(2) Tue Aug 01 2006 14:33 Terrible Two's: Truth or Myth: Wow, August is here already. I can't believe that we have lived here over a year now. This month Lily turns 2, and I turn a quarter century old! It is unbelievable how much Lily has metamorphasized into a walking, talking personality.

I feel compelled to let everyone in on the gold nugget memories Lily has left for me these past couple weeks. After being sleep deprived from Lily's illness (the one where she woke up every other hour screaming in pain from her sore throat) I really needed to rest a little bit so I could make it through the day. It wasn't quite Lily's naptime, but I hoped that if I turned on Wonder Pets that she might be occupied enough to let me lie down on my bed for a half hour.

In the next 20 minutes in 5 minute increments she would come to visit me, climbing on the bed and stepping on my hair saying "nigh, night...sleeping" and poking me, then suddenly her hands in my face smelled familiar. Actually they smelled pretty good. I shot outta bed when I placed the smell back to a lotion scent I owned. In the family room she had smeared lotion all over her tiny table and chairs set. Luckily, only trace amounts were on the carpet. The punishment does not end there.

Later on that day, probably while I used the restroom-who knows, but while Lily was unattended for a short amount of time, I returned to the family room to find Lily standing on her mini table with parts of the internal a/c temperature control in her mouth! She had broken the case off and opened it, ripped out the coiled wire that connects to a glass tube of mercury. The little pointy hand that tells you what temperature your house is set at, gone and irreparable. There is a bright side to this mishap as well. Along with the carpet being spared, the glass tube with mercury was not broken; therefore Lily was not poisoned and I did not have to call a repairman to fix it because this tube I guess is the thing that triggers the a/c to kick on when it gets too hot. Thank you for saving me some money, Lily. How very considerate.

It gets better...the same day after I put Lily to bed in her big girl bed for bedtime, I always have to check on her a couple times before she actually koncks out. I round the hallway corner to see light leaking out of the floor crack in the door. Hmm, how on earth did she ever turn the light on, she can't even open the door. I open the door face to face with the monster! She had climbed up her diaper changing table which is up against the wall when you open the door. Apparently, climbing her mini table gave her the idea that she can climb anything she wants to. Everything on top of the diaper changing table was flung on the floor and she had taken off all the pictures on her magnetic decorative board hanging on the wall and half of the magnets were in her mouth.

Nice ending to the perfect day. I scolded her and put her back in bed hoping that she wouldn't have the guts to attempt that climb again. However, my instincts were correct and I waited by the door to see the light turn on just seconds after I closed it. Now, I was mad. The heck I was going to be rearranging furniture after such an exhausting day. Besides, I had already been forced to move Lily's table because she climbed up on that. So I pulled out the big guns. I got Lily's port-a-crib out, which I had just taken down, and set it up. If she wasn't going to stay still in her bed, then I was forced to trap her in.

Wrong. I didn't see her do it, but I know she climbed right out of that crib and up on the diaper changing table and turned on the light. (Good foresight on Aaron's part that she was going to be doing this shortly and started training her to sleep on the big girl bed.) I wouldn't have minded so much that she was roaming around her room because she was doing it every night, but getting onto the diaper changing table was dangerous and high and I didn't want her falling and breaking her neck. So I did what I had to do in the past. When she kept taking all the books off the bookshelf cupboard, I had to move them somewhere else. When she kept getting into the kitchen and into pots and pans and getting them all over the floor so I had to wash the pots and tupperware again and again, I had to put a gate up even though Aaron and I have to hurdle over it and sometimes trip. When she kept getting into my jewelry, lotion, trash, and what not in my room, I had to keep the door closed at all times. I had to give up one more spot in my house that was mine and safe. I had to move her diaper changing table out of her room, which has all her clothes in baskets mind you, and put it somewhere else. I still don't know where to put it. I guess I have to find somewhere else to put Lily's clothes sooner or later with another one coming, but I would have liked to have done it on a less pressing schedule. I consider myself to be semi-organized with a place for everything and everything in its place, and I don't like things to be in limbo.

I can't complain about not having my things to myself any more. I mean I can't even use the restroom without an unwelcome visitor busting in on me or sleep in till whenever I want, but I did make this decision to be in this predicament. But I can warn those of what's to come when they have a very curious independent 2 year-old, and solicit sympathy from those who know what I am talking about. But there are some perks to the job. There are plenty smiles, tears of joy, and belly laughs when they learn new things or do or say something funny. Like who can get mad at a child who walks out of a room trying to be sneaky when they think you can't see them because they have a blanket on their head? Or when they say I love you it sounds like "hi lover".

Basically, Lily is teaching me how to not be so selfish, and I really need that lesson. So the moral of the story is I asked for it when I got pregnant, and I need it to make me a more understanding, patient, and less rigid person and one who is more fun to be around in the end. Looking back, I have come a long way since I got married on being a little less closed-minded and selfish, but I still have a long way to go.

(1) Thu Aug 03 2006 09:19 Update: I took Lily's car seat out of the car because now that I am Laurel Advisor I had a youth temple trip to go on and needed the space for rides. I thought as long as I had the car seat out, I might as well wash the lining. I came out from brushing my teeth to get ready for the temple trip and Lily had ripped all the protective styrofoam lining, crucial to head protection. I was literally gone for only two minutes. Makes me wonder if she plans these things out on purpose. So now I have no car seat until the $10 ordered part comes in the mail. I guess all is well because I had to take the car into the shop yesterday and I won't get it back till tonight anyway.

Booner came into town for a couple days with a friend en route to Florida. We ate Rudy's BBQ and hung out. I got to see both babies and hold them. They are getting big and are so cute. I was pretty amazed that when Booner and his friend left, they left the guest room neater than it was before. The bed was made and extra sheets were folded nicely. Who'da thought two single boys could be so courteous.

I guess today I will be scrubbing bathrooms and the kitchen since I don't have a car to procrastinate the work. Our house was sorta volunteered for a neighborhood get-together with all the new people that moved into the ward in our neighborhood. It should be fun, hopefully.

(2) Sun Aug 06 2006 23:35 Shopping Spree: Anybody that knows me knows that all I need is an excuse to go shopping and I am all about it. I am a very decisive shopper. I usually go to the mall with a purpose or a list of things I have been wanting. I walk into a store just glancing briefly at the front items while bee lining for the back where the sale rack is. I very rarely buy any clothes that are not on sale, and the feeling of getting something on sale is not easily duplicated. I have these crazy ideas that I can't afford not to buy whatever it is that is on sale. If it is a great deal, then I feel like the money saved is money earned. Money in my pocket. Like I didn't pay full price so that means I get to buy even more things. And heck, since it is such a great deal I'll throw in another one in a different color.

Lately, I can only shop when I "need" something, stupid dental school student loans. This past little while my needs have been new maternity clothes and new baby boy clothes. I like having needs because then it means I don't have to feel guilty spending money we don't have. Plus, I have not been shopping for a long time for myself or anything else really.

Going to the outlet mall has been on my mind recently, so when Aaron had Friday off (ok, he skipped one little class) I thought it was the perfect time for us to do something as a family that was fun. Lucky for us we went on the first day of tax free clothes shopping. There is no tax for 4 or 5 days a couple weeks before school starts so the residents of Texas are able to afford back to school clothes for their kids and school uniforms. It was a little crowded but not too bad and definitely worth the $30 we saved going this weekend.

First we hit Old Navy. Aaron found a couple polo shirts he needed for school, and I found some pretty cute things for Lily but only bought the ones that were really good deals and the things she needed like a new dress. For some reason Lily outgrows dresses more quickly than anything else, and she only has her Christmas one and David's wedding outfit that she wore. I found a few pants for baby boy Smith. It is such an eye-opening experience shopping for boys. I feel so bad for those moms that have never experienced the joy of shopping for a girl. Boys just aren't fun to shop for. I kept trying to get excited about it but I just kept thinking about going back to the girl’s section. I don't know if it is just because I am not a boy, but you can not get excited about seeing the cutest button up shirt and tie as you can for an adorable little jumper with a matching t-shirt that has scalloped sleeves and neck and matching little shoes. Nothing makes me want to say good-bye to my "do not buy unless on sale rule" like a precious little baby girl outfit. The other reason why I feel bad for those with only boys is because oh my gosh! every store has this gigantic section for girls and about a tenth section for boys’ clothes. There just isn't any selection. Hmm, what to buy: button up shirt with jeans or a polo shirt with jeans. Tough.

As you people can tell by the length of this blog entry about my shopping trip...I don't get out much. Feel free to stop reading if you are bored because the rest is still going to be all about me practically robbing stores of their merchandise. Ok, back to the baby clothes. Next stop was Children's Place. I really like Children's Place; it is probably the best store I can count on to find what I like for a really good price usually every time I go in there. Tons of things that were already marked down had 50% off on top of that. And this time, they really did have a lot of boy things that caught my eye. I got a lot of shorts/pants/shirts for baby boy smith (again, that's all your choices are with boys) and a few outfits for Lily.

Lily was screaming "hungry" and "lunch" while we were in line so we grabbed some lunch at Cracker Barrel. Lily has been quite the eater this week, it must be a growth spurt, and I am not kidding, she probably ate the same quantity of food as me. The girl really was hungry. After lunch we made our way to Gap and found nothing that I had to get for the baby. Gap is a little expensive sometimes when it comes to baby clothes. Then we landed in Carter's. When I was pregnant with Lily my first purchase for her other than a pack of tiny onesies as a present for Aaron when I told him we were pregnant was her baby blanket. She has slept with this blanket almost every night of her life. She calls it her "ainky" but is getting better at saying "blankey" and she loves it and her lamb. It is a really soft pink blanket with satin on the underside that I got at Carter's in the outlet mall in Park City. I knew I was going to get one for baby number two and was very happy to see that two years later, they still have the same blankets that they did 2 years prior. Aaron chose the green one for our little guy and it is so soft. Carter's probably had the most impressive sales. They had little overalls and button up shirt outfit for $3.99. Not each, the whole outfit was $3.99! So I bought ten different ones. Like I said, I couldn't afford not to get them. Plus they make great baby shower gifts.

Last stop was Pottery Barn. It was at this point that I saw the most amazing deal that I started foaming from the mouth and twitching so much that Aaron had to shoot me with a tranquilizer. Right here was the cutest twin comforter that I had ever seen and had spent literally a year looking for something that was just right and at a good price. I love Pottery Barn's bedding. They have the cutest selection and all of it is good quality not like some other stores cheap and cheesy stuff. Plus it was 25% off all bedding and another 10% off everything in the store from an already marked down price. I paid $56 for it when it was regularly $159. Some may say that $56 is a rip off for a twin comforter, but I would say not for a Pottery Barn Kids twin comforter. I also got curtain rods for the front room because that is what I want for my birthday is window treatments. Now I just have to find the curtains I like that are just right which will probably take another year.

I will tell you, after so much shopping we were beat. Plus, Lily was exhausted and making every minute miserable so we decided enough damage done and that we better go home before we or shall I say before I spotted something we just had to have. Whoever came up with "shop till you drop" was being very literal.

(3) Thu Aug 10 2006 13:37 No more excuses: It has been some time since I have been "sick", that is throwing up with this pregnancy. Thank heavens for that because with Lily I would have still been throwing up for 3 more weeks. I feel pregnant now in terms of the expanding midsection (not like I wasn't expanding ever since I was off contraceptives. I swear my body knows what is going to happen and starts to storage "energy supply" the minute Aaron takes his shoes off. I am just glad I didn't have to be pregnant the same time as Erin while we all knew there was a baby in there but couldn't tell until she was ohhh, a whopping 7 months pregnant.) and all the aches and pains associated with that. It became time that I needed to make some sort of effort to not get so huge and for me to start walking again. Plus, Lily needed to get out of the house and see the outdoors and not the next show on PBS. My dilemma was the heat, and it is not friendly here. So after picking Lorna up from her Cross Country practice at O.P. Schnabel Park I had an epiphany that I could walk on some of their trails that are stroller friendly and since it is in the woods, it is really shady.

I went to the library to pick up a book on tape. They didn't have much selection since the good books are always on hold and you have to reserve it online to get them, but one book caught my eye. It is called Raising Cain, Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. Since I am having I boy, I thought I should check it out. It is pretty good so far and very eye opening. It has made me more aware. One of my biggest fears is ruining my kids and them having an unhappy childhood. Hopefully, good ideas and instruction like this will keep me from being too clueless of a parent.

Also, my calves and shins are really sore.

(3) Sat Aug 12 2006 12:26 Healthy Breakfast: This Saturday morning I was gone when Lily woke up because I had to give Lorna a ride because my mom is out of town. When I got home I asked Aaron if he fed Lily yet as I surveyed the kitchen. I couldn't believe it when he said, "Yeah, we are out of cereal but I gave her a waffle cone." Nice. Very nutritious and substantial. I know I need to go grocery shopping but there are things like oatmeal and eggs in the house for Lily to have a healthy breakfast. Sometimes I don't understand what goes on in Aaron's head. It's ok though, because I had a backup plan. On my way home I bought dough-nuts. So she had a chocolate covered dough-nut to make up for her waffle cone. Together, Aaron and I make a great pair. And I felt bad last night for feeding her a corndog for dinner.

Wed Aug 16 2006 13:27 Word of advice: If your two-year-old comes to you saying, "Mama, wash hands, ickies" while waving her hands in the air, you should wash her hands. Because chances are she stuck her hands down her diaper and found out it was poopy.

(2) Thu Aug 17 2006 15:50: Now I know why parents try to embarrass their kids when they hit puberty. It is to pay them back for all the embarrassment they caused them when they were little. For example, while visiting teaching this morning Lily, without provocation, kept hitting and pulling the other mother's 10 month old baby. I mean I can see why she would want to hit at that age if he stole her toy, but he was just sitting there.

First of all, I don't like being put in a situation when I have to discipline Lily in front of people. Secondly, it makes me look like a bad mother knowing there are people out there thinking 'there goes that bratty kid that hits...when I have kids, mine will never do that'. If only those people knew, but still now I think to myself instead, 'I'm glad my kid doesn't behave like that', so the syndrome never goes completely away.

Next embarrassing thing: going to lunch with my mom and sister. In between Lily taking her shirt off and screaming bloody murder if I try to put it back on to spilling her water all over the floor because she wants to be a big girl and hold the cup and take off the top to play with the ice to coloring on the table cloth to opening the sugar packet and dumping it all over the table and ground. I was in such a rush to get out of there that I forgot the extra pasta I saved for Aaron to eat for dinner.

Then at the store, Lily has to see what I am looking at so she takes a glass pumpkin away from me and drops it, breaking it to pieces. She also makes me open things such as her tooth brush before I have a chance to pay for it.

All I can say is when she is in high school, its payback time.

(3) Fri Aug 18 2006 09:47 Unconstitutional: I am really bummed that cleanflicks.com and cleanfilms.com have lost their lawsuit and have been shut down. Aaron and I would rent PG-13 movies from there (as well as the R) because we liked not having to deal with swears and all the stuff that gets into PG-13's that never should be there in the first place. I especially liked to watch the R's that I never would have had they not been edited. Some of the memorable ones I enjoyed were One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Veronica Guerin, Ned Kelly, Charlotte Gray, Equilibrium, Quiet American, Adaptation, Born on the 4th of July, Perfect Murder, Unforgiven, Walk the Line, Family Stone, Usual Suspects, Insomnia, Elizabethtown, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Pieces of April.

Some of the ones I thought were just ok were Traffic, The Clearing, I Heart Huckabees (very bizarre), Garden State, and Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Some of the ones I just didn't enjoy were Constant Gardener (maybe because I was tired), Lord of War (too depressing and messed up), and I can't remember any other ones I didn't like. I can't remember ones I rented in Utah when we lived there, just the online subscription that we had in Texas.

Anyway, I am just sad that I won't be able to watch movies with all the 'stuff' taken out that I don't want to see. I guess it pissed off one to many persons like Steven Spielberg because they edited his Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. I will miss you, movies.

Fri Aug 18 2006 15:33 The bright side of Terrible Two's: After all the horrible things I wrote about that Lily has done lately, I thought I should share some of the sweetness of my child as well as all the annoying things she does. I read this on babycenter.com, and it rings true to me: "Watch your utterly unself-conscious toddler twirl and jump and spin in the middle of the playground, and you'll discover the meaning of pure joy."

Maybe it hit me today after it being the same day she twirled in front of my friend's house today as if no one was watching and she hadn't a care in the world. Sometimes I miss that about life as a person over the age of 6 or 7. All you worry about is if there is any sweets in the house and what cool cartoons are on next. Hopefully I am more part of her pure joy instead of the person that prohibits her pure joy.

Mon Aug 21 2006 14:59 Addiction: I hope my mother-in-law doesn't read this, but I really don't think she does so hopefully it won't get back to her. Since Lily's birthday is coming up, Sherry has been buying her outfits on eBay. All the packages have arrived as of this weekend, but we got about 10 some with just pants or just a onesie or a dress and a couple with an outfit. All the clothes are adorable, as always, my mother-in-law really knows her cute kids clothing, and I mean CUTE!

So, a couple weeks ago, one of the first packages we received was this precious outfit from Gymboree. It was striped pinks and greens pants with a matching onesie that is themed tulips. The outfit was so adorable, I didn't want to wait for Lily's actual birthday for her to wear it, besides at her age her birthday gifts are not really big deals, they are more exciting for me.

So I put the outfit on and she wore it to a bbq we had at Josh and Jenni's with Jake and Erin. It was then, the partners in crime (Caden and Lily) were out of sight a minute too long and they both came down the stairs with Josh's black glue tar looking stuff he uses for fly tying all over them. Poor Josh and Jenni! The kids got it all over the carpet in their room and all over a couch cushion. Not only that, they had it all over them. Lily really just had most of it on her face and hands, but to my horror she had it on her brand new outfit from Sherry. Not just any outfit, the *cutest* outfit. It wasn't too bad and could have been worse. She had some on her pant cuff and spots on the onesie.

I have washed and washed and picked and scraped and tried to get the stuff off. It isn't staining; it is ingrained into the fabric. Some of it picks off easily, but most of it is really stubborn. The pants aren't that bad, she could still wear them, so this brings me to the second part of my story.

I have been perusing eBay for a replacement onesie. The outfit comes from the line 'tip toe tulip' and I have been finding some in her size. I have also been finding cute overalls that match and cute dresses in that same line. All of the items are in pretty good condition and relatively inexpensive for outfits not to mention they are Gymboree quality. Anyone who has eBayed knows the addictive powers that come with it. You add items to your watch list and it just grows and grows and grows. Then you find other cute outfits for really good deals and all of the sudden you find yourself hooked. You can't stop looking at them, seeing if the bids have gone up and what else is new that may have just been listed. All of the sudden you just have to have a dozen outfits and you find yourself having to go through detox and refusing to let yourself get on that website at all, even if your intentions are "just to look".

That is basically what is happening to me. I need to pry myself away from the computer and prohibit myself to not go back. But, of course, only after I win all the bids I have on my watch list. It's Lily's fault after all. She is the one that made me get on to find a replacement onesie so Sherry doesn't find out the gift she got for her was ruined after only wearing it once.

(3) Tue Aug 22 2006 12:13 16 more weeks!: Until I pop. Hopefully it will be more like 14 weeks. That sounds much better.

Thu Aug 24 2006 09:56 Short man complex: Oh sad, I bet the inhabitants of this planet are not happy about this. Stripped of it planethood.

(2) Sun Aug 27 2006 23:08 Happy Birthday: To my precious firecracker of a daughter who is 2! today. I will never look back on this chapter as being boring. Maybe not all moments with the greatest fondness but I am so grateful for her amazing zest for life. I love all 22 pounds of her down to her little "piggies" as she likes to call them now. Hopefully she will let the next one survive to see his second birthday.

Thu Aug 31 2006 14:52 Lily's Party: We had a big day this past Saturday throwing Lily her 2nd birthday party. We had about a dozen couples over (friends/family) and their kids. We had polish sausage dogs and hot dogs with chips, baked beans, and potato salad and of course cake and ice cream. Basically, we all hung out and talked while the kids played.

Lily got a new swing set for her birthday. She loves it. She had all her friends out playing on it. I was a little surprised to find out how good she was with names because each time the door rang and she saw one of her friends she sees in nursery every Sunday she would say "Hi, Maddie" or whoever. I didn't know she knew everyone's name at church so well.

Anyway, she got a lot of cool gifts. The next day was Sunday and she just went from one new toy to the next and never got tired of playing with all her new things. It was really fun for her I could tell. She loves her new baby Elmo and Dora doll. She is really into dolls right now and pretending with them. She also loves her new puzzles. Just a couple months ago she has been really into the ones she got last year for her birthday. She finally gets them, so the new ones she loves to put together. She got a new Elmo DVD from Caden that she wants to watch constantly and Aqua Doodle set that she mostly just loves sucking the water out of the pen when I fill it up, yuck.

I would say her birthday was a big hit. It is kinda exhausting to put one together, but I don't have an excuse not to do something big...she is my first one and all the other kids need something to complain about when their party is not as big as the ones Lily gets I suppose. Actually, I think next year we will do it at Chucky Cheese because all those people in our little house, although it worked, it was a little crammed.

(3) Thu Aug 31 2006 21:59 Happy Birthday to me!: At least yesterday, anyway. I am officially a quarter century old. Sounds old to me. I guess you could classify my age in the mid-20's now. It sounds so adult. I think next year will be even more strange since I will be "over the hill" for the 20's. Hmmm, I have been out of high school for 7 years. I guess I am where I thought I would be back then. Married with one or two kids. In fact as I recall, I wanted to have all my kids (4-5) by the time I was 30 because I didn't want to have them in my 30's so I could lose the baby fat easier. Nice. Well according to that I am far behind because baby #3 is not coming for another 4 years. I don’t think I want 3 kids while we are still in dental school, not to mention I am not sure I want 3 kids at all (half joking). In all fairness, I do want 3 kids; I just wish it was not so hard to get the kids here.

Enough about kids, now onto my birthday. It was a good day. I received lots of emails, IM's, phone calls, myspace comments, blog comments, and gifts unexpectantly. It is nice to know people remembered and care. Aaron surprised me with a gift certificate for a massage...just what the doctor ordered as I am getting sore from being large and in charge. He also took me to dinner and I was totally fine with Lily coming but my visiting teacher insisted that I drop Lily off to watch her. It was nice for us because we got to spend time alone, and when we went to pick Lily up, she had so much fun with her girls that she didn't want to leave. That girl is not afraid to leave me; she has quite the social life.

Aaron gave Lily and bath and dressed her for bed; it is nice to be able to say, "you do it, it is my birthday". And we topped the night off with the movie The Rundown with The Rock. I can't say I loved the movie but it was better than expected.

I am very excited for Saturday as we are going to Cheesecake Factory for dinner with the Smith trio couples, and Lorna is going to baby-sit. Plus dinner at mom's on Sunday with the family to celebrate. Overall, it was a good year to me.