For Girls!

I promised my sister I would advertise her new business on my blog, and I am sure if you have daughters you won't be disappointed!

My sister makes bracelets and hair pieces for babies/toddlers/young girls, and they are absolutely darling- she has such a great talent! I have been trying to convince her to start selling them as a business for over a year, and she finally decided to take the plunge! You can visit her website here:

http://www.decremer.org/sandboxcreations/

or click on the link I put on to the right.

Here are just a couple of samples of her marvelous work:

I think her prices are incredibly reasonable as well- I looked at one boutique site and was shocked at how much they were charging, but Steph's prices are much nicer for the budget-conscience!

So if you have a little girl, you should check out her site!

Good Luck Steph!!!

Too Funny!

Our little Audra just cracks us up- here are two things that I had to share!

Last night at Grandma and Grandpa Marriott's, Audra had a massive blow-out- bad enough we had to give her a bath. She has not had a blow out in probably about a year, so we didn't have any clothes in our diaper bag to change her into, so this is how she ended up:

She is wearing tights that are size 0-9 months, so they are obviously too small, and the sweater she had been wearing throughout the day- luckily nothing got on that or we would have really been in trouble! I thought it was so incredibly cute and funny I had to share! I guess we need to have an emergency pair of clothes in her diaper bag just in case...

Then, this video shows Audra's ritual EVERY TIME we say, "it's time for scripture study." For probably about the last month, she has followed the exact same routine. We say that magical phrase, and she then proceeds to push her horsie from the middle of her bedroom right next to daddy, then sit on the OTHER side of the horse- as far away from daddy as possible- and then she decides to go and sit on his lap so she can see the pictures. It is so cute- and she has made it into such a routine, that we know that is just how scripture study has to begin!

Oscar Night

We watched much of the Oscars- much to Ben's chagrin- and I found it quite entertaining. I thought Hugh Jackman was brilliant and hilarious, and it was, of course, fun to see all of the glamour. But, what got me most excited was Jennifer Aniston's hair:
This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but it was so incredibly frizzy and that made me so happy! My hair is always so frizzy, and this horribly dry climate doesn't help- so I was glad even millionaire movie stars have the same problem!

Why Not?

I got this from my friend Lisa's blog:

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

I (Christina again) am trying to figure out exactly how this works, but I think I am going to get something from Lisa, and if you decide to continue this then you get something from me. Chances are it will be a baked good or homemade cards- but I am not sure yet. Anyway, I thought I would give it a shot- who doesn't like homemade stuff? Lisa, if I have this wrong- let me know!!!

Updates

I thought I would give some quick updates of things I have previously blogged about and how things are going:


Operation Get Rid of Binky: The first two days were difficult- she would see the binky in the crib, and cry for it. We just kept saying, "you're a big girl now, and big girls only need the binky when they sleep," and we continued to stay strong! Now, almost 2 weeks later, she is weaning herself off of the binky even at night. If she sees her binky outside of the crib (happened once- dad was in charge of her then, I don't know what happened- that story may never be revealed), she then goes and throws it into her crib. She is doing surprisingly well without it- I don't know if it really was just the binky, but she has decided to start talking more and we have seen some great improvements!

Hoping Ben Does Well at Work: Remember I told you about that project the guys have been working off and on for years and they decided to give Ben a shot at it? I predicted he would have it solved in a week. I was wrong- it only took him FOUR DAYS!!! I told you my hot hubby was also brilliant- did I get a great catch or what? The lead architect was apparently a little upset Ben was able to get it done so quick, but his main boss told him at his performance review on Friday, " You've proven you can do whatever we want you to, so we don't know where to put you yet so we get the biggest bang for our buck!"

Cancer Fair: That was today and it was unbelievable! Hundreds of people were there, and they had a great silent auction (I bid on a movie/date night basket and a training session with a coupon mom queen to learn how to save tons of money on groceries- we'll see if I win!). They had tons of food and games- even a Rock Band and Dance Dance Revolution contest area! I am sure they raised thousands of dollars when all is said and done, and I am just totally impressed with how everything came together. (Jenny, I would be more then happy to tell you how it all worked to see if you want to incorporate some of the ideas into the spaghetti dinner or something).

They also had a jump around for the kids, where we got this horrible but kind-of funny picture of Audra jumping:

She's just jumping too fast to get a good picture! Actually, she much preferred just watching all of the other children, but it was cute.

She also did the fishing game and got some bubbles:

There was a cupcake walk that we let her do, and she won a chocolate cupcake for daddy (for those of you that know me, you know we weren't going to let Audra eat the chocolate cupcake- I know, we are such mean parents!).

Talk With the Young Women: That went well- I focused on how when we follow the Lord and try to determine His will for each of us individually, you will find happiness- even when you are puked and pooped on!

A Thought

I was at a church meeting last night, and one of the people on our committee gave a beautiful thought that I felt worth repeating.

He talked about Christ and how in the Bible the Lord said, "My peace I give unto you...therefore, neither let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." The speaker talked about how that was a commandment- to let our hearts not be troubled- a commandment that is almost universally disobeyed. In this horribly difficult time, where I want to cry every time I turn the news on because so many people are suffering, the Lord tells us, "come unto me- trust in me and everything will be alright." (I am paraphrasing here).

I don't think this means that we ignore the calamities surrounding us. On the contrary, we should be mourning with those that mourn, helping the afflicted, and praying for those in need. I think these commandments go hand in hand- we turn to the Lord for His peace, and then get to work to help those around us.

I really just loved this thought and wanted to share. I know it was something I needed to hear. If we choose to turn to the Lord in our times of need, He is bound by His own laws to comfort, heal, and help us. I'm going to make an effort to remember this commandment rather then feeling so distraught about all that is happening in the world right now- while still trying to do my best to help those that stand in need of help!

Benefit Fair

On Saturday there is going to be a carnival/fair/fundraiser for a young family in which the mother has been afflicted with breast cancer. Here is a brief story about her:

Heather Kartchner is a caretaker, healer and friend. Her powerful sense for how to love others is why she is known for her gentleness, attentive nature, and strong spirit. As a mother of three beautiful children, wife of seven years, and well-loved physical therapist for the Children's Hospital, life usually gives back to Heather the goodness she so deserves. Hence, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer just four months ago - two months after the birth of her son - it seemed so dismally unjust. True to form, though, Heather has handled the challenge with grace and beauty. The fight to overcome the cancer, and withstand the effects of its treatment may be the hardest thing she has ever faced; but, thanks to whom she is, Heather fights with a network of love around her. As a woman of faith, all who interact with her are uplifted by her gratitude and surety that she will be healed.

The carnival is this Saturday in Littleton. They have all kinds of things planned, and 100% of ALL money spent goes directly to the family to help them with her therapy costs. Here is a flier with more information:

http://www.drewstorm.com/chucklestocurecancer/fortheloveofheather.htm

Apparently, they are going to give the $10.00/family discount at the door (instead of $15.00) because it took them longer then expected to get everything ironed out.

Ben and I are going, so if you want to come with us, let us know and we will meet you there!!! I love that we get to go spend a day doing something really fun, and helping out a great family at the same time!!!

(Also, Jenny, I want to check this out to see if it would be feasible to organize something like this for your family- I'll let you know what I find out!!!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I think you will find this story amusing- it goes to show how love "evolves" over time (not that 4 years is that long...).

We celebrated Valentine's yesterday because we wanted to avoid the restaurant crowds tonight- we usually do everything we can to avoid large crowds at restaurants or anywhere else. Anyway, Ben picked me up after work and he had gotten me chocolates and a card. We went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Angies- a cute family place on Coal Mine and Pierce if anybody wants to try it.

Before I tell you the rest of the story, I have to give you a little background. At Christmas time we bought my mother-in-law one of those alarm clocks that makes nature sounds and gradually adds light to the room to wake you up in the morning. I secretly bought Ben one as well- not for Christmas because I already had a gift, but for some future holiday that I would need a gift for him. I hid it under the bed, and it only took him about 2 weeks to discover it (who knew he looked under the bed for things?? What a snoop!). He was really excited and asked if he could have it right then. I said, "no"- he could have it the next time we exchanged gifts. We don't exchange gifts for our anniversary, we just go do something really fun, so he couldn't get it in January either.

So, last night, as soon as we walk through the door after dinner, he says, "OK- where's my gift?" and races upstairs to get his new alarm clock from under the bed. He has done nothing but read the manual ever since. There you have it- our romantic gift giving!

My Valentine!!!

First REAL Haircut

You probably noticed from the last post that Audra's hair was getting a little flopsy- ok, a lot flopsy. This morning I decided to give her her first "real" hair cut- not just a bang trim- and I think it turned out pretty good:
I couldn't bear to cut the hair in the back, so she still has a mullet, but my friend says it's not a mullet if you're a toddler and can't help it.

Poor Audra!

Last night Audra was a little fussy- she would wake up every couple of hours, cry for about 30 seconds, and fall back asleep- nothing totally out of the ordinary, so I didn't think much about it. But, when Ben went to get her out of the crib this morning he yelled, "Christina- get in here NOW!" Audra had thrown up all over the crib and it was soooooooooo gross! Ben, of course, got off the hook because he had to get ready for work, but I gave her an emergency bath and cancelled all plans for the day. I have no idea what caused it- I am thinking a 24 hour bug, which is what she usually gets when she is sick. She would go through stages of lethargy where all she wanted was to be held, and then spurts of total energy where she would jump around and run through the house. So, hopefully she will feel better tomorrow- the poor thing! I felt so bad that she slept in her vomit...she hasn't puked at all today, though, so that's a good sign.

Luckily, Daddy was able to help her feel a little better when he got home from work (that's a partial smile on Aud's face):

She just looks so sad!!! Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Evaluation

Today was Audra's full evaluation to see if she qualified for speech therapy or any other services because of her speech. I have to preface this by saying that last week our case worker came to our house and she said, "About 75% of kids have some sort of speech delay or speech problems." 75%??? That seems awfully high- maybe it's not the kids, maybe it's the standard! Maybe we are expecting too much from our kids too soon and relying on this standard that is simply to high if 75% of kids can't reach it! I just thought that was quite interesting.

So, I took her in this morning for her full evaluation and she easily passed the cute test- they all kept saying what a sweet and wonderful girl she is- of course, we already knew that! She was advanced on her fine and gross motor skills- not a surprise, she has always been advanced on those. She does have a speech delay (like 75% of kids), which puts her on the "mild" side of the spectrum so she does not have enough of a delay for her to receive services at this time. She gave us some tips on how to get her talking better. First: get rid of her pacifier. Ughh...we knew the day was coming, but now I fear it is time. We will begin that process today- and I am not looking forward to the tantrums that will occur during her nap and night time! Oh, well- she can't rely on it forever. Then, she gave us some "drills" to do at home- mostly using simpler phrases and emphasizing verbs since Audra isn't saying any verbs yet. If she isn't using 70+ words by her Birthday, then we need to take her back in, but the speech therapist was quite pleased with how well Audra is repeating words we say (a skill she recently has begun to get good at), so she is very optimistic that with getting rid of the pacifier and working on imitation she will do great. I wasn't surprised by anything they discovered- but it is comforting to hear nevertheless.

In regards to her pacifier (which I know some people are adamaently opposed to, but that's because they didn't have a daughter like Audra), I have to say that Audra came out sucking and wanted nothing but something to suck on for about the first 4 months of life. We were determined not to give her a pacifier until she was at least 3 weeks old because we were told it would interrupt her nursing abilities, but honest to goodness, that first week of life she literally sucked all of our fingers raw! Ask my parents- all she wanted to do was SUCK (which did make nursing much easier)! So, we finally relented and gave her the pacifier after a week to save our poor fingers! And now, it is a good soother, but I guess she will have to come up with something else to soothe her to sleep. We will keep you posted on how that goes!

Bye, Bye Beloved Binky!

First Body Art

Sometimes, it is impossible to get upset with your daughter when she does such cute things like draw on her tummy for the first time! What a wonderful artist!