Finally PeayDay

The Cakes Are Out

2011-12-06T15:04:00.004-07:00

Sadly, I have not yet updated my blog. But that is coming soon I promise. What I have done is caved into peer pressure and started another blog with all of my cakes. I have been busy this fall and there are lots of new ones, so click on the link below and enjoy!

cakesbynell.blogspot.com

Camping and Marathon Updates

2011-10-08T16:37:00.001-06:00

Click here to read about it:

http://peaychronicles.blogspot.com/

And we're back. . .

2011-09-08T06:42:00.001-06:00

It's been a while. If you want to see what we've been up to click on the link below:

www.peaychronicles.blogspot.com

Post Explosion

2011-04-24T21:30:00.001-06:00

Check it out here.

Unpresidented

2011-04-11T20:34:00.002-06:00

I know this is absolutely unheard of, but I actually posted something new on my blog for two consecutive days. Check it out here if you want.

As Promised

2011-04-10T21:42:00.003-06:00

Well, I actually followed through on a threat (a concept I should apply more in my parenting) and I went private. Because the most annoying thing about private blogs, in my opinion, is the fact that I can't tell when they have been updated I am going to keep this blog and let you all know when I have posted something on my new private blog. You can visit our new place in cyberspace by clicking here.

Hope to see you there soon. Oh, and if you are one of those who happen to check my blog even less often than I post (which is really saying something!) and you missed the invite to the new blog just leave your email in a comment and I promise to send you and invite, eventually ;)

The Privacy Battle Lost

2011-02-27T20:01:00.004-07:00

So, I am going private. Not by choice, personally I am not a fan of private blogs but the hubby insists. (Can you tell I am less than thrilled about this?) I figure if I let him win this than maybe I can win the more important argument, like what color to paint our bedroom walls.

Anyhow, if you like to visit my blog. Or even if you don't really like it but you do it because sometimes you get bored and visiting my blog beats cleaning out your dog's earwax then leave me a comment with your email and I will see to it that you get an invite.

To shower or not to shower

2011-02-27T19:54:00.002-07:00

On most days I try to shower before my kids get up. It saves a whole lot of trouble. This week however I have been battling a bad cold and have taken advantage of every possible sleeping moment. The result, I have to shower whilst my kids run a muck. The first day I got out of the shower I found that Oliver had painted his fingernails a lovely shade of pink. Fortunately all the nail polish was contained on one unimportant blanket, whew. Day two was a combined effort from both kids as they got out a new roll of toilet paper and unrolled the entire thing throughout every room in the upstairs. Day three, I just didn't shower. Somedays a little stench is justified.

My latest

2011-02-27T19:50:00.006-07:00

I did this cake for my cousin who was throwing a 1920's themed party. She wanted peacock feathers, yikes! I was pretty happy with the ones I managed to invent though.

Snowshoeing

2011-02-27T19:41:00.005-07:00

We went up the canyon for a little snowshoeing this winter. In reality the snow was pretty packed and the snowshoes probably weren't necessary but we left them on anyway, it is all about the experience, right? We had some technical difficulties as we tried to pull Oliver in the sled (hiking with him can be somewhat torturous as he has to stop and examine absolutely everything). It took us a while to convince him to ride in the sled in the first place because there were so many other things to check out and even then it only worked really well on flat or uphill terrain. As soon as we hit a downhill section he and his sled would overtake us. In the end we spent most of the time towing he and Ruby up the hill and then letting them sled back down. It was fun though and so great to get out above the nasty inversion. I never realized how nasty Utah can be in the winter, it really makes me miss Colorado.

Double Trouble

2011-02-07T14:04:00.004-07:00

It seems to me that second children learn a lot of naughty tricks, i.e. tantrums, getting into things, making messes, a lot sooner than their older counterparts did. Obviously this has to do with the fact that they have such great teachers - their older brothers or sisters. Ruby has definitely become Oliver's little shadow. If he does it, she must do it too. My favorite was when I saw her suffer through a sour grapefruit that she clearly did not enjoy but insisted on eating because her brother did. On the downside, she has learned (much earlier than Oliver ever did) how to move the chairs around in the kitchen to access whatever she wants on the counter. She has taken several spills onto the hard tile and yet remains undeterred. As a result, I am never lonely in my kitchen I ALWAYS have a helper on each side.

Here they are helping with the bread. Oliver used to be the number one dough snitcher at our house but Ruby has recently surpassed him. I think she could down a whole loaf of dough if I let her. Yuck!

For the record: yes, my kids are still in their pajamas at 10:00 a.m., but you see the mess they are in, why get them all dressed up for that? And that is not blood that is all over Ruby, it is blueberry juice. My kids most favorite treat are frozen blueberries. I buy the huge bag from Costco and they down it all in about a week. Oliver is forever asking for "cold frozen blueberries" as opposed to "warm frozen blueberries" I suppose, so I am glad he remembers to clarify!

Snow, snow, snow

2011-01-06T15:59:00.005-07:00

Ollie got a new sled for Christmas, of course being as we are still in "Santa" mode at our house, he calls it his sleigh. We went to the park the other day to test it out. Oliver absolutely loved it and I loved that he was willing to drag it back up the hill himself instead of me going down after it every time. Unfortunately we picked a pretty cold day so Ruby and I wimped out long before he did. I managed to get him home, but not inside. He spent the next two hours on his belly building a road for his car in the backyard. He discovered that a backyard full of snow is as good as a giant sandbox and made me haul out all of his tractors and dump trucks for the adventure.

Adventures in Sunbeams

2011-01-06T15:46:00.002-07:00

I have been counting down to the day that we would switch to 9:00 a.m. church for quite some time now. I thought it would be the end of all my Sunday drama. Unfortunately, I overlooked the fact that a new year also meant a new class and new teachers for Oliver as he would be leaving behind the nursery forever. When I explained to him what would be happening he insisted that he was not grown up yet, he was still little and as such belonged in the nursery. So, I went and sat with him on the front row of Primary to see if I could convince him to stay. (This was quite a switch for us because he was usually running down the hall to nursery before the closing prayer was over in Sacrament meeting). He wasn't doing too well with the switch until his new teachers showed up, it was a husband and wife team and she happens to be drop-dead gorgeous. Once he got a look at her he leaned over to me and whispered that "the mommy teacher is really cool". He immediately dismissed me to go to my own class. The last thing I caught was her husband smiling and Ollie and Oliver giving him the evil eye.

I thought that his teacher's good looks had solved our problem, but no such luck. After we put him to bed Sunday night he came back out of his room to inform us that he didn't need any new teachers because he already knew everything that his teachers told him. My attempts at teaching him some humility fell on deaf ears so we finally convinced him that he needed to go to class to help the other kids who didn't know as much as him.

Once again I thought the problem was solved, but apparently he was still perturbed and decided to take the matter to a higher source. The next day at dinner Ollie was saying the prayer, and I quote "thank you for my new teachers, but I don't need any teachers because I already know everything that they told me." It was one of those "Amens" in which much discipline is required to keep a straight face.

Santa

2011-01-06T15:35:00.003-07:00

Oliver definitely caught on to "Santa" this year, which made is so much more fun for Sam and I. Oliver didn't just write a letter to Santa and sit on Santa's lap, he was Santa. My mom gave him a Santa hat, which he insisted on wearing everywhere. He spent almost the whole of December delivering presents all around the house. He and Ruby never tried to open a single one, but all the "delivering" left the wrapping pretty beat up by Christmas morning. When merely delivering presents wasn't enough for our Santa he would sit on the edge of his blanket and command his reindeer (me) to pull him around on his sleigh.

We also listened to a lot of Christmas music and Ollie liked to combine all the different lyrics into his own version of a Christmas song. His favorite is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, of which he can sing the entire thing - except he changed "yipee to woohoo!" From the beginning, when we explained the whole "Santa" thing to him and had him write a letter Oliver only asked for two things: a concrete mixing truck and a front-end loader. He never wavered once from then on, that was all he wanted and luckily Santa came through for him. We have been mixing concrete and building roads ever since.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-06T15:29:00.004-07:00

We spend Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa Cornwell's house. This year was exciting because Oliver actually participated in the Nativity. He got to be a shepherd and did pretty good other than the fact that he kept asking (in a rather loud voice) where the sheep were. The yummy food and festivities ended off, as usual, with pajamas for all the grandkids. It was a great evening.

Christmas Tradition

2011-01-06T15:20:00.008-07:00

We are so blessed to live by family. We love it, but at the same time it means our holidays are pretty much planned for us. So, this year we decided to start our own Peay Family Christmas Eve Tradition. We took advantage of the fact that we didn't have to cook a Christmas Eve dinner or clean our house for guests and spent the day together just having fun. We woke up and went out to breakfast and then took the kiddos bowling. We had so much fun and are so glad that we did it. After our activities Sam went out to do his Christmas shopping while the rest of us took a nice long nap. It was a great day. Yahoo to new traditions!

A Classic

2011-01-06T15:15:00.002-07:00

Every kid needs a picture of themselves crying on Santa's lap. I have to say that Ruby really outdid herself, I have never seen her loose it quite to that degree. I was actually surprised, she is usually so easy going and will go to anyone. I guess that just doesn't apply to Santa. Ollie was pretty nervous about it himself but wanted to make sure that I told Santa exactly what he wanted so there wouldn't be any mistake.

Decked

2011-01-06T14:57:00.004-07:00

Isn't it funny how your opinions change as you grow older, or perhaps they just mold around the phase of life that you are in. Either way, I have definitely had a change of heart in regards to Christmas trees. Growing up we had a family tradition of chopping down our own Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The hunt was always fun, but the trees were never much to speak of. We called them corner trees, because usually only one side was worth showing off while the others needed to be hidden against a wall. I always begged my parents to get one of the full, bushy trees from the local tree lot instead. As if the sparse, leaning tree wasn't bad enough my mother insisted on mismatched decorations that we had made in preschool and primary throughout the years. I felt that the result was somewhat hideous and couldn't wait to decorate my own matchy-matchy tree.

Fast-forward fifteen years. Our first Christmas in our very own house. We decided that we wanted a real tree this year and after scouting it out I made Sam drive past all the nearby lots to a tree lot I had seen in American Fork that sold the kind of trees that look like you chopped them down yourself; sparse and kind of un-even. I loved it! We put on the lights and let the kids help with the rest. Because they got ripped off and thrown around so much we used only the cheap-o plastic balls from Walmart and after a few days the bottom three feet of the tree was completely empty void of ornaments. To top it all off, we got to add our very first homemade ornament to the tree, a popsicle-stick reindeer that Ollie made in preschool. I thought our tree was perfect. When I visited my mom's house and saw that she had a fluffly, perfect Christmas lot tree covered in matching ornaments and ribbons, I felt so bad for her.

Christmas Light Redemption

2011-01-06T14:42:00.007-07:00

After our horrible, terrible, no good, very bad experience visiting Temple Square to see the lights last year (check out last year's blog post for details) I was not even going to attempt it this year. But, our friends were headed up there and we couldn't resist the invitation to accompany them. I am so glad we did because we had a great time. We started the night out at the Children's Museum in the Gateway while we waited for the dads to get off work, then we grabbed a bite to eat at the food court and caught the Trax to Temple Square. The little girls were pretty worn out, as you can see from the pictures. But the lights were beautiful and it wasn't too crowded, thank goodness. After the lights the moms and little girls headed home to bed while the dads took the bigger kids to the Jazz game. I don't think that Ollie cared much for the basketball, but he thought it was cool that he could yell as loud as he wanted. And he like the bear.

One step further

2010-12-12T09:37:00.003-07:00

Ruby has a drawer in my kitchen that she absolutely loves to empty. It is full of sippy cups and I don't really mind her making a mess of them. She has recently expanded her drawer-emptying-privilege to also include Ollie's pajama drawer. Most days she just stands at the drawer and throws the pajamas one at a time over her shoulder. On this day however she brought me each item out of the drawer and indicated that she wanted me to put it on her. I think she has at least five or six pajama tops and bottoms on her head not to mention the ones wrapped around her neck and waist. She was so pleased and left them on to play for quite a while. Funny girl.

Fun with friends

2010-12-12T09:28:00.007-07:00

We invited our friends over to decorate gingerbread men on Friday. The kids loved it. They decorated their cookies and then promptly ate them. I had to laugh at Ruby because she found a particular marshmallow on Oliver's gingerbread man and decided to eat it. Every time he replaced it she would steal it off and pop it in her mouth, it didn't matter how many marshmallows I piled in front of her she only wanted the marshmallows from that particular spot. Fortunately Oliver didn't care as long as there was a ready supply of replacements.

After lunch the kids pushed all the chairs against the wall and made a train. Addie and Oliver took turns driving, I thought it was so cute that they came up with this game all on their own (the little girls just tagged along of course and were thrilled to be included!)
At the end of the play date the kids got out the last of their energy by demonstrating the tumbling skills they learn at Mrs. Karie's preschool. Ruby thought the somersaults looked like fun, this is her version.

Can't sleep

2010-12-12T02:55:00.002-07:00

So, it is two o'clock in the morning, an hour which rarely finds me awake, let alone out of bed. But as it happens I couldn't sleep. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it had something with a hidden desire to sneak downstairs and finish off the last of the super-fattening and yummy apple dip in my fridge (which I did of course). When sleep still refused to catch up with me I entertained myself with reading past blog posts. I realized that I have gotten lazy when it comes to recording the happenings our our lives. My recent posts have contained little more than the captions under each picture. So, here is the rest of the stuff that I will be glad I wrote when I am up at 2:00 a.m. sometime next year!

1. Oliver informed me this past week that he wanted to be a tiger for Christmas. I guess he just isn't ready for Halloween to be over yet. He was absolutely insistent on putting on his costume but as we were headed out the door to view a live nativity I did not think it would be appropriate. Instead we had a talk about what he could be for Christmas and he decided that being a reindeer would suit him just as well. After a quick trip to Dollar Tree for a pair of antlers we were on our way. He wore the antlers all night and to breakfast the next morning. As to the live nativity, it was great but they ended up with one narrator too many as Oliver loudly explained the entire scene to the audience while perched atop my shoulders.

2. Ruby has reached the stage where she doesn't talk but still has no problem communicating what she wants. She has had the hang of shaking her head for no but this week she has branched out and now nods as well. I find it to be rather convenient. When she points to an area I just go over and hold up individual items until she nods. Her nod is so cute though, she doesn't just nod with her head, it is a body nod from the waste up.

3. Oliver loves to have his little friend Braden over to play. It is so fun for me to watch them because they have both left behind the days of parallel play and now use their imaginations and play together. Most of the time they are workers, building roads and picking up garbage but they like to imagine other things as well. Usually I am not allowed to be in the room with them (mostly because they want me to take Ruby away so she doesn't wreck their towers and stuff). Ruby loves to do anything that her brother is doing; the other day I had a vision of her in the future tagging along behind her big brother and his friends and driving them all crazy. I have no doubt that will one day be the case, but as for now they are great friends. They love to play together and no one can make Ruby laugh like Oliver can. They can of course get on each other's nerves as well, but I have noticed that they never act jealous of each other and are not at all territorial (unless we are talking about their respective pink and blue blankets to which they are both unashamedly attached).

4. I hate to say it, but I really hate Sunday's. I know that they are supposed to be a wonderful, spiritual and uplifting day meant to prepare us for the week ahead but for me they are sheer torture. To begin with our church starts at 1:00 p.m., exactly naptime at our house. I can't understand why I can have us all ready and the house picked up by 9:00 a.m. every other morning but am always rushing to get to church on time and leaving my house in a state of complete disarray. I guess I do know the answer to that riddle, the reason I don't get ready fast enough is because I am not motivated to go. Once I go to church it is all I can do to keep my kids entertained and contained within our pew. Even after my greatest efforts we only last a few minutes in there and then it is out to the hall. Oliver actually isn't so bad, he will play with his toys and is always excited to go to nursery. But Ruby is a wanderer and refuses to stay put. Once she is out Ollie thinks he should be as well. I have every bulletin board, relief society announcement and missionary plaque in our whole building memorized because I have stared at them all so much while wandering the halls. Unfortunately things don't improve after Sacrament meeting as Ruby has discovered where the piano is in the Sunday School and Relief Society room. She knows how to open the lid to the keyboard and makes a bee-line for it every time I go into the room. As she still has four months before she is old enough for nursery I don't plan on things improving much for a while. I don't know why I am venting about this on my blog, it almost brings tears of frustration just to write about it. I guess I am hoping that in twenty years I will be able to look back at this and sigh because I actually miss those insane Sundays when I learned nothing and hated everything. Maybe the reason I can't sleep is because my heart is filled with dread for the day ahead. Forget missions, the true test of a testimony is parenthood. I guess I have one because torturous as it is, I still go to church.

5. Sam turned on the Christmas music before the Halloween decorations were put away. After hearing them so many times Oliver has started to pick up on a lot of the lyrics and I often hear him singing little snippets. My favorite is when he dances around singing "Jingle bell time is a swell time!"

I just yawned, maybe that means sleep is on the way. I think I will head to bed and let it catch me!

Snow Day

2010-12-05T11:32:00.003-07:00

We went out to play in the snow last week after the "big storm" that never really materialized. It was Ruby's first time in the snow and she thought it was great. Oliver spent a good hour making sure that there was no snow within a block of our house that was free of footprints. Ruby enjoyed just sticking her mittens in the snow and then wiping them off on my legs. As for me, I was on clothing patrol. Which I have decided is pretty much all snow play is for parents; refastening coats, tucking in snow pants and adjusting mittens.

As for the predicted Blizzard of 2010 - I want you to know that although it was nowhere near as fierce as predicted, our family would have been well cared for. When Sam was sent home early from work because of the approaching storm he made sure to stop off at the store to stock up on Oreos and other forms of chocolate. I keep teasing him because my sister told me that when her husband (who was also sent home early) arrived at home prior to the storm he checked their seventy-two hour kits, filled water bottles and purchased a space heater :) It would have all worked out in the end though, Sam's theory is that we should only stock chocolate in our food storage as that would give is the strongest kind of bargaining power in the event of a natural disaster. I might go with is theory if I though a storage room of chocolate would last more that a week with him around!

Turkey Day

2010-12-05T11:22:00.003-07:00

At the conclusion of my mission I promised myself that as a reward for "surviving" I would never purchase any poultry that was not boneless and skinless (I won't got into the details as to why, but rest assured that I felt properly justified in this decision). Anyway, a Thanksgiving turkey most certainly does not meet these guidelines so I hope that I will always have a grandma, mother, or aunt to deal with the gizzards for me. The only kind of turkey I ever plan to make is the one pictured above. It is a cake, as requested by my grandma for Thanksgiving. After reading my earlier blog about wanting more practice she commissioned a "Thanksgiving cake." I felt that an apple pie would have been more festive (and much easier) but in the end I was glad I made the cake. It is all edible, the legs and wings are made of rice crispy treats.

The switch-a-roo that didn't take

2010-12-05T11:16:00.002-07:00

I decided the other day that Oliver's blanket could not stand much more "love" from my little three-year-old. I had a back-up blanket that resembled his blanket in every way (minus the grime and holes) so I suggested that we get him a new one. He was really excited about how soft blue the new one was. He handled the switch really well, that is until naptime when after five minutes he came out crying and begging for his old blue blanket. I couldn't just take it away so now I am nervously watching the "old blue blanket" disintegrate before my eyes and wondering what I will do when it finally succumbs to the inevitable.

Why bother?

2010-12-05T11:09:00.002-07:00

With Christmas quickly approaching I am of course shopping around for toys that I think my children will appreciate. Oliver this year requested "the coolest coolest toy that he has ever seen" upon further investigation we discovered that this means a tractor or a concrete mixing truck. The other day however, I started to wonder about the intelligence of spending money on toys when my children are every bit as entertained by an empty box or a drawer full of sippy cups. Oliver spent at least three hours carving pumpkins out of styrofoam the other day and has never been happier.

Ace of Cakes Nothing!

2010-11-05T14:18:00.006-06:00

Oliver's little friend had a birthday this week and I volunteered/begged to make the cake. I have been really wanting to try a fondant figurine, I had no idea how to go about it but I figured that if Ace of Cakes can do it so can I. I was pretty happy with my first attempt, I made it to look like the birthday girl. (The party had a detective them, hence the spy glass.)

I had a lot of fun doing it and want to get more practice, so if anyone out there wants a fun cake for any occasion I would be happy to do it for cost - meaning you buy the fondant!

The waterfountain

2010-11-05T14:10:00.004-06:00

Both of my children have similar hair issues, their hair is really thick on top and only goes strait forward into their eyes. For Oliver the issue is easily resolved; I just keep it short. Ruby on the other hand requires a bit more TLC to look presentable. We like to put her hair up in a pony tail and recently discovered that she now has enough hair for two cute little pigtails. Oliver calls these her water fountains and is always begging for one of his own. On this day I finally just caved it, and he was thrilled. I took the rubber band out when we went out in public but it didn't make much difference as the hair stayed put. I'm sure people sometimes see me and wonder if I ever try to make my kids look decent. For the record, they always look nice for about 20 minutes in the morning but there are no guarantees after that.

Halloween Overload

2010-11-05T13:41:00.017-06:00

We kicked our Halloween season off with our ward trunk-or-treat the weekend before Halloween. That was followed by five more Halloween parties and one Preschool Parade all before the week was over. Oliver asked to be a tiger this year. I didn't buy him a costume because I was sure he would change his mind. He remained adamant until the day Sam brought home the Old Navy costume, at which point he decided to be a duck. Whatever. He warmed up to the tiger costume and is still roaring around the house. In fact I took him to Costco yesterday as a tiger because he refused to remove the costume. He totally got the concept of trick-or-treat, but with his own unique twist. He roared it so it sounded like he had something stuck in his throat. Sam and I were cracking up because he came up with it all by himself. Ruby, who has less say in the matter got to be an adorable little ladybug. She too absolutely loved her costume. Anytime she found it around the house she would bring it to me to put on her. It is really soft and cushy so I think she feels like she is carrying around her blanket when she wears it.

At Oliver's request we went to pick our pumpkins out at the pumpkin patch with the little wheelbarrows. Unfortunately the snow the day before left the field too muddy for the little wheelbarrows and the pumpkins frozen and yucky so we opted for the crate of pumpkins outside of Walmart. At least we got a couple pictures of our attempt at festivity!

Obviously the candles were more enticing than the camera.

We split up into girls' and boys' teams to carve our pumpkins. I think I won the pumpkin carving lottery on that one. As it took Sam twice as long with all of Oliver's "help". Ollie was mostly interested in scooping out the guts. And so Sam kept filling the pumpkin back up for Oliver to empty.

Oliver had a Halloween Preschool Parade and he even threw candy to Ruby, Grandma and I. The kids really didn't grasp the concept of staying in a line, but it was cute just the same. Oliver loves his teacher. One of his favorite games is to play Mrs. Karie. The game includes him bringing me things and me pretending to be Mrs. Karie while I "draw" the object on the board and tell him what letter it starts with.

Most of our candy (and we have a lot) came from the trick-or-treat at Sam's work. It was great, it was indoors and there were loads of candy all close together. I'm sure after the massive load of pictures that I just posted you will be glad to hear that I forgot to take my camera to the Halloween party at Grandma & Grandpa Peay's house as well as the one at Grandma and Grandpa Ross's house, the Halloween dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Cornwell's house and the Halloween party at Grandma Peay's school. They were all super fun though, what a great Halloween! Fortunately for us we get to keep on living it up as my children refuse to put away their costumes!

Horsey Horsey On Your Way...

2010-10-01T17:11:00.004-06:00

We invited some friends over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to ride the mules last week. The kids thought it was great, even Ruby took to it like a natural. We have lived far away from family for so long, I am just now grasping how awesomely wonderful it is to live close by. I absolutely love that we have three awesome sets of grandparents within 20 minutes of our home. We are definitely blessed.

I'm Trying To Be Like Jesus

2010-10-01T17:05:00.004-06:00

Last week for Family Home Evening we took the kids to Temple Square. It was nice to make peace with that place after our last visit was so horrendous (see my post from last December if you need an explanation). We have a picture of the Salt Lake Temple hanging in our home and thought it would be good to show Ollie the real thing. He calls it "his temple." When we visited the statue of Christ Oliver was quick to point out the "owies" in Jesus' hands and feet. He then began cataloging all of his own mishaps. I guess he just wants to be like Jesus, I don't mind.

Too Close for Comfort

2010-10-01T16:59:00.003-06:00

These pictures of the Herriman Wildfire were taken from Oliver's bedroom window. When we left our home Sunday evening to visit family in Provo all we saw was a bunch of smoke on the other side of the mountain. However, on our way home we noticed that the fire had crested the mountain and was quickly headed toward town. We were greeted by roadblocks and long lines of traffic as the roads leading to our home were blocked off to aid in the evacuation. Our place was about a mile outside of the evacuation zone so we were never in any real danger, but it was still a bit nerve racking to watch the huge flames decend down the mountain towards us.

Absolute Nightmare

2010-09-23T10:53:00.004-06:00

Although I think that I have cute kids, who take good photos I would absolutely not describe us as a photogenic family. Why? Because being photogenic implies that you are good at, or enjoy, or for the very least sit still while your picture is being taken. Not so in our case. It took us two different photo shoots and some impressive photoshop skills to have everyone smile at the same time.

The day of our pictures I thought that things were going really well, I had talked to Oliver about getting pictures and he was super excited about it. He was even excited to get dressed up. It turned out however that he thought I was talking about a baseball pitcher and when there was no ball and bat, just a guy with a camera things went downhill fast. I had such a humiliating experience that I haven't even bothered to pick out or order any pictures yet and we got them taken almost two months ago.

All I can say is kudos to photographers, it can be a rough job.

Donut Falls

2010-09-19T07:38:00.011-06:00

On Saturday we decided to hike to Donut Falls up Big Cottonwood Canyon. I went several times as a kid, but Sam had never been there and we thought it would be a good hike as it is easy enough for Oliver.

"Hiking" for Oliver pretty much meant take ten steps and then crouch down to examine rocks, dirt, leaves, bugs, etc.
It also didn't help that he found his "special" rock at the bottom of the trail and insisted on lugging it up to the top to throw in the waterfall.
Eventually we did make it there. When I was little I remember going up to the "donut" where the water falls through a big hole in the rock, but there seemed to have been a landslide or something because getting to the top required some pretty technical skills that we didn't quite have -at least not while toting kids.

We opted just to throw rocks into the river for a while. That has always been one of Oliver's favorite past times and Ruby seems to be picking up on it pretty quick.

To avoid another drawn-out hike down Ollie got to ride on daddy's shoulders for the return trip. They took turns making up songs about hiking and playing "I Spy With My Little Eye" all the way down the trail. At the bottom Oliver refused to get into the car because he wanted to do it all over again. We promised to do it again. So, if you know of any other easy hikes around here let us know.

The Children's Museum

2010-09-19T07:22:00.009-06:00

On Friday we went with our friends to the Salt Lake Children's Museum. We got there at the same time as a huge preschooll fieldtrip so the place was crazy but the kids didn't seem to mind. They both loved it! In the past when I have taken Ollie there he gets stuck on playing in the water and we never get to try anything else - boring. This time though he explored everything, (except for the girly playhouse).

He spent quite a while operating the crane in the construction area. He took it so serious - he refused to smile.
Ruby on the other hand was all smiles a giggles, she loved the baby area.
This week was "farm" week at Oliver's preschool so he has been pretty stuck on farms. I don't know how many renditions of Old MacDonald I have heard from him this week, usually he calls him "Cowboy MacDonald" (I guess that is why he thought the above outfit was appropriate while playing farmer at the museum.) One night this week as Sam and I were laying in bed we heard a very lively "E-I-E-I-OOO" coming from his room.

Ruby loved to drive the cars, should I be nervous about her turning 16?

All in all it was a super fun day and if we find another half-off coupon we will try it again!

Preschool Begins

2010-09-16T14:31:00.004-06:00

Oliver officially started school last week, preschool that is. He goes to Mrs. Karie's preschool and he absolutely loves it! He already had his first field trip (to Wheeler Farm) and his first experience with show-and-tell. He asks everyday about going to school and it is a rare moment if I can get him to take off his backpack. I am so glad that he loves it, but just a little bit sad that he is getting to be so big. He was definitely ready for school. He has become so inquisitive lately, everything is "why this" or "why that". I am glad that Mrs. Karie gets to field the questions for a few hours a week. My brain needs a break!

Grandma's Hat

2010-09-12T16:49:00.005-06:00

Grandma Ross got Ruby this adorable hat for her birthday and I promised to take pictures when she wore it, ta da! She left it on all day long, I was amazed.

We jumped the gun

2010-09-12T16:38:00.008-06:00

With the colder weather and the start of college football Sam and I are getting excited for fall and sweaters and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We got really excited this past weekend to go and see the leaves turning colors so we loaded up the kids and drove to Cascade Springs. Unfortunately our enthusiasm was ill timed as all of the leaves were still green. Oops. We did find a few red leaves (five to be exact). Either way we had a good time and are glad we went. We will try to see the leaves again in a few more weeks, perhaps we will consult mother nature before we take off next time.

Rubykins turns one

2010-09-12T11:25:00.008-06:00

Our little angel turned one on Friday. We can't believe it has been a whole year since she entered this world at the same time we can't imagine life without her. She is just such a precious little ball of energy and she keeps us all smiling all the time. At one she is not quite walking yet, just a few steps here and there. She doesn't say any words, but she has no trouble making her wishes/demands known. She has recently started to pick up on a few signs, she would probably know more if I could remember them to teach to her. Her favorite things in the world are playing with her brother, wearing things around her neck (necklaces, vacumn cords - she is not picky), being held upside down, and eating chicken nuggets. Happy Birthday Ruby June, we sure do love you!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-12T11:15:00.006-06:00

We spent our Labor Day weekend camping with some friends outside of Tapioca (aka Tabiona). We had a great time which included lots of relaxing, throwing rocks into the river, some off roading and hiking, exploring the culinary offerings of Duchesne (yuck!), chasing little girls out of the dirt and toddlers away from the fire, and just hanging out. It was great!

Father and Son

2010-09-12T11:12:00.001-06:00

Sam and Ollie were not able to make it to the Father and Son's campout this year so they opted for the next best thing. They spent the evening up Little Cottonwood canyon roasting hot dogs and marshmellows and then camped out together on the living room floor. Oliver was thrilled, especially since he got to use a flashlight and sleep in his sleeping bag, life pretty much doesn't get any better than that.

Happy Birthday Oliver

2010-09-12T11:07:00.002-06:00

I can't believe we have a three-year-old, but it is true. Ollie wanted a barbeque for his birthday so we had the grandparents over for hamburgers and cake. Since Oliver is currently obsessed with tractors - he can name every kind of tractor, what their parts are and what they do - we had a tractor themed party.

He helped make the cake and all he can talk about now is turning four so he can have another birthday. It could be a long year...

The Backyard Makeover

2010-09-12T10:54:00.009-06:00

In a brief moment of insanity we decided to put sod in our backyard/patio area. I took the initiative the next day of ripping out all of the plants and raking off all of the wood chips. Then we sat and stared at the mess for a couple of weeks wondering if we really wanted to do it. In the end we hauled out two trailers-full of gravel, brought it two more trailers-full of fill dirt, moved an entire retaining wall, built a new set of stairs, and finally laid sod. We are so happy with the results and I am kicking myself for not having taken a "before picture". We love to play on our little patch of grass and it makes me happy to look out the window and see green

Here is our work crew, we definitely would never have gotten all those boulders moved without the help of our awesome neighbors.

Who's the man! We have a rule at our house, I can tell Sam what I want done, or how to do it, but I cannot tell him both. In this case I said I wanted sod, he took care of all the rest and he did a beautiful job (much better than if he had listened to all of my suggestions, which obviously he didn't because I wasn't supposed to be making any;)
The front retaining wall in this picture used to be placed about three feet further back, we moved it to get the biggest patch of grass possible.
Of course, daddy had lots of helpers. I am surprised that he got anything done with Oliver's tractors always being in the way.

Ruby June didn't miss out on any of the fun either.

Our very loved librarian

2010-09-12T10:50:00.002-06:00

My sister made a whirlwind visit to Utah this summer (she lives in Little Rock Arkansas) and as part of the celebration all of the girls - and Ollie - hiked up to a waterfall in Alpine that you can slide down. It was lots of fun, and pretty refreshing!

My Little Helpers

2010-09-12T10:47:00.002-06:00

I was teaching my neighbor how to make homemade bread (yes Megan, I remembered the salt this time!) and our boys decided that they needed to make some too. They were so serious about their playdough bread, rolling it and shaping it just right.

Best seat in the house

2010-07-11T11:09:00.000-06:00

Ruby's favorite perch.

Priceless

2010-07-11T11:07:00.003-06:00

Cost of the car: $3.00 at a garage sale

Cost of the one hour "drive" around the block in which we stopped to pick up every rock and carefully examine all the storm drains: Both priceless and torturous (it is impossible to walk that slow)

The real deal

2010-07-11T11:06:00.002-06:00

The little pigtail really does exist!

Bestest Friends

2010-07-11T11:01:00.005-06:00

This was one of those good moments. Ruby is starting to actually care when toys get ripped out of her hands so we are enjoying the peaceful happy moments while they last! Oliver loves to tease his sister - but at least he won't let anyone else tease her. The other day at the splash park he spent the majority of the time guarding the puddle that Ruby was playing in so that no one else touched his sister's water.

Kapachuch no more. . . and other random thoughts

2010-07-05T16:16:00.002-06:00

I decided to post something today, mostly because I needed a break from playing "Parade" (Oliver's new favorite game in which Ruby and I have to sit on the ground and cheer at him as he crawls by and throws pretend candy to us. We then have to gather the candy, remove the wrapper- yes he checks- and eat it).

At the moment I am a bit backlogged on my blogging. My problem is that I have videos that need to upload but I can't get them on here. Nor can I figure out how to take still shots from the film, so this is a picture-less post that will seem out of place once I get my technological troubles resolved. Oh well, there were some things I wanted to write down and if I waited for all that I would have forgotten to ever do to. So, in no specific order, here we go:

1. I noticed the other day that Oliver no longer calls ketchup "kapachuch" it made me really sad. He seems to speak in paragraphs these days, it is fun but sometimes I kind of miss the mixed-up toddler talk.

2. Ruby hit a milestone. Forget the crawling and the new teeth, this is even better . . . . her hair fits into a very teeny-tiny ponytail on the top of her head! So fun!

3. I just want to say that I am grateful for our country. I promised myself when I left Venezuela that I would be forever thankful for the freedoms and luxuries we enjoy here. I even swore I would be happy to pay my taxes because of all the things we get from it. I just want you to know that I still feel the same way. God Bless America!

4. Has anybody else realized that the summer is almost half over, where did it go?

5. It is Tour time at our house. We still haven't purchased a TV since moving to our new place, but we subscribed to Versus online and have not missed a pedal stroke. Go Lance!

6. (Just in case you read my previous post) I found a garbage truck "with hands" (i.e. one that picks up the garbage and dumps it) and Ollie has not been apart from it in three days. I swore I would never use threats and bribery as a parent, but that went out the window a long time ago along with a whole lot of other parenting morals and standards. Some days it is just about survival and if we are all still standing and breathing at the end of the day than it was obviously a successful day and one to be proud of! And if you are reading this and don't agree, have a two-year-old and then we will talk.

The Potty Train...

2010-06-25T15:48:00.002-06:00

I had pretty much psyched myself out about potty training. Everything I read and everything I heard was about how hard it is, especially for boys. So I would dive in with the greatest intentions and then give up by noon because I needed to go somewhere and didn't dare take Oliver anywhere without a diaper on. Last week however I finally broke down and left him in underwear for an entire day. We definitely had more failures than successes, but by the third day he was totally accident free!! We still have some issues, but it was definitely not the nightmare scenario I had pictured in my mind.

He has almost filled his potty chart with stickers and we promised him a "garbage truck with hands" (the toy of his choice) when it was done, the problem is I have no idea where to find such a toy. Target and Walmart don't have any, I am thinking that finding the darn garbage truck may be the hardest part of our potty training adventure.

Rockstars!!

2010-06-25T15:43:00.004-06:00

Oliver has made a new friend down the street, Brayden. The two love to ride bikes, play trains and marbles and just be crazy together. On this particular day however they decided to sing. I should have taken a video instead; you can see from the picture that they are using wire wisks and microphones but you are missing out on a very spirited rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus." So funny!

Memorial Day

2010-06-25T14:49:00.004-06:00

Sometimes gratitude for examples set and lessons learned takes a while to set in. This Memorial Day, just like every other Memorial Day that I can remember, we drove to Richfield to decorate graves. Growing up, while friends spent their Memorial Day weekend boating, camping or just kicking of their summer with a bang, we ALWAYS spent the weekend cleaning graves, putting up and taking down the flag and setting out flowers. Of course there was always a fun picnic or outing, but the focus was on honoring those who had passed on. I remember how appalled my grandma was with the people who set their flowers out early so they could take off for the weekend. I have no doubt that there was a time when I rolled my eyes at the number of graves we had to visit on Monday morning, or perhaps my annoyance was more with the rate at which we traveled from cemetery to cemetery (grandma wasn't the fastest driver). However ornery I used to be I would just like to say now that I am grateful to my Grandma June for teaching me the importance of remembering. You can't grow strong without deep roots and thanks to Grandma I know where mine are. Hers was one of the graves we decorated this year and I just hope she knows that her lessons are finally sinking in, I plan to deprive my children of Memorial Day get-aways as well!

Once all the graves were properly visited and decorated, we spent some time at Uncle Craig's farm where Oliver got to drive a tractor. Tractors are his latest obsession so he was absolutely in heaven. After that we visited some family whilst Sam, my brother Donald and his wife Caci attempted to ride their road bikes from Siguard to Fish Lake. It turned out to be an extremely steep four-hour ride into the wind. None of the riders were happy when we met them at the lake for a picnic (except for Caci on whom goo seemed to have a very optimistic affect.) The ride was all Sam's idea and I think he was permanently banned from planning any future family activities.

We were all tired and ready to start the drive home at this point, but Sam had promised Oliver that they would catch a fish at the "big pond" (we don't watch Dinosaur Train anymore, but some of the themes have yet to wear off.) So we sat on the bank and watched everyone reel in fish and wished that someone would just give us one. Fortunately Sam pulled through and caught one just in time for us to pack up and drive home.

So, it's been a while...

2010-05-26T17:18:00.002-06:00

I've been meaning to post forever, really. Since we moved into our new place I thought it would be great to post some pictures of our home, but it is taking forever to come together just right. I don't want to admit how many chairs and tables I have returned, I can't make up my mind about where to hang things up on the walls, and the rug I ordered still hasn't come in yet. So, on this post I'm afraid that all you get is me and no pics. (I don't really have any pictures to share anyway, Sam got me a Flip (video camera) for mother's day and I've been playing around with that and totally ignoring my good old camera.) And of course I don't know how to post a video. I just wanted all my faithful readers (I know who you are because you have been sending me hate-posts for neglecting my blog for so long) to know that I am indeed still alive.

For the record, we are loving our new home, we are on a quiet street with lots of kids and Oliver has no shortage of friends to ride bikes and cause trouble with. Our house is beautiful - minus the lack of decor and furniture - and just the right size for us. We are beginning to acclimate to our new ward and Sam was even called into the boy scouts, he's thrilled :)

Aside from buying and returning furniture, practicing how to make fondant flowers for my sisters wedding cake next week and riding our bikes around the block again and again and again, here is a little list of what we have been up to:

1. Potty training. We are only on day two and have yet to have any success, but I am determined not to throw in the towel (or should I say underwear) just yet. Oliver is registered for preschool in the fall and can't go unless he is out of diapers so we are motivated!

2. Shots. Ruby was due for some shots last week. When I explained to Ollie that we would be taking Ruby to the doctor to get some shots he asked me how bad it would hurt her and if she would cry. When I told him that she probably would he insisted that he would hold her hand so that she would not be scared. Just as he promised, when it came time for her shots he pushed a stool over to the examination table and held on tight. I think he was a little traumatized watching the shots, but he never let go of Ruby's hand, it was just so sweet.

3. Friends. When we moved here I promised Oliver that we would get some new friends. He has been so excited and for the first few days every morning when he woke up he would ask me where his friends were. Well, it didn't take long for him to find them. Everyone is Ollie's friend. He loves to introduce himself to everyone. His intro usually goes something like this, "Hi my name is Oliver, I'm two. This is my mommy Janell and my sister Ruby, she's so cute." The other day we went to a store and he walked right up to the sales clerk, announced his name and told her he was looking for a friend (unfortunately they didn't sell those at that particular store).

4. Goldman. Sam is really enjoying his position with Goldman Sachs. He is already putting in a lot of long hours and we miss him, but are glad that he likes his job so much.

5. Bikes. Oliver is a biking fanatic. All he ever wants to do is ride outside with his "bike friends". I think that he would live on that thing if we let him (it does occasionally have to sleep in his room with him.)

6. Crawling. Nope, we are still not there yet, instead we seem to be stuck in the "I want to crawl so bad but can't figure out how to put one hand in front of the other so I will just squawk in frustration instead" stage. It is a joy.

I know that there are a million other things I need to write, but I can't remember them. I guess that is what happens when you procrastinate blogging for over a month. Don't worry more to come soon, with pics, I promise!

Oliver's Tail

2010-04-18T16:28:00.003-06:00

So, the other day Oliver came to me and wanted to play catch. When I threw ball at him he made no attempt to catch it, rather, he explained to me that he wanted to hit it with his tail. (I think he saw a show with dinosaurs playing catch with their tails.) We had played that game before so instead of throwing the ball at his chest I threw it to his bottom. He then informed me that that was not his tail and that his tail was under his pants. Being the obliging mother that I am I helped him take his pants off. (Sam, who was in the room and had caught on a lot sooner than I had was smirking by this point). After throwing the ball at his now pant-less bottom he once again insisted that that was not his tail and that his tail was in his diaper. It was at this point that I caught on to exactly what a "tail was. Seeing as there were a number of people around and in an effort to avoid any indecent exposure I diverted his attention by offering to find him an even better tail. Hence, the above outfit. What I was not prepared for was just how much he would love it. He insisted on attempting to fly off of every piece of furniture in the house and flat out refused to remove the wings and tail for his nap or for a trip to the store (although I did manage to put his pants back on him for that outing!) A few days later we finally had to hide the wings and tail in order to get him to stop putting them back on.

Sunny Days

2010-04-18T13:48:00.007-06:00

The weather has finally turned warm and we just can't enough of it!

We went to a Bees game this weekend with the SUU alumni association. Sam says it isn't really summer until you watch some baseball. (Personally I can think of a lot more entertaining ways to get into summer, but whatever). Alas, the game was cut short for us when Sam let out and over-enthusiastic cheer while holding Ruby on his lap, he completely freaked her out to the point that packing up and leaving was the only way to make her happy again. I guess she is a girl after my own heart!

Oliver thought it was great however. My dad has a lathe and recently made Oliver his own wooden baseball bat. I think my dad may regret it now that Oliver is constantly pleading him to "come pitch for me Grandpa." At the game he enjoyed picking out the pitcher and the hitter and yelling and clapping whenever anybody else did.

A Ruby Pile

2010-04-18T13:24:00.007-06:00

One of Oliver's favorite games is to make a Ruby pile. Basically this consists of him laying on top of Ruby and then making Sam and I lay on top of him until we make one great big Peay family pile. Ruby is pretty accommodating seeing as she absolutely adores her brother and really has no choice in the matter.

Aside from making "Ruby Piles" Oliver's other latest craze is dinosaurs. Ollie gets to watch one TV show every morning while I take a shower and a few months ago he switched allegiance from Sesame Street to a new PBS show called Dinosaur Train. Our entire existence pretty much revolves around Dinosaur Train now. For example, he spends all day calling out, "tickets, tickets please" after you give him a ticket he punches it on his claw, a.k.a. his toe, and tells you "thank you very much!" When ever we drive under an underpass he call out "Time Tunnel." Obviously you would have to actually watch the show to comprehend all of this, but I would recommend just taking my word for it.

He is learning quite a bit from the show as well. The other day he was eating my mom's houseplant and when I asked him what he was doing he explained that he was a herbivore so he had to eat plants and leaves. One morning when I asked him if he had any ideas about what we should do that day he told me that we just needed a hypothosis. At the look of confusion on my face he said, "you know mom, a hypothesis, it's an idea you can test." He hypothesized that the wind was blowing in a particular direction and we took a flag outside to test his idea. Last week he informed me that he had brachiosaurus feces in his diaper. (Hopefully one day soon he will learn to get that brachiosaurus feces into the toilet instead of his diaper!)

I would prefer that he stuck to Sesame Street so that he could pick up on his numbers and letters instead, but I'm sure one day it will be important for him to understand the meaning of nocturnal as well!

Easter

2010-04-18T13:04:00.008-06:00

This year we made a greater effort to teach Oliver the meaning of Easter. He picked up on the story amazingly well. His favorite part of course was the big rock that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb. (No surprise there!) And now every time we drive past a church with a cross on it he reminds me that Jesus died on a cross and got owies in his hands and in his feet.

The Easter bunny did pay us a visit this year, but he obviously didn't check the weather before filling the baskets. However, the snow certainly didn't deter Oliver from heading outside with his sunglasses and gardening tools!

Here is Ruby and daddy relaxing after Easter dinner.

We had a big Easter dinner and Easter Egg hunt and Grandma and Grandpa Cornwell's house. Oliver loved being there and spending time with all of his cousins. He did loose all interest in the Easter egg hunt however, at the sight of an old deflated football. He already has his priorities and sports, or balls, definitely take precedence over candy.

It has really been great to live close by and get to participate in family events.

Tour de St. George

2010-04-18T12:17:00.011-06:00

In May we traveled down to St. George so that Sam could ride in the Tour de St. George with his brothers. It turned out to be quite the family event and we had tons of fun hanging out with all of Sam's family. Sam started planning to ride the race in January and had outlined a pretty rigorous training schedule. However, jobs, cold weather (and general laziness) got in the way and with a month to go until race time the "race" was downgraded to just a tour. In the end, it was just a "ride" with his brothers and I was not even allowed to refer to it as a race. It really didn't matter though, Sam rode the 30 mile "ride" and thoroughly enjoyed himself.

Oliver thoroughly enjoyed waiting at the finish line with his cousins. It wasn't exactly warm and balmy as we had hoped, but that didn't deter Oliver from getting absolutely soaked. Oliver has three cousins from South Weber that he absolutely adores. He refers to them as his girlfriends and often begs to go and see them.

We got to see Sam's brother and his family from Arizona, this is Ollie and Marley, they are only six days apart.

Ruby and Vance are just six days apart as well, you would almost think that we had planned that :)

Explanation and a failed diet plan

2010-03-21T15:20:00.004-06:00

So, if your thinking that my blog seems a bit lop-sided Ollie-wards, you are probably right. I need to post more about Ruby June. The trouble is that I am a huge proponent of pictures in posts and Ruby does not like the camera. She is such a smiley happy baby and she will smile for the camera, the trouble is that when I push the shutter on my camera a little red light goes off right before the flash and when Ruby sees it her smile fades into confusion and that is the look I always seem to capture. She is only to blame for the confused look in this particular picture, the blurry face is the fault of an Oliver-sized finger print on my camera lens.

But, fuzzy or not, I had to post a picture of this cute hat I made. It was part of a new diet plan to keep my hands busy so that they would not be available to stuff chocolate into my mouth! Unfortunately the crocheting project only took a couple of hours so that by the afternoon I was right back to my old ways. Bummer, but at least the hat turned out nice.

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

2010-03-21T15:08:00.002-06:00

Oliver absolutely loves to play basketball, he even has a pretty sweet left-handed jump-shot (for a two-year-old). His Little Tykes hoop is still in storage but he was insistent on throwing his basketball through the hoop the other day. Sam is usually the one to take him out and lift him up to the big hoop but when dad was gone mom had to get a bit creative. It worked out great other than the fact that I had to be the one to chase down the ball every time it bounced out of the trailer.

Countdown to Home Sweet Home

2010-03-21T15:03:00.005-06:00

Here is a sneak peak at our soon-to-be new home. Barring any unforeseen disasters (and from working at a title company I know there could be many) we should close in the middle of April. Yahoo!!

If you have a half an hour . . .

2010-03-21T14:53:00.003-06:00

If you have an extra half-an-hour in your day to spare stop on by and ask Oliver how he hurt his head. You will be taken by the hand to a particular corner of the house where he will reenact and recount (in great detail) how he slipped and hit his head. You will then be led to the phone where mommy called dad to see about getting stitches. He will tell you all about how he cried and mommy gave him his blue blanket. Then, he will take you to the bathroom and tell how mommy gave him a bandaid and a kiss to make it better and how the "butterflies" came out and made the ouchie go away. (Obviously there is some confusion in regards to the butterfly bandaids).

In this picture Oliver had decided that his cut needed a bit more tape so he took things into his own hands. He insisted on leaving the tape in place for a few hours.

Some matches are made in heaven . . . some are not

2010-03-07T15:16:00.005-07:00

When it comes to food certain things were meant to go together. Chocolate and peanut butter, sausages and sauerkraut, cream cheese and just about anything; to name a few. Then there are those food faux pas - of which my son and husband are sometimes guilty. The worst, in my opinion, is their affinity for syrup-smothered pancakes washed down with orange juice. Yuck! That is just as bad as brushing your teeth and then drinking orange juice, I can hardly stand to sit at the same table with them when they do that. Oliver has taken his disgusting food combinations one step further recently. This week he asked for red punch and a pickle to eat with his bagel. He must enjoy the salt/sweet combination because he insisted on eating a pickle with his chocolate donut as well. Whose kid is this?

The hunt is on...

2010-03-04T10:47:00.002-07:00

We are officially hunting for a house in the Salt Lake area. After renting for years we are excited to buy our very first home. We do however feel somewhat clueless, so for all of you homeowners out there we would love any advice you might have for us. Please comment and tell us things you love about your house, things you would change, things to look for and what to avoid. Any advice you could give us would be much appreciated. Also, if you live around here, what areas do you like? We are looking at Daybreak, Herriman, South Jordan, and Draper but are definitely willing to consider other possibilities. Can't wait to hear what you think!

Sittin' Pretty

2010-03-03T09:57:00.003-07:00

She sits!! And she has a tooth!! Our little five-month-old Ruby is growing up so fast. I could spend all day just munching on those cheeks, she is so precious! Or, as Oliver puts it, "that's my Ruby, she so cooot." I love it!

My Latest

2010-03-01T21:22:00.008-07:00

Everybody needs an outlet. Something that will allow them to release their creative energies or vent their frustrations. I often forget to let myself let it all out, but when I do I sure do enjoy it. For me, the best kind of therapy comes in creating. I like trying new recipes, sewing, crocheting, knitting, you name it - I'll try it, I'm not always successful but that is not always the most important thing. Lately it has been baby hairbows. This week I branched out and tried my first fondant cake. I have been wanting to learn how to do it for quite a while now and a couple of days ago I had the chance to go down and watch a pro in action. My mother-in-law invited me down to watch her make a wedding cake. When I got home I volunteered to make a birthday cake for my Grandma's 84th birthday. I decided to play with a new thing (new to me anyway) called gum paste. I LOVED it. I spent all day doing it, much to my husbands chagrin, and I dyed my hands neon pink with food dye but it was all worth it. I was pretty proud of my first ever fondant creation.

True Idol Worship

2010-03-01T21:12:00.007-07:00

Oliver absolutely idolizes his uncle Donald. He gets so excited whenever Donald and his wife come over. He monopolizes all of Donald's time and talks about it for days afterward. The other day Oliver had a picture of Donald that he played with all morning. He and Donald (via the photograph) ate breakfast together, played a game then laid down and read a book together.

My great debaters

2010-02-21T16:08:00.002-07:00

When Sam was in high school his dismal attendance record got him kicked out of the English department (as a recent recipient of a Masters Degree he has obviously made a big turn around). At the time, one of the teachers, Sam Beason, decided to make Sam his personal "project" and offered to help him get credit in English, which he needed to graduate, if he would join the debate class, unbeknown to him that also meant joining the school debate team. Long story short - or short story even shorter - Sam ended up winning the state championship in debate that year. Needless to say, he is a talented debater - unless of course he is facing off against me, hem, hem.

I think our son may share his talent - or at least his love for debate. The following is a conversation I had with him a few days ago:

Ollie: Mom, say no. Pleeeeeeeeease!
Mom: huh
Ollie: Say no.
Mom: Okay, no.
Ollie: YES!
Mom (catching on now): no
Ollie: YES!
Mom: no
Ollie: YES!
Mom: no
Ollie YES!
Mom: no
(continued. . . )

To dream the impossible dream...

2010-02-13T22:52:00.002-07:00

I saw a chair like this once in an airport bathroom. I couldn't understand then, why you would want to strap your child to the wall. I have a two-year-old now and I often find myself wishing that this company did home installations.

My new January...

2010-02-02T17:12:00.002-07:00

In case you couldn't tell, one of my new years resolutions was to update my blog at least once a week. Ha. Saddly, the rest of my goals seem to have taken a similar turn. Anyway, I have decided to make February my new January soif you don't see a regular update on my blog be sure to write mean posts until I do it!

Ollie-isms

2010-02-01T14:21:00.012-07:00

Disclaimer, you may not be too interested in a lot of this stuff, but this blog is the only record I keep of our little family so I am recording these things for my own benefit.

Oliver is an absoute two-year-old, I wouldn't necessarily call them the terrible twos, rather, they are the extreme-twos. Extreme in the sense that we experience all emotions - to the extreme! One moment he will be telling us "No, no, no" and sending everyone within hearing range to time out (something that doesn't really go over too well) to covering my face in kisses when I'm feeling bad, to make it better. Oliver has reached the point at which he could star on Bill Cosby's "Kids Say The Darndest Things". The following is just a sampling:

1. First thing Oliver told me when I got him out of bed one day last week was, "Mommy, I want need to make a mess. Pleeeeeeeeease." It used to be that Oliver never "wanted" anything, the only verb he ever used was "need" now however he has started to have "want needs". I guess he is pretty much just like the rest of us who can't seem to draw a hard line between needs and desires, he is just more verbal about it!

2. At the store Oliver loves to push the cart through the isles of clothes stopping every few feet to pull random articles of clothing out and exclaim, "Oh, that is soooo cute!" The other day he pulled something out, examined it then put it back and moved on explaining that he, "needed something yellow." Oh dear.

3. "I need chocolate." He is obviously his father's son.

4. Sam has an affinity for diet coke, but seeing as Oliver has enough energy as it is we don't let him drink any. Of course, that hasn't' ever stopped him from asking for "black juice" or what he has dubbed "daddy juice." Our solution has been to introduce "Big Brother Juice" aka Fresca. He loves to go on adventures with daddy to get big brother juice.

5. The "Secret Taco". Oliver used to have an invented word for water, it was "gogee" and it covered every kind of liquid from juice to rain to the ocean. He has a new filler word these days, but we can't quite pin down what it means. The word is "taco." I decided to start keeping track of all of the qualities of a "taco"in an effort to figure out what it was. I evenutally decided that was futile after the "taco" changed from something "high in the sky" to "the house of Jesus" to something to do with "water games" in just over an hour. Yesterday he was making a biting motion toward the sky, when I asked him what he was doing he explained to me that he was eating the moon. When I asked him what it tasted like he casually replied, "a taco". Duh, why did I even bother to ask?

Ruby-kins

2010-02-01T14:06:00.004-07:00

Our little Ruby is getting to be so big! Literally, she is outgrowing clothes faster than I can buy them - no complaints here though, there is nothing quite as fun as dressing little girls! She is four and a half months old now and such a sweetheart. She has changed from a slightly demanding newborn into the sweetest little girl ever. She is just full of smiles and is sooooooo mellow, she is always happy to just hang out. She loves to eat rice cereal (with a little bit of baby food mixed in). She has also mastered the art of rolling over and is pretty close to sitting up - she can go for a minute or two before tipping over.

Her greatest hero is her big brother and she just lights up and giggles anytime he plays with her. (I just have to point out that I wore the pink outfit she has on here when I was a baby, too fun!)

Ruby loves to suck her fingers, ironically she has an affinity for the exact two middle fingers that I used to suck - until about the second grade!

She always likes to have something to playwith. She is super alert and I don't think she has ever actually laid her head down on my shoulder. Since the day she was born she has been able to hold her head up and she always has to be looking around. No snuggles here I am afraid.

Ten ways to loose all your Christmas spirit in one outing...

2009-12-21T22:12:00.003-07:00

1. Choose to see the lights on Temple Square during the last family home evening before Christmas (not an original idea!)
2. Ride the Trax downtown on the same evening as a sold out concert/sing-along at the Energy Solutions Arena.
3. Bounce a screaming baby for an hour and a half in a loud, tightly packed train car while your toddler climbs all over you and everyone else.
4. Have your baby go poo and explode out of her diaper in all directions while riding the aforementioned, over-packed train.
5. Miss your stop and end up having to walk back four blocks to your destination.
6. Receive lots of dirty looks as you cut ahead of all the ladies waiting in line outside the bathroom so you can get to the changing table to clean your still disgruntled baby. (For an even better evening be sure to forget a change of clothes so that your little girl has to remain in her yellowed clothes for the remainder of the night.)
7. Don't bring a stroller and have your toddler continually escape you, running through people's legs and across the fenced-off lawn.
8. Get everyone together and smiling for a picture then have your camera batteries die right as you snap the picture.
9. Instead of enjoying the lights, be sure that your son becomes fixated on the one light he finds that does not work.
10. Make sure your toddler cries about having to get back on the train because the horrific memory of the train ride downtown is still fresh on his mind.

On our way home, after about the six or seventh stop, enough people got off the train that we could actually sit down. As I sat there I thought and laughed about our horrible night. Really, I don't think that things could have gotten any worse. All we wanted was a fun, family activity for Christmas, but it more closely resembled a nightmare.

Our experience tonight helped me to remember that Christmas is not about the lights or the presents, or the yummy treats. It is about celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I would just like to testify here that I know he lives and I love Him.

Merry CHRISTmas.

Our little Linus

2009-12-20T22:51:00.003-07:00

They say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and I am a believer. When I was little I was attached to a silky pink blanket; I dragged it everywhere with me until the fated day that my mom accidentally melted it in the dryer. I was crushed until I discovered that rubbing my mom's slip between my fingers provided the same sensory satisfaction. It was not uncommon for me to stick my hand up my mother's skirt at church to get a feel of her slip. On weekdays, her slip became my favorite companion as I ventured out to play.

I am now getting my comeuppance as Oliver is hopelessly attached to his blue blanket. He won't go to sleep without it and it is the ultimate comfort when he falls down or gets and "ouchy." Sometimes (as you can see from the picture) it even doubles as a scarf (I figure that is better than letting him drag it around on the ground).

I have never made the mistake of melting it in the dryer, but I did notice a while back that it was beginning to wear a bit thin. Terrified of what might happen when the blanket turned to shreds I began searching for a replacement. I searched all of the stores and scoured the Internet in search of the exact same blanket, but was not successful. I bought him a blanket made from the same kind of material, but he turned up his nose at it. I had pretty much given up when I happened upon the exact same blanket still in its brand new packaging at a garage sale over the summer. I happily paid the one dollar they were asking (without ever mentioning that I would have happily paid fifty.) I decided to hold off making the switch until it became absolutely necessary. I suppose that in Ollie's case my slips and underwear were never in any real danger, but it sure is a comfort to know that I have a backup! In my mind, that blanket remains my best garage sale purchase ever (and I have done a whole lot of garage-saling during our sojourn in graduate school.)

He did it!!

2009-12-19T13:13:00.009-07:00

Sam graduated with his Masters degree from the Colorado School of Mines on Friday. We are so proud of him, he has worked long and hard to get to this point. I am so grateful for a husband who has been willing to sacrifice so much and work so hard to become a better provider for our family. He is the BEST!!

Ruby and I were able to attend the graduation while Oliver stayed in Utah with Grandma and Grandpa Ross. The graduation was by far the best I have ever attended, the speaker was quick and funny (just as all graduation speakers should be). And the procession was flawless and totally professional - no flip-flops or decorated graduation caps here (the last graduation we attended was at the University of Hawaii).

Sam was totally elated and informed me that we can now all begin calling him "Master Sam", yeah right. For me it was somewhat bittersweet. I am very excited to move on to our next adventure, but at the same time I have really enjoyed the past five years (a.k.a. our entire marriage) that we have spent in school. We have gotten to know some incredible people and learned a lot about ourselves and our place in the world. So, while we say goodbye to formal education for now, I hope that we will keep on learning and growing (maybe I should have spoken at the graduation, tee, hee).

Way to go Sammy!!!

Why I hate laundry...

2009-12-12T19:50:00.027-07:00

I have decided that when you procrastinate blogging it becomes a lot like laundry; overwhelming. I am sure you all know that good feeling that comes when you remember to do a load every day or so and your laundry basket never spills over onto the floor and you don't have to punch down the clothes to fool everyone into thinking you've really got it all together. And I am quite certain that you can also relate to the massive pile of folding that accumulates when you put off doing laundry until there is nothing left to wear and you are forced to make yourself a slave to the 60 minute cycle on your dryer for an entire day. I really hate folding the clothes at the end of a day like that. The pile seems absolutely insurmountable.

At the moment I am feeling the same way about my blog, I have put it off so long that the list of things I need to blog about has become impossibly long. But, as with laundry, there is nothing to do but settle in and get to it. So here it goes. (I should mention that one of my greatest laundry sins is overloading the washer, it is a fault that may have spilled over into this post so I apologize in advance).
We have had a couple of snowstorms this year and every time we do Oliver insists on going outside to build a "snowman tall, tall tall." Actually, I build the snowman whilst he plants himself face down on the lawn and licks up the snow, he can't seem to get enough of it. When it warmed up again and his snowman got "small, small, small" rather than let it go to waste he came and asked for a spoon so he could go out and eat it. (He does avoid the dirty, yellow stuff - so I guess that is good). Sam took a break from his studies a few weeks ago to go pheasant hunting with his Dad in South Dakota. He had a great time on his well deserved break. He has put in a lot of hard work at school and we are now counting down the days to graduation, there are only six days, two finals, and one massive project lying between him and freedom from formal education. We have had a great time at Mines and are glad we chose to go there. The nation-wide rankings for Operations Research programs came out last week and Sam's program was ranked number one in the country. Go Mines!! I guess that is what you get at a school full of nerds. Seriously it is geekdom over there. On one of our first weeks in Golden we attended the combined Mines' married/singles ward and all I can say is that it made me very glad to be already married. I'm not the first one to say that, the girl:guy ratio at Mines is 1:5 and as far as dating is concerned the saying goes, "the odds are good, but the good are odd" and I'd have to say I agree.

Oliver learned how to use the camera, I just downloaded about a hundred pictures of the carpet and various house plants, all I can say is thank goodness for digital cameras. Ollie seems growing by leaps and bounds these days. He is such a good talker now and will recount things that happened weeks and weeks ago - he never seems to forget anything. He notices everything and I am constantly amazed at what he picks up on. I have been thinking for the past few weeks that I should start to teach him his alphabet - I neglected to do anything about it however, so he seems to have taken things into his own hands. The other day we were video chatting with Sam and I showed him how to type a letter and send it to his daddy. He got so excited and started typing letters and naming them as he went along. I know he likes to sing the ABC song, but I didn't know he could recognize any of the printed letters, I guess I owe Sesame Street for that one.

When we were in Colorado Springs I saw the cutest knit hats called "gnome domes." I told my super-talented sister-in-law about them and this is what she came up with. Aren't they adorable? Thanks again Caci.

Ollie isn't the only one who is growing up. Our little Ruby isn't quite so little anymore either. She smiles and talks and has started grabbing onto things as well. Her cheeks seem to get chubbier every day and she now has a permanent double chin (a feature that she seems to be pulling off a lot better than her equally chubby mother).

This year I decided to learn how to dip chocolates. I would have to say that I am not very good yet. I did however dip a couple perfect looking caramels. I was so proud of this one that I had to take a picture. Just look at it, no feet and the swirl is so pretty!! I was still revelling in the beauty of my one good chocolate when my parents came home with a tin of chocolates dipped by my aunt - every single one of hers was pretty, so I guess I have a ways to go. My one consolation this year has been the fact that chocolates taste good no matter what they look like. May be I will have to ask Aunt Pam for lessons next year.

I took Oliver to see Santa this year, the following is the conversation that transpired:

Santa: Would you like to come sit on Santa's lap?

Ollie: Nope

Santa: Can your mom sit next to me and you can sit on her lap?

Ollie: Nope

Santa: Can you tell me what you would like for Christmas?

Ollie: A candy cane

Santa: Are you sure that is all you want, may be you should come sit next to me and we could talk about that.

Ollie: Nope

Santa: Well is there anything that I can bring for your little sister?

Ollie: A pine cone.

The end. (as you can see Oliver only got close enough to grab hold of the candy cane)

I would just like to announce here that my children are now friends, that is right - they actually seem to like each other. Oliver is so gentle with Ruby, he is always concerned about her and if he is not around when she goes down for a nap he likes to tip-toe into her room to say good night. Sometimes he even climbs into her bed and plays there quietly while she sleeps. The other day we were driving and Oliver wriggled out of the top part of his car seat and leaned over and took hold of Ruby's car seat with both hands shouting, "Hold on Ruby, hold on, the cars are coming." I guess that means he is even willing to sacrifice himself for her. Thanks Ollie.

Of course, Christmas would not be Christmas if we didn't get to make gingerbread houses at Grandma and Grandpa Cornwells' house. I spread frosting all over Oliver's so he could stick candy where ever he wanted, thus he dubbed it "the white house." I am pretty sure he was more into the train under the tree than the candy though.

. . . . . . . .

Whew, I did it. And the best part is, there are no piles to put away, so I guess blogging isn't as bad a laundry after all.

Helping Hands

2009-11-10T14:19:00.005-07:00

Oliver loves to help. If he ever gets his hands on a screwdriver he will spend hours "fixing things". Here he is helping Grandpa with the power washer. He also loves to stir and pour. Yesterday I was making a pasta salad and I let him stir it while I turned around and chopped olives, when I looked back over at him he had poured the entire bottle of Salad Supreme spice into the salad and stirred it in. It was a bit potent. His favorite way to help lately is in bossing the dogs and animals around. If he ever hears anyone say anything to the dogs he will come running from wherever he is shouting the same command. He loves to yell at them to "sit" or "get down" even if they are all the way across the yard.

In case you were wondering, Ruby is also a big help. Here she is holding all of the laundry in the basket for me. What would I do without her?

Our little gem...

2009-11-09T13:23:00.004-07:00

I felt so bad about not taking any pictures of Ruby lately that I decided to post these simply for the sake of posting something (I have no cute story or anicdote to accompany it). I will say though that we are madly in love with our little Ruby, she really is such a gem (no pun intended). She smiles and coos and keeps us all begging for more.

Whew!

2009-11-06T14:49:00.012-07:00

I had to begin this post with this picture of Sam because it pretty much sums up how we all have felt about this past week. Our week included packing all of our belongings into boxes and moving them to a storage unit (with the help of a U-haul truck and a couple faithful Elder Quorum members, thanks again!) Cleaning our rental house and then driving to Utah through a horrible snow storm that turned our nine hour drive into fifteen. Once here we quickly unpacked, bought a pumpkin, celebrated Halloween, then began cooking and cleaning like crazy to get ready for everyone who came on Sunday for Ruby's baby blessing. I just have to add a special thanks here to my mom, without whose help we would not have survived. She flew to Colorado Springs to help with the packing and cleaning then flew home with Ollie so that I would only have to take Ruby in the car with me. Once here she worked tirelessly to get everything ready for the blessing so that it would be a wonderful day for all of us (which it definitely was). And, she even had the energy to chase Oliver through the corn maze at the pumpkin patch. Thanks again mom, you're amazing!

Before coming to Utah we got to celebrate our first real snowstorm of the year in Colorado Springs. Oliver was fascinated with making tracks in the stow and spent a good hour just walking back and forth across the backyard.

Oliver is currently obsessed with machinery, i.e. garbage trucks, tractors, trains, etc. So, you can imagine his delight when he discovered a whole row of tractors at the pumpkin patch we visited.

They also had a corn maze, but Ollie was more concerned with chasing the chickens into the maze than finding a way through himself.

Out of all the pumpkins, Oliver set his heart on what he dubbed the "white baby pumpkin" I'm not sure whether it was a pumpkin or a squash because it was misshapen and slightly rotted, but we took it home with us anyway

And here is our little monkey. If you ask him what he is he will tell you he is a "monkey jumping on the bed." He had me put the costume on him a few times leading up to Halloween so he could jump on my bed while I sang the song. He didn't care too much about the candy on Halloween, but as you can tell he thought the pumpkins were fascinating. He made us relight them every night until finally the pumpkins got mushy and had to be thrown out.

For the record, Ruby was dressed up as an adorable little pumpkin. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pictures. We also forgot to bring our camera out for the blessing so you will just have to take my word for it that she looked cute (despite the fact that her cute hair bow and the panties to her dress both got lost somewhere in the move). It was wonderful to have so much family here to support us and Sam did a beautiful job on the blessing. All in all it was a great week, but I am sure glad its over!

Gone Fishing. . . . .

2009-11-05T13:40:00.002-07:00

Sometimes life feels like a game of Go Fish. You hold a certain set of cards and then spend all your time looking for the right match. Well, right now we are looking for just the right match. Sam has been offered a good position in Colorado Springs with the company he interned with over the summer. We knew that they would be making an offer and that is why we decided to move to the Springs back in May. Now however Sam is thinking he would like to begin his career elsewhere and has been interviewing and sending in resumes to companies from Utah to Timbuktu. We are currently waiting to see if we receive any additional job offers. In the meantime the lease on our house ran out and we didn't want to get stuck in another lease if we aren't really going to be staying. The solution: we packed all of our belongings into a storage unit and I brought the kids out to stay with my parents while Sam stays with some friends for the remaining weeks of school. While it is not the ideal situation, we figured that it would give us the most options whilst we play yet another round of Go Fish.

Perspective

2009-10-13T14:37:00.004-06:00

I prefer my house to be cleaner than it currently is.

I'd much rather look for something to wear in my drawer than dig through the laundry hamper or the pile of unfolded clothes like I did this morning.

I'd like to make a yummy dinner instead of warming up leftovers as I am planning to do tonight.

Somedays I just have to look the other way and remember that I am not sealed to this house for all eternity, but I am sealed to my kids forever. And so, I am going to stop perusing blogs and go start dinner so that when my toddler wakes up from his nap I will have plenty of time to play trains and read books - even if it is the same book over and over and over again.

Because I am a mom first and foremost.

Moldy

2009-10-11T13:44:00.004-06:00

I am beginning to think (much to my surprise) that we may be a mold family. Not that we are stinky and rotting - although that may be true as well, but that we are going to be one of those families whose kids look like they all popped out of the same mold. I figured that since Sam and I look so different our children would as well. However, that has not been the case - it is hard to tell from these pictures, because Ollie is so much older here than Ruby, but they both have the same eyes, nose and face shape, not to mention hair color. Of course, Ruby is still changing a lot so I may have a different opinion next week, but for the moment I have to say "Hooray for molds!"

Another Day

2009-10-07T15:11:00.005-06:00

So, I don't have much to report. Our lives have not changed significantly since the last time I posted. We just keep busy chasing after Ollie, feeding Ruby, and enjoying one another's company.
Ruby changes everyday. She looks more and more like herself everyday - I know that sounds funny, but it is true. She is loosing the newborn look and getting decidedly cuter.

In between conference sessions on Sunday Sam and Oliver raked up a big pile of leaves to jump in. Ollie thought it was so much fun that he spent most of the day Monday working on those same leaves, when he decided that there were not enough on the ground he got up on his picnic table and started picking more.
I probably won't show this picture to Sam - and I think I'm safe because he rarely reads our blog. He wouldn't like to see Ollie in a pink bow, but Oliver insisted on wearing it this morning when I was putting one on Ruby. We must be experiencing an overload of feminine hormones at our house because it seems they are rubbing off on Ollie. When we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween he was insistent on being a butterfly. Fortunately, when we took him shopping for a costume Sam intentionally stood in front of the butterfly costume and Oliver decided to be a monkey instead. Then a couple of days ago we were watching football at a friends house and Ollie put on their little girls tutu and began dancing around the living room - he insisted on wearing the purple tutu for the duration of the game. Poor Ollie, he has to spend all day everyday with a bunch of girls - maybe if Sam does decide to read this he will start spending less time at the library and more time at home doing manly things.

Double Take

2009-10-04T16:22:00.005-06:00

Seeing as I have now been a mom of two for three whole weeks I feel qualified to give my expert opinion on the raising of two children. Simply put, it is awesome!! I have been happily surprised at how smoothly we have made the transition from a family of three to a family of four (thus far:). Of course, we have had our rough spots. I have had the opportunity on more than one occasion to chase Oliver at a dead sprint through stores and parking lots while lugging along a car seat and baby. There have been a couple of days in which a shower was simply not an option and I did experience one horrific grocery shopping trip with a sobbing toddler and a screaming infant. I am proud to admit though that we are all still happy and still sane. I am constantly busy, but I love it - there is no down time and certainly no time for boredom.
Having two children has required some attitude adjustment on my part. I have found that I am much less tolerant of things that are messy as I have less time for cleaning. I am also much more lenient in regards to cooking and laundry. This morning Oliver asked for Doritos and Froot Loops for breakfast and I didn't even hesitate before giving it to him. (As you can tell from the picture, he is thoroughly enjoying his new dietetic freedoms).

I have also picked up some new baby-skills that I never acquired with my first child. I remember being so proud of myself for managing to cook entire meals with just one arm while toting Oliver around as a baby. Well, that skill is nothing compared to my new found ability to cook, clean and chase after a busy toddler while not just holding onto Ruby, but nursing her as well. Now, that is talent! (Sorry if that was more than you wanted to know, but my life pretty much consists of diapers, nursing and sporadic sessions of Ring-Around-The-Rosies, so that is what you get!)

Baby Update

2009-09-21T09:40:00.006-06:00

I have been rather remiss in my photo-taking responsibilities with Ruby. There just seems to be a lot more to concentrate on with two kids and the camera never seems to be around at the right time. However, here are some shots of our newest addition. She is now one and half weeks old and is such an angel. Although it is still early, we are guessing that she will look quite a bit like her brother. Their hair is the exact same color and although I have only detected one cowlick on Ruby, she seems to have the same natural-forming mohawk as Ollie as well. The only difference is that Ruby's hair flips out all over her head.

We have also been blessed once again with a good sleeper and eater. We never had to go through that horrible night/day mix up and she regularly sleeps 4-5 hours between nighttime feedings and goes right back to sleep when she is done. Yahoo!! Also, rather than lose weight, she put on a whole ounce before her first doctors appointment. She does have a set of lungs, but at this point she only exercises them when she is hungry or getting changed (she is just really modest and hates to have her clothes off).

We love our little Ruby and are so glad that she is a part of our family!

Nothin' but Handsome

2009-09-21T09:31:00.006-06:00

Check out that handsome boy! When I went into labor, not only was my friend Megan kind enough to answer her phone at 6:30 a.m. and agree to watch Oliver, but she also took this great photo of him while he was there (did I mention she was a super talented photographer). She will be taking shots of Ruby later this week so be sure and check back.

Learning to share the limelight with little Ruby has been hard on Oliver, but I am beginning to think that we are over the worst. He is kinder to her now and is starting to act more like himself again - I hope he keeps it up after Grandma leaves this week.

And now presenting Ruby June Peay . . .

2009-09-11T17:46:00.008-06:00

Born: September 10, 2009 at 8:16 a.m.
Weight: 8 lbs 4 oz
Height: 20 1/2 inches

After what I am sure was some careful deliberation, Ruby decided that she did not want share a birthday with the 9/11 terrorist attacks and decided to come a day early. It was about 5:30 a.m., just as Sam was getting ready to leave for school, when I felt the first contraction. For a second I considered telling Sam not to go, but the contraction felt pretty much like all of the Braxton Hicks I had been having so I rolled over and went back to sleep instead. About 6:00 the contractions were too strong for me to stay in bed so I got up and started getting ready. A half hour later they hurt bad enough that I decided to call the hospital and get their opinion as to whether or not they thought the contractions might be real (I still didn't think they were). They suggested I come in so I called a friend to take Ollie and then headed toward the hospital. I had been trying to call Sam during this same time but he was in is car and had his phone on vibrate so he never answered. By now the contractions were practically unbearable. I will admit to doing a bit of yelling while I was in the car by myself. I never reached the point of profanity but I am certain that the people around me must have thought I was suffering from turrets. During the whole drive my only thought was, "I hope they give me an epidural even though I am probably only dialated to a two."

I finally got a hold of Sam and informed him that I was on my way to the hospital. He was just walking into class and had to turn around and jump in his car for the hour drive back home. When I got to the nurses station my first line was "can I please get an epidural." They didn't believe that I was really in labor and slowly walked me back to triage to check. To everyones surpise - including my own - I was dialated to a nine. They immediately wheeled my bed to a delivery room and began poking IV's into me. They managed to get me a spinal tap and just as it began to take effect my doctor told me it was time to push. I pushed with one contraction and out popped Ruby. She came face first, or what is called a face presentation, our doctor just referred to it as "sunny-side up". It means that instead of the crown of her head coming out first, her face was the first thing everyone saw. As a result she looked pretty bruised up, like she had just come off worse in a bad boxing match. But she was perfectly healthy. Sam arrived about 15 minutes after she made her debut. Poor guy.

Becuase of the rush - and the lack of a husband to hold the camera - we don't have any pictures of Ruby fresh from the oven, but here are some moments that we did manage to capture. We are home from the hospital now and are both doing great. We are so excited to have our little "junebug."

D - Day

2009-09-09T21:58:00.004-06:00

I want you all to know that I stayed pregnant on purpose just to see what my pregnancy countdown ticker does after week 40. I am not holding my breath for anything spectacular, but I will be checking tomorrow just to see if it says "40 weeks and 1 day" or if it goes for something a little more dramatic like "holy cow why doesn't that baby just come out already!" I am sure you are all as anxious as I am about it.

On another note, I did call my husband today to inform him that any woman who is decidedly still pregnant on her due date deserves a happy-due-date present. After which, Oliver and I took a trip to the mall to check out the Clinique counter during their free bonus time. There is nothing like a good excuse for pampering yourself, thanks again Ruby. Other benefits of still being pregnant would have to be the awesome pedicure I got yesterday from a friend in our ward and of course there is the fact that I still get to sleep through the night. However, that will all end soon as my doctor has scheduled me for an induction on Friday - so I promise that the next time you check this blog you will finally find what you have been looking for - baby pictures!!

In the meantime, here is a picture of my baby shower. A couple of weeks ago Ollie and I drove back to Golden to spend time with some friends and ended up at a surprise baby shower. It was so great to chat with everyone and there was so much cute pink stuff! Thanks again guys.

Things Worth Celebrating

2009-09-06T18:07:00.002-06:00

1. Oliver ran to nursery all by himself after Sacrament Meeting today and refused to leave when church was over.

2. I put on my maternity skirt for the last time today. I would burn it, but maybe in a couple of years I will be prepared to consider wearing it again.

Just passing the time

2009-09-03T21:06:00.007-06:00

My life right now seems to be all about waiting. I am totally anxious to not be pregnant anymore and am wondering when would be a proper time to stop counting days and begin counting down the hours I have left. Can I make a paper chain with a link for each hour? Just think how wonderful it would feel to wake up each morning and remove eight whole chain-links!

Sam and Oliver, on the other hand, are staying busy and focused on other things. Sam's own summer countdown ended tonight when college football kicked off for the fall. He also started back to school last week and is loving his new class schedule. This will be his last semester of graduate school and besides studying hard he spends a lot of time researching companies and possible job opportunities.

We picked an over abundance of gargantuan zucchinis from our garden the other day and seeing as I was feeling too lazy to peel them, grate them, and hide them as conspicuously as possible in an array of breads, muffins and brownies, Oliver and I opted for zucchini boats. Our little wading pool wasn't quite as exciting as floating them through my parents ditch and pond like I did growing up but Ollie didn't seem to mind too much. He especially enjoyed filling the boat up with Little People and then capsizing it with the water from the hose.

We also couldn't let summer pass us by without giving Ollie a lesson in proper somersault technique. Of course, I am not in my best somersaulting form at the moment so dad had to step in and help out. They both did pretty good!

Bittersweet

2009-08-26T15:58:00.002-06:00

The good news, my baby flipped around and is no longer in a breech position. The bad news, she is still inside of me and looking like she plans to stay put until the bitter end. Bummer.

To think, it could all be over. . . . .

2009-08-23T12:40:00.002-06:00

I sat down last week and made a huge list of things that I wanted to get done before the baby comes. I haven't gotten much of it accomplished yet, so you can imagine my surprise when I found myself in the hospital in labor at 2:00 a.m. this morning. I had been having regular contractions for about six or seven hours but couldn't decide if it was real or not. Although my contractions were still only in the "uncomfortable" stage and not yet painful I decided to make a trip to the hospital, just to see. The last thing I wanted was to cut it too close. Well, they hooked me up to a monitor and as it turned out I was in labor. Because my baby was still breeched at my last check-up I had them do an ultra-sound, which confirmed that she still had not turned around. Had I continued laboring I would have ended up having a c-section so I asked if there was still time to stop the labor in order to give her a few more days to flip around. One tiny little shot later I found myself on my way home and feeling fine. However, when I woke up this morning and realized that I was still pregnant and didn't have to be I could have kicked myself. What was I thinking asking for that shot!! Oh well, if she does manage to turn around and I get to have a normal deliver I'm sure I will not regret my decision.

The big momma limp-waddle

2009-08-17T12:45:00.004-06:00

How do I know it is time to have this baby? I think I may be waddling now instead of just simply walking. To make matters worse, I slipped on our tile floor the other day and had to pull off some pretty impressive acrobatics in order to remain upright. The result, I think I pulled every muscle in my left side. I've spent the past few days limp-waddling around. This means that the last remaining ten percent of people who had not yet begun to pity the big pregnant lady are now beginning to do so. I can see it in their eyes.

As if that were not enough, even Ollie has begun to point out my elephant-like size. He has been on this kick lately in which he has to always point out a mom, dad and baby; i.e. "mommy tree," "daddy tree," and "baby tree." He does the same thing with rocks, sticks, crackers, toys - you name it. Sadly, over the past few weeks I have observed a change in his selection habits. It has become more and more apparent that the "daddy" object is no longer the biggest of the three. That's right, "mommy" is always the largest stick, rock or puddle. There is nothing like having a two-year-old put it all in perspective for you! Good thing I only have three weeks to go.

Picker, picker carrot eater

2009-08-15T20:55:00.004-06:00

I knew it would all be over the second he saw me do it. I was right. I picked a carrot from our garden earlier this week and Oliver has continued to pick dozens more. He thinks it is pretty much the coolest thing ever. We made a rule that he can't pick a new carrot until he eats his last one. He has been pretty good about it, the only trouble is that if I am not handy to wash it off, the carrot will go straight to his mouth dirt and all. I wonder how many carrots he can eat before his skin starts to turn orange? I guess I should just be grateful that the carrots seem to have temporarily distracted him from the tomatoes. We have a few that are beginning to turn red and he is absolutely obsessed with them. Every time we go into the backyard he has to point out the "orange" tomato.

So Spoiled

2009-08-12T20:37:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was my birthday and Sam did such a great job of making it nice. On top of buying me the double jogging stroller that I have had my eye on ever since finding out I was pregnant with number two; he woke up early and before leaving for work he made me some delicious Belgian waffles and some freshly squeezed orange juice, yum! He also made sure the house was stocked with all my favorite things so that I spent the day munching on chocolate covered raisins and answering happy birthday calls from friends and family. I don't mind getting older if always means good days like that one.
Today Ollie and I decided to take our new stroller for a spin. I guess Oliver wasn't too impressed by the shocks and comfy padded seats because all he wanted to do was climb into the cargo area underneath, go figure! Hopefully Ruby will be slightly more appreciative or at least more apt to remain in her seat.

The Festivities

2009-08-10T15:16:00.008-06:00

We decided to go ahead and celebrate Oliver's birthday while we were in Salt Lake for a short trip last week. We had all his favorite foods: pizza, watermelon and mandarin oranges.
His cake was in the shape of a train and he made us light the candle a couple of times because he thought it was so fun to blow out.
He also made sure his new toy train got a good taste of cake as well (don't worry there was other dessert, I made this cake simply to have a candle for him to blow out).
I had been talking to Oliver all week about his birthday - the concept wasn't really sinking in - but he did get very excited every time I mentioned balloons. So, Sam made sure we had plenty of balloons and Oliver let them go one and a time. I knew the birthday was a success after he woke up the next morning and rehearsed everything to me from the "choo choo cake" to the "flying balloons"

On his real birthday I went in to get him out of bed and when I wished him a happy birthday he immediately asked for cake, so I guess the whole birthday concept sank in eventually. Unfortunately there was no cake. Because we had celebrated a week early, we didn't plan to do much other than give him our present on his birthday. It wasn't a problem though, as soon as he got a look at his new train table (thank you craigslist) all else was forgotten. He played trains from the moment he woke up from his nap until it was time to go to bed again and this morning when I took him out of his crib, instead of the usual snuggles and kisses he wriggled right out of my arms and ran to the train table. We wanted to have something that would entertain him while I am taking care of the new baby, I just hope he doesn't get sick of it before then!

The Toddler Years

2009-08-09T17:02:00.028-06:00

My baby turned two today and so we have officially entered the toddler years. I can't believe he has been with us for two whole years and at the same time Sam and I can't seem to remember what life without Ollie was like. He is growing and learning in leaps and bounds these days. He knows his all his colors and can even count to five (though not always in order). We haven't quite hit what everyone calls the "terrible twos" - at least as far as the tantrums are concerned. He is still easy-going and sweet, but certainly finds his fair share of trouble. He likes to take things apart and seems to have an obsession with sticking things down holes. All of his sidewalk chalk disappeared the other day and I finally located it in one big pile right below a knothole in the deck. Oliver is a people watcher and he picks things out that I never see. Lots of times he will tell me he sees something like a train or a blue balloon which I usually don't see it at first and can only find if I really look hard. On top of everything Oliver is very loving, he like snuggles and hugs and kisses and he loves us all to be together in the same room. He also likes to call Sam and I "guys," as in "guys a park!" or "guys go walk." He never stops amazing us or making us laugh, so happy birthday to my precious two-year-old we sure do love you!!

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

2009-08-07T13:19:00.002-06:00

I sold my jogging stroller today, it was a bittersweet moment. Sweet because I managed to sell it for only ten dollars less than I paid for it a year and a half ago, but sad because it marked the end of an era. I think that Ollie and I both shed a tear as we watched it roll away. My tear wasn't so much for the stroller itself, although "Bob" has been a great friend, but for what it represented, my time with Oliver- just the two of us. Oliver and I are good buddies and we have so much fun hanging out all day long. I know that when Ruby comes she will only add to the joy and fun, but for right now I am missing the life that I have gotten so used to. I just keep wondering, can anything be as great as this?

So Sweet

2009-08-06T21:25:00.002-06:00

It is so much fun to watch Oliver grow up and develop. His current stage has got to be one of my favorites thus far, he is learning to talk and takes such notice of everything around him. Today we we were at a nearby park, we were the only ones there and Oliver was enjoying just running around and climbing on the equipment. Then, a little bit before we left a teenage girl showed up with her six or seven year old brother who was clearly mentally handicapped. The boy was excited to be at the park but somewhat trepidatious as well. His sister took him to the top of the slide and was trying to coax him down but he was too nervous. Oliver, seeing what was going on immediately left what he was doing and ran to the bottom of the slide. As soon as he got there he looked up at the little boy, held his arms out and yelled "Catch! Catch!" He wanted to help the boy so that he wouldn't be scared.

That moment of sweetness pretty much made up for this morning when he came to me to tell me "brush down gogee hole" ('gogee' by the way is Oliver's word for water). I had no idea what he meant until I discovered that he had climbed onto the bathroom counter taken the stopper out of the drain and stuffed my toothbrush down far enough that I could not retrieve it.