December - January

A lot has happened in the past 8 weeks and we felt the need to blog about it so we don't lose our frequent visitors.

 

The holidays were busy and enjoyable. Christmas becomes more enjoyable the older our children get.

Addie and her doll.

 

Andrew's new (to him) 4-wheeler.

 

The above picture is the common occurance. Addie holds on until her weight takes her off one side or the other. Andrew is very good about waiting for her and giving her rides.

 

We traded vehicles:

 Louella was good to us, very good to us.

 

 We hope we'll get what we paid for... cause we paid a lot.

We don't have a name for this car yet and we're open to suggestions. The only name I can come up with is, "there goes my manhood." . . . We need to come up with a name for our car, and we're open to suggestions. On the subject of names, we also need to come up with a name for our son, he's due in a couple of weeks. The car name seems more pressing right now though, one must prioritize!

 

We've had two snow storms (technically 3 but if we don't get out of school, I don't consider it a storm) We've actually had 3 missed days and 1 delay from school in January.

 Andy's face says it all. . . It was cold and windy and yes, that is a slide we converted to a sled.

 

Andy had a birthday!

 He is a grateful receiver of gifts. His reaction is what any gift-giver would want.

 

We had a cake.

 

And Cousin Michelle gave the best gift: membership into the brotherhood of knights!

 

She didn't expect the tables to turn so quickly!

 

I show you this only to demonstrate the power of example:

Andy was given a bounce-ball for his birthday and lest Addie be left out. . .

 

She found her own bounce-ball.

 

Speaking of Addie, she is the toddler we always thought Andy would be. She climbs on everything and falls off of everything. She has split her lip several times, fallen into the bathtub and put an entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet bowl/bathtub.

 

***

At this point, I show Emily the post and she said, "Umm, yeah, its short, but that's fine."

So I'm now going to add a little more "substance" to this post.

 

This is Andy's new game:

 He wears this dorky had and swings around a toy balance. We never should have convinced him to wear the hat because he will regret it everytime we pull out the old albums. I guess this will be our "ace in the hole" for when we need to black mail him.

 

Help with the cooking:

 This is a rare time when the kids will share the same chair to help with the cooking. No the stove is not on so they aren't going to get burned. What kind of bad parents do you take us for?!?

 

I don't know what to say about this one.

 I'm glad school was closed today.

 

Addie's "chore" in the family is to take all the scriptures and pass them out. She does this unfailingly every night. What we don't have a photo of is her peacock run. So I will explain it to you: when she gets really excited and is running, she will run with both arms straight out behind her. The camera scares the peacock out of her so we'll have to wait until we catch her in action.

That is substantial as it gets and Emily now feels guilty for criticizing my initial post.



Thanksgiving 2012

What we're thankful for:

1) Early mornings and a bumbo

2) A willing helper

 

3) That mom and dad (not us) don't feed a certain someone (see below) peas.

 

4. A bosom friend

 

5. Someone who cares enough to not have peels in the mashed potatoes

 

6. Relatives who think they are Doby and the House Elves when they visit.

 

7. Chaos that borders on Riot (the table was the only safe place for women and children)

8. Two captions could go here:

a) That someone will go find Andy

b) That he hides in the exact same place over and over and over

(It's all perspective)

9. Self Explanitory

10. Traps to catch the good guys

(It did work, when running through, the "good guy" stepped on a toy and he went lame like a horse)

10. Ligretto x 100

(It just doesn't get old and yes this picture is Saturday around noon,

 "Don't judge us. Don't you dare judge us!")

11. A little sister.

We have lots to be thankful for ... but mostly that Ty and I aren't responsible to provide meat for the family. Not only did we not see a deer, but we also couldn't hit a clay pidgeon.

 

I know how dejected Laban, Lemuel, and Nephi must of felt. Not only do you not get food but its also a little embarrassing how bad of a shot you are. It never says they didn't SEE anything, they just didn't HIT anything. Nephi's bow must have broken after he missed.

Bedtime Stories

Bedtime stories...with two very young kids

 We always have good intentions to read together as a family. 

But inevitably, this happens:

Aaahh. Much better.

As a side note, I love fall in Virginia. I get to look at this out my window for two months! Every year, I get anxious for the leaves to change color quickly. I feel like if they don't get a hurry on, we'll miss fall entirely, and jump straight to winter. But then I remember the last year, and the year before that, when it didn't snow until after Thanksgiving. Imagine that. 

Halloween

Unlike last year, we actually went trick-or-treating this Halloween.

We went to our friends' house because they have a bigger, more trick-or-treat-er-friendly neighborhood. 

Andy was a cowboy. We forgot to get a picture with his horse--it's one of those that has straps over your shoulders, so it looks like you are riding it. It didn't make it out the door. 

Addie is the money bag that the cowboy robbed from the bank. 

Here are the friends we went with. From the left: Addie, Courtney (as a gansta'), Andy, Camberly (as a puppy). You can get a pretty good guess of their personalities from their costume choices. 

Embarking on the candy-filled journey. This is the part when we were patient enough to let Addie walk by herself. It didn't last long. 

Levi wanted to be something scary. Can you read it?

 Our little cowboy. 

A few things we've learned.

We've learned a few things the past week:

Andy insisted on helping me mow the lawn. His arms must have been exhausted because all he could do was hold on as Dad jerked him around the yard.

 

Then Addie thought she needed to join the activity. Hence, mowing the lawn is now a family activity. 

 Addie has developed an extreme fascination with her Dad. Any time he is sitting or lying down, she promptly crawls on to his chest to interact with him. Maybe she's just sending me a message: "Pay attention to me Dad!" She hasn't developed many words yet, but she can still communicate what she wants.

 Who knew Andy would be so intent during General Conference. 8 hours of talks and songs, Conference is the best baby sitter we have...

 ...that and the box that Grandma sent us.

 Addie also needed her time with the box...

...after she got her revenge on Andy when he fell asleep. He woke up wondering where he got those bruises.

We know the truth, but we're not tellin'!

Addie has a tooth

I bet you are all expecting pictures of Addie's toothy grin.

Ha! Tricked you!

This is actually a chronicle-ing of her tooth brushing escapade...

she is very excited about being a big girl.

As a side note, I was interrupted from writing this blog by Andy saying, "Addie, No! Mom! There's a ... a spider!" It was cockroach in the bathroom, hiding underneath one of Addie's toys. I had to kill it, the cockroach, not the toy. The toy lived. By the way, Chacos are good bug-killing shoes. 

Back to the story...

Addie has found out how to reach the toothbrush drawer.

She's just so darn excited to start getting her tooth brushed....

Notice her foot placement in the pictures

But it was not to be tonight.... Oops!

Oh, the toothbrush came too.

Let the brushing begin! (again)

Just so you know...

The kids are all accomplishing so much these days.

Andy washes the dishes.

 Addie walks everywhere.

 

Baby number 3 makes his presence known.

 (February 24th)

 

And now for your entertainment, here is our latest rendition of, "Daddy works with one hammer"