Gingerbread house

Is it still called a gingerbread house when it's made out of graham crackers? I don't know. Anyway, we decided to make one the other day so I searched our house to find lots of fun stuff to use. I was amazed that I had so much random stuff that I'm not sure where it came from or why I even had it, but it was all perfect for a gingerbread house. I'm pretty sure that Addison ate more frosting than she put on the house. That girl has a huge weakness for frosting.

Urban pretty much has a weakness for anything that's edible, and even some things that aren't! But that's okay, we love our big boy.

Here's the finished product. Isn't it so cute? Addison did a great job. Okay, so I helped out a little bit. At one point Addison asked me what she could do to help. It was then that I realized I needed to back off. =)

This picture cracks me up only because of what happened afterwards. I wish I got shots of that because it was hilarious, but instead I was too busy throwing the camera down and grabbing Urban off the table before he completely sabotaged our house. See how Addison is just innocently admiring her house while Urban is looking at it devilishly? Well, in about half a second flat he moved from that position to being completely on top of the table, swiping his hand across the right corner of the front yard and shoveling it into his mouth. He was so proud of himself, but got very upset with me when I put him down on the floor. Addison looked completely shocked, like she wasn't quite sure what just happened. After adding a little bit more frosting, some "coconut grass", green sprinkles, gumdrops for the walkway and pez for the fence it was all as good as new.

Christmas Village

We all bundled up the other night and headed down to Christmas Village. There's a manger scene, lots of fun lights and each little "house" in the village is decorated all cute and Christmas-y. Addison loved looking at all of the decorations. There was also a stage area where some girls were putting on a dance performance. She especially loved that, I think she would have stayed and watched all night if we let her. Unfortunately it was absolutely FREEZING and Urban wasn't quite enjoying it as much as the rest of us, so we couldn't stay all night. After sipping on some hot chocolate and watching one more performance we headed home for the night.

I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but we had Urban so wrapped up in layers that he couldn't really even move. His hands were permanently sticking straight out to the sides. Whenever we'd put him down to walk he would just fall right over which of course upset him greatly.

Here's Addison sitting and watching the dancers. At one point she started dancing along, I think she was just trying to keep somewhat warm. We knew that Urban had had enough when he didn't even bob his head to the music. That boy loves to dance and usually can't resist a good tune but this time he just sat motionless in my arms letting out a little whimper every once in a while.

My little ballerina

Addison started her dance class today and she is the cutest ballerina EVER! It's a ballet/jazz class for 3 to 4 year olds and we are all so excited. When Addison gets excited about something she turns into such a chatterbox. She's been talking about her dance class for days and talked my ear off all the way to the studio.


I'm so glad that she's so into it because she can be difficult when it comes to trying new things sometimes. That's part of the reason I wanted her to do this. I don't want her to be afraid to try new things. That way she can discover her true talents and find the things she really enjoys. I also figured the social interaction would be great for her. I hope she does well but more than that I hope she has fun.

Here she is telling me that she would see me later because she was going to stay and dance with her new friends.


She loved her first day. When we went to pick her up she told us she didn't want to leave. Unfortunately I didn't realize until after her class that out in the lobby there was a TV that showed the classes going on so the parents can watch their dancers (see the previous post on what an airhead I am) so I'll have to do that next time.


I can't wait for her first recital. How cute will that be?

IT'S OFFICIAL...

I am definitely NOT the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree!

There's been a lot of speculation for years as to how big of a moron I am. I am extremely naive and don't have much "street smarts". I am constantly having to ask Jared "what's that mean?" because there's a lot that I just don't get. I think I was able to fool people for several years due to the fact that I got straight A's all through high school and some how managed to graduate from college.

Well, tonight I am able to say that apparently it has all been a facade. I am, in fact, a HUGE moron.

Both of my boys are feeling sick today so I thought it would be nice to make some homemade soup. This morning I put all of the ingredients into the crock pot, set it to low and looked forward to a yummy dinner later on without a lot of hassle so I could focus on taking care of Jared & Urban. With about an hour left to cook I went to add some last minute additions. I thought it was odd that the lid wasn't hot and steam didn't come piling out when I opened it, but I didn't think much about it. I went on adding & mixing until I realized that the potatoes still weren't soft. Hmmm, I thought, that's strange. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to turn it to high to cook for the last little bit. I continued getting the bread ready to put in the oven when I stopped in my tracks. Wait a minute, finally it was all starting to make sense. And the sense it was making was that none of this made any sense at all. If the crock pot had been on all day long then none of this was possible. But I couldn't be dumb enough to have not turned it on...could I? No, of course not, but I could be dumb enough to not plug the darn thing in! "Are you freakin' serious?" I yelled from the kitchen so Jared came in to see if everything was okay. He just started laughing when I explained everything to him. Luckily we had chocolate chip cookies that were supposed to be for dessert that we are snacking on until the soup is ready on the stove top. Yes, I am writing this in the middle of this whole mess, apparently I have some time to kill.

I still can't believe I did that. Our delicious dinner that I've been working on all day and some how, amidst all the clues, I never realized that I didn't plug the stupid thing in.

So there you have it, that's my proof. There should be no doubt left in anyone's mind.

Okay, I know (at least I hope) that I can't be the only one to have done something so silly. So spill your stories, they'll be fun to read.

Now I better go make sure I turned the burner on.

elf dance

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

We've seen these on a couple other blogs and Addison just loves them. They are hilarious! We sit around watching them over & over cracking ourselves up. Enjoy!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a pretty great weekend.

On Saturday I had a girl's night out with Heather and I haven't had one of those in I don't know how long. We started out by going to a craft store and getting some way cute gift ideas.

Then we went to Costa Vida for dinner. I had a sweet pork salad that was SO GOOD! I've been craving another one ever since.

After that we went to see Twilight. Can I get a WOO-HOO?! I loved this book series. They were so fun to read and I really got attached to the characters. I was actually kind of disappointed in the movie though. Of course movies that are based on books are never as good as the books themselves, but this kind of seemed like a low budget, independent film or something. Parts of it were really good (like Edward) but some were kind of silly. I'm still totally glad I went to see it though. How could I not after spending the last 2 years reading the books? The experience was a blast. I felt kind of bad for the husbands/boyfriends that were dragged to the movie by their wives/girlfriends because if you hadn't read the books (which I'm assuming most of them hadn't) I think parts of the movie wouldn't make a lot of sense and you just wouldn't be as into it as the hard core followers. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to make Jared watch it when it comes out on video. =) I'm already super excited for the next one!

Last but not least we went to Chili's to get some dessert to bring home to the hubbies. We figured that by making such a nice gesture they'd be more likely to let us have another girl's night soon. Oh, and the lady who took our order thought Heather and I were twins which made my day since everyone thinks she's a super model. =) It was kind of weird though because the entire time we were there we kept saying the same exact thing at the same exact time. It was like we were sharing a brain or something. The lady kept laughing at us and giving us strange looks.

We also took the kids to see Madagascar 2 this weekend. They had a lot of fun. Addison was so cute watching it. She was laughing and cheering and clapping the entire time. She loved it! Urban was really good in the beginning. He would laugh and dance every time he heard music. That boy loves to dance! It's like he just can't help himself, if he hears music he HAS to dance. We went during his nap time though so once he got sick of eating popcorn & dancing he was not to pleased to be sitting still on my lap. We ended up spending half of the movie out in the van playing around. Oh well, it was still a really fun family time.

Today's Tidbits

A conversation between Addison & me

Addi: (looking down at her hands in disgust) "Mom, I need to wash my hands because they're all dirty."

Me: "Okay. Did they get dirty when you were playing outside?"

Addi: (looking at me like I'm crazy) "No, because I was picking my nose."

At least she's honest!


Later in the evening, Jared & I were looking through a Victoria's Secret catalog that came in the mail (what? we were looking at the clothing section ;-) ). Well Addison came up and started looking at it too, telling us about all of the things she wanted. She liked the pretty mommy panties, make-up, lotion, pajamas, etc. (she has very girly, sophisticated taste). Jared didn't realize that they sold "real" clothing (what man does?) so when we got to that section he said "hey, this stuff is really cute."

me: "yeah, I know. I wish they carried it in their stores because I'd rather try stuff on than buy it from a catalog."

Jared: "That's stupid that they don't."

Addi: "Hey, don't call Heather stupid."

Jared & me: "First of all, that's not a nice word, daddy shouldn't have said that. But what are you talking about? Where do you see Heather?"

Addi: (pointing to one of the V.S. models) "Right there, that's Heather."

Jared & me: (laughing) "That's not Heather."

Jared: "Actually, that looks like Cindy Crawford."

me: "That's not Cindy Crawford, but Heather's going to love this story."

So apparently my daughter thinks her Aunt Heather looks like a Victoria's Secret model. Don't worry, I'm not bitter about this at all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go cry myself to sleep! ;)

Tony

I met a man a couple of Sundays ago who unknowingly taught me a very valuable lesson.

Urban was fussing during Sacrament so I was walking him through the halls at church when a man came walking in through the back doors.

"Who runs this ship?" he asked me in a gruff voice.

He was dressed in raggedy clothes and had scruffy facial hair. He smelled so strongly of cigarettes that it almost took my breath away. I explained to him that our Bishop is in charge but that he was in the middle of a meeting at the moment. I asked him if there was anything I could do for him. He went on talking to me for about 15 minutes or so. He told me that he was a hobo (his words, not mine) and that he travels around with a friend of his and their dog. He said that they usually hop trains to get to where they're going, but since it was raining so heavily the trains weren't running so they had nowhere to go. He didn't know how long they were going to be stranded here but he wanted to talk to the bishop about possibly getting a little something for a few meals. They had already gone to a local pet store and someone was nice enough to give them a bag of dog food.

I let him know that our meeting was supposed to be over in about 20 minutes and at that time I could ask the Bishop to come speak with him. He said he would appreciate it then continued to tell a little bit more about his life. He told me that about 10 years ago his wife & son were murdered by a 14 year old boy. It was at that time that he became homeless. He said he just gave up, he didn't care any more. He realized that it wasn't the material things that mattered. Then Tony looked me in the eye and said "this is going to sound bad, but in some weird way that happening was kind of a blessing because it was then that I found God. I can't say that I knew Him before that." I was speechless and trying to choke back tears. What a tragedy this man lived through and look what he got out of it. In many people's eyes it would appear that he's worthless and went in the opposite direction from what he should have. But in his own eyes he came out a better person and he was as happy as he could be considering what happened. He went on to ask me why it is that people don't like homeless people? He said that they don't steal, kill or try to take people's jobs. He said they just keep to themselves and try to survive yet everyone always looks down on them. He told me that sadly it was usually the "religious ones, people with crosses or fish signs (sorry, I don't know what those things are called) on their cars that turn the other way and pretend not to see him holding his sign". I wasn't quite sure how to respond to him. I told him that people usually aren't comfortable with what they're not familiar with and being homeless is something most people can't relate to.

To make a long story short, I went back to sacrament meeting and waited for it to be over so I could go talk to our bishop. Our closing hymn happened to be "Because I Have Been Given Much" and that was just too much for me to handle. I started bawling. I felt like such a fool but I just couldn't help it. I felt so overwhelmed with emotions of gratitude for all that I have and of sorrow for this homeless man I just encountered. I couldn't pull myself together. I cried all through the song and during the closing prayer and all the way up to talk to the bishop. Luckily Jared translated for me since I was crying so hard I couldn't really even breathe, much less talk. Our bishop was very sympathetic but said unfortunately since it was Sunday none of the church's facilities were open and since they don't just hand out money all he could do was refer the man to a local shelter.

I felt so bad. I didn't know what to do. I asked Jared what he thought we could do to help this man. He said that since we had just paid our last little bit of money to tithing there wasn't much we could do. Well, of course I was sobbing the whole way home so as we pulled into our driveway Jared said "let's go inside and fix Tony and his friend some food and I'll bring it back to him". I was so excited to do this. So we made a bunch of sandwiches and threw some snacks and a gallon of water into a bag and Jared drove it back down to the church. Of course by the time he got there Tony was no longer there, but Jared drove around the block a little ways and found him standing on a corner with his sign. He drove up to him and explained that his wife was the one talking to him at the church. He was so very grateful and appreciative for the food we had prepared for him but said he was disappointed in the church for not doing more to help. This made me so very sad because our church is so giving and charitable. I had understood where the bishop was coming from but apparently Tony did not. Hopefully our little gesture shed a little light onto the true spirit and kindness our church possesses.

I hate how emotional I get sometimes but I just can't help it in certain situations. I am just overtaken by such strong feelings. I'm pretty sure my bishop thinks I'm a nut. The next 2 times he saw me after that Sunday he came up to ask me how I was doing and make sure I was okay while assuring me that things like that used to really bother him too but it happens so often now that he kind of got used to it.

Anyway, I know this is a lengthy post, but I also wanted to attach the lyrics to the wonderful hymn that helped me to feel the Spirit so strongly.

Because I have been given much, I too must give
Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live
I shall divide my gifts from thee With ev'ry brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me.

Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care,
I cannot see another's lack and I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread, My roof's safe shelter overhead,
That he too may be comforted.

Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord,
I'll share thy love again, according to thy word.
I shall give love to those in need; I'll show that love by word and deed:
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.

I realized that it's so easy for me to take things for granted. It's so easy for me to focus on the things that I don't have and that I want rather than be thankful for all that I do have which is truly so much more than I need. I need to kneel in prayer daily, even several times daily, and express heartfelt gratitude to my Heavenly Father.

I realized that I need to do more for others who may not be so blessed with adequate shelter or food supply or the same opportunities as me. I want to volunteer and help those in my community who may be less fortunate and be a good example to my children.

I was reminded that I should never judge others no matter what because I never know their circumstances or what they've been through. Even if I do learn of their story I still shouldn't judge because everything effects everyone differently.

I learned that love, something that takes absolutely nothing away from me or my family in any way, is also something that needs to be shared. I learned that love can be shown and shared in so many different ways. Even if it's just lending an ear to a lonely stranger who has a story to tell.

Please don't think I'm just trying to pat myself on the back by sharing this story. That is not the case at all, in fact I wish there was so much more I could do. It was really just a wonderful, spiritual learning experience for me so I thought I would share. In reality Tony did so much more for me than we did for him.

Thank you Tony. May peace, safety and health accompany you during your travels.

(All right, so I didn't make this a short story at all. Thanks for hanging in there.)

Where are you

Scooby-doo?

Here are some pictures of Urban as scooby-doo since I didn't really post any last time. He looked so cute!

The kids had a blast trick-or-treating. We all got dressed up again and went around the neighborhood.

Urban was a little fussy in the beginning so we gave him a rice cake to keep him busy in his stroller. The first house we went to was our next door neighbor who is a sweet little old lady. Our kids have fun playing with her dog through the fence in our backyard. When our neighbor opened up her door her dog came running out, went straight up to Urban and snatched his rice cake right out of his hands. He started to pout a little bit, but we all started laughing so he realized it was okay. As soon as we got going again he was perfectly happy seeing all of the Halloween sights.

We went down our street and the street behind us and figured that was plenty of candy, especially since we still had so much at home. I was kind of surprised because Addison is so shy, but she went up to every door and knocked, said "trick-or-treat", let everybody ooh & aah over how cute she was, answer all of their questions and then say "thank-you" after she got some candy. Both of the kids did such a great job. We really had a fun night.

I'm sad to have to take down all of my Halloween decorations but am looking forward to the upcoming holidays.

Carving pumpkins

We completely forgot about carving our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch until Thursday night, but that was the night of our ward shindig. By the time we got home we just didn't feel like doing it so the kids and I carved our pumpkins Friday afternoon so they'd be ready for Halloween night. Addison didn't want to touch the "pumpkin guts" because she doesn't like being dirty and I wasn't brave enough to let Urban get his hands on a raw pumpkin, although I'm sure he would have loved it (maybe if Jared was with us). So I ended up doing most of the work by myself while the kids watched. We still had a lot of fun. Urban just played with his little pumpkin and our pumpkin lids while Addison did whatever she could to help. She carefully tried to scrape the inside of a pumpkin, but when she accidentally flipped a seed up on to her face it was all over. She just looked at me trying not to get too upset saying "get it off, get it off!". I started cracking up at her reaction, or should I say over-reaction (after all, it was just one little pumpkin seed) so she finally started giggling too. She settled for letting me do the dirty work while she decorated the pumpkins. One of the kits we got came with glitter pens, so she went to work making the pumpkins sparkle and look pretty.

As you can see, Urban got a little wild and crazy with his pumpkin. This is why we call him "monster man". It's quite fitting.

Here she is apprehensively cleaning out her pumpkin.

Can you see the lone little pumpkin seed on her cheek?

Here she explained to me that her pumpkin was tired, so she gave it a hug goodnight. She has quite an imagination, I don't know where she gets half of the stuff she says from.

VOILA! The finished products. Addison picked out both of the designs. We had a fun afternoon carving pumpkins. Next year we'll be more on the ball so daddy can do it with us.

Trunk-or-Treat

Tonight was our ward Halloween party. We had donuts & hot chocolate and the kids went trunk-or-treating. Addison and Urban looked ADORABLE. I want them to wear their costumes every single day. Addison didn't want to be a cheerleader at first but she finally came around and I'm so glad. She makes a perfect cheerleader. And I was kind of bummed at first that Urban was going to be Scooby because I was trying to find a different costume for him that I just wasn't able to find. But he was the cutest Scooby-Doo ever! Everyone loved their costumes and they had a blast getting candy (of course) and watching all of the other kids who were dressed up so cute. I was a little surprised that more adults didn't dress up though. I think there were probably only 4 other grown-ups besides Jared & me who wore costumes. I was a witch & Jared was a 70's basketball player (for those of you who couldn't tell). Since Jared & Addi's costumes coordinated we taught Addison the "Daddy, daddy, he's our man. If he can't do it no one can!" cheer. Here she is performing it.Ready, okay!

Mid-cheer

Yay! Woo-Hoo! Go Daddy!

She's so dang cute, I love that girl!

Oh, and just to clarify (since they have the same colors), she is a UNLV cheerleader not a U of U cheerleader. I gotta stay true to my school no matter where I live. =)

I'll post pictures of Urban tomorrow once I put him back in his costume. I didn't get my camera out until I had already taken his costume off.

BOO!!!

Did I scare you?

We went "boo-ing" last night and made these cute little goodies.

We put some silly toys and treats in the bag and Addison helped me make the cookies. She was so excited about all the shapes we were using. Ever since we got "boo-ed" a couple of nights ago she's been excited to do it to someone else. When I explained to her what was going to happen (that we would quietly go to someone's door and put the treats down then knock and run away and hide) she just listened intently with a huge smile. When I was finished she said "that sounds like so much fun, it's a good story to me!" So Daddy & Urban stayed in the get away car while Addison and I delivered the goodies to the door. She did a great job being sneaky. Once we got back in the car though and she realized that we weren't staying to play with Avery (we "boo-ed" my sister's family), she was a little sad.

Pumpkin Patch

The Saturday before last we took the kids to a pumpkin patch. We all had a lot of fun. There was a little farmer's market area with produce and pumpkins. Addison loved looking at the different shapes, sizes & colors of the pumpkins. She was so worried about picking one out. We kept telling her we would do it before we left so that we didn't have to carry it around with us. I guess she thought we'd forget because she kept asking us if she could go back and pick out her pumpkin.
There was also a petting zoo area with lots of fun farm animals. Urban was quite amused by them and Addison liked petting the cows.

In the middle of the field they had lots of fun activities to do. There was a bouncy house, little rides and lots of slides. Addi was being a little bit of a stinker and wouldn't go down any of the slides. But Urbi was having a blast riding down with his daddy. This picture cracks me up because that little boy in the red shirt was booking it to get out of Jared's way. I think he thought he was going to run him down! Unfortunately I was dumb and wore a dress (I don't recommend doing that) so I couldn't go down any of the slides without risking inappropriate exposure for a family activity.

We also went through a corn maze which was fun and confusing. We always get so turned around in those things. The kids were excited at first but eventually just wanted to

get out of there.

Last but not least we went on this fantastic hayride. Our driver was a lot of fun and made us sing songs and shout out "yee-haw" before he would go anywhere. He also went over all the bumps really fast (well as fast as a tractor pulling a trailer full of people can go) and made us all jump all over the place and get real familiar with our neighbors. The kids liked the bouncing. We rode out to the middle of the pumpkin patch where we got to pick out our pumpkins. Once we were done we got back on the tractor trailer to go back to our cars. As I mentioned before I wore a dress, well, along with that dress I wore high heeled boots. After I had picked out my pumpkin I started walking back to the trailer. I had Urban in one arm and my big pumpkin in the other. I'm sure you can probably guess where this is going...yep, I biffed it. As I started to fall I was contemplating in my head what I should do because obviously I didn't want to drop my child, (and this may sound awful)but I also didn't want to drop my pumpkin and have it splatter to the ground. I figured that maybe dropping Urban would be a good lesson for him, that lesson being LEARN TO WALK ALREADY!!! Maybe he would realize that his mom is not coordinated enough to walk for the both of us. Anyway, obviously I would never let my baby fall. Luckily I was able to catch myself with one of my knees so I could kind of roll my pumpkin to the ground and grab ahold of Urban. Can you believe that boy had the nerve to yell at me! It really wasn't like a scared cry, it was like a yell of annoyance. I think he was embarrassed. So was I! As I got up to assess the damage I realized that I was filthy. I was wearing dark colors so the dust & dirt showed up perfectly all down the left side of me. I had dirt all down inside my boot, a hole in my tights and little pieces of leaf stuck all over the cute scarf I had borrowed from my sister (sorry Heath). While I was trying to clean myself off I looked up and noticed that almost all of the other people were already back up on the trailer and just looking down at those of us still choosing our pumpkins. So of course I caught their attention by displaying my graceful pumpkin/baby juggling act. Man did I feel stupid, but I still had to laugh. It was quite funny and I learned a valuable lesson for next year...don't wear a dress and heels to a pumpkin patch. I'm not Heather, I can't pull it off. =) All in all it was a great day. We made lots of fun family memories.

What is this stuff?

Okay, so I grew up in southern California and have spent my entire adult life in either Las Vegas or Phoenix. So I guess you could say I'm not exactly sure what a "real" winter consists of. Well, a couple of weeks ago (I think it was Sunday the 12th) I found out. We had a freak snow storm in October and probably got about 8 to 10 inches of snow. What the heck is that all about? I'm not a big fan of cold weather (to put it mildly) but seeing my first snow was kind of fun. I've been to the snow before to play and stuff but have only seen the actual act of snowing once before when Jared & I took a trip to Alaska. This was beautiful. We got some really big snow flakes falling. The funny thing is, the weather the next week was in the high 70's to low 80's...perfect!
The kids had so much fun playing in it. Addison was so excited. When she woke up in the morning I took her to the window to look outside. She got a huge smile on her face and started giggling and said "Wow, it's so beautiful. Where does snow come from?" I thought that was such a cute reaction. After all, she had only seen snow once before when we came to Utah for Christmas one year. All day long she was staring out the window until we went outside to play.

Urban was ADORABLE! He was cracking me up. This was his first encounter with snow and he LOVED it! I was holding him outside (because he's STILL not walking) and he was squirming like crazy trying to get out of my arms. Finally I stood him up in the snow just hoping that he wouldn't get too cold. He could care less about the cold. He was rolling around in it like he was a super model on a bear skin rug or something.

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture until later in the afternoon when a lot of the snow had already melted. Earlier in the day though it was covering all the trees and bushes and piled up on the roof and grass. It was quite a sight.

We threw snow balls at eachother and ran around for a little while then went inside for a nice cup of hot chocolate. It was a cozy day.

Finally!

I've been trying to post this forever but have been having problems. First I couldn't figure out how to download pictures onto my computer because some how the photo program re-formatted itself. Then I couldn't find my camera for a couple of days so I didn't have the memory card to download.

Anyway, about 3 weeks ago Jared's parents came to stay with us for a week. We kept busy and had a lot of fun but unfortunately I didn't end up with any pictures of all of us together. I don't know how that happened, I feel really bad.

I'm not sure how much of a vacation it was for them seeing as how they helped us do a lot of stuff around the house while they were here. Jared and his dad replaced the carpet in two rooms downstairs in the basement (and did a great job might I add) while Dianna helped me re-upholster some furniture. I use the words "helped me" very loosely seeing as how I didn't do a single thing other than pick out the fabric and watch her go to work. She did a fantastic job too, it totally looks professional. I wouldn't have even known where to start. She re-upholstered the cushions on our chair, made some throw pillows for the couch to match and made me a pattern so I can re-upholster my chaise once I find material I like.

Dianna also showed me how to cut Jared's hair. She cut his right side and I cut his left and I must say that the left side of his head looked FABULOUS! He got compliments on it for days. ;) I put my skills to the test for the first time today. I cut Urban's hair all by myself. I was very nervous (especially after what I did to my own hair) because he is such a wiggle worm. I just sat him in his high chair with a sucker and got to it. It actually turned out pretty good. I messed up in a few spots but you can't really tell unless you're looking for it. It's kind of short but his hair grows so fast I figured the shorter the better. I couldn't believe the pile of hair that stacked up, it's only been a little over two months since his last cut. So what do you think Dianna? How did I do?

It makes him look like such a big boy, it kind of makes me sad.

We also did plenty of shopping. Anyone who knows Jared's family knows that those Estes' LOVE TO SHOP!!! It doesn't matter what store you go to or whether or not you even need a certain item...if it's on sale for a good enough price you buy it! After all, you may not need it but somebody else could use it! =) I like to tease them about their shopping habits, but it really is pretty fun to go shopping with them. They search the aisles for clearance racks and if you just barely mention that you like this or could use that then it's put in the cart faster than you know what happened. We went to the base, thrift stores, antique stores, furniture stores, craft stores, fabric stores, decorative stores like Tai Pan (which is Ron's new favorite store EVER by the way! hee hee) home improvement stores, department stores, malls, Wal-Mart (a couple of times), Target, and I'm sure I'm probably missing some and this was all within a week.

The week went by so fast, I don't know where the time went. Addison is so sad now that all of her grandparents are gone. For the last almost 3 weeks she's had one set of grandparents or the other here visiting. She and Urban have been SPOILED and doted on non stop. And I miss having my dishes done by the magical "dish fairy". I probably only had to do the dishes about 4 times or so while the moms were here visiting. Thanks a lot for everything grandma & grandpa. We love you and miss you already!

Photo shoot

Heather did a mini photo shoot with Urban for his 1st birthday and she got some great shots. If you would like to see some pictures of my cutie pie you can go to http://tippytoesblog.blogspot.com. Thanks again Heather, can't wait to get our family pictures now.

1 year old

I can't believe my sweet baby boy is one year old today. The time has gone by so quickly. We've had a lot of rough times this past year but this little guy has always brought us joy and reminded us how truly blessed we are. He started out so little and now he is wearing 24 month clothes at only 12 months old. Don't let his size fool you though, he is the sweetest little cuddle bug ever. He loves to snuggle and cuddle and give loves; he is SO affectionate. He is a very happy boy. Whenever we go out we get comments on what a good, happy baby he is.

He also loves to tease his sister. How they learn so young that they're supposed to bug their siblings is beyond me!

He LOVES to eat (that's probably pretty obvious if you've ever seen his cheeks & thighs). His favorite foods are: cheese, meat sticks, mandarin oranges, rice cakes, bananas, spinach ravioli, rib bones, pretzels, cheerios, of course his new favorites cake & ice cream...hmmm, this may be easier if I list what he doesn't like: corn (he always spits it back out) and I think that's about it!

His nicknames at the moment are: bobo, Urbie, Urbster, Urbanski, Urbski, monster, bugga boo, sweet boy, little man, big sir, mister man, snicker doodle, snickel fritz. Really it's a wonder that the poor boy even knows what his actual name is!

We had his birthday party on Friday and it was so nice because both of his grandmas and grandpas got to be here for it as well as some of his cousins. We did a fishing theme for his party so there were lots of worms & fish (gummy worms and gold fish crackers that is) as well as fish shaped grilled cheese sandwiches which were surprisingly a huge hit among the kiddos & adults (I think we all must have been very hungry).

It was so much fun to watch Urban eat his first piece of cake. I totally thought he would just devour it in seconds but he was actually unsure what to do with it for a little while. He just kind of looked at it for a while and poked his finger in it before he finally discovered it's yummy goodness and chowed down.

His party was a ton of fun. Thank you so much to everyone who shared it with us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY URBAN CLAUDE, WE LOVE YOU!!!