i am glad for many things

sorry- forgot to publish this post a couple weeks ago!
"i am glad for many things"
that's the new hymn our family learned this past week from the primary hymnbook. in preparation for thanksgiving, we discussed blessings in our lives and what we are each thankful for. we made a turkey showing some of the things that we are glad for and that make us happy.

todd's hands say: work, football, family

jeanette's hands say: gospel, freedom, our home, talents

ellie's hands say: temples, books, nona & papa, snowman, animals, grandma karen & grandpa kent, toys & games

abby's hands say: naps, binkie, walking, blankie, food

we spent thanksgiving with my family this year. we ate way too much and had a lot of fun together.

 the spread. yes, there were 3 types of stuffing.

 and of all this, ellie would only eat the grapes!

my parents moved into their new home one month after we did and they already have nearly everything up on the walls and their boxes are unpacked. i'm jealous. they got our old family photos up in the basement just in time for thanksgiving. the grandchildren had a good time looking at all of them, especially those where papa had a mustache.

fun with cousin-friends

when todd and i were first married, we lived in omaha, nebraska (winter quarters for those who are pioneer buffs). todd had a cousin who lived about an hour away from us and we got together with he and his wife (scott & kathy) once in awhile. well, when we moved to our new home, we ended up one mile away from them as well (it's kind of like we are stalking them, but i swear we are not... at least not consciously). we have play dates and swap babysitting since our children are the same age. but what is the family relationship between our kids? first cousins once removed, second cousins, or just "cousin-friends?"

 ellie & tyler racing from the craft table...

 ... to the bean bag.

 over, and over, and over again.

(i think todd's favorite part of our house is that the basement was 100% finished. the family room downstairs is perfect for our family to play in.)

 trying to get a photo of everyone.

 tyler making his way through the tunnel.

ellie is right behind him.

once there were three snowmen

last weekend it snowed. this isn't the first snow, but ellie was very excited to get out there and play. see, i'm not from snow country. so, snow is best for a 2 year-old when it comes on the weekend and her daddy, who is from snow country, is home. i make the hot chocolate (and keep the baby inside-to her sadness).

getting dressed for the snow.

someday... someday.

snowman #1

(with a pumpkin hat)

snowmen #2 & #3

cabela's = field trip

i'm trying to organize myself lately. i have always struggled with being late to ... well, everything. i have a tendency to try and pack in too much into too small a time frame. also, i found that we would go weeks without doing a fun project or a fun outing. then i would try and overcompensate by doing a ton of fun stuff, thus getting behind in housework. so, in an effort to improve and organize myself, i have made a weekly schedule.

why am i confessing? in order to explain why we went to cabela's. we go on a "field trip" once a week to do something fun (and hopefully educational). i had planned to go to the monte l. bean life science museum at byu this past week with the girls. however, we went to visit my parents in lehi, and they happen to live near cabela's.

have you ever been to cabela's? if not, it is pretty great for kids. there are a bunch of animals- and not just deer and elk (although there are plenty of those). ellie had a blast and she loves looking at her flashcards with the animals we saw there.

 abby pointing out the huge animals!

 ellie and papa checking out the wildlife.

 there is nothing like a scalp massage from a polar bear.

 a rare photograph of ... jeanette. (i'm usually taking the photos.)

 ellie got to feed some fish, then we went to the aquariums where there were some huge fish. ellie liked the catfish (i think she liked their name best). we got to see the fish in the aquariums be fed. they ate fat worms (you can see them in the photo above). they also fed them goldfish. live goldfish. big, live goldfish. i couldn't get a photo of the goldfish, though, because they didn't last long enough for me to focus the camera and push the button. 

 here is a big guy coming right at us.

 you can't get this close to a bear at the zoo!

 ellie liked this yellow plane.

 i miss horseback riding.

nonna supervising ellie's driving.

messy abby

my girls are similar in some ways, but completely opposite in many others.

when ellie was in her first year, she measured in the 50th percentile for height and under 5th for weight. abby measured at the 75th-90th percentile for height and 50th for weight. ellie quit napping before her first birthday (at least she goes for a quiet time now). abby needs her nap, and while there is only one (she just won't fall asleep in the morning), it is usually 3 hours. ellie has a list of 22 items she will eat (peanut butter, jam, and bread are 3 items). she also likes processed food more than my cooking. abby will try nearly anything, eats most things, and does not like things from a can or box as much as she likes her mama's meals.

ellie does not like to get messy inside the house (outside is a different story). when painting, she wants me to wipe her hands whenever paint gets on them. when a clothing item gets dirty from life's activities, she changes out of the dirty item. and when eating, she prefers an adult to help her so as to not get messy.

abby is a different story. she loves to get messy- especially when eating. she eats better when we put the plate on her highchair and hand her the fork. and she does not mind getting the food all over her hands, face, and hair. rinsing abby off after a meal usually consists of rinsing her hands, mouth & cheeks, and taking the sprayer and rinsing out her hair. it is like a beauty parlor multiple times a day.

 i love that i just wrote how abby doesn't like processed food and here she is eating it. i swear, this doesn't happen very often.

 sad story. we purchased our new home (you know that feeling when you see your hard-earned money that you have watched slowly build disappear- for a great reason, but gone none the less). two months later, my car's tires are so bald the auto shop guy told me they were illegal. bought new tires. same month, our laptop finally died (we had multiple difficulties with it). so, i didn't use my camera for fear of losing those photos that had been saved on the now dead laptop but not the external hard drive (i had filled my memory card).
then, on abby's first birthday party, we check the tape in our video camera to see how much space is left. it needs a new tape. we are out of tapes, so todd runs to walmart and picks up a pack. we load the new tape and the door to hold the tape in won't close. seriously. todd checks online and apparently this type of thing happens more often than one might think. i am panicking. we don't have a camera or a video camera for our daughter's first birthday party. we quickly call family to bring their camera equipment to cover us. sad ending: we missed recording abby's birthday and first steps.
happy news. we decorated cookies for family home evening the other night. abby went to town on it. as i photograph it, todd says, "i think this almost makes up for her birthday cake."

and while my girls are different in so many ways, i couldn't love both of them any more than i already do!!!

halloween

remember how halloween was on a monday? well, the saturday before halloween we went to a party at the rec center near our home. it was a lot of fun for the girls (the games and activities for ellie and the wide open spaces for abby to go walking). ellie rocked the donut on the string activity. seriously, each time she went in for it, she came out with a big bite. i'm wondering if todd has been training with her when i'm not around. ;)

but, back to our story...

at the end, we got popcorn and drinks. we took them over to the large window where you can sit and look inside the pool area. this, of course, got the girls excited about swimming. so, i ran home, got all our gear, and todd took the girls swimming while i went upstairs and worked out. what can i say... todd is an awesome husband and daddy. what a fun evening, right?!!

well, it was ellie's first time swimming without a swim diaper, so there were some repercussions with that. just think along the lines of going down a slide at least 20 times in the 10 minutes i was watching her. ellie went 15 hours before she couldn't "hold it" any longer and wet her pants for the first time since her first day of potty training. i was so nervous this would take her a couple of steps back, but (thank goodness) it was back to old hat and she has been doing great since. it may have helped that i was determined to clean up the mess before cleaning her, so she had to stay in her saturated pants for an uncomfortable little while.

that was sunday.

monday (halloween) morning, we were eating breakfast. it wasn't ellie's favorite, so when she was reluctant to eat, i assumed it had to do with the oatmeal. she didn't eat well the night before, either, but this is ellie- queen of the picky eaters. after telling her that she wouldn't have another opportunity to eat until lunch unless she ate now, she turned her head and threw up. again, this is ellie- queen of the picky eaters and president of the obstinate club. while she hasn't ever made herself throw-up, she does make herself gag whenever we try and force her to take a bite of food when she doesn't want it. so, i didn't think anything of this. but then it happened again, and a third time. all within about a two minute time frame. having had limited experience with a sick child (knock on wood), i gave her juice and crackers soon after. and that came up as well, only this time on my carpet.

ellie was sick on halloween.

all i can say is i am sooo thankful for my sisters. sisters-in-law technically, but since i grew up with four brothers, i am lucky they all married such awesome women who each have specialties that i am able to glean from. i called a couple of my sisters, got a most likely diagnoses, some "how-to" information on cleaning the mess up, taking care of my sick little girl, and what to expect next. i was ready to go.
once again, i was completely lucky. we told ellie she would be able to go trick or treating if she took a nap. ellie gave up regular naps at nine months old and her last one was easily 2-4 months ago, so i just prayed this would work. it did. she laid down and actually fell asleep! and for three hours!!! i had to keep checking on her breathing for my own sanity.
ellie woke up and immediately asked to go trick or treating. after having her eat a decent meal, prove she could keep it down, and show us she was back to her old self, ellie was able to go out trick or treating. we kept her away from the other kids and todd brought her back once to drop off abby. she was feeling well and ready to continue, so was out awhile longer. all-in-all, ellie had a fun halloween night.

 the cowgirls in their wagon

 ellie loves the little pumpkin she got at nona and papa's halloween party. we had to give it a bath so it could come into our home and live with us. it presently is in her bedroom. she loves to carry it around. it is a pie pumpkin, so come thanksgiving...

 p.s. i made ellie's costume. it was one of those many times i am glad my mom and dad moved out here so she could hold me by the hand while i did some parts- but i did it!

p.p.s. i didn't make abby's costume. i found it at gymboree for $5 this summer, but it was what created the cowboy theme.

pumpkin patch

um, i don't really know where begin. i think i'll just admit defeat and start from two weeks ago.

we went to the pumpkin patch recently. todd pointed out that it was more of a pumpkin drop-off, since they didn't grow there. however there were corn mazes, tractors, a hay ride, wheelbarrows, and tons of pumpkins, so i was happy.

 abby liked touching all the big pumpkins

 ellie liked picking pumpkins and saying, "um, this is a good one." and putting it in her wheelbarrow. by pumpkin #3 she couldn't steer any longer.

abby behind the wheel.

 ellie at work

 i love this photo. todd is such a wonderful daddy.

if i ever truly learn to photoshop, i will be able to get things out like the houses in the background and todd spotting the girls. :)

ellie loved the corn maze. i think we went through it seven times.

hopefully i can get back into blogging. no promises.