My Golden Birthday

Happy Golden special Birthday to me! I turned 27 on the 27th! I have been prepping Dave for months that I really wanted him to do something special for me. He totally pulled through for me! He had the whole surprise planned out and even got a sitter to watch the kids overnight. (It definitely helps that we live with built in babysitters! And that we saved up our credit card points and got the hotel and dinner free!) Dave took me to Salt Lake and I he had me guessing the whole time of where we were going....we pulled into the Radisson hotel to check in and change clothes. We then hopped on Trax and I was clueless as to where he had our reservations at. We walked up to the Melting Pot and my jaw dropped. I couldn't believe it! We have never been, but always wanted to try it. I was elated with his wonderful planning! It was such a romantic fondue dinner for two. We both enjoyed actually being able to talk to one another and to relax and savor the food. Dinner took about an hour and a half, but it was so worth every penny. :) Even though it was freezing and there was snow on the ground, we went to see the lights on Temple Square. This year they had nativity sets from around the world out in the common area by the Church Office building. We snuggled up, held hands inside Dave's jacket and loved being together. It was so great to re-connect. It got to the point that neither of us could take the cold anymore, so we went back to the hotel and soaked in the hot tub. Then it was back to our room for popcorn and relaxing. I would like to say that it was a soild night of sleep, but neither of us slept very well. They had the sleep number beds and we couldn't get the right level of comfort, both of us woke up tired, but felt rested since we didn't have to get up in the middle of the night with kids! I would have to say that this birthday goes down in the books as one of the best birthdays EVER!

Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes, I so appreciated the love!!

Merry Christmas 2008

I guess that I still haven't lost some of the magic that Christmas morning holds for a child. I woke up at 7 and just couldn't get back to sleep, I was awaiting with eager anticpiation when the kids would wake up and we could start our Christmas morning...Preston woke up just after 7 and I got him. We came into the front room to let Dave sleep a bit longer (he definitely didn't have the eager excitement I did!) I did my Yoga video to kill time waiting for them to wake up. It was a Christmas miracle that Dave got up just before 8, un-provoked! Hailey woke up shortly there-after and we got out the video camera and did the obligatory video of us walking down the hall to the living room where the tree is glowing with the packages waiting to be ripped open! The kids loved the Weebles that Santa bright Hailey and both of them sat and played then moved to Preston's toy from Santa, a ball blower, until Dave tried to get the show on the road by handing them things to open. It was just low-key and we went slow opening and playing with everything. Dave loved the new coat I got him, it will be nice for the cold mornings waiting at the bus stop. He was impressed with the quilt, although at first he thought that it was from my grandma and didn't realize that it was me who had hand-pieced the entire thing. He will love it even more once it is on the bed and we can snuggle under it! Dave gave me the birthstone kid charm necklace and I love that I can now proudly wear them.

After our Christmas we went up-stairs to my parents and had Christmas with all of my family. Uncle E got Hailey a big wheel and she rode it up and down the hall, she is already figuring out how the pedals work. And mom got her a special edition Princess Cinderella dress with wand from Disney World, it is adorable and she refused to take it off, not even in the car! This year my dad went all out and got my mom a sewing machine, crock pot, diamond necklace, clothes, pajamas...(oh wait, that was me that got all of that, he financed it.) He planned a Price is Right special holiday edition game show, complete with a typed script for the family to participate! It was a blast and mom was thrilled to get a new sewing machine. THen it was a rush off to Grammy Brown's for the traditional breakfast casserole and gifts from her. Then back home so Paula and Aimee could come over....oh, it was a whirlwind day. The best was to sit back in the evening, let the kids play with their toys and to have what my MIL affectionately calls "Sweet Time". It truly was, once everyone was gone, all the packages opened, it was just us. It truly was a Merry Christmas.

Christmas "Adam" with the Jamisons

Here is everying the kids got from Grammy Jamison's...

My MIL has decided that everyones schedules are so packed the day of and day before Christmas that it would just be easier and more relaxing to do Christmas on the 23rd. (You know, Christmas "Adam", since Adam came before Eve, I know cheesy!!) It was fun to get together with all 6 of us, it may not sound that hard, but trying to coordinate schedules with my brother and sister-in-law is challenging, but it is always such a delight to get together with them. The kids were un-usually good that day and therefore that meant they had to be awful for the party that night. I guess we can't have it all. We had the traditional hamburgers and rootbeer floats and then opened gifts.The highlight for me was when Hailey opened the front door wide with the cold air billowing in, and then came into the front room where we were all chatting and she picked up Taffy, the cat, by the hind end and was trying to drag her outside, knowing that is where she went! We got a good laugh watching her trying to drag out a cat that didn't want to go! The kids got a cute little table they can sit at, and Preston has already broken it in by falling off his chair at Grammy Jamison's!

Once we got home tonight and got all the stuff in the house, Dave and I looked at each other in worry... I am afraid that Christmas is going to be big this year. Why do we even buy the kids presents? We should just save money and not get them anything. But then again, that is half the fun for me!

Christmas Eve --"Can I just have one bite?"

This evening, I found this scene under our tree. Hailey had put one of the wisemen next to her baby Jesus she recieved from Nursery. :)

This morning I got up before Dave and spent all morning working on Dave's quilt to get the border on it (thanks to my mom and her amazing skills and willingness to help, we got it done!! :) YEA!!)My brother,E, called me asking if I had ideas for mom for Christmas, I told him and to which he quickly asked if I could go out and get her something---ON CHRISTMAS EVE! What is he thinking, he is such a man! So my Dad and I braved the crowds at Wal-Mart and went shopping for those last minute gifts. It was craziness at the store, I am glad that I was done shopping at that point. We rushed home to pick up the rest of the family and then get to Grandma's for Santa's visit. We barely made it (Santa had to get to the North Pole and was making a last minute stop) Hailey had a bit of stranger-danger sitting on his lap. She did tell him that she wanted princess stuff. And we woke up Preston for the picture, but we got it! (Check another event off the Advent Calendar.) It was another great Brown Family party, complete this year with a program. Grandma put me in charge of it this year--getting something offical organized and making it different from all the other get-togethers. I really enjoyed Heather--my SIL--sing and Tyler---my cousin. I have never really heard them do solos before and it is nice to hear just how good they are and allow then to shar their talent! Heather's song got me all teary eyed and then Tyler did Joseph's lullaby and I couldn't contain the tears, it was tender to hear about Christ from that perspective. Before the kids totally fell apart we went home and opened the Christmas pajamas (that tradition will never get old to me. I love new jammies! In fact this year Dave got underware since that is what he wears to bed!) Ryan and Heather helped Hailey put out her "reindeer food" we got it from our waitress at lunch and Hailey sprinkled it on the snow covred lawn.

We of course put out the obligitory cookie and milk for Santa and as we were putting it out Hailey asked if she could have just one bite of the cookie. Santa knew that she wanted some and saved her a piece of the cookie for the next morning! Oh, I love my girl!! Then it was off to bed waiting for Santa to come....Dave and I stayed up cleaning so we could fit all the new toys somewhere and to make it look good for pics the next day. I realized that my Aunt Carole, who was out of town for the holiday, had asked me to go over to their house and put out their stockings and disperse a few gifts. Also, that afternoon Dad and I had bought a tree for my Grandparents who didn't have a tree and it needed to be delivered TONIGHT. My wonderful husband graciously agreed to go with me and we went out at 11PM in the snow storm to get all this done. We had a key to Grandma's house and let ourselves in to put her tree up and leave her stockings. But she is a light sleeper and heard us come in, she called out from the back room "Hello?" We both got scared and ran! Then I felt guilty thinking that I had possibly given my dear Gradmother a heart attack on Christmas Eve! (come to find out later she heard us as soon as we put the key in the lock and realized it was someone who she knew that was there and wasn't worried, she thought it was Grandpa and got up to investigate, when she did she found the tree and the stockings, a pleasant surprise!)

"But, they're for kids who don't have binks!"

Last weekend we decided that Hailey is getting too old to have her bikny and it was time to ween her off of it. We had set a goal that by Christmas she wouldn't have her bink anymore....we did it on a weekend so that Dave could be home and we could switch off throughout the night. We prepared her for it all week and told her it was coming. I took her to WalMart and she picked out a doll with snap on clothes that looked so cute. I put it in a place of prominence and told her she would be trading me all her pacifiers for the new doll. That afternoon we gathered all of her binks and put them in a box. I wrapped it up, telling her it was for kids who don't have binks (we had just bought a present for Toys4Tots and I was trying to keep along that vein of giving) Then she gave me all her binks in a brightly wrapped box and I gave her the new dolly. That night as she went to bed she wanted nothing to do with the doll and screamed for her bink! It was so sad. :( I laid next to her and told her stories, but she wanted her bink, not me! She finally fell asleep,but woke up in the middle of the night crying for it again! The next morning her voice was hoarse from crying for so long! The next night wasn't as bad, only about 20 minutes of whining before she fell asleep and then the third night wasn't a problem at all! I am thinking that I really don't want to go through that ever again and I am already contemplating taking it away from Preston earlier...but Dave did say we can do one awful night with each child, it won't be that bad...hopefully I will forget!

Elves at Gardner Village

Dave had a day off of school and we wanted to take advantage of it. We headed out to Gardner Village to see all the elves. Hailey loved to run around and check out all the pint sized characters. But her favorite part was the ducks in the pond. It was an un-seasonably warm day and it was great to get out. We taught Hailey about kissing under the mistletoe, she got up on her tip-toes and planted a kiss on Dave's kisser. It was adorable! Oh, I love this season.

Oh, my little whiny girl at her finest! She is always complaining about things being too loud! (she must have really good hearing, hopefully that will come in handy as she gets older...although listening and hearing are two different things!_

Christmastime...

I have been struggling lately with feeling like it really is the Christmas season. I am not sure what to do to make it feel like it is truly Christmas, what does it mean that it is Christmas? (I would like response to this--what do you do? What does Christmas mean for you?)But right now it is going through the routine of trying to get ready and out of the house in under 2 hours, nursing, cleaning up toys, washing dishes, laundry, cleaning house, trying to finish Dave's surprise present...you know the norm. But tonight Dave and I went to our alma mater, good ol' VHS! It was the Madrigal Family and Friends concert that my cousin Tyler was performing in. I was thinking as I was watching the ways that we have changed since Dave and I were there. Past the jazz hands and show songs...we started our relationship right there in that auditorium as I fell in love with Dave watching him sing his heart out in "Big-The Musical". And yet here we are today, 2 kids later and back in school. It was an amazing concert. And I was very touched by the songs. I thought about the true meaning of life and what all of this means. I came to the conclusion that it is all about relationships we have and caring for others. I contemplated if I was any good at that, am I really living up to the dreams I had for myself as a bright-eyed Senior who had the world at her feet? Sitting in those cushy maroon chairs in the auditorium took me back.There are always ways to improve and be better and so tonight was one of those "step out of life" and analyze where I am. While at the concert my aunt Lisa told me to go and read her daughters blog when I got home. I logged on tonight and found a post where Kaylee talked about how much I have meant to her over the years and memories of our time together. I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I cried reading the things she wrote. I was so touched. Christmas to me is all about family and being with them, creating memories and loving each other. I am happy to say that it now feels like Christmas and I cannot wait for Santa to get here, but not too soon, I still have work to do! :)

Preston is crawling!

It was exactly his 8 month birthday and Preston is starting to crawl! He is also pulling himself up to the couch and now the house is so not safe! I love to watch his determination and to see how excited he gets as he puts all his concentration into moving hand foot, hand foot. He is such a mommas boy and I hope that it will always be that way. He is very easy going and is a happy baby. I swear the only thing not tickelish on him are his toenails. I feel that he is changing daily now, when I go to his crib to get him up in the morning he has changed, he looks different somehow.Maybe it is just all the new things he learns everyday that makes him older. But he is still my snuggle boy and he still smells wonderful. That baby smell is one of my favorite smells in the world.

Festival of Trees

Dave had a day off of school on Friday and we took full advantage of that time. We took the kids to the South Towne Expo to see the Festival of Trees and it was great. Preston would burst out in bouts of spontaneous laughter and Hailey was a little overwhelmed with the whole thing and sat very quietly in the stroller trying to take it all in. I cannot even imagine how many lights there really are! The best part for me was on the way home. Hailey got a sparkly wand thing and she was waving it while buckled into her car seat. Both Presotn and Hailey thought it was hilarious and laughed and laughed all the way home! I love those sweet moments.

After late nap time we went to the light parade here in town. It wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be, but we still bundled up and put our lawn chairs out on the street in December! It was kind of surreal, a parade in the winter, but a lot of fun. They even threw candy! I couldn't believe how good the turn out was. Hailey was an angel all day so that made it even better! That is until it was bedtime and she wasn't tired...I was lying with her telling her stories rubbing her back until 11:15 and she just wouldn't go to sleep. I was the one falling asleep in her bed and Dave had to come and get me. It really was a good day to just be a family, our family!

Christmas Advent Calendar

I got this idea from one of Dave's cousins and I loved it! I adapted it to fit our family, but thought that I would pass this on, it is too cute and I am always looking for new ideas of fun things to do with the kids to put us all in the Christmas spirit and get them more excited for the holiday. Also as a way to set this season apart as something special. We made snowflakes this morning and Hailey really liked it. I printed the list out and hung it on the fridge so we can check them off as we do them. I hope you can enjoy it too!

Christmas Advent Calendar:
o Make Paper snowflakes
o Dance to Christmas music
o Watch Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer
o Watch the Bountiful Light Parade (1st Friday in Dec)
o Read Christmas books to the kids
o Make Christmas cards for friends and family
o Watch the Prophet's Christmas message(Sunday Dec 6th)
o Make a paper chain for the tree
o Bake sugar cookies
o Visit the lights on Temple Square
o Drink hot chocolate
o Go see the elves at Gardner Village
o Watch the Grinch
o Drive through Christmas lights
o Buy a toy for 'toys for tots'
o Wrap presents
o Drink Eggnog
o Family game night
o Make a list of 10 things we're thankful for
o Go to the Bountiful Temple Christmas Displays
o Read the Christmas story from the Book of Mormon
o Sing Christmas carols
o Bake cookies for neighbors
o Read the Christmas story from the Bible and do a Nativity Pageant

Cutting down the tree

This is the said "tree-bush" on its side. I would like to note that Ryan is just over 6 feet and the tree is wider than he is tall, and it is lying down, slightly smushed!

We have had a family tradition for years that we go up to the mountains by Mt. Pleasant to a tree farm and take our saw, hunting for the perfect tree. It is a whole family event and we all go, even though none of us get a tree besides my parents. We hopped into E's truck and our van (Uncle Ry-Ry treid to sit on Hailey and she pushed him off!) My parents have a vaulted ceiling and always want to get the tallest tree possible, well in order to get one that is that tall, it also has to be very wide...this year my SIL, Heather and I were joking about how it is a Christmas bush! We even started singing"O,Christmas Bush! O,Christmas Bush!" in honor of the tree-bush. Hailey loved running up and down the hills all over! I was glad to have put on her boots, they were so muddy! Uncle E tried to teach her to say "Timber!" when a tree fell over, but instead she said "Tambourine!" :) She also loved to jump over the trees, only the little ones and with help of course.

We got the best tree and luckily it barely fit in the house! (it took a lot of coaxing--AKA pushing to get it in!) It smells wonderful and makes me wish that we had a real one, that is until I watched my dad trying to even get the dang thing to stand up, it fell over on him and he had to go out and buy a new, bigger tree stand. Then getting the lights on with all of those pokey needles causing red dots to beak out on your hands and arms...then you have to take the lights off and get it out of the house. Not to mention all the needles that fall onto the floor and clog up the vacuum! We had our tree set up and lit (because it is pre-lit) in about 15 minutes. Preston has already rolled over under it and tried to bite the power cord and loves to bat at the ornaments and coo at the lights. Hailey likes all the ornaments that are down on her level (we put the non-breakable ones at the bottom) and I find that I am constantly picking them up and re-decorating the tree, but for now it is worth it. I love the Christmas season and the magic is still posesses for me.

Black Friday

Jaycee and Preston after a full morning of shopping.

Uncle E falling asleep with Hailey on his lap after the BF sales.

I woke up on Thanksgiving morning and literlly met the paperboy out on the porch in my pajamas. I was so excited to get to the ads and look through them. My mom and I have a system to the whole thing, sorting the ads and then putting them into piles, then marking what we want and then writing it all down according to when the stores open. We found most everything we wanted at Kohl's, but they opened at 4AM! So we got up and went, it was fun to be out amongst all those other crazy shoppers just like us. There were 2 lines to check out on opposite sides of the store, they were all the way down the length of the store and almost met in the back. Erick (my older brother) LOVES to go with us. He just likes to make up stories about what happens, they are always a stretch of the truth, but so fun to hear him tell it. We put him in line and then shuttled our purchases to him and kept shopping. I took him a car rug for Preston and told him I took it out of someone elses cart when they weren't looking and got a nasty look of shock from another lady in line! (I really didn't, but I was lucky to get the last one.) We then went to Target, Smiths and Rite Aid, then out to breakfast. I got everything I wanted and was able to get back home and snuggle in the warm bed with Dave for an hour before the kids got up!

Thanksgiving Day

Preston and Logan (they are 1 week apart)

Dave, Preston, Brigham and Hailey playing with music tubes.

Grandma Great and Preston making cute faces at each other.

This year was Thanksgiving with my family. We went to my Aunt Carole's. It was a fun day to just be together with everyone and to relax. Nothing notable happened, which for us is a really good thing.But I was inspired by reading a friends blog (thanks, Airie) and thought I would write my list of the top 10 things I am thankful for, beyond the first 2 are the less "typical" gratitude items.

1. My family--they really are my life and I cannot imagine life without ANY of them! Dave is the perfect hubby and my babies are so wonderful. My extended family, oh they are all lovely!

2. The Gospel--I spent 18 months serving the Lord and teaching his gospel and I am forever in awe of how perfect the plan is. I love everything the Savior has done for me. It is truly a daily part of my life.

3. Contacts--not friends, though they are definitely on the list, but it would be the gift of sight by simply putting a plastic concave disc in my eye. I am amazed by them and so grateful to not have to wear glasses!

4. Chocolate! I love that stuff! Yea for the cacao bean!

5. Black Friday/shopping. I really enjoy hunting for a good deal and getting fun new stuff for cheap. It is a great release for me.

6. My pillow top matress--is it so comfortable and I love the fact that I get to wake up next to my honey every morning.

7. Warm, clean water--there is nothing like the relaxing pulse of the shower head and warm water beating on your back to wake you up. I love to drink water and that feeling of cool water running down my throat. Ah, I am grateful to not have to purify water before drinking or worry about it getting in my mouth when showering.

8. A/C--I know it sounds a bit vain but after being a missionary and being in the heat I vowed to never be hot again if I could help it. So I love having A/C in the car, house, everywhere, I love it blowing in my face!

9. My car--it makes me happy every time I get in a drive it. I just love it! It has everything that I want and is powerful.

10. Cell phones--it is so convenient to be able to call on the road and get ahold of anyone. To call Dave at school and to have the world at my fingertips.

Turkeys

Tyson,Hailey and Becca

Hailey and AJ

We got together with our friends from the ward, the McNeals. We made turkeys out of food and the kids really enjoyed it, they had more fun eating all of the fixins, but that was the point of it, just to have fun together in preparation for Thanksgiving.

A (scratch that) TWO little slice of Heaven

There are times that I catch glimpses of heaven; whether in the eyes of my kids when they are laughing and their eyes just shine as they belly laugh, or in those quiet moments when I watch their little angelic faces as they sleep as their stomachs rhythmically rise and fall. I had a tender experience with Hailey last week where she had a dream that put me in awe, realizing that she is really just on loan to me, and a blessing that I need to treasure. I am still trying to find that balance of respecting them for the fact that we are all spirits and were created by a Higher Being and the fact that they have little bodies that they are trying to figure out and at times spaz out! We went out to lunch yesterday with my Grandparents and Papa Great spilled his tall, full glass of ice water across the table fromHailey. It got her wet and she screamed, not just cried, but screamed that her new flower pants from Papa got all wet. I am sure it was cold, but I immediately stripped her right at the table and put on dry pants, trying to comfort her, but it was to no avail! She had a fit for a good 5 minutes. I knew she was hungry and needed food,but she couldn't calm down.
I get worn down and by the end of the day I am just so tired. I am trying to make dinner (homemade chicken noodle soup for the sickies in the house) and Preston and Hailey are both whining at me, Dave is late from school and just texted me that he will not even make it home for dinner, Hailey has decided she is too big for naps and yet still desperately needs them....Arrrrrrrr!!It is those times when I have a hard time remembering their divinity! So any ideas of how to keep a more eternal perspective on life? (Or is it just inevietable that this is life and it happens that way?)

Twilight

As many of you already know the Twilight mahem has officially started! Last night a couple of my girfriends and I went to the 12:01AM showing. It was insane, a lot like the day after Thanksgiving sales! Women were lined up around the building in the freezing cold and there were screams of delight when the doors were opened. It was fun to watch it with that audience. When the characters were introduced there was vocal erruptions for them. All the inside jokes everyone understood, since we were all fanatics and had read the books. We made shirts for the opening, not something that I would normally do, it was like I was 14 all over again! Ah, to feel so young again, it was euphoric.I really enjoyed the movie and even though I am tired today from being out til 3AM it was soo worth it!

What were you doing last night?

Well, if motherhood were merit badges you can earn and sew onto your bandelow, I would have gotten one for last night! I stayed up late reading a book (I know I should have just gone to sleep, but I get addicted to reading) About an hour after I had drifted off, I heard Hailey calling for me and whining, I was hoping that Dave would just get up and take care of her, but since he had to get up at 5:30 this morning, I rolled out of bed to check on her. I sauntered in, half asleep, and went over the where she was just whining. I bent down to kiss her and noticed that all too familiar, gut churnig stomach acid smell. I turned on the lamp and there was throw-up all over her bed, in her hair and down her pajamas. I knew I needed help and went and woke up Dave (bless his heart) and we got her showered, her bed stripped and changed, and the sheets put in the washer and then got her settled back down. Not and hour later I was back up, repeating the same process! I decided that I would stay with her until she fell asleep, I was rubbing her back when she popped her head up and asked for juice. I took her to the kitchen with me and felt that low rumble in her stomach...I rushed her over to the sink and she lost it again! At this point the smell is getting to me and I am trying to hold myself together! I put on the 4th pair of pajamas for the night and get her settled back down. She quickly drifted off to sleep and I went to bed. Preston slept for 9 hours! (Thank heavens!) But woke up at 6:15...Oh well! I was trying to just laugh about it. This morning she is doing so much better, just her old self. Not sure what that was. Thank heaven for the morning, everything is always better in the light of day.

Family Pictures

Ah, the time of year that we get to try and keep the kids clean enough for a 15 minute photo shoot! I held off putting Hailey's dress on until the last minute when we were going to walk out the door...Grandma gave her one blue M&M and it ended up as a big blue spot on the white satin part of her dress! Why not the black where it wouldn't show?? Thank heavens for the tide to go pen, it got it right out! Luckily we got some cute pics, Preston is such a ham for the camera and we had to bribe Hailey to even smile by getting her a coloring book when we were done. I love to get family pictures to watch how much they change over the year. Here are some of my favorite!