Pleeeeaaaassseeee Sleep............

Can everyone send some sleepy vibes our way?

Let's just say that Miss Tayler is NOT a good teether. As in, for the last three nights I have been up every hour from 8pm until 7am, literally. I get up, stumble into her room, rock her & put her back in bed. She doesn't want to nurse, she doesn't want to sleep with us, she doesn't want me to stay in the rocking chair, on the couch, etc.

Michael let me sleep from 7-9 this morning - otherwise I'd be even more of a walking zombie.

And I hear her calling again...

Okay - I'm back & edited to add that for extra fun - when she gets a fever (in this instance from teething) she likes to projectile vomit as soon as Tylenol & Motrin hit her lips. So I have given her Hylands teething tablets and they seem to help some with the pain.

In other exciting news - she said her first word! And no, it's not Mama, or Dada, or even Kena, but it is "bath". Or her babbling equivalent of it. She has repeated it on several occassions since Friday and it is definitely what she means if only understood by Mama & Daddy.

So cute! Makena sings the Coldplay song "Green Eyes" to Tayler in the bathtub. They both have blue eyes, but hey, you take what you can get.

In Makena news, we are back to a standstill on potty training, sigh. She is doing really well with swim lessons. Working everyday at home on her "kickers, paddles, & bubbles". I'll have to figure out how to upload a video so you all can see it. Precious! Not so precious that she apparently has decided to give up naps during the day. We have tried all the usual & some new tricks to get her to sleep & nothing seems to work short of driving her around in the car for an hour & a half. Which, is well, not practical. So I put her in her crib for some "quiet time" in which she reads about 15 books, builds a fort, and hangs out with Sulley, her big, stuffed monster. She actually does okay with no nap, except around 5pm she hits a wall, is herself a monster, and by 5:30 we are through it. We just do an earlier dinner & earlier bedtime.

Michael and I tried real sushi for the first time the other night at http://www.mikunisushi.com/ it was so good! We will be back there for sure.

Other than that still getting settled in the new house, and enjoying time with friends & family.

Me! Me!

Okay I have never done the tag thing, but my friend Jamie tagged me so I will attempt it. I am not that computer saavy... So here is my friend that tagged me:

Simply Jamie: Me! Me!

First, share 7 facts about yourself. Next, tag people at the end of your blog by leaving their name and a link to their blog. Last, let them know they’re tagged by leaving a link in their blog.

My 7 things:

1) I love staying home with my girls, even though I never thought I'd be a stay-at-home mama.

2) Even though I love staying home with them, I sometimes miss working full time, but couldn't imagine leaving them every day.

3) I have a profound dislike of moving. Probably because I did it so often growing up.

4) I love to read.

5) I love a grande decaf mocha with whip from Starbucks.

6) I would like to learn more about photography.

7) I have come to identify myself with my long hair but want to maybe cut it off.

I don't really have anyone to tag - so if you read this, then considered yourself tagged!

Swim Lessons & the Pink Potty Chair

We started swim lessons on Monday. It was a bit of a rough start because Makena wouldn't nap that day so she was grumpy. But after a long talk with Daddy she was ready to go. Tayler went under water for the first time & wasn't thrilled with it. I wimped out and had to have the instructor do it the first time. I took her under the second time & it wasn't as near as scary as I thought it would be. (Yeah, right says Tayler) But we just make sure to make really happy faces when she comes up. We are the only ones signed up for the time slot so we lucked out with private lessons!

Tuesday went much better - Miss M took a long nap so she was ready to go. Apparently someone turned off the pool warmer though so the water was a bit chilly. Tayler was not happy... Makena did really well with her "paddles & kickers". She is also learning how to pull herself out of the water on the side of the pool. Elbow, elbow, pull, pull, pull, tummy, knee, knee. And she is jumping in to Michael. No one is probably too surprised though - as daring as she is. Tayler was freezing in the water after about 10 mins - so after dunking her under & doing a few kicks & playing on the stairs I took her out, dried her off, & nursed her a bit.

Michael & I bought M a pink free-standing potty chair the other day. We have had varying success with PTing. She wakes up dry from night time, & will pee & poop on the potty when she wants, but is just not that interested in actually toilet training. So, we thought - we'll buy a different chair & see how she does. So far today - it seems magic. She keeps running over & peeing in it - doesn't want a diaper on. It might just be the novelty or maybe we are finally making some progress.

I am hoping to get some pics uploaded tonight - so I will either make a new post or edit this one.

Did you fart?

We are playing in the playroom last night & I hear Makena saying "Did you fart?   Yeah.  Whew! Stinky!" & lifting up the tail of her pony.   She was brushing it's mane & tail and after each brush saying "You so pretty.  Your hair sooooo pretty."  

We went to the Aquatic Center for our niece & nephew's birthday party last Saturday & a kid tried to push Makena under water.  Mike was right there & took the kid's arm off of Makena.  Later that night he taught M to say "Don't push me - that's not nice!" (& to point her finger.) So she keeps telling me "Mama, if a kid push me I say "No push me, that's not nice and I point my finger." It is so funny when she does it.  

Tayler has started waving.  It is adorable!  She did it a couple weeks ago, but nothing since.  Then, today she started again.   The girls are really enjoying the playroom.  Tay plays so independently already - makes me sad she is growing up so fast.   No sleeping thru the night yet, but doing well in her crib.  

We went to look at the proofs of our family portraits & Tayler's belated six month pics today and they turned out amazing!  If they put us on their blog I'll link you to it.   I am so excited to get them up in the house.

Packing, Moving, Unpacking

Hi all, 

Well I moved the blog, because this one is so much easier to use.  

We have spent the last couple weeks packing, moving & now unpacking.  Whew!  It is a lot of work doing all this and having the kids around.  Thank you so much to Auntie Debi for all your help with them during this hectic time.  Also, thank you to everyone who helped us move - we appreciate it so much!  Hopefully we will get the pictures hung this weekend and it will really start to feel like home.  

The girls are getting huge!  Makena cracks me up

 with all she has to say.  This morning on the way to the gym - "Mama, where we going?"   I say to the gym - she says "You want to exercise?"  I say yes and she says "Makena play with kids, no hit them, that not nice..."  I say "Yes, no hitting, we play nice with our friends."  She talks in sentences - and has comprehension - when did that happen - my two-year old going on 13.  

Tayler is growing fast.  She is crawling every where, babbling, laughing, yelling.  She now yells at me when I take something away from her - and fake cries.  Makes me laugh.  Still a very happy baby - which people always comment on.  

Both girls love the pool.  We start swim lessons on August 4th with both of them.  Michael and I will be doing the classes with them.  I think 

they will be fun.  

Had other pics, but erased them on accident...  So here is the one that survived - need to get back to unpacking - more later...

Fourth of July

Pool time