November 30th, Mia's Birthday!

My Dearest Mia-

You turned two today. You are so loving and sweet. You are feisty and determined. You have a huge vocabulary -though it doesn’t all come out yet! From the beginning you have been my little companion. You were with me during a very lonely and difficult time -when I worked in SLC away from your daddy and Ella for a whole week at a time. I had you in my tummy to keep me focused and to remember why I was where I was. You have been so intuitive ever since. You have a sense of right and wrong -and are completely attached to me, which I love love love.
Mia, you are so beautiful. You have soulful eyes. You have been “mini-me” from the beginning. I have always seen it. I hope to always be connected to you; to be your trusted mom -in every way a woman should be a mom. I hope you find happiness and contentment. I hope you have big dreams and know that no matter what the outcome -no matter what your choices, you will never lose me. Ever.

I love you so much, baby girl. Happy 2nd birthday.

My grump

Today we had the big Mia Birthday Extravaganza -and as hostess, the pix I took were minimal at best. GRRR! I'll need to wait until Mary posts the shots she took so that I can tell all! In the meantime, Ella-Boo spent last night at Debbie and Donny's. Bless her heart, between that (not much quality sleep, but lots o' fun) and running around eating lolli-pops and birthday cake today, she's had a bazillion melt-downs.
When we say prayers before she goes to bed, I always have her ask Heavenly Father for all the rest her body needs... Why is it that she's good to go at 5:00 AM???? This girl is a total morning girl (like me) but doesn't like the party to stop at night (like Lance). Where is the balance? Someday she'll become a sleeper, but I'm sure that won't happen until the effect on me is much more minimal!

Let's all hope tonight that my little grump wakes up with a fresh and happy attitude! ...MAN, I sound like a parent!

PS- I found this picture that Mary had edited on her picassa -it's gorgeous. ...Had to share!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am grateful for:

My husband
My children
My family & extended family
My husband’s family
My dear friends
School for Ella!
Work & money!
Laughter & music
Blessings
Delicious food
Fun games (WOO Mario Bros. Wii!)
Vehicles (though un-cool the mini-van may be)
Jewelry and pretty things :)
Calm nights
Warm hugs and snuggles
Awesome TV shows
Make-up & razors!
Warmth
The holiday season
Diet Dr. Pepper
Imagination & creativity
Baths


I could go on and on with the amazing things that surround me. I’m so impressed that this holiday came to be; an opportunity for each of us to take a longer look at what means the most to us. Gratitude is a huge piece of me. I am a product of a million relationships -opinions -kindnesses -and impressions. I have to stop to acknowledge this and say how thankful I truly am.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Congrats Dave & Lex!

On Saturday evening we went to Layton to see and congratulate Dave and Lexie on their new home! They bought a lovely lovely lovely home -HUGE- with the most incredible view/ reservoir in the back. I didn't take any pictures of the home -or them, actually, as I became very chatty and distracted with the fam-dam-bly!

So, I have some fun shots I took of us on the way! Here's my Mia-babes and Ella-boo.

The girlz and I hitched a ride with my Granny and parents... Here's Dad driving. ...This is the stern 'Don't bug me, I'm listening to the BYU game' look.

Granny-Loo had a lovely smile for me!

While there, Mia had a go-round in the bumbo -some quirky chair made for little babies. She dug it for about 3 minutes, then panicked.

Here's Ella with schmootz on her face (typical)!

...And the token self-shot!

10 Things About Mia

1- Mia is picky about her cartoons. She loves Little Einsteins, Phineas & Ferb, and Mickey Mouse Club House. Don’t put her in front of Sesame Street -she doesn’t buy it.
2- Mia holds her own against Ella -pushes her out of the way, mostly.
3- Mia got the nick-name “monkey” quite young when she started to chunk out (put in a very loving/MOM sort of way)!
4- Mia is quite easy to put down for naps and bed (most of the time) --and when you tell her to have a good “monkey nap”, she’ll say “k”. :)
5- Mia eats with her left hand, and colors with her right.
6- Mia has quite a vocabulary, but only likes to say the first sound in the word. …She absolutely refuses to say “please”, however --or anything close.
7- Mia is extremely sensitive -she knows when I’m tired, knows when I’m upset, happy, or angry -and follows me around during the day. Everywhere.
8- Mia can snort like a pig and knows the sounds that most animals make.
9- Mia has a naked-dance that she has to perform right after bath-time -it’s priceless.
10- Mia can stack blocks several feet high. I think she’ll be an artist!

I love you, Mia-Babes.

Makin' dinner!

So on Friday night Erin came over and made home-made chicken noodle soup! YUMO! I could possibly do it again without her, but WHY??

Sabrina took her first little ride in the high-chair. She loved it. It's funny, she's a mini-Ella. She wants to look out and be part of the party -not much of a cuddler... (humph)
How cute!This is Mia showing Sabrina her support of the take-over. I'm sure Mia would love the freedom to roam from her seat. :D

Love you, Erin!

breakfast

Here's Lance and Ella making breakfast for mommy. How sweet is that?!

Mia got in on the action, though in a slightly less helpful manner... This is right before stealing some of that cheese!

I love my little family.

Phineas and Ferb, yo!

Can I just say how stinkin' ADORABLE this little cartoon is?! My girls just love it! They sing a song called "Gitchi-Gitchi-Goo" that Mia seems to find irresistible. It's hilarious. If you sing it to her, she'll sing along (in Mia-neese) and make you her new best friend.

Good weekend :)

This has been such a fun weekend. Lance took it off (doesn’t happen too often) and we have had some good fun hanging out! We even got some Christmas shopping done! Chaedon has been hanging out with us. We got the new Super Mario Brothers Wii game, which is SO fun -at least- it LOOKS fun, but I haven’t gotten my hands on it yet. It’s nice to watch the kids (Lance) play… Yesterday Mom and I hit the super Saturday spiel and got some crafties going. My sister Mary is up in Logan for a few days because of her sinus surgery (bless her heart --and NOSE) and I’ll get to rope her into helping me finish some of said crafties in the next few days. :D Get ready, Mary!!

BRACE YOURSELF.

Ho! Today I took Chaedon to my ex-Orthodontist who did my braces as a teenager. I love him to pieces. He has an amazing wife and children -whom I used to babysit! It was a total blast from the past.
Chaedon gets his braces on next week...
And I'm getting mine on soon too!!! WHAT, you might ask?! Well, I never got a permanent retainer, and my teeth have moved a lot and crowded somewhat as well. Aesthetically, it's all fixable (7 to 8 months, he says) for the cost of my plan's coverage, which means I'll never have to pay a dime for him re-fixing my teeth! WOO! I felt terrible showing him his hard work/what time has done to it, but it will be awesome to realign everything and put my smile back on track. :D

Look forward to some serious documentation. It's a thousand times more interesting as an adult. Call me metal mouth or brace-face, but look out world, my smile is improving!!

Sweet Slice O' Christmas!

The other day Lance told me he had a surprise for me... He took me out to the van and opened the door. Upon looking in, the BEST CHRISTMAS ALBUM EVER was playing: Kenny and Dolly: Once Upon A Christmas and he'd put a bag of cinnamon pine cones under the middle console. It was SO AWESOME! Nothin' but cheer in that van, baybee.

Love you, Lance.

Harry Potter

Can I just say, I absolutely LOVE these books? They are truly what got me reading as an adult. I have never been much of a reader and unfortunately read quite slowly. Yes, I got good grades in school, but I had to WORK for them!
In my spare time (whilst cartoons buzz in the background for kiddos) I have found a bit of refuge re-reading this series (finished re-reading the Twilight series recently too) -allowing my brain to take a few moments off and visit a different world. Thank you, JK Rowling. : )

me and bri

This is another picture that Mary did.... I thought it was lovely and captured the baby so sweetly! Now I have too many to choose from for our Christmas cards! ...Speaking of which, I'm not quite sure I have my list anymore (lost all our computer files last spring), so there might be a 'holla' for some addresses!

NFCP Planning

Today has been busy. I went to mom's (with le girlz) and we did a bit o' planning for the huge Family Christmas Party. It's always a blast, but December is a tricky month to get things planned. The fam is currently in negotiations for what/when/where any of this will happen.

Right after sending out the email, lots o' opinions started to surface and it looks like it might be harder to plan than we were hoping. If any of my faithful readers have any fun suggestions for kid games or activities related to Christmas, please feel free to leave a comment, yo?

Schneek-Peek!

Here are some of the images that Mary has taken/ edited for us -they're amazing. Mary, I love you so much -this is really becoming quite the talent.

Chaedon and Brina.

Me and Lance -my favorite shot.
Me and Mia-Babes.

The baby!

My Ella.

Milly-Kisses.

HALLOWEEN 2009

Oh my goodness was it ever a BUSY and awesome Halloween this year!! The festivities started with the "parade" spiel that the PM Kindergarten (the whole school had another one at 9:30, but these PM'ers got one all to themselves (thank goodness)) put on. Above is my darling Ella-Boo with the costume that MY MOTHER made for me in 1st grade! Holy schnozz-BLAST FROM THE 80'S BAYBEE.

Here is the hair masterpiece. Yes, I got nervous because time was running out. Why, you might ask? Because Lance had some CRAZY idea in his head that we should do her hair like a pumpkin stem. Now, after quite a lot of convincing, I went for it, but by a miracle (and last-minute poor planning) there was no hair-spray paint to be found in the stores we looked in. Sorry, Ella! She kept saying "I want to go with Daddy's plan!". OUCH.

Here she is lined up with the parade kiddos. Good times.

The next day (Halloween day) my sister Mary had come up to town to take our family pictures for the Christmas card. I'll give you a sneak peak on my next blog entry (they look amazing, Mary!!!). We took some random shots with our camera while Mary worked her magic with her own much more expensive and luxurious camera. :) Above, the Lancenator.

Here's my baby boy Chaedon and Ella -his worshipper!

Here's Mia, Chaedon, and Ella. It was next to IMPOSSIBLE to get Mia to hold still- as this WAS prime nap time, and the leaves were beckoning to her like candy.

Sabrina and Lance. CUTE picture!

Here I am trying to hold my crazy Mia down from jumping into the leaves again. BTW: HUGE SHOUT OUT TO MOM FOR MAKING THE SUPER CUTE FLOWERS FOR THE GIRLZ HAIR! LOVE YOU, MOM!!!

Me and Chaedon. :)

We went straight to Lance's parent's home for home-made pizza and donuts/ hot chocolate. Here is Lance's sister's family (left to right): Scotty-Too-Snotty (as Wolverine), Chazzy-Bear (firefighter), Aneesa (Witch), and a VERY pregnant Candace as a garden gnome. ...KUDOS for the absolute best preggo costume I've EVER seen! She rocked it.

The kids all went trick-o-treating around the neighborhood. I skivvied off to the "Trunk-O-Treat" that my mom's ward was doing with Sabrina... to spend some more time with Mary. Sabrina and I came back and hung out with my in-laws for a few (Mia stayed too) until everyone came back. Here she is trying to eat her pumpkin costume.

Here's Lance and myself at Debbie and Donny's. SHOUT OUT TO THE IN-LAWS FOR A FANTASTICAL HALLOWEEN EVENT -THANKS FOR THE GRUB AND THE FUN!

After all that hooplah, we went home. Lance had gotten the night off and sent me away with my friend Erin to hang out. We had SO much fun!! She was a devil, and I borrowed some of her angel garb to dawn for the event. This is us -just precious. ...See my halo? :) Notice the little red bow between Erin's horns? We thought it was particularly fitting -so she swiped it from my girl's collection! Heh heh.

Halloween is a good time. My mom has ALWAYS hated the idea -doesn't like the idea that people turn into other people and give themselves more freedom to do things they might otherwise not do, etc. I don't agree, but that's okay mom. It's nice to be someone else for a night. It's fun for kiddos to do something out of the ordinary (imagine how boring life would be?!) and look forward to. It doesn't have to be about super gross and scary things (bleh, not my fav -notice my 3 lil' pumpkins?), but can be what we make of it. I'm grateful for a reason to gather -a mile-marker and memory-maker for those who embrace it. Happy Halloween, everyone. ON TO CHRISTMAS!