We have been exploring all over Issaquah now. It is so fun when Elsy says she wants to go "sploring." We found a little man-made lake over by Costco with a paved path all the way around it. I took Elsy's trike and Tommy had fun trying to eat rocks. We also went to the free zoo...aka PetSmart that morning. It was a fun little outing and the kids seemed to have a blast. I love not spending money.
(Just kidding, I totally love spending money, if I didn't we would have more of it.)
Another day I moved the kids table into the kitchen for fun. It was fun... but I don't think I'll do that again until Tommy is a bit older because he didn't want to stay in his chair. It has been fun trying out small but little things to try and make them have fun. I have a LOT more time on my hands in this ward.... going from Activity Day's Leader, Relief Society Activities Committee, and the 4/5 year old's Sunday School teacher to simply the Relief Society Chorister has been quite the change. I really have nothing to work on during the week so I have been trying to make more healthy meals, keep the house clean(er), and take better care of my body by working out every day instead of just a handful of times a week. I have also turned Wednesday nap time into my family history time. So far it just includes me reading from the family history book my Grandma Volmer put together and gave us for Christmas but I have high hopes for myself. Haha.
After a day of working hard at trying to keep my kiddos happy we opened the door to find this sign sitting on our welcome mat, along with some flowers, chocolates, sparkling cider, and a little book of mother quotes by Pres. Hinkley. It made my day! :)
We also went to the Children's Museum again. The kids just love it there and since we do have lots of open mornings I don't mind taking them!
Elsy was absolutely adorable with the construction goggles on.
My kids squirted a couple of people with the water squirters. Oh well.
I just love my husband! Ahhhhh! Here he is reading Book of Mormon stories to the kiddies while they eat some bread for snacks. I have a bad habit of getting to the tail end of everything before going grocery shopping again.
We celebrated Elsy's 3rd birthday on April 29th! She kept a chain countdown and was just so excited. My sister Leisha sent this ballet outfit in the mail and we put it straight on. Elsy asked if she could wear it forever and I told her sure. Elsy is way into Fancy Nancy and the Ella Bella Ballerina books lately, we get them at the library. She has been pretending to be a ballerina all the time and this morning she asked if we could go to ballet class so we pretended. It was pretty funny watching her try and point her toes out.
We stacked her presents while she was sleeping and she was so excited when she woke up from naps.
Logan got her a bird feeder with a massive bag of bird seed. It took a few days for the birds to find it but now that they have there are birds there all throughout the day. Elsy likes to scare them away but Tommy just loves to watch them and point. A few days ago he woke up pretty early so he and I sat on the floor in the living room watching the birds while we cuddled. It was so sweet.
I also got Elsy a few things at a garage sale, like a coloring book and an old LeapFrog desk that has letters for spelling that she absolutely loves to play with... when Tommy isn't around to steal all the letters. My favorite gift though was Rodger's & Hammerstein's version of Cinderella, you know that live action version with Brandy and Whitney Houston? Growing up we called it "The Black Cinderella" haha. Since Elsy is so into Cinderella I got it for her. Now she likes to watch the "Black Cinderella" too. She is always running around the house with her play high heels on and leaving one behind for me to find. She says I am the prince and wants us to get married in the temple with a prayer. It is so sweet but I finally convinced her to call Daddy the prince instead of me.
The day after her real birthday was her birthday party with some new friends from the ward. We kinda went all out and I don't think all my kids will have this awesome of birthday parties for every birthday, but this was our first so we had fun with it. :)
It was a princess party but because there were lots of boys there we made it a princess and prince party.
I made a dragon out of balloons that they were going to fight with....
Jousting sticks! If you look closely there are little pins sticking out of the tips for popping the balloons.
While I made those Logan put together an awesome castle! We picked up moving boxes at Walmart for like $1.50 each. And can I just go on a little rant here? okay, here goes...We don't have a Walmart, you have to drive all the way to Renton for one which is lame-o cablame-o. But I knew if I went there I would save a bunch of moneys so I drove down there and shopped and picked out everything for the party and even was able to slyly pick out Elsy's gifts and hide them and then I got to the register to find out I left my wallet at home. Grrrr! So we went home and I went to Fred Meyer's, because that's the cheapest (or Tartget). And guess what!? For the same size of boxes it was $7.50 per box! And all the other things I wanted, like paper plates and streamers, were all at least a dollar more. And here is the thing! Walmart always gets a bad rap, but I am telling you! I went to Walmart and Fred Meyer in the same day and looked at the exact stuff and Walmart stuff was better quality. Surrrrrrislly! Any way. I was bummed. And Logan kindly went to Walmart after work and got boxes because I was so not going to have a castle if each box was $7.50. Dear Issaquah, please build a Walmart. Rant over.
I helped to paint the castle, but Logan worked the masterpiece! He even made the draw bridge actually work which was a huge hit at the party.
The next morning I got up early to make the cake. It looked nothing like the Pinterest one I was trying to copy that Elsy picked out but she was still pretty pleased with her castle cake.
I also went to Burger King and snagged a bunch of crowns that I spray painted white and then Elsy and I decorated them with little jewels and things for the party favors.
There was an extra for Tommy and he was so thrilled. (He is way into cuddling stuffed animals lately).
While we waited for all the kiddos to show up I gave them all markers and they got to decorate the inside of the castle.
The party was only two hours but by the end Logan and I were exhausted. Next time I think we will just invite one less. Haha, we had six kiddos show.
I was really worried about nobody coming or not being able to find out who was Elsy's age in the ward in time since we just moved in but I think we pulled through. Now that its been a little longer I know even more fun people we could have invited, but then again we might have burst at the seams in our little apartment. :)
They were all so cute!
After everyone showed up we snuck and hid the presents. Then we gathered all the kids and told them a dragon had stolen the presents and that they needed to find it and slay it so we could open the presents. The kids were pretty stoked.
One of the things they had to do was go through a jungle (a hallway of streamers they had to climb through).
We played "Jump Over the Moat" which was just a blanket we made go wider and wider.
And then they got to fight the dragon. That was a a huge hit and there was a lot of screaming and excitement. There were enough balloons for each kid to pop two. After we pulled out the presents and they opened them.
Then we sang and blew out the candles. Whenever we would sing to Elsy she would hold her little hands up to her mouth or cover her eyes in embarrassment. She was so sweet and was so excited the whole day. I was glad she enjoyed herself.
The first few days after her birthday she would come up to me and ask me, "Am I still three?" I would say yes and she would get all excited.
Later that day, after some much needed naps, we went out for a walk through the Bellevue Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day for it.
And I just loved this picture so I had to add it. Hehe!
We just love going to the suspension bridge there.
Can I just say I love this little guy peeking over the side of the tub?
So, church is at 1pm and it is a super duper doosey. We kind of hate it. Elsy still really needs her naps and Tommy of course does too but church starts right when their naps do. Almost every week when we get home this is what we see when we call everyone in for dinner. Elsy is OUT and she cries and cries until she has had about two bites of food.
Saturday nights are pizza nights at our place. Trader Joe's has dough for $1.19 (Thanks Hannah Murphy for the tip off) and so I buy a ton and freeze them. The day before I pull one out and let it defrost in the fridge overnight. Our family can get away with only one pizza but the whole thing is gone by the end of the meal. Logan has really gotten them down to a work of art now and they are deeeeeelish.
Oh yeah, and this happened while I was FaceTiming my sisters. Tommy just walked up to me and patted me like, "I am realizing I am in way over my head here and need a little assistance." We just laughed and laughed and laughed. I told Logan it was a good thing we had just eaten (it was fast Sunday) or our response would probably have been a lot different.
It is A&D Prevent, a vaseline type product for diaper rashes that comes in a tub. Lately when I gel Tommy's hair I let him hold the lid and he pretends to put the goo in his hair. I just know he found the A&D tub and thought it was gel and started applying generously.
Half the tub was gone! We wiped as much out as we could with paper towels and then we shampooed and shampooed over and over. What helped the most was an old credit card that we just scraped along his scalp over and over.
We had a little Malfoy for the next day. Luckily his skin absorbed it all and he was butter soft. Sadly Elsy had a cold and he found the Vicks Vapor Rub a few days later and did the same thing again. And then a few days after that he got hold of it again! That was a stinky one and it was a lot harder to get out. So in like eight days he had done it three times. I have since been a lot more careful!!
My mom sent Elsy some swimming supplies for her birthday. There was a set of two pairs of goggles and Elsy and Tommy love to wear them around. I just can't stop laughing at how squished their faces look with them on!
Elsy is no longer a kitty cat all the time (THANK HEAVENS!!) It was a day where she started to be a horse all the sudden and she looked at me and said something along the lines of, "Did you know you can be any animal?" I was so excited to have a horse instead of cat. And since then we have had all kinds of animals (but quite often a bunny), as well as a super hero (as pictured above). I just love how her imagination is blossoming. She will sing Daniel Tiger's "When you pretend you can be anything!" and she really is!
Just yesterday she packed her bags and hopped up on the chaise of the couch and drove with her soup pot steering wheel all the way to Tri-Cities to visit Grampa and Grama. And the next stop was to Noy Goyze (New Jersey) for Grandpa and Ma Bean. She is always handing me imaginary things to eat, putting pretend shoes on my feet, or my favorite, running around with her wings and a stick saying she is the fairy godmother and turning everything to rainbow. "Rainbow couch! Rainbow shoes! Rainbow clothes!"
We had check ups! Tommy had his 15 month and Elsy her third year. I really like our new doctor, Dr. Ryan. She is great. My only problem with the new office was it didn't give me a sheet at the end with all my kids specs on it like my old office did. At the old place there was a paper that said all the measurements they did and what percentile the kids were in. This place didn't. Maybe I need to ask next time. They told me all the info while I was in the office but I didn't make any mental notes of it because I just assumed they would give me the sheet. So I am sad to say I don't know how much Tommy even weighs or how tall he his. I do know they said he was a big kid, his head circumference is still off the charts, and he is good and strong (they said that while he got shots.) The poor kiddo was a trooper. I hate shots. :(
Elsy didn't have any shots and she didn't even have to dress down this time. She is getting so big and so old! She loves to talk the doctor's ear off and I have yet to find a way to get her to be quiet.
On the way home we stocked up on groceries. Fred Meyer's now gives kids fruit as well as cookies. Between that and the deli samples I feel like I don't even need to feed my kids lunch when I get home. Freddies is becoming a regular Costco!
It was a week of office visits and I finally took my kids to the dentist for the first time. Elsy did amazing! I was so surprised considering how big of a fight she puts up for me at brushing time. She joined the "No Cavity Club" and since has been a lot easier to brush I think because she liked it there so much.
Tommy did not do so hot, he screamed like a banshee but he passed as well. If you are looking for a Pediatric Dentist, Sammamish Pediatric Dentistry is the bomb. Not only was everyone there so friendly and kind but they were quick and efficient and my kids left with stickers, balloons, and bubbles! They totally want to go back.
My kiddo's new favorite pass time is to run around the couch. I put pillows down all the way around and then a stool at the end so Tommy doesn't cry about not being able to climb back up. These two can get so rambunctious sometimes. I kind of love it!
But it also can get to be to much at times as well. And when that happens we do "Bedroom Play Time". Which involves us putting the kids in their room with the gate in the door so they can't get out. The first time we did it they both stood at the gate whining to get out so Logan went in with them and helped them play on their own for a while. Bedroom Play Time has really been all Logan's idea and it is awesome. I feel like each time we do it they last longer and longer before they whine at the gate like little caged pups. It has been so helpful when we want them to stay out of the way while we clean but most especially when Logan and I need to talk about things without being interrupted. Its not like the kids can't play on their own, its just they like to bring toys out of their room or follow us around and sometimes we just need a little break. This has been wonderful.
So something I love about our new ward is they are always doing things together throughout the week. We have a weekly playgroup and then once or twice a week we get texts saying someone is going to the park or to the Community Center and whoever wants to come can come. It has been wonderful for me because I have been able to make new friends in the ward and it has been wonderful for the kids because they get to get out and be active and also meet new friends too. One of the days we all met in the parking lot of the church and all the kiddos had a bike gang and rode around the loop in the lot forever. (Thats Elsy on the red trike off to the right).
Here I am scrubbing the toilets. (I sent this picture to Logan to let him know I was slaving away hehe) When I just had Elsy I deep cleaned the whole house every Monday morning. My house was always clean! But since I had Tommy I have struggled to keep up a good deep cleaning routine. It is just a lot harder with two kiddos. And its only going to get worse. I feel like Logan and I do a lot of surface cleaning (like the clutter, the dishes, the toys, etc.) but I have a hard time finding time to wash the toilets or dust, those kinds of things. I have been getting a little better but I still struggle. I think I'll just have more kids so that they can grow up and help do the chores. :P
Last weekend we drove up to Rattlesnake Lake and spent the morning picnicking and letting the kids swim in the lake.
It was beautiful out! And despite there being zero parking and a million people there to hike the ridge, we still ended up with almost the whole lake to ourselves.
Tommy can hear the TV click on from any room in the house. He comes in at a full run with wide eyes and excited giggles. He finally figured out how to do the sign for "more" and will stand in front of the TV and quietly sign "more". It is so sweet but I have to remind him "No TV" and then he gets pretty ugly mad haha.
Although he has been having a hard time learning words, he can definitely understand more and more every day. I have been trying to take more time each day to spend a little one-on-one play time so that he can hopefully learn to communicate a little better. The doctor said he needs more chances to see my lips forming the words so I try and sit in front of him while we play with the Little People and I talk and ask him questions. "Can you open the door?" and he will open the little trap door on the pirate ship. "Can you close it?" and he will close it. I will tell him "Get your shoes" and he will or "Let's go do your hair" and he will run to the bathroom. Little things like that show me he understands, but like I said, he just doesn't say anything back. The gibberish is starting to come along nicely though. The words he does know are uh-oh!, mama, and dada. That really is it. He says "mmm mmm" and shakes his head no when he really actually does want something. That one I don't quite get but we now understand that if we ask him if he wants a cookie and he shakes his head no and says "mmm mmm" in a negative way that really means "Yes I really really want a cookie!" Haha, He says no by just crying and pushing us away. He is hilarious and you know I don't mind that he is going slower at talking than Elsy... because she does enough for the both of them. (Eyes rolling)
Elsy is a regular charmer. We have taught her to say "This 'ole thing?" when people comment her on her outfits (Thanks Chris Woodhouse for the idea haha). She is an absolute chatterbox and sometimes I just want to smooch her and eat her all up for how many cute things she says and other times I want a nice little strip of duct tape so I can have some peace and quite. Her new phrase is "For what?" That is her version of "Why?" It's not, "What for?" but "For what?" There is a red arrow on the traffic light strip, "For what?" It is time to brush our teeth, "For what?" I am going to take a shower, "For what?" It's time to do her hair, "For what?" Oh my. If I never heard that again I would be fine. But I try not to let her know that. I think it should always be okay for my kids to ask me why. Because if they know they can come to me for the little answers then they will come to me for the big ones too.
The kids love to go out. Here they are ready for a walk. We have lectured Elsy on never opening the front door or unlocking it unless we are next to her (Tommy will just go straight for the stairs he still doesn't know how to go down).
With the turning of three Elsy has also turned into quite the defiant girl. We were beside ourselves with trying to get her to do anything we asked. I felt inspired to start an obedience chart with her. It has 15 squares so that she can fill it up in three or four days and then when it is full she can chose somewhere to go or have a friend over. Her first pick was the Children's Museum. She happily gave it to the lady at the front desk and quite enjoyed herself. The second time she chose to go to the "hot pool!" (the hot tub at our complex). It was raining but we went anyway and she loved it. She is on her third chart and this time she wants to go to Bellevue Square, there is a free play area on the third floor that we like to go to. I love it because it is often enough for her to see the benefits of being obedient and we choose places that are free and we would be going there anyway. Win win I say.
Logan has been having back trouble so he bought a back thumper off Amazon. The kids were both super scared of it at first but now they fight over it, of course. I am all for training them to use it because then Logan gets a back rub and I can get stuff done! ;)
A few weeks back one of our friends gave us a jogging stroller that was collecting dust in their garage. I was so excited, Christmas all over again! I have loved it and have started running, something I used to always say I hated and I thought wasn't for me. I have slowly worked my way up to longer distances but I am so proud of myself because I ran all the way around Yellow Lake! Huzzah! I can already tell my body is changing and I just feel like I have more energy.
We broke out the rain cover for the first time and went to Snoqualmie Falls last Sunday after dinner. You see, Elsy woke up at 1:03am that Saturday night and she took turns crying with Thomas for FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT. I literally climbed back into my bed for the last time at 5am exactly. There was a point where everyone in the house was crying except Logan. Thank goodness for him! He helped so much that night. That Sunday we were all walking through foggy brains. We decided staying distracted and out of the house was best because all of us were so cranky.
It was rainy but it was beautiful.
So besides going running I have been going to Zumba once a week at the Duthie Hill church building. They do it three times a week but it is later in the morning so I only go once a week because I like to get an earlier start on showering and stuff but I also just love it to much not to go. :) There are so many people there and it is so fun! All the kids sit in the overflow in the back playing with nursery toys. It is an amazing workout. And Elsy sometimes will dance next to me which is fun. Tommy is always in car heaven because we don't have hardly any and there is a huge bucket there.
Family night playdough making!
And of course this hot guy is always making life funner. Logan can work from home two times a week and has just recently started taking advantage of that. I told him last time that it is so nice to have him there because its like I have to do all my chores and take care of the kids like normal, but there is just a super hott guy sitting on the couch the whole time that I can look at when things get rough, so it makes things better.
Logan too this picture and said, "I can't believe I have an offspring the size of two couch cushions." She really is getting so big and I just cant' believe it sometimes. At night I read both kids a book they pick out and then they take turns getting rocked while I sing to them. Elsy is far to big for it but I can't help it, I just want to hold her because she is getting so big. She always says, "I'm growing up. But you don't want me too." I guess I say it to much.
Thank you Logan for teaching Tommy to hit the headlights of every car we walk by. We get places so fast now days. :P
This is me. I am exhausted most days, and mostly it is because of not sleeping at night. I got back in bed last night and cried (again...) because I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I have tried it all, and some things work for a few nights but then they go right back to where we started. I have tried cuddling, spanking, locking doors, taking away pillows and teddy bears, Okay-to-wake clocks, bedtime tickets. Nothing seems to work! Elsy still gets out of bed all night and if she can't get to me she cries until her brother wakes up and then, for me, that is the end of the world. She even figured out how to unlock her door! Aye yi yi. I've had it. This last week we decided to move Tommy into our closet and lock Elsy in. She could use her bedtime pass but after that the door locked. And she couldn't get out of bed until her "Okay-to-wake" clock turned green. Logan super taped the door so she couldn't unlock it. The first night was terrible but every night after that was awesome! So we put Tommy back in the room and now I am up for two hours straight again because for some reason she wont go back to sleep if he is in there and she screams when the door is locked. I kind of don't want to go to bed anymore because it's a little bit of a waking nightmare.
But look at this face! Last night after locking the door because she came out with her ticket she layed in bed bawling and saying "I want a hug!" over and over again. I stood strong but once she finally fell asleep I went in and just hugged her and hugged her in her sleep. For me, the hardest part of parenting BY FAR has been sleep training. It is the bane of my existence.
This picture is of Elsy's beautiful nails we painted. She said she wanted stripes and polka dots and I did my best... but I'm glad they are already chipping off. She told me, "Boy's don't paint fingernails, dey woll in da mud." Oh brother. Logan took the effrot to show Elsy pictures of her aunts in a mud fight and told her girls roll in the mud too.
On Sunday Logan spent a lot of the day organizing home videos and photos on a hard drive so we could actually find what we are looking for, by year and date. He sent me this picture of back when we were dating. Wow we were so young looking! And it wasn't even that long ago! It is so interesting to see us when we thought we knew everything... but really had no idea about what was ahead. I am so grateful for Logan who stays up with me at night, who buys me brand new video monitors while I'm sleeping so I don't have to stress about reception when my kids are sad, who does the dishes while I put the kids to sleep, and stays up late talking to me as we try and understand the ways of the Lord and the world and what is His plan for us.
Yesterday we walked around Yellow Lake with the kids. They both stopped to pick the little yellow flowers. Sometimes I wish I could be like them, having no understanding of the world and all the hard things that go on in life. But I am also grateful to know that someday they will, because that is what will make them truly happy.
