Kitty Face

So, Anna is almost done potty training ("done" being a relative term). I would say we are at about 60%. We haven't had a wet accident all week despite a few obstacles. I am very proud of her. We are still working on the second half of it all.

We went to a big neighborhood party the other day and they offered face painting. Anna and I decided she wanted a kitty face. She was so cute and meowed all the way home. She even told Ben that he needed a kitty face too.

A few days later, in an effort to keep her on the toilet and motivate her I told her I would do a kitty face with some ugly eyeliner I had (good reason to keep bad makeup).

After we finished on her face and she still had not completed her task, she asked for some more kitty faces on her knees.

In the end, she got a hold of the eyeliner and finished drawing "kitties" on her legs, feet and stomach. She did not end up earning any of this.

This morning was a different story. She did it! I am still so proud, and optimistic for the future. So she got her kitty face, she also got to open a present. My sweet neighbor brought over a bunch of wrapped presents that she gets to open each time she is successful. She totally loves her "Maggic Wong"

p.s. we spent the morning watching half of Sleeping Beauty and all of Cinderella in order to learn how magic wands are used. They are not for "fighting mommy's face."

2 and Half and a Ballerina

Since everyone seems to be having birthdays in August, we decided to let Anna celebrate her half birthday. She kept asking if it was her real birthday yet and I didn't want to do six months of rejection. So after a week of procrastination I made a pumpkin bread/cake and we put candles in and sang. She was satisfied.

After we got back from taking daddy to the airport we found a surprise package from our neighbors. It was a tutu with matching Ballerina ensemble (t-shirt and pants) Anna loves it and knows how beautiful she looks all pink.

This morning we were also pleasantly surprised with a visit from Lincoln, Sophia and Robyn. We all enjoyed the distraction and the macawoni.

2 for 1

I have 2 blog posts that both happened within the last hour. Instead of breaking them up, I will combine them although their tones are significantly different, perhaps it will serve as a good juxtaposition. Also I have to write the second one first because that is my current mood.
______________________________________________

Between 2:50 and 3:20 this afternoon:

Change out of sopping wet clothes, head to toe
Clean up large spill of fancy health juice
"Can I have a accident?" "But I want to have a accident!"
Pick her up and run to the toilet
Commence hysterical crying
Scab comes off her elbow
Blood everywhere
Try not to scream at her while she is screaming at me while I am trying to put on a bandaid on her blood geyser
Realize that withholding naps for a better bed time might not have been my best idea
Wrestle her into a diaper for a nap
Wrestle her into the crib for a nap
Sit down to write a blog post

______________________________________________

On our way to Visiting Teaching today we passed the park on the corner where the sprinklers were on. Because we were early I let Anna get sprinkled and play in it with her hands. She was mostly dry when we got to our appointment and I promised that on the way home she could play some more (hoping they would be off). On our way home, the sprinklers were still on. So I let her play full throttle. She ran and ran and giggled and had the most fun possible. She was soaked. I wish that I had a) a camera b) a waterbottle (for me) and c) a slip and slide (and Aunt Beetle). It was awesome, I wish we had known about it all summer, although I think the roving neighborhood gang of swim-suit clad tween girls usually play in it and would have scared Anna off. Eventually minivans started pulling up and the middle school kids started coming through the neighborhood, that was our cue. I persuaded her to come home with me. I stripped her down in the driveway and left her clothes in the sun to dry. Next time, she will wear her swimming suit. Anyone is invited to come, especially if you have a slip and slide.

Appetite

Generally when we sit down to a meal Anna will eat a few small bites, get bored and ask to get down.

Today watching Peter Pan sitting on the couch she has eaten (so far)

2 bowls of cheerios
3 forkfulls of my cup of noodles
2 handfuls of raisins (and is asking for more)

It's a really bad habit to promote, but is it worse than having a 2 1/2 year old that weighs 20 pounds?

Ingredients

When Ben goes grocery shopping he sticks close to the list (except for treats) meaning that we plan 4-5 meals and he buys only the ingredients for those meals. Thus there is little room for improvisation, snacking, lunch or last-second meals without another trip to the store. My question for you is, what are the top 5 items that you almost always buy/have for the days without a plan?

(let's think healthy, I know dad keeps a box of ding dongs in the freezer but...actually I don't know where I'm going with that... I want a ding dong.)

Boston shirt!

Anna recently became aware that while Mommy and Daddy have a fairly significant wardrobe of Boston Red Sox shirts, she didn't have any. She has outgrown all her onesies and been asking for a "boston shirt" for a few months. Luckily Daddy found himself in Boston last week and was able to pick one up for her.

I was mostly excited that she was wearing pants. I haven't seen her in pants in months, she insists on wearing a dress every day and I'm getting pretty tired of seeing those same 6 dresses over and over again. Not to mention they are getting scandalously short.

Dinner

Finally, I have something new to say on here. I was looking at this blog, which is supposed to motivate me to cook/learn how to cook and I actually found something helpful. She introduces the idea of a Dinner Doula. Someone who can help poor culinary cretins like myself to branch out, try to cook easy recipes for picky eaters and not feel discouraged. A hand holder.Anyway, she mentions that her experience as a doula was going to be published in a magazine, and for a second I thought about running out to buy that magazine, then I realized she put up a direct link to the article. Sorry magazine. I think I will try one this week while Ben is gone, although I don't know how Anna and I will eat an entire roast chicken or salmon salad. Nevertheless, if anyone wants to volunteer to be my new Dinner Doula, it would be much appreciated.

Shhhh. Be Quiet.

A) The movie hadn't even started yet.
B) I wasn't talking, I was reading blogs.
C) Despite what she thinks/may tell you, I am the boss.

footnote: If she is sitting on my lap at church, I am not allowed to sing. Same for Ben. But she is somehow allowed to sing the ABC's at any time during church.

ranty rant rant.

let's see...new blog...
new blog...
new blog......

ok.

Can I rant about how angry it makes me to see more and more Boutique shops popping up all over the place?! A) The market is already glutted with overpriced clocks and shabby chic headboards. 2) I get that you want to be a successful business owner, but try contributing something useful to society! Have an original thought! III) You will probably be around for 3-6 months, lose everything and we'll be stuck with yet another empty downtown location - and you know what will probably fill it? A boutique.

Let's try to advance our society. Build a robot. Go back to school. Invent the lightning rod. Just stop thinking that opening your own boutique with your friends is going to make you happy.

Vacations.

I just read an article about how to maximize your vacations. Apparently the length of the vacation matters less than the intensity and new experiences you have while on vacation. It also stated that pleasure in the vacation are generally highest before you go, lowest while gone, and high (but not as high) after the vacation (anticipation - actuality - memory).

Anna's anticipation to go to "Nawfoo"

Above all, the article says, the people you spend the time with can make or break your trip.

Anyway. We just got back from a 10 day roadtrip to Nauvoo for a family reunion. The reunion was great and we had lots of new experiences. We loved playing with family and making new memories with them. They were definitely the right people to spend time with. The 6 days of driving was...6 days of driving.letting her out of the car

"Rex is so silly"

An(na)tics

• At the grocery store I saw her intensely studying one of those magazine covers. I turned to Ben and noted that she was already ruining her body image. Then she interrupted and said "It's like you mommy!" I'm sure this happens to all mothers at some point. But if you have seen me lately you would understand my dismay/appreciation.
• After church she gathered up as many toys as she could into a small shopping basket and a book and hauled them into our room and next to the bed. Then she read them the book. It took me a few minutes to get the camera all worked out but I did manage to get a picture. Someday maybe I'll post it. (There is a legendary picture of me when I was 3/4, I had taken all my dolls into the bathroom and put them in the tub and floor and read them a story)
• She is really really good at working my ipod. Mostly she uses it to watch YouTube videos of Disney songs. She could do this for hours. Sometimes she does while I take a nap. She can also get into some other apps for drawing and coloring. She's really good at it.
• The other night we had to go to the store so I told Ben to get off facebook and get ready. Anna decided that she didn't want to do anything else all night but "do facebook." When we got back from the store we tried to set up an account for her but she is too young to have an email address. By then she had already seen all that facebook had to offer and was bored.
• She almost burned down her Grumma Great's house. On a Thursday we went to visit. Anna wandered down to the apartment where we used to live but came back a few minutes later. For the next day or two Grumma could smell something but couldn't figure out what. When my uncle was over helping on Saturday they decided to sniff it out. All the buttons on the stove/oven were pushed. The oven was on high and the stove tops were all on. Awesome.
• She is getting very imaginative. I don't think I was an imaginative kid but she can cook up a storyline with her dolls and dinosaurs and whatever is lying around. Today she started a plot using only a dandelion she had pulled from the yard.

That's enough for today. We'll post more later, maybe even some pictures.

Sneaker

I fell asleep on the couch last night watching The Fugitive, so Ben went up to clear the laundry off the bed so I could stumble upstairs.
When he turned on the light he was surprised and a little startled to find that a certain little brownilocks was fast asleep in the middle of our bed.
We had settled her into bed 2-3 hours earlier, and although I thought I heard her get out of her room, we didn't hear her wandering around the house so we forgot about it. Surprisingly it seems she didn't get out any of her usual mommies-bed toys or even jump around recreationally, she was just cuddled right in under the covers and fast asleep. Thankfully I was able to move her into her bed without incident. But I wonder if this is a stunt she will try again tonight.

My new novel, "The Littlest Dictator"

I need to watch a movie!
I need to go in the tent.
I need a snack!
I need to hold your computer.
You go get a snack, ok?
I need a snack then.
I'm happy now!
I'm happy to watch a show now, for a minute.

This was all she said and it was all within about 1 minute.

ps. she should have been napping.
pps. she learned how to open the door.

War and Peace

So since we got her a big girl bed (2 weeks) we've had about 3 days with in-bed naps. Otherwise she sleeps in the car or goes without. Today I really wanted to win, I got her to fall asleep in the car, and of course, she woke up as I moved her inside. Nevertheless, I left her in her room for 2 hours (regular nap length) it was heart-rending for both of us "Open the door pleeeeaaase!" Very difficult.

After her not nap we had activity days which was going to the local pool. Anna had never experienced anything like it so I told her we were going to a Giant Pool. She was excited. She kept comparing it to a castle. I'm not sure how. oh wait, yeah, it's cause the Giant in her Jack and the Beanstalk book lives in a Castle. problem solved. Anyway so we're going to the Giant Pool, It's a Castle. It was overcast and windy but still crowded. She LOVED it. Despite her chattering teeth she wanted to go everywhere and jump in and out of the pool a hundred times. No more sitting at the edge of the pool for us. but seriousna, it was cold. Eventually I felt so bad that I dragged her out and over to the towels where she put on her dry dress and she warmed up.

Eventually we gathered the girls and made our way home. Now we are sitting in the dark basement watching The Little Mermaid and she is lying on the couch in a very sleepy position. I would be very surprised if she doesn't fall asleep. But if she does, at 5:30, what do I do about bed time? I guess we are stuck in sleep limbo for awhile.

It's So Cool In My Pool

Once it got up to sweating temperatures this afternoon I thought it would be a good idea to get out our new pool. Anna agreed. It has been sitting in a box in her bedroom for a few weeks and she was giving up hope. In fact, when I got it out of the box and started blowing it up, she asked where the pool was.

The point is, eventually we got it up. And she was pleased.

Possibly my favorite picture. Of all time.

At one point she asked if there was another mommy to come play with her. So I think next time you will have to come over and swim in our pool with us, ok? We'll make lemonade.

ABC's

Here's a video for all those who want to hear Anna sing the ABC's and Ring around the Rosie.

It's a showdown

What do you do when you get your child a new Toy Story toy and they immediately stop playing with their slightly older Toy Story toy?
It just breaks my heart to see the plot being ignored so blatantly with such identifiable characters.

Do you get what I'm trying to say?

Fortunate

We had an exhausting day, blah blah blah...

Ben got Chinese food for dinner and gave me his fortune cookies!
Here are my fortunes. (or are they Ben's?)

• You have a charming way with words and should write a book
• You are wise to keep your eyes wide open at all times this week
• The project you have in mind will soon gain momentum
• You will find hidden treasures where you least expected
  

definition of success

ONE (1) lady came to book club tonight.


I will now proceed to eat a heaping plateful of brownies.

Anna's Badful day

I thought today's adventure would be exciting enough to blog about. I don't think so, but I'll give you the rundown anyway. Sorry.

PS (prescript)
I've been trying to teach Ben how to be quiet like a ninja when he's getting ready in the morning so he doesn't prematurely wake Anna. We did really well today, then the smoke alarm randomly started beeping.
She slept through it I think.


At breakfast (8:45) I got a phone call from the pediatric dentist asking if we could move Anna's sedation-cavity filling up from next Tuesday to today at 3:00. I thought that would be great because next Tuesday is way busier than today. What I didn't realize is that they were asking if I would be able to keep her from eating or drinking anything for the majority of the day. She wasn't allowed to eat anything after 9:00 or drink anything after 11:00. This proved to be quite heartbreaking and difficult. However, I figured that if she took a nap at noon, that would eliminate a lot of the most difficult times. So we went to Farm Country in the morning. Then she refused to nap because. . . she was too hungry.

Apparently the procedure went well, it seemed pretty quick to me, sitting in the waiting room. Her wake up time took a while and we were the last patients in the office so I felt a little bit like we were getting rushed awake and out the door.

When we got home she was more awake and seemed to remember quite clearly my promise of ice cream if she could wait to eat until after the dentist. Unfortunately for the both of us, it is recommended to start out with clear fluids until her stomach is firmly settled. She has yet to accept any water and is idly holding another cup of milk, still not drinking.

As I promised her different snacks and things this morning I was pretty sure that each one fell under the dentists list of deadly sins - ice cream, marshmallows, fruit snacks, juice. . .
I'm just glad she wouldn't be eating anything while we were actually at the office, otherwise I might have just packed slices of bread. <- mother of the year.

It Made My Day

I got some fabric out that I bought before our trip and it inexplicably smelled like tulips.

And that made my day.

I've been busy

No new blogs from me. Everything has been said.

paka.

New favorites.

These are my new favorites.

Somuchpun.com

and

myfoodlooksfunny.com
please get sucked in and waste an hour of your day.

"Oh Admiral Ackbar, you should have known."

Zoo!

Grumma is here for the week so we went to the zoo! Anna was pretty into it now that she knows all the animals. We were pretty lucky to get a good show from the best animals.If you haven't seen this mama and baby elephant yet, you should. They are adorable, they had a mudbath together while we were watching.

This is really how close we got to the giraffe outside. This is without zoom.

This is with zoom.

Tiger taming.

The tigers were napping at the top of the enclosure, then Anna woke them up with her screaming when we told her it was time to move on, so this one woke up and walked right in front of us.

Anna on the elephant trunk.

Anna and Grumma at the zoo, best friends.

Tino the gorilla was just hanging out by the window waiting for someone to take pictures of him.

Classic Hogle Zoo picture. I took a series of these all in a row, in each picture Anna's arms are angled different directions.

Inside Toy Story 2

If I were to write an analytic essay on Toy Story 2 (which I have watched every day for the last week and a half) I would write about the concept of "forever" as it pertains to these toys.

For instance:

• In the beginning, Andy's mom tells him "Toys don't last forever"

• The Prospector and Jessie try to convince Woody to join them at the museum where they can live forever, protected from the hands of children.
• It is generally accepted that life as they know it (with Andy) will not last "forever".
• The Prospector complains of spending "A lifetime on a dime-store shelf".
• Jessie is scared of spending an eternity in sunless storage.

I think it could get published in the Journal of Popular Culture.

More from the crazy lady

Ben insisted I share this.
So if you were with us for this post about recycling, this is an addendum about me being the crazy lady on our street. We got a flier on the door Thursday about a blanket drive for an Eagle Scout project. Great, I thought, this is a good way to get rid of some of our storage and help others. The flier said they would pick it up Saturday after 10. So this morning I gathered my donation and set it on the porch in a big see through bag, very recognizable. We left just before 10, and as we drove away we both remarked that they would probably forget about us like always.* We also noticed that no one else on our street had any bags on their porches. A bad sign.
When we got home the bag was still there. Ben had thrown away our flier, but luckily someone's garbage had blown into our yard and I found a flier in the bushes. I called the number for the Eagle Scout listed on the flier as I carried the paper to the recycling bin.** As I was leaving my nearly irate message I thought maybe I should check the date listed. You guessed it. Next Week. BOO. Why would you pass out fliers for a charity drive a week and a half early? Especially when it takes maybe an hour of notice to gather up a donation? Why must I seem perpetually insane?
That's my vent for the day.

Here's a picture and a story.
We went to the Farm Country today so Ben could see Anna ride the ponies. She has done it enough that I let her do it without me holding on to her. He was extremely nervous. Every time she came around she said "I'n ridin' a horse!" Then she changed it to "Hold on tight!" Maybe she picked up on our subtle yelling/clues. When we got in the car, Ben started to strap her in and remarked "We have to tighten these straps, if we get in a crash, she'll die" *** As he closed the door she started yelling, "Get ina crash an die! Get ina crash an die!" Perfect.


*We were too late at the scouting for food drive as well and our plastic bag was on the porch for most of the day. But I looked up the Utah Food Bank and found that if we took our bag to IHOP, we could get a book of coupons. So take that scouts!

**Which we haven't successfully taken to be emptied in a month.

***Her straps are loose because of her winter coat.

Spring

It must be Spring.

Ben went grocery shopping and unconsciously bought Cracker Jacks and ballpark peanuts.

I had unconscious urges to watch The Ten Commandments.

Anybody else?

Recipes That Don't Work

Recipes That Don't Work: Getting it out of the Pan.
#1: Be overconfident in the amount of spray/butter/flour that you put in the pan.

#2: Wait either too long, or not long enough.

#3: Turn it upside down and shake violently until something moves.

#4: Scrape out whatever did not come out and pile it up beside whatever has come out whole.

don't enjoy!

ps. the cake isn't very good anyway.

Still Here

There's been a lot of talk this weekend about blogging being dead. That may be, but I'm here with nothing special to keep you reading a little longer.Daddy Daughter Dates: Ben likes to go to Cold Stone occasionally, he takes Anna and they have a good time. This is after they came home, sharing some Pistachio ice cream.

New Swimming Suit: I'm not sure why, but I thought she needed a new swimming suit in early March. She picked it out and she loves to wear it. I bought it a size too big, so the shorts fall right down. I'm counting on large, water sogged diapers to keep them up.

Computers: I don't have a picture, but today she folded a flashcard in half so it sat upright and told me it was a computer that she could watch a show on. Then she folded one up for me.


Easter Egg Hunt: Grumma Sue hosted the first annual Gillespie grandchildren Easter Egg Hunt. Attendance was low, but really, it can only go up from here.

Wasabi: At dinner last night, Anna reached over and grabbed my wasabi and put half of it in her mouth. There was some tongue scraping and many tears, but she survived. Maybe it will keep her from eating play-doh in the future.

Pacifier: The pacifier disappeared the other night. We have not found it and Anna has been pacifier free for 5 days. She hasn't willingly taken a nap since then, but she will go to sleep at night. So it's a win/fail.

Sunday School lesson II

Shortly after 9/11, the LDS Church held their semi-annual General Conference of the Church. President Gordon B. Hinckley made several speeches during the two-day conference, in his Sunday morning speech he addressed the state of the world following the terrorist attacks. Here is a small segment (emphasis mine):

"Occasions of this kind pull us up sharply to a realization that life is fragile, peace is fragile, civilization itself is fragile. The economy is particularly vulnerable. We have been counseled again and again concerning self-reliance, concerning debt, concerning thrift. So many of our people are heavily in debt for things that are not entirely necessary. When I was a young man, my father counseled me to build a modest home, sufficient for the needs of my family, and make it beautiful and attractive and pleasant and secure. He counseled me to pay off the mortgage as quickly as I could so that, come what may, there would be a roof over the heads of my wife and children. I was reared on that kind of doctrine. I urge you as members of this Church to get free of debt where possible and to have a little laid aside against a rainy day.

We cannot provide against every contingency. But we can provide against many contingencies. Let the present situation remind us that this we should do.

I do not know what the future holds. I do not wish to sound negative, but I wish to remind you of the warnings of scripture and the teachings of the prophets which we have had constantly before us.

I cannot forget the great lesson of Pharaoh's dream of the fat and lean kine and of the full and withered stalks of corn."

So yesterday in Sunday School we were learning about Joseph in Egypt and the interpretation of Pharoah's dream and someone remembered this talk, that it was given in October 2001. When I told Ben, he remembered immediately that Lehmann Bros. collapsed in September 2008. 7 years later. When this address was given, we probably all assumed that we had already enjoyed the 7 years of plenty and were headed into the lean because of the war and such. I just thought it was interesting enough to share. Only 5 1/2 more years!

Recycling Insecurities

(***warning: this post is rated M for mundane, proceed at your own risk***)

Our city started a recycling program last summer, they provided us with blue trash cans and told us to fill 'er up. So we did. I was so excited for it that I actually saved up some recycling before we got our can and we filled 'er up. The hard part, we are finding is figuring out when it gets emptied.
For starters, it's not the same day as our regular trash. For the first 2-3 months our recycling bin sat full because for some reason, we were unable to figure out just when the truck came to empty it. I tried leaving it out on the street for a week straight - nothing. I tried taking it out when the neighbors were out - but the trick was, theirs were already empty - I was a day late.
Ok, so Tuesdays the truck comes. But you can't take it out on Tuesday, because the truck comes at like 7:30 (and we are NOT awake yet). So you take it out Monday night. But not every Monday night. It seems the recycling truck only comes every other Tuesday. I'm not even sure which weeks it is each month. And don't even get me started on what to do when Monday is a holiday. Because I. Don't. Know.

So we get to this week. The recycling is full, maybe we missed it last time or something. I knew that this was the week, and I even thought of it on Monday night. But in the end, I did nothing. Wanna know why? Because no one else on the street had their recycling out by dinner time on Monday, so I didn't know what to think. Maybe I had miscalculated or something. In the end, I didn't want to be the crazy neighbor who never knows when it's recycling day and just takes her full can out randomly then shamfacedly pulls it back in the next morning in her slippers and pajama bottoms. Now we have to wait another two weeks before we can recycle anything else.

Ah Spring Let's hope Cakes

Spring has arrived. Do you know how I know?

I spotted the first robin of the year...



...lying face down and dead in my backyard.


It's gonna be a good year.

Tinkle Tinkle little STAR!

The other night after dinner Ben and I were talking about a party we had been to recently. Anna definitely recognizes the word "party." She said "Let's Go! We need coats and shoes on!" me: "Where are we going Anna?" Anna: "We go to a PARTY." Well, this was only minutes before bedtime so we had to talk her out of going to a party that night. Instead she decided she wanted to throw a party herself. I'm sure you're all invited. Mostly Uncle Thad. I suggested that we call Thad to tell him about the party and she agreed. As soon as they got on the phone together they planned the whole party - I only heard her end of the conversation but she told him about the party, daddy's coming, it's going to be outside...That's all I remember, but she was very conversant on the phone, like she understood everything he said and he might have understood what she said.

Anyway, she's real cute. and I'm not even that biased.

When it's too quiet

Time: 9:00 am
Place: Basement

Anna was watching Peter Pan with Daddy while I took a shower, when I came back she realized she didn't have her blanket, so I told her to go upstairs and get it. Up she went. Then we didn't hear anything from her for awhile. Ben bravely ventured upstairs to see what was going on. I figured she was probably finishing her cereal on the table. The next thing I heard was Ben asking where the bowl was. Anna has a bad habit of grabbing plates of food off the table and carrying them around to find a better place to eat, mostly because she can't get into her high chair by herself. Ben tried to call me up, but I refused. I didn't want to see it. He came down, confirmed that she had spilled and the bowl was found in the living room.
Anna came down a little later with her blankie, but then she realized she didn't have her pacifier (yes she still has a pacifier, don't judge). So I told her to go find it. She went up and we didn't hear anything for several minutes. Eventually she called down that she couldn't find it, so we talked her into coming downstairs.

Which she did.

Covered in chocolate.

Like this.

My hypothesis is that she was able to pull down the banana bread from the counter and ate it all up. I have yet to go upstairs and confirm this.

As all good parents know, "If it's too quiet, it means trouble."