Livin' the Lopez Life

Lawn Mowing

2010-07-24T16:15:00.002-05:00

A couple nights ago I was in the kids' room with them cleaning up toys before they went to bed. I was putting Mulan's jacket on and Aleena said, "Mom, she doesn't weally need that on."
Me: "Well, actually she does, cause without it she's not modest."
Aleena: "It's okay, she's just the lawn mowing giwl."
Me: "Uh, the what?"
Aleena: "She's the lawn mowing giwl. Hew name is Mow-lawn."

Then yesterday, Grandpa took the kids outside while he was picking sage leaves.
Aleena: "What aw you doing Gwampa?"
Gwampa: "I'm picking sage."
Aleena: "I'd like to help."
Gwampa: "Well, you don't know how."
Aleena: "I beg to diffew."

Innocense

2010-07-06T18:54:00.002-05:00

Aleena: "I'm gonna have 10 kids."
Mom: "Really?"
Aleena: "Yeah, and I'm gonna marry some of their dads."
Gramma: "Let's not go there."
Aleena: "Oh, I AM gonna go there... and Ethan's not gonna marry anything."

We Moved!

2010-07-06T10:47:00.002-05:00

We are officially living with my parents! If everything goes as planned, which I plan on happening, we'll be staying here permanently. We moved in last Tuesday. We're still trying to get things arranged, naturally. It'll take a while I'm sure cause we're also doing some remodeling in the process, so we'll be moving things around quite a bit for quite a while I'm sure. My children are even more excited to be here than we are!! Every kids' dream, to get to live with their Gwamma and Gwampa!

Dogs...

2010-04-20T10:52:00.002-05:00

Aleena informed me that we're getting dogs. She's got it all planned out. She'll have a pink one named Eliba, I'll have a red one named Esabba, Ethan will have a blue one named Fajis, and Daddy will have a black one and a brown one named Ehine and Ebine.

Pee, Mold, and Hair Gel

2010-04-12T20:08:00.002-05:00

Boys are disgusting. When Ethan goes potty, I give him a little bit of tp to dab himself dry so there's not a pee streak on the toilet seat. He reached too far back when he was wiping and it got on his hand... so he licked it. I had some baby food sitting on the table next to my purse so I wouldn't forget to take it to the store to exchange it. There was mold on it... so he licked it. I was fixing Ethan's hair with gel. Every time I do he points at it and says "Bandon!!" He thinks it looks like his Uncle Brandon's hair. He rubbed his hand it his hair and got gel all over his hand... so he licked it. Is every boy just as gross as the next?

Aleena was watching "Mary Poppins" today, or as she calls her, "Maiwy Puffins". There's a preview of Pinocchio at the beginning of it and Aleena said, "Mom! I wanna watch Okie Dokie!!"

Maya is getting so big! She's sitting up really well now and she rolls like crazy. She hasn't gotten up on her hands and knees yet, which is kinda nice... :) I've already got 2 hooligans getting into everything, I'm okay with Maya not crawling yet. She's such a sweetheart. It's so easy to get her to smile and she laughs all the time. She's a wonderful, happy baby. We're very relieved to have her as our third baby after having Ethan. He's adorable and fun, but boy is he a challenge!

Story of the Day by Aleena May

2010-04-07T08:01:00.002-05:00

While Aleena was eating her breakfast she said, "Hey, Mom, I have a stowy fow ya." She informed me that it was called "The End of the Crocodile". Then she proceeded as follows:

The two boys wew wunning and the cwocodile gave one boy a booboo. And that's not nice. And then the cwocodile put the boys in a cage. And then I went ovew to theiw house and then I told them, the thwee monstows and thwee cwocodiles, to not give the boy a booboo. And then the monstows went ovew to the boys' house and I told them to get out. Not the boys ow the gowls, just the monstows and the cwocodiles. Then I said, "WHO aw YOU!!" So then they wew talking nice. Then the gowls and the boys wew fine and I talked to the monstows and the cwocodiles fow a little bit and then I said, 'Shew shew!" Then evwyone was fine."

Not a bad story for a 3-year-old eh? And that's all directly from her mouth. I didn't modify. Just wanted to make sure that was totally clear. :)

Three Year Old Innocence

2010-03-06T22:20:00.002-06:00

I've been teaching Aleena the sounds letters make and she's been learing how to spell each of our names. A couple days ago she said to me, "Hey, Mom, I have and A, Ethan has an a, Daddy has an a, Maya has an a, and you have an a!!" I said, "Well, all of you have a's, but I don't have any a's in my name." Sadly she replied, "Aw, but I want you to have an a... OH! I know! I'll give you my a's!! I have 2 of them!" She's known how to spell my name for a while now, and since she made me that offer, she's been spelling my name K-a-e-l-l-a-i, because afterall, she did share her a's with me.

I was watching cartoons with Aleena yesterday and the nursery rhyme character "Mary Mary Quite Contrary" made her appearance on Sesame Street. Living up to her name, she argued with everything anybody said. My mom and I were comparing Aleena to Mary Mary, because Aleena pretty much knows everything in the world and, in her opinion, basically everything that comes out of my mouth is wrong. Today she wanted to watch the "D&C and Church History" video.... yeah, she's weird.... anyway at the beginning of a segment there was a scripture and she asked me what it said, so I read it to her and she said, "That's not what it says, Mom."
Me: "Okay, Mary Mary Quite Contrary."
Aleena: "No, Mom, she's fwom Sesame Stweet."
Me: "I know, but you are quite contrary."
Aleena: "No I'm not."
Me: "You don't even know what contrary means."
Aleena: "Yes I do."
Me: "Contrary means you argue with everything."
Aleena: "No it doesn't."
Me: "And you argue with everything I say."
Aleena: "No I don't."
Me: "Therefore, you are contrary."
Aleena: "No I'm not."

Good grief. I thought kids were supposed to be humble and teachable!!! Silly girl...

I actually did it!!

2010-02-11T21:32:00.004-06:00

Aleena has been begging me to cut her hair since I cut mine, which was about 5 months ago. Then recently, James has been telling me over and over that I should cut it... I caved in!! I have to say, I think it turned out pretty dang cute, although I am missing her long gorgeous hair. :( Here are the "before" pictures (next 2) Btw, I cut off 10 inches!!!!! We'll be donating that...

And here are the "after" pictures! What do you think?

I'm happy to report that Aleena absolutely loves it! She likes to flip it around a lot.

Silly girl.

I also have to point out that this is the first girl's styled haircut I've ever done! Not too shabby, eh?

Fun Family Moments

2010-01-15T21:42:00.005-06:00

Happy Birthday to Ethan!! He's 2 years old now!!! Oops, sorry, forgot to rotate the cake picture and now I don't know how :P If you just tilt your head a little to the left...

Someone REALLY enjoyed his birthday cake!!

Little Miss Maya loves giving her daddy kisses. She adores him! I can't say I blame her...

Kids ALWAYS have to wear their parents shoes :D

Here's one for you Uncle Scott!

We had fun making crowns with the kids. When James put his on, Aleena said, "Oh, how cute, Daddy! You look like a Pwincess!!"

Pictures!!

2010-01-03T21:16:00.005-06:00

The first three are within her first week. The others are up to date. Mostly just kids being silly. 1. They used up all the stickers so they thought it'd be a good idea to wear the sticker part that was around the real stickers.

2. Aleena had a skirt on so Ethan decided he needed one on too.

3. Reading Pooh together.

4. Ethan turned my stereo on and they brought their chairs in and were chillin.

And the rest, just goofin around.

Of all the discusting...

2009-12-16T21:21:00.002-06:00

I was cleaning the kitchen this morning and in the middle of rinsing off the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher (what a wonderful invention btw) the garbage disposal decided to stop working. I figured it was just clogged, but I wasn't even about to put my hand down there. A few ingredients that were in the sink are as follows: raw chicken, fish, cabbage, bread (Ethan trying to help clean), and a few other things. As the dishwasher was going this sink filled up, which I didn't realize for a while cause I wasn't in the kitchen anymore. It was getting a little stinky, then I thought maybe I should go check on it. The sink was filled to the top with quite revolting, brown, chunky water. So I stopped the dishwasher, scooped some of the water up a few times with a huge bowl and threw it in the backyard so it wasn't overflowing anymore. After lunch Aleena put her dishes in the sink and was taking a little longer than she should have.... yeah, she dipped a cup into it and DRANK IT!!!!! I was gagging so hard!! WHY DO KIDS SO SUCH NASTY THINGS!?! It's amazing that some children live through such stages of life... like when Ethan ate his poop...

She's a thinker...

2009-11-25T11:39:00.002-06:00

Something that my kids like to do that I really don't like is that they suck water out of their sippies, spit it into lock blocks, and then drink it... nasty. So this morning Aleena was doing that (while hiding out in her room cause they're not supposed to) and she spilled water all down the front of her shirt. She came into the kitchen whining cause her shirt was all wet. I asked her if she was spitting out her water again and she's like, "Uh... no... I.......... I think Ethan did it. And he was weawing my clothes!! Yeah, he was weawing my clothes and spitting out watow and he got my clothes all wet!!" Perfect "no lying" lesson opportunity right? Yeah, not so much for her, she just argues with whatever I have to say about ANYTHING. Then an hour or so later I said to the kids, "You guys know I love you right?" In a silly voice Aleena said, "No..."
Me: "Well I do. I love you lots and lots."
Aleena: "Jesus wants us to, huh?"
Me: "Yes, he wants us to love each other, and to be happy, and be good, and to ALWAYS tell the truth!"
Aleena: "And he wants us to dance?"
Me: "Sure, yeah, he wants us to dance..."
Aleena: "Then we can put ouw jammies on and you can tuwn ouw house into a dance! But that wouldn't be good."

Yeah, I don't know where that girls comes up with some of the things she says. I think she's a little kookie. She makes me laugh a lot.

Her mouth just keeps on runnin...

2009-11-11T09:11:00.002-06:00

Aleena has been talking nonstop since she's been awake this morning!! I just have to post what she's been saying. She was putting on her Sunday shoes (they have a little heal on them... so cute!) and I told her I didn't really want her to play with them cause they're just to wear to church. Here's her response:
"Then I can weaw them to chuwch on Sunday with my tights with my dwess with the dots with my shuwt?" (polkadotted spaghetti strap dress that she wears a shirt under)
Me: "Yep."
Aleena: "Oh, okay. That would be nice. Yow a good fwend!"
She then set her shoes down and Ethan came along to pilfer them and try to put them on. Then she said: "Hey! Those shoes aow not fow boys to weaw! Boys do not weaw tights or high heals! Mom, he's weawing my shoes and he's being weawly fweakin naughty!"
And then she went on to inform me that she wants to take a "reading adventure".

Where does this stuff come from?

2009-11-10T15:42:00.002-06:00

James and I took a little vacation last weekend and went to my parents house. The kids and I were particularly needing out of the house. At church on Sunday was the Primary Program in Carthage. Aleena was talking to my dad and said, "The kids just keep singing over and over again! What's that all about? I don't think they're going to stop!"
My dad replied, "Do you want to go up and sing with them?"
Aleena: "Well, I don't know the words to this song... so no, I don't want to sing."

She's such a smarty pants.

Ethan is doing okay with the potty training. Not great, but good. If I keep a close eye on the clock and take him every hour he doesn't have any pee pee accidents, but he still would rather poo in his pants than in the toilet. What's with my kids being so freaked out at the though of pooping on the toilet!? I personally don't think it's a scary thing to do.

So, James and I are really excited for "New Moon" to come out!! The only problem is that WE DON'T HAVE A BABYSITTER ANYMORE!!! Nancyann, you're too stinkin busy! Of course, if you would like to make a few extra bucks and watch our kids just one more time before you leave, that would be awesome! ;) Your mom told me your play is over on the 21st, and that's about when we'd be needing a sitter.... just thought I'd throw that idea your way. Let me know if you want to :)

Maya is a wonderful baby, but we really need to get her out of our room!! James and I don't sleep very well cause the sweet little angel snores!! At least she's a good sleeper though, huh?

Making cookies

2009-11-05T11:01:00.002-06:00

The other day I was making cookies and Aleena asked if we could watch a movie together and eat cookies. I told her that would be fine but we'll have to wait till the cookies are done. She said, "Yeah, and I can have a GWEAT BIG cookie, like THIS big!!!" (she opened her arms out wide to a big circle)
Me: "Well, I don't think I can give you a cookie that big."
Aleena: "Why not?"
Me: "Because that would make you sick."
Aleena: "OH!! Then I can go to the doctow, and I can feel bettow, and then I can have ANOTHOW gweat big cookie!!!"

What a dear child! She always has the perfect solution for everything :P

So last week on Tuesday and Wednesday I told Ethan over and over again throughout the day that his diapers were almost gone and that he was gonna wear big boy underwear and go pee and poo on the toilet. Then Thursday... dun dun dun... the adventure began. We had lots of accidents Thursday, which I had totally mentally prepared myself for btw, and each time he did I said, "Uh oh, we can't pee in our big boy underwear. We need to do that in the toilet now," and he'd sit on the toilet for a little bit each time. Friday, we had a couple accidents, and since then we haven't had any pee pee accidents!! He's gone poo on the toilet a couple times but hasn't quite mastered that part yet. We're so proud of him!!! He's doing a great job!! YEAH!!!!!

And as for our dear little Maya, she's just as sweet as can be! She's got a pretty good schedule during the day. She goes to bed for the night between 7 and 7:30 and doesn't wake up to eat usually until 4ish. She's 2 and 1/2 months old now... I know I know, I still haven't gotten any pictures up. We're having camera/scanner issues. Hopefully we'll get it all figured out soon though.

So, being the mother of 3 is a ton of fun and extremely busy most of the time. I really miss blogging but I'll do by best to do it more often. And I've also read a few of your blogs today trying to get caught up :D Anyway, love you all!!

Our Newest Arival!!

2009-08-25T12:05:00.002-05:00

We've had a baby, shout hooray!! Maya Renea Lopez was born last Thursday, August 20th at 1:14 PM. She was 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long. She's a beauty!! She's got lot's of black hair and she's full of smiles already! Sorry I don't have any pictures on, but I'll get them on just as soon as I figure out how :P So far she's been about as perfect as a baby can be!! She's been sleeping 5 or 6 hours at night, eating, then sleeping for 4 or 5 more!! It's been wonderful!! She's also very talented at pooping as we change her diaper. Happens almost every single time. Anyway, I'll get some pictures up soon, don't worry!!

Yesterday we were driving around (all needed out of the house) and James and I got us some food. Ethan and Aleena had just eaten so we were just sharing fries with them. Two seconds after I would give them fries they'd both start repeating "more, more" like the seagulls on Finding Nemo "mine, mine"... Yeah that gets old REAL quick. James said, "Oh my gosh! Kids, just be quiet!!" And our dear Aleena's response was, "Hey, I'm not a kid! I'm 3 yews ode!! Just leave me alone!!" The rest of the way home Ethan just kept saying, "Dude!!" over and over again.

This morning I was getting breakfast for the kids and I THOUGHT they were both in their seats waiting for it. Then Aleena said, "Hey Mom, I'm holding Maya!!" Talk about a near death by heart attack experience!! I ran into the livingroom and, I'm not really sure how, Aleena was walking around with Maya cradled in her arms!!! AAAHHHH!!!!!! As soon as I had Maya out of Aleena's arms, Aleena started sobbing, "I just wanna hold my sistow!! I wanna hold Maya Wenay!!" Ethan and Aleena are both very good siblings to Maya and they want to hold her and help any way they can.

What's Said Isn't Always What's Heard

2009-06-16T11:34:00.002-05:00

The other day, I was in the bathroom getting ready for work. Ethan's not allowed in the bathroom, and he knows it. We have a gate up in the back of the hallway and he came and pushed it down, said, "Uh oh," and the came into the bathroom and stomped his feet and laughed. I told him to get out and Aleena's like, "What's wrong, Mommy?"
Me- "Ethan's being a pill."
Aleena- "He's being a pillow?"
Me- "No, he's being a pill, a stinker. He's being naughty."
Aleena- "He's being a pillow, and stinker, and he needs to go potty?"
Then she laughed. She knew that wasn't really what I had said. I must say though, I do think that was quite clever of her. She's so dang hilarious!

Speaking of Clever... on the 29th and 30th we're moving to a duplex in Clever. It's about 10 minutes away from where we are right now. We'll be next door neighbors with Brandon and Lauren!! We're very excited to move there cause we'll have a LOT more room. The apartment we're in right now has absolutely no storage space. Our duplex has a garage, and attic, drawers in the bathroom (yeah we don't have any here), and a walk-in closet in our room. We'll get to put a lot of stuff in the garage instead of stacked up in the bedrooms or hallway. And we've made a couple purchases lately for decorating stuff. Our couch was really ugly so we got a cover for it and it looks a million times better!! We bought a rug for the livingroom, which looks quite nice with the couch cover. And we're either going to buy a cedar chest for the kids' toys or James is going to make one, haven't decided yet. And depending on what kind of deal we can find we might buy a cute rug for the kids' room too. Okay, I think I'm done with my random babbling for this post. :)

Long Time, No Post

2009-06-11T12:10:00.002-05:00

Don't worry, I'm still alive. :) So, about that last post I made, it's a girl for those of you who haven't heard yet. Her name is Maya Renee Lopez and she's due to come August 26th. She moves around ALL the time and doesn't like to have her heart rate checked. At the last appointment I had, when the nurse was trying to get her heart rate, Maya kept kicking the monitor and moving away. It was interesting.

So I'm sure you're all ready to hear some fun Aleena and Ethan stories. Well, I have some!! Last Sunday at church, we were sitting next to Brandon and Lauren (brother and sister-in-law) and Aleena was sitting on Brandon's lap. He told her she was adorable and she replied, "No, I'm not adowable. I'm just a cute little giwl." Yesterday we were in the car driving around and James turned on rap music. I looked back at Ethan and he was totally rockin out bobbing his head back and forth. It was hilarious! And one more story to wrap this post up. A month ago my family was all at my mom's house. My brother, Daniel was singing a rock song to Aleena. I think he said it was called "Helena" (something like that) but he changed it so he was singing her name. After he sang, this is how their conversation went.
Daniel- "So, Aleena, did you like my song?"
Aleena- "Um, no."
Daniel- "No? Why not?"
Aleena- "Well, it was kinda loud."
Daniel- "Well, is there anything I can do to fix it, to make it better?"
Aleena- "Yeah, maybe you could stop singing."

I just have to say, as hard as being a parent has been at times and will be many times more, I love our children so much! They bring so much joy and happiness to our lives and make us laugh all the time! Out of the mouths of babes.... you never know what will be said next!!

Newsy News

2008-12-19T10:44:00.001-06:00

I peed on a stick and got two lines!

Sweet Prayers, Stinky Diapers, and Barfy Weekeds

2008-12-03T14:16:00.003-06:00

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?

2008-11-15T15:37:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-14T13:25:00.002-06:00

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

2008-11-07T13:42:00.000-06:00

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

2008-11-05T20:53:00.000-06:00

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

2008-11-05T12:23:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-27T16:32:00.000-05:00

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...

2008-10-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

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

2008-10-17T13:40:00.000-05:00

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!!

2008-10-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

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

2008-10-06T15:15:00.000-05:00

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

2008-10-02T14:58:00.000-05:00

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

2008-09-29T22:13:00.000-05:00

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!

2008-09-29T14:22:00.000-05:00

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.