Happy Anniversary!

Greg and I celebrated our ninth anniversary on Saturday. At the time we got married, it was great to get out of school for Christmas break and be married three days later. What were we thinking? It is tough trying to celebrate so close to Christmas. On the other hand, it is a beautiful time of year that is already full of nostalgia. All I wanted was a nice dinner date. We went to the Garden restaurant.

After dinner I wanted to experiment taking night shots with my camera. I've never had a chance to do this. Now that I have a nice tripod and a little knowledge, I thought I'd give it a try. It was so fun. We walked all over temple square taking pictures and remembering the day we were married. Luckily our wedding day wasn't as cold! Not that it was exactly warm.

I believe in the Mimi Fairy

Could it really be that easy? The mimi fairy came on Monday night and the pacifiers are gone. We may have overdone it a little on the presents left by the fairy, but I wanted to make a BIG deal about it. We have been talking about it for a few weeks. Monday night, we put them all in a basket. Paige couldn't resist when she saw so many together and grabbed one. She wouldn't let go. I kept telling her the fairy couldn't come unless ALL the mimi's were in the basket. Finally, reluctantly, she put it in the basket and we went off to bed. Luckily, she was dead tired and fell asleep quickly. I expected to be up with her in the night in a panic, but it never happened.

She loved the gifts from the fairy, but didn't quite put it together. Later she asked where her mimi's were and I explained that the fairy took them. Nap time- no questions. That night she got right into bed and didn't even mention them. Now she plays with her ball that she says the fairy mimi gave her. Seriously, I thought this would be such a war. Here we have been fighting to enforce the "only in your bed" rule and taking them away has been so much easier.

WOO HOO!!!

Paigey and her babies

Paige loves babies right now. There is just something about little girls where the mommy instinct kicks in at a VERY young age. I made some blankets for her babies that match her own blanket. This picture is what she did with them in my room.

Then there is the side of Paige that still wants to be the baby. I am a little nervous about how she will respond when our new arrival gets here.



This video is Paige doing just that. She found it in the basement and drug it up stairs. I let her get in since she is only 25 lbs. But at 2 1/2 she is performing maneuvers that I don't think the toy was intended for...

We are all doing great. I just finished my three day weekend and now I am off until next Monday. I have all week to sew pajamas and enjoy the Holidays. I am so excited for Christmas this year. These are the magical years- kids are young, Santa is real, presents are awe inspiring. I want to enjoy every minute because I know they are special times.

Happy Thanksgiving

Okay, I'm a little late on this one. We had a great Thanksgiving holiday at my mom's this year. The weather was awesome. The kids got to play outside and run around. That always makes it easier to get everything prepared. We couldn't keep the kids out of the backyard. Preston reluctantly came in for dinner.



Cindy made these wonderful pies. I think I ate about 4 of them. They were so small,I had to try as many as I could right?


Paige loved dinner because she got the sucker hiding under a turkey afterward.



When I got this shot of Paige, I couldn't help but remember the next one in my own photo book from when I was a similar age. She is a monkey. We always say she got it from Greg, but seeing her on MY tricky bars made me realize that she actually gets it from me.


Preston has no fear riding down the big hill on the side of the house.


My little princess and mom.


Finally, a pregnant sisters shot. Megan is 25 weeks and I am 22 here. It is crazy that with five girls in a family only seven years apart, that this is only the second time any of us have been pregnant together! Lucky me, I'm the only one that has been pregnant with sisters both times. It is fun going through this experience with Meg.

The dentist?

I took Preston to a dentist about a year and a half ago and everything looked great. He didn't act like it was a big deal to really take them until they are five. We didn't put the kids on our dental plan because, hey, they didn't need it yet. This last few weeks, Preston's teeth have been bothering him and he keeps getting food stuck between his back molars. I made an appointment with our new dentist, who is also our kind neighbor. Preston was excited to go because he had just been to the dentist on a school field trip. That was a nice prep thing.

Anyway, it turns out he has four cavities, three of which are close to the root and may need a mini root canal. We called the insurance to see about getting him on it. They cover check-ups, but no dental work for a year from when you sign them up. Wow. So here I am with decent insurance, but no coverage so I get to pay cash. $$$ Ouch. Good thing we learned this lesson now.

The moral of the story- take your kids to the dentist as soon as they have teeth! Put them on your insurance even if they ARE only two.

My Big Girl

Greg and I have debated how we are going to get Paige off of her pacifier which she affectionately refers to as her "mi-mi". When a child can carry on a conversation without removing it from her mouth, or flip it right side up without the use of her hands, she is entirely too old for it. The silly thing is, she still uses the 0-6 months ones and doesn't like the bigger ones.

While Greg was on the deer hunt, I tried to put her to bed without it one night because they were all lost. She seemed to understand that. She woke up at midnight traumatized. I got her back to sleep and she woke up at 1:30. This time there was no calming her. I decided it may not be worth the trauma to just go cold turkey.

Our new approach is to restrict it to bedtime. On Sunday, we told her that it was only for bed. Then, we had to stick to our guns and follow through- the hard part. There is something so satisfying about making our children happy that it is difficult to withhold something she wants so bad. But, we persevered. We distracted her all through sacrament and almost gave up twice.

When we got home, she beelined for her bed. So, the funny part is that I didn't specify sleep only, I merely said if she wants it, she has to suck on it in her bed. She quickly discovered that it didn't matter what time of day it is, if she sat in her bed, she could suck on it. I went with it. All week, she has been going into her room at random times to get a "hit".



Two days into it, she started getting sneaky. She came out of her room with her blanket over her mouth thinking I wouldn't know what was under there. She pretended to be a ghost and when I lifted up her blanket, there it was. I heard my door shut and went to open it. She locked it and sat behind it sucking on her mimi. Now, we are on day four and she is doing much better. She still claims to be tired so she can sit in her bed a little, but when she gets out, she leaves it there. Or, she brings it to me and says "don't need it, I'm a big girl". Hopefully, we can phase this thing out before the baby comes. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Cindy's Family Pics

I took the Bee family pictures last week. I love taking photos outdoors, but I never know where to go. I love Murray Park, but so do about 15 other photographers when you go there during "golden hour". It's annoying because there are always people in the background. Cindy knew of this great place. She even recognized it from photos done by Mar Del. They were shocked that she knew where it was. We decided to check it out. The colors were great and she dressed her family perfectly for it. Her kids are a great age because they will listen to what I ask, even if not very willing. We took them out for Golden Corral after so they weren't complaining.