Not So Bad

If there is one thing Cooper hates it's brushing his teeth. He hates it more than going to bed or eating his veggies. He just plain hates it. He even hates toothpaste. What kid doesn't like toothpaste.

McKenna will tell you (as she's confessed to many people, including our daycare provider) that I hold Cooper down to brush his teeth. Yes, that's correct. I hold my child down just about every morning to scrub his pearly whites. It's not pretty but it gets the job done.

So you can imagine my anxiety as we took our first official trip to the dentist today. I started preparing Cooper yesterday. When I told him we were going to the dentist to get our teeth brushed he said, "No, Mom, you can brush my teeth. I'll listen." I can assure you that he didn't remember that this morning when we were once again fighting to get a brush in his mouth.

We arrived at the dentist with both kids arguing about who would go first. I knew it wouldn't last long. When the hygienist came for Cooper he quickly forfeited his turn. I ended up carrying him back the hallway and sitting with him in the chair for a bit. He didn't say a word or move a muscle. Eventually he warmed up though and the receptionist caught this:

Cooper's 1st official dentist appointment

Incidentally, I should point out that Cooper does not yet have all of his teeth. He has two molars coming in as we speak and two more that haven't even popped to the surface yet. Perhaps that explains his moodiness and restless sleeping sometimes....but I doubt it.

McKenna is an old pro in the dentist chair. I didn't get to see her until the end, when she looked like this:

McKenna left the dentist office with all 21 of her teeth. I say 21 because one of her adult teeth has come in behind her little baby tooth. A little baby tooth that desperately wants to come out!

So, one hour and two hundred dollars later we were all leaving the dentist office with pearly white smiles and plenty of prizes and a couple of good pictures!

Missing You

In Our Hearts

We thought of you with love today,

But that is nothing new.

We thought about you yesterday,

And the days before that too.

We think of you in silence,

We often speak your name.

Now all we have is memories,

And your picture in a frame.

Your memory is a keepsake,

With which we'll never part.

God has you in His keeping,

We have you in our heart.

Missing you Mimi. But taking comfort in knowing that someday we will be together again.

We love you!

Twenty Years

I wish I had a catchy way of starting this post. Maybe lure you in with a great opening line. But, the truth is, I don't. The truth is that this post is about these people.

My Mom Mom and Pappy Landis left their house early this morning to travel the 60+ miles from Lewistown to Lewisburg to cheer McKenna on at her soccer game. We sat in our chairs watching the blob of 6 kids run up and down the field for the full 40 minutes which, if you've recently been to a 6 year olds soccer game could potentially be boring. As soon as my Gram saw McKenna on the field she said, "There's little Emily playing soccer." You might think she got our names mixed up. But she didn't. I understood what she was saying. It reminded her of when it really was me out there running up and down the field.

My grandparents have been making trips to Lewisburg to watch kids play soccer, football, basketball, and field hockey for over 20 years. They make the trips without complaining and always make us feel like we are the most important thing they have going on that day.

It seems my parents will quickly follow suite. They make it a point to be at as many games as they can and even supply the blankets when it's freezing cold! Just last week as we stood in the wind and cold, clutching blankets around our freezing bodies my mom said, "McKenna, I didn't stand out in the cold like this for your mom's games." That must go a long way in explaining the love a grandparent has for their grandchildren.

One thing I am sure of is that there's nothing better than three generations cheering on the fourth.

Under the Big Top

Today we packed up the kids and the car and headed to Altoona for the Circus!

As promised, we saw elephants...

Tight rope walkers....

Performing monkeys....

And of course, the clowns.....

Oh wait, those weren't the clowns I was talking about!

The kids (and Uncle Shane) even took a spin on the elephant...

They said not to feed the animals, but afterward we decided to grab some grub at the Olive Garden.

I think it's safe to say that a great day was had by all! Thanks Pappy Landis for a great afternoon.

Do You See What I See?

Can't you just see the bad in him? He's becoming quite a handful. "All boy" is the way I think some would describe him. And wow, does he run fast. Really, really fast. It's a good thing that his sweet little giggle can amend the naughty things he does in a day.

Catch Up (Easter 2010 and First Soccer Game)

I've procrastinated in posting for so long that it's now necessary to do a catch up and catch all post. It may be long and filled with pictures but don't say I didn't warn you.

It's definitely not Easter without a pair of shiny new blue bunny ears. She wears them well, don't you think?

And it really wouldn't be Easter Sunday at Mimi and Pappy Richard's without an egg hunt.

An egg hunt complete with Target shopping bags....I can't believe I forgot their baskets!

This weekend was McKenna's soccer debut! She played her little heart out. And we think she's found her game!

The action shot!

The cheering sectionThe proud soccer dad...
and the newly crowned soccer mom.
By the way, McKenna's scored one goal and assisted on tons more to help her team win the game.

One of Those Days

I had a cute little post planned for today. One full of Easter pictures, smiles, eggs, family. But, to be honest, I don't have the energy for it tonight. My children have sucked every last ounce of strength and patience from my pinkie toes right up to the hair on my head. I am glad to say that we don't have many days where Cooper cries and fusses for completely unknown reasons throughout the majority of the day. And luckily it's not every day that I tell the neighbor that the kids have dentist appointments next week which sends McKenna into a half hours worth of tears. It's not every night that dinner and soccer practice, outside time and baths falls on my shoulders because Earl is working late. It's not every day that I call my mom and tell her she might want to come rescue her grandson (or maybe it's just me that needs rescued). It's not every day that the sink is full of dishes at 7:30pm, lunches have yet to be packed and kids are still not in bed. Luckily, we don't have these days often.

I'm not posting this tonight for sympathy or anything of the sort. There are plenty of people who have it harder than I do by far. I also know there are other moms (and dads) out there who know just the kind of day I'm talking about because they've been there too. But I'm posting this tonight because I want my kids to know that even though we've had a bad day I still love them to pieces. I haven't been the best mom today just like they haven't been the best kids. But they are still the loves of my life and my world would be empty without them. I want them to know someday when they have kids of their own that there will be bad days. Sometimes multiple bad days in a row. But at the end of the bad days there will be good days too...lots of them.

So Kenna and Coop, Mommy is sorry for not being the greatest mom today. I'm sorry that I didn't seem to find all the patience I prayed for today. I'm sorry for the moments I was short with you and for the times I probably seemed unfair. But I promise to try harder tomorrow and the day after that and all the days to come. I'm thankful that as I tuck you in tonight you will smile at me from behind your lovey's with a twinkle in your eyes that lets me know that all is forgiven. I love you both.

Busy Little Bunnies

My goodnes, have we been busy! We've packed a lot into the past few days, so I'll try to be brief.

I've been promising McKenna a "girls day" for weeks. It was her idea. She wanted a day with mommy to get a pedicure and go shopping. Friday was finally our day. We dropped Cooper off at school and headed to the nail salon. Since we had just been shopping last weekend I decided that I would surprise her with a movie. She had been asking to see "The Last Song". I thought since it was rated PG and I had read the book and knew the premise of the story we would try it. I'm so glad we did. The movie was fabulous and so was our day together.

Since the weather was so nice last evening, we decided to move our egg decorating to the backyard. And thank goodness we did. Though we didn't have any spills (amazing if you ask me), I think I would have had a small stroke if we did eggs inside this year. Cooper was all about coloring eggs and just kept plopping eggs in cups. Here's a sneak peek ...

There's also been construction going on at our house....in the form of our much anticipated new swing set. We're thankful that Kyle and Caty got it started, but today it was up to the rest of us. It didn't take long for Cooper to bust out his tools and lend a hand. We can't wait until it's finished so the kids have somewhere to expend all their energy.

We had to take a break from all the building to attend the Egg Hunt at the Fire Company this afternoon.

Tune in next time (hopefully tomorrow) for more Easter pictures! We can't wait to see what the Bunny brings tonight!