Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall!

Well, the mirror WAS on the wall at the end of the hallway. It fell one day when I was playing with Cara and the mirror. Well, when it fell, it broke and I hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet, so I leaned the mirror (still in the frame) up against the wall. The mirror itself had not broken, it had just fallen out of the frame. So, I didn't think it posed any danger, and Merilee still liked to go look in it. Well, today, Cara was sitting in front of the mirror and I guess she pushed the bottom in and it fell on top of her. Now before I continue...the mirror is one that was made to sit on a dresser, so it is tall and HEAVY! Cara screams, and is trapped on her back underneath the mirror. I was scared to pick up the mirror, afraid it had broken and cut her. Turned out she was fine, not a scratch. She quit crying as soon as I picked her up and gave her some loves. Needless to say, the mirror will not be left against the wall, and I am seriously thinking of getting rid of it. It has already fallen off the wall once and after today, that is the last time it will fall. It could have been a really bad situation, especially after seeing the movie "Premonition", with Sandra Bullock (where her daughter runs through a glass door). Thank Heavens, we were blessed today!

Quirks!!

I (Leighanne) have been tagged! Here are the rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you...Steph(An amazing blond bombshell!)
2. Post these rules.
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them.

I tried to think of quirks that have not been previously mentioned by my friends, such as vacuuming (Love it!)

1. I can't stand to have dirty feet or hands. I wear my shoes if someone's floor looks dirty because I hate little pieces of things to stick to the bottom of my feet. I dread wearing flip flops to the park because I hate sand or grass on my feet. My hands get swollen and itchy if they are dirty. It also happens at antique stores and thrift stores, so I wash frequently. I procrastinate pulling weeds and when I do I am very careful to not get too dirty. I need to be clean! (Esp. hands and feet).

2. Now to be embarrassed...as my close friends can testify...I blow my nose a lot. I have to have a clear passageway when I breathe. I blow my nose morning, noon, night, and every hour in between. If I can't breathe out my nose, I forget to breathe. This quirk is necessary for my survival!

3. This quirk is kinda Creepy! I have a sixth sense! I can FEEL it when the TV is on. If I am in another room or just getting out of the shower and Justin has turned the TV on somewhere in the house, I can feel the TV vibrations. I don't have to hear the sound or anything, I just get a vibe. I am 98% accurate!! Another quirk about the TV is the fact that I like the volume to be really low. Justin hates this cause he can never hear his shows. I get frazzled and anxious if all I can hear is the TV. I am in constant control of the volume and adjust sound through commercials, movies, etc. (cause the sound fluctuates SO much, annoying!)

4. I hate to sweat! It feels so nasty. Because I hate to sweat, I have never been big on exercising (until now!). I don't like to be hot and so we keep our house pretty cool throughout the year so we can always sleep under the covers. Luckily Justin is hot blooded too and likes the air conditioner.

5. I shower at night because I like my hair to be damp when I go to sleep. It keeps me cool (refer to #4). I have to be clean to sleep and have a clean bed. When I was growing up, I wouldn't even let anyone touch my bed, sit on it, or anything because they were "dirty" or would make my bed "dirty". It drives me nuts when Justin sorts his laundry on the bed or sets his shoes on the bed while he puts them on, etc. The bed has to be as clean as possible. Oh, back to the shower thing...I also like to still taste toothpaste in my mouth when I go to sleep because it lets me know that I brushed!

6. This one has been a challenge and caused me a lot of anxiety in my short life. I am scared to make phone calls. I have panic attacks if I have to call people for church callings, appointments, returning calls, making arrangements, etc. I am fine if someone calls me, but I guess I worry that if I call someone, it will bother or annoy them. I get tongue tied and forget what to say because I am so nervous. And I hate to admit that it is even hard for me to call close friends. I love to talk, if they call me. I have explained this to people before so they would not get mad at me for waiting until the last minute or not returning a call. I realize that it is a huge inconvenience for everyone involved. I think this quirk makes many aspects of life difficult for me, but is has gotten a little better. I used to not even be able to pay for things like at McDonald's or Walmart. I would give my money to friends and have them order for me. So, there is hope...I just haven't finished growing up!

So there they are...and you still love me!;)

I tag, Tiffany, Jessica, Stacy, Kristin, Jamie (on myspace), Angie! I haven't figured out the 'link' thing, so do your best.

Oh man!!

I just finished my tag from Steph and was previewing it but couldn't figure out how to go back to fix typos...and I lost all of it. So, it is too late to retype, thus you will have to wait for the morrow. I bid you adue! I must be tired cause that was cheesy!

Thanks Claire!

Thank you Claire for telling me that you love my blog! Besides the two other wonderful comments, I don't know that I have many readers. So, I will pretend like I am telling you what happened today, cause I know at least someone will read. Okay, so I didn't get out of bed until 10...I know, tough! Merilee actually slept in and then watched cartoons in my bed until I felt like I was wasting my day. Then we went and had breakfast while watching our favorite show, "Little House on the Prairie". I have seen every episode several times but somehow I think each episode just MIGHT be different. So, then we went to the neighbors house and I made sure their girls were not mean to Merilee. As usual they were, so when I got tired of it, we left and Merilee and Cara went down for naps. I put laundry away and tried to get the house ready for grandma. She is watching the girls while Justin and I attend his 10 year High School Reunion in Ketchum. So, cleaning house and laundry continued until dinner that I fixed even though Justin said he would cook today. I get so tired of cooking!! Then the girls and I hurried over to the water park and played there until 8:30. I took a shower, then bathed the girls, put Merilee to bed, fed Cara and put her to bed. Then I frosted the birthday cake I made for my mom, did the dishes, more laundry, checked my facebook, blog stalked, posted a new blog, and then I will have to force myself to bed so that we can get up early and have a BORING time with Justin's old friends. Just kidding, I hope I will enjoy myself! So, that was my day...not too exciting, but that is life!

Walmart Catastrophe!!

I had the whiniest little 3 year old today....and I took her to Walmart. Big mistake! Our milk was bad so I had no choice but to load up the girls and head to the store. For one thing, Merilee woke up too early and could not go back to sleep because she had a bandaid on her thumb and therefore could not suck it. The other thing was that she was hungry because breakfast was limited with not milk. So, Merilee was tired and hungry and whiney. I was out of ideas on how to make her chill out. Every little thing would set her off into a crying fit and it got so bad that she kept saying she couldn't breathe. I had a few more things to get at the store and we ran into an older mother (early 40s) from church. I was so frustrated and I think she sensed that so I 'sarcastically' asked her if she wanted to take Merilee so that I could finish shopping. She actually picked Merilee out of the cart and put her into hers and said she would come find us in a bit. It was so nice for the 10 minutes she was gone. Then she brought her back because she had to go to the other side of the store and I was pretty much done; I just had to get some produce. As soon as I got her back, the tantrums continued until we were back at the car. CONSTANT FITFULL CRYING!! This has NEVER happened before. I was at a complete loss as to punish, bribe, threaten, etc. After all this, she fell asleep in the car after 5 minutes. Did I mention that Cara was PERFECT!!!! If she hadn't been....I don't even want to go there.
After naps, I regained some umph and made a delicious dinner. However, during dinner my neighbors came and rang the doorbell over and over and knocked over and over. All three of them. And two of the girls came with no shirts on. They are 3 and 5. I still disapprove, so I didn't even talk to them, I just sent them home. After dinner, we get to YM/YW and Merilee was coloring with us girls. She motioned to one of the girls and said, "My mommy has some of those big things and a big tummy like yours too". I about died!! What do you say to that? Thankfully, the girl just laughed and said that was the funniest thing she had heard a kid say. She works in a day care with the 3-5 year olds, so she said she is used to their innocent comments. I think I just had one of those days when no one in the family has patience and everyone is tired. I will try my hardest to make tomorrow better. My kids are great. Loving, beautiful, helpful, smart, kind, and outgoing....so I leave you with that thought!

Still Awake...Yawn!

I think I have a very annoying addiction...staying up too late! I let Cara take an evening nap instead of dragging her on a walk. I did not go wake her up until 10pm. Merilee was already in bed so Cara and I just played on the floor. She wanted all her toys out of her toy box and every time I tried to pick some of them up, she pulled them back out. The whole time she would not let go of her sippy cup. Last night she drank so much juice that when I got her undressed to take a bath, it looked like she was all belly on litle bitty legs...so cute! I did pay the consequence today while changing her diapers. Anyway, Cara got to take a bath all by herself without the little turtle she usually sits in, and she had a blast. She was on her tummy and crawled up the tub and then I slid her down like a slip n slide. She was laughing and splashing. We had so much fun. Thankfully she was worn out by the time I fed her and put her to bed just a few minutes ago. Now she won't wake up until 10 or 11 tomorrow.
We found out some scarey news today. Justin will probably have to have surgery within the year to remove part of his tail bone and surrounding tissue. I won't go into detail because it is really gross! He had to go to the Dr. today to get more meds.
Merilee was really cute today and was pretending that her baby doll was baby Jesus. She is such a helper. Every time she sees a piece of trash on the floor or is she eats something with a wrapper, she throws it in the trash. After we get done cleaning/picking up the house, she says that it is beautiful and she loves it! She has some pretty good cleaning habits.
I actually went on our walk by myself today and it was a little lonely. However, I did get to actually run some of it. I hate running but I feel like I accomplish so much more when I push myself. Well, I think I updated on everyone, so now maybe I will try to sleep. Good night all!

Dullish Day

Today was kind of a dullish day. When I look back on what we did, I can't think of anything really fun. I made 3 quiches, one for us and two for our neighbors. The mom had to have a D&C, so I offered to make them dinner. They don't have any family nearby, and I know they like quiche. Merilee and I also made cake-mix cookies. I have tried to be really good and not keep cookies and ice cream at the house so that I don't overendulge. I do have those 100 calorie snacks that satisfy my chocolate cravings. Merilee and I also went on our daily walk up to the airport to see the army helicopter on display. It was one of the flying dragons during the Vietnam War, so we get to climb inside and pretend to fly, etc. I carry pepper spray just in case there are stray dogs or people but have not had to use it so far....until.....I saw a dog today and it snuck up on me. I did not even realize that it was behind me until a man yelled at the dog to stay! I looked for the spray and it was buried inside the diaper bag under the stroller. If it had been a real "attack" situation, I probably would not have been able to find it. SO, next time, I will try to be more prepared and actually have the pepper spray handy. Cara is now drinking from a sippy cup but will only drink juice and will throw a fit if I try to take it from her or help her. She sucks in juice and air and then every now and then let out a big burp. It has taken a long time to get her to even drink anything besides being breastfed. Yeah, on to weening.

Cara asleep after one of our walks.

Merilee and her swim cap that protects her ears!!

Fun at the water park. Cara's first time in the pool!

At Taste of Tuscany for our 5 year anniversary. Aren't we cute!

Getting the girls to bed after celebrating a wonderful anniversary and having the kids at the babysitter!

Water Park

Thursday, my sister Kristi, came to visit and we watched movies, had a barbeque, went on a walk to the airport, and then went to Cushing's water park. It is a pretty good pool considering our tiny town and its lack of amenities. Merilee has to wear a swim cap because she got some new tubes put in her ears. So far, she is the only person at the pool who I have ever seen wear one this summer and last! Where are all the other kids with tubes? Cara loves the water and wants to crawl around in it, however she crawls on her belly, so she gets a face full of water. We didn't spend enough time there on Thursday, so we went back on Saturday. This time Merilee got up the courage to go down some slides and let Daddy catch her. She also enjoyed jumping off the side while I caught her. I love the water! If I had a pool (an actual pool and not a plastic one in the yard) I would be in it every day.
Cara is cutting her incisors on the top and bottom. She also is cruising the furniture and it is really funny to watch her crawl over things in her path. People at church call her the wounded soldier because she drags herself using her arms and one leg. She will go into Merilee's room and they will play really well together while I get things done around the house. I hope this means that they will like eachother as they grow up. I know I had hard time getting along with my sister, and there were times we were really mean to eachother. But that doesn't matter anymore because we grew out of it and love eachother even more because of it. Sisters are so special friends!! Okay, the sappy part is over. Enjoy the pics.

Funny/Stressful times!

I think I have a stressful calling for being a young mother. I know it could be worse, but tonight the girls were being a handful while the young women were working on personal progress stuff. Justin was busy with scouts. He had actually taken them grocery shopping to get ready for their campout this weekend, so he wasn't even an option for helping out. Merilee tried to draw on the marker board but fell off the piano bench and cut her ear and the side of her head. Then, I was giving each girl personal progress interviews and Cara was fussing at my feet and I picked her up only to realize that she no longer had a diaper on. Somehow the diaper had come undone and found its way out her one-piece outfit. It surprised me to have a bare baby booty in my arms! Merilee was entertaining the girls that were supposed to be reading the entire book of Ester. One of the girls asked her what her name was and Merilee said, "Merilee Hope Cara Liza Lucklinbill Brox." (Her name, sister's name, last name, and my maiden name). She said some other really funny things too, but it is kinda a had to be their thing. I have also had a very hard time with Merilee and constipation today. She refused to go because she is scared it will hurt, so it just gets compacted in there. I don't know what else to do to encourage her to just try, so I got some prune juice at the store. I hope it will work! I remember the first time Merilee was constipated and I took her to church (by myself of course) and she screamed in the foyer until some ladies came out to see what was wrong. They tried to convince me that something was majorly wrong with her and I needed to take her to the Emergency Room. I finally got her settled down enough to get her into the car seat and on my way home I called Justin and told him the situation. I was more frustrated at the ladies from church than Merilee at this point. Justin told me to do what I felt I had to do, so I took her home and "helped her out". Totally gross but she was definately grateful and exhausted after the ordeal. She was probably 18 months then and I think this is only the second time in her whole life it has gotten this bad. Wow...I just typed a whole story about constipation. It is amazing what mothers worry about and not all of it is lovely to think about. Next time I will have to do some updating through pictures!! I know we all love pictures!!!

New Layout

I am still trying to get the hang of blogging. I really like my new layout. Now that I have something pretty to look at, I will start blogging more. Now I need to figure out how to get other people's blog links on the side so that I can keep in touch with everyone.
I am in the process of putting together a wedding book using blurb.com. It is a really neat site that lets you download their program for free and you can then use your pictures, make a really neat and inexpensive book, upload it back to blurb.com, and they print it and send it to you. I have already done one book like this and it came back very well done. Well, I spent too much time arranging my page and now it is time for lunch. These first blogs are pretty boring, I appologize. Like I said...I am just starting and I hope it will get better!