75% Walker, 25% Crawler; 100% Climber

Brisbane's aversion to walking has been well recorded on this blog.  He has finally taken to it fairly well and spends most of his forward motion walking.  For a child who was such a 'fraidy cat of walking (one would hate to fall over) he has become quite the daredevil where climbing is concerned.
The other night I was running Brisbane's bathwater and started calling for Brisbane (I figured the water would make him come a running).  I went to get his towel and when I got back this is what he was doing.

I guess I can't leave standing water sitting in the tub unsupervised anymore.

When Brisbane realized he couldn't get into the tub on his own, he moved to other things.  Like this...

 Good idea, Buddy.  Not.  Standing on things with wheels is not ok.  He attempted to stand on that same caboose the day before when the train wasn't attached.  The caboose was on the tile though and he learned quickly that that was not a good idea. 
We have a little table and chair set that the kids play at quite a bit.  Brisbane loves the chairs.  He pushes them all over.  He eventually started pushing them over to the sofa so he could climb up.  Then he learned that he could just climb onto the chairs.

 And boss his brother and sister around while they cleaned up the toys.

 He is very proud of his new talent.  His mother is less proud.

But why settle for just standing on the chairs?  You don't need to push them over to the sofa.  You can just climb right up onto that little table.  He is pretty good at it.  He is even better at getting down without falling.  I think it is the 'fraidy cat in him coming out.  He is very hesitant and makes sure his feet are secure on the chair before moving the other one.  (He has fallen off the chairs twice though, landed on his feet both times... this actually occured while I was typing this blog post.) 
I hate to admit it, but his climbing is actually quite impressive...and stinkin' cute!

Splash Pad--Take Two

As I suggested in my last post about the Splash Pad, I thought things would go a lot smoother with Mack there helping.  Wrong.
We were there for ten minutes.  Seven of those ten minutes, Reese spent in the car screaming his head off.  Mack got the wettest, Brisbane came in second, Jessenia third, Reese fourth, and Mom was dry (I got to sit in the car with Reese). 
It was lame.  My kids are zero fun to take anywhere new.  It makes one wonder about  that awesome vacation we are planning this summer...

Enjoy Shopping? It Depends

I am not a person who shops for fun. I never walked the mall with my friends as an adolescent. I don't like trying clothes on. I try to shop for clothes at all the same stores so I know what sizes fit me and I don't have to enter a dressing room. I shop out of necessity. This is another trait I developed from my mother. (I guess I really am turning into her.) My sister on the other hand is a shopper. I hated going shopping with her when we were younger. She wanted to try one of everything on. Now I love shopping with her because it is fun sister time (but I still hate trying things on).
I had two 'special' shopping experiences this week that made me laugh.
First. I coupon. I am kind of a closet couponer. It takes tons of my time (which I hate). But saves us tons of money (which I love). As much as I hate shopping, I love saving money...so it balances out. The other day I was at my local supermarket getting a few things when I saw some Depends on clearance. That's right....diapers for adults. They were marked at $2.29. I knew that I had a coupon at home for $4 off. My store will give you the extra money from the coupon towards the rest of your groceries. I thought, "Why not? Someone is going to pay me $1.71 to buy old man diapers." So what did I do? I ran home and got my coupons. Then went back to the store and bought a few more things, including old man diapers. Don't judge me. I normally don't make a habit of buying things that I won't use. But they were paying me to do it. I got free bananas because of those diapers. What am I going to do with them now? Probably donate them...although they are pretty stylish. I am telling you, old man diapers has come a long way since I was a kid. (Don't ask me how I know that.)
Story number two. I went to Target and was raiding the kids clearance clothing (same trip as the cute Sunday clothes) and I found some shoes for Brisbane. My fabulous sister in law had recommended those baby shoes with soft leather soles so that Brisbane would still be able to walk in them (excellent recommendation, by the way). I found some in the clearance but there was no price tag and they were the only ones. I looked to see what they were regular price ($14.99) and thought, "If they are $7 or less, I'll get them." I went to the cashier (This crazy kid who informed me he was wearing bike gloves because he had blisters from doing yard work and he didn't want them to pop at work. Eww.) And explained to him the situation with the shoes. It was 15 minutes before closing so there probably wasn't a manager around to ask so he said, "Fifty. (I thought he meant Fifty percent off) No wait, $1, they are damaged, so fifty cents." I was dumbfounded. I reminded him they were normally $14.99. The girl at the register next to him then said, "How about 15 cents?" They were talking me DOWN. These kids clearly have never had children and do not know how much kids clothes/shoes cost. I reminded them of the retail price to clear my conscience and they sold me the shoes for fifteen cents.
The shoes fit Brisbane perfect. Even if they didn't... they cost fifteen cents! Much better purchase than the Depends I got paid for. On so many levels.

Trains

Our kids L.O.V.E. trains.  In fact, I believe that Reese has a very unhealthy obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine.  Today he asked me if we were going to get to watch the show Thomas the Tank Engine (we check shows out from the library and they get to watch one a day while I cook dinner).  I told him that it was my turn to pick the show and I was not and will never choose Thomas the Tank Engine.  Have you ever watched one of those things?  I thought Spongebob killed brain cells.  This is worse.  The trains aren't even very nice to each other and it is the same story over and over and over.  (Sorry about that tangent.)Reese wanted to know why I wasn't going to choose Thomas (shocker, he wants to know the why about everything.  He asked me the other day what was inside carrots.  Umm...carrots?).  I told him that I didn't enjoy Thomas the show very much but it was ok if he did.  Then he said, "I really like Thomas.  And I am going to really like Thomas when I am older too."  I hope he does.  His wife (or his three year old) will be thrilled!
Yesterday I got out our collection of wooden train sets.  Reese had some when they came to live with us and my mother and I added some to his collection.  They don't get to play with the trains every day because they make a huge mess and Reese complains a lot about Brisbane destroying (foreshadowing).  Reese hadn't asked for them in a while so I surprised him by getting them down and setting them up in the living room (normally he has to play with them in his room behind a baby gate...which he hates!).  I told him that since I was the one to get them out, everyone got to play with them equally and no whining if Brisbane destroyed it, we would just fix it.

 We started out with all smiles!

 Except for this little gem.  This is what Jessenia did when I told her to open her eyes.  Ummm....do you think we need to work on body parts some more?

 There was some discrepency over who got to play with James (he is that red train Reese is holding for those who are not well versed in Thomas) but I think we got it sorted out.

 Brisbane managed to stay out of trouble for about ten seconds.  That lid was only ten seconds of fascinating.  I was hoping for five minutes of fascinating.

 Then Destructo-Boy showed up.

 But the kids took it like champs and played on the parts he wasn't destroying.  Then I fixed it as Brisbane moved around the track.

And then Reese and Jessenia shoved Brisbane into the bin.  Not really.  He decided the lid wasn't all that interesting, but getting inside was AWESOME!

One of THOSE posts

This is another one of 'those' posts where I post pictures of how adorable my kids are before church.  Notice I said before.  They are usually a little less cute by the time we get to church.  Jessenia's hair is always coming undone and Reese and Brisbane often already have stains on their clothes. 
When we adopted these two toddlers, Mothers everywhere failed to mention that kids grow out of their clothes fast.  I mean really fast.  I can't keep up with the bins of clothes I have for these kids.  I have a bin for each kid that I am putting things into as they grow out of them and another bin for each kid that holds the size of clothes that they are growing into.  That's six bins!  Due to the generosity of a meriad of people (including my wonderful sister-in law and some ward members) we have a good foundation of clothes for our kids in sizes up to the age of 5.  But we are constantly filling in gaps because kids like to get their clothes dirty and I only do laundry once a week.  (Sidenote:  I hate laundry.  When I was in college I only did laundry once every two weeks.  I actually went and bought more underwear so that I could do my laundry less often.  Too much information?  Sorry.)
I hate paying full price for clothes and so I check out the Target clothing clearance whenever I am there.  Usually I don't find much (because I am such a cheapskate and it must be at least 50% off for me to buy it...or us be in dire need) but this last week I found some cute summer pj's and Sunday clothes (both much needed items).
I wish I had a picure of Brisbane in his rocket ship pj's....SOOO cute.  But I just have these ones of Reese and Jessenia in some of their new Sunday clothes.

 The skirt is new.  I bought her a blue dress also but when given the choice between the two she wanted to wear the pink skirt...go figure.

 Shut the front door!  Look at that kid.  He looks like a cotton candy salesman at the fair.  That bow tie was a whopping 50 cents on clearance after Easter.  The shirt is new too, but the bow tie is where it is at.

 We took some pictures of them together.  Mostly because they are priceless and they will be glad for them later.  I told Jessenia to hug Reese.  That girl can give a hug and a half.

 Then told Reese to hug Jessenia.  I don't know what the obsession with hugging people from behind and around the neck is (remember the truck shirts?) but still cute (although Jessenia looks slightly terrified, "Mom...save me!").

Then we just linked arms.  Too cute. 
Reese was really excited about that bow tie.  He kept calling it a bow and Mack kept telling him it was a bow tie.  Of course Jessenia wanted a bow, so I put one in her hair (which I always do for church).  After church we changed clothes and Reese wanted to know where his bow was ("bow tie, Reese, bow tie," -Mack).  I told him that I put it away.  He was bummed.  But when I told him he can wear it to church next week and even to his cousin's baptism on Saturday he was stoked.  Who would of thought so much joy from a bow tie?  Well I would of.  Because looking at him in that bow tie brings me joy.

Glorified Sprinkler

Last week some of the moms in our ward and their cute kids decided to go to a Splash Pad close to our house.  I had never heard of a Splash Pad until I moved to Arizona.  Think...Glorified Sprinkler.  It is awesome and we thought the kids would love it.  We don't get outside this time of year much...it was 105 degrees in Phoenix yesterday (new record high....does not bode well for Summer 2012)...so if you are going to be outside, water most definetely must be involved.Brisbane still fit in his swimsuit from last year.  The adoption agency happened to bring us some clothes that were donated and one of the swimsuits fit Reese (size 18 months...go figure...yes, he is 3...and yes it was a little big on him).  I thought Jessenia could just wear a pair of shorts and a shirt.  But the look on her face when she asked me where her swimsuit was after getting the boys dressed, was devastating.  So we ran into Target.  I got her one that we both thought was cute.  Went out to the car.  I looked at the size again.  The size on the hanger had been right.  The size of the suit was wrong.  Loaded all three back into the cart.  Went in to exchange it.  This adventure is already not going well.  (Remember the zoo?)
We got to the splash pad, all suited up, there were kids running around having a blast.  We staked our claim of some shade for the mom's and sent the kids into the water.  Nothing.  They stood there.

All five of them, except for Brisbane.  He was the youngest one.  So apparently too naive to know that water is the spawn of all evil and will melt him if he touches it.  Good grief!  What a bunch of 'fraidy cats (we know that my kids are but come on Graham and Wes, I expected more of you).

 One of the moms brought a bucket and shovel.  I told Reese he could only play with it if he was out with the water.  He thought about it.

 And then gave the bucket to Brisbane.

 Meanwhile, Jessenia took cover behind the wall.  Glad I bought ya that swimsuit, Girlie.

Then Brisbane got doused by a sprinkler that went off unexpectedly.  He was cold, wet, and cried!  I had to wrap him in a towel for most of the rest of the trip.

 After much bribery, (i.e. you don't touch water...you don't touch a snack) the kids did eventually stick their pointer finger in.  Reese and Jessenia both looked like Monk (aka Detective Adrian Monk) touching the water with one finger.

 I ran through the water holding the kids a few times (I got wetter than them) trying to convince them it was fun.  That gave them the courage to walk out into the middle (notice all of the sprinklers are off).

But as soon as the water went on.  They ran!  Look at Jessenia, you would have thought she was being chased by a Grizzly Bear.
And that was that.  I had fun chatting with the moms.  And my kids had fun watching other kids play at the Splash Pad.  I am going to take Mack next time.  I think we will be more succesful the second go round.  It will also be better to have someone to wrangle Brisbane and another to get the other kids wet.
I told the kids we wouldn't leave until they got their hair wet.  Which they did.  Barely.  Just one drop. 

How much wood could a Brisbane chuck

if a Brisbane could chuck wood? Which he CAN!

This is the problem. Brisbane likes to chew on things. He has 8 teeth. Which is apparently impressive for his age (that's what his pediatrician and some very intelligent mothers have told me). So basically he is constantly drooling and teething and chewing. So when he wakes up in the morning or from his nap he decides to have a little snack. He made those marks in his crib shown in the pictures above in one nap.

I tied a towel around it so that he couldn't reach the wood anymore. That didn't last long. He learned how to untie it and/or move on to the other sides of the crib. After we were officially ghetto with two towels tied to our baby's crib we decided we would break down and buy a cover for it.

So I drug my three kids to Babies 'R Us. I had to ask a very helpful associate to show me where the crib rail covers were. Of course none of them would work/fit on our crib. So the girl turns to me and says, "Are you crafty?" And in my head I think, "like a fox?" But instead I say, "Ummm....no."

Those who know me know that I am not the crafting type. I don't scrapbook. I don't have one of those fancy machines that cut vinyl. I am so uncrafty that my handwriting isn't even all that good (let's face it, crafty people have good handwriting).I followed up my emphatic 'no' with, "But I can sew".

It was a gift that my mother gave me. The gift of sewing. I am grateful for that gift even if I don't appreciate it much (and don't use it much). My mother taught me how to sew (and how to pick out seams....of which I am a pro...that is picking out seams...not sewing).

So I scrounged up some fabric that I had enough of but just needed to be pieced together a bit(free from my mother). Got out the sewing machine that my mother gave me for Christmas and sewed away.

Notice how heavily involved my mother was in this process. Taught me. Gave me fabric. Bought me machine. She also gave me excellent sewing advice over the phone. She basically made the whole cover.

While I was sick a few weeks ago I did one side of the crib at a time. The covers didn't take me too terribly long to make. The first one was a little short. The second one was my best one. And the third one, the long side, a bit twisty. But nobody will ever notice and they serve their purpose.

I consider the whole thing a success. Brisbane doesn't enjoy chewing on his crib nearly so much anymore. He moved on to the windowsill. That's right. My child eats plaster. I think he might have some strange deficiency. So after he put several holes in my windowsill and chewed it down to the framing, we got smart. But instead of me sewing a cover for it, we just moved the sofa in front of the window.

But despite outsmarting my one year old twice, I will be the first to admit, our kids are definitely smarter than us!

Easter Fun

We had a really fun week leading up to Easter. The kids and I made Easter bunny jello jigglers (they were a disaster and unedible, but the kids had fun making them) and Easter sugar cookies. This is what I learned about making sugar cookies with kids. Be prepared to make two batches. The measurements of the first batch were definately off. This was no doubt a result of my kids missing the bowl and dumping the ingredients on the counter. Or maybe it was them moving the measuring spoon just as I was about to pour and it all going into the bowl. The first batch ended up having to be frozen so that it would be hard enough to roll out and cut. I made a second batch while the kids were being bathed (thanks Mack) and it went much faster and much better!

The night before Easter we decorated Easter eggs. The kids had a good time.

The pack of Easter dye (that I bought on clearance last year after Easter) only had three colors in it. I had bought it thinking Brisbane would only need three colors and so was a bit dissappointed that Reese and Jessenia only got three colors. Well, it proved to be two colors too many. They both just wanted to dye all of their eggs pink. But they relented and did use the blue when their sibling was busy with the pink. I used the yellow. The kids wanted to know at the end how I ended up with a green egg. :)

The Easter bunny was very generous with our kids. They got a few little things, mostly candy, and a few quarters each. It was more than enough and they loved it.

We also had a little Easter egg hunt. All of the eggs were hidden in plain sight. The kids did not have to move anything to find them. Reese was much better at it than Jessenia.

You see that little pink egg sitting just under the sofa? Mack was trying to help Jessenia find an egg. Any egg. He told her to look under the sofa. She did. Didn't see it. Mack told her to lay down and look. She did, but her foot was right in front of the egg and she couldn't see it. Heavens to Betsy! I was about to tell her to just sit this one out before she hurt herself when Mack went over and pointed at it for her. I think we need to hone her skills some for next year.

Brisbane missed the hunting but was still thrilled with his little basket.

After most of the candy was consumed we convinced the kids that it was time to get ready for church. I didn't buy any special clothes for the kids but Jessenia had a super cute dress that came with her (that kind of sounds like I bought her and the dress was a free item, "On sale this week, one adorable two year old." "Special Purchase: Buy one stinkin' cute two year old and get a free dress."). It worked and the kids looked cute so we took some snapshots.

We are constantly telling Jessenia to get her fingers out of her mouth. But the cutest pictures are of course the ones where she doesn't listen to us. You just want to eat her in that pictures it is so cute. The eyes.....awwwwwwww.

What a stud! Love this picture of my handsome little man. His hair didn't stay parted for long, but good effort on his father's part.

No pictures of Brisbane in his church clothes. We took some of all three kids and it was a mess. Maybe next year.

It was a good day. I love Easter and all that it means to my family and I. I am grateful for my Savior and the sacrifice that He made for me. I know that He lives and that He loves me.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I turned 26 yesterday. I know, I am getting up there. It is a far cry from the 17 year old who the Elder's Quorum President tried to get kicked out of the Singles Ward when I went to college because, "I should still be in Young Women's". (He was joking.) But I digress. We had a fun day and in general the kids were nice to me. In fact, there was no screaming in our house (miracle of miracles), I should have a birthday every day.

After running errands in the morning I swung through Wendy's to get lunch since it was my birthday and I didn't want to make lunch. I told the kids that it was my special birthday lunch. As we were all sharing a Frosty. Reese said, "I LIKE your birthday!"

Later, we were opening presents. I got a card with some money in it. Reese then said, "You now have money to get donuts!" (Sidenote: The kids sometimes get money from their grandparents for holidays. They currently have some from Easter that we are going to use to go get a donut. Apparently Reese thinks I need/would like dozens of donuts.)

Mack was very nice to me and made me a cake. We went out to dinner. On the way there I said, "This isn't going to be a total disaster is it? Do you think we can make it this whole meal without one of them freaking out?" (We had never taken the kids to a sit down restaraunt.) I made a wise/motherly decision in selecting Texas Roadhouse. The bread/peanuts and yee-hawing (not for me) kept them all entertained. Brisbane enjoyed people watching the most.

I also recieved this gem:

(the black one). I remember when Mack and I got married and he had this fancy laptop that ran at the speed of light. Yea, those days are long gone. That speedy fast silver computer now must be plugged in at all times (it won't hold a charge). It also cannot be jostled at all or it will turn off and take 20 minutes to reboot. It takes me 15 minutes to open a webpage and 30 to upload a picture to this blog. Sometimes it even refuses to boot up. Mack told me that I had to get over being a cheapskate and let him get me a new computer. He got a smoking deal and so I let him. So glad. I have known this beauty was on the way so I have been slacking on my blog. I have some catching up to do (Easter!) but I am facing it now head on.

Thanks Babe! And Happy Birthday to Me!

Baby Steps

"Baby Stepping it to the door. Baby Stepping it out of the office. Baby Stepping it into the elevator. It works!"
Finally!
After much bribery with toys and with all of the right conditions aligning I was able to coax 13 steps out of Brisbane on Tuesday. They were a small 13 steps and he didn't get very far but progress is progress.
On Wednesday he was brave enough on his own to take a few steps away from the furniture and then drop to his knees. But since no bribery was used, I felt that this was even more progress.
He hasn't made much progress since then. Except to finally let Mack see him in action. He has been hiding his talents under a bushel from his father. I believe it is his own personal brand of punishment that his father studies so much.
Hopefully soon he will be chasing after the big kids. And I really mean that I hope he chases after them and doesn't run in a different direction at the library.

Cactus

My three year old calls a cactus, a cactapus. I can only assume he thinks it sounds like octopus. Pretty stinking cute.

Head Chef & Assistant Head Chef

I mentioned to my mother the need for two aprons at our house. And being the fabulous mother that she is, and wanting to save me from the sewing machine, she said that she would send me one that they have and don't use. They also had a chef's hat that they sent.
Now these were supposed to be for Reese, but as you can see, he is still partial to the pink one with bows. But the kids are thrilled that they both have a set, even if the hat does say, "Assistant Head Chef, DOUG".
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Diet

I took Brisbane to the doctor last week for his one year well check. We have known that he was a bit of a wisp, but we didn't know how much. He has LOST weight since he got his flu shot in February. Now it was less than a pound and the doctor wasn't overly concerned but since he is already in only the 10-15th percentile for weight, something must be done.
The doctor suggested that we feed him a steady diet of cheese, butter, peanut butter, and milkshakes. "Basically anything that you shouldn't eat." Ummm, thanks Dr. Was that a fat joke?
So I did something that I thought I would never do. I think it is subhuman. I added butter to Ramen noodles {collective gag}. To give everyone in cyber space an idea of how truly disgusting that is, here is a gee-whiz fact for ya. When Mack and I were on Weight Watchers, I found out that a package of Ramen Noodles is 8 points. That is one-third of all of my points for a whole day. Yuck! Point is... not healthy. And definately not something that "you should eat".
So here is a typical days food for the Brisanator:
Breakfast: banana mixed with peanut butter (or is it peanut butter with a little banana?) (Brisbane drinks a lot of milk to wash this one down) OR oatmeal with (a lot of) butter mixed in.
Snack: Full fat yogurt (loves this stuff...we have to cut him off at some point because a snack shouldn't last 30 minutes)
Lunch: peanut butter on bread, some crackers, whatever bit the kids are eating (plus butter), and more yogurt
Snack: Milkshake (ice cream and whole milk)
Dinner: whatever we are eating (plus butter) (the kids all want butter on their vegetables. no.), a piece of bread with peanut butter
I usually try to sneak in some string cheese and/or some more butter somewhere during the day. It is an awesome diet. Hopefully it works. Otherwise we have to go on toddler formula and I would rather eat Ramen noodles with butter than do that!

"Mom, Did you take off your dresser?"

The kids have this little dishes set complete with an apron and chef's hat. Reese is especially fond of it, much to his father's dismay (the pink and bows). While I was sick they asked me to help them put them on.

Too cute!
Jessenia of course needed a turn.
While Jessenia was wearing the get-up, Reese asked me if we had two of them. My first thought was I could just go buy another one. Then I thought maybe I should make one for Reese that is not pink and bow-ified. I told him that we would find him one, and that maybe I would make him one. Of course then he had requests. He told Mack when Mack got home that he was getting one with Thomas on it. Ummm...no. I did not agree to that and I refuse to feed into that addiction.
The kids knew that I had an apron also, so Reese asked if I would put it on. I obliged. Eventually I had to take mine off. Reese asked me at dinner, "Mom, did you take off your dresser?" "uhhhhhh." "The one with the flowers?" "Oh! That is called an apron." "So, you did take off your dresser?" "Yes, Reese. I took off my apron."

The Many Uses of Blocks

I love that it is a universally appealing activity to children to build a tower with blocks and then knock it over. I noticed from a very early age that Brisbane was fascinated with knocking over anything that I had stacked. Reese protects his towers fiercely from Brisbane so that Reese and Reese alone can be the one who gets the sheer joy of toppling the blocks over.
But I learned this week that Brisbane can find much joy from blocks that are not stacked. He has discovered many hitherto unknown uses.
1) The Disguise.
Who needs those black glasses with the moustache attached? Just hold some blocks in your mouth and use them as a nose. I believe I have mentioned that Brisbane is excellent at carrying things in his mouth due to his refusal to walk. This discovery was a biproduct of the necessity to carry the blocks and crawl.
2) See Mom, No Arms!

Who needs to walk when they can crawl and not use their arms!? Brisbane has discovered that he can just scoot around the tile floor without exerting any movement of the arms.

I fear at this rate he may never learn to walk. Can't say that I blame him. If I could carry things without using my hands and scoot around without moving my arms I might have just stayed a crawler as well.
"MWUAHAHAHAHA! I am a genius baby who explores unknown uses for blocks from the crawling position!"