Family Pictures

So I had the fabulous idea to get everyone together last Sunday and have family pictures. Dave, Logan and I needed to get them done for our family Christmas card and I figured while we were at it we should get some with everyone too. Well, despite our best intentions to color coordinate and comb Logan's hair - the weather did not cooperate. Fortunately for us though, Lisa took the crummy weather in stride and we got a few pictures of us inside. Hopefully we will be able to get some outside in the spring but for now, here's a few for you...

Thanks again Lisa for always being willing to drag out your camera for your insistent sister and thanks mom for dinner. I still drool when I think of the potatoes and gravy and Dave is still raving about your cake (he ate the whole thing you sent up with us!)

Toothpaste in the Toilet - Month 16

Ok kid, more evidence that your mom is a slacker. You've been 16 months for over a week now and I'm just now writing your post. But, more evidence that I love you more than my job is that I am putting off my last piece of work for this week to write this. I have to write this at work because you won't let me near the computer without freaking out if I won't let you pound on the keyboard or click the mouse. Oh wait, you can't click the mouse anymore because after I unplugged it one day after being frustrated with your excessive clicking, you took off with it and it has yet to turn up. You owe your dad a computer mouse. I bought you a keyboard at D.I. for two bucks, soaked it in bleach water and gave it to you. You liked it for about 2 minutes but I think when you realized it wasn't attached to a screen you decided it wasn't much fun. Don't let anyone tell you you aren't smart kid.

This last month you have gone nuts. At night when me and your dad are hanging out you just go crazy. You run around and around. You run from one of our lovely new couches to the next throwing yourself on the edge and getting up and doing it again. That's when you take a break from running back and forth from the kitchen to the living room or running full speed toward your dad and flopping down on his stomach which makes him go "ugh!" every time. I don't blame you for that one kid, I think it's pretty funny too. I encourage this, the longer you run, the more you wear yourself out. I'm a fan of the running around.

You LOVE shoes. It was one of your first words and you've loved shoes for some time. You've gotten really good at putting them on too. Oh wait, no, not your shoes, our shoes. This isn't a 16-month old story, but since it's about shoes I'll include it here. You had probably been walking for a month or two and one night I woke up to the sound of footsteps on our wood floor. I asked your dad what the noise was and he said he didn't know. So, being the brave one, I got up and went out to see who/what was in our kitchen in the middle of the night. It was you. You were in the kitchen with a pair of your shoes on your hands walking along the floor. I laughed one of those laughs when you were so scared of what you'd find that you have to laugh - not to mention it was a funny sight.

So anyway, while your dad was away at a class this week we were hanging out and playing when you disappeared into our room. I figured you were up to no good because you weren't making any noise. Well, until you hit the tile anyway. Then I heard the clomp, clomp, clomp. When you came around the corner I about died. You found my (and your) favorite pair of shoes and somehow you managed to get them both on and walk. These shoes are high heels kid! You put high heels on and walked in them. Oh, and you were naked too, see?

(let all the nasty comments about how it is too cold for a kid to be naked begin)

Last night your dad was out hunting late and it was just me and you hanging out. I was ready for bed at like 7:30 but oh, not you. You were running around, flushing the toilet, throwing half a roll of toilet paper in the toilet, screaming at me when I made you leave the toilet, etc. Then you ran around with another pair of shoes on. Then you played with some actual toys, locked yourself in your room, and finally started to wind down. I was just as worn out as you by the end of it. I got you your bottle (yes, I'm a bad mom and you still have a bottle. Trust me, it is the one ticket to my sanity) and you laid down on your leopard print pillow for bed. You fell asleep fairly quickly and after transporting you to your bed with a "good night, sleep tight" and a couple kisses I went back out to the couch to finish watching my show.

Ten minutes later I went in the bathroom for my bedtime routine and when I lifted the seat on the toilet I found you'd left me one more surprise for the evening. The toothpaste was in the toilet. I fished it out and threw it away with a smile on my face for two reasons:

1) your dad just happened to buy a new tube of toothpaste while he was at his class up north and 2) somehow you always manage to leave your mark on everything you do.

Reason #2 doesn't always make me smile, but when I find the mark you've left after you've gone to bed and you are sleeping so angelically I can't help but laugh. You are one of a kind.

Great 8

8 Favorite TV shows...
1. The Office
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. The Hills
4. Food Network Shows
5. RR/RW challenges
6. I don't get to watch much tv!
7.
8.

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Costa Vida
2. Pasta Factory
3. Don Miguels
4. Pizza Hut/Pioneer Pizza
5. Wingers
6. Texas Roadhouse
7. Arby's (French Dips!)
8. Panda Express

8 things that happened yesterday...
1. Got called as a primary teacher
2. Re-arranged the living room
3. Re-arranged our bedroom
4. Unpacked one more box (yep, still unpacking)
5. Went for a ride up the canyon
6. Cooked steak for dinner
7. Made a snow angel
8. Returned our Redbox movie

8 things to look forward to...
1. Logan growing up and learning more stuff
2. Continuing to fix up our house
3. A bigger family (eventually!)
4. Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays
5. Taking Logan trick-or-treating
6. Getting my new couches
7. Eating lunch (I'm starving and running out of ideas)
8. A big vacation someday.

8 things I love about Fall...
1. The temperature
2. The smell of cold air
3. The leaves
4. Halloween and Thanksgiving
5. Pumpkin pie!
6. "Light jacket" weather
7. Cold weather food
8. Hearing leaves crunch when you walk.

8 things on my wishlist...
1. To be a stay at home mom
2. A garage (especially after this morning!)
3. New couches
4. New shoes/clothes
5. A haircut (I need one bad Kas!)
6. A new computer
7. Eating healthier
8. Having everything paid off.

8 people I tag.....

I think every blog I've read lately has this posted, so if you're reading this and haven't done it, then I tag you.

Nothing new...

Nothing new to post except I am looking for a new job. I'd prefer something with the same fabulous benefits as my current job, however I'd like to work from home and I use the term "work" very lightly. Please anyone let me know if you hear of anything...

I also have to post this picture. Logan and I took last Thursday off (me from work, him from the babysitter) and met Dave out on Mt. Dutton where he was camping with his family for the muzzleloader hunt. This is the best picture EVER. Logan was getting grumpy so grandma pulled out her CD player and turned it on. If you know Logan, you know he LOVES to jam and this is the look he gave me. Awesome.

More Tags...

I can't let someone down that actually specifically tags me, right? Thanks Kas!

3 Names you go by

1) Kim

2) Kimberly

3) Momma

3 Restaurants I love -

1)Costa Vida

2)Don Miguel

3)Pasta Factory

3 Trips to plan on this year -

1)Mesquite

2)Camping?

3) I agree with Kas, this is sad!

3 Things you want badly

1) A stay at home job

2) A garage

3) Landscaping

3Pets you have/had -

1)Lady

2)Brandy

3)Toby

3 Things you did yesterday - (I started this post yesterday so this is stuff I did Wednesday)

1) Sat in the same room as a cold-blooded killer

2) Went to lunch at Timberline (where the killer killed)

3) Hung out with Dave & Logan

3 Things you ate today -

1) A bagel with cinnamon cream cheese

2) 2 Arby's roast beef sandwiches

3) Sour Patch Kids

3 Fears -

1) Being alone

2) Being inadequate

3) Being in the dark

3 Things you plan on doing today -

1) Hang out with Logan

2) Play outside

3) Start a shopping list for tomorrow

3 Things you plan on doing tomorrow -

1) Grocery shop

2) Spend the day with Logan

3) Go to the chiropractor

3 Favorite Holidays -

1) Halloween

2) Christmas

3) Thanksgiving

3 Favorite beverages -

1) Dr. P

2) Cherry Limeades

3) Lime Rickeys

3 people I tag

1) Nikiesha

2) Taren (if she has time)

3) Lisa

Newsletter to Logan

So one of my favorite blogs to read is dooce.com and every month she writes a newsletter to her daughter Leta. I have been thinking for the last couple weeks that I should post something about Logan and the funny things he has been doing. I've been trying to think of a way to do it, so when I read the latest post on dooce I decided that she's got something going with the newsletter so I'm going to give it a shot, but I'm not promising this will happen on any sort of a regular basis!

~15 Month Newsletter~
Ok Logan, I'm sure you already are well aware that your mother is a slacker. You are 15 months old and you don't have so much as one well intentioned picture/keepsake/memento stuck in any sort of a well-intentioned baby book. Your Aunt Lisa has tried, by giving me a beautiful pre-made scrapbook with spots for pictures, suggestions for quotes, etc., but I have yet to do anything with it. I do have a lock of your hair stuck in a baggie in my jewelry box though. I bet if you looked right now you'd find it still there.

All of my slackerness/laziness aside I must say that you have a part in this problem. You are wild. Your Grandma Hillier always told me that if you had your second child first, you wouldn't have had any more. It was meant as a dig toward me of course, but I don't think it is true in our case. We love you kid, but boy you have put your parents through the ringer! In fact, if you do end up with any siblings consider yourself lucky. Everything I attempt to do while you are awake is immediately sabotaged by you, you darling thing. Your dad and I love the mischief that is constantly in your eyes but make no mistake child, we are not kidding when we say you are wild.

Ok, now that I think you have probably gotten the picture I want to move on to the reason I am writing this. I'm writing this so that someday when you are searching for that baby book, (while I hope and pray you find one complete with pictures in the right spots and your lock of hair placed strategically next to the pictures I took of your first haircut), if you don't find that book you will know that I did love you and I did want to remember this time in your life.

You are starting to talk and it is by far the best thing ever. Your first word (that I am going to count anyway) was ball. You started saying this around 12 months and it was before your tongue was clipped so it sort of sounded like bah but I knew what you meant. This was followed by kick, dog, duck, shoes, eyes, moh (more) and a few others that I can't remember right now. You also say Oh, daddy and it is so SO cute but your dad and I have determined that lots of things are "OH, Daddy" so it's lost a little of its appeal to him. The other day I decided I should teach you who Jesus is. I'm horribly afraid that I won't teach you the gospel the way I should and I was already feeling like I was behind and your first words should have been "I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents...". So I pointed to the picture of Jesus above our TV and said Jesus. I did that over and over and over until I thought you were sick of it. You figured it out though. Now I ask you where Jesus is and your head turns to that picture, you point and say "sheshus". I melt. I absolutely melt.

You know so much more than you can say though and we love to show off how smart you are. Logan, go get your shoes. Logan, throw that in the trash. Logan, take mom's shoes off your hands and put them in the closet. Logan, make dad a sandwich. We tell you the name of my favorite book, I Love You Through and Through, and you go get it and we read it together. We hand you a stuffed puppy and you give him loves by holding him tight and rocking from side to side. You give kisses and hugs, but only when you want to, the other times you shake your head in the most aggravating way. At night when we are all hanging out on the floor you come up to me and pull my shirt up and blow raspberries on my stomach and laugh. Your dad sticks his feet in your face and you say "Ew, uck." You can point to your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your other eyes (more commonly known as ears) and when someone asks to see your belly you lift up your shirt and point one finger directly into your cute little pudge (we might have to get you to stop doing that on command when you're a teenager).

These are the things I want you to know. The things I hope I remember but probably won't. These are the things I couldn't put in a scrapbook, so I'm going to keep them for you the best way I know how, by writing them down for you in a way that will undoubtedly confirm your fear that your mother is in fact, crazy.

Another Tag

I took Taren's unofficial tag to heart so here is some meaningless information about me all thanks to her. I'm not going to fault her becase at least she is back to blogging more than once per quarter. Here's the tag:

List 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 surprising facts about yourself. Then tag 5 people at the end of your post and leave them a comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

3 joys
1. Hanging out with Logan & Dave, particularly when they aren't grumpy or tired.
2. Teaching Logan funny words.
3. Sleeping through the night

3 fears
1. Having more than one kid.
2. The dark.
3. Not being good enough.

3 current obsessions/collections
1. Trying out new recipes (poor Dave we've had some bad ones!)
2. Reading the 40+ blogs I've subscribed to on my Google Reader account.
3. Crisp meat burritos from Taco Time.

3 surprising facts about me
1. I listen to NPR on my trips to Beaver every week - and I like it.
2. I like to think of myself as a feminist, but maybe that's not all that surprising.
3. I'm not as mean/tough as I pretend to be.

I'll tag anyone who reads this and wants to play...