Popcorn Popping

Chloe has been learning some new songs in nursery, so for family home evening last night we decided to practice some of the songs. Chloe was doing the actions really well, so I had to film it. For some reason she loves the 'smells so sweet' part. She kept 'smelling' through the whole song! She is so cute!

All About Niah

This is a fun tag. I love bragging about my kids!!
Name and Meaning: Niah Marie. Niah means 'priceless'. We heard the name Niah while we were living in Provo. We never really thought about it while I was pregnant but when she was born, I remember looking at her and the name Niah popped into my head. I knew that was supposed to be her name. Marie is my middle name and Niah's great-great grandma Hazel's middle name.
Age: 3. She will be 4 in January.
Nicknames: Ni, Niah Bo Biah, Babe
Favorite Activities: Watching Disney Channel, playing games on the computer, playing with friends, singing.
Favorite Foods: Apples, oranges, popsicles (she eats one every day while Chloe takes her nap), pizza.
Least Favorite Foods: Mustard. That's the only thing she doesn't like!
Favorite Music: Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, anything Disney!
Favorite Toy: Princess figurines
Favorite Book: Beauty and the Beast, Enchanted Look and Find
Favorite Item of clothing: Tinker Bell jammies, she never wants to get dressed in the morning and she wears them every night to bed.
What makes her Happy: When Mom is silly, getting packages in the mail, and going to the Toy store.
What makes her Sad: Leaving dance class, getting toys taken away when she doesn't pick them up, going to bed.
Funny words or phrases she says: (I added this one because I was thinking about doing a post about it anyway!) 'Oh Smack!', mazazing instead of magazine, air conditioner instead of hair conditioner, 'You have got to be kidding me!', 'Don't talk to me like that Mom!'. We love our Niah and she makes us laugh every day.
I now tag: Tam with Pres, Erica with Gavin, Miquelle with Addi, Kaitlan with Hailey, and Sara Jane with Lawrence.

You Know You're Getting Old When...

... this is how your ankle looks after playing one game of flag football!!


Bryan has started his annual flag football games. He landed wrong on his ankle during the game and this is what it looked like two days later. Bryan and I have diagnosed him with 'Old Man Syndrome'! Haha. I guess that's what happens when you sit in a classroom or work in the hospital all day for three years. His team has won their first two games so they are doing well. I will post some pictures of their next game. Stay tuned for more injuries!

Mother Frustrations...

I love being a wife and mother. There is nothing better or nothing else I would rather be doing. My girls make me so happy and we have so much fun together. I love taking care of Bryan and the girls. I have always wanted to be a wife and mother, since I was very young. There are so many joys but also many frustrations. Lately, we have been trying to teach Niah obedience. This is a difficult task. Most days she is really good, but others, grrrr. She will just look at me and do the opposite of what I have asked her to do or she will ignore me completely. When it's time to come in from the playground I have to ask her about 10 times to get inside. I used to get really frustrated and I would get very upset and yell at her to get her to listen, then she started sounding just like me- not what I wanted. The past month or so I have tried harder to control my anger and frustration and things have improved in that area. Niah is very headstrong and she is too smart for her own good. Getting her to help clean up around the house is like pulling teeth, she doesn't have a very good work ethic! I feel like I am always getting after her and I have to repeat myself a hundred times before she will do anything. I don't like feeling like that. I get so mad at myself for yelling or getting upset at her, but sometimes it's the only way she will listen to me. Some days I wonder if I'm good for anything other than cooking, cleaning, and getting after kids! So, I guess my question to all the mothers reading this is, how do I get her to listen without causing a huge scene? I don't want Niah or Chloe to remember their mom as an onery, yelling, mad woman! I need some advice!!
On a happier note, last night, Niah found her princess guitar and was singing to me while I got the house picked up. I think she might be a song writer/musician someday. She loves to sing and play music. Her songs make me giggle. She uses such big words like 'celebrate' or 'difficult' in her songs. I wish my sister Tam lived closer so that she could give her voice lessons!!
Chloe is such a funny girl. She knows when I need a hug. Last night, I was mad at the world and mad that the girls room was a mess, again, after I cleaned it yesterday morning. Chloe came over to me and climbed in my lap and gave me a hug. It was so sweet. It made my whole night better.
I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea from this post, I'm just venting! I love my girls and love being a mom. There is nothing I would rather do than take care of them and be with them all the time. I'm trying to capture every moment in my head so that I don't forget what they were like when they were little! Time goes too fast.
Here's one of Niah's songs. She cracks me up!

Harvest Festival

Today, the girls and I went with some of the other med student wives and their kids (we all had husbands that had to be at the hospital today) to the Shelburne Farms Harvest Fesitval. I had no idea that this festival was such a big deal!! There were soooo many people there. We had a good time and the weather was beautiful. We went on a wagon ride that was pulled by Draft horses, saw the farm animals- Niah and Chloe got to brush a sheep, ate grilled corn on the cob, made bead bracelets, and enjoyed the nice weather. Niah saw one of her friends with a caramel apple and that was the end of that! She begged me the whole time to buy her one so I gave in, and of course Chloe had to have one too! Here are some pics from our day...
Niah's trying to get Chloe to look at the camera...

Dance Class: Part 3!

I finally got some video of Niah on the monkey bars! She did so well in class yesterday!! She was a little nervous but her new teacher, Miss Lauren, took her in and sat Niah on her lap for a few minutes. I knew Niah would do better without me in there with her. She loved it and I think we are over the shy/nervous hump!

This is Niah doing the obstacle course in class. It's her favorite part of the day. I didn't get the whole thing because the window is tiny and you can't see the whole room, bummer.

Minivan Family

I have always said that I would never own a minivan. Well, I lied! We are now the proud owners of a Chrsyler Town and Country minivan. Since we have out grown the truck, we decided that now would be a great time to trade it in since it is still worth quite a bit and get something a little bigger. No, I am not pregnant! We are just planning for the future. We have been looking for almost three months and this week, we found the perfect deal! The girls love it and after convincing myself that I wouldn't like it, I actually do!! It's great to have the extra seating and it drives perfectly. I'm really excited about our new purchase- our biggest purchase since being married!

Goodbye 'Daddy's Truck'!

Bryan bought his truck right after I met him. It was Bryan's baby. I remember the first time he let me drive it, I was shocked and I think that's when I knew that Bryan really loved me!! He let me drive it home because it was late and I didn't want to walk home and he was too tired to take me! I drove to my apartment at Snow College and called my roommate to tell her that she would never believe what I was driving! She came outside and gawked at the sight of me in the driver's seat! The girls loved riding in his truck, especially Chloe! I have so many great memories of the Dakota. Mostly for my journaling purposes, here are a few of the things I remember about our time with the truck... * It was in Bryan's truck that he first held my hand. We were on the way home from the car wash in Ephraim. (in the middle of February! Who washes their car in February?! It really was his baby!)
* When the semester was over, Bryan let me load all my stuff in his truck while he was at graduation. While I was loading my desk chair in the bed of the truck, I hit the side of it and scratched the paint. I was so scared to tell Bryan that I did that. I thought he would dump me after hurting his truck... okay, not really, but I was scared!
* We went to a wedding reception in Malad, Idaho and it was in the truck on that drive that we talked about the details of a wedding and our future life together.
* Bryan took me up on the West Mountain and pretended to lock his keys in the truck. After making me look under the truck and around in the bumpers for another 'spare' key, a little wooden box that had a ring in it fell to the ground when I bumped it! That's when he proposed!
* At our wedding reception, my Uncle Danny decorated the truck with squeeze cheese and bologna. After leaving the reception we stopped at the car wash to clean it off. Lets just say that the car waiting behind us probably got a good show!! Can you blame us?- it was our first day as a married couple!! (B will probably be embarrassed that I posted that!)
* The first summer after we got married we lived in St. George for the summer. We loaded up the truck and drove out on some little dirt road and camped out in the bed of the truck on an air mattress. It was a blast.
* Bryan and I loved to go mountain biking together before we had kids. Bryan built his own bike rack in the bed of his truck so that we could load our bikes easily and head to the mountains!
* We have had numerous family trips to the lake here in Vermont with the kayak.
* Chloe loves 'Daddy's truck'! Every time she sees it she gets exctied and wants to ride in it. She has even thrown a couple of tantrums when we tell her we're going in the other car.

The Dodge Dakota was a great truck and I will miss it! I'm sure Bryan will too, even though he probably wouldn't admit it!

Hubby Tag!

I was tagged by two different people for the same tag, I tried to combine them and answer most of the questions. I love hubby tags!

1- Where did you meet? We met at Snow College. My roommate knew Bryan's roommate, Cody, so they came over one night to say hi to her and the rest is history!

2- How long did you date before you were married? About 7 months dating and three months 'officially' engaged!

3- How long have you been married for? It will be 6 years in December. Crazy!

4- What does he do that surprises you? He never seems to get burned out from school and studying. I would be a goner by now!

5- What's your favorite feature about him? I love his eyes- they are very blue.

6- What's your favorite quality about him? There's too many to choose from! I love his work ethic and also his dedication to serving in the church.

7- Does he have a nickname for you? What is it? Love

8- What's his favorite color? BLUE!

9- What's his favorite food? If I had to pick one thing, I would say BBQ Pulled pork sandwiches. Favorite dessert would be apple pie.

10-What is his favorite sport? College football

11- Who said I love you first? He did

12- When and where was your fist kiss? For our first date, he took me home to meet his family and to celebrate his birthday with them. He kissed me that night in his bathroom doorway before we went to bed.

13-What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Go out to eat, look at houses on the computer, and just hang out together. (That's three!)

14-Do you have kids? How many? We have two girls, Niah and Chloe.

15- What's a hidden talent that he has? Telling stories to the girls at bedtime and dancing like a prince!!

16- How old is he? He'll be 29 in February.

17- What's his favorite type of music? He's not really into music, but I would say Garth Brooks, Chris Ledoux, or Andrea Bocelli.

18- What do you admire most about him? His spirituality. He keeps me on track and he is always trying to do better.

19-What's his favorite past time? Watching BYU football!

20- Do you think he is going to read this? Probably.

I now tag Cami, Annette, Sara L., Erica, Aunt Dee, Mom (Maybe Tam already tagged you?!), Mel and anyone elso who feels so inclined!!

Dance Class: Part 2

Well, Niah had her second day of dance class. I ended up in the room with her again today, but I didn't have to do everything. I sat against the wall. This is the conversation Niah and I had this morning before we left...
Niah: "I'm going to be scared and I'm nervous Mom."
Me: "It's okay that you're nervous. You'll be brave. We can say a little prayer before we go so that Heavenly Father will help you be brave."
Niah: "Mom, he can't help me! He's in Heaven!!"
I wasn't sure how to answer that. We then had a short discussion on prayer and how that's our way to talk to Heavenly Father. That's a hard concept for children to understand, I think. Once she got into class, she was a little hesitant to leave my side but she did it anyway. She was sitting on the balance beam finally getting warmed up, and her teacher asked her- very nicely I might add- to stop eating the beads on her skirt because she didn't want her to choke on them. I think Niah must have thought she was in trouble or something because that was the breaking point! She burst out in tears and came running over to me. The rest of the class she was teary and would not let me leave her side. Towards the end, she was fine again and then started crying when it was time to go home! I'm not sure how next week will go. I think I am going to take Chloe with me so that I CAN'T go in the room with her and she will just have to do it on her own! These pictures aren't the greatest, but it's all I got! Niah was embarrassed to have pictures taken of her. I tried to get one of her by her cubby but she was embarrassed and told me to stop taking pictures!
Once Niah stops being so silly (I'm not sure why she is acting like this, she's not usually shy), I will try to get video and better pictures!

Mamma Mia

Last night, I went and saw Mamma Mia all by myself!! Bryan could tell I needed a break from the girls and life, so he suggested I go and see a movie while he watched the girls and put them to bed. I took him up on the offer and I had a great time! I have never been to a movie alone, it was a little weird buying one ticket. It was really relaxing and I will probably do it again! Anyway, the movie was so good. I loved it! It made me laugh, cry, and I now want to go out and buy the soundtrack. The music made me want to dance!! I have always loved musicals and broadway so this was the perfect show for me. Thanks B, for letting me get out and for watching the girls. You're the best and I love you!

Dance Class

Niah had her first day of dance/gymnastics class today! She looked so cute and grown up in her dance leotard and footless tights. I had planned on taking pictures and video of her while she was in class, but things didn't go exactly as planned today! Ni was pretty nervous and didn't want to go into class alone so, I had to go in the room with her and do everything with her. (it's a good thing I left Chloe at my friend's house!) I was the only mom in the class! I felt a little silly hopping like a frog across the room! Oh, the things we do for our children! Niah warmed up eventually and started doing what the class was doing. She had to do an obstacle course and she loved it. She learned how to pliet (sp?) and she got to swing on the gymnastics bar. Her teachers, Ms. Jeanne and Ms. June, were really cute with the kids. They sang lots of fun songs and they had actions to go with the songs. When the class was over, Niah didn't want to leave. I'm hoping that next week she will want to go in alone and that she won't be so shy/nervous. I promise to have pictures of her next week!! All in all, I think she loved it and I hope she makes some new friends and enjoys the class. It's so weird that she is old enough to do something like this. Stay tuned for pictures!