Good advice...

For those of who who get the Ensign magazine from church, you may have already seen this little article in the July issue. The piece is titled, "Try to say YES!"

It suggests to respond to your children's day-to-day requests with 'Yes' - then add a conditional clause, if needed. For example..."Mom, can I have a cookie?" ... "Yes, but let's get them out for dessert after dinner to share with the family." ..... Instead of, "No. You have to eat your dinner."

I really like this idea! I find myself telling Gracie 'no' so much of the day - I think it's such a more positive way of going about things. I'm always up for a better way of doing things!

is this healthy???

I'm just wondering....is it healthy - and normal - for my little 18 month-old Gracie to want to watch "High School Musical" instead of "Sesame Street" or "Dora the Explorer"??

For those of you who are familiar (I know you are, Jen S.!!) On HSM 2, there's a song called 'Fabulous' where the snob of the group is singing about how she "needs more". At a point in the song, she sings: "...I need, I need...I need, I need....I need fabulous..." Grace loves this part and follows by singing: "I eee, I eee. I eee, I eee..."

It's so hilarious to watch her get into the movie. She loves it!!!! Am I ruining her?? :)

haylee's photo shoot

I decided to take some pictures of Haylee by herself. I feel bad because we have thousands of pictures of Grace when she was a baby, but not many of Haylee. She is such a cute little monkey and is obviously not shy of the camera!!

baby, it's cold outside

Who would have thought it would be so cold right on the beach in Australia??!! We have to "rug up" (American translation: bundle up) most every time we go outside. We are really looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather! We've been told it starts to warm up in October. Until then...brrrrr.....

little buddies

Gracie and Haylee have started playing together and I love every minute of it! It's so cute! (Not to mention it gives me a few spare minutes without a little monkey on my hip!!) They are really beginning to enjoy one another....it makes all the craziness worth it.

Footy anyone??

Bruce and I went to a "Footy" game (American translation: rugby) last week and had a really great time. Bruce got tickets through his work and we sat about 8 rows from the field! It was fun...we especially loved all of the drunk Aussie's all around us. What a treat....

I got a babysitter to come over for the evening and then hopped on the train into the city. Bruce met me at the train station and then we walked to the dome. We rode the train home and I must admit that was the most enjoyable part of the night! We got to sit next to each other in the quiet - only maybe 10 other people were on the train - and laugh and talk the entire way home. Very relaxing and hard to come by these days!!

favorite time of the day

The girls love bath time. They both know right after dinner they get a bath - Grace will actually head straight for the tub after we get her down from her high chair!! They enjoy taking a bath together. There have been a few times when we haven't bathed Haylee with Grace and Grace will say, "Sis? Sis?" and look around for Haylee. So cute!!

we hate sleep

Okay, not really. Bruce & I love sleep, but it seems as though we hate it because we never get any of it! Here's a question for all you parents out there: why do we (fellow parents) not go to be straight away after putting our kids in bed? Why do we stay up and waste time doing ridiculous things like watching TV, blogging, or cleaning? Before we know it, it's midnight and you have to get up like 4 hours later to begin another day. Hummmm.....you'd think we could figure this one out, right?? Is it just the Harline family who seems to never get any sleep?

It's official...I'm a hippy

So, I've moved to Australia and turned into a hippy. It all began with me deciding to stop shaving & using deoderant...okay, just kidding about that! Yuck.

It all began with deciding to use as much organic food as possible for cooking, snacking, baby food, etc. Organic food is a little more expensive, but, in my opinion, worth it. Next, I switched from disposable diapers to cloth diapers for Grace. We found out that she is allergic to the chlorine used in disposables and had a perpetual diaper rash. The cloth diapers have been a miracle for her little bum! Lastly, I have decided to start making my own baby food for miss Haylee. It's so much healthier than canned - not to mention cheaper! I suppose all that's left is for me to start smoking the doobie stick.....

There's actually many hippy communities here in Australia, so I'm sure I'll find some good friends. So, if you see someone hugging a tree on the side of the road, it's probably me.

our cute parasites

So, Bruce and I have decided that Grace & Haylee are really parasites in disguise. Grace has decided that she only wants to be held, played with, looked at, and anything and everything else by me. It wouldn't be all that bad, but Haylee also needs a little of my time, too!! Thank goodness for Bruce...Haylee just loves her Daddy! Grace loves Daddy, too, but only if I'm out-of-sight.

daddy's little helper

Grace helped Daddy put together his Father's Day gift yesterday. The two of them had a great time together! I laughed out loud when I looked in the yard and saw the two of them sitting at Grace's table....Bruce was reading the assembly instructions and Grace was just talking and talking to him! So cute!

Bruce made us dinner tonight on his new grill. He's a great cook on the grill!!

Isn't she lovely?

Okay, so I may be somewhat biased, but Haylee is the sweetest baby in the world! She is so happy and bubbly all of the time. I honestly can't remember the last time she cried. She puts herself to sleep cooing and wakes up giggling. She is our little snuggle bug and would be completely content to snuggle and suck her binky all day, every day!! We love our sweet Haylee!

Gracie the Diva

Just in the past month, Grace has decided she is a big girl. She never wants any help with anything - it's very cute! I'll try to help her put on her "pretties" (necklaces) and she'll say, "No, No Mama!" So big!

She loves to dress up with her sunglasses, "pretties", and shoes and walk around the house pushing her doll in the stroller. However, Grace always wants me to put Haylee in the doll stroller and gets quite upset when I don't. She loves her little sis!!

I love my girls and I am so blessed to be their mom.

Treasures

Bruce and I love the wildlife here. There are beautiful animals and sea creatures to be seen just about everywhere you look. Our favorite treasures so far are the wild parrotts and cockatoos, the starfish and seashells lining the coast, and the jellyfish. We can't wait to do more exploring to see more of Australia's wildlife!