Happy GOLDEN Birthday Dave

Today is Dave's 27th Birthday on the 27th!He started off the morning by sleeping in. (his favorite thing to do!) Then we had muffins and the kids gave him a candy-gram. The best part was going out for the night. We went down to Pleasant Grove and dropped the kids off at Rachael's. We then went to a new movie called "Taken". We don't go to movies very often so it is really a treat to go and it was such a good movie! It was so intense I don't think I breathed the last half of the movie! We then went out to one of our favorite restaurants, Tahi Village. It was wonderufl to sit and eat without having screaming kids and "octopus boy" grabbing anything within reach. It was such a nice treat to go out!

The next day I got ambitious and made Dave his favirote cake, Boston Cream, from scratch. I have never done this before, but I took a cooking class to learn how. When the teacher found out I was going to do it for my husband's birthday she offered a private lesson that morning! I took her up on it and went to the demo kitchen and made his cake. It turned out better than I expected! I now LOVE pastry cream, it was delicious with real vanilla scraped from the pod. Dave raved out it to everyone and it made me happy. (he is a great honey!)

So in honor of Dave's birthday I thought I would do a top 10 list for him. In no particular order, here it is:

10. He loves our little family so much and would do anything for us!

9. He is a wonderful father to the kids. He is sad when he gets home late and doesn't get to see them before bed. He gets on the floor and rough houses with them, takes them places by himself, sits at Hailey's little table to play with her and truly cares out them. He doesn't mind doing diaper changes and puts Hailey to bed with a story just about every night!

8. He is stinkin' smart! I love his brain! He is calculating numbers, making spreadsheets, and thinking things out. (It makes for more intellectually stimulating conversations too!)

7. He is spontaneous, it really makes life fun to just go and do!

6. He is a great cook! Better than me on his "favorites menu".

5. He is very supportive. He will watch the kids so I can have GNO's, work or go to the gym. I appreciate my alone time. He recoginizes I need it and will give it to me!

4. He's a good snuggler! He'll even give me back/foot rubs, though I know he doesn't like to.

3. He is a great problem solver and I am so grateful for his support, he truly is my better half. I depend on him and he always pulls through.

2. He is willing to talk about anything with me.No subject is off limits, even if it is uncomfortable for him to talk about. He is a good communicator and listener. (except for when he's watching TV, that is why we now have TiVO)

1. He is sooo good lookin'! I love to lay in bed and watch him sleep as the soft morning light falls on his handsome features. I won't go into more detail, I don't want to make y'all blush/jealous, but he is a hottie! :)

Happy Birthday, Honey! I love you!

My Future musician

This morning Hailey and Preston dumped out all their instruments and were playing with them on the floor. Preston watched Hailey play the flute and then picked it up and blew. It worked, it squeaked out a noise and he was so proud of himself the first time he did it. It was adorable! I really like to watch the connections that form in his head and then watch him perform! Here is a 30 second video of my cute boy.

The new "do"

I got my hair cut last week with my girlfriend, Erica. We had such a great time going out together and getting an updated look. I really like it! It is a lot less poofy and is more manageable! I also use less product on it, it takes less time to dry and I don't have as many headaches, so it ends up being a good thing all around. This pic is not the best of me, whch brings me to my next "do" of sorts... I have started doing the gym thing. I have decided that something has to change and I am going to start. One of my girlfriends and I get together at 5:20AM to make it to the gym first thing. We went this morning and it was invigorating. I was so excited to go that I really didn't sleep well last night, I didn't want to miss it. I feel good that I am doing something about my weight, I really hate being this big. I am in the process of weaning the baby and I am hoping that will help me get my body back. I am going into this knowing one of my problems is not giving into the temptation of sweets. What do the rest of you do? Any tips on workouts or eating that have worked for you would be great!

Is anyone else going insane?

I thought this was sweet. This morning as I was getting ready I went into check on the kids and they were laying on the floor holding hands!

It is official, I HATE winter. I am literally going insane in the days...the weather is too awful to go anywhere and when I do get out it in only in the small window between getting up and ready for the day and Preston's morning nap. And then there is the issue of where to go. I don't want to go out and spend money since we are on a tight budget, but today I have decided that enough is enough. Something has to change, and whether that means blowing part of the budget then so be it! My sanity is worth it! So I am asking anyone else for ideas of things they do to pass the LONG winter days. How do y'all do it during the day??? PLEASE share!

Hailey says the darn'dest things

She is getting so big and I love that she is able to communicate with me more. I try to write things down that are funny that she says, but she pops off with the funniest stuff all the time I don't get it all down on paper, but I try to jot it down on a random paper I have on my dresser (easily accessable) So here are a few things that have happened as of late:

"Can I wake up just a little?" Meaning that she doesn't want to go to bed, she wants to stay up.

I sing her "I love to See The Temple." but she has come up with some of her own version: "...to SEE the Holy Spirit, to listen and to PLAY." I like her way the best, I should write to the Church to change it.

I was having cabin fever and dying to get out of the house on a cold winter day, and so I asked Hailey where she wanted to go, here is the conversation that ensued.

Mom: "Where do you want to go?"

Hailey: "To Disneyland."

M:"Oh, honey, Disneyland is too far away. We'd have to take an airplane to get there."

H: (reaching into an imaginary pocket in her dress) "I have an airplane right here in my pocket." (hands me a pinch of nothing.) I tried to hold in my laughter.

We play "beats" it is a game Dave and I played in High School where you sing a note a quarter step away from the other person and it creates beats in the pocket of dissonance in the note. She loves it and will grab my face and sing a note into my mouth so I will sing back to her. She loves it, and I love that she loves it! I am so glad that I have my little Hailey and am loving the things she comes up with daily.

I MADE this!

I don't mean to brag, I am just very proud of myself. I have wanted to make Dave something to honor his mission and to show him some love, but haven't really had the time, or help. This year since I am close to my Grandma's house and was inspired by a comment from my MIL about making Christmas gifts for your spouse, I decided to make Dave a quilt. I have been collecting Asian fabric since we first got married and pulled them all out, as well as dug into my Grandma's plethora of fabrics. My grandma helped me design it, figure out measurements, cut and even provide a secret hiding place to stash the quilt in the making as well as providing an excuse to go over and clean her house and then spend some time sewing. My mom and I finished the borders and put the top together on Christmas Eve. It was quite the project, but it all worked out! My very talented Auntie (AKA the Queen Mother) did the machine quilting on the top and it turned out better than I could have imagined! I love it! I envisioned as I was sewing it that Dave and I would be able to snuggle under it, spend late nights talking while under it, read books, on Saturday mornings play on it with the kids and create good memories with the quilt. All of those things have happened so far. Dave loves it even more now that it is all done and we can use it daily. I didn't finish binding it until Jan.25th, so it took a little while... but I am just happy with myself, having 2 kids, working and still managing to get this quilt sewn AND keep it a secret from Dave! Love you, honey!

Aunt Michelle-Doesn't it sound nice?

I want you all to know that I have been sworn to secrecy for weeks to not tell a soul the wonderufl news that my baby brother and his wife are expecting their first. I am so thoroughly thrilled! I have wanted to be an aunt for some time now, and my wish is coming true! Ryan and Heather came to the house a few weeks ago and brought a card that said Hailey, Preston and _______? (see you in 9 months) My mom squealed and I jumped for joy! Heather is currently 7 weeks along and due at the end of September, so I have to wait a long time, but it will be oh so worth it! I am selfishly hoping it is a boy so that their baby can be close to my baby and grow up together and be friends. Heather has the preminition that it is a boy too, but we will see in 13 weeks.

Dave and Hailey sledding

Hailey and Dave went sledding for the first time this season. We searched for the perfect hill, not too steep, nothing at the bottom, and not a school (since it was a school day, we didn't think we could sled while school was in session!) We went to the A-frame chruch near my grandparents.. I had the hardest time finding a sled, all the stores were sold out and I finally found one at Kid-to-Kid. Hailey LOVED it! A far cry from last year and her first experience with sledding and snow.She kept wanting to go down again and again, but always insisted "Daddy, you come with me."

Ice Cream, for Breakfast?

I know that you are thinking, but please, I need some reinforcements on this one! Dave thinks that it is weird to have ice cream for breakfast. Now mind you, it is not a big bowl with chocolate syrup or anything. Growing up we would have Malt-O-Meal cereal and put ice cream on the top. It is very practical, it helps cool the hot cereal quickly and it makes it creamy without having to add milk. It has become a comfort food for me and I love it. I have passed this tradition onto Hailey and she loves it too. (I mean who wouldn't, it's ice cream!)So, tell me, am I the only one that does this?

under, around...over!

Preston just thinks that he is a big boy now and can go over instead of around! (You know, the path of least resistance.) He got high-centered and couldn't get off his toy basket. I had to take this picture before I helped him off.9 months old and he is already showing his tendancy to be all boy, very active into everything and on the go!

Maybe it won't be such a bad day afterall

(this should have been posted yesterday, but by the time the kids went to bed, so did I!)

Last night Hailey woke up just as we were getting into bed. Dave went in to check on her, but she told him that she just wanted Mommy. (I never actually heard this request and think it is possibly a cop-out because he wanted to go to bed and sleep...I guess we will never know.) I tried to leave her after she was calm, but she was freaking out. I couldn't figure out why, she wouldn't tell me anything. I ended up lying next to her and rubbing her back until I fell asleep. I got into my bed at 1AM and then Preston decided that he wanted to start his day extra early at 6:30! I was worried that it would turn out to be a whiney, cranky day for all of us...that is until this happened at BREAKFAST! Preston was OUT! I had walked into the other room to get Hailey, she hepled me make the bed and when I walked into the kitchen he was asleep. Needless to say, it really was a good day. In spite of the fact that the kids nap schedules are opposite, so I didn't get a nap. But I spent the time while Hailey was sleeping and Preston was playing with Jaycee and Cayden (my cousins) cleaning up the whole house. I think it is the first time in months that the whole house has been clean at once!