Happy Birthday McKenzie!

Then.............and Now

Today was my niece, McKenzie's 3rd birthday! I can't believe how time flies but here we are and she has grown up so much! In the last year she has gone from talking gibberish (is that a word?) to she won't shut up and what a sassy little thing she is! I am sure I was just as bad if not worse since Kenzie is the first born just like I was and she is also Daddy's girl just like I was which means that she can get my brother Adam to do just about anything she wants with that little smile or a simple "Daddy?" It's really quite interesting to witness. Anyhoo, today Ryan had a hockey game and then we headed to Adam and Jenn's for some pizza and cupcakes and to witness Ms. Birthday Girl sing happy birthday to herself because she wouldn't let anyone else sing and she also read all her own birthday cards which was absolutely adorable since it was obviously made up and didn't make sense to anyone but her. After the party we went home and soon after I had to take my mom (did I mention she was here for the weekend?) to the airport. Rewind to the beginning of the weekend.....Friday we took the kids to see Santa which means we took Jack to see Santa and the other kids got drug along. Ryan kinda wanted to see him but wasn't so sure...he's 8 ya' know and that's borderline big boy that doesn't sit on Santa's lap anymore. My mom also came in from Portland. Saturday morning we had to be at Ali's cheer competition at El Toro High at 8am.....her team went on at 9:30, did awesome and took 2nd place! Yeah Ali! Later that day, AJ had a hockey game in Riverside which they won...yeah AJ! Then today , as I said before, Ryan had a hockey game in Anaheim which they lost.....bummer for Ryan....and AJ's team had another game which they won....yeah AJ!
So that was our weekend. Once again filled with sports and no church which I am truly bummed about but I know we will get there and be able to get to church again soon. Christmas is 15 days away and I am starting to get the high speed shakes! I still have so much to do and not enough time. Where's that magic wand when you need it? Also, for those of you wondering where's your Christmas card......they are coming I swear! I'm taking the kids out tomorrow for some pix and hopefully we will get lucky!

Happy Birthday Jack!

Okay, so it's not his actual birthday.....but my little monkey is 8 months old today! I can't believe how time has flown by! Here's a picture of what Jackson (Jack) looked like the day he was born ....

And here's what he looks like every time he wakes up.......

My happy little guy....well, maybe not so little. Jack weighs about 25 pounds and is wearing a 2T in some clothes which for those of you that don't know what that means, that means he's about the size of a 2 year old except he doesn't walk yet and mommy's back hurts! For a kid that was 3 weeks early and weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces at birth, that's pretty darn good! Jack has "sitting up" down pretty good and is currently working on crawling. Right now he just gets on all fours and rocks so I am guessing he will be crawling soon. He has 4 teeth but is cutting two more on either side of his 2 top teeth but you'd never know it since he's just so darn happy all the time. Our biggest milestone this past month is that he is now officially sleeping through the night. For the longest time I was battling with him still wanting that feeding in the middle of the night but with a little willpower and turning off the baby monitor a few nights, we are officially over that.......thank goodness! Well, that's about it. Tune in next month for what big milestone he's come to which may just be crawling....we will see. Here's one more picture of him playing....don't you just want to eat him up??? Look at those muscles!

What's that wet stuff coming from the sky??

Okay, so it is a miracle! I blogged it and it came true!.....no, it's not snowing but it rained all day yesterday and it may just make another appearance today! For you family and friends in the northwest reading this I know you are probably laughing but you have to realize how huge this is for Orange County. Unfortunately the one thing bad about the rain is that the families in our area that were affected by the fires in October are now being evacuated once again but for mud slides.

On a positive note, the rain forced me to stay in and decorate over the past few days and last night we finally got both trees up (not decorated yet) and my house is almost totally decorated. I went a little light this year and didn't put up about 1/4 of my decor because the thought of putting it all away after New Year's was too much to bear. Also, for those of you that read my blog about my family's obsession....mostly my husband's.....with hockey, here's a picture to prove just how rediculous Doug can be. This is the banner AJ's team brought home from Vegas. Why do I have the feeling that if Doug was single, that would have somehow stayed in our front room as permanent decor in the house???? Fortunately wife trumps hockey obsessed hubby so it stayed there for about 24 hours and now it's proudly hung at the rink in Anaheim.

Last but not least, this is what a happy baby looks like after eating pureed chicken noodle soup!

I love Christmas!

This season just always puts me a great mood. I love everything about it except one thing. For those family and friends reading this I wonder if you can guess......the weather. Now, I know some of you may say that it's petty and I should love that it was almost 80 degrees today....but I don't. It's December and I want it to rain or snow or at least have a few clouds in the sky so I can sit inside and imagine that it's cold outside. Now, I am not a total pesimist so I will say the good thing about having it be like this in December is that whatever my kids get for Christmas, they can play with outside....heck, we've even went swimming in our pool Christmas day because it's been so warm. Enough already! So, today our good friend, TL came to put up our lights since my husband has banned the idea I think since he turned 40 and decided he was afraid to get on the roof....boo,hoo. Without disclosing Doug's age, let's just say that TL has been doing our lights for many years and he does a great job. No, we are not like the Griswolds but our house still looks great. Plus, I let TL do all the hard stuff and then I usually get in there and add a strand here and there throughout the month. I also started decorating the house and I totally forgot how much Christmas stuff I had. Doug and I loaded 14 bins into my car this morning out of our storage unit and we still didn't get the 2 trees that we put up in the house plus everything that goes to the office to decorate which I think is 3 or 4 more bins. Those of you that know me know that I am NOT a pack rat in any way so it's scary to think how many bins I would have if I was...(hint,hint, Mom!) Well, I'm off to finish some decorating before I hit the pillow. I'll post some pictures of my beautiful labor of love later. I love Christmas!

Better late than never!

Happy belated Thanksgiving! We had a great weekend! Doug and AJ left for a hockey tournament in Vegas early Wednesday and are due back sometime tomorrow. AJ's team took first place in the Silver Sticks tournament which means they have a spot at a tournament in Michigan in January......yeah AJ! So my mom got in Wednesday night and Thursday morning Mark, Stacie and the kids came over and we cooked away. Stacie was in charge of this traditional yummy gorgonzola broccoli dish we make every year and it was awesome as usual. So it was me, mom, Ali, Ryan,Jack, Mark, Stacie, Taylor, Austyn and Ryleigh. Not as big of a crowd this year with Adam and Jenn going to Jenn's family's dinner this year but they came over late that evening and hung out a bit. It was a great day but I was exhausted by the time it was over! The reason behind me staying home with the other kids was that Ryan had a hockey tournament as well but in Anaheim so that started bright and early Friday...we were out the door by 6:30am! The tournament lasted Friday and Saturday and no Sunday game since his team lost every game but Ryan did great! He got to play forward one game and just amazed everyone except his coach because he was back on defense the very next game....oh well. One of the great things about being married to the director of coaches is that that means that Ryan will probably be playing forward next week after Doug gets home and has a little chat with Ryan's coach. After all the hockey games, my mom and I spent the rest of the weekend baking Christmas cookies which is a family tradition that has been sorta lost since my grandpa died a few years ago. We made so many cookies and had such a great time that I think we will start this back up again. Today McKenzie came over and the kids decorated the sugar cookies. It was so cute to watch and of course I didn't think to pull my camera out so you'll just have to take my word, but here are some shots from Thanksgiving.

The boys: Austyn,Ryan, and TaylorJenn and Jack

McKenzie and Austyn

~Showcase and a bubble bath~

Despite Ali throwing up most of the day yesterday, she was well enough to do her showcase at cheer today and did a great job! Her team is much better this year and her best friend, Brittan is on her team so she's having more fun. Here's some pics from her showcase.....

After Ali's showcase, her and I took Jack to Nordstrom Cafe for some yummy Tomato Basil Soup and some Christmas shopping in the mall and then headed home where I miraculously got a 2 hour nap while Jack miraculously took a 3 hour nap! I don't think I've taken a really good nap since Jack was born so that was big for me! Last but not least, the day ended with Jack getting a much needed bath and trying out his new seat so mommy doesn't have to always take a bath with him. In case you are all wondering the boys were at hockey all day. AJ's team tied and Ryan's team lost. No school this week and Doug is leaving with AJ's team on Wednesday for Vegas for a tournament!

3-1 Lightning

Don't you just wanna pinch those cheeks!
So tonight AJ had a hockey game and they did really well! They won 3-1 and with AJ now playing defense.....it's way more exciting to watch. He does a great job! Unfortunately I wanted to get some great shots of him on the ice but this rink has netting that blocks any good shots so as you will see in the picture below, this is as good as it gets. Also, some other shots courtesy of paparrazi Ryan who heard "down in front" a lot. Tomorrow AJ has another game but I have to take Ali to cheer so no game for me. Sunday Ali has her Showcase for cheer which is simply that. Not a competition just a day to show the parents and friends what they have been working so hard for these past 6 months. I usually sneak a peek at what's going on at practice but this season I decided I wanted to be surprised, not to mention what a pain it is to drag Jack in there as well. So, I am very excited to see what great things these girls have been up to! More on that Sunday! FYI, Yes, Back by popular demand, I've gone blonde.....no blonde jokes please.