Shoe Store

What do you do for a sister with a shoe fetish? You open a shoe store in her room, of course. Isabella and I were finishing up lunch while Benjamin had already finished and was off playing. Then he called from her room, "The store is open! Come to the shoe store!" We went into Bella's room to find that he'd taken the entertainment center we're not currently using and laid out some of her shoes on it. He then climbed up on her dresser and started enticing us to come buy. Certain ones were $1, others $2.


Bella chose her favorites first and was delighted by the rock bottom prices. Especially when she pretended to give him $1 and then he pretended to give her $3 in change. What a deal! After we'd selected a few pairs each and Bella had tried them all on, he declared that the rest were free - a huge sale because he needed to empty his store because he was moving to Germany. So, naturally we snatched up the rest of the shoes and reveled in our great luck. Honestly, I don't think Bella could have been more excited about a game of make-believe. I thought it was sweet that he finally paid her back for all the games of monster and alien robots that she's had to play.

Dress-up

Most of Benjamin's close friends are girls and nearly all of them adore dressing up in princess attire. He gets so frustrated that they don't have anything for him to wear. So I gathered various Halloween costumes and holiday accessories and put them in a special "dress-up bag" for him. He loves them. I love seeing his imagination at work. My favorite is the policeman. I think he looks so cute ("I'm not cute, I'm handsome, mommy; boys are handsome!"). Of course, Bella always has to join in too. I guess I'd better get some dresses soon too or people are going to wonder why my daughter is always dressed like a playboy bunny. (Maybe I'm scrimping too much on air conditioning costs because I can't keep clothes on that girl! She's stripping all day long. This is about as dressed as you'll find her lately.)


Oh, and by the way, to those of you who've requested a belly shot - ain't gonna happen. I tried. I had Kelly take close to 20 pictures and hated every single one of them. Maybe I'm a bit too vain, but this is the WORLD WIDE web we're talking about. I have to really like a picture before I'll put it up here. Wolfgang (or Wolfie to his friends - aka Mary) will just have to remain hidden until he's born.


One more thing, am I the only mom who does this? Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or whatnot, but lately I keep finding myself looking at my children and being so amazed that they're mine. I don't know how to explain it properly, but even after years of having them with me, it still shocks me on a daily basis that these amazing little people are mine. I remember having that after getting married - just looking at Kelly and saying, "Can you believe we're married?!? Crazy!" Yet, it's something more than that with my kids. They were inside me and call me mom and love and need me! How amazing that is! I find myself so in awe of their little bodies and personalities. They're so little and yet so perfectly complete and complex. It blows my mind again and again. These aren't just someone else's kids I'm watching for the afternoon, they're mine - my kids - forever! I'll look at Isabella talk and play and see all that's going on in that little mind and body of hers and just sit back in amazement that I was allowed a part in creating all that. I have a role in teaching her. What an amazing thing motherhood is. And I'm having another! Benjamin's favorite past-time is watching my belly move. He'll sit on my legs, facing me, and push on my stomach until the baby moves around and then he'll just stare in amazement and laugh and say, "did you see that?!" I love it. Someone to share in the joy all day long. What a fun time this is. It's so hard to put the feelings into words, but I'm just so amazingly grateful that these spirits are in my home and are my children. The whole thing is beyond my comprehension but even on the hard days, it makes me so happy. Yeah, must be the hormones. :)

Another Craft Gone Awry

This project sounded like so much fun when I saw it online that I had to try it. See it here: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/06/driveway-graffiti.html. But I know my kids better than to think that they'd approach it the same way as the kids online. I mean, even those kids found their own adaptations, so I knew I was in for it, but just how quickly they veered off track still surprised me. This project required that you fill a bowl with corn starch, water, and food coloring and then coat a ball in the mixture and throw the ball on the sidewalk/patio to make designs. Sounded like fun. I got 4 balls, two bowls of color, and my two kids dressed in their grubbies and out we went. (Had to cajole Bella to wear them because she had a different outfit in mind and she undressed twice during the course of the project.) They each threw two balls and then they decided they had better ideas.


Pretty soon the colors were being spooned in to my water bottle, shaken, and poured back out; hands were dunked and printed all over the ground, themselves, and each other; and then the shoes came off. They poured out the bowls and sloshed through the color, traipsing it all over the patio. It was actually quite funny to watch. I tried to keep using the balls to help them see that they're fun too, but they were uninterested in my style of play. The lady in the blog had said, "It was a great time and great for all ages (even big kids). My toddler got to learn and experiment with cause and effect. My preschooler learned about the reaction that different levels of forces put on the ball. We talked about the cornstarch dissolving in the water. We talked about the food coloring changing the paint. This activity was a wealth of scientific knowledge." Well, can't say we got to that stuff. I'll call this a great sensory activity and leave it at that.


In 30 minutes the color mixtures were empty and my kids were pink and purple head to toe. 15 minutes of scrubbing yielded little effect. They sure had fun, though. That's the most important part, right? And after an afternoon of playing at the park and a soak in the tub, the color is almost gone.

Who's the Diva?

Every day these past weeks I've looked at Bella at some point (or many points) during the day and wondered, "Who are you and what have you done with my sweet Isabella?" She has become a full fledged two year old and has a mind and a will that knows no bounds. The area over which she has the greatest control in her life is her clothing and so she has become a total diva. She undresses and redresses at least 4-5 times a day. Always complaining that some item is either too hot/cold, small/big, scratchy, etc. I'm lucky if the outfit she puts on after she wakes up is still what she's wearing when we leave the house a hour later. So often I've called to her from the door on my way out and she'll arrive naked - after having been dressed (for the second or third time) only minutes before. She's also taken to undressing in public any time the mood strikes. At the park, in the backyard, or in the store, it makes no difference to her. When she decides she no longer likes a particular pair of pants or shirt, off it comes. And the fight that ensues when I try to put it back on her is a sight to see. That brings up the fact that she's also become a hitter. You know it's bad when your 2 year old doesn't just hit you and her brother, but even hits her grandmother, father, and the librarian. Should have seen the look on that woman's face! That'll teach her to tell Bella what to do.

Bella, after having once been fully dressed only moments before, had come back naked. So I sent her back to her room and this is how she reemerged, declaring, "me get dressed." They say that shoes make the outfit, so I guess she's covered the most crucial part.


The other thing she can control is what goes in her mouth. So she's redeveloped (after many months) a habit of eating the inedible. Rocks, wood chips, grass, her clothing, books, etc. have all become snacks lately. She'll even occasionally wander over to the kitchen table and start gnawing on a corner. She's also not to be persuaded to eat something she doesn't want. We had blackberries and strawberries for dessert yesterday and Benjamin finished his dinner in record time in order to obtain them. Bella was eating well, but not as fast. Until she saw Benjamin start in on the berries. She desperately wanted some, but I reminded her that she needed to finish her dinner first. That's when she tried to take control. "No!" she screamed and threw her fully-laden soup spoon at me. Zucchini spinach soup splattered on my arm, shirt, pants and the floor. She spent the rest of our dinner in time-out and then she ate her dinner alone. This time she ate it all without complaint before receiving her share of the berries. Don't mess with mommy - you think you've got a determined, willful personality - guess who gave it to you?

Some have told me that she's doing this because she knows she's about to be replaced as the baby in the family. Some say that this is just normal two year old behavior. Either way, the comforting thing is -(and I learned this with Benjamin when he behaved similarly at this age) - this is a stage. It will pass. It just seems like forever when you're in it. She might still be a clothes horse when she's older, but hopefully she won't be eating rocks or hitting well-intentioned librarians.

A Great Vacation

We're back from a wonderful trip. 10 days of swimming, 4-wheeling, boating, camping, eating out, and hanging out. I missed my bed, but otherwise it's a little hard to be back. It was so great to see friends and family again. Now begins the Summer and the long, hot pregnant days. I'm about 30 weeks along, although I've lost exact count, so we're into the final stretch - literally. :)

We went to the zoo with some cousins on the first day there. I think my kids' favorite animals in every zoo we visit are always the statues. I guess if the real animals let you climb all over them, they'd like those best.




Kelly and I had planned to attend the temple, but decided to make it a family outing and just visit temple square. Benjamin spent hours watching every single video the visitor's center offered while Bella went around chatting up all the sister missionaries, never tiring of hearing how cute she was.


Riding the 4-wheelers in the mountains by Richfield. What a beautiful area. Would have much rather explored it on foot, but you can't deny the boys their machinery. Benjamin told me that he'd rather ride with Daddy because he's "cooler." I guess that's what I get for being far more cautious on a vehicle that could potentially roll on top of me.



We also went boating/water skiing in the freezing cold water. I love the little snarl Benjamin has started making any time he doesn't really want his picture taken. He was busy concentrating on driving the boat and I'm making him say "cheese." Mothers, what a pain! ;)




Seeing friends and family was, of course, the highlight of the trip. Benjamin had a great time playing with so many new friends and their new toys and at new playgrounds. He seemed to get along best with the girls. In each new group I'd find him laughing and running around, and even occasionally condescending to play Barbies, with whichever similar-age girl was in the house. Although, he was introduced to the super-soaker and now cannot stop talking about it. I think I have his birthday present in mind. Bella loved all the new shoes she got to try on. Everywhere we went, she'd tear off her shoes and socks and try on whatever she could find. After we got home I got out several pairs of shoes that we've been given that don't quite fit her yet just so she didn't go into withdrawal! Thanks to everyone we got to visit and who helped make this trip a great one.