Weekly Update

My brother Chase is getting married sometime in December in some temple (they keep changing the date and temple). I had so much fun doing Kelsey's wedding I had to get in on Chase's. I shot him an e-mail asking if they were going to have a reception in Arco and told him I would love to do it if they were. He said they wanted one and they wanted me to do it so I was super excited! I love this. It is my newest favorite thing.

At the beginning of planning out Kelsey's wedding I could not sleep because I couldn't turn my brain off. I kept thinking of ideas and it was out of control. The same thing happened to me this week too. I had a rough sleeping week but I did get a lot of good ideas at that time. I would be trying to sleep and I would think of a good idea and I would get up and write it down and try to go back to sleep.  The good news is I basically have it all worked out so I think I will start sleeping again. The bad news is Rachel isn't even in the country and won't be for several more weeks. The reason this is bad news is because they aren't even officially engaged yet and I'm trying to wait before I start spending money and working on it. It's impossible. I have managed to do a lot of work for basically free. I repainted a lot of the stuff from Kelsey's wedding. Trying to wait has forced me to be a little more organized which will save time and money. If I get an idea in my head I have to go to the store right then and get it started. Since that isn't an option I now have a master list with all of the stores and what I need to get at each store. I will try to do little inexpensive projects until it's official but we will see. I'm not very patient and especially with stuff like this. This will be good for me. Anyway I hope everything turns out as good as it is in my head.

The kids are good. When Corbin says things that I say I can't help but think it's funny. Any time I hear him say "dang it!" I think it's funny (maybe I shouldn't, oops). I also love it when he says "what the heck!" It kills me. Speaking of that it reminds me of a story. We busted out the Halloween decorations and Corbin wanted to move some Halloween candy from my decorative cansisters and put them into some other Halloween cup and I told him no. As we were having this conversation back and forth and I was explaining my reasoning and he said "that kills me." So funny. Corbin is so happy and obedient most of the time. He is a very good example to his sisters. I'm glad he's my oldest. He helps set the tone for the whole family. He will have a good life with his happy disposition I think. Corbin wakes up from a deep, deep sleep by rolling over and immediately saying "good morning mommy" in a chipper voice. Wow I don't even know how he does that. It's so cute.

We put our old dresser into the kids room, the problem with this is that this dresser is shorter and the drawers are much easier to open. Consequently Gabby gets into them all day and wants to change her clothes and underwear all day. It's so annoying. I have kind of put a stop to that. I'm okay with playing dress up but I am not okay with wearing 10 different outfits in one day. Uh uh. I love that Gabby loves to look pretty and is almost always cooperative when I fix her hair because she wants to be pretty. She's definitely a girly girl. I should probably buy her some fake jewelry for Christmas, she would probably love it. She is my little parrot and says anything and everything. She is becoming more cute and fun all the time. The older she gets the more I am able to get her to have better behavior and she has much fewer tantrums so that is nice. She loves when I read books to her and she loves playing with Corbin. She also loves many of her toys and I watched her play hide and go seek with her tiger the other day. Hilarious!

Piper is a handful. She can be very cute and funny. She is definitely opinionated and feisty. I think Gabby was my preparation for Piper. Piper isn't happy and content generally for very long. I think she gets bored very easily. Piper loves it when I take her on long bike rides. She loves fruit. She is smart. I don't know how to explain it but I can just tell she is really smart. She was so hard at church today that Scott had to take her home and put her to bed. She kept screaming and would not stop screaming no matter what I did. I think she is working on a tooth but man oh man! You know how I mentioned how she is smart, opinionated, and feisty well that being said she did not want to be at church today and she was letting the whole ward know it.

Well how's that for a super long blog post. Like you are surprised.

Corbin doing somersaults over the couch. Hilarious.

Piper helping clean up cards.

Little creatures.

We found Corbin's old dragon costume. Isn't that the cutest little dragon?

Piper would grab a card and turn completely around and give it to me. She does it a little bit on this video. (Awesome braid).

This is for the video below, blogger would not cooperate. Anyway I made monster puppets for the kids and Scott is playing with them. Scott's voices are my favorite part. So funny to me.

Weekly Update

Gabby is doing amazing with her potty training. She is 100% trained and she regulates herself. What a relief! I'm so happy. I trained her on a little potty but I hate them and I think they are disgusting. I already got rid of it. I kind of tested her out to see how she would react and she seemed fine. I told her the potty fairy was going to come and take her potty away and she would use the big potty. She thought this sounded pretty interesting and like something a big girl would want to do. I told her the potty fairy would take her potty and leave a present behind. On Saturday morning in Gabby's tired state she went to use the potty and her toilet was gone. She started to get upset but I showed her the present that the potty fairy left and she was fine. She has been great about using the big potty. Hurray! So proud of her, and myself! Ha.

My big goal this year is focusing on Corbin's pre-schooling and it's not great. He's not super into it. He never has been. That's okay. I decided I just need to figure out a reward system that works well for him. I will just try to reward him for his efforts and work. My goal is to just work on something everyday. I hope to do big fun projects sometimes but mostly just to review and do something small everyday.  For me it's overwhelming to try to have hours of organized lesson plans and activities. It's not going to happen. So rather than do that I will just try to do SOMETHING everyday.

Piper had her one year appointment. This girl is skinny. She is my smallest baby yet. The doctor seemed a little concerned but I'm not. For the most part she eats a lot. Plus what she does eat is healthy. Would it be better is she weighed 30 pounds but only ate cookies and crackers? I don't think so. I will just have to douse her vegetables in olive oil or something.

On Friday morning we took a trip out to Caldwell to the church farms and got some fruit. On the way back each of the kids were munching on some fruit and they were happy campers. I tried to take a picture but none of them turned out.

I didn't take any other pictures this week. I will have to do better next week. 

Pipers' 1 year stats?
Can you tell she's my third? I can't find the slip. She only weighs a little over 17 pounds. She is 5th percentile in weight, 50th in height and I don't even know what her head circ. is.

Check out Gabby and Corbin here.

Potty Training

I potty trained Gabby this week. Potty training is the worst! I think Gabby has been ready for months but I have not been. They always say you should wait until the child is ready but you have to wait until the mom is ready too. I think summertime is crazy and with Kelsey's wedding forget about it. So in the back of my mind September was the time. I made a plan to start last Monday. It was going okay the first 2 days but I didn't feel like she was learning anything. Just because they can pee on the toilet doesn't mean they are getting it.  I follow the 3 day potty training method and I wasn't doing it exactly as she suggests. By Tuesday night I could tell I wasn't doing it quite right and I was depressed. Seriously potty training is draining. So I got up and went to Winco at 10:30 pm and got more snacks, juice, and rewards. Wednesday made all the difference. By the end of the day she told me she needed to pee for the first time. This was music to my ears. That to me is the key to potty training success. That is why I love this method so much. It teaches them to know and understand the urges to go to the bathroom and go take care of their business. They regulate themselves. It is the best. Seriously Corbin has been potty trained for 2 years and he has had 2 accidents ever and they were total flukes. Gabby is not perfect yet but she basically is. She's got it. She understands and I don't think we will ever have to look back with her either. I also love this method because it is day and night. It makes total sense to me and it works and I recommend it to anyone. Be warned that it is horrendous but after a few days it is DONE and you don't have to worry about it again!

Other than potty training and redecorating my room that was our whole week. We were all prisoners this week stuck in the house. It was the hardest on me and Piper. Piper loves getting out. Corbin took it well because he got snacks and treats along with Gabby so that was exciting. Gabby was happy because potty training was great experience for her. She got tons of attention, snacks, rewards, positive reinforcement, and a sense of accomplishment. She was LOVING it. I am excited to get out of the house with my kids next week. Let's enjoy this beautiful weather. Don't you just love September? Check out the post below if you want to see my redecorating.

Day 1, potty queen

Fort!

Corbin dressed himself, we were all stuck inside because of potty training anyway so who cares.

Silly kids

Piper is so smart. I swear she does little things that shows me that she is a little smarty pants. Corbin and Gabby were laying on their blankets and I could tell Piper wanted to as well. So I put a blanket down for her, she was so happy and excited

We grew watermelon, and it actually grew, and it actually tasted good.

 

Scott had Corbin watch Star Wars with him for the first time, my children and destined to be nerds. That's okay, nerds are far more interesting.

Here is a cute video Aunt Nicole made if you want to watch.

Projects!

Somehow amidst potty training Gabby I managed to do a bunch of projects. I was on a roll and I could not be stopped. I didn't hardly even sit down last week I swear. Scott's parents brought us beautiful refurbished furniture. So it was out with the old and in with the new. The problem was we still had some of the old and I didn't like the look of the color scheme with the new furniture. I've been wanting to redecorate my room for a long time so this was the perfect excuse and time to do it. Plus I think this is the first time in 2 and a half months that I was making something for myself and not for the wedding, so that made it fun and exciting as well.

 I was trying to think how I could incorporate some of the old furniture and color scheme and make it new and fit better together. I started with a great bedspread I found at Marshals. I love it! I then went to JoAnn's and found fabric that had red, brown, yellow, and a light bluish color. That way I could still use my old curtains, rug, and my grandma's chair I recovered but still add some new fresh colors to my room. I then took my old gold metal mirror and spray painted it yellow. I bought a new full length mirror and painted that yellow as well. I found a lamp at Savers for $2.99, I think I was supposed to pay a separate price for the lamp shade and the stand but with some miscommunication with the teller I only paid $2.99. I was feeling horrible, like I had robbed Savers so I went back to try to pay more and 3 workers including the manager said not to worry about it. With that I felt okay, and this lamp for $2.99 was a steal literally. Ha.  I then bought some paint at Lowes. I am learning new things as I craft. They can mix you up a sample of paint for $3 of any color you want and the quality is so good. I don't know if I will ever buy craft paint again. Lowes paint is better. I wish I would have picked a color that was a little more greenish but brown and blue look really good together so that's okay. I mod podged fabric onto the lampshade. This does not make the lamp very useable as it has dark fabric on the inside now and still shines green out the top. That's okay, it's mostly decorative. I bought a pillow form and sewed fabric on it. I am currently working on cutting out tons of flowers I am going to sew on it. This is the only thing left that I have to do. Yesterday I bought the materials to make a few of my own fake plant arrangements and I put them together and bam I'm basically all done.

I'm so happy about the transformation. My kids aren't as happy, we used to let them jump all over the bed and climb and jump off the furniture. Their days of playing in our room are over. I don't consider myself a decorator at all so I am pleased with what I was able to put together. I love it and I am very happy.

We moved our old dresser into the kid's room along with a book shelf. I bought that book shelf 7 years ago from the D.I. for $10 I think. It was the worst thing you have ever seen. One weekend while Scott and I were dating I went home and he secretly painted this book shelf along with a little dresser over the weekend. It was like night and day. They looked so much better! We have kept that crappy furniture all these years and we don't have any plans of getting rid of it any time soon. They have a little sentimental value for both of us and I am not sentimental. Scott spent hours, and hours painting those. Cute! Anyway the bookshelf had these weird holes everywhere. So this week I got the idea to cover the holes with cardstock and mod podge fabric on them. I already had the fabric and I think it works pretty well for girls and boys. It's hard having a boy and girl share a room, when it comes to decorating. Luckily it had green, pink, and orange, which are in Gabby and Piper's decorations and blue in Corbin's. So I think it works. Plus it's cute and more fun and covers those stupid holes. The end!

Scott repainted this for me, you should have seen it before! Those stupid weird holes always bugged me.

Putting fabric on totally worked. So much cuter!

Before

After (that pillow will be cuter, I need to sew a million cute little flowers on them).

Before

After

This wall was the biggest mess. I didn't have the keyboard in there anymore but woof.

After

I used to have my full length mirror over here.

Before, the stand was natural wood color. I forget to take a picture before I started painting it.

After. The best part about this was I slabbed a lot of strips of fabric and I wasn't sure if it would work because it is directional but it totally did. Score!

The Flu, Furniture, and the Cannons

This week we have been dealing with on again off again random stomach flu sickness. It started Monday night with Gabby barfing several times. Then Tuesday night Corbin barfed in the night. Thursday night Piper barfed a little after her bedtime bottle. When I went back to get her up on Friday morning I noticed that it smelled horribly. I picked her up and noticed there was dried barf all through her hair and all over her jammies. Then I looked in the pack n play and there was piles of dried barf everywhere. Wow Piper, who barfs all over and goes right back to sleep. Gross! Poor baby slept like that for who knows how long. We took the pack n play outside to air out and it's still out there 2 days later. We also had to have the fan on all day in our bathroom and the window open. It still smelled a little the next day. Wowza!

Anyway back to the stomach flu, I have felt a bit queasy on and off all week but last night I felt really sick. Then when I got up this morning I felt really, really sick. I am still sick right now, and I'm hoping that I will be better in the morning. I didn't go to church today. That makes for a really long, boring day. Hooray for church.

In less disgusting news the Cannons came up this weekend. They brought us newly refurbished furniture for our bedroom. We got everything in and put away. I am now on the hunt for a new bedspread and new color scheme for my bedroom. I don't feel like the old one fits with the new furniture. Our night stands and headboard don't match the new furniture so I'm not quite sure what to do about that yet. I'm having visions of Mod Podging fabric on the nightstands and getting rid of the headboard. Scott is not so sure of my schemes. Neither am I quite frankly.

Nana, Papa, Carole, Nicole and Rustin came up. We went downtown around lunch time on Saturday to check out the Art in the Park but it was insanely busy and we bagged trying to find a parking spot. We also wanted to eat lunch Downtown but found the same parking problem so we went to a Pizza place by BSU campus. After that it was nap time for almost everyone. I spent several hours finding new homes for our clothes and other things in our new dressers. After naps Scott took a group and they went to DeMeyer park and floated the ditch with the kids. Janet, Carole, and I did some shopping. After that it was late dinner and even later shakes at Sonic. Taking our kids to Sonic at 10:00 at night in their pajamas might have been the favorite moment of the weekend. That was fun. After that we forced ourselves to play a few card games and then it was night night. Today we went and had the continental breakfast at the Cannon's hotel and then they headed out. It was a quick weekend but our kids loved it so much. They LOVE the Cannons.

On Monday night when Gabby got sick I decided some cuddles in bed were in order. We watched Tangled. We bought a new TV for our bedroom by the way. I never wanted to have one in there but I am loving it.

Crab-apple muncher.

Corbin: "Gabby do you love me?" Gabby: "Ya" Corbin: "Heavenly Father loves you." Gabby "Ya, and Jesus." I overheard that conversation the other day. So cute.

Pack in play outside means fun fort adventures for the kids.

Someone Had a Birthday

Piper had her first birthday last Sunday. There wasn't much in terms of celebration, since it was the day after Kelsey's wedding but Scott did manage to get some great pictures so it's almost like her 1st birthday was super cool.  I just snagged a leftover cupcake from the wedding and voila "Happy Birthday." Some things about Miss Piper. She sleeps in past 8:00 everyday. She loves to eat crab apples in the grass. She loves being outside. She hates being inside. She hates being left behind. She loves it when people get down to her level to play. She loves to climb on people. She loves pulling mommy's hair. It's her favorite. She growls. She fake laughs (it is hilarious, we have to get that on camera). She loves to scream, also her favorite. She loves it when I take her on bike rides. As of this week she started crawling on her knees sometimes instead of only doing her insanely fast army crawl. Today she learned to wave and give high five. She saw me the other day and said "mama." She hasn't done that since. Happy Birthday Piper, your family loves you.