Oh Thank Heaven, My Boy is Seven!

Today (well, technically yesterday) was Matt's birthday. 

We started out with some presents.

We went to the lake.

We had cake.

And got home and the kids went to bed about fifteen minutes before the official end of Matt's birthday.

Easiest tuck-in job.  Ever.  They were all asleep before I turned off their lights.

It was a good day.

Happy birthday, Cute Boy!!

Abby's Update

It was Abby's birthday a few weeks ago.  Yep, I'm such a good mother that I'm that slow in posting pictures.

First of all, at the Come-see-what-we've-been-doing night at school, Abby got to dress up like the person she did a biography book report on.  Her person was Sacajawea. 

Doesn't she make a pretty little Sacajawea?

The day before Abby's birthday we headed to Ajo to visit my parents.  They had a ward talent show with a performance of their road show they did for their stake.  (It just occurred to me that there is a lot of LDS culturalism in that sentence.  So, translation for any non-Mormons reading this: the Mormons in their community had a talent show and they also performed a skit they wrote and performed for other people in their region.) 

The road show was cute and we stayed around to help clean up a bit.  It was kind of fun to be in a ward that could set up tables in one of the overflow rooms and have that be a sufficient area to hold people. 

Abby posed with the clothes she got from her Poppy (Josh's dad) for her birthday.

We stayed the night and the next morning we let her open her present in the morning.  She was happy.

We went swimming in the pool.  I have no pictures of that.  I know, major disappointment that you can't see me in my swimming suit.  I guess you'll just have to dream.

Abby wanted a Rapunzel ice cream cake.  I originally went to Baskin Robbins to order one.  It was going to cost over $50.  After I left the store laughing at the absurdity of the price, I went and bought ingredients to make it myself.  It wasn't too bad.  And it cost WAY less than $50.  Even with the Rapunzel doll I bought as the cake topper.  It definitely isn't the prettiest or most creative cake I've made, but it did taste good.

For about six weeks the girls' ages were 10 and 8.  It's kind of weird to have it sound like they are 2 years apart, since they are only 13 months apart.  But now they are 10 and 9 and the world is right yet again.

Ode to a 10-year-old

Ode to a 10-year-old

Not a kid

But not a teen

You find yourself

As a Tween

Some menus now

Will make you eat

The pricey meals

Not processed meat

Emma's first birthday celebration, about a week early.
(Her grandparents were in town but were going to be gone on her birthday.)

Admission prices

Go up as well

You're not a kid

Your cost will swell



Emma with her dad, siblings, cousins, aunt, uncle, grandparents, and great-grandma.

With double digits

Your age is graced

I see the joy

Upon your face



Emma asked me to make her a cake resembling her Littlest Pet Shop.
Not too bad, if I say so myself.

Because you think

With all this proof

That you, my friend,

Are child-proof

I was so nervous about messing up her cake that I made three of them. 
This was our "Leftover" cake: leftover frosting and leftover cake.

But I have news:

There is no way

My baby girl

You'll always stay

Mom and Dad got her the Lego Harry Potter Nintendo DS game.
Happy girl!

I love you, Dear

I always will

Through good times

And times of ill

Tonight with her cousins and siblings.

Happy birthday

Sweetheart dear

I'll celebrate

With you this year



We only put candles on the Leftover Cake.  The other one was too pretty.

But I can't help

But wish for you

To stay my baby

All year through

My big girl, letting me know how old she is!

Love, Mom

Millie's 2nd Birthday

Yesterday was Millie Marie's birthday.

Her brother and sisters had gone to the neighbor's yard sale last week and bought her some birthday presents.  (I didn't get shots of Abby's and Matt's gifts.)  Emma got Millie a little drum set.  Millie LOVES to play the drums for Rock Band.  Nearly every morning Millie will come into my room and head to my closet where the drum set is stored.  She'll grab the drumsticks and begin singing, "We Will Rock You."  Millie is a Queen fan.



Pay no attention to the fact that the birthday girl is pant less.  She deliberately stripped right before the festivities began!



Aunt Tara came by and had some gourmet hot dogs and mac and cheese for dinner.  She brought Millie this cute elephant with a blanket.  Millie loves the blankie.  It's hers.  Don't forget that.

Poppy (Josh's dad) and his wife Karen sent Millie a doggie that talks.  Not only does it talk, but Josh programmed it and now it calls Millie by name.  The first time it said, "Hi, Millie!" her eyebrows shot up and her mouth gaped.  She likes her new doggie.

Mommy and Daddy cheated and let Millie pick out her own gift.  We were at the store doing Christmas shopping and Millie found Sleeping Beauty in the Barbie aisle.  She looked at it, grabbed it to her chest and yelled, "P'ease!!  P'ease!!  P'ease!!"  How can you say no to that?  So when the confusion of check out hit, we took the doll from her, wrapped it and gave it to her several days later.  I think her sisters like it even more than she does.

Millie was a rock star with her birthday cake.  She didn't really know what to do at first.

Mommy stood by in case she needed to help Millie blow out the candles.

Even Daddy expected her to take a few minutes to finally blow out the candles, but she didn't.  She got them both on the first try.  Rock star.

And what's a birthday bash without a dirty bowl on your head?  Millie promptly ate her cake and ice cream and created her own beret. 

Millie is learning how old she is.  If you hold up your own two fingers and ask her how old she is, Millie will tell you that she's "Twoooooo!"

Millie has had a major year of development and I look forward to what she will do this next year.  I'm thinking we will begin using big kid cups, the potty, longer sentences, less pacifiers, a big kid bed, and lots of other big kid adventures.

Happy birthday, Sweet Girl!!

The Third 11th Birthday Bash

I had a really wonderful birthday weekend. That's pretty much what it was: a weekend of PAR-TAY.

In case you wanted to be a part of the festivities (or want to relive them), here is the recap......

Wednesday

I share my birthday with my sister Tara. So we went and had lunch together. Of course, we brought Josh, Millie, and my nephews Brett and Ashton with us. We headed over to a local Mom-and-Pop place. It was pretty good food, but the service lacked. Because the waitress's flirting wasn't enough to warrant a decent tip from us, I'm not sure if we'll go back.

It was later that day that I couldn't take some respiratory problems I was having (full story HERE) and went to the ER. After the fact, Josh and I both admitted that we were so worried that I was about to discover that I had lung cancer or something horrible like that the day before my birthday. Luckily, I just needed some oxygen and more calories. I'm much better now.

Thursday

My actual birthday. It was a pretty nice and quiet day. Josh spent the morning making me a MOUNTAIN of a cake. Seriously. It was a double batch, complete with a homemade chocolate glaze. He called it, "Death By Chocolate." It nearly was. Seriously.

He also made me some chipotle chili lime fried chicken. It was very, very good.

We ate the cake (I got sick, remember the cake's name) and had some great frozen yogurt. It was a nice night. I had already opened my present (my new running shoes) so it was a nice and simple party.

Friday

Our date day. Josh grabbed his cousin's daughter to watch the kids before they ever even got home from school. He took me to Scottsdale and surprised me with a facial. While I was being massaged and cleansed, what was Josh doing? Sitting in the lobby watching a dumb Fred kid on iCarly. That's how much he loves me.

Then we went further into Scottsdale to a restaurant called Maggiano's Little Italy. Here's something you may not know about me. I have a major weakness. It is Italian food. It's a good thing I had a big reason to eat more calories. Because I think that dinner alone took care of my ketoacidosis. And it was a pleasure to allow it to heal me. Oh, was it good food. And you'd expect a restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, to be expensive, but it really didn't cost much more than Olive Garden. But sooo much better. Mmm. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Mmmm....

Afterward, we went to see if any movies were playing, but there really wasn't anything out that sounded interesting. We grabbed a Redbox movie and relieved the babysitter early.

Saturday

Tara's SIL Carina invited Tara and me out for lunch for our birthday. I thought it was really sweet that they thought to invite me as well. We had a good lunch and checked out a new pottery painting place nearby. It was fun to hang out with the two of them.

Sunday

We had a nice BBQ at Tara's house. Carina and her husband Jershon came over, as well as my daddy. We had a delicious dinner, Carina made a yummy lemon bundt cake, and we rocked out to a little Beatles' Rockband.

There's a tradition in our family that the birthday person gets blasted with the Beatle's Birthday. This year it came in the form of Tara, Cody, Jershon, and me rocking to Rockband.

If you notice, most of my birthday revolved around some sort of meal or food. Yep. The food journal started again today!

Oh, I nearly forgot to explain the "Third 11th" comment. Josh called this birthday my third 11th. My first 11th I turned 11. My second 11th, I turned 22. Now, for my third 11th, I've turned 33. Isn't he clever?

I love you, Josh. Thanks for taking so much time, money, and effort to make it a special birthday bash weekend!!

The Joys of Getting Older

It's going to be my birthday next week.

I have a lot of reminders all around me that I'm getting older.

I'm the oldest of my brothers and sisters.

I'm older than all my siblings-in-law.

I was one of the oldest in my graduating class, both high school and college.

And I'm three weeks older than my husband. He doesn't let me forget that.

So to make myself feel better, here are some I'm NOT older than:

Betty White

Sean Connery

Methuselah

The Acropolis in Athens, Greece

So, happy almost-birthday to me.

Matt's Birthday

Matt's birthday was last Tuesday. I can't believe my little boy is 6!

He got a new bike. He loves it, but it's a little too tall for him to easily get on to. He has to climb up the little electrical box in the yard to get on it. Then, he has to gracefully fall to get off it. He'll get it, I'm sure.


As you can see, riding it is not an issue.

Matt had two cakes. One on Tuesday with his sisters and cousins. His cake has Mega Tron and Optimus Prime on it.

His second cake has Star Wars figures on it. We had this one Sunday as our 4th of July cake with his sisters, cousins, aunt, uncle, and grampa. For months Matt told me he wanted me to make him a cake with Darth Vader and Yoda fighting. In the middle of the cake was supposed to be a sheet of glass holding Yoda so it can look like he's suspended in the air. Yeah. As much as I love my only son, there is a limit to my (and Josh's) cake decorating abilities. I did manage to make him an ice cream cake after seeing he didn't eat a bite of his Transformers cake. But, the Star Wars figures were $8 (marked down from $22.99) and so they sufficed for his decoration. He didn't seem to mind.

And look at the two babies. Cracks me up that they are the two kids hovering over Matt and the cake.

Here's my big boy at his bedroom door.

Happy birthday, Matt-Matt. I love you!!

The Bloggest Loser -- Week Eleven

Cindy won last week. Go, Cindy. Just imagine what can happen once you're allowed to exercise.

I'm sick. And it was Matt's birthday week. I did not complete very many of my goals. My head is currently so stuffy that I don't know that it's safe for me to write this, but I'm already late getting it posted. Anyway, I'm stable. My plateau is safe. The goose egg is secure.

So, do I dare, with my current state of mind, try to tell a little about the few who have stayed constant with me through this journey? Of course. Who am I to back down from a challenge? Everyone who's still in this is tough. You can all handle what I may or may not say about you. (I would throw out a crazy kind of laugh here, but I'd start sneezing or something and ruin the effect.)

Okay....

Amy. You can read her blog at Larsons Are Lucky. Amy and I met at Adams State in Colorado when we were both Theatre students. We didn't really know each other before we worked together on Good Night, Desdemona Good Morning, Juliet. I remember finding it surprising that we had been theatre majors together for a year and hadn't met. Not only because our department was small, but because we were the only two active Mormons in the department. It's funny how we Mormons gravitate to each other, no matter where we are. Amy and I were friends from the time we worked on Desdemona on. We were both pregnant during our time in school and took turns nursing our little babies in the Green Room. We lost touch for a while after college, seeing each other only occasionally in Walmart, but Facebook brought us back together. I like Amy. She has two beautiful little girls and is the busy wife of a trucker.

Carina. I lost Carina for a while, but the magic of Facebook brought us back together again too. Carina and I have been friends for a long time. I think our friendship really blossomed senior year of high school when we both served on the Seminary Council for our Released Time Seminary classes. We had so many great spiritual moments. I will always remember those first few weeks, especially, when we bonded and came together. Carina is such a meek person. I don't know if everyone understands the incredible compliment I mean that as. Meekness is Power under Control. This is what Carina is. She is a person of such strength, but she does everything with such love and kindness. I don't think there's a mean bone in her body (to use a bad cliche, but I mean it). She has five children and obviously adores them very much.

Cindy. Cindy has been my BFF since about 1992. Right? Cindy, if that's wrong, remember I'm sick. For Cindy's wedding each of her friends were asked to create a quilt square signifying some aspect of our friendship. Would it surprise anyone if I were to say my quilt square has a movie quote on it? I chose my first real memory of her. One day in 8th grade Cindy came bouncing over to me in our PE class. I sat in the back of the last row because we sat alphabetically. Cindy asked me, "Shelly, what's your last name?" I said, "I can't tell you that." "Why not?" I told her, "Because you're a straaaanger." That's a direct quote from Home Alone and Cindy played right into my 14-year-old-overly-dramatic hands. Cindy and I have never lost touch. She's an incredible friend that has been with me through junior high, high school, college, singlehood, young marrieds, childlessness, childbirth, ups, downs, the worst times of my life, and the best. I'm getting mushy and I know she doesn't care for that, but I love her and (except for Josh) she's the best friend I've ever had. She has four beautiful little boys -- although I've got to go see Number Four for myself. And she's the epitome of the term "Domestic Goddess."

We only have a month left of our competition. Think we can do any good? Calculate your weight loss and leave a comment. If you want to join us for the last few weeks, do it. I have a lot of weight to lose to reach my goal, so if you're just starting, you won't be far behind. At all.

So, tell me your percentage lost, your highs, your lows, your favorite color, your favorite imaginary creature. Whatever you need to get off your chest. And hopefully I'll be feeling better soon and back to my exercise regime. Hopefully.

Emma's Party 2010

Today was a great day. It started with Emma happily waking up and quickly getting ready for school. It really helped, too, that Abby lost a tooth the night before and quickly got up as well because she was excited to see what the Tooth Fairy brought.

While the girls were at school, I made Emma's birthday cake and then Josh and I frosted it. I was pretty happy with the turn out, even though it wasn't what I meant to happen.

Here's the story:

Emma said she wanted a picture of a sunset and mountains. She also wanted milk chocolate rocks on the cake. I planned in my mind what it was going to look like. But the cake had other ideas. When I pulled the cake out of the pan, it plopped out perfectly.... except for a corner. An entire corner stayed in the pan while the rest of it sat neatly on my wire racks. Ugh! There was no way to really hide it. So, I decided to do a 3-D cake. Josh crafted the mountains and then together we frosted it. How's that for thinking on my feet, eh?

After the girls got out of school we took Emma to Walmart to pick out her present. She needed a new bike and we'd all like to get out and do some biking around here. So, she got one.

Tara and Jabon stopped by for dinner and cake and ice cream. Emma got to choose her dinner. We had pigs in a blanket, scones, and small pasta shells with parmesan cheese. It was quite an eclectic meal. Afterward, Emma opened her present from Aunt Tara and Uncle Jabon. She loved it. In fact, all of the girls loved her gift.

Tara ingeniously picked up an Easter basket with a Precious Moments doll and journal in it. All three girls fought over it. As soon as the two older girls laid down the doll to look at something else, Millie snuck in and snaked the doll away for her own purposes. That happened probably four or five times. So funny.

Overall, it was a wonderful day. I took an idea from Cindy (hope you don't mind, Cindy) and decorated Emma's door for her birthday. There's no backing out now. I've got to keep that tradition. Matt's already told me what color of streamers and sign he wants for his birthday in June.

It was a good day. And now the countdown begins for Abby's birthday. (Only 39 days, in case you needed to know.)

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Monday is Emma's 9th birthday. I can't believe that she is NINE!!!!!

Emma is such a good person. Really. It's so wonderful to have her in our family.

I did a spotlight about Emma last year. Go ------> HERE to read that.

I love my little (big) girl. She makes me happy.

Happy birthday, Emma Rose!!

Nephew Number 8

Today my baby brother Peter and his wife Genica welcomed Brayden Michael Williams into the world. And if you pay attention to initials, you will discover that Brayden's are BMW. That is not a coincidence. Some people's brothers are weird. But, he was born today (February 25) at 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 1/2".

I don't have any pictures of the new bundle of joy yet, but can I just say...

I'm So Happy!!!

I love my brother and I love my SIL. They are such good people and will make incredible parents. They've been given an incredible gift with this little boy. They also have some major challenges ahead of them. Brayden has Gastroschisis. That's where some of his digestive system grew outside of his abdomen. Until he was born no one knew to what degree he had it. From what I've heard, it's a bit more severe than we all hoped, but with a surgery or two (hopefully) he'll be put together and will be able to come home within about six weeks after his final surgery.

If you have any extra prayers laying around, I'm sure they would be happy to accept them. Both Pete and Genica are enrolled in school this semester. Genica has online classes, so she will be able to complete them as she stays in Salt Lake City with Brayden. Pete, however, will have to go back up to Logan to finish his classes at Utah State University. He'll have to be away from his wife and son during the week and only see them on the weekends. My heart is heavy for them, mostly because I have an inkling of what lays ahead of them: hospital living with a baby in the NICU is NO FUN! And being separated because life doesn't stop is difficult. And living with the guilt of "We live in a town not suited for my child's health problems so I can finish my degree" is extremely rough.

Luckily, both sets of grandparents are there to make immediate life easier for Pete and Genica. But if you happen to think of them, please say a prayer for them. The next few months are going to be challenging, to say the least.

I love you, Peter, Genica, and Brayden!! Wish I was there to hold all of you!

The Skinny on Millie

Today is Millie's birthday! Can you believe it? One year ago I was hospitalized with my new baby on one side of me and my big baby on the other side. This has been a long year. So much has happened. Some happy. Some very not. But, this post is to celebrate the greatness of my baby daughter--Millie Marie!!


We had Tara and Jabon and their boys come by for some cake Monday night. I took this opportunity to borrow their camera to take pictures of Millie's party and some of my decorating. Here is our Christmas tree, complete with gate to keep babies of all sizes out of the present. And, man, that Jabon in the middle of the floor took me forever to place just-so!




Some more Christmas pictures, but this one also features my old rocking chair. I loved this chair. Now, it is the first place to look for Millie if she's not directly under my feet. She loves this chair. It doesn't matter that she's stood in it and fallen on her head, she still happily sits in it all the time.


Millie opened her presents. We hoped it would help her prepare for Christmas morning. I don't know that it did, but she still got some great gifts. Aunt Tara and Uncle Jabon gave her a cute outfit that she looked adorable in today. Emma gave her the rattle in the picture above. Millie really loved it. Probably because she's played with this rattle since she originally received it last year.

The kids each gave her a card of some kind. They wrote her poems, drew her pictures, wished her a happy birthday. It was so cute. Especially since Millie is smart enough to read them by herself. That's what it looks like, doesn't it???

We made sure to start the habit of not associating Millie's birthday with Christmas. We wrapped her presents in Hannah Montana wrapping paper instead of snowmen and Santas. And you probably guessed that the Hannah Montana paper was left over from one of her sisters. I said we wanted to keep her birthday and Christmas separate, not her birthday and reality hand-me-downs separate.

Mommy and Daddy gave Millie a Fisher Price Little People set. I need to go search for the picture of me on my first birthday opening my first Little People set. But, for now, just imagine it. As soon as I saw this in the store, I knew Millie was going to have it. Josh saw another set, but it had some weird looking girl in it, not the blond girl with the blue dress or the dog. Hello!! You have to have the retro stuff. Then I turned to Josh and asked him, "When did our stuff go 'retro'?" He told me it was when we got old. If someone would like to smack him for me, I'd be much obliged.

I decorated Millie's cake. I originally made her a 9"x13" cake, but that seemed boring, so I decided to make two smaller cakes. One cake was a picture of Millie. Striking likeness, isn't it?

The other was a more Christmas themed cake with candy cane stripes. Yes, I dotted the I's with hearts. I'm corny, but I the mom. I can do what I want.

I realized that I am a genius as a mother. I made Millie the same Funfetti cake that I love and it proved to be so much less messy than a chocolate cake. Genius, I tell you.

This is the most smile I could get off of her. The girl refuses to smile for the camera. Get her sisters to mess with her in a restaurant or store and she shrieks with laughter. She's a tricker.


Some of Millie's milestones:

• Eating big people food. Her favorite thing is Mandarin oranges.
• Almost walking. I've been convinced for the last two months that any day she'd begin taking steps. I thought for sure she'd be my first child to walk before she was one. Not quite, but she could if she tried. Soon.
• Six teeth. Most babies get four teeth on top, two on bottom or vice versa. Millie has her usual two front teeth on top and two on the bottom, but she also has a tooth on the right bottom and one on the right top. Symmetrical still, just in her own unique way.
• Talking. Okay, not really. More like squealing for two seconds at a time every two seconds for several minutes at a time. Oh my gosh! Wanna watch tv? Sorry! You only get to hear the tube for two seconds at a time. And it's mostly just to hear herself. If she wants to make a point she sits at the base of your feet while you're trying to cook or do dishes. Then she screams.

Some of Millie's favorites:

• Person: Daddy. Oh, how she loves her Daddy! To see her eyes light up when she sees him makes your heart melt!
• Food: Mandarin oranges.
• Place: The rocker.
• Color: I don't know. She's one.

So, that's Millie. My baby is getting so big! Happy birthday, Sweetheart!!