DAY 9

I got the dang cavities filled. Yippee. I guess it is my goal to see how many places I can ask medical professionals to numb me while I'm on break. I hate the feeling of being numb almost as much as I hate pain. It's scary! It gives me anxiety. My teeth are all better now, and the numbness is going away with minimal tongue biting, so I guess it belongs on the "SUCCESS" list.

Here's another SUCCESS from last night:

BAKING BREAD WITH CHEF TESSIE
(View the photos in order for the story.)

This is a Tessie's Tutorial on how to bake cinnamon swirl bread with Mommy, just like I used to make with my mom when I was really little. I figured this activity was cheap, delicious, pretty easy, and it would keep Tessie busy for a solid hour. There aren't many things that can keep her attention that long. We had so much fun in spite of the mess and other mishaps, and the bread turned out to be delicious! I think we'll make it a weekly tradition.

One thing (there are thousands) that I really loved about my mom's parenting was that she would often give my brother and I the tools to accomplish something and just let us go, no matter how messy we were or how awful it turned out. I'm sure it was hilarious to watch as her little three-year-old made pies, painted ceramics etc. She and my dad always let me cook with them. Now that I'm a parent I realize that was probably not an easy thing to do. Letting a toddler whisk up some pancake batter could result in hours on scrubbing later, but they let us help. We learned from our mistakes. Now, we are pretty brave about trying things we've never done because the we know the worst that could happen is we'll ruin it. We've ruined plenty of things in our lives, so it isn't scary to us.

SUCCESSES
-Baking Bread
-David and I finally saw Frozen!
-Cavities are filled.
-Tessie and I had a great day, drama-free.
-I got lots of Leo snuggle time today.
-Dave came home for lunch just to change a diaper and get Tessie to take a nap.

FUNNY LATER
-Really late night. Hardly any sleep.
-Numb mouth for most of the day.
-Leo screamed and woke up Tessie just as I closed my eyes for my own nap. I was so close to getting one!

DAY 8

Sucesses

 - I made it to the dentist today with the help of David's mom who watched the kids for an hour.

Funny Someday

- I have three cavities.

I never have cavities. I'm a tooth brushing fiend. I had one when I was five, and one "almost cavity" in college. This is an outrage. I blame all the pink cookies I ate when I was pregnant. I'm getting them filled tomorrow. Thanks again, Dave's mom.

At least my kids are cute. Oh! And we made it to the grocery store today! Huge accomplishment!

Day 7 and Weekend

Grading grading grading, fireside, grading grading grading grading.

That sums up the past three days. Grades are due tonight, and since I am not back to work yet I had to grade everything via email. This, I found out, was not ideal. It took about one million years. The good news? I finished it all with the help of cute husband! He kept me organized, read me names and class periods, and brought me hot chocolate. What a guy!

Helping me and taking care of two kids is really tiring.

Other than grading, Friday also consisted if all three of us (me and two babies) crying under the kitchen table. Long story short: Tessie doing something dangerous when I couldn't protect her, me loosing temper shortly, me feeling badly about loosing temper at a baby, me crying and feeling guilty, Tessie crying because mommy was crying. Baby cried too just to join in the fun.

We all made it through the day, but I'll admit, it was a rough one.

Saturday night we were invited to sing in David's parents' ward fireside. They serve in a BYU singles ward for students. I had forgotten how quiet singles wards can be. There aren't any kids. There are no noises during prayers. No moms bouncing in the back to calm their child. People just sit there and listen. Once we arrived, pandemonium ensued. Lots of wiggles, squeals, spit-ups, peeing of one's dress, and lots of yelling and running for "gampa" who was sitting on the stand. There were only three kids present, Tessie, Leo, and their cousin, and yet we sounded a little like a zoo. A lot of people looked at us like we were ruining the fireside. In the words of a dear friend and mom, "I don't think I'll feel the spirit again until they are 18." :)

The best part was having to bring all three kids up with us while we sang. Tessie was actually  great and sang along. Leo slept through it in his carrier. (Whoo! Prayers are answered.) Their little cousin had a great time because he got to suck on his mommy's hand while she sang. Ah. The things we do to keep them quiet.

"Sure, I'll be reverent and calm!"

SUCCESSES

- Sang in fireside and got a cookie afterward.

- Hot chocolate.

- Grading is done.

- Nice dinner with my family on Sunday. It included pie.

- No one is currently sick or injured.

FUNNY LATER

 - Baby gate is down... Remember the dangerous thing mentioned above? It involves all three of us falling through it and bending one of the screws. Dang.

- Wetting pants at Fireside. (I'll let you guess who.)

- Crying, grading, crying crying.

DAY 6

SUCCESSES

-This outfit.

-A really nice walk around the mall with David and the kids to test out the new (dun dub dun) double stroller, or "train." (Tessie says "choo-choo" when she sees it.)

FUNNY SOMEDAY

-This. (Warning, this is gross.)

Yes, that is poop on my leg and bed. Right after I cleaned this up Leo peed on the same leg and bed. Then he pooped again as soon as I got a diaper back on him.

-I lost my temper with Tessie today when she slapped my face... That's what I get for trying to brush her teeth like a meanie. Don't worry. We are still friends. We forgave each other quickly, and both promised to be better tomorrow.

DAY 5

SUCCESSES

-I got dressed and did THIS!

http://youtu.be/VJjY18LqnKg

I love the Thank You Party. Every cast from the previous Season performs a scene from their show, treats are shared, people are recognized, and best of all, I get to reunite with wonderful friends. It is amazing to be in a room of so many people that you love so much!

Thanks to my mom and dad for watching the cuties so we could go.

FUNNY SOMEDAY

- The house is a mess. Huge mess.

DAY 4

Today's post will be a little different. Today I honor things that I miss now that I am in this new phase of life, as well as things I will miss once this phase is over.

Things I miss:

- Getting ready for the day from start to finish.

Right now it takes me more than two hours to get showered and dressed because each step us interrupted by a baby emergency. Examples: shutting one's finger into a drawer, spilling food, putting Mom's checkbook down the heat vent, hunger, wet diaper, spit up, crying for no real reason, wanting to do every step the same as Mommy without help, wanting to eat toothpaste etc.

-Sleep.

One hour increments just don't do it.

-Eating an entire meal from start to finish and eating all of my own food.

Right now it is common to find me feeding the baby while I eat because somehow he knows that I was about to enjoy a hot meal, and he was apparently sent here to prevent that. Meanwhile, Tessie will think the food on my plate and my drink look way better than her meal, even though it is the exact same, so she reaches over and helps herself. I can't really stop her because my hands are full, and let's be honest, it was gross and cold by then anyway. If this scenario doesn't happen, one of the above crisies will occur.

-Fitting into pretty clothes.

Even after everything starts to fit again, why bother? It will be covered in spit up before you leave the house.

-Just leaving the house.

Leaving used to take four seconds of prep time. Grab keys, leave. Now, you have to plan it the day before and even then it doesn't always work out.

-Hearing myself say normal human sentences.

These days I find myself concocting sentences that I never dreamed would need to exist.

"Please stop licking the toilet seat."

"Are you hungry or farting?"

"Toothpaste isn't to eat, it's to clean your teeth. See? Ch ch ch ch."

"Putting on diapers is fun to do, to do to do to do to do..."

"Yep. That IS your bum. Good job!"

Adults never need to say these things to one another.

THINGS I WILL MISS:

-Snuggling with a newborn.

Tessie never liked being close to anyone, but Leo loves it. I'm trying to embrace that while it lasts.

-Tessie admiring me enough to want to do things the way I do.

She watches me so closely. It's a good reminder to be on my best behavior. I know eventually she'll realize what a dork I am.

-Infant clothing

Babies don't know they look foolish with a monkey hat on. (Or a Yoda hat)

-My sweet babies

Cliche, but they grow so fast. My sweet little baby girl is still in there somewhere, but right now she is disguised as a curious, energetic, squirrel-like tornado. I love this funny toddler stage, but I will miss my dopey little babies when they both grow into kids.

-Only one baby is mobile.

Once they are both walking... Yikes!

DAY 3

Two big things today.

First, Leo had an early appointment this morning to get an echo-cardiogram due to a heart murmur. It was such a sad sight, seeing my little dude wired up to all these machines. He was so good. He just sat there and took all the tests like a champ with only minimal squiggling.

I am happy to report that every test went really well, and the murmur should disappear on its own before he is a year old. Whew! He'll have a few follow-up checks, but he should be just fine.

In other good news, my tiny little guy gained more that two pounds in the past week and a half! That means all these late-night feeding sessions are worth it.

The second bit of news: THIS.

I have been in denial for some time now about needing a double-stroller. If you need a double stroller it is official. You indeed have two children to haul around. I kept thinking if I avoided the stroller I could avoid the reality of having to take both of them places. It seemed impossible. I broke down today and found a great stroller. I like the color. The seats pop in and out. It was super on-sale. It is easy to steer. It isn't too heavy, and Tessie says "choo-choo" when she sits in it. (Because it is about as big as a train...)

The above photo is a huge success for two reasons. First, I faced reality. Second, I actually got all three of us in the car, inside a store and back home all by myself.

Successes

-It only took us two hours to get into the car. (Has this happened to any other parent? You feed both kids, get their coats on, and pack up the diaper bag. You are ready. One diaper needs to be changed really quickly and then you can leave. While you change one, the other kid poops. While you change the other kid, the first kid poops again. While you change that kid, he poops on himself and his outfit. Pee flies through the air! The other kid is crying because they still have their coat on and they are getting sweaty. You clean up everything and finally try to leave, getting both kids in their car seats, only to realize your other child is now hungry again... And the other one just pooped.)

-The double-stroller was the last one in stock, so we got to take the sample one which was on-sale and already assembled!

-Leo is growing.

-Tessie and David had an amazing tooth-brushing session this morning. Thank you Netflicks for distracting Tessie enough that she didn't even notice Dave scrubbing her teeth like crazy.

-Both kids took a nap at the same time.

-I had time to get a route 44 drink from Sonic today. Love me some Cherry Lime Diet Dr. Pepper.

FUNNY SOMEDAY

-Early-morning ECHO test after no sleep, but at least everything is okay.

-6 poop diapers in less than one hour while trying to get to the store.