Brianna kinda likes this place. Just a little bit.

"I'm riding on SARA!"

Ten points if you know which movie she's referring to!


ps - don't be jealous of my mad photography skillz.  With a dinky cell phone, you TOO can capture moments this awesomely.

Brian texted me these pictures while Brianna and I were at an RS activity at church tonight. They made me want to come home immediately.

2nd place is the first loser.

So.... I got second in the contest. By 13 stinkin posts. 516 to 529. THIRTEEN. I can't tell you how much I kicked myself afterward for not just staying home all day and working harder. By "working harder" I mean harassing and nagging more people to do what I tell them to do with little explanation. People like that, right? I had one kid, Casey, that refused to do the referral for me simply because he didn't feel like it. It took me several minutes of sending messages back and forth, including, "I TAUGHT YOU HOW TO SWIM, YOU PUNK! Go vote!" Finally he did it, and then decided it was fun and got half a dozen others to do it. I have dozens - actually, hundreds - of little stories like that. I was on a roll. I really thought I had it in the bag. My stomach went into knots when I got the news I lost. The unexpected $100 consolation prize did little to pull me out of my instant crippling depression.
A little dramatic over something relatively trivial? Maybe. I mean, there are people starving in Africa, and I'm having a huge pitty party over a Facebook contest to win money we aren't really in need of.
But it wasn't ever really about the money... I JUST WANTED to WIN!
What's wrong with me?! Am I really this prideful and competitive?! I guess it's just because I TRIED so hard. I reallyreally TRIED!  I mean - there are millions of people millions of times better than me at millions of different things. But the difference is that I didn't put any effort into being good at those! So I don't care about them. I'm kindof an all-or-nothing person. If I'm going to get INTO something, I'm going 100%. I need to get over that; it's probably not healthy. Like with my running - I'm kindasortamaybe trying to get back in shape. But it's scary to even TRY, because what if I just get injured, or otherwise FAIL in some aspect...

Let's play Where's Chelsea.          Hint: Turquoise, behind guy in black pants.

Like this 5K a couple weeks ago. The director sent out this photo, and it just sent a sting of regret because again - I didn't win. I placed second. I purposely chose a small, low-key race, away from Utah County where all the supafast girls race... and I still couldn't win. As I was chatting with the winner girl afterward (a cute 20 yr old with no kids, who rode her BIKE to the race...that was ME in a different lifetime...) I didn't fail to casually mention, "well, gotta get back to my twin babies..."  Wouldn't want her to think it was a fair race or anything  :)
So I'm thinking the solution to my problem is to change my mentality back to what it was when I first had my babies:     I need to have lower expectations for myself. That way, if I ever do happen to do something great, then it will just be a pleasant surprise - instead of a big disappointment every time I fail to be awesome. Sounds good, right? It works. I promise. Lowering the bar, people. Lowering the bar.

Contest video!

 I'm at the point where, even if there wasn't an amazing prize at stake, I'd still be trying to win this referral contest on Facebook.... just because I'm having fun being compulsively competitive....   :)    If you haven't posted a referral yet on www.facebook.com/dealiciousgroup   please GO DO! If you have... THANK YOU!  Go get someone else to do it too!! :)

Me like win stuff.

In case I haven't harassed you yet on Facebook.... or in case I did, and you ignored me but happened to wander on here... I'll do another shameless plea:
Go to www.facebook.com/dealiciousgroup and click LIKE.

Then write on their wall, "Chelsea McKell referred me."

That's IT!

And what do YOU get?!

Endless showers of good karma drenching you in happiness for multiple eternities.

Seriously though - I'm trying to win the grand prize $500 Target gift card! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DIAPERS I CAN BUY WITH THAT?!?  So for the sake of my babies' bums...

GO do it! And sneak onto anyone's account you can access and do it there too.  :)

THANKYOOOOUUUU!!

Around the homefront

How weird is it that my 3.5 yr old still naps nearly everyday?! Not necessarily in her room, or in a bed, or in a comfortable-looking position....  But always with that icky blanket. I wash it in bleach at least once a week. And it's still gross. 

Courtney is too good for her crib. She wants to nap in the big bed in their room. 

CAUGHT IN THE ACT! He claims he didn't do it. He looks at me with those big innocent blue eyes... but I know better. Sneaky sneaky boy. He loves the Pumpernickel & Onion Braided Twists as much a I do.

Making cookies together. So wholesome. I try to stay back and let them do it solo, but sometimes I overhear Brian asking Brianna what a tsp is. Or if he can use vanilla icecream to substitute for vanilla extract. Then I get involved a little.

Jumping! Ever since she started her crusade to begin walking, (Bennett too), she doesn't like to be contained as much. But since she started her walking attempts, I like to keep her contained even more. 

Brianna loves to push Bennett in his swing.        HARD. 

Post-bath playing.  Chewing on the cords off the blinds is totally safe, right?

Brian's happy place = hanging out with all his munchkins.

This is how and where Brianna hangs out every morning while the babies take their nap and I get my workout in  (I'm on week SIX of the Insanity program, round 2. LOVE those videos! So hard!) Brianna likes her movie time. Usually Dora or Leapfrog shows on Netflix. I feel guilty about it. Mommy Guilt. Everpresent Mommy Guilt.

Her obsession in life is standing on her own. Her waking hours are spent pushing herself up to standing positions. Then doing squats. Up and down, up and down. She's taken one step solo so far. Then I push her down and firmly scold her. NO WALKING YET! Seriously. We don't need anymore bumps and bruises and ability to make more messes.

Our balcony. 3rd floor up. It's totally safe, yet I still get a minor panic attack every time  my kids are out there playing.

Cuz we're all about formal dining.

Brian was out of town for 2 nights for work. It was awful. I was so unmotivated to make a real dinner. 

My favorite men, doing one of their favorite things.... cuddlying up by the computer and catching up on sports.

A second father

Next to my own Dad, I don't think there's any other old man I've ever met that I respect, appreciate, and admire as much as Coach Kaluhiokalani. He supported and helped me in the right direction all through some of the most formative years of my life. He celebrated my accomplishments while challenging me to do more and be better. He never gave me any special treatment, even when it meant starting a race without me because I was taking too long to tie my shoes. Along with teaching me the importance of punctuality, he taught by example the importance of representing my school, faith, and family wherever I went. He made his athletes leave their hotel rooms clean. He brought gift boxes of Hawaiian macademia nuts when we traveled so he could give them away to people we came in contact with. He talked about the church and the gospel at any time - during workouts, plane rides, whenever. Coach K is an extremely hardworking, generous, wise, and positive person. I'm grateful to have him in my life as mentor and friend.
He came in town this month to visit a couple of his kids. He bought a car from Enterprise (which gives Brian a little referral bonus!), then today he treated us to lunch (at icky nasty Olive Garden - possibly the most undercover W.T. chain restaurant eeevvveerr), and got to meet my kids and immediatly start recruiting them for his XC team in Fall 2028. I have pictures I'll post later.  And by "post later" I mean I'll add them to the ever-growing folder with hundreds of photos I've been meaning to blog or do something with eventually....
But I will share the collage 8x10 I gave to coach as a little gift:

I miss those days!

Somebody's had a little too much milk....

 

 

She put a rock up her nose.

Cousin Brooke

It's so nice living near relatives. Especially since we don't have as many friends here as we did in Cedar (I couldn't go to the grocery store there without running into friends - not the case here). But now I randomly run into cousins! And I have some great cousins I'm getting to know better.

One is my cousin Brooke. She's my dad's oldest brother's 5th daughter. She's such an interesting and amazing person - one of those real "free spirit" types. Brooke has a quality I'd like to develop - she never ever says anything negative about anyone. At least not that I've ever heard, nor anyone else in my family. She just chooses to focus on the positives. She's a sincerely loving person towards everyone. I want to be more like that.

This particular photo opp occured one windy day as I was walking home with my kids on our usual route and mode - one baby in front carrier, and the other two children in the stroller facing me. I love that BTW - traveling around with all my kids within arm's reach. But I was struggling on this day, because the wind was blowing HARD, and rain drops had started coming down. Brooke spotted me as she was headed into the shopping center, turned around instantly, and helped me get home. Then - she STAYED and played with Brianna while I got the babies down. If she hadn't been there, I would've just stuck Brianna in front of Dora on Netflix so I could get the babies down. She made my day. And this wasn't the first time - about a month ago, she randomly called one Wednesday morning and asked if I'd let her come over and play with the babies so I could go on a run or do errands or whatever I needed to do. SO NICE!! And of course, she left thanking me for giving her some baby time (she loooooves babies).

It's too bad she'll never read this - she's kindof anti-computers. Maybe I'll get old-school and send her a thank you note in the mail. What do stamps costs these days?! I don't even know!

Oh, the mean older sibling...

As the babies get more mobile, we're having problems with Brianna being unkind to them.
By unkind, I mean MEAN.
Pushing, pulling, throwing, yelling....  I feel like I'm playing referee all day.
Sometimes it's almost funny, like when I hear a baby burst into tears and Brianna walk away with her hands in the air saying, "he did it to his self!" and "she did it to her self!"
Right.  Nice try squirrel.

What happened to THIS?!! Where is the love, the love, the love....

So she goes to timeout. Over and over again.  I don't know what else to do! My first reaction is to just do whatever she did to them to her. Show her how it feels. But that would teach a great lesson, right?  Just picture me yelling at her, "STOP YELLING AT THEM!"

WHY is she so mean to them? Why would she go out of her way to harass her siblings? Obviously, the times that they invade her bubble or try to take her toys, she's just being a typical non-sharing 3-year old and defending what she thinks is hers. But there are times she just walks up to them and pushes them down. Totally unprovoked.
I find myself, totally exasperated, saying things like, "Just leave them ALONE! Don't get near them, and I'll keep them away from you!"  But that's probably not the right answer.
I'm thinking she'll get over this. Maybe it's just a stage. Maybe she's feeling jealous and resentful. She'll get over this, right?
But she might not, because I know some older siblings never get over those feelings and continue to be mean to their younger siblings even into adulthood.  So sad.
I want to do whatever I can to prevent that. I mean, is it crazy to hope my children will be friends and like each other throughout their lives?! Or if they really don't like each other, at least be mature enough to not instigate contention ...  to keep their distance and leave one another alone...

I do need to give her some credit though. She can be really sweet to them sometimes. I've seen her share toys, I've seen her firmly defend them when her little friends get too close, and when they wake up from their naps, she's the first to sprint into their room to greet them.

And sometimes she even shares entire heads of celery.  It doesn't get more loving than that.


So there's hope. I know she loves them, like every person loves their siblings. Even if they may not LIKE them.

Yay pink team!

I was on my way home Saturday morning from picking up the kids at Brian's office (I did a 5K at Sugarhouse and was late getting home, so he took the kids on a stroller ride to his office to make sure things were going well there with his new employee running the show). I passed a small gym near our place that had a big sign, "Come meet Biggest Loser winners!" And of course I couldn't resist. As nerdy as I felt walking in with my kids just to gawk at semi-celebrities, I had to. And I'm so glad I did! The Biggest Loser is my favorite TV show, and actually the only one I watch. I don't understand the appeal of shows like the Bachelor/ette, Survivor, Lost, Office, CSI, those dancing shows....what else is popular these days... I've seen bits of each, and I feel like I'm wasting my time. When I'm watching Biggest Loser... well, I'm still probably wasting time. But it's TIME ENJOYED WASTED! So I took the opportunity to grill Sarah and Deni on all the questions I've had while watching the show. And they were super nice and answered everything. Like did you know the contestants get $100 per DAY stipend?! Seriously! And they have to make and plan all meals on their own. It's one big open, well-stocked kitchen, and they have to cook it all and count their calories. And they get to pick their own finale dresses from NBC's huge wardrobe and KEEP it. So why in the world did so many girls choose AWFUL dresses at the finale?! Seriously! Anyways, I could go on and on relaying the deets from the conversation, but my agent is calling. Chao.

From Brianna's mouth lately:

-"When I say I'm Brianna Officer Zurg, you laugh, ok?  I'M BRIANNA OFFICER ZURG! Laugh mom."

-"C'mon Bennett, let's go hunting and camping!"
-"She speaking Spanish, like me and Dora do!"  [pointing to Sister Silvia Allred during General Conference]
-"Courtney doesn't understand, she's just a BABY!" [said sternly to me after I screamed when Courtney bit me while nursing and DREW BLOOD]
-"I'm Courtney's best friend, and Bennett is Daddy's best friend. Mom, you don't have a best friend."
-"I want toast on my bread."
-"Mommy, are you ready to be nice now?"

- "No mommy, you can do it allllll by YOURSELF if you want!"  [when I asked her to bring me 2 diapers].
-"Daddy's at work trying to find money to buy me cars."
-"I'm just hitting Courtney."  [after I asked her what she's doing]

-"We're going to stay home alllllllll day."     [kinda depressing that she's ok with that by now].

-"Bennett's a STINKY BOOOOYYYY!" [in a very deep voice]

-"Last morning I had fish like the Pteranodon family."
-"I like it when my ketchup is messed up."

-"Can it be tomorrow now?"

Our HUGE front lawn

portion control

And it starts...

Bennett got half the roll undone before he was caught. Courtney tried to escape like she hadn't been part of this, but I have no doubt she was egging him on.
I really am not a fan of my babies' newfound ability to get wherever they want to go around the house.
I have a feeling this is just the beginning of months and months of double trouble.