Did You Know?

This week has been extremely uneventful except for the fact that all of us are sick with some kind of flu/strep/zombie (because that's what I feel like) virus.  And to add to that Skyler's getting in 4 (!!!!!) teeth.  Jackpot. 

Contrary to this picture, Skyler has finally learned how to eat with a fork.  He even fed himself spaghetti with one.  Very impressive, Little Handsome.

 Building a tower of..... cars?!  OK.

Playing Peek-A-Boo (yes I realize I need to clean off my island)

Since nothing has happened this week, I'm going to share a few things about us I bet a bunch of y'all don't know!!!!

SKYLER

• He was given the nickname "Ah-Ah" by his loving older sister.  She CAN pronounce Skyler but she chooses not to.  Now he's starting to call himself "Ah-Ah."
• Took 16 months to finally start sleeping through the night and he's still not perfect at it.  
• He can already count to 3 (because of the many times I do this as a threat to them each and every day!  Aren't I such a good educator????)

LILY

• May possibly start pre-school this summer as a continuation of her speech therapy.  We're not sure if we're going to do it or if she'll even need it at that point, but we KNOW she'd love it.  She loves all things social.
• She asks me every day if we can go to church.  When she says blessings on the food she often talks about each of the members of the family and then continues off into her ramblings about bunnies.  :)
• Has to draw in her notebook every single day.  She used to just draw bunnies and flowers and now she's drawing shoes and clothes.  She is DEFINITELY a girl.  :)

BEN

• Had a stroke when he was 3.  He was right handed before the stroke but since he lost control of that side of his body he underwent therapy and learned to become ambidextrous, which he still is.  
• Worked for the Water Department of Rexburg and did construction work to get us through college.  He also worked at a car shop in high school so if you need ANYTHING fixed, he can do it.  I've lost any of my doubts in him with his fix it/build it skills.  So if y'all need anything done you know who to call!!!  (P.S. We are planning the coolest wood project EVER for the kids!!!  Stay tuned!!!!!)

HEATHER

• Hated girls who got married after their freshman year until I became one of them.  :)
• I can't fall asleep unless my feet can rub blankets, Ben's feet, or each other.  This is how I've been since babyhood.
• I adore having a 6' 3'' husband because I can wear the tallest pumps possible.
• Also, velvet is the absolute worst tangible thing my skin can make contact with.  It's seriously gross.  I DESPISE the feeling of it.  Every now and then when Ben wants to pull a prank on me he'll grab one of Lily's velvet boleros and rubs it against me.  TRUE TORTURE.  

So was any of that new to you?  Or do you know us THAT well?

Verbal Editing

I have been putting off Skyler's adjustment to one nap a day.  I NEED his morning nap more than he does.  But this week I finally surrendered and he has switched to only one nap a day in the afternoon *sob.*  Then this morning I discovered him passed out on the couch.  So much for that idea.  He got a full morning nap there and Lily even put his snack up in his face without him flinching.

So last night Ben was all snuggled up with Lily on the couch and they had this conversation:

BEN: Lily, is Mommy cute?

LILY: No.

BEN: Is Mommy pretty?

LILY: No.

BEN: Is Mommy gorgeous?

LILY: No.  Mommy's hot.

I think it's about time that Ben and I start editing what we say in front of the kids.  :)

And after quite a bit of deliberation I'm almost done with decorating Skyler's room!!!  BOOYAH!!!!  Post to follow soon!

Milestones

Do y'all remember when she looked like this?!  It was right before she turned 1, when Skyler was just a horizontal mountain in my tummy.  Sigh.

Today Lily and I had this depressing conversation:

ME:  What did you just say, Lily?

LILY:  Dog.

ME: Did you just say duck?

LILY:  No.  Dog, Mommy, Dog!

Dog.  Not "Bark Bark."  Ugh.  I'm not ready for this.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for her speech therapy and I always encourage her to say correct words.  But "Bark Bark" was one that I held on to.  It was one of those things that I'd say back like, "did you just give Bark Bark a kiss on the head?"  Sigh.  Why do they grow?!  

Last weekend was a huge milestone for Lily AND Skyler.  Let's start with Lily, shall we?

She started using the potty.  At her request.  Of course this is only a beginning, but I see a beautiful image in my mind of saving $25/month on diapers.  I can hear the harps playing now...

And perhaps Skyler's news is just as important!!!  On Sunday, for the first time in 31 months Ben and I were kidless for the last two hours in church!  Skyler is officially in nursery now!!!  I thought for sure he would struggle (Lily ran right in, immediately became a teenager, and pretended we didn't exist).  But Skyler's the snuggler.  He's the mama's boy.  He's the kid who cries when he drops a toy at his feet.  We were prepared to stay with him in nursery, but NOOOOO, the boy LOVES nursery.  And when Ben went in to pick him up they had the bubble blower going and Skyler solemnly said, "buh bye bubbles."

Skyler really shouldn't be in there until the 30th, but Ben and I have been called to be CTR 4 teachers, and they let him come in early.  That was our VERY first calling when we got married so we kind of know our way around this age.  :)  They're fun.  Don't get me wrong, I love these kiddos, but one day I would love to have a calling outside of Primary.  Perhaps that day will eventually come.  :)

Skyler 6 months

My "Too Cute Bark Bark"

 And the beat goes on....

 My kids fight over who gets to help me sweep.  Sounds sweet doesn't it?  Usually it just means my dirt pile gets scattered and I have to hurry and finish so I can hand them the broom.

 Little Handsome in all his cuteness.

 This week Lily decided it would be fun to invent the game "Napping," in which you pretend to take a nap on the couch with your blankie.  Skyler even joined in.  

No noise.

No fighting.

Nothing broke.

No refereeing on my part.  

This is the PERFECT game!!!!

Until........

 Skyler got bored and stole her doll saying that it was Daddy's.  Thanks for finding it, Bud.  Daddy's been looking for it for a while now.....

 And then Skyler got bored again and raided their secret stash of forbidden objects (that I still haven't found) and created this beautiful piece of artwork next to the fireplace.  Now let's hope that the extra paint the builder gave us matches the existing wall color....

Lily made us brownies.  Have I ever mentioned how much she loves to cook.  Yes?  Oh.  OK.  But seriously, it's like therapy for her.  She even loves cookbooks more than real books.  If I need to make an important phone call I hand her a cookbook.

Last night we had a precious moment of eating "Lady And The Tramp Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup."  It was AWESOME.  She kept doing it over and over and finally we had to tell her we couldn't so that WE could eat!

So my sister, Lizzie had her twins on the 30th.  Emmeline and Jane Wilcken.  They've both spent time in the NICU and have had a really difficult start to life.  Jane finally came home, but Emmeline is still there.  They're not exactly sure what's wrong with her.  Prayers would be appreciated!!!

My mom, of course, flew out to Seattle mid-December to help and now my Dad's had to fly out as well.  They need all the help they can get at this point while they're averaging little to no sleep.  (In case you're unaware my sister has 3 kids 5 and under before the twins).  So what does this mean for us???

We have our first house guest: my/my parents' dog Mia.  The kids were thrilled beyond thrilled.  And yesterday as Lily tickled Mia and squeaked up in her highest voice she said, "Oh Bark Bark!  Too cute!!!"

Dang life's rough.  ;)

2011

Since when did my kids look like this???  Oh since a year ago.  

Skyler was still doing tummy time and Lily had a vocabulary of just a few words, mostly animals.

It's hard to believe that a year ago we had just barely moved in with my parents.  Ben was on the hunt for a job.  I was still waking up 3 times a night with Skyler despite him being 5 1/2 months old.

As I look back at the year I can't believe everything that has happened.  Now that I look back at life it really didn't start until I got married.  So I guess that makes me only 3 1/2 years old.....

So onto last years' resolutions... did I actually do them?  I only had 2 specific goals, after all.

#1: lose 10 pounds.  Check.  (Although I don't recommend the "stress diet" that I was on.  Extremely UNhealthy.)
#2: don't get pregnant.  Check.  (Bless you ParaGard)

Ta da!!!!!   (Although I can say that neither of those are my goal this year.... just saying....)

This year is going to be even more simple.  I've learned that I do much better when I'm not pushing myself to do 5.34 billion things at the same time.  So my goal this year is to make an everyday effort to stay spiritually healthy, and to have a good, strong relationship with everyone in my family (not that that's difficult for me).

This past year has made me face the biggest uphill battle of my life (Ben's unemployment) but this year has been the one that I have grown the most BY FAR.  I really want to share the difference in myself as a testimony to you.

You know those times when you don't get to bed until 11:30 and you're exhausted and you think, "I'll just read half a chapter in my scriptures tonight???????" or maybe even "I'm too tired to read at all?"  I didn't do that this past year.  I read the whole chapter just about every single night because if I'm willing to waste 2 hours on a movie, or reading, or blogging, I should be willing to spend much more time dedicated to the Lord.  That small change has made all the difference in my life.  Pretty bizarre, but it has been the key to blessings for me.

I hope this year will treat all y'all well.  If you're reading this blog it means we love you!

North Carolina 101

After reading the comments to my last blog post, one really stood out to me.  Ben's Aunt Cheryl, who I think really should be blood-related to me instead (and on top of that we share a birthday!) asked me the question: "I don't understand why you had to stay another night at your parent's house because of the snow??? Doesn't Benjamin remember how to drive in snow?"

This made me realize something important: although I update our blog frequently (I think so anyway), there is no possible way for me to cram every detail of our lives into a blog.  There's no way, and I wouldn't want it that way even if I could.  

But, the key thing here is that I have realized that I have never talked about North Carolina.  This is where I grew up, so everything seems so normal to me.  I totally spaced it that "all y'all" don't know the details of this wonderful place.  

So allow me to take you on a tour.

Welcome to North Carolina, one of the 13 original colonies! *cue the 13 original colonies song.... wait, no don't.  It's pretty annoying*

Home of the Biltmore Estate

Cape Hatteras lighthouse

Appalachian Mountains

YOU most likely pronounce this word "App-uh-lay-shun"

WE NC folk pronounce it "App-uh-latch-in"

Potato, Potahto

Raleigh, aka my hometown

Wasn't that awesome?!  Great place to live right?  Are you already packing your bags????  

No?

Didn't think so.

But back to Aunt Cheryl's great question.  Why were we stuck at my parents' house for an extra night when 6 inches of snow collected on the ground?

Here's why:

We get snow in such small amounts that people here have no idea how to drive on it.  North Carolinians are like toddlers behind the wheel and just going to the grocery store is a matter of life and death.

We witnessed a perfect example of this on Boxing Day.  We were all looking out at the snow in our front yard when a 4-wheel drive truck drove up our street..... SIDEWAYS.  Then he got stuck right in front of us.  (It was actually quite hilarious) He thought it was best to floor it on the accelerator instead of rocking it out.  He went nowhere for a while.  Then miraculously he started moving again..... still sideways.  Sigh.

When the weatherman predicts snow, go grocery shopping early.  Don't wait until the night before.  You'll hit crowds.  BIG crowds.  Besides, there won't be any bread, eggs, or milk left anyway.  People always feel the need to stock up big-time when just a mere inch is predicted.

Why?  Because the whole city shuts down.  1 inch of snow means a few days out of school.  I was out of school for over 2 weeks when we got 18+ inches one year.

This place is CRAZY!

So if you have never been here and are planning a trip during the winter, come prepared with lots of clean clothes should your power go out, make sure you have a kerosene heater and/or generator, and please, stay off the roads.  We wouldn't want anything to happen to you, even if you ARE a wonderful snow driver.

Our White Christmas

 The kids meeting Santa for the first time went something like this:

Lily:  "OMG I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!!!!!!"  

Skyler: "Holy cow look at all of these awesome decorations!!!!"

Camera lady: *squeaks toy to get them to smile*

Lily: continued screaming

Me: I give up.  Take children away from Santa toward exit.

Lily: (super happy now) *waves* "Bye Santa!   Bye Santa!!!!!!"

Me: Figures.

 So to get over all of the trauma of meeting Santa we took them to play in the kid area.

 Then we ate Chick-fil-A.  Lily's smiling because she just finished licking out all of her ranch dressing.

 Christmas Eve jammies.  

Lily was lucky enough to get a doll from each set of grandparents.  Thank goodness she's obsessed with dolls right now.

 The helicopter that held Skyler's attention for so long that he didn't even want to open presents.  Lily had to open all of his for him.  Poor girl.  ; )

 Showing off her toddler bling.

Getting totally spoiled by Aunt Becca (sometimes Aunt "Beck" to Lily) and Uncle "Sesston."

Then came something that Becca and I have waited our whole lives for: a white Christmas.  It started snowing during Christmas dinner and continued through the next afternoon.  We got at least 6 inches.  We were stoked! This was the first white Christmas since 1947!  Glad I got to witness it!   As you can see Lily was excited too!

A picture of my parents' deck.  We were so thrilled by the snow but it also meant that we had to spend another day at my parents' house.  Don't get me wrong, it was awesome.  We played games to our hearts' content.  BUT, Ben and I only packed enough stuff to stay one night so we lived in our PJ's.  

Ben and I were so grateful to be able to have such a wonderful Christmas.  We're glad that Becca and Preston were able to come.  We had a BLAST playing Pictionary Jr. (lightbulbs, haha), Bananagrams, and other games.  I'm so glad that Christmas is such a family holiday.

We hope that all y'all had a wonderful Christmas, too!