long time no see

The kids have been eating their lunches outside as often as we can.  The weather has been so nice, so they love to be out there every second they can.

(pic above taken with our new iPad 3!!!! Yay!  It is SO clear!  )

messy eaters

Ty thought it was hilarious at how messy they were getting.  He LOVES making a mess.  One day I made play dough, and told him to have fun playing with it.  After a little while I looked over and it was a disaster.  I said, "Whoa Ty you're making a huge mess... that's okay though!" And he just smiled big and kept throwing it everywhere!  He always gets a kick out of destroying the house with toys all over the place.  Emery is right there behind him.  She'll walk up to our alphabet magnets on the fridge and just start taking them down and throwing them behind her.  I am always stepping on or over them constantly.  

Today, the kids and I went to visit Paxton at work and eat lunch at the cafeteria there.  We got a little tour of the office, met his co-workers, then finally ate.  While I was in line, with Emery on my hip, dishing up my (delicious) loaded salad, Ross Perot walked up behind me, kissed Emery on the head, and said, "Well, we have some special visitors today!"  I turned and smiled and said something like, "Yeah uh huh." Then he said, "Well looks like she's not so sure about me" (or something along those lines - since she doesn't like  strangers).  To which I replied, "Yeah she doesn't do well with new faces."  Then he walked away.  Right after that, a friend of mine came up to me and said, "You just met Ross Perot!"  I said, "Are you serious?! I didn't even know that was him! Oops!"  Sheesh!  I felt stupid!

A few weeks ago, Paxton went to the doctor for his mole on his back.  I know it's kind of disgusting to talk about, but lots of people have em!  Anyway, I'm so glad he did, because the Dr. removed the mole and sent it to a lab to test it for cancer.  It turned out it had Stage 0 melanoma.  The cancer was removed with the mole, but he has another appointment to double check it is ALL gone!  I'm just so glad we caught it before it progressed and got worse!

Ty is a crazy person! He bullies Emery, and enjoys it!  One day, Ty was in his room sitting on the floor playing, and whenever Emery would walk in he would Roar at her.  Now, his roar is really loud.  It would scare me too!!  So after the 3rd time of him roaring at her, and her running away from him, crying, I went in there right after she had run out and he was busting up laughing.  I tried not to laugh, and told him to stop that- it scares her!  He will also just push her around, flatten her out and lay on her as she's crying, fighting to get away.  Sometimes, when I'm trying to tell him to stop doing something, he'll respond back and say, "No YOU calm down" and try to turn it on me.  Terrible Twos!!!  I feel like I'm always talking about the bad things, but he is a really sweet little guy.  Yesterday, I made some hair bows for Paxton's boss's baby.  I put them in a little gift bag, which Ty saw and demanded to see what was in it.  I showed him the bows and he said, 'Ooooo, so cute.  I love it! Pretty bows!"  Hehe.  Also, a few days ago, he was pretending to talk to Emery and he said, "Come on sweet girl.  Let's go sweet baby girl", which are things I say to her.  He can be so sweet!  Almost always after we have all gotten ready to go out, or go to church, he'll say, "Dad you look cool! And Mom you look pretty.  Emery looks SO cute.  And I cool."  He likes when I call him goof ball.  He also LOVES to sing.  He knows the words to Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, You Are My Sunshine, I love to see the Temple, I am a Child of God, Popcorn Popping & Itsy Bitsy Spider. I'm probably missing a few.  He is good at playing by himself and using his imagination.  He loves dinosaurs, guns, swords, lions, tigers, and any other animal that roars or growls. 

Emery is a really fun little girl.  She loves to get tickled, and absolutely loves reading books.  She always has little toys in both hands at all times.  She loves music and loves to dance to it.  She loves to climb onto things, and throw things and make a mess.  She is starting to say more words, but most of her talking is still unclear.  Ty actually imitates her talking(which annoys me so much), rather than her imitating his.  When I try to tell her No to something, she looks at me and keeps doing it, knowing that I'm telling her No.  She just doesn't care one bit.  I have to physically remove her from situations.  Like right now, she is sitting on my lap, trying to hit the keyboard, but I'm swatting her little fingers and arms away and saying no, and she just smiles and laughs. She will attempt again every couple of minutes.  Little rascal.  She is a sweet little girl with no fear of anything(except Ty's roars).  

We are looking forward to General Conference this weekend, and Easter the next weekend.  Paxton is always busy with work or church callings, and I stay busy with kids and little projects around the house.  Always keeping busy.

Big Cheese

 Emery is the big cheese I'm referring to.  She has become quite the poser for pictures!  Anytime she sees me pull out the camera she gives this lovely smile!!!

 Ty & Emery dressed in their new Sunday best!!  A Christmas gift from Yaya!

 ... Aaaaand another "cheese" picture!!  I just LOVE her!

 When we get Ty dressed for the day, complete with gelled hair, he will stand in front of the mirror and look at himself forever.  He loves the way he looks! :)
He is really into Kung Fu Panda, and he always calls himself the Dragon Warrior whenever he gets ready for the day.  He has to have his shoes on though.  That completes his outfit and truly makes him the Dragon warrior.

Today, Ty & Em were quietly and happily playing in Emery's room with the door shut.  I didn't want to bother them since they don't play this well too often!  Awhile later, Ty comes out and asks for me to come here.... and this is what I came upon!  They emptied out all the drawers in the changing table... diapers, burp cloths, sheets, and blankets!  I got the camera to snap a shot.  Emery noticed and quickly gave a huge cheese!  My favorite is when she is smiling so big, her nose is scrunched up and her eyes are squinting, so she can barely see out of them!  

She has also become a mischievous little girl.  When she is done eating, she will throw whatever leftover food onto the floor.  She knows that she shouldn't be doing it, since I tell her No whenever she does.  One time I was away from the table, but walked up behind her right when she was about to throw some food.  I watched her throw it on the ground, give one of her big cheesy smiles, then chuckle.
She seems to be the type that doesn't care about the rules I set in the house.  She's going to do what she wants, and she's going to look me straight in the eye while doing it.  Ty is the opposite and will do what I ask, if I tell him the consequence of not following what I say.  Who knows though. Maybe Emery is still too young to get the consequence thing still.... Yet either way, I know she is definitely a stubborn one.

We'll still keep her!  :)

Big boy

This is the first night for Ty sleeping in his "big boy bed"!

He was SOOOOO excited that we took down the rail and made his bed open!! He and Emery were playing in it all night, jumping and reading and laughing, having fun. But when it finally got to bedtime, he threw a shirt little fit, but we calmed him down and got him tucked into bed.

Once we left his room, we watched him on the monitor. He didn't even get out of his bed at all! He laid there for a bit, sat up, reached over to grab a toy dragon, played with that for a bit, laid back down and went to sleep! Sweet!

Let's hope it lasts!

And I haven't even dealt with naps yet...

Next up, potty training!

I've been a good girl!

Every Christmas Eve, we go out to eat, usually at a Chinese restaurant.  This year, we went to Jinbeh!  Restaurants like these are always fun when they cook in front of you.  The chef always puts on a little show, and the kids enjoyed it.   Here's the group!

 "WHAAAT?"

 After dinner, we headed out our house where we read the Nativity story.  This year, Paxton made a powerpoint presentation of our Christmas book, with the pictures and the songs, so it made it easy for everyone to see and to sing along!  We sipped on hot chocolate, all while reading and watching the story.  I love our tradition on Christmas Eve, because it brings us back to the true meaning of Christmas, and makes me grateful for the Savior, my family, and all that I am blessed with each day!

 The kiddos in their Christmas pajamas!

  

And Christmas morning, all dark, with the tree lights on!  I love that moment!

  Ty & Emery were surprised when they woke up to see a gigantic teddy bear by the Christmas tree!!  They love it!

We proceeded to open all our gifts, and the kids loved them all!
After the present opening, we ate pancakes, then rushed to get ready for church at 10:30am.
After church, we spent the rest of the day at Yaya's house.  We ate some delicious dinner, amazing fudge, and opened even more presents!!  The kids scored some awesome toys, books, movies, clothes, and more toys!!
The day after Christmas, we traveled to east Texas to visit 2 more families, where the kids got loaded up with even more gifts!!!   Seriously, this year the kids got way too much!
When we finally got back from all our travels Wednesday, I started organizing all their toys.  I boxed some up to store for later, threw some old ones out, and am still in the process of getting organizers for the ones I'm keeping out for them to play with!  It is seriously a mad house with how many toys they have around here!  But they have been enjoying all their new toys!  Neither of them have really taken to one particular toy.  They truly love all of them and are playing with them all equally.  Funny kids.

Paxton got lots of clothes!  He needed them.  He also got the running shoes he's been wanting for awhile.  They're the Reebok Realflex running shoes.  Very light, very cool! :)  He also got The Man With No Name Trilogy.  He has already watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  He likes his western movies.

Santa brought me something really special this year!  I couldn't believe it when I saw it!  I always get blessed with big surprises at Christmas time, and this was definitely a pleasant one!  I'm super excited to get baking now.  After opening this, Paxton said, "You better go start making me some bread!"  ha.  Thank you SO much Santa, for bringing me the amazing Bosch!

On a different note, I have been trying to teach Ty his colors.  He knows some of them, but not all.  And I think he knows certain colors by memory, and not recognition.  Anyway, I got this idea from a friend and thought I'd try it.   He certainly enjoyed it!!

"Mmm, fruit loops!"

 And this just always makes me laugh.  Ty likes to put his own shoes on, but doesn't always put them on the right feet.

We were commenting on their pj's saying they looked like they broke out of Santa's elf prison... hehe.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Ty's Big Cut!

I love Ty's hair.  I love that it's soft, bright blonde, and straight with a little wave at the ends. I love it long and shaggy.  Of course, it needs to stay trim and neat, though.  Paxton kept wanting me to cut it short. He was sick of long and wanted a normal boy cut.  I kept saying NO!  I finally agreed to TRIM his hair last week... and oh what a mistake that was!  You can't tell how bad the cut was from these pictures, but it was pretty bad.  I decided to wait a few days and see if it grew on me and if it'd look okay after a week or so.  And I did like it.  It was still cute, just with a few little weird spots, but they would grow out eventually.  Paxton, on the other hand wanted it all gone, and he wanted it done TODAY! After a lot of convincing, I finally agreed to take Ty to a salon to get it cut.  I usually cut his hair, and I was even pretty confident about cutting it this time, but Paxton wanted it done professionally.  Whatever. 

So, today Ty got his big boy hair cut!      

                                                                                Before...

                                                                            During...

Getting it styled

                                                                            AFTER!!!

I guess he likes it!
And I like it too...
But I still miss his long hair.
He did great while getting it cut.  He sat there patiently, didn't move at all.  When asked, he looked down, looked straight, closed his eyes, and even had some laughs when trimming the back of his neck.  He totally did awesome!
So, he has several cowlicks that make his hair go in crazy directions. There is one part in the back that I don't like because the hair is too long, but if it was cut shorter, it would stick out and look out of place...  Whatever.  I still might chop that part off if it keeps bugging me.  Besides all that, he looks pretty handsome to me!
On the way to get it cut, I kept telling him we're going to cut his hair and he'll look really cool.  He has always said, "Ty look like a cool guy!"  So after his cut, he said that lots--- "Ty cool guy!!"  Plus, he was looking forward to his sucker at the end!!

Way To Go Cool Guy!!

dat be fun

We went to an ugly Christmas sweater surprise birthday party for our friend Brian!  It was so much fun!  There were about 25-30 people there, all in ridiculously ugly sweaters... it was so awesome! There were lots of fun friends, yummy food, and fun games!  Jeni planned some fun games inspired by the TV show Minute to Win It.  Lots of good laughs.  I especially loved the tacky photo booth that was set up with the single strip of christmas wrapping paper taped on the wall.   Perfect touch. 

When I went to thrift stores trying to find a perfect ugly sweater, there were none to be found. So I called Paxton's mom, Ann.  I'm glad I could rely on her to cover for us.  She had the perfect sweaters!  When it came to getting dressed, I got my ensemble on, shoulder pads and all.  Paxton put the sweater on and parted his hair to the side, but still need one last touch.  And then he put those black rim glasses- and then it was complete!  We had so much fun!!

We decorated our house for Christmas the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  The kids loved having the Santa hats on.  They looked so cute! 

Ty got a hold of a curtain rod I have hiding behind our couch... so the kids were playing together.  It looks pretty dangerous, but it was all under control.

Emery absolutely LOVES books.  She will sit anywhere and flip through the pages back and forth.  She always brings books to us, wanting us to read to her.  She has a favorite book- Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See.  We read it so many times, I had to hide it because I was so sick of it. 

After bath time, Ty & Em loving playing together.  Ty likes putting the towel on his head and running around, letting the towel fly up like a cape.
Ty also likes to drink his "bottle" with Emery on the chair.

Emery with her books and milk.  

Ty is really funny.  He is very particular about things.  He has to do them a certain way.  One night, Daddy taught him how to climb up in to his crib.  Ever since then, Ty has to climb in all by himself for naps and bedtime.  He also has to climb into the bath by himself.  At night when I leave his room for bed, he always has to say "Bye bye, see ya later, have fun, love you too!" Really fast!  And then I say, "I love you too!"  And he says again "I love you too!"  And then I say again "I love you too." And he will say it again, but I only say it twice !  Haha!  

Another funny thing Ty does, is in the car, if I'm not driving with 2 hands on the wheel, he will say, "Mommy! Drive like this!" and he'll put up his hands at 10 & 2.  Way to watch out for our safety buddy!  Thank you!

He has picked up on words that we say.  Awhile ago he would always say, "Uuuuummmmm" before he answered me.  Now something he says a lot is "Thas so annoyiiiiiiing!!"  He also says, "Mommy, Ty sad" or "Ty tired" or "Ty happy!"  And "Dat be fun!" or "Dat so fun Mommy!"

Emery is such a happy, sweet, and cuddly baby!  She has learned to hold her own with Ty.  When Ty runs near her, she squats down a little and braces herself for a fall, if she needs to.  She flinches when Ty walks by.  Sad, but funny.

We had a great Thanksgiving, and are now really looking forward to Christmas!  We've already driven around town and looked at Christmas lights, drinking peppermint hot chocolate, and sang Christmas songs.  Life is good, and we are so blessed!

Merry Christmas everyone!