Summer

As summer is coming to an end, its still blazing hot (107 today) but we are finding lots of fun things to do. I AM running a little low on creative indoor activities so if winter wants to hurry up and come, I'd be totally cool with that.

Sleeping at night in our home is apparently an option, but it does allow for some cuddle time,

some adorable pictures,

and naps in very odd places.

I love how Kelsey will voluntarily read to and play with  Madison. It makes me so happy

I got a new phone so slefies happen a lot now.

 

On August 8th we bought a grill and I am in love. I have learned a lot about grilling with much more to learn but man I am having fun. So far I have grilled chicken (a LOT) , steak, hot dogs, salmon, asparagus, and foil dinners. This is a hobby that I could really get into I think

Madison wants to be held 24/7 and sometime its easier to clean the house with her strapped to me than listen to her cry all day. #cleaningmommystyle!

A night time dust storm

Kelsey missed Ethan and ran out to the garage and literally started climbing the door to get out. It was actually really sad.

Meet Teny and Emy

Blurry, but this is one of the best pictures we have to show the love she has for her sister

At the splash pad with my beach babes. This cracks me up and I love it! For the record~ this was August 15th, the day it reached 119. We are at the splash pad at 9 am. When we left at 10 it was already 106!! CRAZY hot day

 

Let the record also show that the day it was 119, was the same day that our AC unit broke. It got up to 89 in our house. It was "comfortable" if we stepped outside and then back in but it was not comfortable. 

I wanted to add this to remember what it took to plan family dinners. Every Sunday night, we plan out our week the best we can, then I plan our food. I look on line and in books depending on  how we are feeling. I always plan a left over day, I always plan a free day, and then I plan days based on sales and leftovers. I try really hard to include foods that Kelsey will eat and foods that are healthier. I also try to make sure we only do pasta or rice once a week, and that the meals vary light, heavy, light, heavy. It is a lot of work and takes a few hours but I honestly love it and find it completely worth it.
The only frustrating thing is when I ask the family what they want to eat :) Kelsey always suggests salad and Ethan always says tuna noodle casserole. They are not very helpful.

The girls double cart'n it at Sam's club!

And Kelsey being cute.

Hair cut

In July I tried to get Kelsey's hair cut at a salon and it resulted in a complete meltdown. After hearing about my experience, my friend Camille offered to cut her hair. With selfies and candy Camille was successful. It turned out so cute. Thank you Camille!  First hair cut in the books

Solid Foods

Madison started eating food!! YAY!!
We decided to do things a little bit different this time to hopefully avoid some of the same digestive issues we have had with Kelsey. We did oatmeal for about a day or two but then as soon as she had a messy diaper we jumped right into peas and peaches. With Kelsey I was a little nervous to do it wrong, but with Madison I am much more confident.

She is LOVING to eat (and playing with the spoons!!) She gets so mad at us when we don't go fast enough. Its adorable.

The only thing I don't love about solids is that I don't get to eat right away, but I am learning to cope.

Good job Rooster!

 In other news, she refuses to hold her bottle. She totally "can" with supervision but refuses to do it. Cute little lazy bones :)

Phoenix Childrens Museum

On August 8th we took Kelsey to the Phoenix Children's Museum. It was cool, shaded, and fun. Perfect afternoon.

I love how Phoenix has turned solar panels into shaded parking. Genius

I loved this little "carwash" 

 Kelsey's favorite spot was obviously the library corner.

 This section would make Diana so happy. The whole time I was like "Ethan your mom would love this." It was a mini super market with mini carts and mini checkouts that connected to a mini kitchen/restaurant. It also had a mini ice cream stand and hot dog stand.  I couldn't get great pictures but it was adorable.

In the craft room they had a giant castle that you could just paint. I thought it was the neatest idea.

I really liked this children's museum. For one, it wasn't infested with children. Sure it was busy, but you could still find things to do and empty corners. It also had a really big variety of things to do : a climbing tree house, pretend corners, a spot just for three year olds, arts and craft rooms, story corners, music stuff, dress up, mazes, and so much more. It was really fun to go and I'm especially glad we went with Ethan. Its always more fun with him.

I "broke" my foot

So I didn't break my foot but I might as well have. It killed!

I'm afraid of the dark. Ive always been afraid of the dark and think that I always will be. Monsters and creepers aren't real until it gets dark... then everything goes. I literally have wet the bed, as an adult, because I was too scared to go to the bathroom. TMI? Probably but its 100% true. Not only am I afraid of the dark but I am completely afraid of creepers coming into my house and taking my little girls. The Elizabeth Smart book, although wonderful, has scared me for life. Lets mix the two together shall we :)

On August 14th at 4:30 in the morning Madison started to cry. Right now we are trying to help her sleep better at night but the poor girl keeps getting her legs stuck in the bed slats no matter what we do. She started crying so I went to make sure that her legs weren't stuck. While I was on my way, already nervous that a scorpion or Chucky was going to get me,  I noticed that Kelsey's bedroom door was open. Its NEVER open. She likes to sleep with it closed. I went to go check on her and couldn't find her in her bed. I started to panic just a little bit. I pulled her covers back, looked under her bed, on the side of the wall, and at the foot of her bed. Nothing. This is where my 4:30 am brain started to lead me astray. The only logical explanation for her being gone was that she had in fact been taken. I don't mean to make light of this because it does happen, but that shouldn't have been my first assumption and yet it was. We have all windows bolted with a peg in them and locked all the doors, but regardless I was certain that she was gone. It literally was the most scared that I have ever been in my entire life.

I started freaking out. Half screaming, half sobbing all the while trying to find Kelsey. I ran into our room, no Kelsey, and woke Ethan up. He was a little more calm, but the longer we looked the more out of control I got which didn't help Ethan, who had just been awoken by his crazy wife proclaiming that his child was gone. We looked EVERYWHERE!! Every light in the house was on, all the rooms, bathtubs, garage, couch, porch, and closets. We looked everywhere and couldn't find her.

As I was running back into our room to get my phone to call the cops, I tripped over a large mass. Kelsey.

Kelsey tends to have bad dreams and when she does, she wakes up screaming. It got our attention one night and so its turned into a thing. Every night she would come into our room and say she had a bad dream whether she did or not just so we would soothe her back to sleep. There's nothing wrong with that except we are tired and she needs to learn to stay asleep. We were trying to teach her not to wake us up if she woke up at night and apparently that new "rule" stuck better than we realized.

On Friday morning, she had had a bad dream, didn't want to wake us up, curled into a ball under the bed and put a pillow on herself to protect herself.
Two things: 1) I feel terrible because she was so scared that she covered herself (been there girlfriend and its terrible) and 2) she was so well hidden that we literally thought she was gone.

Well to end a dramatic story, I tripped on her and ran out of the room just sobbing out of pure relief. Ethan went into the room, also saw her and picked up a very confused little girl. "Why is mommy sad?" "Why am I not sleeping?" It was such a relief to have found her that I just cried and cried and cried.

We all made it back to bed safe and sound but then I couldn't fall asleep because I started to noticed that my foot was THROBBING! I thought it had been cut off. Apparently during my frantic search for Kelsey I had kicked a door and separated my baby toe from my other toes. It got super swollen and bruised but Aaron said it wasn't broken it just hurt like a bus had run over it. I limped everywhere for a few days and couldn't really bend or touch it. It was terrible and has lasted about a week now.

 Needless to say, the next day, while the sun was up, I started to realize how irrational I had once again been, and was completely embarrassed to explain why I couldn't walk.  I think we can all agree that I need to stay asleep at night. My mouse story and now my broken toe prove that!

Swimming Lessons

Sister Parker teaches swimming lessons and what started out as a social activity turned into a MAJOR success! Swimming lessons have been so much fun for me and Kelsey. I sit and talk to moms, every day, and Kelsey gets to play and swim with her friends, every day. It is a win win. We love Sister Parker and we love swimming lessons.

Kelsey was super afraid of the water at the beginning of the summer and now is a swimming champ. At one point she even glided to Sister Parker while kicking her feet! It was so exciting.

Floating

Jumping to the bottom to get a ring

Gliding without her teachers support

Jumping off the diving board and side of the pool without support from her teacher.She used to only jump in the pool if she could immediately grab our hands. Now she is learning to jump in, be in the water for a couple seconds, and then reach for her teachers hands. It was a scary thing to learn, but she is doing so well.

Wearing goggles

I am so proud of the improvements that Kelsey has made. Even if she doesn't want to do something she tries it (in swimming lessons I mean). Swimming lessons have been such a positive experience.