How Cool is This?

I heard from a friend, Annie Ruden, that there is a place that will publish your blog for you. That is amazing! If you go to blurb.com you can download this program and it will put your whole blog into a book. It does take a little bit of work making it look the way you want it to, but how cool to have it in a hard cover book to have forever. I am going to try to do this annually and have a copy for each of my kids. I don't really keep a journal anymore so this is my version of a journal. One thing I like about the whole world being able to read your "journal" is that you HAVE to keep it relatively positive. You can's talk crap about people because... well, they'll read it. :) Anyways, for those feeling ambitious, check this site out.

My Beautiful Sister

This morning Bryan's sister, Nellie, let me snap a few pictures of her. I borrowed a friend's flash and 2 lenses and wanted someone (who would cooperate) to smile for me. I figured since she is a senior in HS and needs pictures anyway, why not make her do it? She was such a good sport. Plus, it was a great chance to spend some quality time with her (and she got to skip a few hours of school... bonus for her)
Aside from being one of the most beautiful girls I know, Nellie is absolutely amazing. She has NO CLUE how pretty she is, she has the most darling personality, she laughs at my lame jokes, she will actually be seen with me in public (most teenagers won't), and most of all, she adores my children. (how could you not?!?!) She is one of the three best babysitters in the world. (tied with her cute sisters, of course!) I seriously love spending time with Nellie. Even though there is a little age gap (I probably seem like an old fart to her) we are really close. We laugh and talk in silly voices. I tease her about the boys she has crushes on (and that have crushes on her). We make fun of people (but not in a bad way). We do puzzles together.
I must say, I secretly love it when my mother-in-law doesn't let my sisters go out while we are over there because then they HAVE to hang out with me. While I know this isn't much fun for them, I always have a blast. All three of the "Little Girls" are so wonderful. Maybe I can steal away the other two sometime for a little photo session. :)


This is my personal fave... it shows the real Nellie. :)

Our Little Girl is Growing Up!

How can it be that my little girl is already SITTING UP all by herself? I seriously can't believe that it has already been almost SIX months since she joined our little family. (and I still look like this... but that's a whole other story.) Granted, she needs some help sometimes and she's not good enough at sitting for me to leave the room or walk away, but still... SITTING! It opens up a whole new world for her little curious personality. Since she has learned about this new skill that she possesses she has gained abs of steal trying to pull herself into the sitting position to get a better look around. We are so lucky to have Addilyn. She is honestly the most amazing little spirit. She is SO chill and happy... ALL the time!

Good catch, Daddy!

I Adore This Sight!

One of the things that Carter looks forward to after he goes potty is getting to wash his hands. (Only more exciting than this is me not bugging him for 45 minutes about going potty again.) Anyways, he doesn't even stop to get his undies back on. He just rushes to the sink and plays in the water until I finally make him turn it off. I just need to share with everyone what a cute sight this is.

(Just a side note: This picture would have been a million times better had I had a flash. It's a little blurry and dark because of the lack of light. Just wanted to complain again.) :)

I need a FLASH!

This is the difference:

Without a flash:

With a flash:

One of these days I'll get one... maybe with Christmas money...

(for what it's worth, I really want this lens that I took this picture with. I borrowed it from a friend. Again, Christmas money.)

Need I Say More?

We Miss You Daddy!!!!

Gone, Baby Mullet, Gone

So, Bryan is out of town this weekend. (for those wondering, he is in Seattle with my brothers and parents for Monday Night Football. Poor guy!) I need to just take a minute and elaborate on this. He wasn't going to go because of school (he doesn't have Monday off) but my dad called and said it was already set up. He spent all last week telling me how he wishes he was just going from Monday to Tuesday instead of Saturday to Tuesday. He wanted to stick around to help me with the potty training extravaganza. My dad and his secretary both got Bryan a plane ticket on accident. One leaving Phx Saturday and one leaving Phx Monday. Turns out he didn't want to stick around bad enough to actually do it. :) But I got the last laugh because they spent the day yesterday SHOPPING!!! HAHAHA! Bryan HATES shopping!

Anyway, since he has been gone I have been bored. The kids both have colds so they are a little under the weather. Because of that, we didn't go to church and have been in the house ALL DAY LONG!

I decided to give Miss Addi a haircut tonight. She has been rubbing off the back of it so she has a mullet. To make matters worse, the top sides are also falling out so she looks a little silly. She is growing more hair but you can't really see it in pictures. I wanted to cut her hair before all of it fell out. I don't think it is going to grow in as dark and I want some to save. (I know, I know)
She was in great spirits... until I started to cut. Then, she was MAAAAD! She was SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER! I mean, I would too if my mom was trying to make me look like a boy. But now it will grow in evenly, right? Here are some pictures. By the way, for those of you who had noticed the mullet, thanks for not mentioning it... we saw it, but we were in denial. :)
Before:

After:

What a Big Boy!

After a week of potty training, I am so VERY tired. I can't believe how tiring it is running in and out of the bathroom every 15 minutes. (although we are now up to every 3o minutes.)
Carter is being such a trooper. I don't think I would recover so quickly from having poop smeared down my leg everyday and going through several pairs of undies. He now reminds us frequently that he is a "big boy" and he wears undies.
The real big news though is that today he didn't have a single accident. (He doesn't go to bed for another 8 minutes though so there's still PLENTY of time!) I am so excited that he is fairly potty trained. There is a little sadness in me that he is growing up so fast... but that quickly goes away when I think about not having to change those NASTY diapers!!

Time Flies

I seriously can't believe that my little baby girl is already 5 months old. Actually, she's 5 months, one day, and 2+ hours old. How did that happen? Why do pregnancies DRAG on for 10 years and then you blink and your little angel is a holy terror crapping all over the carpet? Thank heavens Addilyn isn't to that point yet. I just want to freeze her just the way she is right now. Sleeping through the night, non-mobile, no attitude, and pretty much perfect. Remind me of this blog in a few years when she's all drama, k?

Do you think she's too small for this toy? :) It was (and is once again) one of Carter's favorites. Poor girl. All her hand-me-down toys are boy toys. She didn't seem to mind.

The Dragon and the Bunny

Halloween was so much fun. Everywhere else in the world the costumes would have been perfect but my kids were sweating to death by the end of the night. That being said, Carter couldn't get enough of Trick-or-Treating. So much so that he had diarrhea all day today from the candy and kept asking to go Trick-or-Treating again. It doesn't make sense to him that we only get to go once a year. Anyways, the kids looked adorable and I am so glad that Addilyn was a bunny. (by the way, I found the bear costume a few days ago... in one of the Halloween boxes, of course... one that I had checked at least 3 times!)

The "Grown-up" Party

Every year we have a Halloween party with all of Bryan's high school friends that still live in the area. The party has grown over the years. It now involves all our kids and my siblings. Each year the costumes get a little more... original. Here are a few pictures from the evening.
Yes, I am a piece of crap... but at least I went along with my handsome toilet. :)

Osama.... wow Clint. At least he left the guns at home. Malia wasn't sure which side she was playing for that night. :)
San Diego evacuees. Too funny, Ryan and Hill!

Ryan's costume speaks for itself. Courtney was Paris... it was hysterical!
Midget rocker. Every party is more fun with a midget, right? (Kel and Rob)
Kevin swears that Abby came up with this one. Sure, Harry, sure...