Can we Build, Say, and Buy it? Yes we can!

Ezra's been really into building with his blocks lately. He likes to build big monsters and buildings, in particular. I'm especially proud of him because he does these really big, complicated structures all by himself, with absolutely no help from mom and dad. No small feat when you're two. Here's a picture of one of his most recent creations. Sorry if it seems a little blurry...I realized after the fact that Ezra had been playing with my camera and had gotten the lens all smudgy.

Now, I just have to brag about Georgia for a bit. Ezra's always had a fairly large vocabulary for his age, but comparing what he said at under 14 months, he had nothing on Georgia. She talks SO MUCH. She says Mama, Dada, Ez, more, bye-bye, no, bow, hello, nose, this, amen, boo (for peek-a-boo), baby, book, ball, and makes the animal noises for a dog, cow, pig, rooster, and duck (and does fishy kisses and lizard tongue). As an added bonus, she also signs please, eat, thank you, more, and all done (but not very reliably). I'm sure a lot of it is because Georgia's a second child, so there's so much more verbal interaction going on around her, but I'm still verrry impressed.

As for other news, my mom, sister Stephanie (and her baby Ella), and I all went to Affair of the Heart (a massive craft fair) in Tulsa on Saturday for a Girls' Day. It was loads of fun and I made a hall. Poor Spence didn't know what hit him as I usually only bring home one little purchase or so, but on Saturday I just found so many great deals on things I had been looking for for a really long time. So, here they are...drum roll, please...

I've been looking for a small backpack for Ezra for months. He'll probably be going to preschool this fall, so he'd need one for that, plus with the new baby and an already-nearly bursting diaper bag, I figured it'd be handy for him to have something to pack his books/toys/snacks/epi-pen in all on his own. I actually saw this one at Affair of the Heart last February for $25.00, but I couldn't quite convince myself to get it then. After about five months of consideration, I snatched it up when I saw it this time around. Even better-it came with free personalization.

I can't even tell you how long I've been looking for a wreath for my front door. It's been years, at least. Frankly, I'm just too cheap to buy one at normal prices and not crafty enough to make my own. I'm a big fan of the particular type of the faux flowers they used because they're made with thick, velvety cloth and leather, and not the normal material. This one was a steal of a deal at $14.99.

This one was my only non-premeditated purchase. However, how can one not buy four fabulously cute boutique-quality burp cloths for the new baby for a grand total of $14.95 (that's less that four dollars each!)? Mostly, I gave into my whim because I haven't really bought anything for the baby yet and I'm getting ansy. I guess I've got to give into my girlish impulses occasionally.

Thanks for letting me brag about my amazing children and crazy-good deals. Have a fabulous day!

Getting to Know...Me!

I've meaning to post, but unfortunately my life has been excruciatingly boring lately and I've been a loser about taking pictures, so this is what I came up with. I saw this on Emily's blog and just loved it, so I figured I'd share with ya'll. Enjoy!

Name: Whitney Marie Lifferth (maiden name: Holyoak)
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5' 2"
How would you describe yourself? Talkative, friendly, and increasingly laid-back, although I do get stressed when I feel like I've let things go for too long.

Either/Or
Shy or Outgoing? Outgoing, hands down.
Spender or Saver? I'm a natural Spender, although I do so try to be a sSaver and do fairly well at it.
Truth or Dare? Truth, always. I'm somewhat of an open book, but a total chicken when it comes to dares.
Books or Movies? Books.
Romantic Comedy or Action/Adventure? Romantic Comedy, although I'll put up with action/adventure for Spencer's sake.
Cats or Dogs? Dogs...although kinda neither. I'm not really an animal person, but dogs are cute and cats scare me.
Mountain or Beach? Mountains, although I haven't spent much time on the beach, so maybe I'd prefer it if I did.
Sweet or Salty? Sweet, I'm a candy-holic.

Do you...
Get Annoyed Easily? Yes, and all too often.
Like to Travel? Yes (although it nearly never happens now-a-days).
Like to drive fast? Nope. I rarely go more than 5mph over (if that, even).
Sing Well? Not at all .
Have a Talent? I crochet well, I compliment people often, and I rarely misjudge the size of tupperware needed for any given food item.
Watch Scary Movies? Nope, I like suspense but not really scary movies.
Shave your legs everyday? HAHAHA! seriously though, I'm a once-a weeker in the winter, twice in the summer (unless I'm preggers, than it's more like twice a month).
Floss regularly? No, I'm a total slacker.
Get Motion Sickness? Yes...especially when pregnant.

Have you ever...
Performed on Stage? A couple of times, but nothing big.
Been out of the country? Where? No, not unless you count going from a rural area to an urban one.
Had any body hair waxed? Yes. I'll occasionally get my eyebrows waxed.
Lied about your age? No .
Used a fake ID? No again (I don't spend much time on the edge, obviously).
Gotten a Speeding ticket? Yes. grrrr. I've gotten one and it was only because I was unfamiliar with the area and thought it was a higher speed limit.

What is...
The last CD you bought? Spencer bought me Keith Urban's Greatest Hits-does that count?
The last movie you saw in the Theater? Hairspray. I went with my bestest girlfriend Aubrey for a Girl's Night.
The last Movie you rented? Vantage Point. It was fairly good.
Your Greatest Fear? Death of my husband or children.
Your Greatest Strength? My sense of humor.
Your Greatest Weakness? See the sugar addiction referred to above.
Your Happiest Memory? My marriage and the birth of my babies ('cause they're still babies to me).

Your Favorite...
Movie: The Notebook, About a Boy, and Mona Lisa Smile.
TV Show: CSI: NY, although I can always turn on an old-school episode of Seinfield or Friends and fully enjoy.
Actor: Hugh Grant
Actress: Reese Witherspoon
Food: Right now...fried chicken (it's one of my classic pregnancy cravings).
Drink: Lemon-Berry slush from Sonic
Color: Purple
Scent: My perfume is Calvin Klein Euphoria, so that's at the top of my list.
Season and WHY: Autumn. The weather is fabulous, it's the start of the holiday season, and the crisp in the air inspires me to cook all my favorite things.
Day of the Week and WHY: Friday, because it's full of optimism for the coming weekend, without any of the disappointment when it's not as fabulous and full of fun as you'd hoped.
Store: Gap, Children's Place, and Hobby Lobby
Quote: "Is there world enough for me?" ~Jane Frances

What do you Think About....
Heaven: The ultimate goal and the point of everything.
Hell: Eternity spent without family and friends and knowing that it's your fault.
Miracles: Alive and kicking, just maybe not as "supernatural" as they once were.
Astrology: Ehhh, not a big fan.
War: It's a necessary evil, although not as necessary as often as people like to think.
Ghosts: The thought gives me the heebie jeebies, but I do think they exist. In fact, I've toyed with the idea that we have one living upstairs. Either Georgia's a realllly restless sleeper or there's a ghost that lives in the attic. I used to freak myself out thinking about it when I had to get up to night nurse.
Reincarnation: Not unless you count when people reinvent themselves.
Karma: What goes around comes around.
Luck: I don't intellectually believe in it, but it sometimes seems like some people really do have all the luck.
Aliens: I don't really believe in them, but sometimes I wonder.

Tell us one of your most embarrassing moments: One of the big ones-when I rolled my car three times off the interstate going 75...and then having to explain to people it was entirely my fault and yes, I was the only car involved. I overcorrected and then fishtailed. No, there wasn't even any ice on the road.

WooHoo for making it this far! This isn't an official tag (since I just stole the idea from someone else), but it's a fun post to do, so feel free to try it out!

Pictures of Me and other Random Tidbits

Ahhh! I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. I took a pregnancy pic and everything in the hopes of keeping you updated, and here it is a week later. Anyway, here's a belly picture at 20 and a half weeks (I'm now 21 and a half weeks, by the way):

I'm completely straight out, as I seem to be with all my babies, but I wonder if I'm not carrying a little lower than I did with the other two *shrug*. We'll see as my tummy fills out more.

I dyed my hair last Wednesday...mostly out of boredom. Also, Spencer was due to come home from a conference in Salt Lake that evening, so I was curious to find out how long it'd take him to notice. He kind of has a bad track record when it comes to picking up on things like that. I know, I'm a mean wife for totally setting him up, but at least it was for amusement's sake and not to pick a fight. It took him three hours. He claims he wondered if something was a little different on the way home from the airport, but wasn't sure until he looked at me for a while longer. Oh well, I didn't marry my husband for his keen awareness of all things appearance-oriented.

Before I show you the hair shots, be forewarned that the "after" shot is unrealistically dark. We just couldn't seem to take a true-to-life picture that wasn't blurry. My hair is really a lot more dark brown than black.

Before:

After:

On the potty-training front, things are moving verrry slowly, but hopefully in the right direction. Ezra is now exclusively in underpants (except for at night when we put him in pull-ups), however, some days it seems to make little difference to him and we'll have way more accidents than we do successful potty trips. He doesn't like to go to the bathroom (not because he actually has a problem with it, he just doesn't like to be bothered with it) and instead, he believes he can just hold it indefinitely. Eventually, despite his ability to avoid going to the potty for hours on end, the dam does break...and then we have a mess on our hands. I've tried physically putting him on the toilet and holding him there, but that only ends in flailing arms and screaming fits, which usually isn't conducive to potty-going. So, right now we're working on giving him some motivation to want to use the bathroom. We've tried to introduce Potty Candy, the Potty Sticker Chart, and Potty Toys for actually using the bathroom multiple times a day, all without much luck. We're basically down to cheering extensively whenever he goes. He also seems to do a lot better when he decides he needs to use the bathroom, versus me just hounding him until he goes. In typical Ezra fashion, he likes to be in control of things and make the big decisions. I'm figuring I might just have to let him. In the meantime, you'll find me upstairs in the bathroom, ringing Thomas the Tank Engine underpants out.

As for Georgia, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but we officially have another walker on our hands. She's actually been walking for a few weeks now (she took her first steps soon after her first birthday), but has taken her time getting to where she does it often and regularly. I expected her to act like Ezra, who as soon as he figured out why walking is better than crawling, ran away and never looked back. However, as I should expect by now, she was set on doing her own thing. Georgia kind of toyed around with walking for the entire month of June. She'd walk here and there, gradually increasing crawling versus walking ration, to our current state of about 40-60 (in favor of walking). It's actually been kind of a nice break having her walk a bit because it has slowed her down considerably. It's also made me realize it's time to get her some new shoes because when she walks her toes slide forward and hang off the edge of her sandals. So, yay! for new steps and new shoes!

The little ones were having loads of fun outside in the back yard a couple of Saturday mornings ago (they were both still in their jammies, by the way), so Spencer was smart and snapped some pictures.

Ezra was having a lot of fun pulling Georgia around in their wagon

...until Daddy came out and pulled them both around the yard.

They both thought that was only the best thing ever!