The joys of parenthood

Analee transitioned from a crib to a toddler bed weeks ago. Since then, she has announced to everyone who has stopped by our house that she sleeps in a "big girl bed," and they have to come upstairs and see it. My mom has seen the bed at least 11 times. Even Seth has had to go upstairs to see it when he comes home from work.

Of course, there are always a few kinks to work out with such a transition. Because she can get out of her bed now, we've had incidents involving playing with toys instead of sleeping, getting lost in the closet in the middle of the night, and falling out of bed.

Those problems we could probably work through. But Ana's latest escapades sent me over the edge today.

Precursor: A couple of weeks ago, I went into Ana's room during nap time to remind her that she needed to get back in bed and rest. I was appalled to find she had opened a tube of diaper rash cream and smeared it all over her room. Nothing escaped it--the carpet, ottoman, doll house bed, her clothes, her face. I was, of course, horrified. Diaper rash cream is resistant to any cleaners I possess. Our ottoman still bears the marks of the diaper rash cream episode.

(The diaper rash cream now resides on the top shelf of her closet, in case you were wondering.)

So today I went upstairs to remind Ana once again that nap time was not playtime. She countered by telling me, "There's poopy on the floor."

Poopy on the floor?! How in the world would poopy get on the floor?! Surely it had an accomplice.

That accomplice's name is Analee Grover.

That little stinker (literally) had gone #2 in her diaper, put her hand down there, and spread it anywhere and everywhere she pleased.

So you can imagine my horror and dismay at having to clean up the mess. This included undressing my two-year-old, spraying her down in the shower, commanding her to stay out of her room while I sprayed various spots with Resolve, scrubbing the floor furiously, bleaching out the tub, washing the tub's rubber mat, redressing my child (in a onesie so her diaper is inaccessible), setting up the Pack and Play in her room, and telling her that she would no longer have the privilege of sleeping in her big girl bed.

She fell asleep within minutes of me leaving her room.

I, of course, did not have that luxury. In fact, I fumed about it to Seth over IM before resuming my computer work.

And I'm very tempted to take the toddler bed rails off and put the crib side back up. That way, if she ever repeated this new trick, at least it would be contained to 2x4' area.

Girls' vacation

Rather than doing all there-and-back trips for my post-op appointments in Salt Lake, my mom and I took the girls down this week for a short vacation. On Tuesday, we drove down to my aunt and uncle's house in South Jordan, and I turned around to go back to St. Mark's for my appointment. Wednesday we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house, then changed clothes and checked out the Natural History Musem at Thanksgiving Point. Thursday we went to the Hogle Zoo and drove home. Check out the highlights:

Doctor's office

• I can now take off my bands four times a day for two hours each time. Hallelujah! I am sick and tired of getting TMJ-related headaches from having my jaws clamped shut so much.
• My next appointment is July 21, which means I can spend an entire week at home next week.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

• During the short movie that is shown before people go into the temple, three different people were mentioned who were among the first Mormon settlers in the area. I'm related to two of those three men.
  
• Aunt Susan, who has volunteered at the open house, told us that we would be on a self-guided tour, so there would be no need to rush through the temple. With that in mind, we let the other people in our group go ahead of us while Mom and I pointed out all the pictures of Jesus and talked about the temple.
• In the sealing room, the sister who was there with her husband asked my mom if she was Marta's sister. She is, in fact, and told the woman so. This lady had no idea who we are or where we're from, yet she thought my mom looked so much like Marta that they must be related. Funny thing is, this isn't the first time this has happened for either my mom or her sister.
• Bekah especially loved the piano in the tent with the post-tour cookies that played all by itself.

Analee and Rebekah sitting on a bench across the parking lot from the temple.

The girls looking at the temple from the bench.

Annette, Rebekah, Andrea and Analee outside the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

Natural History Museum

• The museum was celebrating its ninth birthday, so besides the usual exhibits, they also had crafts and games for the young'uns to do. The girls got to make masks and win candy.
• Aside from the usual museum-type exhibits, there was an erosion table where the kids could play with sand, water and miniature dinosaurs and trees. They also have a room with giant sandboxes where children can use brushes and dig up dinosaur bones.

Annette holding Analee, who was hiding from a scary looking fish model at the museum.

Analee and Rebekah playing at the erosion table.

Rebekah and Analee with the masks they decorated.

Hogle Zoo

• Bekah had long-awaited a visit to the "giraffe zoo." She had never seen a giraffe before, but somehow they had become her favorite animal even before we went to Utah. Bekah had to be patient because the giraffes are in the far corner of the zoo, but she was rewarded for her patience when she finally got to see them.
• Aunt Susan came with us to the zoo, as well as my cousin Becca and her two sons Mitchell and Caleb. Bekah was very excited when I told her that another 4-year-old would be going to the zoo with us. They especially had fun playing together when we stopped to eat lunch.
• As we emerged from the burrow where we had pretended to be prarie dogs and viewed some bats, Analee started screaming bloody murder. I whipped around in time to see that a hornet bothering her. I almost broke out my "leave it alone and it will leave you alone" spiel, but she was obviously traumatized, so I whisked her away. She was crying uncontrollably, so I looked down and saw that the darn bug had stung her. Repeatedly. Gratefully, Mom picked up some ointment at the first aid room, and Ana stopped crying a short while later.
  

Analee and Rebekah on the trunk of the elephant statue.

Rebekah, Analee, Caleb and Mitchell posing on the tiger statues.

Analee riding a ladybug on the carousel.

Rebekah riding on a giraffe at the Conservation Carousel.

Staying in South Jordan

• Aunt Susan and Uncle Ross Clement have many-a-grandchild who visits their house, so they have plenty of toys. Ana and Bekah were in heaven. Bekah especially enjoyed the My Little Ponies, the Little People castle and the play dishes and food. Ana liked the play dishes and food as well as the Thomas the Train toys.
• Tuesday night we walked to Aunt Marta and Uncle John Ahlstrom's house (they live one street away) so we could visit with them. The girls repeatedly asked, "Where is Hannah (my cousin)?" They were disappointed when they found out she wasn't there, but they were entertained by the trampoline and Camille (another cousin) instead.
  
• Bekah proclaimed "Hannah is one of my favorite people." Then on Thursday when the Clements invited the Ahlstroms over for dinner, Bekah and Ana had to ask, "Which one is Hannah?"
• Wednesday morning, Ana woke up and asked, "Where is Grandma Scott?" When I showed her where Grandma had been sleeping, she then asked, "Where is the other grandma (meaning Aunt Susan)?" Aunt Susan must be an honorary grandma now.
  
• Wednesday night the girls got a much-needed bath, and they got to watch the capsules we bought at the Natural Museum open up into dinosaur sponges. As Ana waited for hers to emerge, she leaned back in the tub and said, "Wait for it ... wait for it."
• Thursday morning as I packed up our bags and took them out to the van, Bekah brought an assortment of wind-up toys upstairs so Uncle Ross could demonstrate how they work.

It certainly was an exciting and fun-filled trip, and we're grateful that we could go. To experience even more of our fun via photographs, click here.

A great weekend

If you ask me, the Fourth of July should be on a Saturday every year. We loved the three-day weekend and tried to make the most of it, starting with ...

Friday, July 3

Seth had the day off, so we gathered up the flashlights and went to the Civil Defense Cave north of the St. Anthony sand dunes. The girls wanted to know if we would see any bugs or bears or bats in the cave, but the only animal life we observed were swallows that build their nests on the ceiling of the entrance to the cave.

Bekah made sure to hold Seth's hand through most of the cave (although she did trip and bang her knees once, and afterward Seth reminded her to point her flashlight at her feet so she could see where she was going), and Analee got a ride in the mai tei. I thought they'd be more nervous venturing into a giant lava tube, but apparently they felt safe with their parents right next to them.

Bekah, Ana and Andrea outside the cave before we went inside. Please be kind about my face ... I'm still a little swollen.

Andrea, Ana and Bekah inside the cave. Next time, we'll take jackets or coats. Ana stayed warm while she was cuddled up to me, but Bekah got too cold and had to steal Seth's sweatshirt.

Bekah and Seth inside the cave.

After emerging from the cave, we drove in to Rexburg, ate lunch, and stopped by the splash park. Both girls enjoyed the water more than years past, but each had to be forced down the water slide by their daddy.

Once we decided we had all had enough water and sunshine, we dried off and took a quick ride on the carousel at the park.

Bekah and Seth rode the big horses. "It's just like in Mary Poppins!" Bekah exclaimed.

Analee and Andrea rode the little horses.

We rounded out the day with sparklers and fireworks in our front yard, followed by a camp out in the backyard. Unfortunately, the rain soaked our logs, so we had to roast the marshmallows over the stove burner. But we really did sleep in the tent. It wasn't the best rest in the world, what with the two-year-old who kept making random noises when she was supposed to be falling asleep, the four-year-old waking up in the middle of the night saying, "My foot hurts!" and the extremely annoying magpies that start chirping at dawn. But we survived to see ...

Saturday, July 4

Seth has some longstanding aversion to parades, so my sister and I took the girls to South Boulevard while Seth went golfing with his dad. The parade was even more exciting this year, because the girls REALLY enjoyed it. ("Look, Mommy! Horsies! Cheerleaders! Tubas! A giant ball with words on it!")

Analee's funny face.

Bekah's similar funny face.

Bekah waving to the princess on the castle float.

Aunt Jessica helping Analee eat her ice cream bar that a lady from the Farr's float gave to us.

Rebekah taking it easy.

Analee and Rebekah with the firemen's hats we had to run out to the street to get.

We survived the post-parade traffic and made it to my parents' house where we had and incredible lunch and visited for the afternoon.

Between the two days' activities, the girls were pretty burned out, so instead of fighting the crowds to attend the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration, we enjoyed a quiet evening at home with dinner, baths and Super Mario Galaxy. Happy birthday, America!