This is What Tired Looks Like...

We are back.

And we are pooped.

Trip details to follow.

But for now, we're off to bed.

Good nightttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.
(That was me falling asleep on my keyboard.)

Lost in Translation

Nothing is new today.

Or yesterday.
Or the day before.
Or... you get the picture.

So, instead of blogging about all of our adventures (which are basically non-existent since the sun went down last Friday and has yet to make it's re-appearance), here's what has been said around our house this week.

Setting: Dinner table Sunday night
Me: "So, Brooklyn what did you do in nursery today?"
Brooklyn: "We did nothing. But we did sing songs. Like the beep song."
Me: "The beep song? What's the beep song?"
Brooklyn: (singing) "Jesus wants me for a sun BEEP!!"
*Disclaimer: this may only be funny if you are Mormon. If you are not, well, you should be. :)

Setting: Brooklyn is swinging on her bunk bed, bouncing off the walls, and chattering like a little monkey.
Me: "Brooklyn, you're a monkey."
Brooklyn: (completely affronted) "No I'm not!! I'm a people."

Setting: "The Playground" - a child wonderland complete with bounce houses, slides, balls, bubbles, wailing babies, the smell of corn dogs, and far too many hyper children. While we were there, we lost Brooklyn for a few minutes in the mayhem and I told Aubrey, "We need to find Brooklyn. Let's go look for her." A few minutes later, Brooklyn was found but I had lost Aubrey. So, I searched for Aubrey and finally found her. She ran over to me as fast as she could and pointed to herself excitedly and exclaimed, "There's Aubrey! Right there! I found her!!" Apparently she had been searching for herself the whole time.
Thank goodness she was successful.

Setting: Brooklyn is holding a bottle of lotion at the mall and after watching me smelling them all, she decides to give it a try.
Brooklyn: "Yummmmm. This smells licious."
Me: "It does? What does it smell like?"
Brooklyn: "Like my nose!!"

Setting: Making dinner while dancing around like a crazy woman to Taylor Swift at full blast.
Brooklyn: "Mom. Stop it. Mom. Mom. Stop it mom!! Mom. Don't dance. Mom! MOM!! Stop dancing mom!!"
Not one to be bossed around by a 3 year-old, I continued to ignore her. She stood there watching me for a few more seconds and then said very seriously, "Mommy, you're a silly billy. Don't dance anymore, OK? Please. It hurts me."

Sad, but true.

This Is Why We Can't Get A Dog...

To Buy or Not to Buy...?

A few weeks ago, Brooklyn had picture day at Preschool. That morning, a few important events took place.

First, we woke up at 8:59. (Preschool starts at 9:30 and it takes about 10 min. to get there.)
Second, she only had one clean long-sleeved shirt to wear. (It was laundry day.)
Thirdly, I decided that that day would be the perfect day to try a new hair style that I thought would take about 2 minutes - a braid and a side pony - how hard could that be...?
(It turns out... very.)
And lastly, I entirely forgot that it was picture day.

So, that said, I think things could have turned out worse.

When I picked her up that day, her teacher said to me, "She was a little timid during pictures." I figured she would be. A strange man she doesn't know telling her to tilt her head and sit up straight... I'd be a little timid too.

But honestly...
does this look like a little timid to you?
does it look to anyone else like she is quite literally crapping her pants?
(Look at those fists - she's ready to attack!!)

And yet somehow, there is still something adorable about these that I can't put my finger on.

But I still don't know....
$21 worth of adorable?

Hmmmm.....

Sooooo,
I'm putting it to a vote.
To buy or not to buy - that is your question.

The Good, The Sad, The Messy, and the Glad - Birthday Edition

Today we (I) threw a birthday party.

It was doggy themed.
It was good, it was sad, and it was messy.
Here's why...

THE GOOD
-Friends
-Presents
-Games
-Food
-All at one time.
What more could you ask for?


THE SAD
This birthday girl wet her pants in the first 5 minutes of the party. So daddy went home and changed her.
Then this birthday girl smashed her finger in a door. So daddy went home and got her a band-aid.
Then this birthday girl went running down the hall, tripped, and banged her head into the floor. So daddy put some ice on it.
Then this birthday girl fell off a table and smashed her nose. So daddy kissed it all better.

THE MESSY
Rainbow-dyed, fluffy, 3 inch-thick frosting cupcakes.
Not my best judgment call.

Oh, and after the party came the "after party."
It involved the Curious George song at full blast, marching in a circle, stomping on balloons, and swinging around until we fell over laughing.
OK. Until I fell over laughing.

THE GLAD
That would be me.
I'm glad.
(that it's over)

The Never-ending, On-going, Infinite, Eternal, Unceasing, Forever-long Halloween

Our Halloween was like this title.

It just kept going and going and going.

In honor of the blessed holiday, we attended:
- A Preschool Family Party
-Halloween dinner at the Stromberg's
(flashback of these two below...)
(how is it possible for 2 children to change so much in only 1 year!?!)
- Boo at the Zoo
-Cookie Decorating with friends
- DMU Halloween Carnival
- Winterset's "Merchant Night" (Trick-or-Treating through town)
-Painting pumpkins for Family Home Evening (don't know what family home evening is? click here)
(Painting pumpkins is serious business in this family. Check out that concentration!)
-Fun Friday Halloween Bash
-Ward Trunk-or-Treat and Talent Show (video will be forthcoming)
(This is what happens when moms take 2 minutes off of mom duty and the dads decide that they are capable of supervising pumpkin painting. That poor kid didn't know what hit her.)
- "Fall Party" at Preschool

For those of you who lost track, that is 10 parties (not to mention my daughter's birthday!) in a span of 15 days!)

And the result was:

way too much candy and one very tired mommy.

This Post is Brought to You by the Number 3

3 years ago at 3:33 (OK, not really - but that would have been cool) our little Brooklyn graced us with her presence and turned our world upside-down.

So, to honor the girl who has made our lives a joy beyond compare the last 3 years, and so we can always remember Brooklyn in all her 3 year old glory, here is:

"BROOKLYN'S TOP 3"

3 Things Brooklyn Has Said Today:

1.) "Maybe we should probably... or something."
(She uses a lot of "filler words" when she can't think of the words she is trying to say, so she often creates sentences like this. I think it's precious.)

2.) "Cinnamon Rolls."
(In response to my question, "What do you want for lunch?)

3.) "I'm brushing his teeff."
(As in "teeth." And she was talking about the goldfish, when I found her sticking her toothbrush into his bowl.")
(First family photo. Note to self: a little make-up never killed anyone.)

3 Occupations Brooklyn Would Possibly Be if She Was Old Enough to Be Part of the American Workforce:

1.) A nurse.
(She was at my beck and call when I was sick last time and spent half the day at my bedside making me drink water and patting my head.)

2.) A maid.
(She cleans the toilets. I detest it, so yes, I take advantage.)

3.) A nudist.
(That kid hates clothes.)

3 Reasons Brooklyn Cried Today:

1.) Aubrey stole her chocolate milk.

2.) Aubrey stole her Barbie.

3.) Aubrey stole her sucker.

3 Things You Don't Know About Brooklyn:

1.) She has a birthmark on 1/2 of her stomach and back.
(I got a call this week from her Preschool telling me that Brooklyn had broken out in a rash on her stomach and back and that I should probably come pick her up.)

2.) She devours grapefruit.
(As long as it has about a cup of sugar on it)

3.) Anything that isn't normal she refers to as, "crazy."
(Keep reading)

3 Things Brooklyn Has Called "Crazy" This Week:

1.) Her feet.
(She was dancing along to the radio and yelled to me, "Mom, look at my crazy feet!" Then she did a dance move that Michael himself would not have attempted.)

2.) A car that was driving in reverse.
(She thought this was just about the funniest thing she had ever seen.)

3.) Baby Brigham's.... umm..... thing.
(I was babysitting a newborn boy and had to change his diaper. Brooklyn was very interested in this process, and when I opened his diaper up, she gasped loudly and exclaimed, "WOOO, HE HAS A CRAZY BUM!")
(Brooklyn at 1 month)

3 Things That Scare Us About Brooklyn:

1.) She begs to wear make-up everyday.

2.) She absolutely must have painted nails. (Her doing; not mine.)

3.) She knows how to use a debit card (and has for about 2 years now.)

3 Things I Remember Thinking At Brooklyn's Birth:

1.) She is perfect.
(I loved her at first sight. Actually, I loved her long before first sight.)

2.) She was so worth it.
(The 35 lbs., the heart burn, the cankles, the contractions, all of it. SOOOOO worth it.)

3.) Where did that nose come from?!
(Her dad, it turns out.)


3 Things That Don't Scare Us About Brooklyn:

1.) She loves.
(Everyone.)

2.) She laughs.
(Hysterically. And contagiously.)

3.) She learns.
(And she does a fair amount of teaching, too.)

Happy Birthday, Princess.
We love you more than you will ever know.

Some children like to stick things up their noses.

Mine do not.

Some children like to pinch themselves.
Mine do not.

Some children like to bite things.
Mind do not.

My children are special. They like to cut off their circulation.
Yes, I'm serious.
Aubrey likes to wrap her teddy bear's ribbon around her finger until it turns purple.
And Brooklyn likes to put hair ties around her wrists until her fingers turn white.
It drives me crazy.

Case in point:
This morning Brooklyn woke up crying. Not just "I'm still tired and slightly grumpy for a minute" crying; I mean CRYING.
So I went into her room and found a sight to behold.
Her hand looked like one of those plastic gloves that you blow into and then let them fly around the doctor's room.
It was huge and swollen and a sick shade of green.
I grabbed her and discovered to my horror that she had taken the hair tie out of her hair sometime during the night and slipped it around her wrist. And then slept like that. All night long.
And the result was this:
This picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. This was taken an hour after she woke up and had iced the heck out of it, so you really can't get the whole effect.

This kid didn't know what was going on. All she knew was that Brooklyn had owies and she needed to help. She begged me to get "Booken a banade" (Brooklyn a Band-aid) and sat there holding the ice on Brooklyn's hand until she had practically given herself frost-bite.
What a perfect start to the day.