, but some I don't.

Think about them one at a
time before going on to the next one.
It Does Make You Feel Good.

1 Falling in love.

2 Laughing so hard your face hurts.

3 A hot shower.

4 No lines at the supermarket .

5 A special glance.

6 Getting mail.

7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.

8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.

9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.

10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.

11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry).

12. A bubble bath.

13. Giggling.

15. The beach.

16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.

17. Laughing at yourself.

18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you

19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.

20. Running through sprinklers.

21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.

22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.

23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS

24. Accidently overhearing someone say something nice about you.

25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep

26. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner).

27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.

28. Playing with a new puppy.

29. Having someone play with your hair.

30. Sweet dreams.

31. Hot chocolate.

32. Road trips with friends.

33. Swinging on swings.

34. Making chocolate chip cookies.

35. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.

36. Holding hands with someone you care about.

37. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.

38. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.

39. Watching the sunrise.

40. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.

41. Knowing that somebody misses you.

42. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.

43. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

Horses

Over the weekend we went to our ward camp out. Brianna was able to feed some horses. She loved it. Which turned out to be very nice. Brianna loves water. She has always been our little water baby. Where we camped there was a river. It was a pretty good size river, maybe a stream compared to the Amazon or Mississippi Rivers. I thought it was a large, fast flowing river. Anyhow, she really enjoys throwing rocks into rivers, lakes, puddles, gutter water, pools, bath tub, etc. So I was worried about camping so close to water. But it wasn't a problem because of the horses. I was very grateful for them.

When we did get her to the river Ben and I discovered that there was a two foot drop to the edge of the water. There was also a net in the water. I'm guessing its propose is to prevent drowning people from floating down stream. Either way it wasn't a place I wanted Brianna to play around and she didn't because of those wonderful horses. It was so fun to watch her.