“Two” many kids…too much to drink…and Walmart!

I’ll tell you I’ve never paid attention to this before, but I’m sure paying attention now, moms are truly amazing. Grocery shopping with a toddler was a challenge in and of itself, but adding a newborn to the mix I’ve found requires super skills and an engineering degree!

I’m certain it was a man who invented shopping carts - a bachelor no less, without even a niece or a nephew to think about. Maybe his mother mentioned to him that they should have a little seat for a kid somewhere, so he stuck one in there, but he must have been reading some strange statistic that said families only have one and maybe ½ kids! So shopping carts are obviously not made for gigantic families like ours (yes we have two now). If the infant seat goes in the basket…where do you put the groceries? If it goes in the seat area…where do you put the toddler? And regardless of what method is “best” the toddler will certainly disagree and want to be wherever the baby is…or else he will be playing fireman, and pushing the cart (and the precariously perched baby seat) away from you as you stop to pick out some tomatoes! So….shopping is a challenge! Kudos to all you other moms who already have this one down to an art…I’m impressed!

Anyway, as if shopping (and having a newborn) weren’t challenging enough add to it that we’re potty training our toddler. No, I’m not a masochistic mother…this potty training idea was actually daddy’s idea. We decided to use General Conference weekend to make it happen, since we’d both be home all weekend, and basically be sitting there for hours just waiting to hear “I gotta go pee pee” (and listening to the speakers too of course). Now, The Snack is an amazing toddler, and I knew that once he was ready for this it would just “click” which really it did, and he’s doing great, but…we still have our challenges (wow it’s hard to wipe a bum while nursing a month old baby!). So, Bryce and I…well, really The Snack, determined that Pull-ups are nothing more than glorified diapers, so we decided to do away with them in our potty training (it’s so convenient to just pee pee and keep playing when you know it’s not going to come running down your leg). And so day 1 without Pull-ups and I find myself…dun dun dun…at Walmart of all places.

Now, you experienced mothers know that being out in public with a potty training toddler requires “mom training” more than anything else, but keeping track of time in the black hole called Walmart is virtually impossible! So we’re standing in the check out line 2 minutes from being done and a frantic little voice pipes up, “huh! I gotta go pee pee!” (que the music)…dun dun dun “wait, Snack, can you wait?! Don’t go, ok?!” “Ok, mama” and he waited!!! Wow, what a kid. So 2 minutes later I’m rushing off to find a bathroom (of course only to find out hours later that I left my last bag at the check out…another story). When I get there I just stop and stare at the door dumbfounded. What do I do now? I have a cart full of groceries, including melting popsicles, a month old baby sleeping in a carrier, and a toddler who needs to pee! And I’m staring at the door of a WALMART BATHROOM! Darn those little bladders! So I bump the door open with my butt and peek inside. “Oh…there is just no way I’m going in there!” Grimy floors, scummy stalls, and where the heck do you put the shopping cart and the baby…never mind how in the world you get a toddler to pee in a toilet without touching it!

So here’s the big question. What’s more daring…

Braving a Walmart bathroom?

Or

Taking a gamble and facing the possibility of pee all over the car etc.?

So I made my choice…

“Can you wait, Snack?” And, hallelujah, he did! What a kid!

Love to Brit

She's Back!

My youngest sister...little Brit (a.k.a booger) just returned yesterday from her mission in "South Africarolina" (she served a year in South Africa, then for safety reasons they closed South Africa to sisters, so she finished up in South Carolina).

Brit, we're sorry we can't be there to give you hugs and kisses in person, so we're sending our lovin' via blog. We're so proud of you and can't wait to see you!!

Best kept secrets...

Believe it or not my friends, but I can keep a "secret." This was a particularly hard secret to keep especially with so many of my blogging friends having babies...but I did it! I suppose it helps that I have a paranoid sort of fear of sharing TMI via blogs, but none-the-less, here's the latest...I HAD A BABY!

It's hard to believe it actually happened. The labor was...not fun...but surprisingly a heck of a lot easier than with my first...is that standard procedure? After my 16 hours of labor (a full hour of just pushing) with The Snack I was in bad shape, but this time, in comparison, it was a piece of cake (if we can ever refer to labor in that way) only 7 hours (with an epidural) and 3 pushes and there she was. I was so happy when she came so quickly that I was like laughing when I was done...I was truly ecstatic!

This is a pic from a couple hours after delivery. The Snack loves "Baby O" and is so excited that she is finally here. Bryce did a really good job preparing The Snack to be a good big brother, so we've been blessed not to have to deal with jealousy...so far! I wish I could say we've also been "blessed" with no sleep deprivation...but I guess we'll have to work on that one!

Snow!

Ok...it's March...we're in Texas...and it just snowed.

well...ok...so it looks more like this...

...but the point is...it was in the 70's yesterday, with hardly a hint of "winter" all season!!! What is this freakishness?

Hubby tag

All about my Hubby......

Bryce on one of our rare snowboarding outings

What is his name? Bryce

How long have you been married? 3 ½ yrs

How long did you date? About 6 months in our teens and then about 3 years when we returned from our missions.

How old is he? 29, in a couple weeks.

Who said "I love you first"? He did. He wrote a song for me, “...and I’d tell you I love, but I think I’m scared…as the dandruff falls from my hair…and I’d tell you you’re beautiful, that your voice is sweet, of your voluptuous hands and cobalt blue feet…”

Obviously a lot of “insider information” in that song.

Who is taller? Bryce by 7-8 inches

Who eats more sweets? Hard to say. I’m the sweet fanatic, but he can eat a lot more in a sitting than me, so it probably evens out.

Who can sing better? Bryce. If you heard me sing you’d run from the room…either screaming or laughing…but I love to do it anyway!


Who is smarter? No argument…Bryce is a true genius. I’d say I have more common sense type smarts, but Bryce is like unbelievable to me with the things he knows.


Who does the laundry? Me. I’m a control freak.


Who pays the bills? Me, and I do the taxes and anything else that has to be done on a deadline.


Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Bryce, if you’re standing at the foot of the bed. We never plan it that way, it just seems to end up that way.


Who mows the lawn? Presently…neither of us. But I know it would be Bryce…though I have no aversion to it…I mowed the lawn as a kid.


Who cooks dinner? I do…but only because I’m the one at home. Bryce is a waaaayyyy better cook. He just has knack for it.


Who drives? Bryce. I’ve given in to the whole “let the hubby do it” mentality in so many ways (“ohhh this jar just won’t open”). But he’s a very good driver, so it makes sense.


Who is more stubborn? Me for sure.


Who kissed who first? Bryce, way back when we were teens. And then I’d say Bryce again when we hooked up later in life…but he may debate this one.


Who asked who out first? As teenagers Bryce was Mr. Smooth. But after our missions I invited him to the movies - at his sisters urging!


Who proposed? Bryce. I’m traditional. We talked about it all the time, but I just waited “patiently” for him to finally propose. I could never have done that.


Who has more siblings? I guess we’re equal. There are 7 kids in my family, and when you add Bryce’s two step siblings, he has 7 as well.


Now...I tag...all of you! Gotta get the inside scoop any way I can.

definitely, maybe

Two thumbs up....

Amazingly enough, Bryce and I agreed that overall we liked this movie. And getting Bryce to like a "chick flick" is no easy task...so this one wasn't too over the top. Of course, as movies go these days, it had it's share of, "why did they have to put that in there??" but in the end it proved to be a feel good/make you smile kind of movie. I guess if you want to dig deep, you could go into the politics of whether the ending is "right" or "wrong" but I won't because I'd ruin the ending for all of you...and plus...you'll all be smiling in the end too, so it doesn't really matter what I think.

a little lovin'

I love living where I live right now! Having to be away from family is sooo hard, but good friends make all the difference. We've got some great friends in our apartment complex here in Texas, with kids the same age as Snack. It seems we are always looking for excuses to get together, so holidays - big or small - never get forgotten.

For Valentines we decided to put out mailboxes so each kid could deliver a little valentine to each friend. I surprised The Snack with this Blues Clues mailbox when he woke up from his nap...he loved it...despite my poor artistic skills! So every time we checked the box we'd sing our "here's the mail it never fails..." song. It really made the day special for him. He was so sweet, he'd always say, "we got a letter because they love me?" And the little messages he wanted me to write on the valentines he gave away were so darling...

"Snack, what do you want to say to London?"

"Uhmmm...because I love you."

As for Bryce and I, our Valentines plans could not interfere with the watching of The Lost! So we made sure to schedule that in. No really, we could have...and should have gone on a date considering one of our wonderful friends here offered to babysit, but I have such a hard time saying yes. But alas...she is a good friend, and she wouldn't let the offer go unanswered, so we're going out tonight! And Bryce, being the sweet heart that he his, does let me choose the movie...once a year...so we're seing a chick flick, believe it or not!

Definately, Maybe here we come!

301

Shocked The Snack...yesterday in Sacrament meeting we sang the Hymn, "I am a Child of God." And The Snack, sitting on the floor playing cars, stood up and looked around at everyone in utter amazement. You could tell by the look on his face what he was thinking..."they're singing my bed time song." It really took him a minute to wrap his mind around it, it was so cute. Then he started singing along. The 2nd and 3rd verses kinda threw him off, but the chorus made it ok. It's funny, I used to be really bored by that song - I think we sang it in every FHE growing up - but now that The Snack is so in love with it, I think it's just the greatest thing!

Don't kids just melt your heart!

Art Show

I'm slow to post, but I gotta say congrats to The Dad-n! Last Wednesday night was the opening reception for Bryce's latest art show. The show went great, good turnout, good art, good food. And you know it's true because The Snack kept saying "great show daddy" which was ever soooooo cute! And of course The Snack is always the hit of the show....The Dad-n's greatest work of art yet!

A Vacation....from the Vacation

Oh yes...there was certainly snow!

I'm back. Golly it's been over a month since I last posted, I guess I needed a little break. We went back to Connecticut for 2 1/2 weeks over the Christmas holidays. It was a great trip...but as these things go, the real vacation was needed when we got back home! We departed for our trip thinking 2 1/2 weeks was a looooonnggg time, but the time passed too quickly, and the loooonnngg list of things we thought we'd have ample time to do while we were there quickly was forgotten! The best part of the trip was simply hanging out & playing games with the fam. I don't know why we try to plan so much when in the end there is nothing better than laughing our heads off playing Cranium or Scattergories etc! And the truth is, trying to get 26 some odd people (and believe me we're "odd")to go out to dinner etc. is quite a feat. Next time, guys, lets just go to a lodge where the best thing to do is simply relax and play games!

Some Favorite Photos:

Dad-n and The Snack huddle together to keep warm while we're waiting to see Santa Clause (fortunately for us this day it was slightly warmer than the single digit temps we experienced later in the week).

Some of the Grandkids help Grandma & Grampa tell the Nativity story.

Christmas morning Auntie Heather helps The Snack get excited to open Christmas presents.

My little Guitar Hero rocking out with Uncle Willie.

Grandma following The Snack through a tunnel at Mystic Aquarium (The Snack LOVED this place!).