Time for kittens and bunnies

The other day I had something hurtful happen to me in the blogging world (I refuse to use the word "Blogosphere") and it got me thinking about something that has bothered me for a long time. You might say it's one of my pet peeves. I don't like it when adults think all rude behaviour is excused because, "That's how I am. I say anything I want to and if you don't like it, suck it!" I've met a few people like this in my life and I find them super irritating. Why, just because you are "that type of person" can you get away with horrible behaviour and why do some adults think this is an acceptable excuse? I was working in the PTA as treasurer the same year I got pregnant with Evie. I ended up being in the hospital having her the week school started. Actually, I remember it was the day before Grace started Kindergarten because I knew I had to get out of the hospital or heaven forbid I would miss Grace's first day. Let's just say I don't remember much of that walk to school because I was hopped up on all types of good drugs. I should have quit the PTA but for some bizarre reason I stayed in and I did a really shitty job. In my defense I do remember some mention of, "Don't you worry. You just do what you can." I hated going to meetings because all social situations caused me anxiety. This was before I wised up and listened to my therapist when he told me it was okay to take the occasional Xanax. Just the sight of certain people threw me into a panic and some of those people happened to be in the PTA. I did work with some women who I love to this day because they kept me sane that year. Then there was a woman who was very demanding and would often call me up and harass me if I missed a meeting. I had lost a child a few months earlier so I wanted to say to her, "Listen sister! It's amazing I'm able to get up in the mornings. So if I miss a damn PTA meeting, you might want to cut me some slack." This woman constantly did things like this and the one time I complained to a fellow PTA member about it, her reply was, "That's just the way she is. Don't take it personally." Oh, okay. I will remember that when I feel like yelling at someone, which happens a lot. Throw away all conventions of society because, "That's the way I am." I try to be nice on this blog, I really do. I know I've made mistakes when I've started ranting and I apologize. I will most likely continue to make mistakes but I don't intentionally try to hurt anyone. I also don't excuse my behaviour by saying, "That's how I am. Take it or leave it." I know I put myself out there and that means that I open myself up to people who disagree, which I'm totally cool with. Believe me, I know some people might not like me and that's okay. We don't all have to like each other but we do, as human beings, have to be civil.

Now think happy thoughts while looking at this kitten. You can't stay mad while looking at kittens.

Finally, the house

We've lived here for seven months and I'm finally getting around to posting house pictures on the blog. I kept thinking, "I'll wait until I hang this picture or get this decorated" but I finally realized that it's never going to be perfect so I might as well just do it now. We (well mostly Ryan) did a big cleaning of the house on Saturday so I thought it would be a perfect time to take photos. I did a couple of little videos in areas that are hard to photograph. I like living here, a lot. Santaquin was great too but I'm glad if we had to move, we moved to a place I like as well as this.

Not a staged photo, Ryan was actually making the bed. He's a pretty awesome husband and I would recommend all you unmarried women get a man like him. Lays sod during the day, then cleans the house at night. He's dreamy.

This is Grace's room and desk. I made them clean their rooms before they left to stay at Nana's. Sweet Grace, such a messy, messy girl but she did a good job of cleaning.

Grace put the sheets on her bed and made it, which is great because I hate changing sheets. I love that my kids are getting to the age where they can do my work.

Looking into Hanna's room. This child started to cry when I asked her to put the sheets on her bed because, "she had already made it for the pictures!" Girls.

This is looking in from the front door.

Front entry area. The desk was made by Ryan's grandpa and the painting was given to us by his grandma.

Looking from the living room to the front entry.

View of the living room from the kitchen. The one arch goes to the front entry and the other one goes to our bedroom. Orbs! Our house is so haunted.

Living room and those are the pendants lights we put in above the island. Ryan was terrified he was going to be electrocuted even though the electricity was turned off. He really does have an unnatural fear of electric shock.

Kitchen. Where I occasionally cook and Ryan cleans. I really like our Corian countertops. My favourite thing is the built in sink.

Dining area. I HATE the light over our kitchen table and am saving up for a new one. It was the best lighting package they had that we didn't have to upgrade to. I might have chosen differently now but I'll get the one I want soon.

Living room. I loves the gas fireplace. I camped out in front of it all winter. The painting was given to us by Ryan's grandma. They are the main reason we have furniture and art. Karen supplies all the other furniture. Shout out to Karen at the RC Willey Outlet in Provo!


Our bedroom and bathroom. I'm going to resist saying, "This is where the magic happens."

The girl's "wing". I really like them being on the opposite side of the house. It's like they don't even exist. "winky emoticon"

You can't judge a kid by it's baby

I was venting to friends one day about how challenging my job is and made the comment that it was the most challenging thing I'd ever done. It isn't. The most challenging thing was being a new mom to a colicky baby(the whole miscarriage/Evie death was just shitty and I don't see it as a challenge per se). I thought I was so smart before I had Hanna because I read all those baby books and what to expect crap but after being a mom for about 3 seconds I realized I knew nothing. Then the crying started and it didn't seem to stop for about 6 months. I didn't sleep through the night until Hanna was 9 months old and not on a regular basis until she was 1ish. I read books about nursing but none of them talked about a baby who likes to rip herself from your nipple and look around the room every 3 seconds because she was afraid she might miss something. It was a rough, sleep deprived year, but for some reason we decided to get pregnant when Hanna was 11 months because, well, we are just crazy. I remember being terrified that I'd have another Hanna. That we'd be up all night with two babies would only nap during the day if they were nursed to sleep on your chest. I really did spend a lot of time worrying about this. I think I probably had some form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from Hanna's first year. About a minute after Grace was born, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a repeat of Hanna's first year. She was so calm from the beginning. Where they were bringing Hanna to me screaming every 20 minutes, Grace was gone for 8 hours the first night and I had to call down to the nursery to get her brought to my room. She just chilled at home, slept through the night at 6 weeks and napped in her CRIB! She was super smiley, happy and only made this kind of shouting noise when she was hungry. She nursed like a champ and was happy to go anywhere. I thought for sure that this was how their temperaments were going to be the rest of their lives. Hanna would be my high-maintenance child while Grace would just smile though life. Well, as you have probably figured out by now, I was wrong. Grace is very sweet and loving but she is stubborn, has a temper and can sustain a tantrum longer than I knew was possible. Hanna is my easygoing kid. She will get upset but she usually just runs to her room crying and hides in the closet. Grace wants to rant and scream about the injustice that is being done to her. Grace is upset about many, many things and since she and I are alike, we tend to get each other worked up. In public, Grace is a model child. Teachers and friends never believe that "sweet Grace" could act like that. So at least she knows what is socially acceptable. Yesterday morning she and I clashed over what she was going to wear for the day. Cry, cry, cry. In the evening I decided it was time to take them to get their first haircuts in over a year. I decided Hanna could get a few bangs because her hair is kind of thin and needed something to break it up. Grace has beautiful thick, wavy hair and both Ryan and I like it one length and long. I could tell, the minute I told the stylist that I wanted Hanna to get bangs, that there was going to be trouble after. Grace held it in until we got out of the salon and then she started the tantrum to end all tantrums. I had to stop and get Ryan a burrito and she cried through that, then I stopped to get drinks at Sonic and she cried through that.

"NEXT TIME I GET MY HAIR CUT I'M GETTING BANGS!"

"No."

"YES I AM!"

"No, you're not."

"YES, I AM!"

And so it went for the rest of the night. She came home and went to her room where she sobbed loudly for an hour. Ryan went to talk to her and she told him that "She hated herself and hated her life." Which really upset him and me because no one wants to hear there kid talk like that. I also heard her say that, "This was the worst day ever!" before she slammed her door. Eventually we got her calmed down enough to get in bed and go to sleep. This morning she woke up and everything was okay. She was happy, loving Grace again. She had stayed up really late the night before at a birthday party so maybe she was tired? Maybe we all have days we want to scream and rant but because it's not really socially acceptable we just bottle it up inside. Perhaps I should take a lesson from Grace. I want to add that Grace doesn't do this often. Usually she really is a nice, sweet kid who is happy to please but I guess the rule is, like with the Hulk, don't get her mad.

If you don't work, you don't get paid no money. And I like money. And I like Indian food.

I got the title for this post, except for the Indian food part which I decided to add in because it's true, from the movie "Quadrophenia". Ryan owns it and watches iton VHS now and then. It's about Mods and Rockers and has a lot of really cool scooters and a young Sting in it. I came home from work Friday (I was sooo glad it was Friday this week) and Ryan told me he'd been up to the Scooter Lounge in Orem that day and was considering trading in his 2003 Stella for a 2008. This was my response, "Go for it." I like that Ryan has a hobby and I like to see him happy because that's the kind of super wife I am. Plus I told him if he got the scooter, I got a new pair of jeans. Because jeans make me happy. Just writing that made me kind of depressed but it's true. The girls went with our neighbors to the ward camp-out, so Ryan and I met up at the Scooter Lounge to check out our new baby.
I suggested the name "Blue Lightening" but I don't think it's going to stick.

On Saturday I met Ryan's mom and we went to the Women's Expo at UVU. I have to say I wasn't too stoked on the idea when she suggested it to me because I thought of booth upon booth of scrapbooking supplies and that is just not my cup of tea. The first booth I saw when we walked in was one selling flower clips and wacky hats that I see many people wearing in the fancy neighborhood I teach in. Can you say, "Fashion Victim?" It did get better though and I was able to do some Christmas shopping for my mom and I made myself a bracelet at The reason I stopped there is because they had charms made out of Scrabble tiles and we loves some scrabble in this family.The H and G are obvious. The horseshoe is for Hanna, the crown for Grace and the heart for Evie.

Saturday evening Ryan was riding with the scooter club to the India Fest at the Hari Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork. We've been to a few festivals there and always had a good time so the girls and I decided to meet him there.

We watched dancers and I bought good vegetarian Indian food for everyone but only I ate it. Ryan wasn't there yet.

Grace is terrified of llamas. Who knew?! So that is why she looks wary in this photo. It could also be because I pushed her closer to the llama so I could get a picture. She was under the impression that the llama was going to spit on her. I hear llamas are kind of sneaky like that.

This is the statue of Ravana that was lit on fire at the end of the night. When the fire bomb went off, Ryan said, "Now that's religion!" Tru dat.

Hanna and Grace both waited in line for a long time and spent their own money to get henna tattoos. I had my eyebrows threaded (google it if you don't know) and think I was the only person all evening who did it. My friend Christine from Chicago had told me before that she loves it and has been doing it for 15 years. I guess it hasn't caught on in Utah County yet. I think my eyebrows look pretty great. Kind of a new sensation though.

So yeah, we had a good weekend but it's gone by too fast. This whole working 5 days a week is really cramping my leisure time. I'm slowly getting my workouts scheduled in again because I know I'm going to need it with winter coming up. I hope it might help me from getting sick also. I've already had one kid throw-up at school. Luckily he was at computers at the time. I don't deal well with puke but I know I'm going to see my share of it. I think I'm forming an addiction to hand sanitizer and clorox wipes. My hands look horrible because of it. I might just have to get a manicure sometime soon.