Evolution of a smile.

Again, totally obsessed. What else can I do while waiting for my grilled stuffed burrito. The camera was on my front seat. Can you blame me?

(go clockwise)

Family home evening

Where to start. First of all Aaron shows up with an entire box full of Lord's Bubble Gum Ice Cream. He called the manager and asked if he could just buy the whole box full. Why not right? The audacity! It was worth every cent! Now, if only we could find a way for them to take the actual pieces of bubble gum out. Hmmm? How much would that cost?

Then Holly lead us in a stellar Family Home Evening. I love how Caroline expects so much out of her children and then they actually deliver. I need to be better at that!

William and Victoria had a little love session on the couch. There was some mysterious cousin kissing on the cheeks later in the night that Ben quickly put a stop to.

Abbey lead the music while June paraded around in William's camo hat. She put it on herself and basically stole the show the entire night. (See picture of Holly giving lesson with June on Ben's lap. Who can listen when she is making that face?)

Last but not least, June decided to fold her arms for the prayer! That's right. She had her first official, deliberate arm folding on command. It wasn't a fluke.

Consequently she also had her first taste of ice cream (I'm kinda a psycho about sugar before they are 1 year old!) Lets just say she more than liked it.

Grandpa chilled on the bean bag, Marianne had dibs on the chaise while Mar Mar and June took turns on the slide. All and all a most wonderful fhe!

obsessed

It is starting to get weird. The obsession that I have for this child that is. I think back now to when I thought I could never love anyone as much as William... I had no idea how much room the heart has. Fascinating.

note: **sorry for the overdose. this post is for my purposes only**

 

p.s. I'm now noticing that she seems to be in her pajamas about 90% of the time... hmmmm? who's fault is that?

Christmas Time

Warning: More pictures than anyone would like to see (unless you are in them)

Daddy and William waiting for the big moment!

the view from upstairs... Santa came!

This is my favorite picture of the day. After he opened his much anticipated army outfit he ran around the house playing out adventures and acting tough!

Then Juney woke up!!! Even though she had little clue to what was going on, she enjoyed the paper and excitement!

Then we rallied the troops, resurrected the baby Claus dress and headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to finish the festivities...

We were met with the COUSINS and a white stuffed tiger...?

Posey eating the wrapping remnants

Grandpa's lap

after all the presents, Abbey decides to play with the tinsel. Simple pleasures.

Uncle Aaron reading William a rescue book Marianne bought him.

Caroline with no makeup looking perfection... it's not fair!

Aaron and Victoria

Again, more photogenic than me with a full face of make-up. Maybe it's not a matter of being photogenic at this point... hmmm?

Don't ask. We started to get a little loopy after 3 hours of opening presents, a box of Trader Joe's chocolates and the starter log flames.

As a final Christmas tribute, I just want to say thank you to Grandma Vicki for making this Christmas so much fun and memorable. She always puts so much time and thought into the food, the gifts, the decor, the spirit of Christmas. Thanks for making this holiday a memory for my children and me! We love you!

Gingerbread blah, blah, blah

I'm trying to think of something interesting, witty or ironic to write about this night we made gingerbread houses, but I can't seem to dig deep into my blogging mind to pull anything out. Really, it was your typical costco gingerbread kit with Ben in charge of engineering, mom trying to keep kids from eating all the candy and William determined to make the sloppiest mess of a house possible. Sometimes less is more, but not in this case.

Mrs. Claus

I have been waiting to put this on June for 11 months now. That's right! I got it on clearance last January and have been waiting for the first Christmas party of the season to unveil the cuteness that is June in a Mrs. Claus Baby Gap dress. Don't think I didn't relish in every last minute of it because I did!

Even though she was dressed for the part... she did not love Santa. Oh no. She wasn't having any of it!

But she looked cute!!

Meanwhile, we stuck an old towel on William's head and made him be a wise man. I am sensing that my wardrobe efforts are a little lopsided right now!  4 Year old boys are definitely not as much fun to dress up as 1 year old girls.

p.s. you have not seen the last of this dress!

Autumn in Winter...

 

We haven't gotten a chance to play in the leaves until last week, when they finally started to make small piles under their barren parents. It makes me realize that California is a little behind in seasons. I felt like I was on the wrong continent. Since William has been out of school for 2 weeks, being able to go to the park has been a life raft in a sea of boredom!

   

 

 

A day in the life of mom

Lisa W. was watching Whitney's kids this past week (while Whit was laying in the sun at the Montage resort... lucky girl!) Lisa has always wondered what it is like for us stay at home moms, so I decided to show her a day in the life. We met at Blackhawk Plaza for lunch and it soon turned into the typical crazy debacle that is motherhood. First June got bit by a disgruntled duck. Not good. Then she dropped her toy in the duck poop and tried to retrieve it, thus getting the said poop on her hands!!! AHHHHHHHHHH. After a quick antibacterial scrub down I took the kids to the playground while Lisa fed the ducks with Hudson. All of a sudden I look around and find that Lisa and Hudson are completely missing. I mean poof...disappeared! So I figured there has been a bathroom emergency of some kind and wait for about 20 min. Now, it is starting to get weird. I'm thinking they've been abducted at this point and start playing Court TV scenarios from Forensic Files in my head. You can only imagine. Then at about minute 25, when I was about to flag down the 300 lb security guard (no offense), they come around the corner. Turns out Hudson decided to full sprint to the toy store without Lisa knowing where he was going. Then once he got there he had his heart set on a new train and threw a fit about leaving. Let's just say Lisa had a baptism by fire into mommy town. She had a look on her face that was priceless. It said, "What the crap just happened? This is harder than I thought!" I tried to soften the experience as we walked to see Santa and the carolers. Things got better from there, lucky for us! Besides Santa Claus reminding me of a guy I saw on the sex offenders registry, the day turned out to be fun. We went to the toy store (again for Hudson and Lisa) where the boys went for the planes while the girls turned to more feminine pursuits. By the end of the day I think I had given Lisa a well rounded view of what being a mom is like: Blissful chaos!

June on her way to see Santa.

 

June checkin' out the carolers

 

Santas' always make me nervous!

 

On to the toy store. June's obsession...babies!!

while William and Hudson prefer jets!

Want to eat her! She is the best baby ever. Doesn't even make a peep, she just smiles all the time!

Till next time Lisa!!

Halloween in December...

Should I be worried that my son is still talking and obsessing over all things Halloween? It all started with the rush of goblins, ghost and witches. He took to the whole Halloween thing very easily. Looking back, it was a little too easy. Enter Broomhilda... a stuffed witch grandma Vicki gave him with a make shift broom. From then on his little life switched from police to witches. Witch books, witch shows (there aren't very many out there), witch costumes... you get the idea. Then the dreaded day after Halloween when I decided to take all the decorations down William threw a fit and started sobbing, "Halloween, I miss you, Halloween! Think of all the fun we had! Think of all the things we did together!" So, I thought we had transitioned out of this phase once thanksgiving had come and gone and Christmas has now entered the calendar. I had to think again when William found his witch hat (again, another gift from grandma Vicki!) Naturally from there, he resurrected his witch cat named Sophie and his mini witch broom. It lasted only about 3 hours but he definitely squeezed the last few drops out of the remnants of Halloween spookiness.  May Broomhilda rest in peace! At least until next year...

You've got to love this guy!

He may not know this, but there are very few people I love or respect more than this man. And for that reason I made him a masculine Happy Birthday crown. Which he wore like the sport that he is! For those of you who don't know him... this is Jay, my father-in-law extraordinaire! He is kinda famous... well, in my mind at least. Why? for the following reasons (not in order of importance)

1) He can grow plants like nobodies business. Sweet peas, roses, zinnias... you name it and he can turn any seed or plant into a flourishing beauty! He even named his dog  Posie... after the flower of course.

2) He has the vocabulary of a Harvard english professor. Freakish really! This man can beat anybody at scrabble, boggle or any game that requires you to think of weird words that nobody uses anymore! He also likes to add in his own renditions from time to time! Or so we think? which leads to #3

3) He is freakishly good at making puns. I mean good. The man is a walking pun machine. A skill which he has passed on to his son, who is consequently my husband. A trait that while humorous on occasion, can start to irritate after a while. Especially the ones that are a complete stretch. William has even started to exhibit some early punning traits... which means I'm in big trouble!

4) He takes everything in stride- Not much can get Jay worked up. Whether it's a dog bite, a broken arm or dropping his cell phone in the bottom of a dumpster, John Crockett just gets to it and finds a solution. No panicking here. It's a little unnerving for the rest of us hyper dramatic people. (not me necessarily)

5) Being around him is like taking a relaxing walk. You just feel better after being in his presence. He makes you want to be the best you can and not say or do anything that would be hurtful or inappropriate to anyone. He makes you want to make him proud of you and so you try, and when you do, he praises you.

6) He has no guile- He just doesn't see people in a bad light. He really watches people and tries to help them in little ways without them even knowing it.

7) He pays attention to the details- When I was living with my in-laws during the 1st 6 months of marriage I remember Jay trying to help me feel at home. I was looking for a job and felt pretty out of sorts so I took to refurbishing old furniture. I would find an old piece and sand it down, paint it and put new hardware on. One day Jay came home from the hardware store and had bought me a hammer that was pink and had flowers all over it! I didn't really even know him and it was the sweetest and simplest gesture. He was trying to make me feel loved and welcomed. The details!

8) He is a devoted husband, son, brother, father and grandfather- When Jay was young and raising his small family, he decided that instead of taking up golf or basketball, he would make his children his hobby. They got 4-wheelers and just had a blast! Although his work kept him very busy, when he was home, he was dedicated to the kids! And now, when we go to see Grandpa, he takes so much time to just sit with William and do play dough or build legos. He tells the most elaborate stories and William just sits wide eyed at his legendary grandfather.

9) He is a man of god-  His presence invites only the most wholesome and thought provoking conversations. He tells us amazing stories about the people he meets, and the amazing things he gets to do. Just listening to the way he moves through the world is inspiring.

10) He is humble- He is not a loud man and not necessarily a man who talks a lot. His manner is very calm and humble.

I know 11 isn't an even number but I just have to add this last one...

11) He swims like a fish and never passes up the chance to get in the water

Thank you Jay (if you ever read this) for loving my little family and letting us be a part of your home. You and Vicki are a life line to us! Happy birthday.