Leila-isms (#4)

So, I keep saying I'll do better with recording the cute things that my kids say/do. . .but it just never comes to fruition. So I've made a new goal to try to make this happen--I'm going to write down moments all month long, then on my girls' "un-birthdays" (the day of the month when my girls were born--Leila is the 5th and Heidi is the 25th) I will publish those memories and milestones :) So happy un-birthday to Leila! She is 40 months old today (3 years, 4 months)!!!

1) A Forgiving Heart
It was a rough day with Leila. She was super emotional, whiny, and oppositional. I lost my cool with her more than once :(

Leila: (mumbling something) . . .like Jesus.
Me: What's like Jesus?
Leila: (smiling) You are!
Me: No. Not today!
Leila: Why?
Me: Because I got really upset at you today.
Leila: That's OK! You're nice now!

I love how forgiving children are!

2) A Sweet Prayer (later that day at bedtime)

Leila: You're a great Mom! And I know you're thankful for me!
Me: Thank you! And you're right! I am thankful for you! I'm so glad you're my daughter! . . . It's time to say the prayer. Would you like to say it? Or would you like me to?
Leila: I'll say it! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! AMEN! Ha ha! Just kidding! Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for my mom and that she's so cute. . .

 3) Swings: Leila-Style 

a fairy dress-up costume complete with shiny stretchy pants, wings, and a bike helmet with a unicorn on top. . .and of course a great big smile :D

4) A Cute Prayer

Leila: Thank you for my mom and that she's so great, thank you for my dad, that he's so great, thank you for Leila, that I'm so great, thank you for Heidi, that she's so great. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Me: *laughing a little*
Leila: What? Why are you laughing?
Me: Because. . .that was a cute prayer.
Leila: Ya. . .that's 'cause I'm cute!

5) Mirror 

"Mom, I love you. . .even when I get mad at you."

6) Thanks Mom!

Here's a nice one for the month of Thanksgiving! They call motherhood "a thankless job", but Leila can actually be really good at saying thank you! These are two examples from today:

• Thanks for dinner tonight, Mom!
• Thanks for watching me when Daddy's at work!

7) Before Leila 

Aunt Sarah: (pointing to a photo) Who's that in this picture?
Leila: I dunno. Who is it?
Aunt Sarah: Look closer!
Leila: Oh! It's my Mama!
Aunt Sarah: That's right! That was before you were born, so you were in heaven!
Leila: Oh ya!! I was crying because I wanted my Mama!

8) Watch my Mouth

When Leila was a baby, a friend of mine was expecting her first child. She asked me an interesting question: "Is there anything you say that you don't want your kids repeating?" I just kinda raised my eyebrow at that and shrugged it off--"No". Well, sometimes you don't realize that what you say isn't always the best. . .until you hear it coming from a child's mouth. The other day, we walked outside and Leila started whirling around in circles and saying "What the heck?! It's nice outside! What the heck?! It's nice outside!What the heck?! It's nice outside!" That made me realize I should probably consider "heck" an "H word"!

Well, that's all for now folks! For more Leila-isms, check back in a month. . .hopefully I'll be following through with my goal at that time :)

For previous Leila-isms click here.

Leila-isms (#3)

It's been awhile since I've recorded any Leila-isms! The last ones were in April! She says funny things all the time, so I need to be better at this. I know I loved reading about the funny things I said as a kid--I'm glad my mom took the time to record those for me. Here are a few Leila-isms from the last little while:

1)
Me: I don't like it when you do that

Leila: (in a rebellious, come-back tone) Ya?! Well. . .I like yooou! And . . . you like . . .MEEE! (being cute/sweet--even if it's not on purpose is a good way to not get in trouble!)

2)
Leila: You're good for me. . .you're a great mom! *AWWW!*

3)
She made up a new creature called a "vampirate" (vampire/pirate). Pretty clever I thought!

Leila loves to do people's hair. This is her doing
one of her Aunt's hair. She used my nursing cover
as a cape and tangled little fishies from a fishing game
between her locks! 

4)
Robby: What does "question" start with?
Leila: Kuh kuh question. K?
Robby: No. Qu qu question.
Leila: Question mark?

5)
Leila's Freudian slip: Dad, when are you leaving right now? (Sometimes she just wants him to leave because she knows that as soon as Dad leaves for work, Mom goes and takes a shower and Leila gets to watch kid's songs on YouTube).

6)
Stranger at party: Where is your Sister?
Leila: Heidi is sick. She throwed up. (Makes gagging noise and sticks out tongue to demonstrate).

That's all for now! Hopefully I'll post more of these little moments before another six months goes by!

Leila-isms #7

In honor of Leila's monthly unbirthday, here are some more fun Leila-isms!

We went to the Aquarium a couple weeks ago. Leila was a goof as usual :)

If you'll remember, I interviewed Leila for the last Leila-isms. So I've still got some stuff left over from Christmas time--

1) On Christmas Day: OH! It's Christmas! It's Jesus' birthday! Let's sing happy birthday to him!! (and we did!)

2) In her prayer: Thank you that baby Jesus was born

3) In another prayer: Please bless that kids will be nice to moms and dads and that kids won't yell at their moms and dads (you can guess what kind of behavior we talked about that day!)

I know. . .I posted this one on Facebook, but it's just so darned cute! Shaving cream noses!

4) After Heidi bit her:

Mom, Dad, I'm gonna die, 'cause Heidi bit me and there's a hole in me!

5) Dad, what does punching mean? . . .Can you show me on mom what punching is? (note: she knows what punching is. . .and no--he didn't show her!)

Lately we've started a ritual--"special time". First we do a little gospel lesson,
then we do an activity like a science experiment or craft. This was making rain clouds :)
PS--this is what the shaving cream was actually for!

6) Leila: What can I have to eat
Daddy: Well. . .you can have. . .a pine cone. . .or some rocks!
Leila: Of course I can't have that Dad! Those don't have any PROTEIN!

Leila-isms (#5)

This is my little cutie in her dance costume. I will post some videos of her first dance performance EVER later this month. Dang! She's cute! (. . .If I do say so myself!)

1) Reading Buddies

Leila likes to be read to. And although there are many books that she likes, there is one that stands out above them all--Classic Bedtime Stories by Scott Gustafson. Not only does it contain some great classics like Jack and The Beanstalk and The Three Billy Goats Gruff, not only does it have breathtakingly gorgeous illustrations, but it was purchased for my daughters by their beloved Grandma Parker as a "just because" gift (those are the best kinds of gifts, aren't they?)

When Robby was little his Mom read to him and his siblings a lot. Robby often tells me of the memories he has of his mom reading to him when he was young. It's common to hear him say "I love that book! My mom read it to me as a child." Being read to aloud is just one of the many examples of memories that have created such a strong bond between Robby and his Mama.

One of the stories Robby and his Mama read together was the story of Little Black Samba and The Tigers. That story happens to be in this compilation of classics--I think that's why this book piqued Grandma Parker's interest when she saw it at the store :) She has read it to Leila a *few* times :) You can tell that's an understatement when you watch them reading it together in this video.

Note: This video was taken 6 1/2 months ago (in May when Leila was not yet 3). I tried in vain to upload it months ago. It took me this long to get me to ask my super-duper multi-talented, technically savvy hubby for help. It was NBD for him of course.

 What a little performer she is!

2) I Have a Happy Family (Home Evening)

During FHE Robby asked what Leila likes about our family:

She said "I like that our family reads scriptures together and that you guys got married in the temple"

For another FHE Robby asked when was the last time Leila felt the Spirit. She turned it into the same question as the other week:

Leila: I like that our family loves each other so much!

I like that too. . .and I like that she's so darned sweet!

3) Jesus' Hands

We have been trying to teach Leila that when she makes good choices it makes Heavenly Father and Jesus happy and when she makes not-so-good choices it makes them sad.

One day she spilled some water and said "Oh no! It's not good to spill water! When we spill water on the floor it's like we're spilling water on Jesus' hands!"

**Hmmm. . .not. . .exactly.**

Here is Leila with Santa at the Christmas party. I liked that they had a couch--no need to sit on a strange old guy's lap, right?

4) Syllable Smarts

This week Leila learned about syllables. It took about 30 seconds to get the concept. I'm always amazed how quick she is to catch on to things!

L: All. On. A. Sat-ur-day. Night! (pointing at me, then her and switching who she was pointing at for each syllable)
M: Oh! That's good! You pointed at a different person for each syllable! Do you know what a syllable is?

L: No. What is it?

M: It's the sounds in a word. Let's see how many syllables Saturday has in it: Sat-ur-day (holding up a finger for each time I said a syllable). How many is that?

L: 3!

M: Great job! How about "Leila"? How many syllables are in your name?

Together: "Lei-la" (holding up a finger for each syllable)

L: Two!

M: That's right! How about "hippopotamus"?

L: Hip-po-pot-a-mus (holding up fingers) . . .five!

We kept trying that--I would suggest a word, then she would suggest a word. She got them all right until she suggested a whole sentence, something like "I have some peanut butter to eat". At that point she bit off a little more than she could chew :)

5) A Little Medicine Goes a Loooong Way!

The other day I was getting ready to give some Zarbee's cough medicine to Heidi. It's all natural, boosts the child's immune system, and is OK for kids 12 months and up. . .Oh. . .and it has honey in it. So I sucked up a half teaspoon using the medicine syringe, but in doing so, I got some sticky medicine on my hands. . .and I DON'T like being sticky! So I stood the syringe up on the table with the nozzle pointing to the ceiling while I washed my hands. Leila immediately climbed up on the chair and, harnessing the full power of her curious nature, pushed the syringe down . . .hard. It all happened in the blink of any eye--before I could let out a dissuading response! So I just watched helplessly as the contents of the syringe spewed quickly into the air, raining all over my shirt and arm, Heidi's hair, and leaving a nice sticky trail on the ceiling! Of course Leila ended up untainted!  So much for not getting sticky!!

6) Origins 

Leila: What is oatmeal made of?

Me: Oats.

Leila: Applesauce is made of ducks!

*mmm. . .K! I may never look at applesauce the same again!*

Like reading about our fun, smart, sweet girl? Click here for past Leila-isms!

Leila-isms (#2)

Sorry to just take from my Facebook posts, but somehow I feel like a blog is a better way to preserve memories than Facebook. . . Maybe because some of my friends/family don't do Facebook, so this way I can include them :)

Another reason is because I'm lazy and I haven't written in my blog for a month now, so it was time to just go ahead and write something!

Here are a couple of Leila-isms that happened lately:

Leila: does Keilani have a baby sister?
Me: No. She has a baby brother
Leila: what's his name?
Me: Noah
Leila: am I going to have a baby brother?
Me: maybe one day.
Leila: what's his name going to be?
Me: little Robby
Leila: (knowing that her dad's name is Robby) ... Will we have to get a new dad then?
Me: no. You would have the same dad. You have the best dad ever!
Leila: . . . but if we broke him, we'd have to get a new dad! 


Me: I have two BEAUUUTIFUL girls!
Leila: I have FIVE beautiful girls: Heather, Jennifer, Natalie, Megan, and Sarah!

 (I think her saying *five* beautiful girls must have been a fluke! Could she really have calculated or known that Robby has five sisters?!)

This is a shot from Easter weekend. Oh my! I have cute girls!

Interviewing Leila (Leila-isms #6)

So, I've been a major slacker in the blogging department lately--I only did 5/12 days of "The 12 Days of Christmas", I didn't do Heidi-isms for when she turned 15 months, and I haven't blogged about Christmas in Canada. So it looks like I get a big fat "F" in that facet of life. However, this round of Leila-isms just might be fun enough to make up for a little bit of that. And while I won't be catching up for the 7 days of Christmas I missed, I am still planning on blogging about Christmas in Canada.

Hey, Mom! Take a picture of me saying : "Happy Halloween! Merry Christmas!" 

Leila loves the limelight. . .is there any wonder why that phrase flows off of your tongue like they are just meant for each other? As a preschooler, I was interviewed and recorded on cassette. Listening to that tape years later, I thought my answers were so funny! So when Pinterest showed me some interview questions to ask children, I just couldn't resist! Well. . .I guess I resisted for awhile, I thought it would be fun to do in the New Year and for her HALF BIRTHDAY! (Which is today :)

So here is the interview--something I plan on doing every year. I totally recommend this. It's a great way to record history and I'm sure Leila will think she's hilarious later on.

Leila Parker Age 3 1/2 
Note: my comments are inside *asterisks*

What is your Favorite: 



More Questions:

If you could change your name what would you change it to: Gaylee *yes, that's totally random*
Are you going to get married? Ya!
To whom? Duncan.
How many kids are you going to have? The ones that the Brunn's have. *There are 5*
What will their names be? Autumn, Billy is the baby, Arli is the boy (there's only one in my family), Aleesa *that's Sister Bruun's name*, and Log-a
Who is your best friend: Emma Brunn *side note: Emma is 12--a whopping 8 1/2 years older than Leila. She has never played with her and has only sat quietly next to her at church a few times!*
Who are your friends? I really like all of them in the Brunn's. *She does!  She's even said in her prayers a few times "thank you for the Brunn's" or "please bless the Brunn's"!
What do you like to do with your friends? Painting Daddys that are so cool and painting babies and girls and I like to put their clothes on after they're painted. I really like to paint.
What will your job be when you grow up? I'll be working on the computer a lot and I'll be living in Victoria *in BC Canada*
What do you like to do with Mom? I really like to hug you and kiss you.
What do you like to do with Dad? The same thing that I love to do with you.

What do you love most about yourself? 

What is something Daddy says: Take care of people
What is something Mommy says: I don't know
What makes you happy? Heidi hugging me.
What makes you sad? Heidi pulling my hair.
How does Mommy make you laugh? When I sleep a lot and you be loud and it makes me laugh.
What was Mommy like as a child? You looked like a boy.
How old is Mommy? I don't know.
How tall is Mommy? (arm way up in the air)
What is Mommy's favorite thing to do? Help me and Heidi.
What does Mommy do when you’re not around? Clean up the toys when it's messy, read the holy scriptures, after I go to sleep you go to sleep.
What is Mommy really good at? cleaning up toys.
What is Mommy not very good at? You're good at everything!
What does Mommy do for a job? you do this: (gives me the thumbs up)
What is Mommy's favorite food? tacos
What makes you proud of Mommy? When I say "Mommy! Mommy! You ate your food! Mom, I love you so much!"
What do we enjoy doing together? Getting things out of the couch. *yes, that's random too*
How are we the same? We both have white skin.
How are we different? We don't have the same shirt.
How do you know I love you? Because I really love you! Because you hug me all the time and kiss me! What does Mommy like most about dad? hugging him.
Where is Mommy's favorite place to go? All the places.
What's your favorite thing about our family? About my mom and dad I really love them and I love that they take care of me and I love to hug Heidi and I love that she hugs me and she's really cute.

The Questions were taken/adapted slightly from: http://joyinmykitchen.com/do-you-need-a-fresh-perspective-mom/ http://simplykierste.com/2015/01/annual-interview-questions-for-kids.html

Leila-isms

Leila is a precocious, outspoken, silly little girl! There is really never a dull moment with her. That makes life both exciting . . .and exhausting! But I do love the element of fun she adds to our lives! Here are six of the cute/silly things she's said lately:


1) "I'm gonna eat my HAIR!. . .I'm gonna eat my SHOES!. . .I'm gonna eat HEIDI! . . .No. . .I'm not gonna eat Heidi, cuz then I wouldn't see her anymore! . . .I'm going to eat the scriptures! . . .No. . .I'm not gonna eat the scriptures. . .cuz then God would be so sad!"

2) "No. . .I don't wanna go to bed! How about YOU lie in MY bed and I'll sing YOU songs! . . .Is that a plan?"

3) "Mama, can you buckle her in too?" (The dolly also sat beside her in the cart at Costco, as per Leila's request)

4) During her prayers lately:

"Heavenly Father, thank you for God, thank you for Jesus, thank you for Santa Claus . . ."

5) Leila: Where are we going?
Me: To Smiths
Leila: What are we going to get there?
Me: Mommy's going to get some pills
Leila: Pills? . . .or pillows? The things you eat?. . . Or the things you put on the bed?

That reminds me of something I said as a kid:

Little Courtney: Mom, where are you going?
Mom: Downstairs
Little Courtney: Why?
Mom: I'm going to get some flour
Little Courtney: What kind of flour? The pretty kind? or . . .the lump?

6) Here are a few on the words Leila has for things that I think are cute

Restaurant= Restronk
Quesadilla= Quesa-tortilla
Who else?= Whobody else?

Those last two have started sounding so normal to me. . .I might just start using them by mistake :)

Heidi-isms

As mentioned in the last "Leila-isms" post, my goal is to post cute/new things my girls are doing on the monthly anniversaries of their birth. This one is about Heidi who is already 14 months old!!

"The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days." - Gordon B. Hinckley
how true it is!

 Since I haven't done a Heidi-ism post before, I've got quite a few that have accumulated.

After becoming a mother and finding that the whole world ends up revolving around your little one, I was struck with wide-eyed wonder. . .how could a mother manage TWO children? I was pleasantly surprised to have Heidi be such a sweet baby girl from the beginning, making the transition to two children quite seamless. She was easy-going, sweet, and cuddly. In fact, I actually nicknamed her "cuddles" for about the first 4-6 months of her life. . .then she became a lot more vivacious and would more aptly be nicknamed "wiggles". But even with all her moving and exploring, she is still a sweet girl who hasn't completely grown out of cuddling. 

When she was a newborn, I would just nestle myself in the corner of the couch and fall asleep with my living doll napping peacefully on my chest. We both felt like we were in dream land! Her favorite way to cuddle was to lean any part of her head on the soft part of my cheek--I became a human pillow. . .and loved it! Even now, we have such a strong bond that I have a hard time weaning the sweet little thing! As I nurse her I will often stroke her soft, nearly bald head. When I forget, she reminds me--she'll pick up my hand and rub it back and forth over her head. In those times that I'm distracted, I'm grateful she's on top of things to help bring me back to the moment and remind me of what matters most--being a mommy! 

Soon after her birth, my mom came to visit and mentioned that her temperament was like that of a housecat's. I had that in mind when I answered the oft-asked question: "what's it like being the mother of two children?" My reply became a canned response: "I don't know! I feel like I am the mother of one lively toddler and a housecat--she just stays curled up in the corner of the room, looking all cute and sweet. When I want cuddles, she's happy to oblige me, but I seldom hear a peep from her unless she's hungry!" 

Here is our little kitty cat on the prowl at 11 months old :)  She learned to walk unsupported only days later!

As she's grown, she has been quick to smile. I love her nerdy toothy grin with big gaps in between each tooth. And I love how she wrinkles her nose sometimes when she smiles. Her happy noise comes from her throat and sounds like a pigeon's purr, though I'm sad to say she is starting to grow out of that. 

Probably one of my most favorite things about Heidi is that she has generally allowed me to comfort her. When she cries, I hold her or hug her, or pat her back. . .and she stops crying! It makes me feel . . .the way I've always wanted to feel as a mom--like I am a strength and a support to my child and my help is wanted and needed. I love that feeling!

One time when she was a few months old, I tried to give her a bath in the bathroom sink. I hadn't tried it with her before and realized by trial and error that she was too big for the sink! As her limbs flailed around to demonstrate her discomfort in this tiny excuse for a bathtub, she pushed the handle on the faucet toward HOT. It wasn't  scalding luckily, but it was certainly uncomfortably hot--worth every decibel of noise that escaped from her lips. Of course I immediately yanked her out of the sink and pulled her dripping wet body close to me. She screamed as she clung to me. I spoke softly to reassure her (and to apologize). I stroked her head and patted her back and within about 30 seconds. . . she was calm. I know that might sound like a simple story, but to me it was profound. I am so grateful for this girl and that my presence comforts her. 

Now that I've caught up on some memories and general feelings about my baby, here are some recent Heidi-isms, with some pictures to spice it up:

Heidi has been learning some ASL signs! So far, at 14 months she knows:

• Dog
• Bird
• More
• Hi/bye
• All done
• Milk
• Ouch!
• Help

This past week, I was holding Heidi and she leaned forward to bite my chin--HARD! I said "No Heidi girl! Don't bite Mama!" She looked at me with concern and made the sign for "ouch!" I agreed, saying "that's right Heidi! It hurt! Can you kiss Mama better?" and she did! Although my chin was sore, it was so fun to see her interact with me and show understanding!

This is what she looks like when she reaches for me. It melts me!

Working on those first steps!

This just doesn't happen anymore--Heidi girl is just too busy to fall
asleep on anyone these days. . .but church got in the way of naptime
and Heidi made an exception. I just had to capture this rare sweet moment.

                                          Not only does this video show that she is just SOOO darn
                                          cute, but see those dots? She likes to "pick them up" and
                                          "eat them" ha ha! Funny baby!

This little sweetie has learned this month how
to fold her arms for prayers, and she does so on
command!

Silly girl, she loves to eat everything! And often times she doesn't take the
trouble to pick it up and put it in her mouth. She just laps it up right from the
ground like a little puppy! She wouldn't have made the cut for  Gideon's
army! (Judges 7:4-7)

This little doll-face just LOVES her chicken dinosaurs! In
fact, I would say they are currently her favorite food. The
trouble with them is that they start out frozen. . .and to get
them to the point of being edible, they've got to be microwaved
and possibly even cooled. The wait resulted in her very first
kicking-and-screaming-on-the-floor tantrum. . .like the kind
you see in cartoons :) When I finally handed her the goods,
she was content to just stay where she was and gobble it up!

Heidi is mesmerized by animals so her favorite song right now is "Old McDonald". She likes saying "E-I-E-I" She doesn't have the "O" down yet, but that kinda makes it cuter :)

Heidi likes the book: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?"

. . .and she loves kissing things--like this black sheep in the book. . .

Now I think this one is better blurry because it
shows how excited she was to discover helium balloons--
there was just a constant flurry of cuteness zipping past!

                                 . . .and herself. How can she resist? I know I can't stop kissing her!!

This girl thinks she's "ready to read". Here she is at the library, browsing through
the early chapter books. Doesn't it just look like she's saying "hmmm. . .what should
I read today?"

Heidi has learned to color. . .on the floor. But I showed her the

paper and told her that we only color on paper. Ever since then,

she has pulled out a piece of paper and sat down with a crayon/

marker/ pencil crayon and went to town scribbling.

. . .and then she made me realize that my rule
doesn't always hold true. I guess there's a time
and a place to color on the ground.

This one's a little blurry, but still! She made an adorable
elephant for Halloween! Oh goodness!

If you can't tell from this picture, being this baby's Mama is an absolute joy. . .really just a dream come true!

Heidi-isms #2

Wow! It's been a long time since I've blogged about my kids and it seems like I'm missing out on documenting a lot of cuteness! My little Heidi turned 21 months yesterday and I'd like to celebrate her being in our lives by recording some fun events. Well, here goes!

1) Bee
Me: Heidi, what's that?
Heidi: Bum-bo-bee
Me: Ya! And what does a bumblebee say?
Heidi: Um. . .BUM!

2) Fireside
We have a firepit in the backyard of our new house. We took it for its maiden voyage last month and made s'mores. The kids loved it! It took awhile to get the fire going, so Robby ended up using a lot of matches. And every time he lit a match Heidi would start singing "happy birthday to you!' (Because usually the only time she sees matches are when a cake is being lit at a birthday party)

3) Camera
At our old place we had a baby video monitor in Heidi's room. We had it attached to the wall just about a foot or so above her crib. She loved it! It was her bedtime ritual to hug and kiss the camera each night before bed. When we moved to our new house we started going to a new church building. In the back of the chapel on the ceiling is a similar camera, which is usually used during stake conferences (large meetings) to stream video to other buildings. The first time she attended church at the new building, she spotted the camera and started yelling "camera! camera!!. . ."Hug it! Kiss it!" and she started blowing kisses at it and trying to reach for it--all during a very quiet sacrament meeting :) We would distract her for a time, but this continued on and off throughout the entire meeting!

4) Potty Training
Heidi has decided she wants to be potty trained. At 21 months I wasn't planning on this happening so soon. But she started off by taking her diaper off and saying "potty". I was skeptical, but she ran to the potty and went pee right away. She has gotten good at going #2 as well! I hope her enthusiasm and consistency keeps up, but I'm not holding my breath!

One time after she went poop (which happened to be diarrhea), I got to work cleaning out her little potty (gee, I hate that part!). In doing so, I forgot to put a diaper on her. The onesie she was wearing wasn't done up and it was hanging below her bum, so I couldn't see that she was diaperless. Heidi and Leila proceeded to play downstairs in the toy room. About 20 minutes later I hear this from Leila "Mom! MOOOOOOOM! Heidi went POOOOOOP!!! And NOT in the. . . POTTY!" I ran downstairs to find a big pile of diarrhea on the floor, and I also found my happy little toddler running around with poop all over her feet from having stepped in it. She was now tracking it all over the brown multi-colored carpet. ALL. OVER. I yelled for Robby. He grabbed her and ran outside to hose her off. I worked on cleaning up the carpet but the poop was so hard to see! It blended in PERFECTLY with the carpet. So as I crawled around on my hands and knees, I would discover little puddles of poop as I planted my hand in it! EEW! Must there be a massive diarrhea mess associated with every potty training?! Yikes! It reminds me of Leila's airplane poo-splosion!  Anyway, needless to say, we bleached a lot of toys, threw lots of stuff in the washing machine ASAP and shampooed our carpets last week. So now everything seems even cleaner than before! Yay!

5) Thank You
Something that has especially endeared Heidi to me is how good she is at saying "thank you". Any time you give her anything she sweetly says "thank yoooooou" (really she draws out the "you" like that).  Last week (the day before the poop incident actually), she took a really bad fall, bit her lip, and had blood GUSHING out of her mouth. It was all over her face, all over the floor, her shirt, my shirt, my hands, the door frame, and the bathroom sink. The blood didn't seem to want to stop! We started wrapping her up in towels to bring her to the hospital. While we were doing so, the bleeding started to subside. We ended up just keeping an eye on her and bringing her to the dentist on Monday--her roots were not damaged thankfully. But she had a rough day!! The pain would come and go and she would cry and scream. Her lip swelled up HUGE! She looked like a little duckling! At one point I was lying in my bed comforting her. She started calming down and she looked at me through her tears and said with an expression that seemed equally pained and sincere "thank you Momma." I just melted! She was thanking me for being there for her! No longer is motherhood a thankless job :)

I'm sure grateful to have our Heidi girl in our lives. She is such a treasure!