Pictures...

Here are the pictures I have been meaning to post along with a few that I just decided to share.

Aunt Kelle has been a huge hit with the girls. Kel loves that Lauren can say Kelle in the cutest way possible.

Of course, Pa is always a huge hit. The girls took turns flipping in his lap.


Aunt Kelle and Lilly.

Aunt Kelle and Lauren.


Kelle


Both girls trying to go through the tunnel at the same time.


Here comes Lilly.


Lauren insisted, no, demanded that Aunt Kelle go through the tunnel, too.


I think Aunt Kelle was having a bit too much fun.


Lauren clinging to my leg. Her clingy ways have been a huge problem lately. She follows right behind me all the time, wants me to hold her constantly, will not go to Keith, thus, breaking his heart, naps are non-existent and it takes an hour to get her to go to bed at night. I would put her in her crib and just let her cry it out but she has begun jumping out. We are going to try switching her to a big bed but any advice you have that can return her to a "normal" sleeper is greatly appreciated. The 2s are kind of rough, aren't they. Thank goodness we have sweet Lilly to remind us that not all kids are so dramatic!


Speaking of Lilly, her she is in Aunt Kelle's ginormous sunglasses. She was having a really hard time keeping them on so that is why she is making that crazy, funny face. Oh, and this is how easy going Lilly is... without so much as a whimper, she got her first molar. I was so shocked to see it almost completely in. No fussiness, at all, that would make me question if she was teething. Thanks for dealing so well, Lilly. Mama needs it.


It must be good pudding!


Lilly was nibbling on a bowl of that Cheerios snack mix. It has several different kinds of Cheerios, pretzels, crackers and Chex cereal. She was digging her little fingers through the entire bowl searching for just the Chex. More proof that most people favor the Chex in snack mixes above all the other items.


Keith's cousin Nicole and her husband came over one night and brought the kids with them. Poor Nicole has had a rough week. First Morgan sliced her hand open in a freak accident with a bowl and had to be stitched up and is now sporting somewhat of a baby cast on her hand. Then Kristian had his own freak accident with his bed and split his forehead open requiring 8 stitches. I can only imagine how she felt taking her kids to the doctor just a few days apart for serious bandaging! Despite the boo-boos, they played non-stop with the girls toys. Lilly didn't pay any attention to them and Lauren became completely possessive of HER things. Drama, drama, drama.

Kristian with his head boo-boo.



Morgan with her hand boo-boo.

Aunt Kelle is Here

Aunt Kelle flew in from California on Tuesday night. The girls were already in bed when she got here but Lilly woke up and Kel tried to get a look at her since she was only days old the last time she saw her. Lilly cried and cried when she saw Auntie Kelle. Even when she would catch Kelle move out of the corner of her eye, she would burst into tears. I think it was just due to being tired and not knowing who she was because by the time morning came, she was all smiles at her auntie. It didn't take long for either of the girls to warm up to her. Jokingly, Aunt Kelle said, "Do I let her smell me? Is that how this works?" Surprisingly, I have yet to take a single picture of anyone since Aunt Kelle's arrival. I will get on that right away. Also....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!
WE LOVE YOU!

Mommy Moments

For a couple of years now, I have been reading this blog www.dooce.com. I haven't read it in awhile but quickly remembered why I love it. Some of you may even remember when I shared her birth story on my old website. (Does poop labor ring a bell?) So tonight, I share with you another Dooce special that made me laugh. Hope you get a chuckle, too.

When asked by her four year old daughter if she could eat some of her Halloween candy right after collecting it, she had this reaction.

I hesitated when you asked me, because I am mean and evil and enjoy the sound of your head exploding, and then said yes. Of course. It's Halloween. And Leta, I don't think you have ever loved me more than you did in that moment. In fact, you took the time to hug me and tell me that I am wonderful before ripping into a full-sized Hershey's bar. It is not lost on me that you showed such affection because of a goddamn chocolate bar and not because I carried you in my womb for nine months or because I pushed your seven-pound body out my wee waw. For a chocolate bar that did not whip out its boob while standing in line at the post office because you needed to be fed. A chocolate bar that has not cupped its hands underneath your mouth as you throw up a cheese quesadilla. That being said, there is a reason you give boxes of chocolate to your loved ones on Valentine's Day and not, say, a picture of vaginal stitches next to a thought bubble that says, "I love you THIS much!"

Making Progress

For the first time ever, Lilly didn't get upset when I vacuumed. She had a worried look at first but just hid behind the chair carefully watching me. Lauren, however, stayed far away in her bedroom and would not come out until the vacuum was put away again. This is huge! Before Lilly was born, I had to carry Lauren around while I was vacuuming pregnant! Can you picture that? After Lilly was about four or five months old, I would have to put the girls on the couch or in their cribs and make a mad dash while they screamed their heads off. I tried to introduce them to the quiet vacuum, get them to touch it or anything that would make them feel safer around it. They don't mind the Dustbuster or my swifer vacuum but I do need to break out the big guns once in awhile.
Thankfully, they are finally warming to the idea of letting Mommy clean. Now, if they would just learn to use it, too!

Stop in the Name of Lauren!

Boy! Lauren is really starting to demand order. She arranges things, knows where things usually go and thinks that is the only way. She even orders people around. In the evenings, she tells us where to sit based on where we usually sit and won't let Mommy lay down - at all! But things took a different turn last night when she wouldn't let Keith play with us after dinner. She ordered him back into the dining room where he was instructed to sit! She got so upset when he would get up. Today, Ethan came over after school and things were fine until he tried to touch her car. Keep in mind that Ethan is 7 and doesn't want her car. He can't even fit inside of it. But it seemed to push Lauren over the edge and she vanquished Ethan from the living room. She made him stand in the entry. Whenever he would head toward the living room, Lauren would charge at him, hand raised, shouting, "STOP, Ethan!" He stopped.

Lilly is finally walking like a champ. I think having a sister who always brought her everything kept her in one place for so long. When Lilly decided to try walking, Lauren would push her down. She has now overcome and walks non-stop all day. If she is awake, she is walking.

We are getting ready for our up North trip. Keith is going hunting north of Lincoln and since he will be passing through Tawas, the girls and I are going to my mom and dad's for a long deer widows' weekend. We are excited but not nearly as excited as we will be to see Auntie Kelle when she comes home next week! She hasn't seen Lilly since she was a newborn.

Not sure that I will be blogging while in Tawas. We will see.

Tantrums Happen to the Rich Too

Doesn't this make you feel good? Proof that even perfectly put together, nanny having, wife of Tom Cruise can't always put the kabosh a temper tantrum. I enjoy this.

(I got the pics from Perezhilton.com so that is where the creative drawings are from. Although, I would've loved to have drawn on these!)

Oh, and of course, we know my children NEVER ever do this!!! I am perfect! (wink)

Election 2008

Okay, one day to go! Regardless of how you plan to vote, go vote. This really is the MOST IMPORTANT election of our lifetime. The girls and I will be voting tomorrow. Will you?

UPDATE:
The girls and I voted this morning. I called my neighbor because I knew he voted already and I wanted to know how long I could expect the lines to be. He said he waited over an hour. I went at 10:30 so I expected it to be better. It was! I didn't even wait five minutes. However, I was prepared with books, toys, snacks, drinks etc. to entertain the girls. When we were getting our ballot, she was really chatty with the women at the registration desk and Lilly was really sleepy. We found a stroller friendly spot and Lauren sat on my lap. She saw me filling in all the bubbles on my ballot and she kept saying, "Me color too." I gave her some "debbies" and she was content to sit there and let me do the coloring. Both girls did really well. It was Lauren's second time going to vote and Lilly's first. We all earned our stickers!!! Go get your free sticker today, too!!!!

More Debbies

Lauren loves grapes. Wait. She LOVES grapes! Other than the cookies she secretly nabbed this morning, all she will really eat today is grapes. She eats them as soon as I can clean and cut them. Every time I turned around this afternoon, she was running at me with an empty bowl yelling, "more debbies, please." Now, it took me a long time to figure out what "debbies" were and now I am trying my darnedest to teach her that they are called grapes. If I slowly say grapes, she slowly says debbers. The funniest thing about this is that my mom's name is Debbie. Lauren does not know this but it makes it so hilarious to hear her calling grapes after my mom. My favorite is, "Mmm, debbers."

Happy Halloween

We had a really nice Halloween. It is nice when the kids are still so little and you can control what they wear and what they eat. All the pictures I put on here are reverse order of what I wanted to post them but it is such a pain to switch them that this is how they shall stay.

I like to dress up, too, but didn't really have time to don a real elaborate costume so I grabbed Lauren's kitty headband and a little black lipstick. Poof! Mama is a kitty!


When we got home last night, Lilly climbed into a box that had come earlier that day. She was having a great time in it. Here she is getting a little love from her big sissy.


Lil' Chicken looking fluffy and cute. This is not set up.


Aunt Erika taught Lauren how to play fetch with Cooper but it kept turning into tug-o-war. Pull, Lauren, pull!


Keith, Kurt and Gram looking at funny videos online while Aunt Erika and Mommy chased little girls up and down the steps.


I don't know if this little sheep or Cooper was more excited to be running around but they were both having so much fun.


Playing fetch with "Sparky." Our neighbors have a little black dog named Sparky and so Cooper became Sparky the entire time we were there. I think she said Cooper, maybe, three times.


Lilly Chicken eating goldfish crackers. Yum.


Cooper was hoping that the little chicken would drop a cracker.

Daddy and his little chicken. Lilly looked like she was going to fall asleep when we first got there.


Aunt Erika and Uncle Kurt had wonderful little treat bags for the girls. Thank you, guys.


Did you hear the one about the sheep and the chicken?


Here are our little animals when we first got to Uncle Kurt and Aunt Erika's house. Great Grammy was there just like last year to visit with the girls and she also gave them great treat bags. Thank you, Gram.


Just down the road from our house is a sheep farm. Whenever we pass it, the girls start baa-ing. Here Lilly is baa-ing at the top of her lungs.


Earlier in the day, Lauren tried on her Minnie Mouse costume that once belonged to cousin Flynn. She loved pretending to be Minnie.



I found this trouble maker on top of the toy box and the other one still in the box after I got walked back in the room after hanging up the phone. I thought Lilly was the monkey.

Lilly loves to climb in the toy box and Lauren jumped in after her. The above picture happened immediately after.


I was the pumpkin master in our house this year. I just decided I wanted some good pumpkins. The girls and I bought them a few doors down from our house at Carlson's Greenhouse. Buy one get one free. Good deal. This is the back of one pumpkin. I shaved the skin off and created eyes to make it look like a bunch of creatures looking at you.


This is the front.

This is my abstract pumpkin. Lauren picked this one out. It was the most perfect little pumpkin ever.

Our little star jack 0'lantern and my Ralphie Wiggim special. (No stencil!) He is picking his nose.

Jack o'lantern number 2 and a stenciled Cinderella.



This morning, Lilly and I slept in because we were up a lot last night. Keith fell asleep on the chair and Lauren had the run of the house. She managed to grab a bag of chocolate chip cookies off the counter and hopped in her car. She drove out to the living room and said, "Cookies, Daddy." Keith woke and saw her eating cookies out of the bag. He asked if he could have the bag. She handed him one cookie and said, "Daddy cookie." We had a nice sugar crash a couple of hours following that incident!!!

AND...
Big congratulations to Keith's cousin Jon and his wife Shannon. Last night, they had their long awaited for baby boy. We were at Kurt and Erika's when we heard they were on their way to the hospital around 7 - 7:30 p.m. and she had the baby before midnight. Wow!!! Welcome to the world, William Jensen!