The Cousins

Michael and his cousins got all dressed up for grandma's Christmas picture. Aren't they adorable? Grandma even found outfits for them that match.

Ready, Set, GO!

Wait for it....


Wait for it....


Go!


Whew! That was exhausting.

Michael loves running around. Sometimes he doesn't have the patience to walk, and sometimes he doesn't even have the patience to wait until he has his balance before he starts moving. Other times he likes to play "Ready, set, go!" That's what we were doing in the doctor's office today, but he was a little "off" because he didn't have his afternoon nap. He face-planted twice, and even has rug-rash on the side of his nose to prove it. That was the first fall - and as soon as he had a little cry, he wanted to go again. And why not? After all, it was fun right up until the end.

Toy Box

Michael got a new toy box for his birthday (he had to have a place to put the TONS of toys he received for his birthday - after Christmas, he might be able to open his own toy store).

He loves playing with it (or in it).

Sometimes he uses it as a drum.

Other times he opens it, then closes it, then opens it, then closes it, etc. He also likes to open it with his head - he lifts the lid just high enough for his head to fit in, then "head-butts" it the rest of the way.

And sometimes he actually uses it as a normal toy box, putting toys in and taking toys out - mostly taking them out. He likes to see everything before he decides what to play with. He does the same thing with his books - he takes all of them out of the basket before he decides which one he wants to "read" first.

We Love Pictures

I'm working on the 2009 Family Calendar - yes, still. And I'm running out of time, as usual. But I had to take a minute to post some adorable pictures I've re-discovered while trying to decide what to put in the calendar.



Making the cutest face - and looking a little elfish.



What a stylin' little guy!



He just loves looking out the window.




The hat was just too cute, and we had a lot of fun with it. We bought it big, but he still grew out of it before summer was over.

Sneezing is hilarious!

In October, Michael got a cold - and gave it to me (we're learning to share). Needless to say, I sneezed a lot. One morning on the way to the babysitter's, I sneezed four or five times in a row. Michael has always thought sneezes (and hiccups) are funny, but he found a bunch in a row especially hilarious. When he was done laughing, he said, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, choo!" Now he loves sneezing and laughing at himself. Every once in a while he says "bessoo" (his cute little version of "Bless You").

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears - Oh, My!

We decided to start a new tradition - family Halloween costumes! Well, I guess it's actually re-instating an old tradition. Dave and I haven't dressed up in the same theme for years. This year, because we found such a cute lion costume, we decided to go with "Wizard of Oz."

He looks like he's up to something, doesn't he?

He had a lot of fun with his costume. He'd walk and/or crawl around for a while, then stop and clap his hands together. He thought the mittens were a great toy. And he just loved smiling at himself in the mirror when he was he wearing the hood. A couple times we put the hood on, draped the costume over his back, and chased Sandy around. He thought that was the best thing since learning to fake sneeze!

It's Picture Time!

Yes, I know I've been negligent in posting - but better late than never, right? Here are some adorable pictures we had taken on Michael's 1st Birthday. Our little baby is turning into a little boy - and still the cutest ever!

He's ready to go fishing with daddy and grandpa!

What a little heartbreaker!

The Birthday Cake

Michael still wasn't quite sure what to think about the candle - which may explain the slow start. He kept poking his fingers into the hole left by the candle.

Once he got going, he sure had fun playing with the frosting. He got a kick out of grabbing a great big handful, eating a little bit, and then squishing the rest between his fingers.

He had a lot of fun with the cake, but I think he had even more fun taking a bath after. That boy loves the water!

The Zoo

On Michael's birthday, right before we went to the zoo, Dave turned the car seat around. Michael loves being able to face forward, kick mom and dad's seats, and see what's going on. And he loves playing with Cookie Monster while he's in the car (or Elmo, depending on which car we're in).



When we first started walking through the zoo, Michael was busy looking at all the people around us. (They're animals, too, right?) The first zoo animals that caught his attention were the penguins - probably because they were the first animals we saw that were actually moving.

The giraffes were walking around quite a bit. Michael watched one inside that kept walking around and around and around in circles. The zebras were a bit harder to see - there's actually two there.

We stopped and watched the elephant for quite a while. I think it liked being the entertainment. It walked toward us, made sure we were watching, and then started playing with the red ball. Michael liked watching it swing the ball.

When we got to the meerkats, there was one standing up looking out the window. Dave decided to slowly push the stroller up to one, so it would stay right by the glass for Michael to watch. Well, Michael wasn't watching the meerkat - he was paying more attention to the noisy people in the area. Dave got the stroller right in front of the meerkat, so it and Michael were inches apart. If you haven't seen a meerkat, they move fast! When it moved, Michael realized he'd been within inches of an unknown animal, screamed, and then cried. Dave thought it was hilarious. He was laughing so hard he couldn't calm Michael. It was kind of cute. The picture was taken shortly after the scare - notice the grip on the side of the stroller. After that, he paid much closer attention any time we stopped - especially if we were by glass.

Sunday Dinner

Almost every Sunday, the family gathers at mom and dad's house for Sunday dinner. We also celebrate birthdays - usually the Sunday before the person's birthday. The day before Michael's birthday, we celebrated with cake & ice cream and presents.

This isn't the cake we let him dig into - we did that on his birthday (pictures coming soon). He wasn't quite sure what to think about the candle, but thought the singing was fun.

Michael's new favorite toys are his birthday toys. He got a helicopter from grandma and grandpa that plays songs and makes fun noises. And grandpa and daddy even let him play with it! He has fun taking the colored balls out of the passenger area and putting them in the top - he especially likes the color setting, where it says what color the ball is then plays a song.

Michael also likes his new trucks. He got one from grandma and grandpa that has little balls that pop around in the back when it moves. He likes rolling it on the toy chest until it falls off and he says "uh-oh" (it's sounding less like "ow" and more like "uh-oh" every day).

The colorful dump trucks came from Uncle Mike, Aunt Julie, and cousin Braden. Michael just loves the noises they make, especially the bigger one when you lift the bed up and down. And he loves it when you roll them and they keep going. If you roll them to him and they bump into his feet or his legs, he just giggles and waits for you to do it again.

The Calm One

Exactly a week before Michael's birthday, Dave was making dinner (hot dogs on the grill) while I was playing with Michael. Dave was going in and out of the sliding glass door - it's an old door, and doesn't slide well on the track. It takes a bit of effort to slide, and it makes quite the racket - no sneaking in or out of that door!

Michael really likes the piano, and loves pulling himself up using the bench so he can play the keys by himself (without me holding him). He was standing at the piano, right next to the bench, when Dave opened the sliding glass door. Michael jumped, then tried to hurry and sit down - not realizing that if he did so he'd do a face-plant into the corner of the piano bench. He hit the bench with his mouth, and immediately had a shocked look on his face - I, meanwhile, was having flashbacks to a heavy table falling on my younger brother. As soon as Michael got over the shock enough to catch his breath, he started wailing - but no blood. Whew!

I picked him up and he buried his face against my shoulder while he cried. When he lifted his head a little, I tried to see if he had a fat lip already, but there was too much blood to see. Again, flashbacks - this time of the bloody trip to the emergency room, trying to hold a towel to my younger brother's gushing mouth. So, of course, I tell Dave, "Let's go. We need to leave right now."

Dave decided we needed to clean the blood off first and see how bad it really was. He tried to gently mop up Michael's face and we got a teether out of the freezer. Lips intact, gums apparently intact, teeth still in place - whew! We couldn't tell exactly where the blood was coming from because Michael wouldn't let go of the teether - but at least the bleeding slowed quickly. By this time the hot dogs were done, and we decided to stay and eat. We didn't think Michael would want to eat much, so we gave him some cold applesauce. When that wasn't enough, we gave him some puffs - he popped 'em in his mouth and started chewing them like nothing happened. He's one tough kid!

Dave's commentary on the whole thing? "Well, we know who the calm one is." This time maybe - considering Dave wasn't picturing a far worse injury that happened years ago and involved stitches and pulling out broken teeth.

Michael cut the piece of skin that attaches his lip to his gum. The nurse said it would heal on it's own, so no stitches or anything - just a teether and some ibuprofen for a couple days. The next morning, you could hardly see the swelling. And now I have a t-shirt that could make a great Halloween costume!

Shortly after it happened.

The next morning.

I'm a Celebrity!

Ok, so maybe only a local celebrity - I was on the news yesterday. Here's the link to the website - watch the video. You need to watch closely because it goes by really fast. Ok, ok - I'm not a celebrity. But it's still fun to see yourself on the news or in the paper (especially when it's not an embarrassing picture).
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4359018

During the hearing there was something that needed to be handed out, and I didn't have copies - so I had to RUN down the hall and downstairs to make copies. Got the copies done, but the 3-hole punch wasn't working, so I had to track down someone that had a 3-hole punch. Then I had to RUN up the stairs and back down the hall and then hand out the copies while trying to not sound like I'd just run down the hall. When I finished, I sat down and realized how toasty the room was (although it seemed I was the only one that was hot - it may have had something to do with my short, unplanned cardio workout), so I fanned myself for a few seconds - and apparently that's when they took the video. The first time they panned the room was while I was running. The second time they panned the room was just after I got back and was trying to cool down.

So goes some of the excitement (?) of a special legislative session.

By Way of Explanation....

I thought I'd better explain the "True Blue Trio" and "Cougar Crazy." I grew up watching BYU sports and wanting to go to BYU (didn't go there, but I can still be a fan). Dave grew up watching BYU sports and pretending to not like BYU. And Michael just looks so darn cute in his Baby Cosmo onesie and t-shirts - we think when he's having happy dreams they're about playing football for BYU. Hence the "Cougar Crazy" - we're true blue through and through.

Go Cougars!

Lovin' the Water

Michael just loves water - whether it's in his sippy cup, in the bath tub, or in his swimming pool. We let him play in his little pool a couple weeks ago, and he did not want to get out. He had fun kicking his feet to splash mom and dad. Once everyone was properly soaked, he crawled back and forth from one side of the pool to the other. He was in the pool for over an hour (yeah, yeah - lots of sunscreen, well hydrated, etc.), and he still cried when we took him out.

Joining the world of Blogging

Yes, I have finally decided to join the world of blogging. I tried a web site (which my brothers tried to help me with), but I could never seem to get it going. I tried My Space - but with all the horror stories and then having my password stolen, I rarely log in and I never update my profile. So I thought I'd give blogging a try. Michael's always doing something cute, and who knows - maybe I can even get Dave to blog once in a while.