Tay-lay

My brother recently complained that he wouldn't read my blog because there would not be anything about him in it. It is now my mission to make him regret saying that, which will be easier to do now that we live under one roof. The other day I was reading Shape magazine (a women's fitness mag) while rocking Berkely on the couch. When Tay came in I closed the magazine to talk with him and flipped the mag upside down because the cover model was in a bikini. We talked for awhile as he slowly edged towards the couch and the magazine. I knew he was going to pick it up but I wanted to see what he would do. He casually picked it up and turned it over. As soon as he saw the girl he dropped it like a branding iron and his face was mortified. I asked him what he was planning to do with it and he grumbled something and ran downstairs. I still laugh when I see that magazine. Both of my brothers are also terrified of hair. If they saw one in the tub we would have to drain it or they wouldn't stay in. We used to torment them by brushing our barbie heads on them. They would absolutely freak out. So I was cooking dinner the other night and I am terrible at timing when the boys will be home, so I burned the fries, and when Tay took a bite of his sandwich he found a hair in it! He about died, and started gagging at the table. I thought he would just get something else to eat but he was a trooper and finished the sandwich so I wouldn't feel bad. He left the table pretty quick though, and on his way out he grabbed a slice of cheese off the counter and there was a hair on it too! (Kevin cut those, so it's not all my fault) He threw it in the sink and exclaimed, "Everything in this house is covered in hair!" Poor kid, that is probably one of his worst nightmares.

A few weekends ago I decided to clean up the playhouse in the yard for Brae. It took more work than I thought, and after a few hours Tay came out to help me. I really appreciated that he would do that on a Saturday afternoon. Braelyn really loves to follow him around, and she kept wanting the stick he would pick up or the rake he was using. I don't think Tay is used to that, being the youngest, and after awhile he was feeling pretty frusterated, and told Brae she couldn't just boss him around and take whatever he had. I just laughed because I remember the days when he did that to us, and thought it was good he got a little back.

He really is such a good little brother, and I am grateful. He is always willing to hold the baby or play with Brae when I need some help. It would be hard to have a family move in and kick you out of your room and take over your house, but he has taken it all in stride. I can't believe he has only one year left, I think he will forever be four years old in my mind. He will be a wonderful missionary soon, just as Greg is, and is wonderful example of a young man reaching their potential, and doing so making the right choices and standing for what they believe.

We love you T!

Braelynisms

Braelyn says and does things that crack us up everyday. Here are a few of our favorites this summer. . .

-When she was potty training, every time she would toot, we would take her to the potty, so when she was visiting family, she heard a grown-up and toot, and took their hand and took them to the potty, and made them have a seat.

-She is really stuck to her routine and one morning when she was going to someone elses house to be baby-sat, I said in the prayer, "Bless Brae to be nice at Nanas" and she said, "No Munga's."(which is what she calls my mom) I stopped praying and said, not today, today you are going to Nana's. She scooted across the floor, keeping her arms folded, and got right in my face and growled, "No. Munga's."

-Took her to the McDonald's drive-thru, and while we were waiting for our food she told me her tummy hurt. I asked her waht would make it feel better, and she said, "Fries make my tummey feel better."

-Told me she hurt her finger. Me: "Are you ok?" Brae: "No Mom I not okay?" Me: "Are you going to make it?" Brae: "Yeah, I'm a tough girl."

-Made Berkley laugh and said, "Bookley, I luv you. You my best friend."

- I told her one morning that her face was dirty. She went and found a washcloth and cleaned her face all by herself, then she came and told me, "I clean my face and cheeks and chin. Brae do it by hers-self. Make Mom so happy!"

-One afternoon I was trying to get us ready to go out. I buckled Berkley into her car seat while Brae watched TV, then ran up stairs to grab a blanket and burp rag. As I was walking back downstairs the phone rang, so I went to grab it and noticed the trail of clothes and panties from the living room. I checked caller ID and saw it was the neighbors across the street. Any guesses on the outcome of this? I opened the front door to find my two year old smelling flowers wearing just her birthday suit and smile. The phone stopped ringing.

-She loves to call people, so she called her Aunt Ashley one night, but didn't get an answer. So then she called Taryn, and when Taryn answered she asked if Ashley was home. After she hung up with Taryn Ashley called her back, and she started crying when she answered and it wasn't Taryn.

-I was vacuuming downstairs and when I turned the vacuum off. I could hear this monotone voice saying something over and over from upstairs, and when I stopped to listen I could hear, "needtopoopneedtopoopneedtopoop"

-We were crossing a parking lot, and our rule is she has to hold our hand when we are on asphalt. She didn't want to hold my hand, and I reminded her of the rule, so she grabbed a hold of her own hand with the other hand, and said, "I am holding a hand." How could I argue that?

-Munga turned on a TV show for her on her bed, and when she came back up to check on her she was standing there stark naked (notice a trend), and Braelyn happily announced, "I'm supernaked!"

-We took her to the playground and I asked her if she wanted me to play with her. Brae: "Yes momma." Kevin: "Hey what about me?" Me: "Can Dad come play too?" Brae: "No, dad's too fat."

-I took her shopping while Kevin stayed home with Berkley. When we were walking in she grabbed my hand and held it to her face, then looked at me and said, "Mom, you my favorite."

Oh, could have melted me right there! Out of the mouths of babes, we never know what she will come up with next.

First Day of Preschool

Braelyn was dressed, (all by herself) and singing in the hallway this morning when I got up. I thought that was a good sign, but it turned sour quickly after that. Luckily we had muffins for breakfast, but when I made her go potty, the tantrums started, then after I did her hair, she kept telling me, "It not cute, it not powfect." After switching barrettes for the third time, I was done and made her go sit in her room to chill out. I couldn't believe the diva behavior was starting before she turned three! As I was scrambling to get Berkley fed and dressed Braelyn decided her Belle needed a beast, she finally settled on her baby doll being the beast. Then she decided Belle needed a bath and got her undressed, and insisted that I get her dressed. Anyone who has tried to shove hard plastic doll arms into a teeny dress when you are rushing will understand why I felt Belle could just go in her birthday suit, but my little princess insisted, so I did it. I was determined to get a cute First Day of School picture, without tears and snot, so I was being as nice as possible. I actually had both the girls ready and did get my pictures, just in time for the second round of World War 2-year old to start. You can see in her picture that the toes of one of her shoes is hanging over the front of her white sandal. I thought that was just a temporary thing I could fix when we were ready to go, but as soon as the camera was away, she wanted her other foot to hang over the front of her shoe. Why this now, and why it happened this morning, I don't know, but we argued and fought about it, and needless to say she wore her brown shoes to school that morning.
I was surprised when we got to school and Brae seemed a little nervous. She is usually pretty brave and excited to go for anything that involves playing and other kids, but she insisted on taking Belle with her into school. We had put some papers for her teacher in her bag, and when the secretary said she liked her bag, she said very importantly, "I have papers." She took the secretary's hand and walked back to her class. I just stood there, wondering who was going to take my hand and tell me it was okay. Actually I was very excited for her, and knew she would have a great time, and really enjoy the new experience. It was also wonderful to do my shopping with just one child, who is immobile for the time being. It was a very quiet trip, and I liked not having to divide attention for a few hours.
Brae was busy playing when we got there to pick her up, but was happy to see and us and left happily. She said she liked it and sang me a few songs she learned. Her teacher said she did well for a first day, and that she complied easily when reminded. I sure love this little girl and am proud of all the new things she is learning and friends she is making. Braelyn loves to do excercises with me, and likes to lift the three lb weights then walk on the treadmill. She was sitting next to me doing crunches and she would grunt every time I would do one. Sorry about the leg shot, I don't know how to crop yet.
Berkley is such a sweet baby, there just isn't a better word for her. My only gripe is that she only takes a decent nap about every three days. She has super-sensitive hearing, and we witnessed her first major melt-down when we were having dinner with all of Kevin's family and it got a little loud, and she couldn't see Mom or Dad. Otherwise as long as she is sitting up she is pretty good to go, but her favorite is when Daddy wraps her up tight in his arms and rocks her to sleep. We couldn't have picked a better addition to our family.

Braelyn was a little too quiet the other afternoon but I was enjoying the peace too much to check on her. When I finally did I found she had pumped most of our hand soap into the sink and had it overflowing with bubbles. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me she was making a crown. I guess she gets points for creativity, but I have to wonder if the punishment sticks, if you get mad, then tell her to wait while you get the camera and takes pictures? This was the first of two times this day that she soaked her shirt in the sink, she also dumped cupfuls of water out of the tub, peeled apart a wooden doll chair of my mom's, and bit my hand when I buckled her into the car seat. What would I do if there was a return policy on children?

Country girl at heart?

The girls ready for church. Such cuties on the outside, devils on the inside as soon as we get there! Thank goodness for nursery.

We've been blessed with lots of little girls in my family, and we love when we get to go to Duchesne and see little Kylie. My cousin Nikki was having her first little girl, so all of us Utah county girls drove out there for her baby shower. Kylie got to show Braelyn how it is living with animals all around, and tried to show her how to hold a kitty. Braelyn had no idea what she was doing, and was too timid to grab the cats, so Kylie would catch them and drag them over to Brae and plop them in her arms. Since Brae didn't know how to hold them, they would wriggle free in a few seconds, and they would start the whole deal all over again. After they were bored with the kitties they ended up in a cardboard box, looking like nudists. I really can't remember why they weren't dressed since everyday Braelyn ends up naked at some point, but after seeing Kylie, I think it is just their age. Kylie loves babies and kept asking to hold Baby Berkley, even though they are about the same size! I couldn't believe how patient she was, she would just sit with her until Berkley would wiggle and we would have to take her. Braelyn really loves Aunt Kellee, and kept saying, I need to see my Kellee. Kylie liked to follow me around, and she makes me laugh because she doesn't say anything, she just stands in front of you and smiles, until you figure out what she wants, then she says, "Yeah" in her deep little voice. After the shower we headed up to spend the night at the cabin. It was kind of fun to just be girls up there, and have a little sleepover, literally little sleep when the girls are involved.

We had the Roberts family reunion on July 19th at Lindon Park. It was a sweltering day, so Braelyn and Cal found a bucket of water set-up for the games and got themselves soaked to cool off. We played some games and ate dinner. The picture above shows my cousin Kel, who was born blind. Kevin and I babysat them a few times, and he recently told his Mom he wanted to come live with me, because I have never yelled at him in his whole life! My favorite part of the day was when all of the Roberts' kids (my aunts and uncles) talked about aspects of Grandpa's life. I feel very lucky that I was able to get so much time with both of my Grandpa's. They were such wonderful men. A grandpa's love for their grandaugthers is one of the best and most unique relationships in the world. You truly know you can do no wrong in their eyes. I have so many wonderful memories of times spent with them, and the feelings that I had when I was with them. I wish they were still here but I also know that they are watching us now, and I look forward to a wonderful reunion with them. It was fun to hear the stories but importantly to feel the emotion behind them. I have a great family, and am blessed by all the love and support that surrounds us.

Lots of water fun

Kevin's work had their summer party at Seven Peaks, so we took both of the girls. We tried to go down the lazy river together, but when we had to go under the waterfall, I was stuck n the tube because I was holding Berkley, and I couldn't get out from under it so she got pelted with water and I felt like the worst Mom ever, so after that we just took turns taking Brae around. When I took her we headed over to the little kid pool and after she got warmed up she loved going down the slide and dunking her head under the water. As we were walking back to our towels she saw the bigger kid pool and slide and told me she wanted to go down. I was nervous so I said lets just watch, and she just kept telling me she wanted to go down. I finally agreed and walked with her up to the top. The pool was too deep for her at the bottom, so I knew I would have to leave her at the top alone. Luckily Brae is so social she made a friend with an older girl, who promised to help her got on the slide. I ran to the bottom and watched as she smiled the whole way down. She was so excited we did it again and again. I was very proud of her, she is very brave for such a little girl. I don't think there was another kid in that pool who was under six, but she jumped right in and had a blast doing it. After we finished swimming Kevin had a few hours before lab so we got ice cream and burgers. It was the most time we had seen him for a few weeks and we all relished the little time we had together. Berkley is such a trooper and just lets us tote her along.

The next night we had a barbecue planned with some friends from high school. They are going to law school in Chicago so we don't get to see them a lot, and they have two little boys who are about six months older than our girls. The kids got to swim and jump on the tramp, and we had a good time catching up with them.

July Activities

July was such a fun month for us. It was very busy but we managed to fit in some playing as well. We spent the fourth of July at Kevin's parents, but we were too far away to see any big fireworks, so we made do with sparklers for Braelyn. She was a little nervous at first, and ended up enjoying the glow sticks more.


Later that week was both Munga and Papa's birthdays, and since Braelyn enjoys birthdays so much, we made them a cake the day they got home. As you can see in the picture Braelyn doesn't understand the candles are for the birthday person. She loves to blow them out. We called Munga at the cabin on her birthday and Braelyn sang "Happy Birthday" to her all by herself. I think it was one of the best presents she got, she seemed to really like that, and Braelyn asked me every day for the rest of the week, if she could call her and sing again.

Time marches on

I'm not meeting my goal of being able to write everyday, so I'm getting more behind. I'm going to switch formats and write about my current day and maybe another post that goes back through summer, so maybe I can get it all written about.

The girls and I have all been a little under the weather this week, but it is so nice outside that I feel very guilty if I don't get them outside and moving. Yesterday we cleaned out the playhouse and I spent the better part of the afternoon painting the inside. Braelyn was in and out playing, and then I didn't see her for awhile. I went inside to make sure everything was okay, and she had fallen asleep at the counter while she was eating her lunch! We had to run some errands in the afternoon, then after dinner we ran down to the park. She loves being able to climb and I love not having to tell her to be quiet or get down. She even hung upside down on the bars (with dad's help). I really love when Kevin has some free time to join us. It is wonderful to just sit with Berkley and watch him play with Brae. He loves to run and be wild with her and she really loves trying to keep up with him.

This week I have been trying to find Brae a preschool or dance class. I thought I had one picked out, but I ran into a bad review about it online. For some reason this sent terror through me that I almost made a bad decision and sent her somewhere that might not have been safe or enjoyable. There is so much about parenthood that causes guilt and fear and you try to not let that interfere too much, but now I was worried about sending her somewhere, that I could not make sure she was okay all the time. I decided to go to Ikea, and they have a playland, and I was nervous all morning about just dropping her off there. I thought I might make her stay with me, but when we walked in she saw the kid's area and ran right over. At first it looked like she would not meet the height requirement and I was slightly relieved, but the attendant said she was tall enough. Brae was so confident and ready to play that I knew she would be okay. The have pretty strict security measures which eased my mind a little. After my shopping I picked her up and she was excited to see me, but said she had fun playing. I thought it was a big moment for both of us, as we each learn to allow more independence. As we were walking out she grabbed for my hand and told me I was her best friend. Who would think that my two-year old would be consoling me after our separation? We stopped at McDonald's for lunch, and Braelyn loved the playplace. She is usually pretty nervous about big slides, but she found a nice little boy who helped her go down a really big one, and she was so pleased with herself that I couldn't get her to stop to even eat french fries. It is so nice to see other little kids be so kind, especially little boys, it makes it easier to think of her going to school, or even eventually dating, when I realize that there are other moms teaching their kids to be kind and considerate. She had a lot of fun and we spent a good hour letting her run wild. Berkley was as patient as you could expect for a baby, and even enjoyed watching the kids run for a bit. She is so tolerant and easy to please. She has added such a calming spirit to our family, and is such a joy to tote around. We haven't really decided who she looks most like, but she doesn't really resemble Braelyn that much, so I was hoping she would look just like me. Her eyes started really blue, but are getting darker, and when I was buckling her into her car seat I saw an absolute mini-me version of Kevin. Maybe it's just there matching bald heads, but I think I will have another doll-faced version of Kevin running around.

Since they haven't felt very good, the girls have been sleeping more this week. The other night while I was feeding Berkley, Braelyn needed some one on one attention and wandered downstairs to find her Uncle Tay. After telling him some stories she curled up and fell asleep next to him on the couch. Berkley zonked out this afternoon after we got home, and she makes me laugh because she just chubs out, and I love all her little rolls.