Great googily moogily!

Found: one yellow mini pompom and one googly eye.

In related news, it takes about 31 hours for pompoms and googly eyes to move through a 2 year old's digestive system. o.O

Don't be dickless...

Sometimes there are words that get mutilated beyond repair. Hayden's ability to say "ridiculous" is a prime example.

A few weeks ago we were having a little BBQ with Lindsay and Jason. Brad was being a goofball so I said to Hayden "Tell Daddy he's ridiculous!" She promptly turned around, walked over to Brad and stated "Daddy. You. Are. Dickless."

:::insert manic laughing from Lindsay and I for the next 20 minutes:::

It has yet to get better although there are times she will say "re-dickless". The phrases that have come out of her mouth are too much... "It's amaaaaaazing! You are so dickless!" "Dickless Lucy!" "I'm not dickless...you're crazy." "You so dickless poopy head".

:::more laughing:::

This will be a word that I will never forget hearing her say. I'm waiting for her to tell a perfect (male) stranger that he's "dickless".

Backpack! Backpack! Backpack!

It's been a long time since we have taken a "backpacking" trip where we actually put what we needed on our backs and went somewhere overnight. Although I'm not sure you can qualify Hornet Lookout as a true "backpacking" adventure, it was the first one we have done as a family of four. It was a great way to spend a beautiful Labor Day Weekend.

Hornet Lookout is a fire lookout in the North Fork of Flathead National Forest. You can rent the cabin for $20 per night. There's a wood stove inside, propane lanterns, stoves, pots and pans, dishes, flatware, etc. You will find any number of other items depending on who was there before you. This last trip there was a Mike's Harder Cranberry Lemonade, condoms and tobacco and rolling papers for a smoke. Those Forest Service folks think of everything!

Anyway...we left Kalispell around 1pm and started our little hike about 3pm. Both girls started off walking on their own. Hayden even wore her own backpack and was carrying all of Lucy's diapers, her Pull-up for overnight and a bunch of snacks.

Trailhead Photo Op

Since the girls think the camera self-timer is one of the best toys ever, we used the opportunity to get a pre-hike photo with all of us at the trailhead. Notice Hayden in her sunglasses and backpack with my trekking poles. She put on her sunglasses and immediately told me "Momma. I'm soooo sexy." SEXY?! Where did she get that word from?!

We set off on our 1+ mile hike that had us climbing just under 1000 feet total. To the average person, this is not a bad little climb. You might get winded or a bit tired, but it is totally doable. To my little 'Nut and Goose who have short little legs, this is an epic challenge. Lucy managed to climb the first half of the trip all by herself. She held either Brad's hand or mine, but her little legs did all the work. Hayden was carrying mini Snickers bars so she had the occasional stop at switchbacks to chow one down. Is it wrong that I taught her "switchbacks are for pansies"? Yeah...I didn't think so either.

Check out my girls:

Climb on, my little hiker chick!

GO Lucy, GO!

 After the halfway point or so, we did put Lucy in the carrier and she rode most of the way up. Brad ran up ahead to unlock the lookout and drop his pack to come back and meet us. We weren't sure that Hayden would be able to walk the whole way so he wanted to be able to carry her if need be. Turns out, that wasn't necessary. We stopped just shy of the lookout and let Lucy out to walk. Hayden was getting tired but we promised her that the "house" we were going to was just ahead. I turned into a real parent on this trip because I repeatedly uttered "We're almost there" when we really weren't even close. Ha.

Hayden is a trooper. That girl climbed the mountain and kicked it's ass. She hoofed it right up to the Lookout, plopped her butt on the stairs and then raised her hands in the air and squealed! "I DID IT, MOMMA! DADDY, I DID IT!" I truly almost cried - I was so incredibly proud of her and could tell that she was so incredibly proud of herself.

I DID IT!!!

The Wet Crystal

We were running late this morning. I say "this" morning like running late is something out of the ordinary. It's not. But, I digress. Brad had taken a shower and I was in the process of getting Lucy dressed. Getting her dressed usually isn't a problem but lately, changing her diaper is a problem. She hates it. She screams, she twists, she screams, she flails and this morning, she kicked like a mule.

The mule reared back and kicked violently at whatever was within her range. Unfortunately, her soaking wet diaper from the night was in my hand and well within said range. What happened was something I've never seen before. Her tiny little foot connected with the diaper and the next thing I know, it's snowing. No...it's slush...no...it's...

*ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww*

Pee crystals!

::gag::

Did you hear what I said? PEE. CRYSTALS. No, no, wait...wet. pee. crystals. It was a blizzard of wet pee crystals!

She stopped crying instantly. This might have something to do with the screech that I let out. I made the unfortunate mistake of yelling to Brad to "get a towel because Lucy just kicked her diaper and there is shit everywhere." In hindsight, "shit" was not the appropriate word to use because you know what Brad was expecting to find. But no, it's just an inch of pee crystals on me, the hardwood, the blanket, the towel, Lucy's hair, Lucy's face, Lucy's body, Lucy's clean clothes. Sigh.

I've seen these pee gemstones before of course. When the girls were little, I would sometimes see a crystal or two in their diaper at changing time. They are nothing to worry about (says the mom who was covered in them this morning).  The crystals are actually a product of the chemical that makes diapers “super-absorbent:”  sodium polyacrylate.  These polymer beads, which absorb 200-300 times their weight in water, leak out of the paper fluff when diapers are very full or if there is a little tear in the lining.

I'm not opposed to the bling in the diaper, but why didn't anyone ever tell me that a violent shake/kick would release the gems and send them flying all over the room? That information, my dear diaper companies, would have been uber-helpful.

This is a snow cone without a cone as seen through Toddler Vision (TV)

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

Have you ever heard that saying "Live like there's no tomorrow, love like you've never been hurt and dance like nobody's watching"? It's one that I think of often...for no reason than I do try to live like that. I was going through pictures from this summer and I realized that the one that I don't do often enough is to "dance like nobody's watching". I didn't realize it until I saw a photo of Lucy doing just that.

Case in point:

Go girl!

Look at the sheer joy on her face. While the two boys (sons of a high school friend of mine) were banging on the keyboard like madmen, my little Lucy just got down and dirty on the dance floor. She was shrieking with delight, arms flailing and legs stomping. She was jumping and laughing and twirling like nothing I've ever seen. I realized when looking at this picture, I don't remember the last time I danced that hard and lived so loud. She is happiness personified and I need to be like that more. While this picture isn't professional by any stretch of the imagination, I captured something. It's a beautiful portrait of youth and life and being so happy, you want everyone to witness it.

I need to do more of this.

Night-Night Nemo

We have had houseguests since last Sunday. A buddy of Brad's is in town with his two boys (6 and 3). Needless to say, our house has been a zoo this week with all these kids running around and my girls beating up on Kurt's boys. But I digress...

Last night Kurt & Brad took the older kids to the Splash Park (Hayden says "Splashcart"). I decided to stay home with Lucy since she isn't all that thrilled about water parks to begin with. I thought it would give her some quiet time too.

She had her tubby and then brought me the little portable DVD player and asked for Nemo. Why not? I put Nemo in the player and put Lucy in her room to watch. The quiet was soooo nice for both of us.

Pretty soon, I hear her:

"Momma! Momma! Whe'areyou? Whe'areyou?" 

"I'm right here"

"Nemo go night-night. Night-night, Nemo!" 

So I grabbed the player, turned it off and put it on her dresser. She smiled at me and I said "Night Nemo!" and she looked up and said...

"Night-night! Byeeeeeee!" while waving at me from her bed.

I took the hint and walked out to her "Byeeeeee! See soon!"

At the door I stopped and started to say "I love you" but all that I got out was "I...." and she yelled:

"YOU!"

And then it was bed time.

Times the are a changing...

It's been almost two months since I've posted. I've had plenty to say, do and talk about but we were traveling the month of July. In fact, July gave us 30 days, 18 states and 6792 miles on our new Toyota Tundra. Brad and I are still happily married and we did not leave either girl on the side of the road. In fact, Brad was ready to buy BOTH of them cars after a long 15 hour day from my mom's house in VT to Elkhart, IN.

Hayden has grown up so much in the last couple of months. Her ability to speak is getting better and better as she continues to add lots of words to her vocabulary, including "dumbshit", compliments of Meg after we almost got run over by an idiot in a truck - though we convinced Hayden she said "jump ship". Now Hayden will say "You jump ship!" Yeah...oops? She has also become relatively infatuated with all things princess. Cinderella is high on the list right now as THE movie to watch. The summer was great for her and she spent a lot of time running and playing with lots of family members. Going back to work was sad for me because there is nothing like watching your children all day and seeing them learn and grow.

Ben, topless Lucy, Hayden the Princess, Kaylee & Bradan.

Contemplating life over a bottle of water - State College, PA

Exercising her right to wear what she wants on her head - Maine.

She's growing and changing so fast. She was this adorable baby and has turned into a beautiful little girl who is happy, adventurous and very sensitive. ♥

Miss Lucy, of course, has changed that much more as well. Her vocabulary sky-rocketed over the summer after spending so much time around Hayden and the other kids. It's clear that she understands virtually everything we tell her but she doesn't always admit to it. She has more facial expressions than a mood chart and I swear that Brad and I missed her calling for her to be on the big screen.

Chillin' like a villain at Eastern Point Beach, CT

Sweetness

Hiking to Glacier Lake in the Beartooths, MT

Lucy is a character...she is active and fearless and as funny as they come.

The girls have become sisters in so many ways over the summer. The crying, screaming and fighting that turns into laughing and playing instantly. They kiss, scratch, hug and pull hair but there is no question about their love for each other. Hayden will wake up and say "I need my Lucy. Where's my sister?" Lucy will wake up first and within minutes will open her arms in a shrug and say "Where Hay-en?" They are sweet.

Examining flowers in State College, PA

Beach combers in CT

"MY BALL!" fight in Maine

Settling in to watch a movie together ♥

Fishing in Red Lodge, MT

This will be a fun year...