things are going good this month. I am trying something a little different. i have started making a list of things to try and remember as i write my monthly blog. mostly because they are hilarious or sweet and it is stories i want to remember to embarrass my kids later in life. perfect! lets see if i can get it to flow into my update.
first off ryker is great! i dont know if i mentioned before but we have officially kicked the thumb sucking! it was hard... and he didnt like it. i feel like he has abeen a little more whiney ever since. but we are dealing with that. we got this polish that makes his nail taste really bad. only took 2 applications and he has not looked back. thank goodness because his nail was all weird compared to the other hand. there have definitely been some days where i just cant handle the whining. we have some time outs that day... i have to laugh, justin told me stories of when he was a kid his older sister crystal whenever she was sent to her room would spread out and try to hook fingers or toes on anything as she was carried down the hall. well, thats ryker. whenever i have had enough i pick him up and we head to his room. he quickly looks for anything to grab onto to get him to stay out. i have a little to myself but also get in your room boy... haha.
one story i have to tell is one of those hard days we were having. i was trying to get him to go potty several times (we need to force him otherwise he wont stop playing to listen to his body. slight regression) i was frusterated and it was in the evening so they are crankier anyway. Justin had called me around noon saying he would be home around 3 to help. i get a call at 230 saying he just left and wouldnt be home till 4, oh and he had to keep working from home. so no help to come till 5 ish. ugh... anyways so eventually ryker runs into the closet and stays there for a while. as he waddles back out i ask him if he is wet (which i can see) yes he is. okay so i dont want to shame him or make him feel bad, but at the same time GAHSISRIGHIIG i have been trying to get him to go all afternoon! twerp. so i kindly and gently talk to him about listening to out body when its time to go and get him changed into dry clothes. about 5 min later he goes into the closet. mom! its wet! ugh. did you pee on the floor? ya, just a little bit. okay. so then as i clean we have another conversation about how mom doesnt like to clean pee off the floor, can we try to go on the potty? again trying to be nice and not make him feel bad, but also please dont pee on the floor... we get past it. i am trying to keep a level head. 10 min later justin comes down done from work. ryker runs up to him and says dad! i peed in the closet! why? why didnt you go in the potty? asks dad. ryker then excitedly exclaims i tried i told mom i have to go potty! but she stayed there and i didnt make it so i went in there. LIAR!!!! through tears of both laughter and pain and mental exhaustion from the day i look at justin and just laugh that he would throw me under the bus and tell his side of the story. little bugger. good thing your cute.
other than that he is doing great! i am trying to get him to dress himself in the morning. i think he is just lazy when he says he cant do it. but we are working on it. we have a good routine down and he is loving joyschool still. the other week he found an old plastic easter egg with swirls on it. he turns to me and says you cant smash me, im beautiful! i about doubled over laughing it was so precious and very out of the blue. i loved it. as did anyone else who heard. another time we were relaxing on the couch during downtime and he said mom i want to be happy. so i asked him, are you happy? ya i am. well good. glad we sorted that out. and that even though we have rough days he can still be happy. love that boy.
rylie is doing great. she is also still loving joyschool. i know its not technically for her but she still loves it. she is still so sweet in nursery and people always tell me how well mannered she is. oh good. im glad she is good in public. she loves to be independant. she rarely wants help with anything, eating, cleaning, getting up on the couch or chair. she still will accept help dressing, but other than that she only wants help if she asks. she loves to get rex up from bed/nap time. she loves to look over the crib gate and say hi. she loves to hold him but only for a few seconds. there have been amny times where i have to dive to catch him as she pushes him off the chair to get off herself. so close rylie. so close.
rex is doing good. he is scooting now! he is loving movement now that he can. he has pulled up onto all fours and even onto his toes sometimes and he is so excited to move like ryker and rylie. he currently has a real bad cold. goobery nose with a terrible cough. he passed it onto ryker dang it... but between that and his 2 bottom teeth are coming in. its been a rough weekend for him. but he is still my big cuddly boy!
since rex was sick i took ryker and rylie to church the other day. we were towards the end and anyone who has been to church knows that toddlers get a little antsy towards the end if they make it through the whole hour at all. so end of sacrament meeting and both kids are anxious to get to class. i tell them just a song and a prayer! now to preface we have been great at our scripture reading and prayers at bed time. we have a good habit. we switch off who says prayers every night and we know how to start and finish a prayer. that being said during the closing prayer of sacrament meeting the speaker says something like we are grateful for our savior jesus christ. my kids heard the name jesus christ and promptly yelled amen! ready to go to class. i couldnt help but smile and laugh as i tried to get them to fold their arms again. nope. not quite yet. still saying prayer. oh man. they keep me awake.
as for justin and i we are doing great. our free time is al taken up by the renovation. we have some great stories from there too. i was out to lunch with some friends a few weeks ago talking about what we were doing. they were astounded that justin could help with plumbing and such. they asked me how much of the renovation are you doing yourself? um... all of it. what!?!?! the shock on their faces was priceless. yes we are big do-it-yourselfers. but i didnt think it was that crazy. maybe it is... but it made me feel a little better about what we are doing and how grateful i am for justin and all he can do. without anymore major injuries! i did shock myself accidentally for the first time while we were rewiring some outlets. oops.. my arm was tingly for like an hour.
i guess the biggest renovation story this month was our drainage story. i will warn you now its going to get graphic, so if you just ate or get squeamish at the mention of body excrement skip ahead now. so we finally were plugging the old toilet drain line and fitting up the new one. we had everything ready just cut the old one out, splice the new one in. we start cutting and it starts to smell. no biggie, we are dealing with a poop line after all. but then it starts get really bad. we try to deal with it and some excess fluid starts to seep out. gross, but we have a bucket to catch it. keep in mind this line has been sitting for like 3 weeks unused and festering. so i go upstairs to try to pull it out since the flange is still attached upstairs. we move slow but try to wiggle it free (and not breath) when all of a sudden justin screams STOP STOP STOP! that cant be good. so he comes upstairs and said we had some extra bits that had been sitting in the pipe and didnt get flushed away entirely and they are causing the stench and spillage. ugh, i practically puke. so he told me go downstairs and watch the pipe. make sure nothing else leaks out. he will cut off the flange and we will take it out from downstairs where we can keep it flat. i go down to the bathroom toilet covered in spilled poo. its plopped all over the toilet and splashed in the shower and on the vanity. its horrendous, and i used to work in nursing homes. it was bad. so i watch and wait and nothing crazy happens. justin comes back down horrified! what happened!?!?!?! did you not leave it like this? no! oh! apparently while we were both upstairs is somehow slipped and the crazy scene before us happened. i thought thats why he told me to stop. anyways we decide to abandon our plan for the night. remove the offending pipe and plug the whole, then proceed to bleach the bathroom. it was so gross. now we know flush several times before you turn off the toilet and cut the lines. it still makes me shiver....
i think that was the craziest part! we went to an escape room with some friends last week. it was so fun! we got out with 12 min 20 sec to spare and earned spot number 2 on the leaderboard. it was mayan temple themed. my favorite part was the end puzzle where two people had to touch metal plates on opposite sides of the wall and then justin turned to luke (the people completing the puzzle) luke! grab my hand! a quick bromance moment completed a circuit and dropped the gate to get to the treasure and key inside. it was great. lots of fun puzzles. i liked that it was you had to complete all puzzles, but none except the last one really had to be completed in any specific order. it felt like we were always accomplishing something and kept our motivation high. loved it. we had one team member who was so excited and convinced that there were clues in the waiver you sign before and read the whole thing. in a moment of great wit on my part i asked that when they post our pic on their site if they can hashtag us #readthefineprint. it was great. everyone laughed. i was pretty proud of that.
oh boy. that was lengthy. here is to another month of work!
so excited that dad got a new tool haha
rylie heloing mom "brush" her hair
happy 6 months rex!
rylie and rex playing
our interesting plumbing job for the shower. but it works!
ryker using a necklace to hitch all his cars together. he very well might be an engineer like dad
my love bugs at our valentines party!
handing out valentines to all our friends
more drain work (this time no poo haha)
all smiles if they get to drive the car
studdly man in the front seat
playing with our monkey mask!
we kept a box for them to play and color in. they love it!
our chocolate fondue for valentines day. it was delish! the kids were invited, but they didnt finish dinner so they didnt get to enjoy with us.
my sweet boys playing together
coloring the box
we went on a scavenger hunt with binoculars to find things that start with N
holding hands to get to our next stop
rex playing in Nizhoni's jumper
put the new floor on! much more stable
ryker and i went to a fun birthday party at a trampoline park. it was so fun
we were on the surfboard over a foam pit. he was a little skeptical to join me. but he loved it after.
boy after dads own heart
sweet boy after dinner
she couldnt make it till nap time. she was so tired. i love the snuggles. but it was like 10 am. what?
more big boxes and dad made a bigger better fort
yes, if you can believe it we are still renovating
she likes to snuggle right on my face. i love this girl
watching amovie on mom and dads bed while we work one weekend
dad soldering some joints for the plumbing of the sinks
playing in the hamper. this is their favorite part of laundry day
rylie has really REALLY wanted to help feed rex. i just have to try not to let her shove the spoon down his throat. but he is good to let her.
"swimming" during bath time. they love baths
this is the apex of our crazy plumbing. all together it was 30 ish feet of copper, 6 stubs for future valves, 3 sinks, 2 shower lines, 82 solder joints and of course 1 master plumber.
reconnecting sinks
all set! no leaks!
looks warm here in march doesnt it?
rylie playing on rings at the gym
rex is already trying to find the trucks
my sweet ladybug
stuck under the cabinets apparently. i love how big my counters are! but hate that half of them are essentially hidden under the cabinets.
fun at the discovery center
he was napping during most of the playing at the discovery center
these are all magnetic shapes that you can build with
of course he loves the gears
huge light brite
ryker loved watching these kenecks go round and round
justin working on lighting in the attic
we finally plugged the huge whole in the wall! haha but now it feels so empty
i walked in one morning and of course rylies bed was not on her frame and the sheets were all off. but these 2 buddies were sitting side by side!
one of our kid toys in a meal was this paper castle. today i told them the story (with sound effects) of the dragon who had trapped frog mom in the moat. so magic rex came and cast a spell on the dragon that he couldnt blow fire and could only laugh. so funny dad is up there telling jokes on its back as knight in shining armor ryker and lady in shining armor rylie come rescue frog mom and make friends with the dragon. the end. they loved it.
we escaped! rocked it. Caitlin and Brian Garcia, Justin and I, Luke and Shasti Harper
happy 6 months rex!
can you tell we go to home depot a lot? haha
bahaha they wanted to exercise with me and it was fun to watch them try. now i realize that my form is pathetic as well, but it was for the video. no judging.
we love bath time!
rex scooting! we have a mover.
rylie loves to roll!
