9 month portraits

Just before we took off to Arizona, I was able to get some fairly descent 9 month pictures of Reganne. They aren't incredible, but at least I got some! And that rock she's gnawing on, that's where her "chipped" front tooth came from. Lovely.

a big girl now

Marryn celebrated her 3rd birthday the other day (okay, so it was really about 2 weeks ago...). We had originally planned on visiting the Denver Zoo, since her birthday was on a Saturday and we've never taken her to the zoo, but things just didn't work out that way. Instead we just tried to make a fun day at home for her. Grandma Jean purchased her a play kitchen (the really cute one from Target), and I put it together the night before (shame I waited until about 1am to start, it took me about 3 hours...but it wasn't really hard...I don't know...). So she woke up to that and also a fun Hello Kitty decorated table. She got to open a few presents throughout the day and then we took her to Red Robin for dinner, of which they sang their Happy Birthday song with a special ice cream. Then we went to Target to get another kitchen toy. Afterwards we finished opening the rest of her birthday gifts. I had baked her a strawberry cake (she picked it out) and frosted it using fondant. (A little tip, be sure to flavor it first.) I was so proud of myself and it looked so cute! So then Joey lit her candles, only to have Marryn blow them out right away! So we reminded her to wait until we sang Happy Birthday, then she could blow them out. She really enjoyed her birthday. I had bought her a cute shirt, from Gap of course, that said "Birthday Girl" on it, and she would tell people that she was 3 now, not 2, but not actually mention that it was her birthday. Funny thing was when someone would ask her what she did for her birthday, she's tell them she went to the zoo. Oops. She's still young enough though that I think I was more upset then she was. I really want to make each of my kids' birthdays special, but after this day, I realized that special doesn't mean "big, expensive, extravagant". It just has to be special. A thing as small as getting fun party plates was special enough for Marryn and I pray that it will always be that way.

Well, along with a birthday comes a yearly check-up. Marryn is now officially 30 pounds. With jeans, boots and 2 shirts-it was a very chilly day! That puts her in the 50th percentile and she was 3 feet 1 inch, 40th percentile. And Marryn was not afraid of the doctor this time! She was a bit hesitant when he first walked in, but then giggled throughout the rest of the exam! Since her 2 year check-up, she has been extremely afraid of the doctors (sadly, we had quite a few visits this past year), and she is not afraid of anyone! I was quite embarrassed though when the doctor asked how she was doing with potty training, seeing that she was wearing a diaper. But he gave me just the motivation I needed....

The next day I set out to "train" Marryn. I put her in underwear and set the timer for every hour. Not once did she go IN THE TOILET! I was at my wit's end by the end of the day, I was ready to give up, give up being a mom! It was an awful day. Then, later that night she wandered on down to the bathroom and soon I heard, "I did it! I peed in the toilet!" Joey, who was working in the room next to the bathroom came running out yelling, "She did! I heard it!" Of course she had peed in her underwear and the floor, but also in the toilet! Later she did number 2 all by herself. The next day was the BEST day! Not an accident! Although she didn't always get to toilet in time and it didn't always go in the toilet.... She has only had a couple accidents since and is now getting better getting it in the toilet. We've gone out in public as well without any problems!

And now Marryn is going to preschool. Grandpa Dave offered to pay for her preschool, if we didn't qualify for Head Start (which we didn't and I'm glad). So she is going to Miss Elaine's Preschool. There are 3 other kids, all which are in Marryn's nursery class at church and it's right down the road. She'll go Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11:30am. She went last Thursday for the first time and LOVED IT! Afterwards she just kept telling me about everything they did, who she played with and that she went potty in Miss Elaine's toilet. Miss Elaine said that Marryn had quite the vocabulary and was fun to converse with.

traveling to arizona

The girls and I left for Arizona Tuesday Aug 28th. Our flight wasn't until 5pm, so we left our house around 1pm, giving ourselves time to stop for lunch. Joey surprised me and took us to Qdoba (it's our Wednesday ritual, double punch day) and then we headed off to Denver. For the first time ever, we got there the recommended 2 hours prior to departure. I think from the time we checked our bags at the curb, went through security (of which I didn't have to wait even a second) and rode the train all the way to Terminal C, it was only about 25 minutes. Way to be on time. I then had to kill about 1+ hour with the girls. They were good. They played around the gate and ate snacks, before we went and bought an overpriced bottle of water and found two Angelina Ballerina books for Marryn and a Dr. Suess board book for Reganne. The plane came, we loaded (it was pretty empty) and took off. The girls were great! Reganne got a little antsy towards the end, but not bad. We arrived in Las Vegas to meet my parents, of which almost didn't find us. That morning I went to my favorite salon (an Aveda one in Old Town) and got my hair cut and straightened. My mom said they saw me before they saw me! Now, for all of you giving me the look of death when I said I was going to fly alone with the girls, in your face, it was cake! Of course walking out of the airport was like running into a brick wall. HOT! I then had to install Reganne's carseat and reinstall the one Marryn was going to use. My parents were so worried about putting indents in their leather seats that the seat was not in very snug at all. And it was sitting on beach towels. Good thing though, I needed them to wipe the sweat dripping down my face!

They have on matching shirts that say, "I get cuter everytime U see me"

We then stopped for dinner at a fancy seafood place and I tried sushi for the first time. Ok, it was just a California Roll, but sushi still the same! (It was delicious!) After stopping at Albertson's for a few things, we headed to the Ranch. It's about 1 1/2-2 hours from Vegas, over Hoover Dam. (I grew up in Northern Arizona, so I've traveled this road a many a times...) The girls of course fell asleep on the way and woke up, really woke up, when we finally got to the Ranch. Garrett {my 17 year old brother} was sleeping on the couch waiting for us. He had gone into town and brought Dehcaley {my 16 month old niece} back with him. He was a bit nervous taking care of her by himself, but all apparently went well. She was asleep too! Well, after some more hellos and then goodnights, I attempted to get the girls in bed too. Not happening. Reganne kept standing up in the pack-n-play and Marryn just wanted to go play. She asked for a tissue and so I sent her off to find one (in the dark). She wandered around for a bit before she came back, without one. (The next morning my mom cracked up because the first thing Marryn said to her was "I just couldn't find a tissue last night for my nose.") Now let me explain the house my parents live in. It's old. It's an old ranch house that my dad gutted and redid. But it's still old. It doesn't have central air, in fact the whole house runs off a tiny solar panel and generator. Not a whole lot of power. And the room I sleep in is off to the side without any windows, just a door (with a window). Luckily for me, they put a screen on it. I could open it and let the breeze come in. Times before we couldn't open the door without the screen in fear of rattlesnakes. (This is not the house I grew up in, my parents purchased the ranch only about 4 years ago.) Despite the small breeze, it was sweltering in there! That one door faces south and it really heats up in the afternoon. I don't know how, but we all managed to finally go to sleep. Although just off and on for me. Marryn rolled off the bed (the double size bed we were on is sitting in a double/queen bed frame. The mattress doesn't fit flush against the frame therefore, leaving a nice gap between the bed and the wall. This isn't her first time rolling off either...), so I got up to pull her back on. Reganne, my excellent sleeper, kept fussing, so I got up with her as well. Then the rooster started crowing... Way before the sun seemed to be up too. I don't know how I managed through the next day, but I did!

just a little side note...

Thanks, Megan, for pointing this out.

I am ecstatic to be in a size 6. This is not at all what I consider "big" clothes. Although, the size 6 I am now is NOT the size 6 I was in high school. Seems to me that the new size 6 is the old size 8...

on a "un"roll

The girls and I just arrived home late last night from a week long trip to Arizona to visit my family. I'm tired, cranky and just not up to doing much today. I was in on the computer, trying to document (i.e. Blog) our trip and Marryn was in the bathroom, going "potty" (no, she's not toilet trained). She comes out and says there's water all over. I go in thinking I'm going to find maybe, hopefully, a little bit of pee, but no. I find water ALL OVER! I lift up the toilet lid to find it had clogged and overflowed, thanks to both Reganne, who unrolled a huge wad of toilet paper and Marryn, who tried to flush the huge wad of toilet paper. Multiple times.

blue jean baby

I just washed a solid load of jeans.

I don't remember the last time I washed a solid load of jeans since I left home.

Growing up, I thought jeans had to be washed with jeans (like with like) AND I though you could only wear a pair of jeans once before they had to be washed (oh, that is true...). But in my family, that's how it needed to be. My dad is/has been a builder, a rancher, a construction worker, a farmer... the list goes on as to what he does. He doesn't work a typical office job. And would never want to. Add in my two younger brothers who have followed his lead, and you get very dirty jeans. Lots of solid loads of jeans. Well, our life isn't quite that way. Our jeans are washed with our colors because we don't go through that many and we don't own that many. Jeans are expensive and well, to be honest, we are bigger than we'd like to be and we don't like to buy "big clothes." So one or two pairs is all we own (with the exception of the girls-oh how I love to buy them clothes!)

My mom has great taste. And loves to shop. And has in the past year or so whittled down to about nothing. So I came back from this trip to Arizona with an additional checked bag full of jeans. Jeans for myself. Size 6ish jeans that would fall off my mom, but fit somewhat nicely on myself. Name brand, expensive jeans.

I gave my mom a shirt I bought on clearance at Old Navy. It made me look pregnant, but flattered her quite nicely.