january glimpses

 usually i am twiddling my thumbs and throwing darts at a target with 'January' in the center because i just want it to go away already...and yet here i am, tapping my head wondering how in the world it's february 9th!

in between all the dr. visits and medical talk, we had a great month -- probably my favorite January ever. nothing major happened. we just enjoyed each other. little moments. yummy food. smiles. little happies all around. here are some glimpses:

our good friend Dale had a birthday -- and so we celebrated with him, his cute fam & some friends over at San Francisco Creamery. M + Dale took on the "kitchen sink" challenge... which entailed eating that whole crate of ice cream in 30 minutes or less (and then you'd get it free...otherwise, you owe 'em forty bucks. you heard me! FORTY BUCKS!). anyway, it was an epic failure, but a hilarious epic failure. the best start ever to a usually bleak month. (my friend Elyse posted lots more pics of the adventure over on her blog here).

 Ellie graduated from Sunbeams and is now in the CTR 4 class! i can't even begin to tell you how thrilled she is to have her very own CTR Ring :: Alice is obsessed with this married-veil-tiara thing. one morning, she came to my side of the bed with it already on :: one of the girls' favorite things is to hang on the pull-up bar with daddy's help. wish i loved the pull-up bar as much as they do

our house is seriously one constant dance-party these days. and i wouldn't have it any other way.

our cold Saturday mornings were mostly filled with donuts, hot chocolate, and cozy snuggles with our favorite furry friends. oh yes, and the disney channel. heaven bless the disney channel.

 Alice had an embarrassing / hilarious potty moment this month which i posted on instagram (side note: i am being the most slacker-parent ever when it comes to potty training this time. can you be 1/2 way potty trained? poor Alice needs her mother to be whipped into shape!). basically we were in target and i could tell she had to go #2 -- so we rushed into a verrrry crowded bathroom and we had the following conversation: Alice (very loudly, might i add- she speaks only one volume-- LOUD): 

"the poopy isn't coming! why the poopy isn't coming??" i encouraged her as quietly as i possibly could. then all of a sudden there was silence.....and then a huge gasp of excitement and a yell, "the poopy came! i just closed my eyes and it came!" sometimes you just have to laugh, you know? ::

the next day, Ellie had her own embarrassing moment on our play structure. she was scooting across the deck to get onto the slide and yelped out of pain. she asked if something was stuck, and we noticed her tights were ripped and saw a little, tiny fleck of wood. after like 10 tough yanks and lots of screams/wails, i got those tweezers to finally pull that almost-2-inch sucker out of her poor lil tush. she was laughing and crying at the same time. being a parent is nuts sometimes, wouldn't you agree?

one day this month, i filled up for just over $3 a gallon! i was pretty dang stoked about it. though...now that i think about it, it kind of ticks me off that i was so excited about it.....but it ticks me off even more that i just drove by a gas station today that was charging over $4 a gallon. i hate buying gas so bad. 

i love this picture so much. so that's why it's extra big. i love these three people!! (duh). we played lots of hide and seek and had lots of tickle fights this month. the girls are at such fun ages for that sorta thing. and boy do they love their daddy.

Ellie is enjoying so many things in her little life right now. one place that i have noticed huge improvements is in gymnastics. she is so cute on the bars and jumping from the tramp into the pit. i admit, i kind of live vicariously through her because i love gymnastics so much. but she loves it, too -- especially since she has tons of her favorite little people to share it with.

 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we took the girls to the outlets to do a lil shopping. these little girls are definitely some sassy-sidekicks! and boy do they love to accessorize. :: Alice is currently obsessed with her sunnies. she wears them all the time -- it always cracks me up when i see her casually wearing them around the house...and it's nighttime.

 Ellie and Alice spend most days glued to each other's hips. it makes me so happy to see them loving each other so much and playing with each other so well :: Alice decided that she didn't want to nap anymore for almost the whole month of January. after about 20 minutes in her crib, she'd scream her head off till i'd come back, and i'd find her undressed and with that ticked off look on her face. she is so-very-two. :: daddy decided since she wasn't napping anyway, it would be a good time to convert Alice's crib into a bed. she fell out the first night and was pretty traumatized -- but hasn't missed a nap since. weirdest kid ever.

 the girls sure love their little friends -- especially when they get to have a pizza/movie/ice cream party with each other! :: i can't wait to debut a little thing that M and i have been scheming/working on....it's just for fun, but involves a home-made movie set and our funny girls. i love all the fun we have together :: our friends, the Heymans had an unfortunate run-in with a skunk in January...somehow it got into their crawl-space of their house and they then spent the month trying to get rid of it with cages and other crazy schemes. a skunk living under their house! so nuts. M and i thought the whole thing was super hilarious -- and even played a little prank on them by putting that raccoon stuffed animal in one of their cages. i'm glad they're such good sports...because it seriously has given us lots and lots of laughs.

when we went outlet shopping over MLK day, we found these adorable white cords for Ellie for $2 -- she promised me that she'd wear them if i bought them (and i figured $2 was worth the risk)...and after a morning of sweetening her up with her favorite breakfast (blueberry muffins), she totally made good on her deal and wore pants. miracle, i tell you! :: many of our Saturdays were filled with trips to Home Depot, as there always is some sort of project going on at the Chapman home :: Alice is currently obsessed with bras. mine are always missing because she tries them on and hides them in obscure places. in this particular ocassion, she was frustrated that her lil Ariel doll's bra/bikini top wouldn't fit her. when i walked in and saw her without her shirt on (and that she was so upset), i asked her, "why did you take your shirt off?" she said, "de-cause, i wanted to wear DIS shirt." (she threw the bra at me). she continued, "but it no fit me! i sad." such a funny, funny kid.

 on the last day of January, i had that dr appointment that i told you about in my last post. sometimes when i'm having a yucky day, i like to run away from it all and do something fun and spontaneous. in this case, we ran away to hang out with the giraffes and monkeys (and a couple of friends too). it was a perfect zoo day -- not crowded, animals were out and about, and weather was lovely. oh, and i even wore my animal print shoes. do you think that sorta stuff offends the animals? anyway. we had a beautiful day -- and honestly it was a perfect end to a crazy month.

xoxo

new year's eve, our little sunbeam, and a super embarrassing moment.

what kind of a mom does it make me that M and i didn't even tell Ellie that it was New Year's Eve?
and that we didn't even give the slightest mention that at midnight there would be a party and celebration- and that millions of children all over the world would be staying up late to bang on pots and pans and throw confetti and eat junk food and drink delicious bubbly drinks?
and that instead we put Ellie + Alice to bed early so that we could have friends over and have our own party sans children...?

well... it sounds pretty awful when i type it all out like that, but it was totally worth it because we had a totally awesome time with some of our much-younger/cooler-than-us-friends, without worrying about grumpy kids, messes only children could make, and having horrible meltdowns the next day. plus, being able to socialize without kids makes you realize that you are human- that you can talk about things other than poop and sleeping schedules, and that you like music other than Disney songs and lullabys. it was refreshing. we played celebrity, ate delicious food (think fancy cheese plate, individual 7-layer dip cups, grandma's cheesecake, and much more), made fun of Lady Gaga's freaky octopus costume, and, of course, toasted in the new year with some bubbly (aka Martinelli's). i didn't take a single picture of the decor, took only one picture of the food (my slice of cheesecake)...but redeemed myself with the awesome photobooth pictures.

the next morning we were blessed with 9 am church (sense a teense bit of sarcasm? i mean, 9 am church the morning after New Years = crap, i've got a serious case of red-eye). but mostly, i am serious that we are blessed with 9 am church this year- we've only enjoyed 9 am church like once since we've been married (because of how moves and schedulings have worked out in wards we have been in) so i've been idealizing this 9 am start for quite some time... and i was totally right- because even though it was super tough rolling out of bed, getting everyone dressed and hair-did, and throwing everyone + our 5 duffle-bag-sized-church-survival-kits into the car in a timely fashion (amidst being semi-prepared for our Sunday duties) it was as awesome as i imagined it would be come 12 o'clock. how i adore (and have missed) Sunday naps.

but now i'm rambling passed the really important junk i wanted to talk about.

1st important thing: Ellie had her first Sunday in Primary as a Sunbeam! all last week, and all day Saturday, and allllll morning before church she kept saying, "i get to go to Primary now. i'm going to be a Sunbeam. i'm not in nursery anymore because i'm a big girl. do i get to go to Primary now? is it time to go to Primary yet? i get to go to Primary, you know." yeah, she was kinda excited. it was super cute realizing that she knew Primary is a special place to be. and it is.

being in Primary to see her come in and experience her first Sunday there was one of the most special things for me to witness as a mom yet. i felt like it was a little gift to watch her expressions and see her little fingers wiggle and wave at me as i sat up front. she looked so little there with all the other big primary kids, and was so sweet listening to the songs. when we introduced those cute lil beamers, i called them to the front and she held her little fellow-sunbeam Chase's hand. it was like they were nervous but proud to be there together. i wish i could have photographed it- but it was one of those things that my mind took a photo of and i hope to remember forever. it made me realize that she is still so little, and that i am so lucky to have such a cute little human in my life.

2nd important thing (the embarrassing story): we were sitting in Sacrament meeting. (yes, another Sacrament meeting embarrassing moment to compete with this one). i was feeling a little "full." (hey, it was January 1st. i just had the best eating holiday break EVER, which = indulging shamelessly and frequently in homemade cheesecake, chocolate peppermint cookies, peppermint rice krispy treats, bread, fudge, roast, potatoes, rolls, pies, flan, caramels, truffles, and every other sweet or high-fat goodness covered and/or smothered in butter). M had to help me zip up this cute little blue dress that my grandma had sewn for me a few years back..it was a tight squeeze, but it zipped, and stayed zipped as long as i didn't breathe. i love that little blue dress so the sacrifice of not breathing is always worth it.

so there i was in sacrament meeting- the sacrament was being passed. it was dead quiet (minus my children talking loudly and occasionally yelling). i had my bags of books and treats (aka battle gear) laid in front of me, and Ellie asked me for something. i bent over to get it, and POP, scrrrrakzkzzizii, pppow. what the!?? my zipper had POPPED. as in BROKEN. as in SPLIT OPEN. this is no joke. i immediately slammed back to the pew. i sunk down real low. and starting inhaling and exhaling very quickly (i hadn't been breathing, remember?), and thoughts buzzed around my head (insert a swear word or two here), "did the dude behind me just see what happened? did he see my underwear? did he see my BRA? gasp! oh my gosh. how embarrassing. who else saw? does everybody know that i am completely undressed in SACRAMENT MEETING??" so i tried devising a plan for what i should do ::took a piece of bread:: what to do what to do what to do? ::eyes got big trying to communicate to M of my crisis:: ::folded arms for water prayer::  ::sweat dripped down neck::  ::finally got M's attention:: then the person behind me, a friend of ours (praise the heavens) leaned over to me and said, "Liz has a blanket in the car if you want it." so the dude sitting behind me had seen the embarrassing zipper-popping-incident. great. ::head hangs in shame::

i was able to slip on my diaper bag as a back-pack (bless that bag), and hold my dress together on my way out- and then i bolted home and had to use the scissors to cut myself out of the dress. no one would notice that i was wearing a red dress instead of blue one when i got back, right? all in all, it was a pretty humiliating experience- one that i just wanted to scream out kind a like this:

 

but who needs that kind of extra attention on themselves when they are already half-clothed because of eating too many treats?

and so i guess i should add some sort of diet to my new year's resolutions with the rest of America.
but diets aren't really my style, so maybe i should put "make a billion dollars so i can buy some new dresses" on there instead.

yes, that one seems better to me.

happy new year, everyone! my annual letter is coming soon.

p.s. to the grandma's and family peeps out there, in my previous Christmas post, i added a video of Alice and Ellie dancing to Jackson 5's Santa Claus is coming to town. Alice's dancing skills are pretty adorable if you wanna check 'em out.

xoxo