Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Airlines are Stupid
So Alex was supposed to land at midnight tonight. I was really excited about it. His plane out of Newark was really really delayed/at another airport/some other dumb thing so they didn't leave until MUCH later than scheduled. That means that he was not even close to catching his connecting flight in Minneapolis. So they're spending the night in Minneapolis and should be arriving in Utah around 10 a.m. tomorrow. So it's not THAT big of a deal, since we'll be sleeping a lot of that time, but I'm ready to have a couple more hands help me with the kids. Oh, and I miss him, too!
On the positive side, I got COMPLETELY caught up on my scrapbooking while he was gone. I cannot express how happy that makes me. I had about a year to do on Alli's, a year on Holly's, all of Brynne's, and 2.5 years on the family one. Phew. I'm done. Now I just have to make sure I keep on top of it.
Brynne is so adorable. Unfortunately I have no recent pictures since Alex took the camera with him (he also took the iPod -- I'm really excited to get my music back tomorrow). She's 2 days shy of 3 months, and is about the cutest baby you'll ever see. She smiles so much, and just loves to coo at me. In fact, I have to force myself not to really smile or make eye contact with her right before I feed her. If I do, she doesn't want to eat and just wants to watch me and smile at me. Makes me laugh, but it also creates quite the wet mess.
Holly and Alli aren't sharing a room right now. We've had a rough week of sleeping (why did this have to happen while Alex was gone?) and I finally got fed up last night and moved Alli's bed into Brynne's room. Holly cried, but at least she went to sleep! I also bought a latch and lock for the toybox so Holly can't get into it during naptime and bedtime. Not only does she go to sleep a little faster, there is so much less mess to clean up every day. Someday I would really love a play room so I don't have to keep any toys in their rooms at all!
Alli read a story (well, I read it to her) in the Friend magazine about a little boy who was asked to clean up his toys and was overwhelmed because there was a big mess. He prayed to be able to do it, and decided to sing a Primary song while he cleaned. The other night I asked the girls to clean up their mess and they would not listen to me. Holly decided she needed to go potty during that time, so I asked Alli to start cleaning while I took Holly. She got mad and said she didn't want to do it by herself. So I took Holly upstairs and was getting her pajamas on when Alli ran upstairs and said "Mom! I decided to sing my Primary songs and I cleaned up all the toys! Come see the room!" Sure enough, she cleaned it all up. I was a proud mama, and also relieved that I didn't have to fight them to get their toys cleaned up.
Well, that turned into a much longer post than I anticipated ... I'm off to bed now.
On the positive side, I got COMPLETELY caught up on my scrapbooking while he was gone. I cannot express how happy that makes me. I had about a year to do on Alli's, a year on Holly's, all of Brynne's, and 2.5 years on the family one. Phew. I'm done. Now I just have to make sure I keep on top of it.
Brynne is so adorable. Unfortunately I have no recent pictures since Alex took the camera with him (he also took the iPod -- I'm really excited to get my music back tomorrow). She's 2 days shy of 3 months, and is about the cutest baby you'll ever see. She smiles so much, and just loves to coo at me. In fact, I have to force myself not to really smile or make eye contact with her right before I feed her. If I do, she doesn't want to eat and just wants to watch me and smile at me. Makes me laugh, but it also creates quite the wet mess.
Holly and Alli aren't sharing a room right now. We've had a rough week of sleeping (why did this have to happen while Alex was gone?) and I finally got fed up last night and moved Alli's bed into Brynne's room. Holly cried, but at least she went to sleep! I also bought a latch and lock for the toybox so Holly can't get into it during naptime and bedtime. Not only does she go to sleep a little faster, there is so much less mess to clean up every day. Someday I would really love a play room so I don't have to keep any toys in their rooms at all!
Alli read a story (well, I read it to her) in the Friend magazine about a little boy who was asked to clean up his toys and was overwhelmed because there was a big mess. He prayed to be able to do it, and decided to sing a Primary song while he cleaned. The other night I asked the girls to clean up their mess and they would not listen to me. Holly decided she needed to go potty during that time, so I asked Alli to start cleaning while I took Holly. She got mad and said she didn't want to do it by herself. So I took Holly upstairs and was getting her pajamas on when Alli ran upstairs and said "Mom! I decided to sing my Primary songs and I cleaned up all the toys! Come see the room!" Sure enough, she cleaned it all up. I was a proud mama, and also relieved that I didn't have to fight them to get their toys cleaned up.
Well, that turned into a much longer post than I anticipated ... I'm off to bed now.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
My Sunday 10 - The Good and Bad of Alex being gone
THE BAD
1. NO break. At all.
2. Deciding what to have for dinner. It is pointless to make a big meal when the girls will only eat a tiny bit. I hate figuring out what to eat.
3. No excuse of "I'm feeding Brynne" and having Alex do whatever needs to be done. Nope, I just have to get it done when I can.
4. I usually just deal with Brynne in the middle of the night, and he takes care of the other girls if they get up for some reason. I had both Holly and Brynne in bed with me in the middle of the night last night, and no Alex to help Holly go back to bed.
5. I have only gotten to talk to him for a total of about 20 minutes over the last three days. I hate it. I could never be a military wife!
THE GOOD
6. No expectations for dinner. Our protein doesn't HAVE to come in the form of meat. On Thursday night I made omelets for the girls and I. Meatless protein -- we don't get that very often around here!
7. I get the remote at night! Do you know what that means? No sports! It's fantastic.
8. I've gotten a ton of scrapbooking done at night after the kids go to bed. If I keep doing a lot, I'll be all caught up by the time he gets home. (I was WAY behind. Yesterday I scrapbooked Christmas 2005. Yeah, that's a long time ago.)
9. My sister feels bad for me -- she's come over twice this weekend, and she and her husband came to church with me today.
10. I finally got to watch 27 Dresses last night! Alex hasn't really wanted to, so I took advantage of him being gone. I liked it a lot.
1. NO break. At all.
2. Deciding what to have for dinner. It is pointless to make a big meal when the girls will only eat a tiny bit. I hate figuring out what to eat.
3. No excuse of "I'm feeding Brynne" and having Alex do whatever needs to be done. Nope, I just have to get it done when I can.
4. I usually just deal with Brynne in the middle of the night, and he takes care of the other girls if they get up for some reason. I had both Holly and Brynne in bed with me in the middle of the night last night, and no Alex to help Holly go back to bed.
5. I have only gotten to talk to him for a total of about 20 minutes over the last three days. I hate it. I could never be a military wife!
THE GOOD
6. No expectations for dinner. Our protein doesn't HAVE to come in the form of meat. On Thursday night I made omelets for the girls and I. Meatless protein -- we don't get that very often around here!
7. I get the remote at night! Do you know what that means? No sports! It's fantastic.
8. I've gotten a ton of scrapbooking done at night after the kids go to bed. If I keep doing a lot, I'll be all caught up by the time he gets home. (I was WAY behind. Yesterday I scrapbooked Christmas 2005. Yeah, that's a long time ago.)
9. My sister feels bad for me -- she's come over twice this weekend, and she and her husband came to church with me today.
10. I finally got to watch 27 Dresses last night! Alex hasn't really wanted to, so I took advantage of him being gone. I liked it a lot.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Going Private...
I know this has been a topic on many blogs lately, and I think it might be time. If you are someone who reads this blog, let me know! I'll send an invite to anyone in my address book, or you can send your email address to me (beckystod@gmail.com).
dread.
Alex left this morning for a work trip in New York. He's gone for six long days. I'm so not excited.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Wouldn't it be nice...
I was looking through old pictures and found one from around the time Alli turned 1. This was the biggest mess she had ever made, so I wanted to document it. How I wish this was all the mess that my kids ever made!
Fun, weird dream
I had a dream last night that I was at Disneyland with Jamie and Joy, two of my friends from Santa Rosa (that's where I lived until I moved to BYU, for those who don't know). We were having a grand old time, then suddenly the dream shifted, and we were on a sightseeing plane in Canada. In the space of about 3 minutes of dream time, we flew from the south end of Canada to the north end, and saw everything from forests of red, green, and yellow-leafed trees to snow. Then all of a sudden, we're off the plane and in a random someone's house where they live on the top floor only, because the basement is covered in mold. After learning of the mold, we walk outside where Joy and Jamie spot a Hannah Montana sticker and decide they are going to find out when her next concert is, because apparantly they're big fans. Joy gets a phone call, and at the same time as the phone is ringing, I wake up to my kids screaming in their room. In my groggy state I ask what they're yelling about. Alli responds, "Holly said I'm not friends with (cousins) Abbey and Ella!" Seriously? You woke me up for that?
Jamie and Joy: thanks for being in my dream. It was the good ole' days again. Wish we could all hang out together again, but somebody had to go move 800 miles away. See you this summer?
Jamie and Joy: thanks for being in my dream. It was the good ole' days again. Wish we could all hang out together again, but somebody had to go move 800 miles away. See you this summer?
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Sunday 10
1. Wednesday was an exhaustingly great day. We went to Alex's gramps' funeral. As I said earlier, I didn't know Gramps before he got sick, so I don't really feel like I know much about him. It was interesting to hear stories about him during the funeral services. Fact: Gramps was a p.o.w. after Pearl Harbor, but in official American records he was m.i.a. and thought to be dead. So for 18 months, Grams was told to move on because her husband was probably dead. (Correct me if I'm wrong on those details, Mark.) I can't imagine being in that situation! Anyway, the funeral was really good and so many people were there. Military funerals are pretty awesome.
2. After the funeral we went to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate our nephew Zack's 6th birthday. It was a lot of fun, and somehow Alli managed to win 102 tickets doing one game. Alex and I were quite proud of her!
3. Monday was spent doing a few minor home improvements to get our house "show ready". Have I ever mentioned how much I love going to Lowe's? Really. I went there twice this week.
4. Cindy and I played tennis Friday night, then she came over to spend the night. Her husband was at a campout, so we decided to indulge in a little chocolate goodness while Alex was at the Gardner's watching the Jazz game. (Sorry about the loss, Jazz fans).
5. I got completely caught up on laundry yesterday. I know it's so lame to get excited about stuff like that, but these days it rarely happens that all the laundry is clean, folded, and put away. Dumb stuff makes me happy!
6. I put Alli's hair in sponge curlers last night, and now that the Shirley Temple look has tamed down a bit, it looks so pretty.
7. We attempted to have a picnic dinner at the park behind our house on Thursday, but the darn wind made it kind of difficult. I ended up going home with Brynne after about 20 minutes while Alex stayed with the older girls for a little bit longer.
8. I finished "Sarah's Quilt", the sequel to the book I read last week. I didn't love it as much as the first one, but I still couldn't put it down. It's always the worst right when you finish a book, because then you have to decide what to read next. I wish the Lehi library wasn't so small, because the books I want are ALWAYS gone when I go.
9. Brynne has really fallen into a schedule. I put her down for bed around 10 or 10:30, and she always sleeps until about 5:30. She's such a great sleeper. She also takes several really good naps in her crib everyday, and definitely isn't so picky about being held to sleep. She's such a good baby. When she cries, you just have to get eye contact with her, and stops crying and starts cooing and smiling. I could not have asked for an easier baby! She's amazing.
10. Holly is still doing really well with potty training. She has the occasional accident, but really has been a lot better than I imagined.
2. After the funeral we went to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate our nephew Zack's 6th birthday. It was a lot of fun, and somehow Alli managed to win 102 tickets doing one game. Alex and I were quite proud of her!
3. Monday was spent doing a few minor home improvements to get our house "show ready". Have I ever mentioned how much I love going to Lowe's? Really. I went there twice this week.
4. Cindy and I played tennis Friday night, then she came over to spend the night. Her husband was at a campout, so we decided to indulge in a little chocolate goodness while Alex was at the Gardner's watching the Jazz game. (Sorry about the loss, Jazz fans).
5. I got completely caught up on laundry yesterday. I know it's so lame to get excited about stuff like that, but these days it rarely happens that all the laundry is clean, folded, and put away. Dumb stuff makes me happy!
6. I put Alli's hair in sponge curlers last night, and now that the Shirley Temple look has tamed down a bit, it looks so pretty.
7. We attempted to have a picnic dinner at the park behind our house on Thursday, but the darn wind made it kind of difficult. I ended up going home with Brynne after about 20 minutes while Alex stayed with the older girls for a little bit longer.
8. I finished "Sarah's Quilt", the sequel to the book I read last week. I didn't love it as much as the first one, but I still couldn't put it down. It's always the worst right when you finish a book, because then you have to decide what to read next. I wish the Lehi library wasn't so small, because the books I want are ALWAYS gone when I go.
9. Brynne has really fallen into a schedule. I put her down for bed around 10 or 10:30, and she always sleeps until about 5:30. She's such a great sleeper. She also takes several really good naps in her crib everyday, and definitely isn't so picky about being held to sleep. She's such a good baby. When she cries, you just have to get eye contact with her, and stops crying and starts cooing and smiling. I could not have asked for an easier baby! She's amazing.
10. Holly is still doing really well with potty training. She has the occasional accident, but really has been a lot better than I imagined.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
My Sunday 10
1. Happy Mother's Day! I loved seeing Alli sing with the Primary kids for the first time today. It's a great life being a mom.
2. We went to lunch at Alex's sister's in Salt Lake this afternoon. It was delicious, and fun to see the family.
3. After lunch (and the Jazz game) we visited my grandma, who my kids call Mambo. I wish I had my camera, because Brynne sat on Mambo's lap for about a half hour, just gurgling and cooing and smiling at her. It was precious.
4. Alex's gramps passed away last night. It's a strange feeling for me, because Gramps has had Alzheimer's since before I knew him, so I don't feel like I really know who he is. I mainly feel bad for Grams who has done so much to take care of him over the years.
5. Alex and I watched "Juno" last night. Definitely a different kind of movie, but we enjoyed it.
6. I finished a really good book this week called "These Is My Words". I started the sequal "Sarah's Quilt", but I'm having a harder time getting into this one.
7. Alex and I played tennis last night with my sister Cindy and her husband Chad. I got a tennis racket for Christmas, but haven't gotten a chance to use it because of Brynne. I haven't really played since high school p.e., but we had a lot of fun and got good exercise chasing balls. :)
8. Holly's potty training is going really well. She hasn't had a pee accident since Wednesday, and she does really well at controlling her bladder. Poop is another story . . .
9. We had a fun night Friday with the Gardner's and Hill's, watching the Jazz game and playing Scattergories (well, I watched Alex play while I fed Brynne). Always fun to hang out...
10. After a lot of thinking, we decided to put our house up on the market. So as of yesterday, our house is officially for sale. We don't have another house in mind, and we're content to stay here as long as it takes. We're anticipating it taking awhile, since the market isn't the greatest right now. But we're happy here, so that's fine!
2. We went to lunch at Alex's sister's in Salt Lake this afternoon. It was delicious, and fun to see the family.
3. After lunch (and the Jazz game) we visited my grandma, who my kids call Mambo. I wish I had my camera, because Brynne sat on Mambo's lap for about a half hour, just gurgling and cooing and smiling at her. It was precious.
4. Alex's gramps passed away last night. It's a strange feeling for me, because Gramps has had Alzheimer's since before I knew him, so I don't feel like I really know who he is. I mainly feel bad for Grams who has done so much to take care of him over the years.
5. Alex and I watched "Juno" last night. Definitely a different kind of movie, but we enjoyed it.
6. I finished a really good book this week called "These Is My Words". I started the sequal "Sarah's Quilt", but I'm having a harder time getting into this one.
7. Alex and I played tennis last night with my sister Cindy and her husband Chad. I got a tennis racket for Christmas, but haven't gotten a chance to use it because of Brynne. I haven't really played since high school p.e., but we had a lot of fun and got good exercise chasing balls. :)
8. Holly's potty training is going really well. She hasn't had a pee accident since Wednesday, and she does really well at controlling her bladder. Poop is another story . . .
9. We had a fun night Friday with the Gardner's and Hill's, watching the Jazz game and playing Scattergories (well, I watched Alex play while I fed Brynne). Always fun to hang out...
10. After a lot of thinking, we decided to put our house up on the market. So as of yesterday, our house is officially for sale. We don't have another house in mind, and we're content to stay here as long as it takes. We're anticipating it taking awhile, since the market isn't the greatest right now. But we're happy here, so that's fine!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Taking a Ride on the Potty Train
That's right folks. It's potty training time at the Stoddard home again. I've been putting it off, because I clearly remember how time consuming and messy it is to potty train a child. But I'd rather not have Holly start kindergarten with diapers, so I decided it was time. We started on Monday, and she actually did really well that day. She had one accident, and it wasn't until after dinner. Tuesday was a different story -- she had only accidents until after her nap, at which point she finally went in the toilet. The last two days have been pretty good. Yesterday she only had one accident (unfortunately, it wasn't pee!) and today she's gone twice in the toilet already. One time she even told Alex she had to go, and actually went! As much as I've dreaded doing this, she's doing a really good job.
I have a timer that I keep in the family room and I set it every time she tries to sit on the toilet. I either set it for 15 or 30 minutes, depending on how much she's had to drink and how long ago she peed last. This system seems to be working, although I feel like I do nothing more all day than feed and change Brynne, and run Holly to the bathroom. It's a sick cycle (Lifehouse, anyone? That song totally takes me back to my freshman year at BYU.) I wish they made potty seats with seatbelts, because I have to sit and watch Holly to make sure she doesn't get up and run around naked -- she's way too active to just sit on the toilet. I even tried bringing our DVD player up there the first day so she could watch a movie while she figured the whole peeing thing out, but that lasted about 3 minutes before she tried to escape and I had to hold her down. Wish us luck!
I have a timer that I keep in the family room and I set it every time she tries to sit on the toilet. I either set it for 15 or 30 minutes, depending on how much she's had to drink and how long ago she peed last. This system seems to be working, although I feel like I do nothing more all day than feed and change Brynne, and run Holly to the bathroom. It's a sick cycle (Lifehouse, anyone? That song totally takes me back to my freshman year at BYU.) I wish they made potty seats with seatbelts, because I have to sit and watch Holly to make sure she doesn't get up and run around naked -- she's way too active to just sit on the toilet. I even tried bringing our DVD player up there the first day so she could watch a movie while she figured the whole peeing thing out, but that lasted about 3 minutes before she tried to escape and I had to hold her down. Wish us luck!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
SOOO TIRED!
Wendy, Ashley, Debbie, me, and Chelsea 
But well worth it! I just spent the last few days in L.A. for my old roommate Debbie's wedding. It was SO fun to spend time with my friends that all met up there. It felt like we were single roommates again (except Brynne tagged along!) We stayed up so late both nights and woke up early both mornings. The wedding was wonderful, Debbie looked gorgeous, and the weather was AMAZING. I had such a great time, but I was so tired when I got home today. I took a 2 hour nap this afternoon, and probably could have slept the whole night until tomorrow morning.
My Sunday 10
To celebrate getting my first picture of Brynne smiling (after trying for several weeks), here are ten things that make me smile:1. Watching Alli and Holly dance to "Enchanted".
2. A yummy breakfast.
3. A clean kitchen.
4. Strawberries.
5. When all the kids are asleep and I get to just sit and talk to Alex.
6. Holly's tight hugs that she won't let me out of.
7. Watching "Headlines" on Jay Leno.
8. A long, uninterrupted shower.
9. Turning on a good Tim McGraw CD.
10. A good hug from Alex at the end of the day.
Alli is 4!
Alli's birthday was on Wednesday, and I now officially have a 4 year old. Crazy. She came downstairs that morning and was so excited to have chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate milk, and open presents. She opened the presents from us and loved them all.That night we had a little party for her and she had a blast playing with her friends and cousins. Everyone knows she loves princesses, so she got lots of princess presents. She's been having a great time playing with her new things (I can't call them toys anymore -- she has told me several times that she's too old for toys now that she's 4.) She's a great little girl and it's been a fun 4 years. Here are some more pictures from the fun day!
Allison with her little best friend Alayna who lives across the street. Aren't they so cute?
Happy Birthday Allison!
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