Family pics and Abbi being crazy again.

Well people. I figured out the dance thing so no worries. It was separation anxiety and the dance teachers let me sit in class with Emma for a while. At first she just cried and wouldn't do anything, then I danced with her and she started. Eventually she was dancing on her own, and then I left the room to let her dance on her. She said afterward that she "forgot how fun dance was". I think the anxiety was just overwhelming her when we got there and she forgot how much she liked it!  She just needed to take baby steps to get past it.  I'm happy to say she's back and dancing and very excited about it too! She has a Christmas recital on Saturday and the dance they do is soooo dang cute!!

We went out and did our own family pics this weekend. It worked out great since we haven't done any for a long long time.  They're not professional but they look fine to me :) While we were taking some pics along this rock wall Abbi RAN straight for the street while a car was coming!! I ran after her and fell on the grass trying to grab her when she stepped off the curb.  I finally just had to lunge out and grab her by the clothes and trip her :( to pull her out of the road!! It scared me soooo bad. I was shaking from the adrenaline and wanted to cry after.   We've told her over and over not to go in the road but when she takes off running like that she doesn't think! I shouldn't have been so far away from her! I need to keep a 1 foot distance from her at all times!! Oh... and she is dang fast too!! I'm so glad she's safe and hopefully she learned that the road is NOT safe! She didn't get hurt at all from me tripping her(which I felt bad about cause it scared her and made her cry but I don't even want to think about the alternative!) and all I had were a few grass stains on my knees! Sooo grateful that she is safe and sound!!

I love this one of the girls running

Throwing Leaves

Abbi was screaming and Emma was laughing. It was hilarious!

The Dance Dilema

There haven't been many times as a mother when I've been 100% stumped!! I think this may be the first. All of you know Emma has been going to dance class for a while now.  2 weeks ago I took her to class, said bye(like always), and sent her in. She was excited to go dance. About 40 seconds later she runs to the door and starts welling up with tears and says "I miss you" and just starts BAWLING! I had no idea what to do. I tried to calm her down and reassured her I would be on the other side of the door to the studio and sent her back in figuring she would get over it when she started dancing. Well, she just sat there crying so hard she was gagging a little. The teachers could barely talk over her so I went in to get her. I took her for a walk around the building and she calmed down. She told me she just felt "too fuzzy to dance today".  So, I thought she might be getting sick and took her home to rest after our walk.  The next week I'd talked to her about it a lot and she wanted to go. I took her to class again. She put her ballet shoes on and was ready to go in. This time she started crying before she even went into the class.  I stayed there with her outside the studio and calmed her down.  She WOULD NOT go in. Every time I even hinted toward her going in she started crying.  We stayed there outside the door almost the whole class.  The thing is, I know she likes dancing. She dances around the house all day and shows us the different positions.  She's always showing me all the stuff she learns in dance. She also keeps asking me questions about the positions and how to do other things, so I know she wants to learn more(and I can't teach her cause I don't dance)! When I ask her why she doesn't want to go she just says "I don't want to cause I'm bored of dance", but a couple of times has told me that she's afraid I'll leave her there.  I have been going to the gym that is 2 doors away form the studio but I told her I would stay and not go to the gym and she still won't go.  She goes to the daycare at the gym and does fine there and it's kind of the same setup where she's in a room and I'm in the next. I'm thinking it's separation anxiety but I'm not sure. I don't know if she really doesn't like dance or if it's just the class and she really is just bored. It is a class for 3 and 4 year olds and she is ahead for her age.  I don't want to make her keep doing something she doesn't really want to do, but I don't want to teach her that it's ok to stop doing something just because it's not new and exciting anymore. I want her to learn that you have to practice something a lot to get better at it. I also don't want to make her practice something she doesn't like. If it is separation anxiety I don't want to just let her stop going cause she wants to be with me. If it were school or daycare I would probably just have her stay there and the teacher would help calm her down cause they're used to that kind of thing. In the dance class setting they can't really do that without putting the entire class on hold. So, what do I do??? I really don't know this time!  It's weird not knowing... Any advice anyone??

My husband!

He finally worked a normal week this week(normal being 47 instead of 60 hours) and it's been so nice to spend some time with him. I don't write about him enough!! Today was a great day! We went to the park- which I must say is really weird to do at the end of November, but it's becoming a weekly thing.  I love our walks to the park with Dan and getting to hang out with him.  He is such a great daddy and is always helping the kids explore.  He doesn't even mind if the girls slide down the slide while he's laying on it and kick him in the head! Haha! Now that's love :)  He is always introducing the girls to the "boy" way of playing. For example... today we were playing with foam puzzles, well, instead of just taking the puzzles apart we learned how to "shoot" them apart. We never would have thought of that without him but it was WAY funner!!  He also has a softer side and does the bedtime story, cuddles, and kisses routine with them at night on the weekends.  Us girls even taught him to sing a song before bed the other night(in case you don't know Dan, he is not a big singer- unless he's in his car alone listening to incubus full blast). He sang twinkle twinkle AND Mary had a little lamb! He would do anything for those girls. I think it's safe to say he's even sing Barney for them if they asked nice enough! He is just the right amount of discipline, love and play.  He loves those girls so much and I know it hurts him to be away from them so much. It makes me sad. It makes them sad too!  We need more weeks like this one! 

Dan is also a more than incredible husband! He's always surprising me with cute little things like amazing socks(really amazing comfy socks-if you want to see read his blog), baked goods, and books. These are my favorite things. I LOVE soft warm comfy clothing which is why you will find me in pajamas 90% of the time I'm home. Baked goods speak for themselves, right? Books go great with both of the others and I love reading! He even read my mind today and magically brought me a chi tea latte out from the store! He loves me more than anything and tells me every day, usually more than once! He is always trying to give me what I want, which I must say is pretty dang hard for him when even I don't know what I want! He is so good and patient with me though. He will literally give me the shirt off his back if I have a single goose bump. I can't believe I landed such a perfect guy!  I can't really explain how lucky I feel to have him. He is my best friend and my other half at the same time. We've been together over 6 years but it feels like we've always been together.  I don't know how it's possible but it just keeps getting better! I always feel like it can't get any better than this and then it does.  Wow! All of this sounds so cheesy, and it is! It sounds cliche and overused but it's well deserved. When you are spending your life with your perfect match, the person you most definitely belong with, who will grow with you and support you, and you can do the same for them, you can't help but use the cheesy cliche sayings. I guess I'm just saying that I am soooo thankful that I have him and I love him sooooooooo much! Dan- I know I'm not as good with words as you but I hope you know how amazing you are and how perfect you are for me!!! LOVE YOU! And thanks so much for giving me such beautiful girls :)

This is totally unrelated, but I dyed my hair black! I really like it(and so does Dan cause he loves me with any color hair)!! 

Life

We've been doing good since our last post. Dan has been working a lot of overtime. He's started a new book! It will be about this new chapter in our lives that's unraveling. We've got some big changes ahead of us. He's an amazing writer so I'm way excited. He's also writing a few fiction books that are going to be awesome when they're finished!

The girls are doing good too. Abbi is almost potty trained. We're still working on the poopy and at naps and bed time but we're oh so close!! I'm proud to say that she can now run around fully clothed with no diaper and still uses the potty. She even tells me when she has to go when we're not home! I can't contain my excitement about that :)

Emma is still really loving her dance classes. She has 2 babies that she carries around all day. She is such a good mommy to them. She puts them down for naps, feeds them, puts them to bed, and even takes them in the van with us and makes SURE they're buckled up in the back before we drive.

I've just mostly been having fun with the girls. I love being a mommy cause I get to play as much as I want :) I've also been going to the gym by our house and taking step classes. I've never done step and it's really fun. The weather is still really nice. We've had a couple jacket days but for the most part it's been warm. It kind of still feels like September. When I walk into a store and there's Christmas stuff it surprises me cause it doesn't feel like it's coming! It's too warm :) I am still excited for Christmas though cause I love it!! I think that's when I'll miss the snow the most! I love the cozy warm feeling of home during the holidays. Thanksgiving is next week and we'll be spending that at my dads. I'm making my yummy sweet potatoes and from scratch banana cream pie!! I've really gotten into baking lately. Maybe cause the results are so yummy! The only problem is that I always end up with too much left over that I just want to eat. Thank goodness for step classes :) No, we're actually eating really healthy lately. We've been cooking at home a lot, cutting out sugar and white flour, and eating our vegetables!! That's about it for now...

The girls opening a letter and treat that dad brought home from work. He does this a lot lately and is so cute and wraps them up like presents. The girls love it!!

Abbi throwing a ball at our out back picnic that turned into a disaster. She stepped in dog poop and I left the door to the house open! What a mess!!!

Emma and her potato bugs!!

A windy day at the park... and yes, that is one of Emma's babies. The other one was tired so she was taking a nap in the stroller so she wouldn't be tired for her dance class later!

Climbing the stairs like a good little girl. It's hard to get them to go up the stairs instead of the slide. We were actually at this cute little park we found by our house where there are hardly ever any kids. It's right by a pond and an awesome walking trail. The pond has fish, turtles, frogs, blue herons, and falcons. Oh, and it's only a 2 minute walk from our house, so that's nice!!

Halloween

As you can see we did end up carving pumpkins. YAY! Halloween was awesome! We did the pumpkins in the morning, visited my Dad and Beth for dinner, and then went trick-or-treating. I don't know if it's because we live in a newer neighborhood or because we're in Texas but there were TONS of kids out. It felt like I remember it from when I was a kid! About half the people in the neighborhood sit in their driveways and hand out candy. We even went to a house that had a little mini marshmallow roaster and were letting the kids roast them in the driveway. I LOVED it... oh, and so did the kids :) They took turns ringing door bells and it was so cute to hear Abbi saying "trick-or-treat" and "happy Halloween". Emma made sure they didn't leave a door without saying those 2 things AND "thank-you". It was so cute and the funnest year yet.

Our spooky porch at night!

This in unrelated but I couldn't resist putting it in. Emma put this cute little outfit on and was dancing around the house.

Haha! this is Abbi being squeamish about the pumpkin guts!

Dan's pumpkin. Emma finds it hilarious.

Abbi ended up painting her pumpkin. Emma carved AND painted.

Trunk-or-treat and things.

Halloween here is a big deal. The Trunk-or-treats are huge! We went to one last weekend that was down the street from our house. They had tons of free stuff going on including bounce houses, a petting zoo, treats in the trunks(of course), face painting, and an indoor maze. The kids had lots of fun and loved dressing up in their costumes. I LOVE that they get to wear their costumes more than once. Emma has been wanting to be Snow White for months and Abbi picked out Tinkerbell! They were(and will be again tomorrow) so cute in their costumes. It's funny because we had to switch their hair colors for their costumes. Emma had to go dark and Abbi light. We haven't carved pumpkins yet this year!!!! but I am determined and we're going to buy them today and carve them Halloween morning! I LOVE carving pumpkin. It's something we've done every year since we were little and I want my kids to have that tradition too. Speaking of traditions, I'm wondering if trick-or-treating will be big here. It seems like it is kind of fizzling out, at least in Utah, and I hope that's not the case here too. It probably is. I'm kind of sad about that. I've always had so much fun and loved running around our little neighborhood with ALL the other kids that lived there and getting as much candy as we could in one night. When I take my kids trick-or-treating now there's not a great turn-out as far as kids go. I really hope trick-or-treating makes a comeback. I don't want the amazing fun of it to die with our generation!

Emma was the best Snow White at the Trunk-or-Treat! She's at the petting zoo here. Her favorite were the bunnies!

This is me trying to convince Abbi(also the best tinkerbell there) that chickens aren't scary! She's started being scared of some different looking animals- like chickens and turtles- she is also afraid of bugs. She didn't have ANY fears till now. Honestly I'm glad she at least has the capacity to fear. It will keep her safer :)

Tinkerbell, Snow White, and The Frog Prince(or just a cute little baby frog). They're so cute! Haha! Dan is holding Abbi's wings on for the pictures cause she REALLY didn't want them on!

Tinkerbell trying to pull her wings off!

She really makes the perfect Snow White!

The girls :) There's another snow white behind us. I told you Emma was the best one :)

Abbi wanted a moon on her cheek for the face painting! I think Dan was blowing on her hair or something. She's got an awesome do goin on.

Emma had a snake.

We made a Halloween banner for our door!! We actually made toilet paper ghosts that are hanging next to it now. Fun!

On a not really Halloween related side note.
We got a little pottery wheel at a yard sale and tried it out today. Abbi is almost naked cause she's potty training and does really well if she just runs around in her undies :) We also got some colored sculpting clay to play with and Abbi decided that it was finally time to let me know that she does know ALL of her colors and can say them too. It's like she refuses to say things until she's sure she can say it.

It amazes me how different my kids are. They are complete opposites in almost everything. I don't think we've raised them a ton differently but they just came with their own little personalities and temperaments. I love how individual they both are. I just can't get enough of them!!
Dan has been working 5 days a week which we aren't used to! He used to have a 4 day a week shift and now the weekends seem to FLY by. He does get to spend the mornings with us which is really fun! Yay that it's the weekend tomorrow! Oh... and it's my(and Becky's) birthday tomorrow! I'm gonna be 25. It's good though cause I don't feel 24 anymore. Happy Birthday to me!!!

P.S. The girls are playing together so much lately! The last few days they have been running around chasing each other calling each other "window feet" and then cracking up! It's hilarious!! I have no idea where they got that but it's soooo funny and adorable!

Halloween cookies!!

Dan came home from work early and had the awesome idea to make some Halloween cookies. I don't think he realized what a project it was and how messy it was going to be :) It was soooo much fun though. The kids loved it and we all had a lot of fun decorating them. Oh, and I found a great recipe for pumpkin sugar cookies that is way better than just normal sugar cookies!

Dan getting his hands dirty!

Let's just say Abbi ate a bit too much sugar that night.

Emma making a cute house with candy corn and sprinkles

1 finished tray

Another finished tray- yes that is a Canada maple leaf that Dan made :)