30 November 2009

Christmas idea

I'm always looking for things to do with Rosalee, especially during the holiday times. Today while searching on the internet I came across a coloring book advent activity. Starting on the 1st of December until the 24th you color one page and share the Christmas story scripture associated with the picture. Then on Christmas day you can read the whole Christmas story with your family. We're doing it our way and coloring all the pages tonight and then each night we'll read the scripture before going to bed.
Here is the link if you'd like to do this with your family-
http://www.dltk-bible.com/advent/index.htm

29 November 2009

Random November moments

Before I post our pictures from Washington I'll get caught up on the little events that occurred before we left. I reminded Jesse that Christmas is coming up soon and we needed to take some pictures for our Christmas cards. This is the face I got in response...

So I decided to take pictures of just the kids and make my own cards. I'm proud to say that they turned out A LOT better than I thought!

With the help of some of our comforters I turned our living room into a photo studio.
I actually got several really great pictures of the kids but for today I think I should share the good, bad, and wackata wackata.

Too cool for photos

No matter how many times I'd take his hand out of his mouth he'd put it RIGHT back in as soon as I'd grab the camera!!

Crazy laughter

Pant less and asleep = happy baby
Next it was Rosalee's turn to be photographed. I gave her a bath so she'd be nice and clean for the pictures but before I could get her dressed she climbed on the blankets and made herself comfortable. She thought I had made her a WONDERFUL reading area.


Apparently even AFTER I got her dressed, did her hair, and gave her a cute toy to pose with, she still thought it was reading time.

These ones are really cute, but didn't make the Christmas card. In the first one she's showing me where the monkey's eyes are. I had some fun with editing and "antiqued" the second one. I just love how cute this kid is!

The first picture was going to go on the card but Jesse wanted one with both kids looking at the camera. But I love that she just leaned over and kissed him. She also said, "I love you Zekey" after she did it. In the second picture Rosalee is grabbing her cheeks and saying "cheese" while Zeke is just being himself.

So this picture slightly angers me because I took Zeke downstairs AFTER the photo session to change his diaper. When I said, "OK kid I guess we're done with pictures" he made THIS face! The best smile from him all day... little stinker!

Before Thanksgiving we talked a lot about being thankful with Rosalee. One night we made a thankful tree and I thought I should photograph it so we can remember it. I hope to do something like this every year with the kids. Rosalee told us some things she's thankful for with little to no help from us. Some of her things are Tinkerbell, mommy, grandma, my crib, and animals.

My hair saga continues as (poor) Rosalee is my guinea pig. One morning after breakfast she sat (with Peter Pan on) and let me experiment with her hair. The following is my best yet.

22 November 2009

Brag a bit

Our family is in Washington for the week and we're having a GREAT time so far! We started in Blackfoot yesterday morning at 5 am and got here in Graham a little after 6 pm. (14+ hours in a car... not so fun!) But I do need to brag about Rosalee. She would tell us that she needed to go to the bathroom and then held it until we got to a rest area! She was able to do this 3 times and made it all the way to my parent's house with a dry diaper. We could NOT be happier with her progress!

18 November 2009

Plain and ordinary

We've been having one of those normal weeks without anything too big and fun to share. But I like that. Sometimes it is nice to just sit around, play with the kids, make a million messes, clean a million messes, and enjoy the simplicity of things.
But our Rosalee can turn the plainest things into wonderful things. Her imagination just astounds me! Today, for example, she went into the kitchen and was very selective about getting certain utensils out of the drawer. She picked five, the same five she picked out yesterday. So today I thought I'd ask what they are for. She told me that the ladle is for "blue paint", the cheese grater is for "hair and nail cuts", the white spatula and wooden spoon are for "mixing" and "making the food", and I bet you'll NEVER guess what the tongs are for.
Those are her glasses that she uses to look for animals in trouble. She walks around the house with finger holes pressed to her eyes telling me about the various animals that need our help. So today I got down and crawled around with her and we saved two kitties, a llama, and Trouble.
GO US!


Sorry about the shaking, but I was trying to be sneaky and catch her playing.

Anyone who knows me well enough knows I am TERRIBLE with hair, make-up, and pretty much anything girly. But I try, I really do... even if I look like a hot mess most of the time. So I'm determined to get better and to help my daughter develop some girly skills early in life. So during our 1,398th time of watching the new Tinkerbell movie I sat behind Rosalee and fiddled with her hair. I attempted to french braid her hair a few times but it is so thin that it's hard for me to grasp it tight enough. After four times I FINALLY got it to hold in place fairly well. I know it looks crazy but be nice, I'm new at this!

Our agenda for the rest of the month will not be as simple though. Tomorrow I WILL get our pictures taken for our Christmas cards! I want to print them out before we go on vacation so I can save a few stamps and hand them out. (Yes I am that cheap!) So bring on the windy weather, bruised children, and junky complexion because I know the universe it out to stop me.
Then in the middle of the night Friday/Saturday we'll be taking off and driving 15, or so, hours to my mom and dad's house in Washington for Thanksgiving. If you ask Rosalee what we'll be doing she'll tell you, "I sleep with my kitty" so as long as she can snuggle with her cat at night, she'll be content! There are two things I want to do- visit family and eat delicious food. Oh, and hopefully see the new Twilight movie, New Moon, with my mom and aunt, sans the menfolk and wee ones.

14 November 2009

White and wet

I woke up this morning and the first thing I said was, "Ew. Why did it snow?" Then I looked at Rosalee who was staring out the window with bright excited eyes. She kept saying "Look Mama, snow" over and over while smashing her face against the glass. So I went against my feelings of "just stay inside and avoid it" and got Rosalee's snow pants out. It took quite awhile to get Rosalee dressed in her thermal tights, pants, shirt, snow pants, mittens, snow coat, snow boots, and hat but she didn't seem to mind. She got SO excited to go outside that she tried to follow me downstairs when I went to get my snow boots talking the whole time.
Two year old+snow pants+snow boots+stairs=

All I heard was thump, thump, "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" I ran up the stairs to see Rosalee screaming and clutching on to Jesse. Apparently she fell and landed right on her head, poor kid. Did this stop her from wanting to go outside and play? Of course not!
The picture above was taken right after she stopped crying and it didn't look too bad. Now she has a nice goose egg, some slight bruising, and an interesting rug burn or broken blood vessel rash like mark on her skin.
So much for taking our Christmas card pictures today! Oddly the day before Rosalee got her 18 month pictures taken she fell and got a huge goose egg on the side of her forehead. I had to strategically comb her hair and advice the photographer to "avoid that side" while taking her picture. I should stop telling her that I want nice pictures of her and then maybe she'll quite getting head injuries.
But after a cup of juice and ten thousand hugs and kisses Rosalee was ready to get outside and play in the snow. (We were going to take Zeke but he decided to stay inside and nap... smart kid!)

She kept watching her feet and she was walking around in the snow.

She told me that we needed to bake some cookies because it was too cold outside.


After a few minutes Rosalee decided she really does like the snow and would sit down and start picking it up. Most of the time she ate the snow, but some of the time she'd play with it. And by that I mean toss it to Trouble or smear it in Trouble's face. Check out Mr. Alaska and his playing in the snow outfit...



After playing in the snow I decided that Rosalee was correct- we needed some cookies. So Rosalee and I made chocolate chip cookies while Jesse shoveled the sidewalk and driveway out front.

She was so excited to help me mix that she got three different spoons out of the drawer.

Rosalee LOVED stirring! I just had to make sure she kept her fingers out of the mix. "We mix with the spoon, not our fingers." (I'm pretty sure I said that at least 3 or 4 times.)

Ah, nothing like a piping hot chocolate cookie when it's below freezing outside!

12 November 2009

Holy moly!


How can he already be three months old? I can't believe how much faster the time is going by with him. It honestly feels like he was born last week. But then I hold him against me and realize that his legs can't stretch out fully because of my short torso and know that he is older. I have a hard time holding him on my lap, or up against my knees, because of how tall he is. I've almost convinced myself that he'll be taller than me before the 3rd grade.
So far our Zekey has learned to~
*Blow spit bubbles*
*Almost roll over (he usually gets stuck on his side)*
*Wiggle around like an alligator/worm on his stomach*
*Coo and babble*
*SMILE when people talk to him*
*Laugh in his sleep (I've only heard him laugh when he's awake twice)*
*Sleep for at least 6-8 hours at night*
*Use his barely there eyebrows to communicate with us*
He wasn't too sure about getting his picture taken, especially when the flash would go off.

Just when I think that Rosalee and Zeke look nothing alike I find a picture to disprove my thinking. (The picture of Rosalee was taken when she was 2 months old.)


Zeke is DETERMINED to be a thumb sucker! I've caught him several times sucking on his thumb and pacifier at the same time. As soon as I'm not paying much attention, BAM, his fingers go straight in his mouth! It's pretty funny to watch actually.

This picture cracks me up! He'll put his hands behind his head when he's relaxing or sleeping. I think it's funny the face that he decided to make right as I took the picture.

11 November 2009

Rosalee's check up

Today Rosalee had her two year old well check visit with Doctor Blake. At first she was shy but once she learned she wasn't going to get a shot she came to life! The doctor told me that she's growing and developing just fine so all I need to do is "keep up the good work". The only thing that slightly concerned him was that Rosalee REFUSES to drink milk and doesn't like most dairy products. He wants us to try and get her to eat something dairy at least once a day and put her on a children's' vitamin. He told me that the best one is the Flintstone's chewable kind which I find hilarious. Rosalee kept telling him, "I pull my earrings out" so I had to explain that she isn't allowed to wear earrings for awhile because she keeps taking them out. (Jesse and I think this is for the best because she keeps losing them and her ears are getting really red.) She also insisted on looking in the doctor's mouth and ears before he could look in hers. I guess she wanted to make sure the tool wasn't a hidden needle or medicine.
Her measurements are-
Height- 33.5 inches, 45th percentile
Weight- 27.4 pounds, 60th percentile
I learned that children gain half of their adult height by the age of two. So based on Rosalee's growth chart, and how tall we are, the doctor said she'll be 5' 4" to 5' 6" when she's fully grown. I think that would be fine because it'll be taller than me (I think 5' 2" is too short!), she can still wear heels and not feel like a giant, and she won't have to worry about trying to find a guy shorter than her. So it'll be interesting to see how tall she really ends up being.

I told her that she could have a treat for doing so well at the doctor. What did she pick?
A beef pot pie.
She's so goofy!

8 years ago


Eight years ago I was baptized into the Latter Day Saint (or Mormon) church. Did I magically feel like a new person once I left the baptismal font? No. Did I think I would? Oddly, yes. But looking back over the past years I can see a difference in myself. I went to a college I NEVER would have attended without joining the LDS church. There I made WoNdErFuL friends and met the man that I call my husband. With my faith I was able to get married in a temple of God and be sealed to my husband for all of eternity. (Not bad!?) I also have two beautiful children who get to be mine for all of eternity. I know the importance of family and my role in being a mother. I'd like to believe I am a happier person who enjoys being in the service of others just because I like to make them happy.
To keep this brief I'll just add that I know that Jesus is our Savior. If you allow Him into your life you'll be amazed at what blessings will come your way. My hope is that I can become an example of what a Christ like person is and show/share that with those I know.

08 November 2009

Just my luck!

Any parent knows the "fun" of trying to get your children up and ready to go somewhere, especially when it's early in the morning. Every week I wake up with full intention of getting my family ready for church on time. Then we stroll in to church five minute after it has started... and we only live a two/three minute drive away.
So last night I got out everything for Sunday dinner and prepped as much as I could. I made sure the children were bathed and put to bed on time so we wouldn't have a big fight in the morning. I got up early to start the pot roast in the crock pot and then got myself mostly ready. Then we got the kids up, fed, and dressed. I even got them dressed in nice outfits and not just the first thing I came across. I even had time to do my hair, not just throw a quick clip in it and call it good.
Life was going great!
My father-in-law likes to be early to church to get a good seat and he usually leaves around 8:45. So to my wonderful surprise we were ready to go with him this morning! Then we got to the church and there were only three other cars in the parking lot.
Wait a minute... is this the week of stake conference?
Only TWO Sundays out of the year when church starts at 10, not 9, and everyone in the area attends all together to listen to some local leaders. OF COURSE THAT'S THE SUNDAY I'M ACTUALLY ON TIME! So now since I was 70 minutes early to church I can be five minutes late 14 more times and still be good, right?
Instead of staying and waiting for church to start we came home (again I say we only live two/three minutes away) and let Rosalee color in her new coloring book while Jesse ate "second breakfast". I decided to take the time to document how cute our family looked today.

What a stud! This guy looks so cute all the time, I just love it. He's getting SO tall that I have to put him in 3-6 month pants and size 2 shoes. I'm convinced that he'll be the same height as Rosalee by the time he's 1.

Rosalee was really confused by us driving to church just to come back home and telling her she could color. At first she just sat on the chair singing to herself, but as soon as she saw the camera she came to life!

I love the picture of Rosalee and me! Yet another picture that I would love to hang up on the wall someday. I also couldn't resist getting one of the hubby and me while I had a chance. I'm pretty sure he looks EXACTLY the same as he did 6 years ago when we met.

Nothing like waiting for church to exhaust a kid!

07 November 2009

Got Tink?


Obsessed much?!?
As you can see Rosalee had a FABULOUS 2nd birthday. We spent the day at home, with family, and it was great. Rosalee got to wear what she wanted (her Tinkerbell dress from Halloween), have her hair down how she wanted (messy aka- barely brushed), and skip her nap (we had a good reason!). We let her open her presents, then ate the dinner Rosalee picked out, ate the cake she requested, all while watching the new Tinkerbell movie. (NOTE TO SELF- they had a commercial for ANOTHER Tinkerbell movie coming out the fall of 2010. Can you guess what Rosalee is getting for her 3rd birthday?)
I took mostly movies of Rosalee because she was hilarious to watch. Every time I'd switch over and take a few pictures she'd do or say something that I wished I had caught on video. So be prepared to watch several short clips of Rosalee's party.

Last year I dressed her nicely and took her outside for some cute pictures. I have a "thing" about HAVING to take the pictures of them on the actual day they turn that age. I know that one day doesn't make a difference but for some reason it just doesn't feel the same to me. I got so caught up in just having fun and enjoying Rosalee that I totally forgot about taking some nice pictures until I started on this post. :(
But I feel that this picture does a great job of summing up Rosalee turning two.
*She is VERY independent! She likes to pick out her own clothes (even if Mommy tries to tell her that it won't be warm enough, doesn't match, etc.), she wants to feed herself, and likes to walk/climb/move without any assistance.**She speaks in fairly coherent sentences. Other people can (for the most part) understand her and she enjoys interacting with anyone who gives her the time of day! Her vocabulary is so large that I've lost count of how many words she can say now. She knows what the words mean and if you try to ignore her, give her something else, etc. you are guaranteed to see a tantrum.**She can jump and is starting to get her feet off the ground. It's pretty silly to watch actually. She also enjoys dancing and calls herself a "dancing baby" and has 3 dance moves- happy feet (think Flash Dance, jogging in place quickly), spinning, and dancin' (that's the penguin like wobble she most often does).**She LOVES giving her family hugs and kisses. Actually she'd kiss or hug anyone but I try to discourage the hugging of random Wal-Mart door greeters.**She is a big help with Zeke. She likes to help pick out his clothes, tell me which diaper he should wear ("No Elmo this time, he needs a Big Bird one."), talking or singing to him when he cries, and kissing him whenever she can.**Going swimming is a favorite activity, even though all she can do at this point is walk around in the shallow end, go down the slide, and lie on the steps.**As much as she enjoys helping me pick out her clothes she'd rather go without clothing. She always asks if she can take a "naked nap" (that just means without pants on) and she takes off running as soon as she's done in the bathroom before we can redress her.**She uses the potty and has gone up to 3 1/2 days without an accident. When we're at home she wears underwear and if we go out she gets a pull-up over top of the underwear. She gets pretty upset if she gets her underwear dirty and will tell us randomly throughout the day, "we don't go poopy on Minnie/Tinkerbell". It's kind of funny that she is attached to the characters on her underwear, but whatever keeps her dry!**She is starting to get into pretend play with her toys. She makes food with random dishes (mostly soup) and then feeds them to her babies. Last night as I was going to turn the light off she asked me to wait. When I looked over at her she was taking one of her blankets and tucking her new dolls under it.**Nature FASCINATES her beyond belief! Any rock, leaf, etc. is like a piece of gold to this kid. Her eyes get so big and bright and she almost squeals with delight as she tells you about it.**She likes to color, especially if someone sits with her and allows her to tell them how to color.**She does NOT like naps, but will go to sleep with little to no complaints if we turn on a book on CD for her. Going to bed at night is great, as long as we keep with her routine. If we're at a new place she'll get upset so it is CRITICAL that we bring a toy or blanket from her crib with us when we travel. Thankfully she'll only be upset the first night and then be fine the rest of the time so we haven't been discouraged from taking extended trips yet.**She knows her full name is Rosalee Helene James and she's convinced that Zeke's full name is Zeke Let James.**She likes watching videos and cartoons, especially Disney ones.**She is a toddler and has tantrums but thankfully they don't happen that often or last for very long. I love that she copies lines from books or movies to express her frustrations to us. Once we realized that she was doing this, we worked on teaching her the correct words to use. Now instead of saying, "This is my hiding spot!" when she's mad (it comes from the 1st Tinkerbell movie) she'll say either, "no thank you I'm fine" or "I don't want to". She still says, "it'll taste just the same" when she disagrees with us (that comes from Just a Nap one of the Little Critter books by Mercer Meyer) but one day she'll figure out what to say to better get her point across.**She has a great smile and laughs hysterically. Her laugh is contagious and can change the mood of an entire room.**Rosalee is a wonderfully happy, smart little girl who is greatly loved by everyone who knows her.*

Rosalee's great grandparents came down for a short visit. Rosalee was in her crib getting ready for her nap when they came. I figured since it was her birthday I'd be nice and let her get out of her nap. Boy was she excited, no nap AND she got to see GG and Grandpa! They bought her a cute outfit (she's wearing the green coat) and a fancy sequined dance skirt.

(Don't mind the crazy hair, I'm in desperate need of a hair cut!)
I made Rosalee a strawberry shortcake for her birthday because that's what she wanted. Although I'm 99% sure she has no idea what a strawberry shortcake is, I made one anyway. I made a strawberry cake and then topped it with whip cream and strawberry syrup and strawberries.





Here are some of the still shots I took of Rosalee opening her gifts. I should have just kept it on video the whole time, but I wanted something to put in a scrapbook.



A dinner fit (and picked out by) for a two year old! Rosalee wanted chicken nuggets and curly fries so I made some popcorn chicken and curly fries for dinner. Rosalee was excited to have ketchup and ranch to dip her food in. Despite the odd look on her face she really loved her dinner and ended up eating two plates full of chicken and fries.

We kept saying, "wow, that doll is the size of a real baby" so to prove/disprove our statement we put Tink next to Zeke. At first he was shocked to see another small person next to him and then he started smiling and cooing at the doll.

I was hoping she'd dig in and make a big deal out of her cake, but nope. She daintily picked off all the strawberries and then told me she was all done.

Same story with the ice cream... all she wanted was the strawberry syrup.

We love our monster baby, Rosabug, Lily girl very much and are so happy to be able to continue to watch her grow!