Dog Food vs. Ice Cream

About seven months ago I posted about Ashlyn's dog food fetish. At the time, I hoped that she was just going through a phase, but it seems to have only gotten worse. We can't keep Cooper's dog dish inside because she would be fighting Cooper for his food every time we fed him. We also have to keep the container with the dog food in the closet on a shelf high beyond her grabby little hands.

When we get into the closet to get Cooper's food out to feed him, Ashlyn comes running from wherever she is in the house. As soon as she hears the gentle rattle, it is like music to her ears. She never runs faster than she does when she is racing to get some dog food, for it is a race against time! She has to get to the container before we get the lid back on! As she is running for this delicacy, she is saying, "Can I have some dog food?" "I love dog food!" "Because it's delicious!" She is always a very happy girl when she manages to obtain a piece. Usually though, she walks away empty-handed asking,"Why come?" when I have told her that she can not have any dog food. She simply does not understand why we keep this delicious treat from her.



When I talked before about this crazy obsession, I said that if I were to put a PB&J next to a bowl of dog food she would go for the dog food. Well tonight we decided to test that theory, only with a bowl of ice cream. I mean what kid in their right mind would choose a bowl of dog food over a bowl of ice cream? I even let Ashlyn pick out the ice cream flavor yesterday at the grocery store, she chose Dreyer's Take the Cake - yellow cake flavor with frosting and sprinkles. Sounds like every kid's dream, right?

I know it is hard to believe, but she did in fact choose the dog food! She even pushed the ice cream away! She was a little confused at first as to why we had put a bowl of dog food in front of her. After all, we usually keep this treat from her. Once she realized that we were in fact letting her have some dog food, she was so happy. F.Y.I., we only let her have about three pieces before we took it away which resulted in a flood of tears. Poor girl! Only after we took away the dog food did she try the ice cream.

Here is the video proof:

Like A Good Neighbor?

Just saying the word "insurance" can send chills up your spine. Brian and I rarely discuss insurance without using the terms "highway robbery" and "necessary evil". I think everyone has an insurance horror story, we have had too many. Here is another one to add to our list:

You may remember my crash, boom, bang post. After the insurance agent hung up on Bri, we were left wondering whether or not our new car seats were going to be paid for. We were then told by the other driver's insurance that we needed documentation stating the car seats did indeed need to be replaced. No problem. We will simply contact the officer who was at the scene of the accident since he had told me, Brian, and the other driver that the seats must be replaced "for our children's safety". However, when Brian contacted the officer, he told Brian that he could not write or sign a letter stating the seats needed to be replaced because they did not want to be held liable. WHAT the heck?! He told us to replace the seats, we did as we were told, but now he won't say he told us to do it? What kind of system is this? Like a good neighbor? I think not.
Brian then did some research on our old car seats and found a list from the manufacturer of reasons why and when a car seat should be replaced. Yep, you guessed it, our car seats did not meet any of the "replacement criteria". To further this truth, our neighbor who is certified with fire department on car seat safety came over to have a look. He said our old seats were perfectly safe, no reason at all to have them replaced.
Well crap, so we apparently spent $268 for no reason, and there was no way of getting signed documentation. However, if you know my husband at all then you know that he does not back down. He is not afraid to speak his mind and put up a fight, so fight he did. Today we received a check in the mail. Happy Day!

Even though we finally got what we deserved, I hate that you have to put up such a stink to get anywhere with those people. Oh well, I should just be glad that in the end $268 didn't come out of our pockets. Oh, and does anyone need a car seat? We have two "perfectly safe" ones in our garage.

Sorry Bri...

Well, after I cut Trent's hair, I wanted to cut Ashlyn's hair. Then after Mindy cut Madi and Maya's hair and they both turned out so cute, I really wanted to cut her hair. Brian wasn't too keen on the idea, so I took the liberty of doing it today while he is at work. Muahahaha. Sorry Bri, nothing you can do about it now.

So, don't get me wrong, I want my little girl to have long, flowing hair. And I want it to be long enough so I can do pigtails, braids and such, but her hair was, as Mindy so eloquently put it, mullet-esque. The front and sides have always been shorter than the back. I want it to grow out evenly, so I decided it needed to be cut so it will do just that.

I will admit that I took off more than I intended, but I am no pro and she is a wiggly two-year old. Now she has a bob and I actually think it is kind of cute and fun for summer. And since it was mullet-esque, it really doesn't look to different in the front. When I cut off the first chunk, I showed it to Ashlyn and she got a big smile on her face and said, "Let's do it again!" I think I am going to have to keep any scissors hidden so she won't try to do it again! Anyway, here are the pics:

They Say It's Your Birthday...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

I have the best mom in the world and today is her birthday. I could write pages and pages about how much I love and admire her and why she is the greatest woman I know. Of course if I did this it would probably embarrass her. But if you can't embarrass someone on their birthday then when can you? However, my time is limited, so here are just a few facts about this great woman:

• She is the most patient person I know. Her level of patience drives me crazy at times. In any given situation, my mom can stay calm and collect. She doesn't experience road rage, she doesn't get frustrated when six kids are asking "grandma" for chocolate milk, she doesn't become impatient waiting in long lines at the grocery store (of course she doesn't shop at Walmart!), and most impressively, she takes care of 25+ six-year-olds every day and has still managed to keep her sanity.
• She is selfless. My mom would do anything for her family, and she does A LOT! I don't think my mom knows that the word "no" exists. If you ask her to do something, you can count on her saying "yes".
  
• She is the best cook! She makes the best homemade rolls which we all benefit from each Sunday. Which brings up the great point that she still makes Sunday dinner for her family every week despite the fact that we have grown from 7 to 18, and counting! (She is not making dinner tonight though. We decided that a much needed break was deserved for her special day. I just hope it turns out well, we have a lot to live up to.)
  
• She is a very supportive wife. My dad has had many callings that have required a lot of time away from home and I can honestly say that I never heard my mom complain about him being away so much.
• She has a contagious laugh. This is particularly challenging in the middle of sacrament meeting! Once she gets started, I follow, and there is no stopping us!
• She is a hard worker (this is an understatement). Another word that does not exist for my mom is the word "lazy". She is always working on something, anything. She is also always the last teacher to leave at her school. The janitors usually have to kick her out of the building so they can do their job. I am not kidding.

My mom is a wonderful example to me. My wish is to be more like her. I could go on and on about all her wonderful qualities, but I need to go make some lasagnas!
I love you Mom.

From Brian:

Happy Birthday, you have always been accepting of me, even though you have "seen" more of me than you want to.... ;-)

I'm Stuck!!

"Mommy, help! I'm stuck!"
This is always an interesting phrase to hear, you never know what you're gonna get. It seems like I have been hearing these words a lot lately as Ashlyn seems to be more adventurous and getting herself into more predicaments. This is how I found her today after I heard her desperate cries for help...

Looks slightly uncomfortable. Exactly how did she manage to sit herself backwards in her highchair? This girl cracks me up every single day - multiple times every day.

Earlier today we were out doing some shopping and Ashlyn noticed a lady wearing a hippie-style ankle-length floral dress. "I love you dress!" Ashlyn proclaimed. Made that lady's day.

On Saturday, Ashlyn was outside "helping" her dad with some yard work. Brian was taking sticks and breaking them into smaller pieces to fit in the garbage can and as he broke one, it came back and poked him in the leg. "Ouch!" "What happened?" "I just poked myself with a stick." To which Ashlyn very wisely responded, "Oh, you've got to be so careful Daddy!"

My girl has quite the little personality.

5 Months

I am babysitting Madison and Maya today, and right now all four kids are asleep. This really does not happen very often and there are a million other things that I should be doing. In fact, I had decided earlier that if I was able to get them all to nap at the same time, I would fold a couple loads of laundry, clean the bathroom, and do the dishes. But as soon as the opportunity arose for me to accomplish my said list, I instead turned on the computer to tune into the wonderful world of blogging-to feed my addiction. *Sigh* Hopefully there will still be time when I am done here to at least check off one thing on my list of to-dos.

Anyway, I wanted to blog today because my little boy is now 5 months old. CRAZY! Seriously, it's nuts. I was really good about writing things down during Ashlyn's first year. I recorded all her major and minor events. Unfortunately, I have not done the same for Trent. So, I thought I should at least blog today about what he is doing at 5 months. Here it goes:

• He smiles all the time - big, full, open-mouthed grins. He also has this little half smile that just melts my heart every time.
• He doesn't cry often, just when he is hungry or tired.
  
• He is becoming quite the momma's boy - okay by me!
• He absolutely loves attention. (Surprise right? What kid doesn't love the spotlight?)
• He has had his first taste of rice cereal, although I have not yet been consistent at giving it to him.
• He is still holding those laughs. Although, a couple of days ago Ashlyn got him to laugh and it was the cutest thing. He loves his big sister.
  
• He is growing too fast. I have already had to pack away a full box of clothes.
• He has decided on his own that he doesn't like a binki. Which is a good and bad thing. Good because we won't have to deal with the trauma of taking it away in a year. And bad because it really does come in handy at times, like in the middle of sacrament meeting and at 3:00 a.m.
• He still has not rolled over.
• And he still has not slept through the night. I was not blessed with good sleepers.
  
• Trent is all around just very good natured and a happy kid. He brings so much joy to us.
  

Here are some recent pics of my little guy...

Bald IS Beautiful

When Trent was born, I was so happy to see that he had a full head of light brown hair. However, he slowly began loosing his beautiful locks. For awhile he had what Brian and I referred to as a "skullet". You know, the classic horseshoe generally reserved for men over 50 - love you dad! Anyway, Trent couldn't even hold onto his skullet and slowly, through time, his lovely full head of hair was reduced to this:

One miserable, sad little patch. A tail. Well, tonight we decided it was time to give Trent his first hair cut, and say goodbye to skulletville. Surprisingly, it didn't take long. Haha. So, now you see it...

And now you don't. And bald is definitely beautiful.