october

phew...what a MONTH!!! i thought september was nuts until october came around. Between Joy school at our house, Ballet, Halloween, halloween parties, Primary presentation regular life, i felt like i was running a marathon.... and then poof! look! its already November and I busted out a Christmas CD today!

I had my turn teaching Joy School this past month and let me say..it was so FUN! Crazy at times, but fun. Our unit was all about the body and we played lots of games, talked about bones, used our senses and ate healthy food and exercised. The kids were great, and they all really do play well together which helps. Greta is constantly saying " look mommy i'm using my sense of tongue" (taste)when she eats food. Still working on that one, but at least i know a few things sunk in.

After all was said and done it made me very grateful to be home with my kids. I LOVE teaching, i love kids, i loved being a full time teacher, but it is SO much work and prep. and constant bombardment of the brain. I know i could not be both a mom and a teacher at the same time successfully. so i'm truly grateful to be at home, even if i feel like pulling my hair out some days:)and sorry, i have no joy school pictures, my camera was lost for awhile and then it seemed like i never had a spare second with all the kids here to snap a pic.

Halloween week was as crazy and fun as the rest of the month. Greta wanted to be a Bee this year? dont know why? she also wanted to be a lemon, couch, and a diaper...so BEE was clearly the only option. I had some leftover tulle from various Tu Tu's i've made and so i decided to make one for Greta and throw some sequins on a body suit and call it a costume. Turned out pretty cute!

We also had a party at the church and a joyschool party with other friends too this week that turned out great! the kids got to wear their costumes lots and had tons of fun and so by my books that makes it all worthwhile. I love any excuse for a party, i just wish my place was bigger so thanks Laura for the Hospitality:)

Halloween day finally came and we spent most of it chillin cause the kids were sort of getting little coughs and sniffles. Greta went trick-or treating with Elias for a bit and it was perfect, we cleaned out the whole block in like 20 min. Nobody was out, it was weird. kind of creppy...very halloweeny.

Primary Pesentation coming up this week, should be a gooder. I cant believe how big our primary has become! there were like 5 kids in primary when we moved here. now there are close to 50!!! Crazy town. And then moving on to other things like deep cleaning my house, rotating toys, trying NOT to Christmas shop, and figuring out what i'm supposed to do in my new calling?

sorry this post is very journally, and i cant cut and paste the pics, so they're all at the top. annoying! good nite.

my worst nightmare

picture this sweet face:

tumbling all
the
way
down
these:

I thought i was gonna lose it. seriously. and seeing as Ozzie cant crawl OR walk you'd think i'd be safe from this kind of accident? nope. he scaled the furniture in 2 seconds flat to come find me i guess getting the laundry and all i heard was THUD, THUD, SCREAM!!!!

I was beside myself, he was SO sad and confused. miraculously he only had 2 big bumps on his XXL head. I thought for sure he'd have broken bones, ribs, brain damage, become paralyzed, blind...you know how you start to get carried away? but sure enough, all in all he seems fine. I know he's not the first or last kid to fall down some stairs, but when it happens to you, under your watch, you feel like SUCH a tool. i felt sick to my stomache all day yesterday.

anyways, truly, truly blessed.

On a happier note... the stairs used to stink and look like this:

so i guess i shouldn't complain.

credit

So we took away Ozzies soother on Friday night last week. I thought it was gonna be a NIGHTMARE! Greta would not take a soother as a baby so i swore when another child came around that i'd make it happen, and Ozzie loved his soother from Day1. I only gave it to him at bedtime, naps and in the car occasionally. But none the less he was hooked, and if it was anywhere in sight he would whine and whine until he found a way to get it in his mouth.

The reason i decided to get rid of it now was because he would wake up 2 or 3 times a night just for me to find his soother and he could go back to sleep. SO ANNOYING! i couldnt take it. So on friday night, the soothie had left the building. He Cried and cried and cried for like 35 min. it was heart wrenching. his cry was saying..."what the heck? where is my soother? why wont you give it to me? i'm tired! hurry up, this is getting old! mom are you crazy? how do you expect me to sleep?" and various other sad inflections. i almost caved like 3 times..but held out thinking if i could just get him to fall asleep without it we'll be okay. So I waited, he fell asleep, and didnt wake up until morning. Fluke right? thats what i thought. the next day, layed him down for naps, he cried for maybe 20 sec. each time and then right to sleep. must be good luck. that night, not a peep, next day same thing. He TOTALLY forgot about it.

So now he sleeps amazing, i dont even hear him at all in the night and we made it past this hurdle in under 24 hours. what a blessing. I should have given him more credit. i should have learned from Greta. I NEVER thought she'd fall asleep without being rocked, she did. I NEVER thought she'd drink milk without her bottle, she did. I NEVER thought she'd be happy sleeping anywhere but her crib, she did. i need to have a little more faith i guess, and not underestimate their ability to adapt so well.

In other news, Greta pee'd on the bathroom floor. A lake. the most pee i've ever seen. We were playing doctor with her carebears in her room,
Greta: "Oh... mommy...quick Cheer bear needs to go pee"
Me: does that mean you need to go?
Greta: "Yep"
Me: okay hurry, run, quick quick quick

30 sec. later....

Greta: OH NO!!!! MOMMY!!!
Me: (noticing the lake of pee on the floor) What the heck? what happend? why did you pee on the floor?
Greta: Well, carebear had to go first, and I had to wait my turn.

seriously. kids.

Singing

Greta likes to sing and has a lot of songs in her repertoire already. It amazes me how fast kids pick things up. this is a video i forgot about from early spring, and even though her pitch is much better than this now, it is still one of my favorites of her ever. so sweet. so greta.

oh ya.....turn up your volume a bit its sort of quiet.

i couldnt resist

i started browsing through old pics trying to free up some space on my computer and i stumbled upon a few rare gems. I thought i'd dedicate this post to Greta and Elias...the best of friends....MOST of the time!

Happy Birthday lil' Ozzie!

It is surreal to me that a year has gone by so fast! My not so little baby boy is now a big 1 year old and changing by the second it seems! I think Greta seemed so much older to me at one cause she was running already, but Ozzie just seems like a little guy still.
I'll admit, I'm not much of a fan of the little baby phase. dont get me wrong, they are precious and perfect, and generally do sleep alot. but i'm actually kind of excited for Ozzie to be getting into the toddler world, even though he's already getting into more things than i thought possible for someone who isnt even walking OR crawling. But he's inventive thats for sure, and if he wants something bad enough he'll find a way to get it!
Ozzies favorite things right now are, Balls... 100%! he cant get enough. He actually says "Bah" when he's after one. He also loves making as much noise as possible by banging anything against anything else as hard as he can. (i'm assuming this is a boy thing) He loves his soy milk and flaps and bounces for joy when i give him some, and he can pound grapes like nothing else...his favortie food right now for sure! He just started this week trying to feed me things too, so cute. He holds out whatever it is to put in my mouth and then eats it himself. what a stinker.
Hmmm.. what else? Ozzie is still very sensitive and sweet. but he also has a temper like nothing else, and is Mr. Grump fest in the morning for at least a half hour. He LOVEs to be outside, and will scream and lunge out of my arms if i'm anywhere near thte patio door or front door. And he loses his mind if I go past the bathroom with him when Greta is having a bath and dont let him in there, seriously, like a nervous breakdown everytime.

Lately he is yammering so much more, and even though i dont Think hes really said him first "word" yet, he does say Ma ma ma ma when i'm around, and Bah" for ball and dadadada. But its no secret that he loves Greta the most of us all. He lights up when shes around, and Greta is a really good sister, so i dont blame him.

We had a fun day today, playing with new toys, time at the zoo, and dessert of course! I think Ozzie sort of figured something cool was happening for him when we turned out the lights to sing happy birthday and there was FIRE in front of his face. he smiled.

Here's some highlights

Checking out his new Hammering Toy

At the Zoo

All dressed and excited for his Party!

Going for a stroll

I made these Burger cupcakes and Fry cookies because Ozzie LOVES fries, and will scream for one until he gets it every time. thanks for the idea Bakerella! they were sort of annoying to make, but turned out super cute in the little boxes, Love!

He loved his cupcake and that i let him have at er' the whole time!
Post Birthday wind down!

love you Ozzie! Happy First Birthday!

best of friends

i'm sure it may change over time, but these 2 can NOT get enough of each other these days! i'm constantly finding them playing together, laughing, hiding under blankets, making the same strange faces at me, and i'm loving every minute of it! Greta said, Mommy, i love you and Daddy so much, but Ozzie is my brother and I love him more, like Toopy and binoo. ( her favorite show)

look at those goofy smiles! i just want to bite their cheeks of and eat them! love you!