I am strong!

I was moving a desk and Porter wanted to help. I said, "Oh, Porter you are so strong!" He said, "Yeah, I am strong like my Dad!"

Just a thought

It occurred to me that lately I've had a bit of trouble remembering what day of the week it is. I realized that because Brant usually works six days a week, I don't always get a "weekend." I guess no one mentioned to Lane that there are weekends when you get to sleep in. He's up at the same time everyday. I'm up at 4 a.m. starting laundry, cleaning, feeding kids etc. Today, it's the same thing. Lane wakes up at 4 and the twins at 5. I know it sounds early but it's not so bad. Brant gets up at 4 too. The kids go to bed at 7 p.m. and we go to bed at 8 p.m.

January pics

These are recent pictures of the kids. Lane is pulling himself up on everything. His crawling has greatly improved. He is going faster and wanting to venture farther away. He pulled himself up on the toilet yesterday. Oh no! Porter and Madison still love going outside even though it is very cold. The twins often join Lane and sit to play with him. They really love their little brother.

It's Moving Time

We found out yesterday, we have to move by the end of the month. The house we are renting is going into foreclosure. Moving is not fun. Unless, there is some sadistic person out there that enjoys it. If you do, please come over. The good news is that we have a house to go to in Summerlin. So it's box-up time. I wish we could have stayed here longer. I was really getting to like the ward. I hate having to meet new people. But, it always works out. This is the longest we have been in one place since the twins have been born. Hopefully, we can stay at the next house for awhile.

Politeness first, please

Porter wanted to play "horsey" with me yesterday. Meaning, I get to be the horse he gets to be the cowboy. I crouched down so he could mount the horse. I said, "You have to talk to the horse and tell 'em what to do." He said, "Okay." I prompted him again, "Say, get up horse." He said, "Get up horse!" I said, "Okay, now what do you want to say." He said, "Thank you, horse."

Smith Family

Everyone on Brant's side got together for Heather's Baby Blessing.

BACK: (l to r) Wayne Smith, Heather Smith, Isabella Rosales, Rhonda Smith, Breanna Mills, Kendall Smith, Nathan Smith.

FRONT: (l to r) Mead Tenney, Cambry Tenney, Gene Mills, Zachary Mills, Melissa Mills, Jantzen Tenney, Brant Hibbard, Porter Hibbard, Liz Hibbard, Madison Hibbard, Geneva Tenney, and Aundra Tenney. Not pictured: Lane Hibbard. (He was sleeping.)

Pics of Lane

Lane loves his Grandpa. He wanted to go to him this morning and kept cuddling with him. It was very cute. He doesn't even do that with me!

Now that he can get around so much, it's a little harder to put him to bed. He stands up, sits up, crawls around. Last night I put him to bed and when I came back to check on him, he had fallen asleep while he was sitting up. He looked like he just folded over and fell asleep.

He can crawl!

Lane finally did it! He just looked at me yesterday afternoon and started crawling to me. He's a little "unsmooth" but he's getting it. He got around all over yesterday. But didn't venture out further than right outside our door. And...oops!...he crawled of the bed this morning. I forgot I am going to have to be more careful with him now.

"There are two naked babies in the upstairs window."

Said a kindly stranger who stopped by our house to let me know. Apparently the troublesome twosome who were supposed to be taking a nap, decided to strip and dance naked in their window sill. I knew I shouldn't have let Grandma and Grandpa take them down to the strip for Christmas. I'm going to have to have talk with those two about dancing naked in Vegas.

Conversations that have to be recorded

Madison has started closing her eyes when she doesn't want us to see her. She was getting in trouble for taking something away from Porter and tried this trick.

ME: Madison, just because you close your eyes doesn't mean we can't see you. Watch. I'm closing my eyes. Can you see me?

MADI: No. I can't see you.
__________________
ME: What sound does a cow make?

PORTER: Mooooo

ME: What sound does a chicken make?

PORTER: Quack, quack (He can't figure out the difference between a chicken and a duck)

ME: What sound does a frog make?

PORTER: Rip it! Rip it! Rip it!

ME: What sound does a Wolf make?

PORTER: Let me in! (From the Three Little Pigs)
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The other day Kendall started wrestling with Brant. Madison stood as tall as she could with her finger pointed at Kendall and said:

Kendall! Don't fight my Dad. You go to time out right now!

He did. She's so in control of everyone.
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I was instructing the twins on cheers and being silly. We were dancing and just having fun. Spontaneously, I say: "Can I get a Whoo-Whoo?" Madison stops dead in her tracks. Turns to me and says, "No, Mom. You can't get a woo-woo."

Glenn Beck's "The Christmas Sweater"

I received this book as a Christmas gift and really enjoyed reading it. I just finished last night. Glenn is a master storyteller as he relates the story of a young boy who struggles with some of life's most difficult trials. It is a great read! I recommend it to everyone. It is based on personal trials from Glenn's childhood. However, he adds fiction to the story as well. My favorite part:

"A-tone-ment," he said, punctuating the word. "It's a chance to fix the unfixable and to start all over again. It begins when you forgive yourself for all you've done wrong and forgive others for all they've done to you. Your mistakes aren't mistakes anymore, they're just things that make you stronger. Atonement is the great redeeming and equalizing force that leads to the fulfillment of all things: every hug you've ever longed for, every Ferris wheel, baseball game, and walk in the snow you've missed. Everyone you've loved and lost. Atonement, Eddie, is heaven on earth."

So tired, so tired.

How is it that it's 6:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve and I am SO ready to crawl into bed and go to sleep right now? Madison, Porter, and Lane are ALL asleep and Brant is working the big holiday tonight.
Today has just been so tiring. It started with Lane's Super Duper Pooper. The twins ignited their "Wonder Twin Powers" and had an all-time Mischievous day. I think all of the excitement from Uncle Nathan coming home just caused too much excitement. And, unfortunately two year olds like to get negative attention when they want attention. Why can't they do good things when they want attention. Like clean their room, fold their clothes, or NOT spill any food when they eat. I would be surprised. I would ooh and aah. I promise I would give them lots of attention if they were unexpectedly overly good.
So here's the list of my day:
Lane Pooped all over the floor and himself.
Porter pooped his naptime diaper, but tried to change it himself. I guess he WAS trying to help me. Madison pooped her nap diaper. (However, asked for help to change her diaper.)
I put them in the tub to wash off all of the poop. They dumped buckets of water out of the tub onto the floor.
Then, they went out into the loft and the library area and peed on the carpet. They're totally potty-trained. I followed them to that mess and dumped baking soda on the wet areas. Mind you, that every time I was cleaning up a mess I would make them stand with their noses on the wall in time out. They couldn't leave until I was done cleaning up the mess.
So after all of this, I made them sit on their bed while I cleaned up their room. That way I could keep an eye on them. I had made them help clean up their room earlier and usually try to teach them to clean their room. But, after everything they had done, I just wanted them to stay put and let me clean it up. After cleaning their room, I let them down. It must have been right away that Porter returned to the loft area and smeared the baking soda all over the carpet. Then, he took handfuls of it and dumped it on the bookshelf.
While I was cleaning that up, Madison was in the bedroom stretching gum across her neck. She also got it into her hair.
Brant came home and said, "Have you had a bad day? You look like you have." He was home for less than 2 hours with a short time to shower, catch a small nap, say hi to the kids and leave for his all night job.
Exhausted. I am exhausted. I'm going to bed. I'll wake up next year.

We Have A Winner

It was a last minute entry. Came in just this morning. But still in time to be picked as the 2008 Worst Poopy Diaper of the year. Congratulations, Lane, you win! He likes to poop at 5 am every morning. He wakes up like an alarm has hit his bowels. I usually wait it out a bit to make sure he is all done. I've had the misfortune of changing him in between his final output. This little number he did today left a trail on the carpet. That's how I discovered just how bad the damage was.

Just stuff

* I am busy working on the yearly Embarcadero coupons. I have done this project every year for over eight years now. I can't believe it's been that long. It's a nice little bit of extra cash at the end of the year.
* Lane is so close to crawling. I know he's going to do it any day now. He can pull himself up on things. He tries to crawl on his feet like a little stink bug. He has discovered that he can roll over and sometimes does it just to show me. It's cute. He gets a big smile on his face.
* My BIL is coming home from Korea today. We are very excited to see him. He's been gone for two years.
* Kim's baby is getting blessed on Sunday. I wish we could make the trip to see her and the baby.
* Heather's baby is also getting blessed on Sunday and she asked Brant to bless the baby. It will be his first. I am more excited for him than he is.
* BTW, Brant was mortified that I blogged about the kids bad behavior. He didn't know why I would tell everyone. I told him I wanted some suggestions. Thanks to everyone who said something. All of the comments helped.
* Brant is working New Year's Eve as a Bar back. Good money. Lots of hours and a very tired husband.
* We start teaching nursery on Sunday. I am kind of excited. I have put together a non-stop fun program. Brant is burning a song CD for me to use with the kids. However, we start at 1 p.m. I hope all of those kiddos get an early nap.
* I start weight lifting with Rhonda today. I am so excited about our weekly goal meetings. I have been so infused with positive energy and can't wait to get everything done on my list.
* We're still planning to move at the end of January, so it will be time to start packing.
* All of my Christmas stuff is boxed and put away. I reboxed by tree so well there was almost 20 percent of space left in the box. Yeah, I was way proud of myself. I wrapped and numbered all of the tree branches. Only an organization freak like myself would be proud.
* I noticed that Madison looks like a little girl yesterday. She had one ponytail on the back of her head and zip up hoodie. Porter has always looked the same. He hasn't changed much since he was a baby. It was sweet, but sad. They're growing up. Madison is also very smart and so much like me. I am in for it.
* Brant came home yesterday and folded ALL of the laundry. I had a massive pile on my bed.
* Now I've got to clean, clean, clean.

New Year's Resolution Just around the corner

My MIL and SIL, Heather, are forming a Strategic Alliance. We are getting together once a week to hold each other accountable to our 2009 goals. I am so determined to achieve the success I want in life, I am very excited about this. I have some personal and professional goals that I am hoping to see happen.