Black Friday!

I love shopping and deals so Black Friday is a perfect fit for me. On Thursday night I got to sleep around 11:30 pm and got up at 1:45 am. I got to Wal-Mart around 4 am and met my SIL Ashley and her mom Valerie. We didn't have to wait it the cold outside, they let us in but we couldn't touch any of the things that were on sale, so everyone crowded around the different piles and waited for the OK. I try hard to be cheerful and upbeat about everything. I really think that it is fun. I love the start of the Christmas season and wish that I could put my tree up in October. It makes me so sad that we only have a month of all the holiday activities. We started at Wal-mart then went to Kmart,Target,Toysrus, seagull book, Gymboree,children's place,American eagle,gap, and finally Costco. Whew we got done at Costco around 2 pm and went to eat at Cafe Rio (yum!) then I drove back home unloaded everything at my parents and walked into my house around 5:30 pm. Big day, but really fun and I even came out under budget! So definitely worth it.

the checkout line at wal-mart

my car was so full, stuff fell out when we opened the doors :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This years was Thanksgiving at my parents house. We had such a fun day and are reminded of all our very many blessing. I am so thankful for my sweet husband and for my beautiful boys. Our families, and also for our home and the opportunity we have had to start a business. (just to name a few)

the whole crowd, about to eat.

while I was taking the picture of everyone, Layton started saying "cheese!" without any prompting, I guess I take a lot of pictures :)

Parker had a great time, but Brooke was pretty unimpressed.

Crawling for sure

Parker is definitely crawling now. He is getting faster everyday and can crawl anywhere he wants. Sometimes I leave him in a room and he crawls after me as fast as he can, crying all the way. Very sad.

Just in the last few days he has started pulling up to things. And he is beginning to get into everything. This is just the toy cupboard so it wasn't a big deal but I found him this way when I came into the living room. He had been clear inside of it with just his feet sticking out but when I went to grab the camera he came out a little bit. I can't believe he is growing so fast. Why can't my babies just stay babies?

4th tag

I totally forgot about this tag until today, I was tagged by Candice. I am a little disapointed in my picture. I was hoping for something funny

In Layton's words...

Talking with Layton is so funny. This morning he slept a little late and Parker went down for an early nap so Parker was in his crib when Layton came upstairs. This is how our conversation went:

Layton- Where's Parker?

Me- He's asleep in his crib.

Layton-Parker like peaches.

Me- Yes, Parker does like peaches.

Layton-Layton like peaches (while shaking his head no)

Layton- Me like nuggets!

Me- (laughing) yep, you do like nuggets.

Layton- (while climbing onto the couch) watch Mickey?

he is cracking me up with stuff like that all day. How funny.

Pampered Chef

Whew!... This is what I have doing all day, upacking boxes, sorting out orders, trying to get the orders delivered. I got as much as I could stand to with the kids done today, so if I haven't gotten your order to you yet. Be patient please, its on its way :)

I heart TWILIGHT!!!

Last night a group of us went to the midnight showing of Twilight.... I LOVED it! I think it is all about having fun, being in the moment, and going with others that are all about the good time. The group I sat with was laughing and swooning over Edward and the others and just having fun, and we all loved it. And another group was just quietly watching, or maybe sleeping and they were a little ify about the movie. So I loved it but it was also just the atmosphere and just enjoying rather than analyzing.

Our group were all a little skeptical about the actor that was playing Edward, because the previews weren't the most flattering. But it only took us about 30 seconds to fall in love with Edward and resit the urge to yell out "I love you Edward" (I think I might have done that anyway though :)

But, anyway I was so sad for it to end, they left out a lot but I guess a movie can only be so long before they have to cut parts out. But, they blended it together well and It was great.

I am going again with another group when it comes to our local theater and I can't wait.

I LOVE TWILIGHT!!!

Jammas

I should have put it on my quirks list, but I am a little weird about the boy's pajamas. I love for them to match, and they do most of the time. So, this isn't any different, last night was just their first time wearing these because they are christmasy.
I thought that they were just to stinkin cute this morning to not take a picture.

Potty Time!!!

We are potty training Layton right now. He is doing SO SO well, I started with everything, thinking that he would just take time to get used to it but, he loves it and goes all day long. He will just disappear and come back in without his undies on and tell me "CANDY!" the first time he did that I said "no, you can't have any candy until you go pee pee on the potty" he took me in, and sure enough. There it was, in the potty! He sometimes asks me to come in with him, but for the most part he just goes by himself. We had to get different potty candy because he was going to many times a day, I was worried about all the sugar. So now he gets an M&M when he goes, but that is still good enough for him and he is very proud and excited about it. He asked to go potty in the middle of the assembly Lance did, and I told him I couldn't take him and to just go in his diaper and he freaked out, and I had to take him out anyway because he was throwing a fit. I hope he keeps doing so well.

I am sure he will die when he is older but I had to show a picture, he is so cute in his little boxer briefs. He loves his "undies"



I got this potty more for traveling, but he loves it and has to have it up on the stool to go in it.

It isn't all about candy, although that is probably his #1 motivator. He also puts stickers on his chart, and gets excited to put them on.

D. A. R. E.

Lance was asked to be the speaker at the high school's Red Ribbon Week, DARE assembly. He asked his rodeo coach from college Lewis Field, to come and speak with him. He was nervous and doesn't feel like he is a very good example to be speaking to kids. But, he did great and the kids seemed like they really enjoyed it. I do have a video of it but I can't get it to work on the blog, I am sure that it is just me, because no one else seems to have problems. Anyway, good job honey and thanks again Lewis for coming down.

So Big!

Layton was building towers while I was doing laundry and I came in and he had a huge one built. I had to hurry and take a picture. He was so proud of it and I honestly did not touch it once, he really did it all by himself.

When I saw it I said "whoa, that is a BIG tower" he did this jump and said "SO, BIG!"

I think he is the one that is so big.

Crawling! ... almost

Parker is getting so close to crawling. He goes from sitting up, to his hands and knees, then can do a couple crawls before falling to his stomach. He is so incredibly persistent and works so hard, most the time he isn't really even interested in the things around him, but will do whatever it takes to get over to it. Its only a matter of time...

New Family Member?

Yesterday this kitty was wandering around outside our house with the other cats hissing at it, (which Layton and Parker both thought was hilarious) then it started trying to eat Sugar's dog food, and then started meowing at our door. So I finally took pity on it and let it in the house to eat, and of course it just made itself right at home. The boys love him, and Layton named him puffy kitty. I didn't let it sleep inside so if it is still outside this morning I think we will take it around and make sure it isn't any of our neighbors. Then I guess we will have a new member of the family.

I don't know how I keep collecting cats, I don't even like cats in general, this one is just too darn cute though.

Check-ups

We finally got into the Dr. to have the boys 6 month and 2 year check ups. The whole family got shots, Parker got 4, Layton got 3, and Lance and I both got our flu shot. It hurt! I feel so bad doing that to my babies.
But, the good news is that they are both growing and very healthy. Here are the stats:

Parker's...
weight is 18 lbs 9 ozs. 54%
length is 28 1/2 inches 89%
head is 17.3 inches 38%

Layton's...
weight is 27 lbs 5 ozs 40%
length is 35 inches 60%
head is 18.7 inches 19%

Good news all around, I have been worried about Layton's weight. He was in the 14% at the last check up. So we are happy to have him back in the average. Layton's height is evening out, he was in the 85% for a long time. And as usual very small head, just like daddy.

Parker is still very tall for his age, and is wearing 12-18 month size clothes so that his little arms and legs don't poke out. He seems so chubby but his weight is exactly average. and his head is the same as usual, just a little smaller than average.
We are so blessed to have such healthy beautiful boys!

Little Artist

Layton actually got this easel and paint set for his birthday, but I have been saving it for a rainy day. Yesterday was literally a rainy day, and Layton was trying to paint with my white-out. So I got out his painting things and he had so much fun. He was thrilled to see that I had everything that he needed and he could actually make a mess!

Love and Logic

I had several people ask me about the Love and Logic. This is the book that I got, it is geared to 6 years old and younger, the other books are the same concept this one just helps you translate that to younger kids.
We really love it and it is working very well, even if your kids don't have any behavior problems (maybe you should be writing your own book) I think it is helpful in building self esteem and laying a good foundation for them as teenagers.
I hope that we can continue following through with it all, I know that when we do Layton such a joy to be around.
I hope this helps everyone. I bought the book from amazon.com by the way.

My Stuff

I walked into the kitchen and saw this pile sitting in the middle of the otherwise uncluttered floor. It was obvious that Layton had done it very deliberately, it is all of his favorite things. I asked him "What is this?" and he looked at me like, duh and said "my stuff". I can't get over how funny he is, I really am laughing most of the time with him lately.

(which by the way, we have been doing "Love and Logic" which could be a whole different post but it is working great, if anyone is having classic 2 year old and up problems check out this book, it has made such a difference")

Brodericks visit

Our good friends and cruising buddies and also our photographer, moved to AZ and we hardly ever get to see them, they were driving through yesterday and stopped for a quick visit. Not long enough, but they were anxious to get going with a 8 hour drive still ahead of them.

Layton woke up right when they got here so he was a little cranky at first. but he warmed up and the kids had a lot of fun playing together.


Oops, Lance has food in his mouth. To bad, I only got a picture of the back of Matt.

Thanks for the visit Matt and Jamie it was so good to see you and we CAN'T WAIT for you to move back!

President Obama?

Wow, big day for the USA. To quote Obama's acceptance speech: "I may not have won your vote today, but I hear your cries, and I am your president"

Very true, No you did not win my vote. But I feel like it is so important for our country to be unified and I am doing everything I can to listen to, and understand the views of the new President. I want to try my hardest to support him and help toward the effort of becoming a united country rather than a country that is split. I wish that everyone would have given President Bush this same consideration, and because of that. I am trying.

Quirks

Hey, I've been tagged by Lori. This is one that I always enjoy reading about others, so I better play along.

Rules; 1 Link the person who tagged you. 2 Mention the rules on your blog. 3 Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours

1. I am not a clean freak by any means, but I hate clutter. If only 1 or 2 things are out of place I feel like the house is totally filthy. Almost OCD probably, I really like things in there place.

2. I have gotten addicted to blogging in general. Everything we do I am always taking pictures for the blog and checking others blogs all the time. Lance thinks I have a problem, but he would be sad if his family didn't know what we were up to, wouldn't he?

3. I HATE when Lance doesn't scoot his chair in, or shut the cupboard after he uses it. Seriously, how hard is it to shut a cupboard? They pretty much shut themselves! Yet, somehow my kitchen is always full of random placed chairs and open cupboards. We have had many discussions on the topic :)

4. I always lift up my feet and touch something metal in the car when I drive over a cattle guard. My friends and I always used to when we were younger, I don't know why I still do.

5. I always hold my breath through tunnels, gets rough on the long ones. They say it is good luck

6. If I see a clock with all the same numbers like 11:11 or 5:55 I kiss my fingers and touch it, then you can make a wish.

Well, what a relief. Now everybody knows what a weirdo I am :)

Raspberries

Parker has started to blow raspberries all the time. He is so funny about it. He does it while he eats, he does it while he plays, I was putting him to sleep the other day and he even started doing it in his sleep! He thinks it is so funny and Layton does too. Anytime anyone blows raspberries to him he will always do it back. Funny boy :)

Family Pictures

When we went to Rush Valley last weekend we got family pictures while we were there. Jamie just e-mailed me a preview this morning. I love them, she did such a great job. But she always does, so no suprise there.

Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween day.

First thing in the morning, in their Halloween Jammies. Parker was not impressed with getting pictures taken so early.

They wore these super cute hoodies for the day around town. We did errands and went to playgroup and everyone loved them.

Our ward did a trunk-or-treat, which I loved. It is so nice to have everyone all together. Fun for the parents too, we got to see our friends and have a fun night. Plus, very safe!

Layton was so excited about getting candy, he never gets it at home. Only suckers at the bank (he loves going to the bank), so he couldn't believe people were just GIVING it to him. After every single car he would stop and want to eat the candy right there. Pretty slow process.

Parker was happy and had fun, everyone loved him. Cutest batman ever.

The bowl of candy I left on our porch was completely empty when we got home, I know for sure there weren't that many trick-or-treaters. I hope whoever took it feels good about themselves today. I guess they are only kids, plus they are all hopped up on sugar. What can you expect?