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.

Sarahisms

Saying the blessing last night during the Husky game : "Please bless the football game, and bless the food."

Sarah: "Can you hold me and stand up?"

Sarah walking out into the kitchen at 6:30 am, "Mommy, what are you doing?" The real question being from Mommy, "What are you doing awake!!!" (This new early waking trend is a most unwelcome development!)

Libbyisms

Last night our friend Jenn helped Libby go potty. Libby exclaimed:
"Call the POLICE! My bottom hurts!"

"Mom you are sweaty!" (after I had been washing dishes and my shirt was damp.)

"Sarah, enunciate your words!"

Libby: "Tell me the Sleeping Beauty story!" Mommy: "I don't know if I know it." Libby: "She pricked her finger on a spinning wheel! (duh!)"

Style by the Mile!