Davis Turns 4!!!

I can't believe that this guy is 4 years old. It seems to have passed in a blink of an eye, although on the other hand, I can't remember life before him! Davis is the happiest little boy and I am truly grateful for every day with him. Everything is fun and exciting with him around! I am so lucky to be his mom.

I took him to the Dr. today for his 4 year check up and he weighs 43 pound (95%tile) and is about 43 inches tall (98%tile). Don't worry, he is keeping up his stats of being a big big boy!

I like to complain about having a birthday so close to Christmas, but we celebrated in style and I think he had a really great day. I had fun and I think he did too! Here is how we spent the day...

Star pancakes for breakfast...
I was working out when he woke up and he came running downstair yelling 'it's my birthday, it's my birthday!!'...he was super excited about the balloons, etc.

We met Dad for lunch at Chick-fil-a...

I am not really a cake decorator (this is something that I want to get better at), so I was pretty impressed with my dinosaur ( that was Davis' request) cake attempt. Not bad, huh?!

Getting ready to eat some yummy cake...

The birthday boy with his cousins that we are so lucky to live close to...

Davis and Josh kept feeding each other cake like they were at a wedding or something. It was really cute. I just love seeing these best buddies together. They love that their birthdays are so close together, too.

Watching Davis open his presents was seriously priceless. He was so excited. This picture sums it up...

The present he was most excited about was a Leapster. HE opened it and yelled 'video games'!!

We love our big 4 year old boy!

Snaggletooth

I just had to post a picture of Emery's snaggletooth. She has cut 4 teeth in the last month or so (all on top) but only one really shows yet when she smiles and she looks like a 'snaggletooth'. It seriously cracks me up. I can't wait till they are all grown in, but trust me, she is cute no matter what!

BYU vs. Utah 2010

I still get a little teary when I think about the big game this year (yes, the Y did get jipped big time), but we did have fun watching it and I have to say Steve was very polite to all of the BYU fans at our house for the game. I was impressed since he and I seem to get in a BYU vs. Utah argument about once a week. Wouldn't my life have been easier if I could have just found some wonderful BYU fan to marry? Maybe, but I'll take him anyday, Utahness and all (as long as he doesn't talk our kids into actually going to school there...that is where I draw the line).

We had our friends, the Bloods over along with the other Larsen's to watch the big game. Steve told our friend, Blaine that he couldn't come over unless he was wearing a red shirt, so this is what he showed up in:

Hilarious, I thought! Everyone in their family was dressed head to toe in BYU gear. I loved it! So, Steve had to improvise and I thought his shirt was pretty funny, too. I have to say it warmed my heart to see him in a BYU shirt, even if it was x'd out with Utah stuff. Take what I can get, I guess!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, the holidays! I have to say that I am loving the Christmas season this year, mostly because Davis actually is understanding the concepts of celebrating and Santa and giving, etc. It makes it so much fun and so magical. I can't get enough.

I have felt a little behind and am still trying to get everything done to be ready for Christmas. Steve has been super busy at work and since he had a few days off around Thanksgiving I talked him into putting up some molding in our dining room which turned out to be a huge painting project for me! Our deal was if he did the molding, I would paint. For some reason that molding is so time consuming to paint plus I had to prime since we had a darker color in there, and try to take care of my kids in the midst of it. It just ended up taking me what seemed like a week and put me more behind in my Christmas preparations! BUT, I love love love how it turned out and actually like to be in that room now. It is lovely. All of this is besides the point....we really did have such a nice Thanksgiving and here are a couple of pictures of our fabulous day.

A bunch of cute crazy kids ready for some Thanksgiving dinner

Davis and his best buddies Max and Josh (bad picture, sorry!). We carpool with Max to preschool so we get to spend a lot of quality time with him in the car! Davis and Max's conversations seriously crack me up.

The guys doing what guys do best on Thanksgiving...watching football of course!

Our lovely hostess, Cynthia. We had an amazing meal!

I think my very favorite part of Thanksgiving was shopping on black Friday! Jen, Cynthia and I stayed up all night shopping (this was my first time doing some real black friday shopping) and we seriously had such a good time and got such great deals. We divided and conquered those stores-great parking spots, got seriously lucky with short lines and found everything we wanted. We only got in one small fight with a really mean lady in line behind us who obviously needed a huge dose of some Christmas spirit and also met a bunch of really fun nice people. It was a good time. I can't wait to do it again next year.

Great Wolf Lodge

The two days before Thanksgiving we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Cinncinati with our great friends and neighbors, the Madsens. It is a really fun family oriented hotel that has an indoor waterpark. We had an amazing time and it was so fun to get away for a couple of days. Also, weird and great to be swimming when it was raining and super cold outside.

Steve and Emery hanging out in our room. She sticks her tongue out like this all the time.

The kids going crazy in the water.

Emery was seriously so cute in the water. She just splashed and splashed and loved every second.

The Madsens plus Emery

Such a good time. Can't wait to go again next year!

Davis is Thankful

Davis' Thanksgiving program at his preschool was this last Friday. He did a really good job singing and his teacher told me he was the best singer in the class. They sang a few cute Thanksgiving songs and then we had a Thanksgiving feast with all of the families who's kids go to school there it was really fun. I love that he gets to go to school with his cousins.

Davis, Eva and Josh are thankful!

Lately...

What we've been up to lately...

Emery's first time swinging. I think she liked it?

Davis happy someone is out playing with him on the swingset (me and Emery)

These two are always monkeying around.

Emery's favorite past time playing in the pantry.

We finally had a rainy day after a really long dry spell here which is unusual. Emery looked so cute in her raincoat!

CRAZY hair. Her hair was driving me crazy so I cut the sides and back but not the top so that I could put barretts in it. Steve thought it was funny to make it all stand up after her bath. Poor kid with bad hair. Hopefully it will grow nicely someday.

Why I love Shutterfly...

Okay, can you believe that Christmas is sneaking up on us so quickly? It was like Halloween lasted forever and I couldn't mentally move on to Christmas until Halloween was over...which for those of you know the normal me, know that is very unnormal! I like to have my Christmas shopping done and Christmas cards sealed and addressed by October 31st. I don't know what has happened to me this year. I guess I am just enjoying every minute of my sweet kiddos and I have to say, the older they get the more fun Holidays are. Thus, Halloween was so much more fun this year and I just couldn't get past it. Anyway, I digress...the point is: Christmas is right around the corner and I have NOTHING done.


This is where Shutterfly comes in. Normally I would stress out trying to make my own Christmas cards on photoshop...which I don't really know how to use and then I would have to enlist someone who does know how to use it to help me, taking up their Christmas preparation time and mine. Not this year, my friends. I am in love with Shutterfly's holiday cards and they will be taking off a little holiday stress for me.

Here are a couple of my favorites...
I love how you can put your Christmas letter right on the card if you want and I am also loving the color combinations.


Check out these links to see what other amazing and fun Christmas and Holiday cards they offer:

Christmas cards: www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmascards

Holiday cards: http://www.shutterfly.com/

You can easily upload your own photos for these cards at: www.shutterfly.com/upload-pictures

If you are a blogger and want to get a special offer, bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, click here: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Okay my friends, good luck with your holiday planning and preparation!

Nine Months Old!!

This pretty lady turned 9 months old last week. How 9 months have passed since she was born, I have no idea! Here are nine fun things about Emery Jae:
1. She is little! She weighs 16 lbs, 5 1/2 oz (10th percentile) and is 27 1/4 inches tall (39th percentile)
2. She can crawl on her knees but thinks it is much more efficient to scoot on her tummy.
3. She has the most beautiful smile (with 2 of the cutest little teeth you've ever seen) and smiles at everyone. I feel like the luckiest mom alive every time she awards me with that pretty smile.
4. She is getting a new tooth on top...one of her incisors. I am thinking she is going to look like a little vampire pretty quick here.
5. Emery loves her brother and loves it when he plays with her.
6. She loves to pull all of the books off of Davis' shelves while we read before bed or naptime and her favorite place to play is in the pantry-she pulls everything she can reach out and enjoys herself immensely in there. It keeps her occupied while I am cooking.
7. Emery is a super happy baby. Everyone comments on how content she is and how she is always happy. As long as she is rested and fed, she really is the best girl. She really has a calm, happy disposition.
8. Emery is an amazing sleeper and I just love it! She loves bath time and gets so excited when you take her in the bathroom and turn the water on in the tub.
9. Emery has made our family and home feel more complete and just full of joy. I truly cannot get enough of her and we all just adore her. She is the most amazing little girl and I am so glad that she is ours!

Happy Halloween

I am slow in posting our Halloween pictures...my internet has been down all week. But, I am back in business, thank goodness! We had a good Halloween, except Davis got pretty sick and didn't even want to trick or treat (after about 15 minutes he was crying and Steve either had to carry him or I pushed him in the stroller). Sad! Oh, and Emery face planted on the porch while I was trying to take these pictures and was super unhappy and looked like she got beat up! Other than that, it was great!

It is so hard to get a good picture of both of the kids-and Davis is making some goofy faces these days every time I try to take his picture! Anyway, these two were the cutest pirates ever! I think Emery looked more like a biker chick and could have used a Harley to complete her outfit!

The traditional pre-trick or treating cousin picture. What a bunch of cuties!

Davis' class had a fun Halloween party. Steve had just flown in from a business trip and we were both able to go to the party. Davis loved that his Dad was there.

Davis and Mallory (also one his friends from church).

Eva loves Ms. Emery!

Our ward trunk or treat was at a member's farm this year. We got to go on hayrides and had a great time with our ward. Josh and Davis make pretty cute pirates I have to say.

Davis' preschool pumpkin patch

For Davis' preschool we went on a field trip to Ms. Martha's pumpkin patch. The kids loved the hay ride....

..Feeding the horse...

..Climbing the hay bale...

..picking their very own pumpkin..
..and playing with their teacher Ms. Kim and the kids in their class

Indianapolis Half Marthon

Jenny and I met up with her good friends (and now my good friends!), Amy and Linsee up in Indianapolis two weekends ago and ran the Indianapolis half marathon. It was the first race I have run since we have moved out here and it was nice to get back into it! I had a great race (super beautiful course through a state park with amazing fall colors) and it was such a great weekend to just hang out with the girls and get away. This was Jenny's first race ever (she probably hates me for talking her into doing it), and I was so proud of her!


We wore these awesome sparkle skirts...not my usual kind of thing (you know I don't even like dressing up for halloween!) but I was a good sport and it was actually really fun-everyone commented on them and yelled lots of encouragement to the 'sparkle girls' while we were running...I ended up running the last half by myself and then I have to say I was a little more self concious about the whole skirt thing, but it is good not to take yourself too seriously, right?!

The worst thing that happened was right as the race was starting I went to turn on my ipod and it must have been turned on in my purse and was completely dead. So, 13.1 miles with no music. I was so sad! After finishing this race, I think I am ready to train for a full marathon. Hopefully I can run one in the spring. There is nothing like running. I just love it!