A Little Mommy-Son Talk

Okay, so I had Oprah on a few weeks ago. She & some girl were talking about how parents should tell their children the real names of their...well...their little boy & girl parts. I have no problem with any of "those words", but I've found that I have had a little bit of a problem saying them to my kids. Because of this, my boys have always called their "extra appendage" a pee-pee. Well, I decided, after watching the segment, that I would have a little talk with Connor. Here's how it went...

Me: Hey Connor...so, did you know that there is another word for your pee-pee?

Connor (Annoyed): Yes Mom!

Me: You do? You know what the REAL name of your pee-pee is?

Connor (Again annoyed): Yes Mom...of course I do!

Me: Okay, well...what is it then?

Connor (Extremely annoyed at this point & rolling his eyes): Uhhh...your WEINER...duh!!!

Haha! Good talk son...good talk! --Lindsay

Nine Months Old

Cohen turned 9 months old yesterday! I can't believe it! We went in for his checkup today & the doctor says he's doing great! I left his stats paper at the doctor's office unfortunately, so I don't have the exact numbers, but here's what I remember...he weighs 17.2 pounds (5th percentile), he is about 27 inches long (50th percentile) and his head circumference is in the 25th percentile...so he's tall & skinny now. He's still not crawling yet...mainly because he HATES to be on his tummy. The doctor thinks he may just be one of those kids who skips crawling & goes straight to walking. I don't care...I'm just enjoying having a baby that still can't move a whole lot yet! :) Anyway, here are some pics that have been taken over the past month of our sweet, handsome little guy...

Love you Cohen! You are the best & I'm so happy to be your mommy!!! --Mommy

First Game of the Season

Today was the first game of this year's baseball season. Of course, it was horrible weather! It seems like the first game is always played in the rain & cold! Connor didn't seem to mind the weather though...he did great! It's amazing how much he has improved in the past year...both with his skills & his attitude! He started out the first inning by playing 3rd base & had a lot of fun doing it. When his team was up to bat, he got a great hit & ran like mad...even stealing 3rd & eventually, sliding into home plate (even though no slide was required...silly boy!). The next inning, he played catcher & was able to stop lots of the balls...most the time with his chest instead of his glove, but who cares! The next time he was up to bat, he struck out & had to hit it off the tee, but he didn't seem to mind. It was a great game! Here's some pictures...

Connor playing 3rd...although he's turned around backwards. Haha!


Throwing the ball in after tagging his base...


Getting ready to bat...


Grandma, Aiden & Cohen trying to stay warm in the 40 degree temperatures...

Connor playing catcher...

Connor's swinging, except I didn't get the ball in the picture...

Overall, I think this year's baseball season has gotten off to a good start! Good job Connor! You rock! --Lindsay

Got Glitter Toes?

Glitter toes are all the pedicure rage for summer '09...and as you can see, I am ready! Aren't they cute??? Basically, a layer of gel is applied to the nail, then a layer of glitter, and then two more layers of gel on top. They are supposed to last for about 6 weeks too, if you take care of them right! How awesome is that?

For Girls Night this month, my friend Alysa hosted a glitter toes party at her house. The gal who came to do it for us is my friend Marion's sister, Victoria. (Marion even made an appearance too, which was awesome, since we don't get to see her much since she moved away!) There was a huge variety of colors to choose from (probably about 100)...the girls that were there did everything from pink, to red, to purple, to green, to brown, etc. We had such a fun night being pampered & pigging out on a bunch of yummy treats! Trish even decided to have her little girls' toes glittered too...they were so stinkin' cute! (I was so jealous! In fact, I seriously considered having Mike bring Aiden over so I could have his toes done too! Maybe we could have called it "Gladiator Toes" or something to make it sound manly enough for him!) After everyone's pedicures were done, people started slowly leaving...but Trish, Alicia, Alysa & I stayed and talked until 12:30 am!!!!!!! Haha! All the husbands kept calling to "make sure we were still alive", but we know that they just secretly missed us! :)


It was such a blast! Thanks for hosting Alysa! It was an awesome night! And now, we are all ready for summer!!! Bring on the sunshine & sandals!!! --Lindsay

My Latest Celebrity Look-Alike

Okay, I have viewers tell me that I look like different people all the time (most the time it's their 2nd cousin's husband's sister or something like that), but when I get told several times in a matter of weeks that I look like a particular person, I start to wonder if maybe I really do. My latest "look-alike" has been this actress...

Kathryn Morris, the girl on "Cold Case". I don't know if I can see it or not. We're blonde...with similar bangs...and we're both pretty darn albino (Why was I cursed with the albino gene??? WHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY???) Anyway, I thought I would throw the question out to all of you to see what you think. Let me know! --Lindsay

There Are Dolphins in Russia?

If you ask Aiden the above question, you will get a resounding "yes" out of him. About a month or so ago, Aiden started talking about "Russian Dolphins". Russian Dolphins??? Where had my child come up with the idea that these warm water-loving animals...

could live in a bitterly cold place like this...


I began to think that maybe he had heard it on an episode of "Go Diego Go" or something. I could just see it...a poor helpless dolphin, lost in the cold, icy waters off the Russian coast. Diego and his sister, Alicia, hop into their rescue-pack-turned-ice-breaker-ship & sail to the rescue of the feeble dolphin (all while singing the "Al Rescate" song). Once they find him, they whisk him back to the safety of the warm waters of the Caribbean. Then, they answer a few questions about dolphins & put a picture of one in their field journal. The End!!! Sounds like an awesome episode to me...23 1/2 minutes of pure bliss for mothers across America who just got to take a shower thanks to a little dolphin to took a wrong turn at the gulf stream!!! Wahoo!

So, I asked Aiden if Diego had told him about "Russian Dolphins". He looked at me kind of funny and then replied, "No...Sister Mill told me 'bout them!"

"Sister Mill" (or Sister DeMill, as the non-three-year-olds in the ward call her) is one of Aiden's Sunbeam teachers at church. Aiden pretty much thinks she is the greatest thing since sliced bread (which, by the way, where did that saying come from? It's kind of weird. I can think of lots of things greater than sliced bread. But, I digress... Just know that Aiden pretty much worships "Sister Mill"!).

So, you ask, why was "Sister Mill" teaching about "Russian Dolphins"? Well apparently, a while back, Sister DeMill had to bring something to church that described herself. According to Aiden, she brought a "Russian Dolphin". Turns out, the "Russian Dolphin" is really one of these things...


A Russian nesting doll. Rumor has it that Aiden took a liking to the doll that day & wanted to play with it the whole time...but he refused to call it a "doll". How could a big, strong, masculine man like Aiden play with a doll? So, to keep up his "manly image", he decided to change the word "doll" to "dolphin". Somehow that made it more masculine in his mind. Silly boy!

Since then, every time Aiden has gone to Primary, the first thing he says to "Sister Mill" is, "Where's your Russian Dolphin?". So, a few weeks ago, "Sister Mill" came to our house and brought Aiden one of his very own...

How sweet is that? Aiden loves it and plays with it all the time! Thank you "Sister Mill"! You are the best!

So, the next time all of you are asked if there are dolphins in Russia (because I know this is a topic that comes up often in normal conversation), you'll know the answer is yes...just maybe not the kind most people would think of! --Lindsay

Easter Weekend

We had a fun Easter weekend! We started it out on Saturday with 2 egg hunts. First we went to the city egg hunt. Sorry for the poor quality pictures...I forgot my camera & had to take pictures with my cell phone. I also only have pictures of Connor because Mike & Aiden were across the field with his age group...

It actually ended up being a pretty decent egg hunt. It was raining, so only about half the people that usually come were there. And, they did things a little different this year. Some of the eggs had special prizes in them. Most the eggs just contained candy, but some other ones had dollar bills inside & some had little papers inside that had a number on them. If you got a number, you could take it to the prize booth and trade it for a prize. Aiden got an egg that had a #4 on it & was able to trade it in for a Candyland Game! The kids had a lot of fun...despite the weather.

After the city egg hunt, we headed over to our neighborhood park for our ward egg hunt. It really started to rain at this point, but the kids still had a blast...

Here they are checking out each other's loot...

After the egg hunt was over, we all had an Easter brunch...dutch oven sausage & eggs. It was delicious!

Later that day, we went to dinner with Mike's parents at Chuck-A-Rama. Our kids LOVE Chuck-A-Rama because they can "go shopping" for whatever food they want. Unfortunately, there are no pictures. I actually remembered to take the camera...but once we were there, we realized the battery was dead & we hadn't brought the extra one. Oh well!

Later that night, the boys colored easter eggs. Here they are with their masterpieces...

That night, the Easter Bunny paid a visit to our house. The boys were so excited the next morning & were not very happy about the fact that they had to wait for me to get home from work to start looking for their eggs & candy. Mike made good use of their energy by forcing them to get dressed while they waited. Don't they look super cute...

Because of all the rain the day before, it was too wet for the Easter Bunny to hide everything outside this year, so we did an indoor egg hunt. Stuff was hidden all over the house...

Then, of course, we headed off to church. Afterwards, we made our way up to my sister Ashlee's house for Easter dinner. It was delicious! We had ham, funeral potatoes, salad, & rolls. For dessert, key lime cheesecake bars (made by Mike). They were awesome! It was a fun night! Here's a picture of the only girls in our family... (hard to believe we once outnumbered the boys)

After dinner, Nana & Poppy surprised the boys with their Easter presents. Cohen got some little balls to play with...

And, Connor & Aiden got Star Wars Transformers (because NOTHING says Easter like some Star Wars Transformers)...

Uncle Dan helped Aiden transform his. These two are like two peas in a pod...

A big thanks to my sister, Kristin, who sent me the pictures of family party! You rock! It was a fun night...and a fun weekend! --Lindsay

An Exciting Announcement!!

Mike has some exciting news that I've been dying to share for the past few weeks! I couldn't share it up until a few days ago because not all parties that are involved had been told, but now they have...so I can tell the world! Mike got a new job!!! He will be working for a company called L-3 Communications. They are the #1 producer of surveillance & spy equipment and are the 6th largest military defence company in the country! Mike will be the Project Manager/Senior Engineer over one of their testing labs at their Salt Lake division! Basically, he will be in charge of testing the new products coming out of R&D before they go into production. They make satellites & other surveillance/spy equipment...so Mike (being the little boy at heart that he is) will basically get to play with all sorts of James Bond-type stuff! He's pretty excited!

One of the things that I am most exciting about is that he will have every Friday off!!! He will get a three-day weekend every week! How cool is that??? With Mike working during the week, and me working on the weekends...we NEVER have a day off together, so this will be awesome for us! Friday is going to be my new favorite day of the week!

Anyway, we're very excited! This is a great opportunity for Mike! It will allow him to really use both his engineering background & his MBA! But, he will miss ATK very much! He loves his job & the people he works with...and he will DEFINITELY miss going out in the West Desert and blowing up rockets, but we felt like this was a good move for both Mike & for our family! He will start his new position at L-3 on May 18th! Yay! --Lindsay

Our Crazy Fun Long Weekend

We have had a lot of fun the past few days! Here's what we've been up to...

Saturday

This past weekend was General Conference Weekend. The girls in my family always get together (with the kids of course) while the guys go to Priesthood Session. This year, we decided to go to Gardner Village. My mom, sister & I had fun shopping and the kids had fun watching the ducks in the stream...

After awhile, the kids were complaining about being hungry, so we stopped at the Naborhood Bakery (& yes, that's how it's spelled) and got a little snack...


After Priesthood Session was over, we met the guys at Cocolito's for dinner. It was delicious & a lot of fun!

Sunday

On Sunday, we got together for our "semi-annual waffle breakfast" during the morning session. Then, in between sessions, the kids & guys went on a walk and ended up at the park...

Then, they came back to Nana & Poppy's house and played in the garden for a little bit...

After the afternoon session, we had my dad's world famous stew for dinner & then just hung out during the evening. It was a fun day...

Monday

On Monday, we headed down to Moab! This time, we went down with Mike's family. Mike has an uncle who is an awesome jeep rock crawler. Every April, he takes his three jeeps down to Moab and has a blast for a week. We were able to go for a couple days this year & had a great time!

We started out the trip by stimulating the Emery County economy! How, you ask, did we stimulate it? Oh...by paying $82 for a speeding ticket that Mike got on Highway 6! This sheriff's deputy was driving the opposite direction & apparently clocked us and 2 other cars going 81 miles per hour (in a 65) , so he flipped around and pulled ALL THREE of us over! Mike knew he was speeding, but he SWEARS he wasn't going that fast. Luckily the deputy, decided to only write the ticket for 74 mph. But, that was about the only nice thing he did for us. He was definately not in the most pleasant of moods, but can you blame him? He lives in The-Middle-Of-Nowhere Emery County. So, next time you're in Emory County...watch out for Deputy S. K. Jensen. He's a stubborn one! I tried my famous "cop sweet talk", that has gotten me out of 2 speeding tickets, on him...but alas, Deputy S.K. Jensen would not budge! So, we will now be stimulating the Emery County economy by $82! Just what I wanted to do! :)

When we finally escaped the evil grip of Deputy Jensen, we met Mike's parents and headed over to Arches National Park so the kids could do their favorite thing in the world...hiking! First, we stopped at Park Avenue for a little stroll & a little muscle action...

Cohen & I drove to the end of Park Avenue & then hiked backwards to meet the group halfway...

I think it's funny that Cohen is only 8 months old, but has already been to Moab twice!

After Park Avenue, we headed to Balanced Rock for our traditional picture...

And then, we headed over to The Windows & Turrent Arch...

Next was the kids' favorite, Sand Dune Arch...

The weather was so awesome while we were there! We couldn't have asked for anything better! After we were done at Arches, we headed back to the hotel & did a little swimming. This was Cohen's first time swimming, and he LOVED it...

They spent a little time in the hot tub too...

After swimming, the boys (except Cohen) went on their first jeep ride! They went up the first part of the Poison Spider Trail (nothing too crazy). They had a blast, but I think Aiden was a little unsure of the whole experience. When we were going to dinner, Aiden passed the jeep & asked, "We're not driving to dinner in THAT thing, are we?" Haha!

Tuesday

On Tuesday morning, Mike's mom offered to watch the boys for us while Mike & I went rock crawling for awhile with Mike's Dad & Uncle Dave. We went on 2 trails...first, the boys took me on Fins & Things (an easy trail...rated 4 on a scale from 1-9) so I could get used to what jeep rock crawling is all about. Then, they took me on Hell's Revenge (7/8 trail). It was a crazy, awesome experience!!! I loved it! Here's the jeep that we took. It is awesome! It is shown at all sorts of jeep shows & has won lots of awards...very cool!

Here's a picture of us going down one of the big drops on Fins & Things...

Yes, we climbed up this rock! By the way, that's Mike's Uncle Dave that is driving...

The inside of the jeep...

The trail on Fins & Things...

Here's the beginning of Hell's Revenge! You go up this steep fin that has a huge drop off on both sides! That will get your heart pumping...

Another part of Hell's Revenge...

Having fun...

Me in the jeep...

We stopped at a place on the trail called "The bathtub". And, for those of you that are familiar with rock crawling, we went down in the bathtub!!! There are no pictures of the experience as we were all scared out of our wits!!! It's basically a 10 foot hole that has EXTRMELY steep walls (probably at least 50-60 degrees). You drive down one side and out the other! It was NUTS!!! After that, we found this little alcove thing where we ate lunch. It's where Uncle Dave is standing...

It was such a blast! There were so many times where I thought, "There is NO WAY we are going to make it up/down this steep hill!" But, the jeep (and Uncle Dave) handled all of it like it was nothing! We had a blast!

After our jeep ride, we went back to the hotel and went swimming again. Then, we headed home! It was a short little vacation, but a totally fun one! We had a blast! Hopefully, we can go again next year! It was such a crazy, fun long weekend! --Lindsay