Great Grandma's

Feed ME

Kacen tried bananas for the first time today! On Friday he tried peas and Wednesday was his first encounter with vegetables, carrots. Applesauce was his first baby food on Sunday, his great-grandma had baby applesauce and I thought that I would try it. I put it into his cereal and what do you know, he liked it! He liked it so much more than the plain old cereal. I even added milk to cereal on Monday (nope not cow's milk) and he was so much happier! He loves flavor, cereal with water...yuck! He likes to hold his spoon and attempts to feed himself, though he ends up shoving the spoon all the way to the back of his mouth and gagging himself. He is a mess maker!! Twice I have had to give him a bath after feeding him, he gets food everywhere.

Lets go Fly a Kite

....Up to the highest height and send it soaring, up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear, Let's Go Fly a Kite! I love that song!!

We went to our church "playgroup" yesterday and they handed out dollar kites, I managed to put ours together and then after many tries we followed the majority of the other parents and tied an weight to our tail. We took turns, one child holding the string and running, the other child holding the kite, running and then letting go. Most attempts ended up with the kite being dragged behind the child that was running as fast as their little legs could carry them. The wind would be slightly blowing one moment and then the next it would die completely. Alona succeeded in getting the kite in the air, she was very disappointed when it came down after less than a minute. But it was awesome, I couldn't even get the kite in the air...and she did, what a great feat! Abbi had fun for the most part, I was sad for her that she wasn't able to get it in the air too.
It started to get really cold towards the end. At first the there was just one cloud and within that hour, you could barely tell that the sun was out let alone that it was ten minutes to noon, there were so many clouds.

First Day

Her first day went too smooth! I dropped her off ten minutes early and got to meet one of the assistants or teachers helpers. She seemed really nice and told me what the community playgroup was all about, what they taught and what they did. I asked her if they taught the children how to read. They don't, they have a letter of the day and the teacher reads to them. She implied that most children aren't ready to read yet, it all depended on how much the parents work with their children. Alona is already reading small words. They have story time, free time where they interact with the other children and play with the toys in the classroom, they make things by cutting out with scissors, coloring, etc. and they also have a snack. The snack for her first day, green goldfish and green milk, they had fun with Saint Patricks Day. I got there just as they were getting ready to go outside to play and wait for the parents, so I took a picture of the classroom door and went outside and took pictures of her playing. She had a great time and there were many children her age there! She was so excited to go that she actually let me do her hair without putting up a fuss! She adored her shirt that she got to wear too.
We came home to four children! What four?! Yeppers I watched my friends two children for her yesterday. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was actually very rewarding and kept me on my toes and when focusing more on children and making them happy and entertained I worry a lot less if I am happy and it just comes naturally! We went to the park, read stories, blew bubbles, played in our backyard, watched cartoons, played with toys, had two different meals and they were tired out and fell asleep on their own or just came and lied down around three o'clock. Their mom came a little after that to pick them up. Overall it was a great day! I have actually had thoughts of doing this for her more than once a week, her babysitter quit on her and I would love to help.

In the Morning

Alona starts pre-school tomorrow! The lady that I was continuously calling for over a month finally got back to me. I thought that I would be signing up for school for next year. When she called she says, "I have an opening for Mondays and Wednesdays, you could start this week." She gets to celebrate St. Patricks Day and wear a green shirt and interact with other children! It is at a great time, well kind of 9 a.m. is quite early especially to be all ready and at a place, but it is not interfering with any nap times!! It was a great thing I know someone who takes her kid there, so I don't feel as though I am leaving her with a complete stranger I feel much more at ease knowing someone who goes there and hearing good things about it.
I shall remember to take pictures and Paul is off tomorrow! (So that means they can be posted!)

Advancing

Kacen slept through the night last night and Tuesday night! Tuesday he went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at 7:00. Last night he went to bed at 9:30 and woke up at 8:00. So he went for 10 1/2 hours! I have grown so accustomed to disturbances in the night that now I am waking up 1-2 times without a baby crying at me. Kacen is eating baby cereal, last week he would gag and choke almost every time that it was administered to him and we would come to his aid with a pat on the back or a squirt of water from his bottle. At the beginning of this week he started doing so much better, his new found talent while trying to eat, talking and blowing bubbles! His ability to eat, swallow baby cereal has grown as the week has progressed. Watch out vegetables, here we come! Yes I took pictures.

Alona on Wednesday after much aggravation, whining and screaming is amazing at riding her two wheeler! Okay so it has training wheels, but she is doing so awesome. On Wednesday she had trouble making the pedal go forward when she was stopped, I showed her that she could wiggle the pedal and she showed herself how to push start it to move the pedal a little more forward. She fell on our ride around the block on Thursday, I helped her figure out that if she puts her foot down on the ground when she thinks that she is going to fall, she won't! So now she does that! I am so in awe to watch them grow to remember at what point Alona was at just last summer and her advances right now.

Interested

So this idea sounds fun and who knows if I will be any good at it, but hey here goes nothin maybe I can list something that someone doesn't know about me.

1. My name is Heather
2. As a child I was called Heather-Bear
3. I was very shy
4. I hid behind my grandmother and followed her when I lived with her in the sixth grade
5. I couldn't get all the soap suds out of my hair until I was 12
6. I had my grandmother wash my hair, and I would cover up
7. I was so embarrassed
8. I remember when my mother was an interactive part of my life
9. I miss that
10. Most days I think that I am a horrible mother
11. I have a hard time seeing the good in myself
12. I love(d) to sing
13. I would sing to the radio in the car
14. my aunts and uncles would make fun of me
15. I was in a school play, the pajama game
16. I couldn't tell stage right from stage left
17. My grandpa brought me flowers...Roses!
18. He made me feel special
19. the one man besides my husband who really ever has
20. I have now been compassionate service in a ward twice
21. I can easily tell the needs, feelings, etc. of others just by looking at them most times
22. I love Math
23. I do math in my head for fun
24. This could be genetic
25. I have a brother that I have never met
26. I saw his picture for the first time last month
27. I love to write
28. I know how to read a staff but have no idea whether the notes are "a,b,c,d",etc.
29. I moved around too much to learn how to play an instrument in any school
30. I would love to play an instrument
31. I haven't been on a date in six months
32. And I don't think that will happen any time soon
33. I drive myself crazy with stress
34. Five times a day there is a pile of books on my living room floor, I have to pick it up every time.
35. I am a neat-freak
36. I took seven years of spanish
37. No I am not fluent
38. I can barely carry on a simple conversation in spanish
39. I always have to be on time, If we are five minutes late everyone knows it
40. I try to get everything for the week done in one day
41. If there is something that I am aware of to do, I feel a sense of urgency to do it and quickly, though it could probably be put off more than a week.
42. I rode more than seven miles on roller-blades to give a boy that had dumped me a note, and I thought that it was fun.
43. On our Anniversary two years ago, I roller bladed to Paul's work from Magna(10 miles)
44. Yes I threw up my skittles in the car on the way to dinner
45. In Junior High I was on the track team
46. I couldn't breathe
47. Yes I came in last at track meets
48. I was in choir for three years
49. I practiced for and was in more than ten concerts
50. No family ever came to support me at sport or choir events
51. Yes I am more of a "feely" person. Lots of sharing the feelings and talking
52. I ask that Paul talk to me before hugging me when I'm upset
53. I like to know that I'm loved
54. I am not quick to judge and not easily offended
55. Though that is what I gather people think of me
56. When I take offense, it usually fades within minutes
57. I do not display what I am feeling on my face most of the time
58. I have never had a nice wedding ring and currently do not have a wedding ring
59. I am afraid to buy one
60. There are so many better uses for money
61. I don't like spending money on myself
62. I love when I am able to spend money to dress up my two cute girls
63. I usually put things that I don't need back somewhere between the aisle that I got them from and the check-out lane. I make sure that no one is watching me.
64. I don't like to spend money
65. But feel very secure when I have it
66. I have a habit of going without shoes
67. I flipped forward on my ten speed in the fifth grade with no shoes on and got scraped up pretty bad, I had a hard time walking home
68. I ruin many socks with my no shoes problem
69. I would like to go to college one day
70. I'm afraid my four year old will be smarter than me soon
71. I wear a size 7 1/2 shoe
72. I have long toes and fingers
73. As a child I was a toe-head
74. so yes, Abbi looks a LOT like me
75. I shower to get warm
76. At night I am too tired to read, clean or anything else, my head hits the pillow and I am out within seconds.
77. My house is quite messy
78. I read an hour and a half a day, of children's books
79. Yes, I do voices
80. I played kissing tag at my fifteenth birthday party
81. The only high school dance I ever went to, my date had a headache so I didn't get to dance.
82. I have never been in a mental institution, jail or prison uncommon in my family.
83. I love scrapbooking and taking pictures
84. Not enough any more to give up sleep
85. I used to stay up until 5 in the morning
86. I graduated early from high school
87. and worked at all a dollar
88. I don't like to work
89. I hate having to be somewhere every day
90. I thought that I would marry my third grade boyfriend
91. My grandpa owned his house
92. Yes I sluffed classes in high school
93. I ate at restaurants and did a few not good things
94. But Yes I still got straight A's
95. I am always cold
96. I love genealogy
97. I love my relatives alive, dead, those I've never met and will someday meet
98. I've attempted sewing twice, a dress and baby blanket
99. I've had a sewing machine for four years
100. Got it for free

affirmatives

Alright, Okay, Oh Goodness, Yes!.... these are a few of Abbi's new pleasant comments. I especially love the "Oh Goodness", so cute especially in her voice.

Once a week

This seems to be how often that I will really be able to post, when Paul is able to take a few moments to put my pictures up! My blog just doesn't seem worth doing much without pictures, there is just so much that they do for it. Abbi was splashing up a storm in the tub on Tuesday night and I thought of putting "Ant Killer" as the title of one because she splashed so much that there were puddles of water on the floor and it had drowned the ants home and I could see little ant bodies on the bathroom floor but it wouldn't have been as good without the pictures. She loves to splash and usually she doesn't get to, Alona most times is in there with her and yells at her to stop it. Alona does not like the water that much. Our bathroom floor was soaked.

Abbi is starting to learn to be potty trained. She likes to go occasionally, but then some days when I ask her to go she tells me "No Way". She does best with nothing on her at all or just loose fitting pants . When I put pull ups or panties on she has no desire to go to the potty. She is a fruit, she only wants to go when she is in a good mood, if she has just woken up from a nap or is not happy for some reason, then there is no way she will go. She loves going and sitting on the potty when we are anywhere but has yet to actually use those potties yet. She is doing great to me atleast she knows when she has to go and has somewhat of a desire to start, eventually it will be a full pledged thing!

Paul wasn't able to go to Abbi's birthday party at Thanksgiving Point, he was too sick. Glad that he was able to see her on her birthday though. He had the day off though he had to use it for a sick day instead of a fun day with his family. He needed it, he got much better I could tell the difference in him from Friday to Saturday night.

Abbi had a great birthday, we went to the Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point. She spent more time with her grandparents and her cousins and aunt Crystal than with her Mommy ( I was busy feeding her brother) but she was happy! They had a station where kids got to play in the water with sand and have fun and then there was a quarry where they got to dig in the sand and unearth bones that were buried beneath. Abbi had a Barney cake and got some fun presents, a elmo aqua coloring book, the color appears when you use the special crayon that has water in it. A big thing of bubbles, Abbi loves bubbles! A coloring book and crayons, two outfits. The Monster at the End of This Book, its a boardbook! Abbi loves this book, she brings it to me and says "Monser, Monser" she loves me to read the Monster! She looked so darn cute in her little apron while she playing in the water and the sand, I'll have to wait for that picture Paul forgot to upload it. Val and Ruth played with her, Val even climbed underneath the sand table to be right next to her playing. Grandma Wood made her an elmo blanket. And lots of hair things and a pretty necklace and bracelet from grandma Ruthie.

A few days after Abbi's birthday Abbi got a recorder in the mail from aunt Laura, now they play together. Alona our goofy one! They have enough instruments to start a band, they love music, now just to teach them.

Rosy Cheeks

Trying to catch a smile

This is in front of the mirror, he loves to look at himself and smiles so big It is a picture of the mirror with him looking into it.