Last Friday/Saturday

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Love this:



And love this even more:

Learning to use utensils is tough, so she holds the spoon in her left hand and scoops the food into her mouth with her right hand.

Morning Mess

Evening Mess

*And please don't think I never brush her hair. I do her hair multiple times a day and yet it still ends up like that after only 10 minutes.

I Guess Every Parent Has One of These Stories

Tonight Siena proved her defiant skills again and after a big scolding, I got her ready for bed. She was unhappy, I was unhappy and the whole rest of the evening didn't look great. However, after some time, I made a peace offering of a sippy cup of milk and we were both smiling again.

As I started to change her diaper, she finished her milk and flashed a huge grin at me while patting her now-full belly. I patted it too and we both laughed at the sloshy sound it made. Then I leaned down to give her some gobble-kisses on the cheek...

Right then, she spit up... and yes, it channeled straight into my mouth!

Nasty!
Nasty!
Nasty!

I spit it right out and stared wide-eyed at her with a "Why do you hate your mommy?!" expression. She just looked back at me and laughed like it was an hilarious joke. All I could do was chuckle right along with her because she didn't do it on purpose, yet the timing was... opportune.

Linvilla Orchards- Spring Visit

(This post is long overdue.)

Last week my friend Jen and I took the kids to Linvilla to see the animals and play on the playground. It was no surprise that Siena LOVED the farm animals and lingered around all the pens and fences. She even tried feeding the ducks with Olivia--couldn't figure it out, but tried. Later, she thought that feeding the chickens would be fun, so she gathered small rocks and weaved her hand through the fence with her offerings; luckily, we had no bites from the disappointed hens before I snatched her hand out of the fence.

She snorted at the pigs, quacked at the ducks and played to her heart's content on the playground... and her mommy decided that maybe 1.5 years old isn't that bad afterall.

Siena-isms

Some of laughs we've had from Siena lately:

• She is now counting... well, only to 2, but it's a start. The funny thing is that she counts like this: "Uno... Two...." Poor, confused child, but we're glad she's counting.
  
• She now has a third pink bunny, thanks to her sweet cousin Shanelle. That makes her bunny family complete and she plays "family outings" with them all the time. This morning she was fixated on the largest bunny's fluffy tail; all of the sudden she started pointing to it and saying, "Poo poo". Uh... I had to laugh. This whole potty training experience is a slow work in progress--but progress none the less.
• And speaking of potty training- yesterday I had to take her in to the day care for a few hours. After her class woke up from naptime, they all were taken one-by-one to the potty and left to "do their business". I guess the teachers didn't realize that Siena was only 1 1/2 years old and not used to the big potty seat and they left her there by herself, thinking she was capable. A few moments later, one of the teachers heard a "Uh...uh...uh...uh...uh"; when she walked in to check on Siena, she found her with her ankles up by her ears, stuck in the toilet bowl. When the teacher related the experience to me, she started with, "Stacia, I think I've ruined potty training for you forever." :) No harm done, but HILARIOUS!

Easter

Since it's 12:30 a.m. and I'm waiting for homemade rolls to come out of the oven (...craving...'nuff said,) I figured it was about as good a time as any to blog away.

Easter was so memorable this year. This will be one of the last holidays before the Perry and Arthur families leave for real jobs in the real world, so we had to get everyone together for a nice meal. Okay, okay... a nice meal would constitute fine dinnerware and fresh flowers, but we're not that good- paper plates and dollar store decor worked for us. Anyway, all the little girls were so fun to watch as they hunted for eggs in the living room. (Yes, we did let the grass in our front yard grow really long so we could have the egg hunt out there, but it was too cold outside, so we moved it inside.) Even the adults had a little egg hunt with hard-boiled eggs... who says we can't have our fun, too?






As always at this time of the year, Christians all over the world turn their thoughts to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. With Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk from this past General Conference and the words spoken in church yesterday at the forefront of my mind, I have once again felt a new strength from the knowledge of the Gospel. It's even more than just the knowledge of the Gospel... it's the presence and acknowledgment of the Lord's tender mercies in day-to-day life. Knowing that the Savior willingly atoned for the sins and pains of the world so we would be able to return to live with God again according to our faithfulness is a comfort and blessing. It is no coincidence that Easter Sunday and Christmas Eve Mass are the most attended days for Christian sects during the year-- they are times celebrated for the most important moments in the history of this world. However, I wonder if all of us Christians took the time to consider the events that inspired these holidays throughout the year, how much more worship would take place, and how different even just our friendships, neighborhoods, and personal lives would be. I once again feel a greater responsibility to better myself and also to share my testimony of the Savior with those who may not know or even realize the importance He holds in our lives. I guess the best way I can do that is by trying to understand more fully the importance He holds in my own life and by sharing the light I've been blessed with (see Matthew 5:15).

Good Friday- a Good Friday

Since I didn't have to work today, we got to play with some friends all afternoon. Aleah and Kanani got to come over and have a picnic, then we went to the Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse. Here's our day:

Picnic on our front lawn

On our way to the playhouse.
Can't believe it, but we did it- 3 carseats in our car at one time! (This picture was taken for the drive there. The drive back home was very unpleasant, as can be expected from two nap-less toddlers.)

First stop- trains and playhouses

Then on to the foam gym toys

Balance is not her best skill, so she kept it low-key and stuck with this.

Upstairs in the "Everything Room"

Being little mommies

The next Julia Child

A stop in the basement of Smithville- a.k.a. "Car City"

Nani is a pro behind the wheel.

Siena pumping gas for her friend

Mostly interested in pushing the vehicles, not riding them

But definitely obeys the law

Moving outside to the playground; this place has the best playground toys I've ever seen. This is a pic of a merry-go-round with a climbing net. It was a big hit with most of the kids there and it was a big hit with Siena, too... literally. She got in the way on the ground when they were pushing it in circles and ended up getting trampled. Besides the bloody lip, she was fine; not the worst that could have happened, but it shocked all of us mommies on the sidelines because it happened so suddenly. None of us saw it coming, but I still feel horrible that I let her get in the way.

Roaming the park

Looking for the next fun place to stop

How about the big wooden slide? Chelsea was such a sport and took the three, yes 3, girls down all at once.

Then Siena flew solo.

Like I said, awesome playground equipment.

Taking a breather

Playing on the tire swings

"Nani"- whose name Siena finally can say

Looking for more fun

Looks like Nani found it

Then came Siena, who wasn't about to let Nani relax. She didn't like the swings, which is so odd because those were her favorite things at parks last summer.

It was such a fun afternoon; I think we took it at a good pace and spent the perfect amount of time there. We all came home exhausted and happy, so it was a day-off well-spent.

Fingers and Toes

We painted Nena's nails yesterday... inspired by her little friend Nani. It was a disaster.

After a healthy allocation of nail polish remover, they look the originally-intended part.

Another Big Step

After a long search for a toddler bed, we finally found one on Craigslist. Siena is still fascinated with it--that is, as long as the lights are on. We decided to introduce the changes of the bed and the rooms at the same time so she wouldn't have to go through change after change. After realizing that she was not happy once we turned off the lights in the new room and closed the door, we dug through the miscellaneous drawers in our house and found a nightlight we've never used. It helped a little, but the crying continued. Oh, how I hate leaving her when she's alone and crying; but, we stayed strong and she's been able to cry herself to sleep after only a little time alone. Last night, Juan and I listened to the pitter patter of her feet from the room below and just laughed. We are sure she was trying to find a book or toy to amuse herself, but we have learned to put everything away on a high shelf before her bedtime so she has no choice but to go to sleep. Mwah ha ha ha, what tricky parents you have, Siena.

I'm already considering the consequences of the nightlight, but I'm not too worried because I have thought of a plan to "wean" her from it. Glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, maybe?