Caught Red Handed

The Victim:

The Crime:

 The Perp:

Here's how it all went down. Approximately 8:30 pm yesterday while putting laundry away, I discovered a mostly-eaten package of oreos (yes, I do hide my treats occasionally).  There were only three oreos left so I pulled out the package and put oreos in a little baggie for Ryan to take to work in the morning.

Only, Ryan didn't take the oreos. He left them on the tabletop. When I got in the shower, Miss Twinkle-Toes must have reached for them and gnawed a hole in the bag to get at the goodness inside. Then, she used her ingenuity and prodigious strength to fling the bag around and around so that bits of oreo fell out onto the floor, where she continued eating them (all while I showered).

I had no idea what was going on until I turned off the shower. I heard this excited squeal and she came running into the bathroom to show me the yummy treat she had found. Pictures really don't do the chocolate-covered face justice. It was hilarious and adorable and now I am off to vacuum up the crumbs.

Poor Little Sick Girl

I'm taking Willa into see the Orthopedist this morning to hopefully get the cast off. I'm a little afraid that the good doctor will call CPS on me. One top of the little cast, we've now got another bug bite with the swelled face and a snot-encrusted nose with a sad little cough. The cuteness is a little less cute these days - the cyclops eye really never did make a good style statement and only a mother has enough love to pick off the nose crusties. Is it okay to give Benadryl and cold medicine at the same time?

On the up side, her little personality is just cracking me up. I made this cozy spot for her yesterday and she thought it was really hilarious to run across the room and fall into the pillows. The funny part is that she can't really run yet, so it just looked like she was trying to walk really fast with her booty shaking and then falling into the pillows.

The weather has been mild lately, which has been sooo nice! It had been getting really hot a few weeks ago and it made me nervous. The last week has just been enjoyable - perfect weather for getting out an inflatable pool and letting the babies play with the water hose. 

Willa was a little nervous, actually, but that is probably because Jayden kept spraying her with the hose. Kids these days.

Ward Campout

Our ward had a family campout this past weekend. It was really well-planned and they had activities Friday night and during the day on Saturday. It was nice because if you didn't want to try camping with a toddler who only likes to sleep in her own room in her own crib (me and Ryan) you could go up on Saturday and still partake in festivities. The campground was only 20 minutes away, so it was really easy for a lot of ward members to come and participate on their own schedule.

Note the beautiful pasta necklace we made during craft time. Willa grabbed the pasta and threw it everywhere while I carefully threaded the pieces on some yarn for her. Teamwork.

She loved the watermelon. This photo is towards the end of the party when we were getting ready to leave. Note the extreme dirtiness of her shirt after only four hours in the wilderness. Aye, yei yei if we had actually camped overnight!

18 Month Milestone!

Our big girl went to the Nursery today! Ryan dropped her off and picked her up and there was NO crying, I was shocked. Look at her beautiful little necklace that she made. She seems so grown-up to me to be able to stay and play happily in nursery for two whole hours. I do also want to commend Ryan. I was at Ward Council and he did an admirable job of dressing Willa, doing her hair with a bow, and picking out the most adorable matching shoes that also happened to squeak when she walked. She was one cute little girl at church today and Ryan is a heckuva husband and dad.

Easter Egg Hunt!

A local mega church put on a huge Easter egg hunt at a local high school. 75,000 eggs, pony rides, petting zoo, face painting. The sky was the limit! They had the lawn sectioned off by ages, here is Willa trying to duck under the tape early in the 1-2 year old section. 

Willa knew exactly what to do! She had some practice in Utah with a cousin egg hunt, but I think it's probably more due to the fact that she is developmentally right in the middle of the picking up and gathering stage.

No need to sneak in early, there were PLENTY of eggs everywhere. After gathering 41 1/2 eggs, I suggested to Willa that we retire and let some other children gather eggs. We were one of the last children out and Ryan accusatorially asked if we had left eggs for other, slower children. I bade him to look back at the field where a hundred plus eggs still laid there untouched with only two or three children left walking around.

She got quite possessive of her booty and spent some time pulling the eggs out and putting them back in. It was different because all the eggs were empty. There were special "prize" eggs that you could take to a prize booth. Otherwise, once you hunted the eggs you were asked to count them up and turn them back in, and then as you left they handed you a large and well-stocked bag of candy. A little anti-climactic, but perfect for us. Willa had no idea that there was supposed to be anything in the eggs anyway, the fun was in the hunt. Without having to stuff every egg by hand, they were able to have a whole lot more eggs out there. I feel like this could morph into some type of Socialist metaphor, but the synapses in my brain aren't firing presently.

We took advantage of the petting zoo and then headed home because it was getting toasty outside.

As Ryan and I quickly started in on Willa's bag of candy, we decided that she may as well share in the spoils. My smart smart girl sucking on her dum dum.

On an unrelated note, I babysat a little 9 month-old baby the other day. Willa acted very important as she showed her the bubbles and some of her favorite toys. Most hilarious was over-concern whenever the baby spit out her pacifier. Is this an example of baby empathy - Willa knows how sad it is to be without her paci? Whenever the baby would spit it out, she would run over from wherever she was to try to put it back in. She was VERY concerned about it.

Cutest Saddest Thing, Part II

Willa and Ryan went to the Orthopedist yesterday and everything looks good. They were about to cast the arm, but Ryan said, "Ah man, a cast? Really? Come on dudes, the baby loves to swim and take baths. Can't you at least give her a waterproof cast?"

They were about to give her a waterproof cast, but one of the nurses said that they slipped off kind of easily and that once it slipped off you couldn't put it back on. Then, they decided that they might as well just give her another splint. As you can see, it looks very much like a cast and is a lot less obtrusive than the other one. Her fingers are free and she can use the arm a lot more. The nurses said that it is more like she bent the bone and the cast doesn't actually fix or prevent damage. It is basically to make it not hurt as badly for Willa.

I have mixed feelings - I wanted a splint that had velcro. Wrapping the ace bandage is a big pain and the main reason that I didn't like the other one. A cast would have been a lot easier to maintain in that respect. On the other hand, by the end of the day I am sooo ready to give this girl a bath! Plus, we have friends coming over to swim this afternoon. It's only two weeks until we see the doctor again - we can survive until then!

You can see that her eye is still red and swollen from the mosquito bite. I also noticed that she is cutting four new teeth.