Attitude Adjustment

I totally need one of those right now because my kids have been getting on my last nerves.  And it hasn't just been today.  It's been over the past couple of days.  I feel horrible for thinking this but they are sooooo annoying lately.  Super clingy, crying, never listening, fighting nonstop.  You name it.  Why does being a Mom have to be so hard?  It depresses me sometimes when I think of the responsibility it brings.  I love my kids so much but it's very overwhelming to be a Mom day in and day out.  If my kids keep being annoying they might not have a sibling for another five years.  Seriously.

Kiddie Canvas

Do your kids enjoy drawing on themselves as much as mine do?  I don't know how they got a hold of this brown marker in while in their car seats but here's the evidence as well as on both of their car seats.  All of this while Aunty Talanoa was sitting in the front seat texting her life away and/or social networking.  Lol.

 

 This is just proof that they do know how to draw on paper and not just their bodies or the walls of our home.  Lol.

Provo Canyon BBQ

Here's some pictures from our work party we went to.  The kids had a blast until Elina peed her pants and we had to call it a day.  Oh and it was randomly cold that day and I forgot to pack any warm clothes.  Man, we were on a roll that day.  Lol!

Sweet September

Talanoa:
-Can say a mini prayer with our help.
-Smiles when we tell her to "Say cheese" for pictures.
-Can say short sentences and has quite the vocabulary for a one year old.
-Is constantly singing but you can't quite understand all the jibberish in her songs.  She makes the funniest facial expressions when singing too.
-Tells us when she needs a diaper change.  Doubt this will last but it's been  nice.
-Knows her body parts.

Elina:
-Knows that her first name is Siutiti.
-Really struggled with potty training after family camp but is back to normal with minimal accidents.
-Has quite the imagination.  She pretends to take things out of books and plays with them or pretends to jump into books to play with the characters and/or toys in them.  Ex:  "Mommy, I want to ride that bike."  So I tell her, "Sure, go ride it."  Maybe I shouldn't do this?  I really don't know.  Lol.  So she'll pretend to walk into the book, like literally put her feet on the book and wiggle around until she's content that she's "inside" the scene of that page pedaling away as if she was really on the bike.  
-Compliments our clothes, shoes, makeup, hair, etc. all the time especially if she's in trouble.  Lol.
-Makes sure to tell us if her sister did something wrong and needs to go to timeout.  Ex:  "Mommy, Talanoa touch your wallet.  Baby go time out?  Ok, baby go time out."  Quite the tattle tell.  Hahaha!
-Models new clothes for us in the most serious face.  Can't hell but crack up when she does it.
-Is fascinated with putting bandaids on for even the tiniest of  "ouwee's".
-Always asks to go to the doctor even for the most minor things.  It's crazy because she used to be deathly afraid of anyone in scrubs.
-Can count to 10 on her own.

Vili & I:
-Vili is back on his old shift at Provo Canyon working under Joe McCloud but working part time.  So glad he has a job that he enjoys and it's nice that he has a set schedule now.
-I've picked up the Wednesday night shifts for the front desk for the rest of the year.
-In the stage where we have to spell things out when our kids are around so they don't understand.  Most times it's the word candy or binky.
-I wasn't so patient with potty training this month and lost my cool a lot especially after family camp.  Sorry, Elina!  Major guilt for this one because I forget sometimes that she's only two years old.

We crashed Dom and Losi's pool about 5 times in a three day period.  Lol!

Talanoa kept doing this thing where she would dip her hair, or the little hair that she has anyway, in the water.      She thought it was pretty hilarious.

The stairs were Elina's little sanctuary.  She would only run around the pool and sit on the stairs but she loved every minute of it.  Except when we would try to take her off of them.  Lol.

I still think these two are twinners.  I'll have to post a baby pic of Willy but Talanoa loves him!

Scars from tripping by the pool.

 

Notice all the rubberbands in the background?  They have found the rubber band stash and raid it daily.  Maybe one day I'll move the stash but not today.  Lol.

Samani Family Camp

My in-laws decided to have family camp this year on Labor Day Weekend in memory of Eti and Trichelle.  They passed away 5 years ago in a car accident on Labor Day.  I will never forget that day or them and I'm so glad we did something fun in memory of them this year.

We camped nearby at Nunn's Park just up Provo Canyon which was a little too convenient.  I love camping but when you camp so close to home it's just not the same.  Lol.  I grew up in California where camping means you're hours away from home and the nearest grocery store is like a half hour away from the campsite.  You really have to plan because you can't go back home to grab something you forgot.  Now, that's real camping!  Hahahaha!  Next year I'm forcing everyone to camp as far away from Provo as we can get.  Wish me luck!  Lol.

Let me introduce to you our new "baby" aka our tent!  Not the greatest picture because it was at the end of camp but I had to get a picture because I feel so cool.  I'm an owner of a tent.  Lol!  So we borrowed two small tents from my Mom to go camping with and when we started setting them up we realized they weren't in the best shape meaning they were missing pieces.  Lol.  Vili started complaining about us being safe and blah, blah, blah (I knew he was going to find any excuse to buy something manly) so that's how we ended up buying it but we are both happy and in the end that's all that matters.  

On the hike to Bridal Veil with the fam.

 I was at work during the hike so when I came back and was looking at pictures I was thinking.....where is Talanoa in some of these?  And here was my answer!  Lol

 What's camping without a campfire and s'mores?  I don't even like s'mores but luckily Dom was there to replace me and she did greeeeeat!  Lol.

The Mounga's were our camping neighbors :)

Swimming at Deer Creek before heading home.

Some tips for our next camping trip:
-Don't take a newly potty trained toddler to camp!  Lol.
-Don't camp in bad weather.  Our first night was miserable to say the least.  There was a huge storm with the works (rain, lightening, thunder) and we slept in a tent so the kids were terrified and we got no shut eye.  Well, Baby Talanoa slept like a bear but the rest of us didn't.  Lol.  Elina hates loud noises so to keep her distracted I let her use apps on my phone as we hid under the blankets.  She loved that.
-Bring toys and books from home for the kids to play with during the down times.  Luckily this campsite had a playground.  Only downside was there was no grass so there was nowhere for the kids to run around.

August Rush

Talanoa:
-Is growing four more teeth!  She grew four molars last month and is now growing more.  Why does she have to get so many at a time?  She is the saddest most needy teether I know!
-Says love you, aunty, bless you when you sneeze, thank you, temple, chapel.
-Folds her arms for prayer and says amen at the end.  More like screams amen.  Lol
-Cries to dip her nuggets in sauce, licks the sauce off, and continues to re-dip and lick.  She loves her sweet and sour!
-Points out pictures of temples. 
-Tries to put shoes on her feet.
-Can hold a pen and write with it on paper.

Elina:
-Says her name is Eh-hina instead of Elina.
-Purses her lips together after putting lip gloss on.  This is one way I know she's been snooping in my purse.  Lol!
-Prayers have gotten longer.  She keeps her eyes halfway open and blesses everyone sitting around the table and almost always blesses the temples and grandma's house.  It's so cute! 
-Plays with bugs.
-Points out songs she likes when they come on the radio.
-Watches at least one movie everyday.  She is quite a movieholic lately.
-Can put her own slippers on.  The one's that have elastic back on them.
-Colors on the walls and coffee table.  And guess who doesn't sit around and watch?  Talanoa.  They really are partners in crime.
-Sings "Follow the Prophet".

New pj's from Aunty Ronica as the kids call her.  Aren't they adorable?

Can you see the excitement in Elina's eyes?  Lol!

Really, she can't contain it when we let her hold Molly.