January Wrap Up!

Wow! We have had a busy January! This is my 9th blog post this month (I know, it's proof I need to get a life)!

Anyways, there were still some more pictures I wanted to post so here they are. . .

Emily, Carmen, Me, Kara!

This was dinner with friends while they were vising home for the holidays!

Emily lives in Texas. Carmen lives in New York City, Kara used to live in Michigan but she moved back, but it kind of still feels like she lives in Michigan because I (almost) never see her! Right now I blame never seeing her on Weber State Basketball games and Marks addiction to Weber State Basketball. Love you honey ;)

Here is everyone, but Mark, cause he's taking the picture. We ate at Union Grill. It was good, but when Baylee's took one bite out of her hamburger I noticed it was kind of pink in the middle. I mentioned it to the server and he brought her a new one. Then she poured a sugar packet all over it. Not sure why we buy her food when we go out to eat.

Ok this is random, but it was after dinner at the Union grill. It looks like she gained 10 lbs right? Well she wanted to wear the skirt she had on with her pajamas. I suggested wearing it over them, but she decided it was better if it was under! She looks a little hippy! I love my crazy kid!

Also. . . this month I learned how to make marshmallow fondant. I didn't even know there was such a thing! It was pretty awesome. It worked really well on my first attempt, but I tried for Mark's birthday and I must have done something wrong because it was really dry.

A girl in my ward told me that she was making marshmallow fondant for her daughters birthday cake. Lucky for me Mark's Dad and Mom also have January birthdays! So I didn't even have to wait for Mark's birthday to try this out! Supposedly the name brand stuff works best when making this.

Melt a little water and half a bag of marshmallows. Add powdered sugar. Stir.

Form into a ball. Add food coloring.

Ta-da!

Here is the final version! Like I said this did not work for me when I tried it for Mark's cake. I am going to try it again another time though. But, I'm going to wait awhile. I'm just a little caked out after this month! (Also, I think I may have too many hobbies.)

For Mark's mom's birthday we took her out to lunch! It was lots of fun! Like Mark's flannel shirt? I found it on clearance at Old Navy! It is so soft and warm looking I really love it!

It did snow once or twice in January. Mark and Baylee made this adorable snowman!

So proud!

Ok here is another hobby of mine. . .

I love taking pictures of my kids! Here is Owen's little photo shoot! This was in my kitchen!

Then, for the rest of these, we did brave the cold (but only for about 15 minutes) in downtown Ogden the other day.

Mark is 29!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Mark had is 29th Birthday on January 26th! Did you miss my post with lots of cute pics of Mark? Click here!

I forgot to take a good picture of my cake! You can kind of see, it had a Utah Jazz note on it! I thought it turned out pretty cute!

The kids seemed to like the cake! Even Owen got a taste! He wiped frosting all over himself! Guess he's just practicing for that 1st birthday! (It's going to be here too soon!)

Mark got Jazz tickets and a new Jazz shirt for his birthday (he also got a new Utah shirt, but that was just cause I found one on sale). We went to dinner with our friends Phil and Melissa at the Red Iguana! Phil's birthday is on the 27th so we celebrated both of their birthdays! The food was SO good!

The Jazz played the Suprs that night. . .

The Jazz lost the game, but we got treats to make up for it! Mark and I really haven't watched very many games this year, because we don't have cable, but man it's so frustrating to see the Jazz lose! At the start of the game it was like they didn't even care! By the end they actually played better! The crowd was really into it and they got pretty close to the Spurs at the end so at least we felt like they could have won.

Deron Williams was awesome! He scored 39 points! We just need one more player who playes as hard as he does I think. Then we'd be a lot better :)

After they lost to the Lakers by 29 points the night before I really wasn't expecting them to win though, so I wasn't too disappointed! (It was funny I came home from exercising Tuesday night and the game was on the radio. Right as I pulled into the garage I heard David Lock say Jazz 38 Lakers 66 or something like that and I thought, uhh I must have heard that wrong. I walked inside and told Mark and he was like no way you must have misunderstood, but we looked up the score on my phone and it sure was 38 to 70! Crazy!

But we still love the Utah Jazz! Woohoo!

We're not even done celebrating Marks birthday yet! Lucky guys gets 3 days of birthday celebration! How did that happen? Tomorrow we are going to Temari with my parents for lunch! Have you been there? Check it out if you haven't! It's a Japanese restaurant by 40th and Washington in Ogden. It is soooooo good! They have limited seating and hours, so we're going early!

I think I might order this shrimp. . .

Yummy!

Happy 29th Birthday Mark

Mark turns 29 today! Yeah!

Here is a look back. . .

(I totally stole this idea from my friend Emily! Thanks Em!)

(These pictures are not in any kind of order)

When Mark was little he lived in Pullman Washington while his dad was going to Washington State to get his PHD. They had 8 people in their family and they lived in a three bedroom apartment! Yikes!

Marshall, Phil, Mark, Micah

Baby Andrew (So cute!), Mark, Marshall

Does this look like Baylee?

Mark, Marshall (I think)

Love the shorts!

Playing soccer!

Marshall, Mark, Micah, Philip

I'm not sure but I think it's Marshall, someone I don't know, Mark

Marshall, Melanee, Mark, Phil

Marshall, Geoff, Seth, Ben, Mark

I think this is before Mark's brother Matt left on his mission. There has to be a story I've never heard here. Mark and Andrew both have injured eyes!

Yellowstone!

Mark, Marshall

Mark having an egg yolk mask with his mission comps.

Mark and his mission president and his wife!

Mark's Senior picture!

I think he was a junior here, but I'm not sure.

Yeah for Ogden High Football!

Isn't Mark a babe! :)

Happy Birthday Mark! I love you!

Thanks to my father-in-law Phil for scanning these for me!

So, Owen has been getting more of

these. . . .

so. . .

I haven't been getting much of this. . .

and when I'm tired I eat

lots of this!

BUT. . .

I've been doing this. . .

So, I just need to lose this

(or maybe a little more)

then I can look like this.

(but hopefully I'll look slightly more feminine)

:)

The mind of a three-year-old

Everyday I think Baylee does or says something that makes me laugh! I've been trying to write them down when I can. I found a little note pad in my kitchen the other day with a few of them scribbled down. I thought I'd share. . .

I can't exactly remember the context of this, I think there might have been a spider web in my kitchen.

I asked, "Did those spiders build that spider web?"

Baylee, thinks for a second then excitedly says, "Yeah! They built it with lots of tools and a hammer and stuff."

How else would a spider build a web? Right?

One day I was upstairs getting ready and Baylee was downstairs getting into trouble. I come downstairs and see a bottle of glue with the lid off sitting in the middle of the carpet. I was relieved to see that there was no glue on the carpet, so I picked up the bottle and while I was putting it away I said, "Baylee, if you want to use glue you need to ask mommy first." Baylee responds, "I asked myself." (I'm really afraid for her to be a teenager someday).

A few minutes later I noticed there was a little spot of glue on our couch. I said, "Baylee there is glue on the couch." Baylee says, "Don't worry I will save the day!" As she runs to get toilet paper to clean it up with. I think she's seen a little too much Diego and Dora with the whole saving the day bit!

One morning after Baylee woke up I went into her room and I was sitting on her bed talking to her. She started telling me about a dream she had had. In her dream she said that Owen was a walking baby and he had jumped out of our car and ran into a restaurant and ate without us! Just imagining that made me laugh.

Then just the other day I had put a few of Baylee toys in Owens crib so he could play with them. Baylee noticed the toys and in a very sweet voice she said, "Those things don't belong in Owens crib. They belong in my room. Try again! Do it right!" The "Try again," and the "Do it right" reminded me of the games she plays on sesamestreet.org.

Last week when I was getting ready to go to work on Saturday morning Baylee had to kiss her hand a put a kiss in all four of my pants pockets so I could take them to work with me! Then yesterday morning she said to me, "Mommy I don't want you to go to work! I want to see your beautiful face!"

8 months!

Owen is 8 months old today!

He has started crawling/scooting! And he has 5 teeth!

Owen is such a sweet little guy! I feel so blessed to have him in our family! We all love him so much! I just know he's going to be 1 before I even know it!

11 Step Program for those thinking of having kids

I saw this on Facebook. . . It's pretty realistic :)

by Amy Lawrence on Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 8:24am

Lesson 1

1. Go to the grocery store.

2. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.

3. Go home.

4. Pick up the paper.

5. Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2

Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already are parents and berate them about their...

1. Methods of discipline.

2. Lack of patience.

3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.

4. Allowing their children to run wild.

5. Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's breastfeeding, sleep habits, toilet training, table manners, and overall behavior.

Enjoy it because it will be the last time in your life you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3

A really good way to discover how the nights might feel...

1. Get home from work and immediately begin walking around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly. (Eat cold food with one hand for dinner)

2. At 10PM, put the bag gently down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to sleep.

3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag, until 1AM.

4. Set the alarm for 3AM.

5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink and watch an infomercial.

6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.

7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.

8. Sing songs quietly in the dark until 4AM.

9. Get up. Make breakfast. Get ready for work and go to work (work hard and be productive)

Repeat steps 1-9 each night. Keep this up for 3-5 years. Look cheerful and together.

Lesson 4

Can you stand the mess children make? T o find out...

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.

2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.

3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.

4. Then rub them on the clean walls.

5. Take your favorite book, photo album, etc. Wreck it.

6. Spill milk on your new pillows. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5

Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.

1. Buy an octopus and a small bag made out of loose mesh.

2. Attempt to put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.

Time allowed for this - all morning.

Lesson 6

Forget the BMW and buy a mini-van. And don't think that you can leave it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don't look like that.

1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.

Leave it there.

2. Get a dime. Stick it in the CD player.

3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the back seat. Sprinkle cheerios all over the floor, then smash them with your foot.

4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Lesson 7

Go to the local grocery store. Take with you the closest thing you can find to a pre-school child. (A full-grown goat is an excellent choice). If you intend to have more than one child, then definitely take more than one goat. Buy your week's groceries without letting the goats out of your sight. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 8

1. Hollow out a melon.

2. Make a small hole in the side.

3. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.

4. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.

5. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.

6. Tip half into your lap. The other half, just throw up in the air.

You are now ready to feed a nine- month-old baby.

Lesson 9

Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street , Barney, Disney, the Teletubbies, and Pokemon. Watch nothing else on TV but PBS, the Disney channel or Noggin for at least five years. (I know, you're thinking What's 'Noggin'?) Exactly the point.

Lesson 10

Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying 'mommy' repeatedly. (Important: no more than a four second delay between each 'mommy'; occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet is required). Play this tape in your car everywhere you go for the next four years. You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Lesson 11

Start talking to an adult of your choice. Have someone else continually tug on your skirt hem, shirt- sleeve, or elbow while playing the 'mommy' tape made from Lesson 10 above. You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

This is all very tongue in cheek; anyone who is parent will say 'it's all worth it!' Share it with your friends, both those who do and don't have kids. I guarantee they'll get a chuckle out of it. Remember, a sense of humor is one of the most important things you'll need when you become a parent!

Jesus Wants me for a . . . .

Well with the New Year come new changes! Our little Baylee is now out of nursery and she is a Sunbeam now! I was a little sad she's getting so big, but I'm also really excited for her. I peeked in primary a few times and it looked like she was doing really well! I also sent her to church with a stylish new scripture bag for the mini Book of Mormon she got in her Christmas stocking!

A close up of the bag. I pretty much love it! Baylee asked me to read her scriptures to her the other day, so I started, "I Nephi having. . . " Baylee said, "What's a Nephi!" Looks like she has a lot to learn. I'm so excited to teach her!

This year, Mark and I have decided to have family home evening lessons that go along with the 2011 primary sharing time outline. I was trying to come up with a schedule for our family home evening for next year and it pretty much covered everything I was thinking we needed to have lessons on, and it will reinforce what she learns at church on Sunday.

I think I'm going to also start a Family Home Evening Blog. I think I'll post what my plan is for FHE then post how it went. I made the blog the other night but I haven't posted anything yet. I think I'll make my first post tomorrow, but it will really just be a work in progress :)