Worst Blogger EVER!!!

I am such a big slacker. I feel like I never have anything to say, so I don't blog... then I realize I have to much to catch up on and it's too overwhelming, so I STILL don't blog! So, again, this will be picture loaded!! Here we go.....

For Tyler's birthday we went to Disneyland. The morning of his birthday we wanted to do a character breakfast. Shhhh! Don't tell Tyler it was a princess breakfast :) Ariel is Marissa's favorite princess, and breakfast was at Ariel's Grotto. All the princesses came around to our table and signed autographs. It was a blast!

This is how Tyler spent most of his Disneyland adventures. He'd work his hat down over his eyes and fall asleep.

Marissa's "pose"

Tyler LOVED going up so high over the lake at California Adventure

He had NO desire to touch his cake. He ate it just like this, or with a fork.

My parents came with us. They didn't love the rides so much. They just liked watching the kids!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of my little princess. She loves sleeping in curlers.

Story time with Grandma and Grandpa

My baby girl turned 5 yesterday. We had Ariel call her and wish her a Happy Birthday, had breakfast, then opened presents.

After all that we went to the Children's Museum. This tube sucks the ball up. When you lift the cover you get blasted with air!

They have a water table to play at.

There's a house to play in.

Cheesy grin riding a horse.

Posing in a boat.

Opening presents after our weekly Survivor party with family.

My mom made all the princess dresses for her - Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Ariel, Snow White, Minnie Mouse, Alice, and a tutu to go underneath and "poof out" all the dresses.

Maybe I'll try and stop procrastinating and actually update this more than twice a year!!!

The last few weeks...

So Marissa is facinated with trains. She loves to watch them drive by, especially "racing" them to see who wins as we drive past them on the freeway. One day, we decided Jeremy could drive to my parent's house with Tyler and Marissa and I rode the train. She had a blast! We rode on the upper level so we could see more. She didn't want to get off :)

When we got to my parent's house, she invented this GREAT game. She would toss us the ball, and then we had to hit the target....... remember - this was her invention!

DIRECT HIT!!!

Proof that they love each other

Tyler is typically a happy, easy-going kid. He's super mellow, he just entertains himself. He moves all around. He loves to stand, but still is pretty hesitant to walk on his own. He loves to stand up in his crib, and this is the sight I get to see when I go get him in the mornings!

HOWEVER.............

When he tries to climb out of his crib and succeeds, it's a totally different story. Now, the great mom that I am, I decide to take pictures instead of consoling him right away.... I know, I'm so mean!

It does make for some nice cuddling time afterwards though!!

Ok, I love to look at people's blogs. A friend from high school has a daughter a few days younger than Tyler. She had posted a bunch of pictures and I thought it was the funniest thing that her daughter loved the dishwasher. We don't use ours very often. (maybe a handful of times in the eight years we've lived in our house) Our friends have been coming over more often, so when we do that, we actually use our dishwasher!!! Tyler is just as facinated with dishwashers!!! He loved it. He tried to help me put things in there too.

Marissa was invited to her friend's birthday party. She was so excited, it's the first one she's been to. They had lunch, painted fingernails, decorated cupcakes, and "stuck a tail on a horse that didn't have one" :) She wanted to make Aubrey a mirror and buy her some earrings. She dressed herself, and did her own hair for the party. She had a blast!

We went and got haircuts this week too. It's Tyler's first haircut, and he did SO good. He sat so still! Just a trim, but it was so exciting for me since Marissa's first haircut wasn't until she was about two and a half!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Marissa got her hair cut too. She's so pretty!!!

Kids...

Last night we were watching American Idol, and after one of the auditions Marissa asked why one of the girls had "a pin in her nose" (she meant a piercing) Then I had to explain that to her!

While we were out running errands we drove past some horses. There were two of them in a field, and Marissa asked me where the rest were. I told her that either that was all the horses that lived there, or the rest were inside and asked her if she wanted there to be more horses. She said that only one mommy horse and one daddy horse wasn't enough to make lots of baby horses!

Today, we helped make dinner to take to the Road Home (a homeless shelter). Marissa was a little confused. I told her that some people aren't as blessed as us, and they might not have houses, clothes, or even food. She said "are they like shepherds mom? Cause shepherds don't have houses either. They live in the desert."

Ahhh, I love my kids!!

One Word

USING ONLY ONE WORD

Not as easy as you might think!

Now forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers. Be sure to send back to the person you received it from!

• Where is your cell phone? here
• Significant other? work
• Your hair? messy
• Your mother? selfless
• Your father? dependable
• Your favorite thing? dessert
• Your dream last night? music
• Your favorite drink? soda
• What room are you in? basement
• Your hobby? piano
• Your fear? alone
• Where do you want to be in 6 years? secure
• Where were you last night? dinner
• Something that you aren't? patient
• Muffins? cinnamon
• Wish list item? money :)
• Last thing you did? read
• What are you wearing? jammies
• TV? muted
• Your pets? never
• Friends? far
• Your life? family
• Your mood? tired
• Missing someone? yes
• Drinking? nothing
• Your car? dirty
• Something you're not wearing? socks
• Your favorite store? target
• Favorite color? green
• When is the last time you cried? sunday
• Where do you go to over and over? home
• My favorite place to eat? cheap
• Favorite place I'd like to be at right now? warmer

Milestones

Tyler is 9 months now. At his check up he was 28" (just over 50th%) and 19 lbs 4 oz (25th% - I know, it confused me too!) These are some of the things he's doing now:

• sitting up
• scooting EVERYWHERE
• "cleaning" the floor
• trying to pull himself to stand up
• drinking from a sippy cup
• loving food - especially the kind he can feed himself
• cuddling more often
• has enough hair to spike up (BIG difference from Marissa!)
• sleeping through the night
• and, as of this morning, he has his first tooth!
  

He is so easy-going and mellow. He is perfectly content to sit there and watch what's going on around him. If he's crying it's usually because he needs to be changed or is super tired. He goes to sleep on his own (just put something over his face like a parrot), and he LOVES his big sister.

Marissa is growing up too fast. I had her stand on the scale at Tyler's check-up and she has now passed 30 lbs.... FINALLY! She loves to take care of Tyler (and "her kids" too) She has a great imagination! She is learning to read and does a great job when she's not being stubborn. She loves to pick out her own clothes and dress herself (and matches most of the time!) She likes to help around the house. Her favorite chores are laundry, sweeping the floors, scrubbing the bathtub, and making dinner.... I wonder how long those will last! She has decided that she likes posing for the camera and has her "Sonny with a Chance" pose that she does. It cracks me up!

I love my family so much, and am enjoying these stages in their lives!!

Favorite Pictures...

Sorry for the ton of pictures, but these are some of my favorites from Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter in general.

Yep, he's pretty much always this happy!

Before Jake got out of the Air Force, my parents went to visit again and traveled around New York, Boston, and more.... Marissa wanted to make them a sign for them to come home to. I spelled "Welcome Home" and she did "Love, Marissa" Then she traced her "I love you's" and drew herself. Not too bad huh?

Marissa went to the dentist on her birthday this year, and because she didn't have any cavities she got to choose a prize out of the treasure chest.... this was the one she chose!

Daddy's Princess.... so true!

The Princess and the Frog

My mom and I like to take the kids to walk around Temple Square in their Halloween costumes... it gives them a chance to show off! Marissa LOVED watching the brides and wanted to pose like them.

We went to Gardner Village and had Marissa's nails done for Wee Witches Weekend.

Thanksgiving!

Tyler LOVED looking at/playing with the ads. He had them for several weeks before he started tearing them up!

Playing in the snow

After decorating Grandma and Grandpa's tree

Helping Daddy make dinner

Christmas Jammies

Looking for more presents

We got Tyler a picture of Christ for his room. After he unwrapped it he scooted over to it, layed on top of it, and started giving Him kisses... any doubts he remembers??

These are the remains from the present my brother, Jake, gave me.... boxes inside of boxes inside of boxes (each COVERED in duct tape and wrapped in paper bags) What was the present inside of that HUGE box???? An Itunes gift card.... What a brat! :)

He mostly tried to eat the paper, but here he's actually ripping it

Jeremy was put on the high council recently, and at the party they had this is the White Elephant gift he got. We have never seen Twilight or read the books, but apparantly we are now on team Jacob? He wore this to work for a few minutes just for the Twilight fans on his team! What a good sport!!

My little TV addicts

On New Year's Eve I had my gall bladder removed after ending up in the ER once having several more attacks . It didn't make for a fun New Year's Eve (my parents took Marissa for a sleepover, we put Tyler to bed, and fell asleep around 10) but at least I don't have any more pain! When my parents brought Marissa back, we played the longest game of pinnochle I've ever played. I was on some pain pills and made some dumb mistakes that made Jake and I lose, but it was still fun.

Me and my kiddos

Tyler scooted his way back to see the music box, and Marissa wanted to see what he was doing. They layed there watching the dancers for quite a while!