The Flynn Family

Winter is here.

2011-11-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

And Livia is super excited for the snow! We had just a blanket cover our area yesterday. It started around 1, and Livia and I went out to watch the new little flakes fall to the ground. She just started running around like a wild banshee and I grabbed my camera.

I will not saw "Welcome Winter!" because I won't mean it. So Spring, hurry up!

It's officially....

2011-10-05T15:32:00.001-07:00

....HOCKEY SEASON!!!

Just thought you all should know.

Goodbye, Summer. You will be missed.

2011-09-24T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, summer is officially over. We have been super busy! What has happened?

We ended summer with a trip to Seattle. We went to the Woodland Park Zoo....

....Pike's Place Market...

..and ate at our favorite restaurant, Impanema!

School started and I have a very cute 1st grader (who is about to loose her first tooth! Finally!)!

I took the girls camping with my parents, brother, sister and brother-in-law up at Lake Wenatchee. WOW. I will seriously rethink before I do it again without Clancy (he was working). We had a lot of fun, though!

And got very messy. Or just Stella did.

Gracie participated in the Royal High School Cheer Camp. They practiced for 3 days and then preformed at the first Royal HS home football game. She did so well! I can't wait to put Livia and Gracie both in it next year.

We experienced our first Royal Knights football game, where they killed the other team, 46-7, and purchased the family pass for future games. I felt like we were in Texas or something because EVERYONE goes to the football games! It is really nice to feel apart of the community.

Livia loved getting hot chocolate!

Gracie started fall soccer this week and Livia started ballet lessons, as well. She loves it and is actually doing well at listening to her instructor and staying in her place.

Man, is life busy!!

I can't wait for vacation

2011-08-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

Even if we are only getting away for 2 days, it works for me.

Ahhhhhh.............vacation!

As soon as Clancy gets home from work, we are outta here! We are staying at my parents house tonight, then getting up early to make the trek over to the Woodland Park Zoo. I have never been and can't wait. I know the girls are going to love it! The best part? Groupon had an awesome deal on admittance tickets early this week. Save us $27! Plus we used our debit reward points from our debit card at Spokane Federal Credit Union to get a hotel for Friday night!

Now we are trying to decide if we should hit up the Mariner's game on Saturday. Something about taking 3 little girls who aren't as obsessed with baseball as their daddy to a 3+ hour game....just isn't appealing.

Did I mention I can't wait?

Birthday fun!

2011-07-22T14:06:00.001-07:00

(Notice the 6?)

I know this is a little overdue, but my little baby girl turned 6 on the 6th! Haha, 6 on the 6th! Anyway, for her actual birthday we just had a low key day. For dinner, she requested pancakes and the works for breakfast. So we decided to invite the Maasen's over to eat and celebrate!

Gracie and Kaelyn eating their breakfast for dinner
The kids played dress up for a majority of the night
Dagan even got in on the fun!
Birthday cupcakes were also requested by the birthday girl!

The following week, Gracie had her 6 year check up and had fun showing off the nifty gown she had to wear. No shots! Woot!!

Finally, we were able to have a birthday party! We had decided not to do one, because there was so much going on around her birthday. She finally talked us into it and we invited friends from her class and church. She was even surprised to see her buddy Nolan made it over from Spokane! Nana, Papa and Uncle Chad also came.

How do you keep kids entertained? Make them run!

Okay, they didn't run the whole time! We had some fun!

Stella thought the horse balloons were the perfect size for her to ride!

Then it was time for cupcakes (again)! I need a bigger kitchen...

Opened some fun presents!

And the finale.......

...a new bike!!!

Someone (Birthday Girl) had the bright idea to dance around to Justin Bieber the rest of the party until parents arrived for pick up.

I still can't believe she's 6!

Livia did so well with the whole day. I was really worried that she would be very jealous that the attention wasn't on her, because she's like that. Thankfully, after a morning pep talk, she was pretty good!
After dinner at Time Out Pizza in Othello with my parents and the Crawfords, we ended the night by roasting s'mores in the back yard. This is something I have been dying to do since we have the perfect fire pit out back.
Thanks to all who came and made her day extra special!

Happy Birthday Gracie!!

2011-07-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Gracie girl!!

I can't believe how fast time flies.

Gracie's Kindergarten Graduation

2011-06-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

It's official.

We have a Kindergarten graduate in our house.

That means we have a 1st grader now.

HOLY COW.

Our little graduate!
Receiving her diploma! (I took the picture a little late)
Her teacher, Mrs. Mueller. I can't explain what an awesome teacher she is! It amazes me how she keeps her patience through out the day when she has 18 energetic kids trying to talk when she's talking. Gracie just loved Mrs. Mueller!

This is Mrs. Vasquez, she helped out in the classroom! Everyday when I came to pick up Gracie, Mrs. Vasquez would be reading a book to her and the other kids waiting. Gracie is going to miss her!

Kaelyn, Gracie and Livia

Somehow, we got a family picture.....with Livia doing her own thing again.

Happy Wednesday!

Quiet

2011-06-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been quiet here.

Do I have a good excuse? Not really. We've just been having fun!

I just watched an hour of "Jerseylicious" (Don't judge), when I should be blogging about:

Gracie playing soccer this spring, or....

how we had an awesome day up at my Grandma Peggy's up on the hill on Memorial Day, or...

Gracie's Kindergarten concert, or....

Livia stealing my camera again....wait, what??? Where did this come from??
Or.....
how we finally got a patio poured in the backyard and the girls where glued to their bedroom window watching it be poured and smoothed over.

We also had Gracie's Kindergarten Graduation, but I can't find my stinkin' camera! Did I leave it at your house, Ryanne????

Just found this pic of Gracie. Where has the time gone? She will be 6 here in a week and a half!

Oh, I almost forgot! I didn't blog about the awesome Bieber concert my cousins put on for the girls.

Stella can sure boogie!
(If anyone is interested in my handsome cousins, they are both single and ready to mingle! Drop your info!)

Could it be?

2011-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that I have one inner demon that I have in my life.

It haunted me every day.

Staring at me every time I opened the refrigerator.

Tempting me in commercials.

Seducing me every time I got a taste.

Mocking me every time I had a thirst.

PEPSI.

That's right, a soda. A caffeinated beverage that I hating feeling dependent on to make it through the day.

5 weeks ago, I said "That's IT!"
No more Pepsi will be stocked in the fridge.
No more downing 4 cans a day.
(Told ya it was bad)
No more emergency runs to the local gas station for a "fix".

NO MORE!

This was something I had previously attempted to do. And failed. BADLY.
And now I am proud to say, proclaim, yell:

I AM NO LONGER A PEPSI ADDICT.

Or is it:

I AM A RECOVERING PEPSI ADDICT. (?)

Anyway, you get it.

Now, I am not going to lie, I allow myself one a week. That is a huge decrease from 4 or sometime 5 a day. The cravings are gone! I have done waaaaay better than I expected. And you know what? I feel so much better! Water has become my new best friend and I am currently obsessed with Propel Zero, Berry flavor. I was hoping to lose weight, but the Oreos I bought at Costco didn't help that task.

Dumb Oreos.

Easter!

2011-04-27T10:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter this year. We woke up Saturday and planned on taking the girls to an Easter egg hunt close to town, but we didn't really pay attention to the time so we missed it. Oh well, better luck next year!

So we packed and headed over to Cashmere to stay with my parents. Half way there, we realized we forgot all the Easter stuff at home. At least now I am all ready for next year!
We took the girls to Smallwood's and let them run around and check out all the animals!

Stella was fasinated by all the animals. She was yelling at this goat for 5 minutes trying to get his attention. It was adorable!

Getting them to all look at the camera is proving harder and harder to accomplish.

A trip to Smallwoods wouldn't be complete with out a ride on the cow train!

Stella was lucky that Papa volunteered to take her!

And I present to you the only family picture we got.....Starring Livia.
Haha, think she had to go potty??
That night we went up to Leavenworth and ate at Rudloof's Pizza to celebrate my mom's upcoming birthday! YUM!!

Easter morning we woke up and did the usual. Plus we colored eggs! (The Easter Bunny forgot about those...)
Then the Easter Bunny hid them. This year was especially fun because all 3 girls were very in to egg hunting. Stella thought it was a fun game!

If you notice that the girls are wearing the same clothes as they were the day before, it's because mommy also forgot to pack PJ's so they slept in their clothes. Whoops!
It was a relaxed Easter, just the way I like it.

A dream come true!!

2011-04-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Can you tell how excited I was for the day to start??????

Oh my goodness, did we have so much fun this weekend!

Friday night, we drove over to my parents and stayed the night at their house. Saturday morning, Clancy and I took off for Seattle and got in line for this:
CATCHCON!!!
Boats, crew members and Captains from "The Deadliest Catch" were there and it was SUPER AWESOME.
We arrived in line around 11:10, even though the doors didn't open until 12. This was a private event put on by The Discovery Channel. We registered about a month ago and got wait listed. Luckily, we got off the wait list and were able to go. We had ticked that were emailed to us and I believe only 2000 people were invited.

Once inside (after freezing our butts off, stinkin' Seattle), we handed over tickets, signed releases, showed ID, and were given our Deadliest Catch lanyards. We decided to hit the store first and purchased and cup and sweatshirt. Next, we hit the boats! I was hoping the Time Bandit would be present, but it didn't make the trip down from it's dock in Homer, AK. The Wizard and the Northwestern were both there, though!

First, we got to go on the Wizard and met Gary Soper and another dude, who I am not sure what his name is. I thought maybe it was Crosby, but he wasn't as smiley as Crosby is, so who knows. But I loved meeting Gary, he's such a nice guy.

We went over to the Northwestern next, and met Edgar Hansen, Norman Hansen and Nick Mavar Jr. I love Edgar!
Poor Nick had broke his nose earlier and had to have it reconstructed!
Clancy having some fun on the Northwestern!
After that, we decided to go in and listen to the last of the Captains talking on stage. Next was lunch time! After that, we went outside and mingled with the Captains and crew. I had one person I wanted to meet, and I got to!
My favorite Captain, Johnathan Hillstrand!
I also got a pic with his brother, Andy Hillstrand. Together, they Captain the Time Bandit.
Then I saw one of their crew members, Mike Fourtner!
From the Northwestern, I met Jake Anderson. He's probably my favorite crew member, he always tries so hard to enter the tight bubble Sig, Edgar, Matt and Nick have.
Also from the Northwestern, Matt Bradley. He was cool and funny!
This is Captain Keith Colburn from the Wizard. He also signed my sweatshirt....not because I asked him to, he just did it. I was kind of annoyed because I didn't want anyone signing my sweatshirt, but oh well!
I also got really close to Jake Harris, who I really wanted to meet, as well as his brother, Josh. This is as close as I got to Josh:
Haha, he was with his girlfriend and didn't really mingle much. I didn't feel like going up and bugging him either. I tried hard to meet Sig Hansen, but it just never worked out. You could tell he wasn't a big fan of having all the people around him. He's kind of anal like that. Instead, i go this:

Next, we sat down and listened to the audience ask the crew members questions.

After that, I was done. It was 5 and I was ready for dinner. We walked down the street and went to....

THE CRAB POT!!!!

I have been dying to go here and was so excited! It was delicious!
We walked back to our car and passed the boats again, only the Northwestern had taken off. The Wizard was prepping to leave we just kind of stood there for a couple minutes taking it in. It was such a fun day and so surreal to meet these men that we watch on TV do one of the hardest, if not the hardest, jobs out there.
My photographer, my husband, rocked. We really needed a day together after all the madness. It was so nice to get away with him. I had to thank him for letting me put my arm around a bunch of the guys, and he said no problem! Love him.
Thank Mom and Dad for taking the girls!

If you are wondering why we love this show, I encourage you to watch the Season 7 premiere tonight on the Discovery Channel at 9! I can't wait!

Country girls

2011-04-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

We are loving the beautiful little piece of the world we live in! Many walks have been enjoyed to check out the area. Everything is greening up, so it makes it even more beautiful, but it sure has been windy!

This is a view of the little area we live in outside of town.

True country girls now!

Gracie is so excited to start school again in a new area! She ended up getting in the class I requested so she will know at least 3 of the kids already, since we met them at a play date last week.

Isn't she adorable?? She wore a new dress to school and asked to have curlers put in her hair the night before so her hair would be super curly. Her goal was achieved!

I can't wait to pick her up today and see how her day went!

Clancy is really loving his new job, and I am not just saying that. He really does!

Up and running...sort of

2011-04-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

We are all moved and almost all settled in our new area! We aren't exactly in Othello and we aren't exactly in Royal City....we are somewhere in the middle out in the country and we LOVE IT!

It's quite a change from Spokane, but we are getting used to it. The biggest adjustment has been fitting stuff from our 2300 sq ft house in a little 1000 sq foot house. The perfect word for it is 'quaint'.
The people here have been wonderful and I think I am making (gasp!) friends! There are quite a few young families near us that we have met.
We finally got internet up this morning and our phone and TV got hooked up yesterday. Apparently our HD antenna does us no good out here, so we got Direct TV! It's so exciting! Okay, maybe I'm a little too excited. :) I just want it for the news. Haha.

I have lots of pictures I need to get up of the beautiful area we are in.

Oh yeah, Clancy and I are going to CatchCon next weekend in Seattle! We'll get to see boats, Captains, and crew members from The Deadliest Catch, and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!! I'm a nerd.

Have a great weekend!

Birthday surprise and ramblings

2011-03-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Last week, Clancy turned 32! My dad needed to go down to Yakima anyway, so we decided we should all go and surprise him! The plan was to surprise him when he came home from work and take him to dinner. Well, that plan backfired when I called Clancy around 3 and he said, "It's going to be a long day....I will probably be stuck at work until 8 or 8:30."

Seriously???

Long story short, he didn't get home until 11, where we were all waiting to surprise him!

Since we didn't get to take him to dinner that night, we decided to stay the next day and then go to dinner after he got off work. That worked out much better! Plus, I got to see my sister both days!

We are officially moving to the Othello area this weekend. I am excited! I know one person down there, and another person has introduced herself via Facebook. Funny story, after she wrote me a message, I realized that I totally blog-stalk her. Haha!

Thought I would throw in some pictures because, really, that's the best part!

Here's to the last week of staying at my parents house! WOOT!!!

Never thought this would happen.

2011-03-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

Remember how Clancy got a job in the Yakima area? Remember how we were right in the middle of moving down there? Just as we were making plans, Clancy had been in contact with another irrigation district about starting his career there. He hasn't been happy where he was and, without getting into too much detail, that district didn't really know what they were doing. If you ask me, the whole district is just messed up. I could go on and on, but I won't.

Friday, after meeting with this other district, they offered him a job.
A great job!
He is super excited and really looking forward to learning more from them.
Me?

I am.....hesitant.

While I am really happy for him, I am not thrilled about where we will be moving.

Ready?

OTHELLO.
ROYAL CITY.
That area.

Where, you say??

THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.

"It will be fine! It can't be THAT bad," you say.
Remember, I am moving from Spokane, to Othello area.
Just to give you an idea...

Population:

Spokane= 203,276
Othello= 6,734
Royal City= 2,024

Kind of a big difference, eh?

Then I thought of my sister-in-law's (sisters-in-law?) who live in Frenchtown, MT and Glendive MT. Stats at those towns?

Frenchtown= 971 (!!!!)
Glendive=4,628

And they are very happy where they are! So if they can do it, I can do it......right???

Curious, we drove to Othello on Saturday and checked it out. I found a Super Walmart, so that makes me happy. Other than that, looks like I will be heading to Moses Lake, which is about a half hour away, for any other shopping (and couponing!).

The big challenge we face now is finding a place to live. Since it's not a huge town, I am guessing people don't move around as much as they do in Spokane. I have put the word out to the ONE person I know in the area, so hopefully someone will have something available soon!

Let the adventure begin!
(Once we find a house)

Stuck

2011-03-07T08:51:00.000-08:00

Some days you just seem stuck....

Happy Monday!

Haircut time

2011-03-03T11:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was brushing Livia's hair. She was complaining that it hurt. Of course it hurt. It was a huge rats nest!

So I asked her if I could cut it.

She said yes!

Bad idea.

I decided a trip to get haircuts was in order for both the girls.

Stella still has her cute faux hawk hair, so we decided we would leave hers alone.

She likes to brush it herself anyway.
Here you can see how long Livia's hair was before I got scissor happy.

Livia getting ready to have her very uneven hair fixed by a pro.

After!

Isn't she just the cutest model ever? She is such a poser! I just aim the camera at her and she instantly strikes a pose.

Gracie before

Her hair was getting loooooong!

After!

She wanted it much shorter, but I talked her out of it.

Notice the little ham peeking her head in both of Gracie's pictures???

PS Happy Birthday to my awesome mother-in-law! :)

BLAH.

2011-02-25T16:15:00.000-08:00

I changed my mind. I don't want to move anymore.
I want to stay in comfy, familiar Spokane, with it's many options of shopping and restaurants and parks and parades and food events where I can pig out in the park. I don't want to go make new friends. I don't want a new adventure anymore.
I am feeling downnnnnn.

About 90% of my house is packed and I can't seem to find the motivation to pack the rest.
And we are moving tomorrow.
TOMORROW.

I want to stay here.
Can someone please explain this to my husband?

Livia is 4!

2011-02-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

Our little Livi Lou turned 4 yesterday! We celebrated just how she wanted to....with a Toy Story birthday! Wait....have we done this before? Oh, that's right, she had a Toy Story party last year, too. Obsessed much?

We had a party on Saturday to celebrate with family and friends. Even Nana and Uncle Chad made the trip over!

Yesterday we just did whatever Livia wanted. We went to Ross, where she found this:

She is now the proud owner of a "Rockstar guitar!", thanks to her birthday money from Grammy & Grumpa, Nana & Papa, Grandma Peggy & Papa Jim, and Grandma Weller! So far she hasn't drove me crazy.

We visited friends and watched the snow fall. What happened to our early spring???

For dinner she requested fruit snacks, McDonalds and milkshakes. I was happy to make that happen. And finally, we dropped Stella off with the Crawford's (THANK YOU!) and headed to the Chiefs hockey game! My camera died after 3 pictures, boooo!
Even though it wasn't the outcome we anticipated, Livia had a great time! She even got a foam hockey puck to go with her Chiefs hockey stick she got for her birthday.

Happy Birthday to our little Rockstar! We love you!!

Time out

2011-02-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

I am sick of packing.

So I am taking a time out.
Do mommies get time out?

Enjoy the cuteness!

Yes folks, that is a Justin Bieber t-shirt.

I know, I know

2011-02-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

I am horrible. I have many excuses, though! The biggest being that my laptop was out of commission and hooking it up to the TV to blog wasn't very appealing. I was kind of going through a rough patch of loneliness as well, with Clancy being in Yakima.

Long story short, I am back in the game!

Today, we are getting ready to celebrate Livia's 4th birthday, which is really on the 23rd. I took her shopping this morning to pick out her birthday dress, and being the tomboy that she is, she didn't want a dress. Instead, she fell in love with a 'Rockstar Outfit" as she calls it.

Love this girl!

Remember this? Today is the one year anniversary of her being admitted to the hospital for Periorbital Cellulitus.

I am grateful everyday for all the great medical care we received at the Sacred Heart Children's Hospital.

Other news: We are moving next weekend! We are renting out our house (yes, we were desperate) to a nice family and getting the heck outta dodge!

Happy Weekend!!

Little update....or a downdate?

2010-10-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

Not a lot going on around the Flynn household.
House is still for sale.
Do you want to rent it? Email me!

Hockey started and the first home game is tomorrow, so I got me and the Hubby some tickets and we are having ourselves a date night!

Stella is growing up too fast. She turned 9 months and is 20.5 lbs, and tall....I can't remember her height measurement...but it was in the 86%. She has 8 teeth, crawls all over everything, is in to everything and is a lot of fun! She's standing on her own now and I am NOT, I repeat, NOT looking forward to walking. She is very clumsy and has had her fair share of bumps and bruises. When she begins walking, I only see her clumsiness peaking.

Livia is doing preschool studies with me at home. She isn't what you would call the fastest learner, but she sure has fun. I really am loving having more one on one time with her. Livia is such a sweetie and has been a big help with Stella when Gracie is in school. She is dead set on being Dora for Halloween, so I am contemplating cutting her hair for it. We'll see.

Gracie is still loving Kindergarten and has 3, yes 3, boyfriends. Ian (who wears Chiefs gear to school....LOVE him), Melvin , (yes, MELVIN) and Joey. Kill me now. I know I was considered boy crazy when I was younger, but this is insane! I am talking to her DAILY how it's nice to have friends.....but you don't really need boyfriends right now. Her teacher has had nothing but praise for her and is not looking forward to when we have to move. Gracie is learning to read and loves it. I hope that she keeps that up.
Oh, and she's still obsessed with horses.

First day of Kindergarten

2010-09-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

Let me tell ya.

I was not prepared for this day to come.

Gracie woke up for her first day of school soooo excited. She wanted to wear her new outfit she picked out and Stella wanted to help her.

Trying on shoes. This girl likes shoes!

She's so big! Where did my little Crazy Gracie go?

Outside the school.

In her class, getting settled in.

(This is the 'What's wrong with this picture?' picture. Click on the picture to make it bigger and then read the mom's shirt in the background. Go on. Do it.)

We missed the day where the kids can come and check out the school and parents are told what to expect.
So I didn't know what to expect.
But I expected to stay longer.
School starts at 9 am. I swear it was 9:10 when her teacher announced "Okay parents, time to say goodbye!"

EXCCCCUSE me? What?

Don't I get to stay and check out her classroom and help ease her into this new, huge world of school?

Don't I need to stay and wipe away her tears when she begs me to stay?

Nope.
"Bye mom!" is all I got.
No tears. I can't blame her. There was so many fun things in there, I wanted to stay and play.
Which I know I should be thankful for, but couldn't she muster up one tear just for my benefit?
Instead, I was the one fighting back the tears.
As soon as I left her class, I let them go.

Wasn't I just bringing her home from the hospital? Wasn't she just learning to walk and tugging at my pants to pull herself up?
Now she's such an independent little person. She picked out her own outfit. She picked out what she wanted for lunch. She told me how to do her hair.

Where did the time go??

We love ya, Gracie girl!

A day for 8

2010-08-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

1. I broke my computer, so I have been using my parents computer as we save to get it fixed. I am a dork and dropped it a couple of weeks ago, and the glass in the monitor shattered internally. Lovely.
2.My 10 year reunion was this weekend and HOLY COW. It was sooo much fun and I am so glad it's over. I helped plan it, since I was a class officer, and now know what to do for our 20 year! It's so funny to see how people have changed, and how some people are still the same. With technology now, like Facebook, it feels like we are able to reconnect that way, but it was great to see everyone in person. I got to see my best friend, Janelle, for the first time in like 3 years. She looks amazing! It was good to catch up with her. Pictures will come at some point!
3. Stella has received 2 more teeth. It's really odd, because she has her bottom two teeth, and then she cut two top side teeth, her incisor's, I think they are called. I am praying she gets her two top front teeth soon!! Otherwise, she's going to have a funny smile!
4. I am staying with my parents this week. My sister gets married this weekend, and then I will stay at her house while her and her husband go on their honeymoon. It will be a nice mini vacation!!
5. There is still a lot to do before her wedding. I need to dye my hair, get it cut, get a pedicure, trim the girls' bangs, paint their nails, get her gift, etc. Fun.
6. About dying my hair....I found 3 gray hairs this morning and when I put it up in a ponytail, an discovered more gray hairs. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?? I guess I should have seen it coming; my dad started going gray at my age (a young 28, mind you).
7. Our house still hasn't sold. Boooo.
8. I miss my husband.

Thoughts for the day

2010-07-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

I find it funny how yesterday I was thinking, "Maybe I could handle a fourth kid. It couldn't be too much worse than the craziness that three brings me, so maybe we could add one more and it would be a BOY this time..."
Then I didn't get any sleep last night thanks to Gracie, Livia and of course, STELLA.
I get the message Heavenly Father, I get it.

Kite flying

2010-07-13T18:48:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was windy day. I mean windy.

When the girls asked to go to the park, I told them that it was too windy out.
Then my smart little Gracie remembered that she and Livia had received kites from their Uncle Shawn and Aunt Megan for Gracie's birthday.
I couldn't argue.

So we flew the kites yesterday!
Along with Aunt Ryanne, Javin, Orissa, Aunt Megan, Shaylee, and Liam!

The kites and kids did pretty good! We only had a kite runaway from us once, but Aunt Ryanne saved the day!
Then we hit up the park, but it was just too windy.
The kids got to run around for a bit and burn some energy.
Apparently, Stella had already burned all her energy.

4th of July

2010-07-12T15:39:00.000-07:00

Warning:

This is going to be a picture happy post. Because I am in a picture happy mood.

We went to the annual 4th of July Weller Family Reunion held at my Great Grandma Weller's house outside Coeur D'Alene. It is bbeeeeeeeeautiful out there. I was really looking forward to going up there and letting the kids run around in the hot sun!
Wait.
Hot sun?
Not so much.
This is how we spent the day:

Bundled up and trying to keep warm. Stella snuggled up with my uncle Joe, who, after 5 boys, never had any girls. Instead he gets his baby girls fix from my girls! They just love their uncle Joe!

I had gotten the girls all patriotic outfits, but they had to stay covered up and warn instead.
It was chilly!
Livia is the free spirit, who I can never get a good picture of. This is what happens when she says "Cheese!"
Oh well.
Cute top, eh? (That's the Canadian in me)
Gracie kept warm with my Grandma Peggy. I love this picture!
Stella's cute dress!

We spent a lot of time inside, and all of a sudden, I felt compelled to take this picture:
It's my Great Grandmother's living room.
Don't you just love it? From the green shag carpet, to the 80's plants, it's so homey and grandmotherly to me. I love it there!
I wish I would have taken a picture of the mug that was behind me on a plant stand. I can't remember what it said, but I remember thinking: That's my grandmother alright!

Stella loved playing in that shag carpet. I think she thought it was grass....

Outside, the girls still ran around and played with my cousins. I am one of the older grandkids.
I love this bench swing.
Sisterly love
I knew this was coming. Some of my cousins had started playing hackey sack and Livia and Gracie tried to join in. Didn't work out so well.
Stella performing a trick
She loves it!
Some picture of my Great Grandmother's property.
I like how Chad is pretending he doesn't see me taking pictures in both these pictures. LOL
Friends and relatives chatting on the back porch
This one made my think of my sisters in law, Carrie and Ryanne. They have awesome high tech camera's that would have done this picture more justice.
I just liked how it looked!
Oh yes. And this is the toilet. The inside bathroom was out of commission, so this is where the girls went potty. If you were a boy, you got to use the bushes.
My grandmother lives with her son and his wife, because at 95 years of age, she is unable to take care of the house by herself. Plus it is safer for her in case she fell or something, so the toilet in the house hadn't been used for quite awhile.
We decided to take a short walk over to the pond.
Gracie hopped on Papa's shoulders.
And Livia hopped on mine!
This seemed much bigger to me when I was younger. There used to be catfish in there, so I would always have dreams that the catfish would start biting my toes.
That must be why I have this fear of buying my kids a pet fish.
Gracie and I
Wondering about this picture?
Well I saw this happening:
Love how my cousin doesn't even care? He jumped in the boat and started playing around, as I am freaking out and telling the girls to stay by me.
Papa chased them away.
Gracie and Nana
Later, we headed home, but not after we bought some little fireworks in Coeur D'Alene.
They are outlawed in Spokane, so we had to break the law.
Shhhhhhh....
It was all in the name of pleasing the children.

Then we headed to find a place to watch the fireworks at Riverfront Park. We didn't end up going to the park, but we found a good place to watch them from. This is the first year we let the girls stay up to watch the fireworks!
I don't think they were too impressed.

Gracie and uncle Chad
Gracie was so scared of the noise.....even though there was hardly any noise because we were like 5 miles from the fireworks!
We had a great 4th and enjoyed all our time with our crazy family!

The best birthday present

2010-07-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned before, Gracie is currently OBSESSED with horses.

Obsessed.

So I thought that it would be cool (and get me Mommy of the Year Award) if I could figure out a way for Gracie to be able to ride on a horse for her birthday.
I have some awesome friends who offered to help me out!
But then the opportunity literally fell in our lap.
On the 4th, we went to my Great Grandma Weller's house for the annual family reunion, and one of the neighbors dropped by who my dad knew growing up. He mentioned to my dad that he had some horses now.

GOLD!

So we took a little walk down the road.
My Great Grandma has a lot of land and it's all beautiful. Sadly, she is not able to take care of it, being almost 95 years of age, so she lives with my great uncle and aunt. She has already given some of the land to her kids and grandkids, so we took a look at the land my Grandma and Grandpa now own. (It's on the left of this picture)
We got to the horses and Gracie was so excited to be so close to one.
Stella sticking her tongue out
I kept her far away from the horses, just in case.

Then we heard a truck coming, which was my dad's friend. They told us if she wanted, she could take a ride on Doc, the nicer horse.
She was so excited!
So was Livia, so she climbed on as well.

She's been talking about it nonstop.

The other day, when Clancy got home from being gone for the week, she told him, "My papa took me to go ride on a horse!! It was so fun!"
Clancy told her that he knew, because he was there.
She didn't believe him.
Good thing I had pictures to prove it.

Birthday fun!

2010-07-10T10:20:00.001-07:00

Before my parents (and Clancy) left this last weekend, we had a little party to celebrate Gracie's birthday. Wonder why there was some frosting missing on the cake?? Hmmmmmmm

Blowing out the candles!

Nana got her a horse set. This girls is currently OBSESSED with horses. Are you wondering what happened to Astro Boy? Me too.

Livia enjoying the festivities!

Nana and Stella

Gracie also had her 5 year check up and ( dun dun dun) shots. She did sooooo well. I prepped her the week before and let her know that she would be getting shots at the doctor visit. When we pulled up, I said, "Are you ready?"
"Let's do this," she said. "And I am not going to cry."
I let her know that it would be okay if she cried, because they might hurt a little, but NO. She was determined.

And guess what?

She didn't cry.

Not one tear.

She just said "ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch" for a while.
Love that kid.

Gracie's 5 year stats
Weight: 41 lbs 61%
Height: 42.8 inches 60%

Stella also had her 6 month check up about 2 weeks ago.
Weight: 16.7 lbs 65%
Height: 27.5 inches 96%

She's keeping on track to be my tall kid!

Build A Bear!

2010-07-09T10:51:00.000-07:00

Gracie turned 5 this last week.

I can NOT believe that I am the mother of a 5 year old.

CRAZY.

She had a wonderful birthday! It was quite a long celebration, spread out over a couple of days. Nana, Papa, and Uncle Chad came to visit for the weekend and Nana took the girls to Build A Bear.

Gracie picked out a horse. Surprise, surprise.

Livia picked out a puppy.

And Stella got a bear!

All stuffed!

Livia watching and pushing the pedal to stuff her puppy.

Next, it was time to pick out outfits. Gracie tried on 2 outfits for her horse before she finally settled on Princess Aurora.

Livia picked out (what else?) a Woody outfit. The puppy tried on a Princess Ariel outfit, but it just didn't look right.

Stella decided to dress her's at a later time. She was having waaaay too much fun smiling and talking to her new bear!

Next, they have to be named and a birth certificate is issued.
Welcome, Kella and Woody Dog to our family!
Thanks Nana!
More birthday fun to come!

Chiefs get a new coach

2010-06-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

You probably don't care, but I do.

Source: http://gdrinnan.blogspot.com/

Gregg Drinnan

Daily News Sports Editor
Don Nachbaur, who resigned Tuesday after one season as head coach of the AHL’s Binghamton Senators, is expected to be named the next head coach of the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs.
Two sources told The Daily News on Tuesday that Nachbaur left Binghamton, the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, in order to become the Chiefs’ head coach.
"It is a difficult day for me as I step down as the head coach of the Binghamton Senators,” Nachbaur said in a statement. “This was not an easy decision for me, but it is based on personal reasons and I think it is the right choice for both myself and my family."
Nachbaur resigned last summer after five seasons as head coach of the Tri-City Americans and signed with Ottawa. Binghamton went 36-35-6-3 with Nachbaur at the helm, but didn’t make the playoffs.
Nachbaur was a fan-favourite in Tri-City as the Americans had unprecedented success with him as head coach. His run finished with back-to-back U.S. Division pennants.
The Chiefs and Americans have a tremendous rivalry that is about to get even hotter.
While Nachbaur moved to Binghamton, his family stayed in Richland, Wash. In fact, his son, Daniel, played for the bantam Spokane Jr. Chiefs, one of the teams that played in the 42nd annual KIBIHT.
With Spokane, Nachbaur will replace Hardy Sauter, who lost his job after last season when the club chose not to exercise an option.

This has to happen right when I am moving. Closer to the Tri-Cities than to Spokane. This is a great move on the Chiefs part, me thinks. I just want to be there during the first game. Something tells me that the Tri fans aren't going to like this. One. Bit.
Consider my first Tri @ Spokane game ticket purchased.

Good deal at Walgreens!

2010-06-21T13:49:00.001-07:00

I went to Walgreen's Saturday night and stumbled upon a great deal that is running this week.

Buy this

for $7.49. When you pay, a register reward will print out for $7.49 off your next purchase at Walgreens! Great deal!

Make it a little better.....

go here and print off a coupon for $2 off!

$7.49-$2 coupon= $5.49

Get register reward for $7.49. It's like making money! LOL

Ends Saturday, June 26.

Just thought I would pass it along!

Friday nights

2010-06-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Friday nights.
They used to consist of getting ready for a big date, dances, or the big football game!

Now they consist of waiting patiently for the Hubby to walk through the door, me running out the door, giving the Hubby a quick kiss and yelling, "Money on the table for pizza! Bye!" as the tires to the minivan screech in an effort to keep up the the pressure I am putting on the gas pedal.

I'm outta there.

And where do I go?

Here:

I don't know why in the world they decided to name their restaurant Sushi.com, but whatever. The yumminess makes up for it.

Who do I go with?
Why, these lovely ladies! Jolie and Bernadette.
I love these gals.

This girl loves everything sushi. She even ordered Oysters at dinner. Ew, She says they were GREAT, but I will just take her word for it. She's my irreverent friend who asks me "Is it true that Mormons have to have 7 kids or they won't go to Heaven?" She shares my love for gossip magazines and she is a neat freak. That woman has the cleanest house I have ever seen.
I met Jolie about 5 1/2 years ago when I started working at WAMU up on the south hill. She trained me, and we had babies together. Not together, but you know what I mean. Now we are both stay at home mommies!
Her adorable Jake and Gracie are buds, as are Stella and Madelynn.
See?
Buds.

And Miss Bernadette.
She's been my BFF for the last 6 1/2 years. I met her at church and she was the first one at church to notice the huge rock on my finger the day after I got engaged, so I new we would bond. I can always count on her to help me through tough times and to make me laugh. She's my shopping partner and the best price negotiator around. Seriously.
You should see the girl yard sale.
Plus she's super crafty. Check her out here.

ANYWAY, back to my story.
After filling our stomachs with raw food, it's time to hit Scrapper's Attic. They host Crop Night every Friday, so all us mommas can get away and have adult conversation. It's free and you can bring all your scrapbook crap and work on other projects. It's really nice because you can shop for stuff as your scrapbooking. Win-win.

Hard at work.
Jolie's sister came too, but for some reason I didn't get her picture.

This is how I scrapbook. Or maybe telling a story. Or both.
You can always count on your BFF to take a flattering shot.

The lady I will miss the most.
Not Jolie, the lady behind her.
See her?
This lady can talk.
And talk.
And talk.
And...well, you get the picture.

I will miss these gals and our weekly night out.

P.S. Clancy left about 3 hours ago for Yakima, and so far so good. Did a little crying and then got over it. Now if I can survive tonight, SCORE.
No offers on the house yet. Prayers much needed please. :)

Best gift ever.

2010-06-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

My co-worker Amy gave this to me before Stella was born. She has been using it for the last 2 months and has gotten really good at jumping! Entertainment for hours! (Okay, more like 20 minutes, but still.....)

I hate denim.

2010-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

I would just like the world to know that I have just conquered another pair of pre-pregnancy jeans. Woot!

Either that, or they have finally stretched out after trying them on every other week.

Impromtu

2010-06-14T21:36:00.001-07:00

Notice my purdy roses behind the girls??? I didn't kill it! Woot!

Thought I would blog as I watch the Bachelorette.
I can hardly keep my eyes open.

I like:
Roberto
Chris L
Kirk

Don't like:
Jonathan-ANNOYING. Too paranoid.
Kasey-Please don't sing ever again. A tatoo is NOT what Ali is looking for, FYI.
Wrestler guy-I just don't trust him.

I love reality TV.

Ooooo Ali's giving out the roses in "THE MOST DRAMATIC ROSE CEREMONY YET."

Good night!

House for sale!

2010-06-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Clancy got offered the Operating Manager position for the Selah/Moxee Irrigation District. I am so proud of his hard work and, like I told him after his first interview with them, I knew all along he was going to be offered it. Thus explains why I had this feeling that we needed to work on making our house ready to sell in the event of moving.

Good thing we did!

Once Clancy got offered the position, we focused on fixing some things on our house, and put it on the market.

Clancy will have his first day at SMID on June 21st. We are really lucky that my sister's fiancee lives in Yakima and is willing to give Clancy a place to stay for a couple of weeks. I will stay here with the kids and pray for our house to sell. I have never been so scared in my life. Not scared of a new place or the new job. Scared because I am going to be home alone with 3 kids day and night.....

BY MYSELF.

I know I may be a little dramatic about this, but I can't help it! It really scares me that there is not end in sight at the moment. I don't know if I will be by myself for 8 days, 8 weeks or 8 months. It scares me.

I just have to keep praying and put my full trust in Heavenly Father.

I know it will all be okay. I just have to make sure that we keep getting out of the house, go to the Y, park, pool and other fun places.
Plus when I really need a break, I can go to Fred Meyer's, put Livia and Gracie in the child watch center thing they have and shop. Hahahaha!

I just have to keep praying and put my full trust in Heavenly Father.

We have lowered the price today by $5k, so we are hoping for some more foot traffic. Please put us in your prayers that an offer will come soon.

Click here to see our house! Make sure to see the Virtual Tour! Our Realtor rocks.

*Okay, so apparently the link wasn't working earlier. It was going to some other house, that I wished I owned! LOL Now, it should be working!

Or you can copy and paste this one.

http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?GroupID=222202021&ListingID=300642537&CMID=0&Sort=0

Holy fruitcake.

2010-05-27T12:13:00.001-07:00

What a day.

The fridge quit working.

Stella won't let me get ready for the day.

Clancy was offered a great job in a town 3 hours away.

We are moving.

And it's only 12:15 in the afternoon.

Baby food

2010-05-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

At Stella's 4 month check up, (14.9 lbs, 25.8 inches) back a couple **cough cough** weeks ago, her Doc mentioned that we could try out some baby food if she seems interested. She hasn't been acting too interested but we decided to try it out anyway.

She wasn't interested.

But she sure is cute!

Yard project

2010-05-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

BEFORE

We love our house. We really do. But when we bought it, it was in December of 2007. That means that there was snow on the ground and Clancy and I both didn't think to look under all that snow to see what condition the yard and flower beds were in. Needless to say, when the snow melted, our neighbors grass got green.......and ours was grey.

I do need to mention that our house was vacant for almost two years before we bought it. First, it was put for sale and an older man bought it and started working on it, but didn't live in it. Then he died.
Hopefully not in the house, but the neighbors haven't been able to tell me neigh or yay on that one.
Anyway, after he died, it stayed vacant while his will and all that fun stuff was sorted out. The bank got it back and we bought it from them.

When we moved it, there was all kinds of fun stuff left behind as well. Old tins, cans, a dish full of spare change and other miscellaneous. The attic in the garage had the most fun stuff.

Our house has a lot of character, too. Someday when the house is spic an span, I will have to take pictures of all the little fun things our house has. (Think ironing board in the wall, glass knobs....)

Anyway, one of the biggest pros of our house is that we have over a 1/3 acre of land. We love all the room! That also brings a lot of work. The summer of 2008, we worked on it a lot and just mainly focused on bringing the grass back. Summer of 2009, I was pregnant and sick all the time and we both worked full time and didn't get much done on the yard or flower beds. So this spring, we decided enough is enough! Time to do something about the flower beds.

First we pulled up all the old bark, weeds and old ground cloth.

Then we laid new ground cloth and put in rock!

We also added some Azalea's, some arborvitaes, and a rose bush.

MUCH better.

This is the north side of our flower bed.

Weeds.....ewwwwwwww!

Do you like how I am taking the pictures and Clancy's doing the work?

Ground cloth laid!

We ran out of rock and got more the next week....we even got it for free of Craigslist! Woot!

I need to find a nice tree or flowering bush for this side of the house. I have one Azalea over there, but it needs something big to balance it out. The south side has this tree that I love.

I have no clue what it is. If you can tell me what kind of tree it is, you will 65,502,734 points! I am guessing it is a weeping something. Here is what the leaves look like.

It gets really full, like this:

We also dug up the front patches of weeds and just added a little plant for now. I will probably add more flowers to it later.

Now it looks so much better!

Once I find another bush I like to put in the other flower bed, I will feel like it's finished. Clancy has been applying for a lot of jobs, and lately, some of them have been out of town. In the event that we would need to sell our house, it's nice to know that we wouldn't have to spend too much time on the yard and flower beds. Man, having a house takes more work than I ever thought! Guess I imagined being rich and having a gardener! Hahahaha!

Don't bite flies!

2010-04-29T15:10:00.000-07:00

Today during nap time, Gracie came running up the stairs, crying.

"What happened?" I asked

Then I saw her face.

And then I laughed and asked again.

"What happened?"

She replied:

"You know that thing. That squishy thing. Livia got it for her birthday. I bite it with my teeth and then I feel wet all over my face!"

I wondered what could this thing possibly be? I couldn't think of what Livia got for her birthday that would make that kind of a mess.

"It's downstairs on my bed," Gracie said.

So I went down there, looked and her bed, and remembered.

I remembered this hideous fly that Livia insisted on getting the day of her birthday.

What a mess it made!

Just on Gracie's face.

Somehow, her bedding was spared.

Whatever possessed her to bite it, is beyond me.

When kids get ahold of the camera

2010-04-27T15:03:00.000-07:00

I went to upload some pictures today, and looky looky what I found!

**Warning--There may be one offensive picture, but it is edited.....plus it's my blog and I can put whatever I want on it. :)

Mail, aka bills

Dora

Swimsuit
Hallway wall

Heater vent and the evil scale in the bathroom

Contents on bathroom sink

Seriously. One of the girls took a picture of their poo. I am guessing Gracie.

Astro Boy!

Home Depot's latest ad...oooo reminds me we need to go there tonight

Stella's jumpy chair

Wasn't that fun?

My guess is that whoever did this did it when I was in the shower. Dora goes on the TV so that the big kiddos are entertained. I still am not sure who took the pics though.....Gracie or Livia?? Maybe Stella???

The only evidence I have...... And they look like Livia toes!

I just have to say...

2010-04-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

I know this super teeny, but I stole it off Facebook. (shhhhhhhh!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BFF!!

LOVE YA BERNADETTE!

Oh spring, how we've missed you!

2010-04-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

Here it is, just like I promised! Livia's 1st haircut 'after' picture! See, she still has a little bit of curl left.....

And this is Gracie's masterpiece. I found this on the hallway wall that we had dry walled and prepped for painting....we just hadn't gotten around to painting it. This made me paint it yesterday. (When I say me, I mean Clancy.)

Remember Gracie's love for Astro Boy? This is a declaration of that love.

Now it looks like this! Much better.

Yesterday was the prettiest day we have had in a long time. We took full advantage of it and spent most of the day outside. Stella got to try out the swing for the first time.

I think she was impressed! She stayed in there for a good 30 minutes while we worked in the yard.

Livia woke up from her nap and found us playing outside. The first thing she ask for was her 'bike hat'. Can you tell she's still not fully awake??

Grace rode her bike on the concrete path we have in the backyard. She's getting pretty good!

I also did a little project yesterday and painted a dresser that we no longer use. I have been looking for something to put on this wall in the dining room. I really wanted a hutch, but decided that using a dresser we already have and $6 worth of paint was more cost effective.

Now I have a little buffet!

I am pretty happy with the final product! I just laid a table runner over the top to protect it a little and then I plan to use the drawers for storage. As Bernadette pointed out, somewhere to finally put those place mats I never get to use!

Funny thing, Stella is in her bouncy seat as I type this and she keeps starting to fall asleep, and then startling herself awake! I have never seen her do that before! Just go to sleep kid!

I just took some video of it and will try to post it......

In the mean time, go out and enjoy this great weather!!!

Thank goodness

2010-04-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

NO
MORE
SCREAMING
BABY!

YAY!!!!

Apparently all the girl needed was a higher dosage!
WOOT!

Oh and I bought a purse last night. It totally cheered me up!

Tuesday kept going

2010-04-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

I also forgot to mention that during Stella's screaming fit, I poured myself some yummy, delicious, stress reducing Pepsi. And spilled it all over our living room rug.

Shhhhhh.......

Don't tell the hubby. There's a 'no eating or drinking in the living room' rule since we purchased new furniture 2 months ago. Whoops!

After I finished my last post, I went to the hospital to visit my newest little nephew! What a cutie he is! Lots of hair and just a chunk! After I got some snuggles in with him, I pulled out my camera to take a picture.

IT
WAS
DEAD.

So I pulled out my phone to take a picture.

IT
WAS
DEAD.

Alas, I have no pictures of my cute little nephew.
What a great way to end my Tuesday!

Oh and Stella is continuing to scream at me. Took her to the doc and 'she looks great!'

Ugh

So we are going to try upping her dosage of her Esophagitis medicine and take her back in tomorrow for a follow up.

Don't worry, I am putting Negative Nancy to bed.

My day

2010-04-06T18:57:00.000-07:00

The beginning of my day deceived me.
Stella slept in until 6 am, and then went back to sleep until 9:30. Woot!

Then it got worse.

I decided to go visit my former co-workers at the credit union. So I got all the girls dressed and ready to go. Stella decided to puke all over her outfit.

Okay, no prob.

I changed her outfit and we were out the door.

She then puked all over herself while chatting with friends. As we were leaving, Livia decided to go play in the water puddles that had formed after the rain this morning, leaving her pants all wet.

Not bad, I like a good puddle as well. Just getting dirt all over the van floor and seat didn't amuse me.

When we got home, I put all her toys (funny thing--she has to take toys with her everywhere she goes--her Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Astro Boy, and Minnie Mouse. Today she decided to also bring along her baby doll) in my purse so it would be easier getting into the house.

NO. Bad idea.

She freaked out for about 10 minutes that she wanted to take them out of the car. I tried to give them back to her when she got to the front porch, but NOOOOO. She wanted them in the car, so she could take them out herself.

SHEESH.

Get lunch ready. Gracie asks for tuna fish because "tuna fish is a mermaid. But it's also a real fish."
Huh??
My hands stink like tunafish.

Stella decides to cry for about 2 hours straight. FUN.

My sister in law dropped of her son, and I thought, "Great! Someone to distract Gracie and Livia!"

Poor kid stubbed his toe and it was down hill from there. He wanted his mommy and daddy. I don't blame him. Screaming Stella made me want my mommy and daddy, too.

Stella falls asleep and I decide I need something SWEET. I find some 100 calorie snack packs of those little Chessmen cookies and promptly eat 2. Who cares about a diet in this time of need??

Stella wakes up when she smells my cookie pleasure, and continues to scream. She spits up all over my shoulder, all over her clothes, on the floor in the kitchen and in her bouncy chair.

So I decide to put her in the one thing I know she loves: her bath tub.

GENIUS.

The kid is quiet.

Clancy gets home and takes my nephew home. He also takes Livia with him to give me a break. As soon as he leaves, Gracie decided to throw a fit because she wants to go. I can handle a screaming infant better than a crying 4 1/2 year old.
Cut my ears off now.
Stella decided she didn't like her bath anymore and started screaming at me too.

I wanted to quit.

I get her out, and Clancy comes home. Yay!

Then I spill Alfredo sauce all over me and the kitchen floor. Then Clancy accidentally spills the buttered bread on me when I'm sitting at the dining room table.
Livia decides she doesn't like her food and takes it to the kitchen. Instead it spills all over the dining room rug.

Now I am going to leave and go see my newest little nephew!! Hopefully he won't scream at me!

Tomorrow can only be better, right?

First haircut

2010-03-31T09:07:00.000-07:00

I bet you thought I was talking about this babe:

Nope! But this is what Stella did the whole time. So exciting.

The time had come for Miss Livia's first haircut. I have been putting it off, because I was worried they would cut off the curls she has at the ends of her hair.

But it was starting to look stringy. So off to Kids Kutz we went!

Livia's hair before.

I also decided that we might as well get Gracie's hair cut as well! She needed it!

Now, those of you who have had the pleasure to know Miss Livi Lou, she isn't the calmest child. So I was very worried about how much squirming she would do. With my help, she was able to get an even haircut!

All done! Check out her crazy cowlicks! Poor kid! Both beauticians commented on the girls' crazy cowlicks and hair lines. Sorry ladies! I can't fix that!

Oh crap.

Don't hate me.

I just realized that I don't have a good 'after' picture of Livia's hair. I must have got distracted....with 3 kids and all.

OK! Livia's 'after' picture to come!!

Livia's surgery/Food storage

2010-03-26T22:35:00.000-07:00

Poor Livia Lou had her tonsils and adenoids out this morning. It went really well! After her surgery, her ENT Doctor came out and told us that they were HUGE and we should see a difference (i.e. her constant runny nose becoming not so constant). She wasn't very happy when she came to and yelled "I don't like you! Leave me alone!!" again and again at me. Break my heart. I know that she was very cloudy and not aware of what just happened, so I won't hold it against her. :)

Livia was very happy to come home. Her surgery was at 7:30 this morning and she was discharged around 10, so it was very nice to be in and out. She has eased every fear I had. She is eating just about everything and her energy is good. Here, I had prepared pudding, bought Popsicles, ice cream, jello and yogurt, but she had eaten chips, crackers, yogurt, pizza, and cereal. Not the healthiest diet, but the Doctor advised that for now, if she will eat it, let her have it.

The pain meds must be working!

Since Clancy had the day off, he decided to clean out a storage room we have in the basement. I have been wanting to organize my food storage in there, so today was the perfect day. My mom and brother are here, so they were able to watch the girls while we got some work done.
I have hardly touched our food storage since we bought our house in Spokane 2 years ago. It's been sitting in boxes, so I was kind of scared to go through it and see how much needed to be thrown out.
Finally. All put away and organized by date and item (we have LOTS of green beans) and now I know what we will need to eat here in the next couple of months so we don't waste any.

Sadly, this is what had to be thrown out.
Not too bad, but I still feel bad that I let it go to waste.
Does anyone know if the Rice Cereal might be saved? It says it needed to be used by May 2006.......

Stella's blessing

2010-03-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, March 14th, 2010, Stella Makayla Flynn was given a name and a blessing by her father. What a special day! Her dress was gorgeous and she was very good during it!

I think she really liked my Aunt Belinda! She would smile at anything Aunt Belinda said to her!

Sweet little angel!

Someone got a little jealous of all the attention that wasn't directed her way......

I am so mad I didn't get any pictures of everyone that was there to share in this special day! Thank you all for coming!!

Oh Gracie....

2010-03-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

This kid is hilarious.

Seriously.

Who else could fall in love with a cartoon character? She doesn't even know what love it--she's only 4 1/2!!--but lately she has been watching Astro Boy cartoons via Netflix on our computer. Now she says she loves him and wants him to come to her Earth so they can get married...in the temple. We have told her that he's a robot, but she doesn't care.

How could you not fall in love with this hunk??

Today I cleaned the kitchen. I mean, I really CLEANED the kitchen. Gracie went in there and just told me it was 'Scary'. Guess I need to clean it more often.

The other day, Stella was crying, so Gracie went to her and calmed her down. I was in the kitchen doing the dishes and heard Gracie yell "It's okay, MOM!! She just had a bad dream that a robot was eating her." Glad she can read minds.

I also found this once:

An empty swing. I was sure I had put Stella in it.....where did she go??

Found her.

In the playroom.
I asked how she got there.
So Gracie showed me.

This is how. Don't worry, I promise Gracie is very gentle!! She is such a good little mommy. :)

Day one down!

2010-03-03T13:04:00.000-08:00

Renee at the YMCA....You are evil. Okay, not really, but my body is jello after that cycling class.

The girls and I conquered the Y this morning. Them to childcare, me to cycling. Then I let Tiphanie and Patty (workout partners-YAY!) talk me into something called TRX. Let me tell ya, I feel the burn!!! I have never prayed so hard that my child would poop so that they would come get me to change her. It didn't work. It was great to sweat and say nasty things under my breathe at the instructor. I am motivated!!

Funny story: Ever since yesterday, when we went to sign up at the Y, Gracie has just been DYING to go to the pool. This morning, I didn't want to hassle with it and Gracie started asking me where the swimsuits were. "Didn't you get them?" she says.

"No, we aren't going swimming today. Maybe tomorrow on Daddy's day off. Today you will play with other kids while Mama goes to exercise," I say.

"MOM! But YMCA spells water!!"

That's my kid.

We purchased a new loveseat and sofa set last week, and now I am on a kick to redecorate the whole living room and dining area. Now if I could only find an investor for this project.

Clancy has decided to go for his MBA. Yay. 2 more years of school. Bleh. Just kidding, I know it will be good in the long run. I have to stay positive! He is applying to WSU and EWU. Keep your fingers crossed!

Monday, oh Monday

2010-03-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

I scheduled Livia's surgery this morning. It will happen on March 26th. I am NOT looking forward to it. I am actually really scared...weird, huh?

Stella is being crazy. She isn't eating well at all. She will eat a little, then pull away crying. I thought for sure she had an ear infection, because that is exactly how the other girls acted when they had ear infections as babies. Nope. She's perfect. I took her into Rockwood Clinic this morning (where Livia proceeded to have a melt down over a Dora sticker--Uggghhh), and her ears are good, everything sounds good and no temperature. What is wrong with my baby?? If she doesn't improve, I will take her back tonight. She has only eaten maybe 4 ounces since she woke up at 6:30. This is not normal for a baby who eats around 4 ounces every 2.5-3 hours.

In other news, we have decided to join the YMCA. I learned that they provide 2 free hours of childcare per day, so mommy can work out! Yay!!!! I need to lose this last bit of baby weight and tone up. My motivations are:

1. I don't want to buy new jeans---I want to fit into my favorite pair of Silvers again!
2. My sister is getting married in August and I am bridesmaid.
3. I have my 10 year high school reunion this summer.
4. I want my muffin top gone!!!!!!

So here's to starting a new routine!!!

I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited for the Bachelor season finale tonight!!! Hopefully Jake is smart and picks Tenley.

Poop

2010-02-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Today is Livia's Birthday-Take Two. Since she didn't really get a fun birthday day, I have dedicated today to her! We woke up early and went to Fred Meyer's to get birthday party supplies. Family is coming over tonight, and some close friends to help us celebrate. (Maren, if you guys feel like having a road trip, come on up!!!) Nothing too fancy, but it will be fun! We then went to Savvy Mom's and visited Bernadette.

Anyway, I asked Livia what she wanted for lunch and she said "Chicken nuggets!!" As we are sitting in the Micky D's drive thru, I tell Gracie that she is getting poop, because she was being, how shall we say...
DIFFICULT.

She said "Poop?"

Then Livia yelled,

"I want poop too!!!!"

That just shows how much Livia wants to do and have everything that Gracie has!

FINALLY

2010-02-24T17:56:00.000-08:00

We are home!!! Livia's doctor's decided that her eye looked great and that she would be fine on oral antibiotics at home. You have no idea how happy I was to hear that! We spent a total of 6 days and 5 nights there, and Livia was more than ready to be home.
She will see her ENT doctor in a week and we will schedule her tonsillectomy and adenoid removal then.

I am sooo grateful to my mom and mother-in-law. It was so nice to have them come and help out. Clancy's mom came as soon as I had the feeling that Livia would be staying at the hospital and stayed until today to watch the kids so that Clancy could continue work. My parents came this weekend to help, and will be back when Livia has her surgery. What would we do without family????

Pictures of her hospital birthday party to come!

I really don't want to live here

2010-02-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

In the hospital that is. Sadly, that is how it feels. I really wonder what Livia is thinking. She says she misses Gracie and Stella, as do I, but she doesn't ask to go home too much. I guess cartoons are a nice distraction! Not to mention no one is trying to steal her toys or take away her mommy's attention!

This morning, her ENT doctor told me that they have decided to keep her until her eye is 100% better.

UGH.

So she is spending today, her 3rd birthday in the hospital.

They are making it really special though! Thank goodness for the Child Life department. They are awesome!

Up until yesterday, we were able to have a room all to ourselves. We got a room mate yesterday; a little boy with dehydration. Poor kid. Having a roomie makes it so hard to get Livia to sleep. What a night. She started to get drowsy around 9:30, but was still up until her IV machine started beeping at 11. Apparently from all her moving around, she made the catheter on her IV slip out. The nurse took it out and went to ask the Doctor if she could start oral antibiotics. While she was gone, Livia climbed out of her bed and laid with me on the couch, and proceeded to throw up. All over my blankets. Once we get that cleaned up, the nurse tells me that the Doctor wants her on IV antibiotics still, so the IV will have to be inserted in her other arm. Fun. Then the boy rooming with us throws up all over his bed. As the nurses clean that up, I took Livia out into the hall way and we just walked around and looked at the pictures until they told us we could go into the treatment room to have the IV put in. Finally we got back in bed at midnight, and I started to sing Livia "Happy Birthday" and she told me to be quiet.

More tales tomorrow! I have too much time on my hands here.....

Things to do in the hospital with an almost 3 year old

2010-02-22T10:08:00.000-08:00

Livia has been finding all kinds of things to keep herself entertained while she is in the hospital. When she doesn't have visitors (Thank you Bernadette, Brittney, Papa & Nana, Joe & Belinda!), she has become quite good at finding things to do.

Presenting:

Livia Lou's Guide on What to do During a Hospital Stay

Jump on your bed (before your mom tells you to stop)

Play with the buttons on the hospital bed

Get your fingernails painted

Dance around the pole holding your IV meds (Let's hope this isn't practice for a future career dancing on poles)

Throw your balloons in the air.....

...and watch them fall!

Count all the loot you have gotten from visitors, nurses and hospital staff

Discover your love for the Arts

Play with your freakin awesome Madre

Most importantly, sample the local cuisine!

Her eye has gotten so much better! Here it is on Friday, the day she was admitted to the hospital.

Here it is last night, 2/21/2010, as she was watching the Lion King.

The Doctor's have told us that she seems to have avoided eye surgery, since the antibiotics seem to be working so well. They do still want to take out her tonsils and adenoids, but that won't be for 2 or 3 weeks. Hopefully she will get to go home tomorrow, since tomorrow is her 3rd birthday!

Prayers are a powerful thing

2010-02-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Our little Livia Lou is so strong. She has endured so much these last 3 days. IV's, Afrin up the nose, suction in her nose, countless Doctors touching her eye and prying it open, yucky medicine, blood draws, and being woken in the middle of the night for temperature/heart rate check. I am in awe of how well she is handling it.

I can not say THANK YOU enough for all the prayers sent our way.

They are working.

This morning her eye looks sooooo much better! She is even able to open it!! Her ENT doctor said no surgery today! YIPPEE! I was really not looking forward to surgery. She said that she will need to have her adenoids and out and her tonsils out at some point soon, even if they decide to not drain the abscess.

So she will be on the same antibiotics for the next 24-48 hours, in the hospital.

Then I remembered that HER BIRTHDAY IS ON TUESDAY!

My poor baby may have to spend her birthday in a hospital bed! How sad! But as long as she is getting better, it is worth it.

Any visitors are gladly welcome!!!! (hint hint)

The hospital! Oh fun!!

2010-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

That is what I think Livia is thinking every time she gets to watch cartoons, is given a Popsicle, and gets lots of attention! Yep, we are at the Childrens Hospital. After I posted my last blog entry, I called her Dr.'s office to ask if it was normal for her eye to swell shut from the infection.

Ummm....apparently not.

"Take her to the emergency room as soon as you can" they told me.

After pokes, prods and a CAT scan, they decided to start antibiotics and keep here. There is an abscess under her swollen eye. After an Ophthalmologist and an ENT Doctor saw her, they decided to give her one more day on the antibiotics and she how she reacted.

Wait.....

There is more.

If they decide to go in and drain her abscess, they will also:
*Remove her adnoids
*Put tubes in her ears
*Stick a camera up her nose, in her sinuses, and do something to a bone there

SO FUN.

She is sleeping now, and in the morning the same doctors will return to re-evaluate her. They will decide if it is time for surgery or if the antibiotics worked and we can go home.

PRAY for the latter.

Good night!

"Where did my eye go??"

2010-02-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

What a week it has been. I take that back. What a couple of weeks it's been. The sicky sickness has been flying around our house. It started last Tuesday when Livia woke up puking. She got a fever and then developed a cold. Next I started feeling rundown and had a sore throat. Then Gracie started complaining that her throat hurt and she developed a fever. Now Livia's eye is swollen shut. On Wednesday, it just looked like she might have run into something (she's my kid--she is bound to be a little clumsy), because the area around her eye was red. When she woke up from her nap, it was worse. I knew I was going to have to take her in to the doctor first thing the next morning. Well, I took her in and she has Periorbital Cellulitis. Poor kid! She just can't catch a break lately. Here is a progression of her eye.

Monday

Wednesday

This morning, Friday

Poor kid! I feel so bad for her, because on top of the eye, she still has her cold. Luckily, the Periorbital Cellulitis isn't contagious , but she also has a little bit of conjunctivitis so we are washing hands and sanitizing everything. Livia's 3rd birthday is on Tuesday, so I hope she and her eye are better by then!

Story telling by Stella

2010-02-11T19:21:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!

A couple of weeks ago, we took Stella to her second hockey game. This time, she was more awake and totally confused by all the cheering.

We started the night off by letting her drive. Totally legal, right? Just kidding. It was cold out and we were hanging out in the car before they opened the doors.

Stella witnessed some things for the first time that night, but I will let her tell the story....with her face.

"Look! There's Boomer the Bear behind me! He didn't even come say hi to me!! How rude! Let me at him!! Put 'em up!!"

"Speaking of fighting, I just saw one! This guy went like this......"

"....which made the other guys head go like this....."

" It was CRAZY! I'm tellin' ya!"

"Wait. Did you see that play? Kyle Beach scored again! Wooooooot!"

"why is this lady staring at me??? Oh that's right. Because I am so cute!"

"Sup. Are we winning yet?"

"AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Kootenay just scored! This is not good."

"Okay. Time to put on my game face."

"I am getting really worried. This is not going as planned."

"What is this line??!! I am so confused!!!"

"Well we lost. You win some, you lose some. Till next game................."

Isn't she a great facial story teller???

January?? Really???

2010-01-21T17:07:00.001-08:00

Can you believe this GORGEOUS weather we have had lately?? The girls and I have gone on a few walks to get out of the house and enjoy it!

As we were walking, and the girls were running, I kept thinking: "It's January 20th? Really????" It feels like late April or early May.

Just a couple blocks from our house is a nice little park. There aren't a lot of playground toys, but there were enough to keep them entertained for awhile!

This is what Stella did....the whole time. What a cutie! She is 4 weeks old today!

I am NOT a winter person whatsoever. I love the sun and hot weather, so having this little taste of spring is GREAT! Today it was 48 degrees again and so sunny!

This weather is such a big change from last year.....
This was a huge snow fall Spokane got on December 18, 2009.

I am sooooo glad this isn't the situation this year!!! I HATE driving in the snow, so I would probably be stuck at home all day. YUCK.

P.S. Go here and check out her giveaway this week!!! So cute!!!

Not a lot to say

2010-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

This is where Stella loves to be....just hanging out with her daddy!!

Yawn

Livia....putting on some geek glasses. No matter what she wears, she still looks cute!

This is how she rolls

2010-01-10T18:47:00.001-08:00

Yep. This is how Stella enjoyed her first hockey game. Sleeping. Through the whole thing. Oh well, I had a blast showing her off to my hockey peeps. She was a hit!

She also spent most of the night cuddled up to Daddy in our front carrier thingy. She liked it! Which is good, because we have tickets for the Jan. 30th game as well.

On another note, my mom left yesterday. That means I am all alone this week with 3 kids. HOLY CRAP.

While the parents are here...

2010-01-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

...go on a date!

That's our plan for tonight! We are going to this:

and taking this.....

I always thought "Why did they bring their baby to a loud hockey game?? GEEEZZZ!"
But I get it. She sleeps through all the loudness at home, why wouldn't she sleep through mommy and daddy screaming "Go Chiefs Go!" "Kill him Beach!" or " I love you Drayson Bowman!" (wait...he doesn't play for them anymore....) loudly??

Just in case you are wondering about the last statement, Dr. Dray is my fav player.
EVER.
Blast from the past!

I want to win this

2010-01-07T09:49:00.001-08:00

So go here and maybe you can win it too!

Wouldn't I look great in that Tutu?? Okay, I would probably get it for Gracie....maybe. I think.

Happy Thursday!

This is what happens......

2010-01-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

.....when you don't get your child dressed for the day. They dress themselves.

In your sweatshirt.

What I miss/don't miss

2010-01-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

What I love about NOT being pregnant:

*No heartburn--HALLELUJAH!
*No more pelvic pain
*No baby bum in my ribs
*PEPSI
*No sudden kicks in my ribs that make me go "OUCH"
*My legs aren't so swollen--even if the cankles will never go away
*I can get out of the bath tub with no help
*SUSHI
*Don't have to worry about my water breaking at Target anymore

What I miss about being pregnant (I can't believe I just said that)

*Not having to suck in my tummy (MISS THIS THE MOST)
*If some article of clothing doesn't fit, you blame your growing tummy and go buy a new shirt/pants!
*Eating....because the baby wants it
*Having people pick up things I drop because I can't bend over enough to reach it
*Not having to breastfeed....I am not one of those mom's who love it, but I am doing it

Happy New Year everyone!

My resolution---Lose this baby weight. It was sad to try on my 'fat jeans' and not be able to button them.
I think I will try this Special K challenge I have been seeing on TV. Maybe.
I think I will still blame Stella, since she can't defend herself.

While I am talking a little about Stella, she has been very Jaundice. At her check up on Monday, her doctor sent us to the lab to have her billirubin levels checked. Turns out they were super high, 20.9, and they started light therapy on her. We are home now with a machine that has a belt that wraps around her middle and constantly shines light on her. They are slowly going down, and yesterday she was at an 18.3. We haven't gotten her results back from today's blood work ( a nurse comes every morning to check on her and take her blood) , but the doctor told us that we can stop the light treatment when she is under 16. So pray that she is under 16 today!
Okay, I am going to go back to watching the Winter Classic--go Flyers!

Gosh I miss hockey.

Miss Stella Bella

My Christmas present weighed 6 lbs 13 oz......

2009-12-26T14:33:00.000-08:00

You guessed it! Stella Makayla Flynn was born Christmas Eve day!

And this is how I felt around 5 am....

Not good at all. This labor SUCKED. Why can't men be the one to go through it??

Anyway....let's get to the good stuff. The LABOR STORY. TA DA!

Around 3:30 on Wednesday night, I started having strong contractions. I had a doctor's appointment Monday, but I was only dilated to a 1. I went to the hospital at 9 and was only at 1.5 dilated, so they decided to monitor my contractions and see if there was any change. 45 minutes later, I was at a 2.5, 45 more minutes later, I was at a 3.5. They admitted me and got my antibiotics started since I tested positive for Group B Strep. At midnight, I was between a 4 and a 5 and the Dr said I could have my epidural if I wanted. I decided to get it so I could get some sleep. About 10 minutes later, I started feeling weird and numb all over and blacked out. I tell you what, I was scared to DEATH. As was Clancy. The anesthesiologist came back quickly and lower my epidural and put something in my IV. I started to come to, threw up, and felt fine. It was the weirdest thing ever. My blood pressure had dropped to 60/38!! Scary! This happened another 4 times before they said to stop the epidural for now. My contractions stopped completely and I slept. Around 7 am, my doctor came and said Let's get this show on the road! I couldn't agree more. They started a pitocin and a low dose of epidural. My water broke around 8, and I could really feel the contractions. There was blood in the amniotic fluid, which they discovered later was because part of my placenta had ruptured. My left side was numb, but I could feel everything in my right side. NOT FUN. I have soooo much respect for all you mama's who go natural!!!

At 10:15, I was a 9-10, and they called my Dr to come deliver. I started pushing and she was born at 10:32 am on 12/24/2009! Her cord was around her neck, but it was long enough to not bother her until her head was out. I was able to up my epidural right when I was at a 8-9, so I could feel her coming out, but I didn't feel any pain. She arrived 17 days early, but weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz. and 19.5 inches long!

She is perfect! She sleeps a lot, eats well and is adored by her sisters! The best Christmas present we could ever receive.

Now, enjoy the pictures.

She LOVED her bath!

I just can't get enough of her! She reminds me a lot of Livia, but definitely has the Flynn nose!

I know, the no make up look is really in right now.

My three girls, AKA my life.

Our family of five! Don't you love how the nursing pillow is still on. I think it's classy.

Baby Shower!

2009-12-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

On December 10th, my AWESOME co-workers at the credit union threw me a babyshower! You know how much I LOVE presents, so I was very excited!! They threw it at Cyrus O'Leary's (yum!) and we all ate and had a blast! I am going to miss these people soooo much. It has definitely been the best company I have ever worked for.

The BEST cake I have ever tasted! Can you tell what name they want me to pick for this baby??

Opening some presents! I love how there is a chicken with sunglasses behind me.

I love presents!

Krista and Deb!

Connie and Krista!

Cora, Louisa and Amy B!

I was sooo excited that so many people were able to make it. Even my boss, Joe, came and he is a busy man! I left so loved! I am so glad that everyone supports me in my decision to stay home with my kids after this baby while they have to keep working....is that rubbing it in a bit??

Louisa being her fun self! I put her in charge of pictures and she will probably kill me for posting this, but TOO BAD. You take a picture like this and you know it will end up somewhere! Love ya Lou!

Eric and Sandy

Tricia.....the mastermind behind it all! She organized everything. I am going to miss her!!! Next to her is Amy K and her adorable little girl, Avery.

Kaylee, me and David

Kaylee, Tricia, me, Louisa, Cora and Toni!

I got so many cute things for the baby! It just made it all that more real that I will be holding a newborn in the next couple of weeks. Okay, everytime I look at this huge belly I am carrying, it makes it real to, but all the baby clothes made me so excited! I can't wait to dress her up! Yes, just like the Cabbage Patch doll I had growing up....I wonder where Elva is now? Hmmmmm

Anyway, thanks to everyone who came and for those who pitched in to get me a gift card to Target! I spent it the other night and bought all the last minute things needed before she arrives. 3 weeks (or please, Heavenly Father, SOONER) to go!

I just had to throw in a picture of her crib. I finally washed the bedding, put it on and put the mobile together. Her bag is also packed and ready to go!

Quick baby update!

2009-12-14T18:06:00.000-08:00

Wooo hooo! We are past the 36 week mark!!! I had a check up today and my Dr. says she is VERY low ( tell me about it---I can feel the pelvic pain!). I am dilated to a 1 but only 20% effaced. So she probably won't come today. And I am typing this as I have a contraction....I know, I am dedicated. :)
Anyway, everything is good and she is still measuring a little big. My Group Strep B test came back positive (UGGGHH), which means that he won't strip my membranes on the 30th to get things going, as we had planned. That's okay though! She will arrive when she is good and ready! Any bets on when baby girl will choose to make her debut???

Oh yeah, and you need to click here to enter this awesome giveaway on this blog I found! She is quite entertaining! Then give it to me!

Disney on Ice

2009-12-02T13:14:00.000-08:00

Can I tell you how much my mom rocks?? She took me and the girls to Disney on Ice a couple of weekends ago. Gracie can't stop talking about it and thinks that it is something she should be able to go to everyday. Needless to say, they loved it!!!

My mom and Livia inside the Princess Room that we went to before the show started. In the Princess Room, they had displays of certain princesses dresses and items from the movies.

Snow White, standing by Snow White's ACTUAL dress! :)

The Princess and the Frog.....I think her name is Princess Tiana.

Belle's dress from Beauty and the Beast.

Inside the Princess Room, they also had two real live princesses there! Cinderella and Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog!

Patiently waiting for the next princess.Cinderella!

Finally, it was time for the show to start!
Me and Livia (AKA Tinkerbell) before the show
Gracie said this is her "I'm so excited!" face.

We had so much fun and the girls were entertained just about the whole time (they kind of got bored during the Lion King part)! Gracie loved Ariel and Livia screamed when Lightning McQueen and Tinkerbell came out!
I highly recommend it to anyone with kids! We are going for sure the next time Disney on Ice comes to town!
Thanks Mom!!!

Soap and Face

2009-11-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

This morning, I decided that it wasn't too early to put up our Christmas decorations.
I have one red wooden decoration that says HOPE and another that is green and says FAITH. As I was putting them on the bookshelves in our living room, Gracie asked me "What does that say, Mom?" I told her "That one says hope and that one says faith."
After a second of thinking, she looked at me and said "Oh! Soap and Face!"

A little hockey story

2009-11-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there was a mother of 2 little girls who LOVED hockey. When she found out that the NHL would be having an exhibition game play in Everett, WA, she screamed before she even knew who would be playing (even though she was really hoping it would be the Carolina Hurricanes....but whateva!).

Anyway, this girls AWESOME husband said "Go! Go have fun with your hockey friends!" She found out that the game would be the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. the Phoenix Coyotes. Not really her favorite teams, but she has a soft spot in her heart for the TB Lightning because one of her beloved goalies, Dustin Tokarski, was drafted by them. She hoped and hoped and hoped he would be playing.

After 5 hours in a car with her friends, she made it to Everett in time to eat Ivar's (How awesome is it that they have Ivar's in their arena????) and watch warm ups.

Then all her friends spotted him. He was in the wrong number (usually #34) but there he was.

The poor goalie didn't get to play, but the girl was thrilled to see him in a TB sweater.

So the game began and the girl had a blast rooting on TB when it seemed like she was surrounded by Coyote fans.

What would a hockey game be with out a fight??

Then, the game was over. TB won and it was GREAT.

She had a blast with her friends and was glad she was able to see a live NHL game!

The end.

Baby bump

2009-11-19T19:53:00.000-08:00

Here I am in all my 33 week glory! I can't wait to meet our new little princess!

I know....HUGE, right?? *sigh*

Everything seems to be moving right along! She and my uterus are measuring a head of schedule. We had a scare Tuesday night though! We were up until 12:30 am with consistent contractions that had worked up to 3 minutes apart. I was scared to death. I do not need a 4 lbs baby in the NICU right now, thank you! Luckily, I was in touch with a nurse from the maternity ward at my hospital that gave me tips on how to get them to stop. Finally, after a nice HOT bath, my body relaxed and we got some sleep! Too bad I drank like 20 liters of water, so while Clancy went peacefully to sleep, I got up every 5 minutes to pee. Lovely.

I know I am way behind, but I promise to get some stuff up this weekend. I have Halloween, an NHL game I went to with friends and more to post! Plus my mom and I are taking the girls to Disney on Ice this Saturday! I am sure there will be some great pictures from that! I am sooo ready for the weekend!

Down

2009-10-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Our laptop is broken, so I have been ignoring doing an update on Clancy's computer because it is in the cold, creepy basement! Hopefully we will be able to afford to fix it next week! Until then, everything is good here, but lots of stuff to post! I don't like to mess around too much on his computer because I tend to break things......

You swing like this.....

2009-09-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

Isn't this the CUTEST picture ever????? My sis-in-law Ryanne captured it last weekend and I stole it from her (hope it's okay!). I think Clancy may have come to the realization that he doesn't make boys, so he's going to have to play baseball with his girls. He is the best dad. Gracie and Livia just adore him to death. I so thankful for him and thankful I have never regretted agreeing to marry him after 10 days of dating!

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, we took the girls to Lake Coeur d'Alene for the afternoon. Our picnic turned into a picnic in the car as we watched Coraline, because of the yucky weather. The girls thought it was cool to fold down the back seats in our Expedition, eat lunch, and watch a movie!

The best picture I could get of them after a million attempts!

It was a great, LONG Labor Day weekend! I ended up with 5 days off, and Clancy got 4 days off! It was great to spend time as a family and much needed time off! We also went to Cat tails Zoo that has lions, tigers, leopards and other big cats. That was a blast, reasonably priced and fun! We also checked out Frank's Diner up north. It was really good, the girls ate all their pancakes and they thought it was cool to eat on the choo choo train. It was hard this morning when Gracie told me she didn't want me to go to work today. 4 more months kid. :)

My girls!

2009-09-09T20:19:00.001-07:00

A couple of weekends ago, the girls and I headed to Wenatchee for my Grandma Joanne's 70th birthday! I didn't get pictures of the party, but afterwards, my uncle Tommy showed Gracie how putting stickers on her eyes was fun! She thought it was hilarious!

This is my Grandma Joanne, kind of a fuzzy picture, but she was making the girls laugh by putting the stickers on her eyes too! Happy Birthday Grandma Jo!

So you think YOU can dance??????

2009-09-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

And yes, that is Lady Gaga in the background......

It's a...........................

2009-08-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

ANOTHER GIRL! We learned today that we will be expecting another little girl on January 10th. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed at first, but I have come to my senses! We already have a lot of baby girl stuff and have experienced 2 girls already!
Clancy and Gracie were able to meet me at the doctor's office for the ultrasound. Gracie thought it was pretty neat and I was glad that she seemed to kind of understand waht was going on. When Dr. Brasch told us that there were definitely no boy parts, I just looked at Clancy and laughed!
After the appointment, I had to run back to work real quick to finish some stuff, then we were all off to the mall! I spent WAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY too much on this little girl, but the little outfits I got were so cute! Clancy picked out a dress and Gracie picked out a cute outfit as well as a shirt that says "Little Sister". The girls are excited for a little sister to play princess with.

Baby is also developing right on schedule and everything is normal! She's a cutie, even through the ultrasound. We can't wait to meet her in 20 weeks!

19 weeks and a haircut!

2009-08-18T17:47:00.001-07:00

This is what you get when you try and have your hubby take a decent picture of you.....I think this is the 6th picture he took.
It was time for a change. Saturday morning, I called the salon, booked an appointment in the next hour and decided to chop off my hair. Thanks mom and Aunt Lora for watching the girls! It is sooo much easier to do now!

And the 19 week, 2 day belly bump. I'm in pretty much full time maternity clothes now.
Baby wasn't moving too much the last week, so when my Dr. called (yes Em, Dr. Brasch!) Friday night to check on me, I decided to voice my concerns. He explained that the nausea medicine I was put on last week (after an ER trip for a bladder infection--fun, let me tell ya. Thanks Ryanne for taking the girls!) was a relaxant and so the baby was probably just relaxing in there and enjoying floating. He eased my worries, but I still hadn't felt much since going off the nausea meds. Then today is a whole other story! Baby has been kicking a jabbing and dancing around in there! 2 more days and we will know if it's a little hockey player or a ballerina dancing in there!

Fun at the little waterpark......less than a mile away!

2009-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today, we decided to join Clancy's sister's, Ryanne and Megan, and their kids at the new Hillyard swimming pool! It just opened on the 12th of this month, so we decided to go check it out! Livia dove right in! She was soooooo excited to go 'wimming'!

Look mom! I'm swimming!

My little water babies. I was so worried Livia was going to poop in her swim diaper, since she hadn't already that day. Thankfully, she saved her bowel movements for her daddy!

I think Javin is part fish! He loves the water!

Shaylee was done for the day.

Orissa was not impressed that I wanted to take pictures!

What a blast! We are definitely going back again. It's only $2 for adults, $1 for kids 4 and older, and it's free for the kids 3 and under!! We got in free today, because I showed up at 3:45, and it closed at 4. Whoopps!! I will have to plan ahead better next time.

Grandparents ARE invincible

2009-08-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Not a lot going on that is blog-worthy...we had my parents and my Aunt Lora & Uncle Doug's family come over this weekend for the Geren (my Grandpa Jim's side) family reunion! It rained the day of the reunion, but it dried up enough for the kids to have fun playing at the park! I didn't know ANYONE at the reunion, beside my parents, Lora's family, and my Uncle Joe's family. I know just about everyone at the Weller family (my Grandma Peggy's side) reunion's, but I don't know anything about the Geren side. I am one of those people who figures my mom can do all the genealogy and I can look at it when I am older. Someday.....
Speaking of Grandma Peggy, she is back in the ICU. About two weeks ago, she had a heart attack and then a stroke. She has been to weak for a stint to be put in, so that has to wait. I guess she wasn't having a good dayher blood pressure dropped and she started having chest pains, so back in the ICU she goes. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated. I have always thought of my grandparents as somewhat invincible, so it's hard for me to grasp what is going on.
They want her calm and resting, so they are asking for no visitors besides immediate family right now. That's the hard thing about living 2 1/2 hours away. I want to go visit so badly. I am taking the girls to Wenatchee on the weekend of the 29th for my Grandma Joanne's birthday party, so hopefully we will be able to see Grandma Peggy as well.

Oh, and when the family was here this weekend, I was able to leave Saturday morning (thanks mom and Aunt Lora!) to go get a much needed haircut! I chopped it off! So far, I am loving it! Pictures to come......

I will have big news Thursday! That is the day of our 20 week ultrasound! I can hardly wait! 4 days to go until we know pink or blue!

At least she picked a good one....

2009-08-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you can't get your 2 1/2 year old to take off her shirt.....that she's been wearing for 2 days? It also happens to be the shirt my mom bought when I was a Top Ten Apple Blossom candidate my senior year of high school. Good choice, kid!
She hasn't been feeling so well, so I will let it go, but I am sure she looked like a feral child when we went to Old Navy and Toys 'R Us on Tuesday.
How can you say no to that face??

Baby room project

2009-08-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

I know...I'm crazy.
Here I am 17, almost 18 weeks pregnant and I have a majority of the baby's room done. And when I say "I", I really mean my wonderful husband. He has been working every weekend on the baby's room, painting and sanding and cutting trim....it's been quite the project! We has switched the closet system around between this room and (what was our's and is now) the girl's room. The girls room got a bigger closet, so it can be used as a master bedroom, and the baby's room has a smaller closet, though still pretty good sized.
We (when I say 'we' I mean Clancy) started this project about 18 months ago. He finished the big closet quickly, but we never quite got around to finishing the other room. I wish I had pictures from before we started, but oh well. It was baby blue. Not anymore!

So we started by painting it brown about the same time we did the closet project. We just never really got around to finishing the painting and touch ups. So Clancy finished the painting last weekend, then we painted the trim Friday night and Saturday night.
I thought about changing the color, but I figured brown is safe. I can accent it with pink decor if it's a girl and with blue/orange/tan decor if it's a boy!

.

Gracie, what a good helper! She's so excited for the baby! She's jumping in this picture, hence the crazy hair

Livia is 'helping' us by playing with the baby's swing.
Gracie was putting some toys away.

I just love how everything turned out so far!

Gracie was running around the room after we vaccuumed it.
Gracie and I (in all my pregnant glory...as you can see, I just changed into comfy pants after church and kept the same top on hahah!) the painting a clean up were done! I promise, we helped. I even painted a lot of the trim! I swear!

The closet...yes they might be baby boy pants hanging in there.....

Now it's time to bring in the baby stuff!!! Here's the bassinet and the swing! Ignore the pink curtains...this used to be Livia's room, but who knows? We may have to keep them up!
The changing table and some toys.

The crib and the bouncy chair...wait. Whose feet are those? Could it by my super tired hubby after all his hard work laying on the floor with Gracie???

Okay, this has nothing to do with the room, but isn't this a cute diaper bag? I found it at Babies 'R Us on clearance and I love it! Plus it's good for a boy or a girl!

The inside is super cute!! I can't wait to fill it with the baby's things for the hospital! I know...i know! I am way ahead of myself. I blame my dad and brother. They were...I mean, are super involved in Boy Scouts and what's their motto?? ALWAYS BE PREPARED. So I'm prepared. :)

So we are ready for baby, minus crib bedding and that sort of thing. I have all of the girls' crib bedding left over from them that is adorable, so I can use that.
Am I crazy for having a lot of this done?? Ahh Who cares!
Have a great week!!!

Garage sale time!

2009-08-01T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a venting post, I think.
The girls and I go to yard sales just about every Saturday. It's fun for them to have money (usually dimes, nickels and quarters) and buy something valuable! Like they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure! So this morning we got up around 7 (which is really hard for me to do, knowing I don't have to work!) and left the house by 8. Clancy works every Saturday, so he has to miss out on these adventures, which I am sure break his heart. (Yeah, right)
But I have to complain about some people holding yard sales. They drive me nutso. DON'T ask me if I am looking for anything in particular, or if I need help. It's just a garage sale!!! Not a store! If I am looking for something in particular, I will ask!!!! I hate it when people are all in your face "look at this, and look at this" Let me look around lady!!! I'm not interested in your great grandmother's maternity clothes, thanks.
Maybe I'm just a cranky head this morning. Oh well.

I need to have a yard sale of my own...anyone in Spokane want to get together and do one together?

I did happen to find some great maternity clothing at one sale, though. That made my day! I also couldn't pass up so super cute baby boy outfits. I know, I know! I shouldn't be buying boy items until I know the gender, but I can't help it! My gut says boy. Which reminds me....
Have you ever heard of this??It's called an Intelligender test. I found it at WalGreen's after reading about some mom's over at www.CafeMom.com using it. I just thought it would be fun! Basically, based on your urine, this mixture will turn either green, which means boy, or yellow/orange (or no change) which means girl. So we bought it Thursday, took it Friday morning and it was green, BOY! I'm not about to finish decorating the nursery (which I need to be painting the trim now....) based on it! We will find out for sure what we are expecting on the 20th. Let's hope it's correct, though!

Gracie is really interested in how the baby is going to come out. I just tell her that I will go to the doctor and he will take the baby out. It was a mistake to let her watch "A Baby Story" on TLC with me once. She saw a woman breast feeding and asked what she was doing, so I explained that mommies have milk in there to feed their babies, because babies don't have teeth. Now she's convinced that one side has milk and the other has chocolate milk. She cracks me up!

Well both girls are sleeping so it's time for me to start painting the trim in the babies room. I want everything perfect in time for the little one, even though I still have 22 1/2 weeks. Haha!

ICE CREAM TRUCK!!!!!

2009-07-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

That's what Gracie yells everytime she hears that magical music playing in the street. Usually I just let her look out the window at it ( she does NOT need $3 ice cream), but this time I looked at Clancy and said "I got some cash. Should we get some??" So we grabbed our $$ and headed outside. Usually our neighbors don't really stop what they are doing for the ice cream truck, but not today. Today they we all out in their yards and had the same idea as us. It was hot out!!!
Instead of letting them make a huge mess with the ice cream inside the house, we decided to stay out on the front steps and let them eat it out there. I thought this would save me from cleaning up a huge mess! WRONG.

Livia choose a fudgescicle......

....and Gracie decided she needed one too!

Livia couldn't lick it fast enough, so the top ended up on the ground.

She thought she could pick it up an fix it!

Apparently the rest of Livia's fudgescicle didn't make it as well. It ended up on the sidewalk. She was so confused, like HEY Where did my ice cream go????
All done! Gracie didn't get too messy.....

...but Livia definitely got a bath! What a mess maker!!

It was such a nice night! Since a lot of our neighbors were out, we got to say hi and talk for a bit. Some of our neighbors are quite entertaining! Like one neighbor spent a couple of minutes trying to persuade his drunk friend that driving at that moment probably wasn't the greatest idea. Gotta love Hillyard! Our other neighbors are so nice and were giving up tips on our lawn that we have been trying to bring back from the dead since last summer. It seems to finally be working! When we bought our house, it was the middle of winter, and it had sat for 2 years! So we had no idea what the lawn was like. We were just excited to have such a huge yard! When spring came around, everyone had green grass...and we had grey grass. Lovely. Thankfully this year it is MUCH better!
Hope everyone enjoys there weekend!

Splish Splash

2009-07-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

It has been soooooo hot here lately! Saturday night, we filled up a pool I bought that I thought was going to be HUGE! Umm not so much. I have got to get them a bigger one! The girls love it anyhow! Plus they look so cute in their Dora swimsuits. Livia loves any kind of pool! We took both girls swimming in the pool at the hotel my parents stayed at this weekend and Livia loved it! Gracie on the other hand wasn't too thrilled. She would stay on the stairs and watch. She also snuck into the hot tub whenever she could. Just like her mom!
Here's some pics to show that we just love summer!!! Don't let the pictures fool you though, they look sweet, but Livia was splashing Gracie whenever she got the chance.

My parents were in town on a mini vacation, and while they were here, we were able to celebrate my dad's 50th birthday! It was a fitting little party with black plates and napkins! Happy Birthday Dad!!
Sisterly love!
We don't have a lot going on this week, thankfully! It seems like summer has been so crazy so far and it's just flying by! I am just glad that I got my part time schedule just in time for summer! It's definitely nice to have an extra day off during the week to spend with the girls. It will be even better next summer because I won't be working (yea!).
This reminds that the girls need a bath......

Explaining the pregnancy

2009-07-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

Livia at 3 months
Gracie at 3 months

We are so excited to have another baby on the way! I am currently 15 weeks. We are definitely hoping for a boy, but will be excited with a girl, too! This has been a very eventful pregnancy. At 5.5 weeks I started bleeding and cramping and expecting the worse again. I went right to my doctor's office, and they could only see an empty sac and lots of blood surrounding it. So they drew some blood and put me on bedrest for a week. Fun. Not.
I went in the following week and they saw two sacs. Imagine my surprise! One sac had a baby with a very strong heartbeat and the other was empty, which led my doc to think that maybe I was miscarrying the one baby. I was told I could go back to work, but to rest as much as possible. Easier said than done with 2 toddlers ruling the household. The next couple of weeks, I went in for more ultrasounds to check on the second sac, until it was no longer there. Instead there is still blood, as well as a growing, healthy, strong baby! So now I am still being monitored every 2 weeks by my wonderful doctor (LOVE Dr. Brasch! If you need a new dr, go see him!) to make sure that the baby is still growing. It used to be ultrasound after ultrasounds, which I'm not complaining about, and now we are just listening to the heartbeat throught the doppler. Which comforts me very much. Dr. says that even if the blood is still there, there isn't a lot we can do but wait. At my 20 week check up, he will check out the blood as well has do all the normal measuring. Exciting!
I have just started to feel the baby move, which is also comforting. The biggest risk to having the blood in there is that it can eat away at the baby's sac, causing it to rupture prematurely. Well that just won't happen! So we are praying that the blood is all gone at the next ultrasound.

I have had every stinkin' symptom in the book. The nausea seems to be lasting a long time, which I was hoping would stop about 2 weeks ago. It will all be worth it though!

I am soooo obsessed with this baby! It's insane! I have already purchased the perfect bassinet, the perfect swing and the perfect bouncer. Right now they currently house the girls' baby dolls (the only way I can keep Livia from crawling in there). I have even gone as far as to buy the cutest baby boy clothing that I find for great deals at yard sales! Wishful thinking, I guess! Clancy has been working on the baby's room and it is coming right a long. Once we find out what it is, then I can start decorating with pink or blue accents to the brown walls. Everything will definitely be ready for this baby! 5 1/2 months to go!

HOCKEY note: Hahahaha The Tri-City Ams lost their head coach! Sorry, but I think this is funny, even though the Chiefs lost their coach last year. They probably laughed when we lost good old Billy. It is training camp yet?