Easter or Lent

How cool is that picture that Tyler Photoshopped together for me?

You may have noticed that one is missing, but that is what I want to talk to you about. I have all these pictures that I need to post about Easter but my mind is somewhere else. I am thinking about my littlest angel (the one NOT pictured).

You see, I didn't buy Daisy a new Easter dress because we have so many hand me down dresses that would work just fine. But that shouldn't stop me from taking pictures, right?

Well, she tends to spit up on whatever she is wearing so I didn't dress her until right before church and by the time church was over, her dress smelled like vomit, as did Tyler and I.
She spits a lot. A. LOT. But today was even worse and most of it was more throw-up than spit-up (if you are wondering what the difference is, your nose would tell you).

Right before church, she ate some cheese and I think it didn't agree with her. This isn't the first time I have been suspicious of dairy, so it is time that I take matters into my own hands and try an experiment. No dairy for Daisy for a week. This really means no dairy for ME for a week.

Now I love my baby and I really want her to feel better (and less of that vomit smell would be a bonus too), but I am terrible about curbing my dietary habits.

When Ivory was a baby and she had eczema, the doctors told me that if I cut all dairy out of my diet while I was nursing, that might help her skin condition. Yep, I decided that finding a good topical cream was our best bet, because I wasn't about to give up milk, cheese, or ice cream (HELLO!)

But this is more serious and perhaps I have matured a smidge. I really need to know if dairy is a factor in her spitting problem. So this time I am giving up dairy—for a week. Part of me really hopes there is no connection, because the next step would be to decide whether to keep nursing while remaining dairy free. I think I have the self control...but it is really hard to find recipes to feed my family that don't use cheese, or some other dairy product (this should be where I admit that I am not the most healthy cooker—I use an exhorbant amount of cheese).

So wish me luck and all that good stuff.

And please remember that I love all my children the same. See, here is a peace offering. She is cute even without all the Easter dress splendor.






Okay, did anyone else notice that Daisy and dairy are the same word with one letter changed?

In Case You Were Wondering

June had a homework assignment due this week. She was supposed to make a color book. Her job was to choose colors and then illustrate and write a short sentence about them such as "An apple is red."
We lost her little stapled book, so this morning I told her to quickly grab a piece of paper and draw three things. She came back with this:

A pig is pink

A frag is green

I turned the paper over, saw her third object, and laughed out loud.






I said, "June, what is that?"
"It's a Kart."
(Pointing to the 'K' disguised as an 'F') "Is that a K?"
"Yep."

So there you have it folks, a Fart is Silver. You should watch out for those, especially at the grocery store. I hear those shopping KFarts are the worst.

Senior Pranks

My family is staying with us for a few days. I love having them here, but it certainly throws off my schedule. Really this just means that I don't have as much time on the computer so when I get back to Google Reader it has 60 or so unread messages. However, I am aware that family is more important than blogging...sometimes.

I had to take a break and record this moment because it made me laugh so.

My Dad is constantly teasing Tim. It helps that Tim is scared of a LOT of things, thus making it much easier to scare him. My Father purchased a fake rattlesnake and thought it would be humorous to put it in Tim's suit case. He pulled me aside at one point and opened the lid of a blue suitcase just a tad and said, "Look in here." *Note, the snake is not pictured in the suitcase here.



Odd, I thought; Grandpa is showing me a snake in his suitcase...he does buy weird things. And the thought left my mind.

Later, I heard Grandpa say, "Well, I probably should tell you Tim that I have a little surprise for you, so don't freak out and start screaming."
Tim, who is accustomed to such pranks, immediately started freaking out anyway and asking what is was and where it was. The level of anxiety was increasing at a rapid rate, so I decided to take the suspense out of the equation.

"Tim, Grandpa hid a snake in your suitcase." And then all the pieces came quickly together in my mind, and I turned to my Dad and asked, "But isn't this Tim's suitcase" (pointing to a black suitcase by the couch).

"Oh yeah," Dad mumbled. "I hid the snake in my own suitcase."

Senior moments...gotta love 'em.

Other Distractions

In Idaho when Ivory wasn't getting hurt, she was lugging around the new addition.



In fact, everyone had their turn to cuddle with...

...well, the dog doesn't have a name. Yet.



She is darn cute though. I admit that I had my turn snuggling on her. She is all fluff. I think she weighs about a pound. She is just what a puppy should be—adorable.



Rozzlyn took a turn cuddling with a different somebody.



Daisy was not sure about the whole thing, but she loved Rozzy's necklace, so she was satisfied to sit still for a moment. You really should click on the picture and see how incredibly long Rozzy's lashes are. I am not a BIT jealous.

Lastly, Daisy spent some time in the jumper seat. She enjoyed it well enough, but she had even more fun when Ivory would come along and bounce her. Then Ivory would swing along with her and hang from the straps. It all looked very precarious, but all I heard was a bunch of giggling from both parties. The picture cracks me up because in the background you can see Ivory wearing her swimsuit backwards in a most immodest fashion.



We tried to convince her to change it around, but she was sure she wanted to wear it that way (I will have to be more adamant when she is older).

Clutzerella or Tripping Beauty

We have four little princesses in our house, but just because they are cute does NOT mean they come with grace or poise (well, Daisy has some Grace but only because it's her middle name). On the contrary, our girls tend to be a bit clumsy. Yes, I know you will say that all kids are a bit awkward as they grow into their big hands and feet, but my children are remarkably so. June was terrible; she ran into everything and could trip over a line drawn on the sidewalk. Robyn managed to pass through toddler hood without too much incidence...and then along came Ivory. I think she is our worst by far.

She falls out of chairs.
She runs her head into anything that remotely sticks out.
She trips on nothing.
She gets hurt every day (this is NOT an exaggeration).

She cries about everything, so you really have to listen intently to tell whether it is a drama cry or an I'm-in-pain cry. Sometimes it is easy to tell the difference. Like this weekend, when she got this beauty. I heard her from downstairs and knew she meant it.



I don't know how she managed to hit the top of her ear, but it looked pretty painful. I've heard of a black eye, but a black ear?

Only a few hours later, she got hurt while playing in a play area and skinned her cheek somehow.



This was after watching her fall off a chair twice. I had my hands full with Daisy, so Aunt Amber was kind enough to cuddle with her.



I honestly consider tying her down somewhere for her own safety, especially after watching her run her head into the barbeque or pinch her fingers (yet again) in some door. But I can't shield her from life, so I will just plan on packing around a first-aid kit wherever we go.

Let's hope this ungainly portion of life with pass quickly, with few scars.

Good News

We are all back safe and sound. Thank you everyone who knew I was going to be out of town for not robbing my house (I should probably be more careful about that kind of stuff). We had a good time and I have some things to mention, but right now I think I will just go to bed.
Really, I don't know why I even got on the computer except that it is habit.
See you tomorrow.

p.s. I stopped by Keri's on the way out and purchased five boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. I think the beast inside is satiated.

Packing

There are a lot of things I would like to write about at the moment, but I am instead forced to clean my house. Granted I do this everyday, but today is more important because we are leaving for Idaho and there are few things I can't stand more than coming home to a dirty house. June asked why we had to clean up and she was pouting about it. I tried to explain:

How would you like it if I took all the sheets off your bed. Then when you got home in the middle of the night, before you could sleep, you would have to make your bed.

When I get home, I want to relax, and I don't want anything to stand in the way of that. So, I clean now, and you will have to wait for something interesting to read later this weekend; if I'm not too busy having fun. Who am I kidding? We are going to Idaho where there is more snow, and I will be spending the weekend watching Conference; not too much to write home about. Although, I do plan to enjoy conference.

Ug, back to packing and cleaning. At least I have finally talked Tyler into letting us eat out when we leave so there are no dishes to come back to. That gives me a warm fuzzy just thinking about it.