Newsy News

I peed on a stick and got two lines!

Sweet Prayers, Stinky Diapers, and Barfy Weekeds

The other night we were having family prayers before bed. It was James' turn, but that didn't stop Aleena from repeating everything she could. James said in his prayer, "We're grateful to have the gospel in our lives," and Aleena, repeating what SHE heard, said, "and gwapeful for wipes." Naturally we had to end that prayer quickly. I couldn't hold my giggles back.

I think she's finally starting to get over her "Terrible Two's" all except one aspect of it... being stubborn. I don't think that one's gonna go away though, EVER. Probably at least half of what I ask her or tell her to do, she sweetly says, "No." And at this point, I'm beginning to think she'll still be pooping in a diaper when she's 10 years old! I'm open to suggestions on poopoo training, so PLEASE share your ideas!!! I just need to help her WANT to do it, cause she has before, once, but just simply doesn't want to anymore. AAHH!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week! We spent it with James' family playing games and visiting. It was loads of fun! Unfortunately though, we picked something up along the way and spent the weekend barfing, and poor little Ethan still is. He didn't start until the rest of us were pretty much done, so he hasn't quite gotten over it yet. I'm so excited for Christmas this year! I'm especially excited for my mother-in-law, Sherry, to get to spend it in France with her sweety, Phillipe. I hope she has a WONDERFUL time!! Anyway, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and has an awesome Christmas!! Just don't forget the real reason for the season!

Kid Stuff... What Else?

Ethan is at the point now where he's starting to say words. He says "Momma" and "Dadda" and a couple more like that, but the other day he said a new one. I was trying to feed him cream of wheat, which he usually loves and eats as much as me, but he wasn't interested. I tried a couple different times to give him a bite and the third time I tried, he shook his head and growled, "yuuucky". What a cutie! A few days ago, when I was at my first day of work, Aleena was watching her daddy play a shooting game on the computer. After James shot someone on the game, she said, "Daddy, you shouldn't shoot him, he might be good." lol Then yesterday she brought a bunch of her toys into the livingroom, dumped them on the floor, and sat on the couch to watch James play his game again. A couple minutes later I said, "Aleena, you need to pick up your toys and put them back in your room." She sweetly said to me, "No, I'll watch Daddy play his game." So I told her again, "No, you need to pick up your toys." She replied, with very little enthusiasm, "But I love to watch tv." So, trying not to laugh too hard, I said, "Aleena, I don't care if you love to watch tv, you still need to pick up your toys and put them in your room." Then, get this, she said, "No, Mommy, you can pick them up for me." Excuse me!! Not even two and a half and she's coming up with these kinds of responses!! We're in SO much trouble!! I couldn't get upset at her though, she's way to cute, and she wasn't saying it to be naughty, just matter-of-factly. I told her I'd help her pick them up, but they were hers so she needed to do it too, so she happily did. I'm so happy to be where I am in life!! I love my dear husband and our beautiful children so much!!

My New Job

I got hired on at Applebee's as a waitress!! I started my first day of shadowing (training) last night. It went well for me and for James and the kids. It's definitely going to be different not putting the kids to bed every night, but I don't think I'll be working every night of the week, so I'll still get to sometimes. I know there will be times that it's way harder, for both me and James, for me to be working, but I think there will also be lots of good things about it. For me, I get a break from the kids whether or not I want it :) and James was wanting to have more time with them, so that works out nicely. I just hope every night, at least for the most part, goes as well for James with the kids as last night did. I don't work again for a few days but when I do I'll get pictures so you can see the "Applebee's Kelli". I probably look so different you'll hardly recognize me!! :P

Pete and Repeat

During the day when my kids are both awake, their bedroom door has to stay open. Aleena likes to go in the room and wait for Ethan to get just outside the room and then shut the door. Yeah, sibling rivalry has begun. So the rule is no shutting the door. Aleena is in her room, supposed to be taking a nap. She kept getting up so I just went in there and put her back in bed and told her sweetly that she needed to stay in bed cause it's nap time and she needs to go to sleep. When I walked out of the room, I listened cause usually she has something to say in this situation. So a few seconds later she said (of course with her cute little voice), "Hey! You do NOT shut de dow!! You undowstan!? (growl) My kids dus don't yissen!" HAHA Wonder where THAT came from!

Big Words

I absolutely love using big words and hearing Aleena try to repeat them! It's so dang cute!! So her little doctor set that I got her... she was playing with her stethescope tonight and I told her what it's called and asked if she could say it and she's like, "No, I don't wanna say devescote." lol She's adorable. That's another word that I love to hear her say, only she actually says it right. I was painting her nails the other day and each nail that I completed she would say, "Oh Mommy, it's adowable!! It's so bewful!! My nails aow so pwitty!! They yook so cute!" She's always telling me I'm so smart and so cute... pretty much anything I tell her. lol I love that girl!!

Catching up

James and I took the kids to get pictures the other day. We don't have them yet, but I'll post some when we get them. Aleena was so cute posing and smiling the whole time. The photographer took a few picture with her and Ethan and she sweetly set her hand on his leg, ready for the picture to be taken. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. So Ethan has 4 teeth now, his two front bottom teeth, and the two top teeth next to the front ones. He looks like a little vampire!! I just started a potty success chart for Aleena. It's got like 15 spots in each column. Each time she pees in the toilet she gets a sticker, and IF she'll ever poo, she'll get 2 stickers. When she fills up a column she gets a special present. Today she completed another column and her special present was a little doctor set. I showed her what to do with the stethescope, but she had a different idea, so there's a picture of that too. And of course, she likes to make funny faces. This one is for Uncle Butt :D And the last thing I'm gonna blog about right now is... dun dun dun... I'm getting a job! I'm kinda nervous about it. I was thinking maybe I could take a little bit of stress off of James' if I work while he's at home. It might help him with schooling so he can concentrate more on school and not have to worry about the bills. Of course if either of us don't like it after the first week or two we'll go back to the old ways :) but we'll see. I'm trying to get a job as a waitress. I had an interview yesterday at Applebee's and today I'll talk to someone setting up my second interview. If I do get the job, I'll just be working for the dinner shift, so James will be home with the kids, feeding them dinner and getting them in bed. He's excited about getting to spend more time with them, but it'll definitely be hard to get use to for both of us I'm sure. Anyway, there actually is one more thing I was gonna say... Osama... I mean Obama is our new President. What do you all think? Honestly, I don't think it would have been much better or worse had McCain won, and I'm not really surprised at all that Obama won. I guess we'll just have to see how things go... are you nervous? I AM!

Tagged by Ashley Ellsworth

Here are the rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Answer the six "8" items.
3. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
1. Family Feud
2. Price is Right
3. Jeopardy
4. Wheel of Fortune
5. Biggest Loser
6. Smallville
7. Super Why (Aleena's favorite)
8. Extreme Makeover Home Edition

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Got ready for church
2. Got kids ready for church
3. Went to church
4. Gave a talk
5. Received a calling for Sunbeams
6. Came home
7. Took a nap :D
8. Spent time with my honey

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. James being done with school
2. Aleena finally being potty trained
3. Thanksgiving
4. Christmas
5. Having our own home
6. More cousins living closer
7. Going to Arizona again
8. Getting a phone call from Katie to tell me she's pregnant!

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Olive Garden
2. Johnny Carino's
3. Los Portales
4. Macaroni Grill (not excited about their prices going up...)
5. Chili's
6. Cheddar's
7. as far as fast food goes... Wendy's
8. Braums (for the ice cream)

8 Things On My Wish List:
1. Chairs to go with our table :)
2. A Chi
3. To beat James at Ticket to Ride
4. To also beat James at Anno
5. Aleena to be potty trained (I know I said that already, but it's a BIG one!!)
6. To find the perfect fabric for my costume
7. See the ocean
8. Visit another country with James

8 People I tag:
1. Sally Stokes
2. Sarah Rone
3. Julia Willis
4. Marisa Compton
5. Heather Lyons
6. Shyanne Bowman
7. Amanda Cole
8. Jessica Crisp

Just a few words...

Saturday morning, Aleena kindly asked me to put her hair up. The morning hadn't been going all that well and I was already a bit irritable, but I told her I would. I was doing to french braids half-way and then putting it up into pigtails. Just as I was about to get the first ponytail in (Aleena's calls them hair-ups, but it sounds like "haywup") she shook her head a whole bunch and the whole braid came out. I sort of growled a little and she said, "What's wawn, Mommy? Aow you fwustwated?" Naturally, I had to laugh. Amazing how a few words from my sweet little girl can change my attitude. James and I are amazed each day at how her vocabulary is expanding. James was spouting off random things yesterday along with his made up tune. Somewhere in the mix of it he said something about me being crazy and the next thing we know, Aleena says to her Daddy, "Mommy's fweakin cwazy." She's so much fun, but boy can she be a stinker!!

Arizona trip

So, last week I went on a road trip to Arizona along with my mother, Grandma, cousin Julia, Uncle Scott (or as Aleena says "Uncle Butt"), Aunt Kathy, and my children. It was so much fun!!! My kids did WAY better than I was expecting. I was very nervous for the trip, but they did great! I think they mostly liked having me sit right next to them and they had my full attention the whole time. We left at 4am on Wed. morning (8th) Missouri time and arrived to our destinations around I believe 1am-ish. I stayed the first night at my sister's, the second and third nights at my dear friend Ashley's house, and the last 2 nights at Katie's again. Friday night I got to go out with my to best friends in Arizona, Ashley and Jodi, to eat at Olive Garden and then sit in the car for about 2 and 1/2 hours talking. I'm so bummed though!!! I DIDN'T GET ANY PICTURES!!! I even had my camera out in the car! I guess that's what happens when you're up for the day at 4am (thanks to Ethan not adjusting to the time change). Anyway, it was a blast! Friday my friend Jodi cut my hair and we got to visit some more. Oh, and about the "Uncle Butt" part, Aleena is now correcting herself by saying, "Not Uncle Scott, Uncle Butt... No, not Uncle Butt, Uncle Scott... Yeah, Uncle Scott." Is it normal for a 2 year old to hold conversations with themselves all day long? Anyway, it's nice to be back home with my hubby, but I do miss Arizona already!! One more thing... if we'd stayed there just one more day I could have seen Ashley's new baby boy!!! He looks beautiful in the pictures though!!

Ethan got his first haircut last night! James held him with a towel around him while I used the clippers with the longest setting (1 inch to be precise) to cut his hair. I was a little worried that he might get freaked out by it, but he LOVED it! He was so calm and smiling the whole time. The vibrating on his head I guess sort of put him in a bit of a trance, as he stared off and slowly leaned his head toward the clippers every few seconds. He thoroughly enjoyed his haircut. And doesn't he look so handsome!? (please ignore the laundry pile in the background :P)

So, the picture with Ethan against the dishwasher, he does that when it's on. Again, I think he likes the vibration of it. When I vacuum he lays his head on the floor. Are my kids weird or do all children do this? And the last picture, he's just loving his daddy :D And I don't blame him! HE'S ADORABLE!!! I don't know how anyone could NOT love him!!!

Sponge Rollers

So, Sarah and I both bought some sponge rollers
and did our cute little girls' hair. It took Aleena
a few times until she realized the hair-do was
AFTER taking the curlers out. The first few
times I put them in, she had a meltdown when I
tried to take them out. Now she loves them
though and enjoys shaking her head in the mirror
when we take them out to see her curls bounce.



And this is,of course, after taking the curlers out of her hair. She insisted on calling her Grandma, Aunt Katie, and Uncle Brandon today to tell them, "Cewlews in my haiw, and it's so tute!" She is so cute, and she so knows it...

6 Quirky Facts About Me

Alright, so apparently I've been tagged now and am supposed to reveal 6 quirky facts about myself... So, here goes!

Quirky Fact #1

So I guess I'm a little OCD about a couple things... yes, I said a COUPLE... I don't think I actually ever realy noticed for the most part until after James and I got married and he kept pointing things out to me. The whole dishwasher thing, everything having to be loaded a certain way, I'm like that too. Before having a dishwasher though, James would tease me for taking such a long time doing the dishes cause I would rinse and organize EVERYTHING before starting to clean the dishes. And after they were cleaned, they would all get organized again, right down to the last peice of silverware, as I layed them on the matching towels on the counter to dry.

Quirky Fact #2

I have a REALLY hard time not correcting somebody's English spoken improperly. I know it's annoying, so I try not to point it out everytime I hear something said wrong, but sometimes I absolutely have to.

Quirky Fact #3

If someone has bare feet or they're wearing some kind of sandle, I always look. I'm not sure why, but I always have. Just a couple years ago I learned that 2 of my brothers do too. One of them actually went to the extreme of breaking up with a girl cause she had weird toes. I must admit, before I was married I did get quite turned off a few times by seeing the feet of guys I was dating and found that I didn't really like them as much anymore. Not just that they weren't good looking feet, but that the guy they belonged to loved feet. Sorry, just a little too weird for me I guess.

Quirky Fact #4

When I make a list for something, there can't be any scribbles or erase marks on the page and the writing has to all look the same. This is one of the things I didn't know about myself until my dear James pointed it out to me. If there is a scribble, unwanted mark, or mismatched lettering, I restart my list on a new piece of paper. Truly I had never noticed doing this until James started to tease me for having started my list over 5 times already.

Quirky Fact #5

This one really annoys my husband. I can't stand going to bed if the covers are messed up. If I haven't made the bed already, I make it just before laying down. I know, I know, kinda pointless right? WRONG! If the bed isn't made before laying down, I end up waking up with no covers! James is a cover theif!!!! I blame it entirely on HIM!!! (even though I was the same way before getting married... but that's beside the point.)

Quirky Fact #6

I HATE FLIES!!!!! James also teases me about this one, cause if there's a fly flying around, I can't be at ease until it's DEAD! The worst is if it lands on the tv while I'm watching a movie. Normally, I'll pause the movie until the fly has been officially terminated.

Making this list has brought something to my attention... I'm a lot more OCD than I thought! Hope you've all enjoyed my quirks! And now for the tagging of 5 peoples... I pick Julia Willis, Heather Lyons, Jessica Crisp, Jennifer Tonks, and.... Marisa Compton! I'll be looking forward to getting to know you all a little bit quirkier! Have fun!!

Language of a 2 year old

I know I already posted something today but I have to share one more thing. So I was putting Aleena in bed and we usually sing a few songs, but tongiht instead we had a very intuitive conversation. First I should inform you that we went to the zoo the other day. So, I asked her if she had a good day today and this was her response- "Yeah, and the gowaff so caiwy! And the hippo... hippo... hippo... hippo's so big! And the wivow so gwoss, and tinky. Pew, yucky. Okay Hippo, I'n comeen!! Mommy, the gowaff so caiwy!! Hippo's nice! Hi Hippo!" From the mouths of babes come the cutest, most interesting stories. I love when Aleena's opens up and tells me everything that going on inside her little mind! I tell you what, it sure makes up for those poopy days.

I'm a blogger now!

Okay, so I have officially decided that the hardest thing about blogging is deciding how to begin my very first blog post. So, what better than to start at the very beginning... a very good place to start... hehe k here goes. James and I have been married for almost 3 and 1/2 years now. Aleena turned 2 the end of July and Ethan is 8 and 1/2 months old. If I could go back and choose all over again, I would choose EXACTLY what I have!! My wonderful husband is in his third semester of college and, at this point, is headed down the path of becoming a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). We are presently living in Nixa, Missouri in our very own apartment, with some totally awesome neighbors, as some of you know, Sarah and Mark Rone :) I have the very special privelege of staying home with our lovely little munchkins and though I have some, literally, crappy days, I wouldn't have it any other way! Which brings me to my very first blog story... brace yourself!!! Once upon a time the Friday before last, Princess Aleena was chillin in Ethan's crib, supposed to be napping. She'd been quiet for about 45 minutes when I heard a strange whiny, squawking noise. I went to see what was the matter and found the dear Princess' hands covered in poo!! She wasn't sleeping afterall!! Instead, she had been thinking about how Ethan's crib would look better brown and decided to hand paint it herself!! Unfortunately, photographs were the very last thing on my mind, so there's no visual aid for this lovely story :P Hopefully this history is never repeated!! Luckily it didn't take me very long before I was laughing about it, but when it happened, needless to say, I wasn't very happy. I do adore my beautiful children and my magnificent husband and I'm very grateful that my life has turned out the way it is right now.