For the Love of a Best Friend

Georgie has been a part of Marisa's life since she was around 7 months old. If you have been following my blog you are very aware of how special Georgie is to Marisa.
With that said, you can imagine how much he has been loved by an ever growing little girl. As you can also imagine, Georgie isn't looking like he once did.

Right before bedtime Marisa came to me a little concerned and said, "Mommy, can you fix Georgie's shirt?" I took one good look at Georgie and said, "He needs a lot of fixin' right now."

So Marisa and I went to work.

I let Marisa pick out the buttons she wanted on Georgie's shirt. (And as you can see from this picture Georgie has no buttons on his shirt, his bear is not attached to his pjs anymore, his mouth is falling apart, his stuffing has slowly been leaving him, and his pants are saggy. All good signs that he has been really loved.)

Of course, Marisa picks the biggest pink button I have. I was able to guide her to pick two smaller buttons and she picked two pink ones again. =o)

After a few minutes of TLC, Georgie is all better, and Marisa is a happy little girl again. Georgie is not exactly back to normal, but looking much better for many more years of love.





Good night you two!

Little Miss Giggles

Last night, Natalie giggled for the first time! Tim was reading a book on the couch, Marisa was already in bed, and I was waiting for Natalie to get tired so I can put her to bed. I had Natalie on my lap just playing with her and I held her hands in my hands and then I would suddenly raise them up and say in my baby high-pitched voice, "You're still smiling!" haha

And she just cracked up.

Natalie kept laughing everytime I did it after that. She got lots of laughs out of Mommy and Daddy too.

I even got two more giggling episodes later today. Listening to your baby laugh is the sweetest sound in this world.
I love it.

The Holiday Jerks

Since Tim was 14 years old he has been known as the "Holiday Jerk" in his family.
Let me explain.
At that ripe age of 14, Tim was at the mall shopping with his family, and the story, according to his family, is that Tim just sat on the mall bench so grumpy during the whole shopping outing. Then his own mother calls him a "Holiday Jerk" for not getting up off his bum. haha
Anyways, recently Tim asked why I don't decorate for the holidays. (Except for Christmas, of course.) And I simply replied that I think decorations in the house are tacky, cheap-looking if not done right, and I just don't have the space for more junk. I would rather wait until we have a house where I can know exactly where I want things and decorate the home to where it looks good. It was at that moment where Tim jokingly called me a "Holiday Jerk". haha So, hi, Happy Halloween, we are the "Holiday Jerks". =o)

Instead, I would rather spend the money on holiday kitchen items.

Halloween Pancake Molds from Williams-Sonoma! Yummy!
Highly recommend getting them. This is something that is more than just a paper ghost hanging from the ceiling in my home. It is time spent cooking something fun and memorable with Marisa in the kitchen, eating yummy food, and starting traditions. Every Saturday since October started I have used these molds with this yummy pumpkin pancake batter from Trader Joes, chocolate chips, and this pumpkin butter spread also from Trader Joes to make a delicious breakfast. Marisa loves it! And I love starting a tradition for the Halloween holiday.

Oh! How I love this little girl...

Old McDonald had a farm...

One of my good friends introduced me to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. It is a program where consumers can buy local, seasonal food directly from a farmer. And boy, am I so happy about it! Yes, feast your eyes on this!







I signed up to receive a basket every other week filled with ultra-fresh food. Yesterday, I took the girls to our local farm to pick up our first loot and let me tell ya, I'm like a giddy school girl. I can't wait to make my diet 100x better, eat flavorful, vitamin-enriched fruits and veggies, and expose myself to new vegetables and new ways of cooking! Everything in my cute little basket is organic, local, and seasonal. LOVE IT!

To pick-up your basket, you enter a little barn where there are tables full of colorful, eye-candy baskets. You find the basket with your name on it, put it in your car, and drive home intoxicated by the overwhelming sweet smell of your fresh produce. Oh heavenly...





An added bonus is that Marisa looks forward to going to "her" farm. It is such a cute little farm and fun place for her. Because of the season, they had a pumpkin patch that Marisa just loved!

You can see exactly where your food is being grown. Isn't that great? They grow it and pick it for you and you just have to pick it up! I just get to eat their hard work!

My fridge has never looked so appetizing nor has it ever been so filled with veggies. On the bottom shelf I have gallon sized ziploc bags filled with leafy greens that reach all the way to the back of my fridge. I'm beyond excited and this will be a great change in our eating habits and it will help me teach my girls about healthy living. I'll keep you posted on the new delicious meals I'll be serving!

Go Cougars!

Last night we went down to San Diego for the BYU football game against SDSU. It was really fun to get out as a family and have some fun cheering on our cougars! Marisa loved keeping her eye on Cosmo and kept saying, "Where did the cougar go?"

My cubs!





The girls getting ready for the game!

Marisa and her friend Austin!

Pom-pom in hand cheering for the Big Blue!



We had great seats sitting 5 rows from the field right in front of the cheerleaders and dancers!

I think she was the littlest cougar fan out there!

Daddy with his girls after a cougar win of 38-28!

Two-and-a-half

Loves:
-Learning: Puzzles, books, ABC's, counting
-Wrestling with Daddy
-Making up songs
-Dancing
-Saying prayers
-The Disney channel (Little Einsteins is still #1 fav)
-Cooking with mom
-Veggies and fruits (She eats them first and asks for seconds before even touching her main meal.)

Hates:
-Going to bed
-Playing by herself
-Getting her hair washed, brushed, made-up
-Not being able to do something by herself or not doing it right/perfect

Marisa is blossoming and growing into a beautiful little lady. 2 1/2 today and such a darling little girl. At two-and-a-half she continues to take in the world around her and is learning so fast. She is able to communicate a lot better and the sentences she puts together to talk just amaze us. She is also starting to say some of the funniest things. Sometimes I look at her and I'm like, "Since when did you know that?" haha I think it's because she watches too much tv personally. haha Although, she is a good little chatterbox she still has her baby talk which I am grateful for because it makes her still a baby in my eyes. =o)

Word Translations:
chep-chup = ketchup
wantee = monkey
bum bee bee = bumblebee
swim-soup = swimsuit
Plan of Dalmation = Plan of Salvation
drive = dry

I really can't keep up with Marisa's hunger for knowledge either. I feel like I have to come up with a curriculum every week for her to keep her mind entertained and challenged. She has had her upper and lower case letters, numbers, and shapes down to a T since before she was 2 and I can tell she is starting to get bored. So I've started teaching her the sounds of each letter of the alphabet, the states and their location on the U.S. map, and opposites. She just eats it all up and surprises me how fast she can learn.

Marisa has adapted wonderfully to her little sister. She is a great big sister. In fact, she loves little Natalie so much that most of the time she doesn't understand that sometimes her love is a little too strong. =o) Marisa hasn't really grasped her own physical strength and just how fragile Natalie is. Here is cute proof that Natalie is just a fun doll to her, or in this case a piece of paper?...

Marisa loves to help me with Natalie though. Burp her, change her, wipe her mouth after she spits up, etc. I often times catch Marisa giving Natalie kisses on her head and then walking off to play again. I love the girls' relationship already. They just smile and giggle to each other and whenever I see that happen I get a quick glance of the future of two very mischeivous giggly girls...Oh boy...

They may look innocent, but I'm not too sure...

Marisa is so funny and energetic too. In fact, she doesn't stop! But what two year old isn't active, right? Jumping off the couch, wrestling with Dad, writing on the walls with my pomegranate chapstick, kicking her big red ball off...well...anything really, and threatening to cut her hair, my hair, Natalie's hair, or the carpet. All part of the package, right??

Lately she hasn't been very shy at all with people either. She will talk to anyone and immediately feel comfortable with them. Kids and adults. I can tell she likes to make new friends.

All in all, we love this little two year old and have loved watching her go through many milestones and stages since she was born. She definetly keeps us on our toes and wears us out by the end of day, but we wouldn't want it any other way.

The Binky Fairy

Last Saturday night Tim and I were discussing on the couch that we needed to get Marisa off her pacifer. So right then and there we decided to do it that night cold turkey!
I thought the best way to gently ween her off it was to tell her about "The Binky Fairy". I grabbed a cute little turquoise bag for her and explained that if she put all of her binkies in it, left it somewhere special, "The Binky Fairy" would leave a little present for her. Marisa chose the kitchen table to leave the bag and she was so excited! Once it was time for bed she did ask for her binkie but we reminded her about the fairy and her present in the morning and although she was hesitant, she went along with it. I wish I would have planned better and had gotten her an actual present, but since it was such a last minute decision to ween her off the binkie Tim and I just grabbed all of our change in the house and left it in the bag. haha I know ghetto.

In the morning, Marisa walked out of her room and with all the enthusiasm we could muster we said, "Marisa, look at what the Binky Fairy left you!" She had a huge smile as she checked her little bag and saw money to put in her little silver bear bank in her room! haha

Cute little skeleton!

Ever since then Marisa has gone to bed and taken naps without her binkie! She has only asked for it a few times and cried once during naptime saying, "I want my binkie back!" But honestly, she has surprised us in letting go of it so easily. I thought it would be a nightmare trying to ween her because she was so attached and it was the only way to calm her or to knock her out right to sleep in 2 seconds.

Way to go, Marisa! You are such a BIG GIRL!

Little Miss High Maintenance

2 month check-up
Weight: 10 pounds 3 ounces 30 percentile
Height: 22 3/4 45 percentile
Head: 15.2 55 percentile

The past two months have been one crazy rollercoaster ride. Natalie was a huge adjustment for us and gave us quite the scare about how high maintenance of a baby she seemed. For the longest time we called her "Little Miss High Maintenance" because this girl knew what she wanted and wanted only that. (I wonder who she may have gotten that from?)
For example, for the first month she would only sleep and stay asleep when someone was holding her or if she was on my chest. How am I suppossed to get good rest, or any kind of rest for that matter, laying flat on my back with a newborn baby on me? Ummm, yeah, not happening. And it didn't happen. So that was really hard because I was so sleep deprived which makes me one crazy person. My poor family...
Also, Natalie only wanted me for everything. To hold her (facing out), rock her, feed her (would not take a bottle at all from her Daddy), etc. I could tell Tim wanted to help me so much but what can you do when your baby will not calm down at all everytime you try?
Furthermore, Natalie never liked her carseat. I think she cried and screamed the worst when she was in her carseat. So I never went anywhere. Never left the house. I would go grocery shopping on the weekends when I can leave her with Tim, but even then, I had to be quick because she wanted only me to go to sleep, eat, stay happy, etc.
Natalie was so high maintenance it honestly scared me there for awhile. I would just think to myself, how can I do this?? Two kids is way too many kids!

Curled up on Daddy. Just how she likes it.

Luckily, once Natalie hit 5 weeks everything started to slowly turn around. And now, at 2 months, she is a completely different baby. Natalie went from having to be held to sleep, to sleeping on her own, but only on her boppy pillow. One day I thought I would try to snuggle her with her boppy pillow so it seemed liked she was being held and it worked! So for the second month she slept like this...


And now, right after my New York trip, I have been able to wrap her up nice and snug and lay her down flat in her crib! Hallelujah!

And to add another point of progress, she is sleeping much, much better during the night. She only wakes up once during the night around 3 o'clock. There have been the occasional waking up twice a night and there have been only three times where she slept through the night, but she mainly wakes up only once. Totally doable. And her schedule during the day is getting more predictable too. I am able to read her cues a lot better and just getting to know her better has helped in knowing what she wants. Everything now is just a million times better!

All smiles in NYC!

Natalie is such a sweet natured baby. She smiles ALL the time. And she coos a lot. We love talking to her and getting her to talk back. The best thing in the world. Tim and I can sit there and talk to her for hours. The sounds of her sweet high-pitched squeals and sighs melts our hearts. Some of my favorite moments with Natalie have been while nursing her. She sometimes will look up at me with her gorgeous big brown eyes, smile, and start cooing! Soooo precious. I. love. it.
Natalie also loves to be around Marisa. So weird that at such a young age she can be so attracted to her sister. I just put her in her bouncer in Marisa's room while Marisa plays and Natalie follows Marisa with her eyes everywhere and smiles at her all the time. I love it.
Natalie is also starting to like the carseat. Wahoo! This past week I have been to the mall, grocery shopping, and to the park all by myself with two kids and actually quite enjoying myself. I'm outta the house and finally feeling normal again!

Natalie happy in her carseat!

She's starting to get rolls!