Catching up: Hayden

I've so been slacking on the blogging for these two and I really need to get better about it! Let's see if I can remember some highlights of conversations: 

Hayden

Suddenly this little Miss is infatuated with all things poop. You are a poopy butt, you have poop, you're a poopyhead. Any word combined with "poop" is now the best. word. ever. 

She has become a radio personality! Yes, she made her on-air debut a few weeks ago by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on 106.3 The Bear. I was proud of her but she was SO pleased with herself, it made me want to cry! She spent about a week learning this and did amazingly well. It's something that every little kid should learn, and although we are still working on the meaning, I'm proud of her for knowing the words. 

 

 She ROCKS!!! 

In other news, she has become a rather funny little kid and tries so hard to be grown up. Occasionally she will melt down completely and give herself a headache. When she calms down, trying to catch her breath, she will tell me "I just want to be a big girl". It breaks my heart. But mostly, she is funny. She loves Lucy to bits and then tries to push her down the stairs. Ahhhh...siblings...something I never had the pain joy of experiencing. 

Conversation the other day: 

Lucy to Hayden: "You tell me what to do!" 

Hayden in response: "Cereally? CEREALLY? That is not 'ceptable Lucy. I am not the boss." 

She completely missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity there to tell Lucy EXACTLY what to do and Lucy probably would have done it. I realized when she said "cereally" that perhaps I may say overuse my sarcastic tone of  "seriously???" a wee too often. She said it pretty much dead on as to how I would. But, cereally, I should tone it down a bit, huh? 

Last night I was slathering Desitin on Lucy's tiney little raw hiney and Hayden stood next to me watching. She finally looked at me with a completely befuddled expression and asked "Momma? Why are you putting sour cream on Lucy's butt?" 

Sour cream indeed.

Shit she gets from her Dad

I was in my bedroom and I heard some bustling around in the kitchen. You know that sound. It's the "kids getting into shit they shouldn't get into" sound that is deafeningly quiet. Right, that one.

So I hear it and I yell "Hayden! What are you doing?"

"I'm getting a drink of milk!"

Uh-oh. I don't need a gallon of 2% all over the kitchen floor so I run to the kitchen. When I get there, she's putting the milk away already. I notice that there are no cups anywhere. Not on the counter and not in the sink, not even on the floor. So I ask the obvious "did you get a drink?"

"Yes."

Ok ... "Will you show me how you got a drink?"

 Oh, right.

She probably saw me doing that with the wine...

Becoming a little girl...

Hayden asked begged me for weeks and weeks to get her ears pierced. I had purposely not gotten them done when she was a baby because I wanted it to be something that was special for her. I wanted her to get them when she wanted them, if she wanted them. I truly thought she would be at least 5 years old before the subject of earrings came up. I underestimated my Princess.

I finally brought her to the mall to get them done. I'm pretty sure she went from 3 to 13 that day. She was such a grown up girl and so proud of herself for being able to do something that big girls do. The gal piercing her ears explained the process and Hayden sat nodding and listening. Of course, she picked out the most sparkly pink flower earrings they had to be her first!

She's growing up so much, and although I'm not ready for it, I love watching her blossom. ♥

I Want a Million Dollars...

I need a million dollars so I have time to keep up with blogging, which I really love to do. Writing has always been a favorite past time. It calms, it soothes and it makes me happy. Kind of like my girls although I'm not so sure I'd use their names in the same sentence as calm or soothe. o.O

The winter has been a blur with hardly any snow. Since my last post, Hayden turned 3 and Lucy turned 2. Hayden has become a little girl and Lucy is in the full throes of toddlerhood. She kind of rocks it.

The Scream

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!!!