My baby is famous!

I had the kids pictures taken at Target, again. Preston is already 9 months, and he was such a ham for the camera! He was adorable and it was hard for me to pick the ones to print up. This is one of my favorite stages, when they have there 2 bottom teeth and just grin to show them off! The photographer asked for my permission to sign the rights to have Preston printed and then displayed at the studio. I went to pick up the pictures and there was my baby on the wall! So next time you are at Target, look for Preston!

Hailey got this Cinderella dress for Christmas and we took these pics to send our neighbor a thank you for getting this from Disney World. She loves to dress up in her princess costumes and prance around the house, decked out with jewlery and all! She is so fun!

January Catch-up

From Preston laughing at the handsome baby in the mirror, to Dillan's birthday party, to hating winter weather, to finding random places that Preston can fit, to Hailey giving Preston "juice" AKA his medication that was in the frige(not sure how she got the childproof cap off!)...that pretty much sums this hectic week up. I am loathing winter. It is hard to get out, and the kids are sick and the gloomy weather doesn't help my mood. (I sure wish we had money to go on vacation to somewhere warm! ) I guess this is my trial right now, to not stress out and deal with the whines and crying and still find a way to be happy! I have made myself a schedule to be more productive and feel more in control of life and not let it just happen....we will see how that works. But I really don't want my spiritual/personal "bucket" (if you will) run dry and I feel that my reservior that I had is depleating, I have to do something for myself and then not have mommy guilt about it! (yeah, I will work on that one too!)

Basket Cases

I really love the days when we cand just chill as a family. It was a long weekend and we got to just be. We spent a lot of time cleaning, but my house and three others look really good too! We did get to play with some old high school friends. It is great to get back together and catch up on what's been happening. I miss them and as we reminicse I am reminded of more frivilous and naive times! (and yes, the things I said years ago come back to haunt me, because friends never forget) We also went to Hailey's favorite eatery, Chuck E Cheese with her little friend Deon. It was too funny that when we got there both our baby boys were dressed in the same shirt! It is just over an hour of screaming, lights flashing, over-stimulation and trying to not lose our children, but the kids love it so we endure! Here is a picture from the weekend. Oh life is good!

My Concert Pianists

The kids just keep changing and learning new things everyday. Preston pulls himself up on anything that will remotely stand still. He discovered that he can get up to the piano and play, he is very proud of himself. He is getting better at his life preserving tactics when his sister "dangerously loves" him! He likes to eat dirt (he is such a boy!) He now has 4 teeth on the top and 2 on the bottom. I just went through all his old clothes and boxed them up making room for the next size up. I am always saddened when he outgrows his current clothes. I know it is a good thing that he is growing and learning, but I know that he is slowly growing out of his baby stage. He routinely eats twice at every meal, his baby food and whatever we are having. Quite often he out-eats his sister! But the Dr says to give it all to him, he is 90th percentile on height and 50th on weight, so feed him she says! :) I am sure that Preston smirked when she said that! So far there is nothing he doesn't like! (Although he is getting picky about the type of green beans his palate likes.)

Hailey never ceases to amaze me with the things that she comes up with and her memory. Tonight as she was giving kisses before bed she noticed that her shadow was on the wall, she then started to wave at her shadow and tell who elses shadow was on the wall.

She had picked up on the Disney princesses and loves them. She can name all of them even if she has only seen their movie once! She has really taken to the song from Sleeping Beauty. At the beginning they sing "Hail to the King, Hail to the Queen, Hail to the Princess Aurora!" It is adorable to hear her sing it, and I caught it on video.She randomly will sing it and I enjoy listening to her sweet little voice.

She loves her Uncle E and yesterday before he came to pick her up for McDonalds she told me that she was going to give E a ride on her bigwheel, he was to sit on the back! Well, when he got here it was hilarious. He played along with her and they were both rolling on the floor with laughter as he "fell" off the back. (see the video below)

5 new posts...

Just FYI I was playing catch up on blogging and getting all the photos up. So the next 5 posts are all new ones. A lot has been happening these past few weeks, so I had a lot to say and post. Happy reading. Enjoy!

Preston and Hailey as themselves

Here are two cute videos of both of the kids. I love that Preston is crawling and expressing himself more. When he gets excited he takes quick breaths in and out like he is panting, it is adorable. He mostly does it when food is involved and that is his signal for MORE. He just cut another tooth today on the top, but he is still happy (and really drooly!)

Hailey is talking up a storm these days. Her new word is hippotomus, but she can't get all the syllables right, so it comes out as hippo-mo-potus. I got it on video and this is priceless, although it is not the pronunciation that is the funniest part! At the end I almost wet my pants with laughter!

Dave's Christmas Break

Hailey's new thing is that she wants to read before she falls asleep. The other night she must not have been too tired because when I went in to check on her, the entire book case was in the bed with her! I am thinking/hoping this love of reading will continue for the rest of her life. Dave and I are working on re-covering an old wingback chair of his Grandpa's. We stripped it so long ago I can't even remember. But we now cut out all the fabric. Hopefully it won't take us as long now to get it put back together so we can use it!

The other morning when I was feeding Preston breakfast Hailey asked if she could feed Presters, so we let her. It was adorable to watch the tenderness expressed between them.

Here is some random photos catching up on all of the many random things that we have been up to on this break. It has been so nice to have Dave home for so long, when all is said and done it will be almost a month! I am not sure that I will remember how to take care of 2 kids by myself!

Santa Wreath

My dad got this Christmas Wreath that had the Disney characters popping in and out of ornaments singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". He mounted in low, on the banister where she could reach it, and all season long she has been dancing to it. That is her and Papa's thing to dance to the song. Well, since the season is over and it got taken down, but we had to document this fun memory!

New Years with the Allens and Blevins

On New Years Day we met our good friends, the Allens and the Blevins in Salt Lake at Macaroni Grill. We have all moved away from each other and we all miss each other terribly! It was great to get the kids together, they have truly missed each other, it was great to see them fall right back into place with one another. The ratio of adults to kids was 6 to 5 and 1/2 (the other is still in-utero) But they were surprisingly well behaved for all being 2 and under! After dinner we went to Temple Square to see the lights. We thought we could just walk up a block and hop Trax to save ourselves from having to find parking spots close to the Square. We waited and waited with the kids all bundled and yet no train came. Kammy called the number and found out no trains were running on New Years Day. We could see the lights just 3 blocks down so we walked. We thought that Hailey could just walk the short distance, so we didn't bring her a stroller...mistake #1.She did well on the walk there, but then we walked around the Square and then it was bedtime and she had no nap that day (a frequent occurence these days..mistake #2) We were in awe with all of the lights, and got to watch the nativity lifesize narration. Hailey was excited when then lights went on to see the baby Jesus, she knew who it was! Although it was warmer than it has been, it was still cold and the kids were getting restless.I sent Dave off to get the car, knowing she would not all make the walk back, while I waited with the 2 kids. As soon as Dave left, Hailey had it, she was DONE. She started to throw a fit, roll around in the snow, wouldn't follow me, wouldn't listen and was screaming. I had Preston strapped into the Bujorn on the front, so I couldn't really carry her flailing body or do anything to get her moving! I half dragged/carried her over to a quiet corner and tried to explain to her what was happening, that Daddy was coming with the car, but she needed to be my big girl and walk just to the gate. She wouldn't calm down and at this point I have no idea what to do. I said one of those quick prayers in my head asking for help, now! Just then Hailey screamed out for Grandma. "That's it!" I thought "CALL GRANDMA!" I pulled out my phone and prayed that my mom would answer, when she did I gave her a quick synopsis of the situation and asked if she could talk to Hailey. As soon as the phone went up to her ear she stopped crying. I am not sure what magic words of sage wisdom my mom told her, but it worked! Hailey calmed down, I got her out to the gate just as Dave was pulling up. By the time we got home,both kids had fallen asleep in the back. (And just for the record, I would do it all again to spend time with our friends!)

New Years Party

This year we had the party at our house, it was perfect that we got to set the time, get the kids in their own beds beforehand and then go upstairs to play with our friends. It was low-key--games, chatting, good food, fireworks, and a toast at the end. My favorite part is that at the stroke of midnight I get to kiss my sweetheart, nothing could be better than to start the new year with him! I so look forward to that kiss every year, ringing in the new year on a good note!!We really love to get together with the old gang and to just be! THanks for such a good time everyone, we loved it!