September Fun

We've had a busy and fun summer but alas it's September. Here's a few snap shots of our last few weeks.Merik and Karma got to go to the Harvest Festival Parade with Grandma Shawna-na and Grandpa Craig. They'd never been to one before and it sounded like the loved it...especially the candy!


Heritage Square...
Merik loved riding the bumper boats with grandpa Craig at Heritage square!

Riding the pony-that pooped!
Cute little Karma playing while mom tried not to puke riding every spinning ride Merik could find!
Outside watching Merik
Merik got a new scooter and it was ADORABLE! In all of his pads Pat decided he'd probably be safe jumping the Grand Canyon but he sure looked cute. He did pretty well too! It was a great investment considering he stayed on that thing for 3 hours the first day and is constantly on it now! It's so fun to watch him grow!

My Kids, My Teachers!

I am constantly learning so much from my children but this week I learned especially a lot! When I woke up I thought it was a normal day, Merik, however had other plans! Immediately he was a disaster and wouldn't let me enter the kitchen! Well that progressed into a full on fit that then took a hour to do a 2 minute time-out! I was so exhausted and frustrated! I sat him on my lap and with him crying and saying he was "sorry mommy, I not do it again" I had hope. Well my hope didn't last long when we walked back into the kitchen (still neither of us having anything to eat) and because I couldn't hold him while he drank his shake he turned to me and dumped it all over the floor! I just stood there. I didn't even know what to do! I was stunned and immediately defeated as a mother! Whose child does that? So again we started the time-out process with him running out, and me standing him in the corner again until I was so fed up I decided I was done and he could stay in his room until he decided to be in time-out. Well....his door doesn't have a lock on it (or didn't that day, but yes it does now) so I had to stand there and hold it shut with all of my strength-and he's strong! Meanwhile poor Karma is crying for attention and because Merik's out-of-control ranting and screaming is scary. I finally couldn't hold the door or my tears any longer so I grabbed Karma and we went to call my mom! After some reassuring words and great advice I felt ready to deal with Merik but very discouraged as a mom! This is my only job and I'm obviously failing if he'd act like that. Needless to say it was a VERY long day as a mother and as me. Later that day, I was trying to pick up the disaster of a house and I heard this excited voice from the play room. As I walked in I saw a beaming face and he announced "Mommy, I cleaned all by myself!" I knelt down next to him and just started to cry! My crazy, naughty, or as my grandma calls him, exuberant little boy was so sweet and kind hearted! I told him thank you and how much that meant to me; and he told me that he needed to tell Heavenly Father that he'd cleaned by himself. I was speechless as he knelt down in the middle of the playroom floor and offered the most innocent and heartfelt prayer. It was so simple! "Heavenly Father, I cleaned up all by myself and mommy cried! I love you. Say these things..." Well I thought I was crying before? Wow! I learned so much from my children and from his prayer I learned that I need to pray not just in repentance, not just in asking, and not just in gratitude for the big things. But I need to tell my Heavenly Father when I succeed and do things right so he can let me feel proud. I love my kids!

She's on the move!

Karma was 15 months old yesterday and is finally walking! I can't believe in 4 short months she's gone from not rolling over to walking. Its like she just snapped out of whatever it was she was in! She went from barely standing on her own to walking in about 3 weeks. She's so cute and still is doing the "walk with both hands out" walk-I love that and they don't do it for very long. She's totally starting to get an attitude and unfortunately for Merik she's discovered that she has an opinion-and it's a strong one. Gee, I wonder who she gets that from? She's started talking but it's hilarious, everything she says had a weird accent. Instead of moomm-my she yells mo-mmeee. Its really funny. She's totally my angel and we love her so much! She's so fun!

First Dentist Trip

Well Merik finally has a full mouth of teeth so I decided it was time to start the dentist routine. I found a fantastic dentist just for kids called "My Kids Dentist" and scheduled him an appointment. Trying to avoid a complete meltdown we practiced and played dentist and he had a great time so I was optimistic--too optimistic. It was meltdown city-hence only the 1 picture from when he'd just sat down and didn't know what was going on. He actually did ok considering the thought of going to the dentist still makes me queasy! They Doctor was amazing and actually got him to calm down and even laugh a few times during the cleaning, asking him if the tooth paste tasted like hot dogs. It was cute. They loaded him up with tons of fun goodies and he admitted it didn't even hurt so hopefully the next time will be better.