Pampered feet are a scrumptious treat!

If I could name one person who has done the most to make my transission to Minnesota smooth and easy it would be my dear friend and practically next door neighbor Kara. The first week we were here she watched Teya for 3 days straight so we could unpack. She also brought us homemade bread, invited us over for dinner, and gave me names and phone numbers of people and places to help me get situated. 5 months later she is still constantly doing things to make my life easier and I can honeslty say I love that girl like a sister! Anyway, point of this tribute, Kara turned 30 last week so today we went out to celebrate with some pedicures!

I never had a pedicure until I turned 23 and my sister in law got me one for my birthday. Since then I've been hooked! They are so heavenly, I really think Taber (and all guys for that matter) would love them if they weren't afraid of being seen in a nail salon ; )

We had a great little group turn out for the foot spoiling celebration where we were able to relax, drink smoothies, and chat it up like the bunch of girls we are.

Highlights and moments that my sisters, who have seen my feet (remember, they look like mom's) will appreciate:

1) One of the workers asked me if I was an exercise nut. I wasn't sure what she was getting at, did she think my legs were buff? So I said, "well I run 3 times a week" And then she said, " Oh, no wonder your feet are so bad. They're really rough. really bad." Opps! Guess she wasn't saying exercise does a body good, she was saying that it does your feet bad! At least she didn't have to bring out the heavy artillery electric sanding thing they unleashed on my feet during my last pedicure, that was embarrassing!

2) The girl asked me if I also wanted my eyebrow waxed. (Is this a standard question or are my eyebrows that bad?)

3) The guy who was working at the front asked if we were celebrating Kara's 20th birthday. I know he was brown nosing but it made us all feel awesome anyway ; )

By the end of the morning my toenails were sparkling, my feet were tingling and my heels were smoother then they've been in a long time. It was a great way to start my day so thanks again to all who came and HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY KARA!

The Drawbacks of Having an Easy Baby

You wouldn't think there would be drawbacks to having a super chill, easy going, sweet, mellow baby, but there are a few.

1) Unless she makes a stink bomb it's hard to know if she's pooped her diaper. Unlike most babies, she doesn't cry, she just sits and waits for me to figure it out.

2) It's hard to know when she's hungry unless she's STARVING. She'll go 4 hours without eating (if we're running errands or something) and I'll just keep going not even thinking about it until I get hungry and then I'm like! Oh no! Poor Brinley! I can barely handle going 3 hours without eating. She's much more patient than me!

3) And worst of all, it is hard to know when she's really sick. Colds are obvious, but other things can go undetected. A couple days ago I noticed that her lymph nodes at the back of her head were swollen. I got online and learned that usually that means there's some sort of infection. She didn't have a fever and wasn't fussy so I had no idea what it could be. After 3 days of swollen nodes I finally took her into the Doctor. It turns out she had a DOUBLE EAR INFECTION! My poor little baby! I never would've known if I hadn't felt those nodes and also listened to my mother's intuition that something wasn't right. Guess I'm really going to have to rely on my instincts more often now that I have such an easy little baby!

Silly Songs

So, you may have noticed I've been having a little bit of "blogger's block" This week. I have lots of random things I've been wanting to write about but haven't really been able to find the time to do it. So in the mean time, since it's been over a week since my last post, I thought I'd put up a cute little clip of Teya singing.

We took this right after we got home from our Christmas trip to Arizona. (which is why our tree is still up and our living room looks like a tornado went through it) Teya was just running around the room making up silly songs so we pulled out the camera. I told her to make up a song about Monty but she wanted to sing about winter and spring. I think she mentions Monty in there too though. Anyway, I just like it because it gives you a little snapshot of our spirited little girl : )


Teya Singing 1/4/09 from Taber Rigg on Vimeo.

6 month pics

Brinley got her 6 month pictures taken today. Don't worry family, I'll be sending your copies out tomorrow! I would like to give a special thanks to Erika, who made her flower headband and also gave me that fabulous purple boa. And also thanks to Laurel who convinced me to buy the pink tutu. (p.s. Laurel, do you recognize the khaki pants and white teddy shirt outfit?)

Snip Snip Chop Chop!

Yesterday was kind of a big day for haircuts in our family. Teya cut her hair for the first time ever, and I cut my hair short for the first time in 10 years.

We took Teya to this really cool place that specializes in haircuts for little kids. She was very nervous and started crying when they brought out the scissors.

Luckily they were used to dealing with that sort of thing, so they had the bubble blower come blow bubbes. That kept Teya happy for awhile. Then she started crying again.This time they brought over a puzzle that she could work on while her hairdresser snipped away.

They even had tv's at each hair cutting station that helped keep her distracted

In the end we only took off about 3 inches. Just enough to even out the front and back.

Still, it was her very first haircut so we had to document it.

I took off a little more than 3 inches. 12 to be exact. I've had the same hair since my senior year of high school and it was time for a change.

I donated my hair to locks of love and because of that the salon gave me my haircut for free! Kind of a cool little bonus. : ) Every time I look in the mirror I'm still a little surprised. It'll definitely take some getting used to. Even at church today Teya's teacher couldn't find me because she didn't recognize me with my new hair. Still, I'm loving the change and glad I finally took the plunge and tried something new!p.s. oh yeah, and Taber likes it! always a plus! : )

Video of Brinley at 6 months

Brinley is getting her 6 month pictures taken next week, but in the mean time I had to post this little video I put together of all the fun things she's doing these days.

We've introduced her to solids and you'll see from the video, it took her awhile to warm up to them. She loves her rice crackers though and lately is pretty fond of squash.

She is getting more mobile every day and has such a funny way of moving. I call it the "downward dog" crawl. It's kind of a mix of yoga and the inchworm. You'll see in the video.

She started sleeping through the night about a week and a half ago and it's pretty heavenly. She goes down at 7pm and wakes up at 7am. Now if only I could get Teya to do the same! : ) Anyway, hope you enjoy!


Brinley at 6 months from Taber Rigg on Vimeo.

Timberwolves Date night

So one of our New Year's resolutions is to go out more often as a couple, without the kids. It gets a little tricky sometimes since Brinley is still nursing and of course, babysitters cost an arm and a leg these days (seriously, what ever happened to the good old days of a dollar an hour per kid?)

Still, a goal is a goal, so on Saturday night we got got a babysitter and headed downtown to watch the Timberwolves play the Milwaukee Bucks. Taber got some sweet tickets from work so we were sitting with a bunch of hardcore fans who have season tickets, go to every game, know every player, and loudly give the coach, players, and refs their input on the game. I had a blast and couldn't help but get caught up in the passion of our seatmates. By the end of the game I was jumping up and down and must admit, even without the kettlecorn I still would've gone. ; )


For Highlights of the game click HERE: (It was a close one!)

Keep on Paddling

So yesterday was one of those days where I felt like a hamster running on a wheel. Run run run, all day long, and in the end, I managed to go absolutely no where! Still, I think I was able to learn a great lesson from it all.

It started out at 3 a.m. when Teya woke me up for the third time to let me know she was hungry. bleary eyed I walked like a zombie down to the kitchen and made her some toast, all the while saying, "This is why I told you to eat your dinner, next time you don't eat your dinner and you wake up hungry I'll just say, 'too bad, should've eaten when you had the chance!" As I'm saying it we're both thinking, "yeah right! Mom will always get up in the middle of the night to feed Teya because she's a big fat push over!"

The rest of the day was downhill from there. I woke up sleep deprived and sluggish. Still I had high hopes of making it to playgroup by 10am. We hadn't been out of the house all week and I thought for sure this would be the day for fresh air. I got dressed, fed Teya, dressed Teya (which is always a HUGE ordeal for miss picky) then went to dress the baby. A few minutes later I heard Teya crying and saw that my hard work of dressing her was ruined by a cup of juice. I pulled off her shirt and was about to find a new one that might please her majesty when the baby started crying. I rushed off to feed the baby leaving Teya half dressed. Then things were quiet, too quiet.

Me (calling from the bedroom where I'm nursing the baby): "What are you doing Teya?"
Teya: "Nothing! Don't look me mom, Go away!"
Me (nervous now because "nothing" always means something bad) "Come here right now, what are you doing?"
Teya: "I say nothing Mom! Don't look me! (giggles)
I finish feeding the baby and walk into the bathroom to see this:

Teya: "LOOK MOMMY! I'M SO PRETTY! I WEAR MAKE-UP!"
I look at Teya, her tummy, her legs, her feet, the counter, the floor and most obviously her face are covered in my eye shadow (which as you can guess is long gone by now). I look at the time: "tick tock tick tock, playgroup starts in 20 minutes!" Yikes! it takes 20 minutes just to bundle up my kids and load them into the car up here in frozen Minnesota, guess we'll be late but we might still make it.

I tried wiping her face with a wipe, no good. I tried makeup remover and it was coming off but then Teya got her hands in the water and started sloshing it all over. Now brown water was spilling over the counter onto her feet. This isn't working I think, guess it's bath time again. She walks over to the tub leaving brown footprints. Guess I'll have to clean my bathroom again. The Hamster wheel keeps spinning. run run run, clean clean clean, bathe bathe bathe, feed feed feed, then start all over again! AHHHHH!

Finally the bath is done and it's back to the battle of getting her dressed. "This too tight! These pants are hurting me! I don't want this shirt! WAAAAAA!!!!" At last she's dressed. I look at the time, "tick tock tick tock, playgroup is officially over, but there might be a few moms still hanging out."

I turn to Teya, "Okay, I'm just going to change Brinley's diaper and then we're going bye bye"
Teya: "I don't want to go bye bye, I just want to stay in Minnesota!"
Me: "We are in Minnesota, we're going to the community center, don't you want to go to the community center?"
Teya: "Yeah! The community center! Let's go Mom!"
Me: "Okay just a minute, I gotta change Brinley"

I go to pick up Brinley and of course, her diaper is leaking wonderful yellow nastiness all over her outfit. How hard can it be to feed and dress two kids and get them out of the house!? The Supernanny could do this in 20 minutes! Why is it taking me 2 hours!!! Brinley is going to need a bath too. Hop back on the hamster wheel. Run run run!

Finally we're all ready, playgroup is long over, but for the sake of my own sanity I want to leave the house.

Me:"Okay Teya, are you ready to go?"
Teya: "I'm hungry mom."

Of course you're hungry. Of course we're not going to leave the house. Who was I kidding anyway? I feed the girls. Looks like Brinley will need another bath. My To-do list is sitting on the table laughing at me. Haven't crossed off one thing yet. Should've written down, "dress kids, feed kids, bathe kids" a couple of times. Then my list would be looking pretty good.

At last the kids are fed, bathed, dressed and down for a nap. Only problem is, Brinley doesn't want to nap. I try unsuccessfully for an hour to get her down. Finally I give up and decide that nap time will not be the sanctuary I was hoping for. Teya wakes up throwing a disoriented fit. The bags under my eyes are getting heavier. As Teya screams in the background I call Taber and leave a voicemail.

"Hey babe, it's me. (Teya screaming in the background) I was thinking maybe we could switch jobs for awhile. (More screaming) I know I don't have an MBA or anything, but I'm sure General Mills could use me somewhere. (Teya's screaming escalates) I could be a secretary (more screaming) or an aide for someone (Screaming becomes hysterical) I'll even be a janitor just please! Think about it, you'd be a great stay at home Dad! I think we're on to something here! okay, gotta go, bye!"

Teya is still screaming but now I'm laughing. Confused by my laughter she stops screaming.

"Are you hungry?" I ask her.
"Yes" she whimpers back

Content, I jump back on my wheel and keep running. This is my life, those darling little girls that require so much feeding, cleaning and caring for are mine, and I wouldn't give that up for anything.

Today my friend shared some motivational advice that fit perfectly with my experience. She said that her husband told her a story of two kayakers who went 8 miles against the wind, beating their opponenents with one simple strategy: "Keep paddling". No blasting ahead and dead stops. She said, "I've told the story like 8 times in the last 24 hours, and I can't stop thinking about it... doing laundry that will be a mess again in two days (keep paddling), working on my business (keep paddling), trying to talk my daughter through the abyss of her emotional, tortured, soul-felt tantrum (keep paddling)... consistent effort to get to the end. I like it."

I also read a talk today by Elder Lawrence E. Crobridge of the Seventy. He said,
"Life is hard, but life is simple. Get on the path and never, ever give up. You never give up. You just keep on going. You don't quit, and you will make it."

Today we got out of the house, both kids are napping at the same time, my laundry is whirling away in the washer and I'm blogging in a semi-clean, quiet house. Life is hard but life is simple. Just keep paddling and you will make it!

Cabin Living

We spent the week after Christmas staying at this beautiful cabin in Flagstaff Arizona with all of Taber's family. There was plenty to do both indoors and out. Here's a little recap of our activities.

Snowshoeing was a popular past time. The cabin was right next to a national forest so there was plenty of land to explore. On one of the outings Taber and his brother snow shoed all the way to the top of that mountain/giant hill behind Taber in the picture on the left.

Papa Rigg even got into the snow shoeing action as well as little Landon.

Other favorite outdoor activities included sledding (see previous post) and snowman building.

Inside the cabin we kept busy too. Here are some fun pics from our talent show (hopefully I'll get some video of that up soon) We had some great performances including a dance number by the grand kids, some guitar playing and singing by Uncle Brett, and a couple old ballads from Papa Rigg. After the cameras were all put away Aunt CJ even busted out some of her old cheer dances from the college days. She still knows how to bust a move!

Uncle Brett made a volcano with the kids. It didn't quite explode as they hoped but they still had fun making a mess.

Grandma and Aunt CJ made sock puppets with the kids and they put on an adorable puppet show for us.

Uncle Brett's family got a Wii for Christmas and everybody had fun bowling, playing tennis, racing on Mario Cart, and rocking out with Guitar Hero.

We ate many delicious meals, thanks mostly to Grandma Karen and Great Grandma Louise who spent many hours working hard in the kitchen.

We also had fun ringing in the new year with party hats, noise makers, and a little bit of ice cream.

14 people, 7 days, dozens of memories we'll treasure forever! Thanks everyone for a wonderful Christmas vacation! We love and miss you all!