7 Years Ago Today

Happy Anniversary, Brandon!

When we told Ruby that today is a special day she responded that she knew. She and Wyatt watched us get married from behind the piano in Heaven. Kids are the greatest...

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

I'm sure you've all read the picture book "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" by Laura Numeroff. You know, the story about a little mouse who gets a cookie and then needs a glass milk and a napkin, and so on and so on.

Well, we recently repainted the interior of our house and while the painter was out here I asked him to give me a quote for painting the kitchen cabinets. It was so affordable that we decided to hire him to do it instead of undertaking it ourselves. Then we noticed that the old cheap laminate countertop was glued on to the cabinets in some locations, so we knew it would have to go before refinishing the cabinets. And while we were replacing the countertops we ordered the new appliances so that we'd have the correct dimensions to give the countertop fabricators. Oh, and a new countertop meant a new sink and faucet. After all that work we decided to go the extra mile and finish off the job with new hardware for the cabinets, a lighting fixture to hang above the table, curtains for the window, and a few barstools. So, as you can see, this mouse got a cookie...

We're currently in the middle of all of this renovation madness, but by Christmas it should be 95% done. Merry Christmas to Mama! Pictures to come...

10 month update

I'm not calling Wyatt little man anymore, little tank is much more appropriate! He's so beefy I'm sure that I'm going to throw my back out hauling around his car seat (luckily it has a 30 lb weight limit, so he can still fit in it). The good news is that he is a healthy and happy eater. He still drinks about 24 oz of formula a day and eats a jar or two of baby food, but he loves table food. He tries it all-- in fact, it's quite possible that he has tried more food these past few months than his sister has in her whole life. He loves ham, cucumbers, graham crackers, pears, peas, yogurt melts, and cheerios.

He puts all those calories to good use crawling around and pulling up on furniture. Just a few weeks ago he stopped army crawling and has started using all fours. Once or twice a day he pulls up to a stand, so it won't be long until we have a cruiser in our house!

The newest way to get around-- on all fours.

Eating the fall out of Ruby's pumpkin chocolate chip muffin (He might have learned this trick from Scout.).

He is great at independent play (as long as you are in eye sight). He loves to gnaw on the play food in Ruby's kitchen and open/shut the doors on her oven. He gets really excited about the dog and has even started throwing the ball for him.

Everywhere we go people are fascinated with his red hair and bright blue eyes. I have to admit that I think he's pretty handsome, too.

We love our big baby boy and can hardly believe that he's almost a year old.

All aboard the North Pole Express!!

It's that time of year again-- time to remember the jolly old man in the red suit! We had so much fun taking Ruby to the North Pole last year to meet him that we decided to bundle up the babies and do it again this year.

Waiting in the train depot...

pjs and beanies-- We're ready to go!

Ruby talked about it for days. She remembered the cookies (of course she would-- she has a serious sweet tooth), the singing, and Santa; and she looked forward to all of it! Nothing disappointed. She got especially excited when they started singing the "reindeer song" (Rudolph).

Ruby snack...

Wyatt snack...

When we arrived at the North Pole and Santa boarded the train she got really shy and we weren't sure if she was going to talk to him at all. By the time he got to us she had warmed up to the idea of talking to him and told him that she changed her mind and now wants a princess dress and princess shoes (up until a few days before she wanted a ballet dress and ballet shoes).

Wyatt didn't seem too interested in anything other than hanging out with us and pounding on the window. He was sorely disappointed that we didn't share our cookies with him, though.

On our way out the elves helped Ruby exit the train. One even held her blanket. As we were driving home she couldn't stop talking about it. It turned out to be the highlight of her evening.

I love this time year and I have to admit that it's especially magical with babies. There is nothing more fun than seeing Christmas through their eyes. These are the days that I waited so long to experience, and hopefully I'll never forget them, because they are the best!

Oh, Christmas Tree

We love ourselves some real fresh Christmas tree! This year instead of buying one at Home Depot we bought from a local lot. Well, I pretty much picked one out while Brandon chased Ruby through the trees. Wyatt hung out in the stroller. When we got home Wyatt went to sleep and Ruby helped decorate the tree. She even got the coveted job of placing the angel on top. The next morning (and every morning since) both kids have happily undecorated the lowest branches of the tree. NBD, I figured that might happen...

Black Friday Fun

We kind of really hate crowds, so shopping on Black Friday isn't an option around here. Instead, we took the kids down town to the Church History Museum so that they could play at the children's Book of Mormon exhibit. It was perfect for little ones-- everything fun and hands on (and surprisingly uncrowded). We had so much fun that we're planning on going back again (it's open for another year). Then we took them on a stroll through Temple Square to check out the nativity scenes. After a brief lunch at the Joseph Smith Building we headed home to rest. In short, it was the perfect way to kick off the Christmas season-- way better than fighting over stuff at Walmart!

Giving Thanks

This year we had a mellow little Thanksgiving. We're used to sharing bird with our favorite friends in the world, but they are all in Texas. :( So, we kept it simple and shared 16 lbs of turkey with Mom and Grandma. All the food was delicious, the toddler was a little crabby (because she was too excited to nap), the company was wonderful, and as we reflected on the year we couldn't help but be overwhelmed with gratitude and give thanks to God for our blessings. Hope your turkey day was great, too.

Papa Gary's Visit

The week before Thanksgiving my dad came to visit. We didn't let him rest for a second. Here's the rundown of all the fun things we did while he was here:

Eat lunch/ Play at Chuck E Cheese
We literally picked him up at the airport and went on our way home. Ruby was in Heaven. Wyatt discovered that he loves cucumbers-- so it was fun for all!




Play in Ruby's kitchen/ Build stuff with legos/ Dance in the dining room
All of these ideas were Ruby's, but Wyatt and Papa had lots of fun participating.




Roam the aquarium
Ruby was a little apprehensive about petting the starfish, but she finally convinced herself to do it and had a good time.






Eat at one of the only authentic Mexican restaurants in SLC
Delish- fish tacos and guac. Yummy!

Repaint our kitchen/family room
That's right, we put Dad and his expert cutting skills to use! He cut in all of the ceiling space in our kitchen and family room while Brandon and I manned the paint rollers.

Enjoy the last BYU homegame of the season
It was a late night game, so we nearly froze to death; but it was a ton of fun to get out and have some adult only time. Plus, we won! :)



Play in the snow
We bundled up the babies and headed for the canyon to build snow men and sled. Wyatt had the best time sticking his tongue out to taste the cold air. I was worried he'd be cold and miserable; but, surprisingly, he loved every minute of it!











Visit the farm
What trip is complete with out a pony ride and some goat petting?

Christmas shopping
Papa and I took the kids to Target and got their presents (of course we had to divide and conquer so that the kids didn't have a clue as to what we were doing), but now he doesn't have to worry about shipping. All I have to worry about is keeping Ruby out of the guest room closet--so far I've been mildly successful. (She saw Wyatt's lego zoo set and wanted to take it down so they could both play with it.)

Halloween

I just realized that I forgot to publish an update about Halloween; so here it goes:
Ruby was a bumble bee (or so I thought). She told everyone who asked her about her costume that she was a "bumble bee princess." Wyatt was our little honey bee (Ruby's idea) and if I had been less lazy I would have dressed up as the bee keeper. Instead I wore my orange Halloween shirt...disappointing, I know.







Anyway, we had lots of opportunities to get out and celebrate this season. On the Thursday before the kids got dressed up for a neighborhood playgroup party. Ruby loved painting her pumpkin and playing with Seraphina and Brek's toys. The following day we attended a lunch time work party at Daddy's company; which gave us our first chance to practice trick or treating. Then on Saturday we went to our church Halloween carnival. Ruby's favorite activity was the cake walk. I'm not sure if she liked dancing in a circle or winning/eating cupcakes better. Hmmm, probably eating the cupcakes! :)







The big day was especially fun, because we got to trick or treat twice! First we hit up the cubicles at Grandma Dona's office. Ruby had a great time collecting candy, but I think Grandma had the best time of all-- you know how grandparents love to show off their grand babies. Then we came home and had our traditional spooky dinner (mummy dogs, ghost cheese sticks, pumpkins made from navel oranges, and worms in dirt) and neighborhood trick or treating. The weather was PERFECT! We made it all the way down the street before Ruby got spooked and wanted to go home. We had to carry her up to the last few houses and point out all the cute/non scary decorations.







She hauled in quite the loot (lots of people threw in extra candy for Wyatt, too). We discovered that she liked the Whoopers and dum-dums best. About a week after Halloween I found 10 unwrapped dum-dums in the candy bowl. When I interrogated her about it she admitted that she tasted them all for breakfast. Nothing like a sugar rush early in the morning! lol
Hope your Halloween was lots of fun, too!