A Week of Firsts

So, as I already am failing to write on my blog as frequently as I was hoping, I'm going to try a new strategy going forward and attempt to write at least once weekly.  Baby steps.  

The last two weeks in our house has been a whirlwind, as is typical.  We just got back from one of the first family vacations that we've taken in a LOOOOONNNG time (the last trip we took was when I was 9 months pregnant..  to Disney Land...  good times people).  I am lucky enough to have a sister in law that was willing and excited about letting the entire Dee Family, in all it's glory, crash her fantabulous pad for upwards of 5 days.  At one point in the trip, there were 20 of us in her house...  eating, sleeping, showering, making a mess...  :)  BUT, every second of our trip was one to remember, as we just want to take in every moment that we get to see each other and spend together, since they are so few and far between.  Some of the highlights from the trip:

• I kicked everyone's tail in Guitar Hero.  (Okay, maybe not everyone...  Debbie and Amanda are still the reining queens, but, I am still undefeated by my husband...  it's probably okay that I gloat here, as he'll likely never read my blog).  :)
• I exercised my videographer muscles and had the honor of filming the video for two of the world's most glamorous Rockstars...  Nikki and Debs.  Girls...  I can't begin to tell you how fabulous you are.  I absolutely adore you both and aspire someday to be as much of a badass as the both of you.
• My 6 year old learned how to snowboard in like a minute.  As with most things active, he took to it naturally and proceeded to exclaim that snowboarding is his new favorite sport...  MORE than skateboarding?!?!?!  I literally thought the world stopped spinning for at least 1/2 a second in that moment, but am not positive.  He really is awesome and did a great job.  Next step:  Modesty

• I attempted to learn snowboarding as well.  Given that I always tend to expect the worst (then, am usually pleasantly surprised), it was easier to get going than I was anticipated (once I finally figured out how to get myself to standing with both feet attached to the board)....  however, given the control freak that I am, would still prefer to have two poles in hand, and feet on two planks when I'm going down a mountain at high speed.  THANKS Uncle Mikey and Daddy for your affordable (free) instruction!  :)

• Baby Eiley celebrated her first birthday.  This was the first time that I got to meet her. It's a really good thing that all 20 of us were there to catalog and photograph the event.  I have only about 1000 pictures of her tearing into her cake (no crying).  This baby is absolutely gorgeous, just like her mother.

• First time for me to be in SLC.
• First time, in a long time, that I got to be with all of my sisters in law (and those soon to be).  It was so great to get to spend time with the girls, who I love and adore tremendously and miss terribly when they aren't here.

At the end of the day, we had an absolute blast and could never possibly repay Ben and Debbie for all of their hospitality and graciousness in hosting the Dee Family Snowboarding Extraveganza.  I wish I could say that next time we could do it at our house, but we don't even have one guest room.  Hahaha...  

Since returning home, Obi seems to be back to his normal, happy, smiley self (we ran into a few meltdowns in the SLC...  likely a combo of just being out of his element, the number of people, etc).  He's talking sooooo much now and tries to repeat full sentences.  He is very clingy to mommy over the last few weeks and always wants me to hold him (he looks up at me, raises his arms and says 'hold you?')...  how can you resist that???  Yesterday morning, I was awakened by the sound of someone saying "911 emergency, how can I help you?"...  This was coming from the hallway and, as I was groggily coming to, realized quickly that this was neither 1) a play phone or, 2) the tv.  I jumped out of bed and grabbed the phone from Obi, only to have to explain to the emergency dispatcher how sorry I was and that my two year old had inadvertently grabbed my phone and invoked the 'emergency call' function.  Really?!?!?!?!  It was about at that time that Jayden woke up and both boys wanted to watch cartoons.  After getting them situated, I took myself and my migraine back to bed to lay down for a few mins.  Less than 20 minutes later, Jayden rushed into our bedroom to tell us that "Obi just pooped all over the couch!". Although I was hoping that somehow this story had gone horribly wrong in translation, my 6 year old was, indeed, correct.  All of this before 9am on Saturday morning.  AWESOME! However, have to say...  the rest of the day was a piece of cake.

The Great Milk Meltdown

I've finally decided that these moments with my children can not possibly continue to go uncaptured any longer.  They are just too random and too precious and, I'm learning that if I wait too long to try to remember these stories and the things that they did and said that had me in awe or in stitches, it's usually too late and the moment has been lost in the chaos that is our life.  So, I've decided to try this blogging thing out and get these moments down, as they happened, for myself, for my children (and their spouses someday), and for anyone else who so chooses to read them.  

One such moment occurred this morning with Obi.  Keep in mind, at this point, Obi is now 2 years old.  He is officially 2 years and one month old this week.  This morning we experienced what will forever be referred to as the 'Great Milk Meltdown'.  We've begun to endearingly refer to these two year old moments of tantrum as meltdowns and, wow... was there ever a meltdown this morning.  To his credit, it was induced by my utter failure as a mother to ensure that our refrigerator is forever stocked with cold, refreshing, whole (red-capped) Obi-milk, ready and waiting for him at any given moment when his milk thirst might take over.  Upon waking up this morning and learning that we were (gasp!!) out of milk...  panic mode, shortly followed by impending meltdown quickly ensued.  Mommy quickly (after 10 minutes of.. 'is he really not going to get over this and drink something else?  Water?  Apple juice?  Dare I say... SOY milk?", scrambled to get clothed in order to make a dire milk run to squelch the problem.  In reference to the soy milk attempt above...  let's just say that it ended with a bottle being chucked halfway across the house in contempt.  

Minutes later, as mommy rushed through the door with the long awaited white substance o' satisfaction, all was again right with the world and Obi came back to join the family.  Stay tuned next time for the alter ego that is 'No'bi'.   :)