Dec 9
Two days ago, I was bathing my little girls in their tub. Their tub at the new house has a sliding door attached. At first, I was excited about the idea of being able to avoid the small lakes that appear on the bathroom floor anytime my children bathe. But I soon discovered that, though the lakes are now minimized, the floor still manages to get wet. I was standing on one such wet floor on this particular evening while leaning over the door tracks to reach and rinse two little heads of hair when I reached too far and slipped on the wet floor. I ended up with the top half of my body in the tub, slamming my right knee and lower thigh into the railing on my way down. Pain. Lots and lots of pain. I yelled for Jeremy who, supportive husband that he is, started laughing and later said he wished he'd had a camera to have captured the sight. I was less amused at first and then started crying and laughing at the same time. Today, I have a huge, ugly, green, blue and purple bruise on my leg and knee and my leg kills whenever I try to lift it. The door on the tub has to go.
Dec 12
We buried Seal the Hamster today. We think she died of old age. I found her on Wednesday, curled up in her nest. She looks like she died in her sleep. Poor hamster. Poor Sami.
Dec 13
Sick again! I've got two kids with fevers! We had two days of respite--that's it. Two whole days in over three weeks when my kids were all somewhat healthy and able to function. Kassi was on meds for an ear infection and Emmy had a chronic cough... But we were functional... For a whole two days. Now Sami and Ally have fevers. Again. We have had more fevers and stomach illnesses in this house in the last three weeks than we had the entire winter last year. What the heck is going on here?!
Dec 14
They want a dog. Help.
Dec 17
The other day, Kassi was trying to scare me. She kept running around the corner yelling, "Boo!" Then she put together that Boo has the same sound to it as Booty and my girls love to sing 'Shake your Booty' so she ran up and yelled "Shake your Boo!!" Love it!
Dec 20
Every year since she turned 8, I have taken Sami on a special Mommy date. We've been to Broadway's "Mary Poppins," CenterPoint's "Little Women," and Ballet West's "The Nutcracker." This year we decided to try something different and went to a Piano Guys concert in the Energy Solutions Arena (where the Jazz play). Sami and I love the Piano Guys! It was such a cool experience. They were goofy and fun as well as inspirational and breathtaking. It is one of my favorite concerts I have ever been to. My favorite song was "Oh Come Emanuel.". At one point the whole arena, packed with people, was so still and I felt the Spirit so strong. Another really good one was "The Story of My Life." Sami's favorite was " What makes you Beautiful" and just the excitement of being at a real concert. It was such a great date!!
If you have no clue who the Piano Guys are, I strongly recommend you google them and these songs. Then look up their versions of "How Great Thou Art" and "Angels We Have Heard on High." Breathtaking.
Dec 22
We went down to Temple Square tonight.... Along with the rest of the Wasatch Front.... It was so packed! It was still beautiful though. The best part of the night was Kassi. She was so funny. She sang about everything she saw. When she sees Christmas lights she says, "Look, Merry Kiss-mas." I love how she says it too because she takes a breath between Christ and Mas. It just sounds so cute! I have not been able to catch it on video yet though.
Anyway, as we were walking through Temple Square, she was pointing at all the lights and singing "Merry Kiss Mas! Merry Kiss Mas!" At one point she saw a pink tree and said, "Ooh, Mine!" When she saw orange lights on trees, she threw her head back to look at them upside down and sang, "Or-ange! Or-ange!" Sami gave her a piggyback ride and when Kassi heard her call it such, Kassi started 'oinking.' Then when we walked close to the temple, she started yelling "Temple! Temple! I can't touch it!" as she threw her head back and tried to reach the spires. Then she sang about the train she saw. And the bus.
Such a ham, that one!!
Dec 25
If Jeremy and I could save a Christmas morning to remember and relive, this would be the one. The kids were all adorable and sweet. The ambiance was peaceful and relaxing. It was the perfect Christmas morning.
Emmy's gifts were so funny and simple but she was so excited to give them. (Except the eraser she gave to Sami. She took it away and said, "Oops, that's Dad's." So Sami didn't get a gift from Emmy. We all laughed!)
Kassi's excitement for everyone opening there gifts, jumping up and down with anticipation, and giving high fives to her parents after each one.
Sami's silliness (something we don't see much these days) and her anxious face as each person opened her very thought-out, homemade gifts.
Ally's touching gift to Sami (a story she wrote about sisters). And sweet card to her Grandma.
Mom's sweet presence. Possibly even the presence of my Dad.
The fireplace. The music. It was perfect.
Then...
Morning ended and...
We got a dog.... What were we thinking??
Dec 26
Kassi is 2 1/2 this week!! My how that little girl is growing. She's so much fun. Stubborn but fun. She loves to argue with you. We are always getting in playful "uh-uh," "uh-huh" wars. She is usually the "uh-uh." She sings about everything. And she is just all-around very happy. Her talking is getting clearer all the time, especially when she isn't talking around a binki--we are getting better at going without the "gink" during the day. She is a little monkey, climbing on everything, and quite the talented mess maker. So smart though! She really wants to potty train so we are starting that next week. I have never had a child ask to start using the potty. She even takes off her own diaper when it's just a little damp. I am hopeful it will go more smoothly than the last two. I will be in potty training mode with the puppy too. So basically that will be my life for the next month. Everything will be scheduled around trips to the bathroom and outside. Joy. Bring it.
My Christmas gift to the girls was a song I wrote and recorded. I put the song and their special individual bedtime song on a mp3 player and gave it to them for when I'm not around at bedtime. It melted my heart tonight when I walked in at bedtime and saw Ally and Emmy, earbuds in, singing along with my song in unison at the top of their lungs.
Dec 29
I really wanted a white Christmas and was so thrilled when it started snowing on Christmas Eve! But now we have a foot of snow and lows in the negatives. As I was driving Emmy to the dentist today, she watched out the window and said, "Guess you got your wish for snow, Mom. Now can you wish it away?"
Dec 30
So. Tired. We had the worst wind storm I have ever experienced last night. No one at my house slept much. Then we had our basement flood this morning. Awesome. And, just a note, it is really hard to potty train a puppy when there is ice and snow swirling in sub degree temperatures outside. Bell, our adorable six-week-old Labradoodle, has been doing a great job going outside during the day. But nights have not been fun. She won't go outside but she won't use her potty mats either. Sami is trying to care for her but that little girl is a bear when she doesn't sleep. The nights have been very long since Christmas.
Dec 31
It's 10pm and I'm going to bed. Mom can't sleep in her room right now because of the loud fans going from our flooding, so she is sleeping in the living room with the puppy. I am determined to get a decent nights sleep! Happy New Year!!!!!!
