Big tree, Little tree

We decorated the little tree.  We decorated the big tree.  And I'm fairly certain that next year their little tree ornaments will have to be moved to the big tree.   I love their handmade and special ornaments way more than my decorated tree anyway! 

 

 

The TWO year old.

 This rugrat is so cute.  

And so sweet.  

And so freaking naughty!!!!!!! 

First, let's see the cute and sweet.

Rolling out with my lacrosse ball: (she has seen me do this thousands of times)

 

Several times a day, she gathers up all of the play purses we have, finds a pair of toy keys, and goes around the house saying "bye" to everyone and pretends to go out the door.  It is hilarious every single time!

 

Also several times a day, she changes Ken's diaper.  

Also known as daddy.

 

And now for the naughty.

Vaseline all over her hair, face and floor:

 Not only did she climb out of her crib during nap here, but she emptied all of her drawers and painted herself and her bedroom with some nice butt cream.

 

Oh.  And she likes to take her diapers off.  Thank heavens this one was not loaded.

 She will often walk up to her older sisters, grab a clump of hair, and yank.  I keep telling the girls to yank her hair out, but they refuse. 

 

And the naughtiest of all?

She likes to claw at her baby sister.  It's happened about four times now, and each time I lose my mind just a little bit more.  This one happened while I was in the shower.  Ivy was sound asleep in Emery's crib, with the door shut.  Sage came running into my bathroom screaming that Emery was beating up Ivy, to which I said something like, "Ivy is in the crib.  Emery can't reach her."  Sage let me know that Emery had pulled the stool up next to the crib and was reaching through the slats to scratch her.  So, I stormed out of the shower soaking wet and found her basically attacking my baby.  I seriously almost threw up because I felt so bad for Ivy.  These look better here than they did in person, because she was bleeding so bad.  I have tried all different types of discipline.  Nice mom, mean mom, abusive mom....so far nothing has worked.  The last time, I caught her doing it and immediately taped socks to her hands and made her wear them all day.  She HATED it.  She hasn't done it since then, but I'm not holding my breath that it's over.  I honestly feel bad for Emery.  I think she has been feeling really displaced and is trying to get some attention, just going about it the wrong way.  I need to make time to spend with just her.  

Three Months!

Little Miss turned three months in November.  

And yet she's in a Santa hat.  Whoops.  

Maybe we were a little excited for Christmas and jumped the gun. 

Ivy has been my hardest baby yet.  She is SO sweet and kissable, but man.  She's a handful.  She cat naps.  And is up all night.  She doesn't eat during the night, (even if I try to feed her) but the second her pacifier falls out she screams.  And no matter how long I let her cry, she doesn't stop screaming.  So we went through about a 3 week period where I slept, like, never.  It was a rough month.  She seems to get major gas and is only relieved by being burped.  So I feel bad for her--I know she's not just crying to cry.  90% of the time when she cries and I pick her up, she burps and barfs all over.  So she's obviously having tummy issues.  She eats between 4-5 times a day and because we are always on the go, I haven't been able to get her on a schedule at all.  All of my other babies were major "babywise" babies and I was a stickler about their nap schedule.  And, all of my other babies were fantastic sleepers by 6-8 weeks old.  So I guess it was bound to happen with this last baby.  Really nailed the coffin shut on any fifth baby ideas.  Not that I needed further proof that we are done.  :)  

Somehow despite her rough schedule and our lack of sleep, I could squeeze this baby all day long.  I cannot get enough of her. 

November Wrap Up

It's happened again!  I plug my phone into my computer and realize I have 100+ photos to blog about.  So here's to the monthly catch up.  You're welcome, Heather.  :)

mid-swing face:

 nightly story time consists of all three girls trying to find room on my lap.  I LOVE this time of day.  Partly because of how much I love them all over me, and partly because they are seconds away from sleep.

 my sleeping baby.  STILL a horrible cat-napper and doing so awful at nights.  But more on that later.

 no more sink baths!  She's finally outgrown the sink and had quite the audience for her first bath in the baby tub.

 this kid.  wow.

 Ivy with cousin Reese, four weeks apart

 little DIVA!

 Emery can be so so sweet and loving to Ivy.  But there are moments when she starts off sweet and ends up clawing poor Ivy across the face.  It's AWFUL.

 my attempts at taking a bath to relieve sore muscles was thwarted by these two monsters:

 the kindle.  our necessary evil.  starting Ivy out young apparently. 

 my first post-baby competition!  My partner Cori and I didn't do that fantastic, but oh well.  We had a blast.

 I catch this kid who drives me bananas all throughout the day doing these wonderful things that make my heart just explode with love for her.

 I love the bond these two share

 this kid LOVES pumpkin bread!!!  She was my little helper making some for friends.

 her eyes.  her cheeks.  her lips.  I can't stand it!

 For Thanksgiving this year, we opted out of our yearly tradition to run in the turkey trot.  We both LOVE this tradition, but when we weighed the 

PROS:

we love it

it's one of our only traditions

versus the 

CONS:

it's an hour drive

we would have to leave at 6AM

it would have cost us $60 plus gas money

the girls would have been cranky the rest of the day

they wouldn't have wanted to run

not enough strollers

we decided it just didn't make sense this year.  Instead, we drove three minutes up the road and took a little "hike" in the San Tan mountains.  They lasted about 30 minutes.  And it ended up being perfect for our crew.  After our hike, we had lunch, naps, and then dinner at my moms.  It was so nice and relaxing!  We had another yummy meal at the Overton's the next day.  Having fam so close REEEAAAALLLLYYY has its benefits!!!  

I am sure thankful for this beautiful family of mine.  For this free country we live in.  For my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  For the atonement.  For my health and the health of my family.  For my hard working husband.  For my home.  For all of the wonderful blessings I enjoy every single day.  I am thankful.

Birthday Parties!

I absolutely LOVE sharing my birthday with this feisty two year old!!!

She is the naughtiest little gal you ever did see.  

And I love her so so  much.  

For her 2nd-and my 31st-birthday, we kept it low key.  We went to the gym, did chores, she took a good nap, etc.  That evening we went to the Overton's for dinner and cake.  We were both spoiled rotten and had a nice relaxing time with family.  Emery decided she didn't want to get dirty and ate her cupcake like a dog.  She also did a wee bit of screaming anytime she didn't get her way.  But, you know.  It's her party and she can cry if she wants to.