Attitude Anyone?

Libby and Sarah looked adorable in their new outfits from Grandma Debbi. But Libby decided to throw attitude for the picture.

Libbyism

Derek walked in the door from work today and I said, in my usual excited tone, "Guess who's home?"
Libby, chilling on the couch watching Daniel, said, "What up Dad?"

Merry Christmas!!!

What a wonderful 10 days we just had hosting the Randall Family (or at least 1/2 the siblings and the parents) for Christmas. It was so fun. Basically NO DRAMA! We did multiple nativities, had delicious clam chowder with the Nortons, made gingerbread houses, volunteered at the DI, painted a gazillion nativity figures (actually 48), watched the girls open present after present, ate tons of good food and junk, and just enjoyed each others' company. The girls had a great time. Today it took Libby a few hours before she asked, "Where are Grandma and Grandpa?" Then she was seriously bummed that they had gone home.
The girls got so many gifts I am still sorting out in my mind what came from who. I will start the thank you cards tomorrow.
Last night when I was laying with Libby and Sarah I asked them what their favorite gifts were. Barbie, Ken and the princesses got top billing (and that would be true based on what they played with today too.) But they will get a chance to enjoy everything! I am working on a slide show of pictures, but here are some favorites that Dave took.

Mary and Joseph

At our Ward Party Libby noticed they had a nativity scene and dress ups. She couldn't WAIT to be MARY. She started asking me about 5 feet in the door when she could be Mary. As soon as the actual nativity was over she got a costume on and played with Baby Jesus the rest of the time. Sarah was her Joseph. She called Sarah Joseph the rest of the evening. Sarah enjoyed wearing the costume and cried when she had to leave Baby Jesus to come home.

Libbyisms

Last week in church the primary children sang "Picture a Christmas". My best friend Emmi is the music leader and she taught the song to the nursery kids too and invited them to sing with the primary. Libby LOVED being on the stand. She cried afterward because she wanted to go back up. This week the primary sang again. This week it was a song Libby didn't know. But she wanted to go up on the stand. I tried to convince her that she didn't know the song and she shouldn't go. But she was adamant. Derek was up there singing with the choir, so I wanted to make sure she would just go up and sing and come back if I let her go. I said, "So you will just go up there and sing and then come right back down?" She said, "THAT IS A GREAT IDEA!" So I let her go. I thought maybe she would stand where she couldn't be seen. But no, she got right up next to the pulpit and they put her on the box they use for kids to talk in the microphone. To her credit, she actually watched the director and sang some of the song and did some of the hand motions. Then she came right back down. What a kid.

She has a horrible cold, so we came home after sacrament meeting. Uncle Davey came home with us. A few steps in the door she said, "Uncle Davey, will you please take your shoes off. It is wet outside and we don't want to get wet on the floor."

The other night I told her we were going to a restaurant for dinner. She said, "I have an idea! How about if we go to McDonald's? Then we can have food, and play on the toys and have FUN!" Nope, sorry, we are going to Azteca. But they were so good there! It was amazing. They just ate and let Derek, Dave and I have adult conversation. Wow.

Helping Grandpa

We have had a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa Randall visiting. Sarah especially enjoyed it when Grandpa was working on the table leaf I built for my table so that we could all fit around it. As soon as she saw him working under the table she ran and got her screwdriver so she could help.

Libby's First Dance Recital

Whew. We made it through her first dance recital. I made several parenting errors that made it so that we almost didn't have a dancer on the stage. I will write them out so that I can remember what NOT to do next time.
In the days before the dance recital I DO NOT:
1. Take the girls to a very fun and exciting work Christmas party where they will be with tons of other kids, get riled up and stay up late.
2. Take the girls to the location of the recital to see a performance of the Nutcracker. It scared Libby a little, and she missed her nap, and she became determined that she WOULD NOT dance in the Nutcracker.
3. Let Libby or Sarah miss a nap.
4. Let Derek take the video camera, which led to an extra trip to Shorewood, which led to him having to stop for gas, which led to him missing the performance.
5. Also, on the day of the recital, if she is crying, I WILL STAY WITH LIBBY. This time they took her away from me and she cried for 30 minutes before they came to get me. It was hard to calm her down after crying for that long.

But, I did it. Thanks to a good lesson I learned from my own mom. Bribery. I promised Libby a Blizzard (plum pink perfection--a flavor from Purplicious--with a cone). Ididn't care what I promised her. It almost didn't work, but finally it did. At the last minute, when the music had started I said to her again, if you want a blizzard, you have to get out there and dance. Do you want to? And she did. And she knew her stuff. The teachers are in the wings, and she didn't look at them more than once or twice. Oh I love her.

Update on Trish and Baby

This week I had my 3rd offical pregnant appointment. I think I forgot to blog about it, but we actually heard the baby's heartbeat last appointment, which was pretty early. So, I heard it again this appoinment. It always makes me feel relieved to know there is something living and growing inside of me and that I am feeling tired and bleh for a reason. I am feeling much better as the first trimester ends though. I am still a bit troubled concerning food, but I am far less tired.
Libby did tell me this week that when my belly pops lots of candy will come out. Hmmm...not sure about that. She is still a little confused about the whole baby in my tummy thing.
I think I also didn't blog about my little skin cancer. I found a mole that was concerning, so I went in and had a biopsy. Turned out to be a basal cell cancerous mole. It is from sun exposure (so no more tanning)! This week my dermatologist removed about a 2 inch long area of skin from my back. I have some nasty looking stitches and it has been mighty uncomfortable. They will biopsy the skin she removed to make sure she got it all, but I think she is pretty confident I am in the clear. Now I have to go in every 6 months for the next 3 years to get checked for any more. It is a good thing I live in Seattle and I don't really even get the chance to be tempted to go out in the sun.

Good Helper

Libby has become such a good helper and concerned little girl. I love watching it. When we got home from the wrestling match the other night she said, "Here Sarah, let me show you how to take your shoes off." And she did!

Yesterday morning I asked her if she could get Sarah's milk from the fridge. She took awhile, so I thought she had forgotten. But she came in with it, gave it to Sarah, then gave Sarah a big kiss on the cheek. "I love you Sarah!" she said.

We went to see A Storybook Nutcracker put on by Libby's dance studio yesterday, mommy, Libby, Sarah and our good friend Jen. It was quite good. Libby was so cute when Clara's nutcracker gets broken. She said, "Poor Clara!" several times. She did get tired by the end. The 2nd 1/2 was more dancing and less story. By the time we were on our way out she was really done. We were going to try and go see her teacher and give her a hug. But we came across the big live Nutcracker first and she was scared. So instead we headed out the door. People weren't moving fast enough for her. She shouted and signaled to the people in the way of the door, "Don't STOP! JUST GO!" Everyone got a good chuckle out of that.

Playing Hair

Auntie Ray Ray had a doll (now named Meg) that was a hairstylist. She came with a chair for her clients. Libby and Sarah fit into it perfectly and they actually used it for the right purpose the other morning. So cute! This was especially amazing because Libby hates having her hair combed. But she started it! On Friday after my shower I was watching Toy Story Ken with them (that is what Libby calls it and it kind of sounds like she is saying Toy Story 10) and she combed my hair and even went and got rubber bands to have me put in my hair. She says, "Don't worry, this won't hurt" then tugs a comb through. This time she was more gentle and thorough in her combing than she ever has been before. She is growing up!

Roommates!

I moved Libby and Sarah into the same room this week. I did the work over a couple of days, moving most of Libby's clothes on Monday and the rest on Wednesday. When Libby woke up from a nap on Tuesday she absolutely freaked out that her dresses were missing from her closet. She was seriously very stressed, since her dresses are her favorite thing in life. When I got all the work done, beds moved, dressers moved, they were very excited. Now they could each jump on a bed in the same room! I made one minor flaw in the move. I put the dresser right next to the bed. On the dresser I put the desetin and diaper rash perscription. The girls figured out right away how to get into it. The got a bunch of desetin on the carpet before their babysitter found them. Yikes. I have been working on getting it out all week without much success. I moved the changing table into Libby's old room for now because there is a shelf that makes the desetin inaccessible to their little hands. The only good news was that they didn't get into the perscription cream. This is especially good news because the cream is not only expensive but hard to get these days. Our pharmacy had to get it from another pharmacy's provider because all of their providers were out of stock. We really need to potty train, but December is so busy! In January I think.
Anyway, the room sharing has been a success. We just stay in with them until they fall asleep (and so does the parent waiting) and then Libby can just come out when she wakes up because the door isn't child proof. Only the first day did Libby wake Sarah at 6:30. They also love the empty room to play in!

Go SHOREWOOD!

When my visiting teacher came over and showed me some little dresses she had made from old t-shirts, I thought it was a fun idea, but I didn't see the immediate practical application. Then I realized the girls needed some fresh outfits for wrestling matches. And, since Libby refuses to wear pants without a fight I also realized that making her Shorewood T into a Shorewood dress would make my life much easier. So, off to Value Village I went. I spent $12 on 3 adult size shirts and made t-shirts into cheer outfits! It only took me one afternoon (and I am not really a seamstress)! The beauty of it is that most of the hems are already done for you if you disect the old shirts in the right way. I even just sewed down the sleeves to use the original adult size sleeves. My next project is to make some of my workout tops maternity sized. Hmmm.

Cooperate?

Sesame Street is big on teaching cooperation. I wasn't sure if Libby actually got the concept until last night. We got home from taking Sarah to the doctor (sinus infection I think). Libby said, "Let's watch _Kris Kringle_ and eat popcorn." I said, "We need to eat dinner." She said, "How about we COOPERATE. We can watch a movie and eat dinner. THAT'S COOPERATION!" Yes, indeed it is! (We didn't though. So she is watching her movie as I type.)

Thanksgiving Fun

The girls lounging on Aunt Maren's steps, tired after a long and delicious afternoon. Libby refused to hold still for a picture. Getting ready to go in to see Tangled. It is a great movie!!!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year. Thanks to Aunt Maren and Uncle Clark for hosting. Thanks Clark for an amazing turkey! Thanks Geneva for yummy rolls. Thanks Uncle Brett for the tasty cherry pie! Thanks to everyone who ate my pies, despite the horrible texture issues. Thanks Paige for letting me win a round of both Rummikub and Skipbo. Thanks to the girls for eating some food.

When we got home, of course Libby instantly asked for a snack.

Anyway, in honor of the most popular movie going weekend of the year, we took the girls to see Tangled. It was SO fun! After the movie Libby wanted to go out to a restaurant, and conveniently so did I (we got into a later movie than expected, so there was no time to make dinner). So I prepped her when we came out of the bathroom to ask daddy if we could go to the Thaiger Room (pronounced Tiger Room, for the uninformed :). Libby repeated it back several times. Then when we got in the car I said, "Tell Daddy where you want to eat." She thought for a second and then said, "The Lion Room."

So close!

Reading Together

Today I was getting ready to have some of my visiting teaching ladies for lunch. Sarah asked me to read to her. I told her that Libby could read her the book she was asking for. Libby, clear at the end of the hall, held out her arms to Sarah and said that she would love to read to her. I got some good shots of them reading together. It was so adorable!

Moral Dilemma

Libby's dance studio is having their Christmas recital on a Sunday. I hadn't even thought about choosing not to participate because it is on a Sunday--but now I am stressing it. Should we miss it? Is it sabbath breaking to dance? No one is paying for the recital I don't think...It isn't the same as the championship basketball game, is it? Oh man. Help?

Christmas Idea

I decided to do a picture "advent" calendar with my girls this year with pictures from the Gospel Art Picture kit. Here is a link to it if you want to use it!
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1szgRn0w_jzM2EzNGFhYzAtNjQyOS00YWU4LWFhYmYtYjAxZDBhMzE1MTQ2&hl=en&authkey=CI2Chs8B

Gratitude

Since Thanksgiving is this week, I have been thinking a lot about how thankful I am for the gifts in my life. Derek and I spent some time reflecting on this last night. We never could have imagined on June 21, 2003 just how blessed we would be over the next 7 1/2 years.

We are thankful for our degrees
Our jobs (past and present!)
Amazing contracts
The great places we have lived and for our house
Our vehicles (bless Derek's truck's heart!)
Our daughters that make our lives so rich
Our families that have given and continue to give us so much
Friends that love and help and listen to us
Wrestling (yes I am writing this!)
Technology that keeps us close to our loved ones
Our new baby on the way
The relative prosperity we have enjoyed

In the last conference President Monson quoted the Greek philosopher Epictetus, "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." I may not be wise all the time, but I am working on it and today I do feel my heart rejoicing for all that I have!

Libbyisms

Libby had a rough week this week. Being 3 is really tough I guess. All of a sudden she has gotten clingy and cries when I leave her. This happens randomly with almost no warning. I am so not used to it. She even cried at dance class this week. Hormones already?
Finally on Friday afternoon I basically held her down in her bed until she fell asleep. She woke up a bit grumpy, but then ate 3 bowls of popcorn while watching Fievel Goes West and became the cheerful Libby that I remember. She really just needs occasional naps to help her control her emotions. She (just like someone else I know very well, me) has a harder time being rational and calm when tired.
In fact, on Saturday, Sarah was napping and Derek and I both fell asleep watching football (this is a new ritual that I am enjoying very much). Libby just played on her own and let us sleep for over an hour. Amazing!
I had one of my favorite mommy moments with Libby this week though. She created a "car" in the corner of the family room. She said to Sarah, "Hey sweetie, come get in your seat and let's go!" They traded between being the mommy and the child in the seat for like 1/2 hour. Libby would say, "Mommy, can we go to the lollipop store?" Sarah would say, "No, not the lollipop store, how about the park?" Libby would rejoice and Sarah would make car sounds and pretend to drive. It was so pleasant to see them interacting as they pretended to be me. I guess sometimes I say things besides, "Get in your seat, NOW!" Whew.
Libby just told me I could be the littlest and she would be the "biggidest."
This week Libby also told me she was going to marry Dimitri (our garbage can) and then the next day she would have a baby in her belly too. Oh my!
She also picked a name for our baby if it is a girl. She suggested Anna, and I really like it. We won't worry about a middle name until the ultra sound. About 10 weeks before that. I think it will be around my birthday.

Sarahisms

Here are some of my favorite Sarahisms for the week.
She has been working on her letters lots. She mixes up B and P, I and Y, T and I, but she is great with H, R, K, S, O and so many more. It is fun to have her tell you the letters because she always says, "I don't know...H."
She just asked me if she could write her name with a pen that has a plume. (quote from Fancy Nancy).
When she wakes up in the morning or after a nap, she knocks on the door and shouts, "Mommy, Daddy, can I come in now?"
I was changing her diaper the other day and she randomly shouted, "Elisabeth Mary Norton, get your shoes on NOW! Elisabeth Mary Norton!"

Food and Pregnancy

It seems so cruel that when you are pregnant you need to eat so often and food looks and tastes and feels so gross! I am starting to get over it, but yuck! Anyway, we have been doing more eating out than usual because cooking is the worst part. So here is a shot from a back of the van picnic at McDonalds. Libby loves their chicken nuggets and cookies, so I am always satisfied with the amount she eats there.

Libbyisms

Libby is starting to understand the baby in my belly concept. Today she said she wanted a baby sister so we could call her Libby.

The other day in the car I learned from Libby's rendition of the song that Jesus was baptized, not by immersion, but by emergency. If you try singing the song, emergency actually works pretty well :)

Sarahisms and Stats

Sarah "reading" the Pig Party to her baby.


Sarah was saying the blessing on breakfast the other morning. She said, "Please bless the toast and the cheerios that they can sleep." Oh the poor insomniac breakfast foods!





Another morning I asked Sarah what she wanted for breakfast. No hesitation she replied: "Starbursts." Awesome. She didn't get them though.

We had her 2 year well baby checkup finally this week. Our doctor was surprised and delighted with Sarah's talking abilities. She said that Sarah is basically a 3 year old in a 2 year old body. That would make sense since Libby expects Sarah to do everything she can do (and so do we sometimes.)

Stats:

Weight 27 lbs. 8 oz. 55%

Height 35 1/2 inches 80%

Head Circ. 19" 70%

Woohoo for a healthy, amazing daughter.

Seattle Police Awards Night

I was quite pleased with the dress I found on downeastbasics.com. It was only $25! I bought the shoes for $25 too. They killed my feet because heels and I don't get along, but I made it. I paid a fantastic seamstress in my ward to hem the dress (it was originally floor length) and was glad because I had a great time on the dance floor (with no tripping). It was so fun to go on a fancy date with my husband.

Poop!

Yesterday Sarah pooped and took off her diaper and got it all over her room. BLAST! That is when we decided to potty train Libby. But I can't potty train while I am pregnant. I don't have ANY patience. What to do! I hope it was an isolated incident.

Sarahism

Here is my favorite exchange yesterday in the car.
Sarah: "Achoo!"
Mommy: "Bless you."
Sarah: "Thank you for blessing me!"

Sarahism

Tonight I was getting Sarah out of the car at Costco. I was in SkippyJon Jones mode so I said,
"icarumba!" and swung her around. She looked at me seriously and said, "No, you are mommy." Get it? She thought I was saying that I was a carumba? You probably got it. But it took me a minute. What a smartie.

Libby's Dreams

Libby has started telling me her dreams in the morning. On Friday she told me that mommy, daddy and the elders were getting pedicures. Hmmmm.

Fashionistas

Auntie Ray Ray is here and that means my girls get their Fashionista on!
Libby LOVED shoe shopping at Nordstrom Rack. Sarah really enjoys wearing Rachel's beanie.
Sarah isn't sure about having Rachel sleeping on the couch though. She came into the living room this morning and said, "What a terrible mess!"

A Pinkeriffic Halloween

Trick or Treating with Grammy at work. My favorite because it is INDOORS :)

This year for Halloween I knew Sarah had to be Pinkalicious. It is her favorite book and she looks so much like her! Then I thought it would be perfect for Libby to be Fancy Nancy, our other favorite book character. The awesome thing about Fancy Nancy is that Libby could wear whatever fancyness struck her fancy at the moment. But at some point Libby became opposed to the idea. And, when Libby is opposed to something, LOOK OUT! So I decided to have her be a ballerina. It worked out because another favorite book character is Angelina Ballerina (who is actually a mouse, but who cares).
So Libby was Angelina Ballerina.





Sarah was Pinkalicious



Libby amazed the crowds (and her parents) with her ballet skills. She has actually been taking ballet for 2 months. She could do turns, walk on tip toes, do a great plie and sashe. She added pushups and leaps as we went along trick or treating at Grammy's work.
It was a blast. I had a hard time deciding on a costume for last night. Finally I decided to be a sad Husky fan, which was appropriate because while we were trunk or treating the Huskies were being shut out by Stanford.

Pregnant???

I decided to announce my pregnancy with the sidebar ticker...and many of you actually noticed! Good job! It has only been up for a week and I have had at least 5 people notice. I feel very loved. So if you haven't checked it--notice the sidebar and you will see that I currently feel low on energy and high on nausea. I doubled our restaurant budget for the next few months so the family won't starve while I don't feel like cooking. This cute baby let me know he/she was very excited to come and play with his/her sisters and I needed to get on with enlarging our family. (This is when I was praying hoping that I didn't really have one more up there.) So come June we will have 3 kids. I will have more gray hairs I am sure. But our little family will be complete :) (I really hope!)

A little bodypump halloween party (I am the one without the gorilla suit, in case you were wondering!) I hope to get the Minnie body back after baby #3.

Libbyisms

Libby is into having a snack in bed. I was so good at never putting them to bed with a bottle or anything, but now I am too tired to care. I just want her to get in bed and stay there. So if a snack helps, so be it. Anyway, the other night she said, "Can I have a snack?"
Mommy: "What do you want Libby."
Libby: "I would like some pretzels in a bowl so they don't spill. And some milk. That will be fine."
Mommy: "Ok!"
(P.S. If you see a random pretzel hanging around our house, don't pick it up and eat it. It may look fine, but Libby "eats" pretzels by licking the salt off and putting them back in the bowl.)

Mall Escapades

Yesterday was like the 10th rainy day in a row, or so it seemed. The girls were crabby. I decided to take them to the playground in the mall for a diversion. It ended up being quite an adventure.
Libby declared before we left that we HAD to get our PICTURES taken before we went to the playground.
Then, when I drove to the mall and parked, I parked in a different place. She totally FREAKED out that we weren't at the mall. She is so spatially aware it is crazy.
At the playground, Sarah tried to bolt. I caught her and herded her back in. Then I got distracted watching Libby jump off one of the high toys and do an amazing crash landing.
After a couple of minutes I noticed that Sarah was missing. I sent Libby around looking for her in the play area and then I went in looking. I then checked the stores in the area. Finally, I loaded up the stroller with one of two seats full. A double stroller with only one kid in it was a good way to signal that I was missing someone. Immediately a mom came up and asked if I was missing a daughter. She sent me in the right direction where I found a security guard who took me to Sarah who had, in the words of the guard, "gotten a long way." She was 1/2 down the mall hanging out with the Clearwire girl. Sarah was 100% calm and enjoying the situation. I was also calm. Irritated was my only emotion. Probably because I knew she had run away--but maybe I was too calm. We went back to the playground and enjoyed a few minutes of fun. Thanks to Mrs. Field's Libby got her caloric deficit back in check and we went home. (After one trip back from the car to the play area to get Sarah's blankie.) Sarah took a nap. Whew. All's well that ends well, right?

Learning Letters

Aunt Leanne sent Sarah some tubby toy letters and numbers. I dumped them in the tub and asked Sarah to find the S and she did it! She also found R, I, and a couple of others. She would hold it up and I would say, "what is it?" She says, "I don't know, R!" "I don't know, I!" So cute. I had no idea Sarah knew letters. She knows about as many as Libby. Thanks Aunt Leanne!

The Vaseline Incident

On Tuesday night Derek and I came out of the shower to the sound of THE GIGGLE. Not just any giggle, but THE GIGGLE that says, "we are doing something we shouldn't and LOVING IT!" I rushed to find the ladies. They had managed to find the diaper rash graveyard where I kept old diaper rash remedies in their medicine cabinet. They were sitting on the sink in their bathroom with 2 huge tubs of vaseline smearing it all over themselves. Luckily they weren't wearing clothes. Their hair was SO GROSS! And, it still is. This little incident is going to live with us for a couple of weeks I think as my girls walk around looking like they haven't had their hair washed in....well, ever. These pictures don't really show the grossness, but maybe you can tell a little. Look at the lovely sheen! Her pigtails stick straight out or straight up. It is like pomeade that won't rinse out.

Highs and Lows

This week had some definite highs and lows for me. I had one of the worst colds I have had in a long time. Yuck.

But on the up side, my gym put on a Group Exercise Expo to show members and prospective members what our programs are like. I got a group of participants together to do some bodystep demonstrations and taught a Zumba demo class. It was so fun and we looked great together in our matchy outfits. The only bummer was that I was so caught up in the moment that I didn't take a single picture!

The other big HIGH was the Husky overtime win last night. WOW!

Sister Fun

There were many times in the first years of Sarah's life when I thought I was crazy for having my kids so close. Okay, I still have those moments. But then I see them play together and I remember how much I love my own sister that I am close to and I am reminded that it is worth it. Sarah reading a "story" to Libby while she should have still been in the bath.

Balancing act.

More -isms

Sarah has adopted a phrase I use fairly regularly: "Those are your options, Mommy!"

Libby to the ear doctor as he walked into the room: "Please Dr. Riddell, don't use that noisy thing to clean out my ear. Ever." (She is going to get tubes again, the old ones are just falling out and already she has had one infection and has fluid just hanging out.)

Libby: "Daddy, DON'T chase me...(he didn't move) Daddy, DO chase me!" She is experimenting with reverse psychology.

Libby to Daddy: "Please may I kiss you your highness?"

Derek and I went to do sealings this week on Wednesday night. When the babysitters came (this new cute couple in our ward) Libby asked if Derek and I were both going. I told her we were both going and that it was a "date". She turned to the babysitter and said, "My mommy and daddy go on LOTS of DATES." We do? (I guess two in the last week--he took me to the Husky game last Saturday where it rained on us the whole time. My cold came on before the game was over.)

Super Star Libby

Our friend Jen gave Libby a leotard for Sarah's birthday (and it was a good thing some great friends brought presents for Libby too, or we would have a had a brawl on our hands). Libby busted some moves for us!

Sarah's Milestones

Here are a couple of milestons that I feel are approriate to mention for her birthday.

Sarah can count to 13 by herself. Then she jumps to 17, 20. I love it.

She has figured out how to hide by herself while playing hide and seek. She doesn't necessarily stay hidden all the time, but she can do it!

She can sing the whole alphabet (has been able to for a long time, but not sure if I have mentioned it.)

She can open childproof drawers and boxes of makeup (the picture doesn't do justice to the glitter all over her and my bathroom.)

Happy Birthday Sarah!

This week was Sarah's birthday. It was so much fun. If I said to her, "Happy Birthday Sarah!" She would say, "Happy Birthday Mommy!" We had a fun party with the family on the 10th, and she got her "big present" from us on the actual day.
Sarah holding Snow White and her "donkey". Sarah opened this first and didn't want to open anything else. But she did get excited about the bag of change from Clark to put in her piggy bank.

Princess Sarah opening some gifts. Libby helped with some of the gifts, but Sarah held her own in the opening department.

She actually liked wearing the birthday hat!

Sarah's birthday cake. I also made candy corn cheesecake which I forgot to get a picture of. I was quite pleased with how the witch turned out.

Here is a video clip from the celebrations. A couple of things I am so happy I captured in this video. 1. Evidence that they can tear my house apart in 1 day. It really was clean on Wednesday night. Thursday afternoon while Derek and I were putting together the present they made a royal mess. 2. When you ask my girls a question, they always say "I don't know" before they answer. Usually they answer correctly in the same breath that they use to say "I don't know." Why do they do this? "I don't know!"

Congratulations!

Libby had a weight check with our doctor yesterday. Since her 3 year checkup she has gained a pound and a half!!! Hooray! She also gained some height, I didn't ask how much. But I am proud of my little one. She is now 28 1/4 lbs.

I forgot to add my favorite thing about this trip to the doctor, so I will edit the post.
On the way there Libby asked if we were going to get cookies at the doctor. I reminded her that we get cookies at the dentist (I know, right, the dentist gives out cookes.) Anyway, she thought for about 10 seconds or less and said, "My teeth hurt."

Nothing slow about Libby.

Sarahisms

Sarah is so adorable. She is teething and a bit on the grumpy side off and on, but man is she cute. Here are some of my favorite Sarah quotes.
"Okey Dokey Artichokey."
When you succeed in doing anything, "There we go!"
"Can I have my green blankie?" (Her blankie is very multicolored, but not much green. Mostly cream, light blue, and light pink. But she feels like she needs to call it a color, since Libby's blankie is purple, not sure why she decided on green.)
We also love the OK book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Yesterday she kept saying, "I'm an OK jumper, I'm an OK hiker, I'm an OK..., I'm an OK..."
Every night before bed we sing a primary song. Last night was "Happy Family." We sang it and prayed and then left Sarah in her bed to put Libby in bed. While daddy told Libby her favorite police stories we could hear Sarah singing away, "We are a happy family!" Then she stopped and went to sleep!
She is also very into running away when you want her to do something like put her shoes on. Her favorite destinations include all the far corners of the house, but yesterday she picked the bathtub. Hilarious.

Libbyisms

I have started jotting down some of Libby's best quotes. Here are the ones I wrote down from the week:
"You're my best sister Sarah!"
As we were walking out the door to the gym one of my pairs of workout shoes was on the floor she got really stressed and said, "Mommy, don't forget your workout shoes!"
As I was putting her to bed last night she wanted her purple blankie. I told her she would be okay without it and we would get it in the morning. "Yeah, it's okay sweetie! We'll get it in the morning."

Ear Infections!

My little ladies have had their fair share of ear infections. So, they both got tubes. Since then, we haven't had any trouble. Then, when Libby got this most recent cold, she started complaining about her ear. Now when she started complaining, it was bedtime. Bedtime complaints of various types are so common that I didn't really believe her. She is actually quite a hypocondriac when she thinks she can get something out of it.
Some examples:
"My back hurts, can I have some ice?"
"I have a headache, can I have some "dirty water" (meaning Coke, a headache remedy occasionally used at our house).
My favorite, yesterday I was taking her for a weight check at the doctor...Libby: "Are we going to get some cookies at the doctor?"
Mommy: "No, that is the dentist, we get cookies at our dentist."
Libby: "My teeth hurt."

Anyway, on Monday morning Libby woke up and let me know she was serious about her ears. She said (several times): "Mom, my ear is BLOCKED. I CAN'T HEAR! I NEED TO STICK A TOOTHPICK IN MY EAR! (meaning q-tip)" All of a sudden I realized that maybe this time she was actually telling the truth.

I took her in to the ear doctor and sure enough, her tube isn't even all the way out yet and she had an infection. My guess is that we have a second set of tubes in our future.

Little Cheerleaders

We finally made it to a Shorewood football game where uncle Clark is coaching and many of Derek's wrestlers are playing. The girls had a blast! (And Shorewood won!) We made it through half time before Sarah needed a diaper change. I didn't have any wipes, so we headed home.