Rock Band

So Alan always wants some new electronic toy and I am usually pretty resilient. We have to eat, after all! :) But sometimes, just sometimes (well, almost always, actually) he wears me down and gets his way...such is the case with Rock Band for the Wii (and the Wii itself!)...he's been looking at it--hinting he wants it and I was like, "Riiiiiight, when pigs fly."--and recently he found it for $99 at Best Buy. Well, after a 10% discount it was $89 so I guess pigs flew because I gave in. :)
It's all Christian asks to do and it became a little annoying, especially since he wants to switch instruments in the middle of each song. BUT, Alan and I played it together, alone, for the first time last night and it was sooooo fun! :) I like the drums and guitar...not such a fan of the singing part, but I do the best at it. :)
Another exciting thing is that I'm going to stay with my parents in Modesto for November and part of December. I'm excited! :) The lease for our apartment here in Cumming, GA is up October 15 and we'll head straight to Dallas, TX to see Stephanie, Alan's younger sister. She had a baby boy in November last year and we're excited to meet him!
After a couple days there we'll head over to Waurika, OK to see Alan's Grandpa & Grandpa Hendricks. They're the cutest! And it's fun to see them b/c my grandparents passed away many years ago.
Afterward we'll make our way to see Alan's older sister, Kristina, and her family. We're excited to meet their new dog and see all of them. We used to see each other a lot when we all lived in Provo and miss hanging out with them! :)
Christian continues potty training...I wonder if he'll ever catch on. He'll go if I constantly remind him and run to the toilet with him, but I wonder how long it's supposed to take before he feels the need and goes to use the toilet by himself. It's been a month, shouldn't he be doing it already? :) Well, I hear it can take up to 3 months so I'm not too worried, just impatient. Impatient is my middle name. :)
Today we signed Christian up for T-Ball and Soccer. SO cute!! I can't believe he's big enough, already!!!!! :( Kind of makes me sad, but the faster he grows the sooner he'll be able to get a job and move out, right? HA!!! :)~ Anyway, I can't wait to watch him running around without a clue what he's doing. HA! I'm going to take so many pictures! The boys continue to love each other and enjoy playing with one another! It's so cute!...and I hope it sticks! :)

Happy August!!

Alas July is already over and August flashes its smile at us. Too bad fire also shoot out of its eyeballs and burns us all to smithereens!! :) hehehe...It actually hasn't been too hot here at all, I'm surprised! But I know it is everywhere else. ;) Sorry! I'm sure it'll get more miserable soon. :) (At least I hear it's pretty miserable here in August.)
We've been well here in Cumming, GA. Christian has been enhancing his photo-taking skills. He took the picture of Miles and I...such a cutie! :) He's been potty training himself so well and we're so proud of him! There are accidents, of course, but I TRY not to get angry...it's always when I KNOW he has to go and I keep asking him and he keeps saying he doesn't have to...then I'm finally like, "Come on, let's sit ont he potty" and he follows and stops to pee on the way. HELLO?! It's hard not to get mad in that situation...but I'm trying to be more patient. :)
Last week we went to Lowe's Build and Grow...I guess every month they have a clinic for children where they build something and take it home, along with an apron and goggles. July's "something" was a helicoptor! It is actually really cool! :) We had a fun time building it together, although Christian peed right on the floor in the middle of it all. GOOD THING I was prepared, but it was one of those times I had asked him five times in a ten minute span and he kept saying he didn't needto go....well apparently he did. ;) Well, I know this too shall pass! I just love that I don't have to change his diaper anymore! I didn't even realize how much of a pain it was until now! :)
Miles is such a little bundle of love and happiness and I constantly want to hug and squeeze and kiss him...unfortunately he only wants so much of that and the rest of the time he wants to play. What's up with that?! :)~ He sits up perfectly and is on the verge of crawling...I'm not in any hurry! I don't want to have to babyproof while we're here! :) He LOOOOVES big brother! It's cute how he just loves to watch him and laughs at everything he does....soooo precious! Christian also loves to play with him, so it's nice! Miles also loves to make everyone laugh. He knows what makes us laugh and he does it, smiles at us as we laugh at him, and turns around and does it again. Such a ham!!! We love him so much!
The other day I had a flashback of an art project I had done in elementary school...we had collected leaves and such from the outside and we glued them on a piece of paper...then, with teacher's help :), we ironed wax paper on top...I had also done another project where we did rubbins of leaves and such...so really, I'm not sure if we ironed the wax paper over the leaves or the rubbings, but I thought we'd do both...so I took Christian in a fieldtrip around the area and we collected pretty leaves and returned and glued them on paper. It was a fun time! I have been blessed with a creative streak and I don't use it with my 2 year old for some reason! SHAME on me! >:l One day I vow to sit down and write down activities that we can do together to help him learn and just plain have fun! Anyway, this activity was a fun one about nature. :) I couldn't find my iron to iron on the waxed paper, but I'll probalby keep them so I can try it out and see how it goes! (Note: if you try this at home and want to iron on waxed paper, put paper towels between the iron and wax paper so you don't ruin your iron!) ;)
BE CREATIVE! HAVE FUN! DON'T TAKE LIFE TOO SERIOUSLY!!!~~~~Tam n fam~~~~

Take me out to the ball game! . . .

Yesterday we went to a Braves game. The Mets kicked their ba-tooties, but it was still a very fun time! We went with all the guys we work with and some of their friends. We had cotton candy and a hot dog and drink...it's funny because neither of our parents bought things at faires or ball parks or really anywhere. It's kind of liberating to do so within a modest budget. It's just something you have to do sometimes! Anyway, it was a blast. Afterward All American Rejects had a concert on the field and that was the perfect end to a great day. The lead singer was a bit odd, but the music was good enough to override that. :)~ Christian was soooo tired at the end of the day (no nap and going to bed late on top of going to bed late the night before), but he had a great time. Pics attached. One is of Miles spitting in Alan's face. It was pretty darn funny! :)~
We're staying busy around here. I'm still working and Alan is done with the MCAT so he's around a few more hours each day. :) It's so nice!
Christian has been going to the potty a lot these past few days. I decided to buy him suckers as treats because he LOVES them. It worked! I think he's really beginning to sense the "have to go" feeling. I'm so excited! I have a sticker chart up and everything. :)
Miles constantly dives forward to grab things. It's kind of funny unless he's in front of something hard. :) He constantly squeals and gabs on. :D He's also soooo grabby. His precious little hands are everywhere! :D
I just love my boys, all three of them. I am so grateful for family. Friends come and go, but family is forever. :)

Ode to July!

I love the month of July! I love the fourth with fireworks and friends. Three days afterward comes a day I can either love or dread: my birthday! :)~ This year it was a great birthday. :) I love the ice cream and swimming-time fun and coming from the heat to a cool, air conditioned home. Endless watermelon and chicken and potatoe salad and sprinklers and slip-n-slides. There's so much to like about July!
I do dislike that the weather gets even hotter. BLAH!...I guess that's the only con! But it's a pretty big one, especially around here. I am grateful that it's cooler and less miserable than Texas was the 2 summers we were there, though! And I'm grateful for the nice pool our apartment complex has. :)~ And the gym, which I have started frequenting again this past week! I stopped for a month b/c Alan was leaving early each morning to study for the MCAT, which he took btw. :) He says it was hard and feels a little nervous about his score...I'm sure he did just fine. :) We won't find out for another month or so. :S Drive ME crazy!
I've attached some of our summer fun pictures. Christian has a chocolate ice cream mustache in one of them. :)~ Silly kid. He is like his mommy where he LOOOVES his ice cream. HA!
My birthday was on the 7th and Alan got me a yummy, yummy, yummy Oreo cream pie and a silly card and that night he took me to dinner. It was so sweet of him! I'm impressed he actually acknowledged it this year. hehehe...It made me happy. My present will be shopping for an hour or two by myself with a budget. :) I'm excited for that! I'll probably go Monday morning.
We now have five guys selling here for the summer. I'm doing the office work for the sales team and it can be pretty stressful at times, though I am doing it at home. The worst part is I'm being paid hardly anything to do it. I'm trying to fix it so we'll see if I can work something out. :) It's nice that Alan's done with his MCAT, though, so we have him around in the mornings! For now, at least. I'll enjoy his company while I can. Christian LOVES playing with his daddy! Last night Alan got him a hotwheels motorized track and some more Hot Wheels...Alan said it was for Christian, at least, but I'm not so sure. He sure has a LOT of fun playing with it. HA!
All is well here in Cumming, GA. Just hot, humid and busy!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

I've been busy with the boys...They have a playground a couple blocks from us that Christian likes to go to. The other day we went and he was getting stuck on the slide. I taught him to scoot forward. It was funny! I had to include a video of it. ;)~
We also built a tent in their room. Christian and Miles both LOVED it. We made the sheet move and Miles and Christian would laugh and laugh. HA! I realized I don't do enough fun things with them! So, I've made a goal to do things to make Christian laugh every day. It's not like it takes much! I just have to use a little imagination!
They both sure keep me on my toes, but I love every minute of it. Even the bad times. I just love them sooooooo much!!!


We had a very fun evening last night. Apparently in this area they have city fire works on July 3rd...It's almost as if the holiday is seen as so sacred they feel that nobody should work on the 4th, not even the fire works setter-offers. :) We went to the fairgrounds in downtown Cumming and had yummy kettle korn and homemade ice cream and lemonade...Christian crawled through a tunnel of one of the many blow-up toys they had there and we looked at the many fun things the vendors were selling. We also had I.D. cards made for the boys with their fingerprints and everything. (The thought of needing them made my heart hurt!) Afterward we hung out on our blanket and chatted with friends we had met up with and at 9:30 p.m. we watched the city fire works. It was an all right show, though I've seen better. :) Christian was so tired he kept asking to go home and go to bed. HA! I was laughing...but he liked the fireworks and kept calling them big flowers and fell fast asleep at 10:30 p.m. when we finally got home. :)
This morning we went to a breakfast put on by our church. It was fun! There was lots of good food and everyone is so nice and fun to talk to! They had a slip 'n slide and cotton candy and pop corn and other fun games, though we missed out on that...We had to leave early so Alan could work. Alan bought a bunch of fire works for us to set off tonight and right now we're going to the pool. Yeah! I gotta go get greased up. HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!

Storm to end all storms

Today there was a CRAZY storm! The thunder cracked so loudly outside my window it actually startled me! :) The wind blew so strongly I thought the tree outside my window was going to touch the ground it bent over so much and the rain fell so hard...like someone was pouring buckets of water on the ground. It was, like I said, CRAZY. :) I got some video on my camcorder. It was seriously cool, I liked it...But the thunder woke Christian up from his nap, so I didn't like that. :D
But the heavy rainfall reminded me of Cochabamba, Bolivia. When we'd be up on the mountain we could look over and SEE the storm coming. The rain was so heavy it looked like a sheet attached to the cloud...coming straight toward us. It was cool! Cochabamba's sky was so pretty!
Anyway, it was pretty exciting. Visions of Cumming, GA being on the news...hit by Hurricane Lamoni or Lucy or whatever. I guess that much damage would be bad. There's a lot of leaves and stuff on the ground as it is...I feel really bad for the landscapers because for decoration here they make a big pile of dead pine needles around all the tree trunks (sounds odd, but it actually looks pretty cool)...There are a lot of decorative trees...Poor guys. :)
Anyway, thought I'd share.
I've attached a picture of Miles trying to catch the rays of light that danced on the wall beside his changing table. SO PRECIOUS. :)

I'm such a Georgia peach! :)

Wow, I've let three months slip by, though they were crazy-busy.
Alan graduated from BYU-Provo (pictures attached) and last month we drove cross-country to Cumming (just north of Altlanta), Georgia. Alan is selling pest control (as a team leader) and I am working from home as the Sales Office Manager. As if I'm not busy enough. Oh, well...A little extra stress couldn't kill me, right? Oh, wait. Yes it could! HA!

This area of Georgia is so beautiful. Everywhere you go you're surrounded by trees. The only downside of that is the extra bugs and beautiful birdy trills outside our window at 5:45 a.m. :) Se la vi. It is warm and humid but definitely not unbearable. I took the boys swimming this morning at 10 a.m. and it was perfect! :) The people are incredibly nice. They wave and smile and say, "Hi!" or, "Good morning!" instead of straining to look away, pretending they're looking at something else like us westerners. :)~ Overall I like it a lot! I like calling myself a "Georgia Peach". It's just so funny to me for some reason (I'm odd, I guess). However, though I do love my summer abode, I really miss my friends I've left behind....And, as always, I miss my family. :S

For Mother's Day Alan got me a Kitchen Aide mixer. I've been having a lot of fun with it! My sister, Francine, got me a cookbook called, "The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner" and I've been having a lot of fun with that, too. :) I've been making homemade rolls and spaghetti from scratch and yummy desserts. Baking and cooking are so much fun! :)~

The boys are so much fun. Christian loves learning new things all the time I just can't keep up with him. Miles is sitting up fairly well and has fun practicing rolling over. He's six months today and I am so sad; he's growing up so fast! His slobbery, open-mouth kisses just melt my heart...And grosses me out a little bit, but I wouldn't change it for anything. :)~

He and Christian adore each other. They constantly share hugs and kisses and make each other laugh. It's so stinkin' cute! :)
Christian got his first bike in April, though we didn't have room to bring it with us this summer so it's stored at my aunt's house in Orem, UT. What a jip, eh? We'll pick it back up after the summer. He loved it!

I've attached some random pictures from Easter. It was Miles' first, so I had to put the bunny ears on him. HA! He looked so cute. And Christian was overjoyed to have a basket full of candy waiting for him on the coffee table. :)
Next year, when Christian understands better, we'll focus more on the real reason for Easter: The Resurrection. We may have watched a video this year...I don't remember because life has been hectic, but I am grateful for the resurrection! We all should be!

A week or so before we moved here I was able to drive with the boys out to Modesto for a few days. It was nice to see the family! I really wished we lived closer. Maybe one day. :)

I couldn't see any friends except my friend, Amy, who came to see me. It was good to see her and her three kids!

I hope we can make it again soon and stay long enough to reconnect with everyone! :)

Christian absolutely LOVED to be around his cousins. He didn't want to leave, not even to see Daddy. :) He is so social and I know he can't wait until Miles is big enough to really play with him. (I've attached a picture of him playing with his friends at the park in Provo. He could be outside all day, every day. :D)
Miles liked the trip, also. He sure got a lot of loving attention from his aunts and cousins and grandparents. :)

We love and miss everybody, being on the other side of the country as we are. Especially my Provo friends...I'm sad we won't be returning. But everyone is always in our thoughts and prayers!

Loves and cuddles...Peace out! :)

Almost missed it!

I almost missed my chance to write a post for March. Hafta post at least one each month, right? :) The thought just makes Miles upset, as you can see. (I love his sad, frowny face! He makes it all the time and melts my heart!) HA!

All is well here! We've just been busy busy busy.


I wrote that Christian's new favorite song is "Old McDonald"...Well, I caught him singing it, using the garbage can as a drum. It was so stinkin' cute! Video below. ;)

This month Christian peed in the toilet for his first (and only) time. I was soooo excited! I was squealing in delight while he was looking at his little drizzle like, "Oh, did I do that?" HA! I was so proud...Another development is that Christian finds that he greatly enjoys tormenting his baby brother. He's not too bad--I've seen worse--but it's still rather annoying. He's our little creative guy...And he talks a lot! He loves to laugh and makes us laugh all the time. His new favorite phrase is, "What the heck?" Last month it was, "Oh, crap!" Sounds like someone I know...Couldn't be copying me, could he?

Miles is as precious as ever. He brings such light into my life. His constant smiles make any day brighter. He really tries to suck on his fingers, though he usually gets his fist. I did catch him sucking on his thumb, though. SO stinkin' cute! I've also attached a video of him. You will see him smile, frown (which I love) and the grand finale is him filling his pants. The memory filled up, which is why it stopped when it did, but it's hillarious! Love it.

We've had some really beautiful days this month! We went on a few bike rides. Fun times! Here's a picture of the boys in their bike trailer.

I got new pink shoes last night. Totally random, but I'm so excited for them! They make me feel like Dorothy.

I also got a new hair dryer...It's my first real hair dryer! I always get the $10 travel size ones, but this one is ceramic-ionic and has a diffuser and everything. It dries my thick head of hair so much faster! :) I used the diffuser this morning to bring out my curls...The test is to see if they stay!

Happy Valentine's Day to ME

Hope everyone's day has been/will be romantic. Mine won't be, but it sure is exciting! For V-Day Alan got me....a new car! HA! It's not really for Valentine's Day; it's b/c we outgrew the Rav 4. :( She's been a good car to me, but I'm super excited to not feel chlosterphobic while driving...And now the person in the passenger seat doesn't have to kiss the dashboard! :) It's more spacious and overall nicer! Oh, it's a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder LE, btw. I'll post photos of it (pics from the dealership website...I haven't even driven it yet! Alan test drove it and drove it home--there was a snow storm--and after we unloaded the car from the trip up there Alan had to take it directly to work). So, I'll get to enjoy it soon enough. It's still not real to me that we have such a nice car.....

Well we just got a new computer, too, b/c this one is 8 yrs old and really slowing down and we're afraid it'll crash. It's nice! It hooks up to the cable and you can set to record shows and it has a DVD burner...Anyone know how to send a bunch of info from one computer (upstairs) to another (downstairs)?

Aside from our exciting new purchases we're just chugging along. I'm exhausted (Miles woke up twice last night) and Alan's never around. I'm so glad he's graduating in April! When he just has a full time job we'll see him soooo much more. I thought I'd see him more this semester but it's worse. I miss him more than ever lately. :( But I'm supporting him in all he's doing lately: full-time school, Kaplan's MCAT prep course, working, volunteering at the hospital 4 hrs every Sunday...Gee, it seems there's more. :)

Christian's new favorite song is "Old McDonald" and it's so cute to hear him sing it and many other songs. He seems to really love music and is getting better at speaking and saying complete sentences. He's so tall! He's not even 2 1/2 yet and he's wearing 4T clothes! AAaaah! He's my sweet big boy. He constantly wants to hold Miles and give him kisses and says things like, "Oh, he's so cute!" and, "Oh, he's so little!" HA! I love it. He loves his daddy. If you watch the video (called, "Fun with a diaper box") you'll see why...Alan's an awesome father! :) I love and appreciate him so much. :)

Miles is so precious and constantly melts my heart with his smiles. We are enjoying him so much!

Miles' Blessing

Hello! This month has been both exciting and exhausting. :) Miles has been such a joy in our lives! I read that babies don't intentionally smile until they're three months, but most times when he hears my voice he gets a big, happy smile. I love it! I got it on the video camera...I'll have to figure out how to get it from there to here. :)

He is a sweet boy though the first month he was very fussy. I was confused--thinking he had bad gas--until I realized he had signs of reflux...He got on medication last week and he's been so much happier! We all have. :) I'm so glad he's not in pain anymore it just broke my heart...Now he has a cold he got from Christian after he so lovingly sneezed in his face two different times. HA! What are big brothers for?

Christian has been getting soooo big! I've attached a pic of him and I, mind we just woke up and I show it. :) He's over 3'3" and I looked at a height calculator thing online and it estimated him to be 6'8" by the time he's 18. HA! Could you imagine? That'd be funny. :) He is learning to adore his little brother. He's so curious and constantly getting into things, which is good but sometimes bad. :) Whenever I pull out the camera he doesn't want to pose but just take pictures with it. It's funn but kind of annoying! :) I'll attach a video I took--while pretending I wanted to take a picture of him--to demonstrate, but keep in mind he wasn't as bad as he usually was. He took a picture of me on the toilet the other day. I couldn't stop laughing b/c it was so innocent! HA! Then he took a picture of what was inside the toilet before I could flush. It cracked me up...I won't be attaching that picture.

Alan's been keeping very busy with school, work, volunteering at the hospita and taking his KAPLAN course--his prep course for taking the MCAT. He also squeezes in basketball every other Wednesday night. Needless to say we don't see him much. We visited him briefly at school the other day and Christian cried when we left him. It broke my heart.

I've been so dang tired. That's all I can say. :) Miles actually sleeps pretty well! He'll sleep 4-5 hours--though he's slept 6 hours a couple times--then another few hours after that. I just have a hard time with the whole sleep-interruption thing. :)

We blessed Miles at church today. He was so precious! I've attached a picture of him in his outfit. So cute! It was the one Alan was blessed in as a baby so it's pretty darn precious. A good friend took pictures of him and our family beforehand with her really nice camera (the one attached was taken by me with our ditial). I'm excited to see them! A few good friends came to see the blessing and a few good friends from the ward stood in the circle (helped bless Miles). It was precious. Afterward we had a little lunch with the firends that came to visit us from out of town. Fun times!