Christmas!

We had a great Christmas. We just stayed at home and watched movies and played games. Very relaxing. It was especially nice because Quincey was so entertained the whole day long with all of his new toys.

Maiya and her new Cabbage Patch Doll

Maiya loves her new doll! Here she is playing with it.

Pre-Christmas Fun

Quincey helped me with the holiday baking Here we were making cinnamon rolls and dinner rolls... They were my first try and they turned out a hit! I only got to eat like one cinnamon roll, because my boys ate em up so fast. And Quincey has been lining up his cars in front of the Christmas tree, like he knows that there are supposed to be toys underneath. And of course, you can tell Miss Maiya is so excited for Christmas.

Christmas dress

Thanks to Danette, Maiya got to dress up so pretty for Christmas. It is so fun to dress up a baby girl.

Husband Tag

Thanks Lil! This was fun.

what's your husbands name?
Geren
how long have you been married?
Just over 3 years
how long did you date?
hmmm.... we dated for about 3 weeks before we got engaged and had a 3 month engagement. But we did know each other for about a year and a half before we started dating. I turned him down 5 times before I finally agreed to dating. ha! good times.
how old is he?
26
who eats more sweets?
definitely me. Geren craves more salt, he is addicted to sunflower seeds.
who is a better singer?
I think me. He thinks him.
who is smarter?
He is more book smart. I am more emotional smart (if that makes sense)
who does the laundry?
I do.
who pays the bills?
me
who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
me
who mows the lawn?
Geren
who cooks dinner?
me
who drives?
Geren
who is the first to say they are wrong?
This is a tough one. I think it used to be Geren, and then he pointed out that I never would admit that I was at fault for anything. I changed, and now I think I am way better at it than he is now.
who kissed who first?
It was pretty mutual.
who asked who out first?
Definitely Geren.
who wears the pants?
Geren

I tag all of my sisters and sister-in-laws who would like to.

Last Christmas

It was fun to do a little picture rewind and see what we all used to look like last year!!! Wow, how much Q changed in a year. His hair sure has lightened up. It surprised me to see how dark it was. It was also fun to remember how much fun we had at the Parker house last year. Even though the trip was awful and we vowed to never do that again. What did your Christmas look like last year?

Christmas around town

This was a couple of weeks ago, but I thought I would share these pictures. The local college had one night where they filled the campus with Luminarias (paper bags filled with sand to hold it down, and a lit candle). I had never seen them before, so for me it was pretty neat. Quincey sure liked it too. What sold me most was the hot chocolate we got for free while walking around.

Q talking

So, I decided that I wanted to record more videos of Quincey because he is changing and learning so much everyday, and I want to remember how he used to say things etc. This one is just us talking over dinner.

Happy 4 months baby Maiya.

Okay, I have to admit that this took me by surprise! I keep telling everyone that Maiya is only 3 months old, and I think of her as such. But today I looked at the ticker and realized that she is really 4 months old now! And I got an email today that was talking about a typical 4 month olds development. One thing that was mentioned is that cereal is usually introduced in between 4-6 months of age. Now, with Quincey we started him on rice cereal at 4 months and that was just fine, it didn't seem like it was too young or anything. But to think of feeding Maiya cereal at her age just seems absurd to me!

My whole point of bringing all of this up is that I still feel like Maiya is still a newborn! (yes, she is newly born... but you know what I mean). I guess because I have Quincey to compare her too, and compared to him, she is so little! It just feels so weird to think of her getting older and progressing in the different stages. And maybe I am too involved with trying to get Q to progress in the changes, (like potty training, or getting out of a crib) that I haven't even had time to think about Maiya's upcoming changes.

Man, having 2 kids is really quite different than just having one. But oh so fun. Especially in the moments when I am so done with Q's 'toddlerness', I love to pick up Maiya and indulge in her 'babyness'. Or when cooing gets old I can go to Quincey and he can tell me all about his movies and trains and cars and when his diaper is a mess. So, my point is it is so fun to get to know both of my kids and their different stages, and I imagine that each addition that you add to a family is that way.
So, Happy 4 months to beautiful baby Maiya! I do look forward to seeing you grow. (just not feeding you baby food) ;)

Confessions of a Blogger Drama Queen....

Apparently when I was switching everything over to private and all that, I made it so my blog comments had to be moderated before I get them... and I didn't realize it! So... all this time, I have not been getting any comments! SO SAD! I thought that it was because I went private, and no one wanted to comment anymore, I even thought that maybe it was because I did it so quickly without warning... and all my other friends did it so nice and with warning. I even wondered if I needed to shower more frequently. Anyway, so, now that I have gone through DEPRESSION OVER THIS!!! (LOL) I decided on a whim... (again... I really need to stop making all of these rash decisions.) that I was going to take it off private. And when I did this, I somehow was taken to my dashboard, where I realized that I had over 50 comments that I needed to moderate! YOU DO STILL LOVE ME!!!!!! Okay, so now my only question is if I go private again do you all have to accept an email again? And if I decide to go private again, I think I will do it the right way and make sure everyone gets an email who wants one. So for now, I am open to the public. This really shouldn't be so hard. But apparently for me it is... ha ha ha!
But, hey! it sure has been fun reading all of your comments at once!
Thanks for dealing with my craziness.
I am so thankful for the blogging world, but mostly for my commenters! Because it wouldn't be the same without you, (as I so recently discovered). This is starting to sound like I am accepting some kind of award. "I'd like to thank all of my fans!" OH, my goodness....

It's called Mormon synchronized swimming....

My mom sent me this email, and if you haven't seen it yet, it's a pretty creative thing to share at a talent show.

Christmas video

I really liked this Christmas video. The pictures mostly... they warmed my heart.

Here is the link.

Picture Preview

Geren's sister took some pictures of our family during Thanksgiving. We are glad to finally have some pictures of the 4 of us, Thanks D!

My favorite holiday bread!

This is my favorite holiday recipe, and I thought I would share it, to spread the love! (Thanks to Katy Staley, who I got the recipe from.)

Cranberry Orange Bread

2 C flour
1 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. shortening
1 blended orange (rind and all... just cut it in quarters and throw it in the blender.)
1 egg
1 cup raw cranberries (cut in half)

Combine dry ingredients in bowl. Mix in the shortening, blended orange, and egg. Fold in the cranberries. Pour into greased 9x5x3" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
I also like to make 5 mini loaves (to give away as gifts.. etc.) and those only need to bake for 45 min.

A good reminder

(Thanks, Kika)


“True happiness comes only by making others happy—the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.
“It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring ‘peace on earth,’ because it means—good will toward all men."

---- President David O. McKay

I Can't Believe It!!!!

I can't believe how big my little boy is getting. He actually tells me when he is ready to take a nap! Today he went into his room and pointed to his bed, and said... 'bed'. Well, okay then! So, I put him in there and he laid right down and went to sleep. A few months ago, I never would have thought that possible.

I can't believe it is December, and almost Christmas!!! This year I really enjoyed Thanksgiving. I normally just get through holidays like any other day. I really took the time and thought about things that I was grateful for. It made me thankful for holidays... the chance to really think about what is good (and maybe not good) in our lives, and the chance to be with family and friends. Especially when your family is far away, I wonder how much you would see them, without holidays.

I can't believe I bought the MaMa Mia soundtrack, .... and I love it! I saw the movie awhile ago and haven't been able to get the songs out of my head. I love it.

I also can't believe that High School Musical 1 and 2 are on my Christmas list. I have never seen either one... (you wouldn't believe how hard I have tried to see those too)

I can't believe all of the violence that day after thanksgiving sales cause... like the worker that got trampled in NY?

I can't believe how good my kids are getting along lately. I really think they love each other. Quincey hardly ever mauls her anymore... more often he wants her to lay next to him while he reads a book or watches TV.

I can't believe that I love David Archuleta's song way more than David Cooks... never would I thought that would happen!

I can't believe that I was so wrong about Mark Wahlberg... I really thought that he was apart of the New Kids on the block... but that was just his brother! So confusing.

I can't believe that someone actually came up with this quote. It cracked me up.
Life isn't measured
by the
number of posts you blog,
but by the number of blogs that
take your breath
away.
So, I hope that this one took your breath away.

Day after Thanksgiving sales!

Are they worth it? I think they are as long as you are with good company while you are standing in line for hours. But just beware of people sneaking stuff out of your carts when you aren't looking.... So, sneaky, right? We actually saw people doing this! People can be so dishonest when it comes to sales. 'Tis the season!

I finally got it!

I got Maiya to talk on camera! I finally found out that I have to hold the camera to the side so that she can still look at me. (sorry about the shaky filming... I am a spaz with the camera.)

Today I am Also thankful for... (and not thankful for)

Yesterday Q and I played with sidewalk chalk outside. Then things got crazy and we never picked it up. So this morning as I was putting M in the car, I looked back and Q was picking up all of the chalk and putting in the bucket! All by himself without me even asking!!! He is getting to such a fun age where he learning where things go, and what I would like him to do. Not that he always does it just because I want him (Most of the time, it is just the opposite), but he is learning.

P.S. This is NOT what I am thankful for, but I thought I would just mention that people who hit and run on someone's car should get no ice cream in heaven!!! And if they don't like ice cream, than take away something else that they really like. To make a normal-sized story short, our car was parked in front of my house on the street... and someone ran right into it!!! So now we have to pay for it to get fixed. Bah hum bug. Is it just me, or do things like this always happen around the holidays?

Today I am thankful for....

Last night I really wanted to go to the gym and exercise, but G got home so late that I didn't want to drive all of that way (about 20 min. one way) and I wanted to spend more time with G! So, instead I decided to dust off my old Tae bo tape and just exercise right in my living room. And much to my enjoyment Geren decided to jump in and enjoy the special stylings of Billy Blanks with me! It was so hilarious, I probably got more of a work out out of laughing, I wish that I could have gotten it on tape. Many of my friends are listing something that they are thankful for everyday... Today I am thankful for uncoordinated husbands who go out of their way to spend time with their wives.

Silly glasses and updates

Well, as you've noticed, I have been out of the bloggersphere for a couple of weeks. We had moved all of our stuff into our new home on Halloween and were living with family for the past couple of weeks until the house was ready to move into. But I am back! We are now into our new place and we love it. It is a beautiful home, and we are so thankful for all of the work that was put into it. We are thankful for all of the extra space and feel really blessed. Pictures are to come, I want to wait until we are a little bit more boxless. But they are coming.

All right, well until then. .. here are some pictures of my silly kids. And I posted a lot today to make up for lost time, so please do not get overwhelmed, take a few days if you must. ;) Glad to be back. I decided I am kind of an internet addict.

3 months old!

Maiya is now 3 months. She is so much fun. When she is awake she is very alert. She loves to talk and coo and sing... I love it and never get bored of it, but I am having a problem getting it on camera, because every time I pull the camera out she is mesmerized by it, and stops talking!!! I will keep trying though, because you need to see it. She is such a fun little baby and thankfully sleeps really well.





attentive

Ready for Winter

Trick or Treating

I know it's been awhile since Halloween... but I thought I would post these pictures of our family trick or treating. We had a lot of fun.

This was Quincey's favorite candy... The Hannah Montana bracelet.



Beautiful Maiya with my beautiful friend Courtney


At first this was all Quincey wanted to do...

But he soon got into it

Especially with candy spreads like this!!! Isn't that the most amazing variety for trick or treating?

Enjoying the goodies with his friend Jackson

Ward Halloween Party!

Here are some pictures from our Ward Halloween party. It was fun having our little Peter Pan and Tinkerbell.