Aw, pretty girl, don't look so scared! It is just a huge gigantic flower on your head!

You are growing fast and furious. The other morning, I was holding you and I was drinking my first glass of cold water for the day and you just reached right out and swatted that glass right from my mouth! I couldn't believe it! You just didn't want me to have a drink at that moment, I guess.

You smile all the time whenever I say hi to you and the most awesome part of my day is when I go and get you in the morning and your face just breaks into the biggest smile, it seems as if your cheeks might crack from the sheer pressure.

I love it.

And, I love you.

We are coming into the holidays already and this will be your first Thanksgiving and your first Christmas. I know Brannan will command much of the attention, but you will be the prettiest girl in the house, no doubt!

Christmas Cards

I do love Christmas cards.

There is something about them that makes me happy. Getting one (or a few) in the mail really makes me happy. It makes me realize that even though I may not talk to friends for a really long time, or only see them on Facebook, or just plain got out of touch with them, still shows that they care about me and my family.

Yeah, sure, sometimes it is bragging. I don't like those all-inclusive 8.5 x 11 printouts that tell you all about how so-and-so graduated college and that all of the kids are getting straight-A's in high school, or how old that makes me feel even though I have a newborn and a three year old. Eh, I guess I started late, so what. But, I like the pretty pictures just to see how the kids are growing up or what sort of fun is being had along the way.

I like seeing people on the beach on their Christmas cards. I like seeing snow too, since I don't get to see it very often. Really, I just love pictures. A little glimpse into someone else's world for a brief second.

Anyway, I am going to use Shutterfly.com for my Christmas cards this year. They have an awesome selection:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

This one jumped right out at me (and not because it was the first one). I really like the black and white photos. I'm gonna try to take some good pics of us so I can use this template:
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/family-wall-red-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

Oh, I like this one too, but it is a fold out card and that means I'm gonna have to write something on each card! Ugh.
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/gorgeous-gift-tag-christmas-5x7-folded-card?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

Although, a wall calendar would be fun to make, but I don't have enough photos to make one of these I don't think.
http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

Finally, you can get matching labels for the envelopes! How cool is that?
http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/address-labels

Gosh, I better get on this holiday stuff.

There is just so much to do. I just got back inside from cleaning up the Halloween decorations. It doesn't even feel like Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but it really is. I can't believe how fast this year has gone.

Terrible

We had the worst Labor Day camping trip ever!

It started out that we lost the keys to the truck on Thursday night. Unbeknownst to us, the keys mysteriously fell into a pile of baby stuff that was carted off to our friends' house that night.

We searched high and low for 3 hours straight on Friday morning to no avail. And really, our house is not that big. The first twenty minutes could've pretty much covered everything.

Luckily, my girlfriend was allowed to use their extra truck from work to take us all up. So, we continued to pack to go camping but there was a mysterious undertone to everything. Everyone was slightly off edge and cranky. We got to our spot (that we didn't even want to go to) late so we had to set up everything in the dark, which is a total pain in the ass.

Friday night was ok. I didn't feel like cooking at all because I hate to cook in the dark, and hate to eat in the dark even worse becaue I don't know what the hell could be crawling around in my food. I really need to SEE what I am eating, at all times. So, I made some sandwiches for everyone (without condiments because we seemed to have forgotten those too) and some pasta salad. That was ok. A few cocktails later and everything was even better, but we had to get to bed because little children wake up really really early when you are camping.

Oh, rewind to the drive up to the spot - my friend gets a photo radar ticket in her work vehicle! OMG! So lame!

Saturday was ok, but the spot that we camped in is really really dirty. I know that sounds really dumb since you are camping, but honestly, it has this terrible dirt that is black and is so super fine, it is like powdered sugar fine. Super annoying and when you are wearing sandals, your feet are instantly black. The boys took off to go to the lake and got lost for like two hours trying to find the lake. They come back to the campsite and decide to go shooting and my husband forgets all of his ammo in the car. Duh! Whatever! What else could go wrong?

They come back from shooting so late, I don't know when to start dinner (there aren't exactly any cell phones up there), and then again, we are cooking in the dark and I was so pissed off about it, I didn't even cook. I threw a little bit of a fit about that too. Oh, and to top it all off, my girlfriend caught a cold.

Yay camping.

Not.

I had too many cocktails on Saturday night but had fun doing it but regretted it the next morning on the drive home. My girlfriend gets up Sunday morning and just basically threw a fit about being dirty and said she wanted to go home so we packed up and were home by 12:30 to continue the search for our missing keys.

We went swimming on Sunday afternoon, cleaned up a little, looked for the keys and ate some pasta for dinner.

Monday we had to return the car to my girlfriend and look for more keys. I called the towtruck, they took the car to the dealership. Luckily, they were closed though, so that allowed for more time to look for the keys.

Tuesday rolls around and still no keys. The dealership called and said it was going to be $600! Holy shit! Are these keys going to sing me romantic songs and take me out to dinner too?? Or, maybe to Hawaii? I could've flown to Hawaii for that price!

But, we still have no keys so I tell them to go ahead and do it.

Tuesday the husband gets home from work and we are getting ready to go pick up the MOST EXPENSIVE SET OF KEYS I've ever encountered when my girlfriend calls. I figure she just wanted to tell me something or other, but she says "I found your KEYS!"

Oh no you didn't!

Please tell me you didn't!

She did.

They were in a pile of baby stuff that left the house on Thursday night.

Mother #$%%%^^.

That was the worst and perhaps the most expensive Labor Day I've ever had.

But, hey, things could be worse, so I guess it is ok.

Two months

Two months old! It has been a little over two months since we brought our new little girl home. Things have gone pretty seamlessly too. It has been good adding another one to our family. She is filling out more and she is starting to look like a little girl now. She still has a little bit of the "froggy legs" left. It is super cute when you pick her up, she bends up her little legs like a frog. I absolutely adore it!

We have done so many things with her - things that we didn't do with Brannan when he was that little.

We already took her up to Montana for a two week vacation. She did great. She slept a lot and didn't really cause too much trouble. We were able to do most things that we normally do with her. The only thing we did have a problem with was all of us going out rafting together. My sister in law watched her one afternoon when we went rafting which was awesome. It was so nice to get out and go rafting. We went up to our cabing for a couple of days and took out the little boats out on Bowen Lake in Glacier National Park. It was fabulous. We started out on the most pristine water I have ever been boating on. The water was literally like glass when we started out. But, after a while, the wind kicked up and started making some pretty good waves. We got a little wet, but that was ok. Kinnerly likes boating, she didn't hardly complain at all. She liked that the boat rocked back and forth, I think. She slept most of the time. Well, she probably slept most of the time too because she was only 6 weeks old and that is pretty much what they do anyway.

While we were in Montana we saw lots of friends, went to a waterpark where Brannan rode down the waterslides all on his own! He was wearing a life jacket, but he loved it! I had a lot of fun too! I have always wanted to go to that little waterpark that we always pass when we go to GNP, and finally got to do it.

We ate lots of yummy food - all the local produce wasn't in yet because they had a really late frost so everything is kindof lagging up there, but we ate lots of lettuce and some snap peas out of the garden.

Since we have been back, Brannan has started going to preschool for two mornings a week. It is a nice break for me. I think maybe we should "up it" and go full days. Currently he only goes from 7-12, but at least he gets to play with different kids and get a feel of what "school" is going to be like. The time I have with just me and the baby goes by so dang fast, I mean, just two mornings a week to myself! Oh well, it is a start and I know when these kiddos start going to school full time I am going to miss these days. Today was only day 2 of going to school and I think he really likes it, but I have heard that he tells the teacher that he really misses his mom and his dad and his sister a lot. Awww, that is so dang cute! But, I know in the end he will really like this.

Our September is so packed full of stuff, it is kindof exciting. With Brannan going to school two days a week, then this Labor Day weekend we are going camping. Next weekend is Brannan's 3rd birthday party (oh my gosh, I really need to figure out a menu!) and the weekend after that we are going to go up to my parents cabin. Then, I really really want to go boating on my new boat. So, that will be the fourth weekend of September. That's crazy! And sprinkle in some babysitting and some dentist appointments and some doctor's appointments, it looks like September will fly by!

Kinny is doing so well. She had her big round of shots last week and she had a little reaction to them. She got some bumps on her legs but now they have gone away and I think that I may have overreacted a little bit. She is a snacker like me and drinks 2 oz every couple of hours and still sleeps a ton! Last night she slept from 8-5:30! Sweet! Sweet baby sweet baby! I love her to pieces!

I can't wait to go back to the gym though. I feel so disgustingly fat. I can't even believe what the scale is telling me too! I only lost like 10lbs having Kiki. WTH? And this week, I went up like 4lbs! Unbelievable! Kiki can't go to the little gym daycare until she is 3 months old though. I really need to get my ass in shape. Ugh. And, staying home all day doesn't help, what with the alcohol and the snacks tempting me all the time.

So, that's about it for now. Off to cut up salad for dinner.

Five weeks

Well, little girl - you are five weeks old today. You have developed a schedule. You like to wake me up at 5:30 and get me out of bed. Well, that is ok since you don't really cry, you just kindof grunt and make all these moaning noises. Somehow it wakes me up out of a dead sleep and I know you need me. And we have a little bit of time together until your brother wakes up. He has been getting up early too. I think it is because it is summertime and you both know that we don't have much to do around town. It is torture leaving you all in the house all the time, but on the other hand it is just too hot to go out and do anything. But, we will be leaving for Montana on Saturday. I can't wait. Your brother will be very happy to hang out with his cousins and play all day long. It will be interesting to see how it all comes down now that he is older. I just read a beautiful post about how a new Mom was saying how she didn't know if she could love a boy as much as she did the girls. I cried. I mean, literally bawled after reading it. I honestly felt the same way about having a girl. I am so scared to deal with her boyfriends, her period, her body issues, her insecurities - all these things that I have to deal with. It just seems so much easier to be a boy. I mean, I'm not one mind you. But boys - they just don't care about a lot of stuff. There are things that I agonize over that the average boy really doesn't care about. How I look in a shirt, how last year's jeans don't fit, how I hate my boobs. Gah! I just feel bad bringing a girl into the world that has to deal with all this stuff. But, it will be good. I'm keeping an open heart for it. I know she will be confident and self-secure and beautiful and worldly and wonderful.

Three weeks

So, now the weeks just fly by.



When I was pregnant with you, the days seemed to drag on and on.



I feel really bad for a friend who is overdue today. She was due on the 30th and it is already the 8th! They will induce her in two more days if nothing happens. I'm sure she will be induced.



Anyway, things have been going great with you, little smooshie. I've been toying around with nicknames and haven't really come up with anything great yet. Smooshie sounds good, no?
You have been sleeping a lot lately. Like, through the night and through the day. But, there are times when you are awake, which is great, and those times are usually during the day which is even better. You never cry unless we are out and about and I can't reach you in your carseat.



But, we took you and your brother up north to Payson for the 4th of July. It was super fun. I think you had a great time. Your brother and I and your Daddy certainly did!






Here we are in the park. We got there a little after noon and got the most awesomest parking spot and cumped all of our stuff out right in the park and had the greatest view of the fireworks. It was a pretty long day for everyone because we had to drive back home afterward, but it was so worth it. Your Daddy had to get out of town - he was getting a little cranky, so I suggested we head up there.





He liked napping with you in the park too.

And, now you are already three weeks old and counting. It is going by so fast!

We are looking forward to going up to Montana soon to see family. I can't wait to get out of this heat and out of this house!

Two weeks

You are two weeks old today!

You lost your little umbilical cord button two days ago. I saved it for Daddy to see, but it fell out of your carseat when we went out to dinner. Oh well. It was pretty gross anyway.

You have been opening your eyes a lot more lately and are inclined to stay awake for more than five minutes at a time now.

However, you are still a wonderfull sleeper at night and I thank you very much for that.

You are awake right now and want some food though, so I better go get you.