My Pride and Joy!!!

NANA has finally arrived!

So this week we are really excited to have my mom out visiting us. The girls are really funny because they are very specific about us calling her Nana NOT Grandma. Apparently Nana is my mom and Grandma is Brian's. I love that they remember who she is though so I'll teach myself to call her whatever they want! Anyways like always Nana is obsessed with shopping for the girls and putting them in matching outfits. Here is my new favorite outfit for them!

The three most important ladies in my life!

Got him hooked!!!

So Brian has watched me for months constantly on the computer blogging. He thinks it is nice but never really knew why I was totally obsessed. That is until today. I actually got him to make his own blog totally devoted to his interests. He loves gaming and is always telling me everything new that is out, coming out, being talked about, reviews and many more things. So now he has a blog where he can share all thing stuff and he loves with everyone. I know that there are a ton of guys that also enjoy the wonderful world of gaming, so if your husband is one feel free to share the blog with them. I know most of us are totally linked due to the blogging world so why not try to share that with our husbands. I doubt that they really want to know what all of our kids are doing but they might enjoy knowing what is new with Nintendo. Anyways here is the address http://olimars-journal.blogspot.com/ and the link is also under family as Olimar's Journal! Hope you all enjoy!

Ouch!

Well today we went to church childless so the girls could spend some much needed time with Grandma in Rigby. I thought this meant that I would get to Relief Society on time and would be looking good. We left the house with plenty of time and looking well put together. However about 10 seconds after Brian kindly let me out by the door I did it... I totally wiped out on the ice. Now it is embarrassing enough to fall anytime anywhere, but not at church in a dress! And of course Brian missed the whole legs flying up from under you and the skirt showing the whole world everything I worked so hard to conceal. But to top it off I did it in front of a million single guys headed in behind me. They probably had to keep from laughing as they had to help me get up with all my books and bags. Well after collecting myself I went into class and sat down to rest. That is when I felt the pain of my fall ever more. I totally bruised my hip arm and calf. I am home now resting it and feeling like an old lady walking around with a gimp. But I am happy that I fell without the girls in my arms and without breaking anything. This only instills how much I hate Idaho winters! Hooray for spring just around the corner. I wish everyone luck getting there before we all go crazy from being cooped up inside!

Daddy's Little Princesses!

The girls love to ride on Daddy's back. And they are dresses up in their princess dresses because they had a tea party with the daddy the prince. They are just too dang cute!

Chiropractors!

I have Brian pop by back every once in a while can you tell little eyes are watching!

The Flu found us!!!

So I am not sure if Isa is actually sick or just teething. However little Layla started crying after sleeping for a while so I went in to check on her. The moment I opened the door I knew what I was in for. I held my breath and then rushed to get her to the toilet and into a warm bath. You know you love your kids when they are puking all over you and all you can do is say,"Oh honey I am so sorry!" It isn't very often you apologize when someone does it on you! But my heart breaks every time she gets sick. She is just so little. I am never going to get her to 30 pounds. But we are lucky that Brian doesn't work tomorrow so we can all have a slumber party watching Dora. So in case you have avoided the flu this season good for you and I hope it doesn't find your family too. But for now think of us all tucked in for the long haul of laundry, movies and lots and lots of chicken soup!

Quote of the Day!

This is a quick post before I forget. I was watching one of my favorite shows What Not To Wear and heard a quote that made me laugh out loud because it is SO TRUE. "Life is so much brighter when your boobs are where they should be." I think anyone who has had kids knows this really hits home or at least it does for me!

Need to excerise!

Okay so I am really glad that the new way of eating is going well but now I need to exercise. I don't know what my problem is but I hate going to the gym alone. I just kind of wander around. So we are going to start at home! Wish me luck as I try to workout in my living room while the girls either sleep or help! I put together a work out video to follow which turned out pretty cool. I am really focusing on my post baby abs after the c-sections muscle just isn't a word I think they remember. If you go to fitnessmagazine.com you can customize your own workout which is fun. I have a new link on the side where I am going to post the links to the videos I use and like. So if you are like me and either can't ever get to the gym or just can't get the courage to go maybe these videos can give you a start as well!

Driving togerther!

The girls really crack me up when they actually get along! They have really gottan bored this winter so have bike time everyday so they can get good before they take on the pavement. So the girls are now riding together. There are a few pictures of Layla taking Isa around the house before the big fall!

Driving Miss Daisy!!!!

WARNING Do not try this at home. All stunts were done by actual drivers and no one was hurt in the event. All safety personell were present in the event of an accident.

My morning!

I once thought that getting my kids to bed by nine was doing prettty good. I really enjoyed sleeping in so that time worked out perfect for me. Then Brian was home at night more so we started to put the kids to bed at seven. Now this has been great because we actually get to spend time together everyday. And not just an hour but we get to spend several just hanging out like newlyweds. (you know before the kids and not being able to leave the house unless apart!) However the down side to this is that the girls don't seem to want to sleep for 14 hours like they use to. They sleep for 12 hours which means that at 7 am I am crawling out of bed half awake to watch Dora while we all wake up. Every once in a while I come up with a perfect solution to waking up to the sound of Isa screaming "Layla where are you? Layla Layla Layla Layla" for 20 minutes while I come out of a dream where we are lost at the mall. The solution is to just stay up after I get up to say prayers with Brian before he goes to work. Well on the days he goes in at 6 that seems great an hour to wake up, maybe read, shower (that hardly ever happens without an audiance) and many other things. But then his job wants him in at 5:30 and that just seems crazy! Anyways I think tomorrow is a day i try to slowly get out of bed after he leaves. I realize it is early and I am not a morning person but really how much extra sleep am I getting. You know how it is it takes like 20 minutes to finally settle in the bed alone and fall back asleep. Then I get woken up by the garbage truck, the dog, the neighbors alarm and last the sound of Isa yelling to see if anyone else is awake yet. So wish me luck as I get up before the sun is up and try to salviage a little time each day for myself. I know that Brian thinks it is great to come home and see us sitting on the couch all curled up together, usually with me asleep. Who can't resist this big morning hair but i think it might be a nice change if I smelled fresh and clean when he walks in the door! Oh well I'll stop rambling!

Like it or Love it?

So I had my hair done about a month ago and come home and didn't know it I liked it or loved it. Now after looking at the pictures and standing in the mirror for long spirts I still can't decide. However I did realize that the plain-jane hair isn't something I pull off well. When it comes to who I am despite my shyness I am definalety not just the same as everyone else. I think that everyone usually thinks along the same lines and I am pages off. But that is what my husband for some reason seems to love me so I won't worry about being... different. Anyways one day I will find the perfect haircolor/style that makes me look and feel like a happy and successful 25 year old. But for now I will settle for a crazy lady with two kids already!!!

Where oh where has my Edward gone?!?

So I just got to the middle of the book and I miss the never ending decriptions of my beautiful Edward. So I don't know who you all are imagining when you think of Edward but in my head he even makes my knees melt! All in all I have to say that I never thougth that I would get this sucked into a series. So for the few of you that have yet to read these books come on join in you really will love it!

New addiction!!!

So I finished the first book and now am aching to read the rest. I really don't read that often for many reasons. Of course there isn't ever time but mostly because I never find anything worth staying up late, getting up early, or working hard all day just to get to sit and relax with later! But after seeing that pretty much everyone that I know was reading and even those like me that read very little I decided to give it a try. And now I am addicted!

Cleaning off the ice!

Cleaning off the roof!

I am glad to say that we are back home in rexburg and our bedroom is almost dry. It actually flooded a lot more than we thought. There are a couple pictures of Brian attempting to clean off our roof to stop the flooding. After an hour he finally cleared our 6 foot icicles and two feet of ice on the roof!

Valentines Day!

We celebrated Valentines a day early this year since Brian wasn't working and the girls went to bed really early. It was great because brian planned it all. He made dinner and had a whole romantic nigth set up for us including dinner in bed. We also watched Titanic which was the first real date we went on 10 years ago and really saw about 10 minutes of the movie inbetween making out! It was wonderful. The next day that was the real valentines day we found out our bedroom was flooding from the ice on the roof. After about 5 hours we got all our stuff out of our room and into the girls, pulled the carpet up and began to dry out. It still isn't totally dry and we are going to have to replace the carpet and maybe part of closet. luckily we are renting and the owner is taking care of it all for us. And last it was great timing because we were already spending the week at my mother-in-laws hanging out with Brian's brother while she goes out of town. I never thought that you could flood in the winter but I guess that is what happens when you grow up in the midwest and are used to flooding from feet of rain.

Shedding the pounds!

Just a little update! Brian and I have finally fallen into the rhythm of eating healthy again and it shows on the scale if not in the mirror yet. I am glad to say that I am FINALLY loosing some of that baby weight I thought might never go away! We have a long way to go but I happy to say that I have lost 8 pounds and Brian has about doubled me in losses!

Tagged

A. The rules of this game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the question about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, and then leaves a comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog to get the directions.

10 yrs ago: Funny but the big things in my life were about the same. I was fifteen and struggling to overcome the stress of the hardest challenge in my life thus far. I had a wonderful boyfriend who was also my best friend in the whole world. With him by my side I was able to grow more than I ever thought possible and overcome all the obstacles that stood in the way of my happiness. That wonderful guy in now my husband and is continuing to do the same thing for me now as he did then.

5 Things on my list of things to do today:
1)Cook dinner
2) Get the bags packed for church
3) Set up a new cozy bed for tonight since we are staying at my mother-in-laws and the last two nights have left us stiff and tired
4) Read some of my new book
5) Play with the girls so they sleep really well tonight.

Things I would do if I suddenly was a Billionaire:
Pay off all our debt and then repay all those that have helped us over these last few hard years.

Build a new home with at least 5 bedrooms so that everyone has their own and at least two for parents that come visit.

Get a new cars for Brian and I. Also get a car for my mother-in-law so we can all sleep at night knowing that she is safe on these crazy Idaho roads.

Set aside money for the girls college, missions, weddings, and life thus afterwards.

Buy a plane and hire a private pilot to fly me home or fly family and friends out so where ever we are we are just hours away it we need it. (This is mostly for me since we all know I love my family and really could use then around more in my life! Plus I think my parents could use more breaks to see the crazy girls in our home more often!)

Last hire a private investigator to find out who my birthparents are so that I can finally get some long overdue answers to millions of questions!

3 of my bad habits:
This is horrible to say since I am suppose to be a professional cosmetologist but I bite my nails. It is a nervous habit that really I wish I could say I will quit but in all the years of trying it has never stuck past one stressful situation.

I am super organized. This should be a good thing but it gets to be O.C.D. when it comes to my house. I have a list of a million things I need to get done to make things EASIER around the house but really it just makes more work that I can't ever quite get done. Plus it drives me nuts not to have things done at the end of the day and with two kids and a dog they never do.

I judge others by their hair. Yes I know I am vain but really you can tell a lot about a person by their hair. I can tell the difference between those that want to look their best from those that are just plain trying to make up for something missing in their lives. And those that could careless what they look like from those who don't have the resources they need to take care of themselves. And last I can tell who is truly girly and those that pretend to be. If you don't know how to use a round brush to blow-dry your hair you are just plain faking it!!!!!

Places I have lived: Dallas Texas, Blue Springs Missouri, Provo Utah, and Rexburg Idaho.

Things most people don't know about me:
I was adopted when I was just a baby along with my two younger siblings. Everyone at college was confused when they met my Caucasian mother and Korean sister, I of course just said we came from the milk man until they finally caught on.

I don't like chocolate very much. I can eat it maybe once a week but more than that makes me sick. Same thing goes for peanut butter!

Last when I had both of my girls they were two months early, made me have hypothyroidism, made me pack on 65 pounds in a week and truly gave me the strength and trial I needed to make everyday in this world matter.

TAG- Now I tag Summer, Jessica, Sheena, and Julianne (you need something fun to keep you busy while you are waiting for Mr. Sam to arrive!!!)

MY INSPIRATION

Life is hard and I find myself fighting to keep myself sane at least once a day. There have been many people that have inspired my life and given me hope that no matter what the Lord is watching out for me and is there if only I ask. The two men that have taught me the most about myself, God, life and the whole meaning behind it all are these two men President Gordon B Hinckley and my husband. President Hinckley gave me guidance in his words, his love and his example since I was 14 years old. I remember going to hear him speak in Kansas City where I lived and truly knowing that the lesson he was teaching was inspired of God and meant for me to grow from. Not soon after I met Brian and totally fell in love young and probably silly at the time. Over the last 11 years I have gone through more stress, heartache, joy, love, pain, suffering, trial and growth. I owe this to these two men. Men who never give up on the person I can become. I get up every morning and as President Hinckley says, "try a little harder... do a little better". I know that when I fell short of the person I want to be Brian is there to believe in me. Sometimes I think that is all it takes, someone that sees more in you then you see in yourself, someone who sees the person you can become and won't let you give up before you get there. I am thankful for the many lessons I have learned from President Hinckley and will continue to learn as I study the lessons he has taught. And I am most thankful for my husband who continues to teach me what this life is all about. Nothing in easy and at times we can get overwhelmed. But when you find something (or in my case someone) worth all the hard times you will be surprised what you can endure and grow from. I am grateful that I will have eternity to continue to learn along side him. So I will leave a little note here to wish him a Happy Birthday, may this year be the best one yet!!!!! XOXOXOX

Let the race begin!

As some of you know once upon a time I was a small person, I mean 0-2 and extra small shirts. Then I had the joy of having two beautiful daughters. This put on seriously no kidding 100 pounds each time. For any person really this is shocking and totally insane. I did well at getting all but 30 or 35 pounds off each time. Now of course that is usually all everyone else every really gains. So this has totally bummed me out for the last 3 years. But yesterday was the day that all changed. I have decided that no more complaining about weight, fat, boobs that sag, bellies that jiggle, it is ALL GOING!! Yesterday Brian and I spent 150 dollars on food to feed us for just a week. I realize that I am going to have to move to afford to eat healthy but for now we aren't worrying about money just the annoyance of tugging and pulling every time you lean over or squat and then stand. Luckily Brian was nice enough to join me on this NEW WAY OF EATING to get back to our old selves. So wish us luck on the race to our old (much healthier) selves!!!

Stylists in training!

I don't know if the girls will follow my footsteps or those of my sister and go into the beauty industry but for now they are in training just incase. The girls love to watch me get ready and immitate everything I do. Now that they are both getting older I find them praticing on each other. Funny thing is they do a really good job for being so young. Every once in a while I get a little worried that I am going to turn them very very girly. They are pretty little girls and if they grow up just as pretty and ALWAYS have great hair we will have something to worry about. The best part of these pictures is that it was all them. I was doing the dishes and Brian was picking up the house. When we turned around there they were taking turns making themselves "buttyfull" as Layla says. I think with all this girlyness in the house a VERY FAR OFF DAY we should maybe think about having a boy!

How do kids grow up so fast?!?

It seems like kids just grow up in a blink of an eye! It really does seem like yesterday I was freaking out because I was headed to the hospital not knowing that in a few short hours I would become a mom. It was the scariest but most amazing thing I have ever gone through. And then to do it again was probably the craziest thing I ever did but everyday I thank God for my two little miracles and the sweet spirits they are. No two people have ever

• driven me more nuts
• made such a huge mess in seconds
• made me cry night after night
• brought me to my knees in thankfulness and to ask direction
• made me laugh so hard I almost peed just by being themselves
• brought such understanding in a world of confusion
• given me moment of happiness that can't be measured
• saved me from becoming just like everyone else
• defined who I want to be
• given me a reason to fight
• and most importantly given me a reason to hold on
  

It is crazy what kids do to us just be coming into our lives. And if you aren't paying attention they will be all grown before you know it. I love being a mom because it has taught me who I want to be and given me a reason to fight like crazy to become who I know I can.

Daddy-daughter ball!!!

I went to enrichment tonight and Brian got the girls to bed, or at least I thought. Isa went to sleep peacefully by herself which was a nice change. Then when I walked in the door this is what I saw. Little Layla having a ball with her dad (her Prince) Incase you can't see she is holding her dress just like Cinderella does when she is dancing with the prince. I guess they just put the part of the movie where they dance and sing on repeat for a half hour. So dang cute. When I had a short dance with layla before putting her to bed she could hardly hold up her head. I think we are going to have to break the kids up more often so that instead of listening to them talk, sing, look for Addie out the window for a half hour we should seperate them and put one to bed early. We will see but for now these two keep me smiling!

Must come clean...

A few friends have said that they like the music on the blog and visit just to listen. I too just turn on the blog to listen to my selection. But I can't take credit for having great taste I must give that to a show on TV One Tree Hill. I really like the show and watch it all the time. Every time I hear a song I like a jot down the episode and look up the song. I don't think I could ever find so many bands that just have that little something I like if it wasn't for TV. So yes I watch TV often just to find new music I like. But hey that is why the pay someone so much money to write the music script for these show right!?!

C.S.Lewis

I was reading the other day and came across one of my favorite thoughts by C.S. Lewis. Summing up what he said would not do him justice so here it is...."The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone, you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him less. There is, indeed, one exception. if you do him a good turn, not to please God and obey the law of charity, but to show him what a fine forgiving chap you are, and to put him in your debt, and then sit down to wait for his 'gratitude', you will probably be disappointed. (People are not fools: they have a very quick eye for anything like showing off, or patronage.) But whatever we do good to another self, just because it is a self, made (like us) by God, and desiring its own happiness as we desire ours, we shall have learned to love it a little more or, at least, to dislike it less." Mere Christianity pg 131There is a whole chapter on this some topic of charity toward people you may not like. He talks about how not liking someone isn't a sin just the way it is. However not doing charity toward those you don't like is. You can't help what you feel it is simply a natural instinct. It is what you do with those feelings that is important. True charity comes from doing good because as he said, they are a "self" just as we are. I really needed to be reminded of this because at times I have let those who have let me down because they lacked charity and I needed their help to really get me down. I am learning more and more that charity is hard for most people. Not to say in anyway that I am perfect but to be told that someone could use help and turn my back is something I simply can't do. I hope that this little inside look at charity will help me grow to do charity toward those I don't like. (This area I really suck at!) Just a thought that was on my mind yesterday!

Can you tell they are sisters or what!

When the girls are not together you can tell that one looks like me and one looks like Brian. (I think it is easy to tell which belongs to which.) Isa really is Layla a year ago with brown hair and not sickly like she was at that age. I really have no idea what these two are going to look like when they are grown up but they sure are going to turn heads!

Little Isa and her new hairdo

I don't know if every parent is as proud as we are but seriously I think she is the cutest little kid in the world. Her sister is just as cute but she has to have her hair fixed to see her face. Isa just has a cute tiny round head that is always smiling all secretive at us. The best thing she does is when I am cross with her and tell her to look at me she bows her head down just looking up at me through her bangs and then puts her forehead up against mine while I talk to her. She as learned that this just melts me and makes me laugh ever single time.

New Haircut.... what a cutie!!!!

Here are the good pictures of Layla's new haircut... she is getting so grown up!

Guilty!!!!

I tried to get a good picture of Layla's new haircut to put into my portfolio of hairstyles to display when I try to get a job and then work as a stylist again. I got a few good pictures but this one is my favorite THE MUG SHOT!!!!!! This week she is guilty of not keeping anything she thinks in... she says it all. I am not sure where she comes up with the things that come out of her mouth but it is funny. One of these days I will post a list of the funny things she says!

Mystery continues...

Well Isabel has now had some horrible tummy problems the last 12 hours which looks like she got sick like we did. However i did not give her the same dinner that we had. However she did have some of the pork the day before and I don't think Layla ate any. Now this leads us to think the pork was bad... but we aren't sure! All I know is I am totally sad that something we ate was bad. First you can't eat canned goods because they can get you sick. Then you can't trust meat for all sorts of reasons. And as we all know there is always a new fresh vegetable that is giving people food poisoning... I guess I just have to deal with the fact that no one especially me is immune from getting sick from something you eat! But I am glad to say that over 24 hours have gone by and we are all feeling a lot better!!!

Food Poisoning

So I really pride myself on the fact that I am a good cook. I have really only made a few meals that we didn't really like. And I don't follow recipes all that often because I like to experiment. Well Sunday I made a dinner that used half of the pork I had. So I found a new recipe that I thought I would try for a change, get some new ideas. We worked at the temple that day so it went into the crockpot and we ate it later that night with friends that helped babysit the girls. Well needless to say as you can guess from the title we all got food poisoning. Luckily I was too lazy to fix it for the girls I just gave them spaghetti. Thank goodness. It was hard enough having Brian and I in and out of the bathroom all day long. But I think we are over the worst of it and feeling a little better.

The Fabulous Sledding Girls!!!!

Daniel's Birthday Party!!!!

Saturday the family went to their friend Daniel's Birthday Party. This is Daniel in the picture with Layla. The girls had a great time and absolutely loved playing on the gymnastic equipment. We got a few good pictures and videos to share! I think that once Brian starts working and making us some money we are going to invest in putting the girls into classes here! Nothing beats a tired and happy kid that sleeps 14 hours after playing! I mean really can you put a price on that?!?





So funny story to go along with this post. Layla is a smart kid and really gets most of what we say now which is fun. However she gave us an update on how clueless she can be this week. As we were getting ready to go to the birthday party she asked if it was her birthday. I said no her birthday is still far away. So she got out a stool and was looking out the window when she said this... "Where is my birthday? I can't find it, I think it went to far far away. Do you see my birthday? I just don't see it!" Somehow she decided that a birthday is something that you can see. Funny the things she comes up with!

New Year and a crazy one at that!!!

So I think that we have started the year off in a way only we could. On New Years eve we of course had grandma babysit so we could break out and be social and go to a party. On the way out the door with food in head we locked ourselves out of our house. Poor Sophie was stuck inside so we couldn't just wait until the morning to call a locksmith. We tried ever window in the house and finally came to the conclusion that our bedroom window was the only one that was unlocked and we could get it. Of course without a massive ladder this is impossible. But our kind neighbors tracked one down and brought it over with their H3. While trying to slide the window over Brian put his hand through the glass. This not only hurt but dumped glass everywhere. Of course we were thinking at least we got in. YEAH RIGHT, our windows are double paned and we still had to call a locksmith at 11:45 pm and pay for him to open the house and now must replace a window too.

Incase that wasn't a good enough way to start off the year i think we have changed our college plans on what Brian is doing about twenty times in ten days. I am still not completely sure on what we are doing but I have decided that the temple at the top of the hill is the only thing that is going to keep me sane while we try to figure it all out. So Happy New Year to all our friends and family and we hope you have a less eventful year then us... avoid the drama as much as you can!