Magdalyn 3 Months

It has been a crazy couple of weeks, so I know I am totally behind on this! Magdalyn is the calmest, happiest baby I have ever met! And I am not the only one who thinks so. It's not just a case of proud-mommy syndrome (which I do have). People at church ask me all the time if she has ever cried. The other moms at tumbling talk about her frequently (or so I have been told) and many of them have said, "I would have another baby if I could be guaranteed one like her." On July 15th, when she was exactly 3 months, I was at a book signing boutique all day. I was there all the next day too and Magdalyn spent both days with me. The other authors could not believe what a content little baby she was. She was perfectly happy laying on her blanket and playing for hours at a time. Everyone wanted to hold and snuggle her (she loves to snuggle!) and I had several offers to be my new babysitter.

Magdalyn loves to look around and take everything in. If we are watching a movie, she has to be facing the TV, just because she can tell something is going on. Bath time is one of her favorite things in the world! She kicks and splashes and goes crazy as soon as she gets in water. She also loves to watch her mobile. She enjoys being on her feet, you can tell she can't wait until she can run and play like her sister. It is very easy to get her to smile. With Kalianna, you had to work to earn her smiles. But Magdalyn loves to show off her gummy grin. She is such a sweet little girl! I honestly can't believe she was only born 3 short months ago. I can't imagine our family without her!

Binky Fairy

It's official. We are now a binky-free house! A couple weeks ago Kalianna got a visit from the Binky Fairy. We got the idea from a friend of mine, and we really liked it. First I spent the day scouring the house for spare binkies. I threw away all of Magdalyn's while Kalianna was napping. Maggie doesn't take them, so I wanted them out of the house. I knew Kalianna had five. I found four of them. I searched and searched and couldn't find the last one. So I figured we had left it at my parents and would dispose of it later. We spent all day talking about the Binky Fairy and how she would leave Kali a present for her binkies.

Finally after dinner, the moment had arrived. We got a pink gift bag out and put it on Kalianna's bed. She said good bye to each of her binkies with one final suck, then spit them into the bag and said bye-bye. Then I took the girls out to run errands and when we got home, there was a cute stuffed elephant in place of her binkies. Kali was ecstatic! She loves elephants! She hugged him and played with him all evening. Then came the dreaded bedtime. She asked for her binkies and when I reminded her that the binkies went bye-bye and now she had elephant instead, she cried. A lot. Poor thing! But she did hug her elephant and went to bed snuggling him. She woke up a couple times that first night, unable to get herself back to sleep without the binky. So I went in and sang to her and she fell asleep again.

She did so great the next couple days! She rarely asked for them and when I reminded her of the binky fairy, she would hug her elephant and be happy again. Then we walked to a neighborhood dinner. That last little binky had been hiding under the stroller and, of course, Kalianna was the first to see it. She was thrilled! Darn that last binky! So...the Binky Fairy came again that night. This time bringing Kalianna a stuffed cat and some M&Ms. She was thrilled all over again! This time she realized the binky was leaving for good. So there were a lot less tears. Now she had an elephant, a cat, and chocolate!

There are still some days I wish she had her binky. Especially at nap and night times. But I really am glad it's gone! No more trying to find it and no more hassle. She hasn't asked for it in awhile now. She still has some restless nights, but most of the time she is just moving and making noise in her sleep. So not having it doesn't keep her up, it keeps me up. But she has been doing better and better. My little girl is growing up!

Book Signing Boutique

Last weekend I was invited to participate in a yard sale/boutique/book signing event. I only had five copies of my book left and I didn't have time to order more. I wasn't sure if it would be worth it and almost didn't participate. But then I decided why not? Every time I have done a book signing with other authors, it has turned into a great experience! Even if I don't sell a single book, I get to meet other authors and always end up learning something new. It doesn't matter how many books I sell. Even selling one copy to someone who might not normally hear about it is worth it to me! So I found people to watch Kalianna for me all day Friday and Saturday, then I got up Friday morning and headed to the boutique. I was looking at my map, unsure of where to go next, when I was met by flashing lights in my mirror. Awesome. I've never been pulled over in my life! Of course it would be on my way to a book signing, when I was already running late. I was apparently speeding in a school zone. School shouldn't even be going in July! Whatever. I ended up with my first ticket ever. Way lame! I felt totally stupid. I don't ever speed! Especially in a school zone. And what a bad way to start my day! Oh well. I got there and set up and enjoyed visiting with the other authors. Magdalyn came with me, since she needs me every 3 hours to survive. She did so good! Maggie is seriously the happiest baby I have ever seen! She is so chill, people kept asking if she ever cries. Everyone absolutely loved her and it was fun having some one-on-one time with her. It started to get really hot late in the afternoon, even under our tent, so we closed shop a tiny bit early.

Then the next day we did it all again. I sold all five of my books in those two days, making just enough to pay off my speeding ticket. But I learned so much from the other authors, I don't even care! I made some great new friends who taught me so much already! And we had a blast visiting and sharing our experiences with each other for two days. I would do the whole thing all over again in a heartbeat!

The other authors who were there were Cindy C Bennett, Sherry Gammon, Anna del C Dye, A.M. Hooper, and Mandi Slack. The only problem with doing a book signing with so many other authors is now I want to read each of their books. That's a lot more to buy!

After hearing some of the experiences other authors have had with publishing houses, I am so happy I self-published! Sometimes I wonder if it is worth all the work, and then I talk to a "traditionally" published author. Nine times out of ten, they are unhappy with their publisher and wish they were in my shoes.

So after talking with these other authors, I went home and wrote this:

I'll huff and I'll puff...

Maybe it's because the 3 little pigs is my daughter's favorite story right now, but I spent the weekend with several other authors (some self-published and some published through big publishing houses) and now I can't get thoughts of the big bad wolf out of my head. Let's face it. We, as authors, are all just like these little piggies. We just want to make our own way in this world, set up houses for ourselves, and live happily ever after. But the big bad wolf of publishing doesn't want that. They want to knock down our work, watch us run away squealing, and then gobble us up.

Take pig number one for example. This pig is a little naive and possibly unaware of the wolf's intentions. The wolf takes advantage of this pig any chance he gets. This piggy is like many authors out there who sign a contract with the first publishing house who will take them, thrilled to be getting published at all. Saying, "Hey! A straw house--sounds awesome! It won't take long to put up, nor much work on my part. Now I can go play!" Then they read the fine print. They are locked in with this publishing house for life, unable to submit work anywhere else. They make almost nothing from royalties, while their publisher racks in the dough. And they don't even have a marketing package with their contract, so their book isn't being promoted the way it should be. The first rainfall hits and they realize their house was cool in theory, but now they are left with nothing more than a mushy pile of straw.

Pig number two has done his homework. He knows sticks are thicker and stronger than straw, but he maybe doesn't know how to make his house completely secure. He has a lawyer read over his contract and doesn't sign until he feels good about the deal he is getting, but he still doesn't have rights to his own book. He can't sell or promote his own work without first clearing it with his publisher and they get to make changes to his story that maybe he doesn't want in there. It only takes an extra blow or two, and his house gets knocked down, just like his brother's.

Then there is little piggy number three. He spends a lot more of his own money, and he has to work three times harder than the first two pigs, but once his house of brick is complete, he is able to relax by the fireplace and turn up his music to block out the sound of a wolf howling at his door. All the other pigs called him crazy when he said he was going to self-publish. "Why do all that extra work? If you build a simpler home, you can spend the rest of the day playing with us! Besides, do you know how much bricks cost?!" But it always ends the same. The third little pig is the happiest, and he always ends up helping the other pigs out when their houses come tumbling down.

July 4th Festivities - Horseback Riding/First Movie

I'm including this with the July 4th stuff because to me it was all one long weekend of fun. After the BBQ Monday night, Ricci invited us to go horseback riding with she and her mom Tuesday morning. Her grandpa has horses, and Kalianna has been obsessed with horses lately. We had talked about doing it, and with her mom in town from Georgia, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. So instead of driving all the way home that night, we stopped at my parent's house and put the girls to bed there instead. Since we hadn't planned on staying the night, Matt continued home to pick up clothes, diapers, and the dogs for the next day. He ended up driving to Layton and back twice that night to make sure we had everything for the following morning. He is such a sweetheart! I fell asleep after his first trip, or I would have discouraged him from going back again! Tuesday morning I had to wake the girls up, but Kalianna was super excited when I told her where we were going.

We got there and at first Kalianna was really nervous. She said "no like big horse". She loves horses, but this was her first time (that she could remember) seeing them up close. But once she pet one and saw how nice they were, she seemed okay. Ricci's grandpa has a really old horse named Barney who is super sweet. He loves to snuggle and be pet. And he loved Kalianna! He kept following her around and trying to snuggle up to her. She enjoyed petting Barney and warmed up to him pretty quick. Then Ricci got on Snap to go for a ride. Kalianna almost fell out of my arms trying to get to her! She was super worried for Ricci! We put her on the horse with Ricci and they rode around together, and she was fine after that. As soon as we tried to take her off the horse, and she realized Ricci wasn't getting off too, she became hysterical. We let her feed a couple of the horses some carrots and she really liked that! Then when Mommy went for a ride, it was the same thing all over again. She was fine as long as she was on the horse with me. But me being on the horse by myself, she was terrified for my safety! It was like she was trying to protect us. If she was with us, we were okay. Funny girl!

We went back to my parents house and fed the girls lunch, then some much-needed naps. Matt and I decided to take advantage of the rare opportunity of the girls being at my parent's house and we had leftover breast milk from Saturday with us, so we decided to stay another night and go on a much needed date. He took me to a yummy dinner at Red Lobster and then we went for a drive. We wanted to do a movie too, but we got a late start and with Magdalyn's feeding schedule, none of the ones we wanted to see worked out. So we drove up to Layton to get more stuff to get us through the next day. It was nice getting some alone time for once!

Wednesday the girls and I hung out at the house and took it easy. Ricci was there too. After several nights in a row of being up too late, the girls finally got a good nights sleep. Once Kalianna went down for a nap, Ricci and I worked on cards for card group. That afternoon, my parents wanted to take the grand kids to a movie. Kalianna had never been to a movie before. Ever. She is a very active little girl and doesn't sit still for very long. So I wasn't sure how she would do having to sit still in a theater for over an hour. But I figured it was worth a shot. And it seemed like an opportune time to try it, since there were seven adults for the five kids. Logan and Bryan got off work in time to join us. Poor Matt had to work late. =( So it was my parents, Logan, Kristine, and their 3 boys, plus Bryan, Ricci, me, and the 2 girls.

We went and saw Cars 2. It went about how I expected. Grandpa bought some popcorn and icees for the kids. Kalianna enjoyed her snacks and sat on my lap through the previews, commenting on each one. My mom held Maggie the whole time. Who was actually awake and wide-eyed for most of it. Now normally I think bringing a baby to the movies is stupid, but I wanted to be there for Kalianna's first movie, and I figured she would do the best with me anyway. So I chose to be selfish and took Magdalyn along. She was great though!

Cars is one of Kali's favorite movies at home, but we only watch about 20-30 minutes of it at a time. So about 20 minutes into the movie she said "All done" and tried to get down. Grandpa took her for a walk and then they came back a little bit later. She really didn't like the loud explosions and blowing stuff up (it's a spy movie). She kept saying "No like fireworks". She did pretty well, we took a couple more walks during the movie, but I think she did well for her first time. Especially taking into consideration her attention span for movies. By the end she was very ready to go. But all the next day she kept saying "go see Cars", so I know she liked it. Cars 2 was definitely for an older audience than the first one, so I'm sure that added to it as well. When we got back to my parent's, I fed Magdalyn and Matt helped Bryan with some stuff, getting us home late once again. We've just been home the last two days, and although we had a ton of fun, it's so nice to be back to our normal routines again!

July 4th Festivities - BBQ

We had no plans for July 4th up until a couple days before. So we were thrilled when my sister asked if we wanted to come over for a BBQ. We were all a bit off on Sunday since we had gotten home so late. Then we were busy all day Monday getting things done and running errands. Monday afternoon we headed down to Eagle Mountain and joined the rest of my family at Kristine and Logan's house for a yummy BBQ. The little kids played in the pool and with water balloons while the older kids (aka adults) ate yummy food and talked about So You Think You Can Dance. Kalianna absolutely loves playing with her cousins! She was so excited to have so many kids to play with! She especially seems to love Cagney, who is actually my six-year-old cousin. Cagney plays really cute with her and helps her with everything.

After dinner, a bunch of us walked down to the park and watched while the little ones continued to play. Kalianna was the youngest one there (not counting the babies). She just loved chasing the big kids all over. They would run off and do something and she would chase after them, with all her little two-year-old might saying, "go with kids". She had an absolute ball!

When it started to get dark, we headed back to their house for fireworks. Kalianna loves to watch the fireworks, but she really doesn't like how loud some of them are. She started out with headphones on, to hopefully help some of the problem, but after one really big one went off, she was done. She kept saying, "No like fireworks!" She didn't mind watching them a little bit from the kitchen window, but she didn't care much either way. She preferred playing with Cagney in the basement with all her cousin's toys.

July 4th Festivities - Stadium of Fire

What started out as a simple weekend, turned into one adventure after another for our little family. We ended up having a super fun weekend (week) but it's nice to be home now!

Saturday night Ricci and I went to Stadium of Fire again this year. Brad Paisley was performing, so we really didn't have a choice in the matter. Brad Paisley is one of my favorite country singers and he is actually the one who got me into country music in the first place. I always hated country until someone played me a couple of Brad's songs one day. Shortly after, I moved to Logan to attend USU and learned how to western swing. The rest is history. So I was super excited when Ricci told me who was performing this year! David Archuleta also performed, and although he has a really good voice, I don't know any of his songs. I was there to see Brad!

Saturday ended up being a super crazy day! We finally headed down to Provo around 5:00 and grabbed arches on the way. We met Bryan and Ricci at their apartment. Matt and Bryan watched the girls while Ricci and I went to party. Don't we have the best husbands? I scarfed my dinner and then we met up with my parents to carpool to the stadium. We didn't have seats together, but we figured why bring two cars? We parked about a mile from the stadium (closer than last year) and got into our seats just in time for it to start.

They had some awesome parachuters land right on the field this year. The last one, however, biffed it. Poor guy! How embarrassing would that be?! He was super graceful until the very end. He took out a person and a railing when he hit the ground. Then the military rushed over to rescue the american flag he was carrying. The fly-over is always cool, but I have to admit, since moving to Layton they don't thrill me like they used to. Then the dancers started and then some local entertainment.

Finally David Archuleta came out and performed a few songs. Ricci and I were sitting in an area surrounded by David fans. Tons of teenage girls and little families, all singing along. Ricci and I enjoyed his performance, but we couldn't join in with the singing. He seems like a cute kid. Still a bit awkward on stage, but cute. Then Brad came out and the singing began! Both Ricci and I knew every song and we sang and moved with the music. All the teenage girls who were freaking out only moments before, suddenly became very quiet. It was obvious who they had come to see. They looked bored through most of Brad's songs and kept looking at us like we were nuts. Good times! I actually took some video of Brad performing one of my favorite songs "She's Everything", but you can hear me singing along with it. I will spare all your ears and not post it.

Brad's performance was way too short, if you ask me. I could have listened to him for another hour! But it was getting late and dark and the little boy behind us kept asking, "is this the last song?" So for his sake, I'm glad the fireworks began. The firework show did not disappoint! It was awesome and lots of fun! Once the show was over, we booked it down the stadium steps (we were basically at the top) to meet my parents again. Once we finally got through the crowds and walked all the way back to our car, it took almost another hour to get to Bryan and Ricci's apartment. I fed Magdalyn and then we headed home. Getting there around 2:00am. Very long, but very fun night!

Twiners?

Happy Independence Day! People tell me constantly how much Magdalyn looks like Kalianna. To me, they look completely different! I think it's obvious they are sisters, but I think their features are totally different. Well here is the test. I have a picture of each girl, wearing the same outfit around the same age. Tell me what you think.

Kalianna July 4, 2009

Magdalyn July 4, 2011