Where Do I Begin?

The problem with blogging is that if you get behind it becomes a daunting task. I used to be great at this stuff. Now I can't even remember how to change my background. Stupendous.

So a quick run down is probably required. Here we go. We moved again to get out of the city we were in and decided to rent until we learned more about the area. We are in a great area with great people so hopefully we find a house out here. The school is fantastic and that is the most important thing to me right now. Spencer is taller than ever and trying to master Kar-a-te'. I can't believe he will be 8 soon. Olivia is a nut. Sassy. Crazy. Nut. We love her. She is the youngest in our neighborhood and thinks she is the ring leader of everyone.

Let's see...what else? Oh, I had a baby! A sweet, mellow, smiley guy named Sterling. We love him. I knew we needed him. It is absolutely the sweetest thing watching his older brother love and coo at him. Melts my heart. Olivia just laughs at everything he does. That makes me laugh. Don't you just love how babies completely change the dynamics of a home. It's the best...especially when they are happy and good sleepers!

I have been terrible at taking pictures. That needs to change. I used to be so good, mmmh, just like I was at blogging. I need to reacquaint myself with all of my cameras (my big one, my small one, and my phone). Too many precious moments have slipped between my fingers. Too many hysterical ones too. Can you believe I haven't had any professional pictures taken of this sweet little guy? I know. It's terrible. I will put that on my list of to do's. Somehow I need to figure out how to get myself into some of those pictures too otherwise I have to rely on only blackmail worthy shots of me getting submitted to the family calendar. Eh.

Its a new year. I am turning 32 in a little more than 24 hours. I am bound and determined to get my body back and to do a little bit more blogging. Let me just go eat a cookie first.....

A WARD Winning Chili

This Saturday Kev and I took the kids to our wards Fall Festival for some burgers, chili cook off, games and trunk or treating. It was an amazing fall (summer, if you ask me) evening! It is so nice to finally be able to take advantage of the weather down here!

The prep for the night didn't seem to daunting. Throw some meat, onions, some spices and cans of stuff in a pot and let it cook, get Spencer a costume, and get Olivia ready as Belle. The first two went with out a hitch. Spence wanted to be a Storm Trooper, but when he saw the swords that came with the Ninja costume he was sold...again. I think that is why he wanted to be a Ninja two years ago. At least it was a different costume.

Olivia had big plans. She got her dress on hours to early and I had to convince her to take it off so it wouldn't get dirty. I thought I could get her hair done early to save me some time, and that is where the problem started. What made me think that a three year old could keep an updo intact for four hours before the party started. Well, I did it anyway. As I prepped her I had in my mind how I would do it. Belle has it parted in the middle, swooping down the sides with a bun on the top and curls in the back. As I began, Olivia interrupted me and told me that "Belle's hair has to have it come down on each side and then into a "Minnie ear" (that is what we call a pony that hasn't been pulled through all the way and is messy, get it?) on top. There are curls in the back and some curls by her ears." What the? She is three people. I felt some pressure. Exactly why I hate up does. I mean, what was going to be something that I thought would easily thrill her became me working for my toughest client! There were tears, and screams from her, and I breathed out my share of threats. The threats worked, she calmed, and I added multiple layers of aerosol hairspray. After playing and laying down to watch TV (which was strictly prohibited ) I had to only fix her hair twice before we left.

After arriving to the church, meeting Bree and E and Miss Tay as Dorothy, we sat down for some food. The kids were off running. I swear most of the night I was looking for them. I have to say that my most favorite thing was looking at all the boys in their unitard costumes, with wedgies, and all the time them not noticing and feeling more macho than ever because they were sure they were actually the character they were wearing. I also considered dressing Olivia up as Belle everyday because she actually acted like a little lady...when I could actually see her.

After the kids played games the big moment of the night, for the parents anyway, was the announcement of the winner of the chili cook off. We all held our breath in anticipation. OK, not really, but we actually were anxious to see if we had won since my mom had won with the same recipe at their Vegas ward, and our dad just won in their Utah ward. We couldn't fail the famous recipe! As they announced the 3rd place winner, the Elder's Quorum President yelled, "No, it's not! It's the Bailey's!" Then the rest of the judging committee yelled back that they were announcing the THIRD place winner. Eric, Bree, Kevin and I couldn't stop laughing. They went on to the second, and our name's weren't called. Then first place...."The Bailey's!" I took a bow and received our certificate. There it is. A chili recipe that has won in three states. You want to know what makes it so amazing? I will tell you. It's Weight Watchers. Two points for one cup! Here is the recipe for those who don't already have it:

1 medium onion, diced and sauted'

1 t. minced garlic

1 lb ground beef 97% fat free

salt and pepper

1 pkg powder Ranch dressing

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 can green chilies (I use the bigger size)

1 can fat free refried beans

1 can chili beans

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can corn OR I use 1 bag of frozen corn

If you wish to thin it down for taco soup and up to 1 cup water or fat free broth.

Oh yeah, then there was the trunk or treat, but who cares. I won.

Hibernation Is Over

I rub my eyes, take a good long stretch, and slowly stumble my way out of the cave. I am finding my self blinded by the sun...the scorching Arizona sun. That's right people we moved to Arizona. I know it has been a long time since I've posted and for good reason. Well, maybe I have had plenty of time, but you know how it goes when you haven't blogged forever. The idea of catch up is daunting, especially when you are like me and don't know how to tell a short story. A blessing and a curse as far as I am concerned. See, I am already getting distracted. So I will attempt a quick rundown so I can avoid a bazillion questions.

About six months ago...wait has it really been that long? Crazy. Anyway, Kevin and I were presented with an opportunity to work with my uncle doing some work on foreclosures with his auction company. It seemed crazy to disrupt our comfortable life, but with the economy doing what it has it made us pause. Heck, we were in the residential construction business! It was a really tough decision especially since Kevin worked with his brother and loved working with him at that. We decided to give up some of our comforts in a way to be proactive instead of reactive. Honestly, it was an answer to my prayers. Of course, those answers never come how you think they will. I prayed to find a way to get our proverbial house in order. I had made great strides with food storage, but part of that over all security is getting out of debt. This option we had on the table would help us considerably with that. Now, we didn't have crazy debt, you know, a car and a house, but still if the economy tanked that would be enough to be completely overwhelming. We wanted to be in a place that if Kevin ever lost his job Home Depot would be enough to cover the bills. You know?

Well, we decided to do it. We sold our house crazy fast, which was another confirmation to me that we were doing what was right, and moved into my parents basement for a few months. That was a blessing as well. What a great opportunity to have company from my parents while my husband was off in another state working. Spencer adjusted well since he had buddies on my parents street, and Olivia and I had a great time hanging out with my mom and Lydia.

Time came to move. Oh, don't worry. I had no idea what our house looked like. I just told Kevin to get what he thought was best. He did a really great job picking it out and did some hard work getting it all cleaned up for us before we got here. The move was kind of a frenzy since we had to head to Vegas the day after we got here for my cousin Chad's wedding. Needless to say we did a pretty decent job unpacking.

Now, we are pretty settled. We have a pool, which is a necessity here, and the kids LOVE it. Spencer taught himself to swim in a week. Just goes to show you what having a pool will do. All those wasted swim lessons where he was scared to death; makes me laugh just thinking about it. Our ward here is pretty spread out. That threw me a little because Vegas didn't even seem that way to me. I guess I was expecting it to be more like Mesa, which is more like Utah. Oh well.

Our biggest struggle has been with Spencer. Poor little guy. The kid had to move twice, get taken away from two sets of friends, and move to a neighborhood with no kids or boys his age in his church class. School was rough at first too. He has a teacher who is teaching for her first year, and she still is pretty rigid. That doesn't work so well with six year olds. He was in "Phase 1" (time out) three times the first week! Since then she has learned a little more about his personality and things seem to be going a little more smoothly. OH, and he had swine flu and currently had another seizure and a bout of strep throat, but in the last month or so he seems like a happier kid despite all his trials. Hopefully it just keeps getting better. He has been a real champ, and I love his guts even more for it. Olivia, on the other hand, isn't phased. Her only complaint is the heat...mine too, but I can't wait to rub it in Utah's face this winter.

Well, I think that covers it. The move anyway. Hopefully you forgive me for our absence. I had a nice blogging nap, but I am recommitted and ready to fill you in with all the latest drama. The real question is, are YOU ready?

It's That Time Of Year!

It's that time of year. You know, when you lose all reason and sensibility. For some reason you can't escape it. They are on street corners, store fronts, heck they are even banging down your door! Oh, and they don't stop there. They have to weaken you further by adding it into ice cream. Yes, you know what I am talking about. Girl Scout Cookies.

Well, lucky me, I just had to walk across the street and raid my neighbors garage. Cases stacked ten high and not only in one garage but two. I felt I restrained myself by only buying 6 boxes (for now), but sadly, I was sure she would notice if I tried to shove a case under my shirt. I could have made a run for it, but when you live two houses down it wouldn't have done much good.

This all comes at a high stress time for us, so don't judge me if you find me squatting in a dark closet with untamed hair facing a corner with chocolate smeared all over my cheeks and teeth. I have even found my children sneaking them. Do they know who they're messing with?!! Don't touch my Preciousss! OK, I'm not really that out of control *shifts eyes nervously*; we just had to decide that a "normal" serving size is 6 cookies.

Now I'm just wracking my brain for my neighbors garage code. I know she gave it to me once.

Three Years Ago Today

Three years ago today I answered a phone call. It was a phone call from a nurse telling me that the induction schedule was full for the next day, and that if I wanted to schedule a time to have my baby it would have to be for the day after that or in eight hours from now. It took me about 10 seconds to decide that I couldn't wait any longer to see our baby that had been inside me for 9 months. The baby girl that already had a closet full of pink and purple clothes and a perfectly decorated room.
It didn't take me long to get packed and arrangements made for her soon to be big brother. I let my mom know, who was still living in Vegas at the time, and she started packing for the trip up. My dad, of course, was already in Utah working on their new house. Kevin and I dropped Spencer off at his parents and we anxiously headed to the hospital a few miles away.
I remember loving that his dad was at the hospital with his mother, our Grandma Bailey, and he kept popping in to check on me. My dad showed up before I knew it so he could visit and help kill time. The hospital was quiet, and although my contractions weren't too bad I wanted reassurance that the Anesthesiologist was near by. "Unless there is an emergency, he can be in in a moments notice." That's what they told me. Right about the time I was deciding it wasn't fun anymore, the nurses let me know there was an emergency delivery. I had to wait about 35 more minutes, but it just showed me how tough I was...kind of. Thankfully, I lasted and I received the magic potion just in time to make it all wonderful again.
Before I knew it, nurses were in and out and calmly rotating me from side to side to make sure the baby was OK. Her heart rate was dropping. They turned me away from Kevin, and I started to get really nervous. Just then, my doctor walked in the door and took over. I remember appreciating his calm demeanor and professionalism. Before I knew it, I had a beautiful little girl laying on my chest. She didn't cry at all. I also remember cherishing the time I had with her in the hospital. She was so sweet and mellow. Little did I know...
She would be a little maniac that we absolutely adore. Words that I think of that describe her are: tornado, lover, helper, drama, hugs and kisses, stomping feet and slamming doors, lip gloss, dress ups, pony tails, "Founding Father hair", daddy's girl, mommy's best friend, silly, busy, cuddle bug, compliment giver, sassy pants, hilarious, beautiful, blessing.
Miss Olivia, we love you so much and you have been such a joy and a blessing to have in our home. We are better because of you and love your spirit. You have taught me more than I could ever teach you and you have only been in our lives for three short years. I can't wait to see what an amazing woman you turn out to be. Thank you for being you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLI. We love you!

Movin' On Down...To The East Side?

Let me just begin by confirming that I am alive. My blogging skills have slipped through the cracks, but I have a good excuse. We're moving!

Kevin and I decided to put the house up for sale in mid January. My thoughts were, "OK, we won't get anyone looking until April. If we get a buyer we will hold off on moving out until school is out." Not how it worked out. Our house sold in three weeks without a sign in our yard. We had it on the MLS, but I thought with this market it would still take a while. I think the timing just confirms to us what we knew was right.

So, now where are we going you ask? Well, let me explain the way I know best by making a long story longer. Our plan was to rent for a little bit and build again since it is a great time to build. However, Kevin is now building model homes in Idaho for the few months and is gone several days a week. In an effort to prevent our children from having a psychotic mother and a wife who wants to bail for some personal time as soon as Kevin comes home, I chose to move to my parents basement. Some may say such things in defeat, but I, however, am looking forward to it all. I am am not disillusioned to the reality of the situation, but I will have a full kitchen, a walk out basement, and Spencer has a really good buddy right next door. Oh yeah, and a little help upstairs if needs be. Plus, isn't the real party always down in Utah County? After Kevin is done with this project we will just reevaluate and go from there.

Speaking of Spencer, we will be pulling him out of his current school and moving him to the school by my parents. He is sad but is handling it really well. I think he takes courage in the fact that he has a friend right next door. Thank heavens. Olivia is oblivious. She has some idea we are staying with Nana and Papa, but I am more worried for them than for her.

At this moment, I am a single parent and living in a house with naked walls and shelves. I have done just about all the packing that needs to be done and just waiting for the furniture to get hauled out. I am blessed with happy children, and I believe that has made all the difference with my sanity. I recognize the Lord's hand in that as well as Noggin and the Disney channel. I should be dusting off shelves and wiping down baseboards but I just bought a bag of freshly baked cookies from Albertsons that I should probably just polish off. If I am doing that, there really can't be that much left to do, right?

Ignored Promtings?

Have you ever had a time when you feel something over and over, but you choose to ignore it because it seems so little and silly? You know that when you get that gut feeling to take action on something that could be a big deal like, "Go check the baby" or, "Get out of here now?" You do it. Well, last night I had that experience with the small thing. Bree, Taylor, and Lauren were here for a slumber party while our hubbies were out of town, and I put the kids to bed, and we went down stairs to talk until the wee hours of the morning.

I came back upstairs around 2:00am. I put both the kids in my room so I could keep tabs on them in the morning so they wouldn't wake anyone up. As I was retucking them in, I had a feeling TWICE to take Olivia potty. I ignored it...until 6:00... when she woke up crying because she had peed her pants. Awesome. We cleaned it up the best we could, and she had to sleep with out panties for a little while so we didn't wake Bree up in Olivia's room, but it really was no biggie.

Why is it that we ignore those promptings or what ever you define them as. What is the big deal? Why do we skip the simplest things? Because they seem inconsequential? Well, I tell you next time I will act. If all it does is save me some time and laundry, it's worth it!

Oh, and it was on Kevin's side. Hahaha! Shhh!

This Christmas Kevin surprised me with a new camera for helping him win the Nelson Biggest Loser competiton. I was so excited!!! He had heard me talking about how badly I wanted a nice camera because I was sick of the crappy pics my last camera took. There is nothing that can capture our memories better, and I need to take more photos. He decided to be sneeky and get me one and I couldn't be more thrilled.
Well, now I am totally overwhelmed with this thing. It couldn't possibly be that I haven't looked at the instruction manual, right? I really want to learn how to use it the right way and not just point and shoot everything. Alli was kind enough to offer her services to me, and I can't wait to take her up on it. With all my friends that are professional photographers out there...HELP! Just give me a few pointers to get me started!

A Tag

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:45
2. Have you brushed your hair yet today? I guess
3. What is the name of the last song you listened to? Crush
4. Do you like to text? Heck yes
5. Facebook or My Space? Facebook, please.
6. Where is your favorite place to go? Disneyland with fam and tropical/MX/Caribbean with hubby
7. Do you have a passport? YES
8. Are you in love? You bet I am
9. Have you ever had a broken heart? Not too bad
10. When was the last time you "laughed your head off"? Last night. We call him BIRDman.
11. When was the last time you cried? Two nights ago
12. What is the best gift you have ever gotten? My husband
13. What was the best day of your life? When our children were born
14. What was the worst day of your life? It was only moments, but when there were complications during delivery with Olivia.
15. Pepsi or Coke? Coke baby.
16. Are you wearing socks? MmmHmm
17. Did you like high school? Yes
18. Where is the last place you went out to eat? Takashi
19. What is your biggest accomplishment in the past year? Still working on it. Food storage/getting my proverbial house in order.
20. What is one random fact about you? I secretly want twins (not so secret anymore), but I don't know if I could really handle it, or if the Lord would trust me! Hahaha!

K, now I tag Lydia, Bree, and Lauren!

Bargin Shopper Extraordinaire

I am probably boasting a bit in this post, but I will also be humble enough to admit that I didn't come up with this on my own. A great friend of mine, who is an amazing penny pincher, showed me this little trick. We had a little "penny pinching seminar" at her house a couple of months ago to learn how to save money while grocery shopping. She told us that "her husband works for the money, and she makes the money work for their family." I love that quote! Anyway, she talked about a website (pinchingyourpennies.com, but it is also like grocerysmarts) that shows the best deals for particular stores. THEN she showed that she buys coupons on ebay. Yes, that's right people. She is buying coupons on ebay. She only buys items on sale and also uses her coupons. She also uses %80 of her grocery budget on food storage (or basically stocking her pantry) and the other %20 on perishables (meat, veggies, etc.). Needless to say it was a very educational night.

Well, I put it into practice this week, and it had amazing results. Albertson's was having a fantastic sale on several things that I loved, so I decided to stock up. My parents gave us food storage for Christmas, and it made a huge dent in our overall progress in that category. However, for this sale I decided to by only non food items. Here is what I got:

10- 105 load Simple Pleasures Downy
13- 100 oz Tide with Color safe bleach alternative
8- 8 roll packs of Bounty Papertowels
20- Cascade Action Packs (20 per bag)
20- 6.2 oz Crest with Scope
20- Gillette Fusion razors (non disposable)
13- Betty Crocker Fruit snacks
4-24 pack of Dasani water

I spent $244.67

AND

I SAVED $701.95

Can you believe it??? I got a year supply of Downy, Tide, Bounty, Cascade, Crest, and razors (I have all the razors I need for life, I just need to buy refills if I want)! I also went to the store earlier this month for other groceries, and I still have money left in our grocery budget if I need to go back.
It works people, and I am addicted. It was so easy too! Just let me know if you have any questions if you want to give it a try. Happy saving!

Where has the time gone!!! I swear once December first hits, time just disappears. I have been so behind in blogging, checking email and anything that has to do with technology lately. It seems like any spare minute I have I would rather sit down and be lazy! This time of year is just go, go, go, and with all the events on the calender, I think I have just been exhausted before it even started.

Backing up a little, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It was a Bailey year, and it was fun to get together with Kev's family especially since we were excited to get a surprise visit from his sister and our brother in law that are in dental school in LOO-ville, KY. The food was soooo tasty, and I still think I didn't eat enough of Kev's mom's awesome stuffing. It was so nice to just relax and visit. We didn't plan a whole lot for the day because we headed to Moab early the next morning. We contemplated running down to my parents house for a little bit since my mom hosted all her sibilings this year (why oh why does she do it on my off year), but we knew it would get late and would have a hard time being ready for the trip in the morning. So sad.

We had a great time in Moab. I am always taken back by its beauty when we are there, especially when we first arrive. Of course, I wimped out on all the bike rides and opted for walking, hiking, and tagging along in the car with the other girls. The weather was beautiful, and the kids had an absolute blast being outside so much. They also loved terrorizing the second floor of the motel we stayed in. Next time I think we need to request ALL our rooms to be next to eachother. I am sure our fellow occupants cheered when we checked out. We really appreciated Kevin's parents for doing this for us. We make such wonderful memories while we are there. It was especially wonderful to have them there because they left just a few days later to the D.R. Congo to work on a water project for a few months!

Life since Moab has been a blur. It seems as though the Christmas parties started even earlier this year and haven't stopped since. I am anticipating our Christmas break so we can just relax and enjoy time spent with family and no other obligations. I kept dragging my feet on decorating this year since I felt like we weren't even going to be here to enjoy it, but I finally got it all put up. I am so happy I did because it really helps to bring in some holiday cheer, which I desperatley needed. I have really been struggling with Spencer lately and have felt like I had reached my limits with him. The Lord must have known my breaking point and heard my prayers (as I bawled my eyes out in my car late one night), and I have been blessed to have an angel son the last two days. A Christmas miracle. It is amazing what one good day can do for a mothers morale.

The night I was in my car, I had to run a quick errand late at night and was listening to my Amy Grant Christmas album. As I was driving down the quiet snowy streets, Breath of Heaven began to play. My mind began to contemplate Mary's situation, and I was flooded with emotion. As I pondered her possible thougths and how difficult it must have been, I began replace the words of the song with myself and my temporary situation. I began to realize that even though I feel so inadequate as a mother at times, Heavenly Father knows me. He sees me. As He watches my face as I struggle, He still knows that I am the right mother for these children, and he also knows that I am offering all I have for them. Somedays I feel like I don't have much to give, but those simple tiny hugs and smiles, and "Yes Mom's" can give me all the validation I need.

I am so grateful for this time of year we have to reflect on the birth of our Savior. As hard as these economic times are, it is a wonderful chance to put aside our focus of worldly posessions and redirect us to what and who it is really about. I am so grateful for my amazing and loving husband and our beautiful children. I am also grateful we have such wonderfuly supportive families, friends and neighbors. We are blessed with great health, a warm home, and food on our table. Most of all we are blessed with the gospel in our lives. Is there really any greater gift? We wish you all a Merry Christmas and thank you for the part you play in our lives!

12:01 This Morning

That just about explains it.

I am still recovering from the midnight showing of Twilight. I don't remember the last time I stayed up until 3:30am, but it was a blast. I mean, how can you not when a modeling agency sends over their hottest guys with no shirts, leather jackets and motor cycles to pose on. Some theaters even had blood drives (genius). I am still struggling with the words to describe a theater full of frenzied, obsessed, swooning women, other than hysterical! Screams for every new character that was introduced on the screen, cat calls for their favorites, and squeals during the intense romantic moments. I'll remember to bring my paper bag for my next viewing ;) .

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The movie was good and definitley less winded that the book. I loved the cast. I wasn't too fond of some of the camera angles and shots (a little "made for TV movie"ish), but how critical am I going to let myself get, right? I mean I am going back to see it again. I need to so I can actually just go watch it and not compare it to the book. I can't wait for the next three. Hooray for bigger budgets next time.

Thanks again girls for the great time!!!

OH, and Joel McHale is my boyfriend.

Too Much TV

We were at my parents house yesterday, and my mom has a Rubbermaid box with some old jewelry that she threw in it for the kids to play with. Spencer found a gold chain and turned to Kevin and said, "Hey you can take this gold chain and turn it into cash!"

We laughed, he was embarrassed. Shouldn't it really be me who is embarrassed for how much TV he watches? Just tell me it's OK, and that it isn't that he watches too much television, but it's that he is just a five year old who picks up on everything, OK? Good.

H-A-DOUBLE L-O-W-DOUBLE E-N SPELLS...

Speaking of overdue...I KNOW! I am behind on blogging. I could do a post on the election, but I am sure everyone knows how I feel about it. However, I will admit that from a historical standpoint that it was pretty amazing. To see how far our country has come in the last few decades is unreal. All the rest I have to say is, well, yackity schmackity bla bla bla.

So now on to the events that I so skillfully procrastinated! Halloween was a blast. We started the day off with a quick jaunt to my parents so me madre' could at least see the fruits of her labor. She made Oli's costume, and it turned out so cute! Of course we had to have Baby Tay match too. Getting pictures is never that easy, but we got a few. Spence wore his for about 6 seconds and took it off because he was too hot. Turns out that was the story of the night. I was a little disappointed we never got to pump blood through his chest plate. Oh well.
Then we were off to our ward Trunk or Treat. The look on Olivia's face was priceless when she figured out what this holiday was all about. This girl was business after that! Hilarious. It took about 20 minutes to finish up, so we thought we would head to our old neighborhood (after leaving a bowl of candy on our porch) to do some Trick or Treating. The kids loved going door to door with friends and being outside. Kev and I couldn't complain either because it felt like California outside.

After we made the loop we headed to our friend John's house for his annual Halloween/birthday bash. If any of you remember last years post, he and his wife were French maids! This year they were Abba. Oh, and that chest hair you see...um, it was "harvested." I am pretty sure I shivered when he told me that AFTER I touched it because I know he wasn't kidding. Thanks John. The party was a crack up as always.
A week before that our fam headed west for Disneyland. It was so fun because we didn't tell our kids where we were going until we got to the hotel. The huge Micky statue in the lobby gave it away, but didn't ruin the surprise in the least. Hey, we even got bumped up to a suite!!! Not bad, eh? It was extra fun because my parents and Eric and Bree decided to come along as well. We were starving for lunch so that was the first thing we did when we got there. We stopped at the Carnation Cafe and it was delicious!!! Right when we thought the bill was going to come, our waitress shows up with the Maderhorn Madness Sundae! My dad couldn't pass up seeing the kids faces, so he ordered it. TOTALLY WORTH IT!!! Actually, it's probably the best deal in DL! Eight bucks for that huge thing wasn't bad at all! Olivia kept rolling her eyes when she took a bite. She was in heaven. The strawberry was her "favorite piece." Then it was rides, rides, rides. It was great getting to see their little faces...especially on the scary rides. I am the meanest mom on the planet, but all of you already know that. Kevin washed his hands of it. I feel no guilt whatsoever. By Wedensday, my parents and E & Bree were heading out, and we stayed behind and met up with some friends and went to Mickey's Trick or Treat. Again, TOTALLY WORTH IT! It was such a fun atmosphere, and they gave away tons of candy. Hopefully we will do that again someday.

We finished the week off by staying at the Beckstrand's house. We went to the beach and Kev helped Dwight pickett for Proposition 8! Kev had so much fun, he did it again a couple days later!!! They got some pretty colorful comments, if you can imagine! It was so great to spend time with our friends, and to let our kids reconnect. Poor Beckstrands. With Brooks and Spencer being a month apart and their twin girls and Oli being a month and a half apart, it was like having a set of twins and triplets! It was a crazy house. Mylee was a champ for being the only one without a buddy. We even celebrated our nineth anniversary with them! We went to dinner and to Pinkberry. We had a wonderful time and want to go back tomorrow!

So there it is. Now I am up to date, and I will make sure to stay that way...maybe. OH, and I must say thank you to my amazing husband. These last nine years have been so easy and fun. He is such a wonderful man, husband, and father. He has made me happier than I deserve, and I am so happy we have an eternity together. I must not forget that he is smokin' hot too!!! I have always thought he was handsome (did you know that is what Kevin means? Haha), but I have to give him a shout out because he has lost a whopping 35 pounds in 8 weeks! Work it boy! I LOVE YOU!!!

O is for Over Due. J is for Justice.

With the economy tanking and nobody willing to be accountable for their actions, it's refreshing when you see justice served.

Case and point...

Bah hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I love it! I also love the irony of it being on the 13th anniversary of him be acquitted of murder. How sweet is that juice (pun intended)!

Oh, and Spencer had "GREEN" day at school recently, which was the same day as "CrAzY sock" day. For some reason, I thought of this...


I love this kid.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!

That's all.

Firsts and Finally's

It has been a big week around the Bailey house. OK, it was a big week a couple weeks ago! It seems as though posting has slipped my mind now that I am constantly monitoring the bladder activity of our 2 year old. Oh, and I have homework now too! It's hard to decide which is more exciting, Spencer starting Kindergarten or Olivia being potty trained.

Spencer has been absolutely loving school. He was so pumped up on the first day that we made him do jumping jacks to settle down! He couldn't wait to ride the bus with his best bud Davis. I wasn't one of those emotional moms. No crying for me, but I have to admit that when I saw our little guy walk up the steps on the bus, I got a lump in my throat. He didn't even look out the window and wave goodbye!!! Rude. I did laugh outloud as I saw the parade of minivans following behind the bus all the way to the school. Yup, laughed all the way to my own car, out the driveway, and to the school! Good thing though, he lined up with the wrong class! I am sure it would have been straightened out relatively quickly, but at least it validated my reasons for going. Sadly, he isn't as thrilled about homework, but I am sure he will soon realize that they aren't the worst TWO MINUTES of the day!
Olivia is officially potty trained. Well, at least in my book. She really has done very well. 95% of any of her accidents have been my fault due to lack of attention or over estimating the size of her bladder. She even went potty on the first day with out having me around. I have to admit that there is something thrilling about having somebody sing to you that never convenient question, "Come wipe my bUuuuum!" Thrilling when a two year old says it, not so much when they're five. Hopefully this pic isn't considered too risque'.
Due to the need for little ones to get up during the night to use the facilities, Olivia finally got her bed put together! I would have been fine keeping her in her crib for as long as possible, but I was too worried she would break her neck in the middle of the night. Kev and I picked out the cheapest, NEW mattress we could find, and set it up. I think I was more excited than Oli. I had her bedding sitting in her closet for over a year! Now she knows she's a big girl. Panties AND a big girl bed. She was seriously jumping like such a maniac, that I couldn't get a decent shot of her face! Crazy girl.
It's been fun around here. Now, can someone please teach Spencer how to ride a bike and Oli to peddle her trike!

Butt Wipe Bootcamp

There are two things I am not looking forward to this week.

1. Teaching Spencer how to wipe his own bum.

2. Potty training Olivia

The first is long overdue, but believe it or not, I was more willing to do it for him than to have to Shout every pair of his undies. I suddenly realized that I let the whole summer slip away, and now I am faced with the reality of either me dealing with it in the privacy of our own home or having his teacher call me and tell me about the mess she had to clean up after Spencer clogged the toilet. There are plenty of you moms who have already gone through this. Any pointers? I am guessing it really shouldn't be too big of a process. Fingers crossed.

As for Miss Oli, she has expressed enough interest in wearing her princess panties and the potty that I think this should be fairly easy. Probably famous last words. I have decided to opt out of using Pull Ups. Unnecessary in my book. Once again, that will probably come back to bite. One less child around the house for half the day should help with my ability to focus. I am sure Oli will thrilled with the opportunity to run around in panties all day, drinking Capri Suns, and watching TV.

Precognitive Puking

Early this morning, oh lets say around 5:30, I was comfy in our bed, in a state of REM.

My dream:
I was in our room, beginning my morning chores, when Spencer ran in and told me Olivia threw up. I bolted out of the room into the family room to find our rug rolled up length wise and Fruit Loops spewed out all over our beautiful walnut floor. I asked why the rug was rolled up and if there was throw up inside. Spencer thankfully said no. As I assessed the damage, I noted, and felt grateful for, the easy clean up. The last thing that I wanted to do was scrub puke out of carpet.

A few minutes later (or so it seemed it my particular state of consciousness), Kevin and I were awakened to Olivia crying in our doorway. Kevin flew out of bed to see what was the matter. I was still groggy and trying to figure out what was going on, when I heard Kevin say something about her throwing up. WHAT! I ran into the bathroom to see her finishing up the deed while Kev peeled his juicy shirt off. I decided to see what damage there was in her crib, and to my surprise, there was none!!! As much as I hate cleaning up vomit, I was thrilled with only having to wipe it up off the bathroom floor and toilet seat. Way to go Olivia! So far today we have had no other incidents. Lets keep our fingers crossed. Good thing we don't have any Fruit Loops in the house.

Sick kids are so sad, but I can't say I don't mind the napping...and the bed head!

Anatomy According To A 5 Year Old

This actually happened a few weeks ago, but I had to post it before I forgot.

My sister, Lydia, was talking to Spencer at my parents house, and when she finished speaking, he told her, "I could see your ugula." To be pronounced yu-gue-la. We got a good laugh out of it. I must admit I was impressed. How many five year olds do you know that that dangily thing is a uvula?

He's a genius...almost.

So much for asking

It may be milk's favorite cookie, but it is NOT my floor's favorite crumb. I need to lock the pantry.