The Hancocks

Disney On Ice

2011-02-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

In January, Troy & Jonah went to AZ for a quick weekend trip to watch a big wrestling tournament, so Lydia & I had a girls weekend! I decided to surprise her and we went to see Disney On Ice! We loved it! We both had so much fun! We were slightly disappointed that Sleeping Beauty was the only princess that wasn't there (well, unless you include Pocahontas), but they did have Toy Story (which the crowd went NUTS for) and they had Tiana, so that made up for not having Aurora.

The show was called "Let's Celebrate" and was a bunch of parties combined:

Birthday/Unbirthday Party (Alice is down in the bottom right corner):

Halloween Party with several Disney Villians

(even though Jack isn't really a villian, but still, it was pretty cool):

Valentine's Party with most of the Princesses & their True Loves:

Chinese New Year with Mulan & Shang:

Summer Time Party with Lilo & Stitch:

Mardi Gras Party with Tiana & Naveen:

And last, but certainly not least, the Christmas Party where some Toy Story characters popped out of a giant present and Mickey & Minnie rode out in a sleigh:

The Happiest Girls On Earth:

The Long Awaited Update

2011-02-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, time for Round 2. I'm going to try this again. I really want to blog. I really do. I'm just so anal that it takes me 10 years to write 1 post and add pictures and make sure they are in the exact right place, etc, etc. I don't even know where to start at this point, so I'll just start with your basic "Family Update".

Troy is halfway through Residency! By this time next year, we should know where we will be stationed in the Air Force starting July 2012 for 4 years. He enjoys working and I think he's finally realizing that he knows more than he thought he did (good for the patients, right?) :) We miss him a lot during the busy months, but luckily we get a break from them until sometime after June.

Lydia is in Preschool at a nearby Rec Center and LOVES it! She knew quite a bit of the material already (letters, how to write her name, etc), but also learned things like days of the week and months, etc. We did it mostly for the social setting of school and preparing for multiple days a week away from home. She has a hard time with change (like her mom) and needs a lot of prep time for big things in her life, so Preschool was such a great invention for us. It has transitioned her smoothly and I'm so glad I won't have to worry about her when she starts Kindergarten in August. I can't believe she's that close to going to school. She just turned 5 in January. I have a 5 year old. Weird.

Jonah is 2 1/2 now and potty training (oh the joys). He's doing really well at home, but somewhere else where there are lots of distractions is another story. (Sigh) We'll get there someday. He's SUCH a boy. It's so weird to have a boy after having a girl (and vice versa, I'm sure). Everything is good guys & bad guys. He pretends to shoot everything in sight. He has battles with his "Army Mans" (he insists they aren't "Army MEN"), Star Wars guys, dinosaurs, cars, and anything else that could (or couldn't) possibly fight. Complete with all the boy sound effects that girls just can't pull off, no matter how hard we try. I have no clue where he picked it all up considering he's at home with his mom & sister all day.

Lydia & Jonah get along so well and fight so well, too. I can't believe they've been playing downstairs alone happily for 45 min without me having to break up a fight yet. (I probably just cursed myself...) Mostly Lydia gets mad when Jonah doesn't do exactly what she wants him to, (she's anal, again, like her mom) and Jonah gets mad when Lydia doesn't let him do what he wants because, you know, he's 2. But one of my favorites is when they play one of their favorite pretend games called, "You started it!" Yes, it's exactly what you're thinking. They each have a dinosaur or something and they start fighting them while they take turns saying, "You started it!" "No, you started it!" and then they proceed to send them to time out and tell them things like "Fighting is bad," "Pulling hair is bad," "Biting is bad," "Hitting is bad," etc. Well, at least I know that they know, right?

As for me, well, I can't really think of anything new. My sister-in-law cut my hair over Thanksgiving...the shortest I've ever had it. I donated it to Locks of Love. Made me feel good. Hopefully they can actually use it. Other than that, I just hang out with the kids, and do the normal "Mom" stuff.

(PS...I know this is not the best pic. It was right after it was cut and

I don't really have any other updated pics of me looking "cute".)

Our biggest news right now is that we're having a baby boy this summer! He's due July 5, but my doc is all about getting the baby out after 37 weeks, so we're expecting the last 1/3 of June sometime. Unfortunately, we already used the 1 boy name we could agree on, so this one might just have to remain, "Baby Hancock". Poor little guy. Lydia really wanted a sister, but she's ok with another brother. Jonah's just excited to have a baby, so he didn't really care what it was. We're glad he'll have a brother close to his age. Poor Lydia. She'll just have to stay buddies with her mom. :) Also unfortunately, I didn't get a break in sickness this time around either. I'm 20 weeks today and still throwing up. Just not as much as before, so it's S.L.O.W.L.Y. getting better. Not only do I feel sorry for myself, but for my family who's had to suffer through a useless mommy/wife these past few months. Again, that's getting better, too, but I still haven't managed to get the whole house clean at once (but then, I already struggled with that when I wasn't pregnant...) or make an actual dinner more than once a week or 2 (food is so disgusting...). Yesterday, Lydia & Jonah felt him kick for the first time! They were so excited! We're so glad they are happy about a new addition to our family.

I can't think of much else right now and I have to add in a few pictures, so I think I'll end it for now. Keep your fingers crossed that I can actually keep up with this!

I know, I know...

2009-08-08T01:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in forever. Yes, I have a billion excuses that you don't want to hear. Anyway, I'm really going to try to catch up. So, below is the post I made about Jonah for his birthday (3 months ago...) that I just had to add pics to and post. Hopefully, I'll catch up someday...

Happy 1st Birthday, Jonah!

2009-04-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

Our little man is a year old! We can't believe it! Needless to say, Jonah has grown so much since April 22, 2008! He's such a sweetheart and loves his family so much! Lydia is his best friend and he was so sad when her and Daddy were gone for a week. And he doesn't like Mommy to be out of his sight. Here are a few things about Jonah:
~Jonah is OBSESSED with balls! Any kind, any size, whatever. He loves to throw, catch, and say "Ba" all day long!
~He loves being outside! If you go near the door, he crawls to you as fast as he can because he wants to be outside. He crawls in and out of the sandbox and likes to play with the rocks.
~He also loves the bath. I have to get him completely ready for the bath before I turn the water on or he freaks out! He likes to stick his face in the water and blow bubbles.
~He's already started making "boy noises". You know, the sound effects that girls can't make...

~He says "Mama", "Dada", "Ba" (Ball), "Hi-yi" (Hi), "Bo" (Book), "Si" (Signing Time), and "Daw" (Dog), and "Bye".
~He also speaks Parseltongue. He whispers, "Hossa-Hiya, Hossa-Hiya".
~We do "Noggin" (head butting from the turtles on "Finding Nemo") with both kids since they were babies and now Jonah likes to headbutt everything.
~Jonah is such a little monkey! He climbs and crawls over everything with no fear!
~Jonah is very active! He started crawling at 8 months and hasn't stopped since, but he's still too scared to take his first step.
~He's not too shy around people he doesn't know. He does this cute little thing where he hides his head against your shoulder or neck when someone he doesn't know well talks to him. If we hand him off, he wants to come back, but he usually doesn't cry if a stranger is holding him.

We love having our little monster around! He makes us all smile and laugh everyday! We are so blessed to have Jonah Wyld in our lives!

Ah, Jonah's cake...

2009-04-22T01:15:00.000-07:00

Yes, I made this for Jonah's 1st birthday! Not too shabby, huh?
I must admit, I'm slightly proud. :) Now for the story...

I decided to be ambitious and try something new. My mom decorated cute cakes for us when we were kids (Braveheart Lion, etc) and I wanted to try it for Jonah's birthday. I am so not creative or good at artistic stuff. I'm not an awesome cook either. I think I cook well enough though...my picky husband seems to like it, which says something...and my anal ways force me to follow directions to a tee, so that helps. That said...

I went to Michael's to find a cake pan. There were a few, but the cutest one (Lightning McQueen) was the only one out, of course...That should have been my first clue. However, I was determined to do this project, so I headed to JoAnn's. They had it! I checked the instructions and got all the right decorating tips for the icing, bags, and a coupler to hold the 2 together ("a" being a key word here)...I was all proud of myself for getting all these things I would need. So, the morning of Jonah's birthday (Wednesday), I made the cake. When I came down to see if it was done...there on the counter was the measuring cup with the vegetable oil in it. Dang it. FYI...cakes need oil. It was all jiggly and not at all cooked. I had to go to Target anyways, so I picked up another cake mix there.

Round 2. The cake turned out good this time. But I didn't have time to ice it. (This past few weeks have been SO busy at our house.) So, yesterday, I put Jonah down for a nap and Lydia and I went to make icing. All I had was butter flavored shortening, even though I swear that I had the regular kind, too, and the butter kind doesn't work when you are trying to make white icing. Asked the neighbors, but they were out, too. Crap. We weren't exactly presentable for public appearances, so I had Troy get some on the way home from his rotation. I started making the icing at 6:15 pm. I realized I didn't have a cake board (who would've thought?), so I had to use a cookie sheet. Elegant, huh? I colored all the icing. At 7:30, I took an hour break to get the kids ready and in bed. After I finished with my first bag of icing, this is where the key word "a" came in. Oh...you need a coupler for EACH bag (because one piece stays in the bag), not just A coupler. Man, what a pain. I had to take out the coupler after every color I used, wash it, and put it in another bag. Not that this was hard work, just time consuming and annoying. Around 11, Troy went to bed and he put in Steel Magnolias for me. I sat in Lydia's little princess chair at her kid table, so that I could watch the movie while working.

I chugged along...it was kinda fun except that I was so tired. Tayah watched me, trying to get closer and closer, until I would yell at her and she would get the hint that it wasn't for her. Towards the end of the movie, the dang tears kept my eyes clouded, making it hard to finish the last little bit of icing. Then "laughter through tears" came and I recovered. (LOVE that movie!) Anyway, I finished up a little after the movie ended at about 1 am. It was far from perfect, but I was pleased with it and happy that I did it. Tayah was crashed out behind my chair. I took some stuff to the kitchen and went to the bathroom. When I came out, I heard this licking sound. Oh yes...she did. I ran around the corner and there was Tayah goin' to town on the cake I finished about 2 minutes previously. So, pretty much she just waited until I left and jumped up to take advantage. I was livid. I don't think she realizes how lucky she is to be alive.

Round 3. With the dumb dog in her crate, I took everything back to the kitchen, had to rebag 3 different colors (again with the stupid coupler), and fixed the cake. Since the icing wasn't quite as fresh anymore, it didn't go on very smooth, but it was managable. It took me an extra hour to get it to look ok, and then, after clean up, I went to bed at 3 am. (Then the stupid wind woke Jonah up at 4:45 and he wouldn't go back to sleep for about 45 min. And then I had to get in the shower at 6:30 because they were fixing water pipes and going to turn off the water for supposedly the whole day.)

So, that's it. I'm so dang tired, but I had to post this because I don't feel like telling the story over and over (and it's better with all the details, I think.) :) Was it worth it? When Troy, Lydia, and Jonah all loved Lightning McQueen when they saw it today (and we already knew Tayah did)...then yes, it was (mostly). Will I do it again? That's if-y...

And don't worry...I won't let anyone eat that side of the cake! Gross!

Funny kids :)

2009-02-28T19:50:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to start what my friend, Andrea, does on her blog (yes, I'm an idea stealer because I don't have even an ounce of creativity in my body. Thanks, Andy!). I'm going to post the funny kid sayings all at once at the end of the month (or sometime...). That way they are saved in a post instead of just sitting on side where the list (and thus the page), would be never-ending until it got erased and lost. So, here's some new ones and I'll put October's list that was on the side bar at the bottom.

FEBRUARY:
2/17/09~
Me: We're going to Grammy's while Daddy paints the house and put in the new floor.
Lydia: Oh yay! Then we will come home and say (in a high-pitched voice), "Oh, Daddy! It looks so beautiful! I love it!"

2/24/09~
Lydia: Mom, Craig (my 16 year old brother) is stinky.
Me: He is?
L: Yeah. Come smell him.
M: Uh, no thanks.
A few minutes later...
M: Uh oh, Jonah's poopy.
L: Yeah, Craig's poopy, too.

2/27/09~
My dad got Lydia some Popcorn Chicken at Arby's and it came with BBQ sauce. She really likes it on wings & ribs, etc, so I told her to try it with her "little nuggets". She's in that "I don't want to try it" stage and thinks she doesn't like anything. I told her she would like it. After sharing 2 nuggets with Grandpa and seeing him like the BBQ sauce, she decided she would be brave and try it. She took a little lick and said, "See! You told me I'd like it!" :)

DECEMBER:
12/1/08~
Troy had been teaching Lydia about traffic lights (Green means "GO!", Red means "STOP" and Yellow means..."GO FAST! GO FAST! GO FAST!" Yes, he did...), so now Lydia watches them all while we are driving and tells us when we can stop & go. One day, we're driving, the light is green, we get close, it turns yellow, then red...
Lydia: AAAWWW! COME on!

12/10/08~
Lydia was playing with Tayah and Tayah was getting crazy...
Lydia: Tayah! Chill!

12/17/08~
Lydia & Jonah were playing side by side and Lydia tried to pull Jonah onto her lap...
Lydia: Oh, come here, chubby boy. Oh, you're heavy! Come on, chunky monkey...

NOVEMBER:
11/9/08~
At some point recently someone was cutting an onion and we talked about crying while cutting them. Well, here's what happens if Lydia doesn't want to eat something now...
Troy: Lydia, do you want some asparagus?
Lydia: No, asparagus makes me cry.

11/11/08~
Lydia was playing with my phone, pushing buttons, as she often does...
Troy: Who are you calling?
Lydia: I'm not calling anyone. I'm texting Shauna.
(Oh boy)

11/12/08~
Lydia is afraid of the shower and here's what she said during her bath...
Lydia: Mom! When I get bigger, I get to DRIVE! (Uh, oh, look out already!) And (in an awe-struck voice) TAKE A SHOWER!

11/17/08~
Lydia & Daddy were looking at our statue of Christ...
Troy: Is that Daddy?
Lydia: No, that's Jesus!
T: What did Jesus do?
L: He gives us hugs and then we are born!
Whoa! That's kind deep for a 2 year old, right? I have no idea where she got that! It's cute though!

11/17/08~
Troy: Lydia, you can't ever get married because you have to live with me forever.
Lydia: No, we can't get married, Daddy.
T: Why not?
L: Because I'm going to marry my friend.
T: Who is your friend?
L: Oh, I can't get married.
T: Why not?
L: Because Shauna got married.
T: Oh, did you want to marry JD?
L: No, I want to marry Santa.

OCTOBER:
10/13/08~
Me: What do you want to wear today? (As I'm taking off her flower jammies...)
Lydia: My green jammies!
So, that's what she wore! :)

10/13/08~
Me: Who is your favorite princess?
Lydia: Sleeping Beauty...and Cinderella, too. And Snow White, and Ariel, and Belle, too. Ok, I guess we still don't have the word "favorite" down quite yet. :)

10/19/08~
Lydia: Mom, what's Craig going to be for Halloween?
Me: I don't know, you'll have to ask him.
Lydia: Um, I think he's going to be a pakin (pumpkin)...or Snow White, or Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty...
Me: Oh! You should tell him that! (Yes, we do have conversations about princesses on a daily basis...)

10/22/08~
We were watching "Sleeping Beauty" & Price Phillip just defeated Malificent who was a dragon at the time...
Lydia (jumping up & down): Yay! The dragon died! The dragon died! She died & went to Jesus!
Me: Yeah...she probably didn't go to Jesus...

10/30/08~
We were watching "Blue Planet" & there was a crab...
Lydia: The shark's going to eat the crab!
ME: I'M going to eat the crab! (I LOVE crab...)
Lydia (ready to cry): No, Mom! Don't eat the crab! Don't go in the TV!

My little Mommy

2009-02-22T15:32:00.001-08:00

After only getting 4 hours of sleep and not a long enough nap, I was teasing Lydia and asked her to help me stand up from the couch because, "I am too tired." She ran over, grabbed both my hands and pulled me up. Then she pulled me into our room (at my mom's) saying, "Here, I'll take you to our room." She put me in the room and said, "Ok, you go to sleep now" and shut the door. I went to lay down (knowing she'd be back in) and waited. About 1 min later, she opens the door, peeks in, and then blows me a kiss. :) I blow her one back and she closes the door again. About 10 seconds later, she opens the door, runs in, gives me a big hug and kiss, runs out, turns to whisper "ssshhh" with her finger over her lips, and closes the door again. THEN another minute later, she opens the door and says,

L: Grandpa is waking you up.

Me: He is? What is he doing?

L: Talking to his friend. (I guess she thought he was too loud.)

M: How about if I just get up?

L: No, it's still dark outside. (uh, it wasn't)

M: But Ali needs my help.

L: No, I'm helping her.

M: What about Jonah?
L: Ali's helping him.

M: (Trying not to laugh) Oh, ok...

She closed the door. In another 3o seconds, she opened the door and whispered something and shut it again. I got up and went to the door right when she opened it again. She said, "No, Mom! You're still sleepy!" and shut the door before I could protest. I stood there while she opened the door again and again until I finally conviced her that it was ok for me to get up (even though I really did just want to sleep!)

Weekend with Auntie Kenzie

2009-02-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

Mid-November (yes, I know, we're going WAY back here...), Troy's sister MacKenzie came to visit us! We had a lot of fun with her! It was her first time meeting Jonah and he loved her!

We had to spend some time on the strip since she hasn't really done that before. We went to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, which Lydia could see over and over because she LOVES animals! Especially sea life. She discovered a new fish that she loves, too. The Lion fish. She watched them forever until we drug her away from them! Another of her favorites is the sting ray, "Let's name the zones, the zones, the zones. Let's name the zones of the open SEA!" (Mr. Ray, Finding Nemo)

We always take everyone to the Bellagio to see the Water Fountain show, the Botanical Gardens that are decorated for every season, and the World's Tallest and Largest Volume Chocolate Fountain.

We also went to the Green Valley District and walked around. This guy had his pet Monitor out and even though Lydia wouldn't pet it, she still kept wanting to look at it.

Needless to say, after running all over Vegas and having so much fun, we were all pretty much worn out... :)

For more of our weekend pics, click HERE.

Roses, updates, life, etc...

2009-02-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!
Troy got me roses for Valentine's Day!

Aren't they beautiful?! :) He decided to get me roses that didn't cost an arm & a leg and that wouldn't die in 3 days. I think I prefer it this way anyway. Then they can come back every year! And they are Lady Bird Roses because (as most of you know) he calls me "Lady". Sweet, huh? :)

Sorry I've been a bad poster. I'm still getting to get caught up on posts, and things have just been crazy since Thanksgiving. Seeing family, getting ready for Christmas, having Christmas, having Lydia's birthday, getting caught up with stuff, not to mention that 1 or both kids have been sick for 6 out of the last 8 weeks. GGGRRRR! It started with Jonah's RSV I told you about, which lasted about 3 weeks. Then mid-January, Lydia got a cold (RSV related or not, who knows, I didn't take her the the doc since they wouldn't have done anything anyway) and then when she was just about over it, Jonah got it. Then he got better for about 4 days and started it over again. He's had it a little over a week now and on Friday Lydia got it again and so I did, too. I'm very irritated. I think we've singledhandedly helped Kleenex fill their yearly quotas already. Between sick kids, being out of town, and family here, I've been to church once since mid-December. They probably think I'm inactive. I feel like I am. And now I'll be missing tomorrow and probably next week, too, the rate we're going.

Lydia did get to go to 1 of 2 of her Valentine's parties though. Thursday, we got together with some other little girls in her nursery class and decorated sugar cookies and played. (Troy was at home with sick Jonah.) They had lots of fun! I forgot my camera, so I'll have to get some from someone later. Friday was her other party and that's when she and I got sick again, so we skipped that one.

Jonah started hands & knees crawling at the beginning of January and he is EVERYWHERE. I think I forgot to mention that he started pulling up on stuff at 7 months before he was even army crawling. He climbs all over the place and is very curious. His favorite things to try to get are Tayah's toys, Tayah's food & water, trash cans, and anything else he shouldn't...of course. :) He's actually lost half a pound since he's been moving around. He's really thinned out and most of his rolls are gone. His 6th tooth broke through 2 days ago on the 12th. He opened a cupboard today (great...). Lydia LOVES to play with him, but doesn't really like it when he steals her toys from her. She likes to get him when he wakes up from his naps. She goes in and climbs in the crib with him. He hates his crib...unless she's in there with him. :) He even WANTS to get in it if she climbs in first.

By the way...I'm sure some of you may be thinking this...yes, our just-turned 3 year old is still in diapers. We've TRIED...believe me. I've had small trial runs in the past and in January we really tried hard! She has absolutely NO desire whatsoever. She has used her little potty and even the big potty before, but she does NOT want to do it permanently yet. She would be so upset if we tried to make her just sit on the potty and she only went on the potty once in 2 1/2 days. She would just hold it as long as she could and eventually she would pee in her pretty princess panties that she loves...and get upset by it. I mentioned in her birthday post that she doesn't like change. I think that's the problem. She's been in diapers her whole life. She's used to them. They are normal to her. She scared to try anything different. Every book I have says they'll do it when they are ready and forcing them only causes grief on your part and theirs. Troy doesn't seem to understand this and was kind of upset when I said we were done after 2 1/2 days of tears, messes, and constipation (because if she wouldn't even pee in the potty, she sure as heck wasn't gonna do anything else!). He thought she should just be trained and that she's ready. I had to tell him that of course she is physically ready. I have no doubt about that. She's even mentally ready, in a sense that she understands it and could handle it...she just doesn't WANT to, and that's the issue. It's ok. We know she's still normal and we love her just the same. She'll get it sometime. It's not like she's 10 years old in diapers. She's 3...barely. She'll be ready in her own time. Until then...we just have to change 2 sets of diapers... :P

Ok, Jonah's awake now, so I guess that's it for this update. I will get some back-posting done later...Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl (sad day), San Diego, and other random adventures. By the way, there's a link at the top of my family list on the right that goes to our Shutterfly account (or click here) with all our recent pictures. It's mostly updated if you are interested. The site name is different than it used to be for those who used to look at it.

Hope you are all doing well! I not only need to catch up on posting, but reading blogs as well! But I still think of you all constantly! Love you & miss you!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lydia!

2009-01-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

On January 11, 2006 at 1:28 pm, our baby girl, Lydia Rae, was born in Henderson, NV. Now our little girl is 3 years old! We can't believe it! We can't remember what life was like before she was here. She has been such a joy to us and makes us laugh every day. We had a few friends over for cake and brownies on Sunday. She had fun seeing friends. All day she kept asking if she could have her "Happy Birthday Cake" and her presents. :)
Here's a few things about Lydia:
~She LOVES her brother. She takes care of him, she always wants him by her side, she plays with him, she talks sweetly to him, and she warns Mommy when he's about to get into something he shouldn't (trash can, computer cords, Tayah's food...)
~She is our little princess. She loves to put on her Disney shoes, carry purses, talk on the phone, have her nails painted, and loves anything to do with Disney princesses.
~She is a little talker. Every time people hear her talk, they say she sounds way older than she is. She speaks clearly (unless she's being silly), she is very good at most pronunciations, speaks in full and complete sentences (and has since before she was 2), and completely understands everything you say. She understands most words and concepts used in everyday language and if she doesn't, she compares it to something she does know.
~She is very cautious. It takes her a lot of coaxing and encouragement (and sometimes bribery) to try something new. And even if she's tried something, it takes a lot to get her to do it again sometimes. It drives Daddy crazy because he's never been like that, but Mommy understands because I know where she got that... :)
~She is still very shy. She doesn't talk much in a big crowd or around people she doesn't know well. But once she gets comfortable, she completely opens up.
~She doesn't like change very much. She likes her routine. She doesn't really like when you try to do something other than the way she is used to it. And once you do something with her once, she doesn't forget it and wants it that way every time.
~She's a little bit anal/OCD. She likes to match up colors, put things in order, and in Kohls she only wanted to walk in a straight row of squares and got mad at Ali for trying to disrupt that. :)
~She's the little boss. She likes to tell people what to do (especially Jonah & Tayah).
~She has a pretty good sense of humor...you kind of have to if you're around Troy for any extended periods of time. She completely understands "Just kidding" and such (unless she's tired or grumpy...then she doesn't want to play those games).
~Her favorite color is pink.
~Her favorite movies (right now) are The Swan Princess, Madagascar, and Hercules. Her other all time favs are Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, Toy Story 1 & 2, Finding Nemo, and Anastasia (just to name a few).
~Her favorite foods are pizza and mac & cheese.
~Her favorite toys (right now) are her kitchen, her house, Mr. Potato Head, her cash register, Play-Doh, and her Sleeping Beauty beauty set (curling iron, hair dryer, makeup, lotion, etc).
She keeps us busy and happy. We have so much fun with her and Jonah. We are so blessed to have them in our lives and wouldn't trade them for anything! Happy Birthday, Lydia! We love you!

All You Need Is LOVE!

2009-01-09T23:42:00.000-08:00

January 9th was Troy and I's 6th wedding anniversary! Weird. 6 years? And we dated for a while before that, too. Crazy. It seems like yesterday we lived in our 900 square foot apartment in the oldest part of Mesa, AZ, playing Settlers of Catan with Randi & Peder and Becca & Ryan. Now we're in Henderson, NV almost finished with medical school! Man, how time flies! We've lived in 2 places, had 2 dogs, have 2 birds, and now 2 kids. We've been as far north as Fairbanks, AK, and as far south as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Together, we've hit highs and lows and everywhere in between, just like most people, but for the most part we've been pretty happy with our lives. And we still have a lot to look forward to (like being done with school and residency!). We said we weren't getting each other any presents since we just bought ourselves a really good vacuum and a gun (guess which belongs to whom...), but leave it to Troy to renege. Since we aren't sure where we are going for residency and may not be back in Vegas for a while, he took us to see the Cirque du Soleil performance of The Beatles LOVE. We've been wanting to see it for a long time and it was wonderful! Psychedelic for sure, but well worth it. We sang every song and watch the amazing performers dance, hang from ropes, jump on giant trampolines, and do roller blade tricks on ramps, while walking through The Beatles musical journey from start to finish. Any Beatles fan would love it! Part of me always wishes I could have lived during their time...I would totally have been one of the screaming girls...and Troy probably would have been right there with me. :) I'm lucky to be married to such a great guy who puts his family and makes sure we are taken care of. He tries to make the most out of any situation and always looks at the positive side. He makes me laugh and is so fun to be around. He is wonderful with the kids and they love him to pieces. He makes me branch out and try new things, and helps me to come out of my little shell. We make a pretty good match because we are so alike, yet so different. We like so many of the same things, and think many of the same things (at the same time...crazy), but have completely different personalities. He is outgoing and adventurous, and I am shy and reserved. I guess you could say he helps me fly and I keep him grounded. :) Happy Anniversary, Troy! I love you!

Let it Snow - Part 2

2008-12-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

Holy snow! This the most snow Vegas has seen in almost 30 years! Places in Henderson got up to 8 inches! Our house got about 2 1/2 (as measured by Troy from our patio table)! It snowed from 1 pm to about 10 pm straight! We loved it! Last night the news announced that schools were going to be closed today and there were no flights leaving here for a while last night! I know you're probably thinking what I was thinking at first..."Desert city babies get a little bit of snow and freak out! Tons of places get worse than this all the time!" But the problem is that we don't exactly have snow plows to clear the streets before they freeze and the airport doesn't have snow removal equipment to clear the way for departing planes. So the snow shut Vegas down. But it's pretty much gone now, except in the shadowy places. :(

One of the reasons we bought our townhouse is because it overlooks a vacant desert space behind us, instead of a neighbors yard, building, or the street, like most people have to look at. In the summer on a daily basis, we love to look out there at all the jack rabbits, quail, and even coyotes! (In the middle of the city! Crazy!) We don't usually see much in the winter. So, I woke up at 6:30 this morning (because I always wake up multiple times a night/morning), checked on the kids, and decided to see if the snow had melted away yet. I looked out our bedroom window that has a great view of this desert and I saw a jack rabbit hopping around in the snow! I couldn't believe it! Luckily, my camera was fairly close, so I got a few shots before he was gone. I'm sure we've all seen cute bunnies in the snow pictures, but how often do you see a jack rabbit in the snowy desert picture? I thought it was awesome and wanted to share:

Here's another great snowy desert picture, too:

Let it SNOW...in Vegas?!

2008-12-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true! It's SNOWING! We get snow once or twice a year, but it's just flurries and never sticks. But this time, it is! It started at about 1 pm and it's still going! This is at 3:30 (I love how the snow looks on the desert!):

After Lydia's nap, we went out to play. I almost had to force her...she had no desire to go play in it. She was scared of the snow in Winslow last Christmas. She wanted to play with her friend Caleb (next door neighbor) who was outside, but she didn't want to play in the snow. Somehow I got her all bundled up and Daddy got home right as were we going out, so that helped get her out the door. She was hesitant at first, but then she had a blast! They ran around in the street, ate snowflakes, and Daddy made them a snowman!

And Tayah went NUTS! Slip sliding all over the place like a mad, crazy dog! Here's what it looks like right now at 6 pm. Our neighbors have lived here 6 years and said they've never seen it snow this much! And it's supposed to snow all night!

PS. Luckily, Jonah slept the whole time in his nice, warm bed. It's his first snow, but unfortunately he doesn't get to play in it because he's sick. He's starting to get better though.

Rotten Stinkin' Vileness

2008-12-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

No, this isn't an update post yet. Jonah's been sick all this last week (cold) and we took him to the doc yesterday because he was getting worse instead of better. Turns out he has RSV. GGGRRRR! He's way worse today, too. HORRIBLE cough, green snotty nose. They gave us a nebulizer and he has to get breathing treatments 4 times a day. And a tooth FINALLY broke through today, which is exciting except that it probably just adds to his not feeling well. Poor kid. I was really trying to do Christmas cards this year since I didn't get to last year, but it kept getting put on the back burner with everything I had to do and now I don't think it's going to happen at all. Just wanted you all to know I thought of you though. I still may email out a letter and post it here or something, but I still have a bunch of stuff to do and we have our own Christmas here and to pack to go to Alaska for Christmas. (What's that you say? Oh, we're not supposed to fly NORTH for the winter? Whoops...) :) Troy mom, sister/husband, & brother/wife all live up there. We haven't been for a while and none of them except Troy's sister have seen Jonah. And with residency coming up, who knows when we'll be able to go up there again. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year, and hopefully I'll have some time in AK to finish some posts. Take care! Love and miss you all!

"An army, like a serpent, travels on its belly."

2008-12-11T23:19:00.000-08:00

I have so much to post, but no time...as evidenced by my lack of posting since mid November. I hope to get caught up someday, but for now, I couldn't go with sharing something exciting and probably scary... Jonah started army crawling yesterday! He has been such the wiggle worm the past month and just wants anything within his grasp. And yesterday, he figured out how to get the things not within reach. Lydia was so content sitting where she was that she didn't start army crawling until 9 months and regular crawling at 10. And I never really had to worry much about her getting into things either. I fear this may not be the case with this little monkey though ("Chunky Monkey" as we like to call him). He wants EVERYTHING! And of course, as with any infant, his attention span only lasts 30 seconds and he wants the next thing, so it's only day 2 of crawling and he is EVERYWHERE. He's such a cutie though. :) Here's a little video (please ignore me in the background...I've been around kids too long):

"No pictures, please!"

2008-11-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

So, I've told you that Jonah is a pretty happy kid and really doesn't have stranger anxiety, right? Well, apparently that doesn't apply to professional photographers. We were at JCPenney at the mall. He was just fine, then I set him down for pics and he screamed bloody murder. I tried to calm him down, but he just kept crying and holding out his arms for me to pick him up, which I did and he calmed down. (Which reminds me of the funny Seinfeld bit I already posted in October about the kids world being "up" and the parents world being "down". Ha Ha! 2 mins into it if you want to hear...click!) We tried again...nope. The girl said I could come back in a little while. So we went to see Santa since hardly anyone is there yet. Lydia was so excited about that part all day! Until we saw him, that is. She wouldn't even look at him, so I took Jonah up to him to show her (and he didn't care), but I wasn't fooling her at all. (I gotta tell ya that he had the best Santa face I face ever seen!) Santa gave me the crayons & booklet for her and we went on our way. So no pictures there either. Of course, when we were a few store-lengths away, she waved him and turned shyly away when he waved back. :) She's such a sweetie. Then it was back to JCP where we tried again with no luck and walked out with nothin'. Weird that my baby with stranger anxiety was an angel for every pro pic and my baby without it wanted nothing to do with it. Huh. I guess I'll try my own pro session and see if that works. And we're going back soon for family pics, so maybe then.

In October, my brother-in-law, JD, was the star of a film that his friends made for a Phoenix-area short film festival. The top 20 were shown on an AMC big screen and they got 15th place out of around 50! Great job guys! (And Shauna & JD's dog, Roxy, made her debut, too!) Maybe we'll have another Jon Heder on our hands! :) Click to see their movie, "Antiques". They also made another short film this month for a LDS Young Single Adult film festival that got 2nd place out of 20! JD has a short cameo in it and so does my youngest sister, Ali (long blonde hair, striped shirt), and her boyfriend, Keith (standing behind Ali). Click to see "Death Wish". (They are only around 5 min long.)

"All Roads Lead to Rome..."

2008-11-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

In light of our endless possibilities for where could end up for residency, I decided to take my sister, Heather's, advice and let a quiz decide! Here you go!

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city soul with a small town heart
Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome
Strolling down picture perfect streets, hot chocolate in hand
And gorgeous Italian people - could life get any better?

What City Do You Belong In?

Yes...WHY?!

2008-11-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

This post my own sequel to my friend, Randi's post. About 2 weeks ago after having her computer attacked by a bad virus, she made a post asking why the world is full of mean people who just sit around thinking of ways to terrorize innocent people by slamming them with awful viruses that can ruin their computers, which are so much a part of our lives now (pictures, personal & business documents, etc), for no apparent reason except to just be mean. I could feel her pain because I've had 3 computers in the past 6-7 years get attacked; 1 was not salvageable and had to have the hard drive erased, the next was fine after a computer friend/neighbor was able to find the cure, and the 3rd is great after I spent 2 weeks last Christmas in a continued conversation with a wonderful volunteer from www.geekstogo.com. It's similar to the geeksquad, but is a free site run by the computer superheroes who want nothing more than to help people who get attacked by these vicious beasts (and will accept small donations, which I graciously gave after all the help he gave me) by having you do the work on your computer with instruction from these awesome people. I would recommend it to anyone who feels comfortable enough with digging into the inner confines of your computer. ANYWAY, the reason for my post...

I have a yahoo email account that I've had for over 10 years that I use when there is a possibility of receiving junk mail, so that I don't get junk in my hotmail account. This is where I get my babycenter.com newsletters and other random stuff. I had an eBay account with this address that I've only used 5 times in the last 5 or so years and not at all recently. We usually use Troy's account, if at all. I only check this email every few days and for some reason I haven't checked it for almost 2 weeks...until last night. It was midnight, Troy was crashed out on the couch, and I was finishing up my Christmas browsing. Just before getting off, I thought, "Hey, I haven't checked yahoo in a while...I'll just do that really fast." "Really fast"...yeah right. When I logged on, I found multiple emails from eBay confirming all my supposed bids for several unlocked Motorola RAZR phones (dated the 11th). Dang it. Luckily, 1 bid was outbid and ended. Then there were more emails from eBay canceling all the rest of the bids on the other phones and another email from eBay saying my account was suspended because they suspected fraudulent activity. Whew. Then I found another email dated the 6th from eBay.com.hk...yes, that would mean Hong Kong and, yes, it was in Chinese, reminding the owner of the email what the eBay user ID was...on top of that, it had already been read. Shoot. I went to panic mode and quickly changed my email password, which, due to my terrible foresight and naiveness, was the same as that eBay password, my hotmail password, and various other account passwords. Yes, I'm an idiot. It just so happens that I just changed my hotmail password that I have never changed in the 7+ years of having it just last week because I got an email that said it was from MY email address and was titled, "What is to be done with your wife?" (which, yes, I was smart enough to not open), so either my alter ego was sending itself an email about trying to get rid of my wife that I know nothing about or it was junk mail...I assumed the later. I figured the junk fairies were just randomly picking addresses and putting them as both the TO & FROM address, which probably still was the case, but I changed my hotmail password anyways. Coincidence? Probably, but that makes it a really freaky one. Back to original story...of course, I could not just go to bed and leave it until morning. So, as instructed by eBay, I contacted the LIVE CHAT agent at eBay to confirm my identity and reinstate my account. The lady said the no-name monsters had tried to sell a RAZR phone, but the emails said they were trying to buy them...either way they took off whatever fees were charged to me. My registration info in the account still had my Mesa info from 4 years ago in it (the lady had to prompt me with the middle prefix digits to jog my memory of my old phone # to verify my identity) and she told me that eBay monitors what computers you use your eBay account with, and if your account is being used on a different computer, they will call your contact phone # to verify if it's you or not. I thought that was pretty cool. So I had to update all my info. Then, with my password book in hand, I proceeded to change passwords and information in all the other accounts associated with that email, that had the same password, or that had the same user ID that I had on eBay. THEN I went through all my emails in the yahoo account (all 650+ of them) to find any accounts that I knew weren't in my recently created password book, just in case the thieves did the same and got any other account info. So, needless to say, when I finished 3 1/2 hours later, I was angry and tired. I had to wake up Troy to drag him off the couch and explain why it was late (or early, I guess) that by the time I went to sleep it was almost 4 am. And being a stay-home mommy of 2, I didn't get the relief of being able to sleep in on a Saturday morning because such things don't apply to me anymore.

And now my kids are about to kill each other, so I have to go, but to finish my post... Yes, WHY did that person hack into my email account and try to it use my info for his/her/it's own selfish purposes? Why do people feel the need to be so cruel to others for no reason? Why, when I try to be a good person and respectful of others that I do or do not know, are others trying to do the opposite? Why is the internet, such a wonderful techonology, abused and used for such horrid things by evil people? I guess we may never know the answers to these questions, so for now, I'll just hope that the villian who tried to use me will someday mess the wrong person and pay for it big time... Jerk...

Jonah's First Cereal

2008-11-09T22:58:00.000-08:00

A momentous occasion! Jonah had his first rice cereal today! Yes, I know he's 6 1/2 months old. Between going back & forth places, and Troy being gone (I wanted him to be there...I know, I'm a bit sentimental...or minus the "senti" if you want...), and not really wanting to take the time & hassle to feed him solids AND nurse...and...ok, fine...because I didn't want to admit that my baby is already old enough to eat normal food when I feel like he just got here, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Anyway, he did great! He really want to grab the bowl, but he's not even the one who made a mess. During a break, the bowl was on the floor and psycho Tayah made a mad dash right through the bowl, splattering it all over the floor, Jonah's feet, and her paw. Nice. The best part was watching Troy open his mouth all funny as if it would make Jonah open his...

"Uh, Dad, that doesn't actually help me open up...

it just makes you look silly!"

And this has nothing to do with anything except that while I was blogging and watching "Get Smart", which has been pretty funny so far, I looked down and saw this cute picture that made me smile:

Halloween, etc...

2008-11-07T15:40:00.000-08:00

Halloween was a fun day for us! The kids looked adorable and we had a wonderful surprise! Daddy came home from Nebraska early! He was supposed to fly home to Vegas on Friday night, but instead, he flew to Vegas on Thursday and on Friday morning he took an 8 HOUR bus ride to Winslow! He knocked on the door and Craig answered it. Lydia & I happened to be coming down the stairs right when he came in & we were so surprised! Lydia was so shocked that she was literally speechless for about 30 min! Not even a "Hello!" (For those have been around her, you know that that's a pretty big feat!) She just kept hugging Troy & then she'd look at his face & then hug him again, over & over. :) We were so glad that he could spend Halloween with us & Mommy was really glad that we didn't have to drive home by ourselves. Lydia had fun at the church trunk-or-treat and after one trip around the parking lot, ended up with half a pumpkin of candy, which is plenty. Since she's a little older this year, she actually had fun anticipating Halloween and she actually would say "Trick or Treat!" at each car! (Which again, is a big feat because although she is a nonstop talker in her comfort zone, she doesn't say much around strangers). And, of course, Jonah couldn't have cared less. :) He just hung out at the van with Daddy and Tayah passing out candy. Here are the munchkins in their Halloween costumes:

Sleeping Beauty & the Pumpkin

In other news...

On November 3rd, Lydia started sleeping in a big girl bed! She's never tried to climb out of her crib and she loved it, so we just never moved her. There has been a twin bed (minus the frame) in her room for a few months now & she loves to play on it, but never wanted to sleep in it. (She's not one for change AT ALL!) But on Monday, somehow Daddy convinced to her to try it and she found she loves it! (Green eggs & ham, anyone?) At nap time on Tuesday, she even asked if she could sleep in it! Even though she's a great sleeper (I'm lucky that both my kids are), I was a little worried that she might get up & come in our room just because she could. But it's been 4 nights now (plus naps) and she hasn't gotten up once! In fact, we still have to go in and get her out of bed when we hear she's awake because she just stays in bed!

While we're talking about Lydia, here's something cute: Most of you probably know that Troy has called me "Lady" since we first started going out, so for a while now. He only calls me "Jessica" if he's talking to someone else and I actually think it's weird when I hear him say my name since I don't hear it often. Lydia knows he calls me "Lady" and she knows that other people call me "Jessica". So here's a cute conversation we had when we were talking about people in pictures:

Grammy (my mom): Who is your mom?

Lydia: Mommy

Me: Who is Mommy?

Lydia: Jessica

Me: Who is Jessica?

Lydia: Lady

Me (stifling a laugh & trying to get her to acknowledge that it's me): Who is Lady?

Lydia: My Fair Lady! (Cute, huh? I thought so.)

I took Jonah to his 6 month check-up yesterday and they confirmed that he is gynormus! He was 20 lbs, 8 oz and 27" tall! That's 95th and 70th percentiles, respectively. Who'da thought one of our kids?! By the way, have I mentioned he's been in size 4 diapers for 3 weeks now (at 5 months old)! Just more of him to love...and we do. :)

I haven't put up any pictures of our puppy, Tayah. And in case you are wondering about her name, Troy found it online and it's a Native American name meaning "Precious", but I changed the spelling. I'm sure you will all sleep better knowing that. She just turned 4 months old and is growing fast! She isn't very thick yet, but she's getting tall. And, thank goodness, she's finally growing out of her newborn stages of chewing and no bladder control. She starting to obey much better now and is much calmer. Here are a few pictures of her:

In Memory of Kayde

2008-10-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

A year ago today is when we had to put down our wonderful American Bulldog, Kayde. She contracted a rapid, rare form of cancer that hits young dogs...she was just 2 1/2 years old. She was SUCH a great dog and we still miss her a lot. She was so good with people and other dogs. She was Lydia's best friend and Lydia actually does talk about her often. Every once in a while she'll say that Kayde died and went to live with Jesus, and she loves to look at pictures of her.

WE LOVE & MISS YOU, KAYDE!

Happy 1/2 Birthday to Jonah!

2008-10-22T22:06:00.000-07:00

Jonah is 6 months old today! I can't believe it! I feel like we've only had him for 2 or 3 months! He is our little sunshine and no one can get enough of him. Lydia asks where he is every time she wakes up and she has to be the one who greets him when he wakes up. She loves to make him laugh, which he does frequently at her...even just Lydia walking in the room brings out a burst of giggles from Jonah. I love hearing them laugh together. It makes me happy. Here is a little info on Jonah:

~ He has slept through the night since he was a month old.
~ He's been awesome at nursing from day 1.
~ He REFUSES to take a bottle. No matter the billion kinds we tried. He'll have none of it.
~ He wouldn't take a binki. Sometimes he would gag, other times he would want it, but couldn't hold it in his mouth. Just can't get the suction, I guess. We gave up.
~ He only cries if he needs something (although lately that something is most often entertainment.)
~ He's a pretty happy kid. He smiles, laughs, and babbles a lot.
~ He coos while he eats.
~ He loves to be held.
~ He has no stranger anxiety at all! He'll smile & go to anyone. Although if he is tired or hungry, he does prefer Mommy...wonder why...
~ He doesn't really like to lie down & play, but he doesn't mind as much now that he's rolling around the room.
~ He loves to sit up & we're all happier now that he's almost got that down.
~ He been teething since he was born...ok that may been an exaggeration but it has been at least a few months. I can see the top teeth RIGHT THERE, but they just won't BREAK THROUGH ALREADY!
~ He's pretty slobbery...I haven't figured out if it's the teething or just him (or both). I guess we'll see when those teeth finally decide to make an appearance.
~ He's finally tapering off just shy of 20 pounds. He's been that way for about a month now, so maybe he decided that 20 was just too big for he's age.
~ He LOVES Lydia! Like I said before, she just shows up and he's all smiles. He follows her movements around the room and likes to lay by her.

I guess that's about it. (I'm sure that was enough for you...) :) I'll post a Lydia update soon because I'm feeling like she's getting left out. But it probably won't be until next week though. Tomorrow I have to pack because I'm going to Nebraska on Friday! Troy wants me to come check it out because that is a residency possiblity. I'm taking Jonah with me (where the milk goes, he goes...obviously) & Lydia is staying with Grammie & Grandpa (& Ali & Craig) for the weekend. She would've cost us another $300+ if she came, so since it's just a little weekend trip, we decided it would be ok for her to stay behind. This will be the first time I've ever left Lydia overnight. I know she'll be fine, but it's still kinda sad for me. I'm sure all weekend I'll be worried about it.

One more thing before I go to bed...

I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNTIE!! FINALLY!

My sister, Shauna, is pregnant! We are SO excited! Troy & I were the only ones on both sides that haven't had the privilege of being uncle/aunt. We're so happy to join the club! & we're so excited that Lydia & Jonah will have their very own cousins now! We've been bugging everyone for a while...glad someone decided to finally comply. :) When I told Lydia that Auntie Shauna has a baby in her tummy, Lydia said, "(Gasp!) What's her name?" Maybe she knows something we don't. :) Congratulations Shauna & JD! We love you! & Baby Bob! (Barker...hee hee!)

Rolling & Sitting (almost...)

2008-10-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

Jonah is growing so fast! I can't believe he'll be 6 months old on Wednesday! This last week he's gotten really good at rolling over & over & over. He's figuring out that he can use it as a means to getting somewhere. It's new to us because Lydia never did that (& that's ok...she was just content where she was), so that makes it all the more exciting (for me at least)! And he's really close to sitting up. He can balance for a while as long as he's not moving much, and he can pull up from leaning forward. Here's some videos of rolling & sitting. I know they aren't the most exciting clips, but we enjoyed them at least. In the rolling one, it took him a little while because I was filming and you know how they quit as soon as the camera comes out, but it gets better towards the end. In the sitting one, you'll just have to ignore me scolding Lydia (she was really grouchy and Uncle Craig was pushing her buttons...), sorry.

As a side note, I finished reading "The Host" by Stephenie Meyer tonight. It's taken me forever because I pretty much only get to read when I'm feeding Jonah since I can't do anything else, but now that he doesn't fall asleep all the time & eats much faster, I don't get to read as often. Today I had about 30 pages left and just let (or forced?) Ali & Craig play with the kids so I could finish it. It was a good book! It's nowhere near the exciting, intense, overwhelming addiction that The Twilight Saga is, but it was a good read. I'm amazed that someone with no previous writing experience can do so well & write so much in just a few years. Anyway, just wanted to share my "accomplishment". :)

Get Candy!

2008-10-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

In honor of Halloween, I thought you guys might enjoy this! It's Jerry Seinfeld's bit on Halloween & it's hilarious! Someone did drawings to go with it which are fine, although I think it's funnier to watch Jerry, but it's the only one I could find. As a side note, we have Jerry Seinfeld Live on Broadway "I'm Telling You for the Last Time!" on DVD from when he retired forever ago (which includes this Halloween bit) and it is SO funny! One day in college, Lani & I watched the whole thing 3 times in a row because we couldn't stop laughing! (And I think we were just a little delirious that day...) Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

Puppy Love

2008-10-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Lydia LOVES play-doh! (What kid doesn't, right?) Well, she usually wants me to make a baby in a blanket, so I make a little ball for the head and an blob for the body and a flat square for a blanket. On this particular day, she decided to make the pieces into something else. Before we took our puppy, Tayah, home, Lydia spent a lot of time seeing all the puppies with their mommy, so she made a mommy dog out of the pieces I made her and then tore up little pieces for the puppies and laid them all on the blanket! How creative & cute is she?!

Troy's trip

2008-10-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

Troy had to go to Philadelphia for one of his board exams and while him & his friends were there, they hit downtown Phili & Washington DC. They had a lot of fun! Here are a few pics that he sent me. (He's in Nebraska right now doing an Air Force rotation.)

Nice or realistic?

2008-10-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

While I was finding a picture for the header, I had a hard time finding a good one. How funny is this one?! I guess this would have been more realistic! :)

Costumes and Cuteness

2008-10-04T20:54:00.000-07:00

I bought the kids Halloween costumes like 2 weeks ago...I know ambitious, of me, huh. I was just at Walmart and thought of it and was very proud to already have it done before October even started. Yes, at this point any accomplishment on my part is amazing to me. So I browsed first to narrow it down and then let Lydia pick out her costume. Considering her obsession with Disney Princesses, it wasn't hard to figure what she would pick. There was a rack of Snow White, Cinderella, and Belle...Sleeping Beauty was on another aisle. I was showing her the first 3 and asked if she wanted to be any of them. Without knowing there was one an aisle over she said, "Um, no, I want to be Sleeping Beauty", so that's what we got! She goes in phases which movie she watches over and over (and over and over) again, but she always goes back to SB. It's definitely her favorite movie. She's been into Cinderella lately, too and this morning in the monitor Heather & I could hear, "Cinderelly, Cinderelly, night and day it's Cinderelly, wash the dishes!" She has to watch the "Sing Sweet Nightengale" part over and over. A few weeks ago Troy was whistling it and she said, "(Gasp!) Mommy! He's whistling "Sing Sweet Nightengale"!) and was so amazed by it.

So, back to Halloween, Lydia helped me pick out Jonah's costume and I'm glad that she agreed with me that he will be a "punkin". He looks like one. :) And here's a cute thing...tonight when he was about to go to bed, Heather was sitting in a chair holding him and when I walked in, he put his arms out to me! Doesn't it melt your heart when they do that?

Jumpin' on the Bandwagon! (Finally...)

2008-10-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

We have so many friends and family who do blogspot now and we were starting to feel left out. So now that I'm committed, I guess that means I have to keep up with it, right? Well, I'll try! Just as a little update, we're still in Henderson, NV where Troy is in his last year of medical school at Touro University. Right now, Troy is in Nebraska doing an Air Force rotation at Offutt Air Force base. He is loving not having to be in class anymore and actually getting to "practice" being a doctor. He's loved all his rotations, except psychiatry, so it was really hard for him to decide what he wanted to do. Which led him to his decision of the all-encompassing Family Practice where he gets to do all little of it all! Lydia Rae is 2 1/2 and very good at it. :) She's such a good little girl and we love having her around! She definitely our best form of entertainment! She talks up a storm and is SUCH a girl! Jonah Wyld is 5 months now and is growing like a horse! He's a whopping 19 lbs 12 oz! And we thought Lydia was a chubby baby! He's so cute though and growing fast. He just started rolling over, jib-jabbing, and loves to laugh at his silly big sister. We have another new addition...Tayah, our 3 month old American Bulldog puppy. She's actually Kayde's half-niece but looks nothing like her. She's a sweetheart although I'm having a pretty hard time juggling a toddler and 2 infants, one of which doesn't just lay there...she runs around putting anything and EVERYthing in her mouth and drives me crazy! I can't wait for her to be out of this stage...I hope it doesn't last long. Well, I guess that's it for our starter post. Hopefully there will be more to come! :)

PS...Heather is sitting next to me playing with her blog, which inspired me to finish starting (if that makes sense...) the blog I started in December when didn't know what I was doing. I still don't and it's just basic at this point (no pics since I need to get on a different computer), but Heather insisted on putting me as a link on her blog right away, so please don't think, "Oh, that's it?" just yet, although I'm not promising spectacular. :)