Trip to Arizona

The girls were so excited to see everyone. It's a 12 hour drive from UT to AZ. A couple hours into the trip Addy kept asking if I saw cactus yet, & kept asking about every 10 minutes! It was a lonnnggg drive ;)

Lexi and her cousin Olivia. Lexi is 10 months older but they are just about the same size. 

Doing snow angels on Grandma's bed

Besides the cactus, (& the family we visited), this zip line was the highlight of the trip for the girls.  Wish we could get one at our neighborhood park. 

Massage

We have come to learn that the girls LOVE LOVE LOVE massages, just like Steve and I.  Rarely will Lexi hold still unless I'm giving her a massage.  In church yesterday both girls did pretty good during sacrament meeting.  Lexi even whispered more often than she has in the past.  So she's learning! It's encouraging! There was about 15 minutes left in the meeting and Lexi was very fidgety by this point.  I looked over and saw Steve giving Addison a hand massage.  That reminded me so I gave Lexi a hand massage and she sat perfectly still for the rest of the meeting! NOTHING else will keep Lexi that still for that long! It's awesome because it is something that can be done at church and it doesn't disturb anyone! And I got to cuddle with her and listen to the talks.  Hooray!

By the way, my last post was about how exhausting Lexi's tantrums are but I failed to mention how incredibly adorable she is when she's not throwing a tantrum.  How can someone be so frustrating and so stinkin cute all in the same day? Her cheeks are so soft and squishy I can't stop kissing them.  She can be so loving.  She gives the best hugs.  Sometimes out of the blue she'll say "You're the best mommy ever!" and it makes me melt every time.  I love her!

Heavenly Father answers prayers

I love prayer.  I know that God hears and answers our prayers.  I know it's not always in a way we're hoping or asking for but he still hears and answers them.  I have had so many prayers answered, and many may seem unimportant or trivial to most people. You can ask for anything in prayer and it will be answered in God's own time and own way.

Lexi has been throwing LOTS of tantrums lately, making life miserable for at least me! If I don't walk or talk, or do my hair how she wants then she throws a tantrum.  If she asks for milk or food but I put it in the wrong spot at the counter, or get the wrong color cup or bowl she throws a tantrum.  According to her 2 year old brain I'm supposed to read her mind and know exactly what she is thinking.  I'm starting to understand how she likes some things but who knows when she's going to change her mind and want it a different way.  For example, when she would ask for milk in her sippy I would fill her sippy up and hand it to her or bring it to her while she was watching tv.  At one point she started throwing a tantrum when I would do that. I learned that she wanted me to now leave the sippy on the counter after I filled it up so she can get it whenever she wants. But sometimes SHE wants to get the sippy out of the fridge and fill it up with milk herself.  If she's in THAT mood, then she throws a tantrum if I do it the other way. Is this making sense?  It is driving me nuts.  I feel like I'm walking on eggshells around her and boy, is it exhausting.

For awhile now Lexi has been throwing tantrums when Steve or I go into her room to get her out of her crib.  She had a good night's rest or a good nap, she wakes up, sometimes she's even yelling for me. I go in there and she throws herself down on her mattress and proceeds with a tantrum.  Same thing when Steve goes in after she wakes up.  I haven't figured out why she does that.  Sometimes she's ok if Addy goes in to get her but Addy can't lift her out of her crib haha.  So obviously that doesn't do much good.  Getting Lexi up has turned into sometimes an hour ordeal, twice a day! I'll try to leave to get something done until she's ready to get out but she'll usually throw a tantrum whether I leave or not.  I've tried a variety of other things too with no success. It's just exhausting.  I recently prayed to know how to help Lexi.  What was I missing, how could I alleviate both of our frustrations!?  The thought that came to me was to be more goofy.  So the next time I got her up, cue Lexi tantrum, cue mommy goofiness. I put a blanket over my head and pretended I was going to fall or run into the wall.  I threw her stuffed dog at my head and pretended it hurt.  I pretended to trip, landing on the floor.  And IT WORKED! Her tantrum instantly stopped and she started to laugh and asked if I was ok :)  Then I would wobble and she said "I'll catch you mom!" so I would pretend to fall into her little outstretched arms.  She loved it, and so did I.  Goofiness has worked every time now when we get her up.  It works for Steve too.  Yesterday morning he went in to get her up for the day and she threw a fit.  Steve just turned around and came back to our room.  I suggested he go back in with a blanket over his head and pretend to fall. He did, and I heard her laughing.

I know that was an answer to my prayer. No matter how trivial it may seem, He hears and answers!

Kazoo

I made calzones for dinner tonight and Lexi kept calling them kazoos (you know, like the little musical instrument?).  It made us laugh.

Addy in her ballet class

Lexi's first trim

Uncle Damon came for a visit

The first snow of the season.  Wasn't much but they still had fun

I used this profile pic of Lexi to make her silhouette (below)

This is the one I used to make Addy's silhouette

Both Addy and Lexi wanted to put the star on the tree

Terrible Twos

Lexi's terrible twos are in full swing.  Here are a couple of things that have happened lately showing Lexi's attitude.

I was telling Lexi not to color in a book and she just looked at me and continued to color in it.  I told her again and very matter of factly she said to me “Don’t talk to me mom”.

Another time Lexi threw her cup on the floor when she was done.  I told her to pick it up and she said “Um, no.  You do it”.  Then I started to sing and Lexi said “Don’t sing mom”.  Well excuse me!

Yesterday Lexi was sitting on the couch and Steve was in the kitchen.  Lexi asked him for more milk in her sippy cup while remaining seated on the couch.  Steve told her to bring her cup over so he could fill it up.  Lexi threw the cup on the floor right in front of her and Steve said "No, bring it over to me" and Lexi replied while pointing to her cup on the floor "There it is Dad.  You can get it."  She never did bring it to him so she didn't get more milk.

For the past couple of years we have written down some of the funny things Addison has said.  We recently started writing down Lexi's funny words.  During sacrament meeting today Steve whispered to Lexi "We need to think of Jesus when we eat the bread and water.  Can you think of Jesus?"

Lexi looked around and said “There’s no Jesus here.”

After she took the bread she said “That Jesus bread was yummy.”

Cousins

There's never a dull moment with cousins!

Girls are singing "I Am A Child of God" (they are holding the strings to the curtains up to their ears pretending they are ear buds)

Thomas is always building something.  He reminds me of the tinkering fairy on the Tinker Bell movies.  He even has a "seatbelt" for Lexi on this bike contraption he put together.

We went to Surprise's football game and Lexi appeared to be a sports fan.  There have been a few instances lately that have made me think that Lexi is going to be a sports enthusiast like her parents.

Cornbellys