my blah blog...

i allowed audrey to pick out her outfit yesterday (we didn't need to go anywhere). this is what she came up with... i really like the black leggings and starfish barrett.

and i just thought sadie looked cute for church on sunday...

i put on some music last night while i made dinner and audrey was going to town with her dance moves and i asked reese why he wasn't dancing, he said he couldn't dance b/c he didn't have a skirt on...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

sorry, i just think my kids are cute and funny...

my Tatooine

"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."
—Luke Skywalker to C-3PO (referring to Tatooine)

well, several people have likened my place of residence unto this fictional planet called Tatooine, where Luke Skywalker grew up. my brother Jon has specifically talked about this and his anxiousness (like Luke) in getting away from here b/c it is so baron and ugly. (he now lives in rexburg) i would agree that it does have some similarities to the fictional planet. some call it ugly here, but i like it. i love the openness of the sky and the feeling of space. the hills are lovely and the sunsets are beautiful. it frosted here one day and it looked like just beautiful...

anyway...

as i was looking up how to spell Tatooine, i stumbled across this hilariously ridiculous website...called "wookipedia". sometimes i use wikipedia (a free online encyclopedia)...it is similar to that only it is...ALL THINGS STAR WARS. it was so funny! it had so much detail it was overwhelmingly absurd, but funny at the same time. from the life span of a wooki to all the species that thrive on different planets...this site knows everything...you should check it out even if just for laughs...

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

so, anyway, that is where i got all of my information below and photos on the planet "Tatooine" which is very similar to where we live, which is why i am interested in it....for your reading pleasure....

***Tatooine (pronounced /tætu'in/) was a desert world in a binary star system in the Arkanis Sector of the Outer Rim.
It was inhabited by poor locals who mostly farmed moisture for a living. Other activities included used equipment retailing and scrap dealing

Tatooine is hot and arid as it was heated by two nearby suns, Tatoo I and Tatoo II. In fact, it was so brightly lit by the suns from space it could appear to be a star itself. Due to the extreme conditions, only a relatively mild region of its northern hemisphere was habitable. Surface water covered less than 1% of the planet.

However, it would still play a role in galactic events, serving as the home of Anakin Skywalker and the place where his son Luke would be kept safe until his early adulthood. ***

i wish i could be an expert on something....even if it is all just completely fictional...would that be a waste of time??:)

my costume kids

so, the kids love to dress up. audrey is always cinderella, but she has taken a shine to the black wig that we have. audrey is a month younger than the girl she is standing next too. why does she look like a giant in this photo?
reese is more versatile, here are some of his looks....
his toungue is in a weird place in his knight outfit...(dont be alarmed). reese will also dress up as snow white , but i dont have a picture of that one :) they have great imagination s!
audrey has not accepted the fact that is is cold here. she has a really hard time dressing warmly and she refuses to wear shoes and socks half the time. she is a summer girl. here she is in her undershirt with her belly showing...i will have her dressed for the day and then she will come out in a completely different outfit...ahhhh...the independant 4 year old.

my high school shirt

so, every month or two i get the overwhelming urge to clean and purge my home of its unwanted-s. i feel like we collect a lot of clutter and many times things don't get put in their rightful spots. so i have piles of things on this and that.

well, my walk in closet takes quite a beating. i have many several "baby" pounds to lose and i try on lots of clothes and they might not fit the right way, so i throw them on the ground and try on something else instead of putting it back in its place. i feel a mad rush in the mornings to get showered, dressed, and breakfast ready before the kids tear the house too much apart (or each other). so i don't necessarily have time to contemplate my outfits. ANYWAY....

last night i decided to purge my closet and organize it...again...

i have a pretty ugly button down shirt that i bought at banana republic in bridgewater, NJ in 1993. WHY have i had this hideous shirt since high school? WHY am i holding on to this pirate shirt? it is WAY to big for me now (and i am at my heaviest), it has stains on the front, a small hole in the back, it practically comes down to my knees in length, and the sleeves are puffy...PUFFY...and tapered at the ends(the picture does not emphasize its hideousness!)

now maybe i thought that it would look good under sweaters...maybe i liked the little stars pattern...

but that time is long past, i am throwing it away and not looking back. why would i hold on to such an ugly article of clothing for almost 15 years? does anyone hold onto ugly clothes that long? i mean, i might do some shopping at a thrift store now and again, but to hold onto such an ugly huge shirt and maybe wear it once a year is so ridiculous...

i don't know why i have such strong feelings about it. i think its b/c i am in that purging mood, and i sometimes just cant let go.

but i am this time...and my closet is cleaned and organized...and all is well again.

my adventurous audrey

what can i say about my oldest child audrey? she has always been a climber. she has always been an explorer. audrey has a great imagination and she is very creative. she has a great personality. she is fun! she likes to be silly and tell jokes. she likes to PARTY! she has BOUNDLESS energy. she is hard to slow down. she is a social butterfly. she just wants to be friends with everyone. she is usually unafraid of life and always wants to see whats around the corner. audrey is very independent. she likes to do things on her own. she loves to pick her clothes for the day. this has caused some battles...i don't really approve of her wearing jeans with shorts over them when she goes to preschool. now she likes to "fix" her own hair.

this picture was take a couple of months ago, but nothing has really changed...here she has on 3 shirts, sweat pants, shorts and "gloves"(aka: socks). i love her.

she has such big, bright eyes, and that really reflects her spirit. she usually tries to look on the bright side of things. she is so well rounded, she likes the outdoors, running, bugs and getting dirty, but she also like clothes, princesses, jewelry and "treasures" (usually anything sparkly... beads, buttons etc.). occasionally, her spirits need to be corralled into submission...but she is getting better at controlling her abounding love of life. audrey is a great organizer! she is getting meticulous about her treasures, she lays things out by color or category.

we enjoy having her...who wouldn't... she is so fun and upbeat! i love her fearlessness and confidence.

if you see audrey, she usually has a big smile on her face and she is usually in motion.

my sweet sadie

so, sadie was born nov. 7th. that would make her a little over 2 months now. she has been such a wonderful addition to our family. she is so little and new. she has been smiling and cooing for a couple of weeks now and it is so fun to watch her learn and grow everyday. she is so snugly and warm. she loves to be cuddled. she has such a sweet gentle nature. she seems so calm. she rarely cries and fusses and when she does, i can usually calm her immediately. she is such an "easy" baby. she is sleeping all night (usually...there are a few slip ups) from about 10 until 6 or 7. audrey and reese love her so much. reese is especially gentle and sweet to her. he always says "i love my new little baby sister."

she has a really beautiful face and some pretty chubby cheeks. but she has these little ankles and cinderella feet.

can you guess which one is sadie and which one is audrey??? they look so much alike!!

sadie just had a doctor appt. today and all is well. she is almost 13 pounds (94th percentile) and she is 23 inches long (75TH percentile). so she is a big 2 month old girl.

she had 4 shots, and she cried big tears...which made me sad b/c she hardly cries. but she was as soon as i picked her up.

she is so comforting to me and i and love her tender, so sweet, and mellow personality. i cant say enough about her. i am so excited to be with her!

picture of her band aides, and check out that double chin!!!

my rambunctious reese

so, here is my reese. he is so many things. he is so cuddly and sweet. he is so kind to his baby sister, so loving. he ALWAYS wants to kiss her. he is so amazing. he communicates so well. he speaks almost as well as his 4 year old sister. he talks in paragraphs. he knows so many things colors, opposites, counting, the alphabet etc. he is really a smart little 2 year old. he understands and comprehends a lot of things. he loves sports and balls and the train set that G&G huff got for him, he also loves my little ponies and princesses. he is a great runner (more of a gallop) and he is fun to watch play. he is CONSTANTLY asking me for food and snacks. however, his mood is slightly altered at the drop of a hat. if he is tired, hungry or just because its 2 degrees cooler than he likes, he really struggles with his emotions. he is definitely AGGRESSIVE...as little shayla (the girl i babysit) will attest too. he has left a full blown dental impression on her forearm. he says he is "upset" or "ornery" or "sad" a lot. this last christmas when santa asked him if he had been nice or naughty, reese immediately replied that he had been naughty. here he is climbing the counter trying to sneak some cookies.............

sometimes i dont know how to harness his anger or mood swings. he yells a great deal, even just when he is playing...or if he is mad. he will slump his shoulders and drop his head and walk away and say he feels sad. he is definitely dramatic and has EXTREME emotions/anger issues.
i struggle with keeping him content, but i love how he loves me. he is physically affectionate. he loves to cuddle(when he is happy) and he loves to give me kisses.

i love his pudgy little hands. his
knuckles are "dimpled".

he adds so much excitement and fun to our small family. i always love him.

my lack of sleep

okay, so i am over it now...but this morning was another story.

i was so devestated by the events that transpired during the late evening and all thru the night.

so, basically bedtime is a constant battle with reese. he is up 20-30 times before he finally gives in to his worst enemy, no, no...his arch enemy...calmness and serenity...and then finally sleep. i have tried no naps, short naps, long naps, running him around outside, bedtime stories...etc. we have had a routine at bedtime since he was born. brush teeth, read a book, then bed. but for some reason, he absolutely will not stay in bed and fights it will every fiber of his being. he falls asleep last and gets up first.

so after he fell asleep around 9:30 (we layed them down at 8:15, audrey will try to negotiate another drink or something, but she usually stays down and goes to bed.) my night was just begining. sadie was wide awake until about midnight. i fed her at 11:00pm. she has always been easy, and not much of a fusser, but for some reason...maybe it was our dinner....she was wide eyed and fussy/fidgety...so after she dozed off around midnight, i tried to trick myself into believing that i would get some zzzzzzzzz's about an hour later reese started yell/crying. you know that sound? it is not just crying, but forcibly projected yelling SLASH crying. i wait a few minutes to see if he will calm himself down, but i cannot stand that noise for very long...so i go in and tell him to calm down and go back to sleep. he says okay and does.

then another hour and half later, the same thing happens with reese. then sadie is passing gas, so she is starting to fuss...then reese again. then sadie, then audrey chimes in and starts yelling "MOM, MOM, MOM..." at the top of her lungs, she has to go to the bathroom, but is too afraid to get up in the dark. then sadie wakes up agian, by this time it is about 5:30am. she is crying, so i get up and give her her pacifier like 4 times in a matter of 30 minutes. by then, everyone was "GETTING UP FOR THE DAY":) i usually get up at 5:30am b/c that is when the girl i babysit gets here. but i didnt have to babysit her today, so last night i naively thought "oh, good, i will get to sleep in till 7 b/c i dont have to babysit". so, that was my night/early morning. i suppose i need to accept the fact that i no longer will have stretches of sleep more than 2-3 hours long. the sooner i embrace it the easier it will be. now i am laughing at how commical it was and how silly my kids are. but at 6am it was another story...

my goings on...

sadies blessing day

so much has happened the last couple of months. it has been so busy but fun. of course for me the most exciting was the birth of sadie. she is probable the "easiest" baby so far. she is so mellow and quiet and a little sweetie. she is smiling and trying to "talk". i love being by her.

she was blessed dec. 10th (michael's b-day) by michael, dad blodgett, dad huff, chris huff, jon, uncle brent, uncle tom, and bishop. it was really special. i loved having so many family members there. we have such a great family! unfortunately we didnt get a picture of everyone that was there.

we have so many birthdays in november...all 3 of my kids (i take full responsibility for them) both my parents, michael's father...its our anniversary etc.

then we had christmas....it was fun to hang out with everyone. i really like not worrying about travel during the holidays. it is nice when everyone comes to you! amy and riley came and ryan and melanie...that was nice. christmas eve was really fun at grandma's house. oh my gosh, brad dickman was the best santa!!! i enjoyed the party more, i think, b/c my kids performed a couple of times and i of course thought it was so cute. audrey literally BELTED out rudolph the red nose reindeer. that was so cute. she was so unafraid. she loved the attention and the applause she got at the end. reese and audrey participated in the nativity. and it was funny to watch audrey "act". she was mary. she was "acting" reverent and subdued...she actually pulled it off. reese was joseph and he had a cookie in one hand and a candy cane in the other...halfway thru he gave up and just layed on his stomach and ate his treats.

sadie and grandpa watching a show after the carnage of opening gifts.

i think the other events went okay, i hope it wasnt too scary for the new in-laws...(i am still waiting for the syrup recipe from riley).

we just hung around, played games, watched movies and ate food. the highlight of the week was bowling:) and having like 20 babysitters. audrey and reese LOVED everyone. the basketball games were interesting. actually rather funny. the competitiveness is so out of control! but it makes for good stories later...IE:kyle knocking amy flat on her back...and riley getting a bloody nose from someone.

we went bowling. i got my highest score ever...94. (not to be mean, but i saw some of the ugliest people at that bowling ally excluding the people in the picture of course)

we also went to chuck e cheese...that was fun!

i am going to try to insert the video of jon dancing all by himself to the chuck e cheese band...he was attempting to be coordinated and he received a few hoots from the ladies in the back.

well, i kind of went over all these "major" events rather quickly and i missed a lot of events and incidences. but i just wanted to get this started. the last 2 months have gone by too fast and a lot of things have happened.

i hope my siblings will read this and add to it. i am hoping this blog will help us to stay in touch better and know more about each other.