Shyla Turns the Big “4”

January 28, 2011- Shyla had her most recent well-check appointment.

Weight: 36.6 pounds (64%) Height: 3’ 5.5” (85%)

According to the rate Shyla is growing compared to America’s version of an “average girl her age”, Shyla is expected to be 5’6” to 5’7”. Of course she could be taller or shorter. I have a feeling she’s going to have the body type and size I always dreamed of having. I’ll just live vicariously through her. Hope she doesn’t mind!

Saturday, January 22, 2011- Today was Shyla’s 4th birthday party. She had been telling strangers in the stores for months that she’s going to have a princess party and she wanted everything pink. I thought it was a phase and something she was just saying in the moment. I thought I’d be able to plan whatever I wanted for her birthday. I guess this was the year that stopped. Not only was she still telling everyone she was having a princess party in January, she was convinced it was happening. I couldn’t disappoint. She got her princess party. Princess movies were playing during the party and when it started to calm down, Shyla and her friend Mia layed down to watch The Little Mermaid. The two were so cute I have to admit. It was a lot of fun. We decided to only invite girls this year, unless the boy was a sibling. We just thought boys wouldn’t enjoy making pink candy necklaces, playing pin-the-crown-on-the-princess, or eating pink cupcakes. All the food was pink and cute too. We had heart shaped PB&J sandwiches, pink jello/cottage cheese/fruit salad, mini bagels with strawberry cream cheese, strawberries, meat and cheese with toothpicks, chips and salsa, sparkling pink party punch, and of course pink frosted and sprinkled cupcakes. Mmmm!

SO the story of the birthday cake goes a little something like this: I wanted to make the cake for the party. I was getting some great ideas off the internet. Some were doable, while others were a little far fetched for me to pull off. In the end I decided to just do cupcakes and make them fun colored with sprinkles. The night before as I’m baking the cupcakes I realized Shyla didn’t have her own cake. So I busted this out. It’s supposed to be a crown. See the “jewels” on each point. *Sigh* Nevertheless, I got princess castle and temple (which it actually may be an idea I use for her baptism cake!). It’s clearly a crown! Haha! Monday, January 24, 2011- Shyla officially turns 4 years old today. She also started back in her Tiny Town Preschool. It’s a teaching school she was at last year that’s located in Deer Valley High School. She loves it there. I love her in the program. It works for both of us. She was the first birthday of the year. Couldn’t have a birthday without the goodies. I sent her to school with a bag of cookies that I individually wrapped for each kid. She got a special hat made, the kids sang to her, and she got to pass out the cookies. What a way to welcome in the new class, eh?After her nap, we improptuly (is that a word?) decided to take her out to eat for her birthday dinner. We went to Chili’s and met friends Phil and Laurie there to help celebrate. It was fun! Shyla ate enough during dinner that when her BIG birthday milkshake came out she didn’t even eat it! The rest of us ate it for her. Can’t let something that yum go to waste.HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY “BABY” GIRL! YOU’RE A BIG 4 YEAR OLD NOW! WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE? You continue to surprise me every day and I can see you mature as the months go by. Keep up the progress and keep being cute! My day is made perfect when you smile!

Jacob’s First “Big Boy” Haircut

January 15, 2011- *Sigh* It had to happen some time, right? I know I’m a sap. I have to admit, it brought a slight tear to my eye to think about, and then watch it happen, to have my “baby” get a haircut. It wasn’t that his hair was so shaggy that he needed to get it cut. It was just that it was all one length and getting a little scruffy looking I thought. It was more like a girls hair cut. I don’t know how to cut boy hair so Jake took the clippers to his head and clipped away! Afterwards I thought it looked cute. I haven’t a clue how to style boys' hair. Not too bad for my first go at it. Maybe because I was used to seeing it longer that at first it looked so short. The more I see him with the short hair, the better it looks. I still miss the longer hair though. When I’d rock him to sleep, I liked to run my fingers though his hair. I did it so much that he’d actually run his fingers through it at bedtime too. I think he finds it soothing. Even with the shorter hair I find a way to run my fingers though it.

What Went On In January

A lot! And nothing at the same time. It’s been cold. Not as cold as some parts of the country, but cold to our family anyway. We’ve been keeping occupied indoors as best as we can.

January 6, 2011- Below is proof that sometimes, yes really, sometimes my kids DO get along! They love to have a snack, cuddle up on their couch together, and watch a movie. I’m pretty sure they were watching either Toy Story 1 or Toy Story 2. Both, along with Finding Nemo, or “mo-mo” as Jacob calls it, have become frequently, very, very frequently watched in our house lately. January 10, 2011- I got a dust buster for Christmas and I thought it work best if I got the kids to help out. Shyla loves to clean up her own crumbs in the kitchen. Jacob loves to walk around with it and clean as well. It’s a little heavy for him though so he’ll walk a few steps holding it, put it down, pick it right back up, walk a few steps, put it down… well you get the idea. We certainly used the dust buster after he and Shyla munched away, and not at the table, on rice cakes. Not the cleanest snack food, but it kept them occupied for a bit. January 19, 2011- My kids wouldn’t be my kids if they weren’t so darn cute! Jacob has an obsession with shoes. Anyone’s shoes really. But he has this one pair of brown shoes that he wears EVERYWHERE! When you tell him to get his shoes, that’s the only pair he gets. He screams if any other pair is touched let alone put on his feet. Eventually he gets over it though and he can move on with his day.

January 20, 2011- Shyla doesn’t have a shoe obsession, but she does have a dress up obsession. Like Jacob with the shoes, anyone’s clothes can be used for dress up. She really likes my puffy pink jacket. I think because it’s fluffy. I rolled the sleeves for her and zipped her in it. She thought it was the best thing next to cheese flavored Pringles! I love that jacked so much, just seeing the picture of it makes me want to wear it again. Until next year lovely jacket….until next year. January 31, 2011- I’ll do a longer posting when the fence is completed, but we’re adding a short retaining wall/fence in front of our tall fence in the backyard. With the weather beginning to get nicer, the men worked, while myself and the kids played. Is there any other way?

Christmas Day

When I was little, my brother and I got to open 1 present each on Christmas Eve after we had been to the evening Children’s mass at church. We weren’t allowed to open presents until mom and dad woke up, so we’d go in to wake them up and let them know Santa had come to our house! We don’t have any real traditions set in our house yet. There’s so many I want to do, but if I put too many into practice, I feel like I’d be taking a lot of the fun of the day away.

For now here’s how things happen: First we let the kids open 1 present on Christmas Eve, we put out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and his reindeer, read Christmas stories to the kids and put them to bed. Christmas morning we eat something small so we can get to opening the presents. This year we had yogurt and bananas for breakfast. This worked out so that we could start opening presents while we ate! We clean up the mess that happens with Christmas presents. Get ourselves cleaned up and get ready for dinner with our parents. That’s how it’s gone the past few years. I enjoy it. I still want to have a few more traditions. Maybe reading about the birth of Christ from Luke. Having hot chocolate the night before. Or having a certain “Christmas breakfast” so we look forward to it each year. We’ve been wanting to have pancakes and maybe eggs as our “breakfast”, but I haven’t been able to find a way to get it made before the kids explode from excitement of wanting to open their presents. I did do something this year that I may want to continue. I hung the stockings on the tree on Christmas Eve (we have a curved mantle over the fireplace which isn’t ideal to hang stockings) so that Santa could put them by the fireplace on his way back up the chimney. Perhaps he was in a hurry this year because the stockings got left by the front door. I’ll try again next year and hope he remembers… by the fireplace Santa! By the fireplace…

Shyla loves to dress up. Did I say love? That probably isn’t the best word. Obsessed? No, that’s not even right. She’d live in her dress up clothes if I let her. My parents got her a dress up rock star box of clothes. Shyla started singing “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar. It was so funny! Jacob wanted to get in on the action too. I’d never be able to find the words to describe the cuteness that came next, so enjoy what only a picture can share…Jacob got some warm footie jammies from Candy Grandma. I love footie jammies. Actually, love isn’t the best word to use here either. I wouldn’t live in footie jammies if I had them, but I would like to let my kids live in them! :) Jacob loved them and so did I!Before a yummy dinner the ladies played cards (hard to see Shyla, but she’s next to grandma Dottie) and the men watched sports. That’s how it’s supposed to work, right? After some mingling it was time for dinner. Grandma Dottie brought some great tasting ham and Candy Grandma brought a delicious jello salad. There was too much food to list it all, but everyone got leftovers to take home. After dinner we got to give our moms a present I had been working on for a long time… crocheted blankets! Candy Grandmas got finished in time. The one for my mom took me a little longer. I gave it to her anyway even though I wasn’t quite done. The edging is the same as Candy’s. I hate to toot my own horn, okay, I don’t hate doing it, I’ll do it because I want to… both blankets suit the mom’s just perfect! We got my dad some wiper blades for his car. He’s always worrying about our vehicles and making sure maintenance is completed on them, etc. But when it comes to his own vehicle, some things can get overlooked. We borrowed his car a year or two ago and were driving in fog/mist. What did his wipers do? SMEARED the water on the windshield! I told him he needed new wiper blades. He said he’s never replaced them. Oh dad. Someone has to take care of it if he won’t, right? I did what any loving daughter would do and bought them for him. To end the evening we took some family photos. A nice one of Jake, his mom, and the kiddos. A pretty good one with me, my parents, and the kiddos, though Jacob wasn’t too happy anymore. And then one of us and the kiddos. We’re all saying “cheese”. It’s the new thing we have to do to make Jacob smile during a photo when he’s not interested in being there. The picture below that one shows how the photo session really went down. Overall a great day and I loved getting to spend time with both of our parents. The kids are just ecstatic whenever any of them are around. Fun, family, and remembering Christ and what He means and what He has done for our lives is really what Christmas is about!

Christmas Time Is Here

Christmas time is my favorite time of year. It’s because it’s not just a day to celebrate, it’s a “time of year”. People share more, give more, love more. Lights and decorations come out of their boxes and it makes people become more friendly. If only people could be this way all year and be giving and loving and caring all the time. What a nice way to live, don’t you think?

Being Relief Society meetings leader I was in charge of the Christmas dinner for Relief Society this year. I won’t go into how my calling as a whole is going because that could go down a dark path, lol! I had a lot of fun putting together this years Christmas dinner. I WISH I had taken pictures. Someone else said they were going to take some and so far I haven’t seen them. It was beautiful! Took ALL day to set up. Trees and lights everywhere! I wish the heater worked though because it was quite chilly inside. I kept telling people we were going for the “real” effect. Being there were trees and palm fronds all around I said it’s like we were set outside in a forest.

The only picture I have is of the dessert, which I came up with and made for everyone. This was the almost finished product. Pudding on the bottom, then cubed pound cake and fresh raspberries, on top was a layer of whipped cream with a couple raspberries to garnish the top. Mmmm! There were hardly any cups to clean up that weren’t empty. A sign of success! The following Saturday our ward had their annual Christmas party. I like them better when they’re in the evening because it feels a little more formal even if you dress in jeans. This year it was on a Saturday morning as a breakfast. I was looking forward all year to take the kids to the Breakfast with Santa through the city we live in, but it just happened to fall on the same day at the ward breakfast. Jake thought we should go to the ward breakfast instead. Next year though if it interferes I’ll be going to the other activity.

The ward choir (which I’m in) sang a few songs, we had breakfast, and then the 3 wise men (Bishopric) came to deliver gifts to the kids after they had recreated baby Jesus being born in a stable. Shyla was able to hold one of the stars in the program and Jake, at last minute, was asked to be one of the three wise men. Shyla was confused why Santa wasn’t coming. Not something I was really able to explain in a way she’d understand. It was a fun morning and the kids loved the gift that was brought. It was a small wooden nativity for the kids to play with.

(SHYLA IS IN THE PINK SHIRT HOLDING A STAR AND JAKE IN THE SECOND WISE MAN FROM THE RIGHT.)

Santa stopped by Shyla’s preschool. The kids were so excited to see Santa. Shyla wanted to know why he couldn’t stay and come to her house to play. Cute. The younger siblings were invited to go see Santa as well. Jacob didn’t go up willingly at first, but eventually he sat on his lap and didn’t scream! A huge feat for a small child. What would Christmas be without yummy sugar-filled goodies? Jake made his famous fudge, I made my famous peanut butter balls (no pic though :( and the kids made cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. (Confession: Mommy and daddy ate some of the cookies! Even though they were COVERED with sprinkles, they were still edible.)

December Catchup

A lot of things went on this month, but most of them were Christmas related and will be in the next posting. This month I babysat a few times for a friend of mine. Shyla and her older daughter love to play together. They are so loud together and don’t pay much attention when told to be quiet, but since they are cute it makes it a little bit better.

Not sure where the itch came from. Got an itch to clean the floors in the kitchen. Clean the grout to be more specific. I was SHOCKED when I saw just how dirty the grout was in the kitchen! I also have the grout to clean in the entry way by the front door, which I’m sure will have the same effect. I could have used a mop or some other grout cleaning object, but nothing gets a better clean than some good ‘ol fashioned hands and knees scrubbing.

1. Playing around with the camera and got a cute picture of daddy and the kids. They are all saying “cheese”. It’s the new thing we have to do to get Jacob to smile for the camera. I do believe it’s safe to say he’s got us wrapped around his little finger. The pinky finger to be exact.

2. Just a cute shot of Jacob crawling up the stairs at a friends house.

3. This is what happens when you leave a 4 year old (in a month) alone for a few minutes. There were toys and food on the kitchen table as well as the stuff on the floor. Can’t complain though… at least she was quiet while doing it!

4. It’s been cold lately. Bandit, who thinks she’s a lap dog, wasn’t going to go outside without a fight! It was time for a potty break before bed but that didn’t matter. She wasn't going to go. I had pulled her back half off the couch, but as you can see, she’s still laying in the couch. Eventually she made it outside. We practically had to carry her out. At probably 60-ish pounds it wasn’t easy.

Dad celebrated turning 71 this year! Happy birthday dad! We went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. He enjoyed the food and the company as so did we. I’ve enjoyed over the years becoming closer with my parents as I am now a wife and parent and having the relationship with them I don’t feel was there growing up. They have always done the best they could. I realize now, that even when mistakes are made, it is still done as best as they can. The same goes for kids growing up. Kids make mistakes too, but we do things the best way we can! See? We’re all saying “cheese”! Thank you to my kids for making me laugh at times I’d rather cry. I love you guys!