Update.....Again....

Well, obviously I am REALLY bad at this blogging thing, so instead of trying to get caught up, which would take FOREVER, I thought I would just start from now with maybe a little update. Then, I will try my hardest to keep up with this blog for those of you who still read this (Dad) :) I know I have said that before, so I wouldn't totally hold your breath, but I am going to make an effort!!

So my totally awesome sister-in-law Julie Shuler took these awesome pictures for my family. She did such a great job. If you need a photographer, she is amazing!!! Thanks Julie!!!! Also, thanks to my nephew Jaivri who did an awesome job getting my girls to smile after a long time of taking pictures. Most of the cutest smiles are because Jaivri was in the background goofing off so they would smile.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these pictures!!!!

For a little update...

Joe is working hard at his 3 jobs. He loves spending time with his girls.

I am currently unemployed. Due to budget cuts, my position was eliminated so my last day was December 14. It ended up being ok though. I am going to start going to school full-time in January. I have two more semesters to get my associates degree, then I will start the teaching program next fall. I am excited to be going to school again. I am just worried because it has been about 5 years since I have been in school full-time. I am totally excited though! I love school!

Aly started preschool this year and is absolutely LOVING it!! She is learning so much and making new friends. I cannot believe that she is going to be starting kindergarten next year! I am getting too old!!!

Aly on her first day of school.

Brianna is still in the midst of the terrible two's. She is a total sweetheart when she wants to be, but she can be quite the bully too. I am constantly having to get after her for biting or hitting or scratching or digging. Hopefully since she is almost 3, the terrible two's won't last too much longer.

This is Brianna being a "Brianna Picture" :)

Ok, well that is all for now....hopefully after the craziness of Christmas is over I can add more! :)

The TERRIBLE 2's!!

I love Brianna to peices! Let's make that clear from the beginning. She is so sweet. But she has hit the terrible two's and she has hit them HARD!

She is so cute!

But she also has a major attitude.

We finally got her off the bottle, FINALLY!! But now her current struggle is bedtime. Surprisingly, she doesn't ask for her bottle much, and if she does, once I tell her they are for babies, she doesn't ask again. The problem is, if she isn't ready for bed, which is every night, she gets a major attitude. I will tell her it is time for bed and she will say, "NO! Daddy's bed!" So I will tell her, "No, you need to sleep in Nana's bed." Which she again responds with, "NO! Daddy's bed!" She will sit up, laugh and get out of bed. If I close the door she will just stand in there screaming until I come in or let her out. I have no idea what to do. I get so fed up with the same struggle EVERY night. I need to figure out an easier way to get her to go to bed when it is bedtime and without a fight!

Hopefully she will get better the longer I work with her. She has never really had a "bedtime" and she thinks she can run the house. I am hoping that if I stick with making her go to bed and not give in, she will eventually know that she doesn't run the house. :)

Potty training is another issue we have. I haven't really gotten serious about potty training her because I don't feel she is completely ready, but when I have tried, she is totally against it. I know she knows when she needs to go, because she will tell me right before she does it. The problem is, whenever I sit her on the potty she will NOT go. No matter how long she sits there, she never goes. To show you how stubborn she is, here is a story.

The other day, I had just finished bathing her so she wasn't dressed. I was heading in her room to get her dressed and she started peeing on the floor. I said, "Brianna, no." I went and grabbed her and ran her into the bathroom and put her on her potty. She sat there for about 5 minutes and would not finish peeing. Finally, I just took her in and got her dressed. About 30 seconds after I put her diaper on, she had filled it!

So either she is not ready, or she is just stubborn. Either way, I don't really feel like dealing with that right now. She is still kinda young anyway, so I will try to tackle the bedtime struggle before getting serious about potty training.

Aly Quote of the Day

So this last week we spent a couple days with Joe's family at Hidden Springs Ranch. It was a blast! I love spending time with my in-laws. Anyway, we got home late Wednesday night so I didn't put anything away then. So on Thursday I had a lot of unpacking and cleaning to do, plus I had to work to make up hours for taking the whole week off. So after I got the entire house clean and the bags unpacked, I went into Aly's room. Her and Brianna were in there and it was a mess.

• Me: "Aly, I am so sick of cleaning when you just keep making messes."


• Aly: "Well, we are supposed to make messes and you are supposed to clean, so WE did OUR job!"

LOL!!! I couldn't help but laugh! I guess she told me! Maybe it's time to start pushing her to clean her own messes up more! :)

Update

So I don't know if anyone looks at this anymore, but if there is anyone out there, I am going to update everyone about our life the last 6 months!

Halloween was fun. The girls dressed up as Krabby Patties, and me being the worst picture taker EVER didn't even take pictures of them in their costumes! UGH!!

I did take pictures of us picking out and carving pumpkins though.

Searching for the perfect pumpkin.

We found them!! Brianna is ready to carve her pumpkin.
So is Aly!

All done!!!


I totally know this is not everything that happened in the past 6 months, but this is all I have time for now. Hopefully I can finish the update soon, not 6 months from now.

My new blog

I started a new blog for anyone who is interested. I am going to keep track of my running and weight loss with it. It is mostly just for me to keep track of what is happening and keep me motivated to keep running, but anyone is welcome to look at it and comment if you want!

It is amberleesrunningadventures.blogspot.com

Hope to see you there!