C'mon Hong Kong!!!

On December 1, Santa Claus placed an order for a Batman costume. This costume was made by elves in Hong Kong, and they promised it would be delivered to our house by Christmas. Well, there are just three more mailing days before Christmas and still no delivery and I am getting nervous since this is what Riley told Santa Claus he wants. What do I do if it isn't here in time!!!! Do four year olds accept IOU's from Santa?

Today was the long awaited day that Santa came to preschool! It's amazing how much a child changes in one year. Last year there was no way Riley would talk to Santa, let alone sit on his lap. This year he couldn't wait to get his little bum on Santa's lap and eagerly told him he wanted a Batman costume *with muscles*. It has been so fun to see how excited Riley has been this year. It has been interesting trying to help him understand that Jesus is even more important than Santa. I have told him that Santa is trying to be like Jesus by helping people and giving to others, and that we can be like Jesus too. Today after seeing Santa Riley asked "When can we see Jesus?" Riley believes that Santa and Jesus are really good friends, and that's just fine with me! When I put Malia on Santa's lap, she began her usual staring contest, and if given enough time I'm sure his beard would have ended up in her mouth so I quickly took a picture and got her off.
Look how cute Mrs. Claus is! Yesterday Riley asked Ben "Daddy, do you know who Mrs. Claus is?" Ben asked who and Riley replied "She's santa's woman!"

This is Riley singing a solo for Santa. After all the children started filing out of the room to let the next little group of preschoolers come in, Riley yelled earnestly "WAIT!!!" and ran up to Santa and told him he needed to sing him a song. So he sang a shortened version of "You better watch out...." and ended it with "Santa Claus is coming.....to preschool!" Does it get any sweeter?
This was a fun girls day out with several nurses that I work with. Part of why I love my job is because I work with wonderful people and they make me laugh and sometimes they even laugh at my jokes. We went to Happy Sumo where I ate very teeny tiny orange eggs from some sea animal and it totally disgusted me but I put on a brave face to impress the ladies. My dish was just a stir fry type thing, but I did try some sushi and I had to close my eyes when I put it in my mouth because the little raw piece of fish was flopping around on my fork. But I did it and I guess that is some great accomplishment to try sushi for the first time. Now I will happily never eat it again.

Our New Turbie Twist!!!

My new Turbie Twist is awesome! My friend Staci gave it to me, and seriously just a few days ago I was thinking I could use one of these. She is a mindreader. Only problem is my whole family loves it and I am having to share. Just tonight Ben used it to dry his locks.

Mom's Visit, Malia's Cellulite, Riley's Oversized Band-aid, And Ben's Oversized Tree!!!

You don't want to mess with this fierce Spiderman! She's got that wild look in her eyes.My Mom came to visit for Thanksgiving. I LOVE it when she comes to visit. As you can see in the background, she brought her cat. She doesn't think she will do that again because the cat (Lighting) was pretty ticked the whole way down. I guess six hours in the car makes him nervous. We also found out over the weekend that Riley is allergic to cats, but only if he pets them and then rubs his eyes. Ben is the same way. They are both okay as long as they don't touch their faces. Malia and my Mom had some more bonding time this trip, or as my mom sais "I'm imprinting." It was funny how much Malia would stare at my mom, like she was studying her every feature. I think it's so neat that they are EXACTLY 50 years apart. I KNOW, my mom doesn't look 50, does she!

I think it's time to buy bigger diapers for this girl. My mom had put this one on and later while I was changing Malia's outfit I discovered that Malia didn't have full coverage! But seriously, check out this baby supermodel! She even know hos to pose and accentuate all her womanly curves.

My mom sais my thighs were very large too when I was a baby (hmm, never went away.) and she told me that she would walk around with me on her hip and sometimes she would squeeze my fat thighs just for fun, but a couple times she got carried away and she squeezed a little too vigorously and I would cry. I know exactly how she feels though...sometimes it's all I can do to stay gentle when I squeeze Malia's cheeks/thighs/belly :)
My mom took Malia and I to TGIF's, and unfortunately for Malia our food came with a lime wedge. This is one of the MANY faces she pulled. Poor thing! I am such a mean mommy. But this is one of the reason's I had kids, to see what funny faces they can make!
Malia with her little tongue out! And notice my shirt (It's one of my faves) it sais "It's only funny until someone gets hurt...then it's hilarious!!!" So true.

Riley had a hangnail. Apparently it hurt "so, so bad." In fact he originally put two bandaid's on it, one over the other, because it hurt so so bad. The next day those bandaid's got replaced with this bandaid. This is the bandage I would use for a 4 cm laceration or a major knee scrape, or I guess a hangnail if I was four :)

Meet big Bertha. She was originally very unwelcome in the home by the Mrs (me). The Mr. (Ben) saw big Bertha on the mountain and immediately fell in love, despite the fact that his wife would be overwhelmed by a 12 foot tall, 7 foot wide presence in her living room. He went ahead and chopped big Bertha down and loaded her in his truck. After all, he now has a truck so his new motto is "Go big, or go home!" The Mrs. (who hates pine needles on the carpet) had very high blood pressure when she first saw the tree and while the tree was being rammed through the front door. But once the lights and decorations were on, courtesy of Ben and his mother in law Cindy, she decided it was a beautiful tree. Welcome, big Bertha.
Amazing but true facts about big Bertha:

1. There is a nest deep inside big Bertha's branches. Some poor bird families Christmas has been ruined.

2. A tree went missing inside big Bertha. Ben had cut down three small trees for some kids, and one of them when missing. Guess where we found it? Inside big Bertha.

3. Big Bertha had to be secured with much wire, including a piece secured to a 2 x 4 in our wall. As much as I hate the fact that the stability of the tree involved damaging our wall, I am relieved that none of my family is in danger from big Bertha.

4. I believe Ben is making up for three years without a real tree. So he has doubled the height and quadrupled the width of a normal tree. This is Ben's fantasy tree! Gotta love him!

POOP FREE FOR THREE WEEKS!!!

MALIA HAS A VERY SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HER DADDY! SHE LOVES HIM SO MUCH THAT SHE SAVES ALL HER POOPY DIAPERS FOR HIM. I AM HERE TO REPORT THAT I HAVE NOT CHANGED A POOPY DIAPER FOR 3 WEEKS. SHE ALWAYS WAITS UNTIL I AM GONE (SHOPPING, WORK, WHATEVER) AND SHE'S ALONE WITH DADDY, THEN SHE LETS IT RIP! I AM FINE WITH THIS ARRANGEMENT. I WAS GETTING READY TO PUT HER IN THE SHOWER WITH BEN TONIGHT AND I TOOK OFF HER DIAPER AND FOUND A NUGGET THE SIZE OF A PEA. SO A PEA SIZED NUGGET IS ALL I'VE HAD TO DEAL WITH FOR THREE WEEKS. ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY THAT THE NUGGET FELL ON MY FOOT BECAUSE I TOOK THE DIAPER OFF WHILE HOLDING HER. WHAT A GOOD LITTLE BABY!

6 months!

When Riley was six months, he was SO cute for his pictures. It is such a fun age! You almost can't get them to STOP smiling at the photographer. I thought it would be fun to get matching pics of Riley and Malia at six months. These are mine to keep forever on my wall. I will not be passing these down to my kids. They get their baby books and other memorabilia, but these will always be MINE!Much to my relief, Malia has finally embraced the art of sitting. I hope this will help let the back of her head round out since she hates being on her belly and always rolls to her back. Her pediatrician recommends she gets a helmet since her head is still wider than it is long, but I might wait and see since I think it's rounding out a little on it's own. Plus, isn't she a little doll sitting there like that!!!

Malia snuggle in the stroller while Riley trick-or-treated. She was a bumble bee!Riley was spiderman! This action shot pretty much captures how he was all night....running! He loved halloween this year. He was even happy to say "Trick-or-treat!" which he was too shy to do last year. This year, as long as the people at the door just gave him his candy or let him pick, he was fine. But if they tried to interact with him at all, he just froze :) He especially hated being chased by a big gorilla with a chainsaw. We heard his wrath on that subject for the rest of the night!
SPIDERMAN!!!!!

We are looking forward to the holidays! Ben is determined to get a real tree this year. I am a fan of artificial, but hey why be stubborn when I know Ben will have fun taking Riley to get a tree. My only request is that it be symetrical because I am a freak who can't handle asymmetry in any form. My mom is coming to visit for Thanksgiving! She will join us at the Cooks, and my biggest goal is to get her to embrace sweet potatoes (Kade and Ciara make the BEST sweet potatoe dessert thingy). Also can't wait to go to New Moon with friends this month. I hope we can spend lot's of time with friends and family over the next few months!

I can never think of clever titles for my posts....

Pretty tiny mouth for a pumpkin, but Riley picked this little shape from the kit to be the pumpkins mouth. Who am I to put my own pumpkin carving desires over those of my four year old? So we went with the teensy mouth, and I think it turned out pretty cute!

I had to take the customary 'naked baby grabbing toes' shot. I must admit it was hard to get a modest one, if you can even call this modest! Why are naked babies SO cute?

We are ready to go out for a late night stroll. There wont be too many nights left before it's too freezing cold for this!

Ever played 'crack the egg'? Riley was trying the crack my egg. I think it's more fun to crack his egg...he gets a lot more air and it's fun to watch him go flying :)

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.....and we are still married!

So.......after much toil and sweat and wailing and gnashing of teeth, our backyard is mostly done. And Ben and I are still married, but let me tell you there were times when we were like two little toddlers who could not agree on which disney movie to watch. Next spring we hope to get a fence, but for now we have a concrete pad which has several steps and then wraps around the side of the house and continues as a huge RV pad. Nevermind the fact that we don't have an RV and I don't predict and RV in our foreseeable future. We also got a sprinkler system installed, put a trampoline in the ground, had some concrete curbing laid around the house, and laid over 5000 sq ft of sod (with the help of wonderful people who helped us...bless them!!!) Ben worked his tush off putting this trampoline in the ground. We actually put it in the ground once, then had to take it out after we realized that all the dirt we were backfilling around it was not properly supported. What a PAIN! BUT....we now have a good retaining system and didn't have to pay $700 for one of those pre built systems.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I had the opportunity to go with these lovely ladies to a conference for work. We stayed at the Zermatt resort in Midway, which was interesting since I used to work for the architect that made the blueprints for the resort. I have spent hours looking at the resort on blueprints, but never saw it built. The conference was great! I learned a lot about labor and delivery. There were two other ladies from work there, and it was fun for us to hang out and learn some great things. We went shopping at the outlets in Park City, and I got myself in trouble at the Carter's store. Why is it SO dang fun to buy clothes for kids???

I had Ben take this picture because I realized that I don't have that many pictures of Malia and I. Here she is allowing me to taste her finger. She is such a chunky girl! Just tonight I gave her a taste of chocolate...and then another, and another, and another because she was so taken with the chocolate and kept opening her mouth wide for more. That's my girl!

Riley is decked out in his preschool attire and his Spiderman "packpack". Wow! He is so handsome and so cute! Whenever he has these shoes on, he likes to check himself out in our full size mirror. The other day I spied on him looking at himself front and back and he looked SO smug :) He knows he is a stud :)

We did the Onion Days thing this year. Unfortunately 10 tickets were $10 and equaled only about two and a half kiddie rides. Sheesh! I hope they pay those creepy carnival guys well. They at least ought to pay for them to get some of their teeth replaced. Well, the important thing is that we had a great time being together!

Her hair is trying really hard to come back.

And then I have a friend who can do THIS with her baby's hair! These two were trying to eat eachother before this picture was taken. Well, Kaylie was trying to eat Malia's PJ's, and Malia was trying to pull Kaylie's hair....because she's jealous and wants a little for herself.


I love this picture of Malia and her auntie Ciara. It's like they are having a little gab session and Malia is saying "Can you BELIEVE my mom only fed me NINE bottles today???"The Church family paid us a visit last Sunday and brought some delish cookies, and some sour cream, and some tortillas. Actually we invited them because they had all the ingredients we were out of, but hey we had fun :)

We're Still Here! (Just preoccupied)

AND MALIA HAS BEEN PREOCCUPIED WITH EATING! I JUST HAD TO DOCUMENT THESE THIGHS...SHE TAKES AFTER HER DADDY. IS THERE A KNEE IN THERE SOMEWHERE??? AND WITH HER DAILY FEEDING FRENZY IT IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. DISCLAIMER: THE BRUISE IS FROM HER IMMUNIZATIONS...I DID NOT PINCH HER.SHE'S ALSO BEEN BUSY GROWING OUT HER HAIR. I PULLED THIS OUT OF THE HALLOWEEN BIN. IT BRINGS BACK MEMORIES OF HALLOWEEN THREE YEARS AGO WHEN RILEY WAS TOO LITTLE TO CARE THAT I DRESSED HIM UP LIKE AN ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL. I COULDN'T EVEN GET HIM TO PUT THIS HAT ON THE OTHER NIGHT....HE ABSOLUTELY REFUSED.

HER SMILES ARE COMING ABUNDANTLY NOW!

THIS IS UP AT A RESERVOIR IN SPANISH FORK. SHORTLY AFTER THIS SHOT WAS TAKEN, I SLIPPED ON SOME SLIME AND FELL IN AND THE INNOCENT BABE CAME DOWN WITH ME. OF COURSE I WAS LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY THROUGHOUT IT AND THROUGHOUT THE UGLY AFTERMATH. I ALWAYS LAUGH WHEN I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SERIOUS.

THE BEAUTIFUL SUNSET. I LOVE THIS RESERVOIR!

RILEY CAUGHT A COUPLE OF FISH AND LOVED TO REEL THEM IN. BUT HE WOULDN'T TOUCH THE FISH OR PARTICIPATE IN PUTTING IT BACK IN THE WATER. FUNNY THING IS THAT THIS FISH IN THE PICTURE DID NOT WANT TO GO BACK TO HIS HOME OR FAMILY. HE KEPT SWIMMING BACK TO THE BANK. EITHER HE WAS REALLY CONFUSED OR HE REALLY LIKED US. WHEN WE LEFT AN HOUR LATER HE WAS STILL THERE HANGING OUT AT THE BANK....NOT DEAD, JUST WANTED TO BE NEAR US I GUESS.

SHE SEES ME DRINK THIS SO MUCH (ALTHOUGH I AM CURRENTLY ON A DIET COKE HIATUS) SO NO WONDER SHE WANTS A SIP :)

NO TRAINING WHEELS!!! AND NO STRIPES!!!

WE FINALLY FIXED RILEY'S BIKE TODAY, AND HE'S BEEN BEGGING US TO TAKE THE TRAINING WHEELS OFF SO WE DID. IT'S LIKE THIS KID HAS FOUND NEW FREEDOM! HE JUST SOARS ON THIS BIKE, AND LOVES TO CHALLENGE A RACE WITH ANY OTHER KID (OR ADULT) WHO HAPPENS TO BE OUT ON THEIR BIKE TOO :)

AND NO STRIPES! WE PAINTED THE ZEBRA STRIPES ON OUR HOUSE AND IT LOOKS SOOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER (SEE PICTURE IN PAST POST). THE FUNNY THING IS, THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOW FINALLY TELLING US HOW AWFUL THEY THOUGHT IT LOOKED, NOW THAT IT'S FIXED :)

WHEN SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO, SHE STICKS OUT HER TONGUE. CHECK OUT THAT HUGE BELLY!

BEN AND RILEY HAD A GREAT TIME HAVING SOME MAN BONDING ON THE TRACTOR. YOU COULD TELL RILEY FELT PRETTY COOL BEING IN THEIR, AND YOU COULD TELL BEN FELT PRETTY AWESOME OPERATING THIS BIG MANLY TRACTOR :)

A WONDERFUL WEEKEND

Riley turned 4 yesterday! This year he's old enough to really understand the concept of a birthday party, so we had a big party for him and invited a bunch of family and friends to play with us on a big waterslide. It was such a blast...I think everyone had a really good time and it was so fun to see everyone having fun! The waterslide is huge and fast and the best part was watching people pick their wedgies at the bottom :)

Riley seems to really enjoy wearing water accessories, even when they are not necessary. We got him a blow up pool for his birthday so my mom bought him a bunch of pool toys including these goggles, which he enjoys very much and is wearing at this very moment while I'm typing this blog, even though we are just hanging out in our living room.

These are our buddies Brian and Jackson. They had fun too! But at the very end of the party, somehow Jackson (who is Riley's age) fell and broke his leg. He is such a cute little guy and we feel so bad that this happened to him, but he is such a trooper and is doing okay. Luckily the hospital is really close so he was able to get some help quickly.

Riley and his uncle Sam (my brother), getting ready to race down. Sam is the best uncle ever, and always gives Riley little toys and treats. He plays with Riley and is such a sweetie :)

Riley and his cousin Kortely (that's Jackson behind them) running up the hill ready for another round!

When Riley was opening his presents, he was acting kind of antsy and sort of just pulling things out of bags and dropping them on the ground like he was in a hurry and couldn't focus. I realized after watching him dance around a little that he had to go to the bathroom REALLY bad but just didn't want to tell us because then he'd have to take time out from all the fun! This kid got a HAUL this year!

I love how little boys latch onto the idea of Superheros. And Spiderman is one that just never seems to go away through the generations. Well, I guess a Spiderman phase is a rite of passage for lots of boys :) Us parents are just along for the ride! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of his Spiderman cake.Malia has an impressive string of drool! Another wonderful part of the weekend was my mom visiting us for a few days. We were originally planning on driving up to Idaho to see her, but the more we thought about how hard that would be with Malia, we thought it would be better for my mom to come here. And we are so glad she did! We had fun and Riley really cozied up to her. He has changed so much just in the last few months. He's become more open to talking with adults and he's much more cooperative. He's always loved being with my Mom, but it usually takes a whole day for him to warm up. This time, it didn't take any time at all! I can't believe I didn't get any pics of Riley and my mom because they had so much fun together.
It was hard to see my Mom leave! I wished she lived closer, but I think I'll go visit her in a couple months. We had a great time going to movies, going to a nursery to get some plants and trees for our yard, and going out to eat. But I wish we had more time because I would have loved to go on a long walk with her.

And I can't forget to mention that Ben took Riley camping Friday night at his family's cabin. His Mom and Dad's ward was having a party so there were lots of people around. It's such a fun place to go! I'm glad they got to go :)