success

First thing this morning Jilly had a complete meltdown (best way to start a morning...) 

and through her sobs she said "I just want to sit on mommy's lap."  

I quickly finished feeding Mattie and pulled Jilly on my lap  

and I thought, "this feels familiar."

In the past 2.5 months our lives have changed quite dramatically.

They've definitely changed for the better, 

but we're still figuring out this better new life

I've spent the past week complaining to anyone and everyone

about my inability to function as I used to.

Showering, making dinner, cleaning up, dealing with crying children

seem like olympic events right now

And today I realized that poor Jilly just wants her mom,

not a crazy lady who is always frustrated about what she isn't doing

So today we played ring-a-rosie eight times in a row

and read the zebra book inside her tent

I had nasty hair and a super messy house

but we did eat and make it to Sam's Club and laugh a lot

so we'll call today a success

family pictures

While we were all together in Virginia we had some family pictures taken

 we love a good sibling jumping picture

 and a good hold your little brother picture

 some good-looking guys

 and the girls (by the kitchen and laundry sign because that's what we're best at)

and, quite possibly my favorite picture ever taken-

friday five

On a lurch this week Jilly switched her favorite color to yellow.  I realize two-year-olds are notoriously fickle but I really didn't see this one coming; I thought pink was around to stay.  

My bestie Lisa and her friend Lauren started a new blog called Money Hip Mamas.  They're both accountant extraordinaires and they post family finance tips, diy projects, and other goodies. Check it out!

Baby girl got her first shots this week- boo hoo

This week Bryan figured out how to speed up a dvd to double time.  I have mixed feelings- while it does make Dora go faster, it also makes it quite a bit more annoying.  Imagine hearing "we did it, we did it, we did it, yeah" twice as fast as normal.

 For the past month we've been with family and I've had a lot of help with these girlies of mine.  I started to think "psh, two kids is no big deal."  Let me tell you- two kids is so not easy.  After a 25 minute screamfest coming from the two children in the backseat of my car I came home and declared there was absolutely definitely positively no way we were ever having another child.  Check back with me in approximately 5 years

Happy Weekend!

Sunriver

The company Bryan works for (WEST Consultants) celebrates their 25th anniversary this year

Everyone in the company was invited to Sunriver Resort in Oregon for a few days to celebrate

Families were invited, but since the trip involved 7+ hours of driving on Sunday and then 7+ hours of driving again on Tuesday we opted to leave Jilly behind with her Nana and Papa (a good decision)

Mattie says "whaaaat?! you're taking me on another trip?"

On the way we stopped at Crater Lake, which was ah-mazing - the bluest blue water I've ever seen

Our stay at Sunriver was super relaxing

We ate out, hung out with Bryan's co-workers and their wives, and spent lots of time at the pool

I read, Bryan biked, and Mattie was sweet as can be

(possibly enjoying a break from the stifling love of her sis) 

We went to a banquet the last night

It was part fun and part boring (they are engineers after all)

But I did enjoy learning more about the company and eating delicious food

Then all too soon we were back in the car

five

1. We survived the trip home!  While it was much, much better than our trip out it still wasn't flawless.  We had delays, nearly lost baggage, grouchy people, blowout diapers, and a particularly nasty 15 minutes during which both girls were screaming.  But, at one point when Mattie was asleep in my arms and Jilly was asleep with her head in my lap my neighbor said "You are very blessed."  And I said, "Yes, yes I am."

2. My girls have the best (the BEST) aunts and uncle.  They played with Jilly, had sleepovers with her, and endured her constant bossiness and drama.  Jilly is missing her favorite playmates so, so much.

3. We finally made it home at about 1am Thursday morning.  I walked in the door to find a perfectly clean house- dishes clean, carpet vacuumed, and even freshly washed sheets on my bed (is there anything better than crawling into a bed of clean sheets?)  To top it all Bryan had gotten me cookie dough to get me through the next day (if it makes you feel better you can pretend I used it to make cookies, but let's be honest- I didn't.)  He's a keeper.

4. While in VA my sisters and I made microwave potato bags (using this tutorial.)  I used mine last night and it worked perfectly, but Jenn used hers also and sent me this picture on the right.  Perhaps not a 100% success.

5. When I was taking Mattie's two month pictures another little girl had to join in.  And Mattie gave me one of her classic "save me!" faces.  Love them both.

Mattie: two months

Like her sister, Mattie had a very adventurous second month of life and through it all she's been just as sweet and easy-going as ever

It looks like her dark hair is here to stay (yay!)

We have another paci-loving girl on our hands (which I love for now but will be cursing in two years)

She smiles and laughs and coos and we cannot get enough of it

We are so, so in love with this little girl

splash pad

We went to Stony Point one day and Tyler played with Jilly on the splash pad.  Jilly had a perma-grin on her face as they ran through all the fountains.

best uncle ever!

backyard fun

My parents have a big, beautiful backyard that is a dreamworld for Jillian.  One afternoon I followed her around taking pictures.

This playhouse has been around forever and was a little worse for wear.  I spent a few hours scrubbing it and evicting many spiders and a wasp's nest.  Luckily it was worth the work because she loved playing in it.  

unlocking the door with her "key" (twig)

digging for worms (blech)

friday five

five fun things we've done this week-

one- It's been a great week for free food.  7/11 meant free slurpees and today is Cow Appreciation Day at chick-fil-A.  You better believe we'll be donning some cow ears.

two- I met lovely Jana at BYU and she and her family just moved to Richmond.  We went to the Children's Museum together and it was so fun to watch Jilly and Lily play and to see darling Noah in person.  

three- Jilly had her first dental appointment with Dr. Grandpa this week and it was kind of a disaster.  The only way we got her mouth open for a few seconds was for me to tickle her.  I can only imagine how bad it would have been with a dentist we didn't know!

four- When I was little I spent many, many summer days at Canterbury Pool.  It's so fun to take Jilly there to play now, and we also got to watch Uncle Ty at his swim meet.

 

five- We are missing Bryan oh so much so we keep him updated with lots of pictures and videos.

 

Sandbridge 2013

We had such a wonderful week at the beach with my family

Until next year!