February and March...

Daphne, Daphne, Daphne... the most impatient little girl in the world. She can certainly be cute a lot of the time, but when she wants something there is no side tracking her, or making her wait a minute... she says, "Mommy Get Up" "Get Up Mommy" and annoys you until you do what she wants... she is certainly a piece of work...

When you let her color with markers and she does the right thing for awhile than she gets down and finds something to write on fast...

When she comes in my bedroom, and gets into my ear drops, looses the place in my book, gets into the stuff on the top of my dresser, and kicks, bites and pinches you until she gets her way...

She gets in trouble more and more these days... she is starting to make Sami look like an angel... I am trying to teach Sami that she needs to listen to me, and ignore what Daphne is doing, Daphne will get in trouble... and that I am the mommy... Sami is getting better at listening because she is almost 5, it's not anything she can get away with anymore... she is so curious all the time, even if she knows what you are doing she still asks. As I am putting tape on a box, "Mom what are you doing?" "The same thing I was doing a minute ago when you asked me, tapping up a box so I can pack it... " yes so much fun these young minds are...

We have had a crazy couple of weeks. I had my eye on a couple of apartments, owned by the same company... so I called them mid February and asked them hey can I look at that place and put a deposit down to secure it... well it's move in ready now, so call me back the 1st of March and we can work something out. So i waited and prayed and waited. First our income tax return took forever to get here, than when it finally did, that was a blessed day. I called them up February 29, hey can I look at that place tomorrow. Well call me tomorrow. So i call them march 1st and we go look at the apartment. The one I wanted was rented, and so I was left with it's twin 2 blocks away. $645 a month, $500 deposit, and pay $70 application fee, $35 each adult. Than It had a washer and dryer hook up etc. So... I go look at it...

Here we are enjoying our latest snow fall while we wait for the guy to show up so we can look at the place. When i talked to him that morning he told me if I paid a deposit and first months rent I could have it April 1. So Than he tells me he needs a Cashier's Check. So I forgot how those go and so I go to Safeway to obtain one, You have to have cash to pay for a cashier check... ok... so I jump in the car... drive the 20 min to Airway Heights to our closest bank and get 3 cashiers checks, one for each of the amounts... I turn around head back to town. Oh, did I mention I talked to him at 9, and was meeting him at 1. I was also heading to Kennewick the next morning and so I had to do my laundry that morning as well. So I went to the laundromat, put our 5 loads in to wash, went to Safeway and than realized that I had to go to the bank. I headed back to the laundromat put the laundry in the dryer, put all 5 loads in 2 dryers, set them for 72 minutes and left. When I got back into town, I hurried and went to pick up the laundry before meeting him at 1 only to realize I didn't push the start button on one of the dryers and so only had half my clothes ready. So I started it and went and met the guy.

The girls were super excited to wear there boots for a few days while it snowed off and on. It was warmer this day and so I let them play since they had been such good sports while I ran all those errands.

I was excited a nice big yard...

A front porch...

well so he came we looked at it and left. It would work. So than I picked up the laundry went home, and relaxed. Than we went to dinner that night and also faxed our applications in. I called the wife of the guy who is the actual manager and tell her that I faxed them in. I verified once again that we would be able to move in the last week or so. I had talked to the guy we were going to pro rate the last couple weeks and move in at our leisure. His wife disagreed... "we can't go 20 days with out someone paying rent, you'll have to pay the full month's rent" than I explained to her what her husband quoted me at and it was a no go. So we were a tad frantic... what do we do. We called our current landlord and asked him if we could stay past March, and he said sure... just a month to month lease. Not what I wanted to do, it's cramped but better than paying twice the amount of rent necessary. We pulled out of the other place told them we couldn't afford two months of rent at the same time... and that was that. I got our money back the next morning.

Daphne having fun Sunday night with a dry erase marker... it was great fun until we visited the doctor and she was very appalled... it's not permanent... and she is two.. what do you expect.

So the saga continues... over the weekend I relaxed and talked to my parents and just kinda didn't think about moving. Me and Dave had said that we were going to opt for a bigger place... which was more money but well worth it for the space and convinces. So Monday curiously I went into the real estate agency that manages the mobile home complex that friends of ours live at. They had taken out an old mobile home and put a newer one in it's place. It would be ready by April 1. She couldn't guarantee anything else would come up by August when we would have to most definitely move... so I talked to Dave and saw it this morning. Super cute place on the outside... needs lots of work on the inside but I have been in there other rentals and they are nicely done. So... hopefully by the end of March we will be moving in... at the latest the first week in April, which brings more drama... they are currently looking for tenants for our place and I have to make it presentable for people to come look at it, and if it's rented by the 31 we have to be out by the 1st and therefor we might be homeless for a week. We are leaving town the 30 and going to a Comic Convention in Seattle on Saturday the 31, but we have it all figured out, we just might be sleeping on someones floor for a couple days during the transition while our stuff camps out in there garage... so much fun! But I think of the big picture we will be in this place for 2 years or more... so get what I want, what makes me happy. That's what Dave says, he could care less, he just wants me to be happy, and I know I will be. Poor, but happy!

Valentine's Day!

What a fun exciting couple weeks we have had...

wow are you thinking... oh fun what did they do... well no worries it wasn't too exciting...

Dave has been thrown full boar into his quarter of school. He is taking the 2nd class of programming the 2nd class of 3D animation and philosophy/Ethics. He has been on the computer every day after school continuous. I can't say that I have been the perfect wife I have had my bouts of insanity wondering how I am going to get through the next 2 years but, I have been shown that school is definitely not easy and to have a 4.0 student as your husband you have to work extra hard at everything else. We have been blessed most definitely when he has been put up against strict deadlines for finishing the impossible he has been able to do it all the while, I have been doing my calling which can be demanding at times, and taking care of all the house hold and girl needs and all my many doctors appointments.

Here are the girls eager to leave the house to go to a play date... I dress them a like when we go somewhere there will be lots of kids. I showed them how you could make a hand puppet with a sock and they were trying it out... they are two of the most adorable wonderful daughters a mom could ever ask for but just as easily as I think that they can be the most infuriating. I have stopped yelling and spanking (for the most part, no I didn't do it that often) but now I just calmly say strike 1. etc. If they get to 3 strikes it is time out in there room for 5 min while the timer is set. If they keep it up I just add time. It is a lot less stressful on me and the baby.

Speaking of the baby... he is growing at a rapid pace, and I am hungry A LOT but I have been trying to keep myself busy and so I made him some ties. they are super simple but adorable and I am going to sell them at our next Ransom Made Event in May. So cute... my favorite one is the Oreo one. I have also made a potato chip, tool, band instrument, and dog. I am constantly on the search for fun fabric. I want to find a guitar fabric, and will be hitting up JoAnn's in the coming week to get Super Hero fabric for his bedroom and of course a tie... I have converted some of Dave's old dress shirts into ties, and saving the rest for pants to match... this kid is going to be well dressed, and styling!

I had a pretty good Valentine's Day. I gave Dave a hard time about never getting me flowers and he has a hard time buying me something that dies in a matter of days and so he doesn't do flower bouquets. He bought me a mini rose plant and I love it... I just hope I don't kill it. I only have one other plant and it is the one that never dies... so I pray that I can keep these roses alive. I transferred them into a bigger pot and put them where when the sun shines it will hit them. Since it is still hard core winter here the sun is very rare and when it does shine... it goes bitter cold a couple days later and the repercussion is everyone gets a cold. That's me.. I have been struggling with having energy, taking care of my girls, myself, and keeping my cool while Dave has been so busy all while having a bad cold. It is just about past me, and so I hope it stays gone. Dang cold. It's not so bad but since I have a kid sitting on my bladder if there is the least bit of anything in my bladder if I sneeze more than once in a row I am running to the bathroom so fast in hopes I can make it before I wet myself... yeah I am 31 and I feel like I am on that SNL commercial... "Ooops I crapped my pants... " but I don't crap I just tinkle.. the things we women go through to bring these beautiful children into the world.

I got Dave some candy (which he has hardly ate any of) and a Batman T-shirt. The girls got Lady and the Tramp, and Wizard of Oz on Blu ray. Dave's birthday is on the 26th and we are going out to dinner just the two of us next week to celebrate that and Valentines a bit more. I did make some delicious chow for us Tuesday, and we had a pre-school party Monday for Sami and her friends and Daphne's friends. It was a hit.

My husband told me the other day that he wouldn't work this hard in school if it wasn't for us. He wants to provide for us and I know he will do just fine. I am so glad that we came to Cheney for him to get this animation degree. He is doing computer programming as well but just doing that would have sold him short he is an amazing student and has such a talent for this animation. Seriously if I can get some pictures off his lap top I will show you just how talented this guy is...

Let me tell you what he just completed. At Eastern they have a visitors center well, there class was asked by the school to create a 3D dimensional walk thru tour of the campus so that visitors could see the campus with out having to walk through it. Well they have like 20 some kids in there class and they all modeled 3 buildings in less than 2 weeks. Dave's buildings look amazing... I am just so impressed by how talented he is.. I don't know how I got to lucky to have such an amazing talented 4.0 student as a husband but I did and I am so glad and I know I will be eternally happy. He told me about how the smart students in his degree get recruited to work for Microsoft in Seattle. This kid went through the program recently and got 4.0 in everything and he got hired right out of school to work for Microsoft. They gave him a $50 thou starting bonus, and he makes about $80 thou a year... I am not thinking that will be us but hey I won't complain... I just want a house with a backyard, and more money to craft and decorate... We have 2 more years of this horror or being poor and Dave been so busy but after it's over it will miss this time and it will all be a distant memory!

Ok, enough gloating about my husband... just goes to show college pays off! (or will)

Onto the lighter side of things... Daphne... what am I going to do with this girl, seriously? She is such a pill. At night she usually plays in her room while her sister sleeps before she falls asleep well this night apparently she was reading books and just got tired. She is asleep in the book box... we did move her but after laughing and taking several pictures. Children really are a joy.

I registered Sami for kindergarten yesterday, kindergarten I can't believe it. When did that happen. She turns 5 in June and I am scared to send her off to school. Here they don't just do morning or afternoon unless you pay for it. They do either MW and every other F or TTH and every other F. From 8:20-3:30 and the F are late so 9:20. I am interested to see how it all plays out, she is constantly needing to be pre-occupied at home, I can't keep her busy. If she isn't busy doing something than she is terrorizing Daphne. I am going to miss her help, and her sweet ness when she is at school this fall, but I won't miss her whining... she has mastered that. Maybe they will teach her how to listen at school.

Well I think my post is long enough today!

Think, Think, Think...

I'm sitting here typing when I should be falling asleep while reading Pride and Prejudice. I read it every time I am pregnant, I don't know why but it's good timing every 2-2 1/2 years... I love reading it because it's so different than the movies... close to the PBS version than the Kiera Knightly one but I love it, i just get snuggled into my bed and my mind concentrates on something other than what runs through my mind all day and I fall asleep, I have to read to fall asleep or I can't stop thinking. I was watching the new movie "I don't know how she does it" starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinear and Pierce Brosnan, it's PG-13 but it is actually really decent, there is only one thing that is said that is not appropriate and it's mentioned twice. Well she is a juggler is what her husband calls her at the end of the movie, any ways the point I am trying to make is in the movie she talks about being a mom and how mom's don't sleep through the night and how she gets up and kisses her kids and than lays back down and makes "The List" in her head of all her up coming tasks and things she wants to get done... well that's me... I think and think and think and think. I can't tell if it's worse now that I am pregnant or not... but I just can't stop my mind is on go all the time. I have to have distractions or it's so bad... I have decided I am a project pile-r I go from one project to the other and have a hard time finishing projects... it's awful... any ways... let me tell you about our family.

Last weekend... our fridge finally needed to be replaced. It's needed it for awhile but excuse after excuse was made. It was leaking water and than it started freezing every thing on the top shelf. The maintenance man came out twice first in October, next in December but here we are still with a broken fridge. So finally my landlord aka upstairs neighbor Nancy the best landlord EVER, decided time for a new fridge. So She said the fridge guy was coming Friday. So I took everything out of our fridge and freezer and put it out front in boxes etc, the guy came, replaced our fridge, took away our broken washer and dryer for free, and left. Friday night, milk wasn't very cold, but hey we were used to frozen milk so hmmm maybe needed getting used to again. Saturday same story, Sunday getting ready to leave for church, everything in freezer has completely de-thawed and starting to smell, (just my frozen bananas) and we have maxed out the turning up knobs and no change. We go to church come home tell Nancy she says she will call them Monday morning. So I tell Dave oh man, gotta take everything out and put it outside again, i tell him how when I took everything out Friday I put it out front. To go out front I had to go down the hall and walk up stairs... he says... why did you do that, just take the screen off the window and put it out there... So thanks to my wonderful husband we saved ourselves a lot of time and energy and put everything worth saving out the kitchen window until Monday morning when we got a working fridge. Wow... yes a lot of craziness.

Thursday's Dave works and I was exhausted... Wednesday night was New Beginnings and I was in charge. Each of the counselors took a big event for the year and decided better time than any to do it and so I was in charge... it went well, very stressful but everyone loved it. I didn't exactly realize how stressed I had been that day until Thursday morning when i couldn't drag myself out of bed and wore a blanket most the day while catching up with episodes of "Downton Abby" on Netflixs (season 1) and on line PBS (season 2) wow such a good show I am addicted. Well so Dave tells us to go change out Sami's movie since we have a $5 movie pass at Blockbuster for unlimited rentals for kids, so we head over there which is next to Safeway in search of a movie, and for me feel good food. We rented Mickey Mouse clubhouse, and I rented the movie i mentioned... I don't rent movies very often, hardly anything I want to see. So I go back to the bakery at Safeway where all the goodness is... there cooler of slices of cheesecake etc. They had chocolate covered strawberries. 4 for $6.99 and that was using your Safeway card, normally $9.99 i thought well screw that... i went to the produce sections spent $7 on a container of strawberries and a container of dolci chocolate that you melt in the microwave and made our own... it was a success and makes me want a fondue maker... on my wish list someday I will have a small fondue kit... we also brought home some coleslaw, chinesse noodles and sweet and sour chicken. I could only eat some and Dave ate the rest for lunch today... i let him... especially since when I went to go eat it it was hidden and I couldn't find it... wonderful.

As you can tell Daphne loved them... her first strawberry she ate the whole thing her second one she just ate the chocolate off and put the strawberry down... she's no dummy. This girl cracks us up daily. Her sister of course always has something funny or smart alleck to say but Daphne is learning things and when this girl is tired she doesn't whine or cry she is so NAUGHTY... so NAUGHTY... she finds stuff and gets stuff that we don't know how she did it...(anyone know how to get pen off walls and linoleum and metal?) just one thing after the other. Than she takes off her pants and her diaper and runs around laughing. Her biggest thrill is kicking my belly... than she says... hi brother... yeah great relationship there... this girl though... don't know what to do with her, fights naps like you wouldn't believe but is so cute it's hard to be mad at her. I have my hands full, it's fun, it's exciting and it's hard but I love it and I am making tons of memories with my angels... they are both very different but get along decently enough. Constantly learning from each other. Sami is getting smarter by the day and she is going to do great in school once she realizes she can... so dang lazy but that will get better soon... I hope... poor girls built like her mom belly and no butt or hips to hold up her pants... but she grows like a weed and her sister is keeping up... they are going to pass me up someday.... i don't know how Sami is growing that girl would live off candy, juice, milk and mac and cheese if we let her.

Well it's off to bed I go, Dave is off to dreamland already and I am starting to wind down. Tomorrow is a fun day of projecting and dropping stuff off and getting ready for Sunday. Saturdays aren't all that exciting here... Cheney isn't that exciting... want to realize how good you have it in your towns come visit... you'll be so grateful for your home when you go back...

Well a lot of changes coming our way... we gotta find a new place to live and we will move there at the end of march, just to a 3 bedroom to accommodate Ezra, and all our crap. With that you'll notice our blog can't be named David and his Girls anymore so if you can throw me some suggestions for something cute and creative for once Ezra comes that would be great!

November

I guess I have been pretty lazy lately where the picture taking is concerned, oh well... we aren't that exciting so your not missing much. This is the pictures we have taken this month...

One Sunday before church I needed a snack since we were out of everything to take to church, and so I popped a bowl of popcorn, Sami gave Daphne the bowl of popcorn and there ya go.... I ended up picking up enough to stuff in two baggies for church, and vacuumed it all up when we got home, this girl is a terror, she gets in to EVERYTHING... last night she broke a plate, and when she is coloring she throws all the crayons on the floor, and when she is doing puzzles she throws all the pieces on the floor, not at all like Sami was at this age, so you can see where I am surprised...

Dave irons his own church shirts, here is the proof!

it snows here now all the time, and it's very cold, my friends from church laugh at me when I show up and am suited up in my coat, hat, gloves, boots and scarf and still complaining about being cold... my temperature is off I am assuming thanks to this baby... I am really not that big of a whimp.

Saturday I decided I needed to go shovel the walks so we didn't get snow in our shoes going to church, Sami came out and played while I shoveled. We haven't invested in snow clothes for her, so she is wearing knit gloves, and two pairs of pants, she didn't want to come inside after the 30 min we were out there and claimed she wasn't cold, i was freezing and I had all the good stuff on.

Daphne, Daphne, Daphne... never lays on her actual pillow and usually doesn't fall asleep in her bed... silly girl. One night she got stuck between the guard rail and the mattress it was super sad.

i made myself this skirt... no one noticed, but I love it... it's so comfy and warm.

Sami posing for the picture... Daphne chewing on a babies feet.

As I told you before we aren't too exciting but since i have a blog and we are stuck over here in Cheney snow land, apparently the highest elevated place in the state of WA, ( I don't believe it) i am making the best of it. The nice day will be when we move into a bigger place and we actually have places to put things... notice all the clutter... it's really fun, it's ok, no one ever comes in my house, except home teachers, I don't have visiting teachers that come, and us, so I am just not worrying about it... I have more important things to worry about.

We are leaving Tuesday to head to Kennewick, for Thanksgiving, we come back on Friday Dave has to work Saturday, we are going back down for Christmas for a week, so that will be fun. I heard the babies heart beat, and it's good the doctor said, the bean was moving a ton and I am thrilled to find out that I have only gained 3 pounds so far, which is nice since I was overweight to begin with and I am told I should only gain 15-25 pounds total... so eating healthy I am, and trying not to get too caught up in my weight.. I will worry about that after this baby comes. Hoping to move into a town house after this, so hopefully going up and down stairs all day will help me loose...

Hearing the heartbeat after Christmas before New Years, or around there so that will be fun, than I can stop dreaming of a boy and just deal with what ever this baby will be either Emma Mae or Daniel Jeffrey... we shall see what comes... my luck it will be a girl but I know several people that have had two sexes in a row and there 3rd is different... so still crossing my fingers, it's not that I don't like girls, of course I love them, I just need something different a change of pace, I am getting bored of princess stuff, and pink clothes, bring on the boy stuff PLEASE!!!

See ya for now!

Daphne turns 2!

Daphne turned 2 on September 23, but soon after all the fun was done I started in with the morning sickness... so needless to say... I am behind!

On the morning of her birthday we had her unwrap her presents. She got a leap frog phone and a mickey plush from grandma and grandma Ransom

And a set of Toy Story 3 figures since she loves that movie so much. We also gave her some books and a baby Cinderella doll.

That afternoon we invited some of Daphne's nursery buddies to the park to have cupcakes. Since most of Sami's friends have siblings Daphne's age, they came too so it was a lot of fun!

Getting pictures of her is hard because she doesn't stop.

It was a Toy Story Themed party... (or attempted)

Cupcake tower

Alien's as the party favor...

Sami being a good big sister watching the balloons making sure they don't fly away

Everyone got a cupcake, than the birthday girl disappeared...

she got pretty comfy with this tree and enjoyed hanging out...

I think it was because she had pooped her pants and her forgetful mother packed everything but a diaper and wipes...

Can you see her? Dave kept an eye on her while I talked with our guests.

She had a great birthday... can't believe she is already two... yeah... let the years come!

She is our little rascal, no fear, and always getting in to everything she isn't supposed to.

The 2nd weekend in October we went to Grandma Ransom's to have the Ransom Made Event and the girls came with mom while Dad stayed home and worked. Daphne learned how to crawl out of her crib before we left home and wouldn't stay in the pop up crib and so she slept with mom, or on the bottom bunk. (mom didn't sleep very well) When we got home we gave up trying to get her to stay in her crib it was a waste and just took apart the crib and set up the bottom bunk for her and the top bunk for her sister. She sleeps pretty good, I am surprised at how well she does. We put her on the bed, with the child guard up and she stays in, she is a good little sleeper and loves to get under the covers and snuggle with this horse in the picture. This girl is obsessed with horses, I had never been a fan or horses, sure I like riding them, but she loves all horses, and puppies. She is a riot and I look forward, (of course) to the next years to see how she changes and develops.

She got a box of hand me down clothes from my sister Cindy, and well they were from Cindy's youngest and well they were nicer brand than we buy and Daphne gets so excited to get dressed, she loves shoes and being pretty. She won't keep a hair clip in worth a darn, but she loves to be pretty! I love her and if this baby is a girl, than yeah, bring her on... I am set and ready to see how much different she will be from her big crazy sisters!

ONLIVE!

As most of you know, Dave is a game reviewer. He works for "Velocity Gamer"

a game review site started by this 16 year old Nick from back East...

Dave enjoys it, it's a way for him to get free games to play and to work on his writing skills, and this is something that he can put on his resume when he applies for jobs when he graduates. He would like to move to Seattle and work for a game company designing video games, go figure.

He gets tons of freebies, we got pin ball game for free, and he gets all sorts of other stuff for free as well, which is nice since we sure don't have the money to buy that kind of stuff, he got this package this week and it was a game console bought for him and the other reviewers on the site by a advertiser or something. It's called ONLIVE. Basically it is just like Netflixs but it's for video games, kinda crazy. He got the system which is worth $100 and a membership for free, so it pays to be a game reviewer!

The packaging came with these funny plastic sticky pieces that me and Daphne had fun with...

Trying to be funny do Blue Steel but my mouth doesn't go that small...

She kept taking them off and giving them to me to put them back on, it's pretty funny, she is such a riot and get the kick out of the funniest stuff! Love this girl!

Wadding Pool!

The city wadding pool, where we schedule our days around. I am enjoying the sun and so are the girls. Most days we head over there and they play for a bit, and fight and than we come home and have snacks and watch a movie, when they usually fall asleep, so than I get an hour or two to myself to clean, or make dinner, so it's pretty nice, and we are all getting nice and bronzy looking skin, Daphne more than any of us, but it's nice. I don't take very many pictures, because I am usually wet and water and cameras of course don't mix... so here ya go!

Our basic time at the pool.

Daphne usually doesn't get very far in the water and stays on the out skirts. It is deeper in the middle than on the sides. She usually goes around stealing everyones toys, not that we don't bring our own, but seriously!

Sami spends the time floating around on her butterfly floatie. We have two, one for her and one for Daphne and of course Daphne usually doesn't play with hers so Sami gets them both or shares one with a friend.

As most of you know Dave completed his 2 year degree, well we just got his diploma and so it was pretty exciting!

Daphne the only one awake watching the movie, and eating her popcorn. She had dumped it out and was picking it all up, it was pretty cute!

Gotta love my family, they never bore me that's for sure!