Emma's first dip in the pool

Did you ring my princess?

This is a picture of Braden waiting hand and foot on Princess Brooke, which was his consequence for a poor decision. While outside with Brooke, Braden spotted a glass that he decided just had to be broken. I won't even begin to go into why the glass was outside in the first place or who left it out there from the night before; he knows who he is. Well, after Braden peformed his experiment and watched the glass shatter, Brooke fell victim to Braden's destructive behavior when she stepped on the glass. Rich and I were in the kitchen when Brooke came limping in with the bottom of her foot covered in blood. Braden even tried to convince us that it was Brooke that broke the glass. After Rich removed the glass from her foot, he made Braden help him play doctor and go get a band-aid. Then Rich decided it would be a good idea to have Braden take care of Brooke, since it was his decision which had caused her to get hurt. I then added to the picture by giving Brooke a bell to ring whenever she needed Braden to get her something. Of course Brooke being the overly dramatic princess she is, she loved being waited on; she laid in her bed surrounded by all of her spoils and belted out commands for Braden. She had him get her a sippy, her Barbie, and read to her; she also told Braden to go tell Mommy to get chicken nuggets for her to eat in bed, but I informed him he needed to tell the princess she would be coming to the table to eat chicken bog with the rest of us. It was very entertaining for Rich and I both to watch, and the picture doesn't do the situation justice; I guess it is one of those things you had to witness firsthand to get the full comedic effect.

Potty Training Induced Insanity

Do the potty dance, do the potty dance! Braden went poop in the potty! HALLELUJAH! HALLELUJAH, HALLELUJAH! No, I have not lost my mind; I am just another victim of potty training induced insanity! I wonder if they don't warn you about the horrors of potty training while you are considering having children, because they know that many of us would run screaming from the possibility. I of course would have been one of those brave and crazy souls that decided to take the chance and then tried to rethink my decision when I was knee deep in poop stained underwear, but by then it would be too late. I'm obviously joking; I love being a mom, but I think if I see another pair of underwear filled with poop or have to once again pose the question to my 4 year old, "Where do we poop, in our underwear or in our potty?", I think the potty training induced insanity may be here to stay. Seriously though, Braden and Brooke are making huge progress; Braden does great going pee pee in the potty, but he can't seem to want to do the same thing with his poop. While at a friend's house today, he pooped, but only because I saw the grunting face, ran him to the bathroom, and convinced him to sit there until something came out. I then proceeded to dance around like a crazy person, hoping that all of the positive praise would make him want to repeat the performance later, but no dice; Braden I hate to say has not repeated the performance, but he has shared poop with his underwear since then. Brooke on the other hand, loves to poop in the potty; she also likes to look at it and tell us what it looks like. To date, she has made a snake, an airplane, a pancake, a frog, and a really big snake. Brooke also likes to announce that her body is telling her it needs to go to the bathroom. There will be relative calm in the house when all of a sudden you hear, "My body says it has to go!" I then of course yell, "Run, girl, run, listen to that body." Brooke and Braden also have both been known to announce (quite loudly) in church during sacrament, after returning from a successful trip to the bathroom, "I go pee pee A LOT!" I know this potty training insanity will end, but as soon as it does, it will start again with Emma. I'm sure glad I love these children with everything that I have, or I don't think I would have agreed to this craziness!

Big Brave 4 yr. old

Today Braden had to go to the doctor for his 4 year old well visit, and I was a little nervous about him having to get so many shots. I had been trying to prepare him for it by talking to him about what was going to happen. I have to admit I also fibbed a little to get him prepared. Reading the book about Dora going to the dentist had worked like a charm to get him to let them clean his teeth, so I told him that I was sure Dora had been to the doctor before and gotten shots. I also bribed him and reassured him. I told him that Daddy (there was no way I could take 3 kids to the doctor while one was getting shots, not when one child was a 2 month old) would be by his side, hold his hand, and even hold him if he wanted him to; I also told him that he and Daddy would go get milkshakes, just the two of them, if he did a good job. Well, my brave 4 year old did a great job! When he got home, he told me that he cried, because it hurt. I told him that it was okay to cry when something hurts, but that I was proud of him that he hadn't had a fit. Not only was he my brave 4 year old, but he also is my little sweetheart. He came home and shared his milkshake with his little sister. Brooke is quite a character; after Braden shared his milkshake she looked at him and said (verbatim), "You are a great kid. I love you so much." Is she 2 or 20? I ask myself that often. After the milkshake Braden proudly showed us all of his bandaids and again told us that he cried, and I again reassured him that it was okay to cry. Then we talked about how Brooke will get shots when she is 4, and she informed us that she planned on having a fit. I sure hope she changes her mind before she turns 4. I can't get over how big my cuties are getting; time flies by a little faster when you are doing all you can to get the clock to stand still.

Sweet Emma- almost 3 months old

Emma is quite the little sweetheart, despite her sensitive tummy. She is cooing up a storm, and she adores Braden and Brooke. Emma's little face lights up, when they talk to her. She loves to socialize, and she is happiest when she is with other people, especially her family. Her charm is really starting to come out, and I adore her beautiful smile!

Fathers do know best sometimes

Well, I hate to admit it, but Rich was right. He said that he thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and put Emma in her crib, instead of letting her stay in our room until she was 3 months old like we did with Brooke. Of course, I agreed to try it on one condition, that he put the receiver part of the monitor in the crib with Emma; if she even breathed funny, I was going to hear it. Rich humored my paranoia though and did as I asked. I told him that I had gotten used to the reassurance of waking up and looking over at Emma and seeing her little chest rise and fall; I also liked that I didn't have to truck it across the hall to get her when she was hungry. Despite my arguments, he stuck to his guns and made me stick to my word; we tried it, and I hate to admit it but she survived and so did I. She only woke up once during the night, and I slept better. Rich has more insight into our cuties than I give him credit for; they are lucky to have him for a father, and I lucky to be married to the stud!

Princess or Hooligan?

As we were sitting in church today, I was thinking how blessed I am to have such beautiful healthy sweet children. Of course about this time, I look over at Brooke all decked out in her little sailor dress, white sandals, and the HUGE EYEBALL tattoo still on her arm! She might be a sweet princess, but she has a whole lot of hooligan in her!

Library Reading Program Kick Off

Today Braden, Brooke, Emma, and I went to the library for the big kickoff party they were having for the library. I don't know if I am insane or brave, but I am glad I went; the kids had so much fun! First we went into the library for a show; they had a man who came and took the children on an imaginary trip around the world complete with sound effects and a few magic tricks. To say the library was crowded would be an understatement; I am so grateful that there was a familiar face there to help me. Jean, a woman I have gotten to know through going to the park on Fridays, luckily showed up even earlier than I did and snagged a couple chairs, which was amazing; most everyone else stood or sat on the floor. At one point during the show, I was thinking how much I must love my children, as I nursed Emma, attempted to share my chair with Braden, and tried to keep Brooke from falling off the chair. After the show, the crowd, including the crazy Masedas, headed to the park where the party continued. We had juice and cookies, signed up for the reading program, got our free bowling passes for the summer, and tried to figure out what we wanted to do first. Braden and his friend Justin played a game and won a couple prizes, while Brooke pouted; she wanted to go to the swings and nothing else would do. The cuties also picked out a couple tattoos, eyeball tattoos I might add; they add tons to pick from, which I tried to steer them towards, but they wanted no part of it. Braden and Brooke are now both sporting beautiful eyeball tattoos on their arms for the whole world to see; I am glad they are temporary! Next I let Braden and Brooke loose to play on the swings, slides, and run like banshees. Before leaving we also stopped by the fire truck the library had arranged to have at the park, so they could get a peek inside and collect their firefighter sticker. Of course even though we had spent more than enough time at the library and park, Brooke still had a fit when it was time to go; you've gotta love that spirit of hers?!