Dear Vivvie #10

Dear Vivvie,

I won't even give you excuses for why this letter is late...again. I'm pretty sure you're just used to them coming late by now. You are now 10 (and a half) months old. I don't know where those months went. It seems like just yesterday that we brought you home. It's hard for me to believe that you'll be one-year-old next month! The time is flying by way too fast!


This has been such a fun month! You have started doing so many cute things. My favorite new thing is to watch you dance! You love to dance. You shift your weight back and forth from your left foot to your right foot, & you kick your hip out as you do it so that you get this swaying motion going on. But it doesn't stop there. You move your head back-and-forth, a la Stevie Wonder. It makes us laugh like crazy! You dance anytime you hear music...in your highchair, in the car, and even standing up on the pew at church. I've tried to record you doing it, but you won't dance as soon as a camera is pointed at you. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to capture it without your knowing.

In addition to your dancing, you love to sing as well, especially in church...and especially after the song has ended & a prayer is being said. When everyone else around you starts singing, you let out a big short A sound over and over and over again. "Aaaaaaaaaa....Aaaaaaaaaa...Aaaaaaaaa!" It really funny. Eventually, everyone around us starts laughing at you & we have to plug you up with a binkie. It does definately make church a little more enjoyable.

You've also recently started waving at people. You won't wave on your own. Someone must wave to you first. But then you always return the wave with a big smile on your face. You've also started to clap, but not much sound comes from your cute chubby hands. They're too squishy, I guess.

You pull up on things all the time now, and (horray!) you've finally started walking along them as well...rather than what you were doing last month--screaming for whatever it is that you want but is out of reach.

You're also getting really good at feeding yourself little bite-sized foods. You still only have bottom teeth, so you can't chew very well. But, you can gum food up like nobody's business!

Unfortunately, the feeding yourself thing also works when you're crawling on the floor & happen to run across one of your brothers' "leftovers" from lunch (several hours earlier) that I haven't swept up yet. Nasty!

Your favorite place in the whole world to play is now the dishwasher, and knives seem to be your favorite toys. It's like Pavlov's dogs. The second you hear water running in the sink, you crawl to the kitchen as fast as you can, pull up on the dishwasher & promptly pull out a knife. Baby girl, why must it always be a knife? What's wrong with a spoon???

Your new words for the month are Nana (which your Nana is quite happy about) & Uh-oh. You say Uh-oh more than anything else. It's the cutest thing. Everything is Uh-oh. Getting dressed...uh-oh. Taking a bath...uh-oh. Playing with toys...uh-oh. We love it!

Another develpment (much to my dismay) to happen this month is that you've started to fight me on the bows that I insist you wear. Not only do you pull them off, but you destroy them if given the chance. I've learned with kids that you have to pick your battles. But little miss, this is one I'm picking! I have lived through nine-years of Star Wars, Spiderman & Transformer shirts. My daughter WILL wear a big, gaudy bow. You will not win this war sister! Don't even try. Resistance is futile.

I think your "new-ness" has worn off with your brothers. They used to be pretty dainty with you. Not so anymore. You are just one of the boys, in their minds...despite the girly bow I force you to wear. You have become a wrestling buddy on more than one occation, been poked in the eye several times, and have been pushed of the couch once (by a certain three-year-old brother who shall remain nameless). But, you handle the abuse with ease. You are one tough cookie, and you're going to need that living in this rough & tumble household.

So, happy (belated) 10-month birthday Viv! We love everything about you...your cute little laugh, your buddha belly, your adorable smile, your chubby cheeks, your crazy hair, your squeezable fat rolls, your cute little turned-up nose, your chunky baby feet, your huge smiley eyes, and especially your darling personality! Love, love, love you! --Mom

Top 11 of '11

2011 was a wonderful year for us! Here are our Top 11 of 2011:

11-BASEBALL SEASON

Both Connor & Aiden played baseball this year. Connor did Machine Pitch...


And Aiden played T-Ball...


Both of them had a great time, and learned a lot. Connor really improved this year & even hit two home runs late in the season. Aiden enjoyed talking with his teammates (and the teammates on the other team too) and picking grass, but also had a fun time playing & did great.

10-ART DAY CAMP

One of my neighbors put on an Art Day Camp for some of the kids in our neighborhood. It was for kids ages 5+, so both Connor & Aiden attended. They painted, sketched, made Chinese Lanterns out of paper mache, learned how to make candles & even did some body paint...


It was such a great activity for the middle of summer, when life gets a tad boring. The kids got to do something fun everyday for a week & I didn't have to hear, "Mom, what can we do?" Win-win.

9-ALL OF THE BOYS IN SCHOOL

Connor started 3rd grade...

Aiden started Kindergarten...

And Cohen started Preschool...

All of them are doing so well! Connor is still excelling at Math & his reading fluency is improving awesomely! Aiden is just excelling in everything...math, reading, writing, etc. In addition to that, he's also excelling at being one of the class clowns too. And, Cohen is enjoying learning about shapes, colors, letters & numbers. Because all the boys are in school now, that means that Vivvie & I get some "girl time" two mornings a week. I think she enjoys some quiet time around the house.

8-CHRISTMAS

Christmas is always one of my favorite parts of the year. Sure, it can be stressful with everything that needs to get done, but it's a fun kind of stress. And, I love seeing these looks on Christmas morning...

7-MY DAD'S 10th LOTOJA

My Dad completed his 10th LOTOJA this year. It's a 206 mile bike race that goes through 3 states and over 2 steep mountain passes. This year, he got a horrible leg cramp about 1/4 of the way through the race. It was so bad that he couldn't use that leg very much & basically had to do the rest of the race with one good leg. He finished like a champ & then promptly swore he'd never do it again. But, the next day, he sort of changed his mind & decided that he would still do it in a relay team. Guess who his relay partner is going to be? Yep, Mike. Guess I won't be seeing much of my husband this summer as he trains for this monstrous race...

6-TRIP TO ST. GEORGE

Thanks to some bad weather, we switched our annual fall trip from Moab to St. George. We stayed in a condo & had a great weekend full of swimming, shopping, biking & hiking. It was awesome & we've decided to now switch back and forth between Moab & St. George because we had such a great time...

5-BEING QUOTED ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES

Back in the early-summer, a reporter from the New York Times interviewed me for a story on why Utah had received so much snowfall that year. And, the story ended up on the FRONT PAGE...

I have to admit, it was pretty fun to see my name of the front page of the NYT...

It's kind of ironic that last year was a record snowfall & this winter has been one of the driest on record so far. It's always feast or famine here in Utah. Got to love it.

4-VACATION TO CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

Back in July, we (my whole family...parents & siblings' families) were able to stay in a beach house in Carlsbad, CA. Here's the house we rented from some friends of my parents. Sooooooo awesome...

We didn't plan much for the entire week, except to go to Legoland for a few days (I don't recommend wasting your money). The rest of the time was just spent hanging out at the beach. It was heavenly!

3-MIKE'S NEW POSITION

A little over a month ago, Mike was offered two different positions by two different groups within his company. One of the positions was to be the Program Manager over one of the company's army projects. The other was to be the Program Manager over one of the company's drone projects. After several weeks of the two different directors trying to convince Mike to work his their specific projects, Mike finally chose the drone project. All he can really tell me about it is that it has something to do with the surveillance & communication devices that go on the drones the government uses to spy on terrorists, hostile countries, etc. So far, he is loving it. He is over the entire project, so his blackberry goes crazy for what seems like 93% of all waking hours, but it is a huge opportunity for him & we feel very blessed that it was offered to him.

2-OUR WRESTLING CHAMPS

Connor & Aiden proved that constant fighting does amount to some good when they both won their wrestling tournaments in their weight divisions...twice! Connor didn't lose a single match the entire season & Aiden only lost once. Connor's coach recommended that we start him with a private coach at some point because he is so talented at it. Both the boys absolutely love wrestling! Who knew it could be so fun to wear a unitard & stick your face in another guy's armpit???

1--OUR VIVVIE GIRL

But, our #1 event of 2011, without question, is the addition of our "Grand Finale" to our family...

Our little Vivienne was born on February 21, 2011 at 4:38 am. After a quick 90 minute labor, full of constant pain & a spinal headache to boot, Miss Viv came into the world. I've said it before, but it is amazing to me how much she has completed our family. She is just the icing on the chocolate cake. We love everything about her! She was definitely the best thing to happen to us in 2011.

So, there's our Top 11 of 2011. We feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful year! We hope your 2011 was just as great. Here's to 2012 being even better! --Lindsay

Christmas 2011

This year's Christmas was awesome! We started it out with the annual Christmas Eve party at my parents' house. This year, we decided to do our little bingo game in the afternoon because the evening gets a little too busy. This year, my parents had bought over 70 Bingo presents...


A good time was had by all...


After dinner, it was time for the feast...

There was ham, turkey & all our favorite appetizer foods: bean dip, shrimp with cocktail sauce, spinach-artichoke dip, a relish tray, baked brie, meatballs, little smokies, etc. So yummy...

After dinner, it was time for the "talent show," which is really more of a "comedy show" in our family's case. We had to start with the girls singing "Jing a Ling" in our "special voices." Ashlee sings in her opera voice, Kristin sings in her British-monotone voice, & I sing in my baby voice. We couldn't keep straight faces this year...

Then the kiddos did some singing...

And some AWESOME dancing...

And then told some Christmas-themed jokes...

Next, it was on to the presents. First the kids opened their Christmas PJs & then they did their cousin gift exchange...

After that, we did our sibling exchange. We gave Kristin & Dan a clock & an Eagles shirt and hat...

Kristin & Dan gave Ashlee & Greg an electric skillet and Wits & Wagers (I love that game)...

And Ashlee & Greg gave us this doormat & a Brian Regan DVD...

Then we opened all our gifts from Nana & Poppy. They spoiled all of us rotten...

At the very end of the night, my parents & I gave Mike a joint gift. Back in the fall, my dad got a new mountain bike. Because he had a new one, he put his old bike up for sale. One day, Mike was telling me that he wished there was a way he could by my Dad's old bike. It's a really nice bike & my dad hasn't ridden it that much (he rides his street bike way more than his mountain bike). Mike's bike has been having some major issues lately and needed a $250 repair after an accident that happened when we were in St. George. So, I called my parents & asked them if they would sell the bike to me for a good deal, as a joint gift. They agreed. My dad then hid the bike & told Mike that "some lady had bought it for her husband as a Christmas present" which was, technically, the truth. So, we gave it to him that night. I didn't take any pictures, but he was shocked...and very happy!

After that, we took four very tired kiddos home & put them to bed. It was a great Christmas Eve! A huge thank you to my parents for always putting this fun party together & for being so good to us!

The next morning, the kids woke up at about 8:15. We took our annual "picture on the bridge" as the kids got their first glimpse of what Santa brought them...

Both Connor & Aiden were super excited to see that they had made Santa's nice list (there was some question this year). Everyone was spoiled by the man with the bag. Cohen got his Buzz Lightyear Spaceship that he's been wanting...

Connor got a Nintendo DS...

Aiden got some Super Mario Bros. plush turtles & question mark boxes that he's been DYING for...

And Vivvie got a baby doll & stroller...

Next, it was on to opening presents...

Viv wasn't really into opening presents. In fact, she was terrified by the sound of the wrapping paper being ripped...

Eventually, she got bored of unwrapping presents, so her brothers opened her presents for her while she played with her reflection in the fireplace...

Here's a picture of Mike with his "Christmas socks." If you like Mr. Bean, you'll get this reference...

And here's me with my new cordless phones (since mine barely work anymore, and everyone who calls me on them thinks I randomly hang up on them)...

And my new alarm clock. It's pretty fancy, and probably smarter than me too. I still have yet to figure out how to turn it off. It wakes me up to my favorite Pandora station & gives me the latest Facebook updates when I wake up. I'm pretty sure it's not going to do a very good job of getting me out of bed on time, since I'll be tempted to surf Facebook while listening to my favorite tunes, but oh well...

Throughout the morning, the boys kept unwrapping Wii games. They were a little surprised because our Wii has been broken for several months. Whenever you stick a disk in, it gives us some error about how it can't read the disk. The boys have still been able to play some of the "Old Fashioned" games that Mike downloaded to the Wii, but they haven't been able to play any actual Wii games. So, as the kept opening up Wii games, we would say, "Oh, well I guess you can play that when we get our Wii fixed someday." But, what they didn't know was their last present under the tree was this...

A brand new Wii! They were shocked! And there was much rejoicing...

And even some hugging...

It was a "Christmaskah Miracle" (fans of The O. C. will get that one).

Once we were done, I took a picture of the "final product" before cleaning up a little bit. What a disaster...

It was a great Christmas! We hope yours was too! We are so grateful for our Savior, who this day is really all about. --Lindsay