bye,bye

this past week we gave mugsy away to our neighbors down the street who've been our dog-sitters during our trips here and there. we had been debating whether or not we should give him away, and in the end, we felt it best. the family was sobbing with joy, literally sobbing. merry christmas. and you know, that's when we knew we did the right thing. we just aren't INDOOR dog people, you know? i can't waste my time pampering a snobby pug who refuses to take a potty break in the cold snow, while my children run around the house being neglected....isaiah isn't even potty-trained for crying out loud. i wasn't about to do double duty, no thank you. so, sam and thought we'd be more heartbroken than we are, which is not at all. ha! i know! its almost sad that i'm not tearing up writing this crazy blog. he was a fun dog to have for a while, but it was time, and besides, we still have visitation rights. works for me. and now i can finally breathe...without the smell of wet dog lingering in the air. he's in a better place.

ho,ho...HEY!

just as we were about to eat tonight, the doorbell rang. hmm, that's unusual. it was pretty late in the evening and if anyone was going to make an appearance around dinner time it would be the boys...uncle darrell or uncle nathan-but rarely do they ever knock or ring the doorbell. before i even had a second to think of who it could be, isaiah raced to the front and swung the door wide open. i didn't recognize the man standing on our front step, but isaiah couldn't care less....all he heard was, "are you isaiah?" yep. "guess who's here to see you!" isaiah peered further outside and saw santa clause hitching a ride in the back of a van covered with christmas lights. before i knew it, my barefoot son had run off, too ecstatic to think about the cold beneath his feet. agh! what the...?! come back! you don't have shoes on, let alone socks....and what if this santa is a phony? what if they're just luring my unsuspecting son to their treat filled van and hokey santa, only to take him away?! i wasn't crazy about this whole santa business to say the least. like any other overprotective mama bear, i ran right behind isaiah (without my shoes too, brr!), ready to beat down santa if i had to, and kept close watch on isaiah as he engaged in short, but thrilled, conversation with mr.clause. he was given a bag of christmas treats and thankfully handed back to me. but my thrilled little boy couldn't contain the excitement of the surprise visit and as we walked back in he yelled out for everyone in a 2 mile radius to hear, "THANK YOU SANTA! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TOO SANTA! WE HAVE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE IN OUR HOUSE SANTA! BYE SANTA! i have to say, once the relief that this was a legit santa, and the fact that isaiah was safe back in my arms had set in, i thought - isaiah is one cute kid! i loved seeing the delight in his eyes. its tempting to keep the lie of santa clause going...especially when you need some bargaining room. ;)

old st. nick and late, late, nights!

what a wild weekend! it all began on friday when i went out with my friend, amanda, for lunch. she stole a minute away from her son (who was playing with isaiah once again - double bonus for him!) and we had some time to enjoy in real grown-up conversation. little did we know, our kids were having a wild time back at my place. sam had offered to take care of the kids while we went out (i know, he's the best hubby!)....and when lunch was over, i called home just to check up on things, ya know? anyway, i could barely hear sam over the techno music blaring in the background, "sorry honey, can't hear you, we're having a rave!" i laughed out loud and thought, i am so glad we have differing styles when it comes to parenting. yeah, sometimes sam makes me nervous with some of the crazy things he does...but at this moment, the boys and makayah were jumping and dancing around the house to techno music, having the time of their lives! i love the way we compliment each other. anyway, too bad i missed their rave! lucky for me, the fun didn't end that friday afternoon. the next day (saturday), we had our ward christmas party. this time, there was plenty of food and...taadaa! Santa Claus! of course, out of the 70 children present at this christmas feast, MY son is the first on his lap. before poor old st. nick even had a chance to sit down, isaiah had bulldozed into his legs and somehow tackled him into his seat, with isaiah landing in his lap. i wish i hadn't forgotten the camera at home! i honestly don't know where all his excitement for santa claus came from...??? after isaiah's run-in with santa, he began asking all sorts of questions, "where does santa live? does he live in canada?" anyway, sam had offered once again to take care of the kids while i had a night out with the girls. it was already pretty late and i was debating on whether or not the 10pm movie was worth missing my bedtime. ;) so i took the risk and then some. we ended up going to village inn afterwards...laughing 'till we cried and reminiscing on our wild college memories. we had such a great time, it was just like the good ol' days! i had gotten so caught up in the hysterical laughing and the nostalgia of it all i had completely lost track of time. it took a while to actually tear ourselves away from the table and leave. but by the time i had broken into my own home through the kitchen window and crawled into bed it was 4 IN THE MORNING! i can't remember the last time i had stayed up that late! what was i thinking?! the next morning i had a primary program to attend to. it all worked out and somehow i was able to keep my eyelids from crashing down...but i managed. the rest is all a blur...so i'll get back to ya'll later.

sorry, gotta take this one...

the play date may have just ended, but it was just the beginning for pookie monster. it might have been the sugar cookie she snatched away from her big brother....but for the rest of the day she was so revved up! here she is on the phone...it happened to be an important phone call, i'm assuming, since she insisted i be quiet. sam had gone on a quick run to home depot...makayah picked up the phone and was trying to get though to him "dada? da?" she never dialed the right numbers (obviously!) but the phone did ring a couple times, and i had to do some mad dashing to stop her calls to china...or who knows where! and here she is again...her favorite thing, emptying drawers and whatever else she can get her hands into. if you listen closely...she says "mess" just after i say it. what a smart cookie! at the end of the day, even her uncle darrell was worn out!

my sugar cookies...

we had quite the day today. isaiah has been begging for a playdate and one of my good friends needed a break....so despite some runny noses...on with the show! last year about this time i was 9 months prego with makayah and i just couldn't host anything fun, like decorating christmas cookies. so, this year i made sure i did. i watched as isaiah and his best friend, seka, slopped the colored frosting and tiny candies onto their sugar cookies - however, i'm sure their tongues received more frosting than their cookies! they laughed and had a grand ol' time being silly with each other and i loved every minute of it. really, i'm happy when my kids are happy, and i just can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that isaiah has a best friend...someone who is excited to be with him, someone who he can laugh with and say silly boy words with like, "puke" or "worms." i can sit back and enjoy the giggles, breathe a huge sigh of relief, and know that my son is happy and having fun. seka's

little sister, tava, was here too. she and makayah would exchange sweet smiles, wave their hands and continue on with their parallel play. but someday, i know they are going to be the best of friends. when they left, tava came up to makayah, said, "bye, baby!" and waved her hand "goodbye." makayah screeched back in reply and waved her whole body...in the efforts to wave her hand, of course.

someone's got the sniffles

poor, poor, isaiah. i was racking my brain and trying to figure out where he could've caught the bug...and i just can't figure it out. we really haven't been around other people. maybe its just the sudden chill in the air, the sudden change in temperature. in any case, i was wanting to make it all better for him by giving him warm soup and vitamin c. daddy just happened to be sitting on the couch with a "holiday" coke (the only time he says he'll indulge), when he offered isaiah a sip. isaiah held the can in his hands for a second, looked down at the fizzy drink, looked back up at his daddy and said, "no daddy, that's not good for my body!" haha! i have to tell you, i got such a kick out of that! so, he DOES listen to me every once in a while. sam and i both gave a chuckle, and i felt like i had just climbed mount everest. today was victorious. however, with isaiah's nose leaking like a faucet, i guess the battle is only half won.

i'm caught up!

just a note...i've made quite a bit of entries today...playing catch-up. they are all under the dates i should've written them...oh well. thats just how things get done around here. priorities first. the kids DO have to be fed and cared for! ;)

Isaiah-isms and pookie happenings

as my son grows older, its seems his vocabulary expands at a rate his body is trying to keep up with. sometimes i see him and think he is older than he really is. and somedays, i wonder, WHERE DID HE GET THAT FROM? "besides mom, i don't like it!" "because, makayah did it." okay, so it never makes sense all of the time, but that's what makes it all so hilarious. but really, when did my son start knowing how to use the word, "besides" and "because"? he is one mouthy kid. just the other day i was getting after isaiah for getting into mischief....i sent him to time out until he was ready to be nice. after a minute he came out and said, "mom, i'm ready to be a good kid. by the way mom, i like your new hair, its beautiful." and he ran his fingers threw my hair on his way to sit down. it took me completely by surprise and i had to ask him to repeat himself. my baby boy is beginning to reason with me and he knows how to sweet-talk his way out of trouble. and i think, i'm in for it. but my favorite is when he gets caught doing something he shouldn't and just as i am about to get after him he cries out in his defense, "but mom! i'm just a little kid!" even now, it makes me laugh. that could be his excuse for anything and everything if i let it. he learns so many new things each day and he just seems so grown up to me. he is such a little man, raking leaves with daddy, getting himself dressed in the morning, and reading his library books after lunch time. as for makayah, she is just as lively as ever. now that she knows she can "walk" she is practicing her newfound talent all the time. she'll stand up and try to chase mugsy and isaiah around the house. she is too cute! she is always on the go and always has something to say...or scream.

Winter Wonderland

i have to say, i absolutely love this time of year. the smell of pumpkin pies, the twinkling christmas lights, the white blankets of snow, and the sugar-high kids racing around the house - are they every going to get tired? the problem i'm now faced with is, how am i going to keep the christmas tree from being mauled by isaiah, makayah, and mugsy? i couldn't put any candy canes on this year, otherwise, my sneaky 3 yr. old would be wound up for good. and now i can't take my eyes off my recently walking pookie monster who is incredibly fascinated by the "tasty" look of the christmas tree decorations...not to mention those twinkling lights. and i'm not even going to get started on mugsy. lets just say, he's been trying to mark his territory...lucky for us, he's not had any sort of victory. however challenging its been to keep the holiday trimmings in place, i've had more fun than i've ever had watching my children become mesmerized by this magical time of year. this past weekend, the snow kept falling, and falling. the next morning we had a good foot and a half of snow. isaiah couldn't wait to get out to make a snowman...and i was especially excited to take makayah out in the snow. auntie renee helped isaiah with the snowman, and i helped renee out with the partial igloo. man, that was a lot of work! i'm so glad it snowed though. it makes listening to christmas music so much more fun. i'm trying to teach isaiah the more Christ-centered songs...i'd rather not get too wrapped up in the whole santa claus thing. so here we are on a monday morning, dragging makayah away from the christmas tree, keeping isaiah away from the sugar bowl, and trying to get renee's school day started. we're out!

a little wobbly

makayah took her first steps today! we went to church and makayah's friend, charly, had started walking and was showing off her stuff. she's a week younger than makayah. so when we got back from church, makayah wanted to test her skills and see if she could do the same as her little friend. sam, isaiah, and i sat in a small circle so she could walk to each of us. and when she took a couple wobbly steps and fell, she was ecstatic! she smiled her cheesy smile and clapped her chubby hands...and we all joined in. it was so exciting and fun to watch her take her first steps. i hear people say, "things aren't as exciting after the first child." but i have to say, we've taken just as many pictures, if not more, and have been just as thrilled and interested in all of makayah's "firsts." it's a wonderful moment to re-live. all of the firsts makayah experiences reminds me of all of isaiah's firsts, and its all so fun. i love seeing the world for the first time through my children's eyes. i can't wait for all the many more "firsts" to come. this video was taken just after her very first steps video...but this is a little better at showing her cute wobbly self.

playing catch-up

its that time again to catch up on all the things i've forgotten to write or haven't had time to record until now. i really have to keep up or i'm going to forget all the things i want to remember. you know how your kids do something cute or funny or just completely off the wall, and then the next day or week, you can't quite remember how the whole thing went, or what was said exactly? yep, that's me. so, i'll start where i left off...thanksgiving break. my little family headed down to window rock, arizona the day before thanksgiving in our tiny honda. sadly, our much roomier suv was stuck in the shop. so, poor mugsy had to stay home and miss out on all the fun back on the rez. needless to say, we stuffed ourselves silly with all the celebrating. we had thanksgiving dinner, then on saturday we had a double birthday for isaiah and makayah. of course, the little kiddies were in heaven with all the sugar coming their way. and then they opened their gifts. makayah got a hungry hippo walker and she absolutely LOVED it. it was so funny to watch her zooming around the house with her hippo. and isaiah got a video game player....which he is still learning how to use. we had a great time at nanna's and umpa's house. i was busy having fun with my mom and sisters....swimming and sewing...even sam completed his first sewing project. the time flew by and now we're home in provo once again, getting back into the swing of things and preparing for winter and all the wonderful christmas-y things. we did have some extra baggage coming back from arizona, though. my sister has come to live with us for several months so i can home-school her. it should be fun. i remember when we were all younger, i'd always be playing school with her. so, we'll see how this turns out.