Naughty naughty

Remember that amazing, labor intensive buttermilk syrup I mentioned in the last post? The one I make special from scratch for Christmas morning? Well, after the kids had opened their gifts, and were so busy playing with them, Braden decided to go to the gym, and I set the kids up with a movie so I could grab a shower. Well, mid shower, I was handed this little beauty. 

Apparently, Graham tried to get the leftover syrup off the counter, and dumped it over his head, my (fairly newly upholstered) kitchen chair, floor, and socked feet tracked it across the carpet. Braden came home to the mess, and quickly scooped up the guilty party and brought him upstairs to get cleaned off. He didn't look sorry at all, he came in licking the syrup off his arms with a big grin. 

Christmas 2013, Part one: early Christmas at home

Our lovely elf on a shelf named Dexter, was able to pull in a favor from the big guy in red. Turns out, Santa let him give us our gifts early because we were going to be out of town for Christmas Day. 

It was a total surprise for Eve, Graham doesn't really get the Christmas thing yet, so he was just thrilled there was paper for him to rip apart. He saw a gift wrapped as a ball and he was immediately in heaven. We first had our traditional Christmas breakfast, homemade pumpkin pancakes with buttermilk syrup. It's so rich and delicious, great way to start the day. It was such a great morning opening gifts and getting to see the kids' reactions, they are at such great ages, so full of energy and enthusiasm. To top it off, after all the festivities we got to go see Santa Claus, in the flesh! We got to thank him for the nice presents and letting us celebrate early. 

Typical kids, the best thing they got was the boxes from their plasma cars. They spent all afternoon coloring them and making them into rocket ships. It was so fun to watch. 

They don't need perfect.

I am thankful for a bad day. I realize how weird that sounds. Thankful for a bad day. But just past week, I had a really bad day. From the second we got out of bed, it was just downhill. 

My Sunday school lesson didn't go well. But I can shake that off, you win some you lose some, all you can do is prepare and do your best. But during church Graham was incredibly cranky, and all over the place. I was struggling with the children, feeling overwhelmed. Church is always tough, but I usually get some quiet time in the afternoon to gather myself. Well, since we had such a busy weekend, I was frantically doing the 4 loads of laundry, cleaning the kitchen that had yesterday's breakfast dishes and food stuck on the stove, and tying to tidy up our living area. I am so thankful for Braden's calling, I love the opportunities it gives him to serve and excercise his priesthood.

 But days like last week when I am throwing made-from-scratch goodies into the mix for his home teaching families within the hour, be ause he's been at meetings and such since the break of dawn, I sometimes feel the pressure. 

After an exhausting afternoon and still feeling like I'm drowning in housework and kids, I found myself getting short-fused. Graham was extra needy, and instead of putting everything aside and giving him the snuggles he needed, I was getting cross at him tugging and whining at my feet as I'm preparing another dish to take to a friends home. I had hinted that I didn't want to go, but Braden was really keen on going, so the cookies I made. The kids were whining, and I was stressed out so the whining was making me feel bad for neglecting them. But what do I do?

 I broke. I cried, and Eve was so concerned about my crying. "Mom, why is there a tear?" Braden finally returned from home teaching, and found me. He gave me a hug and asked me what was wrong, but he soon figured it out. Fussy kids, and sad mom...easy guess. 

Well, next Braden tried to make me feel better, and he asked Eve "isn't you're mommy the best mom?" But then I heard her answer....it was "no."

I lost it, I ran to my room sobbing. I pleaded to Heavenly Father to help me feel some comfort. Shortly after, Eve walked in, she came to sit on the bed right next to where I was kneeling. She lifted my chin, and wiped my tears with her little index finger. She stroked the side of my face, and She said so gently, "mom, you are the best. I'm very sorry I made you sad." I replied with 

"Eve, I'm sorry, but I feel like a bad mom" 

She says "mom, you share your silver juice with me (diet coke in a silver can), and that's good. You make me food and sandwiches, that's good. You let me watch shows sometimes, that's good. You let me help you make cookies, that's good. See mom, you do lots that's good." 

It was a perfect moment. I felt immediate comfort, this little person told me almost exactly what I needed to hear. I knew Heavenly Father sent her to heal me, and with her gentle soul and kind words, she did. I love my family and my Heavenly Father. I am going to remind myself of a saying I was told once...."they don't need perfect, they just need you". 

I am so grateful for the insight God granted me, and the sweet comfort he brought through my Evie. I do my best, and that's all I can do. I have to remind myself that my kids won't remember a tidy kitchen or living room, but they will remember playing with their mom.  

Twins

I am sometimes amazed at how much my girls look alike. I love it! I see Greta and have flashbacks to when Eve was that little. And I see Eve and picture Greta looking very similar to her, I can't wait to find out if she will continue to take after Eve or if she will develop her own look. Only time will tell :)

P.s. Greta is on the left and Eve on the right

Oh Eve....need I say more?

Oh my Eve, she is so funny words can't describe. She has such a dramatic personality, it really plays into her speech. some of the things she says just make me laugh out loud, and some make me cringe because I know she heard them somewhere...namely me. 

At the grocery store, the kids were starting to get a little restless, and so was I. I just had 3 different people tell me "wow, you've got your hands full". Normally I just smile and agree, because let's face it, I have way more than my hands full with 3 kids 3 and under. But it's he look, the sympathetic look that says "I wouldn't trade places with you in a bazillion years" look. Anyways, mom was getting to be very "done" with the grocery store too. All of a sudden, Eve steps dead in her tracks, puts her fingers to her temples (as if someone were signaling a headache) and says "mom, can we go home? I'm getting freshed out."

"Freshed out?" I replied, I had to really think what this meant. So she says, 

"Yes, mom. Freshed out. Like I feel crazy and need to go home"

Then the lightbulb turned on, "stressed out?" I said with a little giggle. And sure enough, Eve was just really "stressed out" at the store. She said it with such drama in her voice like the world was over and she just couldn't take another minute. It made me laugh enough that we could finish our errands in peace. 

Eve and Graham were having a rough day. Just fighting and bickering in a big way. Finally I just separated them, and took Eve aside. I was talking to her, explaining that he really just wanted to be her friend. That He thinks she is so awesome, he just wants to play with her all the time. So she thinks about it and says, "mom, it's really hard to be his friend when he breaks everything." Ok, you've got me there, I would definitely agree with you. But how can I say that to her? Well, I can't. So I say 

"do you think you could let him play anyways? Just help him learn how to play?"

"Um...I think you could mom" 

Touché, I could. Ouch. She saw right through me, that I really just wanted him to be able to stay in the playroom with her downstairs so I could get a few things done in peace. She's too smart for me. 

I made dinner, some kind of soup. She was not keen on the idea of soup with lots of veggies. I explained to her that she has to have her "thankful bites". In our home, you have to have 5 thankful bites to show that you're thankful to have food and that mommy made you food. So I said "Eve, you need to be thankful you have food, and be thankful mommy took the time to make you a healthy dinner." 

So quickly she just responds with a raised eyebrow.(yes, my kid can do that already...yikes) and then, while stroking the side of my face gently, she replies "Mom, I'd be even More thankful if you made me chicken nuggets"

I just burst out laughing. The honesty, I have to appreciate the honesty. 

3 months for Greta

This smiley girl is just getting more and more delicious by the minute. I mean really, look at that face! I can't get enough of that grin. She's just a dream baby, something magics happened with the 3rd baby, she's soooo good. I think as parents we are much more relaxed and the baby feeds off that. That, and her incredibly mellow nature, makes for a great baby experience. I just want her to stay put..not get any bigger, she's perfect right now. Smiley, oh so smiley. And sleeps a lot. 11-12 hours at night to be exact. She's getting really long, she's filled out the length of the 3-6 month pjs. She's still squeezing those chunky thighs into size 1 diapers, but doesn't look like that will last for long. She now tolerates the bath, just gives you the stink eye instead of crying like she used to. Loves swatting at toys with her feet, working on her hands. She just discovered she has hands, likes to follow them around, suck on them, and stare. But she recognizes familiar faces, and gives us big smiles. She's so close to giving me that laugh, she gets close, but then she stops. Greta, why are you holding out on me?! She sits in a bumbo seat now, and loves it, she can get a great view of her crazy siblings running around.