The New Bloggy Woggy

It was such a great day.

Christmas Jammies

And stockings filled with all manner of junk toys and goodies....

Ebelskivers filled with Nutella for breakfast (with my brand new pan)

Cozy Christmas tree

Snuggling with Dad to try and maintain composure upon hearing that present opening is being post-poned until Dutch wakes up.

Dutch using his iron grip on the candy cane.

Traces of Snowman poop all over her mouth....(powdered donuts). If Sennah walks down the stairs Christmas morning and sees that our snowman has pooped in his bowl--then she knows that Santa has been here.

I am just really glad Kris took about 30 pics of me looking this fantastic....see what I mean about my uncanny resemblance to the late Kurt Cobain.

It's not exact...but pretty-derned close.

Santa left a note for Sen on her new art easel.

I actually managed to suprise Kris this year. It was awesome. I pulled a "Tyrone" and went out the day before Christmas Eve and just went nuts buying random things for him, but it was perfect cause he was happy with everything and was genuinely suprised.

Plum-tuckered out from all the holiday cheer...

We had such a great Christmas. I am bummed we didn't make it to church on such a special day. I really regret not making sure we were up and ready in time....but there is no use in crying over spilled milk. Next time Christmas falls on a Sunday, you can bet your bottom dollar we will be the first ones in the church ( :

A couple days before Christmas we had my sister and her family over for a little Christmas dinner.

We read the Christmas story from the bible and it was really nice to start a tradition with them.

They gave Sennah a Mr Krabs & she LOVED it.

Love this picture of the two of them.

This is a favorite pic of mine too...she LOVES having him sit on her lap.

Dutch ALWAYS has his left hand in an L like this--it is SO cute to me. 

Hope you ALL had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS too.

Now its time to set goals and, glumly, reassess those goals in the coming months.

I wish I was good at accomplishing goals. YAHOOOOOO for 2012. I want to read the Book of Mormon (I haven't in ten years). Wish me luck.

 

The Geezer

Or the Geezy-Weezer. Or the Roozy-Poozer. Or the Son-zee One-zee.

All of them absolutely apply. He's our little Dutch-a-roozer.

And he is almost eight months old. Where does the time go?

Next thing I know, he'll be going on a mission. At least we know he can pull off the parted hair look.

Really, really, really, big fan of this boy. He has one tooth. His sits up all by himself. He is finally eating baby food. And when his diaper is off he quickly rolls onto his tummy and gets in the crawling position, it's really cute. I give it a couple of weeks and he will be crawling all over the place.

He loves to be diaperless. He loves the tub. He loves wheat teething biscuits. He loves to grab faces.

He always laughs when we have Sens' stuffed animals talk to him. He grabs their faces and laughs. I love it. He also laughs when I say "hey geezer!"...he knows its a good nickname.

He snuggles to me when I go get him from naps or from his nightime sleep--its SO sweet and its something I love and am trying so hard to hang on to. I know its just a matter of time before I go in and get him and he wants me to let him down to run and play.

It just goes by too fast. I am going to have to start really doing something with myself soon, I won't have the "I have a baby" excuse for much longer. Goodbye white sweats and maternity shirt. We've had a fantastic run....but the boy is growin' up.

(Can you tell I am using my good camera again?--SO happy to have it back!)

But I couldn't not share these last two taken with the little point and shoot.....she really loves him.

Getting SO excited for Christmas! More pics to come ( :

 

And it's not even December yet!

Visiting Santa? Check.

When Santa asked Sennah what she wanted for Christmas she quietly requested a "mommy monkey" for the pink baby monkey I bought her for her birthday. Last year she just picked her nose while sitting on his lap, so I felt like shouting out with GLEE at this years Santa experience.

Dutch was fascinated with his beard and his white-gloved hand.

I was ecstatic that they didn't scream out in terror to get away from him.

 

I am thankful for these guys.

We went on a Turkey day walk to help work up our appetites ( :

(Furry hoods are full of fun-times)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday! If you live in Utah (or DC)...then, rest assured, we missed the dickens out of ya. 

uno, dos, and then the tres...

We celebrated Sen's 3rd birthday on November 12th in McCall Idaho. It was really nice. Thank you Stef & Chad!

Kris experienced a LOT of lower back strain that day, but Sennah was the happiest clam that the McCall ice-skating rink had ever laid eyes upon.

 

And finally, his back could not take it anymore....

She loved it. I was SO happy. I thought she would loathe everything about the skates and how tight we had to tie them and how that meant possible discomfort for her. But, no, she took off and didn't want to stop. 

Look how pleased as punch I am about the state of affairs. This was after she had been doing it for a while and requested to go back out.

For her birthday I would like to document the current top three things about Sennah that I find extremely endearing.

#1-This is Spaceman. He replaced Elmo as best friend and favorite toy. During playtime Sennah ALWAYS makes him the good guy. I bought her the cutest pink monkey for her birthday that I was certain would replace Spaceman. But no, I couldn't have been more mistaken. Spaceman still reigns supreme as favorite toy. I am still trying to figure out why?

But I like this about her. She likes robot, snake, and dinosaur toys. In fact, for an entire day she carried around a long piece of spearmint floss that she called her snake-boy. And it entertained her for the ENTIRE day. I would rather find this fun and quirky than not girly enough.

#2- She loves Dutch SO much. (Not enough to share her toys with him-but we are working on it). To her, he is Dutch-a-roozer (I suspect she doesn't realize that his name is just Dutch). A while ago I told her it was our responsibility to teach Dutch about everything cause he is so little and needs us. Since then I will often hear her say to him, "I have to teach you about things Dutch-cause you're a baby."

She makes him laugh a lot...and when she leaves a room sometimes he will cry until he sees her come in again. I am certain this will change as he realizes she is the one person that takes away all the toys Mom gave him to play with, but, until then, I think its the sweetest thing.

I want them to be friends.

Their mutual distaste for making snow angels is a sure-fire way to start a long-lasting sibling friendship, don't you think?

3- I really love her imagination. From feeding her imaginary robot friends to spontaneously holding her hand to her ear and using it as a cell phone--there is always something new she does to chuckle at. She uses a high-pitched squeaky voice when she is pretending to be someone else, which is both cute and a little thorny to the ear drums. It makes me laugh.

A couple weeks ago in gymnastics the teacher used a beanbag in one of the bar exercises. As soon as she was done using it, she tossed it on the ground next to Sennah. I noticed that Sen immediately started talking to it and playing with it like it was a little friend. She was totally distracted by it for the rest of class and threw a fit when she realized it was something we would need to leave behind. She is very resourceful when it come to toys. I love that. 

I love her. Even when we lock horns--she still reigns supreme as my baby girl.

(She loved that tattoo and would FLIP OUT whenever it would get wet in the tub cause she overheard me saying it would eventually come off in the tub--another reminder to watch what I say in front of her!!)

Whenever we get into a disagreement or when she is coming down from a tantrum and wants to make things right, she will look at me with a sad face, offer me her hand, and say, "Friends, mom?" this instantly melts me down.

"Always friends sis"--I respond. And that will be my response til' the end of my days.

I like to make friends that will last and since she is a lot like me--I have a feeling we will all be friends forever.

 And Dutch too...

 

Lotta growin' to do still.

Sometimes I feel like I really suck as a Mom.  (Very positive way to start my post, right?)

In my defense, though, there are SOOOOOO many expectations one may feel they have to meet during this whole motherhood journey and it gets overwhelming at times.

For example:

-Don't let your child watch more than 2 hrs of television per day.

-Teach them to pray, be kind to others, and recognize Jesus.

-Teach them to share, say "please" and "thank you", and respect all adults.

-Teach them the alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors....and don't forget the fun songs and rhymes.

-Spend time reading to them, talking to them, playing play-doh and painting with them. Cultivate their imaginations and their individuality.

-Don't yell at them because they are REALLY quick to imitate all your behavior--so if you yell, they will too. (I know this first-hand...and I wish to high-heaven that I wasn't a yeller).

-Ignore them when they are throwing a tantrum.....no, take them out of the place where they are throwing the tantrum.....no, try to talk to them and settle them down.....the possibilities are endless really. You always hear the phrase "it just depends on the child"

-Biting is bad, Hitting is bad, Not sharing is bad....teach them all of these things, and make sure you teach them well because they need to socialize afterall.

-Mean what you say when you say it at ALL times, cause if you don't they will take advantage of that.

-Make sure they brush and floss and know how important it is to wash hands after potty too.

OH.MY.WORD!!!!!!!!! I had no idea. NO IDEA!!! Because the list above is only a tiny portion of all the responsibilities involved.

Kids get older. They get fizzier. And you look at them sometimes and think "where did my sweet baby go?"

I guess you could say that I have hit a rough patch with parenting. It's a big old patch that I am trying to navigate with patience and resilience. 

And most of all LOVE.

In church last Sunday a sweet grandma remarked how she wished she would not have taken herself so serious as a younger mother. She wished she would have enjoyed it more. That resonated with me in such a piercing way.

How can I make sure I am enjoying all of these moments....even though there are times when I feel like poking forks into my eyes?

Words can do no justice in describing how much I love being a Mom. I feel so incredibly lucky to have two, healthy, happy kids. They bring me so much joy.

I just don't want to ruin them.

I want to teach them all the good things....and have them forget all the moments where I really suck.

It's hard being an imperfect person hoping to raise perfect children. (I didn't come up with that line-I read it on a different blog but found it to be true to how I am feeling at present).

The truth of the matter is: I have in my daughter a little version of me. And I have to look that in the face, and take it on every single day. And I am not easy. I never was. Add some Kris Powell to that mix and we've got a force to be reckoned with.

And that is why my Mom had to give me pastel mini marshmallows whenever I made good choices.

I rarely got them. But I always felt loved and that's what I always remember. My Mom loved me.

I am just incredibly grateful that we can start every single day fresh, with no mistakes. That line is from Anne of Green Gables.....man, I wish I could come up with something original.

As long as she's democrat and I keep trying to do better I think we'll be okay.......( : 

 

 

It's because I love Halloween.

I have a Mom who detested Halloween. It's true.

As a little gal this meant a lot of made-up costumes, with things from around the house, the night before we needed to show up to school in something more than our school clothes.

The following childhood accounts of Halloween are true:

When I was in the 2nd grade my Mom put a little kid's apron on me along with a chef's hat. She then put about five coats of mascara on my little girl lashes and a sign around my neck that said "hi, i'm tammy fay baker."

And that was my costume. 

3rd grade had me as a HOBO...Dad's worn out work shirt, hole-y jeans, dirty shoes, messy hair, and an eyeliner drawn moustache.....AND freckles--because that is HOBO to a TEE.

4th grade is my favorite. I wore my older brothers poncho, a sombrero (we bought in Tiajauna, Mexico), and an eyeliner drawn curly-moustache....I was a Mexican. Thanks Mom.

5th grade. I was actually NOTHING. We could not think of anything the night before that I approved of and being a "cowboy" like my Mom suggested was OUT OF THE QUESTION. She suggested I wear my little brothers cowboy hat and pick a piece of wheat on the way to school to put in my mouth.  She also offered some eyeliner drawn freckles. It was a SUCKY suggestion Mom. I love you. But, No.

6th grade. Punk Rocker. Basically I wore oversized clothes and ratted my hair up & I got to wear blush from my Mom's Avon blush-stick AND bright red lipstick. (Just to let you know I was also given the option of being a pirate--my mom suggested the use of a bandana, a homemade eye patch, and a fake cardboard sword covered in tin-foil).

Unfortunately we don't have any documentation because I think my Mom subconsciously knew her suggestions weren't good ATALL, so why take pictures? 

***sidenote***Kris and I are watching punk'd right now and this show gives me ANXIETY up the yin-yang. I mean it's funny at the end when they find out, but while the joke is going on I want to throw-up cause I feel so awkward for them.

Back to Halloween....

I LOVE Halloween. I love it SO much that I shop the end of holiday sales just to get my kids their costumes for next year. I can PROMISE you that Sen will never be sent to school dressed as homemade Hobo.

I LOVE YOU JOYCE--you just weren't good at Halloween is all....

I present to you Halloween costumes 2011--Sen & Dutch.

Tweedle Dee (I like to call her Tweedle Deezers)

Cheeky Monkey (aka-melt my heart monkey). Ain't no homemade pirate here.

Store-bought costumes are THE BEST!!! Buying them on clearance a whole year before???

EVEN BETTER!!!

Even though my Mom wasn't a fan of Halloween costuming she always ordered pizza for our Halloween dinner, and it was really great cause we ALWAYS knew we were eating store-bought pizza that night...and that's what I like to remember (even though I also remember all of the costume fails). She always made oven-roasted, salted pumpkin seeds too. I always wanted to like them, but I never really did.

You are the best Joyceeeee!

Happy Halloween from the Powells of Otis.

BOO!

 

 

 

 

I kinda like it.

Recent things

1- We enrolled Sen in gymnastics. She has been three whole times. And LOVES it. (Pics below)

2- I made a Halloween craft that involved painting, sanding, NAILING, and vinyl lettering! 

3- Currently planning a Halloween party, of sorts, with my sis and her neighbor. So far I am responsible for: the bean-bag toss game, ghost-sucker making supplies, a bag of candy, and, of course, the WITCHES BREW. Can't wait.

4- Dutch is almost six months old!!!!

5- Kris & I experienced the highs & lows of becoming extremely addicted to the television series Friday Night Lights. MY WORD, I don't think I have ever loved a show more. Was crushed to find out that it is no longer on the air. I miss you Eric Taylor. I do. But as my good friend Megs told me, I have to mourn it and let it go. Mourn it and let it go.

6- We participated in a neighborhood yard sale. We made $130.00. It was awesome because we basically rounded up a bunch of crap the night before and put it out on tables in our garage. People came. People paid. I was FLOORED no one bought the brown boots I put out though, COME ON--they are Steve Maddens for crying out loud!! Are Steve Maddens not cool anymore? 

7- Fall things I am looking forward to: carving pumpkins, halloween cookies, caramel apples, and hayrides!! I am also looking forward to making more soups and possibly homemade rolls.

8- I have recently fallen victim to Pinterest & pinning things takes up a lot of my time. I especially like to pin pictures of pretty food and pretty decorating cause those are two things I won't ever be good at producing.

Plus you can find really cute things like these that make you feel connected to whomever pinned it before you:

Anyhow, I love it. Thanks Britt.

9- I really want to lose these last 15 lbs, but I can NOT find the energy nor the desire to do a whole lot to help me. Really bums me out, but I AM looking forward to eating caramel apples and pinning things, so I do have that going for me.

10- Sennah's 3rd birthday is one month away. I have gone back and forth on what to do. A party at home? A party at Chuck-e-cheese (which she would go ga-ga for)? Should there be a theme? Or should I just be really random and make a plain sheet cake (like we used to get)? Oh, the decisions!

Anyway, lets get to some pics....oh, by the way, we had to cut bangs for Sen cause she got a giant wad of gum stuck in her hair. 

Her first day.

Taken right before being called down to the floor. She only has one other girl in her class.

Balance beam.

 

Bar. I really like watching this part of the class.

Somersalts and back rollovers.

We are signing her up for a little kiks soccer clinic that starts next week. I can NOT wait to see her have to share a single ball with a bunch of other kids. Fun times ahead.

Kris says HI ya'll.

Dutch does too.

 

Cup of Tea

We went camping. 

Mokins Bay--Hayden, Idaho. One night (supposed to be two).

I would like to rant and rave about what an awesome time we had. 

But I feel like it's my obligation to be 100% honest....the Bloggy Woggy requires full disclosure. Honest. Disclosure.

Let's start out with the positives.

1-Sennah LOVED every second of it. 

2-I loved to see Sennah loving something so much. Dirt was probably top of the list. Birds and insects came in at a close second. (Clorox wipes made the tip-top of my list)

3-Kris LOVED using all of his new camping stuff. He shows his excitement for something by getting giddy-hyper. It's kinda cute and kind of grating to my nerves all at the same time. Love him.

4-We were the only people in the entire campsite (besides the old couple who stays there all summer managing it). I swear when we pulled in I have never seen two people look SO disappointed in all my life. The campsite was closing the next day and they were hoping to get outta there early to get to Arizona so Chuck (the guy) could get his prostate surgery. DAMN US....seriously, damn us.

5-I made really good tin-foil dinners that Kris really over-complimented....(He could see that my excitement about the trip was seriously waning and sometimes over-complimenting my mediocre abilities can charm me into happiness).

With all those things in mind, lets go through a few points in the negative.

1-Camping has never really been my cup of tea. We didn't go a whole lot growing up and I never became that seasoned camper-girl that can just tie a bandana around my greasy hair and let dirt accumulate underneath my nails. I don't want this point to define me. I can have fun camping--I just need a few things a certain way and then I am good as gold.

2-I had two things that made camping really hard: a severe headcold and a 5-month old with a headcold.

3-We chose the hottest weekend of the ENTIRE summer to go.

4-I pump breastmilk. I don't nurse, so I can't just find a quiet spot and feed my baby. I have to set my baby down somewhere and listen to him scream while I pump, and then I have to take him somewhere and feed him and then I have to boil water to wash the pump and the bottle and then I have do it all again for the next feeding. I really like to complicate things...it's almost what I do best.

5-I can't take any medication for my headcold while I am giving my baby my breastmilk....so that really sucked.

Let's take a look at the photos. I lost my vim on taking pictures pretty early on, so I didn't get any pictures of the lake...which was actually really pretty.

I present to you....Kris Lavon Powell, camper extraordinaire.

To say that Kris was as proud as a peacock would be an understatement. This is really his cup of tea.

He found this stove on Craigslist for a steal of a deal. I would venture to say he loves this stove as much as his own offsping. He for sure loves it more than his crotchety old wife.

**Disclaimer** The following pictures of Sennah's hair reveal, yet again, that I don't always do a great job....you know, with doing it. But I do, do it. 

Camping ='d chocolate chip cookies pretty much whenever she asked for one. Hey, I can be fun.

Oh, the dirt!!! I must have wiped this mug about 40 times. I would wipe it all off, feel good about myself, and then turn around to see her digging in the dirt again...it was too cute to get all naggy about. I just let it slide...I am just really easy-going like that.

Kris had the MOST brilliant idea. Homer didn't realize just how all purpose this bucket would be.

Is it bad that I'm posting this one? Cause this was such a lifesaver...and maybe I should have added it to my list of positives.

She was SUPER helpful with Dutch during set-up and take-down. She called him Baby Cosmo and pushed him around the campsite.

During the camping trip Dutch and I were kinda like two birds of a feather...we weren't the biggest fans of what was going on. But we did our best to put on a happy face for Dad and Sen.

**Kind of a funny thing...I told Kris the other day how Sennah is more like him (she loves to wrestle around and she is super tough) and Dutch is more like me (he likes to be treated with care and doesn't really love to be pestered), he quickly responded by saying "Give that kid to me so I can slap the TyAnna out of him"....he was joking, of course. But it made me laugh.**

That's right little buddy...you stay nice and clean there sitting in your bumbo.

He may be like me in certain ways, but he has got his daddy's legs. THOSE FAT KNEES!!!

The morning-time was really chilly--Dutch didn't even cry when he woke up, he just looked at us with this deer-in-the-headlights look..."Get me outta here Mom"

This may be one of the only smiles we got out of him for the entire 24 hrs. This may be one of the freakiest smiles we have gotten out of Sennah ever.

I would like to end this post with the one and only wildlife picture that I took. I don't know why, but I NEVER think to take pics of animals, trees, insects etc.

Jenn are you proud of me? I took a picture of the woodpecker that hung around our camp.

I named him Elroy.

 

 

 

Sometimes it's just about the milestones.

What the heck? It's September already!!

My word, it feels like it was just the 1st of August last week. Fall is a brewin' & I am tickled about it.

One thing of note. A milestone of sorts....tomorrow we are going camping. Our first family camping outing. It was a nightmare getting ready for it, but I am all hopes and dreams about it being the perfect end-of-summer sha-bang. We'll see. Blog post to come.

Another milestone? 1st rice cereal. Great day in the mornin'...I LOVE this face.

The Dr. said it was time to start the cereal when we went in for his four month visit, but I was determined to hold out until he was six months old, but like most things I am determined to do, I got antsy and the determination kind of fizzled. 

**Sidenote** watching Dutch eat his rice cereal brought Sennah's gag reflex back in full force. She was totally repulsed by his "spittin' it out".

Another milestone?? See for yourself.

 

He's been doing it for a while now, but I find myself feeling too lazy to walk downstairs to get my camera from my purse...plus, I don't like missing it. As a mom, there is this rush of motherly pride when you see your baby rolling over, crawling, walking, etc....it's a pretty great thing and having to take that extra 30 seconds to go get my camera is well......not that big of a deal. I am just lazy-dazy.

p.s. In regards to Sennah's hair. I do her hair, I do. I just don't have a lot of pictures/videos to prove it. Plus, she is REALLY GOOD at ruining it within minutes of my doing it. The video above was taken in the morning....so just let that sit with ya'll for a while. I do her hair. I DOOOOOOO. *Megs*...I do.

Another milestone? Kinda hunching over his boppy....he's really good at it. I just made this a thing.

Yes, his legs are underneath it. He is sitting up...sort of...in a way.

Another milestone? Laying on his brand new sleeping bag (for our milestone camping trip). Sen got one too.

I let Sen wear tank-tops. The other day in church this lady went off about how terrible it is to let your kids wear tank tops. I felt guilty for a good two hours. Then I forgot about it. Posting the above picture just made me remember it again.

The best milestone???.....well, it wasn't/isn't really a milestone was having my Dad here this week. We love him SO much. He carries Dutch around and talks and talks to him. He told me he did the same thing with us kids. Dutch will turn out just fine then ( :  Thanks Dad.

 

My Dad does a "Doug" in the video and it's my favorite. 

**Sidenote** A "Doug" is when you involuntarily copy what another person in saying or doing. I do "Dougs" a lot. It must be hereditary.

Now that Sennah is potty-trained, she spends a lot of time in just her undies....makes for an easier time goin', if ya know what I mean. In every recent picture I had on my camera, she was in her underwear. That lady in my ward would probably be doubly disappointed in my mothering skills.

But man oh man...it's nice not having to change her stinky diapers. Now I just have to deal with her touching germy toilet seats wherever we go ( : Yahoooooo for being a Mom.

I have been reading a few blogs where people have posted about where they were and what they were doing on September 11, 2001. It got me remembering and I thought I would post my memory.

I was living with my parents. I was going to the community college.  I was working at 1-800-contacts. I had just broken up with a boyfriend in the weeks before it happened. I was 22. I was laying in bed crying about the break-up the morning it happened. My Dad called and told me to turn on the T.V....that something terrible had happened. I ran in the next room and turned on the television just in time to see the first tower fall.

I remember feeling sick. I remember feeling very small....my life's problems seemed trivial and insignificant in those moments. I remember saying a silent prayer. I remember feeling scared to drive to work. I didn't want to go to school either, and I wanted all the members of my family to come to my Mom and Dad's so I could feel close to them.

I called for my cousin Teniesha to come upstairs and see. She called her parents immediately. Her Dad told her to stop over-reacting...because that kinda runs in the family. He hadn't yet turned on the t.v. that morning. It was such a scary feeling.

What about you? Tell me about what you were doing.