#proudmom

I think I'm going try out being a hashtagger for a while, I think it might be the key to happiness, we'll see I guess.

I'm going to tell you all a secret, brace yourself.  Brisa is strong willed. I know what you're thinking "what?  Brisa?  But she is always so calm cool and collected, you must be thinking of someone else" But it's true guys, shes difficult.  I like to tell myself that I got this child because she needed a mom with extra patience and God said "I know just the woman" and sent her to me.  It's a compliment!  Either that or its because of all those times my mom said "I hope you get a child just like you!" I can only assume this is because she enjoyed raising me so much that she hoped I would be able to experience it someday!

While I sometimes feel sorry for myself, lately I have been feeling like it is the biggest blessing!  I would like to preface this by saying I am not "Braggy mom"  I hate "Braggy mom" what with her organic produce and her kid that learned to walk a week before yours.  You know the type, I am not the type.  But since She is turning 3 in just 8 short days I wanted to brag in a humble, my kid is better than yours, but I wont say that out loud kind of way.

She loves her baby brother and would do anything for him.  Even if it means lying to Mommy.  I used to get mad when I would be telling Carson to not hit me and he was laughing and Brisa was in the background saying "He said sorry mama, it was an accident!"  Now instead of seeing it as a lie, I see it for what it is, her trying to protect her baby brother.  I still explain that she shouldn't make things up, but in a kinder way.

They like to go through the mail together, she opens the envelopes, he rips up the contents.  The dream team.

She is full of ideas.  She's always getting into something or thinking of her next big idea.  She pulls so many stunts that other parents ask me for my latest Brisa stories because apparently other kids don't climb on counters and dump entire bags of flour and sugar and salt out because they were in the mood for some cookie baking and thought they could do it themselves.  Sometimes you just have to embrace the crazy, yes it was a huge mess, and yes it made me crazy, but she didn't mean any harm and it was adorable.

She does know how to read a recipe.

She is so creative!  She loves coloring and doing crafts.  Of course we can only do that kind of thing while Carson is asleep, but I think she would craft all day if she could.  And I think she is really good!

She runs to the coloring table the second we walk in to Old Navy.  She also knows exactly where the bathroom is.  Do I shop there too much?  Nah! 

We play with playhough everyday.  

She runs away sometimes if we put her in her running shoes because she just gets too excited (I know this is why she does it because I asked).  Of course she gets a lecture because running away could get her kidnapped(she's adorable and her curly hair makes her a huge target), but I understand that she isn't trying to be difficult, she's just practicing for track try outs.  A friend of mine actually helped me embrace this particular personality trait.

She' s a natural born athlete.

She is so smart!  Brisa recently learned how to say a few words more clearly and she is pretty proud of herself.  For example: Yellow used to be "lellow"
"Yellow.  I can say yellow!?  I can say yellow!!!"
Candy cane used to be candy candy
"Where's my candy cane?  Hey I said candy cane!!"
She also thinks she can say restaurant and now home cooking is beneath her
"We need to eat at a restranaut, Mommy.  I can say restranaut."

She talks like a little adult!
Me: "Brisa we have to go, Daddy is already waiting for us with Santa, please come down here and get your shoes on"
Pea: "Daddy and Santa are waiting for us?  Oh Crap!"
I just see it as another word she has learned to use (flawlessy) and I tried not to laugh as I told her she wasn't allowed to say it anymore.

She also likes to critique my home making skills:
"Mommy, when you see the clothes you need to hang them up.  You didn't clean them up, you were just sleeping, but you need to clean up, it's your job Mommy!"

"Aww.  Potatoes again, We just had those the other day!  *sigh* you need to try harder Mom"

"Oh no!!  The counters are a mess Moooom!  you hafta clean them up!  Its your job Mama!"

She might have a touch of OCD.  She organizes everything by colors and has a total melt down if you try to put her to bed without cleaning every inch of her room isn't clean.  While its hard sometimes, like when she's asleep in the car as we drive home late and then wakes up during the transfer and we have to clean her room at midnight.  All we want to do is sleep, but her yelling "I can't sleep, my room is a dirty, mess!  We hafta clean it!!" kinda keeps us up.  At least I don't have one of those kids who refuses to clean their room, that sounds rough.  Maybe that will be Carson, who knows.

She also is very in touch with her emotions and is able to tell me exactly how she feels and why.  I love that I can ask her why she is crying and she will give me a whole back story about how daddy told her no, but she wanted to anyway and he said she would get time out, but she didn't stop and then she got time out and it made her sad.

She's got style!  She dresses herself everyday and while sometimes I get nervous people will think I actually dress her in head to toe purple I love that she knows what she likes.  And now I know that she loves purple and that she would appreciate a new pair of purple pants.

Purple lady.

Runway ready

She is the best daughter ever.  Sometimes Chad and I just sit up at night talking about all the funny things Brisa said and did that day.  Like the time she started a vicious pregnancy rumor about me by telling her nursery teachers that I was going to have a baby girl.  Such a prankster.

If at first you don't succeed... break the engine and start over?

So as I mentioned in my last post, our car has recently gone under the wrench and emerged looking 5 years younger.  I thought while writing the last post that the car saga was over, I thought wrong, in fact I have never been so wrong in all my years of being wrong, and I am wrong a lot just ask Chad.  So to preface this I would just like to say that we thought our car was acting funny when we first moved here, but when we took it into the shop they couldn't figure it out and sent us on our way. Now for a little recap:

One Sunday morning our car wouldn't start and we were forced to walk to church, that was over a month ago.  Into the shop it went, to a Pep Boys that I can only assume is full of drunks wielding wrenches.  At first everything was on the up and up, they found a couple things and fixed them up (after a few tries, buying the right parts is tricky), and while they were doing that they noticed that our timing belt could use replacing.  Thanks boys, we wouldn't want that to break, that could have destroyed our whole engine!  Crisis averted.  While they were changing out the timing belt they accidentally dented something and so that had to be replaced, so they got that fixed up in a jiffy started her up, and oops, two pistons collided.  Turns out they didn't put the timing belt on wrong and basically destroyed our engine.  So in an effort to save our car they sent our engine away to be repaired at a specialty shop.  That took a week.  When they got the engine back they tried to put it back in, but didn't have the right gear (buying the right parts is really REALLY hard) at this point they decided to get us a rental car, it had been a week and a half after all and we had been very understanding and that kind of behavior should be rewarded.
So we had a rental car, a Tahoe, it was huge, we could barely fit it in our garage.  Finally we got word that our engine had been successful installed in our car.  Great!  Unfortunately it was still broken.  Not so great.  But since they broke it they were kind enough to replace it with a newer one at no cost to us!  So generous, no really, they thought they were being generous.

"We got the new engine in and its running great!"
"Yay!"
"Also your engine coolant had a leak, we fixed it up free of charge."
"Aww, you guys!"
"So, we kinda spilled oil on one of the belts."
*good feeling gone*

  So they sent it home anyway and it made the most awful screeching noise that you have ever heard in your life.  "Just drive it" they said "it will dry out" they said.  At this point we had returned our rental car and were completely unsatisfied with our car so off to the Chevrolet dealership we went.  We picked up a Malibu that I have been waiting months to own and all was right in the world, until we had to drive the Santa Fe home screeching all the way.  So on Monday morning our dear sweet Santa Fe went back in to the shop.  They replaced the belt, hooked up the wiper fluid that they forgot the first time (oops) and pronounced our battery dead.

"Hey, aren't car batteries supposed to last longer than 3 years?"
"Ya, but sometimes sitting for a long time can drain a battery"
"Oh, like if a car was sitting in a shop without an engine for 4 weeks?"
"Ummm... We already replaced the belt free of charge, we wont cover the battery"
"Seems fair, I mean you already replaced the engine you broke and the belt you ruined, what reasonable person would expect you to replace the battery you killed too? Nah, we'll pay for it."

So it was done, all fixed and ready to go!  While Santa was away at the spa for her month long vacation, her registration expired.  Here in Utah cars have to pass a safety and emissions test.  Our car had just been in the shop for over a month, so we were feeling pretty confident, they could't possibly find ANOTHER problem, Could they?  They could!!  Our coolant hose was leaking (of course it was, pep boys "fixed" it) and our front axles had to be replaced (unrelated issue, but I still blame Pep Boys.) So we took our sweet Santa Fe to a shop that was less peppy and full of trained MEN!  It went in on a Friday and was ready to be picked up on Monday.

"I got your car all fixed up and it will be ready on Monday"
"Great!  A week from Monday!
"No, Monday..."
"You mean Monday a month from now right?"
"Monday, like three days from now."
"Is 4 weeks not a standard time frame for car repairs?"

So today we are officially done with all of our car repairs (well except for the cruise control that mysteriously stopped working) , and officially really really broke, just in time for the holidays!

Looks Like Rain.

So the past 5 days have been gloomy for us Bunn's.  You know what they say: "When it rains it pours" and who better to prove that theory than the Bunn family?!  Some families play board games, we try to see how many things can go wrong in one week.  So far it seems like a lot. Here are a few of the highlights or maybe lowlights would be more accurate.

On Saturday we went to the playground as a family and since I had gotten a nap and was feeling energized I decided to play with Brisa instead of sitting with Carson like I usually do.  The first thing Brisa wanted to do was climb up the slide then slide back down.  I helped her up the waited for her to slide down.  She was feeling silly and decided to slide down on her belly, so she went down feet first and when she got to the bottom her feet hit the ground and somehow jolted her forward so she hit her mouth on the slide and started screaming.  I scooped her up and then she started bleeding everywhere.  We came home and washed her up and fed her lots of otter pops. She bruised her gums and upper lip and it still hurts.  I have to cut up all her food super small so that she doesn't have to bite in to things because that hurts her.  Smoothies have been her main source of food for 5 days now.  Chad blames me for making her accident prone, I think it could have happened to anyone.

On Sunday we woke up early and miraculously got in the car to go to church 5 minutes early!  Unfortunately the aforementioned car didn't start.  So we walked.  Uphill.  In church shoes.  Lovely.  While at church I remembered that on Friday Brisa had turned on the light over her car seat while we were putting our groceries in the car and wouldn't let me turn it off so I thought that the battery had probably died and so we were feeling hopeful!  We got home and our neighbor was kind enough to jump it for us.  It started!  Crisis averted!  We were able to go to Meghan and Carlyle's house for dinner as planned and were so happy we made it because it was the most delicious food I've had in a long time.  We came home were waiting in front of our house for the garage door to open, got halfway in the garage and the car died.  It was bedtime so we just tried to start it a few times and finally it turned on and we got it inside, closed the garage and went up to bed.

On Monday Chad had to go to work bright and early, so we just prayed he would make it to the mechanic by his office.  It started up fine and everything seemed like it was going to work, but then it died at a red light a few miles from his destination.  He coasted into the suicide lane and waited.  He didn't get out of the car because literally EVERYDAY since we moved here there has been pedestrians hit by motorists on Chads commute.  After ten minutes one of Chads co-workers came by and they were able to jump it to get it started and then his coworker drove away and Chad continued on his way.  For a block.  Miraculously another co-worker stopped and tried to jump the car again, but she was dead.  There was a church across the street so they pushed the car there and Chad waited for a tow truck.  They towed it to the shop and Chad hung out until they could drive him to his office.  Then we waited to hear what was wrong, they said it could have been one of two things.

At around this time I was reading books with Brisa.  Out of the corner of my eye I see a crazy baby climbing on his sisters craft table and teetering on the edge about to fall.  Being the hero that I am I spring into action and run on my knees to grab him before he falls.  BAM!  Puzzle piece to the knee.  Not just any puzzle piece a puzzle piece with one of those little red pegs that make it oh so easy for little hands to hold on to them.  It made my whole leg get that funny bone feeling then I cried.  I texted Chad once I could sit up so he could feel sorry for me and maybe send a sympathy pizza. He told me he wouldn't pay for my medical bills and to suck it up.  My husband, ladies and gentlemen.  I didn't ask about the pizza.  So now I can't walk up and down the stairs, I just scoot up and down on my butt like a baby.

Chad finally got the call and of course it is both things!  I say things because I have no idea what is wrong, if I had to guess it would be a gasket, or a plug or belt or something else car-y, I'm a mom, not a mechanic. What I do know is we are out $1000.  They had to drive to another shop to get a part, it turns out it was the wrong part and so they have to keep our dear sweet Santa Fe over night.  Sweet dreams Santa, and remember you can always call home if you get scared.

On Tuesday we got word that while poking around in the engine they discovered our timing belt needed to be replaced!  Ok fine, here's another $270 dollars and why don't you keep her another day, its not like I want to leave my house anyway!

Today we got word that they made all the repairs, but there is still a "hiccup" that they are trying to figure out.  Turns out the timing belt had likely bumped something and it was now dented and had to be replaced.  They ordered the part and it will take a couple days to get in and since its labor day weekend they wont be able to work on it until Tuesday.  Don't ask me how I plan on getting groceries this weekend because I don't know.  I'd walk, but I was recently crippled by a puzzle piece.

Fortunately we have just as many things to be thankful for as we do to be bitter about.
On Saturday we got to spend the whole day together as a family without having to run any errands.
On Sunday we made it home before the car died and weren't stranded on the side of the road in the dark with our two kids.
On Monday Chad was blessed with not one, but two co-workers to help him get the car to safe place to wait for a tow truck, and our insurance offers free towing.
On Tuesday The shop offered 10% off our bill because it was taking so long, and Carson took his first step.
And today the shop told us they would cover all costs for the last repair since they couldn't determine if it was dented before it came in =, or while they were replacing the timing belt, saving us $1000.
*BONUS*  We still don't have it as bad as Job.  ;)

Mommy's Little Darling.

It is no secret that my sweet little girl has a big personality (to put it mildly) and she is saying and doing so many new things all the time that I feel like I never really have much to say about Carson and that is such a shame because he is a stud and deserves some attention.  So tonight on the eve of his 9 month birthday I am going to tell you all about me little angel.

Now first off I would just like to acknowledge the fact that I am completely biased and prone to exaggerations.  But I don't think that I am wrong in saying that my son is quite possibly the cutest baby this world has ever seen.  He is just so perfect and just has the prettiest eyes that this mama can't help but get lost in.  I mean look at this kid.  I mean even with graham crackers smeared o his face he is a stud.  He's going to get away with murder as he gets older, I've accepted it.

Now my little baby boy is not all good looks.  He us also a baby genius.  This kid was rolling from tummy to back consistently since he was  days old.  I am convinced he is headed to the X Games some day.  Since that day he has only pushed him self to achieve greatness.  This boy can climb on and off the couches, go up and down the stairs and climb into all the cabinets.  

Clearly the easiest way to get up there.

He learned how to undo the baby gate and let himself upstairs.

He was pretty proud of himself.  

Now to the mushy stuff.  Carson is just my little buddy.  When Brisa was a baby she didn't really care for me that much, Carson on the other hand is all about his mommy,  Whenever I look at him and talk to him he lights up.  The other night before bedtime Brisa was putting on her nightly concert where she sings and we clap and she bows saying "thank you, thank you!" Well this particular night I was called on stage to perform and as I was singing Carson was dancing and clapping and yelling and waving and holding his arms out to me.  He is my biggest fan and I couldn't be happier.  It is an amazing feeling to be so loved by my baby.  Just knowing that I am so important to him makes me feel like I am doing a good job with my kids.  

Carson not only looks perfect, but he also acts perfect.  He rarely cries and can entertain himself until he gets tired, then he crawls on m lap and fusses at me until I put him in his crib.  He is a great sleeper and quite possibly an angel.  As long as I leave the toy box open he is a happy camper.  He is seriously the EASIEST baby there is.  Hes just a chill little dude.  I seriously can;t believe I get to be his mom, it is one of the greatest blessings in my life.  Needless to say I love my son.  Now here are some more pictures, You're welcome.

This face!  I mean come on!!

He LOVES giving "loves" as we call them.  He has such a sweet spirit.

He loves spending time with his sister!

Even when his sister is sitting on him, covering him with band aids, or putting 

bowls on his head.

And he never lets her bad mood get him down!

The kid even eats cute!!  (He is sharing and trying to get kisses in the first 2)

He loves to get in trouble.  If I get "mad" he is so happy!

But for the most part he is just one chill dude.  He can't see if he is sitting the right way 

in the cart, so he takes it upon himself to twist around to get a better view.  He looks cooler 

sitting like that anyway.  :)

She LOVES to see the temple...

On Sunday morning on the way to church Brisa started singing "I Love To See The Temple" It was so cute, and surprising because we didn't even know she knew that song.  We asked her if she wanted to go see the temple and she did her classic "ya ya ya ya" while jumping up and down. So we decided we would go after dinner when it was a little cooler, and by the time that rolled around Brisa was so excited she was basically pushing us out the door.  So we drove to the temple and she was so excited when she saw it!  When I got her out of the car she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the front gate (she's not allowed to walk in parking lots without holding someones hand and she knows it).
So because it was Sunday the gate was locked...

After that things started to go downhill...

We tried to comfort her by telling her that she would be old enough to go inside (in 10 years) and that she could even get married in there like Mommy and Daddy if she wanted.  It wasn't as comforting as we thought it would be.

Eventually she snapped out of it and was excited all over again to be at the temple and demanded we take a million pictures of her as she walked around and posed by different things,  She is kind f a diva, but it was so cute!

Just marveling at its beauty.

She needed a picture of herself walking by the bushes.

A classic stand and smile.

I really don't know how she came up with these poses,

She was getting pretty creative.

This was obviously the perfect place to sit for a picture.

Whenever she found the perfect place for a shot she would jump and land on her butt, we were able to get an action shot of it.  

Nailed it.

Carson was also there, he just wasn't as loud about it.

He couldn't take any pictures alone though, he doesn't have her natural gift.

 All in all it was the perfect Sunday outing.  I still don't know where she learned about temples, it must have been in nursery.  I just hope she stays as excited about going there someday as she is right now.  :)

I've created a monster, but I couldn't be prouder!

I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone that I love to shop.  I love buying new clothes and love the look on my husbands face when I tell him I have nothing to wear when I just spent unspeakable amounts of money at Old Navy the week before.  As it turns out my disease is contagious and I now have a little mini shopaholic.  Since before Brisa could talk I would take her shopping with me and I would hold up clothes for her and whatever she would grab at I would get her.  Now that she can talk it has become even more fun.  Whenever I tell her we are going to the store she gets super excited and asks what we are going to buy, i thought it was out of curiosity, but this weekend I realized she is an addict.  Here are a few stories that bring a smile to my face, but worry poor Chad (I meant poor in a sympathetic way, but there is also a good chance it will apply financially as Brisa grows).

The kids needed new clothes because Carson is too big for size 3 months sleepers and too small for 6 months sleepers and we need the elusive 3-6 months size.  Brisa also needed some short sleeve shirts because while she still fits size 18mos clothes her shirts are too short and her belly button shows. So I was holding things up and she picked out 2 dresses that she liked and we were off to a good start.  Then we moved on to shirts.  She hated them, all of them.  Finally I told her that she needed clothes and put a plain pink shirt in the cart.  she yelled "NO!  I don't lika it!" and grabbed it out of the cart and threw it!  I was shocked.  Normally I wouldn't let her act like that, but it was so funny I giggled.  I put the shirt back on the shelf and decided it would be easier for everyone if I just let her walk around and pick out some things herself.  Eventually she found a shirt that didn't offend her and put it in the cart saying "I need to wear this to the pool" and as I was informed this morning she can ONLY wear it to the pool.  Fantastic.  I realize this story makes her sound like a brat, but I have always said I want her to be a free spirit.  She can be a little hard to handle sometimes, but she is slowly learning how to behave appropriately and shes only 2.5 (today!) so I think she is on the right track.  I have lots of opinions, so its only natural that she does too.

Later on in the shopping trip I decided I needed some shorts, I was trying them on and couldn't decide between two pairs.  I held them up to ask Chad which ones he preferred and he did his classic, "I don't know, I like them both" usually when he says that I buy them both to show him that not having an opinion has consequences, but before I could throw them in the cart Brisa pointed to the blue pair and said "that one Mom!" so that was that.  It was so precious!  And now I know that I should leave the boys at home and just bring my stylist with me when I go out.  Also I always ask her about my outfits before we go out and usually she says "So, so so cute!  I love it!" but every once in a while she will tell me that I should wear my "mom jeans" instead of yoga pants, and I appreciate her honest input!  Also just hearing her say "mom jeans" is worth the hassle of changing.  Haha.

This morning both kids got up at 5:30.  One of them accidentally wet the bed and had an emotional melt down, and the other just likes to prove he is in charge.  I think he has a napoleon complex, though I can't be sure.  I tried to close my eyes and pretend it wasn't happening, but my kids quickly reminded me that I was a mom and when they are up, I am forced to be up also.  So I tried my hardest to be cheerful, but I needed a boost so I turned to online shopping!  I was looking at hair bows for Brisa because she is in love with them lately, but her hair is so curly and thick that only a certain kind will stay in her hair, and they are near impossible to find. As I was searching a certain little princess peeked over my shoulder and saw a sparkly bow, she immediately decided she needed it.  I told her I was just looking and wasn't going to buy anything, but she saw more things she liked and added them to her list of demands.  Eventually she had picked out too many to remember and turned to me with her serious face, head tilted to the side and said "I need them all mama"  I smiled said okay and closed the tab because online shopping was becoming dangerous.  Unfortunately she has watched me online shop enough to know that you have to click on the cart to check out so she said "maybe later?" I told her I wasn't buying any bows and she accepted it, but keeps mentioning how cute the sparkly bow was, I think she is trying to wear me down, luckily I know for a fact it wont stay in her hair so I wont be tempted to give in.  I did however order stuff to make her hair bows, so I guess I am a pushover.  Oh well.

Also I feel I should add that I did not create this problem alone.  Chad will also buy her things when we go out just to see her smile.  After the clothes were all picked out her daddy also bought her a toy Pegasus and an elephant that goes over the bath faucet and shoots water out of its trunk.  I guess what I'm trying to say is its just as much his fault as it is mine, if not more so.

New Home

Chad and I finally got around to making a video of our house yesterday!  We tried to upload it last night, but it was late and I decided to sleep instead.  So without further ado...