Random Stuff

We've had a lot of sick at our house this month. And it's not over yet. I had a sinus infection and  really bad congestion, the girls had coughs and runny noses that lasted for weeks. Jeff now has a sinus & ear infection and the girls noses just started running again. I can't wait for the weather to warm up and the sicknesses to go far far away!

Anyway here's some random pictures of our last couple of weeks.

Here's Brooke being so proud of her block tower that she built! 

Sometimes one stroller is just not enough. She would push one stroller a few steps and then go back for the other one and push it. She did that all over the house.

After lunch one day Aubrey decided to build a rocket ship around Brooke with all of the chairs and stools.

My cute little rocket scientist!

Jeff's been busily working on the garden. The girls have really enjoyed helping him. (Yes Brooke is in her jammies with the shoes over her footed pj's. And yes it is late in the afternoon in this picture. It was just one of those days!)

While I was getting ready one morning, Aubrey made a swimming pool out of a floaty and many sheets. Here she is diving in her pool.

Brookie just being cute!

The other day I was reading a story to Brooke. In it it asks the reader to count to 10. Usually I do the counting. This time I paused to see what Brooke would do. She counted from 1 to 6 all on her own. I supplied her with the 7 & 8 and then she added in the 9 & 10 on her own. What a little smartie pants!

When Brooke wants to do something she'll add, "really bad" to the end of her sentence. It's really cute. She'll say, "I want to play baby really bad."

She also likes to use the word "first". I'll say something like, "It's time to change your diaper." And she'll respond with, "I want to read a story first".

 

Aubrey really likes to change her clothes many many times. Especially during quiet time. I never know what she'll look like when quiet time is over. I thought she looked cute in the outfit she put together on Monday. (Mismatched clothes with shades, necklace, ring, bracelet, and church shoes.)

 

When I was taking a picture, Brookie joined in. (But, first she had to go and get a necklace on too!)

 

 I love what cute little friends they are.

 Then Brooke wanted one on her own. I love that smile!

Then we made cinnamon roll dough.

 We finished them up for FHE. We have a niece in the MTC, so we made a treat and cards for her.

The girls had a ball making a gift for cousin Kristen.

 

Daddy also told them a little about missions and what Kristen would be doing for the next year and a half. And that sometimes missionaries miss their family so that's why we were making a little package for her.

 

 

 The other day, the girls looked so cute all snuggled up and watching a show.

The Legend of Pinkfoot

Aubrey has never really been too affected by scary things in shows or movies. (And by scary I mean child scary in cartoons.) She's watched old Scooby Doo shows, which I think are pretty scary and they haven't bothered her at all. She'll scream when it's scary and want to sit by someone, but when it's over she'll say that she liked it and go on her merry way.

A couple weeks back she was watching the new Nick show, "Bubble Guppies."If you've seen this show, you know that it's not the least bit scary. It's about as mild as you can get. This particular episode was about a camping trip. They kept mentioning that when they are around the campfire they'll tell, "A spooky story called The legend of Pinkfoot." When they got to the campfire they started to tell the story. And lo and behold Pinkfoot appears at the campfire. (The pink creature below.)

 He ends up not being scary at all but instead he likes to join in the campfire and eat smores . . .

 

 and sing campfire songs.

After watching this show Aubrey suddenly becomes terrified of Pinkfoot. She starts shaking and crying anytime I leave the room. Even several hours later she realized she was in a room by herself and she came screaming down the hall and crying into my arms. She kept saying, "Pinkfoot keeps popping into my mind." I kept trying to reassure her and remind her that Pinkfoot was actually nice. But, I guess the anticipation and build up of the "spooky Pinkfoot" was what got her really spooked. So, when it became her quiet time she was really upset. She was shaking at the thought of being left alone in her room. So, I went in with her and had her say a prayer. She asked to not be afraid of Pinkfoot during quiet time. I left the room and she did just fine. She played for a bit and then ended up falling asleep. After quiet time I had her say another prayer and thank Heavenly Father for answering her prayer.

Later that night I had Aubrey tell Daddy about how Heavenly Father answered her prayer. That was a bad move on my part, because that brought back all of her fear of Pinkfoot. Bedtime came and once again she was crying and shaking at the thought of being left alone in her room. So, once again I had her say a prayer. She was able to fall asleep quickly and did fine.

I thought the Pinkfoot episode was over at this point. But, no, I was wrong. For about 2 weeks after she would not go to a room by herself. Even to go potty, she'd ask someone to go with her. She was constantly telling me that she couldn't stop thinking about Pinkfoot. And, she would wake up in the middle of the night once or twice every night, afraid of Pinkfoot. What an ordeal!

Thankfully last night she slept through the night, the first time in about 2 weeks. Today she seems ok to go into rooms by herself. And I think she has only brought up Pinkfoot once, but seemed less affected by it. I can't believe how something so mild has gotten her so afraid. I sure do hope the Pinkfoot episode is finally over! So, if your kids watch Bubble Guppies, beware of the Legend of Pinkfoot!

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes

My Mom came out last weekend for my Sisters' baby shower. The girls were super excited to see Grandma and had a real fun time with her.

The last couple times that my parents came, they arrived after Aubrey was asleep. So, she would see them the next morning in the bedroom across from her. So, first thing in the morning Aubrey came into my room and said, "I thought you said Grandma is coming today." To which I replied that she was. Then Aubrey said, "Well she's not in the room that she usually is in." I had to explain that she would be here later. Aubrey could hardly wait all day.

I told her that Grandma would be here after quiet time. So as soon as quiet time was over - Aubrey insisted on standing at the front room window and waiting for her!

So excited for Grandma to be here!

  

They had fun playing with Grandma outside.

 

Brooke wanted to swing and swing and swing, holding the little bear Aubrey got for her.

Playing blocks with Grandma.

 

 Grandma brought these little dolls for Aubrey to color and glitterize. She loved them.

 

Grandma brought Brookie a Snow White book. Brookie is obsessed with Snow White these days.

 Aubrey had to join in too for story time!

We went to Summer & Steve's house for Sunday dinner.

After dinner we decided to go outside. The girls went out with Steve. When I got outside I saw this cute little scene. Brookie holding Uncle Steve's hand and going for a little stroll.

They have a little hill in the backyard, and where there is a hill - you'll find Aubrey running down it.

Of course Brooke followed suit.

I thought this pic. turned out cool.

 

Shoulder rides with Uncle Elliot.

Brooke saw Grandma doing make-up and had to join in.

Grandma gave her some floss too, and they flossed their teeth together. Too cute!

It was a real fun visit! Thanks Mom for always finding time to spend with my girls - they love you to pieces!

Sweetest Sisters

For the most part Aubrey & Brooke play really good together. Aubrey likes to make up games or plays for the two of them to do together. And Brooke is a very willing participant.

Here Aubrey set up these stools so the two of them could eat their snacks together.

The other day Aubrey was crying about something when she was getting ready for bed. Brooke was very concerned. She said, "Sis. sad, Sis. cry. I go give Sis. a big kiss." Then off she ran to Aubrey's room and gave her a kiss and a hug. It was so sweet. And it worked too - Aubrey was so touched with Brooke's concern that it cheered her right up.

Yesterday, Brooke got very upset when she found out that I was leaving for a Docs. appt. She started to cry and to cling to me. (She's been pretty clingy lately) So Aubrey in her sweet little Mommy voice said, "Oh Brookie, don't be sad. Mommy is very sick and needs to go to the doctor's so she doesn't share her germs. Don't worry you get to stay home with Daddy and your big Sis." When that didn't stop Brooke's crying, Aubrey continued, "I know, I'll go find you a picture of Snow White." She then found some princess stickers and a paper and sat in the hallway with her making a Princess picture. (see below) Brooke forgot all about the fact that Mommy was leaving. What sweet little girls I have. They really don't like to see the other one hurt or upset.

A couple of days ago Aubrey said, "Aunt Summer has 3 bathrooms in her house and we have 2 bathrooms in our house. 3 and 2 makes 5 bathrooms." I then said, "You're right Aubrey! You just did math. Let's try another one. There's 3 of us in this room and 1 Grandma in the other room. How many people are in this house?" Aubrey said, "Well let's see, I'll count. 1, 2, 3" Then before Aubrey could continue, Brooke called out, "4". We were both stunned. Then Aubrey in her cute little mommy voice went over to Brooke, started patting her back and said, "Oh Brooke I am so proud of you. You just did math." I love those sweet little moments. And who knew that my not quite 2 year old knew how to count to 4! I wonder what else is in that cute little brain of hers, that hasn't came out yet!

Double Baby Shower

My cute expecting little sisters Summer & Esther. Summer on the left is having a boy and Esther on the right is having a girl.

My Mom flew out last weekend so we could throw my sisters a double baby shower.

My sister Cindy, who lives in Texas, did the cute invitations.

My SIL, Katie made the decorations. They looked so cute! (The cake though was from Costco. We all know how to decorate cakes, but none of us had the time!)

My Mom made the scrumptious food!

I was in charge of the games. Esther is always making up funny little competitive games for us to play, so I thought that's what I'd do for their shower. I based the games around what they'll experience as new mothers.

When you have your first baby, you're going into it blind. You don't know exactly what your getting into, until that baby arrives. So we had blind folded diaper change races.

 

I had my girls each bring a baby and a diaper so they could play along too. They were so intrigued with the game though that they forgot about their babies.

As a mother you have to learn how to do many tasks simultaneously while holding your baby. The game was: they had to have a hot pad on one hand, hold the baby in the other arm, and scoop out little pacifiers that their baby had dropped into their bowl of cheerios. (If the cheerios fell out, then they had to be put back in the bowl - because what Mommy wants a mess!)

When you have children you feel like you're always in a guessing game. Why are they crying? Are they sick, teething, hungry . . .? How long are they going to sleep tonight? So we played a Guessing game - The Price is Right baby item guessing game. They had to guess the amount of each baby item without going over.

And then it was present time. Look at that serious mound of presents!

During present time it was Brooke's nap time and she snuggled right into me and fell asleep. Aubrey snuggled up to me the whole time too. It was so nice to get to snuggle my girls and enjoy seeing all the presents my sisters received.