The Rules of a Toddler

I saw this on my friend Megan's blog today, it's funny because it's so true! We've experienced about 98% these first hand! Thanks for the laugh, Meg!

The Rules of a Toddler
If it is is on, I must turn it off. If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be removed.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.If it IS food, it must not be tasted.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a car seat, it must be protested with arched back.
If it is Mommy, it must be hugged.

The Best Weather Ever

The weather this past week has gotten so nice and warm, we spend about 90% of our day outside (and Courtney is LOVING it!) My friend Emily and I put the kids in strollers and did a 6 mile walk the other day. I'm having more fun with my camera, now that it's nice enough weather to actually spend some time outdoors taking pictures. Our tulips actually bloomed today, but we've been running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get everything done, so I didn't have time to take any pictures. Lots of yard work, gardening, pulling out bushes, rototilling, grocery shopping, spring cleaning, and the next project is planting the vegetable garden in the back yard. On today's list was to renew my 9 months expired driver's license, but that has yet to happen. I'm crossing my fingers for time to get it done tomorrow.

Feeding Ruger

Listen close at the very end. She says, "I'm silly."

Happy Easter!

We started this morning out with a little Easter Egg Hunt for Courtney in our front yard. She was so excited to find her eggs and gifts and put them in her basket.

She got some books and a purse to put them in. What a happy girl!

Here she is right before church in her pretty Easter dress (thanks again, andrea!). Whenever I say "smile!" this is what i get. head tilted back and a cheesy grin.

After church we headed out to Menan for our annual easter egg hunt. Here's the three of us hangin' out waiting for the hunt to begin.

And here's Courtney in all her Easter Egg Hunting spirit glory. She refused to get her hiney off the swing and go find her eggs.

All the little kids had their own section of the yard for their treats. Courtney's was on the basketball court.

Here's Courtney trying to help Jeremy find his candy. (The adults have a more difficult time finding their candy.)

Searching For Katy's Candy

Alright, so the funniest story... My mom and I hid everything this year, and for Katy we wanted to hide her stuff way down low since she always says her stuff is too high for her to even see it (she's short). So we made absolute sure that all her stuff was shin height. We had put her stuff in a bush near the road. Anyway, the Menan neighborhood has a resident who is mentally handicapped and wanders the neighborhood and into people's homes and yards and whatnot on occasion. So here he comes while we're hiding the candy and he stays for quite a while. He finally leaves, and we begin our hunt. Like an hour later everybody has their stuff except for Katy. I finally decided to just go show her where it is, and it's GONE! it is NOT where we put it! So here we are, just certain that this guy had snatched her candy on his way out the driveway. Every single person searched high and low, up and down, everywhere, and we could not find her candy. Everyone was certain her candy had been stolen. It was pretty funny to imagine this man sitting around the corner eating Katy's candy. The search for her candy went on forever.

And then, I'm not sure who it was who actually found it and told my mom, but we were like, "oh yah....that's where we put it!" We had hit it behind the wheel up under the truck. Duh.

We had Easter dinner at my mom's after the hunt, then went to Jeremy's mom's for Easter dinner again. Mmmmmm!! THANK YOU to all the great chefs who cooked tonight, it was delicious!

Saturday we went to Jeremy's mom's house to do Easter eggs, which is a yearly tradition. This year Courtney got to do princess eggs. I think probably 5 out of those 6 eggs got cracked before they left her kitchen table. If it wasn't Courtney banging them on the table, it was me and them slipping between my fingers.

The Loot

After all was said and done, here's the loot. And yep, I'm still going strong on the low carb thing (down 7 lbs now!) and haven't had sugar for over a week now. Here's the temptation i now face. I think it'll all get put in a really big bowl and hidden away. Out of sight, out of mind, right? However, if you look to the right edge of the table, there's MY easter! Since I don't get any candy, I thought today would kinda suck. But it happens that Katy cleaned her closet out, and I got a new wardrobe! Lots of super cute tops and a few pair of pj pants. Very cute. And Melina also ordered me a bunch of Avon stuff, (a new purse, new lotions, chapsticks, jewelry, and color rub soap stuff ((moreso for courtney)) ) for trade for babysitting sometimes while she works. So seriously, I would much rather take clothes and jewelry and a purse full of stuff over candy anyday!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Where did all these sentences come from??

Courtney has always been a mostly 2 word sentece girl. Lately it's been, "Happy Baby" everywhere she goes, or "I see" when she wants to see something. Yesterday we were driving and all of a sudden we hear, "I see a birdie outside!" And last night she came in the house and said, "I want my shoes off." And this morning she said, "I want a treat, Mom". I didn't know this child knew full sentences!

My Attempt at Fitness

So Courtney is over a year and a half old now, and I can no longer use the excuse "I just had a baby". (Actually I think that excuse flew out the window many many moons ago). I had lost all the baby weight within the first 6 months or so, but having a baby tends to leave you a bit less toned and a bit more, shall we say...jiggly, in areas. Nobody wants that, right?
So I organized a walking workout program for anyone in my ward who wanted to join me with diet tips and weekly challenges, point trackers, and prizes to keep us motivated and moving forward. Today was day one, there's about 5+ of us who actually meet together to walk, and about 10 others who just want the papers and they'll exercise on their own. So there's attempt number one to tone up.
Attempt number 2~ Today is day two of my low-carb diet. Jeremy's mom introduced me to this diet, she has lost quite a bit with it, so I thought I'd give it a go as well. The first 2 weeks are a little hard, but i've already dropped a pound. I sure do miss good tasting food though. Yesterday was a bad day to start. I had to pass up pizza, cake, and ice cream for Brigham's birthday. I did, however, get one slice of thin crust spinach, garlic, and chicken pizza, though it just about knocked out my entire carb allowance for the day. But not the 2 or 3 pieces of the loaded pizza that I normally would have had.
Anyway, wish me luck with these first 2 weeks. 20 carbs a day is a lot harder than you'd think!

Geese and Ducks

Inbetween (cough cough) conference sessions, Jeremy and I took Courtney on a hamburger and ice cream run. We stopped at the Greenbelt on the way home to let Courtney look at the birds, since she's obsessed with any kind of bird or animal. She was so funny, she would waddle around, squawk like the ducks, and stick her neck out- pointing her nose trying to look like the geese, it was HILARIOUS!

Daddy Daughter Bonding

I'm so sad I missed it, but just after I took this picture, a duck flew overhead and crapped right on a goose's head. That would've been a great picture.

Our Bird Feeder Friend

Last summer we put a bird feeder house in our flower garden out front. We get a lot of birds, and Courtney loves to sit in the front window and point and say "birdie, daddy, birdie, mama, BIRDIE!!!" It's pretty cute. And lately it's been attracting one certain little furry friend. Who needs the zoo when you have a bird feeder? (oh and p.s, you think its a boy or a girl squirrel ...take a close look ((if you know what i mean)) and tell me what you think-- i'm wanting to give it a name, but not sure which way to go!)