Adios 2009

I did it.
I got my card reader.
Now I can say goodbye to 2009 with style.
Actual pictures.
I can't believe it.

So here we go.
November 28, 2009 - Makenzie's 4th Birthday

This will for sure be her year-of-the-princess.

Uncle Devin and Aunt Candace (in background) got her this cool cotton candy maker. It was a big hit.

Wow I think you can sorta see the body of her unicorn flying off the head. Or Justin is holding it. Either way, I was just glad she laughed when she decapitated her precious pinata.

I'd say her camera smile is improving.

This is before the massacre.

Massacre in progress.

Ok, next stop - VIRGINIA!
I got to take a weekend trip home to see family and friends on December 10th.
1 mom + 2 kids/1 red-eye flight + 3-hour layover in middle of night = Nightmare.
It was exhausting but I only almost cried once, so all in all, it was better than I expected.

This picture brings me inexplicable joy. I laugh every time. His face just says it all. Oh, Jarom. It was so fun flying with you. You owe me someday. Maybe I can pick you up from your mission and run down the aisle of the airplane and make a huge scene. That would be fun, and then we'd be even.

So we got to VA and my awesome bro Steve & sis-in-law Allison let me stay at their house with less than 24 hrs. advance notice. They are the ultimate hosts and showed us a great time. I felt bad they rearranged some of their plans for us, but we really had fun! The first day we went to Colonial Williamsburg. This is the Yankee Candle store where they let you dip your candles in wax to change the colors.

Steve and my cute nephew Logan with his train that he dipped in every color & turned kinda brown, but it looked cool like that.

At the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg. It's this unbelievable resort with a HUGE indoor water park and arcade... You can even buy your kids a magic wand and all these places throughout the resort will light up or do cool effects. Very fun.

Logan and Makenzie

Logan and Jarom

Makenzie with her cousin Lindsay, who is, in fact, a real live cabbage patch doll.

She is the happiest baby! Always smiling.

The second night I got to hang out with my bff Becky and we hit Target (my sis-in-law watched the kids, thanks Allison!). Becky treated me to the best hot chocolate in the world from Starbucks and a scone. It was a blast. Short but so good to just hang out.

The next day, Sunday, we went to church with my mom. Here are the kids hanging out with Grandma. She took them out on a Christmas lights tour after some amazing soul food (for real, my mom makes soul food... 1 stick of butter per pan minimum) :)

While the kids saw lights, I got to hang out with my other bff Anna and the Gilliatt family! Just love those guys. Anna is about to have little girl #2. Way fun.

I also got to see my 3rd bff from growing up, Vanessa. Ness, if you read this, we forgot to take pictures. Doh!

There is nothing like getting to see some of the people who are dearest to you after a long time of absence. It was pretty much the best weekend ever.

And lastly... there was Christmas.
Which will have to come in the next post because 1 hour of posting is about all I can handle.
More to come soon!

Pre New Years Resolution

On the agenda for today:
Buy a new card reader so I can upload pictures and finally blog again.
That is all.

You wanna Christmas card?

I'll give you a Christmas card!
(have you seen that episode of Seinfeld? It's hilarious.)

Well... we are alive. The blog has not been alive but we're here. Things get crazy around Christmas. How do you guys find time to blog amidst it all?

One thing I did not have time to do this year was Christmas cards. I'm sorry. I love you all and would love to send you a beautiful photo card for your refrigerator's pleasure but I just didn't have time.

So, this will be my digital Christmas card. I sprung for the $4.99 picture cd JUST for you guys.
Merry Christmas!!





















(p.s. for the first time I tried to make the blog cute to make up for my lack of posts. I'm trying.. AND once I can get my card reader to function, I will post pics from the last few weeks, especially Kenz's 4th birthday and my trip to Virginia! stay tuned...)

Friends?

Isn't it great when your kids like each other?
And they do cute things all by themselves?
Really, I can't think of anything more rewarding.

Like turning the laundry basket into a boat (Jarom's still trying to figure out how people say cheese and smile at the same time)...

Or this was a cute moment... just pulling together some pillows and blankets and reading to each other..

Or checking on them outside to find Makenzie spinning him on the swing and both of them laughing hysterically (and I know, you can really see the Samoan in Jarom when he's in the sun).

But believe you me...
Those pictures were taken for a reason.
They were special.
VERY special.

Lately Kenz & Jarom have been having some relationship issues.
Jarom just wants to be with Makenzie every waking minute, say what she says and do what she does.
Makenzie wants him to go away.
And she may lose her cool with him from time to time.
I don't know where she gets that from.

So I pulled out my handy dandy "What to Expect the Toddler Years" (don't judge me, I need all the help I can get, ok?) and it was like reading my own journal. Apparently this is a normal scenario, whew! The book basically says to help out your older child (instead of scolding her for being mean to brother, like I had been doing). It really reiterated how it's not fair for a kid to have to deal with a 2-year-old all day (duh! that's why I love parenting books), and to help give your older kid some personal space, protect her belongings from the younger one, and tell her it's okay to get frustrated or even angry as long as you don't get physical.

Well... I'll be honest, it has helped a lot.
And now I can just take it in stride when Makenzie gets bothered and says:
-Jarom, stop bothering me!
-Jarom, you're making me OBNOXIOUS!

I really think Makenzie has responded well to me just understanding when she gets frustrated, and paying extra attention to her. She has been really sweet with Jarom the last few days, except for his few "obnoxious" moments. Hooray for parenting books, and hooray for cute moments!

How can this not entertain you?

A poll:

Your favorite cheesy New Moon picture.

A.

B.

or C.

This is a tough call for me. The first one makes me laugh. The second one makes me roll my eyes. And the third one makes me laugh like a nerd and say, "heh heh get it?? moons! new moons!"

Let's be honest though... who's going to see it?
Saturday night for me!

First project

Makenzie's very first school project:
Make a star spotlight poster about yourself to share with the class.
They do one kid a week, and this week is Makenzie's turn.

She wanted it "princessy."
It doesn't feel like long ago that I said, "My daughter will NEVER have all that princess junk."

Yeah.
That was then.
What can you do?
Girls like pink stuff.
And they like princesses.
And to be honest, now that I have a daughter, I think she really is a little princess.
Yep, I have changed.

So here she is, with her awesomely pink poster, name in glitter, and glittery princess-themed foam stickers all over.
Wow.
Our little girl is growing up!

Life

I wake up today with a determination to make the most out of my here and now.
Not in the turbo clean sense, not in the million errands sense.
But in the my-kids-are-only-little-once, I-should-treasure-these-moments sense.
No matter what, I will have a great day with the kids.
I am feeling very optimistic this morning.

And as Life likes to do, it sees my new found resolve and raises me two cranky toddlers.

Makenzie is three.
She wakes up silly and hyper, but also angry and aggressive.
A strange combination, I know.
She has it out for Jarom, and is talking back to me in that silly way that drives me bonkers.

Jarom is two.
He is physically incapable of leaving things in their place.
Then, he starts to color.
Yes! He's entertained. I can clean up his previous 5 messes.
He moves his paper to the floor and introduces his purple marker to our carpet.
Then he needs a tissue.
He unrolls half of the roll and brings it to me saying, "Nose."

Toys are scattered everywhere, children are crying and fighting, marker is on the carpet and I'm getting frazzled. It's 10 a.m.

So what do I do when things are getting crazy? I get out. There must be some errand I need to run. Gotta get these kids out of here!

I take a shower.
When I get out, Jarom has so kindly spread the clothes I folded this morning all over my bedroom.
And this is the moment Life got the better of me.
I lost.
I yelled at him.

Can I do this?
Can I stare purple marker on the carpet in the face and not lose my temper?
Yes, I can.
I can do this.

And wouldn't you know that just when I was about to give up on my goal, things changed?
And guess what, Life?
The rest of the day ran smoothly.
I went to the grocery store with both of them without incident and I got both of them down for a nap, without the aid of the car, AT THE SAME TIME.
That's 2 to 1.
I win.

Coolest weekend ever, second half

Okay, so on we go. Halloween morning we had some delicious Samoan pancakes and got ready to head out to Temple Square.

Here's our chef with my bro-in-law Aaron.

Church office building.

Cute pic of Sarah in front of the Salt Lake Temple.

Touring the Conference Center.

On the 3rd level overlooking a water sculpture.

And this husband-wife duet. You could hear the piano and violin playing throughout the conference center. Beautiful.

This is what you saw looking up from the sculpture/fountain.

Waterfall coming off the roof.

Our tour guide, Brother Hogan, showing us this cool sculpture of the first vision. (And he also lives a couple houses down from Justin's parents)

I really liked this little sculpture of Joseph & Emma.

Up on the roof of the conference center. It's gorgeous with fountains and trees.

Checkin it out.

Enjoying the view.

Pretty temple.

The guys were so nice to take all the kids to Burger King and let Trina and I eat at the Lion House. Yum yum yum!!!

Next stop: Discovery Gateway children's museum. They had a big Halloween shindig.

The little guys loved the water of course.

And so do the big guys, I guess. Isn't he cute?? hahaha

Love those guys.

They had mask making. Lookin' good Trina!

Chillin' in the helicopter.

Uncle Justin is just a big kid.

And after a full day of fun, we had some soup and sandwiches and got all ready for trick-or-treating. Jarom had just woken up from his nap so pardon his emotional instability at the moment. He cheered up once people started throwing candy in his bag.

It was an action-filled day and we were pretty wasted by the end of it. But of course we still managed to stay up talking til the wee hours of the morning. It was so good to have Trina & Aaron's family with us for the weekend! Definitely a very memorable Halloween!