An advertisement of sorts

So, Payton is now just over 8 months old. She is now at the whiny stage. You know the one. I can see this going through her mind, "I want to move, I am tired of laying down and falling over and bumping into the piano bench." All she wants is to walk, crawl and sit up without falling over all the time. I have found two things that are saving my sanity.

Advertisement #1: Jeep Liberty Renegade Walker. Yeah, sounds high tech. Not so much. But, it is awesome. She can only make it move on hard floors (so only when I want her to) and it has a steering wheel that makes all sorts of cute (annoying) sounds. I bought it when Syd was a baby and we have definitely gotten our money's worth. Now, I know that walkers have been labeled "dangerous," but I have decided that anything is dangerous for an infant without supervision. So, I recommend this "dangerous" item to any of my friends because I know you are all responsible parents.

Advertisement #2: The Bumbo. I had heard of this a long time ago, but never really checked it out. What was I thinking?? My wonderful friend, Shannon, gave me hers. I don't care how much they are it is totally worth it! For those of you who do not know, the Bumbo is like a little seat. It helps babies sit up. It doesn't have buckles, but Payton cannot get out of it. It is light and easy to transport, but Payton cannot tip it over. It is durable and wipes clean very easily. WOW! It's the miracle of the baby world. A lot of times baby stuff is a waste of money (monitors, for example) but these two things (along with the swing and baby seat) are, in my humble opinion, essential.

First Bike Ride

Last Sunday we promised Sydney that after church we'd take the girls for a bike ride in the bike trailer. Just as we promised, we got everything hooked up, buckled the girls in and then Brian noticed the flat tire. Uh-oh! Our world just about ended. The hole was too big to be repaired so we had to wait and buy a new tube on Monday. Next catastrophe, Monday was super windy and cold. Again, no bike ride. Tuesday, mutual, no bike ride. Finally on Wednesday we went for a bike ride. Payton was scared to death. She cried over every bump for the first few blocks. I felt so bad. But, on the way home she was happy-- she even fell asleep. Yay! We can ride bikes and enjoy being outside together.

Say What??

So, I have no pictures to go along with this post, but I had to write down some of the crazy things Sydney has been saying lately. Honestly, the more words she learns, the funnier she gets.

First example, I woke up from a nap one day last week and Sydney said, "Mom, you have stretch marks on your face!" Yikes! Good thing it was just indentations from the pillowcase.

Second example, Syd kept going on and on about something while we were trying to get her to say bedtime prayers. Finally she stopped and said, "Mom, are we going to have this discussination or not?" Uh, no. We are not going to have this discussion right now. (We laughed so hard after she was in bed.)

Sydney is also learning to be pretty sneaky. I was reading in the recliner and Syd came up to me, "Mom, you really want to sit on the couch don't you. I can see that you want to sit on the couch." My reply, "Syd, do you want to sit in the chair?" Sydney, "Yes, but you really want to sit on the couch." My response, "Syd, next time just ask nicely and I will move." "OK!"

Sydney speaks very clearly except for the 'th' sound. She says 'f' instead. So I try really hard to have her practice saying things like 'thank you' and 'Thursday'. She looks so cute when she is concentrating. She puts her tongue between her teeth and tries so hard. Sometimes she gets it and sometimes it ends up with the 'th' followed by the 'f'. It is so funny!

Here are some Sydney words and their translation:
plano = piano
doornog = doorknob
hambaburg = hamburger

I know that all of these adorable little words will soon be lost and she will speak perfectly, so I had to make a note.

Dam Marathon

I have been debating when to put this on our blog. Today marks two months, so I decided now is the time. Since Christmas time, 3 girls in my ward and I have been training for a 5K. To some of you that run and are very athletic, that is nothing. But, consider the source. I am not athletic in any sense of the word. I do not play sports (no coordination) and never have I used the words "running" and "enjoyment" in the same sentence. However, I have changed my tune. On June 14, my friends from the ward, my sisters and myself (Dayna) will run a 5K (just over 3 miles) at the Dam Marathon in Rexburg. I am so proud of our hard work! We exercise 5 days a week-- a challenge considering the number of children that tag along to our Church gym. It is hard work, but I really do enjoy it. Surprised? Me too! Anyone who is interested is welcome to join us!

http://www.dammarathon.com/

A day at the park

Today is a pretty nice day. (Windy, but when is it not?!) The temperature is about 70* (good for Idaho in Springtime). We went with some friends on a picnic to the park. The Tauphaus Park Zoo has a new play area. It was set up last year and is designed to be Handicap Accessible. It is awesome! Kids of all ages/abilities have a great time on these new toys. Even the moms had fun! Sydney's favorite part was the "boat." The kids sit on either end and someone else (usually a mom) stands in the middle and gets it rocking. Syd would not get off, so a lot of other moms ended up taking Syd for a ride with their kids. They were really nice and said they didn't mind. I felt kind of guilty until I ended up taking a lot of other kids for a ride.

The joys of home ownership!

As you can tell from the past few posts, Saturday was a very busy day for us! But, of all the things we did, this takes the prize for least enjoyable! Late last week we decided to stop kidding ourselves and face the fact that our water heater was on the way out. By the middle of this week I was getting tired of luke-warm showers. Brian and I agreed that something had to be done! Luckily, we are blessed with a brother-in-law that puts in water heaters almost every day. He graciously offered to find us a deal on the water heater and then install it. WOW! He saved us a lot of money, time and grief. Some of you may find it odd that I took so many pictures of this ordeal, but this was our first big replacement in our home and I wanted to remember it. Let me briefly explain these pictures. The guys drained the water heater in our backyard. No big deal, until the end. After a while, the water started bringing out all sorts of gross stuff. It got so bad that we stopped draining the water heater and decided to just take it to the transfer station with a little left in it. The stuff that had gotten in our grass was so disgusting that Brian had to get a spoon and scoop it out of the grass and into a plastic bag. And to think we showered in that water! EWW!

Cute as a bug!

On Saturday Sydney found our first lady bug of the season. It was an exceptionally nice day on Saturday and we spent it outside! After a long hard winter, I think everyone in Idaho Falls had the same idea. Everywhere we went people were outside doing yard work, riding bikes, sunbathing, etc. It was great. Anyway, the Lady Bug spent a lot of time with Syd on Saturday. It went on a bike ride with her. (She put it on her knuckles as she rode.) It tried to get away (Syd was upset about that) but it couldn't seem to get away from Sydney. Finally, I convinced Syd that the Lady Bug missed its family and she agreed to give it a nice home in the grass. That Lady Bug better thank its lucky stars!

Stylin' Shades

Sydney got a package of 4 pairs of sunglasses from Grandma H. She was kind enough to share with Payton. Payton liked holding the sunglasses, but was not sure what to do with them on her face. It took a lot of work just to get them to stay on for a few pictures. But, these are two stylin' girls!

Crazy Hair

Payton has always had a stand on end hairdo, but Saturday was the best. She has a lot of hair that only likes to stand up straight on top of her head. So, if you notice her hair seems to be in little pony tails on top of her head, now you know why-- it doesn't do anything else!! This is Payton straight from the tub on Saturday morning.

A Rainy Day Inside?

We had a rough morning one day last week. With much crying and feet stomping-- by Sydney not Dayna-- Syd was sent to time out in her room. In the meantime, I put Payton down for her nap. After Payton was asleep, the house seemed really quiet-- too quiet considering Syd was in time out. So, I quietly opened Sydney's door and this is what I saw:
If you can't tell from these pictures, Sydney is asleep on her bed. She has propped her umbrella up inside a tissue box and is curled up in a blanket (my blanket, by the way) underneath it. I guess time out was just what she needed. As you can see from the last picture she is smiling. She woke up while I was taking pictures in a much better mood!