Molly's Real First Word

Molly started saying Mama and Dada a long time ago, but really just while babbling. Her first word that she's used to talk to us is Hi. It's so fun when she says it. Sometimes when I get her up from a nap she'll just look at me and say, "Hi!" like she's so happy to see me. Sometimes she'll say it over and over again just to get our attention, and sometimes she says it to herself in the mirror. It's so fun, I love it!

A Day in the Life of Will

Will has developed a very strong fashion sense. I like to call it "I do what I want!" This particular day he was wearing this lovely ensemble (he put on Sam's shirt, the gloves, goggles, and hat on his own). He sat down on his motorcycle, said, "Mommy, I'm a bad guy!", lowered his goggles from his forehead to his eyes, and took off on his motorcycle.

Will took off his shirt and put on Molly's pumpkin hat. He "helped" me organize the storage room. It was so helpful.
Then he found his "gobble hat" from Thanksgiving.

As I was busy organizing I realized that it had become too easy. Then I realized Will wasn't there. I ran up the stairs because I just knew that he went in Molly's room. Sure enough, I found him in her bed. Just before I opened the door to see what he was doing to her, I heard a big belly laugh from Molly. He was bouncing her and tickling her. It was so funny! He's never climbed in her crib before, so now I'm just not sure what to do about it!

After all the excitement Will had during nap time, he was tuckered out. He passed out, sitting up, on the couch at 4:20.

After his little refresher, he just wasn't tired for bedtime. This is how he came out of his room to ask for a drink of water. And just a short three hours after they went to bed, Sam and Will finally fell asleep!

Funny

Molly had some serious bed head when I got her up. No electricity involved.

Will has turned into the king of tantrums. This is a particular favorite. It totally looks like he's relaxing on the floor, but he was crying like a champ.

What a monkey! He keeps us laughing, but sometimes it's after we've counted to ten and cleaned something up. We love Will!

Here's Your Sign

Mike went to a kitchen store to get me something for my birthday. This was Mike's conversation with the salesperson.

Mike: My wife really likes baking bread, do you have any bread-making gadgets I can get her?

Lady: We have bread machines.

Mike: ...

One cool item he found was a french bread pan. I'm really excited to use it! Thanks to the greatest husband ever!

29 is Fine!

I wasn't expecting much in the way of birthday celebrating since we just went on a great trip and did tons of cool stuff. Mike is the greatest though, and he surprised me with a bag full of cool kitchen gadgets (I'm dying to make french bread!) and a kid-free dinner at Tuscany. I had the pan seared chicken, and Mike got the center cut pork chop. Yum. We have a fancy dinner every few years, so it was so fun to go and enjoy gourmet food at a neat place. Then we went home, put the kids, in bed, and watched Chuck. Does it get any better? I think not.

And the next night I got together with a few of the girls at Katie's house for a little surprise party. I was the first one there, but it was still so great! We ate yummy cake and talked. I feel like I've been so spoiled this year. I like it! Thanks to my great friends!!

Part III: Lost Vegas

We tried to get tickets to the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur when we stayed in Vegas. It didn't work out, and we were kind of bummed. Mike and I had never seen it, but we'd always wanted to. We decided to stop over on our way home to catch the show. Sam overheard us talking about it and said, "Are we going to go to Lost Vegas?" Oh, the wisdom of a child! We had to buy our tickets 2 hours before it started, so we had a lot of time to kill. By coincidence (ha) there happened to be an arcade just outside the arena.

The show was pretty crazy. It was a lot more than I was expecting (which I was glad about, especially since Sam wouldn't touch his overpriced dinner that went in the garbage). It was really cool! It was also copyrighted and we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the show (figures, I had my camera with me that time!) The boys were in awe pretty much the whole time, it was nonstop action. The battles were impressively choreographed (I thought), and there was a lot of interaction with the audience. It was a really fun night!

We were in the Dragon section, and that was our hero. Alas, good won, but there will always be the next time! The costumes were amazing, as was the amount of dirt that got kicked up in the air.

Molly was so exhausted that she didn't know what to do with herself. Yet she still didn't cry. I love this child. I hope she never changes!

And boy, there's nothing like a visit to a Lost Vegas hotel to make you appreciate the Utah Clean Air Act!

We were going to stop in St. George to spend the night, but Mike is more alert at night than during the day, so we decided to drive straight through. I don't like to sleep, even when I'm not driving, because I like to help Mike stay awake. Let me tell you, that was a rough 4 hours for me. We got home at 3:00 am, but it was nice to be home for my birthday!

Part II: Huntington Beach

8 days. It sounds like plenty of time. And really, I guess it is. Unless you're in Huntington Beach. 8 blissful days of sun, warm, green, and FUN! The first thing Will did when we got there was hop on his bike and go for a ride!

This is the community where the condo is, and I can't even tell you how beautiful it is. The grass is as green as the Vegas astroturf, but it's the real thing! Everything is meticulously cared for, and it's like a little slice of paradise. In paradise.

We went to the "play area" and Will took off running. It took him 3 seconds to run that far.

This is really the only attraction at the play area (we've seen other kids here with their nannies). You can only spend so much time on one little slide, but at least it's toddler sized.

Molly and I hung out on the bench while Mike chased Will and Sam. It took a while.

Molly adores herself. She could sit in front of the mirror all day, she loves her reflection! It was so fun to watch her, she played for the longest time.

Out at the fountain, little buddies!

It only took 10 seconds.

Will started playing in the fountain, so Mike (from the front door, inside the archway) said, "Will! Cookies!" Within 2 seconds he was that far away from me.

My cute girl exploring the kitchen. She scoots everywhere!

Will found a toy stroller, and he thought it was hilarious to push Molly around. Under close parental supervision.

It wasn't super warm, but that didn't stop the boys from playing in the ocean. They loved it! Their favorite part was "rub a dub dub in the hot tub!" after the ocean to warm up.

Telling me about their fun walk.

I miss it. A lot. Already. It was SO hard to come home to freezing temperatures and dead plants. There were trees in bloom in HB for crying out loud! Everything there is lush and green and beautiful. Everything here is dead or dormant and brown.

We did so much fun stuff on our trip! I forgot my camera everywhere we went, so most of my pics were at the condo. We went to the Long Beach Aquarium, Fashion Island, the Newport Beach Temple, Wahoo's on Main Street in HB, Houston's in Irvine (most amazing food, best steak and thai noodle salad in the world. I'm salivating now.). Mike and I rode our beach cruisers, went on walks with the kids, and we went to the most incredible library where we bought lots of books for dirt cheap. I met a very nice woman from the Republic of Georgia. We relaxed, read, and just enjoyed being in our little slice of heaven. Oh, and Mike ran the Surf City Marathon. I didn't even get pictures of that. How lame am I? His medal is SO cool, but we left it there, so I still can't get a picture of it. It's a surf board!

It was so nice to get out of the cold for a little while and enjoy such a great trip with my wonderful family! Now that I've had a taste of cali, I can't wait for the summer!

Part I: Las Vegas

We went to California for a week, but we had to stop in Vegas for a couple of nights. Mike and Grace had a buying show for the garden center, so she drove down with us. I had a whole day with just the kids in Vegas. It wasn't as super fun as you'd think. The kids were all sleep-deprived, so I tried to get naps in, so we spent a lot of time in our hotel room. We did go on a couple of walks, but I had to keep covering Sam's eyes as we were walking down the sidewalk. He was not a fan, and didn't know why I kept putting my hand on his face. We went to M&M's World, and I thought it would be some cool place with fun stuff to see. It ended up being a 4 level store, but we did catch a 5 minute 3-d movie on one of the levels. Definitely the highlight.
Will was terrified of Yellow, I had to hold him to keep him from running away.

What's the best way to have a stunning green lawn in the middle of Vegas in the middle of winter? Why, astroturf of course! It's lovely until you get close enough to actually see it.