terrible two's

grrrr! today i came to the conclusion that we will have no more kids. (but of corse i changed my mind once brynn went to bed as i had time to calm down and chill) brynn has been so bad this weekend and especially today that i cannot imagine having another one! a lot of people tell me, "oh lindsay, its soooo much easier with two or more as the kids entertain each other and play", but i dont think mentally i can handle it! i thought i was ok in the patience department, but having a toddler has humbled me up quite a bit and made me realize that thats totally incorrect. she has been a little sick this weekend so i opted to stay home from church with her today as i didnt want to infect the other kids in nursery. i dont know if she was just sick of staring at the same walls all day or was just plain miserable because she's so congested, but she was insanely bratty! i had to shut myself in our bedroom and take long deep breaths several times to calm myself down as she was totally inconsolable. her high pitched screams and squeals strike a chord with me like no other to the point that i feel like my head will explode! how do people manage to stay calm and reasonable in situations like these? when steve got home from church, i sent him and brynn off for a walk (it was rather nice in germany for a change) as i needed some alone time to get rid of the headache from listening to brynns tantrums and screams...i so look forward to monday, wednesday, and friday mornings as she goes to this program on base for 3 hours and i get a break! its so nice to run errands, work out, and THINK without dealing with her outbursts and attitude! id like to think that i wasnt this bad when i was little...

hahahaha! i found this picture of brynn from august playing in a bouncy castle for a ward party that we had. what a nut! she looks so funny! although she is a PAIN, she has a funny little personality.

i talked to my mom, dad and sister this afternoon and that was nice. its hard being so far away from family when major things are changing. i feel so disconnected at times as they are all growing up and doing different things with their lives. thats one of the reasons steve and i are excited to move back to the states as we're looking forward to seeing family more often and watching brynn play with her cousins. it was awesome to have steves parents come out this summer and also to see my mom at the end of august. we had a lot of fun with them and were happy that they were able to see brynn again. she saw them last year when she was one, but obviously doesnt remember.

im bummed that my mom is moving away to texas here in a few days as going back home to washington state wont be the same. its weird to think that there will no longer be a house to gather in and celebrate the holidays with family in. my siblings are all moving to different places (karina is in ellensburg, anthony up north in redmond with dad, and jon in tacoma) and i know will miss my mom as she is the rock of the manley clan. she is such a rad person and i hope this new chapter in her life brings her the happiness that she deserves. i was so happy that she took the time to spend two weeks with our family here in germany. i know that she had to make a lot of sacrifices to come over here and i am forever grateful for that. we had a blast and were able to see a lot of places together.

heres a recent picture of my brothers and sister (anthony, karina, and jon) they're cute huh? this was taken on karina's 20th birthday after a crappy day from school. i hope she is able to get things fixed as it was totally unfair of what went down.

well, i think ive rambled enough for the night! thanks for listening! hahahaha