So Unexpected

Yesterday was my birthday, and Mike got me birthday presents without me even knowing. Normally we all go shopping and I pick out what I want.

If you read a previous post of mine you will see I have a hard time getting things for myself and prefer buying for my kids or Mike. That being said, I asked for a high chair for Ainsley, and a food processor, so I could make Ainsley food.

Mike got me both of those and even sneaked in one more present. He got me a 21 piece set of stainless steel cookware. YEAH! I love it!!

I know Mike will read my blog sometime today, and I wanted everyone else to hear it too "I sure love you Michael. Thank you for being such a great dad and husband! We are sure lucky to have you around!"

Day After

It has been a rough day today. Isaac is better, and is back to eating normal, but he has been quite the little pill.

While giving him a shower, I ran to check on Ainsley, and grab him a towel, and in less than one minute he had emptied a new bottle of shampoo (a nice expensive one!!) I can't get too mad either because I left him alone, even if it was for a minute!

He has been hitting, kicking, and stepping on Ainsley all day. Seriously driving me nuts.

I don't even know where to begin with his messes today. Just two examples (and there are MANY), he took his Gatorade and dumped it on the floor. Took a packet of crackers and dumped them on the carpet, and stepped on them.

I could probably keep going with my list, but I think you get the point. So now for the silver lining with my day:

- Isaac is eating and not throwing up! He even tried apples today! Only took a couple bites, but I will take it.

- After he dumped out my shampoo the bathroom smelled really good.

- Ainsley still adores Isaac even after all of the torture. They played in the bathtub before bed, and both of them just giggled and had fun together. Isaac even prays for his "little Beep Bop" (Ainsley), so at the end of the day they still love each other.

- At least the Gatorade was spilled in the kitchen and now my whole floor gets a good mopping again. . . making at least that part of the house clean. As for the crackers, lets just say I am thankful I have a good vacuum cleaner.

This is a picture of when we were still on campus. . . but it sums up my day today. Both with him being such a stinker and yet so cute, and a huge mess that I get to clean, but a big smile on my face!

It's war!

We are fighting the stomach flu at our house! Wish us luck!!

Super Saturday

WARNING: LOTS and LOTS of PICTURES!

Yesterday was all about fun for the Mike Mortensen family. We spent the morning/early afternoon at the mall. I was the only one who didn't get clothes, I was in one of those moods where I didn't want to try anything on, because I didn't want to get too depressed about my weight. Plus I always enjoy spending my money on my family rather than myself.

I got some cute shirts for Ainsley at the gap, for only $3. . . gotta love clearance! Gymboree was having a good sale too. Score!

We had lunch at the food court, and then on to Build-a-bear. Isaac chose to make a monkey. His name is Yankee, and he is a Texas, Ranger baseball player. I am telling you that store is a lot of fun. They had every sports gear, skateboards, sunglasses, church clothes, Halloween costumes. Even underwear. . . which could come in handy if I have any problems potty training Isaac. I can't wait to go back with Ainsley when she is older!

I felt like we were in a mastercard commercial.

Monkey : $20
Clothes : $8
Baseball mitt, bat, and ball: $5
Shoes: $7
Smile on Isaac's face: Priceless


I wish I had my camera at the mall, because he kind of looks tired here, but his big grin, covered in chocolate chip cookies, made my day! Isaac has all ready told me what kind of clothes he would like to get Yankee next.

After nap time we all went swimming. This was our first time to the swimming pool in our neighborhood. I don't know why I waited so long to go. It was like a miniature water park. Hopefully we can go a few more times before it gets too cold. (It's been a long time since I have said "before it gets too cold" and it kind of feels a little weird, but refreshing.)


Isaac thought these were pretty great!

There was a tunnel with a mini waterfall. Isaac figured out how to go around it, while Mike went under. Can't blame him though, the water was cold.


There are water fountains everywhere, and cannons that shoot water.


Here's Isaac trying to stop on of the fountains under the water.

A nice girl let Isaac play with her toy for a minute. Note to self: find one for next summer.

Kicking feet

Paddling with arms
Little alligator
Climbing on the crab (there is also a turtle and elephant)

Bathing Beauty



YEAH FOR FAMILIES, and being able to SPEND TIME TOGETHER!

The Adventures of Isaac's Cars

Trying to find Isaac's cars is sometimes like reading an "I Spy" book! Here is where I found them today. . . what an imagination that boy has!

PREpreschool

Isaac and I started doing "school" at home. This was our first week. Every morning after breakfast we sit at the table and do projects that I have planned the night before. I have mentioned before how Isaac has been hitting Ainsley, so I wanted to come up with something that we could do together during Ainsley's morning nap. I know I am a little bias, but I think Isaac is a smart little boy, so I decided to do preschool.

This month we are working on the letters A, B, and C. The color red. Farm animals, and circles. It's funny because he already knows his colors and recognizes letters when written A-E so when we have talked about the color red or the letter A, he gives me this look that says "hello I know this, old news Mom!"

We both have enjoyed our time together, and he has been a lot nicer lately. . . so it's a win win situation here! I am hoping that next year we can start a Joy School or C-op school with some of the other moms in the ward. Let me know how it goes Christa!

So here's some of this weeks work we did. The cow is his best friend right now. He named him Lenny. He takes Lenny around and if I ask Isaac to do something Lenny does it for me. He's such a good helper for being made of paper!

I want you to look at his "A" page. The last row of A's were his own. I was very impressed. The first row I made the letters, the next row I helped him move the pencil, and the last row was his. He got his daddy's smart genes!! I hope he will ALWAYS enjoy learning and school, as much as he does right now.

This last page wasn't done in "school" just Isaac coloring while I made lunch. His first self portrait! I loved it. I hope I didn't ruin it for you by putting the words on (digitally).

Five

Sorry this one took so long to get out, but here it is. . .


Five things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I was in high school. I spent half of that year in Lansing, Kansas and the other half I was in St. David, Arizona.
2. Playing Tennis and softball.
3. That summer I worked at JcPenney, at the Superstition Springs mall.
4. Going to EARLY morning seminary in Kansas, and then LOVING seminary as one of my classes at school in AZ.
5. Singing in school choir and performing in school musicals.


Five things on my to-do list today:

1. Touch up paint in the kitchen
2. Start Isaac's "school" lessons. (We do preschool lessons at home, and he loves them. He can is up to letter E in recognition! Gets his smart genes from his daddy!)
3. Spend time with Sylvia. (really when we get together non of my to-do lists get done! I love her for that!!)
4. Go to Michaels for craft supplies for "school".
5. Start preparing for my Sunday School lesson. (those 17 year old kids keep me on my toes and I have to be very WELL prepared, or I feel so lost!)


Five snacks I enjoy:

(I am not much for snacking, so some of these are a stretch)

1. I LOVE sugar snap peas!!! If I don't have snap peas I like cherry tomatoes OR just a whole tomato!! YUM!! I love vegetables any kind. I could become a vegetarian and be completely happy!
2. Cookie dough. I would rather eat the dough than the cookies.
3. Wheat thins. I like tomato and basil. . . or the giant plain ones.
4. I used to like eating cheese sticks when I could eat cheese.
5. I am not a big candy eater (meaning I don't buy a lot and keep it around the house) but I do enjoy peanut butter m&m's, anything with coconut and chocolate, and 3 musketeers.


Five songs I know the lyrics too:

wow, what a question. . . I like so many different kinds of music, and know all of the words, so I don't know where to begin!!

1. Anything Shania Twain
2. Anything off of Deana Carter's "Did I shave my legs for this?"
3. Quite a lot of The Carpenters
4. A lot of Britney Spears, old Britney (laugh if you will, but it's true!)
5. I like a lot of The Drifters songs too.


Five things I would do if I were a Millionaire:

1. Go back to school.
2. By my dream home with some land.
3. Buy my dad the truck he wants. . . and Carey too!
4. Invest, Invest, and Invest some more.
5. Travel with my family, immediate and extended.


Five bad habits:

1. Nail biting when I am nervous, or picking at my face (I know gross!)
2. Eating too much. I love to cook and I love to eat. . . not a good combo!
3. Sometimes seeing the negative and not looking for the positive. . . right away!
4. Worrying about trivial things.
5. Being late, and then getting stressed out about being late. Vicious cycle!


Five things I would never wear again:

Actually I like this one and could keep naming quite a few things :) I must have been super cool in the 80's!

1. Hypercolor shirts
2. Tight roll jeans and wearing two pair of different colored socks (on each foot)
3. Side pony tails and big bangs with lots of aqua net!
4. mc hammer pants. . . I didn't wear them but I hope I never see anyone else wearing them every again!
5. Spandex with the stirrups.


Five things I like to do:

1. Reading
2. Watching movies
3. Cooking
4. Being outside and playing with my family
5. Scrapbooking


Five of my favorite toys:

1. Digital Camera
2. Scrapbook stuff
3. Treadmill. . . actually have a LOVE/HATE relationship with it.
4. My stove (I love cooking)
5. internet

Butterfly in the Sky

It was a beautiful day today (no rain!), and Isaac had been asking me all morning to go out and play with him. I kept trying to put it off, but finally gave in. I am glad I did, because we had fun!

There was a big butterfly blowing around our driveway. It was almost dead, but alive enough (really doesn't sound right) for Isaac to learn a lesson. He was able to learn how to be nice to one of Heavenly Father's creatures.

We talked about how pretty it was, what color it was, and made some sugar water for it to drink. I let Isaac pick it up and we learned how to be gentle. He was ecstatic that there was a bug I would let him touch. (I normally freak out when I see bugs, we had a tarantula on our doorstep a couple days ago!!!)

After holding the butterfly for awhile and watching it's LONG tongue (Isaac was fascinated by it) drink water off his fingers we let it go. Like I said earlier it was already dying (or as some would say he was "mostly dead") , so it still hasn't left its spot on the grass. At least it had one nice meal right?! A little piece of trivia for you, a butterfly's expected life span is 2 to 14 days.


Ainsley enjoyed looking at the butterfly too, and tried to make a couple grabs at it. I took some pictures of her too, just because she's cute!


This has nothing to do with what we did today, but I am excited that I finished Ainsley's tutu! I am not going to ruin the surprise by putting pictures of her in it, but she looks like she's sitting on a big green cloud! I am just as excited for Halloween this year as Isaac is!

If You Were Wondering

A box of Fruit Loops spilled all over the kitchen isn't too hard to clean up. Is a lot easier if they haven't been stepped on.

Some smaller less skilled kids CAN manage to climb out of their bumbo's. (If you don't know what bumbo's are here is the site http://www.bumboseat.com/). There is a warning on their site : Warning: Some larger or more developed babies could possibly get out of the Bumbo Seat.

Falling once out of your bumbo onto the kitchen tile, doesn't mean that you won't keep doing it!

Baseball caps are a lot of fun filled with water and then put on top of your head, even more fun for mom who gets to clean up the water!

A roll of toilet paper thrown into the toilet does soak up all of the water.

If your helium filled balloon is up on the ceiling, there's no need to ask mom to help get it down when you can climb up the china hutch! (Not really, kind of freaked me out!)

Licking the window makes some really cool designs, licking it after drinking chocolate milk. . . even better!

Glitter does not come off leather that easily.


Just a few lessons we learned yesterday.

Mr. Thirsty

Isaac had his first Texan dentist appointment today. He did SO GOOD! I was so proud of him. He had x-rays taken and even had his teeth cleaned, without any tears or putting up any kind of fight. The dentist was impressed at how well he did, for how young he is. Especially with having the poor dental history he has.

He loved the dental assistant Miss Amber, who helped his wear a superman cape to take his x-rays. She showed him all of the instruments used to clean his teeth (she had cute names for all of them, I only remember Mr. Thirsty for the spit sucker). She even let Isaac use Mr. Thirsty and practice sucking water our of a cup. He got to sit in a cool chair and watch Shrek while he had his teeth "tickled". Isaac was such a big boy!

Unfortunately my story doesn't get to end on a happy note. I knew Isaac had cavities, and we have done this before, but that doesn't make the news any easier. Isaac has had dental work done two other times in the last year. Most of you know those stories, and I won't go into length about them, but we have shed many tears, and had many struggles with his teeth.

I am thankful that we found Dr. Tim though. For the first time, we found a dentist who wants to start a preventative plan, instead of just fixing Isaac's teeth, as needed.

On our part, we get to change Isaac's eating habits (not what he eats, just how often), and brush his teeth after every meal. Nothing too hard.

On the medical side, Isaac is going to have caps put on his teeth. Dr. Tim doesn't feel comfortable having the procedure done in his office, so we get to visit a Pediatric Surgery Center. Isaac will be put to sleep for about three hours. The actual procedure itself should only take 45 minutes to an hour.

When I was told this had to happen, thoughts of Isaac's surgery from last year flashed through my head. I remember crying when they took him and walked away to have his procedure done. It's not an easy thing letting go, and not being able to be there to hold his hand.

Needless to say I am not thrilled about what has to take place. I just pray that everything can go smoothly, and this can be the end of our cavity nightmares with Isaac.

Can You Follow?

What do creepy peeping toms and Isaac's teeth have in common? Nothing at all, except my random brain likes to start at point A and somehow I end up at point B. Mike likes to make fun of my random train of thought. Really it's not my fault, my mind just works that way :) But I wanted to give you an example of just how it works.

Let's take a little journey through my thoughts of last night. This is when my thoughts seem to be at the peak of randomness!! I started out thinking about creepy peeping toms, and last thing I remember was thinking about Isaac's upcoming dentist appointment. Here is the order of my thoughts. See if you can follow (I numbered it to make it easier to follow). . .

1. I begin thinking about our the bizarre Relief Society lesson on Sunday. It wasn't the lesson itself that was strange, but an event that took place at the end of the lesson. There is a police officer in our ward that is going to teach us self defense. I enjoy self defense, so was interested. Something went horribly wrong with him trying to get the women excited about his class though. He began telling us very graphic and gruesome stories of things that had happened to women right in our neighborhoods. After hearing about men looking through blinds, stabbing women, stealing the men to do things to the wives, etc. the Relief Society President jumped up and said "thanks, how about saving something for your NON Sunday class."

2. Why the heck was he trying to get us so scared. I guess he gets a little excited about his job. Such a scary job being a police officer.

3. Guess I should think about getting curtains to put over my blinds.

4. There were some really nice curtains at Pottery Barn, I wonder if they will go on sale soon.

5. I wonder if I saved that website about how to make your own valances out of sheets.

6. Why can't I sleep without blankets completely covering me? (I am the kind of person who will keep the air conditioner way down at night just so I can bundle up in my sheets).

7. Why don't my kids like blankets touching them at night? Why is it some people can't sleep without covers, and others can't sleep with them? (to whoever is reading this which kind of sleeper are you?)

8. Ainsley sure hates when the blankets touch her (she kicks like crazy until they are off of her, or she falls asleep.

9. Ainsley can play peek a boo with the sheets. She is so funny.

10. She can be so happy one minute and crazy mad the next. (different images run through my mind)

11. I remember reading a book about talking to your baby while you nurse them. Man does Ainsley hate that. (She gives me such dirty looks if I try to talk while she's eating. It's a look, like, HELLO I am eating here, and you are totally RUINING it for me!)

12. Poor Isaac, I wonder if my nursing him really did cause all of his dental problems.

13. The cavities on his teeth look so painful.

14. I hope I can find the dentist, and get there on time.

15. I hope I like his new dentist. . . .


That's where I fell asleep. Well that's the last thing I remember thinking about.

Seriously, I have one busy mind. If it hadn't been written yet, I would have been a great candidate for being the author of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie". . .