Let's compare...

This morning I was changing the girls diapers side by side and just had to take a picture of them together in their diapers. Man, what a difference!

Halloween Party

Last night was the ward Halloween party and it was fun to get Katelyn dressed up! Katelyn was a little 50's girl and I put a tutu on Taylor and called it good.

Katelyn caught on to the idea of trunk or treating really fast and was eager to run to the next car, hold out her bucket and say "Trick or Treat!" Everytime someone would put candy in her bucket her eyes would light up and she said "Thank You!"

She ate 3 cupcakes, and no dinner...talk about a wild child after that!

Disneyland!

I took the girls to Disneyland with my mom, Marci, Julio and Jordan. Although it was VERY windy and smoky from all of the fires, we still had a blast! This is Katelyn's fourth time going and she is finally at an age where she thoroughly loves it! She loved ALL of the rides and was in heaven when she saw the characters and got to take a picture with them. She could spot out a character and call them by name, it was really cute. She had woken up at 5am that morning at didn't have a nap, so she must have been running on adrenaline! She was a happy ball of energy all day long! And Taylor was a dream-just slept all day long. But I paid for it that night when I couldn't get her to sleep until 11pm.

An update

I saw this "Little Devil" shirt at Target and just had to get it for Katelyn! And I can't believe Taylor is already 2 months old! She sure is a good baby-thank goodness! Since I stopped eating dairy (it has been really hard-EVERYTHING has dairy!), she hardly gets gas. I think she looks more like me-she looks a lot like my baby pictures. Katelyn just adores Taylor and is always kissing her, hugging her, or holding her hand. In the past 2 weeks Katelyn's vocabulary has exploded! And she understands me very well...I can finally talk to her in normal, full length sentences and she completely understands-it's great!

Our Haunted House

This morning we made a cookie haunted house. Katelyn enjoyed eating the candy and icing more than making the house (that's why her face is black), so I did most of it. But she loved putting the little candy balls on the house. It was a fun Halloween activity to take up some time this morning.

On a side note: Is it normal for toddlers to talk ALL day long!? I swear, the only time Katelyn is not talking or singing is when she is sleeping. It is cute and sweet most of the time...but I swear she is a broken record and repeats things several times. She is SUPER hyper as well. People probably assume that I feed her sugar for all three meals, but I actually avoid sugar because she doesn't need it! Anyways, just wondering if this is just my lovely daughter, or if it's normal.

Our children are our greatest teachers

Today there was a moment of silence in the car (imagine that!), and then Katelyn started quietly singing...
"Whenever I hear the song of a bird, or look at the blue blue sky
Whenever I feel the rain on my face, or the wind as it rushes by.
Whenever I touch a velvet rose, I walk by a lilac tree

I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world, Heavenly Father created for me."

I couldn't help but cry as I listened to her angelic voice sing this beautiful song.

Thank you Katelyn for reminding me that we are truly blessed and that it is the simple things in life that matter. Lately, it has become so clear to me that the only things that are important and bring true happiness are our families and children.

Is it possible to shop in peace?

So, this morning I went to Wal-Mart for the first time with both kids...I know I know, you pros out there with several children are laughing at me, but for me this was a HUGE accomplishment. I have been going to the grocery store with Greg, my mom or my sister since Taylor was born because Katelyn is so hard to shop with. Anyways, this morning I get my self pumped up, psyched and ready to go. I think we are doing really well, until I try to get the girls in the car (Yeah, I only made it down the stairs!) Katelyn throws herself on the garage floor and refuses to get in her car seat, and Taylor starts screaming in her carrier. I force Katelyn into her seat, buckle her in and put Taylor in and keep telling myself that Wal-Mart is just right around the corner. The entire drive, both girls were screaming at the top of their lungs. Once I had Taylor strapped to me in her carrier and Katelyn on one of those rides in the front of the store, there was finally peace. I decided this was now going to be a very quick trip and grabbed the most important items on my list and headed out of there before there was another blow out. All I have to say is, how did my mom do this with FIVE!?

Since the last sticker chart was so successful, I decided to keep it going! I am now giving Katelyn stickers for going potty. She has been terrified of the toilet since Greg held her down on the the toilet and told her to go "poo-poo" after she said she needed to go. Greg was trying to get her all excited about it, but she was not happy about it at all. I am not trying to force her to go, she will let me know when she is ready. But I ask her everyday if she wants to go on the toilet and everyday she says no. So, maybe now that I am rewarding her, maybe she will warm up to the idea.

Katelyn-The Energizer Bunny

Our day started at 5am AGAIN! We had her in bed at 7:20 tonight, and it is now 8pm and she is desperately trying to open the door! Our little Katelyn is just anti-sleep...there's nothing we can do about it. I feel like I have tried everything and just need to come to grips with the fact that she will never be that child who sleeps from 7pm to 8am. Oh well, she was really good today and we had a great day! Just stayed at home in the morning and went grocery shopping after her nap. Today Katelyn was obsessed with giving Taylor "hugs", which meant she wanted to hold Taylor on her lap "all by herself". This was really cute the first ten times, and then I was just scared as I watched Taylor slide off Katelyn's lap and her head hung down to the side...then Taylor of course started crying and I would go to rescue her and Katelyn would get upset and say "by myself!" She sure does love to squeeze and kiss Taylor to death- Taylor is going to have to be a tough girl!

Counting my blessings...

This morning was the third morning that Katelyn decided to start her day at 5am! If she wakes up at 2am, we can get her back to sleep, but 5am-forget it! She is up! So, we decided to try to put her to bed earlier and see if what the books say about "if they get more sleep, they sleep more" theory works. She was in bed at 7:30 and at 8:30 she turned on the light in her room and started playing. I went in there and the room stunk really bad because she pooped in her diaper. So, I changed her and got her situated in her bed and she started throwing a fit. I sat down next to her bed to calm her down (I know, I know, I should have just let her SCREAM it out, but I was so tired and just wanted peace). It is now 9, and she is finally asleep-so much for the early to bed idea. Hopefully she will sleep longer than 5am tonight!

BUT, my mother reminded me today that I need to count my blessings and she is right! I am so blessed and I need to remember that when I am at my wits end. When I sat next to Katelyn tonight she grabbed my hand and just laid there and held it. It was such a sweet moment. I love my daughters so much and am so lucky to have them and to be a mother. When Katelyn is happy, she is the happiest girl in the world and is a ray of sunshine! I love to listen to her sing and talk to herself.

We went to Lombardi today and it was so fun to watch Katelyn just explore the outdoors (her favorite thing to do) and to chase the goats and sheep and giggle. I don't know what I would do without my precious girls and I am so grateful for them.

Oh how I love the crock pot!

So after a hard Friday, I was looking forward to having Greg's help over the weekend. There was also a part of me that wanted Greg to see just how hard Katelyn has been...but of course she was really good today! Isn't that how it always works! I said, "I swear I am not crazy! She is usually much worse than this!" Anyway, I enjoyed my day with my family today and I also enjoyed spending time with my lifelong friend Veronica. It was good to go out to lunch and get away for an hour. Yesterday we also made ghost footprints and they sure did turn out cute!

Oh, and I am hooked on finding crockpot recipes because that thing is wonderful! I can't cook these days, and I am loving the crockpot! Yesterday I threw in a pork roast, onion rings and BBQ sauce and we had sloppy joes...they were so yummy! If you have any yummy crock pot recipes please share!

Let's get crafty!

The Craft playgroup today was a success...I think! We made egg carton spiders, trick or treat pails and ritz/pretzel spiders for a snack. Katelyn enjoyed painting and eating the snacks (of course) the best.
Although I get frustrated with my daughter, she can sure make me laugh too! Today she was saying something to me and I couldn't understand her so I kept saying "what?" She was getting frustrated and started pointing to the TV at the same time, so I knew she wanted to watch something, so I started guessing. Of course I wasn't getting it right, so she stopped for a second to think of how she could make me understand. Then she started singing, "Sunny days..." I started laughing and said, "Oh, you want to watch Sesame Street!" She was SO excited when mommy finally figured it out! She can be so cute!

Smiles!

Taylor is now smiling regularly and I love it! This is what makes the sleepless nights and stress during first 6 weeks worth it! She is already 7 weeks old! She smiles the best for Katelyn-all Katelyn has to do it walk up to Taylor and she grins so big! It is so sweet to see the two of them interact and to see Katelyn smother her with kisses. Now, if only Talyor could skip the terrible two stage!

Halloween is coming...

I have decided that Halloween is so much more fun when you have kids! There are so many fun crafts to do and fun stuff to make! On Thursday I am hosting a craft playgroup where the kids will be making cute Halloween crafts. I went over to my friend's house today to make homemade slime for the kids...this stuff is awesome! It was my first time making it, but I think it will be a hit with the kids. Here's the recipe for those of you who want to make it with your kids:
1. Mix together 3/4 cup warm water, 1 cup glue and several drops of green food coloring in the first bowl.
2. In the second bowl, mix together 4 teaspoons borax and 1 1/3 cups warm water.
3. Pour the contents of the first bowl into the second, but don't stir. Let it sit for 1 minute, then lift the now-congealed slime out of the bowl.
4. Divide slime so that each child has a piece to play with. The glue in slime can make it stick to certain fabrics. To minimize accidents, give each little monster a zip-top bag to store it in.

I must say Katelyn was better today (My friend's kids played with her and kept her entertained), but man it sure is exhausting trying to keep her from exploding at any minute!

Give me the strength...

Today has just been one of those days where I swear I am going crazy! We were doing so well, with the sticker chart and all...but Katelyn was hard today. I mean everyday she has at least one meltdown, but today was bad. And of course one of the meltdowns had to be in public, which makes it worse! She is still sick and so I think that is adding to the problem, because she is not sleeping well. Her first night in her bed, she did really well. But it was too good to be true and the last couple of nights have been hard. It's ALWAYS been hard to get Katelyn asleep and to get her to stay asleep, and now that she can get out of her bed it's harder! We now close the door, which does not make her happy, but it was either that or we go crazy! I just prayed that I would make it to the end of the day, and it's FINALLY silent in my house! Katelyn cried herself to sleep and so did Taylor (she is having gas problems). Now I am going to enjoy the silence until Katelyn wakes up coughing, and I have to sit in her room for an hour trying to get her back to sleep! This is definitely my vent session, and now I am going to just relax and regroup.