Lucy is THREE!!

My darling baby lucy turned 3 last week, on June 5, 2011.  I cant believe its been 3 yrs since she came into our lives.  This little girl is my rockstar.  She has rockstar blond hair that is all over the place all the time.  She loves outlandish outfits with lots of girly color and lots of frills. She will pretty much only wear dresses  (the same 3 in constant rotation), much to her mothers dismay.  So much for all of the cute baby gap jeans I had planned on her wearing! Leggings and dresses everyday for ms. Lucy.

Lucy is Independant.  She is constantly doing things for herself that Dixie will still whine to her mommy about.  Just last night, she came to my room at 5:30am with a soaking wet diaper. She says "Mommy, I need a new Diapeee..." and then she held up a brand new diaper for me to put on her.  Dixie would have just stayed in her bed and cried.. but not ms. Lucy. Super independant, and I love it.  She moves around our kitchen chairs all over the place so she can reach things for herself (crayons, snacks, mommy's forbidden nail polish).

Lucy should have been a horsey.  This girl has a love affair with all horsey's big and small.  She has a collection of small plastic horse figurines as well as several stuffed horsey's large and small.  She is usually carrying around at least one horse with her if not 2 or 3. She plays pretend with them and doesnt like her mommy to interrupt her pretend games... "mommy, im playing"! she will explain with irritation and emphasis.

Lucy is a rag a muffin.  The girl cannot stay clean and put together for longer than 10 minutes max after she is dressed.  After combing out her rockstar hair, it almost immediately tangles, her clothes get spills (and she wont change because she loves her current dress), and she will never wear shoes or a jacket.  She pretty much looks like an orphan in frills most of the time... I chase her around with a hairbrush and shoes all the time..... but she is a girl after her own desires, and getting her hair brushed is not one of them!

Lucy LOVEs eggs, or "eggies" as she calls them.  She has a fried egg and chocolate milk almost every day for breakfast, and sometimes for lunch and dinner as well.  She also loves chocolate. She is always stealing her mother's chocolate treats right out of her mommy's hands!

Lucy torments her big sister Dixie to no end.  She is only 4 lbs less than dixie right now (36lbs), but she is more compact and sturdy, so she will get on top of dixie, wrestle her to the ground, and torment her until mommy or daddy pull her off.  Dixie is such a girl and doesnt really know how to fight back!

We had a great birthday party at Build a Bear for ms Lucy.  Every kid got to pick out a stuffed animal, get it stuffed and then we had cake in the mall.  Super simple, super fun, and Lucy wanted no part of it.  She stayed by her presents almost the entire time while the rest of the party enjoyed the fun. Guess she was afraid someone in the mall would steal her presents???

I love this girl.  We got 3rd birthday pictures taken, and I will post them as soon as they are ready.

XO
Eve

Dixie's 4th Birthday!!

Nevermind that this post is almost 2 months late...

My dear sweet baby Dixie turned 4 on Dec 8, 2013.  We had many celebrations for our little girl- her birthday just didnt end!

first off, an amazing first trip to Disneyland the first week of December! It was the BEST vacation our family has ever taken. I feared it would be stressful and LOTS of work for mom and dad... but it was neither.  The girls were awesome- we stayed at the park from opening until fireworks everynight. The girls ate it up. Dixie's favorite ride was the little mermaid in California land. Lucy's favorite ride was the horse carosol and Fish carosol. Neither of these were busy rides, so we just went on them over and over again.  Dixie also LOVED the beauty and the beast play. The actors were amazing, and she got front row seats in a very small theater.  The production quality was amazing.  The girls fell dead asleep in their bed each night- no fuss at all. It was all very exciting, and we hope to  make it an annual tradition until the girls grow tired of it!

Next we had a family birthday party at grandma and grandpa Werners house on her actual birthday- Dec 8.  We are so lucky to live near some of our family.. it makes birthday celebrations really special!

The following day, dixie's birthday was celebrated in her preschool class with cupcakes curtosy of moi.  I swear, one of my favorite parts of being a mom is bringing birthday cupcakes to my girls school.  It is something that I never got as a child, and I was always so envious of the other children that got this special luxury.  I just LOVE making a big deal of my girl's birthdays!

Finally, on Thursday we had a blow our friend party. It was a princess tea party, and we had 14 little girls dressed in their princess best. It was a blast!! All but one child whom was invited showed up. Usually i only get about a 40% attendance rate, so i was expecting more like 6 girls (which would have been much more managable). But, Sean and I made it through. We played lots of games, had a pinata (which by the way is the definition of birthday party for Dixie. If it doesn't have a pinata, its not a real birthday party... just ask her).  Dixie got a ton of awesome presents. The present opening part was quite funny.  As the guests ranged from 3 to 5, the younger ones did not want to relinquish their gifts to Dixie.... and tears were shed.  The grape "tea" in the real princess tea cups were a real hit. We couldn't refill fast enough!

What can i say about my sweet girl..

Dixie is-

intelligent, articulate, sweet, nice, a great friend, very social and charming.  She gets "love" notes sent home by her preschool teachers frequently.  I went to parent teacher interviews a couple of weeks ago, and her teachers had only praise. They said she was the perfect student. She always answers questions, asks thoughtful questions, and is a great little helper during clean up time and is friends with everyone.

I just love her. She is growing so tall with the most beautiful set of long legs you've ever seen.  She gets these from Grandma Werner, not me. She picks our her own outfits each morning, and does a great job of matching colors. She is usually monochromatic  (all purple, or all pink), because they "match"!

She is a budding artist. She colors me pictures daily... mermaids, our family, unicorns, panda bears.. whatever her little imagination can think up, she puts it to paper.   I need to keep a little binder with her best pieces. They really are so adorable! I throw far too many away... what to do with kid art?

She is an amazing big sister to Lucy. Lucy is a wild little rascal and is always running away and getting herself into trouble. Dixie is always quick to get me so i can "Save" lucy. She is always very worried when Lucy runs away. Its so endearing. Sister love.  She is not however ready to share her room with Lucy yet....

Dixie Do Da.. .you own my heart, and i get lost in your big green eyes and curly hair. I love you baby girl!


XO

Eve

My Little Rascal


My Little Lucy Turned 2 in early June (6/5)... crazy that my baby is a two-two already!  Lucy has my heart.... and she is all of the following things:

1- a major rascal.  My Lucy is the very definition of a "terrible two".  She has temper tantrums on a dime, she bites, she hits, she runs away from me in public places, her favorite place to play is in the middle of the street, she has no fear factor, she jumps into the deep end of the pool, she sneaks drinks of my diet cokes whenever she sees an opportunity, and the list goes on!

2- a lover.  Lucy knows just how far to push her mommy. She will push and push and push and right before I explode, she will give me the sweetest little kiss on the lips and say "I love you mommy"... and then i become mush and dont explode afterall.  Its like she has this sixth sense about how far to push me...... i Love this girl!

3- a cuddle Bug- Unlike her big sister Dixie, Lucy is a lover and LOVES to cuddle.  She wakes up in the wee early morning hours almost daily and comes in bed with her mama to snuggle.  She snuggles me when watching TV, and she will often come for a quick cuddle during her play. She often will adorn me with several kisses all at once.. I'm a lucky mommy that's for sure!

4- a fashionista- Lucy is a total girly girl when it comes to clothing. The girls LOVES to accessorize. She is always prancing around the house with various sunglasses, necklaces, purses and brackets adorning her toddler body.  Her favorite all time accessory is the tutu, of which she has many.  She wears them over pants, over pajamas, and solo on a regular basis.  Bedtime really isn't bedtime without a tutu over her jammies.

Lucy LOVES her big sister dixie... she always asks me, "where is didee" is when shes not around, she always wants exactly what dixie has, and dixie is such a peacemaker that she usually gives in to Lucy's demands.

Lucy loves the color pink and Dixie likes all things blue.  All sippys, plates, balloons, ect are dived up by these color selections.

We had a two year old birthday party for Lucy on her actual birthday and it was SO much Fun!  We went to a fun park, rented a pavillon area with 4 picnic tables and lots of shade.  Her auntie patience and cousin Jude were in town for the event, she had lots of toddlers friends in attendance and everyone had a blast.  It must be said though that Lucy wanted nothing to do with the usual birthday traditions. She didnt want to blow out her candles, did not want anything to do with opening her presents (Dixie opened them all, lucky big sister!), and she didnt even want to hit the pinata or pick up the candy.  However she DID have a great time running around the park like crazy and doing her own rascally things.  All the kids and mommys did have a great time though.. probably my best birthday party yet!  One note though is the toddlers do not necessarily need a real baseball bat to hit the pinata with... it was a little scary!

Auntie poo poo & judy pants came to visit for 2 weeks during her birthday and it was SO Great to have them here.  We did lots of fund stuff and got to play with Jude...and  hes a toddler now!!!!!! I did my auntie duties and gave him lots of chocolate, sugar, and chicken nuggets :)  He went gaga over the nutella too... takes after his mommy!  I wish we lived close.  I love all of my nieces, nephews, sisters and brother dearly and its so sad we are all live so far apart.......


XO

Eve

So,  ive been trying to blog lately, I've written a few posts that start out happy, but inevitably they end up as rants about my divorced parents that have forgotten all about me and my 6 sibs..... so i always just end up deleting the blogs prior to posting.

Anyhoo, my little sister P-Cute just wrote a great little ditty, without getting too dirty, which expresses exactly how im feeling.

She's also very funny, so you should read her blog too :)

http://www.p-cute.blogspot.com/2013/04/tuesday.html

On a happy note, here are some pics of the girls and some of their wonderful cousins who were visiting from Washington.

XO

Eve

I havent written in quite some time, although my dear sister urges that I dont have to catch up on what has happened, just write about the current going ons...

I've been a littl sad lately.  A few major people in my life have dropped out unexpectantly.  These are people that were real anchors in my social safety net. People that I thought I could count on no matter what.  Life is all about choices people.... that is all of have to say about that (for now). Perhaps I will have a few too many diet cokes this week and disclose more details.

However...  around the same time that these people have dropped out of my life, I unexpectantly have met a really great friend.  She in my ward, has kids of similar age and we really click. Its sooo nice! She is part of my community now, and I couldnt be happier.

Likewise there is more good news about my social networks expanding, but I am not allowed to disclose details.. not yet anyways.... so much mystery, i know!

Im working part time again.  I found a really flexible, 20hr a week accounting job.  Its nothing like I've done in the past, its a really small company with limited funding, so I do everything from answering to phone, greeting people who come in the door, to booking all journal entries and composing the monthly financial statements.  Its a great fit for my life right now, and to be honest life would be really tight and not much fun without this new little job of mine.

I feel like Im at a good place right now. Life is steady, stable and has found its rythem since sean has moved to utah full time.  Hes currently working for the salt lake city police deptment, and hes really impressed with it thus far, so we are going to be here for the long haul!

That is all for now.  I must wake up lucy from her nap and pick up dixie from preschool, so my 20 minutes of free time is up :)  I'm trying to get back on the blog wagon, wish me luck.

XOXO

Eve

Dixie and Zachie Dancing

We apologize in advance for any of you who are offended by Dixie's low cut jeans.  Eve warned me that the jeans were still too big for Dixie, but Daddy thought that Daddy knew best.

Phueuffffff

These girls are really kicking my butt these days. I am so exhausted; I don’t have the energy to write up any cutesy blogs. I know Im going to kick my self later though, because although exhausting, they do cute things all the live long day.

Heres a quick list of 10 cute things

DIXIE

1-     She is doing very well at preschool. Her teacher says she works very hard and is a good friend to her classmates. She absolutely loves it there.

2-     Dixie is FULLY potty trained, poo poos included, Hallejaleh!!!

3-     She is the best big sister. She is very protective of lucy and is always looking out for her safety. When she is on the stairs she makes sure that lucy is always on her tummy. When lucy gets hurt Dixie usually breaks out in tears as well, she is just that tender.

4-     Dixie Sleeps in her big girl bed, all by herself everynight!! She even wakes up in the mornings and comes to the kitchen looking for me and lucy.

5-     Dixie is still best friends with Zachy our neighbor. He comes over to play everyday and they have the more darling conversations on the planet.  One of these days Im going to write one of them down. Today they went on a ride together on a wiggle car. Lucy was driving and Zachy was in the back with his arms around her waist. Seriously the cutest ever!

Lucy

1-     Lucy is learning words! She can say; Balloon, shoe, Dixie, Mama, Dadda, Hi Doggy, and NO!

2-     Lucy has way bigger, louder, fiercer, explosive temper tantrums that Dixie ever had. Now that I think of it, Im pretty sure Dixie has had one full blown tantrum her whole life, she normally just whines.

3-     Lucy likes to put clothes on. Normally this means a pair of dixie’s panties on her head. But don’t even try to take them off, she will bite your fingers.

4-     Lucy bites all the live long day. I’ve started to flick her nose as a concequence and it has slowed down. But boy oh boy is she ever fierce.

5-     Lucy loves to try on big people shoes.  My shoe shelf is always empty by the end of the day with all of the shoes on the floor.

Ok, that’s it.  I LOVE my little darlings, but thought I’d let you all know that Im done making babies. These girls are more than enough and I fear if I had another I would go crazy, literally.

XO

Eve

Dancing With Cheetos and Suckers

Just a couple of videos showcasing dancing skills, junk food, and Dixie's manipulation of her wiggle car.  Enjoy!

Poo poo prizes gone wrong

Dixie and the Farm Animals

In our never ending quest to potty train our firstborn, we have resorted to the age old strategy of bribery.  After months and months of exploding diapers, we have finally experienced a breakthrough.  You see, Dixie usually holds her poos in for several days at a time.  The consequence of her unwillingness to follow her parents' commands is that she experiences huge poos when she is at play and having too much fun to concentrate on holding her poos in.  This has interrupted and even cut short many a playtime.  However, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  The combination of her maturation mixed in with bribing her with small farm animal figurines for her barn (the barn was a $1 purchase at a local garage sale because it lacked any animals) has proven very fruitful.  Alas, one consequence is that Dixie is now trying to go number two 5-7 times a day.  The logic of our little girl tells her that if she can go #2 five times a day, she will get five farm animals.  We just hope all that pushing does not drive her blood pressure too high!

 

http://youtu.be/QnsM8lcrmVo

So here's the story on my job

SO, on a whim about a month ago I applied for an accounting job online. I really didn't expect to hear anything from them, but the very next day I got a phone call to come in for an interview, which I did the very next day. It was a cool company, cool vibe, free lunch, nice building, plus I know a few people that work there in non accounting functions, and they absolutely love it.  So, I was pretty stoked that my interview when so well. It was 3 hours long and I met with 3 different groups of people.  I got an offer later on the same day, and I told them I'd think about it over the weekend. Monday rolled around and I called them and said I could work part time, 3 days a week for a certain amount of money.  They discussed it internally and agreed that it would work, yippeee!

SO, my first day comes around and I found pants that actually fit me.  (They were work pants that I purchased after I had dixie, not pre preggo preggo).  I was excited to get dressed for the day in banana republic dress pants vs. Gap stretchy pants!  Anyhooo, the day was pretty typical for a first day. Lots of HR forms, meeting people, computer access ect ect.  However throughout the day there were numerous red flags that this maybe wasn't the best fit for me as a mom, supposedly working part time. As I met people they found out what roll I was taking on (inventory accounting), and they all said they were "sorry for me".  They were mostly joking, but we all know that behind every joke is at least some truth. One lady in particular was not joking, or at least did not appear to be.  No one in the office could train me for the roll I was taking over, as no one was cross trained, and there were absolutely no documented processes, narratives or the like. Much different that a public company that is for sure.  I tried to piece things together and found that the files were a absolute mess. No formal processes, No Policies, No standardization, No paper trail. It seemed more like everyone was cleaning up mistakes vs. booking real entries.  So from an accounting standpoint, it was a total disaster, one that would take significant overtime to clean up.  And speaking of overtime, the accounting team worked mad hours. Seriously for 2 weeks every month they stayed until midnight. No joke.  They expected me to do the same, even though I was formally hired as part time. So really they wanted me to squeeze in 45hrs into 3 days, which is technically full time, but only pay me for part time. WTF, right?!?

So, I saw the writing on the wall, and realized very quickly that this was not the gig for me.  This might have been for me when I was fresh out of college, with no family commitments, and eager to make my way in the corporate world, but not with 2 girls aged 1 & 2, and a husband that works out of town half the month.

So, sufficed to say, I emailed my boss that night, and resigned. I feel really good about it, as I know I would have been miserable working all of those hours.

I think I might look into doing bookkeeping for small companies or sole proprietors from my home.  I need to research it a bit first and see if it would fit me, and its  really just a thought for now.

So, now Im back home enjoying life with my girlies, which I actually appreciate so much more after being away from them for just one day. They are just the cutest little darlings ever, and they really need me right now, so here I will stay for now :)

12 months!!

My little Lucy is growing up, she is a year old already! Although, I still see her as my baby. Perhaps it is because I have Dixie to compare her to this time around, but I remember thinking that Dixie was so much bigger when she was only a year old, and now Lucy is a year old and I still view her as my baby.  Anyhoo, a few of the things she is doing these days;

Lucy took her first steps a couple of weeks before her birthday (11.5 months), and now she takes several steps at a time. She looks really cute walking, she has a really wide stance that reminds me of my niece Ada when she was learning to walk.

Lucy Kisses!! She even makes the kissing sound when she does it. She kisses me over and over again.  Completely adorable J

Lucy Waves! Again, soooo adorable

Lucy just started feeding herself with a spoon.  Only yogurt so far, because it is the easiest training food (it sticks to the spoon no matter how it is positioned).

Lucy is a major climber. She climbs up the ladder on the bunk bed, up the steps to the tall slide at the yellow park and everywhere in between.  I had to put 2 stepping stools in my bathroom, bc Dixie and Lucy were constantly fighting over the one that was there originally. Lucy loves to perch up on it with a toothbrush, she puts it under the running water , then sucks on it. Im pretty sure she thinks shes brushing her teeth, just like her mama and sister.

Lucy can say DaDa and MaMa, although its only after I say them, and Im not sure if she associates them with me (mom) and Sean (dad) yet.

Lucy loves going for walks around the block in her little tykes car, while Dixie leads the way on her wiggle car or tricycle.

Lucy Loves doggies and birdies, and is constantly chasing them at the park.

I sure do love my sweet baby lucy. I cannot believe she’s already a year. Like they say, the days are long but the years are short! Im trying to enjoy every minute.

XOXO

Eve

A Royal Birthday

On June 9th in the year of our Lord 2012, Lucy Angel Werner presided over a most glorious occasion.  From her perch on her pink and white polka dot throne, the Queen allowed her subjects to frolic and amuse themselves in those activities common among the peasantry.  This was after all, the day set apart to celebrate Queen Lucy's day of birth.

 

Watching her subjects amuse themselves with trivial games such as club ye' ole pinata allowed Queen Lucy to reminisce on days from her younger year.

Of course, Lucy did not condescend to gather the spoils from said pinata.  Why exert the energy on such a task when she had so many of her minions scatter about and collect the candy for her?

Young Maiden Dixie Mae brought Queen Lucy her offering to honor her on this joyous day.

After her audience with the Queen, the stable boy begged Maiden Dixie to tell him all about her experience with the Queen.  Of course Maiden Dixie obliged.

After watching all of the rabble rousing taking place, the Queen decided to join in the festivities by opening the presents from her adoring subjects.

She even partook of the royal cake hand prepared for her by the royal baker (aka - Costco - that blessed consumer paradise)

At the conclusion of the Royal Party, the Queen ascended back onto her throne and bid her people adieu until next year.

Happy 1st Birthday to Lucy!!

Ok, so tomorrow, I am going to write a great first birthday post just for my baby lucy... but on the eve of her first birthday, I just had to tell you all, that this has been the hardest and most trying year of my life.

First off, I was extremely naive having my girls so close together (18months). Dixie was still a baby herself when Lucy was born, and I have been stretched so thin over the past year. Not to dwell on the details but , if i ever go crazy and decide to have another child it will be no sooner than 2 years from tomorrow, when Lucy is 3 years old, in preschool, potty trained, eating by herself, playing by herself and getting into her own car seat, pheuff!  But for now, I've sworn off any more children, and will simply love and adore the ones I have.  To all of you mothers of twins out there, I applaud you.

Secondly we moved from California to Utah. I single highhandedly packed and unpacked all of our earthly belongings when Lucy was just 4 months old.   Moving sucks and I hope to never do it again.

Thirdly, I am still a single mama 50% of the time, as Sean is still flying back and forth to California to work.  Again, I applaud all of the single mamas out there... its no joke folks. Thank goodness for my super duper babysitter Lela. I would have already jumped shipped if it weren't for her.  Oh, and a big thanks to Diet Coke.

Finally, My parents are in the midst of a divorce.  This has been emotionally the hardest part, and it got even harder today. They have been married 38 years, and now I'm an orphan with no place to call home (ect ect).

Besides all of the above, I really really love my little girls, my home in Utah and the fact that we still have a stable job in this economy. Divorce still sucks though... even at 31.

Tomorrow I will do a real birthday post for my little LuLu!!  Oh and PS, she took her first steps 2 days ago, 5 in a row and she was oh so proud of herself!

XO
Eve

my working woman anniversary 

So,, may 15 marks one year since i was a full time accountant by day and a mommy by night. I am somewhat filled with doom and gloom when i think about this. All my mad excel skillz totally going to waste. All my awesome email skills, presentation skills, research skills, totally unused and growing stale. I am very grateful to be in a position that i can stay at home with my babies.  I love them more than i can express. I love taking them fun places, I love making them giggle and watching them play, and i love being there to kiss their boo-boos and wipe their tears. I would miss out on a million moments if i was back at work right now, so yes, this is the right place for me to be (for now). Plus, i tried the working full time thing with Dixie and I just felt so guilty every single day at work, and I could no longer give 100% to my job, it was more like a watered down 70%, so that made me feel guilty on the flip side!

But, this doesn't mean i don't miss working. I love corporate life. I love spreadsheets. I love figuring out differences, I love acquisition accounting and I love a good project. Oh, I also love business lunches at fancy restaurants, and business travel to fun places.  (hello London with my bestie Harmandeep circa 2006!)

So, heres to the next few years staying at home until my babies are on school. I'm going to enjoy every second of them, as i know they will pass quickly.  I also know that im going to be an accounting dinosaur by the time they are ready for me to go back to work, so i might just have to work in a masters degree before I re-enter the work force. Hmmm... food for thought. Not sure if i can really handle being a student again?!? Decisions decisions!

Oh, and another thing.  As a mom, I am irreplaceable.  No one else can be Dixie and Lucy's mom.  As an accountant, I am completely replaceable. Anyone can take my job over.  This was made so apparent to me this last week.  The Controller of my former company (aka, my boss', boss', boss) was with the company just shy of 10 yrs.  I saw him on the day I gave my notice to my primary boss. I was going to say good bye to him too, but he seemed so incredibly stressed out, that I just didn't. It seriously looked like his head was going to burst.  He is normally, calm, cool and collected... but he wasnt that day.  About 2 weeks later, he had a major stroke. Thankfully, he has made a good recovery, he can walk and is not paralyzed, but his speech is very limited and he struggles to find words.  I called my boss last week to check in, and she let me know that he had been laid off. I was dumbfounded and heartbroken for him.  He has a family to support, he is such a nice guy, and he is/was amazing at his job.  However, the company's Board of directors really didn't care about his loyalty to the company, his past service, or his family. They just needed the job done and they found someone else to do it, that had a full vocabulary.  My heart literary sunk into my stomach when I found this out.  At the same time, I really for the first time realized that My job as a mom is way more important than whatever job I can get as an accountant. I am not replaceable to dixie and lucy. SO yes, this is where I need to be right now.

XO
Eve

11 months

My sweet baby Lucy is 11 months already! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone. Seriously, since she started crawling (at 10 months), she hasn’t stopped. She entertains herself most of the time by pulling open drawers and pillaging the contents, stealing Dixie’s toys, and finding delicious morsels buried in the carpet, ha!

She pulls herself up to standing, claps her hands, and loves to play catch and peakaboo with a blanket. She is really quite playful.  She holds her own with her big sister Dixie. One day on stroller walk in the double bob, Lucy snatched Dixie’s popsicle with one hand and blocked Dixie from retrieving it with the other hand.  She is a lot more aggressive that Dixie ever was or is… probably because she knows its survival of the fittest around these parts.

I planted tulips in the fall, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at my yard. Lucy has successfully pulled out each one the very day that each has bloomed. I’ve decided not to plant anymore flowers this year, as I fear they will all meet this same sad fate.

I’ve had to move the diapers and creams from the diaper table (which is right next to Lucy’s crib). On more than one occasion I’ve went to get Lucy after a nap and her face is covered in diaper cream with diapers strewn about her crib.  The girl has got some mad reaching and grabbing skills.

Lucy LOVES the bathtub and will not sit still in it. She crawls the entire length of it, pulls to standing and loves to play with the faucet. She can even turn on the water, oh mercy me! I cannot even blink during bath time, for fear of a head injury/drowning.

Lucy’s favorite activity is crawling up the stairs. She make a B-line

for them anytime we are downstairs, which has kind of put a kibosh on my  Dora downtime (when I stick Dixie in front of an episode of dora), as I am now in constant chase mode. Im tring to teach her how to also go down the stairs, but I haven’t had much success yet.

Lucy loves to play “chase” with her daddy too.

Oh, and interesting to note that Lucy was always in the 95% for height and weight until she started crawling and she’s dropped just under 50% now. She is a mover that is for sure. She still LOVES to eat though and usually eats her food plus dixie’s at meal time. I’m pretty sure Dixie exists solely on otter pops and pirate booty these days.

Dixie and Lucy are becoming quite the little pair. Lucy terrorizes Dixie all of the time, but Dixie just continues to say things like “I love lucy”, “Lucy loves me”, and she showers her with kisses and hugs. Dixie is also very protective of Lucy. When we were at the park one day another little girl came up to lucy and tried to play with her. Dixie immediately swooped in, gave lucy a hug body guard hug, and said, “Shes MY sister”…..

We love our 2 little girlies. Its so fun to watch them grow together, play together and love each other. I continue to tell Dixie that Lucy is her best friend, and Dixie will often repeat this. Hopefully it sticks.

XO

eve

Home & Garden Show

Well, today was a fan-freakin-tastic day in mommy land. The sun was shining, it was a perfect 72 degrees outside (we played outside for literally hours), and I went to the home and garden show with one of my dearest friends Marjie!

We were out for breakfast at Kneaders this morning (My new favorite home grown Utah eatery, i seriously like it better than cafe rio, no joke), and she mentioned that she was going. I was like, "No way, I SOOO want to go!", she said "Come, I have an extra ticket", so later in the afternoon I packed up the kiddos and off we went. This is the first time I've ventured to a non kid venue with the girls, and you know what, they did just fine.

Anyhoo, all my dreams came true when I saw the tupperware booth! I've wanted my very own tupperware ever since I got married, but I've never known a tupperware rep, and it isnt sold in stores. I almost peed my pants with excitment. I ditched my kids with Ms. Marjie and headed staight to the sales lady. I just started picking up the items, asking a million questions, and dont you know, $100 later I was on my way. I got a few things that I remember my mom had growing up, the meat marinde container, the big juice jug, and then i got something she would just die to have today, a microwave pasta cooker! My mom LOVES microwave cooking, and owns several microwave cook books to prove it. I'll have to hide it the next time she visits, or it just might end up in her retro 50's suitcase back to Canada, ha! (just kidding mom). My last purchase was a veggie chopper. I just chopped my first zucchini tonight and it was divine. I cant wait to try an onion. If I can never dice an onion again, I will be one happy lady.

So I told the lady that I'd love to host a tupperware party. I need to spread the joy I felt today. Im sure there are plenty of thirty somethings out there that grew up with moms using tupperware that haven't found it since. I might even become a rep for it if all goes well... afterall isn't that what mom's in Utah do, ha!

Here are my purchases. And no seany-sean, I know this was not in the budget this month, and our "miscellaneous" envelope is definitely in the red. Time to pick up some more overtime sweetie :).

XOXO
Eve

Product Plug

I have like 20+ hair products left over from my hair school days that i am trying to use up before they go bad. So, I pulled out some of this Paul Mitchell Thicken Up.... and it was amazing on my super fine hair. Seriously, my hair actually feels thicker and healthier. I paired it with some PM super skinny (my all time favorite for pretty much any hair type), and the results were awesome. Fullness, silky smooth and shiny, a perfect combination if you ask me. I really like Paul Mitchell products. They are at the low end of the price spectrum for salon products, they are super easy to use (the name of the product generally tells you what its for), and they are available everywhere, not just high end salons (ie- bumble & bumble).

Single mama's & field trips

My respect goes out to all the single mama's out there. Seriously, it is SO MUCH WORK... and i'm only a single mama for half the time. My former boss (whom I loved) is a single mom to a 14 year old boy, (and was single since the baby was an infant). Anyhoo, her life always seemed like such a struggle, and my heart really went/goes out to her. So to all you single mama's out there, I tip my imaginary hat to you.

So, onto my single-mom-hood... I've found that the only way for me to get through the days are to pack them full of field trips and activities. This is what we did this week, while Sean was away ...

Day 1 (tues)- Trip to the Dinosaur museum at thanksgiving point, then off to the deli for a free toddler ice cream cone. Dixie loves the twinkle stars at the very beginning, as well as the motion exhibit. Oh and the toy store too.

Day 2 (wed)- Dixie's Toddler gym class went on a trip to the Farm at Thanksgiving Point. Feeding the goats, cows and duckies is a real favorite for me and my girls. I'm pretty sure I get more joy out of the baby calves then they do. They are so cute, and I want to have a cow one day.

Day 3 (thurs)- Trip to the Aquarium in Sandy and then off to Arctic Circle because it has the most toddler friendly play place of all fast food joints around here.

Day 4 (fri)- Trip to grandma's house to "help" her in the yard and garden. Dixie LOVES helping in anyway she can, and especially outside.

Day 5 (sat)- Trip to Kangaroo Zoo & then to Target in search of treasures in their dollar bins. Plus I may have picked up a bag of Cadbury mini eggs to get me through the rest of the day. And PS- Kangaroo Zoo is the absolute WORST place to go with a 2 yr old and a 9 month old. The blow ups are all too big for Dixie to maneuver on her own, so i had to hoist her up onto everything, while also carrying around baby lulu. That might just be my workout for today!

Along with all of the above, there has been much Dora (dixie's new favorite, she dumped mickey last week), and lots of playing outside since the weather has been so nice. We have the best neighbor kids across the street, and dixie just loves to play with them.

Its all really quite exhausting, and by the end of my 13 hour days, all i want to do is plop my big butt onto the love sac and watch my recorded shows on DVR. Again, no energy to work out, sew, cut hair, organize, clean or anything else that is actually productive.

To get through it, I have this AMAZING babysitter that I owe my soul to. She is a niece of one of my very best friends and she's a college student with her very own car (priceless in babysitting land). Anyhoo, she comes to my place for 2 hours a day when I'm on my own, and I usually work out, take my self to lunch, or go shopping during my break. Without this break, I'm pretty sure I would have moved back to Cali already, Ha!

What fun things do you do with your kiddos to keep them engaged, learning and active??

XOXO
Eve

No Big Poo Poo

I knew I was in trouble this afternoon when I was out for a neighborhood walk with Dixie (2), her friend Zach (2.5) and Lucy. I was carrying Lucy (ie, no stroller and no diaper bag), and Dixie and Zachy were riding a tricycle and scooter respectively. Both kids were running through a sprinkler with wet clothes and had discarded their shoes. (And yes, Its still too cold to be doing that, I'm really not sure why the heck someone's sprinklers were even turned on). That's went Dixie looked at me and said "No big poo poo mommy", which of course meant that she had a monster size poo that was leaking through her dora pull ups. Ugh oh... what does a mom do in this situation? It was a very LONG block away from home with no diaper, no stroller, and 2 excited toddlers that were not listening to me. Well, I made it home. Thank the good lord. Next time i'm bringing the stroller and the diaper bag... lesson learned. And if you are ever witness to a mom in such distress, please offer to take the scooter and tricycle home for her.

XO
Eve