80 degrees to 1ft of snow in 48 hours or less!

This week got a crazy and busy start bright and early on Monday morning. We had Heather and Heidi come spend the night Sunday evening so that I could get their annual pictures done before the anticipated snow storm hit! Eliza had her last tumbling class (at least until I get her signed up for another one!). She really has enjoyed those and I have had fun with having just a little bit of mommy/Alayna time once a week! After tumbling the sun finally decided to make it's presence known and we got some very good shots of Heather and Heidi around town here! I was again reminded how there really are some perks to living in Boulder county and how we have so many beautiful well maintained parks around here! After we finished pictures my Mom came and picked up the twins and shortly after that we had the Reedy girls over to play for a few hours. Hailey (18 months) doesn't really like us when her mommy isn't with her... so she screamed at us for an hour undeterred and completely undistractable. I can usually handle a tantrum just fine but an hour into it and I finally had to separate the two of us. She got shut in a room while I located shoes and socks for all the other kids so we could escape to a park where hopefully the swings would provide me with a little bit of sanity and quiet. Hailey screamed the whole way to the park but finally settled once we had her situated into a swing! After that long of a day I crashed and so did both my girls!
Tuesday was equally fun but a lot less crazyness! The girls got to go to Grandma Merritt's house and make a haunted ginger house while I ran to the store for a few things. They both had a great time and Alayna could have gone a few days on the amount of sugar she consumed while 'building' and 'decorating' the haunted house! They sure had fun and it's been a fun decoration in the living room/ kitchen for the last while! After the girls play date with grandma we went home and puttered around the house a bit made a failed attempt and multiple baking things (cookie dough dip = horrible failure! never try again!) and (inside out carmel apples = I have no idea how to do carmel and I totally burned it!) After that I gave up in the kitchen. I cleaned up my messes and told Ben he had to cook dinner because based on my track record for the day I was too hungry to risk ruining one more thing! That evening Ben watched the girls while I went to book group! It was a good discussion but that book is one that I feel like I could spend weeks discussing and not exhaust it! (Cutting for Stone)

Wednesday started early. And by early I mean that Miss Eliza come skipping into our room at 2:00 AM to inform us with much enthusiasm that it had snowed! Regrettably her enthusiasm was NOT returned in fact I don't remember exactly what I may have said to her that night other than, "thanks, I don't care, and GO BACK TO BED!" I think she was a little disappointed at my reaction but the next morning I got a better understanding as to why it apparently mattered to her that it snowed... With pride she came down for breakfast exclaiming "Mom, It snowed so I'm 4 now!!" much to my dismay I had to explain that the weather doesn't determine her birthday and she still has a few more weeks to go! poor kid. We had planned on going to the Waite household that day but thanks to the foot of snow outside and the snow that was still falling we opted for a snow day of our own. I heard that we missed quite the party that day because my parents were one of very few houses with power so they had a large number of guests to play with! My girls and I enjoyed our warm house, a little bit of snow play and ...shhhh... Christmas movies, for our excitement! After all the work of finding snow gear all over the house the girls lasted about 20 min outside before they were cold and done playing. Alayna also made it very clear to all of us (and anyone else within a mile radius) that she did NOT like being in snow past her waist but we had fun anyway! The snow caused a lot of tree damage around here. My parents big tree in front looks really funny and will need professional attention in the future thanks to the amount of branch loss due to snow. The Merritt's brand new hot tub cover suffered a number of puncture wounds resulting in a premature death from the tree that fell on it. At our house our trees did fine. Other than one branch that unexpectedly landed on me while I was scraping the car. (I'm fine it was not that big so don't worry about it!) But at this point there doesn't seem to be many trees that did not suffer through involuntary pruning. I will try to take some pictures of the piles of branches that are currently lining the streets!

Alayna's coat was a size too big so she could barely move!

 Eliza's first ever snow angel!

Thursday was great! We had two little Mott girls over to play for a few hours. We successfully built our first family snow man... once the snow melted enough that it would stick. Then the girls mostly just played around the house. The afternoon was busy with other errands and lots and lots of cleaning for a house in desperate need of attention!

Friday Ben went to work around 5:00AM to start on their inventory at work and we made our way to the Waite house but not until after 8AM because we are normal humans who like/need sleep. We made a trip to Arc (a thrift store) and a few other places in search of a bench or something of the sort to help my disorganized mess in the living room. I finally found some good ottomans at Walmart that seem to be working well at this point and my living room doesn't look as bad! I was also finally able to get some of the much needed birthday things for Miss Alayna who will be turning two all too soon!

Saturday was suppose to be a nice relaxing day. But it wasn't. We started the morning with a huge melt down over costumes with Alayna. She completely refused to get anywhere near the cute Elmo costume Grandma bought her and we settled on a bug costume instead (most unwillingly). Eliza was thrilled to go as the Little Mermaid. We then went to the town Halloween parade and did a little bit of trick-or-treating on Main street. It was crazy crowded but the girls still made out very well. After that we went to Grandma Merritt's house so Daddy could help with some more tree removal (snow melted off the roof so they could get the big branches down from there) Eliza and Alayna got to play with Elijah and Aleah (Evan and Mallory's niece and nephew) while the boys did the work. Then after Alayna's nap we went to Trunk-or-Treat at the church. The girls had a blast with that and brought home way too much candy! Alayna just about couldn't carry her pumpkin by the end because it was so heavy! Haha! That was another night for crashing! I was exhausted by the end and needed a good long nights sleep!

Eliza with the other mermaids from our ward! popular costume this year!

Alayna.. this was about as good as I could get sorry!

Sunday morning came too early in my book but we had very enjoyable meetings at church and I was glad to see the girls get such a kick out of being at church in class and with their friends! I am a lucky mom to have such awesome kids! That's the week in a nut shell... it's been busy but tis the season and I hope to be ready for when family starts arriving in the next couple of weeks!

Dresses, Bees, and a Sickhouse

Ok so if I were to even try to remember back as far as I have missed at this point we would loose everything in the translation of thought-to-page of the past few weeks! That said I am skipping up to this week... and maybe a little bit before that.

Two weeks ago before the fiasco of the past week (to be read about later) Alayna went on a pants strike. The ONLY clothing the child would wear were dresses and princess shoes... as seen (with attitude) here. Oh and the fancier the better!

This was one of those precious moments when I suddenly stopped what I was doing and laughed and watched as Daddy ran around, played pony, and catch, and other rough housing games with his girls. I know they probably wont always remember this but I hope I do!

A week ago Friday Alayna had a tough night but that seems to be becoming more and more of the norm these days with her. She must be growing or something of the sort because her sleep patterns have become painfully unpredictable. But that Friday we had  wonderful park date with the Jones family. I really enjoy the time we spend playing with their kids for some reason they really bring out a funny playful side of Eliza that I don't get to see on a regular basis. The Reedy's also joined us at one point at the park and they had fun until Harley got taken out by a swing and managed to earn her first concussion. The honey bees were also out and busy all morning as well, which normally isn't that big of a deal to me (provided that they leave me and my children alone we are good to go!) This day at the park they were not so kind. I found an overly friendly bee that wouldn't leave me alone or get off of me. I have always had a tense fear of bees and up to this point in life had never been stung. There is a first time for everything and this bee gave it's life up as evidence of that. That stupid bee stung me! I spent the next hour swelling and developing hives that just kept traveling... further. and further. and further. down my arm. So apparently my unusual fear of bees for all these years has been justified. I went home took some benedryl (a couple of doses to get it to work) and slept the rest of the day away. Which was not at all how I wanted to spend my day. Eliza is now petrified of all flying bugs and I never want to be stung again.

Saturday Alayna started to sound worse than the day before (which wasn't good). By morning Saturday she had completely lost her voice. She was so horse that she refused to talk. At one point while playing with Eliza in the basement on our roller coaster toy Eliza accidentally ran over Alayna's foot to which she attempted to scream but to no avail. Her voice was so completely shot that she could not even defend herself with a scream for help!

Sunday Ben and I took turns with church because now both Eliza and Alayna sound miserable and are running fevers.

Monday after one horrible, terrible, no good night of sleep I called the doctor at 7:00 AM when their phones open, explain what is wrong and then dragged both girls out of bed and into the doctors office at 7:30 AM still in their pajamas. I think the office was glad that we were the only patients in that early in the morning because of how terrible the girls sounded and looked. I thought they might have been getting pneumonia or something of that sort but our wonderful doctor took one look/listen at those two girls and diagnosed croup. Alayna's was bad enough that they gave her a steroid in addition to the antibiotic and Eliza just on the antibiotic. They spent the rest of the day resting and being drugged in an attempt to kill Eliza's fever.

Tuesday I would like to say was much better... but really they were both still really miserable sick. They could play for about an hour before their bodies started to force them to stop. They did play at grandma's house that morning for a little bit so that I could get to the store for a few things that we were completely out of... like milk.

Wednesday was better. The girls were almost back to normal sleeping. Alayna is still waking up once in the night (who know why! I think she is stuck in a pattern) but they are doing better overall. We didn't get out that day but at least the girls were starting to act more human than they have in almost a week! After a relaxing and playful morning while I cleaned house and started in on some of those very neglected tasks in the house we might actually catch up on things. The girls started getting cabin fever a bit by the end of the day so after they caused undue destruction in my freshly cleaned living room I took them to the park across the street to wreak havoc there instead.

Thursday we hung out at home... walked to grandma's house for a few minutes and then stopped at the park on the way home. We did get to enjoy talking to some other mom's there which was a relief for me as I had been feeling a little trapped in my sickhouse and away from other adults!

Friday the Doctors office called to check on the girls (I love that they do that!) and make sure that they were really feeling better and things. Since I had a nurse trapped on the phone I figured I would ask her about my bee sting... which after a week was still swollen, and had hives around it. They were very localized hives but definitely still there and very itchy. Well the office apparently did NOT think that was normal or ok to have a week long reaction to a bee sting so they insisted on seeing me. I think I might be single handedly supporting that office at this point. They recognize me and the girls by name when we walk in and that is just not something I aspire for! It turns out that my reaction from the bee sting had turned into a skin infection so the day the girls finish their antibiotics I have to start my own. I am so done. My house is getting sanitized top to bottom and then flu season needs to just end. We are done with all the sick in this house!

Saturday was interesting. Ben was suppose to go on a hike with the scouts but only one of their scouts showed up so everyone went home and Ben got to go watch his dad fly a glider instead. He said he had a great time going to watch and I was thrilled he had the chance! After that we took the girls and went shopping. Not for anything particular but I of course found a few things which will be used as Birthday or Christmas gifts in the coming weeks.

 Bryan flying! big thumbs up!

Sunday was the primary program this week. It is my favorite week of the whole year every year! For those who are not LDS the primary program is the program that the kids ages 3-11 put on for our main meeting. It's a lot of singing and each kid has a little part that they get to say as well. Eliza did a great job it was so adorable to see her sitting up on the stand and saying her part. She is by far the youngest kid in the whole group but she still said her part and spent a good portion of the songs either singing or waving at Alayna.

Baby Face

This week I have be relying heavily on pandora radio for my sanity and the health and well being of my children. If you don't know what pandora is you really should find out! it is internet radio that allows you as the listener to type in an artist or some and they will pick a variety of songs that are similar to that particular genre! it has been wonderful we have listened to just about everything from toddler tunes to classical and it has really helped me keep my cool and be more patient with the girls as we have been on a bit of a TV purge. I have learned that the girls mood is often based on the amount of TV they have watched in a day the more tv they get the less impressive their moods are so we have been really really cutting back. there have even been days where it hasn't been turned on at all!
But that said our weeks have been so incredibly busy that I am not sure we really had a choice in the tv cut back.
Monday morning we had Eliza's first tumbling class. It was a hit she was very excited to go and had a great time. She came out just glowing and excited to show me (and pretty much anyone willing to watch her) do all the things she did in class that day. There is no space for us to watch so Alayna and I went to the park next door and walked around until she was wore out and ready to go back. After tumbling we went to the playground and played for a while before heading home for lunch naps and then another round at the playground this time with some friends. Eliza and Harley sure do have fun together and I love watching the combination of their little imaginations go running!

Tuesday was fun! I took the girls over to grandma Merritt's house while I went to the doctors office for another baby apointment! I got to hear a tiny little heart beat and see that the little peanut offically has a face now... sort of :-) The baby kept waving at us which was also cute to watch and other than that everything looks great! I have only put on 1 lb in the last 4 weeks which made me happy (no need to have excessive weight gain at this point in pregnancy!) After my apointment the girls, Abby and I all went down to Costco to say hello to aunt Mallory and pick up some things we needed! We had a good time and the girls were pleanty wiped out after such a fun morning!

 baby face! We get to find out gender in early December!

Wednesday was spent in Loveland having a playdate with Natalie and Jackson at the park by the library. We also made a quick stop at the library while we were there. They are in the middle of renovating there and everything is kind of a mess but the new sections that they have done are pretty darn impressive. I will be excited to go visit again when everything is done. After that we went to my mom's house for the afternoon to feed the girls and do some things over there for a while.

Thursday I had a dentist apointment that I had forgotten about until the night before so I rearranged baby sitting so that they girls would be taken care of (thank you grandma for saving me!) and then they had some play time at a friends house. A lot of errands got done that day including a trip to the doctor for an ear infection I thought that Alayna had. Turns out she didn't have an ear infection but she is apparently on the tail end of some other infection so she should be fine in a few days and I got some ear drops to use to future ear infections to get through those difficult nights! I spent the rest of that night being miserable and sick. Got a terrible pregnancy head ache and was so sick to my stomach I didn't know what to do! So after I got the girls in bed I joined them... in my own bed.

Friday we got up really early (for us) and went to Loveland so I could go do a senior photo shoot for a guy that Alan swims with. I felt like it went really well and liked the end result so hopefully they are pleased as well. The highlight of the day was finding a big red barn to use for future photo shoots! I am excited about it, possibly too excited but excited none-the-less! That was pretty much the whole day in a nut shell!

Saturday Ben had to work that morning. (poor guy! I'm so lucky to have him!) And the weather was terrible. It was raining and cold all day so the girls and I didn't do a whole lot that morning mostly just played in our jammies. I did get motivated and did a fun craft with the girls! we made an 'advent chart' of sorts to work our way to Halloween. We made paper jack-o-laterns that are hanging on the wall now. Each one has an activity for us to do together each day it should be fun! The one thing that didn't work great was it was a few too many to make than they were interested in... We made 20 of them and about 3/4 of the way through we had lots of really gluey pumpkins with nothing on them... oh well they did finish them all and I think they turned out cute!

 Eliza is a ham an Alayna was sleeping or she would have hamed it up with her sister!

Sunday has been good so far. We are having dinner at the Waite household tonight which is always fun and that has really been the week!