Mayah's Baptism

Hey, so Mayah turned 8 in February.  That was a while ago, I know, but better late then never, right?  Instead of getting baptized on the first Saturday of March we had her baptized on March 18 because we had family in town then--my parents.

It was such a nice experience, seeing my little girl get baptized by Duane.  It was also pretty surreal.  I mean, I still can't believe I have a child that's old enough to be baptized.

Anyway, Mayah was lucky enough to share her big day with Jacob Bellanger, a boy in our ward.  I was so glad that his mother, Christina, was kind enough to let us jump onto the program last minute.  You see, originally we were leaning toward having Mayah wait to be baptized, when we were out west during the summer months so more family could be there for the event.  But in the end we realized that the baptism was the most important thing, not having mass quantities of blood relatives witness it. 

Mayah was so excited, she's been talking about getting baptized ever since she saw her cousin Alexander get baptized when she was four years old.  It went well, for the most part, the exception being that Mayah had to be baptized three times.  The first time her left toe wasn't under the water.  The second time her entire left foot and ankle wasn't under the water--by the way, the power in the building went out, for no reason whatsoever, between the first and second try.

I guess the old adage is true: third time's a charm.  Mayah was able to keep her feet on the font floor, thus making the third attempt successful. 

At first I was sort of bothered that things didn't go super smoothly but I've since realized that it's better that way.  The imperfections made it a much more memorable occasion.  I doubt Mayah will forget much about that day--not everyone can say they had to be baptized not once, not twice, but thrice.  She was so happy to finally be baptized and confirmed with the Holy Ghost.  Such a happy day for everyone.

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 Just for funzies: an outtake

Pretty much the norm when we try to take pictures.

An Afternoon at the Park

I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Happy, Happy Birthday Mayah Dear!

Mayah and her big sister Ariel

It's official! As of February 7th I am the mother of a six-year-old. A six-year-old! I'm still coming to terms with this. But Mayah is super excited about being six (how I miss the days when I looked forward to my birthdays. As of right now I'm horrified that my thirtieth birthday--from this point on, I will refer to it as the First Anniversary of My Twenty-Ninth Birthday--is closing in on me at breakneck speed!). She goes around telling E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E that she is "Six today", because, apparently, every day is her birthday.

We celebrated by throwing a party for Mayah--nothing fancy, just a small family party at home. We ate pizza, chocolate cake and ice cream. It was delish.

After we ate to our hearts content, Mayah opened her presents. Because the girls have way too many toys, Duane and I decided to keep things simple and gave Mayah a few accessories for the toys she already has. So she received two outfits for her iDog, a carrying case for said iDog (appropriately called a "Doggie Bag". Hee), an mp3 player (we also downloaded a few songs that are to her liking) to use with her iDog, and a new game for her Leapster.

The girls have been dancing to the incredibly tolerable sounds of Taylor Swift and Paramore (NO Miley Cyrus--Duane and I can't stand her--thank you very much!) ever since.

All-in-all it seems Mayah had a very good birthday!

Worst Way To Wake Up In The Morning

Guess what everybody? I just discovered the worst way to wake up in the wee hours of the morning (after having stayed up the majority of the night putting out vomit-related fires, doing load after load of laundry AND barely having the opportunity to hop into bed myself).

The Worst Way To Wake Up In The Morning is to have your 10 month old vomiting ON YOUR FACE! Yeah, you read that right: My baby vomited ON MY FACE. TWICE. Because the first wave of vomit didn't exactly wake me up immediately. Oh and it was pedialyte. So it reeked of grape flavor (and no, I didn't taste it but the SMELL was incredibly strong) Talk about disgusting.

Now that I've made you throw up in your own mouth, I'll sign off.

Penny Bitner, Mother of three very sick little girls

Sooo not in the mood...

Blerg. I am so not in the mood to blog (am I seriously the only one?). At all . I just feel so... blah. I blame the holidays and the freezing cold weather.

But I have so many cute photos from Christmas break and I know I should post them. Because the longer I wait to post them the likelihood of me posting them will go down. Besides, perhaps posting something will get me in the mood to blog again.

So here you go (sorry for the lack of enthusiasm):

Before anyone thinks I'm a bad mom for giving my baby a candy cane, I'll have you know that it's fake. I had to invest in fake candy canes last year when Mayah and Malia ate all the real candy canes in less then a day (Maybe I am a bad mom...).

'Twas the night before Christmas...and the girls got matching jammies.

Matilda got a high chair, finally. She totally loves it too.

Mayah and Malia love playing Rock Band. Sometimes they play instruments and sometimes they dance. Malia is being a dancing girl and Mayah is rockin' out on the guitar. (I just need to mention that Mayah dressed herself that day).

Duane and the girls.

Mayah The Writer

Ariel and I went shopping this afternoon and left the kids home with Duane. When we got home, we discovered a story (or possibly a poem???) that Mayah wrote, all by herself. No joke. Duane swears he didn't help her write it.

Here it is:

Are words like, Flopping, Hopping, Stopping and Narrow part of the kindergarten curriculum now? Because, when I was in kindergarten, I was reading words like Fat, Pat, Mat and Cat. Have things changed so drastically since I was five?

I swear I'm not one of those people who insist that their kid is themostamazingsuperspecialgeniuskidever, but, Mayah keeps surprising us. I mean, really surprising us.

I'm going to have to talk to her teacher after the holiday break, to see if this is normal. Because, really, I don't know.

Amazon Is The Devil

So, we went to my brothers house for Thanksgiving this year, and he had just purchased Rayman Raving Rabbid's TV Party for their Wii system. Right off, it was a favorite with all the kids because they could all play it and it's pretty cute to boot.

Ever since then Mayah has been talking about the game, asking for it non-stop, and we don't even have a Wii system...yet. She's even been drawing pictures of the cute bunnies from the game. Duane and I have found the whole thing amusing. Really.

Well, it is funny up until the point when your five-year-old gets on the computer and actually purchases the game. Okay, to be fair, she purchased the wrong game. She actually purchased Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, which, it turns out, is another game altogether.

But, she is only five...

I know, I should be mad at myself for letting my five-year-old daughter on the computer to begin with. Don't worry, I am. But, I'm also furious with Amazon. You see, apparently there is something called '1-click' and it's just sitting there, all innocent-looking, on a little orange colored button on the right-side of the screen. It just says 'Buy now with 1-Click'. You don't even need to SIGN IN.

YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO PLACE ANYTHING IN THE CART!

All you have to do is push that innocent-looking button and BAM, you've got yourself a game for a Wii system that you don't even own yet.

Oh, and, she really did purchase it. REALLY. Aaand, even though she just barely purchased it, it's too late to cancel the order. Already!

Apparently Amazon is really on top of things because my invoice says: "We are preparing these items for shipment and this portion of your order cannot be canceled or changed."

The best part: We should have it by December 24th. Talk about insane luck.

Amazon. Is. Evil.

Okay! Just One More, I Swear.

So, I'm supposed to be cleaning because Ariel is coming to visit, TONIGHT. But my Malia and Matilda are sick and between taking care of them and all the cleaning, I'm tired. So, I'm taking a break and watching viral videos.

I LOVE this one:



I wish I could travel around the world, DANCING!!!

P.S. Mayah wants me to type her name, so I am. MAYAH. MAYAH!!!

Q & A with Mayah

My friend, Renae K., tagged me a while ago (okay, almost two months ago) to do a Question & Answer session with Mayah. So, without further ado...

1. What is something mom always says to you? "Get you"
(??? - Apparently I'm always threatening to 'get her'.)

2. What makes mom happy? "You can have a pet"
(In Mayah's mind, animals make everything better, so a pet would make me happy...not. Cute answer though.)

Mayah around four months old (The sand is propping her up).

3. What makes mom sad? "problems"
(This is true. Problems do make me sad. I love this answer, by-the-way.)

4. How does your mom make you laugh? "tickle me"

5. What was your mom like as a child? "You were a girl"

6. How old is your mom? "Ummm...I don't know"

Mayah at about eighteen months of age

7. How tall is your mom? "Big"

8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Ummm... clean up the toys."
(False. This answer is false. Funny, cuz I'm always saying how much I DON'T like cleaning up her toys when she makes a mess.)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? "I don't know."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? "Ummm...for things."

Mayah loves wearing goggles. A lot.

11. What is your mom really good at? "Uh...making hot cereal."
(I make her malt-o-meal - 'hot cereal' - for breakfast, a lot, but only because she always asks for it. It's good to hear that there are no complaints.)

12. What is your mom not very good at? "Sleeping."
(This is completely true. If I have to choose between sleeping and 'me time' - any time after the kids go to sleep - I always pick 'me time'. Always.)

13. What does your mom do for her job? "Clean."
(*Sigh* I do clean. A lot. My girls are like tornadoes - tiny, adorable, silly, lovable tornadoes with the ability to devastate everything in their path(s). Good thing I love them.)

14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Cake."

15. What makes you proud of your mom? "When she makes breakfast."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? "A princess."

She's almost four in this picture

17. What do you and your mom do together? "Um...to go to school."
(I think she means, I help get her ready for school.)

18. How are you and your mom the same? "Both girls"

19. How are you and your mom different? "I am small."
(And I am not.)

20. How do you know your mom loves you? "You take me to the park."
(Unfortunately I don't do that often enough. I'll have to do that more, especially if she really thinks park trips equal love, which they do, in a way.)

This is my absolute favorite picture of Mayah. She's such a beach girl.

As I was asking Mayah these questions, I realized I don't talk to her enough, nor do I spend enough quality time with her, which is incredibly sad. I don't know how it got this way. I'm going to put extra effort into doing special things with Mayah from now on.

Okay, so, I tag Sarah G. (and Abby), Kristi H. (and Bradyn), aaaaaand Morgan W. (Gracey). Actually, I tag everyone who sees this, so if you're reading this now, consider yourself tagged.

Living in a van down by the river...

Don't worry, we haven't moved into a van (yet). We're still living in an apartment complex by a forested area. I got your attention though (Hee).

After my election night posts, I thought I'd lighten things up by doing another short update:

Duane is losing weight and looking great. In fact, he's lost so much weight he had to have his suit taken in and purchase new clothing because his old stuff was falling off of him. Lucky guy. As soon as I purchase a battery charger for our camera battery, I'll take some pictures and post them here. Until then, you'll just have to take my word for it.

After watching October Sky a few weeks ago, Duane thought it would be fun to purchase a rocket kit so he and the girls could build one and launch it. They haven't built it yet, but they will soon. Don't worry, it's just one of those little ones, nothing dangerous.

Our three girls keep me busy. Mayah and Malia are best friends and mortal enemies - They're 'frenemies' sisters. Needless to say, I play referee quite a bit, which is so fun. During the month of October, when I wasn't putting a stop to all the sisterly violence (seriously, they're worse then little boys), I was sewing Halloween costumes for the girls. I made Mayah a Princess Jasmine costume and Malia an Ariel costume (Ariel the Mermaid, not big sister Ariel) using this pattern. Matilda was a flower, but I didn't sew her costume.

I just finished reading, Letter To My Daughter by Maya Angelou. It's a quick read, just a collection of short essays and poems. It's quite good. If anyone wants to borrow it, let me know.

Ariel is keeping herself busy at BYU. She has a boyfriend, she really likes her roommates and, from what I can tell, she seems to be having a lot of fun in Provo. Apparently she's going to be tutoring kids at Provo High, which I just found out about (I hope she's getting paid for it).

Mayah is no longer obsessed with fire safety, although she still prays that we will 'be safe and not play with fires'. Her current worry is about stranger danger, which is fine with me - I want her to stay away from strangers. Mayah's favorite thing to do these days is make cards and give them to us. She also makes wrapping paper and wraps gifts (various toys of hers) and gives them to me. She really is a sweetheart (despite all the fighting she does with Malia). Oh, and Duane taught her who Barak Obama is so whenever he's on TV, she stops everything and watches. She likes watching Obama (sigh).

Malia really loves taking care of Matilda. It's quite cute actually, she is constantly handing me a bottle and telling me to feed the baby or change her diaper (even if she isn't hungry or stinky). Duane and I were really worried that Malia would have a difficult time with Matilda but she isn't (she never has).

Matilda started crawling soon after the last family update (you know, the 'musical' one). She's all over the place and is almost able to pull herself up to the standing position. She loves the vacuum especially when it's on, which makes it difficult for me to vacuum because she crawls after me (or rather, the vacuum) until she's able to climb on it. Matilda is a complete Daddy's girl. When Duane gets home from work, she crawls to him, giggling the whole time. When he's holding her, she's got an 'I just won the lottery' grin plastered on her face. It's really quite adorable.

Um...I suppose that is all the news we have for now. Please keep us (and Ford Motor Company, heck, the US economy) in your prayers because I really don't want to be living in a van down by the river (who would?).

Alive and Well (the musical)

Hey friends and family that still check here from time to time. Sorry I haven't done anything with this for a long time. I have no valid excuse for all the slackin', heck its not even like there was anything good on TV to distract me (which is funny because I'm getting going on the blogging thing again just as the new fall season starts up).

Anyway, this isn't going to be all that neat of an update. I just wanted everyone to know that we're all alive and well.

Duane's busy at work, like always but I am not complaining. We're just grateful that he has a good job and a steady paycheck. He's been getting in shape and is looking great. He's lost about 30 lbs in the last year (go Duane)

I'm not doing much these days. I've been reading a lot about politics but I hate thinking about it afterward because I tend to get all angry about it. I especially don't bring up politics with Duane because we do not agree about much these days (politically speaking). I'll let you guess who's the crazy conservative and who's the glue-sniffin' liberal (without all the glue-sniffin', of course).

Ariel is attending fall semester at BYU, playing the field (NOT! She says there is no one to date and I laughed hysterically because she's a BYU, but whatever). Ariel does keep herself busy doing whatever it is that zoobies do. She's also working at hogi yogi and at the stadium during football games as an usher. GO COUGARS!!!

Mayah's in kindergarten and she loves it. When she's not learning about firesafety at school (her current obsession is telling me how we'll get out of the house in case of a fire. Poor thing is sort of traumatized by all the firesafety talk. She had a nightmare about one the other night. So sad! but I digress...), she's spending time playing with Malia. They get along pretty well but they also love hurting eachother because...well, I don't know why, but they love beating up on eachother.

Malia cut her hair (yes, her beautiful curls are now messed up) the other day and I just about cried. She is obsessed with dogs and horses. Her favorite thing to do is pull Mayah's hair (I'm trying to put a stop to that). She loves dressing up in 'dancing dresses' and dancing. The girl has got some serious rhythm, too.

Matilda is up on all fours, scooting herself around but not yet crawling. She plays quite well by herself and is a good baby. She's such a happy baby and is always smiling at everyone. We call her 'Matilda Joy' because she is so happy and often joke about changing her middle name to 'Joy' (but we won't because we're lazy).

So that's our news. Nothing awsome, no pictures (because I lost our battery charger...I have the worst luck with cameras and their accesories) or anything but I did change the background and I added a new playlist (which is what makes this post 'musical'). The music is less mainstream but I love it because it's not being played on the radio or in stores or even on television shows. It's mostly mellow music but some is a little more upbeat. I hope all my readers enjoy listening to my playlist.

Just for fun!

The other day Ariel reminded me of cute youtube video of two little boys named Charlie and Harry starring in 'Charlie bit me - again!'. I let Mayah and Malia see it and now it's one of their favorite youtube videos (In order to hear the following videos, mute the music player on my page).



Mayah and Malia also really enjoy 'Charlie the Unicorn'. You have no idea how much we hear 'Chaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrlie' around our house.



Duane discovered this next one and showed it to the girls about a year ago. It has been their favorite ever since. It features Elmo and Andrea Bocelli. It is too adorable for words. Just watch and you will see what I mean.

Fourth of July

I realize that the 4th was a while ago, but I still wanted to share these darling photos of the occasion. We spent Independence day in Utah this year. We kicked the day off in Provo, watching their parade. We ended up in Park City at Bitner Ranch. It was such a fun day!

Watching the parade in Provo

Matilda and Grandma Bitner

Mayah and cousin Morgan watching Underdog float by.

Me and my beautiful niece, Kelsey

Malia and her favorite cousin, Christopher (aka, Sha-shaw)

The Galan Grandchildren (those that were in attendence)

Eating s'mores in the back country of Bitner Ranch

The Bike Wash

Here are some photos of the girls at Renae's house. They had quite a bit of fun playing with Owen and Ava and the rest of the neighborhood kids. They ran around in their swimsuits and held a 'bike wash'. Some of the neighborhood kids brought over their own bikes to be washed. The bike wash lasted quite some time but they sure had fun.

It was so cute because Mayah and Malia just blended in with the rest of the neighborhood kids--the more the merrier. I sat on the porch with Renae and her hilarious neighbor. I can't remember when I've had so much fun just sitting around talking.

Later on, Renae broke out the snacks. The neighborhood kids gathered around to get their share of cookies, popsicles and soda. My girls were in kid heaven. We never have that many snacks in one sitting. I think they might want Renae to adopt them. I wouldn't blame them one bit if they did. I want to live at Renae's house too. She's got a great setup because she has a safe neighborhood with nice neighbors. To top it all off, she lives in a cul-de-sac. Lucky girl.

It was quite fun to watch all the kids play because it reminded me of my own childhood. Many of you might not know this but I actually grew up in Utah ( was born in Utah). I had completely forgotten about all the hot summer days I spent running around with my friends and my older brothers. We used to have water fights with the pesky neighbor kids, climb our cherry tree, play night games like 'Ghost in the graveyard' and 'Kick the can', and eat otter pops like there was no tomorrow. Good times.

I love summer. :)

Happy (very late) Father's Day

I had Mayah sing for Duane on Fathers day. Duane was still in Europe at the time and I knew he was disappointed about not being able to have Mayah sing to him that day. I tried hard to get the following clip posted on Fathers Day but I just could not make it work. Sorry Duane (he's back in Michigan this week and still has not had the privilage of viewing it).
Anyway, Happy Belated Fathers Day. We love you! You are the best Dad (and husband) ever! We miss you! Get here soon!!!

Road Tripin'

Well, the girls and I have been driving all over the place during the last few weeks (while Duane was on a business trip to Europe). We are currently in Utah and have logged well over 4,500 miles (1900 of those miles were with Duane).

We drove from Michigan to Spokane, WA, Spokane to Vancouver, WA, Vancouver to Sandy, Utah, Sandy to Highlands Ranch, CO and Highlands Ranch to Sandy Utah. It's been insane.

In the car, the girls have viewed more TV then should be allowed, have memorized all the words to all the Backyardigan DVDs we own (which happens to be a lot), and eaten all the fast food they could handle. But in all seriousness, they've been really good for me. Especially while in the car. Even little Matilda has been an angel.

At each destination, the girls have made a lot of new friends, played with cousins, met a lot of doggies (and a few cats), and played in countless backyards (we currently don't have a backyard of our own, so this is a big deal).

Our vehicle is quite old and I've been traveling alone with 3 small children. Along the way, I've encountered a horrible snow storm (while driving through the Blue Mountains in Oregon), one vomiting child (Malia), problems with the car overheating (twice), several stinky diapers and one huge potty emergency (ME!). As far as I'm concerned, I know that we've been blessed to have made it so far without any serious problems.

I want to thank all our friends and family for praying on our behalf. We probably wouldn't have done so well had it not been for all of your prayers! Thank you.