Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!

Okay Erica- this post is for you- down in hot humid Houston. It snowed for three days straight this last week and covered us all. This picture doesn't really do it justice since when I took it- the snow was falling really hard and really fast. But that just doesn't come across in the picture unless you look really closely at the fence. Anyway, I'm just wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy, happy New Year!!!

Gingerbread House

Okay so the pregnancy sickness has been rearing its ugly head the last few weeks. It's not only morning sickness, but afternoon, evening and Tuesdays. I was never sick with Ty so this has been a totally new experience for me (and I also want to say here that it's not fair either. How in the world are you supposed to spend the day laying on the bathroom floor when your two year old wants to go out and play in the snow?), and not a fun one at that. So this Christmas season, I have been attempting to cut a few corners to make things a little bit easier on myself, but still have the fun stuff around for Ty. I love to cook and bake, and Ty is my best little helper. I had all these grand plans to make a gingerbread house from scratch- but new baby is having none of it. So we actually found a pre-made kit at Costco that you just glue together and stick the candy on. I figured you couldn't cut the corners much better than that- so we bought it. It turned out to be one of the best ten dollar bills we have spent this season. It kept Ty and I occupied for the better part of two hours. Yeah that's right... two hours. I should keep an eye out in January for a gingerbread snowman kit, and in February a gingerbread heart kit... You get the idea here. Anyway- it was a ton of fun for both of us.

The Christmas Tree

For those of you who know me well know how very much I love Christmas and every thing associated with it. And the one of the best things about having kids is that they are excited about Christmas too. I put up the Christmas tree a few weeks ago (okay truthfully I would have put it up the week before Thanksgiving if I thought Shaun would let me get away with it) and got all of the decorations laid out on the couch so that Ty and I could figure out where we were going to put what. My phone rang and I went to go answer it and came back a few minutes later to Ty decorating the himself. He had carefully unwrapped the red balls and was placing them on the tree so daintily- I had to question if he was actually the rambunctious little boy that had been running around the house an hour ago. He was just so excited to be helping Mama with something as important as a Christmas tree.

Deja Vu?

Okay. I'm so having a deja vu moment here. About three years ago I went to the doctor and he told me that I was pregnant, I would be having a baby at the end of July and that we conceived somewhere around Halloween. This last Wednesday- I went to the doctor, he told me I was pregnant, that I would be having a baby at the end of July and that we conceived somewhere around Halloween. How crazy is that?! Unbelievable to me. So- if Shaun is spending the month of October with you guys next year- you'll know why. Anyway- we're way excited and we're attempting to get Ty there too. I don't think he really understands though. But he is cute- we'll ask him what his special secret is- and he'll lean over and whisper "baby." I know we're only like a minute pregnant- but we're excited and wanted to share the news!

Also- for any of you bargain hunters out there- I just got some coupons in the mail and thought maybe with Christmas coming and whatnot that the codes would be helpful to you too!

I got one from Gymb oree that is 20% off good until December 24. Coupon code: 420102480803
And then I also got one for Macys (also 20% off) that is good until December 3. Coupon Code: MACYSFF

You Might Be a Mom If...

Jeff Foxworthy made his millions off of his bit on "You might be a Redneck", which got me to thinking that while I may not make anything off of this next blog- the truth of it will appeal to moms everywhere. It's a work in progress (and yes, sadly it is inspired by actual events) and feel free to add to it!

You might be a mom if...

1. You fill out your bank deposit slip in crayon because it's the only writing utensil in your purse.

2. When you pull out your wallet to pay for your groceries- a week old french fry falls out.

3. You haven't showered since Tuesday.

PS- the picture has nothing to do with the post. It's just cute. It's Ty and his cousin at the Rodeo this summer.

And the lotion gets moved to the TOP drawer...

I love my kid. Sometimes I want to tape him to the wall- but sometimes (even when he's in trouble) I just can't help but laugh at him. I know that the picture is the wrong way- but tilt your head because I don't have time to fix it. Anyway- he found his lotion and wanted to put it on his cheeks because they were dry. Why then it ended up in his hair is still a mystery to me. Ahhh two year olds.

E L M O

Obsess much? Yes. Elmo is a favorite at our house. Ty can't get enough of the little red annoyance- I think he'd have Sesame Street videos on all day if I'd let him. Be that as it may- Shaun and I decided to indulge our little monster, and let him make a day of it. Ty was a little wary of this red furry thing, but once we got it on him- there was no going back.

Anyway- we had a lot of fun on Halloween. Ty and I made special Halloween sugar cookies which he got to decorate (if you saw the little slide show from the previous blog- you'll see it all over his face- what good is frosting if you can't get a little messy?) and share with his dad at lunch. After lunch we went over to Shaun's school for the Halloween parade. Ty loved every minute of it- he kept pointing out all the "Halloween witches" (witches scare him- so we had to make a big deal out of the fact that since these were "Halloween witches"- they weren't scary) and the ghosts. It was really a lot of fun.

We did go trick or treating- but only to a sum total of three houses. Ty was just so excited to be out running around with all the other kids- that he didn't really get what we were doing. He would run from house to house with his little pumpkin bucket just a swinging away (he kept losing his candy). He was a little unsure of actually going up to the doorstep and saying "Trick or Treat"- and it usually came out in a rush, sounding more like "Teet," but I think he must have gotten his point across, because all the old ladies gave him candy and told him he was cute. He just beamed.

It was a lot of fun- I love holidays (much to Shaun's disappointment), and Halloween just kicks off one of my favorite few months of the year!!

Eeek! There's a monster in my house!

New Friends

We have a new friend in our neighborhood. Her name is "Spook". She's this cute little black dog that lives (technically) next door. But she's always over at our house. She loves Ty because he "shares" his snacks with her and likes to throw balls for her. She is at our door by 8 o'clock every morning and sticks around until bedtime. We spend a lot of time outside (probably because it is so easy now. When we lived in Boise it was this whole ordeal where we had to get the bag and the keys and the phone... it was a pain), and Spook is always with us. We can't even go for walks without her tagging along behind us. She has taken to the protector role on our outings- any time another dog even thinks about getting close to Ty- she is the first one to jump in between the new dog and Ty. We love having her around!

The Cozy Coupe

Okay- so Ty hasn't handled the move very well. He is tired, cranky and honestly more than a little bit of a pill. We're all adjusting though right? I have tried to keep Ty busy so that his spontaneous tears are kind of kept at bay. In an effort to help hold back the torrential alligator tears, my mom bought Ty a new car that he can ride around in outside in the yard. This was the original plan, but Ty loved riding around the house so much, that we have actually ended up keeping it inside. Ty likes to have his afternoon snack in it while he watches Elmo. It's kind of dopey- but definitely cute, and I thought you would all enjoy the picture!

Before and After Photos

Okay... so I've had some requests for before and after photos of the house. Eventually we'll get all of our furniture in the right place and pictures on the wall- and then everything will seem like home again. Right now- our only hangup is that we need to do some paint touchups- but do you know how hard it is to pull out a roller and paint with a two year old? That's like death to my leather couches!! So anyway- pictures are on the backburner until then. But... let's get started with the official tour of the house before we painted (I'll upload the after pictures in the next post)! First... let's look at Shaun and my bedroom. When we bought the house it was a dark, dark chocolate brown with a teal trim. Which actually could have been cute- but the room is kind of small- and it just seemed soooo closed in with all four walls dark. Maybe if it had been an accent wall or something- but it just made me feel like I was in the stomach of a whale or something. Just call me Jonah. She had even painted the hall the same dark brown- it was just sooo dark!!

Then came Ty's room- which in all reality looked like a hot dog bun or something. It was yellow and red. I think she was originally going for like a "Curious George" theme- but again- it really made the room seem small. I guess if I really like red or something I could have left it- but the previous owner had let her little boys dip their hands in yellow paint and press it against the wall. I didn't really want lasting impressions of kids I didn't know. It's kind of a cute idea though.... maybe we'll do something like that in the basement or something.

Let's see... We also have a third bedroom upstairs that we aren't really sure what we're going to do with yet. I think it will be a guest room for now- and then once we get to that point- it will become a nursery (no grandma Jacki- we are not announcing anything yet :) ). It was pink though and it just had to go too. It would have made a very pretty princess room- but in reality... who are we going to give that to? Shaun? Maybe he could hang up all his Michael Jordan memorabilia in it... Maybe not. Maybe we could get the paint color for Erica and her little girls- it would fit better.

The kitchen is probably my favorite room in the house (though this could be because we haven't had to do anything with it yet). It's not really a before- but I love it so much- I thought I would upload a picture anyway!

And now for something completely different...

Okay... This is it! Our new house! As most of you know- we have been living in Montpelier for a few weeks now and are just getting settled into our new casa. We looked and looked for the two months that we were living in Garden City for a place to move to... and it was a joke!! The homes up here are really old and run down for the most part. When we started our little house hunt we ran into some of the scariest things! One house even had a headstone in it's front yard. Yeah... you read that right- a headstone. Another one smelled like cat pee and another looked like it was going to fall in on itself. The other homes that weren't dumps were way out of our price range. We were starting to think that we were going to end up living in the cabin forever. But then... our realtor found us this little gem! The people that owned it had bought it and done a ton of renovations to it. I found a picture of it in its original state- and I almost didn't recognize it.

Anyway- while the family had done a lot to it- thier choice in paint left a lot to be desired. So we had a painting party to cover up the yellow in the living room, the brown in the hall and master bedroom, the red and yellow in Ty's room and the pink in the extra upstairs bedroom. I guess it just goes to show that one man's castle is another man's nightmare.

Things are now pretty well put together- and now we've just been trying to get pictures hung and furniture in the right place. I'll upload some more pictures as we take them. But now you are all up to date!! Yay!!

Fall Leaves

I love the fall. The crisp air. Harvest. And the beautiful leaves. Ty and I went for a nature walk when we were living at the cabin- and I just couldn't help but take a picture of my baby boy with the autumn leaves behind him. Ty loved going on these little nature walks. We took one every day (because really- what else were we going to do- there was no internet, no TV, no laundry facilities at the cabin), and it was really nice to just let Ty take his time and pick up all the sticks and rocks that he wanted to. I let him take a bucket along with us- so that he had a place to put all of his treasures. I kind of miss the walks now- just because the scenery was so pretty. We still take walks every morning- but now I'm pointing out things like geese and

Cabin Fever

Okay- so we spent about two months in my family's cabin at Bear Lake. I can't just skip over that part since I have some cute pictures of our adventures in isolation. For those of you that haven't been to the cabin- it's located just above Garden City in Logan Canyon. It has a beautiful view of the lake and is covered in trees and chuck full of critters. Grandma and Grandpa were up for a visit one week and Grandpa found a little garden snake for Ty to play with. Ty thought it was great- when someone else had it or when it was in a box. But the second that wriggly little thing got close- Ty backed up so fast!

Since we spent so much time here, I decided to give Ty a very special job (he was having a hard time adjusting to the move- so in all actuality I was just trying to give him something to take his mind off the fact that we weren't ever going back to the home he knew). His job every day was to lay out food for the neighborhood deer herd. This deer herd has about six deer in it- full of mama's and babies (with the occasional buck) and they weren't shy about coming right up to the cabin when it was dinner time. I could never believe how close they let us get to them! This picture is just right off the back deck and I was literally feet from them. It was crazy!

MIA? No way!!

Hi everyone (okay- the word "everyone" might be a little strong since there are like three people that read this)! I know we've kind of been gone for a while- but all for good reason! Shaun got a job a few days after we got back from California and it has been a whirlwind ever since. Shaun interviewed for a position as a PE/Health teacher for the elementary school in Montpelier, Idaho and they offered him the job on the spot. Problem was- school started in a week and a half so it was "go time" for us when we made it back to Boise. We had everything packed in two days and then we were off.

We have been staying at my parents cabin in Garden City (Bear Lake) which is about 45 minutes from Montpelier- but it has been great! Finding a rental in Montpelier is like finding a parking place at the mall during December. They are almost non-existant and the ones that you do find have been totally trashed. We looked for a while- but decided it was time to call in the big guns... we called a realtor and a mortgage company... and we close on the most beautiful little house in a week!! Yay! (I can't find my cord to hook up the camera so you don't get any pictures unless you visit this link... http://www.bearlakerealty.com/residential.php?state=Idaho&city=Montpelier&home_id=552) We are so excited and things have been going really well. The people here are incredible and so nice. Everywhere we turn there are people calling us and making sure that we don't need anything. We even had one lady send us home with a carton full of farm fresh eggs. I haven't used them yet- they still have chicken poop on them and that's almost too fresh for me.

Anyway- like I said- at the moment we are living in a log cabin and have no internet access- so this is my first chance to give a shout out to you all. Hope it doesn't go so long next time!

Six Flags

We beached it for so long that Shaun was starting to dig sand out of placed we didn't even know he had. For those of you who haven't been around Shaun on the beach... let me clarify... HE HATES IT!!! He can think of nothing more mindnumbingly dull than sitting on the beach for a couple of days- so to make Shaun happy (sort of- he doesn't really like rides either, but I think he had reached a point of mutiny when it came to the beach)- we took a day off and went to Six Flags Magic Mountain on Thursday. It was really a lot of fun. They have a little place set up just for kids (I think they called it Toddler Land or something along those lines) and Ty went nuts! He thought it was so cool that he could ride his own horse on the Carousel and that he got to steer his own car on the "Race Track". I guess Magic Mountain has their claim to the Warner Brothers characters because Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig were seen running around the place. Ty wasn't quite sure he thought they were very cool- but found the strength within to give Daffy Duck a high five and "bones".

Back on Track!

Hey everyone! I'm back... I took a few days off from the blogging world for a few things (Harry Potter and homework being numbers 1 and 2) this last week, but now I'm ready to tell you all about the rest of our trip (mainly because I have nothing else to blog about right now). Let's see... we left off after Ty's birthday- I guess that just leaves the whole reason we went to California... THE BEACH!! Ty thought the "Big Water" was pretty cool- he chased the waves and dug for sand crabs (but went running the other direction once he actually caught the sand crab). Then he "helped" grandpa make a sandcastle- though in reality he just ended up putting a butt print on the top of it. But really- what do you expect? He's two!! We also made Ty go out on the boogie board, but I'm not convinced that he really thought it was a whole lot of fun. We even got a little video of Ty playing around, but I'm not sure if I know how to post that. I'll work on it and I guess we'll see!

Happy Birthday Ty!!

Tyler celebrated a birthday while we were on vacation... he's now two years old (and acting every day of it) and he got to spend his birthday at a baseball game! The LA Dodgers were playing the NY Mets the weekend we got to California, so Shaun and I took Ty to the game. Ty was so excited! He jumped up and down on his chair and pointed down at the field yelling "Ball! Ball!" And everytime someone hit the ball- he would turn to one of us, with his mouth in the shape of an "O" and say "Whoa!" He's a little bit of a sports nut- can't imagine where he gets that from... everything he wears has to have a ball somewhere on it, otherwise it's like hog-tying a moth to get him to wear something different. Anyway- he sure had fun. He loved the hot dog and the ice cream.

After the game, we went down the the tidepools at Corona Del Mar and watched the waves. Then we crawled around on the rocks looking for different signs of sea-life. Ty took one look at a crab and wanted to run in the other direction. I think there was something about the scuttling they did that he didn't like. He loved watching the little hermit crabs though- as long as nothing got too close. The sunset that night over the ocean was just beautiful and we couldn't help but take a few pictures while we were there! Later that night, we put some candles on a cake and had him make a wish. Ty is the biggest ham and loves to be the center of attention- so a birthday party just for him was right up his alley. I can't believe that he's two already- these last couple of years have really flown by!

Sunny California!!

Hey everybody! I know that all of you are avid readers of our blog and have been eagerly anticipating a post that just hasn't come. It is not just because I am lazy, but rather- I have been on a much needed vacation!! But we're home now and it's back to sanity. For those of you still in the dark- Shaun, Ty and I spent a week in Southern California with my family playing on the beach. I have pictures, and I think it's going to either be a long blog, or a long list of blogs since I can't make my pictures all cute like Janae can (you'll have to tell me your secret later Janae!).

Hmmmm. Where to start... We actually flew in to San Diego and then drove up to Santa Ana to meet the rest of my family (mom, dad, dave, nat, miss and miss' fiance mark). We decided to head up to the Colesseum (so not spelling that right) to watch the LA Galazy take on Chelsea (soccer for you laymen out there). It was the first game that David Beckham was playing in so it was a pretty big deal. I got to take a few pictures of him coming onto the field- it was so great! It's been fun having Nat around (Dave's wife) since she is a senior on the BYU's (boo! hiss!) soccer team- she gets the rest of us excited about the game again!

Can't I skip this part?

I have to say... I am so not looking forward to this next part of my little boy's development. Seriously, potty training is starting to look like a massive hill that I don't even want to look at, much less attempt to scale. Shaun and I keep trying to prime Ty into getting excited about it. We got him his own toilet seat and a stool so that he could get up to the toilet, and a very special jar that has been labeled "Treats for Poopies". It's been kind of funny- Ty knows when he has to go- but usually tells us after he's done it in his diaper. At least that's a step in the right direction. Anyway, I went to the grocery store tonight to get some cornflake crumbs and came back to my boys hanging out in the bathroom.

Cups? Pints? Ounces?

Hey you guys! For those of you out there that know me- you know that I basically live in the kitchen these days and anytime I find something that makes my life easier is something that I can't wait to share with someone in hopes that it does the same for them. Anyway- I can't count how many times I sit and try to remember how many teaspoons make 1 tablespoon. Or how many cups are in a pint. And what about pan sizes? How do you know what you can swap out for something else? Martha Stewart came to my rescue and created some fun little reminders. I'll put the link here: http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=e17d608f8532f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=dl_home03

Hopefully you'll all get some use out of them too!

Trouble Trouble Trouble

Does anyone else out there have a monkey for a kid? I came around the corner today and this is what I found: Ty had pushed our small cooler up next to the fridge and climbed on it to see what he could reach. The silly thing is- there really isn't anything worth getting or reaching up on the fridge, I think he just wanted to see if he could do it. What a goof. I just never know where I'm going to find him- tomorrow he could be on top of the washer or maybe driving the car. I guess I'll just have to keep you guys in the know so that if you see him doing the grocery shopping at Albertsons next week- you'll be able to keep and eye on him for me. Just don't blink- he'll be gone again before you know it.

I'm Melting! I'm Melting!

Okay. I don't know about the rest of you- but we are DYING of heat up here! It's been over 100 degrees all week and it isn't expected to go down anytime soon. In the name of "cooling off" Ty and I walked to Fred Meyer the other morning while it was still cool and picked up a little wading pool- but I think the picture on the box was a little deceptive. I really thought we were getting a small pool for Ty to splash around it- but the thing is freaking huge!! Shaun and I could swim laps in it! Okay- maybe not that big, but it definately takes up our entire deck. Anyway- Ty and I filled it bucket by bucket (we live on the second floor and don't have a hose that reaches that far) until there was enough to play around in. Ty had a blast and we'll have to do it again in the near future (like tomorrow since it will be 103).

Peanut Butter Cookies

Did you know that the average peanut butter cookie has 200 calories in it? And 12 grams of fat? Yuck. Keeping that in mind- I'm adding a new recipe to my recipe section that has all the taste of a good peanut butter cookie, but has only 130 calories per cookie and only 4 grams of fat. Whew. I feel better already.

See Dani? It's a good thing we went for that walk last night... that way we burnt off a crumb of the cookies you made!!

Happy 4th of July!!

Whew! We have been all over the place this last week for the 4th of July weekend! To prepare for the holiday, Ty and I spent the day in the kitchen making lots of goodies. We made some special red 4th of July cupcaks and some "Sparklers" (we dipped big pretzels in white chocolate and then sprinkled them with red and white sprinkles- for a "sparkling" effect). Ty is my biggest helper in the kitchen, and his favorite job is "Taste Tester". For the actual 4th, we went down to Salt Lake City to spend a few days with the Henriksen clan. We spent the day playing, and then went swimming to help cool off! Ty loves the water and cried when it was time to leave. Then we went down to the Cottonwood Club (the place that Shaun and I had our wedding reception) for fireworks on the golf course. My whole family comes out for this and we take up half of a hill! But it's so much fun! I love getting a chance to talk to everybody (Thanks again for the forced invite Gary and Roz!). Ty and his Aunt Missy ran around together and she even kifed a balloon for him. He spent the rest of the time running around with his cousin Daniel and his Aunt Nat and Uncle Dave. It was hard to tell who was more worn out! When it came time for the actual fireworks, Ty was so tired that he tried to fall asleep- but once he realized what the fireworks actually were- he kept one eye open and the rest of his face buried in grandma's shirt. I guess we'll have to try them again next year! Ty was so tired by the end of the night- that it was all he could do to keep his eyes open on the car ride home.

Ages and Stages

Ice Ice Baby

My baby is finally home (and so are we)! But before we left Salt Lake, we went over to my grandparents house and let Ty run around with the dog to get some wiggles out. When we were there- he climbed into a pine tree and got sap all in his eyebrow. I couldn't get it out- so I decided just to leave it there and let it wear off in time. Good plan I thought. But yesterday, when he took a nap, he laid on his head funny and I guess it pressed his eyebrow into the sheet really well, because when he rolled over he ripped out a chunk of his eyebrow. When I went in to see why he was crying- there was a patch of hair on his crib sheet. Poor baby. What's worse- he looks like he's trying to make a Vanilla Ice comeback. Oh well- at least we got a good picture of it!