Katelyn didn't nap yesterday...crashed at 8:30, then woke up at 5am this morning! You have got to be kidding me! (And I even lined her window with aluminum foil yesterday to completely black it out!) There is no way that she (or I) will make it through the day without a nap! I read somewhere that kids her age need 12 hours of sleep...she gets about 9-10 TOTAL!

Hyperactive?

*Warning: This is a vent blog...
I swear that Katelyn is ADHD or something! This past week she has been awful! She has so much energy and is so restless that she can't hold still or stop her mouth for 1 minute! I swear she doesn't know how...I ask her to be quiet and she just covers her mouth and keeps talking! I can't take it! And then on top of that she is so independent that she decides whether she is going to be good or not and then we go from there. Some days she is great for me and a great listener...then other days EVERY thing I ask is responded with "I don't think so, No, or I like to do it Mom!" Time outs aren't working...I have tried sticker charts, marble jars, etc, and I have been doing Love and Logic! I am just at that breaking point!
And to top it off...she has given up naps! Well, I have been battling with her for over an hour every day to take a nap and she eventually falls asleep, but it is exhausting! And then she won't go down for bed. So, I have decided to stop making her take naps, as painful as it is. The catch here is that when she doesn't nap I am ready to kill her by 5pm! I can't win!

**On a positive note :) Now that I am only working 2 days for summer school, I am able to do more fun things with the girls. Yesterday we went to the free movie at the theater. We only lasted about a half an hour because Katelyn won't sit still for any movie longer than a half an hour (is my 3 year old the only one with this problem?) Today we went to the library for story time and to check out books. Katelyn loved it! And it was indoors and free! I think we will be making a library trip every week!

A Day At The Beach

Since it was a flaming 112 degrees for the past 3 days here, we decided to head to the beach yesterday where it was 86 degrees. It was a wonderful day and the girls had a blast. Taylor just loves new things...her whole body got so excited when she saw the seagulls and she squealed with joy! Katelyn was totally in her element, so she loved it as well!




They finally conked out on the drive home

Oh, I have a funny Katelyn story from the beach...I was talking to Marci and said "Crap". Well, Katelyn with her ultra sensitive ears heard me and said, "Where's the crap Mommy?" She had no clue what she was talking about, but was very curious. I thought fast and said, "Oh, you mean where's the crab...come on let's go find a crab" I tried to lead her to the ocean and she got very frustrated with me and said, "No Mommy! Where's the cra-P! (enunciating the P)" I need to be more careful around her!

Gymnastics

Today was Katelyn's first gymnastics class for the summer. She did really well and only tried to come to me twice! She was so proud of herself when she figured out how to do a somersault. Overall the class was good for being a city class, but the kids had to wait their turn a lot. There were 13 3 year olds...tell that many 3 year olds to wait patiently every time they did something. I think I am going to sign her up for karate in the fall...help get some energy and aggression out!

3 Year Pictures

Here are some of Katelyn's 3 Year Pictures...we went to the Picture People and they did a great job. I had to hold myself back from buying every shot (that place is expensive!). Sorry these have the word "Zazzle" on them...it's so I can't print my own, darn!

On the Taylor front...
For the past week Taylor has slept for 8 hours straight! This is a miracle! Last night I put her down at 8, she fussed at 10, and I just had to put her binky in, and then she slept until 6am! Hallelujah!

New Tricks

Taylor is officially crawling across the room and is on the move. She has been doing this for about a week now. Usually, it's not a good thing when your baby is on the move, but with Taylor it's great! She is such a Mama's girl and throws a fit whenever I leave her sight...so now, I can call to her and she will follow me instead of crying. This video also shows another new trick...clapping. She claps all day long and gets a lot of attention when we are out.

Katelyn's Party

Katelyn had her Curious George Birthday Party yesterday, and all in all it was a success...I am glad it's over though! The kids went on a little treasure hunt to collect Curious George goodies in their sand bucket, we played games and had a pinata. Katelyn had a blast and was so excited to "play with her friends!" Thank you to everyone who helped me...Thank you Shirley for ALL of the amazing balloons! I couldn't have pulled this off without all of you! And Thank you Grandma Olsen and Aunt Jody for making such a HUGE effort to be there, we were glad you were there:)

Instead of a birthday cake, I did cupcakes and it worked great! No mare cakes for kids birthdays for me...less hassle and less mess!

Katelyn loved every minute of her party...especially the eating part!

I have never seen her so excited about presents...it's great because at this age they finally get it. She understood the whole "present idea" and loved ripping them open to see what she got.

A few words to describe Katelyn...
Energized, Passionate, Kind Hearted, Happy, Full of Life, Smart and Clever...I love you Katelyn! You have taught me so much and I continue to learn from you everyday!

Happy Birthday Katelyn!

Today is Katelyn's 3rd Birthday! When I look back at her baby pictures, it feels like that was another lifetime and so long ago...but then I think it's really only been three years! She has come so far in those three years! This morning I made her waffles with ice cream, cool whip and chocolate syrup for breakfast...and of course she loved it! Marci, Julio and Jordan were nice to come over bright and early to be there (thank you!). I gave Katelyn my present and then had to head to work! Here are some pictures of my baby girl

My labor and delivery with Katelyn were awful! And when she came out she came out SCREAMING! Her huge open mouth filled her face (I wish I could find the picture)...She came out screaming "I'M HERE!"...and it has never stopped

1 Year Old

2 Years Old


The Big 3!

Katelyn, Katelyn, Katelyn

I put Katelyn in her room for a nap, since she woke up at 4:45am this morning, ready to start the day! (She has been waking up at 5am this week...grrr!) She took out every toy, opened the blinds, and pooped in her pull up...then an hour later fell asleep like this! This is a first...usually she never goes to sleep and is a pill the rest of the day. So, I am going to let her sleep in her own filth, because if I move her, she is up for good!

You know your child watches too much Dora when she starts speaking spanish to you!
A few examples:
*Katelyn can count to ten in Spanish
*At church I had her on my lap in a classroom for a time out during sacrament and she started saying "Abre, Abre please!" I had no clue what she meant...I later asked Julio and he said it meant "open"...she wanted me to open my arms to let her out!
*She knows at least 10 words in Spanish
*The other day Katelyn said, "Adios Mama!" I said, "Bye Katelyn". Then she got upset and said, "No mom! It's adios!"
She is a character! I wish her voice and tone could come across in these posts...I can hear it in my head!

Taylor on the move!

Taylor is now officially on the move! She crawled forward yesterday and this is the best video I could get of it. She loves to pull herself up on furniture too, so I don't think it will be long before she starts walking!

An update on the Binky situation:
It has been 5 nights, and Katelyn finally went to sleep after only screaming for 5 minutes! The second night she screamed for an hour and then at 1pm she came into my room, got right into my face, and screamed at the top of her lungs "I need a binky!" It scared me to death! Then I told her she could lay in bed with me, and she continued to cry for her binky for another hour. I pretended to be asleep and ignored her...then she put her hands on my cheeks, got right in my face and said, "Mama, look at me! I.NEED.A.BINKY" She was dead serious and desperate...it's pretty funny to look back now. She was acting like an addict going through withdrawals! I am so glad to be over yet another huge hurdle with Katelyn...take those hurdles one at a time, right!?

I was watching Jordan and figured out how to fit all 3 of them in the wagon for a ride! Poor guy, stuck between two crazy girls!

Enchilada Recipe

This is for Amber, and anyone else looking for a delicious Enchilada Recipe! I combined 3 recipes...

10 flour tortillas
1 egg
1 8oz pkg softened cream cheese
1 sm can of diced green chiles
4 chicken breasts
1 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp ground cumin
(you can also add some onion if you want, but I usually don't)
Lg can of mild green enchilada sauce

**If you really like your enchiladas stuffed full...double the cream cheese, egg, chiles and cumin

Dice chicken and cook with chiles.
Pour 1/2 of enchilada sauce into bottom of pan
Combine all other ingredients except cheese and roll into tortillas. Place tortillas seam side down and stuff together in 9X13.
Pour remaining sauce and cheese on top
Bake covered at 350 for 30 min.
Remove cover and bake 10 more minutes
Enjoy!

No more Binky

So last night was Katelyn's very first night going to sleep without her binky! Since she was 2 I tried cutting them, throwing them away, sending them to the binky fairy, etc...and NOTHING worked. My child is relentless in all things, and this was the worst! Last night I had it and decided that no matter what I wasn't going to give in. Well, Katelyn SCREAMED, kicked, cried and went crazy for 2 full hours! I laid down with her, sang to her, tried to get her mind off the binky, but she kept screaming "I need the binky!" The girl was desperate and begged me to let her "borrow her sister's". It was sad to watch Katelyn close her eyes in complete exhaustion and then scream because she didn't have a binky in her mouth. She finally fell asleep sitting up! She sure is a stubborn girl! I was so proud of myself for not giving up!
So, with this all means she will not take naps anymore...it was hard enough getting her to nap with a binky, and without one forget it!
Tonight went much better...she only screamed for 1 hour! This stuff is hard! Hopefully we will keep going in this direction and Katelyn will finally be done with the Binky!
Now, if I can just get Taylor to sleep through the night! (Sigh)

Here are a couple of random pictures I took yesterday...

Love these pictures...The one of the two girls just captures their classic looks at eachother, and the one of Taylor is how she is all day long! She is such a ham and smiles and makes silly faces at EVERYONE she sees. People are always asking me if she is always that happy...and the answer is yes! She is such a happy girl, and I am lucky to see her darling smiles everyday!

Butterflies!

I bought a Butterfly Kit at Target, and we got our 5 caterpillars in the mail. Katelyn loved to watch the caterpillars get huge and fat, and then form their chrysalis. All 5 of the butterflies decided to pop out within an hour, while the girls and I were taking a nap...so we didn't get to see them come out. Oh well, Katelyn absolutely loved them! And loved that she got to hold one. The next day I wanted to take a picture of her holding all of them, but they were ready to fly! I opened their house and they all flew in different directions. I wondered what these butterflies would do and where they would go. I then got emotional thinking of letting my girls go when they are adults and watching them fly in their own direction. What an amazing thing life is!