I'd Never Let My Kid Do That

Do you ever want to go back in time and smack yourself?  I can't even count how many times I've had to eat my own words after I became a mom.  I've had to do it twice as much since I have two kids now.

I gave an exasperated sigh on the airplane when someone's baby was crying.


I was the one disgusted that your kid coughed in my kid's face.  Because, you know, my kid would never pass germs to someone else.

My kid was never going to have a snotty nose.  EVER.

My kid was never going to have a temper tantrum in public.

I was never going to motivate my kids with candy.  Well maybe sometimes...but not shamelessly like I do now.

They weren't going to be able to quote Toy Story in everyday conversation because they certainly wouldn't be allowed to watch tv enough to learn the lines.

I would never take my kid to nursery if he had a cough.  (In my defense, Emerson has a perma-cough and we would become inactive if I never took him when he had a cough.)

My kid would never play with a baby's toy when they weren't playing with it.  He would just know that even though the baby wasn't playing with it, the baby's mom would be totally disgusted that an older kid touched the thing.

My kid would never run around the gym during Midweek Activity.

My kid would never take a toy from another child.  Or hit or push them.

I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to chill out about a few things.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still not a go-with-the-flow type, but I think I will be judging others a little less harshly than once upon a time.  I can't wait to see what other words I have to eat once Sammi gets older and we eventually have more kids.  Who knows, maybe I'll even allow my kid to throw food or ransack someone else's diaper bag or wander around during church meetings.

Nah, I still won't.

It Might Be Sinking In

"Smoose me, Mommy!  I wanna see somefing on the pooter." (while boxing me out with his ridiculously small behind.)

"Dat good manners, Mommy!" (with a little pleased smile.)

Now my question is, what is it that he needs the computer for?  Is the battle between parent and child for the computer beginning already?

Well at least he said "smoose me".

Happy Thanksgiving!

 We were so happy to have my brother and sister-in-law come out for Thanksgiving.  It made it not quite so sad to be far away from Utah.  Emerson was so excited for them to come and didn't waste a minute requesting that they "pay trains" and "'struction job" with him.  They were good sports about it.

Ashley has been my support the last 3 years with my gravy-making.  I always calmly go over the proportions in my head before I'm actually doing it but then I kind of freak out when the turkey is done and it's go-time.  Luckily my mom is a gravy expert and she taught me well.  Maybe one day I'll post how to make perfect gravy.

Here was the menu:
-A delectable roasted turkey (Butterball...I'm never having another brand.)
-Mashed potatoes and gravy (The secret to this is using enough butter, not too much milk, and lots of salt.  I depise tasteless potatoes.  I'm a mashed potato snob.)
-Green bean casserole per Ben's request
-Homemade cranberry sauce (no logs for us)
-Scott's homemade rolls
-Stuffing  (I added quite a bit more broth than it called for after watching Bobby Flay on Food Network and it turned out well.)
-Candied yams (Pure heaven.  I got the recipe from my cousin Brooklin, and this is by far the best part of Thanksgiving for me.  Think pecans, brown sugar, butter, marshmallows, and heavy cream.  Yum.)
-Banana Cream Pie
-Apple Pie

 There was a picture with me in it but I was still wearing my apron and it was billowy...and I'm already sensitive about my weight...and it was billowy...

 E sampling the rolls.  We finally got him to try some other stuff and he kept asking for more candy.  He meant yams.

 Aunt Ashley and her best buddy Sammi.

 They were close.

 They bonded.

 I'm pretty sure Sammi wishes Ashley was her Mom because she's THAT cool. :)

And alas, we didn't get up at the crack of dawn to go Black Friday shopping, and we were thrilled about it.  We did other fun things though.  We had to introduce Scott and Ashley to the joys of Ohio ice cream shops.  We had Graeter's and Jeni's while they were here.  We also had to make the rounds to Schmidt's Sausage Haus which was crazy busy in the middle of the day.  We finished off every evening with a different Harry Potter movie because Ashley is reading the books for the first time and Ben was rereading the last one. 

On Saturday the boys went to the Ohio State vs. Michigan game.  I heard it was cold, and I was glad not to be there.

Then we watched the Utes beat BYU.  It was a successful weekend.

Thanks again for making the long drive out!  We hope you felt a little relaxed while you were here even though you had a very small boy wanting you to play nearly every second. :)

4 Months Old

 You turn around for one second and all of a sudden your teeny tiny daughter is four months old.  Crazy! 

4 Month Stats:

Height: 25.25 inches (75%)

Weight: 13 lbs. 6.5 oz (50%)

Head Circumference: 41.2 cm (55%)

Sammi dearest, we love you so much!  You already have such a cute personality.  At four months, you:

-Gaze lovingly at anyone who shows you attention and also usually give them an explosive gummy smile.
-Love to watch your big brother.  Your wide, unblinking eyes follow him all around the room and sometimes he's the only one who can get you to laugh.
-Love to smile HUGE smiles
-Love to giggle when we tickle your armpits, neck, thighs, and ribs
-Adore your hands.  Sometimes you go cross-eyed staring at them, and they are your favorite thing in the world to suck on.  In fact, most times you would rather eat your hands than drink your milk.
-Can roll from front to back and are so close to rolling back to front.
-Are sleeping 11-12 hours at night.
-Are just transitioning to a 3 1/2-4 hour schedule.  More freedom for Mom!
-You are taking 3 naps, about 2-2 1/2 hours each.

-Make faces like this with your mouth wide open, hoping something yummy will fall in so you can taste it.  This is especially true for the ceiling fan.

-Love to do what we call "banshee screams".  You will happily shriek for hours and hours while awake, and sometimes you stay up and do it after we've put you to bed.

Sammi you are the sweetest, calmest, happiest baby ever (but we're a little biased) and we love you to pieces!