Joys of Parenting

The great thing about going on a trip - especially a trip for the kids - is that you get it hang it over their heads for so long. We are taking the kids to Disneyland next week and just now Samantha was throwing quite the tantrum. I picked up the phone and "dialed" Mickey Mouse. I wish you could have seen her face!!! She totally thought it was serious and immediately tried to calm down. I was talking to Mickey telling him that Samantha was having trouble and needs a big nap before we come visit him. In the end I got her to tell the phone that she was going to take a nap before we visit Mickey. Alex also promised Mickey he would take a good nap tomorrow. For real though, the trip will be so much more fun, for everyone, if both kids are napped before we go. I doubt there will be much napping or resting going on while we're gone, so I'm trying to get it done before we leave. Wish me luck!!!!!

Oh, we just found out my sister Richele is having a baby boy!! Yipppeee!! It didn't even take me 24 hours before I went to Janie and Jack and bought him a little outfit! I'm the best aunt! We can't wait for the little guy.

If it takes him 3 times to pass the first grade, we'll know why!

Take a lesson from Alex.....this is what will happen if you don't listen to your mommy and you run in the bathroom on a slippery floor!! DUH!!! I told them to stop but since no one listens to me Alex crashed and hit his head right on the tub. Poor little guy! This kid has had some major head bumps in his life but this is the worst I've seen. After a little tylenol and some ice it looked better. Let's just hope he can sleep the night without a headache.

My fav

One of my favorite presents this year - and probably my favorite present ever from Andy - was this.......
This is the poem that Andy wrote me when we were first dating written in hand calligraphy and framed. I thought it was beautiful!! I have always wanted something special done with this poem since the only copy I have is on a printed out email sitting in a drawer! I guess Andy has been looking around for a long time to get this done and finally found the perfect place (at the perfect price). The vines and flowers are even hand drawn. I was so happy when I opened this present and even though it might embarrass Andy I bet you could click on the picture and read the poem!! We had only been dating a few weeks when Andy wrote this poem for me and when I read it I thought, "Oh my....he really likes me!!!". Turns out I was right! If you know Andy very well you know this is a very uncharacteristic thing for him to do, but what can I say?!? I bring out the poet in him!!! Love you Andy!

Little diddy

I'm not sure who said this but I heard it in church on Sunday and really liked it:

Little by little time goes by,
Short if you sing, long if you sigh.

Where does she get this stuff from??

Today at lunch Samantha started growling and then loudly explained, "I'm a hyena. A hyena in the PRIDE LAND!!". Really, I don't know where she got that from. All I know is it made me laugh!

Middle Name

You all know how it is.....when you're mad at your kids - or when your parents were mad at you - you use the middle name. When I was little and got in trouble with my mom it was always "Kristi Janell!!!!!!!". Now, when I am mad at Samantha she gets a "Samantha Janell!!!!!!" and Alex, "Alexander Christopher!!!!!!!". Well, Alex pays quite close attention and now when he is angry with me or just trying to make a point I get a "Mommy Janell!!!!". I should get angry at him for using that tone of voice with me, but I think it's quite clever so I usually let it go. Smarty pants kid!!

The mean, scary dentist!!!!

Ha ha, just kidding! We are lucky to have sweet Aunt Kami as our dentist so the kids have no problem with getting their teeth cleaned. Their PERFECT teeth, by the way!!! Both Samantha and Alex have lovely teeth with plenty of space between each tooth for their growing mouth. They let Kami clean and check out their teeth and then the dentist came in and they let him take a peek as well. Little angels! No one had any cavities which was the best part of the visit! Thanks Kami for taking such good care of us!

Awwwwww

Now they are the same height, but look how much shorter he was!

He still looks the same when he cries....only with a less round face and more teeth!

She is still as beautiful only she now looks more like a little girl than a baby! I DON'T miss the drool, however!

Samantha's haircut

A couple of weeks ago I cut Samantha's hair short and I just love it! It is so much easier to manage and when she doesn't let me put a clip in it still looks cute. The curls aren't as noticeable but brushing her hair has become much less of a battle and that is ALWAYS a good thing. I think she is the most beautiful little girl ever! This isn't her real smile but look at those eyes! I've always wanted to be exotic looking like she is instead of being the plain-jane white-bread looker that I am, but oh well! That's life!

Just to make you hungry and jealous you don't live with me!!!!

These are some scrumptious cookies I made this week. I know you're jealous. And you should be! They were homemade, gooey, rich, buttery and perfection!! Not that I'm bragging or anything. Everyone loved them so much that I'm trying to find a baking contest to enter them in. Yes, they were THAT good, and NO, you may not have the recipe! ;-)

The close of 2008

I've never really been a big fan of New Years and I really don't get all that sentimental about the close of a year either. I am, however, grateful for the little things that have happened this year. Like the fact Andy still has a job. And we still have a house. And we still only have 2 kids. We didn't have any major catastrophes happen to us or our immediate family. We enjoyed time with our families and friends. As I look back on the year I can't think of one thing big or major that happened. And I think I like it that way.

It sounds like 2009 will bring in at least 1 baby to the Loveridge family (courtesy of Richele!) and if Kami makes my wish come true then we'll have 2 babies. 2009 will put Samantha in Kindergarten and Alex in Preschool and me in HEAVEN!!! 2009 will have Andy graduating from MBA school!! Yippee!! 2009 will have us paying off a lot of student loans! We are still holding out hope that 2009 will bring us closer to the possibility of moving to London.....but if not, that's okay. Instead maybe we'll be closer to buying a bigger house.

2008 got me in touch with a lot of old friends courtesy of this blog and Facebook. Proof that the internet CAN be used for good!! Thanks to everyone who reads and comments on my blog and keeps in touch with me and my family. See you in 2009!

I'm off to have a candlelight dinner with my husband in the comfort of our own home and then a prompt pre-midnight bedtime! Just the way I like it!!

Sledding videos

We took the kids sledding today up Hobblecreek Canyon with my sisters. We also ran into a whole bunch of other friends and people we knew along with the Hall family so it was a ton of fun. We didn't take any still pictures but we got some videos that are very fun to watch (at least for their momma!) Alex LOVED every minute and after only going down one time with me declared that he wanted to go down alone! He was very brave. Samantha was a little hesitant but after Daddy worked with her for a while she went down a few times. Still though, she preferred the tiny hill that she had to herself. So here they are!!! You will get very familiar with my kids noses!

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Christmas. We had a great day. Alex woke up at 6.30 so we brought him into bed with us to wait until Samantha woke up. The poor kid wanted to go downstairs so badly and Samantha didn't wake up until 7.20, so he had a while to wait. Once everyone was up we went downstairs and enjoyed opening presents and eating cinnamon rolls. The kids seemed very happy with what Santa brought and the candy in their stockings. I think they would have been just as happy with only those presents since we had to coax them into opening the rest of the presents!! They were ready just to eat and play with what toys they had been given already! Cute little bugs!

We went to my parents house at 10.00 to have our traditional Christmas breakfast and it was outstanding! My mom put together quite the feast. After our bellies were full we let the kids rip into their presents and play. The four oldest kids got digital cameras so they proceeded to take blurry picture after blurry picture! Nicole felt a little left out I think but I got her a fake princess camera so that seemed to help a little. Have I mentioned lately how in love I am with that little Nicole?? Anyways, I am! After the kids finished their presents the adults dug in and opened their gifts. We sat around munching on leftover food and played with the kids and their toys until it was time to go home and put the kids to rest. We were hoping for a nap from Alex since he sorely needed it, but all we got was a little rest. Oh well, better than nothing probably!

After the kids little rest we went to Andy's parent's house and enjoyed presents and prime rib dinner there. Andy's family hooked us up with money and gift cards and matching sweaters for our Disneyland trip in 3 weeks!! I can't believe we go in 3 weeks! But now we have plenty of money to have fun with in California, so thank you to the Highams!!! We got the kids home around 5.00 and had them in bed shortly thereafter. They needed the sleep!! All in all it was a great day and we are so grateful that we were able to spend it with both families!
Dear sweet Grandpa went downstairs and played dress up with my kids!! What a champ!

Samantha and the 100m dash

Here is Samantha playing the Olympics game on the Wii.

Possibly the weirdest question EVER!

Tonight Alex asked me....."Mom, do gophers eat bananas??".

Today the kids FINALLY took a nap so we took them to The Mayan restaurant (which they love) and they had a Santa there. Alex was a little scared which is why I am in the picture but he was more than happy to take the candy cane afterward! Samantha wasn't shy at all! After dinner we drove to Thanksgiving Point to look at the Christmas lights. I think the kids like sitting in Andy's lap and steering the car more than they liked looking at the lights. Oh well, whatever keeps them happy (and quiet) is good by me!

Growing

In the car on the way home from preschool today Samantha announced that when she grows up she wants to be a babysitter. She then asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I told her that I'm already grown up and that I am a mommy. She responded, "Well, I want you to be a dentist.". A little late for that kiddo!

Too angry to post a title.

I wonder how many calories you burn by yelling?!? I could really burn A LOT of calories being the mother to these 2 kids. I've probably burned at least 1000 calories today just in yelling and disciplining. Hopefully that will help make up for the 10 or so sugar cookies I've eaten today. I'm an emotional eater when it comes to my kids. I eat when I'm stressed over them. No other stresser can get me pounding the mint M&M's like bad kids. Boy am I glad they're going to bed in less than 3 hours!!!!
I've added a couple of pictures to remind me of how cute they are and the fun that we have.

No.......for now.

Well, we finally got our answer about moving to London. They have given us a no for right now. We aren't too surprised given the state of the economy and most businesses. They just don't feel like they are ready to put a lot of time and money into going international at the moment. They said they will revisit the idea again in 2009 and we will just take it from there. We have known for a while that the chances were slim that they would give us the go-ahead right now, but I was still disappointed when Andy called to tell me. I don't think I'm really ready to go anytime soon though, so it's okay. I am really looking forward to another summer here swimming and going boating and going on vacations with my family. Also, my sister is pregnant and due the end of May and if we were gone for that I would have to cry!!! We do think that we will eventually end up going to London for a few years, but it looks like the time isn't now. Oh well!!! I'm sure you will all enjoy having our company in Utah for a little longer! I think my parents are going to do a happy dance tonight and celebrate.

Do NOT mess with us!

We were brave this year. Not only did we put our Christmas tree INSIDE this year instead of our normal outside-on-the-porch tree, but I wrapped presents early and stuck them under the tree. My fear was the kids would trash the tree and the presents. They do hang around the tree a little more than I would like and everyday I have to rearrange ornaments, but I can handle that. Alex has also rearranged presents, but again, I am okay with that. Today, however, Alex went too far!! I was upstairs showering after my morning workout when I heard paper crumpling. I came downstairs to find Alex has ripped open 4 presents. One present was his. A Transformer Megatron toy that we knew he had wanted. Well, like the title of this post states, you don't mess with us!! When Andy got home from work we had him unwrap the rest of the toy, then we drove him to Walmart where we made him put it in the Toys for Tots bin!!! He will not be getting a Megatron toy this year. I felt a little bad about it, but holy crap, we told him at least 100 times since the tree has been up, "Don't touch the tree or presents!!!!!! They will go away!!!!". Well, he learned the hard way this year. He was tough and didn't cry and was actually pretty proud to "help the poor kids", so I think it was a good lesson for him.

Lesson #1 - Mommy and Daddy mean business.
Lesson #2 - It feels good to help other people.

Let's hope he remembers these lessons for a long, long, long time!

Samantha the matchmaker

The other day Andy was home with the kids feeding them dinner. They were talking about who they were going to marry (why do they feel like they need to grow up so fast??). Alex kept saying he wanted to marry mama (flattering, isn't it?). Andy was explaining that he is married to me and Alex can't marry me. So Samantha said, "Daddy, are there any good girls in town that are nice for Alex?". Who would have thought she would start so early in trying to hook Alex up?? These kids crack me up!