One week 'til Christmas

Weston has been pretty busy this morning. While I was putting in a load of laundry, he was busy opening up some of the presents I wrapped late last night...

(I have to admit that the main reason it was so late is that I decided to read a snippet from the book I got for my brother, but then got engrossed in it and kept reading until almost midnight - do you think it would be rude to borrow it from him after he's done?) My mom found this HUGE box of precious little clothes from when my brother and I were
babies! It was such a fun find, and while we were digging through the box of cute little mittens, sweaters, and shoes, Weston was busy dumping out the holiday trail mix in search of all things chocolate -which he quickly devoured. Now all that remains are a few stray nuts.

After cleaning up the nut mess Weston came into my mom's room where we were sorting through the baby clothes. As the sugar-high from eating all that chocolate set in, he ran around the room until he discovered an unwrapped Christmas present intended for him - a story reader of the movie Cars. Being the softie that she is (after all, she is the grandma), mom decided he could have just this one gift early. Man, was he excited!! Here is one of the precious little sweaters from when I was a baby. Also, the sweet satiny little infant shoes. How I wish we would have found this box about 2 months ago! Weston is not always a trouble-maker. In fact, earlier this week he worked very hard helping put up the Christmas tree!I don't think any amount of bribing could have persuaded that kid to look at me long enough for a picture. He was way too focused on the work at hand! What has Sophie been up to, meanwhile? Just being her cute little self. And, of course, modeling my old bonnet and booties!P.S. While writing this post, Weston has again been busy... this time dumping a myriad of items into the washing machine including but not limited to: several pieces of the nativity set, ornaments, ribbon, nuts, jingle bells, hair pins, cat food, and hand soap.

Charming.

Well, at least I'm never bored!

Saturday

A few things I learned while shopping Saturday:

1. While its appeal totally eludes me, the Snuggie must be incredibly popular because it is sold in every store - even the kitchen store. Why?

2. The fishing demonstration at the Bass Pro Shop is really just a way to sell fishing supplies.

3. Despite its obvious stupidity, the song that goes like this: "Last Christmas I gave you my heart and the very next day you gave it away..." is apparently worth remaking over and over and over again. I think I heard that song sung at least 10 different ways in one day! Why don't they play the Grinch song, or the one about the kid who wants the hippopotamus for Christmas?

4. It is not realistic to expect a two year old to be happy about hanging out in a dressing room with his mom in the Ann Taylor outlet store after shopping all day. He would much rather do just about anything else. (poor guy)

5. We seriously need a double stroller!

We actually spent a couple of hours at Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World which is Gigantic! Wow. We went there because they had all kinds of fun and free Christmasy things for kids - a virtual wonderland where you can mail letters to Santa, do crafts, and wait in line for a long time to meet the bearded celebrity. Unless of course one of the elves comes to tell you that Santa needs to take a break but you should feel free to come back in a couple of hours (not that we would know...).

We didn't really mind, though, because there were so many awesome things to see! I was utterly astounded by the size of that place. I haven't been to a Bass Pro Shops since I was a kid, and never at Christmas time. They had multiple waterfalls and aquariums, the usual awesome displays everywhere, and just about everything Christmas.

And, I might add, a very ample handicapped stall in the ladies room with plenty of room for changing diapers, nursing, and the like -although there was no chair other than the toilet. I actually nursed Sophie standing up in there until I heard some poor lady say she was waiting to use the changing table.

This is a total digression, but it got me thinking. Everywhere you go there are handicapped restrooms. But I would be willing to bet there are FAR more nursing moms than wheelchair bound people out in public at any given time. So why are there no accommodations for nursing moms? Even just one semi-comfortable chair in the ladies room would do. Seriously. Oh well.Weston could not get enough of the waterfalls! That kid loves water. I tried taking a picture of him and Jason in front of one, but they all turned out blurry.And you can never get enough of the voracious wild animal displays!What is it about watching fish that is so soothing?

Anyway, it was a fun time. This is Sophie and me standing in line to see Santa (you know, before he ditched us!)

Argentina!

I have at least 15 awesome, witty blog entries in my mind waiting to be written. Life is endlessly busy, and there seem to be so many high priorities that get neglected at least part of the time... well, today I was just trudging along feeling somewhat defeated by the ever growing to-do list when I received a wonderful phone call! It was my husband (who still shows up on my cell phone as "love churro" because of a silly game we used to play while we were dating where we would invent terms of endearment out of food items. I think the best one of all was "greasy love chicken"... but I digress)

To cut to the chase, Jason had called to let me know that his brother had received his mission call today. You guessed it, he is going to Argentina ~ to the Buenos Aires West mission. I am so EXCITED!!! This is a wonderful day. I love my brother in law, Chris, and I have secretly been hoping he would go to Central or South America - not just so we can speak to each other in Spanish while the rest of the family has no idea what we're saying, but because there is something so very special about those crazy Hispanics! Plus, my own brother went to Argentina. I don't know what it is, I am just so thrilled. I almost cried when I heard the news!

What a great day. Here's a pic of Weston chilling with his Uncle Chris on Thanksgiving:

Blessing Day

My beautiful Sophie received her baby blessing on November 8, 2009. She wore a dress that my great-grandmother, Naomi Lang Richardson, had made for her first grandchild - my mom. She died when my mother was only 6 months old, so this dress is the first and only of its kind. It seemed to fit Sophie perfectly. Not just because the size was right, but because it looked like it belonged on her - like it was made for her! She also wore my bonnet from when I was a baby. Our family: My sleeping angel: Sophie was queen for the day, and everyone had a chance to hold her. Here are pictures of her with just a few of her lucky admirers...

Jason's Mom:Aunt Shae-Leigh: Jason's grandma: Jason's Dad: And of course, my mom:

Here is the little princess the next day, posing with her lovely lillies:

It was a special occasion for a special little lady!

Gifts from my hubband

Yes, I really did mean to write "hubband." Don't ask me why or how it got started, but at some point Jason started referring to himself as my hubband. I think it is the lengthened form of "hubby," but I am not sure. All I know is that it has now become a term of endearment, and since I am never more endeared to my loving husband than when he brings me gifts (he he he), I thought it an appropriate post title!

My birthday was back in June, but since that is Jason's busiest time of year, it is rarely celebrated in spectacular form (much to my chagrin). This year, I wanted something very specific. Well, Jason set aside a sum of money and has searched for the last 5 months for this particular item. Last Tuesday was the lucky day, and I couldn't have been more thrilled!

What is inside this gigantic box you ask?Not only is it the most comfie chair ever made, it is the only one of its kind I have ever seen that was made in this decade. You see, not only is it a cushy rocker, it both rocks AND swivels! Why is it so difficult to find a rocker/swiveler? This is the ideal nursing chair because if there's company I can just turn the chair around! And if I need to keep an eye on Weston (and seriously, when do I ever not need to keep an eye on that kid?), I can swivel around at will without interrupting Sophie.

They have chairs like this in every mother's lounge I have ever used, except they all look like they've been around since the 70's. I had almost given up hope that such a thing still existed, so when this chair was discovered - neutral color and all - there was no question that it was meant for me! Tonight as I sat rocking my sweet Sophie in my arms, I wondered how I ever got along without that chair. Then my thoughts turned to her. As she lay there all snuggled up to me, I couldn't help but notice the peaceful expression on her face, and think what a joy it was to bring such comfort to this little angel. I thought of how she will grow up and one day become a mom herself. It occured to me that she will work hard, and that her life will likely be a busy balancing act, just as mine is now. I love to talk to my babies when no one is around, so I took this occasion to share my thoughts with her. I told her that she had plenty of work ahead in this life, but that for now she could just rest in my arms.
I'm sure there was a day when I sat down to relax without thoughts of grocery lists, things to be cleaned, projects to be finished, books to be read, and problems to find answers to - but I can't remember when that was. Probably before I became a mom!

So while you can, rest little Sophie girl! Cherish these moments my sweet baby, for I can assure you that this blissful phase will not last long. Lynette took this darling picture when Sophie was only a week old. Already she has practically doubled in size!

To end where I began, I must admit that I am one lucky lady. I have an awesome hubband, too. He gave me these roses recently to remind me just how awesome he really is. (Or maybe he gave them to me to thank me for being so awesome?) Whatever the reason, it made me happy!

A little jaunt to Bear Lake

Question: How do you keep a two and a half year-old occupied on a 10-12 hour car ride?
You let his mind turn to mush for a day while watching the movie Cars over and over and over and over again on a portable DVD player. Then you hope you haven't made a permanent dent in his intelligence by exposing him to so much TV. Here is a picture of my sweet Weston clenching his retro earphones while completely riveted to the movie. By the way, the trip is normally only 9 hours. But with a newborn and a two year old, we ended up making a few stops along the way... like 6!! They were: Mesquite, Beaver, Nephi, Provo, Heber, and Evanston. Yikes!
While passing through Heber, we encountered the single most incredible rainbow I have ever seen in my entire life. It was stunning! It was impossible to catch the brilliance of the colors on camera, but you get the idea!

The next day (after arriving at Mike and Carrie's house), Weston couldn't wait to play! He somehow spotted this dump truck on top of a fridge in their garage, and pretty much didn't let it leave his side the entire time we were there! He loved it so much that he even waved good-bye to it when we left to come back home. Funny, huh?I enjoyed the cooler weather, but I'm not sure how Sophie felt about it. Weston clearly did not mind the chilly air!I like this pic - doesn't my mom look like such the modern grandma? Here is a lovely Carrie holding Sophie... I just love that motherly, pregnant glow! It's funny how you feel like a fat blob when you're pregnant, but then other pregnant ladies are always so darling and cute.

The whole reason we made the trip was to go to Carrie's baby shower, and I wasn't going to miss it because of a wild toddler (even my own wild toddler), so Mike willingly agreed to hang out with Weston until it was over. I thought it was funny that Mike was so squeamish about Weston needing to go pottie... he actually dropped him by the Shower so I could take him to the bathroom! Weston thoroughly enjoyed doing manly things with his uncle, like riding on a 4 wheeler to go feed the cows. I never did get a good picture of Weston on the 4 wheeler, so this one with the scowley expression will just have to do. That scowl has unfortunately become one of Weston's more popular faces lately. Hopefully it is nothing more than a fleeting childhood phase. We also visited Aunt Carrie's barber shop while in Bear Lake... ha ha ha. She doesn't have a shop, but she does have one of the nicest electric shaver thingies I have ever seen. She showed me how to use it, and I couldn't believe what a cinch it was!! Normally cutting Weston's hair is a long, stressful affair. This only took a few minutes. (I think I am beginning to sound like an infomercial :)Nothing like the promise of reward to make even the most rambunctious of little boys hold still for a haircut!Such a handsome little munchkin!

Growing Wonder: Two Whole Months

This little lady was two months old on October 19th. I have been so busy that it has taken me eight whole days to do this post. Isn't she a beauty?It is impossible to explain in words how much I love this girl! It would be safe to say she's got her daddy's heart in her hands too...

And don't forget Grandma! You can't really tell, but my mom is holding her in this picture. It's a little blury, but so sweet that I had to include it!

How anyone can fall asleep in that position is beyond me, but I'm thrilled she likes taking walks with mommy in her Baby Bjorn.This is an outfit my mom kept from when I was an infant... I thought it would be fun to try it on her - after all, my mom kept it for 31 years so I could do just that! About 10 minutes after dressing her, she pooped right through it. And that, my friends, is why I love Oxy Clean.One word: precious.