Not even gonna try . .

So, I'm behind even more than usual and have decided not to even try to play catch-up, otherwise, I will continue to put off any new entries. The big news (and the excuse I'm using for this extreme lapse in entries) is we finally moved into a house on our own. Other than the fact that the girls can't figure out why grandma and grandpa never come home anymore . . they seem to believe we are a package deal now and they live wherever we do . . we are really enjoying the new place and things are getting back to normal. There was a short period during the week of Thanksgiving when Maddie began to see that other houses were decorated with lights. At that point, she decided she did NOT like her new house because it lacked the ornamental decorations that she now deemed necessary. So, dad . . being the softie that he is for his little girls .. jumped right on that assignment. The results seemed to be more than satisfactory for his little party girl and life is all good now.

We're headed to Wisconsin next week for an early Christmas celebration and I made the mistake of telling MJ a few days too early . . that girls lives for the party life and traveling by plane to see her cousins among many other people sounds like a GREAT time to her. She's still relishing in the events of having the family over to her house for Thanksgiving. So, everyday we start out with the same question as she gets out her backpack and starts packing her stuff, again . . "Are we going on the plane to a party today?" Daddy couldn't be prouder.
Before this gets too long, I wanted to include the cutest little anecdote ever. So MJ is 3 1/2 and I've been long dreading taking away her binkie. I was going to just wait and take both her and Keira's at the same time, but an opportunity arose and has played out so effectively it's adorable. Maddie and I read a book about 'Pacifiers aren't forever' a month or so ago and you could see that Maddie was a little bit disturbed by the whole concept. In the recent months she has moved rapidly into the 'big girl' world with her potty training and giving up her beloved crib for a 'big girl' bed. Giving up the pacifier, seemed to be just too much for her to cope with . She had big tears in her eyes when we got done and she croaked out, "But i don't want to give my binkie away". I caved and told her she didn't have to right now, but someday, when she got bigger, she would have to give it up. She asked who was going to take it and I randomly told her she needed to give it to a baby that needed a binkie. She said 'OK, but not yet'. I agreed and every so often over the next few weeks she would bring it up and tell me she wasn't ready yet. Then, my sister had her baby this past week (Congrats again, Mel!). Maddie saw little baby Tate on the webcam and the following day, she woke up from her nap pulled her binkie out and said, "You can give my binkie to Tate, he needs it." Can I just say, I almost started crying right then and there . . it was the cutest little selfless act I've ever seen from a 3 year old. Last night was her first night sleeping without her binkie since she was born . . and she was a little restless, but not once did she ask for her binkie back. Just goes to show, you can never outguess a kid. I'm so proud of her! She's such a great big sister and I can't even tell you how many times I'm touched in a day watching my two little girls interact . . there's many times I want to tear my hair out as well . . but the adorable moments such as every morning when they greet each other as they come out of their rooms with such enthusiasm and love as if they hadn't seen each other in days . . makes up for all the rough moments.

Where to begin . .

So . . here's the recap of the rest of our crazy summer! August and September we played host to our long lost cousins that we just don't ever get to see enough of. The girls enjoyed a few weeks with their cousin Justin and Aunt Laura while they're dad took a vacation to Seattle for a couple weeks under the pretense that he was attending banking school . . (Ok, ok, we know you worked very hard James, whatever.) Anyway, the girls had a great time playing with Justin everyday . . and we hope he felt the same way. Maddie was actually very cute, bending down to talk to him on 'his' level and surprised me with an almost 'motherly' approach to playing with him. Keira, at this point, was just intrigued to have another person 'her size' hanging around and felt moved to smother the poor little guy with kisses and in the next instant give him a swift poke to the chest or attempt to check if his eyes were, in fact, for real. Justin was a trooper and took it all in stride . . and seems to still like her for the most part . . unless of course she is occupying the coveted 'Dora' car that he is instantly drawn to everytime he walks in the house . . as the 'boy' in him delegates that he should.
The day after the girls sadly bid Justin and Laura 'goodbye' . . we welcomed Melanie and her girls to our 'hotel' for a few weeks while their dad renovated their house in Seattle. If we thought we had been hosting a preschool the previous couple of weeks . . we were truly in full fledged nursery mode now. . and the girls, could not have been more happy with the situation. Non stop chaos and playmates available all day everyday, right in their own house! We, the adults, did our best to keep the situation under control and even managed to have some fun outings and tea parties!
We spent a day at the dinosaur park, the petting zoo, backyard pool parties, indoor tea and birthday parties, numerous princess parties of dancing and chasing in tutu's and high heels . . and lots of swinging, jumping, and wiggle cart rides around the sports court in grandma and grandpa's fantastic backyard park! And, not to be forgotten . .the almost daily stroller brigade to visit the geese down the street! The time went by quite quickly and sadly, we had to send back our new playmates to see their dad who had tried to cut off his finger and needed some little girl (and wife) TLC.
We took a few weeks off from our social party life . . but Gregg soon grew restless of this sedentary lifestyle so we decided it was time to go visit all of our long lost friends in Denver. We loaded up the car and bravely ventured out on an 8 hour road trip with two toddlers! The girls surprised both of us and did very well being tethered to their car seats for such a long time . . and the payoff was a lot of fun.

Maddie has relentlessly requested a visit to see her favorite friend, Sue sue, ever since we left Denver. It has been difficult to make her understand why this wasn't possible on a weekly basis, as she had become accustomed too . . but she picked up right where she left off with her friend and Keira, who notoriously does not warm up to people very quickly . . seemed to understand why Maddie loved her fairy godmother friend so much and was quickly enthralled in playtime with the two of them. Truth be told, I missed Sue Sue just as much as MJ and was very excited to be able to spend our trip at her house. We covered a lot of ground in not nearly enough time and saw lots of friends that we have missed so much, as well as visited some of our favorite places in Denver including the 'food' playground at the Cherry Creek Mall . . the girls thought we'd brought them to a fantastic amusement park! All in all . . we had a fantastic time and hope to make it back soon to visit again.
While this is way too long . . I'll sum it up with the other important tidbits of our summer. Maddie is giving potty training a great effort, which I'm mostly very happy about . . and Keira always has to sit on the pot when MJ does . . if only she were as fruitful as her older sister. AND . . last but definitely not least, we finally found a house to move in too . . albeit, it's a rental . . but you have to start somewhere after you've lived in your parents basement for the last year . . How did that happen?????!!! Oh well, guess it's time to grow up and move out. That's scheduled to happen on November 1st . . and while we'll miss grandma and grandpa . . it'll be good to be on our own again!

A couple of quick 'funny quotes'!

In an effort to be more consistant I'm throwing in this quick entry of a couple funny things Maddie said. She is a classic 3 year old and fortunately she is making an excellent effort to keep us entertained in what sometimes begins to feel like a very monotous life! The do-rag picture is MJ on her most recent car washing job. It's one of her favorite new 'chores' although somehow she usually ends up washing more of the driveway than the car . . go figure.

The other picture is a recent scene I walked in on . . she clearly believes this is a perfectly good hat to wear during play time . . . she's right, of course, I'm just too conservative in my fashion taste.

Anyway . . last night we were all sitting outside at the picnic table having dinner. This is a very common occurance these days because Maddie thinks it's the 'best' way to have any meal. Suddenly a hornet decided to investigate Gregg and his dinner and he proceeded to wave it away with his hand. Maddie watched him for a minute and then said, "Dad, it's JUST a bee . . don't freak it!" Gregg kind of tilted his head curiously and asked her, "What did you just say?" Quite sure that he probably misunderstood her toddler-ese language . . and she repeated more emphatically than the first time, "Don't FREAK it, it's JUST a bee!" . . Apparently, we've told her not to 'freak out' a few too many times . . funny stuff, the things those little brains retain.

The second quote happened this morning over breakfast. Maddie was requesting that Gregg peel her banana from the bottom rather than the top. Gregg was trying to explain to her why this wouldn't really work, but upon realizing she wasn't really understanding . . in an exasperated voice he just summed up the conversation with "Do you want to eat the banana or not?" Maddie, who was equally frustrated and exasperated at his lack of effort to try and fulfill her simple request replied with an emphatic, "YES!". Gregg didn't like her tone of voice and in an effort to impliment a moment of discipline into a rapidly declining situation he said, "You do NOT bark at me like that!" . . Maddie looked momentarily confused, but without missing a beat responded, "I'm NOT a dog, dad, I'm Maddie big girl!". Funny how that 3-year-old innocence can turn a strained moment into muffled giggling and lip biting smirks among adults . . thanks for the entertainment MJ, some days it's what helps us make it through the tough moments. We hope you all enjoy a little chuckle too.

Catch up, again!

So . . here I am, even more delayed than usual on trying to keep this thing up. It has been a fairly busy month or so as we managed to jam TWO family vacations into the last 4 weeks . . in addition to the 4th of July holiday.

Our first vacation was the annual Sun Valley shebang and it was great having everyone together again. There were multiple trials and scares on the journey there, but thankfully, we all made it safe and sound. The girls had a wonderful time playing with all of their cousins and as an added bonus, grandma and grandpa Stephany came to spend the first day and a half with us. Wow! That's a lot of family to get to have all together on vacation . . and even though grandma and grandpa Stephany couldn't stay too long, it was so fun to have them there! They showed Maddie around grandma's playhouse . . the camper . . and MJ thought it was pretty neat that they had a house 'just her size'. She also loved their chips and cheese snacks . . much like her dad! Keira gave them the 'stare down', which is her usual greeting for anybody that she doesn't spend at least 4 hours a day with. Then, we enjoyed a fun bike/roller blading trip on the scenic trail along the river and then packed em up and sent them on their long drive home . . which we are happy to report, they made safely to complete their long, busy,and fun-filled road trip! Thanks for taking the time!

The rest of the trip involved a few trips to the kiddie pool, some walks to the ice cream store (as per Maddie's request), regular morning visits and walks to 'kenna and tyler's' house, and nice bbq on the deck, family pictures, a special carnival for the kids, and the annual ice skating show and fireworks. Lots of fun and family time!

The fourth of July was the weekend following and was particularly fun because it was really the first year the girls have gotten involved in all the 'excitement'. We went to the Kaysville parade celebration that morning and Maddie got her first taste of 'parade candy' . . which motivated her to wave like crazy to all the floats . . and she was not lacking in rewards for this effort. Keira sat second chair in the stroller, hiding from the sun, but fully appreciating the energy and action. Those girls like a good party! We followed up the parade with some additional time spent at the local carnival celebration where the girls enjoyed the monster blown up jungle gym slide and we finally made it home for a family bbq with plenty of watermelon, much to Maddie's joy. She did however request that we refrain from putting 'nuts' . . aka, seeds . . in her next 'melon'. Grandpa came through with a big family pack of fireworks for the kids to enjoy since none of them were going to be up late enough to appreciate the 'big shows in town' and while they weren't a big fan of the noise . . they couldn't take their eyes off the lights and smoke. The show was completed with a final round of 'snaps' that even Keira figured out how to stomp on and we dragged the girls off to be, much to their dismay . . exhausted, but happy with the events of the day.

Our second family trip of the month was the following weekend. We packed up for another road trip and headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This is yet another Harris family tradition . . although this one has dwindled since Sun Valley moved in on the summer events calender . . but growing up, thanks to grandma and grandpa's generosity in sharing their time share. . this was our annual summer vacation quite often. So, I have fond memories of the city and not having been there in at least 12 years or so, I was excited to make the trip. The girls did pretty well on the drive, much to our relief, and were very excited to see that the swimming pool was located right out their back window in the condo so that they could keep their eye on all the 'action'. It was a fairly quick trip, but we managed some pool time, a few trips to breakfast and walks through town, a big night at the rodeo, a trip to Teton village, a hike to the hidden falls at Jenny Lake for some of our party (dad. Amber, Gregg, and Keira) and a mini hike to feed 'Rex' leaves and rocks for the rest of us (MJ, mom, and myself), and you can rest assured, Maddie managed to persuade us to make a trip or two to the 'ice cream' store. I can't fully account for all of Gregg's vacation events because that guy is determined to see and explore everything when he comes to a new town . . and I just can't keep up . . so he was constantly running off to make sure he saw as much as he could, I'd say he was fairly successful!

Well . . I'm gonna end this one, for those of you that have stuck it out with me, and once again . . pledge to try to blog more frequently and less lengthy! OY!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

So, today is actually Maddie's birthday . . she's officially three years old. She, however, wasn't really aware of that today because due to scheduling conflicts with the family (Gregg flew to Wisconsin this morning for H.S. reunion #20!!!!, and grandma and grandpa had business to attend to down south), we decided to celebrate on Wednesday the 4th.

I kind of eased her into the fact that this birthday bash would really be HER birthday because she's very quick to take over everybody else's birthday celebrations . . because lets face it, she's 3 . . the world does indeed revolve around her whether we acknowledge it or not. But today was really her very own! Her first clue of the oncoming joy was on our trip to the grocery store when I let her pick out some party favors and balloons . . Disney princess', of course. At that moment you could just feel the excitement building in her little body and she was literally giddy the rest of the day . . dancing around and singing and giggling for no specific reason other than pure glee. . hilarious to watch. We went home and I let her color the balloons after I blew them up and we tied them on a string and hung it from the ceiling with some pictures she had drawn on paper with the glitter pens as well . . nothing like putting all that extra energy to work for me in the process of transforming the kitchen into a party hall.

That took us until lunchtime where we ate 'happy birthday mashed potatoes' . . one of the girls favorites where we prop a candle up in the potatoes and sing 'happy birthday' and then they get to blow out the candle. That sounds like a great 'birthday' lunch plan . . but sadly, we do it at least once a week because the girls have to eat 3 bites in between each 'fire and song' routine . . so it seemed only right that we instigate that routine into her actual birthday. I somehow managed to get her to lay down for a nap in between incessant conversations about 'her party' . . thus allowing me some time to make a spaghetti dinner for the party. MJ's birthday meal of choice this year was noodles and breadsticks with fruity blender drinks and cocktail umbrellas (courtesy of grandma). Then I finished the transformation of the princess party hall with pink streamers from wall to wall and many a pink, purple, and white helium balloons and the ultimate birthday mega sized princess balloon tied to her chair. Unfortunately I couldn't keep her out of the party hall for all the party attenders to see her reaction . . but I guess that's one of the special moments saved and truly appreciated by a mother. It was SO cute to see the look of awe as she came up the stairs and looked around with big eyes and a huge smile like she'd just walked into her own little paradise . . she just giggled and said, "Oh wow!" about 3 times and eventually managed to follow it up with "I am SO happy mom, mom!" . . and just like that, all the tantrums and whining quickly fade and are forgiven because you can't help but fall in love with that kind of innocent happiness and appreciation.

After that, it was just torturous waiting for all her 'party friends' to come. I started to have a guilty complex because the way she was talking I should have arranged for the whole neighborhood to show up . . she's a party girl . . I wonder who she got that from? She danced around the room letting out silly giggles and telling me, "mom-mom, I'm laughing on my birthday!" and other nonsensical giddy comments. We called Amber and dad multiple times trying to pass time and assure Maddie that they were on their way to 'her party' . . and finally everybody made it . . with the icing on MJ's party cake being a special appearance by her 'other' grandma and grandpa . . as she refers to them . . . that would be great grandma and grandpa Harris.

She has a special passion for them that is so adorable . . and who would have thought it possible, she's got grandma 'dessee' wrapped around her finger. I think MJ had special directions in her pre-life instructional course to 'sweeten' that grandma up and make her smile more . . it's the only way I can explain why a 2 year old . . now 3, would walk up unsolicited . . on multiple occasions with random compliments such as, "Oh, I like your hair grandma!" . . . or " Wow, that's a wonderful blue shirt!" If she wasn't on the opposite side of the room from any other adult you would swear she was being prompted . . it's adorable, the instant love she feels for them. . and they are not exempt from her charm, there's a mutual adoration . . I love it.

Anyway . . with the great grandparents seated on either side of her dinner chair . . Maddie directed dinner . . and then on to the grand finale . . the princess cake. This was a moment I was able to save for all the party go-ers to enjoy as the cake was unveiled . . and although Maddie had picked the cake out of a book at the bakery a few days before and anxiously awaited the 'baker's delivery' as she kept referring to it . . the real thing was truly breathtaking for her. . and she squeaked out another "oh wow" before her hands started flying and trying to mark her territory. We managed to hold her back with promises of candles and birthday serenading . . but that pushed the limits of her 3 year old patience and she finally was allowed to dig into . . Ariel's lilypad . . apparently her first choice in the princess entourage.

Birthday presents followed . . and with a little. . .or a lot of sugar on board to spark the fire . . MJ and Keira both ran around like wild women ripping open gifts and playing with new toys. Grandparents Stephany gave her a princess tunnel which was a big hit and Maddie enjoyed trapping Keira in the tunnel til they both were giggling hysterically. Finally it was time for the party to end, much to Maddie's dismay . . she did eventually go to sleep that night . . about 2 hours after we left her in her bed. . and woke up the next morning ready for 'more party' and was VERY upset to come upstairs and find all her 'party friends' had left . . I knew better than to take down the party decorations . . . but it's been 2 long days of sulking and sadness that the party is indeed, over. Such a tough life to understand when you're 3 . . anyway, that's the long version of MJ's perfect party day . . if only they were that easy to please their whole life. I sure enjoyed watching her enjoy her day!

I'm TERRIBLE at this!

As I suspected . . I am terrible at keeping this up. However, I'm not giving up, just acknowledging my weakness and hoping somehow I'll get better at it.
It's now the end of May . . and we haven't sold our house in Denver yet . . so we are still camped out, it seems as if we are becoming a permanent fixture in grandma and grandpa's basement. On the bright side . . the kids love having grandma and grandpa at their constant disposal and we have really enjoyed the time spent with them . . it's a sure way to get in touch with each other's lives for better and worse! I also never got to live much with Mark because of our age seperation so I've really liked getting to know him a little better and love to see the girls become a part of his busy life!
About a month ago Gregg and I got to take a much needed getaway trip to Hawaii by ourselves, courtesy of the great live in babysitters that 'the grandparents' have become. We went to Maui and stayed in a great condo . . I was SO excited at the thought of all those endless hours to selfishly devote to myself . . and hopefully manage to spare a few to dote on my husband who sadly has been forced to learn to share the limelight of my attention with the girls. Even the long airplane ride was a treat as we both appreciated being able to have our trays down and slowly enjoy the quiet peace of reading and leisurely snacking on the treats and beverages, giggling to ourselves as we heard other kids whining and parents struggling. The weather was perfect and the vacation was unbelievably enjoyable. The only real problem was Gregg was geared for high adventure and I couldn't manage to soak in enough lazy hours of peace on the beach . . but somehow we managed to make the most of our time and both came back satisfied, tanned, and ready to take on the 'little people' again. We did miss the girls . . but knowing they were well taken care of and thoroughly enjoying the constant attention of their grandparents . . we didn't lose any sleep over our time apart. They were as happy to see us as we were to see them . . after Keira stared us down for a good ten minutes, upon our return. I think it was her form of discipline and punishment hoping we understood that she wasn't happy we had abandoned her. She quickly recovered and we all were happy to be reunited!
There's not a whole lot more to report . . Gregg sold his car . . yet another sign that we have officially moved in to full time 'family' life. We bought a new, bigger vehicle so we can haul all of us and our junk around more efficiently. . . not gas efficiently . . but you do what you have to at this point in life! The girls are excitedly transitioning to summer . . happy to be regularly visiting the parks and loving the warm days that allow them to swim in the backyard. Maddie just completed her first round of swim lessons and is pretty proud of herself after a rough start. The last few lessons, she insisted she was bringing Gregg or I along so she could 'teach' us how to swim. That's all for now . . I have to get better at this!

Trial run : April 14, 2008

I'm not sure I have time to keep this up, but I thought I'd give it a try, more as a personal form of record keeping because the kids keep saying and doing such funny things that I want to record them so we won't forget. But . . for those of you that live far away and have the time, or care to have a peek into our current living situation . . read on.





The current situation is as follows . . Maddie is 2 years and 10 months old and Keira is one year and 2 months. Clearly, I have my days cut out for me . . some of it being joyful and humorous, other moments account for periodic baldspots on my head where I've opted to tear my hair out to cope with my frustration. We moved to Utah about 6 months ago and have been living at my parents house in Kaysville
. . a pretty good arrangement but I never really intended to live in transition for this long. . and unfortunately, the summer portion of our lives is packed tightly in a storage 'vault', as I refer to it these days, and unaccessible . . aargh! We are waiting for our house to sell in Denver . . not a good plan given the current housing market . . but, thus is life, and we continue to hope it happens. Gregg is working for some orthopedic doctors at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray. He enjoys his job . . most of the time . . and has filled his last 6 months of extensive commute time listening to audio recordings of the complete Harry Potter collection . . he loves that . . and occasionally, I'm very jealous of that solitary time he has to enjoy such a frivolity . . Funny the things that become so desireable and luxurious when you're amidst the thralls of full time parenting. Anyway . . we anticipate living further south in that vicinity when and if we ever get to buy our own house so we can salvage some time, money, and gas, and get to spend even more time with 'our dad'. The girls anxiously anticipate his return home each night and Maddie immediately requests that he go and change his clothes so he can be 'a daddy'. Keira just runs with her arms flailing in the air (preferrably naked, her favorite state of existance, as she is escaping her nightly pj dressing and diaper change) and literally throws her body at him yelling, 'Daaaaaaa!'.


Anyway, I've decided to make an attempt at potty training Maddie as she approaches 3 years of life . . a new experience for both of us, unfortunately, I take it more seriously than she does. She insists she's a 'big girl' ( and don't try to claim she's anything else, she'll adamantly correct you . . 'I'm not hungry, I'm a BIG girl') . . with the occasional fallback that necessitates an infant positioned cradling and rocking as she temporarily assumes the roll of 'baby' . . but when she doesn't make it . . or rather, doesn't TRY to make it to the potty and I insist that if indeed, she is a 'big girl' she needs to TRY to act accordingly. After 2 failed incidents of even attempting to seek out me or a potty, until, of course, she was done and unpleasantly left residing in some very smelly messes yesterday . . . I was becoming frustrated. MJ's usual response to my scolding is to change the subject to happier topics and refuse to acknowledge that I am upset or that she is aware that anything has gone awry. In an attempt to keep her focused and try to have a logical conversation that hopefully might result in a lesson learned . . . Maddie looked back at me as I quizzed her on why she insisted on soiling her pants and said . . . "Mom-mom, you need to be more patient" . . . and once again . . . my own deep words of wisdom . . . that I was sure she never actually heard . . and obviously didn't understand . . when I initially directed them at her, now were not only appropriately directed back at me, but in a very timely, CALM manner . . . which I'm guessing is not the way she initially received the advice . . and with that simple sentence . . my 2 year old trumped the conversation, and somehow turned a hair pulling moment into a humorous instance of amazement and unprecedented love for the little 'stinkpot'!