Dolores Mackey

Jim's step-mother passed away yesterday morning.

He'll likely be heading to Boston for her services next weekend.

I was not particularly close to her but I know her sons were so please keep them in your prayers.

Disneyland pictures

This is all I have uploaded so far. More to come, I assure you.

New toys

Can you tell the difference between these two photos?

Okay, I'll tell you.

With my new toy I erased all my wrinkles and acne!!! Aren't I pretty?

Christmas is over already?

It seems like this entire month has just flown by. With Hanna getting into town, the trip to California, then Christmas, it's just gone and I'm trying to catch my breath and remember everything that happened!

The girls had a wonderful Christmas. We didn't have many presents because of the trip but they didn't care one bit. Ainsley got a bike from Grandma Patty and Caelan got a new baby doll and that's about all they need to be happy. Aren't kids great?

We had a family dinner last night and jammies at Grandma's house. We had lunch with uncle Jason and aunt Mikaela today and then I went to my mom's and we made almost 10 dozen tamales...oh man are they good!

Both girls are sick with chest colds so that means we have a big asthma flare up around these parts. Caelan is asleep on the floor next to me (I've been working for the past couple hours) and Ainsley spent the night at Grandma's with her cousins.

Jim got a golf membership to the Duke to share with my dad and I got Adobe Photoshop Elements, which I haven't even had a chance to play with yet unfortunately.

Hopefully it will be a slow weekend so we can all recover and recuperate.

Disneyland pictures are coming, I promise!

changed my header

Because the christmas cards are done.

Don't feel bad if you don't get one, seriously. I can barely keep my head on right now and I knew my in-laws would be upset if I didn't send one to them, but I will try, I can promise that much.

We leave for Disneyland in two days. My house is NOT ready and I'm still working tonight while Jim's at a Xerox thing all night long.

I'll try to check in before we leave.

short break

I don't have much time because really I should be working right now but I feel bad for neglecting the blog.



Jorden: Got a really crappy haircut/hack job done by her aunt Michaela that I had to take her to get fixed so she has super short hair now. Thankfully she looks cute with any kind of hair and pulls it off nicely.



Ainsley: Still having a great time with school and is starting to make friends left and right. Her favorite friend is the little boy that lives next door to my mom named Nathan. They get along great. She is soooo happy to have Addie here and it's great that the two of them actually play now instead of fight like years past.



Caelan: As stated in my previous post, she is potty trained. And really she still wears a diaper at night but she is completely without accidents during the day and doesn't even need my promptings anymore. She is the most polite little two year old I've ever met too. She says please and thank you and excuse me and it's so dang cute. Her favorite song is twinkle little star but has recently added the ABC song to her repertoire but that song usually ends up turning in Jingle Bells for some reason.



And here is a Sully-ism for you: Kyle actually told the store of Sully at my mom's house. The kids were watching Tinkerbell and he was pointing at the TV and saying "Tinkerbell! Tinkerbell!" And then it turned into "Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell, Tinkerbell all the way" (i.e. His own version of Jingle Bells apparently) We thought it was pretty funny.



Hanna is here and it's AWESOME! They're in Glendale this week but I'll see her on Wednesday for some crafty stuff and then next week as we get ready for...



DISNEYLAND!!!!!



We were slightly stressed about Jim's job in the near future but it looks like things are okay at least for now and the next few months anyway.



My knee is officially jacked up. The pain has become pretty much constant now instead of just the once in a while ache that it was before. I'm wearing a brace now and hoping that it calms down before next week or I'm screwed. They'll have to stick me in a wheel chair for Disneyland.



We went to the Tempe Art Festival on Saturday. We didn't buy anything (we never do) but it was still fun and it was nice to be outdoors.



I officially hate my glasses and am ready for contact lenses again.



We moved Jorden's bed downstairs to share the office with Jim. Ainsley and Caelan are not sleeping well and we're going on two months of that affecting mommy's sleep too so we had to separate them because I think it's become apparent that mommy lacking sleep equals a pretty messed up household.



Let us all pray that I get some better sleep in the months to come. Who needs more babies when I already don't sleep through the night?

Go me

Caelan is potty trained.

The full story (Warning: graphic)

I was upstairs enjoying a cat nap before I got ready for church when I hear screaming downstairs. I assumed it was just the girls fighting like always and then just starts yelling for me to come quick.

I ran downstairs to find ainsley crying and a bloody towel under her chin. It's not just a deep cut, it's like her chin just split open into a huge gaping hold, seriously the weirdest injury I have ever seen on one of my kids. Graphic picture here so don't scroll down if you don't want to see it.

Yes, that is a HOLE. You could actually see the fat and tissue under the skin.

She was AMAZING. The doctor brought two nurses in with her to hold her down while they did stitches. She barely moved a muscle with the exception of a handful of big alligator tears. She definitely got ice cream after that one!

She got 5 stitches in her chin and a big fat ice cream. Yay for Sundays!

Pee pee in the potty!

I think we've finally had the potty breakthrough. She used the toilet all day with only one accident when mallory took her for a ride in the car while she was babysitting this afternoon.

She is very pleased with herself too. Jim took the girls to the candy store to celebrate today. I told her I would get her the Tinkerbell movie as soon as she stopped using her diapers so she's very excited about that.

Garage sale this weekend. Twilight tomorrow I think.

I took Cae to the doctor on Monday because her sleep was just getting worse and worse and she now has the asthma diagnosis as well. I was thinking we had avoided that one with her, but since starting the albuterol a few nights ago she is sleeping like a dream and hardly coughing at all, soooo nice.

Back to work.

The most wonderful time of year

And no, I do not mean Christmas (though, I do love that too)

But right now the weather is finally beautiful and we spend all day with our doors and windows open and playing outside.

The forbidden kitten....

My mom has been forbidding Dax from having a kitten for many years....

Friday night his big sister was a hero!

Monday Night Football

Jim and both girls are chilling watching the Cardinals. We had family night at the park with a picnic and an Old Testament story. Ainsley has a cold and I think Caelan's getting it. Stinky still won't potty train. Ainsley still loves school.

Can't wait for Christmas.

Back to work.

The little things

that make us happy as mother's...

potty trained 2 year olds (still waiting on this one, I assure you)
5 years olds dressed in a leotards and doing leaps across the dance floor

and what made my day?

finding an AWESOME jogging stroller on craigslist, the exact one I was wanting (well besides Hanna's BOB of course) for only $40...and it's brand new...yep, I rock. Jim has already picked it up for me and is on his way home. He says it looks awesome. Tomorrow, I jog.

Stupid foot...

I was sure I would be fine, I walked a mile last Sunday and I was a little sore but bearable, so today I went two miles and by the time I got home my foot was burning in pain :(

Being a klutz sucks.

I'm horribly overwhelmed with dentist appointments, doctor's appointments, therapy (yes, therapy), and dance classes (which I should NOT have added to our schedule this year), and baby hunger, and being mad at myself, and wishing I was more willing to use this blog as an outlet (it's not that I have any problems telling any one of my readers what I'm really feeling, but I have no inclination to put any of it down where I would have to read it again).

I'm so tired. Caelan hasn't slept "normally" in almost two months now, so of course that means I've been losing sleep for two months too.

I have to get back to work now.

Halloween Fluff

And yes, Caelan is wearing a completely different costume. At the last minute she absolutely REFUSED to wear her princess dress, and instead insisted on being a "dowena" (ballerina for those of you that don't speak Caelish)

We went to the ward trunk or treat and that's pretty much it, but it rocked, so it's all good.

Ainsley-ism

Ainsley decided to have a lemonade stand today.

We didn't have lemonade.

So Ainsley had a water stand. I had taken Jo to the dentist and Jim calls me cracking up!

She set the whole thing up herself with cups of water and a big box and her little chair.

Some nice old couple came by and gave her $2 because they felt sorry for her.

randomocity

Fall Festival at Ainsley's school, pumpkin patch in Taylor, and a visit to grandma Passey.

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Controlled chaos...

This is my new goal in life.

Caelan-ism

We were at my mom's house and Caelan was being super crabby and screaming and crying just to scream and cry.

My dad, the funny man that he is (or thinks he is) hands her a full can of diet Pepsi just to shut her up. Before I could even bend down to take it away from her, she takes a huge gulp, lets out a deep sigh and says "That's better."

Then she handed me the can, walked to the family room, sat down and watched television.

School

Okay, so I love charter schools. I like their teaching methods and just their whole structure.

But Ainsley's charter school is still very new. They're still in a temporary campus and still finding their groove.

So with the schedule change I had to take Ainsley to the public school instead. I took her over today after registering her yesterday, and I'm in love with it!

Her teacher is AWESOME! The office was organized and smooth running. The cafeteria is all digital, so after setting up her account I can now just add money to it online, from home.

I was nervous about the change, but after today, I'm so so so excited for Ainsley!

And yes I will put her back in the charter hopefully next year and hopefully they've worked out some of the bugs and I will love it too, but for now, I'm incredibly pleased.

Vote for my babies!

http://www.mix969.com/pages/disney-photo/vote.html

They're near the bottom, the cow and the pig.

Thanks :)

Well hello there.

I realized I never updated on my foot.

I went to the specialist last Friday. They confirmed that the break was through the joint. It was only minimally displaced so they don't have to do anything else to it, he just told me that because it's through the joint, I'll probably have lifelong arthritis in that joint. Yippee.

I miss the having seasons.

It was 98 degrees yesterday and this is what my kids did...