To the Rescue!

I woke up sick this morning. Everything from my shoulders up ache, but as a Mom, there's no such thing as a sick day-boo. My Mom called and hearing me try to talk (my voice is sick too) she said she'd be by at 4 to take the kids off my hands. We were all very very excited about this, even Eden who is really not into anything unless Mom is nearby. So after resting on the couch I'm on the computer. Awe. Hear that? That is the sound of my body resting and healing. I think my Mom will need a few days of rest and healing after this.

Taj started a game about a month ago, and I'm really trying not to read too much into it. It's called "Fat Dog" and involves only me and him. He squishes my tummy and yells, "HONK!" He asks me what I ate to get so fat and tells me he ate a whole chocolate cake. He's totally innocent and thinks it's a funny and completely fabricated story, but someone has to remind herself of that :)
I was teaching Eden what butterfly kisses are and later she starts trying to touch my eyes. I was a little confused until she said "touch butterfly."

Taj is more social than ever. Between church, preschool, and play dates he's a very busy guy. After a play date with Bennett I asked him if he had a best friend. He kind of smiled. I started naming his friends and he tells me it's Eden.

The kids are super excited about Halloween, which is normal. A lot of people around here really get into it and decorate their yards. I use the "let's go look for decorations." excuse often as a motivation for them to get into the stroller for my runs. I do not like the creepy Halloween decorations, and Taj does. So far my saying "it's pretend just to try to scare us" is working, but really inside I'm thinking I should leave a note asking these people to put the creepy stuff where young kids can't see it. Some of the houses really are taking it too far.

We just got back Preschool pictures 2009-2010. It might come as no surprise that this little guy is found with his nose in the books all the time. Eden takes him books and asks for him to read to her. He basically just turns the pages and asks her questions about the stories they both have memorized and point at the pictures. I can't believe that it really wont be long until he's reading for real.

Rewind...

We went to California last week and had a great time. It wasn't exactly eye opening, but there were a few things reconfirmed for me during the trip. -I LOVE the beach. Ashley Moffat explained it well when she said it's one of the most satisfying things to see your kids love something you love. On one of our plan free days in California we took the kids to the beach with the Moffats instead of Disneyland and don't regret it for a second. Happiest place on earth by far :) Thanks again Moffats. Lets do it again soon o.k. -Reconfirmed that Velzy and Ivy are cool little people. They taught Taj to body surf and make "drip castles". I don't know where Velzy learned her wrestling moves, but she has earned the Smith family's respect.

-Utah is a bubble. I was surprised by all the, um, colorful people out there. By colorful I'm not referring to non Anglo, while that is also true. You don't come across much variety here in Happy Valley, but we sure met some interesting characters there. It was refreshing, but also helped me realize what a unique place Utah is. There is a lot of junk out there in the world. The bums were very sweet. They often said how blessed we are to have such a beautiful family. I really do feel blessed.

-Water in California is cold, but not too cold after playing football on the beach, chasing seagulls, or when the waves look funner than the waves in Utah Lake.-Steve and Taffy (my in-laws) are a couple of the kindest, most patient and generous and thoughtful people I've met in my life. Let's just say traveling with little ones can wear a Mom down and put her in less than the best of moods. They were unwavering. I was met with constant smiles, love and willingness to help. Basically, they are superhuman. My heroes.

-The produce world IS worldwide. Duh, right? I buy grapes from Chile, and avocado's from Mexico. My onions from Washington, and on and on. Because Micah works with his Dad brokering produce in our basement I never thought about the magnitude of the business they are involved in, until we went to the Produce Convention in Anaheim. It was ginormous. We got all kinds of free stuff: food cooked by Tyler of the Food Network, pictures with the Ocean Spray guy, totes a plenty, stress ball potatoes and pineapples, pens, chap stick, avocado/lilikoi Popsicles (yum), and much more. It was huge and impressive and fun. If I could, I'd be a produce convention roadie. I loved it.

-I love free stuff :)

-It's always nice to be home after a long trip.

Thank Heavens For Little Girls!

Our little princess is 2 years old.It's been a busy 2 years. I hardly had time to stop and realize I don't have a baby anymore. Instead, I have these cute little monkeys. The skirt and cowboy boots are an example of her strong personal expression. I stayed up one night making skirts for her after she insisted on wearing one. Not a dress, or even pink leggings. It had to be a skirt. I'm proud of her stubbornness sometimes. I like a girl to be tough enough to stand up for what they want (in the right moments that can be one of the most important things for a girl to do).
While the pictures don't show her smiling, I assure you Eden LOVES to dance. She isn't smiling because she gets so involved and into her own dancer world. It's darling to watch, and I'm smiling for the both of us. She loves to put on her dancing skirts, do tippy toes and does better than most of the 3 year olds in the class. I'm glad we're finding things she loves. As I get to know her better I can look back and see her all along in the pictures.

For our little princess we had to have a princess party. She had specific plans for her birthday and has been telling us about them since Taj's birthday. She had to have a birthday hat and the birthday song.

We let the kids decorate their own crowns and cupcakes.

She loved her cake. My Mom offered a little candy off of it to her she said no. "Eat it after birthday song." There she is standing up for what she thinks is important again-what other kid would turn that candy down?

We are so proud of our Eden girl. As much of a princess as she is, she is sweet. Anytime she hears someone tell her sorry she says sorry right back to them. When Eden is doing something naughty she wrinkles her nose and smiles as if it's a little joke. She brings a soft and loving spirit to our family that we didn't know we needed. Happy birthday Eden. We love you!