Adventures in Babysitting

These past few days, I was able to watch my cousin Tegan. The first day started off a little slow. Tegan can appear to be quiet and shy when you first meet her. Oh, but do not be fooled, my friend. I think that I have talked to her more in the past three days then I have William his whole life. -converstation wise. She's hilarious! I tried to come up with some fun things that she could do. I really tried to find things that she would like to keep her busy because I wasn't able to sit and play with her all day. I got her a coloring book and a make your own locket kit (or something like that). Today, however, I decided to take her to McDonald's for lunch. I left Lily with my mom and took Tegan and William. (I don't have room in my car for 3 car seats.)We just went through the drive-thru and took the food home to eat. I got Will's food out and put it on a tray for him. I pulled out Tegan's food for her. She didn't like that she had the same number of chicken nuggets as Will did.
"It's just unfair because I'm bigger," she said.

"Well, you wanted a Kid's Meal and the Kid's Meal only has 4 nuggets in it," I countered.

"I didn't know that."

There was a strange noise. (Silence.)

"Hmm.." she began. "I think that next time, I want a Momma's Meal."

I wonder, how many chicken nuggets come in that?

The Night Before

We had a lot of things going on the day and night before we left. We had errands to run, people came over, and we had to pack! Here are some random pictures of the last day we were in Utah. Here is Lily eating strawberry shortcake! It was her first experience and she pretty much loved it.
William and Tessa were so funny together! For some reason, Will just grabbed a hold of Tessa and was staring at her. They stood there for a while, just like this picture. I took a picture of it because I wanted to remember it! We were all laughing hysterically.
Here is Carrie and little Lily. They love each other!
Here I am with my favorite little girls that live in Utah. The Page's came over to say bye and I couldn't resist getting my picture taken with these two crazies!

Here is William and Ammon eating Popsicles on the patio. They were swimming in the blow up pool. By swimming, I mean just standing around it and then when we put them in, they would scream and cry. They liked the Popsicles though!
Matt grilling. I can hear you all gasp! I'm just teasing. Matt did a great job with the hamburgers. 311. Of course Matt did this on the patio, it's his favorite band. He doodles this almost everywhere he can.

After all of this, I was able to stay up and pack while Matt went to 7 11 and got me a coca cola slurpee. I love them and we don't have 7 11's in Tennessee. We were up late that night. Fortunately, we were all able to get a nap on the long flight home. So, there you have it. Our awesome trip to Utah. I hope you enjoyed having a new post everyday. I'll write again soon. Probably not tomorrow...

Our Visitors

On the last couple of days that we were in Utah, a few friends were so good to come and see us. I finally got to meet the famous Emett family! They are amazing people and I had so much fun getting to know them. We ordered some pizza and Matt Townsend and Matt Emett played basketball with Josh and DJ, while Shellie and I were with the babies. It was nice to have friends that are kind of in the same place that we are. It was very easy to talk to Shellie. She's very friendly and easy to get along with. And Tanner is too cute for words. The Matt's have been friends for a while and it was so nice to finally meet Matt, even though he thought that I was Matt's little sister, Brittany.
Here we are with the Plant family. They came over the night before we left. It was a little late, that's why the children look tired. But, it was good to see them as well. When I was pregnant with William, Carly was pregnant with Indiana. They're only a few months apart. It was pretty funny to see them interact with each other. Pace and Matt have been friends since high school. Carly has probably had their second little girl by now (Kennedy) and next month, they are moving to Buffalo, New York so Pace can go to dental school.

Grounded

The picture is blurry, but his anger is clear. Okay, so he posed for this picture. I told him that I was taking his picture to put on our blog. Josh was grounded. We hung out a lot and played Guitar Hero. Awesome.

Among Other Things

There are things that happened during our week that I haven't posted yet, but will soon appear, things that I accidentally forgot to post, and things that I don't have pictures to post with it. So, this is that post. Well, like I said, we still have some other things that I'll post soon. Are you in suspense? The first thing that I forgot to publish yesterday was the picture of my flowers! Hello! Matt bought me these beautiful roses for Mother's Day/Birthday. Although, he just says that he bought them for me because I'm amazing. How could I argue with that? He's such a sweetie.

So, to follow-up with my Fantastic Slams post, I did get my haircut! Well, trimmed, actually. I went to Great Clips or Super Cuts or whatever in Utah. I love my hair. It's exactly what I needed done. Thank you little man with too many piercings who cut my hair and washed it with the lavender mint shampoo treatment that smelled "amazing". He didn't turn me away and he got a tip!

The last thing that I wanted to post is.... we drove by David Archuleta's house! This is our claim to fame people! He lived not even 5 minutes away from Matt's parent's house. There were house's in the neighborhood that had big signs in the windows and the Archuleta's house had a banner that said something that I can't think of. Anyway, although he did not win American Idol, he's pretty awesome in our book. AND Matt has gone swimming in his pool. Of course, it wasn't David's house at the time, but like I said earlier.. our claim to fame people! It's a great anecdote!

-Although we love David Archuleta, I am loving that David Cook won. He's a great artist and I think that he's a little more mature and ready for the crazy life of a musician. I think Archuleta is a little too tender to have to deal with the publicity and the press. It might take a toll on him. But, honestly, they were both great musicians and great contestants and I didn't know who would win because they were both so popular. I would have loved it either way. WE LOVE AMERICAN IDOL!

Red Robin Round-up

Hello everyone! May 14th was my birthday! Woohoo! 22 will be a good year, I can feel it. The night before, Matt and his mom surprised me with a birthday cake that was delicious! It was a white cake with a small layer of raspberry jam and a small layer of cream in the middle. Everyone that was there sang "Happy Birthday" the night before so that Spencer could be there and have some of the cake, as it is his favorite kind. It was totally unexpected and actually brought tears to my eyes later that night. It was very sweet of Denise to do that.
It is a tradition for me (for the past 3 years, that is) to celebrate my birthday by going to Red Robin! I love Red Robin! With a passion. It all started with my 19th birthday, at the Red Robin in Murray, Utah, with Carrie, Nathan, Tessa, and Raven. And Matthew, of course! So, in commemoration of that day, we all went this year for dinner and had a blast. My favorite thing was the mud cake that they brought out because of the wonderful day that it was! All in all, it was an amazing birthday. I was able to witness the Spirit as we were at the MTC and find joy in the righteous choices of a loved one. I was incredibly surprised by presents and a sinfully delicious cake from Matt and our family. Move over chocolate! -Yep, that good. Although I wasn't able to be in Tennessee with family, I was well taken care of by my family in Utah. The Crazy Clan
Oh, isn't this a normal family picture?
I figured that since everyone loved seeing the cake after Lily got finished with it at her party, that maybe you would all like to see my Red Robin mud cake once everyone was almost done with it. Yummy, huh?

Missionary Man

One of the biggest reasons for our trip to Utah was to see Spencer leave for his mission. He gave his farewell speech on Sunday, which was Mother's Day. It was amazing! It was one of the most influential and spiritual talks I've ever heard coming from a soon-to-be missionary. Spencer's topic was faith and he also said something that I think was the sweetest thing a son could say about his mother. "I have spoken in this ward on Mother's Day for the past three years. I think it's because everyone must know how wonderful my mom is." I don't remember it word for word, but it was something along those lines. I don't think there was a mother there that had a dry eye!
That next Tuesday night, Spencer was set apart as a missionary by the stake president. He received wonderful blessings that I'm sure will help him not only on his mission, but throughout his life. It was an emotional night for everyone that was there. Oh, and you've got to love that Will was wearing his red crocs with his superman pajama's in the picture above.
We all took Spencer to the MTC on May 14. Carrie was so nice to watch William and Lily for us while we went. It was an amazing experience. I had never been there before. You can't even imagine what kind of a connection you can feel with the Spirit while you're at the MTC. There were several missionaries leaving to several different places. Both Elders and Sisters. When it was time to say goodbye, it was very difficult. Almost everyone was crying, but I think that it was because of the mixed feelings that were surrounding us. We were sad to see Spencer leave, but also excited because he's doing the right thing and we're happy that he has chosen to serve the Lord and the people in Spokane. There's no doubt in my mind that Spencer is a great missionary already. It is estimated that he'll leave the MTC on June 2nd. I'm sure he's anxious to get out there and start the work!

Lily in Love

I found out something else about Lily while we were in Utah. Not only does she love looking at herself in the mirror, she also loves men. I think that when it comes to people she doesn't know very well, she prefers to be held by men more than women. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good she likes men! Although, I wish that she would have been a little more open to the family in Utah. She had a harder time being held by some of her aunts. She would be in tears sometimes and she would reach for me or Matt. Grandma was very good and patient with Lily. Grandma let Lily come to her when she was ready. Lily absolutely loved her uncles, though. Here, she is sitting with Josh and Spencer. She loved them so much! She had no problem going to them. I think that Josh and Spencer kind of liked it too. I'm learning a lot about Lily. It's funny how she's showing personality more and more. These pictures were taken the night that Spencer was set apart as a missionary, the night before he left on May 13. I will talk a little more about that on tomorrow's post. Lily and Joshua
Lily and Spencer (Elder Townsend)

Lily's Mirror Friend

Hello again everyone! We are back from the Beehive State! I can hear you all cheering from here. We were certainly busy practically everyday we were in Utah. So, now that you've had a week of no posts, you will receive a week of posts! This is the first installment of the "Townsend's in Utah" Saga. I have a lot of pictures, a lot of memories I don't want to forget, and a lot of fun stories. Let's start with this doosie above.

Lily has never shown an interest in seeing herself in the mirror. I have put her in front of the mirror numerous amounts of times, but she would honestly rather be doing something else. In Grandma and Grandpa's house in Utah, there is a room that was once used as a work-out room and it has mirrors along one wall. I put Lily in front of it and she found her long lost friend. I couldn't help myself. I had to record this.

Fantastic Slams

I am very particular about my hair. I wear my hair short and when it grows out, it always gets into this weird phase. I feel like I need a trim and I wanted to get it done before we leave for Utah on Saturday. Matt gets home about 4:30, so it wouldn't be until then that I could even leave. I called Fantastic Sams. They did a great job on my hair last time and they're pretty cheap. I just wanted to know when they closed.

"Seven O'clock," the lady said.

We said our goodbyes and got off the phone. All day long I have been looking forward to this. It's not anything big, but I'm sure that all women can identify with the excitement I felt. I drove about 25-30 minutes to the Fantastic Sams. I walked in.

"Can I help you?" the woman at the desk asked me.

"Yes, actually, I didn't know if there was time for me to get a partial highlight and a trim," says I.

"Well, no"

"Okay, can I get-"
I couldn't even finish my sentence.

"Actually, we stop taking walk-ins at five," the woman says, interrupting me. I looked at the clock.

"Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief.
She just nodded her head with perfectly highlighted and cut hair.

"Okay," I said and walked out.
I got in my car and looked at the clock. 5:12. No joke. Now, I understand that policies are policies and work is work. I'm sure that all of those little people doing their own hair in the back just wanted to get home. But.. I was one more paying customer - and I'm a big tipper, might I add. Why is 15 minutes such a big deal?
Now, my other thing is... why didn't the lady who I talked to on the phone bring this up to me when I called earlier that day? C'mon people!

If anyone else has had a bad experience, my comment box is open to more fantastic slams.
By the way, thanks to Carrie for the awesome title.

Welcome to Consequences Fella

Matt and I have always wanted to try and make our children understand the fact that consequences follow a choice. Bad consequences for bad choices and good consequences for good choices. Sounds simple enough, right? Not quite the case. I understand that we are not always as consistent as we should, but I think that we get our point across. There is one thing that I cannot stand. I absolutely HATE when my children throw their unwanted food on the floor. Lily is just now getting into that phase, and I have patience with her. She's still a baby! William... oh, William. I think he knows. Today, he threw ramen noodles on the floor, which, by the way, are some of the most tedious little things to clean up! They go everywhere and there are billions of them! I told Will that he needed to pick them up. After picking up a total of 2 noodles, William looked up at me and smiled. Then he tried to give me a kiss. He thinks he can sweet talk me out of this, I thought. When he gave me a kiss he started to walk away. I knew it. It took about 15 minutes to get to the point where Will ended up in bed and there are still noodles on the floor waiting for him to pick them up and throw them in the trash when he wakes up from his nap. I've gotta tell you, I'm surprised at Will. Way to show a little personality into trying to get your way, William. Sorry it didn't work.

Two Birthdays Down, Two to Go

William's 2nd Birthday Party! It was a cook out and the food was delicious! It was a lot of fun. After we ate, we opened presents and then after Senor cranky pants took a nap, we ate cake and ice cream. No, Senor Cranky pants was not Matt, it was Will. His party had a Cars theme because William is sooo into that movie. I made his cake because we're scrimping, trying to save some money. As you can tell from the picture above, I have NEVER in my life made a child's birthday cake. Total amateur, but he's two right? What does he care? Atleast he had a cake. By the way, Matt did the writing on the cake. "I made it look so bad", he says. Well, Matt, it's better than anything that I could ever do. All of the pictures below are ALL the pictures that we have of his party. Yes, it's because Matt had the camera and the NFL draft was on. I had to tell him to take these pictures.

This is Will loving on his new Cars t-shirt. You'll probably notice in the following pictures that I had to put this shirt on him after he opened it.

Bowling! John and Krystin hit the nail on the head with this one. It has a ball and things to knock down with the ball. I think this has Will written all over it.

Grandma and Grandpa got Will a rug with roads and cars on it. They got him some cars to go with it. Jennifer and her kids also got him some Cars mini's that fit perfectly on here.

I don't think he knew what was going on when we were singing to him. He liked the Lightning McQueen though!

Only at your birthday party can you eat cake, ice cream, and a sucker at one time. Oh, and before dinner too.


Keaven made an adorable blanket for him that had the Cars material on one side and had Will's Town on the other. And ofcourse it features "Will's Town's End". Gotta love it. I don't have a picture of it yet. As I said, I didn't take the pictures at the party. But, I will take one and let everyone see the cuteness of Keaven's efforts!