It's not that I'm too lazy

For the sake of not writing things twice, and also because I actually am too lazy, I am posting the letter I wrote to my brother this week.

Dearest Kelson,

It would appear that my last e-mail never got to you because I attached too many pictures of my cute kids. That is your loss big time! Mason has been sick a lot lately which is a bummer but also kind of cute because he's so cuddly, but mostly a bummer because it's scary and sad. Brielle has been a total babe. She's a rolling pro and loves loves loves the attention of cuddles and kisses. I'm pretty sure she'll be making out a lot as a teenager. If her dad lets her out of the house.

We have been painting the new house nonstop. It's still not done but a lot of progress has been made. You wouldn't believe how much more painting there is and how much harder that painting is when the ceilings are 10 to 20 feet high. There has been very much precarious standing-on-of-ladders by myself. For all the hard work we are putting into the place it would be nice to think that we are going to stay there for a long long time. But alas.

But until that time we can make plans about how seriously cool we would make it if we were going to live there forever. (A slide that goes down the two giant terraces in the backyard right into our infinity pool at the bottom?) Please bless that the yard is no longer a hazard to babies who are learning to walk and also that Tim falls in love Perry and also with his commute to work.

Cousin Sarah asked Em and me to take her engagement pictures with Wayne over the weekend. Did I tell you we're planning her wedding? Oh yeah, mom must have because you mentioned it in your letter. I went dress shopping with her the day before the pictures and I actually enjoyed shopping more that pulling out my toenails with is not typical of me. Probably because it was her money getting spent and not mine. Anyway, the pictures turned out cute and it made me wish that I still had that big expensive camera that I used for a week and then returned.

Other things:

Tim and I had our 6th wedding anniversary and celebrated by eating, of course

It was Father's Day and we got Pop a Nook and Tim got a Drimmel

I successfully killed a baby's 104.5 degree fever

Pop shot a crow in the back yard and it's wife is really loud now and I think Pop is kind of sad but he won't admit it

Mason got a haircut that makes him look older so I hate it

We have been watching the Bachelorette like it's our religion

There are two Mormons running for President and Mormons have been all over the Internet lately. Mostly good stuff though! Well...so long as you don't read the comments

Mason went to the Brigham pool twice this week and I think he likes it as much as his mom.

Love you like a brother!

Crystal

Oh, Brother

The youngest kid in my family is on a mission in the Phillipeans. Do they say "the Americas" in other countries? Oh, I guess they probably say "the States." He is not in the States. These pictures he sent make me wish I was also not in the States, for just a little bit.

I love their little gangsta faces.

 Cool story - this kid is a little deaf, so they teach him by drawing pictures in the sand. Awh shucks.

Gluttons for punishment

Well we bought another house! Two houses away from the one we were going to rent. And actually, we don't close for another couple of weeks. But we found a house we like in an area that we (I) really like and we're movin' in. Eventually.

First we have to...
Grade the yard and add a ton of dirt. At least sixty tons to be more specific.
Put in a yard including sprinklers, sod, and trees.
Build a deck.
Paint the entire house.
Redo or finish all the finish work that the previous owners never did or did really really poorly. (Tile work, baseboards and trim, countertops, that kind of thing)
Refinish the hardwood.
Finish the basement? Hope not.

Wish us luck!

Wherein a bad mother disfigures her child

I am pretty sure that the pediatrician is going to think I abuse my son. He has a new bruise on his face at least once a week because the kid cannot fall or bump into something without his head taking the blunt of the trauma. He's tough though! So at least there's that.

Last night I was in the basement letting Mason play with toys and trying to entertain Brielle with a rattle and my charm. Mason has one of those cool spring horses and kiddo loves that thing, but he can't get on it by himself, so he just stands on the railing that holds the horse while he pets it and talks to it and whatever. That's what he was doing.

Sesame Street was on the tube but since neither of my kids care one ounce about TV it wasn't really doing any good. (PS. I had this idea that I wouldn't let Mason watch TV until he was three, but then I realized that was crazy talk and I let him watch Sesame Street, Martha Speaks, and Mickey Mouse Playhouse. Problem is, now he won't watch for longer than 10 minutes which is not long enough for me to shower and is it my fault because I wouldn't let him watch before?)

Anyway, he wasn't watching Sesame Street so I went to turn it off, which turned into finding something else for him to watch, which turned into getting distracted by Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, which turned into him falling off that stupid horse because I wasn't watching for twenty seconds.

I heard a crash and ran around the couch to see him sitting on the ground with blood pouring out of his mouth. And then the crying started, by both of us. I scooped him up, ran upstairs yelling for Tim to help me, got him to the sink and plucked a tooth. Yep. Plucked a tiny baby tooth, root and all, right out of my precious baby's mouth. Then we rushed him to the dentist (Who came in at night, on a holiday, for free! And he even brought two toys because he wasn't sure if he was going to be seeing a boy or a girl. Thanks Dr. Murdock!) where he had another tooth plucked from that darling little mouth. Then the dentist said, "hopefully the third tooth isn't lodged in his gums, keep an eye out for infection." THREE TEETH!

The third tooth wasn't lodged in his gums, I found it on the carpet downstairs. We are hoping that the loss of three teeth doesn't affect his speech development or he may have to get fake baby teeth. Luckily, the loss of three bottom teeth can't do anything to ruin that baby smile.

Finally, a baby blessing

Please note: When shopping for baby blessing dresses you will have the best luck and widest selection if you bless your baby between 0-3 months.

Brielle recieved a blessing from her dad yesterday. It was a beautiful blessing. We had it at my parents' home with the family. She sure has a lot of people that love her. And how couldn't we?