Pretty room

I love this room, when the girls are older, I'm totally going to copy this. (from Domino) I think the matching lampshade might be a bit much though. My inner 8 year old wants a sleepover in there!I also love this color. I want to paint something this color, but it'd have to be tiny. Maybe a closet? It makes me want to go back to Mexico! (This is from Domino too)

Girls

Today while I was feeding Aimee, Katie went into the bathroom, looked through the drawers, and decided to paint her toenails. Unfortunately, she also painted the floor. When I came in she was trying to sweep it up with the broom. While I'm a bit upset that our floor has a permanent pink and sparkly spot, I'm also secretly glad that she's kind of girly. I don't want her to be too girly, but what would I do with a girl who doesn't like nail polish?
Don't tell Jon though, he already has no idea what to do with two girls!

Mom-ness

I'm starting to worry that if I am ever in a true emergency, I will be useless. Why you ask? Because I'm pretty useless in minor emergencies. Last week while at Value Village Katie fell out of the shopping cart. She leaned over to try and grab something, and ended up on the floor. I saw it coming a split second before it happened, which makes me feel worse, since I couldn't save her.
So I left my cart and carried her and Aimee to the car. She was crying, and I felt so bad! I gave her some tylenol, and promised a burrito, then she stopped crying, and even smiled! So I called Jon to tell him what happened, and I don't know! I mean, I saw her falling, and land, but my brain just didn't process it or something. She had a huge bump on her forehead, and I thought she landed on her back. She fell out of her crib like a year ago too, and the same thing happened, I saw it, but I couldn't tell you what I saw. Am I just blocking it out? Anyway, I hope I am never the sole witness to some crime, because I will be no help.
Also, we went to the park with our friends yesterday, and we were running around (I was chasing her, which again makes me feel like a GREAT mom) and she fell on the sidewalk. She always has a lot of momentum falling, and she falls on her knees, then her head follows shortly. So yesterday she got this bump on her head, and her nose is scraped up. On top of that, her cheeks were all red later, and I think it was a tiny sunburn. (which was just confirmed by my red scalp) And I am the one who is normally so anal about sunscreen! Side note, we had so much fun! Thanks Heather and Rebecca!

Here she is showing off her "bonk"

And a cute one of the two, just because.
(yes I know that's a pacifier, and no, I'm not taking it from her yet!)

Anyway, all this talk about Katie falling made me realize, she falls a lot. I mean a lot. Her little legs are always sporting at least 5 bruises, and her head gets bumps pretty often. I'm worried that a) she's just clumsy, like me, poor girl, b) people will think I'm a terrible mom because my kid is perma-bruised and c) what if something else is wrong, and this is a warning sign that I don't know about! Yeah c is kind of a long shot, but you know how moms are, right?
I guess I'm just feeling like kind of a crappy mom. Let me first say, I've got pretty good self-esteem, Most of the time I err on the side of thinking I'm too awesome. But being a mom is hard, and having not much sleep makes it harder. And I hate being grumpy, but I am. I just wanted to say, I'm not depressed, I don't think I'm terrible, but some days I just suck at mommy-ing. I would like to assume we all have those kinds of days, right? They just happen far too often to me for my liking. Generally, I think I'm a good parent, but I'm controlling. I never thought that would be my issue, but it totally is. I want things to go MY way! And I've got a 2 year old who wants things to go HER way! You can imagine how that ends up, right? So I'm trying hard to stick to my new mantra, "You can't control your children, you can only control yourself". So if she wants to run and pick a flower before she gets in the car, I let her. If she wants to wrap herself in Aimee's blankets, I let her. If she wants to play in the mud, that's where I draw the line!
Anyway, I didn't post anything on Mother's day, so here it is, a couple days late:
Mom, I love you! You are one of my best friends, and you were my only friend when I moved away. I appreciate all you've done for me, and realize it's way too much to even try to list. And thanks for keeping me when I was a constantly screaming baby, because I'm pretty sure I would have given me away :) Thanks for being so nice to me, and doing things no one else would. Just in case you didn't know, you are awesome.
Jon's mom, thanks for raising such a great son. He's the best, and I love him so much. And thanks for all your help with everything! We love you!

Grocery Shopping

Both girls are sleeping right now, and I should be doing something productive, but I just don't feel like it! So I'll tell you about my day instead, that be fun? (that be fun is a katie-ism that we all say now in case you were worried I'm lapsing in my vocab skills)
So most mornings Katie wakes up too early, so Jon puts a movie on for her, and I get to sleep for another hour or so. I realize I'm rotting my kid's brain out, but sleep is that important! Anyway, then we rush around and get everyone ready to go, and this is when Aimee likes to poop or spit up on the outfit I've put on her. We finally get out the door at least 5 min late, and head to work. Katie's usually pretty good in the car, but she always has at least one freak-out about something. Most of the time it's because she wants to get something she dropped, and she's stuck in her car seat, and then "I'm stuck!" and "Too tight!" get yelled at me. But she was good today.
After work I decide to go grocery shopping. It normally ends in both kids screaming and me downing a box of donuts on the way home, but today both girls were awesome. I even let Katie get out of the cart and walk by me, and she was so good. Anyway, at least 6 different people stared at me, Katie and Aimee, and as I walked past said "wow, you sure have your hands full!" Now, I'm normally a pretty nice girl, things like that don't usually bother me. But both girls were being angels, and I only have two! It's not like I took six kids with me and they were all screaming, which is what these people were looking at me like. So I smiled at the first two old ladies, I said yeah to the next old guy and some random lady, but the last two I did my fake smile and just walked away. So I decide to buy Katie a treat since she was so good, and she picks Mambas. The checker scanned it, and Katie immediately grabbed it. Then she stuck it in her mouth and carried it there like a little dog all the way to the car. It was funny, so I just let her do it, and this lady in the parking lot gave her and me the stink eye. None of your business lady! Then a guy and his teenage daughter walked by and laughed, thank goodness, or I might have run them over with my cart. Then I open the Mambas, and holy crap, each piece is individually wrapped, then wrapped in three groups, then wrapped again! So I give Katie one, and she acts like she's in heaven. She shares one with me, and picks out one for Daddy. Then she says, "I share with daddy! He just unwrap it, and eat it like a big girl!" She is so cute.
So I bought a bunch of food, and there's good news and bad news. The good is that I didn't buy a box of cookies, and we can pretend that I have willpower and it's not because they were all out. The bad news is that I bought fruits and veggies, and good stuff, and I'm eating cereal. Go me.
Last thing: I bought some ice cream, and I thought the container looked a bit small. I took it home, and the old ice cream is 1.75qts and the new is only 1.5! Dreyer's is totally selling smaller containers of ice cream for the same price. Anyway, just letting you know, so you can also get some righteous indignation, and do nothing about it, just like me!

Cinco de Mayo!

It's May already! Jon and I like Cinco de Mayo because that's the day we officially got engaged. So five years ago today, Jon proposed, and here we are. So I got tagged a while back, and started doing it, but never finished. So I figured now is a good time.

Here we are five years ago!

What's his name? Jonathan, but everyone calls him Jon.

How long have you been married? It will be the big 5 year this August!

How long did you date? Um, officially date, or hang out? I’ll just say we knew each other for two months before we got engaged. That seems so crazy now!

How old is he? 28, will be 29 this year. He’s getting so old :)

Who eats more? Sadly, I do. But I’m still nursing, like that is any excuse.

Who said I love you first? Well he said “I think I love you” first, but I said it without the “I think”, so I win!

Who is smarter? Right now, it’s definitely Jon. He’s going to school, and I talk to kids all day. But in general, we’re about the same, but with different specialties.

Whose temper is worse? Me, hands down. Jon has never yelled in his life, no exaggeration. But I get over things quicker.

Who does the laundry? I have to sort it, but Jon does the taking it over to his parents and washing it part. I generally fold it though, except pants. That is one thing Jon is awesome at, and I make him fold all the pants.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you’re looking at the bed from the foot, it’s me.

Who cooks dinner? Me. Jon will heat up some chicken nuggets if I’m deathly ill.

Who pays the bills? Jon does the online ones, I do the check writing ones.

Who is more spoiled? That is an excellent question. I think we’re tied. But Jon gets what he wants by figuring out ways to get it, while I mostly get things as presents. So…maybe me.

Who drives when you are in the same car? Jon, unless I'm taking him to school.

Who is more stubborn? Jon.

Whose parents do you see the most? The ones we live with! Jon’s parents. But we still see mine often.

Who proposed? Jon, of course! I may have hinted at it first though.

Who has more friends? Another good question. I guess I do, but Jon sees his friends more often. And his brothers are his best friends, which I think is cheating.

Who has more siblings? Exactly the same! But all my siblings are married, and two of Jon’s aren’t, so I win if you count them too.

Who wears the pants in the family? We’ve both got a leg in. But I think Katie thinks she calls all the shots.

So there you go. It's kind of crazy how little we knew each other when we got married, but we thought we knew everything! Ha! It's been so fun though, and these have definitely been the best 5 years of my life so far. Jon is my best friend, and we love just being with each other.

Mashed Potatoes

I am a carb girl. If I could eat just bread, pasta, potatoes and rice, I would not so secretly love it. I guess I would miss fruits and veggies though. Anyway, one of my favorites is mashed potatoes. They are one of the ultimate comfort foods. I make them all the time. But I make them differently every time because I am an experimenter. That is also why I'm terrible at baking. Cooking you can add a bit less of this, a bit more of that, and be fine-baking, not so much. Anyway, I made some really awesome ones a couple nights ago, so if you feel like taking a risk, try them out! And since I never measure, all amounts are approximate!

Manda's Mashed Potatoes
8 smallish red potatoes, cut into 1" cubes (I think it was about 4 or so cups)
1/4 head cauliflower, cut into pieces (about 2")
3T butter
1 clove garlic, pressed
1-2T horseradish
1-2 wedges of laughing cow creamy swiss cheese
salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes and cauliflower until tender. I think it takes like 10-15 min or so. Just stick a fork in one, and if the potato breaks apart, then get em out! Then drain, and put them in a med bowl. Add the butter, garlic, horseradish, cheese, and salt and pepper, then blend with a hand mixer until creamy!

I swear you can't taste the cauliflower (if you make sure it's cooked all the way) and the horseradish gives it a tiny kick. Also, you could probably use whatever cheese your heart desires. I just happened to have the laughing cow. But smoked Gouda is also good, and I bet good old cheddar would be good too!
And that is why I love cooking.

Four Months (almost) and a Haircut

Ok, so it's still two days till Aimee's officially 4 months, but in the grand scheme of things that doesn't matter, right? Plus I got some super cute pictures of her, and I want to share.

She is becoming more and more like me, which is kind of scary and cute at the same time. And, she is super happy most of the time, but when she's mad, watch out! She screams so loud, it's nearly deafening. But those cute smiles more than make up for it!

Then, there's the other news: I cut Katie's hair again. Let me preface this by saying her hair drives me crazy. For some reason it really wants to be a mullet, and I refuse to let it. The top just doesn't grow. It looks like I cut her bangs, when really I haven't cut any hair at the top at all. She was such a good girl, and held still while I cut (the skittles I bribed her with may have helped) and I think she still looks adorable. Here's the front:

And the side/backish

There we go!

RIP little camera

So Katie has been wanting to wear a swimsuit that her cousin gave her OVER her clothes. She even went to go pick up my nephew at the bus stop with it on because she had a major meltdown when I suggested she take it off before going outside. It is super cute though, and I finally got a picture of it with my little old camera. Here it is. My poor girl is the color of Bubblicious gum! I took a few more pictures, and the color is weird and they're really dark. I think it's time to retire my little Canon Powershot. I do have my nice camera still, but it's so huge, it was nice having the little one I could take with me everywhere. So goodbye little camera, I'll miss you!

Catching up

Here are a few easter pics. I was a bad mom and didn't get any of the girls in their easter dresses, but oh well!

The girls about to start the egg hunt in the back yard

Katie finding and egg!

Aimee found one too!

Looking cute.
My beautiful niece Kristen. (All my nieces are beautiful, but this happened to be a really good picture!)
The girls.
These are of Katie opening her basket on easter morning. She loved that sucker. So much that nothing else held her attention.
She was also really excited about her chocolate bunny (made by Great Grammy)

And now I really have to go to bed!

My not so fun day

Soooo, Thursday morning, I woke up and my back was killing me. I took some ibuprofen and tried to go back to sleep, but it was still hurting pretty bad. I took more an hour later, and it still didn't help. I tried walking around, laying down, and then an ice pack. That finally made it feel better, so off to work I went. It got progressively worse all day, and I couldn't find any medicine at my sister's house. I didn't want to snoop all around to find some, so when we picked up my nephew from the bus stop I asked a neighbor for some. I downed 4 ibuprofen, and it still hurt like a mother. I started feeling nauseated too and I was worried I might not be able to drive home, but I did, and Jon put Katie to bed and I lay on the floor alternating ice packs and heating pads. My mom has had back pain a lot, so I had asked her for advice, (which was the hot and cold) and I now have so much sympathy for the back pain. It probably would have helped more then huh! Anyway, still getting worse, I got an awesome blessing, and I felt a tiny bit better. So I got up to turn off our halogen lamp, and the head fell down on my arm, and gave me a burn. Then a little while later I started throwing up. Over and over. We finally decided it was time for the ER, so Jon's mom came over so we could go. It is SO NICE having them right next door. So I got an IV in with some Zofran and Morphine, (and a huge bag of fluid since I was dehydrated too) and eventually started to feel a bit better. But the nurse happened to put the IV tape right on top of the burn on my arm. It was okay until she ripped the tape off, and holy crap that hurt. They sent me home with some vicodin, but I could only take it if I wasn't nursing Aimee. So we tried to get her to take a bottle, and apparently she will now not drink from a bottle. So I took some aleve and tried to sleep on the floor. I felt better and better as the night went on, and I woke up this morning feeling so much better. So that was my long painful day.
Sorry for the downer post, but I wanted to get it all out!