Trouble makers!

The other night Aaron was helping me get some laundry done.

If I didn't have him I don't know how I would get through these hormones!

Our laundry machines are in the garage.

I guess that is normal for CA because the houses are all so small.

It was nice and quiet and Aaron was asking why we didn't do this more often.

He went on to brag about how the kids we getting to that age where they didn't need constant supervision and it was nice being able to sneak away for a couple minutes.

We went back inside, Brooke was playing on the Ipad and Bubba was wondering around.

I was in the bedroom putting stuff away when  I saw Brayden's front side.

I literally screamed.

and then grabbed the camera.

My mom taught me well.

I was so focused on what I saw here that I didn't scan the room to see what else he had done.

He had dumped out my whole make-up bag! 

I still don't know how he got it but he did.

Thankfully I don't buy expensive make-up or I would have been more upset.

That is mascara all over his belly by the way and a tube of eye shadow in his mouth.

Pointing to the mess he made....

And two days before BROOKE had gotten in my make-up and came out of the bathroom with dark eyebrows and glitter everywhere.

This is her and her bowl of "pickled peppers"

She likes to sneak off, climb in Bubba's crib and have a session with a De-de.

We went in to check on them one night and found her like this.

That is her pillow case on her legs.

The two of them hanging out in a bucket a baby clothes. 

Notice Brooke once again has managed to find a De-de.

My kids like to get in my kitchen and destroy it.

Or get into the fridge and spill milk or juice.

Or open containers of yogurt and finger paint.

My solution was to put this gate up.

As you can see, Brayden doesn't like it too much.

On a happy note,

We finally had success and Bubba used his potty for the first time! 

Prayer please?!

As of right now I am 16 weeks pregnant...

'Supposedly' I am supposed to be in the 'honeymoon' stage of the pregnancy.

NOT SO MUCH!

My hormones have been C-R-A-Z-Y.

So much so I asked them to specifically test my thyroid.

Sure enough it came back abnormal.

They are going to run more tests and such, but it's amazing how if your thyroid is just a little bit off your whole body is whack!

I have days where I am so depressed (I am not a depressed person!) I can't get off the couch (on top of horrid morning sickness)

and then days where I go, go, go and get tons of stuff done.

I ask for your prayers because I need all the back up I can get.

I struggle with being kind to the kids and it breaks my heart and their' s. 

I struggle with waking up and wanting to pray and seek God to get me through the day.

On good days it is easy, but sometimes on those bad days my flesh gets the best of me.

Pray that the Lord brings me a peace and a patience.

I am not even half way done and I am ready for this baby to be OUT.

I want to slow down and be able to enjoy this pregnancy and the last couple of months with just two kids.

Oh yes! I forgot to tell you all I finally found a place to have the baby!

I have decided Southern California is the worst place to have a baby

for a person that wants a natural, non-invasive birth.

As you know, I wanted a home birth but as I searched around town, I wasn't able to connect with a midwife I was comfortable with.

And to top it off the midwives out here charge a ridiculous amount of money just because they can and there are rich people who will pay for it.

I could have gone that route but the Lord provided me wonderful insurance through my dad (Thank Mr. Obama!) so I wanted to use that. 

It took me a week to call every hospital around here and get opinions and reviews.

I was so stressed I was ready to have the baby in WA or have Aaron deliver the baby himself. 

He even offered, that sweet man of mine, when I was in the middle of a crying fest.

After much stress, I found a hospital that fit my needs!

For those interested,

the majority of the hospitals out here have HIGH c-section,episitomy,vacuum,induction rates.

They take the baby to the nursery immediately after birth so you can 'recover'.

They limit how many people can be in the room with you and some even say no pictures in the delivery room!

The one I found is very supportive of natural, have GREAT nurses aaaaaaaannd, they have midwives!!!

So I will deliver with a midwife after all :)

The Lord is good.

This hospital is similar to the one I delivered at in WA so I am content, happy and at peace.

Now I just need some peace from these hormones!!!!

A get-away

Aaron finished up his last final last semester, came home and announced we were going somewhere for Christmas to get away.

Sadly, the little girl I babysit got Bubba sick the day before Christmas Eve! 

Poor guy was pretty miserable too, so we just stayed home.

On Monday,  Brayden just so happened to have a check-up and it turned out he had a double ear infection.

We decided the best thing was to just stay home until he got better.

That took about two weeks!

At the end of it we were going stir crazy but I had to start babysitting again.

The week dragged on.

Thursday was my last day of work and it was a very stressful day.

Crabby babies, the little girl was STILL sick, I had morning sickness and my kids were very needy.

Aaron saw the distress in my eyes and told me, get packed we are leaving as soon as work is over!

I can pack fast by the way.

You all are familiar with my Mom, and her lists and organization.

If you aren't familiar, go HERE and see some of her ideas!

She has rubbed off on me and it has made for a very efficient life with two crazy children.

When work was over we put the kids in the car and left town.

The kids watched Toy Story 3 on the Ipad the whole way leaving us a nice two hours of quiet.

We got to our hotel and the lady ended up giving us the room for $55! 

I know prices shouldn't really be in a blog but I am still shocked at the good deal, and you know me and good deals!

We immediately all got our suites on and went swimming.

Well, more like all sit in the HUGE hot tub they had.

*Clarification- I did not submerse the belly. But oh it was tempting to crawl all the way in! 

It wasn't that hot so the kids enjoyed climbing in and out.

We all went to bed very early and ended up sleeping in.

Well, 7:30 is sleeping in for us now! 

When Bubba was sick he was up 6.

The next morning we took advantage of continental breakfast and swam some more.

We sat in the room for a while just hanging out.

This is Brayden playing with the Ipad. He is his father's son!

Then they started getting restless and cranky so we went to go find a park.

Brooke named this Dinosaur "my friend Isa"

Bubba climbed up and down the steps

Brooke gave me an almost heart attack watching her climb this thing. But I kept my mouth shut and let her try. She made it to the top safely!

Brayden enjoyed wandering around.

The yellow bars must have invoked some thinking in both of the kids.

Palm Springs is beautiful with mountain right in the background and palm trees literally everywhere. 

We came here in the summer to go up the mountain and show the kids snow. 

This time we just wanted to enjoy the warm sun because we are sick of the cold!

After the park we ate lunch until we were so stuffed we all needed naps.

After naps more swimming and then I got a craving for Mexican food.

We drove around for a long while but finally found somewhere to eat.

Ok just remembering that food is giving me craving... 

Anyone want to go out to Mexican tonight??

(hint hint AARON!)

The next morning Brooke skinned her elbow on the way to breakfast.

If you haven't been around Brooke much, let me explain her.

D-R-A-M-A-T-I-C

She was hysterical and throwing huge tantrums.

We went to the store to get some bandaids hoping that would help calm her.

I really didn't want to discipline her but it was getting to the point she was being naughty and not in pain.

As you can see in this picture she was protesting the new bandaids.

Aaron stepped in and disciplined her and in a few minutes we had our happy Brooke back!

After one last swim, we packed the car, stopped at  Burger King to fill my craving for french fries, we headed home.

Brooke learned how to put her face in the water. She and Bubba both let us take them underwater and show them how to swim. We are highly considering swim lessons for our little fish!

About 10 mintues into our trip home I turned and saw this.

Passed out!

We all enjoyed this vacation so much, not even the kids were ready to go home!

Sometimes a little break from normal life is needed.  

My little man cub

Bubba loves to eat.

He will eat all day if you let him.

Sometimes he eats so much that if he bends over he pukes a little. 

Its hard to tell when he is full or just eating for fun.

The other night  Aaron and I were craving wings so I made two kinds.

Spicy and BBQ.

I didn't think the kids would eat the BBQ ones but I didn't feel like making two meals so I thought we would give it a try.

Brooke didn't really like the idea of getting her hands and face dirty so she had me pick her chicken off.

Brayden grabbed that wing and went to town!

I think he ate 5 or 6!! 

And then proceeded to lick the sauce off his fingers.

He picked those bones clean too.

I'm sorry Mom if these pictures are giving you anxiety! 

Ask my mom someday how she feels about kids feeding themselves :) 

Lets just say she turns away when I feed my kids! 

Poor Grandma.

Brayden has a new nickname by the way..

Bumpers.

We have no idea why but thats what we call him.

And we just had a check up for him and he is only 4 pounds behind Brooke! 

Brooke is 30lbs and Brayden is 26lbs.

He has chronic anemia so we are trying to get that figured out. 

Other than that he is healthy and happy and leaving more baby behavior behind in favor of big boy/toddler behavior.

Which means his terrible two's have started.....

Belated Christmas

When Toy Story first came out we lived on a farm.

Mom had renovated on old chicken coop into a really awesome play house.

I think Dad was out of town because Mom said we could haul the big TV out there and have a sleep over.

Whenever I think of Toy Story I am brought back to those happy memories.

The movie is pretty great too because I always imagined that my toys came alive when I left ;)

We were quite thrilled that Brooke loved the movie just as much as we did!

She watches it every time we let her watch a movie.

When Aaron was in finals week, we promised Brooke that when it was over we would have  pizza and movie night to watch Toy Story 3.

She was THRILLED.

She sat and watched that WHOLE movie.

It was so cute to see her giggling and really enjoying the movie.

Bubba ran around and played.

He can't sit still for more then 3 minutes.

After the movie she proceeded to get her little Elmo and a small polar bear.

She informed me that they were Buzz and Woody.

She went screaming down the hallway,

"TO INFIN AND BEYOOO!"

(To infinity and beyond)

I really wanted to get her a Buzz and Woody for Christmas but good luck going shopping the day before Christmas!

I got her something small and hoped she wouldn't realize Bubba got more presents.

Thankfully our dear friend sent her a Barbie that stole the show and made me feel less guilty.

The other day at the mall we walked past the Disney Store.

Brooke loves going in there so I use it as a reward sometimes.

She loves looking at everything and they usually have a movie playing.

Anyway they happened to have a sale and guess what I broke down and bought her?!

She was SO THRILLED she was jumping up and down screaming! 

She then ran through every aisle screaming

"TO INFIN AND BEYOO!!"

"MOMMY DADDY SAID I COULD BRING DEM HOME WIF ME!"

She was too excited to eat lunch and insisted on taking them to bed for nap.

Seeing the joy in her face made it Aaron and I feel like kids again.

She carried them all day pretending and imagining. 

(In the movie Andy asks his mom which one he can bring and then he has to choose one.)

Brooke keeps coming up and asking

"Mommy which one can I bring? Oh, just one? hmmm.. Im sorry Buzz."

This is how I found her eating her dinner.

Do you like her choice for a table cloth? It is the rug for my kitchen...

When I tucked her in for bed I heard her talking to Buzz,

"Are you comfy Buzz? Do you have comfies on your feet? (Socks) Lets cuddle"

Brooke told me this morning,

"Mommy, I just love my Jesse"

Orange juice

We have had bizarre weather here in Southern California.

We had weeks of super hot weather to constant rain to now its really cold.

Well, cold by my standards, maybe not by a Minnesotan! 

There is a beautiful orange tree in our back yard.

I have been patiently waiting for them to turn bright orange.

The days of pouring rain were quite depressing but I started to notice that the rain was benefitting my beautiful oranges! 

The rain kept away all the bugs, spiders, webs and dirt.

(Last year we didn't get to use very many because they had too many bugs and such. Now I know why farmers us pesticides because those poor oranges don't stand a chance sometimes!)

Aaron's sister came for new years so she and Brooke had the lovely task of picking them.

After I scrubbed them up they gleamed and you could smell the citrus.

We all sat there peeling and drooling.

Our result was this.

We all drank a whole glass right away it was so good.

I guess there can be benefits to so much rain!