Picture taking

This month I have definitely been slacking when it comes to taking pictures of the kids. Not sure why really but I miss it. When it comes to taking pictures of the kids Maeley is by far the hardest one to take. She moves around way too fast to capture a good moment and she always does a silly smile. Generally Chase is very easy to take pictures of. And little Zoe is a ham. Last night at 9 o'clock she was still awake and very happy so I decided to take pictures. The moment she saw me hold up the camera she started bouncing on her bottom with the biggest smile on her face.

This was after 9 last night when she should have been asleep. See what we are up against. She's just so darn cute and happy we enjoy every minute of it.

She sticks her tongue out quite often.

Maeley proudly showing off an American Girl book she got when we went to McDonald's last week.

She insisted on a picture with me.

What a stud!

Can you tell he is saying cheese?

Change of plans

Our fitness routine was not working out for us. Derek was having a hard time waking up in the mornings and it was difficult for me getting to the gym after dinner. In our ward a handful of women meet at our old church building (because it's closer to everyone) Monday through Friday at 5:15. We workout to a different video each day. I've gone the past two mornings and have enjoyed it. Today especially kicked me in the butt. I'm totally out of shape. Derek now goes running after we put Maeley and Chase to sleep at 8 while I am feeding Zoe and getting her to bed. Derek feels like he has more energy to work hard on his run and I feel better getting my exercise done in the morning. So far its working out well...let's just keep it that way. We are also trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into our day. We have been slackers lately when it comes to eating healthy.

I just love this little boy!

Chase is so fun to listen to. He has such a cute voice and says some of the sweetest things. I do have a very hard time getting him to say "I love momma" though. When I ask him to say it he'll say "no, I love dadda". Little stinker.

I'm so frustrated!

Today has been going rather well until I took the kids for a walk so Ella could go to the bathroom. Apartment life wouldn't be so bad but the dog situation makes it hard. So we are walking and Maeley and Chase decide that they are going to run around on the paths. I'm having a hard time keeping up as I am pushing Zoe in the stroller and I also have Ella on her leash. The kids ran off and I couldn't see them which makes me so made and scared too. I know Maeley won't run out into the street but Chase will. Not to mention I don't want someone to take my kids. I hate, hate, hate taking the kids and Ella for walks. It's getting worse and I dread the walks everyday. These walks have made me very bitter towards our dog. Which is really sad because she's a pretty good dog.

What we are up to

Maeley was looking in the Friend and saw "My Gospel Standards" and thought it needed to be posted on the refrigerator.

Maeley has a part in our ward's primary program. She is supposed to say, "And Phares begat Esrom". It as been a struggle to get her to pronunciate the words correctly so we are a bit worried. Not to mention we are going to be out of town the Sunday before the program so she will miss the rehearsal. She's been a pretty good girl today and being nice to Chase and including him in everything she does. It makes my day so much easier. Maeley has decided that she loves my shoes, especially high heels and has been wearing them most of the day.

This picture was taken earlier this month before we took his treasured green blanket away from him.

Chase is just so darn cute. He is talking a ton! Sometimes I just have to tell him to please stop talking. Sometimes when he's talking he will say the first part of a word and leave out the rest which makes it difficult sometimes to tell what he's saying. He loves nursery. Seriously loves it. He knows the routine very well now. He is starting to sing more. Some of his favorite songs are, "Jesus What's Me for a Sunbeam", the snowman song where he melts (not sure what the name is) and "Choo Choo the big train". He does understand that Jesus loves him and says it all the time. Friday when Dad came home from work Chase went up to him and said, "your my best friend". It was so cute. There is and has always been a special bond between Chase and Daddy.

"Who me?"

Zoe, Zoe, Zoe. She is just adorable! I love her to pieces. She loves crawling. On Thursday mornings I take the kids to a play group at our Stake Center. All the kids bring toys and they just run around and play in the cultural hall. Zoe was having a great time this last week. She was crawling all over, from one toy to the next. She hardly made a peep until the very end when I knew she was getting tired. She has begun pulling herself up but it will be a little while before she starts walking, and that's okay with me. For about the past 2 weeks she has a tooth coming in. I just can't believe it hasn't cut through yet. It's weird that she's almost 10 months and just now getting her first tooth. I'm really not complaining because I'm still breastfeeding her. I can't wait until she's 1 and I stop nursing her. I am so sick of it.

Yesterday was a crazy day. Derek commented how we are turning into his parents. Living with his parents we noticed how many meetings they had and how sometimes on Sunday's it didn't seem like they were around much. Yesterday was kinda like that. Derek went to church at 9:30 for a couple meetings before church at 11. Then I had a meeting right after church, got home about 3. Fed myself and Zoe then was off to another meeting at 4 and wasn't home until just after 7. We are definitely staying busy.

Today is a better day

I decided the kids and I needed to get out today. It's way too hot to be playing at the park so we went to McDonald's. I didn't tell the kids where we were going so when we pulled into the parking lot they got excited. I then explained that if they ate all there lunch then they could play in the play place. We have never before let them do that. I was surprised at how quickly Maeley ate her hamburger. She was eager to go play. I knew leaving the house there was a chance that this idea could backfire, but am happy to report that it went very smoothly. It took a little while for Maeley and Chase to get the idea about the tunnels and how to get to the slide but once they did they had a blast. In the end I didn't even have to tell them it was time to leave. They were ready on there own. Well actually Chase was ready and I told Maeley she could go down the slide one more time. She wanted to but I think she was too chicken to go by herself and not with Chase. Chase & Maeley make a pretty good team.

The best part was Maeley saying I was the best mom ever.

I can't handle it anymore!

The past few weeks have been especially difficult and I'm not sure why. It seems like there are never ending messes to be cleaned up. I feel like I am always getting after Maeley because she is being mean to Chase or not listening to me or making yet another mess or getting into something she shouldn't be. I'm going crazy and I want to scream! Have I mentioned lately that I need a break! Oh and our laundry room still isn't fixed so I have cleaning supplies on the kitchen counter and on our dresser. (They normally are on the shelf above the washer/dryer) All I want is a clean house for 5 minutes. Is that really too much to ask? I'm going stir crazy and I don't know what to do. It's just a good thing our kids are so darn cute and we love them so much!

Just too cute

Look at her big eyes

and those chubby checks

Isn't she just too cute?

Silly girls

Maeley was sitting in her doll stroller and Zoe thought it was really funny.

I think Zoe looks hilarious in the doll stroller. She's such a big girl. I love my girls.

My ramblings...

I feel like rambling. If you don't want to read that's okay, but consider yourself warned if you continue on.

Today has been an eventful day. I had to get up earlier than I would have liked so I could get ready and be out of the apartment while work was being done to repair the leak in our laundry room. Before we left our neighbor gave Maeley & Chase a talking animal. Chase got a monkey that talks and swings and Maeley got a duck hand puppet that quacks when you close the beak. I have already threatened to give them back because they are driving me crazy!

We went shopping to be out of the house. I went to Michael's to look for ribbon unfortunately I could not find what I was looking for. We spent plenty of time just walking around and the kids were great. After that we went to the mall so I could get my wedding ring cleaned. Maeley and Chase were taking turns pushing Zoe in her stroller. I had to stay close and steer because Chase especially is a dangerous driver. Then off to pick up Derek and go to lunch. We went to Grimaldi's for pizza. Maeley loves this place because they give the kids some pizza dough to play with while we wait for the food. She eats more of it than plays with it. We were surprised that Chase was eating it too. He normally doesn't like it. The weather was actually nice so we sat outside. Zoe had her first taste of pizza crust and really liked it.

We came home to a very smelly house. The fan is still on to dry out the carpet and more drywall was removed just like I had thought. The noise of the fan is beginning to annoy me. Tomorrow afternoon they come back to put up the drywall. Hopefully they are done soon. I have laundry to do.

My afternoon has been spent on the phone. I have tried multiple times calling to get a hospital bill paid. In the past I've been on hold for about 20 minutes and have to hangup because I just can't hold anymore. But today I got someone right away, wahoo. Next on my list was our insurance company. We have already hit our maximum for Zoe but last week got another bill. I'm so tired of all the bills. Anyways, then I had to call the company billing me and tell them I don't have to pay you. Now I have to fax them some paperwork to prove that the insurance company has already paid it and I don't owe them any more. Completely annoying. I'm tired of the run around. Hopefully I can get to the front office of our apartment so I can get this done today. Next on the list of calls, Cox. Our internet went up $14 this month. Have you ever called somewhere and its a voice activated system. Well I got really irritated when I couldn't get to a real person and the automated lady kept telling me how much I owe and what I paid last month. Hello I already have that information. I got so annoyed I said "you suck" and she sent me to a real person. Finally! I thought it was pretty funny though. Maybe next time I should try that at the beginning and forgo all the options.

I think I've rambled enough. Plus Zoe and Chase will be waking up soon.

Plumbing Problems

Yesterday before church we noticed the rug in the kids bathroom was soaked. We thought that one of the kids spilt water from their bucket onto the floor. Well about 7:30 last night Derek noticed a huge bubble in the paint in our laundry room and then I noticed we had another puddle on the floor in the kids bathroom. We called maintenance and they were over very quickly. He couldn't find where the leak was coming from and left just saying that they'd be here in the morning to get it figured out. Well if you know Derek you know he wants to solve the problem now and was just itching to start tearing out drywall. We called maintenance back and said this is far worse than previously thought. He came back but we could tell was a little irritated. Derek said his tone changed when he poked at the wall behind the washer and literally fell into the wall. The drywall was soaked! There really was nothing they could do at now 9:30 at night so he called the plumber to come out first thing in the morning. We put a bucket under the pipes to catch the water but it filled up about every 45minutes. Derek woke up a few times to empty it out. They didn't finally show up until almost 10 this morning. They had to shut the water off for the whole building so wanted to wait while people were leaving for the day. The leak has now been fixed and we have a fan drying out the walls in our laundry room. I think they still need to remove more drywall. I have to be gone from 9-12 tomorrow. I have mixed feelings. I really don't want some strangers in my home without me there. At the same time the sealant they are using is potent and I do not want my kids around that, especially Zoe. And they will turn the A/C off and open windows to hopefully get the smell out so that means when we come home its going to be hot. Hello its August in Arizona. I have no clue where I am supposed to go tomorrow.

The leak was coming from the water supply for the wash machine upstairs.

This is the bubble that was filled with water.

They cut out the dry wall where the bubble was to find the source of the problem.

What are we creating?

Zoe definitely gets away with more than Maeley or Chase ever did when they were her age or even now. There have been many nights where I will feed her and put her to bed but she resists. So we end up letting her stay up a little later all while she is the happiest baby ever. Seriously I think she knows she's getting special treatment and enjoys every second. Derek and I don't even mind. We enjoy the extra time with her. A couple nights ago I knew if I fed her she wouldn't go to sleep so I just waited 20 minutes or so. In the meantime Derek and I had some ice cream and Zoe was thrilled to have a few tastes of her own. I asked Derek, "What are we creating?", his reply was "the baby".

Who can resist those big blue eyes and chubby cheeks? We can't.

Too funny

This afternoon I was taking snap shots of the kids and caught a funny moment.

Maeley was standing on a stool and her foot slipped. She ended up falling but I happened to catch her facial reaction at that split second. Just too funny. We had a good laugh when we saw the picture.

Maeley

Maeley is very creative and is coming up with new ways to use things. A few weeks back I found her in her room coloring. She had turned Chase's Fisher Price garage on its side and used it as her desk. She also used the stop sign to hold the pad of paper in place.

I just love her facial expression

and her cute smile too

I want to go camping

We haven't been camping in 3 years! That seems just crazy if you ask me. I have always enjoyed camping and really miss it. I just came across these pictures and thought I'd post them.

August 2006
Maeley loved sitting in this chair and enjoyed watching everyone. She was 9 months and was such a great baby the entire time.