Wheppin if . . .?

Dallin sometimes creates his own little language and it takes us awhile to figure out what he is saying. Lately he has been asking, "What would happen if . . . " (fill in the blanks). He asks the question so often that he has created his own contraction: WHEPPIN.

Dallin: Mom, wheppin if you have no eyes?
Mom: You wouldn't be able to see.

Dallin: Wheppin if you have no fingernails?
Mom: Ummm . . . . (I often just trail off because I don't know how to answer)

Dallin: Wheppin if you have no eyebrows?
Wheppin if your mouth falls out?
Wheppin if you have no heart? You have no love?
Wheppin if you have no hair?
Wheppin if you have no head?
Mom or Dad: You would die.
Dallin: Why?

Each of these questions has been asked multiple times to both of us. They are his favorites. He knows the answers . . . maybe he is just trying to fill some awkward silences. I don't think he is physically able to let a silent moment pass without filling it with some noise. He talks constantly. I have been know to turn on the TV just for a break from the constant chatter.

He is also really preoccupied with pee and poop. He thinks it's funny to talk about it. Despite our best efforts to discourage the subject matter, he constantly talks about it. Today I asked him if he wanted a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "No, I want a pee sandwich."

Mom: Dallin, that's really disgusting. You don't really want a pee sandwich, don't talk like that. Now, what kind of sandwhich do you want?

Dallin: I want a pee sandwich (mischeivous giggle)

Mom: All right.

So I went in the kitchen to make his pee sandwich (honey) As I was drizzling on the honey, Dallin came in the room and saw the "pee" go on the sandwich. He got really upset and realized that he didn't want a pee sandwich. After a minute of teasing, I eased his spirit by revealing what the pee actually was.

I don't think he'll ask for a pee sandwich again. Although he did ask for a "poopcicle" later in the day.

He's actually really cute, but I guess you'll just have to trust me on that one.

Shingletown Gap

At the end of a grumpy day, we took the kids hiking at Shingletown Gap. It was a good parenting moment, because it improved everyone's mood. We got to explore in the woods, cool off a bit, and play in the water a little. The whole family loved it. The only thing we would do differently is to bring some bug spray. (You can't really see the cloud of bugs buzzing around everyone's heads). If you every come and visit we will be sure to take you here to visit.

Our Photographer

Sadie has recently taken up an interest in taking pictures. Judging from the pictures that she has been taking, I think we can safely call it photography. She was playing with her "My Little Ponies" recently (after many months of non-use) She got them all ready for their photo shoot. I don't know how many braids I had to do that day, but I think I'm an expert now. All I have to put on my resume is that my daughter had "My Little Ponies" and I would be hired instantly as the official braider at any hair salon. I think that should be added to the "What To Expect" book series.

"All mothers of young girls should expect to complete at least 3000 braids on various
dolls and figurines during adolescence."

She also took these pictures of her ponies. There were many, many, many more. I cut some out.






Her muse then became Dallin. He's pretty cute don't you think? After a few pictures of smiles and cuteness, things got a little out of hand. When they aren't driving me crazy, they make me laugh like crazy! Moments like these really make me glad to be their mom.

Like Mother; Like Daughter

The other day I was putting together a little baby quilt and had some leftover squares. Sadie likes to play with them so I gave them to her. I mentioned that she could probably make a blanket too. She got really excited about it. She picked out her squares and arranged them the way she wanted and then she sewed them together. It's not her first project (she made a toothfairy pillow) But I think she did a great job. The only thing she didn't do was the actual quilting. She took the pictures too. I see a future in photography!





Dallin wanted to be involved too. After he had his picture taken I made him his own little blanket.

As Promised . . . mostly for my mom

Well Mom, I really hope that you are reading this. I have been assuring you for many months that I update my blog regularly, but I have been lying. I am making a sincere effort to repent of my ways and sin no more. So here goes.





What is a kid's favorite toy? A cardboard box! This magnificent pirate ship was once a box to our brand new jogging stroller. (I'm really excited about this stroller). Notice the flag and their mean pirate faces. The ship last for a few days, but they had a lot of fun with it. I think everyone in the courtyard eventually was part of this game!




Besides spending most of our time playing in the backyard, we decided to celebrate the beginning of the summer with a camping trip. So, on the last day of school, we crammed everything into our little car and ventured out to Raystown Lake. It was a great trip spent with our good friends, The Lees. We swam; we made smores; Steve mountain-biked; I did some trail running; and we had close call with some poison ivy. It took about three days to recover (I never realized how much work went into our week long camping trips when I was younger - thanks mom and dad)


And finally, these last few pictures are just from a photo shoot that I did to make a Father's Day card. The card never happened, but I got some cute pictures that I think show their personality quite well.




Can you tell that Sadie likes to pose for pictures? In fact, my neighbor has been using her as a model for some of her artwork. You can find an example of what she has been doing here.

Has it been awhile?

I know it's ridiculous . . . you are thinking, "Where are those cute kids; what have they been doing for the last few months?" I promise you, there will be pictures soon, but right now I want to post about my awesome craftiness. I've been meaning to do this post for quite sometime and finally, I did it today. I made these great scripture totes based on a tutorial for a summer tote found at Homemade by Jill. I just changed the size of things so that it will fit a set of scriptures!



See? Isn't it perfect? I was quite proud of myself. If you would like to know the dimensions I used (or if you want me to make you one) I would be happy to oblige. On that note, I had so much fun making these for Sadie and Dallin that I made an extra one with leftover fabric. I want to give it to the first one who asks for it -- I'll even pay for the shipping!

Crush

Overheard on the playground:

"Sadie has a crush on Justin."

"Nu-uh, I have a crush on my Dad"



That's ok with me, Sadie. I do too!

What dads are good for

Yesterday I was outside when Sadie was playing with a girl that lives in our courtyard. I remembered Carrie telling me that the girl's mom was getting married, so I mentioned it to this girl to find out what she thinks about the whole thing. She said, "Yes, and I don't like it," with a cute smile on her face, indicating that she's not that devastated about the whole thing.

At that, Sadie said, in absolute disbelief, "What?? Are you kidding?? Dads are like the funniest things in a family!!" She then went on to explain how I always make her laugh and I'm really funny.

The funniest "things" in a family. It's always great to get some insight into how your kids think about you.

Little Old Boy

Yesterday, while we were running some errands, Dallin said to me, "I'm just a little, old boy." When I asked him what he was talking about he just said, "I'm a little, old, old, boy." I laughed. Then this morning when I took this picture I was trying to get him to smile. He said, "Me ten be grumpy." If I put that into my Dallin translator, it means, "I'm pretending to be grumpy." I guess he is just a little, grumpy, old man.

Snow

We've been hit with the snow too! Why so many pictures of Dallin? He didn't take off with his friends like Sadie did. In fact, this was about as far as he got. It was much fun to play in because it was so deep. It wasn't packing snow either, so we couldn't make anything. We had fun for a little while. Now we are waiting for more to accumulate tonight. I think this is the most snow I have ever seen in my life (apart from mountain tops). I don't mind because I don't have to commute anywhere. We just hang out in the apartment all day.

Mud

Not so new feature for White Course Apartments: Mud Hole for Kids of Every Age to Enjoy!
It's been there since last spring . . . oh well, the kids love it! It was really cold too. He had fun until his hands got cold!

Speech

I have always taken my ability to speak for granted. I have also taken it for granted that my children will develop normally (or above normal) And that they will grow up to be Nobel Prize winners. This Christmas break we had an experience that made me appreciate both.

Dallin has always been a little bit behind the bell curve in physical development. He wasn't holding his head up at when the doctor checked at four months old (he did 1 week later); he wasn't sitting up at 6 month (he did the day after his checkup). He wasn't crawling at 9 months and he wasn't walking at 12 months. He didn't say his first word until 18 months. It wasn't a big deal that we couldn't understand about half of what he said.

Right around Christmas he started stuttering. He would say the first part of his word over and over again. At first we just thought he was talking funny and developing a weird habit of holding on to part of his word longer than necessary. We would even copy him a little and laugh. But then it got worse. It got to the point where he would clench his jaw and start talking in a high pitched voice and cover his mouth. It was really sad.

For those of you who don't know Steve, he has dealt with a stuttering problem most of his life. Usually it's not that noticable, but during times of high stress it can be quite problematic. We were both worried about the potential struggles that Dallin would face but Steve even more so. It was hard for him to watch -- one time he even had to leave the room when Dallin was trying to talk to me. I don't know all that Steve was feeling. I'm sure he was worried about Dallin, but I think it also brought back memories of his own struggles and frustrations and missed opportunities.

As a mother and a wife, I can tell you that it was very difficult to see the suffering of two people that I love very much. I wanted to take their struggles and pain away. I wanted to go through it for them. But I couldn't. I felt pretty helpless.

Steve and I talked about it a lot. We researched on the internet. We talked to friends and family. We decided to wait until the end of January before we would seek professional help. We hoped that it was just part of his development.

I am happy to report that Dallin is almost completely stutter free. We can even understand more than 50% of what he says. I do notice that when he is stressed (like when I yell at him) or tired or excited the stutter will return, but not nearly as bad as it was. I am grateful for friends and family who let me talk through this with them. And grateful that Dallin seems to be ok. I am also happy that we haven't had to worry about things more severe than a speech problem. Now that he can talk fine, we have a hard time getting him to talk! He asks questions all day long. I can live with that.