October Already?

Well September must have been a bit busy since I couldn't make a blog post all month. I'm finding some time this morning after going running with the girls and the dog. Now, Gwen's naked and eating her pancakes and Emily is crawling around the floor finding all the microscopic bits of papers and treats that end up on the floor when you have a 3 year-old and a dog. They're watching Mary Poppins for probably the thousandth time (not today . . . yet). I'm going to try to remember all the highlights of a few of the fun September things we did.

At the beginning of the month we drove all the way out to Heber and went with Heidi, Sam, and Jami as well as my Mom and Dad and Grandpa to watch the national sheep dog trials. We own a border collie and I've always been interested in going to see what real border collies can do. Our Boot could never be a real sheep dog because she's scared of sheep. It was really neat to watch the dogs run all the way up the mountain to get the sheep and then carefully bring them back down the mountain to the person who was directing them. It was like it was on the movie Babe but they really run like half-way up the mountain and only have 13 minutes to bring the sheep down then back up then down again and go through some gates and get them in the pen. The dogs would run right by where we were sitting and Gwen would shout "There goes Boot."

The little ones were good at holding the hoops and then running around with them.

We didn't actually get any pictures of the sheep dogs or the sheep. They had some fun activities for the little kids to do. We got to find the missing sheep they had hidden and each of the kids won a little stuffed bear. Gwen gave hers a piggy-back ride when we had to walk up the big hill to watch the dogs jump in a big pool and make a big splash. We had to leave after only being there a couple hours because I had to work. It would have been more worth it if we had made an entire day of it. The drive was beautiful though.

Emily made a new friend at the gym and the little 2 year-old bit her on the cheek. I was so frustrated by it because the mom of the biter didn't really do anything about it. Neither did the gym day care. At least it was just a bruise, no permanent damage or scaring or anything. Plus, it's not going to stop me from going there. I'm just a little more anxious when I go and I keep reminding them to keep the little biter away from Emily. Gwen actually took this picture of me with my anniversary flowers. Not bad considering I really had to convince her to hold the camera the right way. Usually she just takes pictures of her own nose because she always holds the camera backwards.

Jonathan and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on the 10th. He and Gwen went and picked out 4 beautiful red roses for me as a surprise. We went out to lunch at Red Robin and then we all went to the fair together that evening. It was so much fun being at the fair together that Jonathan took the girls back again the next evening while I was at work. They even took the train and the bus so that they didn't have to pay for parking. That meant they could spend more money trying fair delicacies like deep fried peanut butter sandwiches and a deep fried Snickers candy bar. I think it's funny that he knew that I would never allow my kids to consume anything like that so he did it when I wasn't there.

Gwen's favorite parts of the fair are the animals and the butter sculpture - this year's was a pair of dancing cows.

Emily demonstrates how she's so big now that she can even use a sippy cup. My pediatrician told me to start her on a real cup, but since Gwen can't even use one without making a huge mess I didn't think that was too smart. She is really good at the sippy cup though.

Okay, I did something I regret a little bit earlier this month. I was so sick and tired of fighting Gwen about her hair that I chopped it all off one afternoon after a particularly nasty fight with her about brushing it. It's pretty cute and it fits her little personality but I miss all her curls in the back. It is a lot easier to brush and take care of now though. So, I'm torn about it. I just wish she wouldn't have such a fit about brushing it.

I've mentioned before about my incredible working mom guilt that makes me have to go out and make each day fun for my little ones. It's been extra nice outside lately - well before it turned into winter yesterday. We've been spending more time up at Liberty Park. We hadn't been there since the beginning of the summer and it was fun to see what Gwen had remembered from a few months before. Last week we went and had a picnic lunch at the Tracy Aviary. It was warm and quiet since all the kids are back in school these days. Gwen found a peacock to follow around all day. I guess he thought that he was invited to our lunch because he showed up and stole Gwen's peanut butter and jelly sandwich, even though it was still sealed in it's baggy. That made Gwen upset so I chased him down and got it back and shooed him away. Gwen still asks if we can go to the park so she can share her lunch with the peacock again. I guess she's forgotten how scared she was when he jumped up on the table right by her.

At Liberty Park they also have this area with all these small rivers showing all the canyons in the Salt Lake Valley and how they all dump into the Great Salt Lake. It hadn't been working when we were there at the start of summer but it's up and running now. We went two days in a row so Gwen could get her fill of playing in the water. Luckily, Emily can sleep just about anywhere and she ended up taking a nap for over an hour while Gwen played.Also, for her birthday, Gwen's grandma gave her dancing lessons. Gwen is so excited each week to go to dancing class. Last week she had a really hard time focusing on the dancing because she was trying hard to play with all her new friends. She even made the shyest girl in class cry because she was giving her a big bear hug and pulled her hair. Yesterday's class was much better and although her attention span puttered out at about 45 minutes into the lesson, she didn't make anyone cry this time. Emily spends the entire class practicing her crawling. She's fairly quick at the army crawl but likes to be up on all fours in the traditional crawl because it's easier to go from crawling to sitting that way.

Yay for Pictures!

Gwen opening presents with help from her cousins Sam, Kim, and Jami.

Blowing out the candles on her princess birthday cake.

Out to lunch with Cinderella aka Gwen at Sweet Tomatos.

Gwen getting ready for her big birthday day.

Emily sits up all by herself. She loves it so much that she hates to lie down at all even to nap.

Gwen at the swimming pool.

Gwen loves chocolate ice cream.

After they got their faces painted at the parade preview.

Emily and Daddy playing video games together.

Video of Gwen jumping into the deep end at the pool.

Gwen's Birthday Party

So, today was Gwen's big birthday pool party. All her cousins (well on my side of the family) came and went swimming with her in our condo's pool. Gwen had been excited about going swimming with her cousins since our last swimming party at the beginning of the summer. All summer she kept saying to me "I go swimming today with Noah and Sam and Mason." Sometimes she'd substitute Jami, Kim, or Heidi in there but usually it was Noah, Sam, and Mason for some reason. I'd tell her "no, not today. We'll all go swimming on your birthday."

Well, that dream finally came true for her and she really didn't want it to end. After spending 3 hours in the pool with a little lunch break in there she still didn't want to get out - not even to open her presents. I finally got her to get out by reminding her that we were going to light candles and sing Happy Birthday to her.

It was so fun to watch how much she's grown over the summer with her confidence in the pool. She jumps into the deep end and swims with her face under the water. She can get herself to anywhere in the pool even over the rope separating the shallow from the deep ends. She rarely spends time in the baby pool unless she's practicing using her goggles or "diving" under the water to pick up the diving rings. One of her favorite things to do is to hold her breath under water and wave to me while I swim below or beside her. She also thinks that she can "almost" touch the bottom of the pool at the 9 foot end. I can't wait for next summer. We'll definitely get her into a swimming class toward the end of the winter or in spring to prepare for pool season. Hopefully we can keep our little fish nice and happy. I love that she loves the water so much. She's absolutely the best swimmer out of all her cousins - who wouldn't be with at least an hour of practice 4 or 5 days a week all summer long?

Gwen loved her birthday party so much that I couldn't get her to take her usual post swimming nap today. She just wanted to play with her new toys. Unfortunately, Emily didn't want to take her nap either. About once a week, Emily goes through nap refusal. She just looks at her bed and starts to scream, and boy do I mean SCREAM. She has the most piercing screech in the world. Today, after all the usual tricks of nursing her and even taking her on a car ride, as soon as I laid her in her bed her little eyes popped open and she would scream. I finally had to just pat her on the tummy and tell her she'd be okay and walk out of the room and close the door. It took about 5-10 minutes of her screaming before she fell asleep. I feel sorry to do that to my neighbors, but they have a 18 month-old and probably understand. It's easy to get caught up in the not wanting them to scream and hard to remember that no baby ever died from crying or screaming.

Thanks to the doctor's I work with for letting me use their Internet access while we've been slow the last couple evenings. I only wish I had brought my camera to upload my pictures. I think that will be my before church project for tomorrow. That or clean the bathrooms. Hmmm, which sounds funner to you?

WCCs

That's Well Child Checks for those of you that don't speak "doctor". Both Gwen and Emily had their check-ups done yesterday. Here's the info for those of you who might care:

Emily weighs 14# 15 oz. That's on the 30% for weight. She's 27 1/2 inches long so 96% for height. That puts her at a 1% for height vs. weight which they use as an indicator of obesity. She's not at all like her big sister which we shall see next. She's right on track as far as milestones go like sitting up all by her big self and rolling over. She also made great eye contact with the doctor and laughed at him. That's encouraging as far as autism goes.

Gwen weighs 37#. That's on the 92% for weight. She's 37 inches tall so 67% for height. On the height vs. weight she's a whopping 96%. That means she's a bit tubby and will be considered obese if she tops over 100% at her check-up next year. What that means to me as her nurse and mommy: she needs to stop snacking and move more. It's so hard in these days and times to try to teach a little impressionable girl to be healthy and not obsessed about her body. I hope that she will see my example and want to be like me. She's already got to fight against genetics, so I hope I can give her the confidence to be active and to enjoy her chubby body. My mom is getting her dance lessons for her birthday and we're going to get her into tumbling too. Not only will she get the benefit of moving around more and developing her muscles and skills, she'll get to make more friends and learn to listen to instructions. I'm also excited to meet other moms with kids her age.

The very best part of the visit was when they gave Gwen a paper gown to wear and she put it on and started to twirl around with it with her cute little bottom showing out the back. The doctor came in the room and remarked that he hadn't seen anyone model the gown so beautifully before. Gwen looked at him with a serious expression and said: "I'm a princess." He even let her take the gown home and she wore it all evening.

Happy Birthday Gwenners!

Just had to make a quick post to wish my little big girl a very happy 3rd birthday. Today started with her getting up at 6:45 am. That's a good 45 minutes earlier than normal. I took her downstairs and she opened her present from Mommy and Daddy - a Disney princess dress-up kit. She immediately stripped her pajamas off and started trying on the different outfits. Then Daddy left for school and Gwen, Emily, and I went to the gym. Gwen wore her Cinderella princess dress and jewels. After the gym we met up with Daddy and went to lunch at Gwen's favorite restaraunt, Sweet Tomatos. Gwen eats so much good food there, I love it. She had a handful of mushrooms and even tried clam chowder which she loved. After lunch she and Emily went swimming with Daddy and I had to go to work. They came and visited me at work after naps and we had chicken nuggets together. I hope she had a great day. She went around telling everyone "I'm three on my birthday." She'd hold up her hand making an "okay" sign to show her three fingers. She'd also demand for me to sing Happy Birthday to her randomly during the day. Tomorrow is her big swimming birthday party. It's going to be so much fun. I love my little big girl so much.

Monthly Update

Since I'm only finding the time to blog about once a month these days, here's my one for August. It's fun to look back at my pictures from the last month to remind myself all that has happened. Those are only the things that I remembered to bring my camera and take pictures of too.

Let's see, since my last post in mid July, I celebrated my 29th birthday. I had to work the entire weekend of my birthday and much of my family had gone to Greece on a cruise, so it wasn't that big of a deal. It was also on a Sunday and those birthday's usually lack the pizazz of regular weekday birthdays. The major plus side of it was that we celebrated my birthday week and that turned into a birthday fort night celebration. We had a family birthday party for me and my older sisters the Sunday before my birthday and everyone came. Gwen had such a blast playing with all her cousins. Then, later that week we met up with my older sisters and their kids at the 24th of July parade preview. Or as Jonathan termed it: the 24th of July face painting extravaganza - since we pretty much spent the entire time in line waiting for face painting and balloons. It was still lots of fun.

Also during my birthday celebration we went to lunch at this Brazilian place in the Gateway Mall. It was fancier than we usually do and we brought the kids. We thought we were all prepared to keep the kids entertained: had the portable DVD player and brought cereal for Emily. Everything was fine until Gwen peed on the floor and Emily finished her cereal and was still hungry. Then Gwen spilled her drink and my drink on the floor, which just diluted her pee puddle and we decided we had better leave a REALLY big tip.

Well, despite some minor accidents, I'd say Gwen is potty trained. She even poops in the potty most of the time now. That was our biggest challenge with her. She's much better at it now, only now she insists on describing each bowel movement to everyone. It's much like when I go visit Grandpa Madsen these days. I hadn't mentioned on here that my almost 96-year-old grandpa got a hip replacement this last month after breaking his hip a few months ago. He's living with my parents now and we go visit at least once a week. Gwen loves to steal his Jolly Ranchers and calls him Mommy's Grandpa which I think is a great way for her to try to keep all her grandpa's straight.

Emily's growing and growing fast. She's rolling over from front to back and back to front. She gets up on her arms and pushes with her legs and manages to scoot herself forward a tiny bit. She'll be crawling any day now and I don't think we're ready for that. It's hard to teach Gwen to keep her smaller toys and objects away from Emily because Emily will eat them. It will be even harder when she's more mobile. Here's a cute story from today: This morning both the girls got up at 6:30. No, that's not the cute part. That's far from cute since I went to bed after midnight and Emily still gets me up once a night to feed. Anyway, Gwen came into our room and wasn't sold on snuggling with me but told me she was going to play with Emily. Emily was making happy noises in her crib in the corner of our room. Gwen climbed up on the rocking chair and right into the crib with Emily. That made Emily squeal with delight. Then Gwen decided to bounce up and down on her knees and Emily thought that was even better. Each baby squeal made Gwen guffaw. It was so cute to listen to them making each other laugh. I love my girls so much and each little moment like that one fills up my heart and makes me realize what life is all about. I miss them so much when I have to be away at work but I know that it's necessary right now and things will change in the future.

Sorry, I tried to upload a bunch of pictures, but the site is having a hard time with it. I'll try again later.

My Sweet Girls

The other night I spent two hours awake in the middle of the night with Gwen because she was sick and throwing up. I really think it was the ton of grapes that she had been eating all day. She woke up screaming for me and when I went into her room I could smell the vomit. She's super sweet when she's sick. I took her into the bathroom to clean her up and she started to throw up again so I had her do it in the toilet. She stuck her entire little head in the bowl and when she was done she looked up at me and said "I don't like it in here, Mommy." I rubbed her back and told her she was going to be okay. Luckily, I have some left-over nausea medicine from my pregnancy and it's safe for kids. I gave her a half a dissolvable pill and we went downstairs to snuggle and watch Annie together. It's one of her new favorite shows. She loves to pretend that she's Annie and I usually get to be Ms. Hannigan or if I'm really lucky, her dog, Sandy. We ended up just watching all the musical numbers and snuggled under her favorite Cookie Grandma blanket as we waited for the vomiting to go away. Finally, after about another half hour or so I asked her how she was feeling and in her little 2-year-old understanding and limited vocabulary she tried to explain to me that she was feeling better by saying "my sick went bye-bye." I thought that was such a cute way to put it.

It is so wonderful and amazing to watch my little girls develop each and every day. I love watching them learn to put things together and figure out new things. Emily turns 5 months-old in two more days. She's a great sleeper and absolutely the cutest little morning person ever. She goes to sleep each night right around 7:30 and then I get her up when I get home from work to feed her around 11:00 and she sleeps until about 4 or 5 in the morning and wants a snack - not even a complete feeding. She wakes up for good around 6:30 or 7:00 and sits in her crib babbling and squealing. It would be even cuter if she wasn't in our room with us waking us up. She says "Dadadada" already so this morning I woke up Jonathan and told him that she was calling for him so he had to be the one to get up with her. He did and I got to sleep in until 9:00 - sort-of. I did have to get up and feed Emily at 8:00 although I've gotten good at being mostly asleep for that too.

I put my foot down and refused to let Jonathan buy more Pull-ups for Gwen. It seems that when she wears them that she treats them like a diaper and is too lazy to use the potty. If she's wearing her panties she does much better at using the potty. So, Gwen's officially not in diapers or training pants during daytime hours anymore! We'll see how long that lasts. I did have them go pick out more pairs of big girl panties since we sometimes go through two or three a day. She does really well when I'm home with her. Probably because I'm insisting that she sit on the potty every few hours. When I leave for work, Jonathan has been much more relaxed about the issue and he usually gets caught up in his own business and forgets to remind her. Some days she does wonderful and will do it all by herself and other times she has accidents. Do you ever get to a point where you're not having to constantly worry about them having accidents or reminding them to use the potty? I guess you do, since my mother doesn't have to call me at work and remind me, but it feels like I'm going to be doing this for a while.