Random Thoughts

Eric is at night clinic, which is awful for me (putting kids to bed is not my favorite thing to do, Lillie usually doesn't want to go and I'm exhausted at that point) and so I'm glad he doesn't do it very often. But it does leave me with lots of time to pass tonight before he gets back.
I put on Cinderella for Lillie to watch so that she doesn't make a lot of extra mess this evening, since it's just me to clean it up. Henry is hanging out on the floor, he's SOOO close to crawling, trying to see what's close enough to grab. The computer cord is his favorite thing to chew on. Glad he doesn't have teeth, but its probably not a good habit for him to get into just the same. He gets up on his knees all the time and rocks back and forth before lunging forward at whatever object he wants. I think that it is only going to be days before he figures it out. I am so scared.
We put up our Christmas tree yesterday. It's been cold enough for jackets lately so I guess that's enough justification to pull out the decorations. Lillie had been begging for the last few days. She was actually a big help with decorating the tree. And she plugs in the lights first thing when we come home from running errands or when we wake up. Glad someone else in this family likes Christmas trees as much as I do.
Today the dental clinic was closed and so we went to Disneyland for the last time. Our passes expire in a couple weeks and Disneyland is so busy right now that it isn't really enjoyable to go, so I think that today was it. I want to end our Disneyland experience on a high note, not frustrated with crowds. I've been dreading the idea of being done for quite a while now, but I'm at peace with it. We've had a good ride. Some day we'll visit again, it'll just be interesting to see how long it'll be.
Last Friday "the committee" met to determine where we'll be stationed for the AEGD (advanced education in general dentistry) Eric wants to do next year in the Air Force. My heart races every time I think about it. Right now I am SO ready to move on that I don't really care where they put us, I just want a change. Badly. We should find out in a week or two. Things went really well when Eric interviewed so I hope that means we'll get one of our top choices. Can't wait to find out!

Christmas Cards from Shutterfly

I love the Christmas season and one of my favorite parts are holiday cards and although I haven't sent them every year, I love receiving them. This year I am determined to send cards out and even better, send a photo card! They're always my favorite to receive.

I love Shutterfly, we have been a member of Shutterfly for years and have often used them to print out our photos. I haven't been one to send out Christmas cards, I think we sent out an email last year, kinda lame. This year we had family photos done and I wanted to do Christmas cards. It's been difficult living so far away from family because we don't see each other often. I've missed weddings, reunions, baptisms, etc. So I was thinking that this could be my way of catching all the family up on what we've been doing.

Shutterfly has a huge selection of holiday cards to choose from, over 800. As I was looking through them, I was looking for holiday cards that are fun, but that still have the words "Merry Christmas" on it. Since my kids are young, I like the cards that are playful, too. This year, I want Lillie to pick the card that she wants to send out, makes them more special for her and for us.

There are so many great Christmas photo cards that Shutterfly has to offer, but I was still able to come up with my 3 faves:


I love the snowflakes and it would be a good layout for a big family photo






I am leaning toward doing a collage so that I get to use more photos. This one was cute and it had Merry Christmas on it.



Another classy collage.
Choosing one is going to be hard.

And of course Lillie approved of all of these.

Go and Get Yours!

Henry 5 Months

Better Late Than Never

Henry is 5 months old! He is such a funny boy. It's amazing that there are already so many things about him that are different than Lillie as a baby. I guess I just assumed that they would be pretty much the same until a year old or something.
*He is super ticklish and Lillie was not. I barely touch the tabs of his diaper to change it and he's laughing hysterically.
*He loves to be held and rocked by his momma and Lillie did not. He doesn't do this to fall asleep but would do it all the rest of the time and never wiggle or make a peep, if I let him. And I do let him a lot more than I want to or should.
*He is so close to crawling, it's scary. We think it'll happen in the next couple weeks. I love watching him explore the world around him and can tell that he's dying to do more of it once he crawls.
*Henry loves to look at himself in the mirror. I guess he's vain.
*He's still super huge, although a lot less chubby than he used to be. I am shocked every time I pick him up about how heavy he is. My right arm is really buff.
*He's back to taking super short naps, sometimes only 20 mins. Killing me. Literally. I guess I'm really just that awesome of a Mom that he can't stand to be away from me... ever. But seriously, having two kids that don't nap is REALLY killing me. My house is a wreck all the time. I am lucky if I can ever get a meal in without a baby in my arms, let a lone a shower.
*He still adores his older sister and thinks she's hilarious. Can't wait for a few months when he'll be more mobile and they'll be the same size. Lillie will be in trouble. Ha!
*We started rice cereal a week ago and he totally digs the stuff. It makes me sad to think that my baby is so much less of a baby now that he eats off a spoon.

Love ya, Chunk!

Pretty in Pink

Lillie wanted me to take a picture of her before dance class yesterday. She is transformed once the leotard and tutu are put on. She dances, leaps and twirls everywhere she goes. Only four more weeks of class and then its recital time. Can't wait.

Birthday, Brother and the Beach

This week has been a fun and yet crazy one. My brother and his family came down to SoCal for the week and so we met them on Tuesday at Disneyland. Tuesday was also my 27th birthday and there is no better place to celebrate it than there. It was a fun and hot day. The ride lines were short which makes a huge difference, we were able to do a lot of things without a lot of stress. We came home that evening and had the best cheesecake on the planet from Cheesecake Factory. It's the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup and it is the most delicious thing ever made.
We went down to Anaheim on Thursday to play in their hotel pool. Lillie loved it, especially all the time spent with her cousins. My brother has two daughters, the younger one being a couple weeks older than Lillie and so it was fun to see them play together.
Then on Saturday, we met my brother and his family at a beach in Malibu. The girls loved the tidepools, we found a seal, starfish, crabs, and anenomies. Fun times.
Lastly, today we went to Universal Studios. We got to see the new King Kong 3D attraction and it was really cool. Then we did a couple more kid friendly rides and things and called it a day. By the way, we saw Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) at the park today. He was with family and wasn't recognized by many people so we didn't want to bother him. Eric was in the bathroom with him (Ha!) at one point. So that was our celebrity sighting number 2.
Anyway, it was an eventful week but a really good one. We always love seeing family. It made me really homesick after they left. I love seeing Lillie interacting with cousins. Cousins are and were such a big part of my life growing up and so I want that same experience for Lillie and I feel like sometimes we miss out on great family experiences. Baptisms, birthdays, talks or singing in church, baby blessings, etc. I love my family and can't wait for the day when I can live nearby.

Even though it was a great week, I'd still be happy if this one was a little less busy.

Ward Trunk or Treat

Ghosts of Halloween Past

2009

2008

2004

2003 (Our First Married Halloween)

Little Known Fact: Eric and my first kiss was on Halloween 2002. Romantic, huh?

Our Latest Trip to Disneyland

Thanks to Obama and the Democrats rally at USC, both of Eric's patients canceled on Friday and so we were able to take a trip down to Disneyland. We only stayed for a couple hours and only went on a couple rides. The highlight of the trip for Lillie was seeing Princesses Aurora, Jasmine, and Belle. We waited over an hour in line and then it took two seconds for us to visit with them because Lillie was being shy. All I can say is, Never Again. But she loved it so I'm glad we did it once??? Maybe it's too soon to say that.








I didn't know that he was sucking on the sword, gross, huh?

Pumpkin Patch

A week ago Lillie, Henry and I ventured out to the pumpkin patch with the moms and kids from our ward. It had been really rainy and so we were lucky that it was actually sunny in the morning although the rain did roll in later that day. Lillie had a blast playing on the Combine slide and wooden train as well as on the hay and pony rides. Henry was such a good kid, he sat in the front carrier or slept in the stroller. We had a fun time and left when the rain started.

TRIP 2 WA

So... for three weeks in September, Lillie, Henry and I crashed at my parents pad while Eric studied for NBDE part 2. And we're elated to say that he passed!!! In order to give him the time that he needed to focus on the test, we headed up to Washington to be entertained by my family. It was hard to be away from him but we had a great time playing with grandparents, cousins and enjoying life on the farm. We even were able to visit the local fair, an indoor waterpark and a couple yummy restaurants. I had to majorly edit down the number of photos because I am sick of uploading them to blogger.

Here are some of the grandkids on the rollercoaster. I love the look on Lillie and Macey's faces!

Cowgirl Lillie

Spunky Macey, we really miss this girl!

These girls got into lots of mischief together. I specifically remember an incident with markers that left them covered in colored ink.

Henry and Reggie, arm wrestling. They're two weeks apart in age.

I cannot tell you how many times this happened. Lillie had a hay day in the mud.

Front yard view of the farm

Backyard view with a shot of the horses. Ahhh, I miss these wide open spaces.

Henry slept through a lot of the indoor water park. It was so hot and humid in there that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

Lillie loved playing in the kids area. She's been so good about being in the water this year.

Henry and cousin Reggie are gonna be great friends!

Henry and My Dad. A LOT of people said that Henry looked like my dad. We pulled out some old photos and it's true!

Grady and Lillie got along so well. Lillie was often overenthusiastic about playing with him. One time after arriving at Grandma's house and seeing Lillie, he said, "Oh no, not him!"

Getting two kids ready for bed by myself was not my favorite time of day. We really missed Dad.

My nephew Brandt had his Star Wars birthday party while we were there. My sister and I made the Jedi robes and she made their light sabers. She seriously goes all out and it turned out awesome!

Lillie went over to the dark side

Hayley, Grady and Lillie playing in the mud. I did so much laundry.

I am so grateful for my family, especially for my parents for putting us up for such a long time. Lillie LOVED being on the farm and surrounded by little cousin playmates. She was so happy to play outside for hours and hours. I felt so guilty taking her away from that. It was a wonderful break for us, I love going home.