Alexa (and the cradle)

Paul wedged her in there last night while he was putting together the cradle. . .and she fell asleep.

This is the cradle my dad made for each of the girls. It's not a great picture of the cradle, but you get the idea. I didn't have a king-size pillow, so I used my body pillow for now. . .hence the extra pillow at top and bottom.

Keith's New Hair

So, the old hair was starting to drive me CRAZY cause it was ALWAYS sticking up. He looked like I never combed his hair which was totally untrue, so I finally got so fed up that I had Mom chop (or buzz, as the case may be) it all off last Sunday when I got my hair cut. I think it makes him look a little more like Ryan, what do you think?

(Yes, it's kind of a bad picture, but sorry, I didn't realize it was bad until I uploaded it. Oh well.)

Little Chair

I got this chair when I was little (very little obviously =) and have had it ever since. I was in storage for a time and then the grandkids started coming so out of storage it came. It was old and ugly and worn out, but I still loved it so I was using it anyway. I helped my sister Melissa make a pattern for it by cutting apart the old covering and tracing the pieces. She picked out an awesome, blue corduroy fabric that I love and made a new covering for it. Doesn't it look AWESOME?!

That fabric, there on the bottom. . .that what the whole chair used to look like (told you; old.)

Feel the burn (Fight the wheeze. . .)

I feel great. Awful, but great. I did 40 minutes of pilates and then did a 20 minute jog (and even jogged almost the whole thing, haha.) I have to say, it's hard to get back into it and it's so hard to make myself go, but I'm always so grateful that I did. I feel SOO much better when I'm done. Here we go. Operation Get Back Into Shape has commenced. . .wish me luck.

Christmas Photos

Yes, they're delayed, but still fun. Plus, that's how long it took me to get them from my camera to my computer.

A little Christmas Eve Fun. Rachel came to our house which was fun. And Liss and Nate stayed with us for the whole week which was also a lot of fun. It was a great first Christmas in our new house.

Clark and Alexa with Melissa and Rachel respectively. Note that Alexa's tongue is out. That's typical.

The stockings! Rachel's. Keith's, Paul's, Mine, Lissa's, and Nate's.

Stocking fun!

Rachel and Keith going to town on stockings.

It's WALL*E!

Thanks for the Play Dough Aunt Liss!

Doing what little boys to best: beat on things.

Liss holding Keith and the "I Spy" Jen made for all the kids. They're awesome!

Look at all those people!

The "Fester" Hat. . .

Me and Rach. That's Uncle Bud (Mom's Uncle, my Great Uncle) beside/behind me.

Mom playing Santa.

We look like we're selling car seats, huh?

Side Note

On a side note, while we were in San Fran, we saw Seven Pounds with Will Smith. . .interesting movie. Kind of controversial, but makes for some good conversation afterward. I liked it. . .I think. I still haven't quite decided, lol. It will make you cry if you're the weepy type though, no matter how you ultimately feel about the movie.

Just FYI.

San Francisco trip

I've finally been to San Fran! It was much fun and we had a really good time. The hotel was cool--very old--and the people there were really nice and helpful. We got there on Thursday night after a very uneventful (thank goodness) drive with very little traffic (for a big city, that is). We walked around a little that night cause, of course, things were still hoppin' @ 11 on a week night.










Anywho, Friday morning--well, late morning. . .we slept in--we woke up and made our way to the Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 to go to the Aquarium and on a harbor cruise. When we got on the cable(-less) car the guy said it was $5 one-way or $11 for an all day pass. We were going to get an all day pass then realized that we only had a $20 so we couldn't get an all day pass. But a very kind lady sitting next to where we were standing said "here" and handed us 2 $1 bills. It was very nice.

view from hotel roof two floors above ours

The harbor cruise was cool. We went under the Golden Gate and around Alcatraz Island. Then we went to the aquarium where they had an underground replica of the ocean there were lots of small sharks and rays and such.

On the Bay Cruise and Alcatraz Island

Pretty Starfish at the Aquarium.......Look at the size of that one!

Petting a leopard shark and trying to "catch" a fish, haha.

Anyway, to make a long story short, it was a very fun trip. We stopped in Oakland on the way home cause we both needed to go to the Distribution Center very badly, which is the first time I've ever seen that temple.

On the Golden Gate Bridge. . .obviously, lol.

Paul's 30th Birthday

I just realized, looking through my archives that I failed to write about a big event. Paul turned 30 this year! (well, last year now, I guess) For those of you who don't know, his birthday is December 24th. . .that's right, Christmas Eve, and before you ask, YES is sucks! I threw him a surprise party, which wasn't supposed to be a surprise. I really wanted to take him to do something fun for just him for his big birthday, but we just didn't have the money so I decided a party with friends and family was probably the next best thing (and the only thing we could afford).

In the beginning I wasn't trying to hide it from him, but as it got closer and he still hadn't really figured out what was going on I figured there was no reason to spoil the surprise before necessary. I thought there was no way he couldn't know about it. There were all these odd things that didn't add up. For instance,

• I went all the way to Lindsay to make a slide show for his birthday at Becky's house because they have iMovie on their computer so I knew I could do it over there. I know he thought it was odd that I drove to Lindsay because I haven't done that since we moved out here, but I guess not that odd cause he didn't ask too many questions.
• He helped Daniel Netzley move the Saturday morning of the party and I guess I didn't tell everyone it was a surprise. . .I suppose because originally it wasn't going to be, so the last thing he said to Paul before he left was "see you later today". Which, Paul thought was odd, but I guess not odd enough.
• Carolyn showed up before I got Paul out of the house, which wasn't a big deal because I had already told him that she wanted to do something that day since we hadn't all seen each other for awhile. She, of course, brought the boys with her and before Paul left for the grocery store (that's how I got him out. . .we were desperate for groceries) they were talking about food for us all and Frank said "it's your party." lol Yeah, he didn't even HEAR that one. . .or so he says. He responded to Frank, but, alas, he does the same thing to me ALL the time, so I believe him when he says he didn't hear him even though he responded

Anywho, there were a couple other things too, like one-sided phone conversations with people that weren't very obscure. . .or so I thought, and odd visits from his parents (to bring me pictures for his slide show. He wasn't home, but he heard about it). Oh, I love my sweet, oblivious husband.

The party was fun and there were a LOT of people. I don't think any more people would've fit in my house, but I think everyone had a good time. We ended up spending the whole time watching the stupid BYU bowl game (do I sound annoyed?) but whatever. It was his party and that's what he wanted to do. It turned out quite fun. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but trust me when I say, it was a good night!

Oh, and in case you're curious, we're leaving the kids to go to San Francisco for 2 days for our 5th anniversary. Yay! I've lived here in Cen. California my whole life and never really been there, sad huh?

"That Mom"

I never thought I would be "that mom". You know the one. The one who freaks out over everything and is constantly worried about her children. The one who misses her kids the second she leaves the house without them and calls the house 3 times during the date she was pushed into going on with her husband just to get away.

But, there I was last night, lying in bed, thinking that we'd only ever left Keith for one night at a time at anyone's house--and I can count the amount of times on one hand--wondering if he would be alright (well not "alright", but happy and. . .well you know what I mean) for two nights without us. Wondering if we should've just reserved the hotel for one night, instead of two, when suddenly I realize: I have become that mom. Well, I'm not "that" mom, but I have become that mom. The one I never thought I would be.

Though I don't worry about Alexa as much since since to her I'm no one terribly special yet--she will still be fed and changed (I worry more about Christy since she will be the one waking up with her at night)--I still think that leaving her for 2 days is an awfully long time. I never left Keith alone until he was over a year old.

I always miss my kids when I'm away from them, but I don't feel the need to call constantly to check up. I will call after awhile just to make sure the babysitters aren't going nuts, but it's not because I worry about the children in those instances so much as the sitter. But, for the first time, for some inexplicable reason I had this urge to make out a list of important things to know for Christy. Things like bedtime, nap time, feeding schedule for Alexa, etc.

I guess now I realize it's normal. . .whatever that means, haha. Part of me has to laugh because it is kind of funny, but the other part of me wants to laugh AT myself just like I laughed at all those crazy women before me who were being so crazy about something that just wasn't a big deal. I guess we all learn our lessons.