This shirt makes me salivate...

if you click here you can see it.

I HAD to post this picture...

For a few reasons:

#1, it cracks me up.

#2 I thought I had lost it (the picture, not my mind)

#3 I cannot believe how small Liam looks.

#4 I am really glad I've let my hair grow out.

p.s. we were doing prenatal yoga. And as you can see, my house was very sparsely furnished at the time. lol. (we had just moved in.)

Liam turns 5!

Liam turned 5 recently, and I am frankly flabbergasted that he's "a whole hand." We took him to Pizza Planet Plano which was fun but also very crowded. It was just the sort of place you might lose your kid and never find them again, so thankfully my mom and dad and Mate were there to help keep an eye on the 5 kids we had brought. They had a blast, the pizza was good, and it was so great to see my family, who drove down to help him celebrate. They got to stay the weekend and we got to show them around the community.
Then we took him to Target to spend his Christmas gift card and his birthday moneys and we just let him go crazy in the toy aisle. We figured, you only turn 5 once, right? Some of the stuff he picked I winced at, because they were the most random things and I could just see where this was headed about a week down the road but oh well. The one thing I really wanted him to look at was G.I. Joes because my husband and my brothers were crazy about those things when they were young, and I knew Liam would like them too. First of all you had to dig around amongst the other ridiculous toys they sell for boys, and then they had a poo-ey selection, and then when we got it opened up (which is a whole 'nother irritation- why do they package toys the way they do? Do they enjoy irritating me?? Do they enjoy the thought of me being out-smarted by a twisty-tie?? Sadistic toy packagers.) I digress. What was I complaining about? The horrible fart my dog just farted right here under my feet? Oh yes, the cheap quality of the G.I. Joes. Man, they just dont make em like they used to. They dont even really look cool anymore. He still loves playing with them, but man....they just dont make em like they used to. That's fo' sho'.

So my little boy looks not so little anymore and I can swear some days he looks bigger than he did the day before. He's such a blessing to me, and these are 5 of the thousand reasons why:

1. This boy forgives faster than you can say "Will you forgive me?" I am constantly reminded of how much we are to be like little children: meek, humble, and forgiving, when Liam is around.

2. This boy has got a bug in his soul for music and dancing. It is always a day brightener to watch him rock out to his favorite songs (which just happen to be my favorite songs- right now the favorite around here is "You Cant Stop The Beat" from Hairspray. It is a HOOT watching he and Addy dance around the kitchen to that. And very infectious.)

3. He's got a great desire to be like Nephi, Jesus, and Joseph Smith. One day at bedtime we were chatting and I asked him who his favorite superheroes were. The answer: "Spiderman, Batman, and Joseph Smith." He really tries hard to do the right thing. He always says sorry when he messes up. And, for the most part, is incredibly kind to his little sis.

4. Liam is a cuddle bug!!! And I love it! He's got a knack for giving you a hug when you need it most.

5. He's got a great sense of humor and pops out with stuff when I least expect it. I'm guaranteed a good laugh when Liam's around.

Love ya wimmy! Here's to so many more!!

Let us all take a moment...

and reflect back on the life of bee. It is with heavy heart that I inform you of her demise. You see, we are dogsitting a dog for my brother and sister-in-law until they are able to move into their condo. Yes, you can already see where this sad story is going. I was in here in the kitchen when I heard this jingling behind me. I thought it was addy playing with a jingle bell ornament, as we were in the process of dismantling the tree. Finally I turned around to look, and there was that dog chewing bee's head off. I freaked out and went ape on that dog. All I really remember is saying "NO!" in a horrified voice a whole bunch of times. The kids heard me and came running to see what was going on, and when Addy saw bee she cried the most heartbreaking cry I have ever heard.

But let us not dwell too long on her untimely death. Instead, I will point you to this blog here so that we can all remember what a great little companion she was for Addison.

The good news is that I do have that other bee from ebay. THANK HEAVENS! I bleached her, roughed her up a little, and now everything is hunky-dory again. It took Addy a few hours to get used to the new one because she definitely knew something was different, but we just kept saying "nana fixed her! and she's all clean and pretty again!"- finally she swallowed the story and went to sleep with her, though still not as snuggled up with her as she used to do with Old Bee.

Thank you all for your love and prayers as we get through this difficult time.

:)

Christmas Recap

Okay, so this time of year is CRAZY! It really seems to fly by with all the preparations you make for it, and then before you know it the new year is here and life slows down again. There are so many things I need to blog about- Christmas, Liams Birthday, New Years, and of course all the little stuff that happens in between! So first, Christmas...

right before we got started making cookies.

sampling the fruits of our labors.

The result of Addy turning the mixer on to a crazy fast speed with her face held a leetle to close to the mixing bowl. She freaked out at first and then laughed.

After Liam decided he wanted flour on his face too and just threw it on himself.
If you look closely you can tell I have flour on my face- this would be the result of a practical joke gone wrong. See, Ila came into the kitchen and I told Liam to pretend he was giving her a hug but in reality he was going to throw a fistful of flour on her. Well, seeing as how Liam is totally transparent in his actions and face, she knew something was up and when he went to throw the flour on her (with me holding him) she grabbed his hand and turned it on me!! Another thing I love about this picture is how it shows Addy's new picture taking face. You say "cheese!" and she says "sheeeeeeese!". I love it.

And now, the good times end. Seriously. Kaput. I think someone may have come and snuck my happy kids out of the house and replaced them with the crankiest, grumpiest, sassiest imitations they could find. Christmas Eve this year was the worst, ever. Nothing really went according to plan (and maybe that was the problem- did I over plan the night?) but it all started during the Christmas Story reading, when I couldnt pry Liam away from his dumb video game.(very out of character, both to be playing a video game and to refuse to put it down). Finally he was convinced to come in the kitchen and sat on my lap on the floor, as close to the living room and video game as possible. (can you see me making a face?) Addison has started taking her clothes and diaper off at every possible opportunity and Christmas eve was no exception. She sat down on the floor in her little booster seat naked as a newborn and about the middle of the story she jumped up and freaked out because she had peed all over the seat. She then said "help mommy" and "helped" by bringing me the seat full of pee, spilling it all over the floor, thereby ensuring there would be a huge mess to clean up. What a little helper. *sarcasm* That pretty much put an end to the reading. Then we went into the living room to open up a present (jammies). Liam refused to put them on because he was mad he didnt open a toy. Liam then proceeded to act like we have spoiled him rotten his whole life by demanding a toy, crying, screaming- oh boy it was a doozy. About an hour later he calmed down, put the jammies on, and about 30 minutes later peed in them. Yeah. Thats right. Peed. That's when we decided enough was enough. Bedtime! They would NOT go to bed, not for Santa Clause excitement as you would rightly assume, but just out of sheer rebellion. I had a melt down, Aunt Ila and Tonya put the kids to bed, and I put out Santa toys despite repeating the phrase "Santa WILL NOT come to our house tonight!" an ineffective 1002 times. I still cant figure out why they both had such a total and complete meltdown, because it wasnt just Liam- Addy put in her fair share of screaming too. The only thing I know is that neither one of them has been the same since we had to move in with somebody else. Nothing really goes according to routine, and maybe it was just too much for them that night? Who knows?

Christmas morning was much better, with both of them acting like they had never so much as considered acting like banshees. Following are pictures of happy children (and parents):

waiting in the hallway for everyone to get out of bed
i love her sleepy face. Why dont I look that cute in the morning?

Rescue Center excitement. Note Christmas jammy bottoms from last year.

Doll house un-excitement. Maybe she's mad she has a droopy bow on her gift.

Santa helper Liam

The happy family. A couple of things to note: Liam immediately changed when he opened that light up spider man shirt. Shawn is holding a hello kitty popcorn maker from his parents and Ila. He's really wanted one and apparently everyone was out of mature looking popcorn makers. Addy's face is covered in the candy she found in her stocking and ate it all in about 30 minutes. I have on a necklace and earrings that were self-bought Christmas gifts. I had to put them on and try them out!

More to come later. I've ignored my kids enough for now.