Nails

Okay, so I'll just come right out and confess: I don't cut my kids nails until they wake up one day with really bad scratches on their faces...wait, it gets worse...I have never cut all ten of their toe nails ever. I just peel them when they get snagged. 

Before you judge me, listen to my excuse. With Noah, nail cutting time means war. I have to practically sit on him to get him to give me his hands. Then, after each nail clipping I must threaten "time out" or a spanking to get to the next nail. And his toes? Well, I would have to get a straight jacket to make that possible...or it would be a blood bath as I clipped chunks of skin instead of nails because of his refusal to let me even touch his feet. 

 As for Maia, she stays still for all of one minute for me to do all 20 nails. Yeah right! Thus you can see why my kids always have the snarly toe nails and claw like finger nails filled with dirt. However, I am so used to this that I don't even notice anymore until they wake up with scratch marks on their faces...or until Korin watches my kids! 

  Korin is a friend of mine. She is an angel, she is a super mom, and she is a true blessing in my life. She offered to watch my kids for me today since Pam is out of town even though she has 2 kids of her own around the same ages as my two. So she had 2 one-year-olds and 2 two-year-olds all day long... like I said, she is an angel. Throughout the day Korin emailed me pictures of the kids swimming, finger painting, and playing. She even gave them a bath!!!  Then, when I got there to pick them up she nonchalantly mentioned that she clipped their nails too. Besides being a little embarrassed that my kids' nails were so long that someone else felt compelled to clip them, I was curious as to how she got them to sit still! She said that they were fine and sat still for both their finger nails and toe nails. WHAT? The two kids who make nail clipping a nightmare for me sat still and let you cut their nails? I am sure Korin now thinks I am just a lazy mom who doesn't want to keep her kids groomed. Oh well, at least I am now free from nail clipping duty for another 2 months or so! Did I mention that Korin is an angel?  

Fun at the Pool

Today we decided to let the kids expend some of their energy at the community pool. Here are some pics of our summer fun day. 

My little princess with her Starbucks in hand! 
Our neighbors who have become our really good friends met us there! 

Sweet little Miss Emma. Relaxing in the shade.
My little fish...

Not Me Monday

No I did not take my kids out to the movies again after my wretched experience last time. And no we did not have to leave early again because both kids were screaming and had spilled blueberries all over the theater floor and smashed them. 

No I did not forget to bring wipes on our theater excursion. And no I did not get poop on my finger twice while trying to change their poopy diapers and wipe them with wet toilet paper. Of course the poop did not roll out of the diaper and onto the public bathroom floor either. That would never happen to me!

No I did not feed Maia so many blueberries that her poop was blue. 

I would never threaten to pull over and leave my two year old on the side of the road if he didn't stop whining. Not me! 

No I am not wearing shorts today even though I have not shaved my legs in about 4 months. That is just wrong and I would never do that! 

A Helpful Post for the Moms

First of all here is an update on the "Phase" post: Noah is done with "the keeping his food in his mouth forever phase" at least for now. The past few days he has been eating everything in sight and can't seem to get enough food. I definitely prefer this phase to the last! Now back to my post...

  As many of you may know I am crazy about my kids eating healthy. They do not eat any refined sugar and I try my best to keep their diets as natural as possible. I am always on the prowl for easy, un-messy, and healthy snacks for the kids. What you see above is my new favorite. It is 100% fruit that is freeze-dried and put into individualized packages. Each package equals 2 fruit servings and has no added sugar or additives. My kids love these and they are so easy and not-messy (the strawberry-banana ones are messy though so I only let them have those ones in their high chairs). This is a must have for all mommies who don't have time to cut fresh fruit everyday or time to clean up the mess from fresh fruit! You can find these at Costco in the snack section. 

My Precious Maia Belle

I have so much to write about like the conversation about underwear that Ricky and I had, or about my first shopping trip for bras in 3 years (note: the last time I shopped for these items was before I had children). However I cannot write about those things because that would be inappropriate...funny, but inappropriate so instead I am going to write about the wonderful time I had with my daughter this morning. 

 Having two kids 13 months apart means that it is rare that I get to spend time with each of them alone. They are always together and really do not like to be separated, but this morning was one of those rare occasions. I believe it is the first time that I have been alone with Maia ever. Ricky and Noah went to the lake for a boys wake-boarding trip and Maia and I got to have a girls morning. First I took her to the park which she loves, then we went on a much needed shopping trip. I was amazed at how good she was while I shopped for about 2 straight hours. She seemed to be mesmerized by all the clothes and shoes and really loved watching herself in the mirror as I tried on tons of clothes. The she played in the pop up fountains for awhile and then we went to the kid section of the book store to end our trip. 

 I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her and studying her little personality. She is so sweet and friendly saying "hi" and "bye" to everyone who walked by us. She is also very observant and curious, constantly asking "whas that?" and saying "ooh shoooes" (she is obsessed with shoes already!). I also noticed that she loves her family. She must have asked at least 30 times, "Whey's Wo-wah and daddy?" 

 These one-on-one times with my babies are priceless. I have no idea how I am going to manage that when I have four kids but I will definitely make the effort! 

The "Phase"

Why do kids have to go through "phases?" I think I use the word "phase" at least once a day when talking about my kids. They are always going through some kind of "phase." And it is usually not a good "phase." We've been through biting phases, waking-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night phases, screaming phases, etc. However, I find the current "phase" that Noah is going through, particularly disturbing. What "phase" is that? Well, the one where he decides that he doesn't want to eat and if I force him to eat, then he keeps the food in his cheek forever and refuses to swallow it. It is ridiculous! The other day, he kept an orange and a carrot in his mouth for ONE HOUR! One hour! Who does that? I got so frustrated that I tried to scare him into swallowing it by telling him a spider was going to smell the food and come and crawl into his mouth and eat it if he didn't hurry up and swallow it. He waited for the spider...the spider didn't come. After an hour of storing it in his cheek, he spit the food out.
Of course he is getting skinnier by the day because meals consist of one bite swallowed and one bite stored in the cheek for an hour. Great! I am at my wit's end with this "phase"...it's just food, swallow it! Argggghhh...please pray for this "phase" to end quickly or I may go buy a tarantula and let it loose during meal times.

De Ja Vu

If it seems like you just saw this post a couple of weeks ago, you did...well kind of. We did another Monday Lake Trip to the nasty green waters of Elsinore. This time though, we did leave with a rash...well only Maia did, 1 out of 5 of us is not that bad. Anyways, I thought I'd share some pictures from our day since I was very proud of my photography from the day. 

Maia Belle's first time wakeboarding...she's not sure about it yet...maybe next time! 

Yum! Ranch dip with a little bit of carrots. My Favorite! 

So tired! 
My talented hubby! I love watching him wakeboard. 

 

She was not happy to be this close to the water after the wakeboarding experience, but look at how light her hair looks! I love it! 

He got water in his nose!
Strutting her stuff in her cute bathing suit!
Fun in the water with daddy! 

The best photograph of the day was taken by Ricky Murray. Here is Kelsey Beck Fernandez, the next Chris Angel. 

It's My Own Dang Fault!

Where do I start, hmmmm...this morning Noah woke up and was super hungry. I fed him his morning milk, whole wheat toast with pure fruit jelly, and some fresh mango. After eating all this he informed me that he was not feeling well. This made sense since he threw up all over his grandma yesterday, I had just assumed he was over it. Well, he wasn't. We made it to the bathroom but not totally to the toilet when he puked up all items from breakfast. I cleaned and gagged and tried to soothe him all at the same time. Meanwhile, Maia sat in her high chair i the living room screaming for some attention. Once cleaned, Noah wanted to eat some more, I gave him some plain whole wheat toast this time and he seemed fine. I decided to continue on with my original plan of taking the kids to the "Summer Fun Movie" Horton Hears a Who at the Harkins theater. I can't pass up a deal and free air conditioning ($2.00 for the movie...and the kids are free). I loaded as many snacks as I possibly could fit in the diaper bag, made myself look semi-presentable, gathered the kids, and a puke towel (just in case) and headed out the door. 

  I should have known this was a completely idiotic idea from the start. The last time Ricky and I took the kids to the movies, it was a disaster. They sat still for 45 minutes until the snacks ran out and then had a melt down in the movie theater and we had to leave. Why did I think I could do it this time, by myself, with a pukey kid? Like I said, I am a sucker for a bargain. Anyways, we made it into the movie, with the perfect seats (Last row on the bottom section end seats) ideal for running out with a puking kid and not spraying anyone. Of course Noah wants to eat as soon as the movie starts so I start unloading snacks on the both of them, fresh peaches, blueberries, whole wheat crackers, and green beans. About 25 minutes in, Noah says he doesn't feel good. Oh Shoot! I look around for the puke towel and realize I forgot it in the car, quick plan b, plan b...I empty out all contents of the diaper bag and throw them in my purse and put the empty diaper bag on Noah's lap and whisper to him to throw up in there while trying not to let the families around us know what is going on. He looks at me and says, "I okay now mommy." Phew! False Alarm! 

  As soon as I felt I could finally breathe, Maia decides to have a melt down. Screaming and crying, throwing her water cup, and spitting out the snacks that I am trying to shove in her mouth to shut her up. I whisper to Noah that we are going to have to go and he begins to have a freak out whining loudly and shouting, "I wanna watch the movie, mama!" I harshly whisper "Okay, we can stay, be quiet!" I pick Maia up and stand at the entry way where I can still see Noah's seat and I try to get Maia to stop throwing a fit. It works for all of 5 minutes before she realizes that the exit door is right behind us. She wants out but Noah wants in. What do I do? About 5 minutes later, I left the theater with two SCREAMING children throwing fits. I swear I heard cheers coming from the auditorium as we walked out. There were a ton of other kids in that movie and yet my two were the only ones crying...of course. I feel bad for pulling Noah out of the movie because his sister was crying so I tell him that I will take him another day without Maia. This stops the sobs and he says, "Maia's a bad girl!" Oy vey! 

Fun with the Fountains

I would like to give a huge hug to whoever came up with the idea of the popper fountains. These things are great! It usually means an hour of free entertainment for me and pure joy for Noah and Maia. Watching Noah run around trying to "catch" the water and listening to him squeal with delight when he gets shot in the face is so much fun. Miss Maia requires a little more work, but it won't be long before she is a free spirit running wild and trying to "catch" the water all be herself. Here are some fun pictures from today! 

My New Addiction

I discovered Twitter yesterday and I've already declared myself addicted (as if I need another social network to eat up my time and cause me to neglect my children). The greatest thing about Twitter is that I feel like I am in Ryan Seacrest's inner circle. I feel like I am on a first name basis with him and like we could go on a double date to have some sushi, all because I read his tweets. Oh and me and Kate Gosselin (yeah, that one), we are like best friends now. I am going to send her a tweet telling her that I think she should fight for her marriage and all will be solved and she will tweet back and thank me for my advice and for saving her marriage. 

  Okay, so maybe I am a bit delusional...and maybe Twitter and tweeting and reading famous peoples' tweets has gotten to my head a bit. But, I encourage you to check it out if you haven't already, it's so fun! At least I will be saving money by not having to purchase the Tabloid magazines anymore...I'll just read the latest tweets from my friends, the celebrities themselves! 

Noah Sings "Jesus Loves Me"

No More Excercising!

Today, Ricky decided that it would be a great idea to run to a park 3 miles away from our house. Now to some of you this may sound like a breeze, but to me it sounded like torture. You see, I am in no shape to run half a mile let alone 3. I have not worked out consistently in over 3 years, and I knew that once we'd run the 3 miles to the park, we'd have to run/ walk the 3 miles back to our house. Not to mention the two munchkins who would be in tow who would definitely not appreciate being confined that close to each other for the 3 hour time period that it would take me to do this. However, Ricky won this battle saying that I needed to not be such a wuss and that if I was serious about getting in shape that I should gladly accept this challenge. I gave in. At about mile 1 1/2, I became angry and bitter. My kids were whiny, we'd had to stop 5 times to break up their fights, my lungs were burning, my legs felt like jello, and I was very close to throwing a tantrum myself. I made sure to let Ricky know about 10 times how stupid this idea was (I know, bad wife). He kept encouraging me and telling me that we were almost there and I'd be happy that we did this later.

It is later...I hurt all over, and my voice is still scratchy from yelling at the kids so much to stop whining and keep their hands and teeth to themselves. I am glad it is over. The journey back was killer as my legs cramped the entire time and Noah felt the need to whine the WHOLE time. It got so bad that I threatened to leave him on the side of the road.

The picture above captures the torture of the whole experience perfectly...

You Called Me Fat!

Taleah: (on the scale) OH MY GOSH! I've gained like 5 pounds in the last few weeks. I feel so bleh. I need to start working out.

Ricky: (silence)

Taleah: Baaaabe! We need to stop eating so bad. I can't believe I've gained FIVE pounds. This is ridiculous!

Ricky: Let's go for a run!

Taleah: Ummmm....the correct response is "There is NO way that you've gained 5 pounds babe! We need a new scale because that one is obviously broken." Do you realize that you just called me FAT by suggesting that we go running?

Ricky: (silence)

Taleah: Are you even listening to me? 

Ricky: Huh?...I just felt like going for a run...so...are you coming? 

Taleah: Ugh! Yeah...I'm coming. Can we run to the grocery store and get some chocolate chip cookies?...

Maia's First Pony Tail

Ever since finding out that Maia was a girl, I have been waiting for the day when I could do her hair all cute...I know she really doesn't have enough hair yet, but I couldn't wait any longer. I had to try...It looks more like a hamster tail than a pony tail, but it is cute nonetheless!!! 

30 Minutes of Clean

I am sitting here enjoying my clean house and realizing that my house is only truly clean for 30 minutes a month. They are the 30 minutes following the cleaning lady's departure and preceding my kid's nap wake-up time. 

I savor those 30 minutes because it is Heaven on earth for me. My life feels like it is in order and organized for those 30 minutes. There is no chaos and no foul smells surrounding me. Everything is in its place...sigh...my 30 minutes are drifting away...I am going to do another walk-thru of my house and take a mental picture of each room so that I remember what it is supposed to look like in an hour after the kids have trashed it... 

Wakeboarding Season Has Begun

Monday was the official start of Wakeboarding season for the Murray family. After a minor glitch at Lake Perris, we were redirected to the nasty green scary waters of Lake Elsinore. However, I am happy to say that it has been a few days and we are all still rash and parasite free. My two brothers came along with us and we all had a great time. Here are some fun pictures from our day!