An almost, sort of white early Christmas

Yes, I realize Christmas was a few days ago. But considering how late I've been lately at blogging anything (if I even blog it).... I'm blogging this first.
It snowed here!!!! I know most of the country has way too much snow already for the end of this year, but we're in southern Arizona, so bear with us. The kids were SO excited. So so excited. There wasn't a ton, and it didn't stick around our yard for long once that toasty AZ sun rose, but they had fun with it. So much fun that I called up our super cool friend Jessie and her super cool girls and asked if they wanted to hit up one of the canyons to play in the snow, and they said yes! They brought their cool friend Jen and her cool sons, and it was seriously a blast. The kids had their very first ever snowball fight, they built their first ever snowman (and baby snowman for mister J) and did snow angels. It was already starting to melt by the time we left Ramsey Canyon, but that was fine, by that time the kids had discovered the downside of snow: The icy cold numbness it gives you!

M and our snowman! Yes, that is a leaf for its hair. You improvise in Arizona.



This kid just had NO interest in staying with everyone else. Nope, he decided to explore everywhere, and could have cared less where I was. Boo... where's my baby gone??


Funny M!


Baby snowman, just for J (sorry, you have to look kind of hard to see it.)

Wilderness explorer J!

The only photo I got of all three kids

Building a snowman

Eating snow. Such a delicacy.

Still eating snow.

All done!

Maile throwing a snowball. Such concentration! I see a future in softball perhaps!

The road up to the canyon

Bah Humbug

I. Am a grouch. Sad, especially considering the time of year, no? Why am I grouchy, I have no idea. Maybe it's the fact that I'm a moron and I've lost/misplaced/lost my iPod Touch, and I really don't think I have any hope of finding it, because I'm fairly sure I lost it outside the home {wwwaaahhhhh...} . Maybe it's the lack of any Christmas decorations other than a {very festive and pretty, if I do say so myself. and I do} garland hanging around the low wall around the kitchen. There's nary a Christmas tree in sight. It's all for a good reason, of course. I'm very grateful for the really pretty tile that's almost completely installed. But the timing is just plain sucktastic. One of my favorite things about Christmas is decorating, it makes it *feel* like the holidays. Know what I mean? Plus the fact that half of our furniture is in the garage and our fridge is in the backyard. It makes for a grumpy Laurie. Hopefully it will be completely finished by tomorrow night, and CJ thinks putting the Christmas tree up on Christmas Eve after the kids go to sleep will make Christmas morning even more exciting for them. Which may be true... he's obviously feeling more festive than I am.

But now that at least the oven is back in the kitchen I/we can start Christmas baking! I've already made one batch of Christmas cake pops with Jessie, Susie, Maria and Christie, and while they were a pain in the patootie at first {the cake pops, not the company} we finally got the rhythm of them... right when we ran out of cake. Doh! So hopefully I can get some cake made tonight and maybe make some cake pops tomorrow or Thursday. The kids absolutely love cake pops though, all three of them just snarf them down whenever allowed. And when they're not, as seen right now in my room. J just stole another one and is running away from me. Little cheeky monkey.

Photographic evidence of the deliciousness of cake pops:

J biting into cake pop #1. It started out as a Christmas tree, but little mouths make things look messier than they used to be.

P eating a santa hat cake pop


M finished too fast for me to even get a photo of the Rudolph cake pop she was eating, but apparently it tasted as good as it looked.


Lucky for you, I took a photo of it when we made them!

BTW: if you want to try making cake pops yourself, I highly recommend it! Once you get the hang of it, they're really kind of fun. Bakerella is a freaking genius. We couldn't find any lollipop sticks anywhere so we got creative and cut some shish kabob sticks up instead. You can find candy melts at Walmart and at Kmart, and you can order them {and everything else Bakerella uses} online. Here's the link to Bakerella's post on how to make cake pops. Enjoy, and let me know if you try them!!

Oh Me, Oh My...

Where has the time gone.

I kept meaning to post, but it's just been such a great fall, and by the time I'm sitting at the computer with no one around to interrupt, all I want to do is veg and just surf. Lay. Zee. Right? Well... so be it.
I won't do a full on recap, because who has the time and patience to read that from me, but here's some highlights of the past few months, some even include photographic evidence!

I turned 30 {gulp} and got lovely, lovely presents. One of those being a laptop, which is another reason I haven't updated in ages, because I don't like to update without photos, and all my photos go on my desktop. But I'm always on my laptop lately. Oops...

J turned 2 years old {as seen in previous letter-post to him}. No party for him, but we took him to Peter Piper Pizza with Granny and our awesome friends the McDowells, and that was perfect in his eyes! Look how big he is. Sigh...
{mister pizza face himself}


We had Halloween, and a bunch of parties and school fun that goes along with that super awesome holiday. Seriously... is there anything more fun than walking around an elementary school on October 31st {or around then} and seeing all the costumes??

M was a queen. Contrary to what her face may be saying, she LOVED her costume. She picked it out herself and all!


P was a knight in shining armor. I have to say we got a ton of compliments on this outfit and people asking where we found it, and they're actually pajamas. Yep, I let my kids wear pajamas as costumes. But how freaking CUTE are they!!! Mum brought them back from her trip to England this summer, and they were just too cute to only use at night, when others can't appreciate just how awesome British clothing is. Hahahahah!


J was a dragon. If you asked him what he was, he'd say "RAWWWRRRRR!!!!". Everyone at once... awwwwwwwwww! P wore this costume two years ago, so yay for only having to buy one costume this year. Sweet.


We had Ps very first ever birthday party! This was the first year that he's really had his own friends that he could have a party with, so we decided to git er done. It wasn't a big party like Ms, but he had a blast with all his friends. We watched Up and ate pizza and Thomas cake. A perfect P party!


I've made cakepops about three times now, and I think I finally have them mastered! They're SUCH a blast to make, I always make them with friends because it makes it way more fun. Plus you don't feel like such a dork when you can't figure out why something isn't working right!


We had Thanksgiving with some great friends, and laughed lots. The food was so great, and it was so much fun to not have to worry about making everything. We all split up the menu so that we all could contribute. CJ and I made green bean casserole and a spiral ham. Mmm.... makes my mouth water just thinking about it.


And M was in her first ever ballet production! She was in The Nutcracker and did GREAT on both nights. We were lucky and Granny came to see her, as well as her Kindergarten teacher Ms. Wolfe and her sweet friend Willow and Willow's sweet mom Martha. I'm so proud of her, she really was great, she remembered both of her routines perfectly both nights!


And this past weekend we had a princess tea party here for Ms friends from Daisy Scouts. We decorated cookies and crowns and played, and then.... we all went to see The Princess and The Frog!! Oh, adorableness. It was a great afternoon, J even decided he wanted to dress up, and he wore his dragon costume. After all, what princess tea party is complete without a dragon protecting the royalty.
And the movie... awesome. I didn't catch all of it, thanks to a certain squirmy 2 year old, but what I saw I just LOVED. I'll be going back to see it again, but I loved that Tiana was so independant and didn't need a man. I love that Disney Princesses are starting to get attitudes! Yessss.



Currently we have no flooring in our house other than the bedrooms, because we're having tile put in! Yaaayyyy, we're pretty excited. It's bumped our Christmas decorating off because we have nowhere to put a tree, but as long as that cruddy yucky carpet is gone... I do not mind one iota.

But really, what we've done is a lot of this. Hanging out, goofing off, and laughing.

I love these kids. Love love love. They make me smile, make me laugh, make me furious, and make me melt.

What a wonderful world!

To Mister P

Brand new:

1 year:

2 years:

3 years:

4 years:

Mister P-Man...

4 years old. Wow! I can't believe how time flies... you've definitely come into your own this year though. That's good and bad, by the way. You've become so independent, but oh the attitude that can come with that. But you're usually just so happy and laughing, everyone comments on how infectious your laugh is. When you get giggling, there's just no stopping it, and half the time the people around you start laughing too, just because of how much you laugh.

I love how much you love me. You still love to cuddle with me and talk with me and laugh with me, and I love it! It makes me so happy that you still feel so close to me. You're starting to play better with daddy, which makes me happy too. The two of you find it so funny to wrestle and throw pillows at eachother, and J is starting to get in on it too. You boys and your games!

You and M are starting to butt heads more often, but I suppose that's just because of the both of you getting older. I still catch you giggling hysterically with eachother about some silly thing you two have discovered or are doing, hiding in your room. You keep eachother up at night doing little things that annoy the other too though. You just loooove to send M over the edge so that she's practically spitting nails! Oh, the two of you...

But I just can't get over your smile. You're one of the sweetest little boys, just so caring and sensitive. You always know when I'm sad, you come over and give me hugs and kisses. One time you even said "I don't want you to be sad, mummy... I want you to be a happy mummy" which of course, made me cry even more. Such a sweet boy. Your uncles adore you too, and you had such a blast with them on our vacations this year. The three of you spent the majority of your time together laughing and playing and just having a great boyish time. Your grandparents all love you and think the world of you, and how could they help that? You're just so charming! People warn me that you'll have the girls chasing you before long, and I don't doubt that. Not that you'll notice for awhile; you're too into your cars, trains and dinosaurs!

I love you P-man. I truly truly do. You make my heart happy, and I'm glad you're mine all mine.

Happy 4th birthday!!

Love,

mum

To My Littlest Man

1 week:

6 months:

1 year:

1.5 years:

2 years:

Oh sweet baby J,

What a funny little man you're turning into. Easily one of the most easy going kids I know, but you sure are learning to assert yourself and stand up for what you want, at least with your brother! You're still my sweet cuddler though, you love to come over and say "up!" and of course I can't resist you, my baby boy. And so we cuddle, and play, and laugh. You always make me laugh. Right now your favorite thing to do is for me to sing "yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for... ME!" and then you say "no ME!" and we go back and forth until we're laughing too hard to go on, and when we calm down, you give me the sign for 'more', and it starts all over. You've even got M and P playing it too, they think it's just as hilarious as you do.

Your Torticollis is virtually gone, people don't even notice you have a tilt anymore unless I point it out when you're tired. You worked so hard at everything that Shelly taught you, and both she and I were teary when you graduated out of physical therapy. Such a strong spirit already! You certainly haven't let any speech impediment stop you either, and you've only been in therapy for it for just over a month, and already you've learned over 20 new words! We always knew you had them in you, it was just a matter of us learning to help you express them. And you pick up sign language so fast as well! You just continue to amaze us every day.

You just have all of us wrapped around your little finger. We all think you're such a doll, your brother and sister included. M loves to cuddle you and tell you stories, and you and P are learning to play together so well, even though you both have moments of not wanting to share, especially when it comes to Thomas and Elmo. "Meemo" was one of your first new words, which surprised us since we don't watch Sesame Street and M and P have never really been into Elmo at all. But you just love that red furry monster with a fiery passion. Above Elmo is your "ish"-es though. You love all things fish! Daddy got you and P each a Commerson's Dolphin toy at Sea World, and you clung to it right away. You love your "ish"! And then you found this funny rubbery clown fish toy and that has joined with Ish to be your two favorite sleepy toys. When you wake up, you grab them before I get you out of bed and bring them out to play with. I know of no other boy with such a passion for fish!

I love when you wake up in the morning and I go get you. You're just such a sweet, happy thing. I see your still somewhat sleepy face just smiling so happily to see me, and I just wish I brought my camera everytime I go to get you! You are the epitome of adorable in my books. And daddy feels the same. The way you see him when he wakes up and you point and say "dada", and go play in bed with him, just starts his day off right. You truly are a joy.

I love you so so much, little handsome. I can't wait to see what a wonderful human you become, but at the same time I want you to stay my baby forever, just this way. I don't want you to grow up and not want to cuddle with me, or sing with me! But time marches on.... I'll keep my chin up and just keep being happy that you chose us, this family, to grace us with your life.

Happy 2nd birthday, J bird.

Love, mummy.

M's 5th Birthday Party!

Sorry, almost a month late (and over a month since my last post, eeps), but Blogger and I weren't getting along, and then Photobucket wasn't playing nice either. Plus we went to Northern California for a week and then decided to play "pass the sick germs" in the house. Yuck. I'll hopefully get another post up pretty soon of our time in Nevada City, we all had a great time, and got to see cousin Doug marry gorgeous Becky in the Sacramento Temple. Just beautiful.

ANYWAYS... here's a slideshow of photos from M's birthday party. It was a blast! Perfect weather other than the wind that refused to let us light the birthday candles, we ended up just telling her to pretend to blow them out, heheh! The kids had a blast, didn't hurt that we had it at our park and we have a playground right there. Hot dogs, chips and watermelons made it delicious, not to mention the cake AND the pony pinata that wouldn't die. Seriously, every kid got two turns trying to break it, we ended up getting CJ to bust it open. The kids didn't care, which is the best part about being a kid; who cares about the process as long as you get the candy at the end! The party made me realize how much I love our friends here, we had a blast just talking and laughing with everyone, I'm just so lucky to have such a great network of people that I know I can turn to whenever I need help. Thank you to all who came, I hope you had as much fun with us as we did with you!

To A 5 Year Old

Dear Miss M,
Well, we survived another year of each other. Happy 5th birthday, stinker pinker.
We've had a rough go of it sometimes this year, I think from both of us still trying to find our place in this world. You've tested me and pushed me, and I'm pretty sure I've done the same to you, but at the end of the day, you still smoosh my face, plant a wet one on me, and say "I love you, momma". It amazes me how quickly you can forgive and forget things, especially wrongs I've done to you. It must be hard, being the firstborn in a family, because you're basically the test run for everyone else, but you handle it with grace for the most part. You definitely have your moments, don't get me wrong. When you get really mad you jumble up your words and get even more frustrated, and come out with some great one liners like "I'm in a time out!" "it's not your fault, momma!". You never seem to lose it on non-family though, which amazes me. You still have such an innocence to you, you can't even seem to fathom when someone is being mean or rude to you, you just brush it off as if it wasn't at you. I wish I could be like that. I feel so protective of you still, but you're so big that people think you're older than you are, and expect more out of you for it. I feel like carrying around a sign that says "She's only 4(now 5), and yes, she has a speech delay. Please be nice." but that would be a disservice to you and your spirit. You catch on to things so much faster than I realize, and I need to learn to let you fly, even if there are some bumps and branches in the way.
Even though you fight, P just loves you. I love walking by your room before you've fallen asleep, and hearing you two playing or talking, or just sitting together reading a book. I hope you stay close as you both get bigger, you could be such great friends. And J just always wants to play with you two, wherever you are, he wants to be. You're SO good with him too, when we go on walks and he doesn't want to hold my hand he'll always willingly hold yours. You can be protective of him, and I hope as you all get older, that role is reversed and he and P protect you from any dumb boys who don't treat you well.
You've always been such a daddy's girl, and this year it's the same. I know you love me, but there's something about daddy... he loves you so much, and I know he worries as much as I do about how you're doing, especially now that you're in Kindergarten. Are you being shy and quiet, like you always are at first, in new situations? Are the other kids being nice, even if your words don't make complete sense sometimes? You got a great teacher, so we're hopeful... but still. We're parents, we worry.
I can't believe you're 5 years old, sometimes it feels so close since I woke up in the hospital, still very sleepy and out of it, and someone handed me this wrapped up bundle of squirm. You started to whimper and even though I was ready to nod off again, I started stroking your feet and saying "it's okay, it'll be okay", and you calmed down. It amazed me! Those first few days were such a blur, what a way to come in the world, but that's you, making an entrance. I also remember waking up the next day and there was your daddy in the rocking chair, holding you and just staring, stroking your hand. He wasn't even saying anything, just staring at you with this look of complete awe. It's a look I'll never forget, ever.
Happy 5th birthday, bubbas. I lovah lovah love you so very much.

(t-shirt by the lovely, awesome Miss Katey, click to see her cool knitting blog!)