Let Us Review, Shall We?

most aren't blogged in the month of occurrence, so sue me.

JANUARY

We started the year off finding out we were having a baby boy. Talk about good juju!

Later that month I felt little Samson move for the first time. I'm really looking forward to that in my next pregnancy, and maybe at that point Sammy will be able to feel his little sibling's movements too!

FEBRUARY

No doubt the worst month of the year. I had the rash from hell, and was absolutely miserable. I'm looking forward to a better February, which will no doubt beat last years, no contest, with two new babies on the way!

MARCH

March welcomed the birth of little Lyla!

I also drove to California with my dad, Haley, and Addie to visit Grandma Betty Boopity Bottom. That woman sure is a firecracker, we enjoyed spending some time with her.

APRIL

My darling husband graduated from the Fire Academy, and we celebrated with a party, fire hose cake and all!

Tadd shows off his hotness, the result of the Fire Academy.

MAY

Whitney birthed this little flower in May

I got bigger and bigger and bigger, and had pictures taken to prove it.

We moved to a quaint little house in Provo.

JUNE

The best month of the year

This little bug joined our family in June, instantly brightening our lives. Look how fuzzy, I love it!

JULY

I shared a few of Samson's "firsts".

We celebrated the 4th in style. Geriatric hairline and all.

We remedied that little problem ASAP.

My lovey turned 30, and with 5 years of marriage and a baby under his belt (that's an odd image), we counted this turning of age a success.

AUGUST

Joint birthday party for Tysen and me.

(I sure miss having a full head of hair)

We went boating for the first time in a looong time.

SEPTEMBER

Sam discovered he has, not one, but three vices.

We (can I say "we"?) blessed our baby boy.

Samson learned how to cheese it for the camera from cousin, Violet.

OCTOBER

We said farewell to summer with a picnic in the canyon.

My mom became a published writer!

We updated our family pictures

And enjoyed our silver baby later that same day.

NOVEMBER

I shared Samson's birth story.

And listed lots of things I was thankful for.

DECEMBER

We paid homage to the Provo Tabernacle.

Sam-man met Santa, and got all excited for Christmas, which was a smash hit.

First Playdate

Dane and Samson hit it off right from the start, but I think Samson was hiding his fiesty side until he got to know Dane a little more. The day started out with the two of them cooing at each other and somewhat sharing their toys.

They reveled in the knack they both have for drooling.

They compared the circumference of their thighs and found they are quite similar!

By the end of the night Sam had become a big, fat bully. He got all grabby at Dane's face and hair.

And boy, was he proud of himself!

That cute, little stinker

We look forward to more playdates with Dane and Carrie when they move down here permanently!

The Day My GPS Tried to Kill Us

We had an amazingly, amazing day planned on Friday with these ladies. Jessica was flying up from Vegas for a much needed Girls Day, and Carrie had come down from Idaho (where they are half living). Mary, TT and Ali were getting off work at 5 or 6, and then we were all going to meet up, have dinner, go to someone's house and play, play, play!

clockwise L-R: Tiana, Jessica, Carrie, Ali, Mary Kate

Samson and I headed down to Santaquin to pick up Carrie and her son, Dane, around 10:30 so we could head up to SLC and pick up Jess when she flew in at 12:45.

You see, I have this fancy phone, with this fancy GPS, so when Carrie gave me her address she said I could call her for directions, but I thought..."I'll just be all advanced and use my GPS". So, we get off the freeway and made our way to her house, and that's when my GPS tried to murder us.

My first hint should've been the sign saying, "No Winter Maintenance Beyond This Point", but I continued on, going where I was told to go. A slight right at a bend in the road that could easily have been a field, down the giant snow packed hill, onto the narrow one car road until we reached...nothing. Yep, that damn red dot we'd arrived at was no more a house than I am Santa Clause.

We looked to be east of where Carrie may live, but down across a ravine and railroad tracks. Superb. So, I kept driving to find a wider part in the road to do a 3-point turn, since there was no way I could flip around seeing as how the road dropped off on both sides of us.

I find a place to turn around, and what do you know? I underestimated how much snow had built up off the road, and after 2o minutes of drive to reverse, to drive and reverse, etc, and dug out as much snow under the tires as I could, I was sufficiently stuck.

Carrie's husband being up at work in Orem, and her not knowing any of her neighbors, I had no choice but to call Tadd. He and his boss headed down to rescue us, hooray!

To justify the situation I had gotten myself into, I gave Tadd the same address I used to put into his phone, and he got the exact same directions. When he arrived I apologized a number of times for being stupid, and he said, "you're not stupid, I don't blame you. Just don't do it again." Well, duh!

However, we did enjoy ourselves while we awaited our rescuers.

Sammy enjoyed getting out of his carseat and sitting up like a big boy.

"WTH are you doing?"

Two teethies!

Jess called after we were un-stuck in response to my S.O.S text to which I answered and immediately said,

"You are going to kill us. I got stuck in the snow, and we are going to be at least an hour late in picking you up."

And she said,

"No, you are going to kill me. I missed my flight."

Dun, dun, dun. So what started out as a Girls Day ended up as a Girls Night where Mary, TT, and Ali met Carrie and I at my house around 7:00, then left for SLC to pick up Jess by 9:00, went to dinner then went to Ali's in Sugarhouse to hang.

Lots of funny things were said, lots of laughing was done, (and to surprise you), lots of gas was passed (not me!). I love these girls, and am so glad we found each other! We are all vastly different, but when we are together it's just like old times, and our differences compliment each other...now I'm getting all mushy...I just love them! Maybe more pictures later.

Girlies, let's not let another five years pass again before ALL six of us are together again!

Expanding Family

Allow me to introduce our new niece (and little cousin for Samson), Kareen!

My dear brother and sister, Kris and Kecia, are adopting little 4 year old Kareen from Eastern Europe. Through thoughtful prayer and fasting Kris and Kecia feel that Kareen belongs in their family; that their girls needs another sister, and that Bree needs a buddy!

The process has been started to bring Kareen home to her family, and we are just itching with excitement!

It's overwhelming to be in a family that the Lord has entrusted three of his angels to join into, and such an incredible blessing! How many people can say that they have three down syndrome nieces!? These beautiful girls bring so much love and joy into our lives, and are a constant reminder of God's love for us. It takes all of 30 seconds of spending time with any one of them to feel of the amazing spirit they carry!

Today Kareen turns 4, and in this beautiful letter Kecia writes to her on her blog she tells Kareen how she'll never have to spend another birthday alone, and we are so happy about that!

Just Skimming the Surface

of the many, MANY things wrong with Toddler and Tiaras

Waxing a 5 year old

Spray tanning a 15 month old

A 4 year old whose favorite toy is a yarn-haired wheelchair bound puppet

Duct taping a dress to a baby

Feeding kids nine pixie sticks as their baby crack

Acrylic nails on any girl under the age of 16

Telling kids they look ugly when they cry

Too bad there aren't pageants for boys. I'd really love to join the ranks of these faaaaantastic moms.

Never Published

I discovered this post in the depths of my draft posts and wanted to resurrect it. Or would it be surrect since I never actually posted it? Hmm...

October 1st of 2009 Whitney and I headed to Sparks, NV to visit eldest sister Megan, BIL Mark and baby Sophie.

Whitney had announced her pregnancy roughly a month before our trip, and was amid her nausea phase of the first trimester. She drove to avoid car sickness, which gave me nothing to do but be bored FOREVER. That is, by far, the ugliest drive in history.

I did my best to entertain myself with caramel bugles, games on my phone, and taking stupid pictures.

To bring back memories of our childhood road trips to visit Grandma Betty, Aunt Sue and Aunt Robin, we pulled over at the Bonneville Salt Flats and gazed upon the beauty that is The Tree of Utah.

What the freak is this thing?

The artist created this thing to bring bold color and beauty to the salt flats. Mission accomplished? Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.

"Ahoy!"

The Bonneville Salt Flats are freakin' weird. And the most well known salt flats in the US. You'll notice that all those car commercials on vast flatland are filmed on these salt flats. I've been told the weirdy dream scene in Pirates of the Caribbean III was filmed here as well.

Pwetty Whitty

and pwetty witty

Also on this trip? The discovery of something occupying my womb.

I mentioned to Whitney on the drive that a little something hadn't arrived yet, and I seemed to remember the date in which it should've arrived had passed. She said if that was still the case when we left on Monday, I should take a test.

So, how long do you think I waited? Roughly 12 hours from that conversation.

Us girls, minus Soph, were heading out to visit Mark at work and I'd taken the test as Meg and Whit got in the car. That second line was faint, and I felt the need for some reassurance so I brought the stick with me into the car and asked Whit if I was reading it correctly. Very nonchalantly she said to me, "Oh ya. You're pregnant." Just like that. Housing a fetus. Growing a little dude. Awaiting the nausea.

Immediately I called Tadd to tell him he was going to be a daddy, but no answer. Two more times and I did what any other wife would do. Took a picture of the positive test and texted it to Tadd. Can't even imagine being in his shoes and opening up that text.

Megan kept this test in her car for two weeks. She's super obssessd with me I guess. Guhross.

It nearly killed Tadd to keep our news secret for two days until I got home. Don't worry though, I made him swear on his life he wouldn't tell. That's how we roll.

CuddleBat

How does the babe cuddle with IceBat? Like so...

in a smothering fashion.

And please note the binki in his hand.

In love, I tell you.

The Brothers

Mom, I was kinda right! Los Hermanos means The Brothers!

Mal, Lo, Mom, Sam and I gathered at Los to celebrate 1/11/11, or rather...we just felt like it. Many a topic was discussed, and we decided we needed to get together as stisters and ma for a DIY project. But what? Something unusual...not "Provo"...something to fit in the home of this brat. Any idears?

And shut up. Shut up. He kills me. The foolproof way I can get him to smile these days is by saying, "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma."

He thinks it's hilarious that I'm trying to get him to say that.

Oh, and beeteedoubleyou, tooth #2 poked through today. That lucky duck.

Sunday Play

Sunday morning, we headed out to the front room to give daddy some sleep in time.

We logged some serious toy chewing and book reading time.

Both of us.

Such a gleeful boy in the morning!

Always On My Mind

Step One: We admitted we were powerless over Diet Coke—that our lives had become unmanageable.

Step Two: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Can't seem to make it past Step Two

Month Seven

• Has one itty bitty tooth, and we can see the other one is about to poke through
• Not sure of his weight since I'm pretty sure my scale is broken, but he's heavy enough to turn my arm into jell-o after toting him around in his carseat for longer than 5 minutes.
• Loves sitting up in the tub.
• So squealy!
• Recently started to scream, just for the heck of it, and oh, how it pierces my ears.
• Loves his skinny jeans, he feels much more productive and feisty in them.
• So excited to have two new cousins to play with in less than six weeks!
• Does this fake cough that we can see right through.
• Has been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth when I get him up in the morning and bring him onto our bed to play. I haven't seen him do it any other time during the day. Can't imagine it'll be too much longer before he's crawling, which I wouldn't mind putting off for quite awhile.
• Loves to talk to himself in his carseat.
• When he's given extra attention in his highchair or carseat he gets a little shy smile and turns his head into the side of his seat.
• Rarely fusses when we put him down for the night. Just cuddles his IceBat and squizzles around (PeterTerm for adjusting into your sleep position), and zonks out.
• Wearing size 4 diapers, which I swear isn't normal for a 7 month old
• Will attack your face with his hands or face if you get too close
• Loves reading books and totally calms down to get ready for naps or bedtime when we read to him.
• So good when he's out with me for errands or lunch, etc.
• Growing out of his 6-12 month clothing
• Becoming a pro at putting his binki back in his mouth. Even in the middle of the night when he wakes up and finds he needs a little soothing. I forsee a serious addiction in the making...taking this away in a year is going to be ROUGH.