Easter

One of the many joys of parenthood: Easter egg hunts! Avery LOVED it!! the best part was looking inside. :) We love this kid!

Here is a wonderful poem sent by my sister:

I love the world at Easter time

Because everything is new.

There are blossoms on our fruit trees

And in our garden too.

And where the grass was dead and brown,

It's starting to look green.

The world just seems to come alive

Whenever it is spring.

It makes me think of Jesus

And that great, first Easter Day,

Of how He came to live on earth

To teach us to obey.

He died for us upon the cross

And suffered for our sins.

Then, like the trees and flowers in spring,

He came to life again.

And now when it is springtime,

I'm filled with Jesus' love.

I know He rose again so I

Could live with Him above.

Poop & Gas

Aren't you just itching to read this post? Ha!

Poop: Avery is doing okay with potty training; she's just not ready to take it all the way. After much trial and error, I've decided that incentives and hard-core training just aren't doing the trick. She is mostly happy to sit on the toilet multiple times a day, and though she's only peed and tooted a couple of times, I can tell she is happy about our enthusiasm in each case. I don't feel right about punishing her for going in her pull-ups or what not (besides a disapproval); I'm just happy she likes to sit on the toilet and is making slow progress. One day I believe it will click, but I'm not going to force it. If I could arrange for her to see a peer go potty, then I bet that would help (as Shelly says)... but that seems like an awkward request...

Gas: Well, I'm happy to report that Aspen is doing much better adjusting to life and getting out the gas ever since she hit 3 months. Thankfully, my diet wasn't a big issue. Alleluia! Unfortunately, I think she may have gone straight to teething because she is slobbering and sucking and trying to chew on things like crazy. Poop. Oh well! Her budding personality makes everything worth it.

Good morning, mom...

It's hard-core potty training this week. We're getting off to a good start, don't you think...

I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing... Either way, it was a humerous start to my day. You can't help but laugh and plug your nose; especially seeing a naked Avery looking concerned and saying "no,no." Yes, Avery, getting naked and pooping all over your carpeted floor in the morning is indeed a no-no.

Spring is singing

I've never had a great appreciation for spring and I think it's because I've failed to acknowledge its wonders. It honestly hasn't been until this year that I've paid any attention to a tree coming to life. Within a week, I saw a lifeless brown tree sprout green buds from my bedroom window. Maybe I had gotten so tired of seeing dead twiggy trees that this transformation made spring really sing for me. This morning we were awoken by the singing of the birds and I felt like I must be in heaven. What a refreshing way to start the day! I look forward to cultivating our first garden. I enjoy leaving the doors and windows open to feel the sunshine and breeze. Yes, I'd say spring is singing to me.

I must be butter...

...'cause I'm on a roll! Today was a fun and productive day. Don't you love those? I up and decided to get my hair cut (and surprise Brian) after 2 weeks of pondering over it. Ah! It feels great! I even got it done with 2 children in tow. We also went thrift store shopping for clothes and things. Went to the park. Did some laundry. I made a new dinner today (delicious Swedish meatballs with gravy, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms and rolls!!).

Oh, and I even cut Avery some bangs... not so proud of that one though! I thought... bangs have got to be the easiest thing; you've gotta be a moron to mess them up, right? I must be a moron! I swore I would NEVER be the mom who got whoopsie with the scissors and cut some frankenstein bangs on their child. Guilty. Poor, poor Avery. It's a good thing she doesn't care one bit, but for me, I feel totally shameful. Ah well, hopefully it grows fast...

More news: I'm going to do some gardening shopping this week so we can get things under way! Brian is going to be gone for FIVE days next week for a work trip to TX for training... I'm totally not looking forward to those 5 evenings. I hope I can keep busy on the garden while he's away. Tomorrow we're going to a work party and I'm making a cheese ball tonight. :) Saturday we get to go to the temple in Albuquerque. Things are going good around here.

It occurred to me

As I read over my blogs, I wonder if I sound a bit negative. I've always considered myself a positive person, so I wouldn't want to come across otherwise. I consider these daily ramblings just a part of average life and a chance to express both the joys and challenges of every-day living. I very much feel like I have a happy and very blessed life, so don't ever let me persuade you otherwise! I find much joy in being a mother of two beautiful girls and having a super awesome husband whom I am thrilled to see walk in the door every evening at dinner time!.... Which will be soon!!

What's on your grocery list?

This blog has quite a lot of topics of me rambling, so read the ones you want! There's also pics to see!

What are your cooking habits?

When you go to the store, what are your staples? My cooking habits are altering as life changes. I still want to and try to find the time for involved new recipes, but frankly, I can't do that on a regular basis. Maybe I'm just behind on my planning and can't muster up the energy to make some involving meals, but they're becoming fewer and farther between. I'm also learning I can use more pre-made or pre-prepared ingredients that cut on preparation time which help out (I'm not going to feel guilty for extra cost incurred, because the time saved is worth it). I do still have an appreciation for homemade meals (with less canned and boxed goods), but there can be a balance. It can be easy and gratifying to take a can of Ragu or Chili or Progresso Soup and expand it to family sized meals by adding more of your own fresh ingredients. In fact, I like the taste of this kind of mix.

Can you believe?

Today I discovered that it is actually cheaper to buy a large bottle of that pre-minced garlic than buy fresh cloves (which take up lots of preparation time and mess in the kitchen). I was dumbfounded! Why had I never done this before?? I always assumed it was more expensive. Granted, this is not always the case; store-bought stuffing or pita bread or salad dressing is probably going to be more expensive than doing them from scratch, but then there's the time factor. I don't want to spend all of my free time planning and preparing and shopping for these sorts of meals. Yet, It's probably healthier and tastier to do things from scratch- so I will not try to forsake this completely. What do you like to make from scratch?

Do you enjoy cooking?

I've been asked before what I like about cooking. I'm not really sure. I think it's the satisfaction and gratification that comes from making a good meal. As you can tell, I could care less for the process in and of itself, except that I know this is a necessary step for the desired outcome and so I try not to dislike it. The planning part is what nags me the most; I can work on that. I mostly enjoy making fresh breads and desserts because they're just mmm. Again, it's all about the outcome.

Sugar Cookies for FHE

Yesterday for FHE, we made sugar cookies. Honestly, if I'm going to use my sugar intake for the day, it better be on something worth it and this is why I don't normally do sugar cookies. I can think of many deserts more rewarding and deserving to eat. (This is also why I can't stand eating cheap ice cream; I don't like it very much, so why waste my desert fill on it.) Back to sugar cookies. I really wanted to do these just so Avery could have a fun time cutting out shapes- and she DID! It was a very rewarding activity for us all. She was so eager to cut out the shapes that she went too fast for us to control her and help her do it right (which is not normal for Avery, so we could tell she loved to do it!). The toddler had a great time and that's what it's all about! We smiled.

This is my fav. pic of Avery

Avery wanted to feed Aspen a bottle. Apparently Aspen liked the idea of sucking air!

Avery Bunk Bed

Okay, so I put Avery in her room for some down time and she climbed almost to the very top of the bunk bed with no ladder! She cried because she got stuck on her way up. When I came into the room, my heart skipped a beat. Tonight we are DEFINITELY doing something about this. Crazy toddler climber! Did I tell you she can climb out of her pack-n-play too? As a side note: Avery still takes naps but now later at 3pm. She also goes to time-out religiously (about 7-8 times a day, but it's good for her. She's really not a bad kid; just needs to be quicker to obey.)

Me Time

What do you do for "me" time each day? For me, it's a hot shower or blogging or checking email. I feel compelled to do other things like plan meals or sew Brian's pants during this time, but if they don't get done because I wanted to blog or take a relaxing hot shower, I know it was of necessity. I would go crazy spending 100% of my time on must-do's.

Recent Trip to Bandelier

After my brother's family left, we still had a pass to Bandelier, so Brian and I went back on Saturday to enjoy a hike to some falls. It was nice. We've sure been slowing down on house projects after going buck wild on it. We realize there's more things in life than working on the house....

We told Avery to stand by the rock for time-out. She did this position on her own. She cracks us up. :)

Aspen 3 Months

There's our sweet baby Aspen. Three months old!

Cute girls

Avery goofing around in the bathtub :)

Visitors!

No, not aliens. That's Roswell. My brother, Steve's, family came to visit us for this past week! They left this morning and I should probably be working on getting the house back in order or catching up on sleep... but first things first. ;) 76 emails and blog.

We've had a great time discovering NM together... great things worth doing again and other things we wish we'd done and some not worth doing again. All in all, we were SO happy they wanted to come visit us and hope to see them here again soon! The first thing Avery said this morning was "cousins?" I think she will be very deprived without them!

Now, prepare for picture overload!

Aspen with her cousin, Jared. He is 1.5 months older.

Hiking to Tent Rocks; those are the roots of a tree!

Still hiking to Tent rocks through a narrow, winding canyon. Cool stuff!

Tent Rocks.

We made quite the climb!

Playground in Albuquerque.

Swinging with Kara. Her cousins are all so great with her!

Jemez Falls hike.

Bandelier National Park. The indian caves. Pretty awesome.

Our bull-nose friend on the hike.

At the Aquatic Center. Avery had a great time with Uncle Steve!

Steve, Kara, Jared, Avery, Jacob

Me & Aspen. Her first swim went alright.

Santa Fe Children's Museum. Cool bubble, eh? I think Kara is holding her breath.

Kara dressing up Avery. Very funny!

This is where the guys stayed.. at the magnet table.

Hats at the Five and Dime in Santa Fe's Old town Plaza. Very cool place. We'll be back!

The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis Assisi. I believe this is the one they said is the oldest church in U.S. being used still today.

Evan, Jenn, Emma, Steve, Jared, Jacob, Kara, Avery, Brian, Me, Aspen

Just walking around the town. Avery did an awesome job! She loved it!

A few things of late: Me: I'm ready for another hair cut; hopefully soon! I gave up on my strict diet and have found that things are going just fine with Aspen's gas. She's probably just growing out of it and it wasn't really about my diet. I'm super happy about that.

Aspen: Aspen loves her bouncer and loves to stretch her legs when the diaper comes off (I've given her a little too much freedom with that!). I love her tiny baby-ness and cute little bottom. I love her very satisfied drowsy roll-your-eyes looks she gives when nursing. I'm so glad she takes a binki and a bottle when necessary. She loves to watch me and others and responds with smiles when you talk to her. Watch out, though, she has a reputation for getting angry fast without warning!

Avery: Avery has learned how to climb out of her pack-n-play and how to climb half-way to the top bunk without a ladder (quite scary!). She loves to sing ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, and Elmo's song. She can count from 4-11 in order, but when she throws a ball she says "2-4-3!" every time. I can tell how much Avery and Aspen are growing and it makes me happy to see my beautiful family growing. Avery has never been cuter; same for Aspen.