Christmas 2007

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and received everything on their wish list. We had a fantastic Christmas and as always enjoyed it right where we live. We love just keeping holidays to ourselves and creating traditions and memories with our little family. Our first Arizona Christmas was gorgeous with blue skies!!! There were so many pictures that I figured I'd just do a slide show. The boys got a climber playground from Santa that they absolutely love. Isaac also got a digital camera from his Grandma and Grandpa Hill, he has taken some great pictures with it and I included some of those in the slide show. I hope you enjoy!!

Why?

After looking through some recent pictures I realized there were some questions I had that I may never find an answer to but I thought I would share them with you and maybe together we could figure it out.

Why do I spend money on toys when doing this provides hours of entertainment for him? And why is this so entertaining?
Why did I bother getting them bundled up to play in the rain? The shoes only lasted a few minutes and the clothes were soaked, why did I waste the time?

awe

Isaac has his first official crush!!! I was told today while picking him up that he and a little girl were caught kissing each other during recess (cheeks only appearantly). When I asked him about it he turned red and said he didn't do it and then ran and hid!!! How stinkin cute is that? He's growing up so fast!!

Who are these kids and why are they calling me mom?

Here are some cute pics of the boys just 'cause I feel like showing them off!!!

Cormac waving Hi
Wearing dads shoes
too cool
One of my all time favorite pics
Same goes for this one even though you can't see his face. I love the way he's looking at Jason and pointing wanting to know what everything is!!

Scorpion Queen

As you have probably guessed this post is about an encounter I recently had with a scorpion. I have met a few of them outside and had no problem just stepping on them and kicking them out of the way, but because this one was in my house it freaked me out a little more than usual and the conversation I had with Isaac was too funny to not share. Here's the picture of it hanging from my ceiling just inside the door to my garage. I'm surprised I even got this picture with how bad I was freaking out.
So after taking this picture I decided I should put on the largest pair of shoes I owned to smash it. I run to my closet and pick out some 2 inch heavy wood platforms. I then get my broom to knock it off the ceiling which I do and of course it starts running after me because these things have no fear. At this point I decide that I don't want to get close enough to step on it so I just start beating it with the broom. It is making such a loud ruckus that Isaac comes to see what is going on. In his most condescending voice he asks "mom, what are you doing?"

To which I reply, "killing a scorpion"

The condescension leaves his voice for a moment while he asks "is it dead"

I reply "yeah, I think so"

Full condescension back, with a hint of annoyance that he is the only intelligent one in the household "so then you can stop hitting it mom."

At this point the handle to my broom breaks, I don't stop beating the thing, I just throw the smaller piece aside and continue smacking the thing at least 15 more times. (Isaac has left, he has better things to do with his time.) So it's guts are splattered everywhere, the tail has finally stopped twitching and I figure I can stop. I run and grab a paper towel and clean up the dead bug and surrounding guts. Now I can't put it in my garbage can with the obvious fear that it could come back to life and come and attack me when I least expect it (I've seen a few horror movies, I'm not stupid). I briefly think of flushing it down the toilet but obviously can't do that because I don't know if they can survive in water, it could easily come and sting my behind the next time I'm going to the bathroom. so I do the only logical thing there is, I tossed it in the neighbors trash can!!

The joys of children

Be warned, if you say it to your children they will say it to someone else. Isaac and I recently had a conversation about Mcdonalds and that it isn't healthy for you because it can make you fat and you'd have a big belly or bum. So with that little preview, we were at Mcdonalds and there was a man behind us who was on the larger side so Isaac decided to point out that I was correct and Mcdonalds does make you fat with a big belly because that guy behind us did in fact have a big belly. I told Isaac to be quiet, but he just kept repeating "that guy is fat with a big belly mom" nothing I did or said would shut him up so the gentleman Isaac was so rudely talking about stepped in and started chasing my child asking him what he was saying about him!!!! Isaac almost peed his pants and I'm sure I was purple from embarassment (I had hoped the man hadn't heard Isaac). I apologized profusely for my child, I think luckily the guy had a pretty good sense of humor about it because he just responded "isn't that what kids are for, to embarrass you?" I don't know if that's what they're for but they definately do a great job of it!!!

I finally got tagged!!!

The rules...

A. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.

B. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog, for these rules.

My 6 facts/ habits:

1. I am completely addicted to coke (the drink variety). I quit coke about once a month and swear I will never drink it again. But then a problem comes up and I think coke will fix it, and it does. Thirsty? coke. Hungry? coke will solve that problem. Bored? go and get a coke. Tired? coke. Headache? coke. stressed? take a car ride with a coke. See it really does solve every problem.

2. I only wash my hair about once every 5 days. sometimes longer. I have a ton of hair and the whole process of washing, drying, and styling can take over two hours!!! I don't have that kind of time. But the crazy thing is, I usually get about 4 good hair days out of it, so really I should have started this trend a long time ago!!!

3. I love TV!!! I know most people view this as a waist of time and think I would be better off reading or something, but I love TV. I will watch re-runs or really dumb shows that nobody else would ever admit to watching, like "Becoming a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader". It's supposed to be dramatic (you can tell by the music they play), but I feel it's a comedy and have laughed so hard I've almost peed my pants. My favorite is when a girl gets cut from the team and she's bawling about how this is the only thing she's ever wanted in life and if she's not a cheerleader she's nothing. Does it get any funnier than that?

4. I find it easier to fall asleep when my husband is not in bed with me. I can't sleep if he's not home, but I prefer having the whole king size bed to myself. We've only been married 6 years but I can already see seperate rooms being a good thing.

5. I love Arizona. It is the first place that I have felt at home. I was always a misfit growing up in Utah, and really didn't like Maryland. But Arizona I love!!! The weather is perfect (it's still in the upper 80's in the middle of Nov.), the people are awesome, and I just seem to blend right in. I finally feel like I can be myself without negative consequences, and I'm so excited for my children to grow up here. But I do miss my family in Utah, and my friends in Maryland.

6. I always love my children but sometimes hate being a mom. Like when my baby throws a car into the toilet that my 4 year old forgot to flush and I have to fish it out. It's moments like that when I ponder why I ever had them. Or when I look at a girl in a bikini with her perfect little stomach free of stretch marks and think "I used to have a cute stomach, I used to rock a bikini like no ones business, but then I had children." Sigh.......... At least they're cute!!!


So now I'm supposed to tag 6 people but if you will notice to the right, I don't have six people to tag that haven't already been tagged in fact I think there' s only one person on my list that hasn't been tagged so Melissa that's you!!!!

Blog update

I recently realized that I had my blog set so that you had to have an account to leave a comment, I have changed this so that everyone out there reading my blog can leave me comments. I was so excited when Liz told me that I had quite a few readers, you'd never know it by how empty my comment boxes are (thanks Shelley for always commenting, you're the best) so feel free to comment now and even better yet I think everyone needs to start a blog so that I have more names to add to my other bloggers link it's humiliating how few I have compared to others, especially those show-offs who have different lists (family, high school friends, MD friends), Okay I get it your popular I'm not. Anyways, I hope everyone reading enjoys my blog, it's been a great occupier of time!!!

Look what he can do!!!

The most fantastic thing ever has happened!!! Isaac changed Cormac's diaper!!! It was the funniest thing I have ever seen, I am so impressed with Isaac's ability. He did it all on his own, we didn't ask him or tell him to. Cormac does this thing where he pulls at his diaper when he wants it changed and Isaac saw it and went and got a diaper and layed him down and changed his diaper. It was amazing how still Cormac was, he never holds still for me. Maybe next time Isaac will do a poopy one!!

FYI

Isaac and I went to see Bee movie today and I just have to say that it was horrible. I enjoyed being out just me and Isers but the movie was painful to watch. Isaac didn't seem to enjoy it much either. He barely held still. So it is definately one that I would wait for redbox on, if you even bother spending that much on it!!!

Super cool pics

My sister sent me these really cool pics that she took on halloween. She lives near a cemetary and was walking past while trick-or-treating with her daughter. she decided she'd take a few snap shots of the cemetary since it was halloween and all, it wasn't until after she developed the pictures that she was able to see all the white orbs in the pictures. She also told me that you can't see all of them in these pics that she emailed me and you have to actually have a picture in your hand to see just how many there were. But I think it's way cool and little creepy, the white orbs are only in the pics of the cemetary, they didn't show up in any of her other film. You can see them better if you enlarge the pic by clicking on it. Anyways, hope you enjoy!!!

Happy Birthday Jason

Today is my mans birthday and in honor of him I thought I would share with you the top ten reasons why I love him
10. His perfect smile
9. His bulging biceps
8. He laughs at my jokes (and it's a great laugh)
7. He does the dishes every night
6. His brain and the way it works
5. He's a GREAT lover!!!!
4. The way he interacts with, and loves our boys
3. The way he makes me laugh
2. His personality (compassionate, driven, calm)
1. The fact that he does everything in his power to make me happy.

Mr. GQ himself
There's that perfect smile!!
Playing on the craziest thing we've ever seen at a park. You sit on it and it spins all by itself, the heavier you are the faster it goes so I was lucky to actually get a picture of this and Cormac was lucky to stay on!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

We hope everyone had a fun and safe halloween. We really enjoyed ours!! Isaac had a costume parade and party at his school and then we went trick-or-treating at night. Isaac went as the Transformer Optimus Prime, and Cormac was a pirate. Isaac got a lot of comments on his costume so he was quite proud. He even slept in the costume that night (minus the mask, chest plate and gun of course)

Here's Isaac with his best buddy Dillon at the school party

Cormac really wasn't sure what to think of everything, I don't think he realized that was Isaac in there.

This is Isaac in the costume parade

this is right before we went trick-or-treating

Then came the fun stuff, eating the candy!!!

Some conversations with Isaac

Me: Hmmm, what should I wear today?
Isaac: I think you should wear, ummmm........clothes!!!

Cormac screaming
Me: why is Cormac crying
Isaac: cause he got in my way.
Me: What'd you do?
Isaac: I punched him.
Me: you punched him?
Isaac: yeah, in the face.

In school Isaac was learning about emotions and the teacher had them draw a picture of something that made them happy. Isaac drew a picture of a whale eating fish. When I asked him why that made him happy he told me that whales aren't mean and don't eat him they just eat fish. I guess not being eatin by a whale makes me happy too.

Cormac's first haircut!!

It was quite evident that Cormac was past due for a haircut.
We took him to a great place just for kids where he got to sit in a fire truck and watch Elmo while they cut his hair.
He did awesome and hardly moved, he actually looked at himself in the mirror most of the time rather than watching Elmo.
But appearantly he's not a fan of the new look. Oh well, he doesn't get to decide. We love the haircut and think he looks adorable. When Isaac saw it for the first time he laughed uncontrollably, I think it was the most genuine laugh I've ever heard from Isaac.

He's Finally 4!!!!

I know what your thinking, "wasn't his birthday last week?". It sure was, but Isaac couldn't or wouldn't accept the fact that he was 4 until after he had his party. We kept saying "wow you're 4!" and he'd look at us like we were idiots and say "nope not for a couple of days." So he's finally 4!!! He had a great birthday party, we played fun games and had 3 friends over (it seems so small after the shindigs we had in MD). It was of course dinosaur themed since that is what he wants to be when he grows up.

Here's Isaac playing pin the tail on the dinosaur (which Jason drew by the way). We also did a race where we made them put a dinosaur egg (balloon) between their legs and run but unfortunately didn't get any pics.
I love this picture. You can almost hear the yell coming from his mouth.
Isaac was very excited about his presents.
This is Cormac in one of the dinosaur masks we made all the boys wear. I love the way he tries to keep up with the big boys.

Sick little guy

October 10 was Isaac's fourth birthday, we had a whole day of fun activities planned but he woke up that morning with a fever and so had to cancel everything, including his party. He still got to open his presents and was allowed to play Halo and got his favorite dinner. We expected him to get better in a day or two and really didn't think much of his fever or cough.

Well after two days he wasn't getting better and actually became quite seriously ill. On friday he decided he wanted to take a nap around noon and we thought it would probably be a good idea and might help him finally kick the bug. I frequently checked on him and he seemed to be fine but when he was still sound asleep at 4 I decided I should wake him up so he would go to sleep that night. I tried waking him up and it just really didn't work he'd open his eyes and whimper and then fall right back asleep. He was also burning up. I took his temperature and it was 103.7!!!! I quickly gathered him up gave him some motrin and started heading for the ER. Luckily Jason was home so I didn't have to worry about getting Cormac anywhere I could just go.

My poor little guy was so out of it, it was like holding a giant spaghetti noodle. He wouldn't respond to any of the nurses and couldn't stay awake to save his soul. After being poked and x-rayed and peeing in a cup (which I thought he would think was cool but he actually thought it was very naughty, his words), the diagnosis came back as pneumonia!!! He was dehydriated (sp?), and needed a IV. I must say the worst part of this whole experience was when the nurses (one to poke, one to hold him down), where getting the needle in and Isaac just looked at me crying and said "mommy they're hurting me" and I just had to fight back tears and say "it's ok it'll make you feel better". Honestly that was one of the hardest moments of my life.

He is doing much better today. The fever is gone and he is eating again, they have him on some heavy duty antibiotics. We hope he has a quick recovery but have heard that it can take a while for people to feel good again after pneumonia.

Here are some pics from his birthday.


Isaac opening his presents, he got a spiderman scooter and some starwars action figures.

This is Isaac coughing on his birthday. We honestly had no idea he was soo sick.

I's Birthday

October 10th was I's fourth birthday!!! We can hardly believe our little guy is so old. We had a fun day planned for him including a birthday party but were forced to cancel because the poor little guy was running a fever of 103.4!!!! YIKES!! His fever went down with some medication so we're pretty sure he'll live to see five but it was very disappointing for everyone especially I. We kept telling him happy birthday, but he'd tell us his birthday wasn't for a couple more days, and he refuses to acknowledge that he is four until he has an actual party. Poor little guy. But

update

Well it's been brought to my attention that I have slacked on the blogging so I figured I'd update everyone. While someone suggested that my life isn't boring I must disagree and inform you all that it is very boring, crazy, but boring. I am officially a soccer mom!!! I spend my days running Isaac from activity to activity, meeting Jason for lunch and hoping that Cormac will take a nice long nap when we finally get home. Jason works 3 twelve hour days, he'll do Mon, Wed, Fri., one week and Tues., Thurs., Sat., the following. Isaac is in preschool 3 days a week and he is involved in soccer and baseball 2 days a week. I have joined a moms group that meets everyother week (luckily babysitting is provided!!) and that is pretty much our life. I have been greatful for my new car that I love and adore and feel like one hot mama in!! Recently Cormac made things more difficult by coming down with croupe and I had to spend an entire night in the ER with him while he received various steroid treatments. I got 3 hours of sleep before it was time to get the boys up and get Isaac to school. I'm still trying to catch up on sleep but with little luck.
I guess the only big news around here is that Jason and I will celebrate our 6th anniversary tomorrow!!! We look forward to a night out without children but still don't know exactly what we'll do. It's crazy to think we've been together so long, time really has flown by but we've tried to enjoy every minute of it and embrace every stage in our life. Hopefully I'll have some cute pics of just me and jason to post on here after tomorrow night. But we'll see.....

Look-alike meter

This was a lot of fun. It was interesting to see the results, especially on Isaac because everyone always says he looks exactly like Jason. I guess they're wrong!!!

In my opinion

So I've been taking a lot of pictures lately and it has forced me to conclude that I have the cutest kids ever!! I have especially been enjoying Cormac lately, he's at a really cute stage of mimicing and semi-communicating. He has started to give very wet kisses which I adore, and he dances when he hears music, and he generally just copies anything Isaac does. We love them even if they do drive us to drink occasionally. Anyways, here are some pics to prove my case that I really do have the cutest kids ever.

Meteor Crater

For labor day weekend we decided to go to meteor crater with our good friends the McKissens. We had a great time checking out the giant hole in the earth that according to Isaac may have killed all the dinosaurs. It was a beautiful day and the company was good so here are some pics of our visit.

Isaac is giving an animated description of exactly what happened when the space rock hit earth. He entertained everyone around with his stories and enthusiastic description of the really, really, really, really big hole!

These types of things always make me appreciate the miracle of life and earth. We are such small specs in this universe. I don't remember the measurements of the hole but just to give you an idea of how big it is there is actually a mine at the bottom with like major equipment working. Can you see it? Yeah neither could we without a telescope.

Cormac enjoying a healthy lunch of cheeto's and choclate chip cookie. I just love that face and those blue eyes!!

Phoenix

So these last couple of months living in Phoenix have brought some strange experiences that I feel like sharing with whoever will listen. Let's start with the wildlife!! I have found 2 count them 2 scorpions in my garage!!! And when you try and scare them or shu them away, they don't run they come after you!!! So I now have the the death of 2 scorpions on my hands, I don't feel bad. And the lizards are everywhere!!! mostly small ones that are kind of cute and fun to chase, but the other morning there was a huge 18 inch lizard crawling up the side of my house right next to the front door! I don't even know what kind of lizard it was or if it is dangerous and more importantly where it was going and where it lives and if it has plans to come back! As of yet I have not had a lizard in my house but I feel it is only a matter of time. Then the strangest one, there was a coyote running down my street the other day. A coyote!!! and by the way it was dead silent as it ran so I'm pretty sure it could sneak up and bite me on the ass while I'm putting my children in the car!!! It's a new fear of mine.
We'll move on to the water. It tastes disgusting from the tap so obviously we have to buy it which is not that big of a deal but annoying all the same. And I can't get cold water out of the tap, it comes out hot!! Sometimes in the morning I can get cool water, but cold water is a thing of the past. I can't wash my clothes in cold water, I have to be extra careful giving my babies a bath because even when the spout is pointing to cold it can still be hot!!! I attribute this to the fact that it is 110 degrees outside and therefore the water sitting in the pipes would be roughly the same temp!!! My father in law can't even keep water in his hot tub because the water gets too hot!! It's craziness. But remember, I'll be laughing when all of you are bundled up and freezing your bumbs off while I'm sitting next to the pool in perfect weather!!!
Well there you have it, my rant for the month, maybe the year because really I love it here!!

Isaac's first day of school!!!

My baby is in school!!! I can hardly believe it, time has gone way too fast. We have him in a school just down the street from Jason's office called Creative Castles. It's really cute and we are very happy with it. His first day was supposed to be on monday the 13th but wouldn't ya know it he had a fever and couldn't go. So he made it today and was very excited but then got nervous when I told him that I was dropping him off. He asked if I would stay with him and of course I agreed but we got into the classroom and he found his desk and then I was as good as chopped liver. So I left without him noticing and he had a great day. Although I only know this because his teacher told me. When I ask him how his day went he says "I don't know". Typical guy right!! So here are some pics of his first day with his class and his teacher Miss. Laura. Notice that he is right at home with nothing but girls in his class. I think the kid is destined to be surrounded by women his whole life. I'm sure he wont mind!!!

Our Trip to Utah

We had lots of fun in Utah, but are glad to be home. We tried to see everyone but just couldn't quite do it. Luckily we'll be back in three weeks so we can try again. Jason and I were also able to get away from the kids for a couple days and go to Wendover. Not the most glamorous place, but it was kid free so we loved it. Here are some pics of our other activities. Isaac had lots of fun and misses his Mema and aunt Michie the most. He's so lucky that he has such cool uncles and grandpa's that he gets to see lots of fun things. His uncle Neille is a Police officer, his uncle Josh is a fireman/paramedic, his uncle Eli and Pepa are wildfire fighters, and his uncle Tyler drives a track hoe!! He was in little boy heaven!!

Isaac at Pepa's and Uncle Eli's work, in the heavy brush rig
At the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur museum. We were able to leave Cormac with Mema and just take the Iser man

Cormac's first birthday party!!! He did a much better job of digging into his cake than his big brother did!! We are so proud

Dental Office Grand Opening

On Saturday we had the grand opening for Jason's office. It was complete with food, tours, bounce houses and prizes. As you can see they put the docs to work, 8 years of school just to work as a carnie!!! I was really surprised they had such a great turn out, but hopefully that means Jason will be really busy!!!

This is the adult waiting room. It is set up like a jet and the seats even recline. That glare is coming off of a really nice fish tank.
This is one of the operatories. Each one is themed as a different destination, (that's why you sit in the jet waiting room. get it?). The patients can watch a movie, see their x-rays, or watch patient education videos from that small screen in front of the chair
This is the ortho dept. It has a movie theater theme. That is a large movie screen so the teens can watch a movie while getting their braces adjusted
This is the childrens waiting room. It was hard to get the whole thing in there but it is a castle with a jail, a slide and dress up clothes to play with. They also have a couple x-box 360's for the kiddies to play video games.

This is the pediatric dept. They're not quite finished with the wall mural (they're going to add castles and dragons etc.) but you can see it's still very cute. They also have private operatories for when they have to do sedation dentistry.