Happy Halloween

...from the train family. Thomas, Percy, and James... (those diaper boxes sure come in handy to paint over and make trains, dontcha think???)Sam was REALLY excited about being trains.
Z also went as a BYU football player to our trunk or treat. (like Sam was a couple years ago... do they look alike???)

A Note from Zachary

Hello. I just had a doctor's appointment that confirmed what my mom and dad suspected.

I am a big boy. Just how big you might ask???

Well... let me tell you.

I'm 85% for weight.
I'm 99% for height.
And my head? Well, it's off the charts.

But aren't I cute???

Sam's First Drawing

I can't believe that Sam can do this... but I watched him with my own eyes. Behold. Sam's self-portrait ("with REALLY big ears, Mom!").


Here are his other drawings from today and Sam being silly...
(this is Sam's "smile")...

Z - Whatcha Doing??

Oh... just chilling out here reading this book you got for me at the library... (Doesn't he look so OLD in these photos???)

Official Barrister... Again

What do these two times in our lives have in common? Both of Matt being sworn in to be an official attorney in each of the states we have lived. The difference? Boston was WAY cooler - Fanueil Hall simply wins over a blah giant assembly room at the Salt Palace, SLC was WAY shorter and more kid friendly (surprise, surprise). Biggest of all... our family size has doubled since then. Crazy!

Allow me to reminisce...
BOSTON.
I took a couple hours off of work, took the T and met Matt downtown.
In typical Boston fashion, there was no parking, limited seating and we had to wait outside in this line in the FREEZING cold for about 45 minutes.
All Matt had on was his suit... But, then we got to go into this beautiful historic building...And all the attorney-to-be were seated here......where Matt listened intently and even took notes! (Actually, that's him reading Tom Clancy...)
Here's us after Matt was sworn in almost four years ago...

Now, fast forward a bit to...
SALT LAKE.
I woke up my 6 month old baby from his nap, packed us all in the van and drove around and around the Salt Palace looking for parking until my father in law saved me (THANKS!). We made it to the swearing in only a little bit late...
Although this may be a bit scary to some of you, all of the above were sworn in to be OFFICIAL attorneys in this fair state just a few days ago. And yep. Our good friend and one of Matt's law school buddies "Lovey" Olson was one of them too.
With my two kids in tow. This is Sam's "smile". They were really good and patient for the whole ordeal. Sam ate his lunch and Z played with toys while the short ceremony concluded.
Our fam after Matt was made official. We celebrated by going to Crown Burger and talking my father in law into having regular game nights. Only those who know him realize what a raging success that is...

Congrats Matt. Here's to one foxy and wicked smahhhhht (and now officially legit) Utah barrister. ILY.

Frog Boys

I have much to post and no time to do it right now!

Here's one pic until I have more time. Look at these adorable frog boys. Sam LOVES that he and Z have matching pjs.

At Long Last...

Some of you know that we have been trying everything to get Sam to bed at an earlier hour... than say 10:30pm. Well, all our efforts have paid off.

Tonight, both boys were in their beds asleep by 7:50pm. How lovely to have an evening again! And what am I doing with it? BLOGGING. Sad state of affairs. Better go live it up. So many things I could do right now! Read, watch tv, run on the treadmill, clean, relax, etc.

Don't we all love our kids a little more when they are sleeping???

CA Prop 8

With my mom so heavily involved in Prop 8, she sent me this youtube video. It is by far the most clear, fair, and level presentation I've seen. (thanks Mom.)

If you live in CA, PLEASE view this. As a once CA resident, I wish I could vote on this next month...

YES ON PROP 8!

4th of the 4th

Thanks to Mind who tagged me (and if I don't do it right now, I never will...), here's the 4th picture out of the 4th folder.

I copied Mind. We're similar. We have folders within folders within folders. So first, here's the 4th pic in the 4th folder of the 4th folder of the 4th folder... etc.

Sam just waking up from a nap on Jan 11, 2006.
This one is the 4th pic from the 4th folder of this year's pics - Jan 8, 2008. I LOVE and miss these girls. From ice skating on Frog Pond - sipping hot cocoa. It was record breaking cold this time.
Okay, hmmmm... I tag Leese, Lesley (and/or Trev), and Corinne. (You're supposed to post the 4th pic from your 4th folder... Thanks for pointing out my lack of details, Trev...)

Cousins and Stroller Rides

Look at these cute cousins. More pics to come. We had so much fun at Wheeler Farm with Lisa, Sophie and Travis.
Matt and I decided to take our new stroller out for its first voyage this afternoon on a short jaunt around our neighborhood. When we arrived back home, this is what we found. These adorable boys sleeping with their hoods on... and most unbelievable is that Zack fell asleep with the weight of Sam's head on top of his own!

I LOVE our Toy Room...

Because yesterday, Sam spent a whole hour playing by himself while Z was napping. Heavenly.
And, I forgot to mention in the previous post where I shamelessly tried to get all of you to make your own baby food... When you DO, you get this:

One happy chubby baby. :)

Make Your Own...

Baby Food.

Yes... I'm doing it and I love it. So much so that I have to post about it in the chance that someone reading this who thinks it's too much work will realize how easy it is (and so much cheaper) let alone healthier for your baby.

Thanks much to Reagan and her book loan as well as this website, to make me see that it's EASY.

Let me tell you just how easy.

First, you need food you want to puree, a blender or food processor, ice cube tray, heavy duty foil, and freezer qt sized ziploc bags (and a sharpie for labeling).

Pears are in season, right? Yummy, delicious pears. Pears are one of the foods that are just mushy enough, soft enough, etc that you don't have to cook them first before pureeing them. Just core, seed and peel them, then pop them in your blender or food processor and you're done.

Let's break that down... Put your cored, seeded, peeled pears in here:
Then, scoop out puree and put it in here:
Cover with heavy duty foil and place in freezer (helps to prevent freezer burn):
Wait until frozen, and pop out into freezer quart sized ziploc bags:
Label and you're done! For a fraction of the cost, you have delicious ready whenever you want them to be homemade baby food.

Really... it's so easy. If I had known it was this easy (and if it hadn't seemed so very daunting to me the first time around) I would have done it with Sam.

Some other foods that are SUPER easy.

Applesauce - buy it at the store natural with no sugar added. You can freeze as is or puree it a bit more if the texture isn't fine enough.
Pumpkin - buy it in a can (but not the pumpkin pie filling... just pumpkin). Again, use it as is and freeze the rest. No need to puree.
Banana - Mash and eat as is, or puree and freeze. You might want to add some lemon juice to keep from browning.
Peaches - Cook (see the website... boil, blanch, microwave or bake. You choose), puree, and freeze.
Peas - Buy a bag of frozen peas. It's so cheap. Cook on stove (or in microwave), and come back when you have 10 minutes to puree and freeze.

Basically, I just keep an eye out for good produce deals when produce is in season and nab it. Sunflower Market has fabulous produce deals (thanks Leese).


Hopefully someone out there now wants to try this. And if you are a babyfood maker-at-home, share any tips with me! I'm just a beginner!!!

My Little Silly Man... with Bedhead

Sam looked so awesome this morning, I had him pose for me. These are his own poses... Quite funny.And when he's not being so silly, he sure is sweet.