SCORE!

I have always enjoyed my Birthday, and I do try to go out of my way to make other's birthdays special because that is what my parents taught me to do. As I was thinking about my birthday this year and all that I had accomplished this past year it really opened my eyes and made me want to make birthdays even more amazing. It finally clicked, birthdays are about celebrating one's life. I'm sure you are thinking "duh!" But this year it REALLY clicked. I'm not sure why it was different, perhaps because I usually think about birthdays in a selfish way and although it was my birthday yesterday, I was not thinking about me. (p.s. This is a lot harder to explain then I thought it would be.) I spent the day thinking about the wonderful people in my life: husband, children, parents, in-laws, friends, family, etc. I was thinking about what my life would be like without them, and who I would be without them. It made me SO VERY GRATEFUL for everyone in my life! An...

Christmas, Birthday, Anniversary, Sleep training. Lot to talk about. And someday I will. Hope you are doing well and have a wonderful time celebrating the New Year!

The Cutest Santa ever came to our house. And a reluctant reindeer. Merry Christmas!

We had a good encounter with Santa this year. Parker Loved him the moment he saw the candy he was giving out and Emily was in awe of him. Now any time P sees a picture of him he says, "Santa ... Candy!" He is a smart boy! Here is a goofy family picture, I'm only posting it for record's sake. I like how both the kids are looking at him. Anyway, Merry almost Christmas! I can't believe it is only 10 days away!!

Please tell me you have heard of Shutterfly . If not then go here now! I seriously LOVE Shutterfly . I use them all the time! Over the past few years I have been able to get awesome quality prints for awesome prices. I am what many might call a photo-holic. I LOVE to take pictures, especially since the inventions of digital cameras because you can take as many as you want without wasting any film, genius! Anyway, I use pictures for all sorts of things and because of that I am always needing hard copies. In fact in the past 2 weeks I have printed a couple hundred . . . and no that is not an exaggeration. When I was first introduced to Shutterfly I used them only to print pictures but now I use them for all sorts of things! One of my favorite features is making hardbound photobooks. These are the ones I have made so far and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! I love to scrapbook, it is a hobby and I really like how it looks. But there is something really neat about having a ha...

And I Love You! Because in the past week I have gotten: 465 FREE prints & one free 8x8 photo book. Yes folks, you heard correctly . . . FREE!!!! I did pay shipping on two of the orders which probably totaled a whopping $10. Seriously . . . Awesome! If you are not signed up for these, YOU SHOULD! Now please don't be misled, it is not always like this, I just lucked out with a few good promos right in a row. Spend $10 and get 365 prints free (this happened to be perfect timing because I was ordering a gift anyway that was 10 bucks anyway) 50 free prints & free shipping Free 8x8 photo book (promo code courtesy of a friend, Thanks Britt!) 50 free prints from Costco, oops! I forgot one was from them. :) But still, seriously . . . AMAZING! Now I am all caught up on my prints! So a BIG FAT "Thank You" to Snapfish , Shutterfly , and Costco . . . I LOVE YOU!

New Home at lest new to us :) New Car New Washer & Dryer New Foods for a 6 month old little girl And a new love of candy for the little dude. Add it all together to get one happy family!

Tonight you ruined our relationship. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the income you provide for my family but I do not appreciate the long hours my hubs has to work to get said income. Tonight is the first of what I know will be many lonely nights. It is after 10:15 pm and he still hasn't even left work yet, not to mention the fact he is in Palo Alto instead of SF. All I have to say is please return him home safely and soon, me and the kiddos miss him. Thanks. Sincerely, Jeff's Wife p.s. Friends who read this, pictures and updates to come soon, I promise!

and therefore have no Internet. Lots of updates coming soon . . . hopefully. And have a Great Thanksgiving!

I was on such a roll a couple of weeks ago and now, BLAH! I have so much to blog about I don't want to do it. I mean, I want to, but I know how long it will take and time is just precious these days. Just to have 5 mins to breath without another being attached seems like a miracle. Please don't get me wrong, I love my kiddos to death, but I have come to realize how precious mom time is. I came across an article in the Yahoo News the other day and it was a good reminder for me. I have posted it below but it can also be found here . For now, know we are doing well. Life is good. Em is almost sitting up on her own, she did it for almost 5 minutes today totally un-assisted! P-man is still talking up a storm and enjoys saying his prayers at night. (which is the cutest thing in the world by the way) Work is going well for Jeff. We might have found a place to live that is in our ward and is 4 bedrooms . . . imagine what I could do with all that space!! :) We are loving the ...

Seriously, I had no idea the kids would make each other laugh so hard! Moments like this help me see what true joy really is and there really is nothing better in my book! I'm excited for more moments like this! No doubt my life is not easy right now, but this makes it totally worth it!!

I noticed recently I'm very exclamation mark happy. Have you noticed? I hope people don't think I am not sincere in my usage. I am generally a very happy and excited person, so they are all legit, I promise! So if I ever leave a comment on your blog, or FB status, or if I use a million in one post, know that it is really how I feel. I notice myself frequently taking them out and then putting them right back because a period just doesn't cut it. So forgive me if it bugs you, but I just like these little fellows! I know, not what you want to see or hear, but it has been on my mind. Updates one P and Em soon, we just went to the doctors. And Halloween is almost here, so that will be fun too. Anyway, just a little randomness because that is just me. :)

Feeding the ducks could be so much fun?!? Well, I intended to post some videos about this, but I have been having issues lately uploading them. I'll try again soon, but for now these will have to suffice. This was how it looked when we got there, about 3 ducks right next to P and Grandpa. This was how happy feeding the ducks made P. And this is how popular he was with the ducks and then geese. I'm not gonna lie, there were a few times I was scared and once that P got scarred too. Those greedy birds completely surrounded him and kept getting closer and closer. Not to mention the geese where the same size as P! I eventually said it was time to go even though we still had lots of bread left, the birds were getting a little too aggressive for me. I wish I could get the video loaded, actually I was going to post 3 videos of this event. The first was of how truly giddy P was feeding the ducks. He was laughing and squealing with excitement, it was awesome! The second was ...

A little late but . . . We Went To Disneyland! So you may or may not know that we went to Disneyland back in July. It was so much fun! As we were planning the trip I was really worried about how it would be taking 2 babies there, in my mind they were way too young to do anything there but boy was I wrong! All of us had a great time and we all went on tons of rides, even Emily! Here is a list of all the rides we went on: (The bold ones were P's very favorites) Disneyland Railroad Train Enchanted Tiki Room The Jungle Cruise Tarzan's Tree House Pirates of the Caribbean Haunted Mansion Winnie the Pooh It's a Small World Story Book Land canal boats King Aurthur's Carousel Dumbo Mad Tea Party Tea Cups Peter Pan Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Pinocchio Finding Nemo Submarine Autopia (Cars) Did you know babies could do this much! I sure didn't! I even nursed during 4 of the above mentioned rides which was so nice and saved tons of time! They both did so well on all of the...

I need a haircut ASAP! This is me saying, "I'll smile if you ignore my hair." Don't get me wrong, I am really excited I have long hair, I love having long hair , but it needs a little TLC. It has been a few months since I have even got a trim and I am still re-couping from a not so good hair cut. The last few times I have really CUT my hair, not just a trim, I was not pleased with the results. Now it would probably help if I was willing to pay more than $10 for a hair cut . . . but I'm Mrs. High Pockets as my father calls me and it is really hard for me to spend money on my hair. So I need your help! What do you think I should do? Before you make any suggestions you should know: It MUST be able to go back into a ponytail!!!!!!! My hair is STICK STRAIGHT My hair will not curl to save my life (via over night curls, hot curls, even curling irons, they just don't work) I want and need something EASY! I do not like to spend time on my hair and I don...

Today I successfully put on and buttoned my Pre-Parker Pants!! Never-mind the fact that they looked a little like spandex . . . so we wont bust them out quite yet, but that means I don't have to throw them away!! Hip Hip Hurray!!! And on a side note, I weigh the lowest I have been in 2 years ! About 12 more lbs to my first goal! By then those pants should fit perfectly! The best thing is that I'm not even doing any intense workouts! I'm just walking with friends each day which is more fun than work! I am seriously relieved and SOOO happy! Look out Skinny Me . . . here I come!!

I know this sounds silly, but did you know that there is a difference in the quality of bubbles. I used to think a bubble was a bubble, but let me tell you . . . These are the Creme of the Crop! I have bought P some bubble before, but getting those stupid wands to work is like pulling teeth. I take the kids to story-time at the local library and after it is over they pull out books and toys for the kids to play with and blow bubble. We noticed that these were not like any other bubbles and this little tube is AWESOME! We asked about them and found out they were just from Gymboree . I looked them up when I got home to see how much they were and where I could find them. For how awesome the bubbles are I think they are reasonably priced. While online I also noticed TONS of reviews about how great these bubbles were. So again, kind of silly, but I figured I would share my new found knowledge since I'm pretty sure everyone loves bubbles, both young and old. :) So I'm hea...

Yup, I'm talking about this little guy. Now I know I'm a little biased, but I'm not gonna lie . . . the P-man is a smart cookie! For example, I can no longer say the phrase "smart cookie" around him because then he runs into the kitchen asking for a cookie. See what I mean. Perhaps you are thinking, year all toddlers do this, but the has been doing it since he was just over a year old. He is now just over 18 months and talks like you wouldn't believe! I recently decided to try and make a list of all of his words. Well I have been working on it for a couple of days now and am tired of doing it. So far I am at 250 words and I know there are tons more I am just done trying to think them up and write them down. The thing is, they are TOTALLY audible not just by mommy but by most. He really just loves to talk . . . I think he got that from his mommy :) but really, it is crazy to me. He talks more than most 2 year old I know, I mean, I could be wrong bu...