"chatstip"

We have been struggling with Amelia sleeping through the night, in her own bed, with the door closed and lights out, and without screaming for a little over a month now. We finally have made some progress and we are making a big deal about it with her. Yesterday was the first successful morning after a full night of "staying on my bed all night" so I rewarded her by taking her to the $1 bin at Target. She picked out this.

This was the perfect reward for a few reasons. One, she loves using my chapstick and I have various ones around the house and I will open them up to find big chunks dug out of them or a mysterious wetness to them. Gross.
Second, I love Dr Pepper. (usually diet, and caffeine free for pregnancy and nursing) Amelia always wants some, so I have to dissuade her by telling her it is special juice just for mommy. I have regretted this when she has loudly exclaimed in public things about "mommy's special juice" when soda is around and it makes me feel like people are wondering what really is in it to make it so special. So now she has her special juice chapstick.
Third, it is wide mouthed and pink, so she can get the proper coverage with one application. At first we thought she as having a reaction to it because of the pinkness around her mouth, but we soon realized it was just the excess application.
Fourth, it doesn't taste like Dr Pepper (that would have been way too good) but it does taste sweet, so she puts it on and then licks it right off and repeats until, with much drama, I take it away until next time she sleeps all night. At this rate, we will be able to have a few months worth of rewards for sleeping through the night. I just hope we aren't needing to do this that long.

Thinking of Thanks

I guess this is that time of year you contemplate things you are thankful for. I keep thinking about this so I guess I have to share. I am always amazed at how things work out. Just when I think I can't possibly bear another day of motherhood without having an epic mental breakdown, my children sleep through the night and wake up with smiles, hugs and kisses, "I love you's" and laughs. When I am struggling with the loss of my milk supply and it seems that there is no chance it will come back, and I am concerned about just giving in to the epic cost of formula, Philip gets a little incentive pay that covers the cost perfectly. When I am concerned about a health issue with Amelia, I meet someone with a personal experience that is a wealth of knowledge and comfort to me. When I have lost all hope that I can find nutritious, tasty and safe meals for Amelia, she decides her new favorite food is hummus. When I really need a friend, I get a phone call from someone. These all seem like silly small things, and at one point in my life I would have rolled my eyes at listening to a stay at home mom complain that her major concerns are cooking dinner. But these small things add up to a large reprieve from my day to day endeavors to be a better and happy person. You can chalk it up to luck, karma, chance, life or anything else, but I believe it is blessings and I am so thankful for them.

And you know I like to have a pic on my posts. This one is an oldie but a goodie.

A little taste of our photo session last week

Some of the final product
Not too shabby

Amelia's Quote

This morning while Phil was getting ready for work and playing with Amelia, she lifted up her shirt and said, " raisins please". It took a few times for us to realize that what she really wanted was Phil to blow raspberries on her stomach. We both had a good laugh. Hope you do too.

Collages Galore

Yes there are an abundance of collages on this issue of blogging, but there were so many good ones it was hard to choose so I just used them all. Ben is grabbing his toes now and it is so adorable.


















We attempted to get the kids pictures taken last week and it was a disaster. At least Amelia's portion. So this is our half-hearted attempt to make it right at home and that was just as disastrous, but these were a few fun ones.

Tricks, Treats and Snakes

On Saturday, the zoo had a Halloween party. You got to go trick or treating in different areas for candy, toys and stickers. Since it has been in the 90's, Amelia had to shed some of her costume and after the first station of trick or treating, we shed everything but the hat and bag. She really loved walking up and down these stairs clutching her bag. Stairs are her new obsession ever since we went to the cabin. Much to her disappointment, our apartment has no stairs.


Amelia touched an albino rattlesnake. She actually asked to touch it, but by the look on her face, she was second guessing her decision once she got near it.




This was the last trick or treat station and the volunteer had a crow puppet that squeaked. I hope you can see in this picture that she was more freaked out by that squeaky toy than a rattlesnake. If this picture had audio, you would hear, NO! NO! NO!.

Trick or Treat Preview

On Friday we went to our ward's annual Trunk or Treat. Amelia was a witch and Ben was a pumpkin. (I didn't get any pics of Ben there so you'll have to wait until the real Halloween, but if any of you remember, it was what Amelia was 2 years ago) Amelia had fun walking around saying trick or treat and collecting some "Amelia friendly" goodies. I made her costume so that she can use it for dress up later and I am so happy that she loves it. It makes all my efforts worthwhile. And I love this pic because you can see her red socks which was a cute touch.