Screaming

I am officially the mother of a 3 year old with only one level of volume- Screaming.
Not just any screaming, the blood curling, high pitched, eye wincing, want to rip your ears off kind of screaming.

I am feeling defeated. I have tried being sweet and soft spoken and help her understand the screaming hurts people's ears. Nothing seems to help. I know mostly it's just the age, but holy cow my ears can only take so much...not to mention in public I can only take so many eyes on me before I want to melt away and disappear.

Here is an example of life in my house lately:

Took Emmie's cup to fill with juice during dinner. She started SCREAMING. I tried to tell her I put juice in it and to try it... it took awhile to convince her to try it and she spit it out screaming it was yucky. I dumped it. She was still screaming, I had no idea if she wanted water or juice or what! After standing there, eyes wide, completely and udderly confused, I put the cup down and continued washing dishes. Randomly she calmed down and asked for juice and I filled it back up with the same juice and she happily drank it.
What the HECK?

It's like a little demon takes over my child at random times. I feel completely defenseless and lost in what to do, how to help her and how to discipline her.

Any advice is welcome....and mailing me ear plugs would be much appreciated :)

Life As Mom

Life as mom...
Oh you know I sneak away to pee. Soon I hear the thud thud thud of little feet. 
"Emmie, can I please just pee in peace?"
"Hi mom! I can help you!"
"Emmie, I don't need help"
"Well I can help!"
"No thanks"
"Ok mom, ill just watch you"
"Emmie. Please no. Lol can you go in the other room and wait for me"
"I'll just sit here and watch you."
Then comes in the dog, followed by the baby. 

Wednesday Schmensday

Emmie: I don't like boys!
Me: Why? Boys are fun! They like to run, jump and play!
Emmie: No! I do not like boys.
Me: Well, daddy is a boy...
Emmie silent
Me: Do you like boys now?
Emmie thinking...: I don't like little boys...I only like big boys.


I've had to hear all day long about how she does NOT like boys. They scare her at the playground. lol

Conversations with a 3 year old are interesting...and frustrating lol.

Me: I love daddy

Emmie: NO! HE'S MINE! HE'S MY DADDY!

Me: Yes, he is your daddy...he is also MY husband

Emmie: NO! He's mine!

Me: Emmie...he's your daddy and my husband...like Papa is your grandpa and he's MY daddy

Emmie: NO! Papa is MY papa!

Me: Yes, he's your papa and my daddy.

Emmie: no.

Me: Daddy is your dad, and my husband...Papa is my daddy and your grandpa

Emmie:......Daddy is mine and Papa can be your husband

Me: Emmie...it doesn't work that way...just nevermind. Yes daddy is yours.

-.-

Let's not forget about little sayings or misuse of words they come up with

Emmie's nose was dripping so I asked her to go wipe it....

Emmie " no, it's ok mom, I'll just sneeze it in"

I don't know what I prefer....the frustrating, crazy conversations with a 3 year old...or the 10 month old that can pretty much only say NO! :P

But how can you get frustrated with that face? Even if she is digging in your garden pots.

SO what's up with us lately? NOTHING. :)

Alex is buried in schoolwork. Finals week is coming up and I think he's taken up a new residence at campus.  Can't wait for the 6 week break...although we all know the schoolwork will be traded with workwork.

As for me...I'm in the process of applying back to school...just waiting on my ecclesiastical endorsement. I'm still wondering if I'm GOING to do it, but making sure I get everything in order because I more than likely will bite the bullet and just do it. Luckily, BYU-I offers fully online degrees now, so I can still stay home 100% with the girlie girls.

Guess I'll go ahead and just be brave and blog about me for real. I've been pretty down about my appearance. I get going really good at dieting and working out and then after a week or two my husband brings in junk and I fail. I know I could pick it up and keep going, but for some reason that mess up just brings back all the sugar cravings and what not. It's awful.

Anyways...I'm about 10-15lbs over where I want to be and 20lbs over pre-kids weight. I don't expect to ever be pre-kiddo weight, I was super little and could've used a little weight on me. Anyways, so here is where I'm at. You can see I have the front belly sag, and I think my hand is hiding my love handles :P My love handles are the worst, but most my weight went into my thighs. That's where I've been losing most of it over the past 10 months

Ignore the mess. The girls dumped out their bath foam pieces while I was getting ready.

Let's see...Emmie is a firecracker. That kid is an explosive waiting to go off. She's is so much fun, but she's giving me a run for my money lately. Anyone know how to keep a 3 yr old from shrieking and whining all the time? If you have a secret, let me in on it! LOL She's obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates...almost to an unbearable and embarrassing level. It's ALL she talks about. She tells EVERYONE her name is Izzy and that she's a pirate princess.

Ryann.... Rysicle is 10 months old now! And a skinny minnie! Despite how much she eats...

She can stand unassisted now, but has pretty much NO interest in learning how to walk. She loves to say "no"...though I'm nearly positive she has no idea what it means LOL. She also says "mama", "dad", "sissa", "dah" [dog], and "Jesus" [as best as she can lol].

We finally hung some family photos and she crawls over and points at them saying "sissa! sissa! sissa!". She doesn't care about anyone else in the photos. :P Glad she loves Emmie despite Emmie being a total bully!

anyways...be on the look out for more posts from me! hopefully :P

New Semester!

We're about a week and a half into this new semester!

Holy cow it's been a crazy week and a half.

Mark is at school from early morning til late afternoon, then he goes to work. He is busy busy busy. Proud of that man :) If you don't mind keeping him in your prayers, it would be much appreciated.

So obviously, his work chose to work with schedule. He is working much less this semester,  but thankfully still working some to help pay a few bills.

Ryann will be 8 months in a week! Lil lady is cruising around furniture and into everything. She's a quick goob. She will come find me no matter where I am in the house. I think it's the most adorable thing ever. She seems to be growing way too fast. Seriously, where did the past 8 months go?? My baby will be 1 in 4 months! What the heck!

Playing in the backyard

Gurgi and Ryann are the best of friends

Her first smooches ever! This is our good friend's, Kyle & Brittney Staley's son, Trace. So cute, but what the heck kid! Mommy deserved those first smooches!

This photo makes me laugh! Don't drink milk and walk!
Baha, jk, the rotating fan hit her unexpectedly. Too funny.

Beautiful baby girl <3

Emerson! Emmie is haaaaaaaaaaaaaandful! I love her to death but boy she's giving me a run for my money. I'm not loving being told to "go away" or "go to timeout". But the good times make up for the frustrating ones. This morning she comes in and said "Mommy, Daddy is my prince, my true love...because I can't find my own". HAHA! She cracks me up.

She loves running around the yard. Won't sit still for nothing.

Emmie and mommy at the mall. I WAS wearing Ryann, but Emmie was starting to melt down so I asked if I could wear her and her whole attitude changed. After I put her in she hugged me and with a big smile said "Mommy, I'm so very happy" <3

Love this photo. Kids are awesome. They can find joy in the smallest things.

Anyways, that's about it for now. Just enjoying the good weather as it comes and loving on my babies :)

Spring Time

Ok...it's been 4 months. I'm slacking!!

I think the last time I wrote Ryann was only 3 months old!
Oh how much has changed!

It's April- Spring time is here!!!!

Emmie has turned 3, and Ryann is 7 months old!
Gurgi also turned 1 ;)

This past semester Mark took one class [it was his "off" track]. He has his final tomorrow! Then he has about a week break before the spring semester starts! It's going to be hectic. He is going full time, and he is speaking with work to shorten his hours. Either they will agree and let him work less or he will have to quit. You can imagine how stressed we are :)
I applied for a local work from home job I found. I had my interview today. First job interview I've done in about 4 years! Yikes! Anyways, he said they were only interviewing 6 people and I would know within 48 hours if I was chosen for the job. Either I get it or I don't, not really going to stress over it now that everything is said and done.

Let's see...Ryann is 7 months old and still our cheery girl. Getting a smile out of that kid is the easiest task in the world. She JUST had her first tooth break through her gums yesterday. So that has been...fun. I hope we either get a break from teething now that it's through or she gets a bunch of teeth at once...I hate seeing my happy girl miserable. She started army crawling when she was 5.5months and around 6.5months she started crawling with her belly off the ground. She's now pulling herself up to standing position and getting into everything!

Unlike her sister, she loves to eat. She's been eating homemade baby food and little bits of what ever we're eating. I'm surprised she's smaller than Emmie was at this age...or from what I remember.

Emmie...Emmie is now 3 years old. She is so smart and definitely a handful. She just started joy school and has been having so much fun learning with her friends. I'll do a post soon on our little rotational school. 

Sunday Fun

So, today during Sacrament meeting- during the Sacrament- my adorable little 2 year old was singing "I am a Child of God".
It's that moment as a mother when everyone is quiet and inside you're stressing and trying to figure out how to get your toddler to whisper so she doesn't bug anyone else who may be trying to silently worship or concentrate on the Savior.
Then the Bishop got up after the Sacrament had been passed and with tears in his eyes commented on how much he loves to hear the children and how special and precious they are.

I am so very grateful for our Bishop. He reminded me that she is perfect. My little two year old was told to be reverent and think about Jesus. Singing is what she loves, and she showed her gratitude and worshipped by singing "I am a Child of God" as quietly as a little two year can [you know, the volume louder than playground shouting].

My two little girls are so very special. They are so precious. They are perfect.
I am so blessed to be given the opportunity to be their mother.
They are my world.

On another note. Later during Sacrament meeting, Emmie announced to the whole congregation she had to go poop. Oh the joys of motherhood :)

Compassionate Service

So I'm the new Compassionate Service Leader in our ward.
I'll tell you one thing, I have no flippin' clue what I'm doing :)

I've read the tiny paragraph in the ward handbook and searched online for ideas, hints and tips. Not too much out there. Just praying I can figure it out and help the sisters out!

Tonight I had to print up some new sign ups and forms for the Relief Society binder. Figured I'd post them online for others to use [they're really simple], but I couldn't find any online and hey, if I can save another sister 10 minutes of her time, why not! :)

    

Here are a few:
Meal sign ups

Due Date List

Baby Basket Items

Babysitting 

We're in a married student ward, so we have a lot of babies, and a lot of couples in school and needing help with their little ones. So I know every ward won't need those lists, but it's helpful for atleast the student wards :)
We also make little "baby baskets" when a baby is born to congratulate the family. Sisters from the ward can donate items for them- hats, blankets, burp rags, diapers, clothing, lotions, baby shampoo, etc

Anyways, just though I'd share those documents online in case anyone wanted to use them :)