February 27th

Marshall won this handy little gadget called a Flip video recorder at a golf tournament so I am going to try to use it to post some video of the kids every once in awhile.

Emma has been cruising around the furniture lately but last night she just took off pushing her little Mickey Mouse ride on toy. Tyler will either walk with her or he will sit on it and have her push him. Here is a video from today of her doing it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcoufAUvRyY

This video is of Emma doing her little growling game!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RrGLrD7-Xg
We had both of the kids in the hot tub on Sunday. I think Emma is going to be braver around water than Tyler. She was splashing and just having a grand time. I should have known this since from her very first bath water is the place she is happiest!:)

The kids are really starting to "play" more together. Tyler isn't always the best with sharing but sometimes he is amused by watching Emma do things that he does. She actually took a break from trying to eat the crayons to make a few scribbles on the paper.

Look how cute they are in their matching PJ's---thanks Aunt Corinne and Uncle Dave!

Not too much else going on. We still haven't had any bites on the house. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers so we can get out of here before they start construction on the road behind us!

February 22nd

Sorry that it has been awhile since I have updated this. I actually did an update earlier in the week but I some how managed to delete it before I posted it.
Anyway, here are some funny children moments of the past week or so...
Tyler is now able to say his alphabet all the way through. The only mistake he makes in it is that he leaves out the N and says L M O P which ends up sounding like "ELMO P". Yesterday we were waiting in an office and I was bribing him to be good so I told him he could have an M&M if he said his ABC's for me when he finished all the girls at the reception desk clapped for ---he almost blushed from the attention.
On Valentine's Day we had gone to the store to get Marshall a card---which somehow I managed to leave the store without. I am thinking that Tyler either tossed it out of the cart since he rides in the basket or else we shoplifted it and then left it in the cart anyway! We did however managed to buy Marshall a small chocolate cake. I told Tyler that it was going to be a surprise for his Daddy and that we would have it after dinner that night. Well as soon as Marshall walked in the door Tyler ran up to him and couldn't wait to tell him that Mommy had bought him a "birthday cake". I guess in Tyler's eyes that is the only time a person gets to have cake-----do you think I am depriving my child of dessert?
Here is a picture of Emma checking out that special birthday cake that Tyler is eating.

It has been a challenging month with Tyler. He seems to be having more meltdowns than usual. From everyone that I have talked to this is normal and this too shall pass but let me tell you when you are in the middle of it it sure is tough! The emotional highs and lows of a toddler just amaze me. He can be fine one minute and then if he doesn't get to do something he wants he can be in an all out meltdown within seconds...and what truly blows my mind is how quickly it can pass if there is something else that captures his attention. The other day I wiped his nose (which apparently wasn't what he wanted) so he was screaming No Mommy, I wanted boogies on my face!" This went on for quite awhile until he noticed that I had put a piece of candy in my mouth. I swear to you the child went from all out hysterics to saying, "I want one of those please," in the nicest little voice you can imagine!
I was reading a book the other day and the character was remembering what a strong willed child her son had been. He was grown and gone at this point in the story and she said she would give anything in the world to have him slam the door or do any of the other crazy things he had done just as long as he would be there. I read this to Marshall and we were talking about how Tyler can drive us nuts but then he can turn around and be the sweetest child in the world. An example of a sweet moment was when he asked me if he could tell me a secret this week and then leaned in to my ear and whispered, "I love you so much". We both know how quickly time passes so whenever we are having a rough day I am doing my best to focus on all the sweet things he does and says rather than the meltdowns!:)
Little Miss Emma is doing just great. She is cruising all over the place. She can stand on her own for about 3-5 seconds before she realizes she isn't holding anything and then falls to her bottom. She is cutting her one year molars---yes I did say 1 year! Can you believe that she is going to be a year old at the end of next month? She is still my little petite girl. She is still wearing 6-9 month clothes. I have a few little winter 12mos outfits that I have been trying to put on her so that she at least has them on before it is too hot out. My friend Jana got her this little Nike outfit for Christmas----this is the age when writing on your ass looks cute!
She is getting very vocal. She babbles all the time. Her favorite thing to say is "da da da" which after she says it I always say, "No Emma, say ma ma ma"---and little Mr. helpful says, "No Mommy it is dad dad dad"! She also growls at us. We play a game where she growls and then we growl back at her--You can always hear Tyler yelling "R Matey" as we do this!:) The other morning Tyler went in her room when she woke up. He got up on her crib and said---happy happy happy Emma! I swear she looked right at him and yelled, "AHHHHHHH" I am guessing she didn't want to be happy at 6am---I understood completely!

February 12th

I guess it really is back to the grind around here. Mom went home yesterday which made all of us sad. I think she really enjoyed her visit and we sure loved having her here with us. It was so nice having a second pair of hands to help out with the kids but it was REALLY nice having another adult to talk with during the day!:)

We had a great weekend. Saturday we got up and got the house "show ready" (no one came though) then the girls went one way and the boys another. Mom, Emma, and I went shopping and out to lunch. Dillards is having their end of the season sale on shoes---mom got some Clarks for $29 and I got the most beautiful pair of RED highheels. Emma was a real tropper and just sat in her stroller drinking her bottle (she actually was holding it by herself) and eating puffs. We went out to lunch and then continued getting bargains in Children's Place. Emma got some really pretty hats---her head is still tiny so the 0-6 month hats fit her a lot better than then 6-12mos--but mom couldn't resist this sweet little pink one.

While we were having our girl's day Marshall and Tyler went to the driving range. Tyler had so much fun. He hit an entire bucket of balls by himself. He did a great job until it was time to go--that broke his little heart. With a promise of a quick return his meltdown passed quickly and after a trip through McDonald's he was a happy camper once again.

The kids napped really well that day so mom and I went and had a little pampering by getting our toes done. Marshall enjoyed the down time with a nap of his own!

Sunday we again got up and got the house ready and again no one came to look at it----that really is getting old. We all headed off to Risen Savior Preschool for an open house. It was wonderful! The school is great and Tyler loved it there---he cried when we left so that was a pretty good sign that he wants to go there! Hopefully we will get in---they register at the end of the week. It is a lottery so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed that his form gets chosen. After checking out the school mom and I headed down to Tucson for Celesa Arino's wedding shower. It was a beautful day so we enjoyed the ride and of course enjoyed ourselves with the Valenzuelas.

We did show the house this morning and another couple is coming this afternoon. Keep your fingers crossed for us that it sells----it will be so nice to have this done and over with.

OH....Tyler did say something funny yesterday-----when he woke up in the morning he came out into the kitchen and looked at me and said, "hey people!" God knows where he got that one but it was pretty funny. He also is getting quite an ear for recognizing songs on the radio. This morning we were in the car and he said, 'Mommy this is our song"----it was the song, Our Song by Taylor Swift. I guess he has a future on Name That Tune!:)

February 8th

Finally Friday! Tyler and I went back to the gym today--it had been almost a month since we had been there. He had actually started asking me, "Mommy, we go to gym today?" each morning. Hopefully both he and Emma have been exposed to every possible germ and they will have nice strong immune systems to fight future illnesses.

After naps today we went to Desert Breeze Park with mom. We fed the ducks (except Emma kept thinking the snacks were for her), played on the playground, and rode on the swings. The kids went on their first carousel ride there and Tyler and Nana rode the train together. It was a beautiful day outside so we really enjoyed ourselves.



Marshall is going to take Tyler to the golf course this weekend so I am sure I will have stories to tell.

Have a great weekend!

February 7, 2008

We are back from Vegas! It was a wonderful time spent with great friends. We didn't come back as big winners but we did come back with almost all of our money---which in our book is considered winning.

Mom and Carl came last Thursday. Tyler had a great time with his "PaPa Tarl and Nana". He had a pretty big meltdown when he talked to me on the phone Saturday night so we decided not to call him anymore---that was way harder on me than it was him. We were so glad mom and Carl came and we know that the kids enjoyed having them here. I am sure that Carl was pretty tired when he got home on Tuesday---Tyler made sure that he played lots of baseball and golf with him during the visit.

Mom is staying until next Monday so we are enjoying having her here. Tyler was a little afraid that I had left him again when he got up from his nap yesterday and found mom here without me (I had a dentist appointment). He had a meltdown but recovered when I came through the door.

Tyler REALLY missed his daddy. Tuesday night he and Marshall were wrestling on the floor when out of the blue he said, "Daddy, you are my best friend". I actually saw Marshall's heart melt right then and there.

The kids took their first bath together the other night. It went great--Tyler loved helping to wash Emma!

This morning we went to the children's museum and saw Jim Henson's Fantastic World. It was a great display and Tyler had a blast. We enjoyed playing with the puppets and making silly muppett creatures. We went out for lunch afterward and Tyler was actually an angel. Emma did just as well. She ate the entire time---she tried all kinds of fruit during our lunch and seemed to love all of it.

The weather is supposed to be wonderful this weekend so I am sure we will find lots to do outside with Nana before we send her back home to winter weather.

Here are a few of the pictures we have taken over the last week.