Update...

So, I decided that now would be as good a time as any to update our blog with what's been happening in our life. The kids are asleep and I get about two hours to myself before it all starts over again. This past week has been eventful, it was nice to have Adam home for a three day weekend, which I decided to be ambitious and potty-train Makenna. It did not go well. Tears, screaming and more tears ended my try at potty-training for the time being. Not to mention that when we did go out in public on Saturday we put a pull-up on Makenna and she peed all over me in Deseret Book, now that was enjoyable... I think that I will try again in a couple of weeks, she was just getting over an ear infection and she is in that enjoyable stage of "no" to everything, so right now probably isn't the best time to potty train.
Makenna is also on the kick of having her hair like Mulan's, no not cut off, just down. Her hair has gotten pretty long and I keep thinking that I am going to cut it, but I don't. I just continue to put it up. Anyway, here is a recent picture of Makenna, she is pretty cute!! Here is also a picture of Makenna listening to Adam's iPod, she is listening to the Aladdin soundtrack.
As I have said before, Cole is a climber, and everyday he climbs on the kitchen table or the entertainment unit about 50 time. No exaggeration. On Tuesday, he climbed on the entertainment center and before I could get there (literally 3 seconds) he fell off and cracked his lip open. It looks pretty bad, I wish that he wouldn't climb so much and it is hard to teach a 17 month old child to stop climbing. Here is also a picture of Cole sitting on Adam's face. He loves to sit on our laps with his blanket, but Adam's face seemed to be the place to sit the other night. Adam did not enjoy it...
Adam's sister Sadie is coming the spend the next four days with us while his parents go to Georgia to see Brittany. Sadie is a good girl, I just hope that I can keep her entertained. I don't have toys that a seven year old would like to play with, but I will do my best. She will probably be a great helper with the kids, I am sure!!
Adam is still really busy at work, I don't think that there is ever a slow day for him, but he loves his job, so that is good. I am grateful for how hard he works so that I can stay home with our kids.
Our ward just split about two weeks ago, which was a good thing since we had 700 members in our ward, it is a lot smaller now. It's nice knowing that we don't have to go to church 30 minutes early to get a bench anymore. Neither of us have a calling yet, so hopefully by the time they get to us we will get easy jobs. Cole thankfully goes to nursery in about three weeks. That will be so nice!!
Not too much is new with me, still trying to watch what I eat and lose a little weight. Not doing that great of a job, but I am trying!

Terrible Threes?

I have a couple of minutes before the two children get up from their naps and thought that I would give a little update on some things that are happening in the Pace home. The illnesses continue to go on and on... Cole still has a bit of a runny nose, but seems to have a good disposition, so hopefully, his nose is just gross because he is also teething, seriously, he loves to get like 3 or 4 teeth at once. Right now, he is working on his bottom molars and his eye teeth. Makenna on the other hand had a fever for several days and finally on Monday night, she started to say that her ear was hurting. Of course, it was too late to go to the doctor, so we used some numbing drops that we had left over from Cole's ear infection in the fall and that helped. We then let her sleep with us so that she wouldn't wake up Cole throughout the night, but it made for a VERY long night for me. Finally, at 3:30am I gave up and took her in her room and put her in her bed, that lasted for about 3 minutes. I eventually had to go and sleep in her room. It wasn't so bad, just went from only having about a foot of bed to sleep on in our room to about the same in her room. Also, just to clarify, this is not a normal practice on my part at all. I am not the parent who lets their children sleep with them, but when they are that sick and aren't in a crib, what do you do when they keep getting out? She did go to the doctor on Tuesday morning and is on antibiotics so hopefully in the next day or two she will be feeling better.

On another note, for anyone that has been around Makenna in the past three months knows how much she loves her dollar Cinderella toy. It goes everywhere with her, to bed, bathtime, eating, everything. Of course, being a dollar toy, means that it is not exactly crafted too well, so it breaks from time to time causing extreme distress on Makenna. So, we have bought a few spares and will just switch them out when they break or become too dingy for us to stand. Well, she left her toy at the doctors office yesterday and has been extremely distraught without it, but I am not giving in and giving her a new one. That thing gets lost too easily and has become a huge irritation to me and Adam. Don't get me wrong, it was very cute at first, but at 2:00am when she has lost it and is screaming at the top of her lungs for you to find it, it is not cute. The weird thing is that this was a toy that she had for about 4 months and showed no interest in it, then all of the sudden, it has become something that she can't live without. Thanks Natalie!! Natalie bought the original toy. We'll see if we stay strong, she was screaming earlier at me to go to the doctors and get her toy... Ahh, who said that it's the terrible twos, I think it is actually the terrible threes, but I love her anyway!!

New Things #1

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to try new things. Ok, not all new things, but at least new things that cost less than $5 or so, and can usually be found at the local grocery store. If it's a new soda, cereal, candy, or ice cream, I've gotta try it. Most of the time, it's usually good that these new products are a "limited time only" release. They are usually pretty bad, and they are only meant to get people like me to buy them once, which is enough to justify their release.

I really enjoy giving people advice on what they should try, based on these ventures. What better way to pass on my reviews that this blog? I don't know of anything better, unless anyone would like to pay me for these reviews... At the moment they are free however, so enjoy them before you start having to cut me a check.

First up, Diet Cherry-Chocolate Dr Pepper -
Many of you already know that I am a huge Dr Pepper fan boy, and I have generally been pretty pleased with most of their recent attempts at diversification. I like the Cherry Vanilla variety of Diet Dr Pepper, and although I'm not a huge fan of the Berries n' Creme version, I can see why other people like it. I even loved the Dr Pepper Red Fusion that was met with large criticism, and was therefore discontinued shortly after its release. However, I have to tell you that I put the latest incarnation of Diet Dr Pepper (I'm looking at your, Cherry-Chocolate...) up there with the taste of vomiting in your mouth, and drinking Orange Juice right after brushing your teeth. Luckily, this is also a "limited edition" beverage, and shouldn't be taking up any precious Dr Pepper shelf space for much longer. Of course, if you like the fake chocolate flavor that Tootsie Rolls provides, you might actually like this stuff. Oh yeah, and if you like the taste of crap.

Next up, Pizza-Mia Pizza, by Pizza Hut -
If you weren't already aware, the Pizza-Mia Pizzas are Pizza Hut's way of competing with Little Caesar's and Domino's Pizza's $5 pizza offers. Give me a Little Caesar's "Hot n' Ready" any time, if Pizza-Mia is the only other option. I knew that Pizza Hut decided they would need to make the pizzas a little differently to cut costs in order to compete with the other $5 specials, but when they realized they would have to put rotten tomatoes and moldy cheese in the mix, they probably should have just pulled out. I mean, I know that when the cheese in my fridge goes moldy, I will cut off the green and white parts to try to make better use of what's left. I just didn't know that Pizza Hut has secretly been stocking up on what I was discarding to put on the pizza that I would later order. The words "not good" are almost a compliment. How do I get my $5 back?

Third, it's the Strawberry Creme Hershey's Kisses -
Also a "limited edition" release (do you think they call these products that so that if John and Jane Q. Public don't like the stuff, and they get discontinued, the manufacturers don't get criticized for such a poor product?), the Strawberry Creme Kisses are just one of 36 "limited edition" flavors commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Hershey kiss. They aren't as bad as some of the other flavors (don't get me started on the Dulce de Leche batch), but as my buddy Chris reminds me, if I ever say that a new product "isn't too bad", it probably means it isn't all that good either. They are a solid white chocolate, with a strong strawberry flavor mixed in. As opposed to the mint truffle kisses (which make me single handedly miss Christmas), these are a very waxy version of what should probably melt in your mouth. My kids like them however, so they are great to use as rewards for things like potty training, taking naps, going to mom for diaper changes...things like that.

P.S. - Jack Johnson - Sleep Through The Static -
I like Jack Johnson. I don't have all his albums, but this is the third album I have of Jack's in its entirety. I don't mind this album, and I could enjoy it after a few more listens. It didn't knock my socks off, and it actually put me to sleep more than anything. Very repetitive beats make this album sound like it has got one track, rather than 14. They are all very down-beat songs, and there isn't anything that stands out like previous hits such as "Flake", "Upside Down", and "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing." I guess the title of the album should have given me a clue.

I can't say this will be weekly review session, but check back on a monthly basis for future critiques... Let me know if there is anything out there that you see that I should try. I'm looking forward to trying the new "Chocolate Skittles." If you've been paying attention however, I'm not a huge fan of artificial chocolate flavoring. The outlook is bleak, but I am a providing a public service for the greater good... Call me a team player.

Sicky, sicky...

This past week has not been too fun, we have all had a bad case of the colds. It started with Cole and a little cough about a week ago, by Monday Makenna was sick and by Tuesday Adam and I were sick. The kids have had fevers, which luckily Adam and I haven't had. It has been a long week and long nights. Makenna wakes up early in the morning and wants to come and sleep with Adam and me. Needless to say, having a three year old snoring and coughing in your ear at 5:00am is not enjoyable. We are on the tail-end of the illnesses though, Cole is totally better, hopefully by Monday Makenna will be better and us parents should be good by then as well. Makenna keeps reminding me about everyone that is sick in the family by going through each person and saying "Mom sick, Daddy sick, Cole sick, me sick." It's kind of cute.

Makenna is also getting very excited for our trip to California that we are going on in April. Every night before bedtime she goes through all the Disney characters that she is going to see and who all is coming with us. Right now, she is only excited to see Dori and Nemo and Cinderella. It should be fun, the drive won't be, but Disneyland will be fun!!

I've been tagged...

Thanks to Melissa for tagging me- here are my responses... look below to see if you were tagged to do this...

A. The Rules are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers them about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player tags 5 people, posts their names, and goes to their blogs - letting them know they have been tagged.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Working at EuroComfort selling shoes. I did build up quite the collection, can't say the collection is all that great anymore.
2. Dating Adam before his mission.
3. Driving an awesome 1995 Ford Escort.
4. Going to SLCC.
5. Living at home.

5 Things on my to-do list today:
1. Clean the kitchen.
2. Go grocery shopping.
3. Figure out a Valentines gift for Adam.
4. Finish the laundry.
5. Clean out the kids dresser-full of old clothes.

Snacks I enjoy:
1. Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi
2. Cookie Dough Ice Cream
3. Swedish Fish
4. Riesen's (although, I have been told that this is an old person's candy)
5. Red Vines (loved these when I was pregnant)

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Pay off my house. (actually, I would probably buy a new house.)
2. Buy a new car (we have never owned a NEW car, we always buy used...)
3. Pay off my family's mortgages, or buy them houses.
4. Go on a real vacation.
5. Buy a trunk full of Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi.

3 bad habits:
1. I get stressed out about things that don't really matter, or I have no control over. I will lay awake at night stressing about things that I can't do anything about.
2. I am not a good self-motivator, need to be better about keeping goals that I set for myself.
3. I am not as patient as I should be with my children. (I don't know how people have more than two children, I think two is good for me.)

5 jobs I've had:
1. Being a mom (my favorite)
2. Clarke American- worked as a Customer Service Consultant and as a Workforce Scheduler.
3. America First- teller
4. Zion's Bank- teller (only worked there like 2 weeks after training, embarrassing, but true.)
5. EuroComfort- selling shoes, loved this job, super easy and I got a great discount.

5 things you probably don't know about me:
1. I was an oopsie baby, my parents don't hide this from me.
2. I hate soggy things, makes me dry heave. (soggy bread, too much syrup, etc.- you would think this is a bad thing with children.)
3. I can only type 65 words per minute.
4. I love the Office (my favorite show, seriously, the best!!)
5. My favorite cereal is Double Chocolate Cookie Crisp.

I am tagging: Lena, Brittany, Natalie, Lacey, Challise