City Creek Nightmare

I did the unthinkable.  I was incredibly irresponsible on Saturday and lost Elina at the newest biggest mall in Utah, City Creek.  This has been, by far, the scariest thing I've ever experienced as a mom.  Losing her for less than 5 minutes was worse than the excruciating pain during labor, worse than all the sleepless nights since she's been born, and definitely worse than dealing with her daily tantrums as a 2 year old.  My heart is SO heavy writing this post because I have to re-live that scary experience but I feel like I have to because I learned so much from it.

My sister Dom and I decided randomly that we would finally go up and see the new City Creek Mall in Salt Lake.  We packed up my two girls and little sister Isa and we were on our way.  My brother Robin met up with us because he lives out there and we only see him on the weekends.  If any of you know Elina you know that she hates being restricted to sitting in her stroller and will scream at the top of her lungs until she's out.  So yesterday when she would jump in and out of her stroller while we shopped was totally normal.  Normal until we didn't hear her little voice after crossing a large intersection of the mall.

Time suddenly stopped.  Everything was playing in slow motion as I processed the fact that we had just left Elina in a huge store all by herself.  My heart sank.  We sprinted back to the store and searched frantically for her.  Crazy thoughts filled my head when I realized how huge this store was and the endless places she could be.  There were doors that lead to small streets outside so my mind was racing.  What if she ran out this way to look for me?  What if, God forbid, someone took her?  What if she got run over by a car outside?  I looked over at Robin talking to a tall white man by the front of the store and ran to them.  The man led us outside to the very front of the store where his wife was holding Elina, keeping her safe for us.  All I could do was grab her and hold onto her so tight as uncontrollable tears streamed down my relieved face.  I was so crazy that I didn't even get to thank the nice couple who I will always remember and always be grateful to.

Lesson I've learned from this experience:
-Be grateful for EVERY second I have with each of my kids and husband, good and bad, because I don't know when they will be my last.
-Focus on being a better mom for my kids.  They were a gift to me and I should treat them as such everyday.
-Be helpful and offer help when I see that it is needed like the young couple that found her yesterday.
-Last, buy a backpack leash for my Elina so this experience never repeats itself!  

Hungry Much?

Talanoa does this thing where she spits out her binky at the sight of any food or a bottle and she's been doing it since she was able to eat baby food at six months.  I finally remembered to record her doing it today so that I'd never forget.  I love that I never have to guess if she's hungry because of this.  If the binky hits the ground it means she's hungry.  If it stays in her mouth then she's not.  It's pretty freakin' awesome!  Lol.

Another thing she's always done by herself is hold her own bottle.  I breastfed Talanoa fully until she was about 7 months and then she decided she didn't want to nurse anymore.  Found out that it's more common than I thought.  The doctor called it a "nursing strike".  Talanoa refusing to nurse was caused by a couple things such as her teething and the onset of my period again which may have changed the flavor of my milk (sorry, tmi).  We're all adults, right?  Lol.  Long story short.....her "strike" lasted way longer than normal which caused my milk supply to go down almost completely.  I decided to put her on formula especially because she was losing weight.  She hadn't had a bottle in months because I fully nursed her but we learned a trick from our weaning experience with Elina.  A little yogurt or ice cream on the nipple of the bottle and BOOM....WEANED ;)  Works like a charm.  Hahaha!  Talanoa's been holding her bottle since day one of drinking formula.  Can't complain about that!  Such a smart baby.  

Pinterest Hair

I saw this hairdo on Pinterest and decided to try it on Elina today after she showered.  Loved it!  Elina always surprises me by sitting fairly still while I do her hair.  Can't wait until Talanoa grows ANY hair so that I can do the same to hers.  Lol!

View from the back

Work it!  Lol

Side view

Fun Times w/ Aunty Ronz

This is what LDS General Conference looks like in our home.  Lol.  We try to listen to the talks but it seems like the kids are in need of things simultaneously throughout the whole two hours.  Luckily, we can watch conference talks and read them online!  Thank you, technology!  Since my kids can't sit still, listen, or pay attention we decided they could have some fun with Aunty Ronz.  They rolled around and even exercised their legs.  Haha I'm so glad my kids have close aunties and uncles who love them and spoil them like crazy!  Veronica is practically our oldest daughter (lol) slash the girls 2nd mom so Elina and Talanoa love playing with her.

WARNING:  Turn your volume down!!!  Like, all the way down.  Lol.  Talanoa screams freakin' LOUD whens she gets excited.

Who needs Mommy?

Who needs mommy when they can feed themselves at 11 months.  Lol!  Talanoa found Elina's empty yogurt and spoon on the ground today and pretended to feed herself.  It was quite impressive actually and I think she really could have fed herself had there been yogurt inside it.  Maybe I'll let her feed herself her baby food tomorrow since she did such a good job practicing today.  Wouldn't hurt right?  Lol.

And notice the way she's sitting?  She sits like this ALL the time and so did Elina when she was this age.  My mom tells me I used to sit the same way.  It bugs the hell out of my in-laws that they sit like this but I don't think it's a big deal.  I mean, I came out normal right?  Hahaha!  My theory is they're so chubby and flexible still that it's not uncomfortable for them.  If my kids are bowlegged when they grow up I'm deleting this post and all evidence that may make me look guilty.  LOL!

March Madness

No, not basketball but family updates.  Haha!  Lots and lots to tell this month so here's the usual bullet list because I didn't want to blog about each thing individually.  Does that make me a lazy mom?  Whatevs.  I love making lists so here goes....

TALANOA:
-got her 7th tooth.
-pretends to brush her bald head now with Elina's brush.
-holds the phone to her head and tries to say "Hello" and uses shoes, toys, etc as phones as well.
-can clap.
-waves bye-bye.
-is the cutest little copycat.  She sticks her tongue out when we do, copies us when we rub our bellies, covers her face to play peek-a-boo with us and tries to copy words we say.
-understands when we say "uma" by bringing her lips or head in for a kiss.
-lays down to sleep when we tell her to "nite nite"
-plays Ring Around the Rosey with us but now sits down in the middle of the song and screams "Dooown!"  It's sooo funny!  I guess she thinks she's cool that she knows the next part of the song?
-use her walking toy to balance and is learning to walk.

ELINA:
-can say a prayer now with our help!  She usually does the food prayer because those are always nice and short and she does a great job.
-says "Bless you" when we sneeze.  Never taught her this.  She just learned by seeing us do it.
- not-so-good phrases she uses:  "Nigga what? and Damn it".  She uses them correctly which makes it even worse.  I am a horrible example.  Should've listened to my mom growing up when she said watch my language.
-asks for McDonald's on a regular basis now.  Lol.
-new favorite songs:  Pat-a-cake, Wiggles (song from story time at the library).
-has been quite the little scardy cat lately.  Any loud unexpected noise to her are "the mooonsters" (in the lowest deepest voice she can make) to her.  Doesn't help that Vili scares her more on purpose.
-is the best little helper around the house even when her help is not wanted.  Lol!  She helps me find things all the time like my phone and keys and gets me diapers, wipers, and baby powder when I'm changing her sister's diaper.  All I here is, "Mommy I find it!"  I love it!

VILI AND I:
-got my first facial experience this month from Shanel.  One whole hour and it was the bomb!
-debating what color to dye my hair next month.  Excited!
-finally got to use my running shoes Vili bought for my birthday back in 2009.  Hahahaha!  Walked Timpview/Quail with Dom, Cheka, Amy Freeman and our bebes.  Hard but so fun :)  Gotta get this body toned and ready for summer.
-took the kids to the BYU luau yesterday (thanks Mom for the free tickets).  Seeing people perform makes me miss dancing sooo much!  I need to get back into it but then I think I'm old, out of shape, and need to STOP.  hahahaha
-Vili roasted three pigs for our ward conference this past Sunday and they were soooo yummy!  He missed church to make them and I'm sure he volunteered himself for that reason alone.  Lol!
-Vili had a waste-of-time interview at the airport.  Who interviews people when they're not hiring? Annoying!
-Vili feels like he's being deprived of guys nights.  I say he's lucky I let him go at all.  Lol.

Wrestle Me!  Lol

Smothering Talanoa

Peek-a-Boo

Cat Fights

My girls are already fighting over things.  I grew up with a lot of siblings and lots of sisters so I knew the fighting  was inevitable but I never realized they would start this young (Elina is 2 and Talanoa turns 1 next month).  My girls get along well most of the time but when they both want the same toy, cookie, whatever.....it's on!  Lol.  The fight this morning was over Elina's toothbrush.  Random, right?  Talanoa wanted her toothbrush so they're both screaming and pulling on the poor thing.  But are the tears really necessary?  Over a toothbrush?  Lol!  So what do I do?  I did what my parents would do when we'd fight over things.  Everyday in our house we'd hear, "If you can't play with it nicely together then I'm taking it away."  AaAaaaHhhHhhhhh.....I'm turning into my parents!!!  Hahaha