Halloween Freaks

The Ickies

I know I have my camera back, but the Richardsons have been fighting off the ickies since my last post. It started with Jayden throwing up and having a fever, then Karah and I both got upset tummies and fever for a few days. Karah has not been waking up happy since she's been sick and it lasts all freakin day. Hopefully since we all woke up fever-free this morning (5:00 am thanks to the little princess) we can get some happy attitudes in time for our ward party tonight and get some great pics!!

*Sigh*

Jayden has been potty trained for about 3 weeks now. The first week and a half, he woke up dry every morning. This last week and a half he has been wetting the bed. I had finally caught up with laundry, and now the only thing I can get done is his bedding. It takes all day to wash and dry his bedding. When Jayden wakes up after wetting the bed, he comes to our room and sometimes wets our bed. Fun fun!! Dan and I were hesitant to put him in a pull-up at night because we didn't want him to want to go back to diapers. We finally gave up and bought some, and some plastic sheets for both of our beds. We went to sleep happy and peaceful because we had thought of everything and I would finally be able to wash clothes!!! At 7:00 this morning, Jay walked into our room, screaming. He crawled onto our bed and threw up.

A Quiet Kid is a Mischievous Kid

Its my own fault for putting my makeup away while he was in the bathroom...he found my hiding place. Not too bad for a 2 year old boy...

Hiking

Jayden hiked (ran) the whole way up to the tree, hiked (ran) with Uncle Jordan up to a different vantage point, then had to be carried back down to the tree. Luckily Randy and Lecia had brought an extra kid backpack just in case. Jay was so excited to be "Daddy's Backpack".
I didn't realize how slippery little rocks could be, or how heavy my daughter had become until this hike. Dan was mainly holding my hand because we are madly in love, and partly holding my hand so I wouldn't fall backwards and squish his daughter when we came to a slippery spot.
This is Kelsi and Jordan. Jordan was on his mission when all of the excitement was going on, and it was a huge relief to him to come home and see that things were as well at home as he'd been told. He is single, ladies.
This picture was taken about 4 feet from the ground, don't worry, and Dan, Jordan, Randy, and Andrew were all very close by just in case. Kelsi has a picture similar to this from right before she fell, and she wanted to take another one to show that she is the same Kelsi today as she was before the fall.

Kelsi's Tree

This is THE tree. Kelsi fell about 20 feet from this tree, landed on her feet, and then pitched forward into a pile of rocks causing her to lose consciousness. So many miracles happened after she fell. That is the only way I can describe it. Heavenly Father definitely had His hand in this. It was an awesome experience to be there at the tree with the family and share the different experiences we had all had and learned from. Only those of us who knew her well before the accident can tell a difference, and it is getting harder every day.
The Life Flight Paramedics told Randy that the flat area just right of the tree was the only place they could have landed the helicopter for about 5 miles every direction. It was about 50 feet from where Kelsi fell.
Randy standing on the hill, remembering waving down the helicopter.
The Richardson Family (minus Lecia taking the picture, and Mike, Adrienne and Greg.)

Camping Trip

I (finally) have our camping pictures!! This trip was very, very special to our family. Jordan had just gotten home from his mission from Ireland, and the first thing he wanted to do was go see where Kelsi had her accident and pray as a family there. It was an awesome trip, but a little stressful thanks to the little sloppy joe smiley face up there. She screamed all night our first night. We were supposed to be up there 2 nights, but Dan and I left the second night instead of going through that again. Jayden and Benji played in the truck a lot, but got in trouble almost every time. We would lock the doors and roll up the windows, and next thing we knew they were back in there with the windows down! We realized that they would climb into the bed of the truck, and the back window doesn't lock properly. They would open that window and climb inside!! Little troublemakers!!!! We had sloppy joes one night for dinner. I think Karah likes them...that child ate 5 on her own!!!!! FIVE!!!! And she'd been eating good the whole trip, too. We had a blast!!

The Camera Has Been Found!!!

Please bear with the old pictures that I'm about to post...the camera has been missing since July!!!

Where the HECK do they come up with this stuff????

I had just hit "Publish Post" on the Care Bear/Necklace story when I looked up to see that Jayden had dug through the trash in the office and found an old tube of liquid foundation makeup. Not only did he find it, but he empied the WHOLE FREAKIN TUBE ON KARAH'S HEAD!!!!! My first reaction was pure horror because she's been going through a silly phase where she crawls with her head on the carpet, but then I just started laughing. Not a good thing when Jayden is STILL holding the tube of makeup. I had to wrestle that away from him while I had to keep Karah from getting Mary Kay's WATERPROOF foundation on the couch and carpet. 4 or 5 shampoos later, her hair still has a little tint of peach to it, but it was getting to difficult to hold with one hand and wash with the other since she was in a highly uncooperative mood. She's now been bathed 3 times today...once in the morning because it had been a few days, once in the afternoon because Jay decided to give her a thing of yogurt while I was in the bathroom and she fingerpainted her entire body with it, and now this...Motherhood is NEVER dull!!!

Drama Anyone?

There were two things that I HAD to get Karah for her birthday...necklaces and a Care Bear. Had I known the insanity that would follow, I might have scrapped both ideas. Care Bear (we call Karah Kare Bear) HAS to be within Karah's line of sight at all times. It goes everywhere with us. She is okay with certain people handling the bear...as long as she can see that it is being brought to her and not away. People not in our family are pretty much asking for their ear drums to rupture if they attempt to take the bear. I think it is funny, since it is a small "Share Bear", because she is not about to try sharing that thing. Last night when she wasn't paying attention (I think there was a diaper change going on...) Jayden decided that the bear was "too dirty" for Baby Karah, so he gave it a bath in the sink. It was getting a little dingy, but a full on dunking right before bedtime was not what I had in mind for cleaning it. Unfortunately, it is a glow in the dark bear and therefore we are not able to put it in the dryer. Oh, bedtime was a nightmare last night. She graced us for about an hour of "Mah Caaaa-Baaaaa!!!!" (My Care-Bear!!!) I felt so bad. This morning Care Bear was clean and dry, and she squealed with happiness for about 15 minutes after re-aquiring the thing. She has also been even more possesive of it, if that is possible...

Drama #2...the necklaces. Poor Mom got to hear the start of it on the phone yesterday. Karah got about 9 play necklaces for her birthday. Since then, the necklaces have been distributed all over the house and the cars. Karah had a red necklace and was playing with it...putting it around her neck, making bracelets out of it, and just swinging it around. After about 10 minutes, it looked like so much fun to Jayden. He decided that he NEEDED to play with it. The Battle of the Necklaces had begun. High pitched screams from Karah, and whinning cries from Jayden carried over the phone to Grandma. Jayden had taken the necklace and refused to give it back. So, I searched and found another necklace (the same necklace, only purple) and gave it to Karah. She was happy, he was not. He wanted the purple one and Karah would NOT trade. So, the Battle of the Necklaces turned into an all out War of the Purple Necklace. Jayden was crying on the floor, letting us know he did NOT want the red one, he wanted the PURPLE ONE, and Karah found this to be the perfect opportunity to get him back for all the times he'd pushed, tackled, hit, ground her head into the floor, slapped...you get the picture. She started WHIPPING him with the @#%!# necklace!! She was letting him have it in her language, too. I was across the room, so she got some good whacks in before I made it there, but she got a good, long time out for that one, along with both necklaces being taken away. I had no idea two pretty necklaces could be the cause of so much contention!!!

I am alive....

I know, I know, I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth there for a while. Not that it isn't out of character for me, but I've had a hard time blogging without pictures to back me up. This no camera thing is driving me crazy!! I'd finally learned how to upload the pictures and was getting into blogging when the camera went MIA during our camp out. Just my luck... Anyways, so much has happened since then!! I should have been posting everything regardless, but that is my bad and I'll try to remember everything. Jayden and Karah have grown so close since we put them in the same room. When Karah started teething a few weeks ago, she'd wake up and cry in the middle of the night. We'd rush in there and grab her before she'd wake up Jay, then we learned that it was pointless. 5 minutes after we brought Karah into our room, Jay would wake up, screaming: "Where's my sister??? I need my sister!!! KARAH????", and she would be fighting her way to him. So, we just let Jayden wake up and comfort her after that. 

Well, Karah has 5 teeth now, and we decided it was time to get her a toothbrush. Jayden decided he needed a new one too. Thanks to Grandma Kathi, Jayden is on a Wall-E kick, and Eva is his favorite character. He found a toothbrush with Eva on it and HAD to have it. When Karah saw the Eva toothbrush, she chucked the little baby toothbrush I'd given her and we proceeded to have WW3 over Jayden's toothbrush. Instinct kicked in, and I grabbed a Cinderella toothbrush that was similar to the Eva toothbrush, but it was pink and purple instead of black and yellow, and handed it to Karah. Peace was found until Jayden tried to LOOK at her toothbrush. Not take it, but LOOK at it. I'm sure that people in the Old Navy next to our Super Target heard the bloodcurdling screams that came from my little sweetheart. Jayden's face was priceless.  Unfortunately, Karah's scream only warded his curiosity for a little while, and I was soon sprinting to the check out line. The nice thing that came from this is that both kids love their toothbrushes, and brushing their teeth.

Jayden has taken to being a puppy. Most of the time this is okay with me, but he sometimes tries to use being a puppy to get out of things like going potty in the toilet, going to bed, and eating his food. Dan and I were going crazy one night trying to get him to listen to us, when finally Dan said, "Jayden, if you don't get in your bed and stay there, the Dogcatcher is going to come and get you!!" Those words were like magic. Jay let out a huge sob, and ran downstairs and jumped into his bed. That trick worked for about 2 weeks, but it has started to die down now. We now have to put him in our room for bedtime because Karah has decided that bedtime is for wussies and she cries for about an hour until she falls asleep. This was a problem for a few days until Grandma Kathi suggested we play some music in the hallway for them. I turned on the Scripture Scouts CDs that we have, and now that has to be played for naps and bedtime, but the main thing is that it works.

Karah has been talking up a storm. She has added "yucky", "milk", "drink", and "down", along with other gibber-jabber that Jayden and I can translate. She is running all over the place now, not walking, and WILL NOT keep a freaking hair bow in her hair!! It drives me nuts. She has to be doing what Jayden is doing almost at all times, and heaven forbid you treat her like a "baby". She is very into jewelry and has monopolized the toy stroller at play group. She almost gave herself an aneurysm yesterday when another little girl tried to take it. I have been trying to get her to share, but it is like trying to teach a fish how to speak English. I have to hold her in my lap when it is someone else's turn with the stroller, and she lets the whole world know that she is not happy with me. I think I know what she'll be getting from Santa this year...

Jayden went to Benji's birthday party last week, and he talks about it all the time. I made the dumb mistake of mentioning that Jayden will have a birthday in January. He wakes up every morning asking me if it is time for his birthday party. Everything we see or do has birthday party potential.  He wraps "presents" (toys in clothes), finds "birthday hats" (plastic bowls upside-down on his head), points out the party things every time we go to the store, and asks me if I'm going to bake his cake any time I go into the kitchen. I'm on day 12 of this...and I'm trying to figure out how to make this party (in January) live up to his expectations!!!

Well, there is a little peek at what has been going on for the last few weeks. I'm sorry I've been slacking!!

Broken Trust

Jayden will not eat anything I try to give him anymore. He will eat anything Dan gives him. All day today I have tried to get him to eat anything, even pulling out cookies!! If it was in my hands, he had nothing to do with it. I was totally baffled until about 10 minutes ago when Dan and I were trying to figure out what we could get Jay to eat. He would just run away from me when I suggested something. Finally, Dan made him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and he gobbled it down like I'd been starving him. After a small investigation we've found that Jay apparently thinks that I'm trying to sneak cat poop into his food!! Food made by Daddy is safe, while Mommy food is "yucky cat poop." On one hand, it is pretty funny. On the other, my kid thinks I'm poisoning him/thinks my food literally tastes like crap. I've got some mixed emotions going on here...

A Two Year Old's Logic...

Ok, so yesterday I made a beef stew with hamburger as the meat. This is one of Jay's and my favorite things to eat. I'd slaved away in the kitchen making this meal, and even baked fresh bread to go along with it. (A huge feat, since Jay and I both woke up with fevers...) Daddy gets home, and right before we are able to sit down and eat, we get a knock on the door. It was a friend who came over to take pictures of the house. While we were putting the trash cans in the garage, Jayden found the kitty litter box and was about to play in it when I told him that it was where the kitties went poop. (We still have 2 kittens left...) He was clearly disgusted. We went inside to finally eat, and Jayden would not touch his soup. I threatened him and he finally took a bite, but looked like he was about to throw up. I couldn't understand why he went from not being able to wait to eat his "hobo soup" to gagging at the very thought!! It wasn't until he spilled his soup on accident that I got the answer. He went and got a paper towel and picked up a piece of hamburger off the floor. "See, Mommy? That's CAT POOP!!!" The poor kid thought I was trying to feed him cat poop for dinner!! I tried to explain that it was hamburger, not cat poop, but he didn't buy it. I'd made enough soup to last for a couple of days, but it looks like I'm going to have to make him something separate anyway. Poor kid!!

Where is Karah?

*Squeak, squeak!!* There she is! She finally fits into her squeaky shoes that Rylee got her for Christmas! I wish I knew where my camera was, because she was just precious the first time I put them on her. She assumed the "frisking" position, hands up on the wall with her legs spread apart, and was watching her feet while she stomped them. Jayden joined her, making his shoes light up. She loves those shoes!! If she can see them, they need to be on her feet. She wore them to a dinner with Great Grandma and Grandpa Richardson, and everyone loved them, too. We knew exactly where she was at all times. I am going to be so sad when she grows out of them!! Thank you, Aunt Krissa, Uncle Matt, and Cousin Rylee!!

Kittens Anyone????

We have 3 kittens left, free to good homes!! Our house has officially been taken over by animals! The kittens are not from our outdoor cat, but from Dan's grandma's outdoor cat. We had her cat carrier when she wanted to get the thing fixed, so we are now responsible for finding homes for the kittens. They are so cute, and the kids absolutely love them. Poor kittens...Jayden is very good about being soft and careful, but he loves to catch them and hand them to Karah and well, she's not. She squeals and squeezes, tries to walk with the kitten over to me, and usually trips over the tail. She LOVES animals. Too much. Yesterday one of the kittens was in the house awaiting their new owner. Karah picked it up by the ears before we could get to it, and it probably had a sore tail after Jayden caught it going under the couch... Needless to say, we are giving the animals away not only because of Dan's allergies, but for their own survival.

Jayden's Revenge...

I have had several posts recently about the Birds from Heck getting into our house and tormenting my little boy. Well...today we accidentally got the bird species back... We were on our way home from picking Daddy up from work, when out of NOWHERE, a bird smacked into our windshield...we were going 70 mph. I screamed, "Oh my gosh, we killed a bird!!", Dan jumped, and Jay was wide eyed. "Bam bam Birdie!!" He cried, re-enacting the sound the bird had made bouncing off our car. "I killed Birdie?" he asked. "No, no, you didn't kill the bird, Jay," Dan reassured him. "Daddy killed it." Jay said. We tried to explain that it was an accident, and no one's fault. The bird had simply flown into the car. "It's Birdie's fault." Jay replied to our explanation. "Birdie got hurt. Kiss it, Mom." We heard that the rest of the way home. I was happy to realize that he didn't really know what the word "killed" meant, that he was just repeating what I had said when I wasn't thinking straight, and that he was really concerned for the welfare of the bird. Is it bad that I told him that the bird was okay, and that he flew away to play?

Conversations With Jayden...

At the Grocery Store...
Jayden: "Jesus!!! JESUS!!!" (He was pointing emphatically to a man with a beard and mustache)
Mommy: "No, Sweetheart, that isn't Jesus."
Jayden: (after thinking for a moment) "Okay, that's Nephi!!"
It feels so good to know that he's kind of paying attention to church!

In the car...
Jayden: "I want to go to the airport."
Mommy: "Why do you want to go to the airport?"
Jayden: "I want to pick up Grandma." (This was the day after Mom went home...)
Mommy: "Jay, Grandma isn't at the airport anymore. She's in Texas."
Jayden: "I want to go to Texas."
Mommy: "We don't have the money to go to Texas right now."
Jayden: "Grandpa does in his pocket!!"

He has also been conspiring ways to get to Texas...
"Thomas the train can take us..."
"I can ride Aggie to Texas..."
"I want to go to the airport. I'm going to Texas."

He even brought me his wallet with $7 in it, asking me to take him. He sure misses his Grandma!!!

Why me?

I have been going crazy this week looking for our camera!! I took it with me when we went camping with Dan's family last week, and now it is nowhere to be seen. I had so many pictures of Kelsi's tree, the family, and of course, my cute kids!! I know this sounds silly, but please pray that I'll find my camera!

4 Things I'm Thankful For...

1. I'm thankful for the dryer dying...I am able to appreciate what my ancestors had to go through with hanging up the clothes throughout the house because it has been raining off and on the last few days. Plus, I've always loved playing "Pioneer"!!

2. I'm thankful for the wild birds getting into the house. It makes my life unpredictable and exciting, never knowing when we are going get "attacked". It also gives me the opportunity to be a hero, and I get awesome snuggle times with Jayden.

3. I'm thankful that Karah won't stay away from the window and blinds...it means that she can see and appreciate the beauty of the world. It also means that she is strong and determined. She will get what she wants out of this life.

4. I'm thankful for Heavenly Father's sense of humor for giving me trials that I can sit back and laugh at with my husband and children.

Our Daddy, the Hero

I just talked to Dan on the phone (the first time today...YAY me!!) and he told me the reason Jayden woke up 3 1/2 hours earlier than usual... Dan woke up very early to the terrified screams coming from Jayden's room. He said they were not the normal "I had a nightmare" screams, but some "I'm about to die!!!!!" screams. He went down to see what was the matter, and another *insert bad word* bird had gotten into our house and was dive-bombing my poor baby boy!! Dan caught the bird and threw it outside, then tried to get Jayden to calm down. Karah woke up during all of the commotion, so going back to bed was not an option. Daddy bravely faced the cranky kids alone, trying to keep them from waking me. Thank you, Sweetheart, for being our Hero!!