Attack of the Mirror

So, obviously, today was Thursday...again. What that means for me is that I had to rush home from work, help Steve make dinner, get the kids to eat as fast as possible, help clean up the house, and get out of here by 6:15. Steve is the leader of a youth group that meets at our house every Thursday night, so I have to be out of the house from 6:15 to 8:00. Anyway, this was one of those nights when I didn't have any specific errands to run and there were sprinkles falling down, so we went to the mall. Going to the mall with two kids was one of my greatest fears after having Berlin. I avoided it for a good long while, maybe even six months. I have now been many Thursday nights by myself with the kids, but I definitely don't prefer it.

We shopped a little. The girls helped me by taking things off the racks and hangers. They played hide and seek in the clothes, picked up garbage off the floor, and pretty much didn't listen to a thing I said. Super fun times. As we breezed through the last store, Tryn decided to stop and look into a mirror that was hanging off the end of a clothing rack. I turned my back to talk to Berlin and looked back at Tryn just in time to see the mirror that was a good two feet taller than her come falling down right on top of her. By the time I got to her, as she was screaming hysterically, just her foot was under the mirror. "No big deal," I thought, until I went to lift the mirror off of her foot. I am certain it weighed about 50lbs as it took two of the little girls working there to come and carry it away. I thought Tryn's foot was broken. She was screaming, "It hurts!" and that manager was trying to ask me, "Is she okay?" I said I don't know, because I didn't. She's is. Which is good, as I wanted to hurt someone in the store myself. We had to fill out our first accident report. The manager felt really bad when I put Tryn's age on there, 3. I wanted to say, "Well, she isn't even 3 yet, she still actually only 2!" To make her feel even worse, but I didn't. I was nice. Dumb mirror. We went and had some ice cream after that, for Tryn's sake and mine.

Mommy Struggles

Currently, I have just put the kids to bed and am listening to Trynica have a hysterical melt-down because she didn't get to shut the light in her room off. Screaming, weeping, shrieking, crying, all because I turned off the light before she asked if she could. I wouldn't get her out of bed to let her come across the room, turn the light back on, and then turn it back off. Am I such a terrible mother? *Sigh*

Girls. I LOVE being the mother of two girls. Love it. I love that they are obsessed with princesses and dancing instead of frogs and dirt. I love putting them in little dresses as much as they love wearing little dresses. I love brushing their hair and I love that they like brushing my hair. I love that they already get really excited about new shoes and dresses and that they love to wear jewelry because mommy and princesses wear jewelry. I love that they both like to snuggle and cuddle with me and I love that they crave relational interaction. I love being the mother of little girls and I wouldn't trade it for a thing. But sometimes being the mother of two little girls can be absolutely draining.

There are already fights that sound like this, "NO!! Don't touch my dress!! Don't take my slippers!! NOOO!!!!"

Can you imagine 15 years from now, "NO!! Those are my jeans, you can't borrow them again, they are MINE!"

Sounds pretty much the same. And I am already tired of those fights.

Also, I am also not an extremely emotional person. However, I did manage to end up with two very bright, determined, beautiful, adorable, strong, and EMOTIONAL little women in my household. They are dynamic, to be sure, but man, oh, man can they get mad at the drop of a hat!! Seriously. For example, Berlin told me she was done with dinner tonight. So I clean her face and hands and started to take her down from her seat. Well, she just happened to change her mind mid-decent and ended up on the floor in a hysterical tantrum, arching her back and screaming, because she decided she wasn't done. Holy cow. And I am supposed to know how to handle this? I think not. I am pretty sure I am not handling it the right way and instead of starting a savings fund for my girls weddings I should probably start a savings fund for their counseling.

Seriously. I love my girls and, if Steve and I don't totally mess up, I think they are going to be absolutely amazing young women. They each have enough personality to take on the whole world all on their own. It's just hard for me to think that God knew what he was doing when he picked ME to be their mother. He should have picked someone stronger, someone who understands emotions better, someone who understands girls better!!

I wanted my little girls desperately. When I was pregnant with Berlin I was scared to go in to the ultrasound because I thought they were going to tell me that I was having a boy and I wanted another girl with all my heart. I love my baby girls. Now I guess I just wish I knew what to DO with them. It's a good thing they are just so darn cute :) *Double sigh*

Mel's Marathon

This last weekend Berlin and I took a little road trip to watch our friend Mel run in her fourth marathon.
(this is Mel)

While Berlin and I think Mel is pretty cool for being able to run 26.2 miles (as Berlin and I could probably not run more than one mile between the two of us), Berlin also thought the big fire trucks along the race route were pretty cool. They had pretty flashing lights and she was quite enthralled.

Berlin was also impressed with the size of the route markers. They were bigger than she was. In fact, pretty much everything about the race was bigger than she was. She was the youngest cheerer at the race, and even the two dogs we had with us surpassed Berlin in inches and pounds (by far!! Unfortunately, said dogs were super hyper and did not like holding still to have their pictures taken).

When the race started at 8am it was only about 38 degrees outside. I, for one, forgot real shoes and watched the entire race wearing flip flops, silly me. Berlin, on the other hand, forgot her gloves and had to ask Jen (Mel's aunt) if she could borrow hers.

(Yay! Mel!!)

Berlin finally got brave enough to touch one of the trucks.

You'd have to ask her to be sure, but I think Berlin was a little bit confused about why we kept driving around and watching Mel run past us. I think if Berlin could have talked she would have said, "Um, why are we just standing out here in the middle of nowhere?...Oh, I recognize that lady! Oh, that's Mel! Oh, there she goes! Bye-bye Mel...Why isn't she coming with us?"

And, even though Berlin was quite tired after trekking in a van along 26.2 miles, she and I were very proud of Mel for making it to the finish line. Because, like I said, Berlin and I would have a hard time running a mile between the two of us and Berlin could probably last longer than I could.

Good job Mel!!

Baby Blues

So, I was talking on the phone to Steve yesterday while I was at work. He was at home with the girls, Berlin was napping and Tryn was sitting with Steve eating something. While we were in the middle of a conversation, Steve suddenly started laughing.

"What? Why are you laughing?" I asked.

He told me that Tryn was trying to get his attention. (Side note: When we are trying to get Tryn to listen to us a lot of the times we will tell her to look at our eyes, so that we know she is hearing us.) Apparently, since she wanted Steve's attention said, "Dad. Dad! DAD! Look at my big blue eyes."

She already knows how to use them...

Puerto Vallarta

Ahem. Well, by deleting a few pictures I am now down to 510 photos of our five day vacation. Contrary to anybody's belief, you would get bored looking through all of the 510 remaining pictures, I promise. However, since it is hard to narrow it down to just a few, there will also be additional pictures posted to my facebook account. The above picture is of the city of Puerto Vallarta from the beach of our hotel.

We spent a lot of time with our feet in the ocean...

And walking along beautiful beaches. This beach is actually in San Francisco, Mexico. We rented a car for a day and went exploring. We found this tiny little town that hosted this amazing beach. It was the biggest and most beautiful beach we were on the entire trip (we were on six different beaches) and nobody was there! I think there were probably less than 20 people sitting on this beach while we were there. Amazing.

We laid in the sand.

And played in the ocean.


I like having sand on my toes. Especially if I am sitting next to my husband on a beach in perfect weather with nothing to do.

I searched a little bit for shells and things, didn't find much though.

We spend part of a day shopping in the city of Puerto Vallarta. Which pretty much means that you go shopping on the beach. You really wouldn't have to get more than 50 yards from the sand to be able to buy whatever you wanted. We did though. We spend quite a bit of time on side streets, just exploring.

And I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets of my entire life.

We had a really fabulous time. I love vacation. Mexico is not too bad either :)

Hangover

Well, we are home. And we are on a vacation hangover. Not THAT kind of hangover, just a we-had-a-really-great-time-and-it-was-so-much-fun hangover.

I haven't downloaded any pictures yet. Don't really feel like it, maybe sometime tomorrow or Tuesday. I have actually only seen one of my children so far (Tryn is taking a nap). When we saw Berlin she just laughed and giggled and gave us hugs, she was so happy to see us. Unfortunately, both of our kids got the flu while we were gone. Big huge bummer. My nephew Tyvan got sick last Monday while I was up at my mom and dad's with the girls. Well, by Friday Tryn, Berlin, my nephew Brendyn and his mom Tia were all sick with the flu. Big huge bummer. It makes me feel bad that I was gone have a really great time while someone else was taking care of my sick babies...

Initial thoughts about the trip:
* I LOVE flying over the ocean and when you look out the window can't tell where the ocean ends and where the sky begins.
* I love the weather in Mexico. 85 degrees and sunny all the time is so perfect.
* I LOVE the ocean (even though it freaks me out:)). Listening to the waves, watching the water change, ugh, I love the ocean.
* I love watching the sunset over the ocean.
* I really, really, really, love spending time with my husband. He is my favorite person in the whole wide world and it's sad that we don't get to spend more time together. I love having just him for five whole days.
* I really love my babies and I missed them.
* I like coming back home to familiar things.
* I like Mexican people, they really are very friendly. Except for the one that stole money out of my purse when we were in the flea market.
* I love massages at really nice spas :)

Okay, I will post some pictures soon, but for now, I am just hoping that my kids wake up from their naps soon :)

Leaving...on a jet plane

I am up at my mom and dad's house, dropping off the kids. Didn't really realize how much I was going to miss them!! I have, so far, just been mainly excited to go on vacation. Now I am getting a little nervous about leaving my kids. I know they are going to be TOTALLY fine and I know I am going to have a really great time, but I am going to miss my babies. I mean, they are just babies. :)

It will be fine I am sure.

I'm sure. Right?

:)

Well, we are not bringing our computer on vacation, this is going to be a real vacation. So, no more posts until I get back. Then I will share some lovely pictures and let you know how the kids survived just fine without me.

Farewell.

Adios.

Hasta luego.

Hasta la vista...baby.

Success!!

I just wanted to let you all know that smoothies with spinach in them totally work!! Yay!! (Thanks Jessica!) I have made a few different combos of spinach with a little yogurt, a little juice, and a little strawberry or blueberry, sometimes a little banana. The first time I made the spinach smoothies Berlin sucked hers down with such intensity that she got really mad when it disappeared so fast. It's also really great because, with a little protein on the side, this is pretty much a meal for Berlin. So easy! So, I have managed to get one more veggie into my girlies diets, one of the more important ones, and I am really oh so happy about that...

There is a destination location...

In other words:

"A combination of picturesque mountain landscapes, breathtaking seascapes, white sandy beaches, lush jungle interiors, and cobblestone streets along whitewashed architecture exuding colonial Mexican charm, Puerto Vallarta is a tropical paradise paralleled by little else anywhere on the planet." - Stolen from somewhere online

Puerto Vallarta



We are staying at an all-inclusive hotel that is actually in Marina Vallarta, which is on a little peninsula that juts out and creates a little marina, four miles from downtown Puerto Vallarta. It's still the same city, but for some reason has it's own little name. It's gonna be great. Four nights and five days of doing nothing. Sleeping in. Sitting on the beach. Doing nothing. I mean, I might do something, but, then again, maybe not. Reading books. Not being required to feed anyone but myself. Not required to do anything at all...I think I'm gonna like it :)

The Park

Everyone in our house loves the park. The girlies love it because kids love parks, and Steve and I love it because the girls love it. It is so nice to have a park so close to home, especially because we really don't have a yard. We have lots of fun at the park and go there even when it is way too cold. Steve actually took these pics the other day...

Approaching the park.




Sometimes they actually DO love each other :)

It was weird the first few times we took Berlin to the park. She had never walked around in such wide open space. It kind of freaked her out a little bit. This is a picture of her just standing there because she wasn't sure what to do with herself.

The First Swear

When I was little I was not allowed to swear. Ever. I was not even allowed to say, “Oh my gosh,” because it was the same as taking the Lord’s name in vain. In fact, when I was old enough to have conversations about swearing topics with my friends we would spell out the words, or maybe even just part of the word, because we literally could not get the sound of them past our lips. We would talk about the “s-h word” or sometimes even sound out the beginning of a word, like “daaa” so the other person could figure out that we meant “damn”. We would talk about how the word ass was in the bible and so that it must be okay to say, or at least we wouldn’t go to hell for saying it. Not like actually saying the word hell as in, “What the hell?”

That was one of the first times I remember getting in trouble for swearing. I was in the kitchen and my little sister had brought something in and was showing my dad. I was practicing hand stands and was upside down when I noticed that my sister was holding something. I cannot remember what it was, mainly because of what followed.

“What the hell is that?” I asked my dad, as I tried to kick my legs up in the air.

“What did you say?” Uh oh. Immediate fear of God from the tone of my dad’s voice. I still don’t think I have ever heard my dad swear in my life.

I fell back down to my knees and righted myself. “Um, I said, ‘What the hell is that?’” I could not have been more timid. I knew that there was going to be a consequence.

“Go to your room!” I think this was, literally, the only time in my life when I got sent to my room as a punishment.

I scurried away and waited in my room. I ran through the scenario in my head, the way I knew it would go down. I would get spanked, there is no way that I would not. After all, I swore.

It was probably only 10 minutes before my dad came to see me, felt like an hour. I have no idea what he did in that 10 minutes, but I am pretty sure that he was not a parent who laughed behind closed doors in the aftermath of his child swearing.
“Where did you hear that word?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” I thought, “Everywhere? Is that a good answer?” TV for sure and a multitude of other places. I knew that I had heard my mom swear, especially when she got really mad about something so I blurted out, “Mom?” And braced myself for a spanking. It didn’t come.

“Just because your mother says things like that does not make it okay.”

“Um…okay.”

“I am going to talk to her about that, it is not okay for her to say those words either. If you say it again next time you will get a spanking. Okay?”

Twenty or something odd years later my two and a half year old runs to me, “Mom! Mom! I was in the kitchen and I said, ‘Frick!’ I said it Mom, I did!”

I snicker discreetly behind my hand. I didn't ask her where she heard it. I know exactly where. “Why did you say that sweetie?”

“Because I did Mom. I was in the kitchen and I said, ‘Frick!’ that’s what I said.”
Fighting a smile, I tell her, “Tryn, now that is not a nice word. We shouldn’t say that word, okay?”

“But that’s what I said.”

“I know sweetie, but don’t say it anymore. We shouldn’t say that word. It is not a nice word to say.”

We head over to the kitchen table to begin lunch preparations and she picks up her stickers to continue playing. Out of the corner of my eye I see her accidentally rip a sticker in half, “Oh, frick!”

Haha! I find out I am the parent who laughs behind my daughter’s back when she swears.