Terrible Two's

Da da da .....(dramatic drum sound) it happened.  I knew it was inevitable, but I had hoped somehow I would be the exception and Ryder would stay a little bundle of joy forever.  But instead she went and turned 2.  And when she turned 2, she got even more of an attitude.  Which if you know Ryder is hard to wrap your mind around since she's always been a bit of a diva.  I'd say on a diva scale she went from a Beyonce to an Elton John.  Lord help me when she becomes a teenager...

On her birthday she was mostly her normal self.  She was happy to open presents that included a new tricycle, 2 new baby dolls, lots of baby accessories, clothes, lots of crayons and coloring books, and some other girlie things that she loved.



We did the usual cake and ice cream, which is always a big hit!







Don't worry, you don't need to call child protective services on me. That is not Ryder's beer in the picture.  While we do find her to be very mature for her age, we did not let her have a birthday Budweiser with her cake.  Please remain calm.

All in all it was a good birthday and she seemed happy and like the old days when she used to be 1.  And then she woke up like this...



Major attitude.  This is her smiling.



This is her wearing her cowboy boots on the wrong feet with pajamas while trying to hide from me when I told her it was time to get dressed.  This is how most of our morning start now.



This is Roxy also trying to hide and also not doing a very good job of it.

Some other special memories include the day that she spilled salt all over the table and when I walked in the kitchen she quickly yelled "dammit Ryder!".  Ok, that was funny.  I tried to keep a straight face and show that I was not amused by her and sent her on her way while I cleaned up the whole salt shaker that she poured out.  Upon completion of cleaning that I up I realized she was being suspiciously quiet.  Silence is NEVER a good sign when it comes to Ryder. (and sometimes Mike, but that's another story for another day...)

I quickly ran upstairs to discover this.



Roxy covered in Desitin.  Ok, still kind of funny.  Now if you're familiar with Desitin you know it is a thick cream (for diaper rash) that does not wipe off easy.  Turns out it's even harder to get off dog hair.  It actually took a couple of weeks for all signs of it to absorb into her skin.

Now I'm not finding it as hard to keep a straight face while I'm wrestling with Roxy, trying to wipe her down in the bathroom.  Just as I'm concluding that this is not going to come off I think "Hey, what's that baby fresh scent I suddenly smell"...

...Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  But fool me three times and you're grounded.



You'll never guess who exploded an entire bottle of baby powder all over herself and her room while I was cleaning up her dog.

You'll probably also not be able to guess who immediately took off running into my bedroom and threw her powder covered self onto my dark brown bed spread leaving a print of her body and hands.



What do we have here?  Footprints in the baby powder all across the rug and carpet in her room?



On the bright side, her room did smell like the baby fresh out of the bath tub.  On the down side, within a 30 minute time span I had to clean salt in the kitchen, Desitin off the dog and baby powder off of pretty much everything.

These photos are for documentation when she is old enough to appreciate being grounded.  I'm thinking that will make a great birthday present around 10.  I'll be all like "Happy Birthday!! Now you're grounded until your 12."  And she'll be all "But Mom (probably really whiny)!" And I'll be like" Here's some pictures you can look at and think about what you've done."

I should write a book on parenting or something.  So yeah, it's never too late to plan for the future!

Only 11 months to go until we're past this stage.  It ends exactly when they turn 3.  Right?  Right?!

Xoxo,

Emily

Charley's Blessing

I don't have anything clever to say this time.  Just wanted to share a few pictures of my little angel on her big day!







Xoxo,

Emily

This Little Piggy...

Did you know that I have always wanted to have a cute little pig as a pet?  It's true.  There's something about that pink (and often spotted skin) that just melts my heart.

Did you know pigs are very intelligent and learn quickly? They pick up tricks faster than dogs. Pigs rank #4 in animal intelligence behind chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants. Piglets learn their names by two to three weeks of age and respond when called.





Pigs are very social animals. They form close bonds with each other and other species. Pigs enjoy close contact and will lie close together when resting. Pigs use their grunts to communicate with each other.





Pigs have a great sense of smell. Their powerful but sensitive snout is a highly developed sense organ. Pigs also have a great field of vision, because their eyes are on the sides of their heads.



Pigs have four toes on each hoof, but only walk on two toes per foot.


A mature pig has 44 teeth.


A pig can run a 7 minute mile.


Fascinating right?!  





Just look at my little piggy Sugar.  Isn't she precious?  It took me years to fatten her up and get her just right, but I think it was worth all the time and effort!






Don't tell her she's not really a pig though, because I've been calling her that for quite some time now and if she found out otherwise it might hurt her feelings. She's kind of sensitive.




Xoxo,

Emily

Sisters

I'm on a roll here people!  Look how amazing I am at updating my blog.  Feel free to shower me with praises and gifts as you see fit...

...anyways.  Where was I?  Ah yes.  Sisters.



I worried how these 2 would do together.  You see Ryder is a little... shall we say... high maintenance.  I was afraid she would never forgive me for ruining her life by bringing home this thing that would take attention away from her.  And at first I was right.  She was mad.  I don't blame her.  I remember how I felt when my mom went and messed up a perfectly good thing by bringing home a sister.  But as was the case with me, Ryder has come to accept her fate.  In fact, she might even like her a little now.  Just a little.



They're already sharing secrets.



And fashion advice.  Here Ryder is telling Charley she thinks this bow is a little oversized for her head.  She's very opinionated.

Look how much fun we're all having together now.  I can hardly wait until they're teenagers.  It'll be every mothers dream come true I'm sure.

Until next time.


Xoxo,

Emily

Much Ado About Charley Boo.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a smiler on our hands.



And who can resist those chubby cheeks.  And when I say chubby I mean chubby.  My little 6 lb baby is now 11 lbs at 2 months old.



But she's more than just a pretty face... she's a deep thinker and surprisingly insightful for her age.  Trust me.


Xoxo,

Emily

Vive El Futbol!

So... am I the only one that has to watch out for deer playing soccer in their neighborhood?

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Just wondering.

Xoxo,

Emily

Introducing Charley Malinda Mendenhall

I know this is almost 6 weeks late, but on January 19th at 2:12 pm Charley Malinda finally got out of my belly and entered the world.  She weighed 6 lbs 9 oz and was 19 inches long.

Initially fresh out of the womb when she was all squishy and still kind of had a smashed face I thought she looked just like Ryder, but I was wrong.  She looks exactly like her dad.  Not only that but I think she might have blue eyes.  People on the street might think I'm kidnapping somebody else's kid because she looks nothing like me.  But that's ok, I think I'll keep her anyways...













I'll be back soon...ish and post more updated pics.  Turns out having 2 kids under 2 takes makes it a little difficult to do things like update your blog...and function as a normal member or society.

Xoxo,

Emily

Christmas Card Rejects

On this last day of 2010 I thought I'd reward you by sharing some of the pictures from our Christmas card photo shoot that didn't exactly make the cut.  You're welcome.



It started off ok.



And got progressively more difficult.



She has a hard time staying focused.



Like a really hard time.





I must have said something really funny here.



She's getting bored.





She's getting feisty.



And now she's just humoring me.

So on that note, I hope you had a Merry Christmas and will have a happy and healthy New Year.  Until next time...

Xoxo,

Emily

Going The Distance

Right before Thanksgiving my dad (Ernie), Melissa (his partner in crime business) and Bernard (my dad's good friend and neighbor) all participated in a triathlon sprint up at Weber State.  I think it was called the Turkey something or other.  I don't really remember.  This is why you should blog on a regular basis so you don't have memory lapses on details like that...  Anyways, it was probably the coldest day ever.  No seriously, EVER.  It was freezing cold, blowing hurricane like winds and by the end it was pouring rain.  Awesome race conditions if I do say so myself.  They all did awesome and I was exhausted just from watching, so I'm sure being that they actually participated it was hard on them as well.  Here's a little something I put together of them doing what they do best... showing off their extreme athletic prowess.  Enjoy!

Oh and you're welcome for posting twice in week.  You owe me big time.  Just kidding.

Xoxo,

Emily

Let's Review

So this is what Ryder looked like last time I updated the good ol' blog.



I took these shortly after her first birthday.  Isn't she just precious?!

Well guess what?  She's much older now and has a lot more hair.  In fact she's almost 20 months old now.  I've been a combination of lazy and busy and haven't posted anything.  I'm a horrible blogger.  But in my defense I am growing another person in my uterus and it turns out that takes up a lot of time and energy.  Also, after being forced into involuntary early retirement in the beginning of August I spent the rest of the summer and fall working at Grampy's worm farm.  Mindi and I will be the proud new owners of it next year, so it was good to get a feel of the ropes (or worms if you will).  Anyways, I am going to try and commit to keeping up on this better, but in the mean time  here is a pictorial summary of the last 6 months or so.  (In a somewhat chronological order).



We went to Idaho again to visit Grandpa Bob.  Ryder was a little more tolerant of this visit than the last time.  That Bob is a tricky son-of-a-gun.  He tried to go off and die on us a couple of months ago by having an allergic reaction to his blood pressure medication.  Luckily for him, we weren't having it so after a couple of scary weeks he was back to his stubborn self and good as new. (More or less.  More like gently used but still acceptable.)  He did manage to run over himself with his own car shortly after he got out of the hospital, but that's totally unrelated and he has survived that incident as well.  Bob.  What can we say.  Gotta love him.





We managed to squeeze swimming in a couple of times.



Occasionally she will do us the pleasure of napping.







We hit up a parade or two, played with cousins and tried out some popsicles.





We got to BBQ with Grandpa Kenny and play on Aunt Mindi's trampoline.



There were moments like this...



...That ended in moments such as this.



Every once in a rare while she will sit and eat a meal.  If you really consider toast and chocolate milk a meal.



No matter what we're always ready for game day.











We went on our first big family camping trip.  We hiked, rode 4-wheelers, played in the dirt and did all that good stuff.





Mike and I flew to Vegas for the weekend to watch the PBR National Finals.  We had a ton of fun and got to meet some really cool people.  Mike is sad that I won't let him chase his dream of professional bull riding.  I'm good at shattering dreams like that.





Grampy went and turned 80 on us.  I hope he enjoys the next 80 years as much as he did the last...







Then there was Halloween.  Costume wise, this year went much better than last year, however the weather was horrible and we only went trick-or-treating to like 3 houses before we gave up.  We were however slightly alarmed to discover Ryder's obsession with candy and her ability to steal it when she thought no one was looking.  She truly is my child.





All in all it's been a good couple of months filled with lots of precious moments that I should have been sharing along the way.  Oh well, live and learn right?  So that more or less brings us up to the current date and time.  Yes I know I didn't post anything about Thanksgiving, but that's because I didn't really take any pictures.  I blame the fetus.  She really has a way of sucking the life out of me sometimes.  So until next time...

Xoxo,

Emily