Ridley Claims She Hates Me.

So, recently, Ridley has taken to telling me two things.

1. She HATES me (yelling it usually).

2. She wants to watch me die.

This is, needless to say, somewhat depressing. I realize that all kids go through this stage, some longer than others. But...

It still hurts.

Work has been a total drag lately. Our house is way too small for the four of us and our cat. And our fish. (The fish takes up a lot of room, I know.)

I don't need to be coming home to her "hating" me all the time.

We were at the store today, for instance. I wouldn't buy her some M&M's. She was already way too hyper. So what does she do? Screams at the top of her lungs that I'm a mean mommy and she wants me to die.

Where do kids get this crap anyway? It's not like we're running around all the time telling people how much we hate them, least of all the girls.

I've decided that every time, from now on, no matter how frustrating the situation is, I'm just going to tell her how much I love her.

"Well, I love you and I'm the only mommy you have, so deal with it."

Or -

"Well, I love you, and you hurt my feely goods, so you'd better say sorry."

Or (My personal favorite) -

"I love you and that's all there is to it."

Do you have any other suggestions? Because I'm listening.

Harper said "Hi!"

Not the hugest deal in the world. But, when you had a day like I did, it was awesome!

I walked into daycare to get the girls today, and she'll always crawl right over to me with a huge smile. But today, accompanying the smile was a big "Hi!"

It was great!

So, in the fashion of my last blog, here is a slide show of the youngest of Youngs, The Harper.

Missing the Monkey Chow

So, I have really random nicknames for my kids. Stinker, curly, baby-babe, funky face... Monkey Chow is my personal favorite.

I was told today by Ridley that she doesn't want to be Monkey Chow anymore. She's just Ridley. "Mommy, I'm just Ridley Young. Man."

Bummer.

It got me to thinking about when she was younger, and as such, here is a little slide show to drown my sorrows in.

BTW - I think it's really funny that the only differences in Ridley and Harper's looks right around this age are chubbiness and eye color. hehe.

Vote!

Courtesy of Rachel - Thanks!

Are you registered to vote? If not...SHAME ON YOU!

it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right
to go to the polls and vote. They fought long and hard, were tortured, jailed and even gave their lives for the right that so many of us take for granted.






Don't ignore the issues! Please don't let what these woman fought for be in vain.
REGISTER to VOTE and if you're already registered GET EDUCATED and GET TO THE POLLS!

In Utah, you can mail in your registration until Oct 6th. After the 6th you can drop off the registration form in person at the county clerks office through Oct.
28th! There's no excuse! Get registered! Every vote counts in the historical election only a few weeks away!

For my out of state friends, you can check your state's deadline HERE:
http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnJvY2t0aGV2b3RlLmNvbS92b3RpbmctaXMtZWFzeS9pbXBvcnRhbnQtZGF0ZXMv">http://www.rockthevote. com/voting-is-easy/important-dates/

They fought for us! Let's honor their sacrifices by participating in our most basic of civic duties.

The Grand Canyon Trip

Well, we went to the Grand Canyon for the first time this last week. It was a lot of driving, but well worth it! We started by walking into an amazing resort condo thanks to Andrew's parents. It was two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and I think it may have finally given Andrew the kick start he needed to get a new house! The second day was driving to the Grand Canyon! Unfortunately, on the way up the mountain, my back window got shattered, which kind of put a damper on things. Here's a pic of our temporary solution to the problem...

We have different theories on how it happened - I think a kid in a passing car threw something and got the million-to-one shot he'd been waiting for. Andrew thinks either a rock got kicked up from the road, or a really big piece of hail hit my window just right. Regardless, we had no back window for a time. On to the Grand Canyon! Once we got there, it was gorgeous! I couldn't have imagined how pretty it was going to be, but I was not let down. The whole way there, we had Ridley totally pumped up, as you can see in this video...

Some more pics of the North Rim -

The following day Andrew and I had to ourselves, so we went to Zion's National Park, as he had never been. Here are some pics -

All in all, it was a great and well deserved vacation for all of us! Coming home was hard, but I'm sure we'll have plenty more trips to come!

Harper's First Birthday

Well, it's official. Harper is now a 1 year old.

Time flies when you're busy, that's for sure. Between work, daycare, cleaning, cooking, playing... we have no time to ourselves anymore!

Ridley is having the time of her life being a big sis. She loves to teach Harper how to say crazy words, and Harper loves the attention. They'd play forever if we let them!

Harper's first birthday was a great one - she was able to share it with her cousin Brooklynn, since they were born just a week apart.

Instead of a cake, we had a cupcake theme, which was great! The girls had lots of fun, and so did we.

Harper's 1st Birthday Cupcake Carnage!

A little Birthday Hand Holding!


Brooklynn's Cupcake Didn't Stand A Chance!