A New Man

I have been dreading potty training for several months now. Dallin has been ready, but I have really been dragging my feet. I finally cleared an entire week and began the process. I really lucked out!! It has been a week, and we haven't had an accident in several days. Dallin is a big boy now and is very proud of himself. My only problem now is Brooke. She refuses to wear a diaper or underwear. She wants to be just like her brother and always has to use the bathroom at the same time he does. I don't know quite what to do with her!

Snail Bait

I love sitting on the front porch. The kids and I spend quite a bit of time there, so we planted some flowers a few weeks ago to make the place feel a bit more like home. Within days I noticed that our plants were starting to wilt. I kept watching them, but the problem kept getting worse. One night we got home late and noticed tons of snails all over the porch and sidewalk. The kids thought it was great! I was happy to finally figure out what was killing our flowers, but a little bugged that I would have to replant. I took the kids to the store the next day and we bought some snail bait. The next day we had dead snails everywhere! Dallin and Brooke had a great time picking up all the shells and making snail soup. Unfortunately, some of the shells mysteriously made it into the house!! I don't know that our house will ever smell the same.

Fun with Friends

Dallin and Brooke

Primary Songs

There is nothing that I love more than hearing Dallin sing his favorite primary songs. The two I hear the most are "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" and "I Am A Child of God". He sings, "I hope they call me on a mission, when I have grown a foot or two. I hope by then I will be ready, to reach and reach and reach like the missionaries do." My all time favoirte is "I am a child of God, and He has sent me here. Has given me an Earthly home, with parents kind of here. I love listening to him sing and I love that Brooke tries to hum along!

Bee Stings

Dallin had a really rough day while we were in Utah visiting my family. In the morning he fell off the swingset, then we had lunch at the park and he was stung by a bee, and then he was stung agian by another bee when we got back to my parents. Poor Dallin!

Hiccups and more fun with the kids

I had the hiccups the entire day yesterday and now Dallin is pretending to have them today. He told me not to worry though because the hiccups can't get out. "They don't have arms so they can't crawl up my throat...right mom?" My response was silence...what do you say to that?

Dallin loves nursery and loves his teachers. Sister Christiansen is "my teacher", Sister Hart is "Sister Red Heart" , and my favorite is Sister Bridges as "Sister Fringes"

Dallin needed a band aid on his toe last week. I started to put it on his big toe and he said, "Not my thumb toe mom, it's my finger toe that hurts!"

Brooke cracks me up. She isn't talking much yet....nothing beyond mom, Yaye (for daddy), bye, and an occasional hi. Somehow she learned to moo like a cow this week and has been walking around with the biggest lips ever. She moos everywhere she goes and thinks she is the best thing around.

Brooke has also discovered sunglasses. She thinks she is hot stuff and we all agree! Her personality changes completely when she puts her shades on.

I told Dallin and Brooke that I would take them swimming today and Dallin seemed a little concerned. He said, "Mom, you can't just drop me off to swim because I am little, not big like you and Daddy...and nobody gave me a button." I explained that I would not just drop him off and asked what button he was talking about. He then said, "You and Daddy were little and then you pushed the button and it made you into big, but I don't have a button so I am small." I would love to know the source of his information!

Sundays...not a day of rest.

Sunday used to be the most relaxing day of the week. Sleep in a little, read scriptures and other good books, eat a nice breakfast, go to church, rest and relax some more and head to bed early for the new week. I can't remember the last Sunday I had that was like that...or even remotely relaxing! This was our Sunday last week...and unfortunately this is more common than I would like.

2am: Brooke wakes up for some strange reason and won't go back to sleep until 4:30am
6am: Dallin wakes up and begs to watch a show...I agree, hoping to get a little more sleep.
6:10: Dallin comes in and need a pillow and blanket
6:20: Dallin needs a glass of milk
6:30: Dallin needs a snack.."Not breakfast, just a snack"
7am: Brooke is up again and super grouchy
**Doug gets up with Brooke and lets me sleep for an hour and a half
8:30: Doug is going crazy and hops back in bed, he sleeps for the next hour and a half while I try to entertain the kids.
10:00 Shower, gets the kids in the tub, and attempt to get ready
10:15 Naked kids running all through the house!
10:20 Brooke slips of course and the fun is over...Should have listened to mom and dad!
11:00 Now we frantically try to get ready for church because if we don't leave by 11:45 we will be late. This includes doing Brooke's hair...and then redoing her hair about 8 times before church. Dallin insisting on wearing his tie that broke the week before and I forgot to buy him new pants and now he looks like a total nerd.
Noon: We made it to church. I was called to be the Primary secretary today, but realized that no one in the presidency showed up and I was now in charge of conducting and doing sharing time for both Jr. and Sr. primary on my first day. It was wild!! But on the upside...Brooke is in nursery now and she loves it!!
4:00 Home from church. We make pancakes because we are way to tired for anything else.
***5pm: Doug falls asleep on the couch and by the time I come downstiars, Brooke has taken the syrup off the table and squeezed the entire bottle onto Doug's shirt, the couch, pillows, and floor! (I would have pictures, but Doug wasn't completely dressed). Our couch still smells like syrup and even though it ruined Doug's day I must admit that it was one of the best things I had seen in a long time.
We finished the evening with a walk and visit to see some friends and were thankful to see the clock strike 8pm!! I have never been so excited for a new week.

The move

The kids are enjoying the new house and love to explore all the new closets and bathrooms. Dallin asks me everytime I tell him we are on our way home if we are going to our old house or new house. It has been a bit confusing for them, but I think they're starting to get it.

Both Dallin and Brooke have been more of a handful during the past few weeks. I know that most of it is because of the lack of one-on-one time while I was packing our stuff, moving it, and now unpacking it. Dallin started getting into trouble and stuggling to obey while I was packing and I had to give him hot sauce one evening for being sassy. I gave him some milk a few minutes later and headed back to keep packing. When I came back in the kitchen Dallin had the bottle of hot sauce and was emptying the entire bottle into Brooke's mouth...telling her that she needed to obey him! I was horrified and gave him a second douse of hot sauce without even thinking. Both kids were crying for the next hour and it was the low of our packing days.

The actual move went a lot better than we thought. Doug knew that he had about 4 guys coming to help, but when we arrived with the truck there were 12 guys waiting and we were able to pack and unpack in about 2 hours. It was great and I can't thank those guys enough for all of their help! Especially concidering that I had been fighting a tooth ache for about 2 weeks and finally couldn't take it anymore. I ended up getting a root canal at 1pm the day of our move. What timing!! Doug's Mom was my angel this week. She flew out the day we moved and stayed for the extended 4th of July weekend to help watch the kids. It was the biggest blessing to have her help and support. We miss having her in the house and the kids talk about her everyday.

The unpacking is going really well. We are just about done, but the kids are still going crazy with so much less attention from us while we pull the place together. I hope by next week we can be back to our normal schedule.

Waste Management Bill

I've never been even remotely excited about getting bills in the mail. However, we just received our first piece of mail at our new address from waste management and I was thrilled. We have a garbage can!! Our new address doesn't end in an apartments number, I can pull into a garage (well, I hope I will when we finish unpacking), I have a neighborhood, I have a backyard (tiny-but we have grass), and when the kids are driving me nuts I can send them upstairs! Don't get me wrong, we still live in a condo, but it feels so great to not have anyone living above or below us.

Doug has also finished the worst 2 years of dental school and he feels like a new person now that most of the book work is over. He has really enjoyed his patients and is making great progress on his clinical work. I am so proud of him...he has really accomplished a lot since we have been down here. We both feel a huge relief that he is now in the clinic...Doug feels so much relief that he broke down and bought a TV to celebrate! There is nothing Doug loves more than a good couch and TV and now he has one. Our TV broke about a year ago and he has been going crazy ever since. He defiantly deserves it, but I know I will be in trouble in a couple of months when football season starts!

We need more arms!

This was the dialog I had with Dallin while we were getting out of the car today...

Mom: "Dallin can you please bring in your cup and that bag?"
Dallin: "Okay, but please don't say to me to get more stuff mom...I only have two arms"
Mom: "Thanks Dallin"
Dallin: "Mom, maybe when I get bigger I can grow more arms...maybe out of my neck."
Mom: "Yikes...I hope not"
Dallin: "But mom, we all need more arms...and Brooke needs bigger arms"

"Braska"

There is nothing more relaxing than Wahoo, Nebraska. Everything seems to move a little slower and everything seems to be a little quieter. We had so much fun with "drandma and drandpa" and Dallin is already wanting to go back. He talked to Grandma this morning and when she told him that she missed him, he said, "I miss you too...I'll be over in just a minute...okay?" We all had a great time and can't wait to get back to what Dallin calls, "Braska."

Lincoln Children's Museum

The 2 Biggest Husker Fans I know!!


"Feeding Frenzy" at the Omaha Zoo
Ice Cream with Great Grandma and Grandpa Duey

Dallin had his first trip to the dentist. He was really excited to see where Grandma Maggie worked, and he was such a good patient. Grandma helped him clean out the sugar bugs and she even gave him a new tooth brush! Dallin loves his dental hygienist!!



Dallin's first experience with indoor smores!

Lots of long fun days!

Finals and Free Flights

Doug had a really nasty few weeks of finals this semester. He disagrees with me, but I think that we have it just as bad when he is gone so much. Every time finals roll around I can usually expect to see him for dinner one or two times a week. The rest of the week he packs a lunch and dinner and we don't see him for days. The kids go crazy...which leads to me going crazy! This semester turned out to be a little different though. Doug started working at Delta a couple of months ago and we are now eligible for free flights. It is a really sweet deal. He only has to work 3 nights a month and he has admitted that he actually enjoys it. I think that it is a good break to just throw bags and not have to think. So I took advantage of our flying benefits and took off for the worst two weeks of finals. (I think I counted nearly twenty finals that he would be taking while we were gone). I went to my moms and then Doug flew out for the weekend when it was all over. It ended up being a huge blessing for both of us. I didn't go crazy with the kids and Doug was able to have the silence that he needed to study. Two weeks apart is the most I think I could handle and we are so glad to be home, but it was a great trip.

The second day we were in Utah it snowed! The kids were so excited and wanted to go out and play. Having little to no experience with snow they went out and enjoyed themselves for all of about 2 minutes. Dallin came running in telling me that something was on his hands and was hurting and that he needed them washed off. Both kids started crying and the excitement was over. Frozen hands are no fun...and a little confusing.


We had lots of play time...

Lots of Relaxing...

watching cars with Grandpa...the kids loved it.

Lots of Cooking...

Lots of tasting...

We took several quick day trips to see family. Our first stop was lunch with Grandpa in Ogden. After lunch my dad was taking us around the office to introduce us to his colleges. After only a few introductions Dallin took over and said to everyone we passed, "Hi, this is my Grandpa and this is his daughter Jen and we are her kids." He was so proud of himself!

Quick trip to Provo to see Grandma and Grandpa Dester...

Quick trip to Orem to see Grandma and Gramdpa Prue...

Quick trip to Heber to see JJ and Chase...

Mother's Day was at Doug's brother Tyson's house in Lehi. The kids had tons of fun flying kites with Grandma and playing with the cousins. I left a little early and was able to talk to James on his mission. My mom was so excited and it made for a perfect Mother's Day for all of us!

Cousin Taylor's Birthday with the never missed "Candy Explosion". Since living in Florida we have missed one too many of these. It was great to get back!

The kids

A few things I learned with Dallin this week...
1. Water Balloons are more fun than anything else in the world. Dallin asks me hourly if I will fill up more balloons for him and Brooke to go "SNAP". He squeezes them until they pop all over him and Brooke starts cracking up. They can't get enough of the balloons.

2. Imaginary friends can entertain for hours. Dallin has a little friend that he holds in his hand. It can fly, you can't eat it, and if you want one too he will just lick his hand and another invisible friend magically appears. And they all have the same name....Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers! (Confused??? So are we!)

3. It's more fun to be a pig or a puppy than a little boy. For the last two weeks Dallin has pretended to be a pig or puppy, depending on his mood. He crawls around all day and requests that all his meals are served on the floor. This is great for me because the little boy that lives at our house can talk for hours and hours without stopping and the questions are never ending. However, the pig and puppy that live at our house don't talk unless it is absolutly nessesary. It has been a lot quieter at our house!

4. Besides water balloons, Dora and Diego are the best things in the world.

5. "Lizards love bugs...especially plastic ones."

5. Sisters are the best! Dallin and Brooke both love each other so much and are best friends. They think each other are so funny and can entertain each other for hours. Dallin loves introducing Brooke to everyone. "Hi, this is my sister. My sister's name is Brooke. She is my sister."




Things I've learned from Brooke this week...
1. She whines when she is sad
2. She whines when she is tired
3. She whines when she is happy
4. and She whines when she is just standing still.
Poor girl, just can't stop whining.
(She is getting teeth in, but we are just hoping for our happy Brooke back next week).

Peeps

Dallin came into my room and said, "Mom, Dad's eating a nasty, nasty, nasty bird!" I was a little shocked and started into the kitchen to find out what he was talking about. And yes, I was a bit nervous because it's Doug we're talking about...You never know! I saw Doug and just cracked up. He was standing over the stove roasting a peep! I agree with Dallin...Nasty Birds!