*I Like Her*

Sarah Palin rocks. Not only is she a mom, but she is proud to be a mom. She's fresh, she's sensible, she's tough enough and she has a daughter named Piper. Does is get better than that?

Good choice, McCain, good choice.



**Who liked the glass ceiling remark? I thoroughly enjoyed it!**

He's Trouble Now

Thanks Heber for the Adventure Bag- Porter is just figuring out how useful and functional it is!

I had a theme song for Piper when she was about this age. Ever heard the song Trouble by Pink? Well that song now fits our little Bear Cub to a tee. He gets into everything, he climbs on everything, he hits everything, and he picks his nose.

He is turning into a little boy instead of a baby.

Our Hometeachers came over tonight, and the boy was out of control! He was running laps around the dining room, shaking the lamp, climbing up and down the stairs and screaming for attention. Where did my cute lil' baby boy with the deep dimples go?

Well, he still has the dimples, but usually when I see them I know that he is up to no good...

Here's a clip of how we entertain our hyper-active monkey.

Appropiate Talk

Today the girls and I enjoyed a lunch at the park. While we were munching on mozzarella sticks, I told the girlies that their dad and I were going to be going on a date tonight.

"Mom," Adi says with quiet exasperation. "Don't talk like that-we're in public."

A Little Power Shopping On Etsy

Bought this...

From here for 99 cents. Check the store out- she has tons of cute skull hair stuff.

Bought these (Christmas presents for the girlies- oh yeah, I've already started Christmas shopping)...

From here for 20 cents each. Something called Pay It Forward? I now have to do three random acts of kindness.

Bought these

For my mom's b-day from here for... well they were presents, so I don't want to completely disclose the amount, but you can get on her site and see for yourself ;)

And finally, I bought this...

From here for $5 for OP (I can feel Vanessa, Emily and Lindy rolling their eyes right now).

I just *heart* Etsy.

What has Cadet Merrill been up to?

Well, I am so glad that you asked, since I just got a copy of him getting sprayed with OC. What is OC? Well, OC, or Pepper Spray, is an inflammatory agent; not an irritant. When someone is sprayed with OC pepper spray, the person's eyes slam shut. Even if someone does manage to get their eyes open, they won't be able to see because OC dilates the capillaries and causes temporary blindness. Additionally, instant inflammation of the breathing tissues restricts all but life suport breathing. They double over coughing uncontrollably. No, I didn't write that, they did. There is a better explanation of it here also.

Now, keep in mind, that the stuff used by prison guards is about 50 times more potent than pepper spray that you can buy.

Watch this and be prepared to be amazed (I would like to say that OP was the first one to be sprayed since everyone else was a bit hesitant to do so). Oh, and there is another guy that goes after OP, but you don't want to watch him...

It was a little less dramatic than you thought it would be, huh? After they sprayed him, they made him complete a set of drills- trying to show all of the cadets a situation that they could possibly face.

Stayin' Busy

My posts have been so sparse lately and I know that you all wait, holding your breath, for my next little story. Because of this reason, I feel the need to explain. I was invited to a baby shower for a bouncing baby girl two days before the event.

Great.

So I worked my tail off to make these cuties (I'm not one for conventional, off-the-gift-registry, presents). Here's what I came up with:

The total gift. Oh yeah, that is skull ribbon. Rockin', I know.

The polka-dot material is a blanket and the bow on the front is an actual bow for the baby's head and the tulle sticking out is from this outfit:

And a few others:

Unfortunately, I wasn't completely thinking and I bought all the onesies in newborn size, so hopefully Casey gets her use out of them quickly!

Oh My, My Pipes

I didn't have enough time the other day to pay proper tribute to this little angel that I am so blessed to have in my life. I can't believe that the little one-month-old baby in the pic above is now four! It has been so exciting watching her grow, but it is also just a little heartbreaking...

I call Piper my Lil' Sunshine. When that girl's face breaks into a smile, it is truley like the storm clouds parted and rays of light have streamed across her dimpled face. I envy Pipe's passion- she is so focused on whatever it may be that she is doing. The good part of this is that whatever she is doing she puts her whole heart into it. When she is giving you a hug, you can feel her whole being poured into you. The bad part, however, is that when something goes wrong or not according to her plan, one needs a pair of earplugs to keep her earth-shattering screams from rupturing one's ear drums. Seriously.

This little girl is all heart; so sensitve, so loving. We do, however, also call her the mob boss. When you send Pipes to take care of something or someone, she (pretend I have a Brooklyn accent here) "takes care of it". If I ask her to get Porter, she tackles him and drags him to me. That kind of thing.

She is fearless, only feels pain if she is bored (how many of you have seen her face-plant it into the wall or even cement, then get up and act as though nothing happened?), and so wonderfully original.

Love ya, my little booty-shakin' cowgirl princess!

Now, please indulge me while I share some pics of Piper growing up....

Us Girls

This pic is just so... Piper

18 month pic

Yum-mo

After the girls gave Pipes a haircut...

Two year picture

She just does some of the strangest things...

That is all that I had the patience to dig up- I had a few other ones that I really wanted but I couldn't find them...

Where Have I Been?

Well, Piper turned 4 and we had a Little Pony Party...

The girls got to "become" ponies and even chose their own pony names,

Had a tea party,

and we tried to get a group photo.

Aunt Whitney came down to party with us...





The girls played in a splash pad (Adi-Baby's favorite thing to do),

Porter carried around a Little Pony balloon for the weekend (OP loved that),

we discovered that Piper is a Gamer like her Daddy,

Adi has been focusing on her kindergarden career (she has now learned her address),

we had another combined b-day party for my mom and Pipes,

Porter carried around the mop as much as possible (ok, ok, the kid is a little wierd),

and we played hide and seek at family night.


I've also been watching a lot of The Office while doing my "chores", so that has significantly lengthened the time it takes me to do anything (an I'm watching an episode right now).

Oh, and I have tried to keep the tears back... Adi started school, Piper turned 4 and Porter got his first haircut all in one week. How much can a mother go through before she cracks?

**I'll post the pics of Porter as soon as possible (please remember that time is relative, especially when one is trying to catch-up on past episodes of one's current favorite show)**

Such Good Lil' Memories

*gulp*

It has happened.

My little girl has started kindergarden.
I knew the day was coming. It is, afterall, inevitable.

But still.

Tuesday morning went smoothly. She chose french toast for breakfast got dressed in her cute lil' outfit (thanks Aunt Whit), and told me how to do her hair.

Then we were off to school. When we got to her class, she waved, blew me a kiss, and was gone.

No tears (except from me).

And I am on the PTA.

Where Have I Been?

Reading.

I am now done, so I can join the real world again!

Sigh.

A Day With Porter....

My lil' man has gotten to that age. You know what age I'm talking about, right? The age where you can't even take a minute's break, or else something will end up broken or someone will end up hurt. I am finally starting to recognize the difference between raising girls and raising boys.

I thought of this little video and thought that I should share what my day with Porter-Boy is really like.



Yup. The boy may not catch on fire (yet), but this portrayal is pretty darn close. And Porter even looks like Jack Jack!

If you don't believe me or if you think that I am exaggerating, I challenge you to babysit him...

Happy Day, OP!

Today is Orrin-Boys birthday... yeah! The birthday boy got steaks and baked potatoes for dinner, german chocolate cake for dessert and these pictures framed and ready to hang on the wall:

And, this will get all of the other WOW Wives rolling their eyes, I got him this:
I know that I'm an enabler, but it's his day....

How To Entertain Our 17 Month Old...

Yup. Boys are easier.

Too Tiny?

Adi had her pre-kindergarten check up with the doctor today. I am proud to report that her vision is 20/20 (didn't get that from me) and that she can hop on one leg for over 10 seconds (also, not from me). She is doing great in every aspect, except her height and weight. I have always known that Adi was a bit of a shrimp, but her newest growth percentiles shocked me. She was in the 8th percentile for her weight and the 10th for her height (if you have no idea what I'm talking about when I say "percentile" check this out). Tiny, tiny girl!

Usually her small size wouldn't concern me, but for the reason that the last time she was in the 20th percentile. The Doc said that as long as she is growing at least 3cm a year, she is doing fine. But he too is concerned because she has had some kidney problems in the past and he is worried that her lack-of-growth might be connected with that. He says it's nothing to worry about and that I need to bring her in every so often to have her weighed and measured. "It's probably nothing," he said.

I don't think he knew just who he was talking to! Worrying is what I am best at... well, that and procrastinating (which is why Adi's appointment was set for the day before she has to go and do a meet-and-greet at school).

Here's a pic of Adi at 2 years old, back when she was having her "kidney problems", aka constant, reoccurring UTI's. Just looking at this picture gives me a small shiver down my spine! The girl would get 101-103 degree fevers every other week. It was a crazy time, especially considering that Piper was only a few days old when this pic was taken and she started getting reoccurring ear infections about the same time. Let's just say I didn't get much sleep.

I am sure that Adi is fine, though, mostly for two reasons.

1)Porter and Piper are both in the low percentiles for their size and

2)Orrin and I were both tiny when we were her age.

But there is still that nasty worry pulling on me...