Epiglottis

I am about to reveal what a speech therapy nerd I am. I think I would have loved to have gone to medical school. Anyway, I was looking in Shayne's mouth to see if her molars had come in and I noticed that I could see her epiglottis! Um, it's not normal in an adult to be able to see the epiglottis when you open your mouth. But if you look at this picture you can see a white shiny thing at the back of her throat. That's it! It's a little leaf shaped cartilage everybody has in their throat. It helps to protect your airway from anything getting into it. But kids' throats are more horizontal than adults', so it does make some sense that I can see hers. But it was still a shock. Now it also makes sense why kids choke so easily, because their airway is right at the back of their tongue. It's the cutest little epiglottis I've ever seen!

New Finds

Lately I cannot get enough of this salsa. It's a green salsa, it has spice, it's fire roasted, it has good texture, it's delicious alone so you know it's good in recipes too. I think it is my favorite salsa EVER- that includes restaurant salsas, homemade, and any fresh or bottled salsa I've ever tried. And I love salsa a lot. This company's red salsas are also good too.

Everyday this week I have been eating my favorite salsa with my favorite chips I found at my local grocery store. Soooooo good.
Another great find are these Rachael Ray dishes. She has them in a bunch of different colors. It's a pan, it's a bowl, it's a platter, you can cook in it, you can serve out of it. I saw them on her show one day and decided I needed them for my Easter gift. Happy Easter to me!

AZ Trip

This year, I decided to spend two whole weeks in Arizona with my family. Half of the time at my sister's house and half with my parents. We, honestly, had a great time. The weather was perfect, except for the one day when it was 99-degrees and I decided that I can never live there again. I could, I would just have to get used to it I think.

We went to the zoo- twice, to a train park, saw some friends I hadn't seen in a while, ate at my favorite Mexican restaurant-Rosa's, got our teeth cleaned by my sister, got a facial by my other sister, had a dinner with my cousins at my uncle & aunt's house, went to the park multiple times, had a family breakfast cook-out (just like old times), and just tried to enjoy the sunshine. I really, really love sunshine- especially when it is so gray during the winter up here.

At Usery Pass for breakfast cookout:

Feeding the giraffe at the zoo:
Playing in the backyard:
The zoo has these splash parks and this one had a cave with waterslides. It was pretty cool:



At the train park with Uncle Brett & Avery:
Brooke did a lot of chillin' in the shade:
We also set up a splash pool for the little girls and they loved to play:
Shayne was obsessed with my brother's little puppy. She'd chase it around and trying to hold it which mostly ended up with her strangling the poor thing. My parents and sister also have inside dogs so Shayne was in heaven to be able to run around the house with dogs chasing her.
Shayne did get ear infections while we were there so she was miserable for a couple of days before the antibiotics kicked in. She also stepped on a huge long thorn with her foot. And I stepped on a scorpion and got stung while we were there. At first I thought, "Do I need to go to the ER or something?" but it's really like a bad bee sting and then your foot in numb for about 24 hours. Luckily, Sarah pulverized that thing with a broomstick.

I'm definitely going to do this again next year. It was a great trip!

Lately

This post is basically to chronicle my kids and a few other things. It's probably going to turn into an 'ode' to how great my kids are with lots of writing and no pictures, so if I were you I wouldn't read it. And because really- I only look at the pictures on your blog anyway and skip over everything you actually have to read- heaven forbid.

Shayne: She's turning into a true 2 year old with tantrums and everything. Man, are they over-the-top too. I'm trying to give her lots of choices and she seems to like that and it helps a little with getting her to cooperate during the day. That kid- she doesn't want to do anything you want her to which includes- going to bed, getting dressed, changing her diaper, getting in her car seat, doing her hair, brushing her teeth- you name it and I could add it to this list.

I've noticed lately that she's really emotional, like her emotions are coming out more and starting to develop. She's never been one that wants me to hold her a lot, but lately she'll just sit in my lap and let me rock her for a long time. Shayne has always been really aware even when she was an infant. Just aware of her surroundings and of people and social boundaries. So now she is really aware of her body and other people's bodies and how it makes people uncomfortable to mention certain body things. Like every time she sees one of my friends she has to point out HER "booboos." A little awkward!

She is talking up a storm and she says funny things all the time. Like this morning Shayne and I had a very intellectual conversation about how we drink cow milk, but not horse milk because it's yucky. She then concluded that it must have pee and poo in it and that's what makes it yucky. Sure!

Brooklyn: Also known as Deedee, Brooke, Brookie, and Baby Girl around our house. She's a very happy baby. She's a pretty textbook baby- sleeping and eating great. She's trying to roll over and grabs things with her hands all the time. She's pretty big for her age and a lot longer and leaner than Shayne was as a baby. So far she is still pretty light haired and has blue eyes. I wonder if she'll take after Danny's grandmother Lilly who was tall and blonde. We'll see.

We're just trying to keep cabin fever at bay as spring tries to make its way here in Utah. The other day we came home to snow with green grass poking up through it. So typical of spring in Utah. One day you're in shorts,the next day you're pulling on a coat. Can't wait for warmer weather.

Questions I ask Myself

1. How did my morning workout before Shayne's dance class turn into a Coke at McDonald's playland at 9:30 am in my gym clothes? Here's how: time consuming outfit blowout (not mine) + sleep deprivation induced semi-coma like state (this one's mine).

2. Is it mean to make your child stand in the garage alone while eating a cup of ice (her choice-which could get very messy) without a coat on (also her choice) during the middle of winter?

3. How do my children know to start crying at the exact moment I sit down to relax or begin a project? It's really quite impressive.

4. 'Didn't I just do this?' For 'this' you can insert: mop, sweep, pick this up, clean this up, load this, unload that, change your diaper, feed you, give you a bath, tell you not to touch that, put you in time out 5 times in a row, etc. Motherhood is really a perpetual groundhog day.

5. Why does my 2 year old have a screaming melt down when she sees steam in the shower? Honestly, I have never let her watch Psycho. Honestly.

Things to ponder.

Sisters!

Shayne loves her sister. She loves to hear her 'talking,' she loves to take a bath with her, she loves reading books together, she loves to hug her. Hopefully, she'll feel the same way in 10 years.

Guns, Germs, & Steel, minus the guns and steel

Both of the girls have been sick the past few days so it has been a week of staying home and wiping noses. Shayne has been really whiny while she's been sick. This sounds calloused but one day I just started saying to her "Shayne, stop crying. Stop crying." I know she felt bad but with two of them crying my frustrations were building.

Then today I took her to her 2 year appointment and found out she has double ear infections! Please hand me the award for Mother of the Year. I should have seen the signs- waking up at night, miserable, high fever, congestion. I just chalked it up to being sick. She's never really had ear infections before either.

Anyway, parenting guilt aside, Shayne's feeling better and Brooklyn hopefully will be soon. Then we can get back to having some fun!