Christmas Decorating

These are their "excited" faces!

Funny story about our tree. We bought it when we lived in a small duplex. It seemed so huge back then. When we pulled it out last year we were amazed at how small it was in our living room. We jokingly called it our Charlie Brown tree. Well, amazingly enough, it has managed to shrink yet again. It still looks really small in our bay window underneath the vaulted ceilings, but what's even more disturbing is that Jackson can almost reach the top.

The kids busy decorating.

Because they love to pose.

Jackson was in charge of setting up the decorations on the table. He did a great job. The snowman is the kids favorite decoration. He dances and sings songs. Aunt Terry gave him to us a couple years ago.

Can you see how all the ornaments are on the bottom third of the tree? Too cute. I told them they could spread them out and they wanted it like this. Looks good to me!

Bonding Over The Playstation

Jackson and Lila started out Thanksgiving Day with a good ole' game of PlayStation football. They were both so into it. Jax was in a NO PICTURE mode , if you couldn't tell.

I know I'm biased, but she is so darn cute. Love my feet in the picture :(

Look at the Mohawk on that kid. He's usually not allowed to wear it like that since it is so long, but since it was a holiday we let him.

"Do I want to play with it, or eat it???"

More Turkey Day pics to come. They are on my Dad's computer and I haven't gotten them yet, but we had the best day. We played Thanksgiving Bingo, complete with awesome prizes (thanks Mimi), and then we learned how to jump rope with our own ropes made by Bear. Finally we played some hopscotch and drew a giant caterpillar on the sidewalk. So fun.

Serious Bragging Ahead!!!

Okay, since you've been warned, here it goes...


Jackson got his first report card today. I expected it would be great, and it is.

Here is the way they grade them:

Y= Yes, mastery

P= Partial mastery

N= Needs Support

The categories are: Reading, Learning Habits, Math, Writing, & Content. There are 31 different areas in these categories. Jackson got a Y in every one!!!

Mrs. Chapman wrote "Jackson is such a hard worker! He has made great improvements in both reading and writing since the beginning of the year. He is working on becoming a confident reader! I am so happy to have him in my class."

We are so proud of our big boy. I think especially b/c he didn't even begin talking until he was three, and up until recently it was very hard to understand his speech. He has come so far in such a short time. He loves school and his friends and teachers so much. It has been such a wonderful experience for him.

p.s. Some of you might remember that I did not get a perfect kindergarten report card, and I still remember it to this day. I got a "U" (meaning, unsatisfactory) in cutting, and I'm still a bad cutter to this day! I think it has something to do with lack of patience :)

It Finally Happened

Long story short: My baby fell down the stairs.


Long story: I knew I was going to have problems with Lila and these stupid stairs. She's been going up them really well for about 2 weeks (we don't usually let her though), but has no concept of down yet. So today I was in her room changing her diaper and I needed to take it downstairs and rinse it out. Sunny was in there with her and was feeding her a bottle, so I pushed the door mostly shut and told Sunny to watch her and I'd be right back.

Next thing I hear is Lila yelling, not like she was hurt, just talking, but it sounded way to close for comfort. I ran out of the laundry room and up the first flight of stairs and there Lila is on the stairs. She had come down 5 of the 8 and was on her belly with her head facing down. I grabbed her and she was fine, actually she was happy because she likes to think she is such a big girl with those stairs.

I came up to find Sunny and she was in the kitchen. She just started crying and said she was sorry that she let Lila out. I told her it wasn't her fault. She isn't in charge of Lila, Mommy is, and I should have put a gate up in the hallway. It took her a minute to calm down, but she did b/c she could see Lila was fine.

In conclusion, I disliked the stairs yesterday, today I detest them. I've asked a couple people what to do, and it seems like most people don't use gates. I just can't figure this out. I feel like I can't leave her down stairs b/c she'll come up, and even if I do put the gate up on the first stair, she climbs up the gate and gets stuck. If I'm upstairs I have to put a gate in the hallway and shut all the doors of the rooms I don't want her in, and then she gets bored and cries after 5 minutes. Please tell me it gets easier soon. I'm afraid we're in for a long few months of this before she is able to go down safely.

Beautiful Weather

The weather has been so unbelievably beautiful lately. It's making me dread winter even more. We have been able to play outside everyday for the last week and I decided I needed some pictures to show to all of you far far away in the south.

All the kids on the street have been out playing in the cul-de-sac again, just like summer. Jax has had the opportunity to perfect his bike riding skills. His newest tricks are standing up and pedaling, riding with his eyes shut, and going off the curb. He also loves to "shoot hoops" with some of the bigger boys.

Sunny just loves being able to ride her princess bike and watch everything going on around her. Sweet Catey is obsessed with grass and leaves. I swear that child will eat anything.

Please win again BYU

I can't wait until 4:00 Saturday afternoon. For those who can't wait either, enjoy the videos. It still gives me chills. That may be weird to some people, but I know a few can understand.

Dear defense,
Please show up to play this week.

Thanks,
Ryan

Kinda Freaky

Saw this on someone else's blog and thought it was interesting. I only had one picture of Ryan and one of me on our computer and they were both horrible, but I had to use them. The freaky part is the kid actually looks a bit like Sunny. How did they know to make it have blonde hair. Mine is dark and Ryan is bald?

p.s. Ryan is working late tonight. Can you tell I'm bored???

8 Months Old

Lila turned 8 months old yesterday. I can't believe how time flies. Ryan put her in this big t.v. box and she loved it. It was pretty funny to watch. She didn't want to get out. Can you see the smile behind the pacifier?

In other news, I took her to the doctor yesterday to see if she had an ear infection. She had a cold for about two weeks and then I thought she was getting better, but her voice went really hoarse and she started pulling on her ear. She also wouldn't lay down to go to sleep well, and she was waking up twice every night (totally out of character for her). Turns out no ear infection, but a really red sore throat. I gave her Motrin last night to see if it would help and to my relief she was back to her regular 7p.m. to 7a.m. with no waking up in between. YES YES YES!!!!! Hopefully she'll be well soon. This sick stuff is no fun.

And finally
.............................................,........................................
........................................................................................
........................................................................................
She Weighs 16 Pounds!

She has been looking a little chunkier lately, so we were hoping she had gained some weight, and she has. She still has reflux pretty bad, but she loves regular food so I think it is helping her to gain. She loves avocados, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and bananas.

Everything else is good. I officially hate stairs. Lila can climb them in about .02 seconds, so we have to keep a gate at the bottom. Now she has started climbing up the gate. Great :( I'm trying to teach her how to go down safely, but for now it's not really happening.) She's crawling everywhere and walks all over while holding on to things.

Pretty much we just have a wonderful, happy little girl who we love dearly and we are so blessed by her in our lives.

Stay Classy San Diego

Ryan loves dressing up way too much. He spent way too much time looking in the mirror and quoting lines from Anchor Man. By the time the night was over I really wanted to put some duct tape over his mouth:)

Thanks for the picture Julie :)

FYI - He was supposed to be Ron Burgundy, but it came across as more of a sleazy used car salesman.

Ponytails and More

Her first ponytail!!!!!!!

I am freakishly excited about this!

I couldn't get her to hold still for a picture, so I thought I'd put her in the Bumbo so she would be still enough for a good pic of her hair. Well, it kinda of worked...

still working...

Then she decided to make the great escape.

This is baby stuff!

You can't keep me down!

In the beginning of Sept. I used to put Lila in the Bumbo outside the bathroom, or on the kitchen floor while I got stuff done. One day I got out of the shower and opened the door and saw an empty Bumbo. Lila had escaped. That was before she could crawl well, so I'm not how sure she managed it, but after that one time she didn't do it again for awhile.

Last month she did it a few times and today she was out within about 10 seconds. I can hardly keep up with this kid. I guess there is no more leaving baby unattended in the chair. Oh well, it is still nice to use for feeding her downstairs, for watching Baby Einstein, and for taking a bath with big Sis!

p.s. In picture #4 she looks just like me as a baby except for I had dark hair. My Mom pulled out my baby pictures a couple of weeks ago and we were all shocked. I finally have a baby that looks like me!!!

Best Kids Ever!

Last week I was trying to help Jax with homework and make dinner at the same time. Then Lila decided she was hungry and wanted to be fed asap. It was like 5:00 and I was headed for a breakdown. You know when you have just had all you can take and it's the part of the day when you just want to relax and sit down for a minute, but you can't? That's how I was feeling. Next thing I know, sweet Sunny comes running upstairs and says "Don't worry Mom, I can feed Lila for you!"

I wasn't sure if she could do it or not, she's only four after all, but I didn't have any other options so I agreed to let her try. It turned out to be one of the sweetest things I've ever seen. She did a great job. I wish I could have gotten it on video. She sounded like a mini-me. "Open up sweetie, here it comes, Come on Catey, you know you love avocados, here comes the airplane." All the things we say to get kids to eat she was saying. Lila loved it, and I was able to get dinner and homework finished. After watching the precious interaction between my daughters, my night didn't seem quite so bad.

I will say this is just one example of how sweet my kids are with each other. I think I truly have the best kids on earth. They are so easy going and funny. I love to be around them. Sometimes when I'm feeling a bit prideful I think that it must be something I'm doing and I must be the best mother ever, but mostly I know I'm just blessed to have them, and I try to learn from their sweet examples. These are the sweetest kids anyone could ever hope for.