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.

Healing Power of Pee

Last week my girls had eye colds. Well my brother got it and he just had it for one day because he said he peed in his eyes. According to him that is a cure for eye colds! Amazing! I've heard of peeing on jelly fish stings, but an eye cold cure!?! Perhaps I'm a mean mom, but my girls dealt with it for the duration of a week. Maybe next time I'll try this home remedy. This revelation is just astounding to me.

Some Things Never Change

I've decided there are some things us gals just never out grow. I could be completely wrong, but somehow, I don't think so. We just never out grow liking fairy tales, strawberries dipped in chocolate (Brianna got her first taste last week ), shopping, lunch with our moms, and other similar things. I've also noticed another one. It can be seen in the following videos. For best results pause music by scrolling all the way down and clicking on the pause button.

This one changes from dads to that special someone. Dads get this reaction from their little girls, but grown, married women do the same thing with their hubby. So, maybe I am off the mark on this one, but I admit it. I react the same way to Ben ( just Ben ) kissing my neck like that.

Sitting

Mikayla is starting to sit on her own. It looks funny because she won't hold her head up. She is too interested in playing with things now. She can roll both ways, but she usually starts crying when she does, so she doesn't roll often. I don't know why the screen is black, but there is a video just click play.

Turning Two

Brianna is two years old as of yesterday! Time sure goes by faster when your the parent and not the child. My amazing hubby made the cake and I think he did a spectacular job. Thank you to everyone who came. Brianna had so much fun because of you!


We did a pool party and all the kids looked like they had fun. I had fun watching and swimming. Brianna and I also went on a slip'n'slide for the first time. She loved being pulled backwards down it. Grandma Melanie thought of that and it was great fun.



We bought Brianna a wagon with her birthday money. Its probably wrong spending your two year old's money, but we knew she would love it and she does. Mikayla also loves riding in the wagon. It can get rough for her so we put a pillow in for added support.

This happened today and was really cute. They crawled in and both pretended to be sleeping. They were just snoring away. Gordon (not pictured) was upset that there wasn't a place for him to go and pretend to sleep too.

On a different note, both my sister's boys have eye colds and both my girls have eye colds. How would that be, to wake up every day of your life and be able to open your eyes, completely unaware of eye colds and then get one? This morning Brianna woke up and just laid in bed whining. Finally tired of hearing it I looked at her and she couldn't open her eyes at all. They were completely crusted shut. I would imagine it would be pretty upsetting, even scary.