Speed Dial #6

The speed dials on my phone:

1. Voicemail
2. Greg
3. My mom
4. My sister
5. My dad
6. Poison Control (Not really, but probably should be after this week.)

I am so proud to report I made my second call this week to poison control. The first one was a few days ago when Garrett was helping Greg outside and decided the ice melt looked just too delicious not to eat. The second one was tonight when Garrett took a swig of rubbing alcohol (he thought it was water.)

Usually when I feed Abby and Greg isn't home, I put Garrett in his high chair with some snacks and turn on a movie. (I'm an awesome mom, I know. So glad I'm teaching my kid at such a young age to veg in front of the TV while eating. Fabulous! This high chair/TV time came by necessity as Garrett was using Abby's frequent mealtimes to crawl in the oven, empty the garbage, "wash" the dishes," etc.)

Garrett had already spent a considerable amount of high chair time today while I did some much-needed cleaning, so I thought he would be okay to be down for just a few minutes while I fed Abby. WRONG! He opened the fridge (we put latches on the fridge after Garrett climbed in it a few times, but I must have forgotten to latch it this time) and I heard him say "Yummy water." I figured he was just getting a water bottle and I was getting up to get him when he set the bottle down and said, "Yucky." Sure enough, his "yummy water" was actually rubbing alcohol. Fabulous!

According to the nice folks at the Poison Control Center, neither rock salt or rubbing alcohol is usually a problem for kids because they both taste so disgusting that they are rarely swallowed. PHEW! I did, however, learn that rubbing alcohol is VERY intoxicating--much more so than regular alcoholic beverages--so you might want to give it a shot if you're looking for a cheap buzz.

I was mortified at the end of the call when he asked for my contact information and realized they had asked the same questions last time. Super! My name has probably been added to the list of nominations for the "Mother of the Year" award. What can I say? I rock.

This is a lovely shot of the side of his head, but the look of mischief on his little face has been quite perfectly captured.

My Brother-in-Law the Celebrity!

Let me just preface this by saying that I am, always have been, and always will be a HUGE Marie Osmond fan. It all started when my cousin had the cassette tape version of "No Stoppin' Your Heart" and gathered all the cousins together to teach us a dance she had choreographed. We performed the masterpiece multiple times for our parents at Bear Lake and I listened to the song over and over and over again. Let's not forget Marie's delightful duet with the late and great Dan Seals--"Meet Me in Montana." My sister and I also perfected this little number and performed it to anybody who would listen. (Somehow I always had to be Dan and she got to be Marie. Sometimes it stinks to be the little sister!) I believe it was just yesterday I was watching the lovely Marie on Rachael Ray, last night I saw her commercial for NutriSystem--and today she is kissing my brother-in-law. GO MATT GO!

Check it out for yourself! (He's the really cute one who wins (of course) and looks just like Jacob on "New Moon.")

Airplane the Horse

Abigail's run as the newest member of our family was short-lived. Sorry sis! A friend of Greg's gave him this horse in exchange for some construction work. We've been wanting to get a kid-friendly horse for a long time, but hadn't yet found the right one for the right price. This little gal is as calm and gentle as a Spring morning (love that simile) and just what we were looking for.


Garrett has two great loves in his life right now: horses and airplanes. Garrett was sitting on the horse and we asked him what we should name his new horsey. His immediate answer, "Airplane." (Pretty sure he was referring to an airplane he heard in the sky, but the timing was perfect and it was hilarious.)


Here she is--Airplane the Horse!

I'll be honest--the mama bear in me was a nervous wreck to sit him up there alone, but Airplane and Garrett did just great together!

Garrett had a blast playing in the mud after his horse ride. These dirty pants earned him a one-way ticket out of my car and into dad's truck. He couldn't have been happier!

Finally an Update!

Of all the rotten luck! We have a cute new baby and so much to blog about--and our Internet has been out for the past couple of weeks. We just got it fixed and I'm back in the blogging game!

This post will be full of pictures and somewhat random, so enjoy! :)

We've loved having lots of family and friends visit to meet Abby and play with Garrett. Here is Uncle Eric and the little gal.



Aunt Mal and Uncle Eric checking out our little beauty!

Garrett LOVES Eric and found a nice new seat/horsey for the day.

Grandpa and Grandma Phillips with all of their grandkids. Getting a picture with everybody happy and looking at the camera was pretty much impossible, so this will have to do.

Daddy and Abby taking a little snooze.

Brian and Sher came to visit and brought Garrett some animal fridge magnets in honor of their legendary trip to the zoo. Garrett loves playing with them! He has recently discovered that our door is also magnetic and has a great time moving them back and forth from the fridge to the door.

Abby is definitely gearing up to be a daddy's girl!

TWINNERS! Greg got Garrett dressed this day...enough said! Love it. :)

So far, so good with Garrett and Abby. He loves his little sister and is so sweet with her (for the most part). He loves to grab her hand and always giggles when she wraps her fingers around his. He is constantly trying to pick her up out of her swing or chair. He also really likes to give her "five" and "knuckles." As you can imagine, she is really into this as well. :)

He does NOT like it at all when she cries. Luckily, she has been a total sweetheart thus far and doesn't fuss much. Whenever she does start crying, Garrett will say, "Abby, wrong?" (translation: "Abby, what's wrong?") or "Help baby Abby." Occasionally, he will even bust out an, "Abby, stop it!" Apparently I've been calling Abby "pumpkin" a lot lately, because Abby started fussing yesterday while we were in the car and Garrett said, "It's okay, punkin pie." It was the cutest thing and Greg and I got a good chuckle.

Cute little thing! We've been enjoying some great hand-me-downs. Thankfully, my sister has two girls and loaned us all of their clothes to use, so I can honestly say I've only bought Abby three outfits. I still remember when Brooklyn (now almost 6 years old) wore this little outfit. Still lookin' great six years later!

Brian and Cathy brought her these cute little sleepers. Garrett loved the ducks on it and kept saying, "Abby quack quack."

So deep in thought...

Garrett has re-discovered this little cart and spends most of the day pushing it around the house. I remember when his little head could barely look over the handlebar--check out how big he is now!

Resting after another rough day...

Not the best picture, but Abby looked so cute in her little dress and way-too-big tights. Another delightful hand-me-down from a friend of mine.

Uncle Mike even flew in from North Carolina to meet Miss Abby. (How lucky that he had a week off right after she was born!) She passed inspection. PHEW!

Cousin Annabelle wasn't quite sure what to think of the new baby.

I love this picture of Annabelle. She's so cute!

I wouldn't say I'm particularly proud of the amount of time Garrett has spent watching TV and movies lately. I realized we had reached a new low when I saw this. Let's just say we're more than a little excited for the sunshine of Spring when we can play outside. The poor kid drags me to the door all the time and says, "Outside." As much as Garrett loves it, it's a little hard to take Abby outside to play in the snow, so we spend most of the day inside. Lucky for Garrett, his dad has taken pity on him and makes sure Garrett gets outside for at least a little bit every day. Garrett's favorite thing to do is go with his dad in the truck to our new house to feed the horses, ride the 4-wheeler, or just play.

Cute cousins! Brooklyn and Gracie love Abby and Brooklyn is a bit of a baby hog. Good luck getting a chance with Abby if she's around. :)

P.S. Check out Abby's stylish outfit in this picture, complete with pink baby UGG-style boots. Love those hand-me-downs!

Some snuggle time with Aunt Chelsea. Chels had a rough day at school and said she needed some baby love to perk her up. Our little snuggler is good at that!


"I'm so glad when daddy comes home..." The picture says it all!

I managed to catch Garrett giving Abby some kisses. Usually he stops whatever he's doing when I get out the camera, but not this time. Oh how we love this little guy! His little personality is really starting to shine and he is hilarious. It was like somebody flipped the talking switch and he has become a little chatterbox in the past month or so. He has the cutest little voice and is always saying the funniest things. He's also taken up singing and really likes to belt it out--this is especially fabulous at church. :) There is a never a dull moment with Garrett around and he has a way of working himself into everybody's heart. What a kid!