Em in Real Life

The Remodel Reveal

2012-01-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

This post has been sitting in my draft posts for awhile now (like since July! How embarrassing!) I added the last few pictures and here it is.

Well, we finally finished our house remodel...just in time to put it on the market. (If you know anyone wanting to buy a house in the Burley area, give me a call!) It has been stressful but fun to see our home transform. Lets start with the front room shall we. Of course, here is the before:

Pay particular attention to the hideous fireplace and the disgusting pee-stained carpet above...

And here is the reveal:

Now pay particular attention to THAT fireplace. I also have to mention that my amazing husband did all the work himself, with a very little, tiny assist from me. Please excuse the lack of decor. After the remodel was all done I thought I would be so excited to decorate but now I feel, "what is the point, we are moving again anyway?!" I'm a little bummed I won't be able to enjoy all our hard work longer.

Now on to the kitchen, which I am just going to say is my favorite transformation. And it was probably the hardest and longest standing project.

Now I want you to fully appreciate the hideousness of the cupboards here. Lets get a close up shall we?

Those handles!!! Oh the handles! I felt like I was in a kindergarten classroom.

Now back to this mammoth of a project kitchen. We sent the boys off to Chris's brothers for a whole day, night and half a day while we sanded and painted the cupboard bases. And we didn't even get it all done! I had sawdust and paint in my hair, eyes, nose, ears, fingernails...everywhere for the next three days! Not to mention the mess it made of everything else in the kitchen. Wow. What a project. All right, I'll stop talking.

Here is the reveal:

Also, Chris tiled the floor in the kitchen and dining room. He did a great job. It is times like this I am glad my husband is a perfectionist. Other times...not so much. If Chris hadn't lost his job we probably would have put in a new stove/oven/hood/microwave.

I am absolutely in love with the colors we chose. I was nervous about the yellow color and the yellow with the off-white and even the color of the glaze was questionable but it all turned out lovely.

Those are the existing cabinet doors. We added trim and new hardware (well we actually just spray painted the hinges.) and put the glaze in the corners. We used a paint sprayer to paint the cabinets because we wanted a smooth finish.

(I am kicking myself because I cannot find a picture of the dining room with the table Chris built.)

Now on to the bathroom. This is Chris's favorite transformation of the house. Here is the before:

This was also a bigger project than anticipated because the floor under the linoleum was rotting and disgusting. Also the shower had some mold we had to take care of.

Here is the reveal:

At first I really hated the color of the walls, but it works. Chris, once again, did an amazing job tiling the shower and floor. There were a lot of choice words spoken when he was trying to fix the tub faucet and he almost gave up and called a professional, but he figured it out.

We also painted some bedrooms but nothing too exciting to share. This beautiful house is still up for sale or rent. We have renters in there until at least March. If you know anyone wanting to buy a house in the Burley, Idaho area, pass this along.

For Nana and Papa

2012-01-25T11:45:00.002-07:00

My mom gives all the grandkids books for Christmas and birthdays. I thought it was hilarious how excited Gordon and Edison were. This video only shows a fraction of the excitement, they went through every single book. Thanks Nana and Papa for the great books.
P.S. Sorry for the poor lighting. Why don't apartments put lights in the front room? Why?

Greetings from Texas!!

2012-01-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

Many of you probably aren't aware (because I haven't updated this blog in almost a year!!) that we have relocated to Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth area to be exact. Chris got a job here in November and we moved the day after Thanksgiving. It was kind of a crazy, last minute decision but more on that later. How are we liking Texas?
Gordon's favorite thing about Texas: our apartment, the park here, there are so many sticks and acorns to play with.
Edison's favorite thing about Texas: playing at all the different parks
Chris's favorite thing about Texas: his job
My favorite thing about Texas: the city we live in and the weather (at least right now). There are so many parks and trails and trees everywhere.

The worst thing about Texas: Being away from family and friends.

I promised my family that I would update this blog more often now that we are far away. I won't make any promises about how often but it will be more than I did last year! Also, my new years resolution is to take more pictures. I was organizing my 2011 photos and was sad to see how few there were.

Tap, tap...is this thing on?

2011-02-28T21:09:00.002-07:00

Well, hello again. I know I haven't been the best blogger in the world lately and I don't make any promises to become better anytime soon but my little boy just turned three on Saturday and I think he deserves a post. Edison is in love with Toy Story (the only movie he will sit through) and he especially loves Buzz Lightyear. So, of course we had to do a Buzz Lightyear themed party for him! The cake didn't turn out quite as I was hoping but Edison loved it and that's all that matters. He was in the bath while I was frosting it so he didn't see it until it was complete and he was so excited, he wanted to eat it right then.

I don't know if you can see his devilish eyebrow very well in this picture but let me tell you--this guy is a little rascal!! He certainly keeps me on my toes.

Edison was delighted that so many people came to our house just for him. We had 19 family members at the party and he was just pleased as punch that everyone was there for him. He took center stage and had no problem with it.

I decorated the house with cardboard stars covered in tinfoil, green and purple streamers, and a glittery Happy Birthday banner. We have this spare room upstairs so we turned it into our "Space Ranger Training Camp." We filled the empty room with about 200 balloons and had the kids do target practice with some nerf guns and then we gave each of them a can of silly string and let them go at it. We are planning on replacing the carpet in that room so I didn't think it would be a big deal. Boy was I wrong! It made such a mess! But the older kids thought it was cool to pick up all the silly string and make a big ball so they did most of the cleaning for me. Anyway, the kids enjoyed themselves so that was good. We got Edison a Toy Story bike that he still needs to learn how to peddle by himself but we can't get much practice time with all this snow and cold weather we've been having. We Gordon also got him a Zhu Zhu pet so that they could play together (Gordon got one from his cousin for Christmas and the boys think they are the coolest thing to hit planet earth!)

I just cannot believe my baby boy is three. His speech has really taken off in the last couple of months (Oh, one of those things I forgot to blog about--he graduated from speech therapy!! Like back in October/November?!) He is quite the chatter box now. In fact his favorite word lately is a curse word he heard from someone of the male species in this house. It starts with a d. He also loves to argue with his brother non-stop and won't give up. He knows he is always right! His other favorite thing is to have me close my eyes before he gives me anything and then put it in my hand and say "surprise!" We sure do love this ~~little~~ big boy!

Gordon's 5th Birthday Interview

2010-11-17T17:10:00.000-07:00

Interview with Gordon:
1. Something you do well.
swimming... plus one is two.
2. Something you wish you could do better.
do gymnastics
3. Your favorite food.
quesadilla
4. 3 words that tell about you.
me is me
5. What makes you happy.
you.
(oh, that is so sweet.)
Is there anything else that makes you happy?
No.
Something that makes you smile?
you.
6. The most important thing in your life right now.
the airport.
Why?
because that's is where airplanes land. That is where they start driving and fly.
7. Your favorite movie.
G-Force, Wipe-out, and Polar Express
8. Your favorite book.
Runaway Bunny- a bunny runs away and the mom bunny runs after it. If the baby bunny is a fish the mom bunny will fish for it.
9. Your favorite thing.
watching movies. My favorite song is You Better Watch Out! You better not cry!
10. Your favorite place to go.
to Izzy's house
11. Your favorite thing to draw.
Disneyland
12. Something you want for Christmas.
You know what Spencer got for Christmas at Papa's house. It is green and white and you plug it in? That is what I want.
13. Your favorite color.
Blue, yellow, white, green, red, black, peach
14. What do you like to play?
Going to Vegas
How do you play that?
Get on the couch. Pretend that the couch is a rocket. Get all your stuff, make a mess. (he means pack his clothes but I always tell him he is making a mess) Take a shower, take a bath, and go to Vegas!
15. What do you like to do when it's raining?
Stay inside. Play Vegas. Hug you. Take naps. Hahaha
16. Your favorite animal?

You.
No.
Um...Edison.
No.
Um...my favorite animal is...ME!
No.
an elephant.
One plus one is awesome!

How does it feel to be 5?
I don't know I haven't been 5 for very long.
What was your favorite thing about being 4?
Swimming and playing with Terin
What did you not like about being 4?
Not playing with rocks. I played with rocks when I was 3 but not when I was 4.
What is going to be exciting about being 5?
I am getting older.
What is good about getting older?
I am getting close to being a grownup.
What is so great about being a grownup?
Grownups are stronger and can lift heavier things and kids can't do that.

Better Late than Never

2010-11-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

Gordon's party was monster themed and it was perfect because all the Halloween stuff was 75% off. I found this invitation online and changed it to suite our party:

I printed off some Yo Gabba Gabba monster masks and had the kids color them and add different things to them. Then we practiced being really scary monsters. We made scary faces, stomped, and made scary noises. Then we played Hide-n-Scare. Half the kids hid while the other kids looked for them and then they jumped out and made scary faces!

All the kids making scary faces. Now the story behind the cupcakes. I found these cupcakes in the Fall issue of Taste of Home and that is what started this monster themed party. Well, we had the party planned and everything was ready, including the cupcakes and then Gordon woke up sick (vomiting). So we cancelled the party and ended up throwing away a lot of cupcakes. Well, Chris insisted that we make the cupcakes again and try for the party the next week.

I wasn't so sure I wanted to make all those cupcakes again! But it actually turned out easier the second time. The kids absolutely loved them. And Gordon even got to help create some with the left over supplies.

At the end we had them follow the green monster footprints to find their goody bags. I just bought a bunch of Halloween stuff (spiders, googly eye glasses...) and I made some slime and put them each in a ziploc bag. All in all it was a successful party.

Fall Recipes

2010-09-29T10:43:00.001-06:00

I have been looking forward to making these delicious soups. Both of these are family favorites. Try them out.

Autumn Chowder

6 slices bacon, chopped or 2 cups of ham, cubed

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup water

3 cups potatoes, diced

1 carrot, sliced

1 tsp instant chicken bouillon

3 cups milk

2 cans corn, drained

½ tsp pepper

3 cups Cheddar cheese

3 Tbsp flour

Fry bacon. Add onions. Brown until bacon is crisp. Stir in water, potatoes, carrots, and bouillon. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes (it goes faster with the lid on). Stir in milk, corn, and pepper. Heat until simmering. Mix cheese and flour and add to soup mixture. Stir constantly until cheese is melted.

(image copied from the web...it doesn't look good but it SO is)

Zuppa Toscana Soup

(From the Olive Garden)

1 lb sausage

2 large potatoes cubed

¾ cup chopped onion

1 ½ tsp minced garlic

2 cups kale- washed, dried, shredded

2 Tbsp chicken bouillon powder

1 quart water

1/3 cup heavy cream

½-1 tsp crushed red pepper

Cook sausage. Place onions in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Add garlic to onion, cook an additional minute. Add chicken bouillon, water, potatoes and simmer for 15 minutes. Add sausage, kale, and cream. Simmer for 4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!!

All work and no play...

2010-09-27T16:07:00.000-06:00

...would make for a dull summer! So of course our remodeling project wasn't all we did this summer. We went to Lagoon TWICE!! These pictures are from the whole Thomas Family Lagoon Trip! It was amazing. Seriously so fun!.

Gordon thinks Lagoon is the best place on earth! It is pure joy for me just to see his face and how excited he gets. With his cousins with him it was heaven!

Edison did much better this trip than last time. He was not scared one bit. It was great to have everyone there (it would have been even better if we had Zach and Katie with us!)

Chad and Katie with Grant and Lily.

Maren and Brett with Fisher and Sarah.

Most of us together on the Tidal Wave.

The best was watching all the kids on the bumper cars. The older ones could get around pretty good but the younger ones just kept going in circles.

Thanks again family for the good time!!

Where do I even start?

2010-09-23T15:23:00.000-06:00

Before

During

Before

The project that has taken most of our summer is redoing the floors in our house. We are still a long way from finished but we have also made a lot of progress. When we moved in we knew we were going to have to replace the carpet because the previous owner had cats and the whole upstairs stunk. Luckily the basement was remodeled after they moved out and before we moved in so we didn't need to worry about that.

Chris's parents dishwasher leaked and ruined the floor in front of it and that floor is not made anymore so they had to tear it all up and they gave it to us! Yeah! Well, when we tore the carpets up I don't think we were quite prepared for how bad it would be underneath.

During

Do you see all those nasty stains? It smelled so much worse (which I didn't think was possible.) It made me sick to think about how we had been walking and playing on this carpet for the past month! Anyway, we ended up tearing out all the sub-floor too. What a project! So this supposedly "free floor" we were getting wasn't quite turning out that way. We also had to knock down all the rock on the fireplace to get the boards out. After Chris's hard work, this is what the family room looks like today.

I know we still have to finish the fireplace and the trim but at least I have a floor.
Now the kitchen and dining room area we decided we wanted tile. It is still not in yet. This is what it looks like today. (literally I took this picture two minutes ago so forgive the mess.

(I have also been sanding and painting our table and chairs. That is another project for another post.)
This room has been even more of a nightmare because, as with most old houses, nothing is level. As you can see from this picture again...

The previous owners had put in some sort of plaster to try to even things out but it was all breaking up and cracking everywhere so we tore it out. We thought we had it level and put the backerboard down (the white boards you see under the table are for laying tile) and we would find it still wasn't level. So we would tear it up level it again and again and again. I think finally the dining room is level. we are still working on leveling the kitchen. The problem is it takes a good two hours to do a small area and we have to wait till the kids are in bed so it can dry with no little feet walking on it. Anyway, I feel like we take 2 steps forward 1 step back, 2 steps forward 1 step back...but hopefully it is finished soon. I told Chris I wanted to have a Halloween party at our house so it has to be done before then. Wish us luck!

You're so sassy

2010-05-04T15:23:00.001-06:00

Gordon has been really sassy lately. Most of the time it is not funny but sometimes it really is. Like the other night. We had to go pick up daddy's car at work so he could drive to Twin Falls tomorrow. We left it there over the weekend because he came home with us. It was getting close to bed time so Gordon was trying to stall. He wanted to go for a drive and he was telling us where to go. We obliged for about 5 minutes but then I started telling him we needed to get home. Here is our conversation:

G: I am in charge and I make decisions

M: No, I am the boss.

G: No, we are going this way

M: Okay, how about we go over the big hill and then we will go home.

G: Okay, but I am not going to bed

M: You don't have to go to sleep but you do have to get in your bed

G: I will just get out of my bed

M: Then I will put you back in bed with no books

G: I will just get out of bed again

M: Then I will give you vinegar

G: Then I will throw up on you.

M: Then I will give you a spanking

G: Then I will give you a spanking

I couldn't help but laugh. Then I told him that I was in charge and he better do as I say or else...

Long time no see

2010-05-03T12:23:00.003-06:00

I know it has been a ridiculously long time and I hate when I let it get like this because then I don't know where to pick up. There have been so many times I have sat down to write a post and I just wasn't feeling it. Ya, know? There was even a plethora of times when my kids did something cute and I thought, "I've got to blog about this." But I didn't. And now I don't remember. But let me tell you. My kids are cute! Currently they are outside standing on the fence watching our neighbor mow his lawn. Do you think he minds that two little boys love to watch as he "lawn the mow" as Gordon says it.

I will tell you one funny story that happened just this last Saturday night. I have been looking for a printer for awhile now. I want a laser printer because I heard that they will give you the most ink for our cartridge (more pages printed per cartridge). Anyway, I have lived this whole married life of mine without a printer (can you believe that!) and I finally said "NO MORE!" So I really started looking seriously online for a printer. (This is becoming a really long, boring story isn't it?) Okay, I will get to the funny part. I found an all-in-one printer at Office Max that was 50% off. It had really great reviews and we decided this was the one for us. Well, we called the Office Max in the big city (you know, Twin Falls) and made sure they had one in stock, they had 5, but the sale was ending that day. So we threw the kids in the car and headed to the big city. We arrived at 7:02 pm. They close on Saturday at 7:00 pm. I was not about to go home empty handed, so I started banging on the window. Oh yes I did! I pleaded my case in front of two employees while the rest watched on and they let me in. Praise the heavens! And on that note my dear friends I will leave you.

Need a Laugh

2010-04-29T11:00:00.002-06:00

I thought this was hilarious. Enjoy-

She has other funny videos. Just search Anita Renfroe.

Our New Home!

2010-03-22T11:10:00.001-06:00

We bought a house.

A cute house.

An old house.

A 1960's house.

A house in Burley.

A house in a quiet neighborhood.

A house.

With a big backyard.

A home.

See that tiny stove. Yeah, it can barely fit a 9x13 pan in it. But it works.
Chris and I have sooooo many plans to remodel everything. Starting with that fireplace (when we have the $$). We are also replacing the carpet (because the previous owners had cats) and are planning on putting hard wood throughout the front room, kitchen, dining room and carpeting the two bedrooms upstairs. The basement was remodeled after they moved out so it is practically brand new!

And I was so excited to take pictures so I could post them here and I forgot to take one of the outside but then genius struck me and I got this pic off the inspection report. Not too shabby, eh? We are supposed to move in this weekend. Cross your fingers that everything goes smoothly so that can happen!

I did forget one thing...

2010-03-17T15:08:00.006-06:00

I have caught the craft bug! I have started helping a lady in my ward make crafts to sell at the cheese store here in Heyburn. I have also made a few crafts to keep in my own home. I spend a lot of my free time getting ideas from others online. There is so much out there. I'm loving it!

Here are some things I have made:

March Madness

2010-03-15T22:31:00.002-06:00

No I am not talking about basketball. This month has been crazy and it is only half over!!

Just a few things we have been up to lately-

My brother Zach went through the Twin Falls temple for the first time! We had most of the family together (missed Chad and Katie and their family...) What a special time.
Chris has been spending every waking moment trying to get the new cheese store ready.
I have been spending every waking moment thinking about our new house (what color am I going to paint the front room?!) Also finding someone to rent our apartment...and packing...and loosing sleep, dreaming about decorating my new house!
Magic Valley Chalet and UpperCrust are now open in Twin Falls (what an insane, crazy, stressful weekend.) And I am not looking forward to all the nights with Chris gone. =(
Oh and somebody celebrated their 26th birthday by cleaning windows and hanging signs at the new store.
My sister Sarah had a baby girl! Welcome Jane!
I signed up for a triathlon, the Spudman in July. I've started to.. think about.. planning a training schedule. It's stressing me out! I keep telling myself I have to wait for warmer weather. That's a good ~~excuse~~ reason, right?
And now my boys are sick!!

Is there anything else I am missing?

Free!

2010-03-15T22:30:00.001-06:00

FREE!! Primary Children's Poster.

Go here to download it.

Edison's Birthday Party

2010-03-05T15:56:00.005-07:00

Edison's birthday was last Friday. We had a small party with just some family. The pictures are all out of order (I really hate Blogger sometimes!) but you get the main idea.

We got him a Mr. Potato Head and it has been really fun for the boys. His cousin gave him another Mr. Potato Head so it was perfect because now we don't have any fights about it, except for who has the better eyes, hat, nose....
I really love this photo of Edison. It makes him seem so big. I don't know if it is because he is my second child but he has always seemed smaller to me. I realized at his 2 year check up--he is not small. He is in the 90% for weight and the 75% for height so not to bad at all.
This is Edison giving dad a hug for the present I we gave him. He then proceeded to give everyone in the room hugs. Did I mention Edison loves to give hugs?

Opening presents wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. Like he really cares what is on the front?!

I love that smile! He is such a happy guy. Well, he did just get a ~~hand-me down~~ brand new barn that makes animal sounds. Who wouldn't be smiling? And I am just going to warn you about the picture below--it involves spit and boogers and cake...
It was actually kind of hilarious because he kept blowing upwards and couldn't get the candle out until he used the spit...and boogers.
The kids love to help me cook and of course they love to lick out the bowl. And below is my masterful creation. I know it looks a little bit like a pig but it is actually a cow. A pretty darn good looking cow if you ask me.
And that is the end of this picture show.

Happy Birthday Edison!

My Little Eddie

2010-02-26T22:18:00.001-07:00

Dear Edison,

I cannot believe you are two years old today. You are such a fun little boy. Just last night we were dancing in the kitchen at nana and papa's house and you got everyone to join in with you because your smile is infectious; your laughter, contagious. You are all about having fun.

You don't talk much with words but we are working on it and you also know some sign language. The words you can say: mama, dada, papa, nana, animal sounds, baby, wow, bye, juice, no, yes, ouch and you try to say more as you sign. The words you sign: all done, bath, milk, more, cracker, please, help, and thank you. You catch on very quickly to new signs. You are such a smart little boy and understand so much more than I think you do. When I tell Gordon to go get something upstairs, you hurry to go get it first. You love to tease your brother Gordon, which makes him chase you, which makes you laugh. You are very good at puzzles and matching pictures. You love the book Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton. You laugh on every page.

You are such a loving little boy and give everyone hugs when they leave our house, even if they are only acquaintances. You have been such a joy in our family from day one and we all love you so much. Happy Birthday Edison.

Love, Mommy

This video was taken in December of 2009 so it is a little old. I should take another one of him

Guess Who's Going on a Mission (Take Two)

2010-02-22T17:29:00.004-07:00

My brother Zach got his mission call this weekend. It was kind of funny because we thought it would come on Thursday like it always does and when it didn't, my mom thought for sure it would come on Friday and it was just late because of President's Day. Well, it didn't come Friday so Zach decided not to come home from school (Utah State) for the weekend. And guess what we found in the mail on Saturday. Yep, you guessed it. Zach's mission call. He drove up from Logan the second we called him. And where is he going you ask? He is going to the Baltic Mission. Where is the Baltic Mission? That is the same thing that went through my head as Zach read his call. I made a little map for you below showing where the Baltic mission is. It's pretty much Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Zach will be speaking Russian. Wow. And it also gets -22 Degrees Fahrenheit in the winter! Cold!! Zach leaves for the MTC June 16th. It will be weird having two missionaries out as you may remember my sister left for her mission to Germany last month. I am so jealous of the wonderful experiences they will have. I know Zach will be a great missionary. Love you Zach!

Click on the picture to make it bigger.

2010-02-17T13:51:00.002-07:00

Buying a house is no fun at all! Chris and I have been talking and dreaming, dreaming and imagining, talking and wondering, what our house will look like since we first got married. This has been something we have been looking forward to for a long, long time. It is a lot more stressful and a lot less fun than I ever thought it would be. I don't know if it is just because Chris and I cannot make up our minds if our lives depended on it or if it is this stressful for everyone. (Please tell me this is normal.) We put a bid on a house a few weeks ago and were out-bid. (Frowny face.) We seriously considered buying another house and put a bid on it and then pulled it at the last second because we decided we didn't want to be house poor. (It was at the very top of our price range.) I am sure our real estate agent is getting really sick and tired of us. We are going to look at another house tonight. One we have seen before but Chris did not want to consider it because it is in Burley. The two previous houses were in Twin Falls. That was another decision that added to the stress...where to look. We have Twin Falls, Burley, Rupert, Heyburn...okay, Heyburn was not ever really in the runnings. Anyway, I will stop rambling about house hunting boringness. Just wish me luck that we can find a house that makes both of us happy and is in our price range!

A Child's Prayer

2010-02-16T18:39:00.002-07:00

We recently decided to start paying Gordon a dime for chores he does around the house. I was hoping to motivate him a little more and teach him about money (it doesn't grow on trees, ya know). Well shortly after he started saving his money he started praying about money all the time.

"Thanks that dad can make money, and money, and more money, and money."
"Thanks for all my money...and thanks that I can have money..."

I was kind of worried that I had created a greedy little monster, but it only lasted about a week or so. It is still hard to motivate him to do much of anything. Any ideas?

Gordon also NEVER forgets to bless Aunt Katie on her mission.

"Thanks that Katie can deserve a mission..."
"Thanks that Katie can teach people about Jesus..."
"Thanks that I can deserve a mission when I get big..."

Gordon has a hard time saying "please bless..." everything is always, "thank you..."

"Thank you that we can bless our food..."

I guess I should be glad that he is so thankful! I love listening to his prayers it is an insight into what he is thinking about.

Lost

2010-02-04T14:26:00.001-07:00

I am so lost after watching LOST. Anyone else totally confused? Please explain. The season premiere was not at all what I expected. It will be interesting to see how this all ends.

It's Finished!

2010-02-01T00:07:00.004-07:00

My bookcase is finally finished! It took longer than expected and is bigger than originally planned but I love it! Chris did a great job and had so much fun building it, he is already planning his next project. I think I need some new night stands!

Its Been Decided...

2010-01-14T20:43:00.001-07:00

We decided to take Julie's advice and cut it but also leave the curls. I tell you what, its all about the mullet. You get the best of both worlds! And plus, living here in the sticks, Gordon fits right in...

Just Kidding. Here is what his hair cut really looks like.

I think we both knew the curls needed to go. The problem with keeping hair longer is that it was way cute about two weeks ago and now it is just a big mess of curls. You had to work with it for like 4 whole minutes. Which in little boy time is an eternity! Gordon was sad at first to see all his hair dropping to the ground but I know he will like the low maintenance of it.

To Cut or Not to Cut?

2010-01-11T22:53:00.001-07:00

We have been growing Gordon's hair out for about two or three months now and we are so back and forth about what to do with it. I think it drives Chris crazy. What do you think?

I had to include a couple of shots of the long hair because it looks so different everyday.

I don't want to be one of those mothers who thinks their kids hair is cute when it is so totally not. I will be sad to see the curls go but if that is what needs to happen, I am ready for the truth. Let's be honest now.

There is a poll at the top left. Go ahead and vote. And leave a comment!

I'm a slacker, so what!?

2010-01-06T22:20:00.000-07:00

I have been majorly slacking in the blogging department and there were some posts I had to do even if they were 3 months ago.

For my Halloween post click here.

For my Murder Mystery post click here. You won't want to miss this one. Everyone in my family dressed 80's. Love it!

I think that is all for now. I still need to post Christmas...

The Stink Eye

2009-12-17T23:15:00.004-07:00

Edison is such a love-able, like-able guy but occasionally he finds someone he doesn't like. And for some reason that person is Chris's brother Josh. We were over there the other night with Josh, his family and some friends when Edison came walking in glaring at everyone. He has perfected the stink eye. I was trying to get him perform for me but I guess he likes me too much!

Random-ness

2009-12-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today it was 4 degrees (felt like -10 degrees because of the wind.) when the kids wanted to go out and play in the snow. I let them because we have been, for the most, part stuck in this house all week. It was -4 degrees on Monday. I cannot believe how cold it is!!

(Hey boys, don't try to look happy or anything, okay.)

Edison looked so funny in all his snow gear. He loved walking around the house in his boots.

A long time ago (about 4 months) I thought it would be fun to do home-made gifts for Christmas for each other. Now I am thinking--not so fun. Chris and I are both working on the rag quilt for Gordon since that is the one that is taking the longest to get anywhere. This picture was taken in March when I just started cutting out the fabric and I was so excited. Now I have sworn never to sew again! I think I should be embarrassed to admit that I started this project in March but I am so over it.

And I am also making a quiet book for Edison. Which is coming along quite nicely, thank you. I was going to make a headboard for our bed for Chris but we decided the project that he is working on for me will be both of our presents since it is costing more than we thought. He is making a bookcase and it is going to be the nicest piece of furniture we own. Got to start somewhere right?

And finally some good news. We found our camera. Such a funny story. So I decided to wake up at 2:45 a.m. to be at Target by 3:00 a.m. to buy a new camera. This was the first time I woke up really early to do Black Friday shopping. It was kind of fun just because I had my sisters with me. Anyway, at the end of the weekend, Chris decides to go up and check our room one more time to make sure we didn't forget anything. He looks in the big dresser to see if the kids maybe put something in there, and there was our camera!! Yeah! We were so happy. And thankful.

And now, I may just have to post Halloween pictures in December. Would that be too awful?

Meet Puddy

2009-12-03T21:17:00.003-07:00

A little introduction to the interview below. This dog/blanket was Gordon's since he was a baby and we always called it Buddy. Gordon couldn't say buddy so he said "Puddy." Even now that he can say buddy, it is still "Puddy." Puddy has always been there, but more in the background, until lately. I think it was around the time we moved, Puddy became Gordon's best friend. Puddy went everywhere and did everything with him. And now without further ado, I introduce to you, Puddy...

M: What is Pudddy?
G: Her's a girl
M: What does Puddy like to do?
G: She likes to pick up movies and put them in their spots. Her likes to play with choo-choo trains and...her likes to play outside.
M: What does she like to do with you.
G: Her likes to hug me.
M: anything else
G: Nope
M: Why do you like Puddy?
G: Because her's my baby.
M: Where did you get Puddy?
G: From Logan. Her just, we didn't even found her.
M: How do you take care of Puddy
G: Her can have a blanket and a picnic. Look at her picnic blanket.
M: Do you love Puddy more than you love mommy?
G: Yep, well Puddy's mommy died. Because her is a little bit much. Her makes a mess for lunch.
M: Anything else you would like to tell us about Puddy?
G: Yep, her likes to play hide and seek.

I've had this in my drafts for awhile now and I think it appropriate to post it now as a tribute and a goodbye. We lost Puddy at a relatives house and it was deduced that the dog took her away and buried her. It was very sad for Gordon (not so much for mommy.) It took a couple of weeks to forget about her but I think he has finally moved on. It happened about a week before his birthday and he kept asking me if Puddy was going to come to his party. I think once she was a no-show, Gordon decided to find a new best friend, his stuffed moose. Moose is no where near the status that Puddy once was. Moose is often forgotten and doesn't have to go in the car with us everywhere we go. Moose doesn't ever get to eat breakfast with us and rarely gets to sleep with Gordon at night. Moose just isn't the same. Goodbye Puddy. You are loved and missed (by at least one of us.)

Gordon's par-tay

2009-11-19T20:23:00.001-07:00

I think I am loosing my mind. Well, I am definitely loosing everything else. We can't find our camera. The last time we remember having it was at the Halloween party at my parent's ward...hopefully it turns up.

So I am more than a week late in posting about Gordon's 4th birthday. I had to borrow my sis-in-law's camera. The theme was: BUGS!

I got this idea from Cara. I just loved it. Super cute and pretty easy. The only problem was we made the first batch of bugs too skinny so when transferring them to the cupcakes, they all broke. But once we learned that lesson...easy, peasy.
I made antennae headbands for all the kids and I must say, "Super cute". My twin nephews had the brilliant idea of using them like headset walkie-talkies so everyone kept going around, "Come in commander, can you pass the glue." Aaa-dorable.We made little bug scenes with stickers, markers, glue, and paper while we waited for all the kdis to arrive. Then we played stick the dot on the ladybug with Oreos. Lick it and stick it. That was fun even if the my ladybug looked a little squashed.
Each kid also got a tiny magnifying glass and had to go outside in the back yard and hunt for bugs. Then we did cupcakes and "bug juice." The kids loved that and Gordon still asks for it. Silly, silly. My dad was telling all the kids that they had to squeeze so many grasshoppers to get all this juice. Gross.
I didn't get very many pictures of the opening presents part because the kids kept crowding around. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the garbage truck we got him but I'm not joking when I say that thing was gone before I could blink. The kids loved it and Gordon has been playing with it non-stop. It looks pretty much just like this. All in all, it was a fun time. And I know someone who really enjoyed their cupcake...
Happy Birthday Gordon. We sure love you!!

Gordon

2009-11-09T16:25:00.001-07:00

Dear Gordon,

This birthday letter is a little late, but I still wanted to talk about this stage in your life and tell you how much I love you. The move to Heyburn has been hard on all of us. You miss your good friends, as do I. I know it took me awhile to get back to being the mommy you need me to be and I want to thank you for being patient with me and always loving me. You are so forgiving and loving.

You are my big helper. Always have been and always will be I think. You love to "help" with your brother Edison. You mean well, but sometimes I have to remind you that Edison only needs one mother! You are so good with Edison and you guys play really well together (for the most part) because of your kindness and patience.

This year we are doing Joy School with several other moms and kids in our ward and you have really enjoyed it. You are very social and love to have friends. You learn very quickly and love to pick out the first letter of different words. You'll tell me, "Telephone starts with T" and then continue telling me other words that start with T as well.

As always, you love to watch movies. Recently we watched Robin Hood and now you like to pretend you are Robin Hood using a hanger as your bow and arrow. You also have like Peter Pan and love to play Captain Hook and Peter Pan, especially with the pirate hook and sword you got for your birthday. You also saved up enough dimes to go to the local discount theater and watch Planet 51. You love the "big TV" and would probably sit through any movie at the theater.

You are my best buddy and we love to do everything together. You are very obedient and I thank my Heavenly Father every night that I was blessed with such good boys. I love you so much! Happy Birthday Gordon.

Love,

Mom

Good Morning Heyburn!

2009-11-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

Good morning everyone. My kids woke up yesterday at 6:30 and today at 6:00. For me, that is too early. Is anyone else having trouble with their kids and Day Light Savings. We are still on "old time" Since we had breakfast an hour earlier, we had lunch an hour earlier, dinner... and so on. I say we boycott Day Light Savings; who needs it anyway. It is just too depressing when its dark at 6:00 in the evening.

Guess who's goin' on a mission

2009-11-02T13:45:00.003-07:00

Click here to find out.

A few things I love about this video:

1- all the cell phones with family members on the other end
2- when we all scream after we hear where Katie is going. I tried to figure out who started the screaming and I think it was "Chad's Katie." Can you confirm or deny this.
3- I LOVE my sister!! She will be such an awesome missionary.

We went through the Twin Falls temple for Katie's endowment on Saturday and it was so neat to have everyone there. We are getting closer to our family goal of having all members of our family in the temple. Only three more years!! Anyway, we are so proud of Katie and I will miss her so much when she leaves!!

Murder Mystery fun!!

2009-11-01T21:50:00.002-07:00

I have always wanted to throw a Murder Mystery party and when I found out all my family would be in town for Halloween I took that as a go ahead. My family are really good sports to put up with all my crazy antics. I had so much fun I think I will do another one next year!

The theme was "Class of '85 High School Reunion." And we were all supposed to dress up '80's and in our "character." Introducing:

Chris (aka Danny Drums)- marching band nerd turned struggling musician

Me (aka Molly Ringworm)- drama queen turned Hollywood actress. I even won an Oscar!

(This picture was actually taken at a party the night before)

Zach (aka B.A. Barricade- the high school punk turned body guard)

I am so sad this picture didn't turn out. He had is hair dyed orange! And those are tattoo sleeves.

Sarah (aka Terry Johnson)- the hall monitor turned traffic cop (and she is like 5 months pregnant in this picture)

Craig (aka Bailey Babble)- school gossip turned journalist
Ryan (aka Joe Nebraska)- jock turned high school basketball coach

Teri (aka Natalie Nebraska)- cheerleader turned lying tramp (sorry Teri!!)
My dad (aka Byron Keaton)- math nerd turned accountant and hugely wealthy

My mom (aka Myra Keaton)- math team cheerleader (didn't know there was such a thing) turned accountant and devoted wife
I totally did the stretch pants with stirrups and over sized sweater in the early 90's. Love it!

Katie (aka Pamela Abdul)- Dance Captain turned famous choreographer (Katie is holding Elyse, not a doll.)

Jake (aka Nick Nixon)- class president turned Presidential hopeful

Lexie (aka Nancy Nixon)- class vice president turned supportive wife dying to be the first lady

Chad (aka Steve Spielson)- audio visual geek turned mega Hollywood director

Katie (aka Cindy Crawfish)- class flirt turned class flirt (somethings never change!!)
Brett (aka Mike Majesty)- prom king turned working a dead-end job and hating life

Maren (aka Mallory Majesty)- prom queen turned controlling wife (such an opposite role for her if you know Maren at all!)
Austin (aka Bobbie Bright) - Valedictorian turned conniving lawyer

As the night went along Chad ended up being murdered. I killed him because he was going to leak out my dirty past and ruin my chances of staring in the new Disney movie! Zach blackmailed the most and ended up with the most money. No one solved the murder, Craig ended up with "Best Costume" award, Brett or maybe it was Dad got the best "Acting" award. All in all in was a fun night!

Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T20:54:00.001-06:00

Halloween went way to fast. I didn't get many great pictures. Gordon was too excited to get going and Edison wouldn't sit still for a second. My dad gave me the idea for construction worker costumes and I just loved it. I couldn't find any tool belts for the look and price I wanted so I decided to make them. But it actually turned out that Chris made them. (He would be so embarrassed that I told you that.)

I added a little eyeliner "goatee" to Gordon and I think it was a nice touch. Don't worry I don't actually use that eyeliner. I is old and got all orangey on me.

Kids are so spoiled these days! My dad took all the grandkids out trick or treating on the four-wheeler.
They had way too much fun! It went by too fast though because we had to get to my parents' ward Trunk-or-Treat/Chili cook off. But it was a good thing we went because my mom's chili won!!
This is the only picture I have of Edison with his hard hat on. It kept falling off even with the beanie. And I just had to throw in this picture of my nephew Fisher. He was a chef and his chef hat (homemade) was so cute.
We had our whole family together for the Halloween weekend because Katie went through the temple for her endowment and it was also Elyse's (Brett and Maren's) baby blessing. Having a big family is fun but crazy!!

September came and went

2009-10-01T21:49:00.003-06:00

Wow. Here is one of those really long posts about what I did for the WHOLE month. Get ready!

I read Harry Potter 4, 5, 6, and half of 7. I know, I am a little late hopping on the band wagon here. I was getting sick and tired of everyone giving me the shock, "You haven't read the Harry Potters!!!!" But, really I do love them. I have also been watching the movies in between each book. Pretty fun stuff.

I threw a totally awesome, tubular, rockin' DANCE party for my family. It was fun. I just love throwing parties. We danced, we sang karaoke, and we ate way too much food.

I started a Joy School pre-school with some ladies in my ward for Gordon. I do not like being in charge of things like this but I wanted a home pre-school, so instead of waiting around for someone else to do it, I started one. I don't know yet what I've got myself into. We'll see how it goes.

Started a few posts, but never finished them. You know how it goes... All of our favorite TV shows started up again, so my time for blogging is limited.

The family went on a little weekend trip to Las Vegas. My old roommate from college got married and Chris's sister lives about an hour from Vegas so we got to spend some time with her and her kids. Gordon had tons of fun and can't wait to go back again...maybe next year! Chris and I also got to see a fun show in Vegas thanks to his sister for watching our kiddos.

Chris's brother Kolby left for his mission to Buenos Airies, Argentina. Good luck Elder Tatton!

My sister-in-law had a little baby girl and she is so precious. You forget how tiny babies are. Was Edison really that small?

We had some friends from Logan come up and stay a day with us. We had tons of fun seeing the sights. You know, the sights...we've got a ton here. Come and see us and we'll show you what we mean!!

Entertain ME

2009-08-31T14:00:00.000-06:00

Gordon has to be constantly entertained. He rarely plays by himself for longer than 5 minutes. Since I am always trying to come up with fun things to do I thought I would share what I've come up with if you promise to share your ideas too!The other day Gordon and I made some vanilla pudding and I found this great idea to put the pudding in a muffin tin and add different colors to the tins and do some finger painting. It really was fun, fast, and easy to clean up.Then when they were done painting, I gave them graham cracker sticks to eat it all up with. If you think this is gross you should see what else they put in their mouths.Another easy way to entertain kids, especially boys, get some flour or oats and pour it onto a large cookie sheet and let them dig around in it with their little cars. Gordon loves this. The first time we did this he would play for the whole time I made dinner every day for a week. It was great. Now he only plays for about 15 minutes to a half hour depending.In this picture he is telling me to stop taking pictures so he can just play. Hence the angry look. So what are some fun things you do to keep your kids entertained?

How Emily Got Her Groove Back

2009-08-28T12:52:00.001-06:00

Finally, I feel like I am myself again. Yes, it took awhile. For the past month I have been ornery, lazy, tired, nagging, blaming everything on everyone but myself, and being just plain, old grouchy. But now I have energy (well, at least more than I had before. These boys still wear me out) and I actually do things with my kids and I am happy when my husband comes home from work instead of complaining that he is late. What has caused this wonderful change in my behavior? Well, a few things: 1)Chris and I got to go to Boise for a business trip. Just a nice overnight vacation to rejuvenate and spend a little time with my husband who hasn't had a day off since we moved here (excluding Sunday) 2)and yeah! he has this Saturday off! We are going to clean this house from top to bottom! 3)I think I just realized that I've got to get with it. No one can make my circumstances better but myself.
But there is one thing I cannot do for myself. Get commenters!!!! I think I left half of my four readers in Logan. Now lets see how many people can comment on this here post. Who's with me?!

Its a good thing I didn't go into child psychology

2009-08-21T13:26:00.001-06:00

Could someone please tell me WHY-

it is so much fun to throw food on the floor
my eighteen month old drools so much he needs a new shirt by midday
Gordon likes to stick things in the back of his underpants and keep them there. (It tickles his bum, he says.)
my almost-four year old has to tell me he needs to go to the bathroom EVERY time before he goes (he doesn't want my assistance just the knowledge that he needs to go.)
but he cannot ask my permission before he gets any food out of the fridge
kissing an owie makes everything better (not complaining about this one)
it is fun to throw toys down the stairs or dump all toys on the floor- not to play with them, just to have them all over
and what is so enticing about screaming in the car? Happy or sad. Edison loves to scream in the car

Name them one by one

2009-08-20T08:05:00.005-06:00

I am having a hard time here but instead of listing the many things that are keeping me down I am going to try the opposite. As my friend recently reminded me, "It's count your blessings not your trials." So here goes:

We live close to family- Brett and Maren, Josh and Katie, My Parents, Chris' Parents, Justin and Ellen
I love our kitchen, it is so big!
We have linoleum flooring in the dining room- no more carpet!
Gordon is so grateful we live on the bottom floor and can go outside all day
I am thankful that a hose with a sprinkler head can entertain my kids when I am too worn out
We live about two minutes drive from Chris' work
Chris enjoys his work
Chris has a job
For the most part I really do have wonderful kids
We live one block from the park
There is absolutely no temptation to spend more than our budget because there is nothing to do here or no where to shop other than Wal-Mart
Our circumstances are forcing me to be more creative in entertaining our children
We have what really matters- each other, our health, happiness, and a loving Heavenly Father who knows what is best even when I don't

And...We're Back Online

2009-08-06T08:55:00.002-06:00

Finally we have the internet again! Life here in Heyburn is slow but we get to see a lot more of Chris so I'm not complaining. Gordon and I have had some great conversations. Here is one we had yesterday.
(We could here our neighbor girl screaming and so Gordon said she was throwing a fit and got locked in the tower FOREVER. After discussing the many ways she could escape, Gordon told me a dragon knocked down her door and saved her.)

G: And then the dragon will come and eat you.
M: I thought he was a nice dragon?
G: He is. He only eats fat people.
M: I'm not fat.
G: Yes you are.
M: Gordon, do you even know what fat means?
G: Yes, it means you are like an elephant. And you are like an elephant and you have an elephant nose.
I stopped the conversation after that before he could come up with even more insults!

Let's Be Honest

2009-07-18T18:50:00.005-06:00

The real reason I haven't been posting (or posting anything real) much because I have had only one thing on my mind as of late and it wasn't really a subject I wanted to share with the world. As most of you know, Chris graduated in May in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. Finding a job has been tough.

Plain.
old.
no.
fun.

After about a month of rejections (about 5-10 a day) Chris decided to give it one more shot. (Now you have to understand here: Chris had NO job once school let out because during school he was a teacher's assistant so we needed something quick.) He applied to an international company hiring in the middle east, specifically the Kingdom of Bahrain. At first I was like, "Yeah, okay, apply for a job in Bahrain or whatever. It is not like we are going to ever move there!" Then I started to really consider it when the company was actually considering Chris. We did a lot of thinking and praying, talking and fasting, back and forth-ing. Right around the same time my brother Brett offered Chris a job at the family business. Now things were heating up. We had to make a decision. Chris and I both felt that Bahrain was the right thing for our family. We were so excited and started dreaming of our life abroad. When they finally offered Chris the job we were ecstatic. We both have never wanted something so bad. This was the biggest decision, since marriage, that either of us had ever had to pray over. We felt everything was falling into place. Then the contract arrived. The company was not willing to pay more than they would pay a middle eastern worker which would definately not support our family. Chris was very disappointed and had to turn it down. Why then, did we both feel it was the right choice? After months of stress, wondering, hoping, praying...we were left broken hearted. I told Chris we had one day to be angry about it and then we are moving on. We came to the conclusion that maybe the reason we felt it was right was because if we hadn't put all our effort into getting the job we would have always wondered, "what if?" Now we can move to Idaho, moving forward with no regrets. Knowing that we gave it our all.
So...Chris has been living and working in Idaho (and loving it!) for the past month or so and I have been here trying to adjust to single motherhood, pack, and find a place to live 135 miles away. It has been a little hectic around here. In fact I have had this post for about two weeks with no time to finish it up. Well its time because we are moving in two days to little, old Heyburn, Idaho. I mean, I don't even know if they have internet there! =)

My Hero

2009-06-24T22:23:00.002-06:00

Gordon was sitting on the rocking chair pushing against the desk with his feet. "Mom, look at me. I am so strong. I am growing so strong and healthy I am going to be big like daddy and never bleed." I responded with, "Dads never bleeds, huh? How come?" "I don't know, they just don't." He said it so matter of factly it was precious.

Oh, The Cars I've Had

2009-06-22T22:03:00.002-06:00

I saw this done a long time ago and I can't even remember where but I liked it so I'm copying...
I have had a lot of cars in my life so sit back and relax as we take a little drive down memory lane. My first car was a 1991 Pontiac Bonneville = grandma car!
And it was pretty much like that except for it was light blue and no where near as shiny. I think it was my dad's business car if you can believe it. Then my mom's run around town car. Finally, it was my first car! Then I drove this lovely '94 Geo Metro, looked like this except no spoiler. I really liked this car for the 2 or 3 months I drove it. My parents bought it for Sarah for when she got back from her mission so I had it until then. Along with this '94 Subaru Legacy they bought for Chad before he came home from his mission. Mine also had a ski rack on top and tinted windows.

I think I drove this 1990 Jeep Wrangler for about 2 weeks. My parents bought it for the "teenager car" when my oldest sibling started driving. It went through 1 sister and 3 brothers before it got to me and it just couldn't go anymore. I felt a little cheated. For years I looked forward to driving the Jeep and my time came and went before I could get any good use out of it. (By "use" I mean, having a wild good time and picking up hot guys!)But then my parents bought this. A 1995 GMC Pickup Truck. Mine was white with the truck bed going in on both sides of the tires for like little steps. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Anywho, I loved it and the guys did too! In college I got around town using these:
When I got married I inherited "Brandi." Why is it guys name their cars? Chris had purchased this car when he came home from his mission. A 1998 Nissan Altima. He loved that car. And I did too until it broke down on us the first thing after arriving in California.

Being stuck in CA with no car and needing one badly, we bought the first car we felt was a good buy: a 2002 VW Jetta. The guy was selling it for super cheap so he could have money for college. It was a nice car and I would have liked it better if I was single or newly married with no children. It was just too small. We sold it as soon as we got back to from Cali. And got this beauty. Ours was black and Chris fell in love with it at first sight. He went to an auction with his dad and got it. But soon we had to face the reality that it was just too much gas money. Chris's parents ever-so-kindly took it off our hand for us.

We bought this little Toyota Corrolla with our tax return. The only reason I love it is: its paid for! Chris drives this one around, back and forth to work. Oh and it is the ugliest shade of green ever. And I get to drive our 2005 Chevy Malibu Maxx. I felt kind of bad insisting we get a newer car but I wanted something stable and one I wouldn't have to worry about it breaking down everytime I was on the freeway! Can you blame me?
And that ladies and gentlemen is the history of the life of Emily's cars. Thank you for joining us.

Country Anyone?

2009-06-02T14:50:00.004-06:00

I have liked country music now for about a year or so but I need some new songs. I am sick of playing the same 40 songs over and over again. So of course I enlist your help. What else is the Blogging community for except to help each other through our crises. Am I right Ladies? Anywho, tell me who your favorite hidden artists are, songs you sing in the shower, old songs you used to love, tell me everything. I mean I obviously know who Taylor Swift is and Rascal Flatts, I mean obviously!! Oh, and go ahead and throw in any songs (not country) that you LOVE to listen to. Please do not include any songs that have lyrics: "Sssh baby, shut your lips, do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips." Dead serious, heard it on the radio today taking Gordon to Pre-school.

Marriage Math

2009-06-01T15:06:00.001-06:00

Five Years of Marriage Equals:

5,437 Kisses
168 Date nights (not nearly enough!!)
74,382 Smiles
3,867 I Love Yous
985 I'm Sorrys
730 Dinners made with love
4,745 Diapers changed
264,398 Tears dried
276 Late nights
86 Plans for the future
15 jobs
7 hospital visits
4 different apartments
2 angels to cherish
1 man to love forever

A Mother's Nightmare

2009-05-30T20:49:00.003-06:00

Once again, we spent our Saturday evening in the hospital. I sat there feeling so awful, wishing I could take away my little boy's pain; beating myself up thinking I could have prevented this. Am I really that bad of a mother that my children are in the hospital every other month? Gordon HATES hospitals ever since last December when he had to go in for dehydration and we had to pin him to the bed to get an IV in him (it took 4 tries because his veins kept collapsing). He was so scared and I just wanted to take him in my arms and make it all go away with the power of my hug.
What happened this time, you ask. We were finishing a wonderful day at the local swimming pool, I had just wrapped Gordon tight in his towel to keep him warm; he took two steps and fell flat on his face, with no arms to catch his fall. There was a lot of blood and tears but over all not a big deal. We stuffed some tissue up is nose and in his mouth and started to head for home. And then the nightmare began. This was our conversation in the car ride:
Gordon: What happened?
Me: You fell down.
G: Where?
M: At the swimming pool, remember?
A few seconds pass
G: What happened?
M: You fell and hurt your nose.
G: Where?
M: At the swimming pool. Do you remember swimming?
G: Yes. (Few seconds.) What happened?
M: (I'm really starting to freak out now, too many medical dramas on TV pop into my head) Honey you fell down. Where did you fall down? Do you remember?
G: Where? Tell me.
This went on and on for about 5 minutes. Then we told him he was going to the hospital and he started crying. After a few minutes he asked where we were going. Again, to the hospital. Crying.
Long story short. A lot of waiting at the hospital to find out, after the Cat Scan, everything was fine. Just a concussion. Phew!!

The Wind Caves

2009-05-29T13:01:00.000-06:00

The Tatton family decided yesterday to take advantage of all this time we have with daddy right now. We went on a hike to the Wind Caves. Yes, we took Gordon AND Edison. Gordon did such a good job. It took us about 2 hours to hike up and only 1 hour to hike down. The hike is 1.8 miles one way. To say the least it was much easier for Gordon on the way down. I kept asking him if he wanted to take a break and rest seeing as how we took one every two minutes on the way up. He kept telling me, "No, we have to get home." I have to say, the hike down was much harder on me. I felt like me knees and hips were going to pop out. I am not supposed to feel like that yet!

About half way down Chris rolled his ankle and said a few choice words. It really scared Gordon and he kept saying he didn't want daddy to die like daddy's grandma did. (We went to a funeral on Saturday for Chris's maternal grandmother.) He was really quite distraught about it even after Chris got up and started walking. He has such a tender heart!

I am really quite amazed at how well Gordon did. Edison did good too but all he had to do was sit in a front carrier the whole way. It was a fun but exhausting day!

Power to the Little Guy

2009-05-05T11:48:00.005-06:00

I may be behind everyone else but I am just starting to love Etsy. Not everything. But there are some pretty cool things out there. This last Christmas, Chris and I went way too overboard for our kids and we realized, they don't care! It was such a waste. A few presents would have satisfied them just fine. I told Chris this year for Christmas we are doing ONE gift from Santa (store bought) and all the others will be handmade. I am making Gordon a rag quilt, Edison a quiet book, and I haven't thought of anything for Chris yet. But I am working on it. Then I saw these on Etsy and I thought they were so amazing. I think instead of making Chris' gift I will find something handmade on this wonderful website that gives anyone a chance to be a small business owner. How cool is that?! My friend also had a good idea for Christmas: "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read." I know, I know... why am I thinking about Christmas in May?

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-04-16T12:30:00.000-06:00

Gordon loves to play "house." He is the dad and someone is always the baby. Poor Terin has learned not to fight it and just accept his role. Gordon also loves to play Tiger! He likes to crawl around and growl at me and I have to run and be very afraid of the big mean Tiger.
Of course sometimes the roles are reversed and I have to be the Tiger chasing him. We got a new bed for Gordon a few months ago and he loves to jump on it and jump OFF it onto his bean bag. After that got old he wanted to start jumping of his dresser. I told him that wasn't a good idea and he said, "but mom, it's so exciged."
He also loves to shoot things and since we don't have any guns he uses his fingers. This is his gun.
He also makes a little "pikchoo" noise and closes his eyes. It is pretty darn cute as long as he doesn't point it at me or Edison or anyone else for that matter!
Gordon is also very emotional lately. He is so dramatic; everything is like the world is coming to an end. I am trying to teach him to talk about it when he is upset or sad but we're still working on it.
Gordon loves to answer the phone and talk to anyone who will listen. Sometimes I don't hear the phone ring and then he will come in the room talking to someone. Silly kid! And last but not least, Gordon LOVES to play with my camera and take pictures. Here are a few of his best.

So That's Why You Haven't Been Blogging...

2009-04-10T22:23:00.000-06:00

I have been reading a lot lately and right now I am loving Shannon Hale. I have read Princess Academy and Book of a Thousand Days in just three days. They are books for young adults and

are revamped fairy tales. Easy reads but so entertaining. Next I am moving on to The Goose Girl series. She also has a book called Austenland for adults and is coming out with another one in the summer. Anyway, I am always looking for new books to read so I thought I would pass the info along. If you haven't read them get to your library NOW.

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part: 3

2009-04-10T09:21:00.005-06:00

I realize I haven't added to this list since January. I'll try to get back on that!

1/2/09 - I was making Gordon's bed and asked him to come help me to which he replied, "I'm busy mom." When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I'm just busy."

12/9/08 - When Gordon got the hiccups he said, "I've got the hiccups and the burp-ups."

12/1/08 - While sitting at the table during Thanksgiving dinner Gordon giggled and said, "I just burped in my pants."

12/1/08 - Chris and his brothers went shooting clay pigeons and took Gordon and some of his cousins with them. After all the little kids shot the pistol once, they were done. Not Gordon. He told Chris, "I don't want to shoot the small one (pointing to the pistol) I want to shoot the big ones (the shotguns)."

11/20/08 - Gordon and I were playing with blocks and he asked me to build a bus. After I stacked some blocks together he said, "Good job mom, I'm going to get you a cookie!" Of course he wanted one too.

11/2/08 - Today Gordon was asking where Daddy and Edison were. After I informed him that Daddy took Edison home from church because he was sick, Gordon responded in the mother tone- "Oh, poor little boy."

10/24/08 - Gordon's new favorite word is "You're Welcome." I'll say, "Good job going potty" and he'll say, "You're welcome!"

10/3/08 - Gordon asks me everyday, "what we doin' ta-ay" and I always ask him what he wants to do and he lists off things like they are chores: "play games, ride bikes, play with friends..." And he loves to make grocery lists with me. He has to write his own list too. He always writes broccoli, eggs, and milk. The necessities!

9/26/08 - Whenever I say anything like "okay Hosea" "you're the boss" or "understand rubberband" Gordon will say, "I'm not Hosea, boss, rubberband" or whatever it happens to be and lately he has been saying "okay RUBBERBAND" with such attitude. But my personal favorite is when he whines at me, "Mommy!" and I respond with "What-y" he'll say, "I'm not Woody! Edison is Woody, Daddy's Stinky Pete, you're Jesse, and I'm BUZZ!"

Just another rationalization

2009-04-02T00:05:00.000-06:00

Another reason I might be more irritable is this darn weather! A few weeks ago it was Spring! We would play outside every day and have so much fun. Now, I wake up in the morning to snow. It is just plain old depressing.

We have a great set up here. A couple of my neighbors and I set up chairs at the end of the parking lot and chat while the kids ride around for hours. Lately, we have taken up some long boarding (its pretty good exercise ya know.) I guess Edison thought it looked pretty fun! He catches on pretty quick; this is only his second time trying this...

Reflections

2009-03-30T21:41:00.005-06:00

I was remembering back to the time when Edison was first born and thinking that it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, having two kids. Edison slept a lot; I could still have some time to myself; Gordon was excited about having a little brother and life was great. I have now come to the realization that it is not so easy. I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants. (Is that the right expression?) I feel like I am just living, just taking each moment and dealing with it. There is no plan, there is no progression, there is no peace. In fact sometimes I feel like I am going backwards. I am more scatter-brained, more tired, more lazy, more impatient... shouldn't I be getting better at this, not worse? I find myself getting irritated more frequently and instead of blaming it on Gordon's whininess, Edison's neediness, or Chris's bussiness, I need to change my attitude. This is my life; just love it! Easier said than done sometimes.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

2009-03-20T16:42:00.000-06:00

As a Relief Society we had a party catered by Olive Garden and some ladies wanted the Zuppa Toscana Soup recipe I have so here it is.

1 (16 oz.) package sausage
2 Large potatoes cute in 1/4 inch slices
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 cups kale - washed, dried, shredded
2 Tablespoons chicken bullion powder
1 quart water
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
Approx. 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (only do 1/2 tsp. for not too spicy)

Cook sausage. Place onions in large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. Add garlic to onion, cook an additional minute. Add chicken bullion, water, potatoes; simmer for 15 minutes. Add sausage, kale, cream. Simmer for 4 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Warning: There Will Be Blood

2009-03-18T11:00:00.001-06:00

Don't say I didn't warn you. I had quite a few people interested in what happened to Gordon; here's the story in Gordon's own words:
"Yesterday, I got my staples out and uh, I got 'em in yesterday and um...Terin hit me with a shovel and I got them out yesterday and that was it. "
The kids were outside shoveling the snow pile at the end of the parking lot. Just to clarify, it was an accident.

Do You Really Want To Know?

2009-03-15T21:40:00.005-06:00

What in the world have I been up to the last few weeks...lots. And I had so many great posts in my head, but alas, they shall never be written. Instead you get bullets.

Taking Gordon to the ER to get staples in his head
Taking Edison to the Instacare for croup
Going on a two day Romantic Getaway with my hubby (if you want to be really jealous, click here.)
Lots and lots of driving (as in 1000+ miles added to the odometer in only four days)
Taking Gordon back to the ER to get staples out of head
Celebrating my birthday
Watching way too much TV
Re-arranging my boys' rooms - we now have a toy room and the boys share a room. I hope all goes well.

I think that is about it. More to come...

Edison is ONE!

2009-02-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe this boy is one year old. My how time flies. Wow. For Edison's birthday we had cupcakes that were evidently delicious,opened presents, of course with the help of Gordon,
and went to the Family Fun Park to crawl around in the soft play area. Everyone had a great time, even when I had a cupcake shoved in my face.The End!

To Edison

2009-02-26T23:03:00.001-07:00

Dear Edison,

Edison I want you to know that you are an absolute joy in our family. I was really nervous to have a second child but if I knew you were coming, I would have been so excited. You are so full of love and happiness that everyone around you can't help but love you and be happy with you. You have the biggest smile that stretches from ear to ear and looks like your cheeks are just going to burst! I love it. I have told your father that if we could guarantee that all our babies would be as pleasant as you, I would have ten more! (Not really) I hope that your happiness and easy-going nature continue on through out your life because optimism is a sign of great faith and with great faith you can achieve anything.
Right now Edison, you enjoy experimenting with your taste buds by putting anything and everything in your mouth , testing the theory of gravity, walking around the room with the help of a hand, chair, ottoman, toy..., demanding whatever it is that I am eating, and getting lots of attention by smiling at anyone who will look at you.
We love you so much Edison and are so glad you are part of our family. Happy Birthday!

Love, Mommy

It's Free

2009-02-26T16:31:00.002-07:00

Hey, this lady is giving away 3 free photo sessions and seeing as how I have yet to get professional pictures of Edison done (yes, it is his first birthday!) I hope I win. Go here to see her stuff.

Boys will be boys

2009-02-13T10:58:00.003-07:00

Calling all mothers of little boys! Lately Gordon is so into saying potty words. You know like poop, bum/butt, booboobs (a word he learned from his friend for boobs) and other such words. He knows he is not supposed to say these words but its like the forbidden fruit. He just can't stay away. He'll come up to me and say, "I didn't say poop" just so he can get it out without getting in trouble. Or he'll whisper, "booboobs" like I can't hear him. The other day, he had a friend over and they were saying these words. When I got after them, I heard his little friend say, "Lets go in your room and say it." What is so fascinating about bathroom talk? Is it just because I don't want him using those words in every day language? Should I just ignore it? But then I feel like I've already told him its not polite to say those things except when we are in the bathroom and then if I just stop reminding him its like I quit. He can do anything he wants as long as he wears me down. You know? So I need advice. Do I just leave it alone? Or try explaining it better- why we don't use those words?

2009-02-12T16:56:00.000-07:00

Gordon is part of Early Head Start, a program here for kids aged 0 to 3 years. I put Gordon on the waiting list when he turned two because I was worried he was behind in his speech development. (Now how I wish I could go back to those days when he DIDN'T talk my ear off all day!) Anyway, we finally got on the program about 5 months ago. It is great because he gets to play with all sorts of new toys and it makes me take time out to sit down and play with him for two hours. I also get to see where Gordon should be developmentally, know what I can work on with him and so on. Gordon also really loves our Family Educator, Sejia. She is an older lady from Finland. The other day she brought a box of dress up clothes and Gordon had soooo much fun. Here he is as a race car driver. He loved this costume the most. He would sit in the recliner and pretend to drive really fast and crash. Edison and I were the pit crew. We had to fix his car really fast. The only costume Edison could wear was the Fireman "apron" but he still had fun too. Edison has fun doing anything, even chewing on a cardboard box.
Gordon had so much fun, he made Seija promise to bring them back next week. I love my little boy's imagination.

Drama, drama, drama

2009-02-10T12:17:00.009-07:00

I was reading through my journal today and found this entry from my Junior year in high school that was so funny. I thought I would share some of it with you. Names have been changed to protect privacy. The black writing are my thoughts today.

"I just got back from a date with Bob. It was pretty good. I really like him for some reason. I don't know why. He dresses like a skater and swears a little bit and ditches seminary but I know he has a good heart. I know I can bring the goodness out of him oh please! sweet innocence But I think he likes Suzie, of course everyone likes Suzie. She's funny, talkative, nice, and cool, and beautiful. She can talk to anybody. I liked Jim and now he likes her. He is like head over heels with her. Anyway, I think Bob likes her, well I don't blame him. But I really want him to like me; I don't know how to do that though. What am I going to do?! the world is going to end if I can't get this boy to like me Before the date I went shopping for some things and everyone called me. Really? EVERYONE I was so mad. Greg who I might add was a Senior and was totally unexpected asked me out on a date and I couldn't go because I was already going on a date with Bob and I NEVER get asked out on dates and the one time I do I can't go and I like Greg. And then Jo I mean Bob it is hard remembering their "names" called while I was out too. I called him back and his sister told me that he was out to dinner. I was so mad. What if he called to cancel and I couldn't go out with any of them. Anyway, I did go with Bob, obviously. Everyone liked him and he was cool and nice and funny. But he likes Suzie. And I kind of like Jacob I certainly was boy crazy and I don't know who he likes, probably Suzie too because he was talking to her a lot too. I don't know what to do. Because if I can't get a boy to like me I might as well die!
How do I get Bob to like me? I am not good at that. I can totally flirt and be myself with guys I don't like but guys I do like, I can't be myself and I can't get them to like me. Fred likes me and I don't like him. Why can't I find a guy I like that likes me back?! I am going to the prom with Fred next weekend. I am also going on a date with Fred tomorrow to the Jive concert. Hold on I thought I NEVER got asked out? I hope he doesn't try to hold my hand or anything because I don't like him. We went to the drive in and held hands and I didn't want to. It was only for like five minutes. I just want to be his friend. I guess I'll just hate boys for the rest of my life. I think it is better that way."

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed me making fun of my younger self. Everything was so dramatic. I just want you to know that I did write in my journal about other stuff than just boys but I edited all that out.

Sometimes Words Just Don't Cut It

2009-02-05T23:51:00.006-07:00

(No pun intended on that title. Man I crack myself up.) I got my hair cut on Tuesday and I was trying to describe it to my sister and she just couldn't imagine it and informed me I HAD to post pictures.

The first thing Chris said when I walked in the door, "Wow, you did go short. Going for the mom hair cut, huh? ....I mean its like a COOL mom hair cut." Nice save Chris. I am not sure how I feel about it. I wanted to do something different and that is definitely what I got. Yes, it is supposed to be longer on one side than the other.

Pinch Me. I Must Be Dreaming.

2009-01-31T20:12:00.003-07:00

I just had the most pleasant experience shopping today...at Wal-Mart. Even more extraordinary is the fact that it is a Saturday, and not any other Saturday, but the Saturday before the Super Bowl. On a normal day it would have been a nightmare. But for some reason I chatted with several friendly customers (I didn't know any existed at Wally World), had a lovely conversation with the meat department employee, and didn't have to wait in a long line only to deal with an incompetent cashier! As we were driving away Chris and I were trying to think of the last time we had a pleasurable time at Wal-Mart...and we couldn't think of one.

It might also have had something to do with the new DVD player we bought, who knows!?

He actually wants to learn?

2009-01-26T21:01:00.003-07:00

I love good books for my kids. My favorites right now are:
Alphabet Mystery by Audrey Wood (who I love!)
My mom gave this book to Gordon for Christmas and he carries it around with him everywhere! He asks me to read it to him at least twice a day. I love it for one reason only: it has made Gordon interested in learning his letters. Which is impressive for a three year old who can't sit still for more than 20 minutes. He can now recognize half of the letters in the alphabet. It is so cute, he points them out everywhere. On signs, TV, stores, billboards, anywhere. I love it!

Also a good one for letters is Chicka Chicka Boom BoomBut everyone knows that one, right?

Just a Thought

2009-01-25T21:55:00.003-07:00

I came across this blog the other day and I think it was just what I needed to hear. I haven't posted in over two weeks and it was nagging on me at least once a day. Where do I start? How do I pick up again? I better have a dang good post to make up for missing all that time...But after reading this fellow blogger's post I realized: I do NOT needed any added stress to my life. Why am I doing this to myself? So I give you her post. I copied and pasted (and she said I could) so these words are not my own but I like them. Go here to see her blog.

After coming across what seemed to be the 4000th or so post on someone's blog starting with "I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile." I decided it is time to rethink what makes a good blog and the expectations that have come to be part of it. I am thinking that no one should utter those words again . . .and with that thought I give you Blogging Without Obligation.

Because you shouldn't have to look at your blog like it is a treadmill.

Because its okay to just say what you have to say. If that makes for a long post, fine. Short post, fine. Frequent post, fine. Infrequent post, fine.

Because its okay to not always be enthralled with the sound of your own typing.

Because sometimes less is more.

Because only blogging when you feel truly inspired keeps up the integrity of your blog.

Because they are probably not going to inscribe your stat, link and comment numbers on your tombstone.

Because for most of us blogging is just a hobby. A way to express yourself and connect with others. You should not have to apologize for lapses in posts. Just take a step back and enjoy life, not everything you do has to be "bloggable".

Because if you blog without obligation you will naturally keep your blog around longer, because it won't be a chore. Plus, just think you will be doing your part to eradicate post pollution. One post at a time. . .

My New Year's Resolution: Do not make blogging a chore! You will not hear any apologies from me. You might hear from me three times a day or once a month. No Guarantee!

Who would allow their children to read such things?

2009-01-09T20:20:00.002-07:00

Gordon has a book entitled "Treasury of Bedtime Stories" it includes all the classic fairy tales such as The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, The Little Red Hen, The Ugly Duckling and so forth. Lately, Gordon has requested a story from this book every night (and occasionally after lunch or during Edison's naptime). Chris and I have both noticed these so called classics do not have very good morals to them.

Henny Penny - this "mother" hen enlists all her friends to help her tell the king the sky is falling and when a fox comes along she ditches her friends, runs home and leaves them all to be eaten by the fox. What a great friend.

Puss in Boots - the moral of this story - lie about who you are and you will be rich, marry a beautiful princess, and live happily ever after. Great life lesson I want my son to learn.

Jack and the Beanstalk - now this naughty little boy is something else. He robs a giant not once, not twice, but three times. AND after this man's wife feeds him supper TWICE!! This poor giant does nothing to Jack. In the end...he KILLS the giant.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin - talk about disturbing. The Pied Piper takes all the children when the mayor won't pay him his money! What a greedy little son of a gun.

Rumpelstiltskin - "Hey, I can spin staw into gold; marry me!"

It is so funny when I read Three Billy Goats Gruff to Gordon, when the troll gets tossed into the river and "was never seen again" he'll go, "ooohh" like he's all sad. Everytime. Never fails. Hilarious.

And the Winner Is...

2009-01-05T13:47:00.004-07:00

Some people (my sister) have expressed an interest in whose gingerbread house is whose. And so without further ado...I give you...
Gordon's gingerbread house (third place)-
My gingerbread house (aka THE WINNER!)
Chris's gingerbread house (coming in a close 2nd)
It was a pretty tight race I tell you what, wow! Anyway, thanks all for voting.

Christmas Rundown

2009-01-02T10:52:00.002-07:00

The Holidays around our house were pretty uneventful. I mean besides cleaning up bodily fluids. (Sorry that was totally inappropriate.) Christmas Eve we had the boys open their jammies.

And Gordon was in an okay mood. He actually smiled. We read the Night Before Christmas and did the Nativity Story with the flannel board and sent the kids to bed. I was pretty exhausted by 8:30 myself.

I love the Christmas tree all lit up at night with all the presents around it. Too bad it never turns out in pictures. Christmas morning Gordon woke up early not because he was excited to open presents but because he was hungry. We gave him some crackers and told him to go back to bed. Are we mean parents? Gordon was excited about his "mixer that spins" and all of his other kitchen appliances but that was about it. I think we are going to save all his toys for next year. Edison LOVED the over-sized bear. It is the cutest thing in the world to see him snuggle up to that thing. I got a sewing machine and Chris got car mats and an awesome home-made coupon book from me (you know with things like: back massage, pass on a dirty diaper, golf day...) Besides the fact that Gordon was ornery and didn't like his gifts it was a fairly normal day. Here's to starting the New year with no sick kids! Happy New Year!

Nightmare Before Christmas

2008-12-30T22:06:00.003-07:00

Nightmare OF Christmas. Nightmare all around. We took Gordon in to the hospital on Monday (the 22nd) for dehydration. He had been sick for two weeks with this stomach flu and it was just getting worse. Edison had caught it too so the doctor admitted him as well. We had both our boys in the hospital three days before Christmas! It was not fun.
The poor boy was so dehydrated it took three tries to get an IV in him. He was not happy. We left Tuesday night and were hoping the worse was behind us... Not so lucky. Christmas Day came and went. Gordon was still sick. He wasn't even interested in opening all his presents. He is really whiny and (thinks) he can't do anything himself. So we have missed out on all the family fun and Christmas festivities; feel sorry for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for New Years.

When it rains...

2008-12-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

...it pours. I just had a tonsillectomy yesterday. Gordon is vomiting and diarrhea-ing. Edison just had his flu shot and is having blow outs. Poor Chris has to take care of all of us. It seems like it is just one thing after another. Our laptop power cord broke so now we have to spend $100 on a new one. What else can go wrong? I just hope we are all better by Christmas. Chris is being so great. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of everyone and not complaining. What a great man! Speaking of Christmas, this is the first year Chris and I are doing our own little Christmas with our own little family. I am so excited to do our own thing. I am trying to think of some fun traditions to start. Any ideas for traditions to start with young kids? Please share. Hope everyones holidays are going a little better than ours! I am just glad I got all my Christmas shopping down weeks ago. Seriously, the best thing I could have ever done!

Christmas Movies

2008-12-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

Chris and I decided this year we would watch all the Christmas movies we love since last year we only watched a few. Here is our list. Let us know if we missed out on any that are must sees.

Home Alone 1 and 2
Lampoons Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Story
Claymation Christmas
The Santa Claus
It's a Wonderful Life
Miracle on 34th Street
Mr. Kruger's Christmas
Scrooged
A Muppets Christmas Carol
Elf
Polar Express
How the Grinch Stole Christmas

We have already watched a few. Christmas movies are my favorite. Oh, and a brillant idea I had...since we only own less than half of these movies, we signed up for Netflix, two week free trial, and got all our Christmas movies through them . Now we actually have something to look forward to when we check the mail!

Do Something Good

2008-12-10T12:25:00.003-07:00

I just got this e-mail from my aunt:

Porn-Free, Family-Friendly Broadband Internet

istockphoto: pixhook

Kevin Martin, Chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has a Christmas present in mind for Americans. He is backing a plan to take a bundle of inactive airwaves for wireless broadband and offering it for free. To make this sugar plum even sweeter, Martin's condition is that this service also be porn-free. If this plan is backed by a vote at the FCC's December 18 meeting, adult content will be blocked on these airwaves.

Of course, those who think smut is a right are hollering at the prospect, however they still have a right of paying for a service of their choice or removing the filter once they have proven they are 18.

Urge FCC Commissioners to Yes for this plan by contacting them at their offices: Deborah Taylor Tate (202-418-2500), Michael Copps (202-418-2000), Jonathan Adelstein (202-418-2300), and Robert McDowell (202-418-2200).

I called all four commissioners and all I said was, "Hi I'm calling to let Commissioner Taylor (or whoever) that I support the plan to have porn-free broadband." They let me know that my support was noted and that was it. Easy. Takes two minutes or less and you are doing a good thing. So call now!

Oh and don't forget to vote on my very important poll to the right too!

Bring it on!

2008-12-09T23:24:00.003-07:00

We decorated Gingerbread Houses last night for Family Home Evening. Chris and I were doing a little bit of trash talking and this morning Chris suggested I post pictures of our creations and let you decide which one is better. And to be unbiased I won't tell you whose is whose until after the poll is closed.
Entry #1: Florida Getaway Entry #2: Cozy CottageEntry #3: Vacation Home in the Alps
And if you can't tell which one is Gordon's then why are we even doing this poll?

2008-12-09T10:06:00.004-07:00

For my 100th Post I thought I would do the usual- 100 things about me. I tried to make it as interesting and true-to-life as I could. Heeere's ME

1. I am a bit of a drama queen
2. I am shy too
3. I love watching clouds
4. I have a birth mark on my neck that looks like a hickey
5. I have big nostrils (according to my husband)
6. I have “second grader ankles”
7. I talk to myself way too much
8. I talk about myself in the third person when I am talking to Gordon
9. My eyes turn green when I am really tired or when I cry
10. I said no to my husband the first time he asked me to marry him
11. As a kid, I always put minivan down as my dream car when playing MASH
12. I have an addiction to chocolate
13. I am way too hard on myself
14. I HATE seafood
15. Actually I am a very picky eater; I hate hot dogs, green beans and most vegetables, fatty meat, the list could go on...
16. I love to watch movies
17. I love celebrity gossip magazines – not enough to buy them, just enough to hold up the line at the supermarket
18. I am learning to love to cook
19. I am lazy
20. I am a self-diagnosed hypochondriac
21. I took piano lessons for 7-8 years and I cannot play hymns, or anything anymore for that matter
22. I took sewing lessons for 5 years and now I cannot even read a pattern
23. I depend too much on my husband
24. I love being part of a big family
25. But I don’t think I could have more than four kids
26. (Chris says no more than three)
27. I love to travel
28. I want to move to a big city when Chris is done with school but then move back after five years or so
29. I love to sleep in
30. I choked on a Gobstopper at a movie theatre
31. And I choked on a Cream Saver in seminary class—I can’t eat either candy without some anxiety
32. I was very boy crazy growing up
33. I want to be a photographer
34. I enjoy doing family history
35. I am one of those people that is sort of good at a lot of things but not really good at any one thing
36. I am a night person
37. I have really dry skin, wavy hair, and bad teeth (all those things kids love to inherit from their parents)
38. I like math
39. I don’t like shopping
40. I have to sleep with a pillow between my knees
41. I used to get bloody noses all the time as a kid
42. I have never broken a bone
43. I have had stitches twice…
44. Once when I was five; I was jumping on the bed and hit my head on the corner of a table
45. I didn’t tell my mom until I saw all the blood because I was afraid I would get in trouble for jumping on the bed
46. In March of ’07 I had to get stitches between my toes when I sliced my foot on a heater vent that was low to the ground.
47. And I drove myself to the emergency room (see Brian Regan clip)
48. I was asked several times growing up if I was anorexic because I was so skinny – and, no, I wasn’t
49. I love the smell of old, antique books
50. I have never won while playing BINGO
51. In fact I don't think I have ever one a drawing either
52. I guess I don't have very good luck
53. I am competitive
54. I am absolutely excited and terrified for Chris to be done with school this May

55. I have six brothers and two sisters
56. I am the fifth of nine children and suffer from middle child syndrome
57. I stress out too easily about really stupid things
58. I have really long toes
59. I hate it when people use their/there and were/we’re in the wrong context
60. Did I mention that I love to sleep
61. I collect shot glasses from places that I have traveled to (or I used to)
62. I have never been in a car accident
63. I did not go to my Senior Prom (sniff, sniff)
64. I am a bit of a pack rat
65. I was forty-five minutes late to my own wedding—not my fault
66. My birthday is on the 13th and every birthday that I have ever had on Friday has been awful, that I can recall anyway
67. I hate handling raw meat, especially chicken
68. My favorite color is green
69. I am really clumsy with my feet and always stub my toes
70. I have a cursed toe: the toe nail has fallen off twice and has been ripped off twice!
71. Chris irons clothes more than I do
72. I hate it when people have bad spelling
73. Autumn is my favorite season
74. Gordon was delivered by emergency c-section
75. I hate doing laundry
76. I love to make people laugh, even if I have to make fun of myself to do so
77. I am really bad at playing Hearts – I have the worst luck and always get the queen of spades
78. I get really embarrassed when I make a comment in church- my face turns red and everything
79. I love to quote movies
80. I want to go back to school
81. I love to learn new things but only if I am good at it
82. I took an art class in high school and really enjoyed it although I can’t draw worth beans
83. I was born in Layton, Utah and until I was about 12 years old I thought I was born in Ogden
84. I really wanted to serve a mission and didn’t want to marry Chris for that reason
85. I love to play games
86. I am way out of shape
87. I love surprises as long as I don't know that A surprise is coming, so I guess I hate suspense
88. I am too lazy to sort through the clearance racks to find a good bargain
89. I am always hungry
90. I associate family get-togethers with lots of junk food
91. Family is very important to me
92. Edison was born VBAC

93. Mexican food is my favorite, and Italian, and American...I just like food
94. I starred as the Wicked Witch of the West in a community Wizard of Oz play
95. As a tween I thought it would be cool if I had some sort of near death experience or was diagnosed with a life threatening disease. For some reason I thought it would make me a better person. Boy, am I glad I didn't get what I wished for.

96. I’m not as cool of a mom as I thought I would be
97. I am a little OCD when it comes to my fingernails. I can’t stand to have dirt under my nails; I hate it when my nails are uneven and not smooth, it drives me crazy. If one nail is short I have to cut all the other nails to match it.
98. I am still in my pjs
99. I love being a mother even though it is the most challenging thing I have ever had to do in my life
100. I am glad I’m done writing this list!

Ready for the Transition

2008-12-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

I am still trying to recover from my Thanksgiving break (laundry, unpacking- yes five days later, Gordon missing his papa and cousins, doing housework again...) You know the drill. But I have been thinking lately about Sippy Cups. Edison is ready to make the move but I don't know which brand to get. When we transitioned Gordon we bought about four or five different kinds before we found one that he liked. So what I want to know is...what sippy cups do your kids love?

Thanksgiving Top Ten

2008-12-03T21:10:00.005-07:00

Thanksgiving was such a blast and I am so ready for Christmas. I loved spending time with all my family. Here were my top ten favorite parts of my Thanksgiving vacation.

Pumpkin Rolls with Maple Streusel Filling
Sweet n' Sour Meatballs and BBQ Weiners
Pecan Pie
Homemade Stuffing
The Twilight Movie with all my sisters
Playing board games every day! A new one we played that was fun - Hit or Miss
Not having to entertain Gordon all day long, in fact not having to entertain Gordon at all!
Girl Talk with my sisters
Making crafts and projects with my sisters; my favorite-this book bag for GordonAnd getting the new books my mom gave Gordon for his birthday. We love reading them!
Getting myself a sewing machine for Christmas at the Black Friday sales!

Like father like son

2008-11-22T10:52:00.000-07:00

I want you to look at this picture and tell me what you see...beside the huge holes in Chris's socks. Gordon has to be like his daddy in every way, even the small things. I love when Gordon crosses his feet. It just seems like such an adult thing to do. Storytime with dad is his favorite part of the day.

Fire Station

2008-11-21T10:57:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago we went to the fire station. Fun right? Every boy's fantasy? Obviously not Gordon's. The whole time he had his hands covering his hears, afraid the trucks siren would go off. Even after I asked the nice fireman to explain that he would make no loud noises without warning us first, Gordon insisted on covering his ears.
When everyone else gathered as close as they could to see what the fireman would show them next, Gordon was at the opposite end, preparing for the worst. When everyone got up into the back of the ambulence, Gordon wanted me to hold him. I eventually got him to pose on the front of this fire truck. Not very willingly though. There was one thing that brought a smile to his face. At the very end, the fireman said he needed Jr. Firefighters and gave everyone a helmut and sticker. Finally a smile!

Walking Soon?

2008-11-19T22:24:00.000-07:00

My 8 1/2 month old is now doing this...
Which means there is a lot of this...
and this... and of course this...
my favorite part.

Celebrate Good Times

2008-11-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

Come on sing the song with me: Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate. There's a party going on...

Why am I celebrating you ask. Because I just filled up my car with gas today and the price of gasoline is now $2.13! I never thought I would see this day. Just for kicks and giggles I looked up in my little wedding album journal the price of gasoline when we got married and it was $2.09. That was 4 1/2 years ago. I don't understand how just a few months ago gas was over $4 and seemingly just like that its back down to what it was 4 years ago! Will someone please explain to me how this works?

Birthday Bash

2008-11-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday we had a joint birthday party for Gordon and his good friend Terin who also turned three and lives down stairs. Here come the birthday boys...

Gordon has been so excited all week about his birthday. Everyday he tells me, "lets have a party!" He even told Terin the present that he got him, "its a secret, I got you a digger." Gordon was as happy as a clam that it is finally his big day.

We did Disney Cars themed. We had pin the tire on the car, relay race to push a bike tire around the cones, and of course a pinata. Gordon and Terin had a good time hitting eachother with their party blowers while they were supposed to be eating. Mandee made the cake so I got out of it this year! Woohoo! She did an awesome job too. It really was a fun day. Thanks to all who came and made it a special day for Gordon.

Dancing With the Stars

2008-11-11T22:10:00.004-07:00

Can I just say, I love Dancing With the Stars. I don't have TV so I watch it a day late and I just finished watching it. I want to say a few things and since Chris is up on campus doing homework I'll have to say them to you.

Brooke Burke should just take the trophy and end the show. I hate it when the judges (particularly Len) judge her more harshly because she is better than everyone else. NOT FAIR.
I think they were entirely too hard on Cody Linely's Latin Dance. I loved it; my favorite - the solo 15 seconds. Oh and I am so glad Julianne is back next week. I can't stand Edyta!
I couldn't help but stare at Kym's stomach after her last dance. Man I would kill for a stomach like that.
I am so glad Susan Lucci is gone. I couldn't stand her
And finally, would someone please tell me who gets voted off? I can't wait till tomorrow to find out. My guess is Maurice Greene.

Seasons

2008-11-10T23:21:00.001-07:00

I love Fall (Autumn, Harvest, Halloween, Thanksgiving and all other names associated with this time of year.)I love hearing the crunch as I walk through the fallen leaves. I love how Gordon cannot walk past a pile of leaves without walking through it. I love the leaves as they change colors and finally fall off leaving the streets and sidewalks covered in gold.

I love the smells of this time of year. I went to a Scentsy party the other day and all I wanted to smell were the "cozy fireside," "nutmeg and orange zest," or "cranberry spice."
I love LOVE LOVE Thanksgiving and all the food that comes with it. Pecan pie, hour derv's that have become their own dinner, pumpkin rolls, oh I love it all. This is the time of year that I throw caution to the wind (I can't help it, the winds are so strong here!) I love making soups and stews, eating them in bread bowls or homemade french bread.

I love wearing long sleeve shirts, sweaters, and jackets. (I also love that other people have to wear these too. No more seeing too much skin!)I love that I get to stay inside all day with my boys and I don't have to come up with any other reason than, "it's too cold to go anywhere today."

Lately Chris has been dreaming up all sorts of places he wants to move when he is done with school (May '09 Baby!) His favorites are: San Diego, Texas, Las Vegas...anywhere warm and all I can think is, "no more autumn."

To My Boy on His Birthday

2008-11-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Gordon,
You are such a special boy. I keep wanting to call you my little boy but you aren't anymore. You are such a BIG boy. You have recently mastered potty training, dress yourself, can buckle yourself into your car seat, take care of your little brother, and insist on doing everything yourself (except pick up your toys!) Oh, and lets not forget your ABC's. You love to sing that song and also adapt it to make other new songs. You bring so much joy in to my life. Not a day passes that you don't make me laugh--even when I am mad. The other day I put you in time out in your room and after a few minutes came to check on you and you had put Edison's pants on and you looked so silly I couldn't help but laugh and I wasn't mad anymore. Thank you for helping me to be happy. I love sitting and snuggling with you while we read stories. Your favorite stories right now are: Kiss Me I'm Perfect, Three Little Pigs, and Ella Sarah Gets Dressed.
Three of my most favorite things about you:

when you come into my room in the morning to wake me up
the way you sigh, "oh funny funny" after you laugh
the fact that you are such a mimic (it keeps me on my toes!)

Your favorite toys right now are...anything in the kitchen. You love to cook with me and in your own kitchen. We have made play-dough several times this week and it has also become one of your favorite past times as well. You absolutely adore your little brother Edison. It is so hard for you to wait till he gets bigger so you can play rough with him and not get in trouble for it. You have become quite the inquisitve little (I mean big) boy. You are always asking what? and why? And just because is not a good enough answer for you.
Gordon you have brought so much joy into our family in these three years you have been with us and I love that I get to be with you everyday to watch you grow bigger and smarter. When you were a baby about Edison's age, your daddy and I took turns working and taking care of you. It hurt me so bad to be away from you when you were learning those first things in life. I never want to miss anything again. I love you so much.

Love, Mom

My Genius Boy

2008-11-05T18:43:00.000-07:00

I love it when Gordon learns something new. He can sing his alphabet now. Here's a video of it and pay close attention to how he says "LMNOP." It is so dang cute.

Chris got him an alphabet book and we are working on writing the letters. I can't believe how big my little boy is getting. And Edison too! He has recently discovered how fun doorstops are. And he knows they are behind every door so no matter what room he is in, he will crawl behind the door to play with it. We buy him all these toys and he plays with doorstops. (Name that movie, quote is altered to fit this situation. The actual quote is "We buy him all these toys and he laughs at the walls.") Update: Since writing the above Edison has also started to stand while holding on to furniture. He is 8 MONTHS! He is still unsteady and falls the majority of the time but he still does it. He just wants to be a big kid like his big brother!

October Festivities

2008-11-02T22:36:00.003-07:00

We have been having too much fun the last couple of weeks and I haven't had the time to post about it all. So this is my massive make-up, picture-overload post. Enjoy...

I should mention that all these pictures are courtesy of Hilarie, our family photographer. She just follows us around and takes pictures of our cute little selves. (laying the sarcasm on pretty thick) Thanks Hilarie!

We went to this fun Halloween Carnival up on campus put on by the Sororities and it was lots of fun. We got to ride the bus on the way up to campus and I think that was the kids' favorite part.

Waiting for the bus to arrive, the kids entertained themselves by throwing leaves on each other. That is once they got bored of just sitting there.On the bus the kids wanted to sing the bus song: "Wheels on the Bus" and of course we had to oblige. And the boys thought it was sooo cool how it made your "bum bumpy."And how could we forget about cute little Edison who was such a good boy the whole time.

We also went to the Pumpkin Walk and the kids had a blast. The best part about the pumpkin walk is getting your picture taken in these cute little things...And my personal favorite, Yoda!

Eating lunch afterwards. It really was a great day. I just love October!

By the way, trick-or-treating was a blast. We went around door to door with some of our neighbors and it was tons of fun.
We had a Frankenstein, UPS man, Care Bear, witch, Gabrielle (from High Shcool Musical?), and Buzz
The kids loved looking for houses "with the lights on." Terin, our neighbor friend, would get so

excited and kept saying, "the lights are on, look, the lights are on..." Every house that we went to that had leaves in the yard the kids couldn't help but jumping in them. It really was a great night. Hope yours was too.

Wanna See Something Amazing...

2008-11-01T10:10:00.003-06:00

My friend spent a lot of time, effort, and money making her family's Halloween costumes this year. She is entering costume contests to try to win some money back. Go vote for her here:

http://www.sugarloot.com/entry/953760721 And here are the amazing costumes you are voting for

I know, unbelievable. All home made. If you want to see the whole progress visit her blog. And don't forget to vote. I checked out some of the competition and there is none. It is pretty much all girls in some sort of lingerie. Disgusting.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T16:48:00.002-06:00

These pictures are actually from when we got the costume in the mail last week. Gordon was so excited he ran around the apartment, flying and saying, "to and beyond!"

I am a little behind in some posts. I've got to post all about our Halloween festivities later. And yesterday we took a walk to a park and got some good pictures of the kids playing in the leaves. All to come...

Dollars For Diapers

2008-10-30T21:13:00.001-06:00

A friend of mine is trying to do a good thing. I took this message from her blog. All she is asking from you is to spread the word. We have seen blogs do many great things (NieNie recovery) and I think we could all help her out by posting a little something. Thanks!

Dollars For Diapers

Our mission is to use the power of the blogging community to make a difference! Despite all the bad we hear about going on right now we still have the power to DO A LOT OF GOOD and we want to prove it! With the condition of the economy leaving many families stretching their dollars thinner than ever before we want to step in and help in whatever way we can. Every little bit a person can do helps!

We believe every baby deserves to be pampered...including their little tushes! With all the things parents have to worry about today we want to offer some relief from the worry of diapers. Diapers are the most expensive baby item that a parent must purchase over and over again until their child is potty trained. Many families have 2 or more babies in diapers and this can be a drain on the bank account. With no options left, many babies stay in 1 diaper for way too long or may go without a diaper for long periods of time. We want to relieve parents from having to make a decision about whether to diaper their child or pay the power bill. This is something we CAN DO!! Everyone can help this effort in one way or another. We are asking for donations of all sizes...pennies to big bills! Every little bit helps...so search under couch cushions and under car seats!

If you are one of those who are stretched too far you can contribute to this relief effort by posting a blurb on your blog about this effort and providing a link so that you reach all of your readers and get them involved. You can also tell anyone you meet and petition those with the ability to help to take an interest in this cause!

The diapers will be distributed based on how much funds and donations we can bring in. We will be accepting e-mails from you letting us know where you see a need for diaper relief. More details will be worked out as we see how big this effort grows. We know this service is needed in every nook and cranny of the United States so we ask every person reading this to find a way to get involved and help us reach each and every person that needs our help!! Right now we have "diaper stations" in Mississippi, Idaho, Pennsylvania, California, and Utah...soon we will have stations in all 50 states! Right now our stations are simply people who are working with the effort and will be available to distribute diapers in their area based on needs and funds available.

WANT TO HELP??? E-mail us at dollarsfordiapers@gmail.com!! Thank you for your interest and your support in this cause!

I did it, I really did it.

2008-10-27T19:49:00.001-06:00

I read The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlesinger. I know, I know four and a half years of marriage and I am just reading this book. I never really thought I would do it but...it was just after I had Edison and I felt like I had to do something for Chris because when we had Gordon I think Chris felt a little left out and it was really hard on him. Anyway, that's beside the point. The point is I read it and actually learned something. The reason I decided to do this post is because Chris has brought it up several times that me reading the book has made a big difference in our marriage. Most of the book suggested obvious things I was already doing but it was a good reminder. Here are some points I thought that really hit home for me:

Men Need Women. And this gives us all the power, you just need to learn how to use that power. So if you wanted to be treated right, treat your man right. A lot of times we abuse this power (this is totally me) to get what we want. Women can be hypocritical at times.

All men really need is Appreciation, Approval, and Affection.

Men and women are different. She talks a lot about the feminist movement and I in no way consider myself a feminist but I found I have been influenced by feminist views just by growing up with it all around me. The world says men and women are equal meaning they should be treated the same. That is not true. We can't expect our man to be a "girlfriend" who can understand everything we need and to be our manly man. We are different. Embrace those differences (everything that makes him a man- even those annoying things) and they will compliment eachother.

Not every thought and feeling needs to be said. Enough said.

Now, if I may for a moment be a little frank. Reading this book did a lot for me in the intimate aspect of our relationship. I always just thought of Chris as a man who just has to have it and is not very sensitive to my needs. Dr. Laura said, too bad if you're too tired because sometimes your man is too tired to come home and play with the kids or help make dinner but he still does! Anyway, I won't say anymore about that, just that it really made me look at things differently. And I think that is the biggest reason Chris says the book helped our marriage!

And some might say, "what about us wives?" Well after I read the book and started trying out the concepts, I noticed Chris helping out more and just on average everything running a lot smoother. Now if I could just get Chris to read the Five Languages of Love...

Curse of the Oldest Child

2008-10-24T13:09:00.002-06:00

When I was pregnant with Gordon, I had hoped it would be a girl because I had heard that girls were the most helpful with the other children. Well, I think the oldest child just has to be helpful. Poor Gordon, I ask him to do so much for me, usually just little things, and I know he gets sick of it. The other day he was playing in his room, walked into the family room and stopped right by the couch and asked me if I would please hand him the burp cloth that was right on the arm of the couch. Mind you I was in the kitchen. I laughed and said sure because I'm sure he thinks I do the same to him! I wonder what he must think of me, "lazy mom!"

Overdue

2008-10-22T10:10:00.001-06:00

I was going to wait to post this until I could edit some pictures of Edison but Chris seems to think that his homework is more important than my blogging! So you'll have to do with no pictures for now. Also, everything I say in this post is about two weeks ago...

Edison finally cut his first tooth, of course it had to be the same day Gordon was sick with the stomach flu. Edison is growing and learning so fast I need to keep a little notepad handy to write down all these little milestones before I forget, which happens a lot--mommy brain. Edison has also recently discovered his tongue; he is always clicking it, sticking it out and rubbing it all over his lips. It is pretty darn cute. For awhile now, Edison has been a scooter. He can get around pretty good just by scooting. He would try to crawl, get up on his hands and knees and just rock back and forth. He just couldn't move forward. Sometimes in desparation he would even get on his feet and hands (in the bear crawl position?) but to no avail, he just couldn't move his hands and knees in cordination and start crawling. Well, this last weekend we stayed at my sister's house and she has a 12 month old. I knew if Edison could just get a look at how a professional crawler does it, he would catch on real quick. Sure enough, today he started crawling! I am so proud of my little boy. Unlike some moms, I love it when my kids start to crawl. They seem happier after they get a little independance and can do things on their own. I love it that he doesn't have to depend on me to get his toys (because he can't communicate which one he wants so it is usually a guessing game.) And I don't have anything valuable that he could get into so its really not a hassle.
One of my favorite things about Edison is how he gently runs his fingers through my hair. It is so cute because he never pulls, just twirls it around his fingers. It sure has been so fun to see this little baby of mine grow.

Wow, sorry, I didn't realize that was so long. Whew.

Do I really deserve this?

2008-10-19T18:04:00.003-06:00

I want to put a big THANK YOU out there to my amazing husband. This last week has been trying on me what with the teething and the potty training so my wonderful husband took BOTH boys to see his parents for the weekend! My old roommate Kyla came up from Vegas and we had an absolute blast doing girl stuff. This morning my cell phone alarm went off at 4 am (don't ask me why) and I jumped out of bed rushing to turn it off before it woke up the boys. Then I realized, there were no boys. And now I am just sitting here, alone, missing them. They should be here in about an hour and I know I should just enjoy the alone time, maybe get something done, but I find myself wishing they were here and I really don't know what to do with myself. But once again, THANK YOU Chris for a much needed break and THANKS Kyla for helping me to enjoy it.

Potty Chronicles Part:1

2008-10-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

So it begins........its about time! Here's how it all started. I have been looking around for awhile for a kitchen mixer or blender for Gordon's birthday (November 9th- you can send gifts directly to the house or if you prefer to just send money that's okay too!) but couldn't find one anywhere. My friend informed me the other day that she just saw one at Wal-Mart so of course I piled the kids in the car and rushed off to Wally World before they were all gone. Gordon was so excited to see the blender (what can I say, I've got a protege in my hands here) but I told him he couldn't have it until he went pee pee in the potty. He acted like it was no big deal and that he would do it when he got home. I wasn't so sure. Well when we got home of course he threw a fit when I reminded him of our deal. After he calmed down, he asked to go on the potty and after a few minutes, sure enough he had done it! I wish I had the camera right then. He was so excited, jumping up and down with the biggest smile on his face, something along the lines of this-
We put him in big boy underwear, called daddy and grandma to tell them the good news, and of course gave him his prized possession, the blender.I guess all he needed was a little motivation. I love his skinny little legs. So far, two days in underwear, no accidents. He has had little squirts in his undies but nothing drastic and he has even done #2 in the potty twice by himself! Any words of warning, advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know how you guys do it...

2008-10-10T14:26:00.005-06:00

After seeing so many cute pictures of your little ones, I decided I needed to be better about taking pictures of Edison. One morning I grabbed my camera, got down on the floor and prepared to snap adorable pictures of my adorable little boy. Well, it didn't quite work out that way. I spent about a half hour on the floor and all I got was...

BLURRY BABY! At least he's smiling, right.
Then he decided he wanted my camera... He went right for it. I then came to the conclusion that a)it is really hard to take pictures of babies when they have just learned how to crawl or b)I am not as good at taking pictures as I thought I was or c)my camera really stinks. Let's just go with a. At least I got a few okay shots.
I'll post more about Edison when I can Photshop these pictures so they don't make you dizzy just looking at them. So really, what's the secret? I guess I just need to pull out the camera more often. That would be cheeper than, say, photography lessons!

Kids Say the Darndest Things Part:2

2008-10-08T10:38:00.000-06:00

8/20/08 - Edison is the happiest baby ever! He smiles all the time, sleeps through the night, takes a bottle when he has to and is just a all around good baby. I am so blessed!

8/18/08 - The other day I asked Gordon to snuggle on the couch with me. Now he says, lets play snuggle mom! It is so cute.

8/10/08 - Today Gordon was wanting to call someone on Chris's cell phone. "I want to call something." After Chris asked him who he wanted to call Gordon said, "Um, Jesus."

7/12/08 - I was telling Gordon about the temple, trying to remind him how to behave and who was going to be there with us. I was naming all our family and telling him it was Jesus's house. Then Gordon said, "And Santa is going to be there." Where in the world did he get that?

7/12/08 - We came to the conclusion that Gordon has been spending too much time with his cousin Ashlynn when after I got him dressed to go to the temple open house he said, "I'm a princess!" Chris was concerned, "I leave for a week and this is what happens!?"

5/23/08 - We were in the car running errands and Gordon saw a digger and of course got very excited about it. He kept saying, "look Edison a digger; look!" It was so cute. I can't wait till they can really play together.

5/20/08 - Whenever we have to do something that Gordon doesn't like we say, "See, that wasn't so bad." Today Gordon was cutting his cereal with his spoon and I told him to quit playing and just eat. After he cut his cereal he said, "its not so bad mom." Thanks Gordon!

5/13/08 - Gordon has to say the pray by himself now and if we try to help him he will whip out his finger so fast and shush us, "No, I do it." Then he randomly says stuff about his toys or dinner and then we have to remind him how to close it or he could go on forever!

5/8/08 - Gordon has started doing this big sigh after I ask him to do something he doesn't like. It is so funny. I know he is got attitude but I can't help but laugh.

Thanks Guys

2008-10-06T10:27:00.002-06:00

I got the costume for $15! I really didn't think she would budge on the price because there were some people selling theirs for $35. Anyway, thanks for talking some sense into me. I am usually pretty cheap when it comes to things like this but when I get an idea in my head I just don't act like I normally would. I guess I got so excited at the prospect of my little Gordon in a Buzz Lightyear costume, who knows how much I would have paid! Well, NOW I can be excited. But what to get for Edison...I don't want to pay a lot of money at all for a costume for Edison because infants don't usually like to stay in costumes all that long. Any advice on good infant costumes?

Halloween Costumes

2008-10-05T22:09:00.004-06:00

Hip hip hooray! (everytime I say that Gordon says, "no mom; I don't want to go to the parade!" sorry for the tangent) I finally got Gordon's Halloween costume! I bought it on KSL Classifieds.Okay, hold the phone, back up! I was looking for a picture to post. The one above is from the actual ad. I was looking up on the Disney store website (thats where the seller claims she paid $40 dollars for it.) And I found a much nicer one for $37.00 with shipping and I am going to pay $25 for this one. I don't have any experience with online buying and now I am feeling like maybe it wasn't such a good deal. What do you think? I haven't sent the money yet so I could still back out. The Disney Store picture looks better but does the costume really look like that or is it the product of a lot of editing and fancy advertising?! Excitment gone. Help me please.