Wish I had a picture!

Every night before I go to bed I like to make sure my kids are tucked in and warm. Last night, I went into Boston's room and his blankets were kind of tangled around him. I walked over to him and started moving the blankets arounds. Oddly I felt something scratchy, I pulled on it to get it out from under the covers, but it was completely stuck. So I pulled a little harder, still didn't really budge. So i pulled back the covers only to discover that Boston was wearing Maddie's ballerina/princess dress! I burst out laughing because when he went to bed he most definitely didn't have it on. So there was my little guy with super hero toys all around him, spiderman pajama shirt and a pink toole skirt/tutu for a bottom. I took it off him, tucked him in and left the room giggling to myself. It wasn't until a couple minutes later it dawned on me that it would have been an awesome picture! I was almost tempted to go back in and put it back on him just to get a picture. lol. But the risk of waking him up wasn't worth it. 

My goodness I love my kids! 

(Here's the dress he was wearing. You can also find Maddie in this dress on almost any given day.)

The craziness of Sunday Morning. :)

Does it ever seem like Sunday morning is the craziest time of the week? No, I'm sure for most of you, you do it just like the primary song says and get everything ready on Saturday so your Sunday morning is peaceful, and spritual.

Well, I ahve not figured out how to do that yet. One day maybe.

Funny story about this morning, which starts with last night. We stayed out late last night watching fireworks with dad at Cedar Hills days. The kids LOVED IT!!! Maddie would say after every firework "Ya see dat!??!!" And Boston has always loved fireworks. In the first couple though there were some big Merigolds and he kept saying "Aghhh! They're going to get me!" Then dad realized what he was nervous about and reassured him that even though they look like they're going to get you, they never will. Anyway, we stayed out late from that so we were pretty tired  this morning.  So we all slept in to about 8:15 or so. Church is at 9 and I had agreed to lead the music in Sacrament meeting today. So I woke up, got Maddie up, made breakfast, got Boston up and sat down to eat myself. Boston and Chris were upstairs in the bathroom, I could hear Chris talking to Boston but I couldn't tell what he was saying. Only that was a little frustrated. After about 10 minutes, Chris called down to me saying he needed my help. Apparently, Boston had been playing with the door while he went potty and locked himself in the bathroom. Chris couldn't pick it, and had been trying to tell Boston how to unlock it, but Boston wouldn't listen. Well, I've had to pick the locks in our house before so I went upstairs to help out. Boston was panicking a bit (Especially after Chris jokingly told him he was going to die in there, thanks Sweetie),  After 5 minutes I still couldn't get it unlocked. Boston was beginning to panic more and saying things like "I'm going to be locked in here forever, and I'm probably going to die in the bathroom." Then he started pounding the door and after a minute said "I tried to break down the door, but it was too strong." 20 minutes go by and we still can't get him out. We decide to let Chris try again to pick the lock, and right before Chris took over I hear Boston say "Mom, i went a lot of Messy, so I had to use a lot of toilet paper." I didn't think much of it because I was thinking about how it was now 9:45 and that Chris was the only one dressed and I had ten minutes to be at Church.
Chris finally picked the lock, and Boston was so relieved to be free. I sent him downstairs to eat breakfast and I continued to quickly get ready. I went to use the bathroom right before I went back downstairs only to discover that the toilet was completely clogged with toilet paper. Boston had used an entire roll of toilet paper to wipe himself after he went potty. Not only did he use an entire roll, he used the LAST ROLL! Which means we had ZERO toilet paper to use, and I would have to wait until we got to church. So I left the toilet clogged, grabbed Maddie's dress and two small ponytail holders and ran downstairs. I told Chris he was going to have to get Boston dressed and come to church and that I would take Maddie.
I quickly put Maddie's dress on, which wasn't a problem because she loves dresses. But when I tried to fix the mess that was her hair, she very bluntly told me No, and wouldn't even let me near her. So I put the elastics around my finger, grabbed her and ran out the door, hoping she'd let me fix it at some point during church.
We got to church and I ran up to the front carrying a child who looked very much like an orphan with no shoes, honey and toast stuck to her face, and hair that was sticking straight out in every direction (she slept in pigtails the night before and her hair kind of help the position...kind of).
Soon, it's time for the opening hymn. Chris is not there yet to take her, so I decide it's a good idea to hold her while trying to conduct. Note: Holding a child while you conduct a song in 6/8 is never a good idea.
She was wiggly, and constantly using my shirt as leverage, attempting to ruin my modesty in fron tof the ward. Then as I'm trying to sing to help keep the awkward timing of the song, she starts yelling at me to stop singing, and puts her hand over my mouth and says "Stop it! No singing!! SHHHHH!!!" So I start laughing, lose track of conducting and have to find the next place I can jump back in. Then she tries to stop me from conducting, and basically it was a disaster. We finish the song, and I sit down hoping Chris comes in soon so I can hand her off, and save some of my dignity. But all too soon it's time for the Sacrament hymn and Chris is still not there. So I pick her up again and try to convince her to help me lead. Luckily it 3/4 time so basically I have to make a triangle, easy right? Nope. Maddie is having a hard time doing it so she starts yelling "I can't do it! I can't do it mommy!" And since she can't do it, she doesn't want anybody else doing it either and tries to stop me. Then she decides she wants down and tries to use my shirt as a ladder pulling it down a bit too far in the process. Chris comes in sometime during the song, but it's too late to take her to him. So after the hymn we quickly sit down, but still on the stand, as there was no time to get out of the public eye and sit in the pews. During sacrament she's singing and dancing and just loosing focus and the ability to be reverent quickly. I had made a couple attempts to fix her hair again and she threw a fit each time, so I decided to distract her I'd let her play with the hair elastics I brought for her. It worked, other than she talked very loudly about the color of each one. Then she dropped one and when she found it again loudly shouted "I found it! I get it! I get it" I felt like I was saying Shhhh the entire time. Finally sacrament was over and we were able to sit down in a bench. At one point we had her distracted well enough that she didn't notice me putting the elastic in her hair...and then the elastic snapped. Game over.
I ended up taking her to the mothers room and getting her hair wet in an attempt to calm it down a little. It only half worked. I did manage to find a clip and use it to tame the part of her hair that refused to be tame.
Let's just say it was quite a spectacle today.
Your niece and nephew certainly keep us on our toes. But we laugh a lot at the things that happen. You guys are going to get a kick out of them. And you'll know exactly what I mean about maddie's wild hair when you get home and see her after nap time or first thing in the morning. It's pretty awesome.
Well I hope you both had great weeks! Sorry this letter was more like a novel.  But that's what you get when you have a Boston and Maddie around. 

Love,
Rachel

PS. even though the ox was in the myer with the toilet paper. I didn't go to the store. Instead I had the awesome task of asking My neighbor if I could have a roll of TP. That's a proud moment, let me tell you. :) 

My Maddie. :)

 This girl. I seriously just love her. See that sweet smile? Don't let it fool you. 

Whenever we're at a playground one of the first things she does is find something to hang on. She'll hang for 5 minutes straight. :) 

Tonight after we got the kids to bed I went downstairs and began editing some pictures. Within 30 minutes Maddie started crying but I decided to wait it out and let her got to sleep. Being filled with more than her fair share if determination, 45 minutes later she was still crying. So I figured something was probably wrong, like she had a messy diaper. So like a fool, a rookie patent fool, I went into her room. I was immediately greeted with Maddie saying "mommy I broke it." I couldn't see what she had so I walked closer "what did you break?" Although I couldn't see her I could tell by her voice she was smiling. She new she had won. "I broke it, dolly." And she handed me her dolls pants and her half naked doll. I laughed a little and said "is this why you've been up here crying? You took the pants off your dolly?" To which she responded "yup. You fix it!" I dressed the doll again and as I laid the doll down Maddie three her arms around me and said "I carry you" which means you carry me. I knew I had already blew it by falling for her crying and going in the room in the first place, and rather than fight with her on going back to bed I told her she could hang out with dad while I went to the bathroom but then she had to go right back to bed.

When we walked into the room she jumped out of my arms and snuggled right in to her dad. He laughed when I told him what happened and said she could stay with him. I went to the bathroom and heard her chatting away to Chris the whole time. When I came back out and said it was bed time she burrowed into him even more. We all know Chris has a weak spot for Maddie, especially when she cuddles into him and they both have me puppy dog eyes that said "please can we stay just like this a little longer?" I gave in and said they could hang out but Chris had to put her to bed. I heard him take her to bed around 10, about 40 minutes after I left them. Then as I climbed into bed tonight thinking how much I lived my kids I stepped on something (or somethings) odd. I grabbed my phone and lit up the floor to find that my tums we dumped out all over the floor. evidence that my sweet, determined, and mischievous Maddie had been playing and not cuddling like she was supposed to be while spending quality time with her daddy. Oh how I love my kids and the evidence they leave behind. 

Today's evidence of Maddie: tums dumped out twice all over my room, downstairs sink clogged with shredded toilet paper and toys, nesquick dumped on. Dried poptart on the bathroom door, and sink. The kitchen floor and wet paper towels smeared with chocolate in her attempt to either paint or clean up, at least a gallon of water all over the bathroom floor thanks to a purple bucket I left with in reach during bath time and two completely soaked towels from said bucket and bath time. Those are just the ones I can think of right now. 

Boston's evidence: Spider-Man masks and toys all over the house, multiple changes of clothes from changing into different super hero themed pj's through out the days. Pillows from the couches all over the floor. Leftover quesadillas under a "fort" (cup) on the kitchen table. Spongebob yogurt and fruit snack wrappers in random places around the house. Hulk hands and toys everywhere, jake and the never land pirates battleships left in the hall, a beach ball sprinkler in the living room, and very dirty toilet from missed attempts aka distracted aiming  while going to the bathroom. 

Nothing much.

I don't know about anybody else, but for me it's been HOT lately. I'm sure it's because I'm pregnant, but I swear every day is sweltering.

So far this pregnancy has flown by. I can't believe I'm 30 weeks, and that it's June already! This pregnancy has been mostly uneventful. There was a week where I was having contractions, and had to go in for a stress test, but then everything calmed back down to boring and normal. We have no names yet, although Boston is now calling the baby Savannah. He also tells everybody that his new sister's name is Savannah. That's probably the top name on our list right now, so it very well could be.

He's so excited to have another sister, and LOVES to feel her move. Every morning he comes into my room and puts his hand on my stomach and tells the baby to wake up so he can feel her. Then he waits for her to kick, and when she does he gets so excited! Then he grabs my hand and puts it on his stomach and says "Mom, my dragon wants to move, you have to say wake up, so he'll kick you" and then we both act surprised that the dragon kicks his tummy. He is also getting so courageous. For the first few years everything scared him. Many things still do, but he conquers new things all the time. While in Colorado this last week he took a ski lift and went down the Alpine slide and Loved it so much he could have done it all day! Then, the next day we went to the carnival and he went on the ferris wheel and was beaming the whole time. A year ago he would have been petrified, in tears, and probably would have forced the workers to stop the ride to let him out, but not this year. Afterward he used his last three tokens to go on this big slide that you had to climb up to through a mini obstacle course. I was pretty sure he was going to freeze in terror at some point and we'd have to climb up and get him, but he didn't. Not even once. I think I was beaming bigger than he was by the end of the night because I was so proud of him! It blows my mind how quickly he's growing up. As we were walking home that night after the carnival he said "Mom, I was so brave! I wasn't even worried, and i never even cried!!"  I love that little boy!

Maddie is just Maddie. Cute as ever, but is a tornado with attitude. I spend so much of my time either stopping her from creating a disaster, or cleaning up after her most recent one. She's always got the sweetest little face, and it's so easy to be taken in. It doesn't help that she is usually is some pretty pink princess dress, so you just never suspect her of being so mischievous.  She is quite the instigator. Most of the fights that break out between my two kids Maddie is the one who starts it. Don't get me wrong, Boston plays the role of the big brother really well. Maddie is my dace buddy. She loves watching SYTYCD with me and it's so fun to watch her twirl and move all over the room. Her favorite new past time is jumping on our neighbors trampoline. She probably asks for it 100 times a day. Thank heavens we have a good neighbor who lets us go over and jump, or we'd have one upset girl all the time. She is so much fun, and keeps me on my toes, and even though her little stubbornness can drive me up a wall, I love seeing how much fire burns within her all the time! She reminds me of me and that's fun. (Especially since neither of my kids look anything like me, it's nice to see me in their personalities)

We're adjusting to Chris's new schedule, and though we don't see him nearly as much (which wasn't a lot before) we are glad that he's much more alert when he is home. He has said so many times that he is blown away at how nice Canadians are and how is really enjoying working with them. What's also nice is that as of right now, he doesn't have any business trips scheduled for the rest of the year. And even if a few get added, they're not going to be long business trips like when he goes to Europe.

Our yard is finished, I am growing things in a garden (Yikes), and our basement is underway. We are probably the most excited about the basement! I'm going to have to do a picture update this next time. I have so many, but most of them are on my phone, and I'm too lazy to get them on my computer right now).