The Stand-Off...

I have always heard of this moment. I knew that it was coming. I just never realized that it would be so frustrating and funny at the same time. Some of you may already know what this blog is about, the title really tells it all. The Dinner-Table Stand-Off.

We have a pretty simple rule at the dinner table. Taylee must try at least one bite of everything(We don't have this problem with Bryns...she eats EVERYTHING!!). Taylee usually ends up liking it and after about the fifth time we have had that certain meal she won't fight eating it. Sometimes getting her to try something new can be a bit dramatic, but she gives up pretty quickly and will just try it in order to go and play.

Not today. She has started to show quite a stubborn streak (I blame her father's genes :-) and today at dinner we came to the dreaded Stand-Off over one bite of lasagna!

You can see the itty-bitty bit of lasagna that she needed to eat. But for thirty-minutes she sat in her chair and glared at it and at me. I was so frustrated that she wouldn't eat it. While I cleaned up the rest of dinner, I kept explaining to her over and over again that she could go and play with Bryns and Daddy when she ate the one bite. Her only response was 'no.'

For the rest of the stand-off she told me everything from "The lasagna will make me throw-up," to "Please give me a spanking and let me go to my room." I had to keep turning away because I couldn't help but grinning at the things she would say. What a crazy drama-queen!!

Needless to say, she gave up after a while. When Taylee heard me tell Sean and Bryns that we should make popcorn and watch a movie tonight as a family, she popped that piece of lasagna into her mouth as quick as could be so she could join in. And then the little stinker asked for more because she liked it!! Kids!! :-)

Girl's Night

Last night was one of our weekly trips back to Pocatello for Taylee's soccer league. Despite it costing in gas, and taking up one of our nights during the week, we always have a lot of fun. While Sean is playing golf at his men's league, the girls and I plan SOMETHING different to do each time.

Here are a couple pics from last night. Taylee got her hair cut... It turned out SOOOO cute, but it makes her look too grown-up!!

And then the three of us went to eat at Wingers. The girls love the food (they wouldn't even look up at the camera!)and we always get great service!! (Aunt Nicole, who also cut Taylee's hair, works there).

We also had soccer practice in the middle of it all (thank-you to my in-laws for watching Bryns since I am still coaching), and again, three-year olds are hilarious! It is great to see how much fun they have together and they never worry about the small things (like scoring a goal :-) I need to learn more from them because they truly enjoy life!

Bryn's Surgery

Everything went great at Bryn's surgery. She was only out of my arms for 30 minutes (there was another little boy in the recovery room who was hysterical, so the nurses brought Bryns back to us in her room for recovery. I was very happy to have her back so quickly).

She was such a cutie the whole time. She was waving "hi" and blowing kisses to all the nurses and doctors. She had them all wrapped around her finger within a couple minutes!! Before they took her back to surgery, they gave her some medication to sedate her a little bit so she wouldn't be hysterical when the nurses took her away from us (she usually does great with everyone, but there is something about doctors and nurses that she doesn't quite trust...must be those stupid immunization shots :-). The drug made her seriously act like she was drunk. We weren't allowed to put her down after they gave the medicine to her, but she was so loopy I was fighting to not laugh at her. Her head was lolling back and forth and her arms were waving and she was giggling at everything! She has never sat on my lap so contently! (Do you think we could market that stuff for sacrament meeting?!?)

But she is doing wonderful. I was so proud of her at the hospital. She had her crying moments after the surgery, but for the most part just wanted to smile and play (I could hear other little kids crying in the other rooms as they came back from getting tubes in and I was VERY grateful to have such a happy little girl). Here are some pics in the hospital of Bryns in her hospital gown...

And here is a pic of her yesterday afternoon as happy as can be...

So, thank-you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. It was a very minor surgery, but I was a worried, frantic mother the whole time. I appreciate all the text messages and calls we got checking on our little sweetheart. We have the best family and friends!!

Not to leave Taylee out, here is her funny covnersation for the week (so far):

Taylee: I can't color this. It is too hard! (This is a typical thing for her to say lately when she doesn't want to do something or is frustrated)

Me: Taylee, you are so awesome that I KNOW you can do it.

Taylee: (quiet for a moment) Mommy, you just made me sooooo happy!

Goals, Golf, and Parties!

This weekend was a bit crazy, but so much fun! Taylee scored another goal at her soccer game. Then she slipped on the wet grass and refused (adamently!) to play the rest of the game. Luckily my in-laws were at the game to console her since I was coaching. Coaching was a blast! It was sheer craziness and I was laughing the whole time. I know I have said it before, but three year olds are hilarious. We had five kids show up (which is barely enough for a team), and none of them wanted to play that much. Two looked for worms, one pretended to be a cat, one had to use the potty every couple of minutes, and then Taylee pittered out ten minutes into the game.

Sean had fun at his golf tournament. If you ask him, he is mad at himself. He placed third (which I think is awesome!), but he is upset that he didn't do better. (Apparently he was in first place until the last couple holes, when the guys he was playing against started to really harass him. He is mad that he let them get to him) This was his first lone-man tournament and I am so proud of him! I love watching his golf improve (I don't always love him being gone, but I love seeing how good he is getting). Whenever we have gone together, I am in awe by how good he does. That sport it tough! There is so much mental work that goes into it, it is nuts! So, congrats Sean! You are awesome!

Bryns is doing great. She is scheduled for surgery on Wednesay and sadly enough, I have been following her around all day with my camera taking pictures and trying not to tear up. (I know, its pretty pathetic). She is mimicking everything we say. Her favorite words are 'giraffe' and 'jello.' She is learning her animal sounds. I love hearing her snort like a pig or roar like a lion. It is hilarious!

Oh, the party! We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday last night at our house. It was great to have everyone come here. Taylee loved playing with her cousins, and Bryns loved copying Taylee :-). The best thing was that both girls were exhausted after so much playing and were asleep by 7:30! It was a wonderful night.

I Hate Being Sick!

There is an awful, horrible cold going around. Sean had it, then Taylee had it, and now I have it (We are such a good family. We share everything!). I finally have my voice back today, though it still sounds like I am going through puberty or something. :-) I'm not sure if Bryns has it. She is on ANOTHER ear infection and so she is just miserable anyway.
She is scheduled to get tubes put into her ears next Wednesday. I'm trying not to think about it too much. The idea of my sweet little baby going to the hospital, being put under, and having surgery...I just really don't like it. But, then I change her diaper (which has a horrible rash from her antibiotics) or I stay up with her all night because she is miserable and the surgery-concept becomes a tad bit more likable.
Taylee is really enjoying soccer. She had another practice today. I coached during the practice (which was really interesting since I know soooo much about soccer). So, the kids and I basically ran a lot...well, some of the kids ran a lot. Some spun in circles. Some sat and picked grass. You gotta love 3-year olds. They are hilarious! One of the kids told me that he couldn't kick without his "Lightning McQueen" shoes. (His mother had no idea what those were)
Sean has a big golf tournament tomorrow. He is so funny. As we were driving home from Poky tonight, he was so quiet that I was concerned he was falling asleep. After getting one-word answers for a few minutes, I asked him if he was ok. He told me that he was playing golf in his head and was trying to concentrate on how to improve his score....yeah, he is that much of a golfer. I have a hard enough time playing nine holes for real, much less in my head!
So wish us all luck on getting better (Best of luck to all of you who have caught this horrible bug!). And now that I have home internet, I will start posting more regularly:-)

House

I am so slow at decorating it is not even funny. We have been in our house for two weeks and I have barely done any of it. In my defense, we just got our computer put together tonight (we have been waiting for the basement to get finished) so my vinyl machine should finally be functional as of tomorrow! YEAH!! Hopefully all the decor will come together a bit better :-)
But even then, it will still take me months to get it done! I have ideas of what I want to do, but I can never find what I need...For instance, I want a HUGE clock for this bare wall in the living room. And I mean HUGE! 3 or 4 feet. And the frame has to be black and bronze. Good luck to me, right?
Here are a couple more pics of the house. Sadly enough, there are very few decorations up still. Eventually, it will all look perfect...hopefully. :-)
I LOVE my kitchen!

The girls are doing great! They still love the house and everything that goes with it (the neighborhood park right across the road, all the little girls in the neighborhood). We went to the zoo again today. Bryns was so excited to see all the animals, I thought she was going to bounce out of her stroller! Taylee got to see a lion cub that led to the funny conversation of the day:

Taylee: Look, its a mommy lion and a baby lion...Where's the daddy lion?

Me: He must be tired. I bet he is taking a nap in his cave.

Taylee: Oh...He must be sleeping and watching football.

She makes me laugh so much. She is playing soccer right now. Funny enough, she is playing in Pocatello. I had her signed up to play this fall before the whole turbo-move happened and it works out that her practices coincide with Sean's golf league. Bryns and I get to tag along and visit family...and they were so worried that we would never visit. :-)

Bryns is such a cutie! She had another case of a double ear infection (yes, that makes it the whopping #7 for the year). Needless to say, she will be visiting a specialist soon to get tubes put in. I hate having her get surgery, but I hate having her on so many meds so often. But she is still my happy little girl. And to end this post, here is an adorable pic of her eating spagetti. This was the first time I let her feed herself spagetti. Since she was getting in the bath anyway, I thought, "might as well!"

Love it!

I have to say that I already love Idaho Falls! We are so close to everything, yet not too close. I drive in one direction for five minutes and I am at Sam's Club. I drive 10 minutes in another direction from my house and I am at Mr. Pizza (Mmmmm! I know three certain sisters are salivating with jealousy! Saturday night was heavenly!) And yet ten minutes in another direction and I am at the mall. Plus, Sean is home at 6:15 every night. It is wonderful.
The girls are both loving the new house. Neither have shown any signs of missing the old house. In fact, I asked Taylee today if she wanted to move back to our old house and she scowled at me and said no! Yes, she is quite the drama queen lately, and her scowl could burn holes into a person! Brynlee is loving her room (it is twice the size of her old one). She will go in and just spin in circles and giggle.
Sorry that there have been no pictures of my new house. I promise I will do it. (I really promise, Cami!), but I have really good excuses. 1) I don't have internet yet except when Sean is home with his aircard 2) my computer and all adjoining cords (like the camera cord) are still packed until the basement gets finished next week, and 3) things are still crazy! Before I post what my house looks like I want it to look relatively normal...no boxes, some decor, etc. So, I promise that I will post pictures sometime in the next week (whether the craziness has ended or not).
Everything is going great. I am so grateful for my family right now. Everyone helped us so much as we were moving. Between watching my crazy munchkins and moving boxes and boxes and boxes (how did we ever get so much STUFF?!?), they are what made it possible for us to move so quickly. Thanks to everyone.