Bits and Bites

I pulled out the camera to upload pictures before blogging, and realized I have taken absolutely no pictures lately. I did snap this one of Addie after her recent injury filled week. It kind of captures them all, though it is hard to see specifics. On Wednesday, she was playing in a box with a toy knife and I looked over to see blood running out of her mouth. Did she bite her lip, cut her lip, or lose a fight with the box?
I lean towards the biting option since that was the theme of the rest of her injuries. On Thursday, we went to the library for storytime and then played in the park afterward. She was swinging when she caught sight of the dog sitting with its owner 2 feet from the playground. Addie immediately got very excited, as she does whenever she sees a dog, so I asked the owner if it would be okay if she said hi, and if his dog was good with kids. Almost immediately after she started petting him, the dog turned and snapped at her face. I have never had time freeze like that for me before. Images of gaping wounds and reconstructive surgeries filled my head as I grabbed her away. Fortunately she escaped with only a red mark and bruise over her left eye, but it was incredibly scary. I just wish I knew why that man thought it was appropriate to sit that close to a playground full of kids with a dog that could have a reaction like that.

Friday we went to play at our friends', the Mills, house. Addie and Parker were playing in the sheer curtains, hugging and kissing and being very cute. Until Addie started crying and we realized Parker's kiss had turned into a snack. Addie ended up with a set of upper teeth marks right under her eye, and lowers by the corner of her mouth. I know I myself often just want to take a bite of her cute meatiness. I guess Parker couldn't resist either. Thankfully we survived the rest of the weekend without further injury to her face.

Bracken's face has also improved considerably.
He decided it was finally time for the moustache contest to come to an end. And he has stopped looking at me like that anymore.

My favorite story from the contest came from his co-competitor. Shaun was teaching the young men at church and they were giving him lots of grief about how bad his moustache looked, pressuring him to get rid of it. Bracken popped his head in to collect the roll, the boys said nothing, and then they resumed teasing Shaun. He said, "What about Brother Mannion? He has a moustache, too?" The immediate reply? "Yeah, well he looks good in it." I'm not sure I agree, and it sure is nice to get a kiss without getting poked by little hairs.

Chloe continues to make me laugh. The other night after I finally got the pork roast on the table (The power went out in the middle of dinner prep, and I had to transfer everything to the grill. It was special.), Chloe said, "Mom, I sure love this chicken." "But Chloe, this is pork. It comes from a pig. It's a different kind of meat." "Okay Mom, but it's still chicken on the inside." I guess there's no such thing as the 'other white meat.'

She loves making up songs right now, and singing them passionately. There tend to be great building swells with repeats of, "I love you" or, "I never," or some other dramatic phrase. We went out to water the flowers the other morning and she spun in circles, singing lines from songs from Enchanted. She is just such a little lady right now. In fact she can be better behaved than her parents. On Sunday, she gave her second talk in Primary. I was teaching Relief Society, so I couldn't be there to hear her, but apparently, Bracken got the giggles in the middle of helping her, so bad that he couldn't even talk, and she just waited patiently for him to compose himself.

Truthfully, she was the only who really managed to behave the whole time in church. Addie and sacrament meeting are not a good combination. She just has no comprehension of how to be quiet. She wasn't fussy at all. She just can't turn the volume down. Even if we manage to get her to focus on something, she immediately starts making her 'concentration' noise of, "Errrrrrrrr," so we've gained nothing. Though we were sitting on the second to last row of pews, she managed to entertain the organist with her giggling fit. And the whole time I was trying to keep her quiet, she was working equally hard to pull my skirt up, or my top down in order to further humiliate me as everyone turned to see where all the racket was coming from. It is such a relief when the meeting ends and we get to drop her at the doors of the nursery and run.

Addie is very into books right now. Her favorite book is a 5 pound compilation of princess stories that she loves to carry around, drop corner first right onto my belly or some other sensitive area, and then ignore once I actually start reading to her. That book is currently hiding on a top shelf in my room. After church on Sunday, with our aerobic Sacrament meeting and teaching and everything, I was resting on the couch. Okay, so I spend a lot of time lately just resting on the couch, but I had earned it this time. Addie came up to me, handed me a book, then took the remotes for the TV and moved them to the other side of the room and came back. That kid knows what's up.

She has been sleeping at night in the bottom bunk in Chloe's room for over 2 weeks now. I had no hopes of getting her out of the crib before the baby came, but she has been doing incredibly well. She's only ventured out a couple times, and the half an hour of singing herself to sleep every night doesn't seem to bother Chloe at all. I haven't gotten her totally transitioned to naps in there yet, mainly because I haven't gotten my act together enough for Chloe not to need to go in there while Addie's sleeping.

As for me, I am 32 weeks pregnant, and feeling the limitations that brings so much more this time around. I worked really hard the other day, mixing up a soil blend and filling my new garden boxes, doing various jobs around the yard, etc. I felt great that I finally had a day where I had used all of my time well. Until I sat up all night with various cramping and pains, and my allergies freaking out. I really am and all or nothing person, and trying to find a middle ground of how much I really should be doing is super hard for me. That said, I think I'll go lie on the couch some more.

Hot or cold?

Chloe just came in from outside, declaring it was too cold and too scary to be outside.

"Why is it scary?"

"The swing makes loud noises and there's a bee and the biggest bug I ever saw."

This doesn't mean much to me since the last bug she insisted was the biggest she ever saw was a gnat on a rose. I tell her, "Well, I need to go outside and put some chemicals in the pool."

"Oh, it's a good day to have a pool. It's nice and hot."

"Chloe, is it hot or cold? You just said it was too cold outside."

"Oh. I want to go blow bubbles outside. D'Bye."

And I wonder why I can't keep up. The other day we were in the car and she started talking about how she was growing bigger and bigger. She said soon she would be big enough to drive the car and be as big as me and dad, and one day she would be all grown up and leave. I reassured her that that was a long time away, and I got to take care of her for a long time. My reassurances fell on deaf ears, though, and by the time we arrived at dance class, she was in tears, distraught over the possiblity of moving out one day. "But I don't want to grow up, I want to live in our house forever and ever."

My other favorite Chloe-ism right now is the phrase "Done degot." I'll use it in a sentence. "Mom, you done degot to bring my pictures to dance class!" Yeah, I've done degot to do a lot of things lately. But I am remembering to write this stuff down!

I should keep better notes

I know it's been several weeks since I've blogged, and the kids have said and done many cute things, but I have no recollection of what they are. I tell myself I should write these things down when they happen, but then I'm sure I would lose my notes. Probably under my belly. The other day the remote disappeared under my belly, and when I moved, I changed the channel.

Fortunately I do have pictures of some of what we've been up to. Here are Addie and Parker on the green swing. Unfortunately, Addie is at the stage where she just looks a little special when you try to take her picture. We have on our fridge a picture of her that they took in nursery, and it makes us laugh every time we look at it because she just looks so "special." When Chloe was the same age, they didn't even post her nursery picture, it was so bad. Which is saying something since generally all the other pictures looked like it was a special ed nursery.
Josh, Chloe and Parker in the pool.

Cute little Parkeroni.

Cute kids running in the backyard.

A couple weekends ago we took the kids to Fairytale Town. It had been a while since we'd done anything fun with them on a weekend.

Addie just loves slides right now.

And Chloe has conquered her fear of them, too.

They loved watering Mr. MacGregor's garden.

Addie just kept filling her watering can.

Poor drowned plants.

Riding the horses at Cinderella's coach.

Addie in the cheese, standing alone.

Chloe exiting the Crooked Mile.

Then we took the girls on Pony rides. Chloe just loves it.

Addie was so excited until we put her on the horse. Then she wanted nothing to do with it. So I carried her and led the horse around the track. I think he knew things were a little out of control, because he did not want to go. Thanks a lot, Dusty.

That night Addie got her first haircut. She had quite the mullet going on, and looked pretty ragged all the time. I realized that since her hair certainly didn't make her look more feminine, I might as well just cut it off so she could at least look groomed.

She was surprisingly good during the process. I can't say it was the best haircut ever, especially after she moved while I was using the trimmers on her neck. But I do think she looks really cute in her "bob" now. I'll post pictures of the after later.

Chloe decided she also wanted her hair cut. She requested it be cut short so it wouldn't get tangled, but knowing how much my little sister regretted that choice growing up, I refused. I was still awfully nervous cutting it, though. It was the first time I personally have cut her hair.

I was also cutting with an injured finger. I had done some exploring in Addie's mouth, trying to determine if her 2nd year molars were coming in, and she clamped down hard. I was amazed at how much that little bite could hurt. It's the first time I've really been bitten by one of my kids.

A couple final pictures. This Saturday, Bracken and I were attempting to relax on the couch for a few minutes. We got up to find this in the hallway.

And this in the bedroom.

First thing I thought of when I saw the hall was how my youngest siblings used to empty the pantry and line all the cans up in a row down the hallway. Guess it runs in the family.