Haricuts for the New Year!

Turner's first hair cut of his life was quite the adventure.

We actually started out okay.

The cape was on and he was good with that.

She even got in a couple of snips. But then. . .

The crying and whaling and gnashing of gums began.

Whew! That was rough!

But don't we look cute now?

So the curls are gone for the time being, but the hair has been evened out and tamed. And the curls will come back if they are ment to be.

Hayden on the other hand did great and went from Shaggy to close and spikey.

What a handsome devil!

I only need one Mom!

Today while taking Hayden and Turner to daycare, Hayden was asking me questions about when he was small and how he grew and if Turner was going to grow as big as he was. I explained to him that Turner would grow and someday they would be about the same size, but that Hayden would always be Turner's big brother. We continued to talk about when he got big and he kept asking if he would still be the big brother. So I told him, even when you are as tall as daddy and have a wife you will still be Turner's big brother. Hayden said to me, "I don't need a wife. All I need is one mom."

I had to wipe the tears from my eyes.

Favorite Things about Christmas

Is there anything better than sitting by the Christmas tree with its lights on and a fire buring in the fireplace? This is one of the many things I love about the Christmas season.

Another is all of the wonderful cards we get from friends and family all over the world. I love to read brag letters at Christmas time. I personally don't include them in my cards, but I get all excited when they come. I also love to see pictures.

I've tried to include a picture of Hayden in each of my Christmas cards since he was been born. This year there were three pictures of each of the boys. A bit much I know, but they were small and I couldn't pick one picture that was just perfect and the combination allowed people to see their personalities. Each year I try to make our Christmas cards, and this drives Dave crazy, because of all the time and expense. It really would be cheaper just to buy the cards, but I love designing and making the cards myself. Some years I just don't have the time or inclination and I will buy the cards, but most of the time I make them one by one. Just another one of the joys of Christmas.

Christmas Morning 2009

Well Santa sure didn't miss our house this year. We asked him to cut back, but apparently we were just too good. We had a great time opening presents and seeing the surprise on Hayden's face. Turner was asleep for most of the paper ripping. You would think we were picture taking fools because Dave, Hayden and I all got camera's from Santa. We will definitely put them to good use.

In addition to the camera and the crazy dinosaur that is eating Hayden in the picture below, he got a fishing pole, so he and Dave can go fishing this summer, a Handi Manni (Hayden calls him Handi Mandi) motorcycle toy with a flashlight named Flicker which he repeats incessantly in Spanish (Flicker not Hayden).

a Lil' Helper tool kit with a hard hat, tools and a tool belt, below he is wearing the hard hat while it is still in the packaging.

and a Super Hero in a box, complete with mask, cape and wrist bands.

And to much other stuff to even remember. And according to him it is all, just what he wanted, I guess Santa must have been listening really well.

Turner did eventually wake up and we let him open his presents. Of course as with most babies who are seven months old the paper was the biggest hit.

He got one toy he really liked it makes lots of noise and has bright lights. He can use it to pull himself up to a standing position and eventually to balance as he walks.

Even the dog made out like a bandit.

All in all it was a good day. We did miss out on our family tradition of going out for Mexican Food on Christmas Eve because Dave's throat was not healed from the surgery. We still got to be with each other, we got to read the Christmas story from the scriptures and we got to enjoy some of our other traditions like scones for breakfast.

Damn Dog!

A couple of years ago I bought some Christmas stockings for the family with our names embroidered across the top. I was planning on buying a new one to match for Turner this year but alas they don’t make the same style of stocking anymore. So I looked around for a new stocking but couldn’t find any that I liked. I figured it wasn’t a big deal and Turner is only seven months old and probably doesn’t care he didn’t get a matching stocking this year. Hayden on the other hand has learned to read his name and was all over the fact that he had his own stocking with his name on it. I figured I would keep looking and by next year I would find and buy new matching stockings for the whole family with our names on them.

So I come home from work the other day to find one of the stockings in the middle of the family room floor with the toe chewed out of it by the damn dog. All I kept thinking in my mind is please let it be Dave’s or mine and no big deal (we’re getting new ones next year, right.) I am not that lucky. The damn dog has three stockings to choose from, two of which if she chewed the toe out of would be no big deal, and one of which if she chews the toe out of is a major event. And so which ones does she pick? Of course she chews the toe out of Hayden’s stocking. The one he is so proud of because it has his name on it. Damn dog!

Luckily Hayden was to excited about what went into the stocking and didn’t really noticed the hole.

Christmas Card 2009

This is the Christmas card we sent out to friends and family this year. It was a fun card to make and I love how it shows the boys with different expressions. I did go a bit over board, and the cards ended up being a bit heavy so I had to add 17¢ postage to each card. David always says it would be cheaper to buy the cards, and after all the supplies, time and extra postage he is definitely right, but it wouldn't be near as fun or as personal.

I even took the pictures all myself. I got a couple of santa type hats from Hobby Lobby (one of my most favorite stores) stuck up a white sheet for the back ground and snapped away.

Tonsils

Dave had to go in for surgery to remove his tonsils and part of his soft pallet. The doctor said his tonsils were about three times bigger than the average persons and they were a major part of his sleep apnea problem. They also said a tonsillectomy on an older person such as Dave was a hard surgery to recover from. Poor Dave!

While talking to my mom about a week before the surgery, I was expressing my concerns about getting Dave to the hospital at six in the morning and getting the boys to daycare which didn’t open until after six in the morning. And of course the hospital and daycare are not conveniently located next to each other. So I moaned and groaned about this to my mom. I knew I could call on people from the ward to help, but I am just to independent for that and would rather relay on myself than on someone else. So anyway later that same day of moaning and groaning my sweet mother calls me back and asks if I can pick her up at the airport on Thursday (the day before the surgery) at about six in the evening. What an incredible women. I figured I would drop Dave off at the hospital, take the boys back to daycare and then go back to the hospital, but because of my incredible mom I didn’t have to worry about it at all. My boys were taken care of and I could be with Dave.

All in all it has worked out well. I got to make sure Dave was taken care of, I got my last minute Christmas shopping done, I got to spend time with my mommy and there was no running around like a crazy person on my part which is always appreciated. I even got to go on a dinner and movie date with my sweet four year old. Thanks mom! Have I mentioned what a lucky girl I am!

Tackiness Personified

There are no words, but tackiness taken to a whole new level.

The Chute.

Where to start there has been so much. So I will go back to Thanksgiving. We were so lucky to have my parents come and spend the week with us. It started kind of rough as Turner wasn’t real excited to see my parents and cried all the way home from the airport. But he soon learned that they were the softies and warmed right up to them. Whenever they come, I try to have a project or two for my dad to work on around the house as he doesn’t do well when he is sitting idle. Back in May he tiled the shower and many other things. This time he installed the bathroom fan with light and heater in the same bathroom. Now it is just a matter of ripping out the old vanity, tiling the floor and buying a new vanity, vanity top and mirror.

One of the things I have been wanting for a very long time is a laundry chute. We were helping some friends move awhile back and they had one in their bathroom and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. The only problem was it was very skinny and you couldn’t put much down it, especially towels. Now we had a laundry hamper, but sometimes it was just easier to open the basement door and throw the clothes or dirty items down the stairs. This worked well until you actually had to go down stairs and you took your life into your hands trying to get past the pile at the bottom. So anyway I’ve wanted a laundry chute for a long long time. My dad being the ingenious person he is looked at several possibilities in my closet, Dave’s closet and other places, but we just couldn’t find a good spot to put this silly thing. Finally we found the perfect spot in my linen closet and my amazing dad built me a laundry chute for Thanksgiving. It is the coolest thing ever and I absolutely love it. No more expeditions down the stairs over piles of dirty clothes. And the chute goes straight into my laundry room, how convenient is that? He was worried about the kids falling in so there is even a lid. What an amazing dad I have, I think I may just be the luckiest girl in the world.