My New Obsession!

I've picked up a new obsession. Yes, I still love making hair bows, sort of. However, now I am obsessed with making interchangeable watch bands!!! They are so simple and easy to make! The hardest part is figuring out the pattern in which to make the watchband! I love doing it! It's a good way for me to get my mind off things and they are wayyy cheaper to make than to buy! Yay for new projects!

SO PROUD of Connor!!!!

*WARNING: The following announcement is LONGGGG! :)

One thing I've been learning from Connor is that things are done and milestones are reached when he, himself, feels truly ready to complete or accomplish them. I know that sounds so simple but, it has been hard for me to learn and understand that I really don't have a lot of control of when he picks up on things and that's a hard thing for a control-freak, like me, to handle. With Connor and potty-training, I tried FOREVER to get him trained. I tried all the different programs, read books, etc. It wasn't until he said, "Ok Mom! I go pee-pee in the potty", and a little help from the shower (ha ha!), that he was potty trained. Well, the same thing has happened with his binky! I HATE his binky and have tried many times to get rid of it! We've tried bribing him, tried sending them to the binky-fairy, I've tried returning them to the store to give to other babies, etc. It just never worked and he always had a hidden stash. We finally got him to quit taking a binky everywhere we went and he was only allowed to have it at night or naptime. A couple weeks ago we were fed up with it so, Mike decided to cut the tips of them so that there was a crack in all of them. Connor didn't like that, when he discovered what happened. He said they were broken and we needed to go the store and get more. We didn't do that. Then, one day I said, "Connor, you know that you shouldn't have a binky anymore". I was so tired of him losing them and trying to track one down. As many of you know, Connor has a temper like me and has no patience. So, finding a binky was a fight! Well, Connor then says to me, "Mommy! I'm a big boy, I growed all up! You know Mom, big boys don't have binkies?" As if this was a new concept or something! It was so funny! So, I told him he was right and that he shouldn't go to bed with one. He agreed. So, I put him to be without a binky. We've done this before and he always ends up crying and screaming that he wants a binky. So, I left his bedroom, fully expecting him to freak out. He didn't. In fact, he never asked for it once!!!! I was in shock. Of course, he didn't go to sleep until 3:30am. I think he was used to the binky getting him to sleep. Anyway, I made a sticker chart for him. Each naptime and bedtime he goes without a binky, for that day, he gets to put a sticker on the chart. After 2 weeks we'll take him to Chuck-E-Cheese (his choice) if he's done it for 2 weeks straight. Well, I'm happy to announce it has been 5 DAYS!!!! All the binkies have been thrown away, he doesn't ask for one, doesn't look for one, and goes to sleep really fast, too! Not to mention, he saw one of his binkies the other day and brought it to me. He said, "Mommy, we need to take this to the store and give it to the man!" I am so proud of Connor!

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Yes, I know he's nearly 4 and him having a binky this long may make me one of the worst mothers out there. I feel bad about it and embarrassed. Some people have their opinions on what is best for a child, binkies being one of the issues. I know binkies weren't the best for his teeth, etc. However, I think there are worst things for a child. I just know that I am so happy that Connor decided on his own that he didn't want the binky anymore!!!! He's growing up more and more all the time! So, Chuck-E-Cheese...HERE WE COME!!!!

Day at the Park

Last Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL day! The weather was perfect; so warm and sunny outside. So, we took advantage of it. We loaded up the kids, Connor's bike, Rylie's walker, the dogs, and went to the park. We had a great time, especially the kids! I think we spent 2 hours there, easily! Where we live the sidewalks are pretty uneven and Connor falls a lot while he's riding his bike. So, we took his bike so he could ride it easier. We took them out on the tennis courts. Everywhere Connor went on his bike, Rylie would follow after in her walker! She's pretty fast in that thing. After that we took the dogs for a walk around the park to the splash pad (not near as cool as the splash pads in MI). After cruisin'around there for a while we went and let Connor play on the jungle gym, slides, etc. It was a great afternoon!!!! I could get used to the nice, winter weather down here!

Curly Sue!

When I was younger, and would get perms (because we didn't realize how much natural curl I had), I would come home the curliest hair you've ever seen! My Dad would call my sister and I "Curly Sue". Well, it looks like Rylie has inherited the curly-hair gene that my Dad, myself, and others in my family have. I love it and think it's so adorable on her! Hopefully she'll enjoy her curly hair her whole life, instead of hating it as much as I did as a teenager!

10 MONTHS OLD!!!!

Rylie is 10-months-old now! I can't believe how fast the time has flown by with her! She has brought so much joy, laughter, and fun to our little family! Some of the different things she has been doing lately are:
* Waving hello, waving bye-bye and saying, "Buh-bye!" at the same time.
*When she is eating anything that she likes she will hum the entire time she's eating.
*She's been eating a ton of food! She'll eat around 2 1/2 jars of baby food, Stage 3, each meal.
*She's enjoys rough-housing and going after people, especially Connor. If she gets lucky enough to hit someone then she squeals really high-pitched with excitement!
*She's figured out that binkies mean nap or bed time. So she'll turn her head, close her eyes, and turn her nose up....like she's snooty or something. It's so funny! She does that when she doesn't want to eat anymore, too.
*Her hair appears to be curly!!!! How fun!!!!

Connor's New "Barney"

Connor has a love for horses! His obsession started when we lived in Michigan. We took him to a riding stable nearby our house! He absolutely loved and adored those horses (ponies). Since living back in UT he hasn't been able to ride horses. He really misses it and mentions wanting to go ride horses. Or, if we're driving in our car, he will always point out all the horses and "Barney's"(the name Barney came about when the first horse he ever rode was named Barney. Now every horse we see is named Barney). When we saw this stuffed-animal horse at the store we knew we had to have that for Connor. So we bought it a couple months before Christmas. It was so hard to keep it a secret. We didn't give it to him until after we got back from seeing my family for Christmas. His reaction made it worth the wait, for sure!!! He was so excited and he drags that horse everywhere! It's a perfect size and Rylie even fits on there!

Rylie's Christmas Dress!

Mmmmm! This bracelet is YUMMY!

Our little cheezer!The hair bow I made to match her dress! Emerald, satin colored ribbon is SO HARD to find!

Rylie's Christmas bracelet
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It was so fun dressing up the kids for Christmas. It's a tradition that for one of their Christmas presents they get a new Sunday outfit! I love getting little-man-suits for Connor and picking out a princess dress for Rylie was SO FUN! It was really hard to choose which outfit to get them but, I'm really happy with what we chose. Alyson M. helped me to make Rylie's bracelet. I picked out the beads. Then, because Alyson has all of the bracelet-making tools, she was so kind as to help me put it together!!!! THANK YOU, ALYSON!!! Then, I searched high and low for the perfect ribbon and trim to make Rylie a matching hair bow. We also gave her new Sunday shoes to match, because she had already grown out of her other fancy, black shoes! So, her outfit was complete!

Connor is OFFICIALLY a Sunbeam!

Connor in front of his classroom!
Connor testing out the pulpit!
These are just some of the kids in Connor's class.

Connor giving the everything's-A-OK wink!

Connor went to Sunbeams and Primary for the first time 2 Sunday's ago. He really enjoyed himself and he acted so grown up. He continually reminded us that he was a big boy and didn't need to go to nursery! I'm so excited for him. This will be such a fun experience for him. With Connor almost being 4-years-old he'll be the oldest in his class too. All week he has been singing, "Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam" and "I Am a Child of God". My kids are growing up so fast!

Christmas Morning 2008

Christmas morning was at my parents house this year. My sister and her family were over as well. Santa put his present for us under the Christmas tree upstairs. Santa put the presents for my sister's family under the Christmas tree downstairs. It worked out great. It was so fun and special to spend some family time together and watch the kids experience Christmas. Especially since this was Rylie's first Christmas. They had so much opening presents! Connor could not wait for the next present to open. Each gift he opened was like he had opened gold! He reminds me a lot of myself! Rylie, of course, was more interested in eating the paper, bows, tags, and boxes, than she was in the actual presents. Mike even managed to surprise me with some Bath & Body Works stuff, a new back-pack, floss, and razors. It was such a great day! After we opened presents we all wandered around, looking at what everyone had received. Then, my Mom made a yummy Christmas breakfast casserole, which we devoured! Christmas Day is the best. It's great to have nothing to worry about except spending time with family, letting the kids enjoy each other and have fun, and just focus on what the day is all about! I hope everyone had a great Christmas also!

Christmas For Brenna!

Every year, at Christmastime, we decorate Brenna's headstone/gravesite. Last year we did a Christmas tree. This year we did a Christmas wreath! My Mom is awesome! She will go get the things needed to decorate with and then let me decorate everything. When we were living in Michigan she decorated the headstone for me at Christmas, on her birthday, on Memorial Day, etc. When we took the wreath up to the cemetery and it was covered in snow!!! So, Mike dug around it the best he could, without his hands falling off from freezing. We wired the wreath onto a shepherd's hook so it wouldn't fall off. We took the kids up there with us too. It feels good to be able to go up there and make Brenna a part of Christmas. She's a very special part of our lives and really helps us to remember what's important.

Sleigh Ride at Hardware Ranch to see the Elk!

During Christmas vacation, while visiting my family, we went up to Hardward Ranch to see the elk. Hardward Ranch is located up Blacksmith Fork Canyon, in Hyrum, UT. The government has set aside land specifically for the elk to come to, during the winter, to be fed and taken care of through the hard winter months. They offer sleigh rides to the public to go around, stop, and watch the elk. Although it was dang cold and it was raining/snowing really hard, cold pellets, we had a really good time! It was so fun to get out and let the kids see the elk. Connor was more excited about the clydesdale horses pulling the sleigh. Afterwards, we took the kids to McDonald's to warm up and to let them play.

Michigan Friend's Get-Together in UT!!!

The Munchkins!
Zoey & Brett!

Allie

Tickly Torture on Connor!!!

Jack

The Abby's together again!

Megan, Justin, and buddies Zoey & Mark!

Rylie & Brett playing together.

Laura, Christie, and Amy

Laura & Amy

Rylie, Jack, and Connor

Anders, Mark, and Mike

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With so many of us former & current Michigander buddies hanging out in UT for the holidays, we decided to take advantage of it get together with whoever had the time. We did miss those who couldn't make it. Luckily, quite a few of us were able to be there and we were able to have a great time!

The Taylor's were kind enough to offer us their home in UT to meet at. They live in Pleasant View! Now I know why it's called Pleasant View! Because they live clear up the mountain and you can see for miles!!! The view is BEAUTIFUL and quite pleastant, I must say! Ha ha! Anyway, it worked out great because it was an in-the-middle place to meet and perfect size! It was fun hanging out in a casual environment and just let the kids run wild!

Each of us were supposed to bring something to share, food-wise! I can't remember all the food that was there but, it seems like it ended up being a veggie night because of what everyone brought! YUMMY and probably the healthiest food I ate all through the holidays!!!!

We really had a good time just talking, catchin up on our lives, reliving the good ole' days of Michigan, and talking about what the future holds! It was such a great thing to get together with such special, great friends! I am so grateful for these friends and the many other friends that became our family while we lived in Michigan! I can't wait until we are able to get together again, hopefully soon!