Oh, Bo.

Bo is one of those guys that has no problem getting in touch with his feminine side. His latest little discovery is that if he wears my nursing cover up, it's easier to get Naiya to go to sleep at church. So he's been wearing it lately without a care as to the pink floral pattern or the fact that only nursing moms usually wear these things. I actually think that this may just be his practical/efficient side overpowering all other cares. Whatever. He's a cute daddy!

Melia's 2nd Testimony

"I love Jesus. Jesus loves all the little children. He loves everybody here. Jesus loves Karsen. Jesus loves Holly. I love my family. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

5 Months Old!

Today is Naiya's 5 month birthday and I'm writing this blog on the actual day! Check me out! Anyway, it hasn't been that long since my last blog about her so she's pretty much still the same cute little chubby smiley that she was in my last entry. One important thing I forgot to mention last time though was her snorting. I'm not sure why, but she snorts all the time--when she cries, when she laughs. It's pretty funny. And now that we have found it funny, Melia has decided to start snorting when she laughs too. Ahh, my little family of piglets. Naiya has also become obsessed with my water bottle. Bo gave her some water from it the other day and now every time she sees it, her eyes get big and she starts flailing about. Her diet still consists of just breast milk so I guess water is a real treat for her. :) She really does bring joy to our lives every day and I'm so grateful to have her!

Madness at Winco

Ahh, Winco. Huge discount grocery store. Lots of people. Me with a 4 month old and a 3 year old and a shopping cart. Let the fun begin! I should have taken it as a sign of how this shopping trip would be when we entered the store and Melia says: "I have to go potty." Ok, good--at least we can get that over with first instead of having to walk way back to the front of the store in the middle of our shopping trip to go to the bathroom. We get over to the bathroom and Melia says: "I don't need to go potty." Me: "Are you sure?" Melia: "Yes." Ok, I didn't really want to unload she and Naiya from the shopping cart anyway just so she could sit on the potty and not go. At least she was telling me ahead of time. On to our shopping. Big list in hand, kids in cart. Let's go. I have only been to Winco a few times, so it was taking us quite a while to find everything we needed. Plus, we had to navigate our way through the sea of Winco shoppers. Now people who shop at Winco are serious. They don't go there to just buy a few items. They shop for a month's supply at least. It's common to see people with 2 shopping carts packed until they're overflowing. So as I'm looking for the stuff we need, Naiya has this constant kind of moan going on--not actually crying, but the warning " I may burst into a full blown cry at any minute" type of sound. So I am trying to hurry as fast as I can with the amount of people I have to wait for and dodge. Meanwhile, our cart is filling up quickly and Melia has less and less room to stand in back there. She wants to get out. I don't want her to get out with this many people and carts around. She wears me down. I find an isle that is somewhat empty and foolishly allow her to get out of the cart. I spend the rest of the shopping trip trying to keep her out of the way of people, keep her from pushing the cart into people, etc. At one point, a rather large black lady passes by us and Melia says, pointing to the lady: “That’s a big booty!” Me: “Shhh!!!” Melia: “Mommy, that’s a big booty!” Me: “Don’t say that anymore. It might make her feel bad.” Luckily, the lady was out of ear shot. (I hope.) Kids. What are you gonna do? Anyway, by this time we have pretty much everything we need and we head to the check out stand. I glance down at my watch to be shocked that it is already 1:30pm which is the time that Naiya usually goes down for her nap. I look up to see each check stand has a big line with people who have packed shopping carts. Great. Just hang on Naiya. You’re doing good. We pick a line. Melia entertains herself by picking up every candy bar, breath mint, and pack of gum she sees and telling me she’s going to buy them tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’m trying to unload all of our stuff onto the conveyer belt and the lady behind us starts talking to Naiya, putting her face really close up to her. At first Naiya is amused, but then for some reason her amusement turns into terror and she starts to scream at the top of her lungs. Great. Just please calm down without me having to pick you up and carry you while I try to unload groceries, keep Melia safe and out of trouble and pay for our stuff. Luckily, she is pacified by me just talking to her. Thank goodness, she’s such a mellow baby. Ok, groceries unloaded, Melia back in the cart, pay for groceries, start loading them in bags. Well, Naiya’s had it. Full blown crying the whole time I’m trying to bag our groceries. Sorry kid, can’t help you right now. Melia tries her hand at calming Naiya by talking to her with her forehead pressed against Naiya’s forehead and “patting” (more like smacking) her belly. Somehow it wasn’t having the calming effect Melia was hoping for. My mission: Just get the groceries bagged and loaded back in the cart so we can hurry up and get home so we can all take naps. Ok, we’re on our way out of this madhouse of a store. We’re good. Everything is good. Did I mention I am not coming back here again? Just as we’re about to step out into the parking lot, Melia: “I have to go potty.” Me: “Are you serious?” Melia: “Yes, I have to go potty.” Ok, turn the shopping cart around and navigate our way to the bathroom. No problem. It’s not like we’re in a hurry or anything. I unload the girls and leave our shopping cart full of stuff outside the bathroom cause you’re not allowed to take it in. I say a little prayer that no one will take our stuff. I try to hurry Melia along as she dawdles along noticing every little thing in the bathroom. She is very concerned about whether the toilet flushes by itself or not. It does. Naiya is actually gaining weight the longer I hold her. We finish and return to our shopping cart. Hey! Everything is still here. Yay! Load Naiya back in cart. Get Melia to stop playing with the ball from the big bin of balls and get back in the cart. Ok, let’s try this one more time. This time, we actually make it to the car. Load the groceries in the trunk. Get Melia strapped in car seat. Get Naiya strapped in car seat. Return cart. Get on the road. Listen to Naiya cry and Melia whine about being tired. Oh, did I mention that Winco is down in Chico which means we still have a good 20 minute drive through nothing but fields and trees to get home? I glance down at the dashboard—I’m going 106 miles per hour?! What?! Oh, Melia pushed the button to convert it to kilometers again. We’re ok. Get home and grab Naiya to put her down for her nap. Come back out and get Melia and the groceries. Arms full of groceries. Melia goes in ahead of me. No, don’t close the door! Yup, she closed it. “Open the door, Melia.” “Open the door!” No response. I manage to get a finger free to slide it open and accidentally hit her head with the handle. Crying fit ensues. Ok, mom is done. 15 minutes later, I have Melia down for her nap, groceries that need to be refrigerated away and I collapse on my bed. Just another Monday in the life of a mom. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Well, maybe if I had a good enough offer. Just kidding. Maybe.

She Woke Up Like This

Anyone remember Flock of Seagulls? Turns out Naiya is a big fan.

Where's Melia?!

So a couple of weeks ago, Bo was working late and I was putting the kids to bed by myself. While I nursed Naiya, Melia got her jammies on, brushed her teeth and then told me she was going to go to bed by herself. I told her it was ok and that I would come in to her room to say good night after I finished feeding Naiya. Well, a while later, I hear my neighbor's voice calling to me from our door. I went out there to find Melia at the door with her. She said, "Do you know where Melia was?" With a confused look on my face, I said, "Umm...was she outside?". She said, "Well, she decided to come to our house for a little visit." What?!! Ok, this is at 8:00 at night and to get to our neighbor's house you have to go all the way up a long driveway and onto the street and down another long driveway. Needless to say, this isn't a great activity for a 3 year old to be doing on her own. I'm just glad this happened while we're living in Paradise instead of in Santa Ana. Anyway, I talked to her about not going outside by herself and I resolved to not let her out of my sight at bedtime anymore.

Ok, so about a week later, I'm making breakfast in the morning and she goes upstairs to "get her shoes". When breakfast is ready, I go upstairs to get her and she is nowhere to be found again. I start to panic a little and I start calling for her outside. I hear this little voice from down the street calling back to me. What?!!! I go to get her and she is talking about something down the street. Who knows how far she went!! This time Sleeping Beauty, her Belle dress, and shoes--basically everything she values--was taken away from her for going outside by herself again. We're definitely going to have to get some good locks for the doors that she can't get out of.

Today I was in the kitchen and she went in our bedroom. A little while later, I went in there and couldn't find her. I started calling to her all through the house and she was nowhere to be found again. Panic. I went outside and started yelling for her. No answer. I came back downstairs and kept calling for her. All of a sudden, I see her peeking at me out of Naiya's room. She had been hiding in there to surprise me. We play like that sometimes, but usually I know where she's hiding immediately because she always talks to me from her hiding place. She just had to pick now when I'm paranoid to actually learn how to hide the right way. Parenthood may drive me crazy before I get out of it!

Melia's First Testimony

A few weeks ago, it was testimony meeting at church. Once a month, they allow members of the congregation to get up in the front and give their testimonies about Jesus Christ and how he has affected their lives. Whoever wants to can, and so Melia said she wanted to. I followed her up there thinking I would probably just whisper in her ear what to say, like "I love Jesus." or "I'm grateful for my family." etc. But we got up there to the microphone and Melia just totally took over all on her own. She talked about Jesus and the boat and the big waves (She got that from a video that we have that shows Jesus fishing with his apostles). Then she talked about how Jesus likes to buy her pretty dresses. :) It was adorable and I felt so blessed to be her mom and be able to watch her learn and grow in this life. It also made me feel good to see how comfortable she is with herself to be able to get up in front of all those people and speak with no fear. Every week since then, she asks me when it's going to be her turn again. Well, her long wait will be over this coming Sunday. But lately she's been talking about how Sleeping Beauty and the prince dance with Heavenly Father because at the end of the movie it shows them dancing up into the clouds. So Bo and I are going to do a little lesson with her for our Family Home Evening about what to talk about in a testimony so we don't have any Sleeping Beauty stories in church. :)