Inter"not"

Strange title, I know, but I just wanted to do a brief post letting everyone know that we are currently looking for a new internet provider (we REALLY dislike Qwest!!!) and so it may be a little while until I can really blog. Someday, if you have an hour to sit and listen, ask me about our fiasco with Qwest and DirectTV... well, I guess it was really all AllConnect's fault (sorry Cort!). Anyway, when I do get the chance to upload photos, etc., you can bet I'll have a few catch up blogs. Until then, ciao!

Jump!

This last weekend I decided to try to find an exersaucer or jumperoo for Avery. To buy one brand new wasn't really in our budget at the time, so I decided to check Craig's List (it's kind of like an online rummage sale, pretty cool). I ended up finding a couple of "maybes," so I talked it over with Aaron and we ended up buying a Jumperoo from a woman in Parker. It was hardly used and only $30, which was well worth the money. We brought it home, cleaned it up, and let Avery give it a test drive. She caught on very quickly and she has since acquired what I call her "jumping scream." Of course Kaitlyn tries to get in on the action by trying to climb in with Avery. It's hard for her to understand that she is too big for the jumperoo. She's gotten better about it. I think it's hard for Aaron not to sing "Jump Jump" (shout out to all you who remember Kriss Kross) when Avery is going full throttle. I hope you enjoy the little video I made... definitely not Oscar-winning material, but my baby sure wins over my heart.

What a 2-Year Old!

So, lately I've been getting easily and frequently frustrated with Kaitlyn. She is constantly harrassing Avery, sometimes to the point of hurting her. She easily breaks down into tears when she doesn't get her way or if she gets into trouble. Along with the tears comes a high pitch wail/scream that lasts forever (and I'm not exaggerating by much). She does not listen to anything Aaron and I ask her to do. She's really been enjoying pestering Laura, and she has learned exactly which buttons of her sister's to push to get the biggest reaction. I feel like all I ever say to Kaitlyn is "no" or "don't do that," etc. Well, while we were at the zoo yesterday, Aaron took this photo of Kaitlyn and I instantly fell in love with it. It reminded me of how beautiful and loving my little Kaitlyn is. I came to the realization that part of the problem may be that she is just as frustrated with me as I am with her. So I decided that I would set aside a time each week to have Mommy and Kaitlyn time. I think it will help us both out tremendously. I've never been the middle child, but I imagine it can be quite difficult to feel like you are seen and heard. I love my Kaitlyn girl and know that she'll grow out of this phase... eventually.

Denver Zoo

Okay, so we realize that today is Sunday, but the Denver Zoo was having it's last free day of the year, so we decided to take advantage and check out it out. The day was absolutely beautiful... about 60 degrees or so with lots of sunshine. There were so many people down there that we had to park about a mile away. Thank goodness for strollers and Daddy's shoulders! The girls were really excited about their surprise. All of the animals were pretty active while we were there, which was great. The girls loved the baby giraffe (who happened to be born on my birthday this year) and all the little primates in the monkey house. Laura absolutely had to see the rhino, and we found a really cool hippo statue to play on. Aaron and I thought the zoo was really nice. We were a little skeptical at first because the closest zoo to us in Keokuk was the St. Louis Zoo, which was totally awesome and ALWAYS free. But, we think the Denver Zoo is a definite contender. We're happy to have so much to do near us. And we feel it's important to teach our children from a young age that the conservation of animals and nature is so integral to the future generations, including theirs. We LOVE the zoo!!!!!

(Oh, sorry some of the photos are hazy... I think it's time for a new camera- it's been having issues.)

I've Been Tagged

The rules are:
1. Link to the person who tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 things about me... (most will probably seem weird)

1. When I was a kid I had to count every step I took each day and this continued until right before I met Aaron.

2. I dislike fish so much that if Aaron eats it he has to brush his teeth before I'll even consider kissing him (it's the smell... yuk!).

3. I have to have the first drink out of the new gallon of milk (only if I open it).

4. After the girls help me clean up their stuff, I wait until they're in bed and I "re-clean" by putting things in order.

5. I have to have peanut butter on my pancakes (unless we're at a restaurant).

6. I always take a sniff of my food before I eat it.

7. When I write a letter or in my journal, etc., I can't have any mistakes or weird marks or I'll have to start over (I ought to try using pencils).

I tag:

Starla
Lindsey
Melissa
Susan
Rebecca
Melissa West
Brigitte

Mt. Falcon Park

Saturday we went for our first family "hike" since moving here. Aaron found Mt. Falcon Park one Sunday before the girls and I arrived. He really liked the park, so we went to check it out. The trails we took were great for kids... very well maintained and wide enough for the family to walk side by side. There were so many people out there enjoying the beautiful day. Aaron and I can't wait until we can ride our mountain bikes out there. It looks like they have plenty of challenging trails. We took a trail up to a lookout that had a gorgeous view. Aaron, of course, brought his binoculars so he could look for birds. It just so happened that the girls got binoculars while trick or treating, so they brought theirs so they could be like their daddy. They had a lot of fun trying to spot birds to tell their dad about. On the way back Kaitlyn ended up getting tired, so Daddy carried her for a little while. Since he already had Avery on his back in the backpack, he didn't carry her for long. When he put Kaitlyn down she threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen from her! She was screaming and crying, placing herself right in front of Aaron or me so we couldn't go around her. It was crazy! I felt so bad for the other hikers that got to experience this along with us. I ended up potato-sacking her over my shoulder and walking as fast as I could to the car. I think next time we'll take the trailer.

Zookeepers...

So, for Halloween we ended up dressing all three girls up as jungle animals... Laura was a giraffe, Kaitlyn was an elephant, and Avery was a tiger. It all started with Avery's costume - I found it at a discount store in Keokuk for four dollars (couldn't resist the price!). When we got to Denver I went to Costco (HOORAY for Costco... how I've missed you) and found the giraffe and elephant costumes for ten dollars apiece. Not too bad. So, I bought them and when we got home Ashley and I put them on the girls. The tags said 2-4 years, so I assumed they'd fit Laura and Kaitlyn just fine, especially since they're kinda small girls. Well, I guess one should never assume because the girls' costumes were highwaters. I didn't want to get new costumes, so I ended up getting the girls cute tights to wear underneath. It worked out just fine. We missed the trunk or treats in both Keokuk and our new ward here, so we decided we'd take the girls trick or treating. Where we live in Aurora is a super nice area with this huge, and I mean HUGE, shopping area called Southlands. It's basically an outdoor mall with every store you'd ever need. It was awesome because Southlands offered trick or treating from 4 - 8 on Halloween, which was a safe alternative to regular trick or treating. Aaron and I ended up taking the girls down there around 5:30 and I couldn't believe how many families were down there. It was wonderful! It was neat because they had a horse-drawn carriage, a couple of bouncy houses, face painting and a clown making animal balloons... and it was all free. Needless to say, we had a great time. When we got home Ashley ended up taking the girls trick or treating around our neighborhood for a little while. So, we have enough candy to last a lifetime (if I could quit eating it). I have always loved Halloween. I remember as a kid I loved dressing up, especially as a witch. I'd still dress up, and we're planning on dressing up as a family next year. I know, cheesy, right? I don't care... I have an imagination and I'm going to make sure it gets good use!

We Made It To Colorado!

I finally get to catch up on some blogging. This last week has been a really busy one. We left for Denver on October 25th and arrived the 26th. It was about 900 miles from our house in Keokuk to our house in Aurora. The drive wasn't too bad... Aaron had one girl in the truck with him, Ashley had another, and I had Avery in the Pacifica. It was so nice to listen to whatever I wanted without little girls wanting to listen to "Halloween" (The Nightmare Before Christmas). All vehicles were packed totally full (there was literally no room left in any of them). It was so nice to get here and start to attempt to organize our new home. It's still in chaos, but I suppose that's all right. Dad helped us unload the truck and get most of the furniture where it needed to go. (Thanks Dad!) The weather has been so wonderful! In fact, it's been quite warm (upper 60's to lower 70's). I am incredibly thankful that we were able to come to be with Aaron and begin this new phase of our life. Heavenly Father has truly blessed our family.