A few more

Cousins Alex and Jenna hangin' with Papa
 

The three boys watching a movie
 

Pictures with Grandma and Papa. Who do those screaming kids belong to?
 

Christmas morning

 
 
 
 

Christmas Eve

We had Christmas Eve at Grandma Musick's house - a tradition you can count on: A great meal, singing the "12 Days of Christmas", Santa Claus stopping by, and a gift exchange.

 

 

Darek was afraid at first...
 

But after he pulled himself together, he ran back to Santa and climbed on his lap all on his own. So proud. My favorite part was when he took his candy cane from Santa and then charged back up to get one for cousin Bryan when Bryan was a little too afraid.
 

I have no problem letting the kids make messes if it keeps them entertained and I can clean it up later. Blayne on the other hand, can't stand it. But the other night Blayne sat and watched Mia unload a box of tissues with a huge grin on his face. She would laugh each time she pulled one out and you could see the twinkle in his eye. Wrapped.
 

Darek said she's getting too big.
 

Made graham cracker houses at school today.
 

He and his friend Stacy took turns doing each other's hair.
 

I had a great weekend - a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in 8 years came up to visit; one of those friends where despite all the time that's past, it seems like nothing's really changed.
Blayne is working his buns off and the kids are active and awesome.

Darek has really been into Mr. Potato Head. He walked around like this for awhile last night and was completely serious.
 

Mia was growling at Darek. She is NEVER still.
 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: All 7 of my siblings were in Des Moines for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to catch up, to make fun, and to give thanks. Mom made the most delicious food ever. We went to the mall, took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese; Grace, Ashley and I saw "New Moon"; Blayne, Luke, and Joe did a Thanksgiving day run; the kids fed the sheep and rode on the tractor. Something fun for everyone.
The Bad: It took us 4 flights (with three layovers) to get to Des Moines. We were all exhausted.
The Ugly: Pink eye, ear infection, throwing up on Blayne in the middle of the night - all from Darek, all while we were in Des Moines. A tough week for the little guy.

In the end, we're sure glad we made it! It ain't always easy to get together with family, but it sure is worth it.

 
 
 
 

The News

Blayne - He's officially made the transition to working as an investment advisor and he is in hog heaven. This is what Blayne has wanted to do for years and the right opportunity presented itself a few months ago, so we made the leap. Last week he flew to San Francisco to meet with a company who works with investments in capital equipment (like ships, semi-trucks, etc.). Next week he'll go to New York City to meet with a company who works with Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). He's got his own office here in town and he couldn't be happier.

Me - I took the GMAT (the test required to get into MBA programs) 2 months ago and did pretty well; although not as well as my stinky brother Joe. I'm not planning on starting school next fall, so here's a few reasons why I took the test:
1. I'm turning 30 next year and it was just one of those things on my list that I wanted to do before I'm "old."
2. I was feeling the need to do something outside of being Mom. I'm not good at crafts, sewing, decorating - things that I wish I could do - and I needed a little boost.
3. I really would love to get an MBA. The GMAT score is good for 5 years, so if we decide that it's time to go back to school, I'll be able to slip right in.

I didn't send in any applications but several really good schools, like BYU, Carnegie Mellon, Darden, Notre Dame, etc., asked me to apply to their programs which was an ego boost I needed.

Here are the reasons I'm not going (because truthfully, Blayne has been 100% supportive and left it up to me):
1. BYU is the closest school that I'd be interested in attending and it's 4 hours away. Blayne's work is in Idaho Falls, at least for now, and if I want him to be our family's provider then this is where we need to be.
2. MBA programs require at least the time committment of a full-time job. Truthfully, there are days that I daydream about being back in the excitement of a University, but I could not bring myself to leave my kids with someone else all day.

I learned a valuable lesson: there are things that we all dream about doing, but maybe those things seem too far-fetched to be possible - like getting an MBA (or any kind of education), starting our own business, writing a book, whatever it might be - but all you have to do is start taking steps in that direction. I bought a study book, studied when my kids slept, registered for the test, and took it. Simple as that. And something that had seemed so distant became a very real possibility. So take a step.

We got the Toys R Us "Big Book" toy catalog several weeks ago and that has held Darek's attention more than any other book we own. The thing is, I think he just really thinks it's fun to look at the toys (he doesn't make the connection that, hypothetically, we could go to the store and buy them).

 

Old Navy

While I do think that Old Navy has decent prices on decent kids' clothes, I can't stand going in there with both of my kids. I only have a single stroller which means Mia gets the seat and Darek walks. Old Navy has so many trinkets and toys at the front of the store (balls, keychains, piggy banks, umbrellas,etc.) that it's torture trying to get Darek to leave those alone and follow me.
We went last night and Darek talked loudly and non-stop about every item at the front of the store. Several people had started to pay attention to him, and then he arrived at the mannequins placed at the front of the store. There was a mannequin dog placed next to the mannequin people. Darek yelled, "I wanna kiss the doggy mama!" So he walked over and started kissing the dog all over it's head. Then he picked up the toy bone off the floor in front of the dog and licked it from one end to the other. Disgusting. There were probably 15 people watching, including employees, and I wasn't sure what move to make. I didn't want to buy the dumb bone, but Darek had licked it all over with witnesses! Welp, I decided that since the bone had been on the floor anyway, Darek was at least as bad off as the bone. We left the store and we'll be back when Darek's 20.

Family pictures

Janae Anderson, from our ward, did our family pictures last week and did a FANTASTIC job. Our kids could not have been more difficult and yet Janae was able to pull off some awesome pictures. Below are just a few of my favorites. Thanks Janae!

More Halloween

Darek is giving me a run for my money lately, mainly because he is on Mia like white on rice. Whatever she picks up, he takes away. Whenever she's nearby, he pushes her over. Other than when they're napping, it is constant. It's driving me crazy! He's spending a good amount of time in timeout.

Here's several things about the kids that I want to remember at this stage:

Darek; 2 years, 8 months

-He loves to tease. Like if I say "How's my boy?" He'll say, "No, I'm Daddy's Boy" with a huge grin (and he says the opposite to Blayne). Or he'll tell me he wants to give me kisses and when I lean close enough he'll blow raspberries on my face.
-One of his favorite things to do is play hide and seek with Daddy
-He enjoys playing with other kids, especially older kids (as I think most toddlers do).
-He likes trucks and tools
-His favorite show is "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse"
-He is very bossy
-He definitely requires a gentle touch and kind persuasion. The more he is pushed or the more demanding I am, the more he digs in his heels. He will go to his room a hundred times rather than be pushed against his will. Little things like changing his diaper can be very delicate.
-He is my little love

Mia; 9 months

-She is amazingly easygoing and generally very happy
-She squeals and laughs when Blayne comes home from work. She crawls around after him all over the house.
-She plays on her own and entertains herself really well
-Her sweet demeanor belies the fact that she gets into Everything. She turns over garbage cans, unrolls toilet paper, emptys out drawers and cabinets.
-She's going through a stage of major stranger anxiety and screams when anyone, other than Blayne or I, hold her.
-She is truly a little doll baby.

 
 
 

Party Animal

I think after today Darek has become a huge Halloween fan. He had a Halloween party at School this morning which he loved. And then we had a ward Halloween party tonight. Not only is he diggin the treats and games, but he loves seeing the other kids' costumes. I've never been one to love Halloween, but it's different through the eyes of a darling little two year old.

Aunt Grace helped Darek decorate his bag to hold his treats.


Heading out to the party.


Mia has ended up with three costumes this year, but what girl doesn't love having options? She'll make it through all three. In the meantime, how cute are the cheerleader and the football player?


I took this right before Darek went to School - I love it


P.S. Yes, Darek was a football player last year for Halloween too. Although last year was a Dallas Cowboys jersey and this year it's a BYU football jersey. Any guesses as to who chose his costume?
And I'll be honest and say that the uniform is so big on him that it'll probably be his costume next year too :) Make it do or do without, right?

The Park

We've already had snow more than once this month, yet Saturday was possibly the most perfect day of the year. We had a great time at the park.

Blayne didn't have to take turns with anyone.
 

Mia ate dirt.
 

Darek played with this ladybug forever. He lost it after awhile and spent the rest of the day looking for it. I loved watching him concentrate on that little bug - he's rarely as still as he was for that period of time while he watched the bug crawl up his hand, onto his arm and back again. Oh, it was precious.
 

Darek had the stomach flu at the beginning of the week and I got it on Thursday. By 6pm, I had to go to Urgent Care because I hadn't been able to keep anything down for 24 hours - even a sip of water had me throwing up like crazy. The doctor gave me a shot that helped me keep down some fluids and put me to sleep - thank goodness. So now all is well and we're ready to tackle next week :)

Chubby

In order to prove that I was, in fact, chubby (as I said in my last post), I decided to post the evidence. This picture, along with several others, is rarely allowed out of hiding. But I am obligating everyone who sees this picture to post an embarassing photo of themselves on their blogs - I'm tagging all of you.

 

Basically, I started gaining the "Freshman 15" about 6 months before my Freshman year (and I didn't stop at just 15 :). The fact that I had bad hair, clothes, and make-up to complete my look was just an unfortunate coincidence. By the time I served a mission, I did have those three things under control. When I came home from the Dominican Republic, I got sick because of the changes in my diet (mainly drinking milk again) and lost weight. So there you have it. Chubby.

First Date

Friday marked 6 years since Blayne and I went on our first date. We were both working at the MTC at the time and had served in the same mission. As missionaries, Blayne thought I was chubby (which I was) and I thought he was full of himself (which he was). We worked the same shift at the MTC and our classrooms were two doors down from each other so we talked everyday. After a month and a half of working together, Blayne called me up on a Wednesday night and this is how it went:

Blayne: Steve and I are going to grab some dinner on Friday. Do you want to go?
Me: Sure.
Blayne: Are you sure you're ready for this?
Me: Ready for what?
Blayne: A date.
Me: A date? Let's not call it that.

I enjoyed hanging out with Blayne at work and I didn't want it to turn into anything more than that. But off we went on our first date on October 10, 2003. We went to eat at a small restaurant in downtown Provo with Blayne's cousin Steve and his date. After eating we went bowling. I had to admit that it was the most comfortable first date I had ever been on. We talked and talked and talked. We had a few stops and starts in our relationship after that, but we were engaged by mid-January.

So Blayne and I went to dinner on Friday night to reminisce about that first date and how far we've come. We laughed hysterically (tears running down my face) and ended up running multiple errands in an effort to stay out together as long as possible. I've certainly ended up with the man of my dreams.

Hermana Holloway and Hermano Andersen - showin' up for our shift at the MTC
 

Back when we were dating.