Baby Wish List

I need some place to make a list that family can see and that I can add too so I choose THE BLOG! Maybe it will keep me updating more often cause I have to add to the list.
Travel Size Swing 
Baby's R US






Baby Body Sock & Cozy Cap Set 
cozycocoon.com in yellow or grey


That't it for now. More to come.

Millie and Sydney and Phin come for a visit

My sisters helped me be strong and cut off Eliza's mullet.  

Mullet above: Cute bob below.

I like it a lot. I don't really miss the curls like I thought I would.

Cute little pony tail to put in her book.

Eliza and her cousin Phin in the tub. We actually think they look nothing alike, but in this picture they sure look related.

Then we had to be girly (and lets face it, our faces were all freaking out on us) so we did a microdermabrasion scrub and mud masks.

We had a great time. The babies had a hard time sleeping. Brad felt a little out of sorts and out numbered. But we had a great time.

a little bit of Eliza

Ok, it's been a long time! We are still alive and just taking one day at a time. Eliza is a busy girl. She is 19 months now and I'll bet she has a vocabulary of at least 100 words. She was just over 21 lbs a month ago but I think she has been putting on weight recently and I would guess about 25 now. All I have are pictures of her except Brad's cousin took a picture of us out on a walk one day in the bluebonnets. 

"I'll be taking this"

at our favorite frozen yogurt place. Self serve, pay by the ounce, toppings galore, yeah we love it.

got milk?

not sure what this is, but it's Eliza

Helping in the kitchen

Eliza and the Lizard

Sleeping on her floor, bum up style

playing at the lake on a cold morning

In the bluebonnets

This video pretty much captures our evenings at home: Mom on the couch, Dad sitting down, Eliza bouncing all over the place, full of energy, Max trying to get in on the action.

Crib Theory

Warning: Journal Entry Ahead

About a month ago I had the idea to move Eliza to a big girl bed. She is 17 months old. She seemed like she was ready and I wanted to let her try out her wings. My thought was to get her bunk beds and only put the top bunk in her room with the rails on so she might stay in her bed. The other one would go in a guest room until it was needed. I searched online for bunk beds but never found a set I liked. Plus they are expensive. 

We went to a furniture store and Eliza screamed when we took her away from the ladders and steps leading up to top bunks. Hum... she is a big climber these days. Anyway, last week I was cleaning up our fort in the closet, which had a memory foam mattress as its floor, when I decided to put the mattress in her room and take out the crib. So, without consulting her or explaining the change, I took her crib out, placed the mattress (folded in half) in the corner where her crib had been and put a long blanket over it, ticked in tight under both ends. 

We call it her "nice new bed" and she loves it. We put her stuffed dog and bear on it and her favorite blanket and she jumps and rolls on it like we had done in the tent. When nap time came around I was pretty scared. We did our songs and stories and I put her down on her new bed. After I left she got up and played with her books, pulled some clothes out of her dresser,(this lasted almost an hour) and then settled down right in front of the door and fell asleep. She only slept for about 20 min.

That night was rough and after crying at the door and me taking her back to bed, I finally just rocked her to sleep and put her down on her bed. She slept the night just fine. The next night Brad put her down with a few stories and laid down with her for a minute. She stayed on her bed after he left and slept the night. 

She has done great ever since. At nap time she usually ends up on the floor somewhere. But stays on her bed at night when its dark, What used to be about an hour of play time is now just a few minutes before she is out. I peek under the door to see where she is and sometimes she is right there(and still awake) and gives me a big smile and sticks her hand under. 

Today I let her sleep in her coat, (see above picture) but she usually sleeps in a sleep sac so I know she is warm enough wherever she falls asleep. 

A few thoughts: 

She now has the independence to go to sleep or read books during her whole nap. 

She is learning that when she is tired she can stop playing and lie down and sleep without us having to put her in the bed.

She can play in her room in the morning instead of immediately needing someone to come and get her. (huge for me in the morning)

I want to potty train pretty soon and not do pull-ups or diapers at night so she needs to be able to get up and go potty if she needs to. (or get me and tell me she needs to go) This might end with pee and poop all over her room instead of just in the crib, but I think Eliza can learn to hold it all night. 

This all might come back to bite me when she is 2.5 and refuses to take naps anymore but I figure that will probably happen anyway. At least I can lay down with her on a big bed and try to take a nap with her?

Now that she is climbing, I don't have to worry about her falling out of the crib. 

Corpus Christi

There are a lot of pictures in this post. I guess it's to make up for the lack of posts lately. 

Corpus Christi is a little town on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. It's about a 3 hour drive to get out to the actual coast from our house. We took a ferry even! Eliza did pretty good on the drive, managing a little nap and a lot of songs. But it was worth it. She loved the beach. Once introduces to the sand and a shovel she had a blast.

Daddy also loved the sand and a shovel. 

Eliza's looses her pants and gains a sweater. 

Let's go fly a kite.

Snuggling to get warm.

We stayed overnight in the Navy Lodge on base. Well actually it turned out to be the Navy Inn which was slightly less nice than the lodge. We were all asleep by 8:30 from sun and exhaustion. The next day we went to the aquarium. We had the choice of History Museum, tour of the USS Lexington, or the aquarium and I guess we made the right choice because Eliza loved the fish.

Stopping for some lunch.  I loved these little squeezable fruit/veggies (mostly fruit), but they are expensive. Great for the road, but not for everyday. After lunch we hit the beach again but this time just the Bay and not the actual Gulf. There were no waves and the sand was more rocky but we still had fun digging. 

Back home enjoying Max's comfy bed.

We will definitely do this again sometime. Maybe in the hot summer so the water is more inviting. Maybe when someone comes to visit we will have to take a trip. You could make it a one day trip but we enjoyed the overnight. 

Oh and Some cute Kids

 This is E and her best friend J. They painted with water for a good 30 minutes, then they squoze water from the brushes for another 20. We had a good time and managed to not even get too wet. E the climber. I didn't see her get into this space but she sure wanted out.

Makeover

 I have been in a hair funk for several months. Hot irons and grabby-baby hands just don't seem to mix well. Well enough is enough, I am doing more with my hair whether I like it or not. After some careful youtubeing to get ideas on good products and techniques, I purchased this pile of goods as well as a big-fatty curling iron. I want my hair long again, so I didn't really want to cut it but I definitely needed a change.

My thoughts so far:
Love the paddle brush!!! Whoever told me to blow dry with a round brush was nuts. I am sorry for ever perpetuating this falsehood to others as well. I love the paddle brush. It is so much softer on my hair, it is flat so it makes a flat surface to blow your hair against. Which makes my thick-but-fine hair much more manageable. After one time with it, I will never go back to blow drying with a round brush. I always have to flat iron after blow drying, but with the paddle brush I could have left it as it was. I did flat iron to calm down some of the frizz.

 The detangler! Dove brand. I don't usually like to put products in my hair as it gets greasy fast but I am liking the detangler. Just a little (and I can spray it on the brush ) and my hair brushes out very easy, no tangles, no breaking hair. Also, I am going to have to use something on Eliza's hair as it is very fine and wispy, so I thought it could be good for both of us.

 The heat protectant (Got2b) is still an iffy. I don't know if it does anything or is just a scam to get you to buy one more product.

 The Paul Mitchell Shampoo and Conditioner are kind of a let down. I have been using Suave Professionals and they lather up way better and smell nice. The Paul Mitchel is kind of just blahh. I'll give it a few more days, but at $10 a bottle I expected it to blow me away.

 Then there is the dry shampoo and the smoothing milk and I haven't tried them out yet. The thinning shears I am excited about but haven't had time to use them yet. That is my exciting life these days.

Karin and Justin's Wedding

Here is a picture of the cake I made for Karin and Justin in case you didn't see it. They had a beautiful wedding reception the night before and a wonderful sealing in the Manti Temple the next day. I was waiting to get some more pictures but it looks like this is all I have. They are a beautiful couple.

I may be on my computer while she does the house work, but this doesn't happen often.

Sorry it's sideways, and kind of lame. I am just trying to get back into this blogging thing. I feel like I have nothing exciting to share so this will have to do.

More Christmas; mostly Eliza

More Christmas. These are from Christmas day where she wouldn't let go of the stroller. 

Daddy made her a house to play in. 

These are form yesterday. Eliza was being a ham playing with Max. I love how her hair is growing in the back and not in the front. At least in the humidity it curls so it looks less "party in the back."

Max! He is more attractive in real life. His hair is growing back and he is soft and fluffy. He seems to have mellowed out a bit since we left him for 2 weeks. I hope he stays that way.

Blurry picture of fun at the Kangaroo Zoo in PG. 

See the hair?