Free day at the zoo

I'll be honest, January has been boring for us. We were so busy during the holidays that doing nothing for awhile sounded amazing. In fact, Brooklyn was off track for 2 and a half weeks in January and we did absolutely nothing. Nothing too exciting at least.
So when I woke up on Wednesday, January 25th, I looked at the calendar and realized it was the last Wednesday of January. Then it hit me. It's always free day at the zoo on the last Wednesday of every month during the winter. I checked the weather forecast and since there was no moisture expected, I decided we should go.
Brooklyn was still at school when I asked Eliza if she wanted to go to the zoo. She was ecstatic! There was no changing my mind after I told her. :)
Brooklyn was equally as excited when Eliza told her our plans. She wanted to know who was coming with us, but it was going to be just us. Then I had to deal with two excited little girls for an hour or so until we ate lunch and got everything gathered. They were so crazy that where was a lot of yelling going on before we left. I almost changed my mind, but decided it would be harder to stay home with two crazy kids.
The girls were excited to see the elephants! Baby Zuri still isn't too big. This is the dark picture since we were under the cover.
This is the outside picture, but it was too bright so the girls couldn't look at me. When we came by on the way out of the zoo, the elephants were put away. I'm glad we got to see them!
The tigers are always the best to see when it's cold. In the summer they hide away in the shade and it's hard to find them. They were all sleeping on this day, but one was right up next to the window. It's amazing just how big they are!
One giraffe was being trained while we were there. I've seen this before, but my kids loved watching the giraffe "at school".
There was also a small giraffe and two cuddly ones on the other side. We had to leave rather fast though because they were getting a little too comfy, if you know what I mean. (wink, wink).
Brooklyn was more willing to pose for pictures. Eliza got a short nap on the ride up, but was in no mood for pictures.
Brooklyn wanted to sit on the elephant trunk. A nearly impossible feat in the summer with all the kids running around as it sprays water.
Eliza's main excitement of going to the zoo was so she could ride the train. She was sad to see the train closed for the winter. Brooklyn wanted to ride the carousel two times since the train wasn't open. I was willing to allow this since the zoo admittance was free. Eliza was nervous about the carousel today, but ended up being just fine as long as I stayed next to her.
Eliza first rode the giraffe.
Brooklyn rode the baby elephant and was completely fine not being next to me as long as she got the animal she wanted.
Next she rode the dolphin though she really wanted the penguin, but another girl was already on it. I'm glad she had a second choice because normally we have royal fits over not getting the right animal.
Eliza was happy with the peacock on her second ride.
We had a fun time riding together! Overall, the day was a little chili (high of 44 degrees), but nothing a little hat and gloves couldn't fix. It wasn't too busy either. It was a fun little adventure!

Chinese New Year - The year of the Dragon

Happy Chinese New Year! I try to remember this day every year in honor of my time teaching English in Taiwan. It's hard to remember though because it's a Lunar holiday so the day changes every year.
We decided to make a craft in honor of the day. It's the year of the dragon so I suggested to Brooklyn she draw a dragon. She said she didn't know how to draw a dragon to which I replied "neither do I". Next thing I knew she was showing me her drawing. I thought she did amazing!
Then we turned her drawing into a Chinese lantern and decorated it with stickers.
Eliza scribbled mainly and added a few stickers, but loved her lantern. She wasn't too happy about taking a picture with Brooklyn, but willingly smiled while hiding in the corner.
I thought their lanterns fit well with our Chinese decor. We also enjoyed some "Chinese" food for dinner. Basic noodles really, but it was fun. Brooklyn dressed up in her Chinese dress for a bit, but I wouldn't let her eat in it so it didn't last long. Hope everyone took the time to celebrate!

Who Needs Sleep?

Who Needs Sleep?
Well you're never gonna get it.
Who Needs Sleep?
Tell me what that's for.
Who Needs Sleep?
Be Happy with what you're getting
There's a guy who's been awake
Since the Second World War.

I keep singing this song by one of my all time favorite bands (The Barenaked Ladies). It's been a rough few weeks at my house. You would think with Brooklyn being off track we would have had plenty of time to sleep around here. Not so. One big change started at the beginning of the year. My once amazing Eliza who used to love to sleep (in fact she would beg to go to sleep) now hates to sleep! It may have been (ok, I'm positive it was) the fact that she lost her binkie forever. I let her keep it way too long because it was a crutch for me. She was a wonderful sleeper and looked forward to sleep time to be allowed time with her binkie. Now that I've seen how she is without it, I know why I kept it for so long. :)
She also decided she no longer needs a nap. I would think that would equal to one tired little girl who would crash at night time. However, the opposite is true. She is so beyond tired by night time that she throws the most royal fit I have ever witnessed! A sticker chart helps reward her for going to bed well at night most of the time but there are nights where she just doesn't care about anything except not going to sleep.
After all the exhausting efforts to get her to sleep and she finally crashes for the night, I dream of a restful night. Not so. Eliza has been waking up around 3 or 4 am every night (either because she is "scared" or she has to go to the bathroom) and then the fight begins again. Screaming and crying (from both the child and the parent) and finally she will fall asleep again.
Then she is awake and ready to go by 7:30 am at the latest. We are all so beyond tired. We keep thinking she just needs time to adjust. It's taking too long though. I'm a girl who loves her sleep. I need more sleep than my husband. I'm talking 8 hours, but can survive on 7 hours. I need it or you just don't want to be around me. ;). Fortunately, I have a husband who helps me at night and is often the one trying to calm her down in the wee hours of the morning. I have a problem that if I get up for too long then my body thinks it's time to wake up and my brain starts a thinking. Then falling back asleep takes a hour or so. Maybe Eliza is like me, but what is causing her to wake up in the middle of the night? I feel like I have a newborn baby. I'm exhausted! Yes, I could go to bed a little earlier, but it's hard to sacrifice my "my time" as well. I know, priorities, right?
Brooklyn has also started waking in the night. If we aren't all at home when she goes to sleep (which is quite often in this house), she is mad that she has to sleep before the missing person is home. She then wakes up at whatever time (usually 2 am) and cries out because she didn't get to hug that person before she fell asleep. Even if that person gives her a hug and kiss before they leave. It's so strange how it wakes her up.
So in answer to Who needs sleep? I do! I do! I do! Please!

Mission Call

My Dad and Step mom received their mission call today! Their neighbor works for the missionary department of the LDS church so he hand delivered it tonight. He called them before he left from work today to tell them he was bringing it. They had about a hour notice so they frantically tried to gather their children so we could all open it together. I was at the dentist so they had no luck in locating me but at least they were able to reach Marty. I really wanted to be there when they opened their mission call!
They invited us over to have dinner with them after they opened it. It was exciting to think we would finally know where they would be serving after waiting a good year to get the paperwork all turned in!
We were the only family able to be there in person. One brother was at work, one brother on a business trip and the other brother decided to join us through Skype. My stepsister joined us on the phone and the other one wasn't able to be there. We all decided to look at the globe and guess where they would go. There were so many possibilities!
"You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Washington DC South Mission. Your primary assignment is the labor as an office specialist. It is anticipated that you will serve for a period of 18 months.
You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Monday, April 16, 2012."
After they called everyone they needed to tell immediately, we sat around and read through the information. Eliza took this picture of us. Pretty exciting!
I got the idea of a poster from my friend, Trista, who's parents are also going on a mission soon. Thanks Trista.
What a perfect calling for them! As much fun as it would have been for them to go international, we are glad to have them in the same country. We all figured this would be the case because my dad needs to be able to have some lab work done to follow up on his prostate cancer occasionally on this mission. We have been to Washington DC and it will be a fun, educational place for them to serve and live for 18 months. We are all pretty excited that we can visit them too! They think they will have more visitors on their mission than they do now. :)
And here's the paper to prove it!
Congrats! We are so excited for them! What great examples they are to all of us. In fact, my girls (who don't really understand the concept of missions yet) both said they want to go on missions now. Brooklyn even asked if we would watch her kids so she could go when she's older. hehe. Funny girl.

Parenting

I'll be the first to admit, I have no idea what I'm doing as a parent. I used to be a "fun Aunt". I could spoil and spend time with any kid and we would both have the time of our lives.
However, when it comes to being completely responsible for the safety, education, well-being, etc, etc of a child, it is completely different. It's hard. Very hard. If it was only as simple as playing with them and sending them on their way. :) But no it's not, there are a lot of expectations for both the parent and the child. We both have a lot of hopes and dreams of things happening a certain way, when the truth is it usually doesn't happen at all like we thought it would. Maybe that's part of the fun. The unknown.
I try to pray daily to know how to parent each of my girls. I do better some days than others. There are some days when I don't know how to be a mom (or if I even want to be a mom). I don't have any idea what I'm doing. What discipline will work best. What way to teach my children. Even if I'm cleaning or cooking the "right" way. But on my good days, it doesn't matter. I know there is not one right way to do things. Especially when each child is different. Everyone is different.
I absolutely LOVE when my kids do something where I see the "reward" for all my hard work. It makes everything worthwhile, even if they are few and far between some times. I have grown far more than I would have expected simply because these girls were put in my care. For that, I will be forever grateful. I would not be the same person I am today without them.
I write this in hopes that one day when my girls read this, they will understand being a parent is hard for everyone. No one has it down perfectly. Even if they seem like they do. I love my girls and wouldn't trade them for anything! I still have a lot to learn in this life about what it takes to parent though.

Sunbeam & CTR5

The start of a new year means things change at church! Not only does the time change (we went from 1 pm to 9 am this year), but our kids move up a class. Eliza left Nursery behind and became a Sunbeam! We talked this up to try to prepare her for the switch. She was excited to be a part of Brooklyn's class (meaning Primary). Sunday was her first day and she was ready! This is until Sacrament meeting ended and it was time to go to class. She told me she would rather go to Nursery. Most of the new Sunbeams were a little nervous. They sat on the front row of the chapel and everything looked so big to them. Eliza was willing to sit next to her friends. However, I was told she shed a few tears after we left. Fortunately for us (and her) she has an older sister. Brooklyn came to the rescue and came up and sat next to her until she calmed down. Then everything was fine. I had no idea this happened until after church. How I wish I were a fly on the wall to witness that! I love when my kids are sweet to each other.
After church, Eliza was ecstatic! She loved Sunbeams! She wore her "necklace" all day and a few days later. Her new teachers are Sister Sandy Bryant and Sister Ada Ragsdale.
Brooklyn moved up from CTR4 to CTR5. She wasn't worried at all. She wondered who her new teachers (Sister Lynn Laird and Sister Jules Stratton) would be, but the kids in her class are all the same.
She was most excited by her CTR sticker and CTR ring. She posed like this. Love it! It's crazy to think I have two kids in Primary!