Snowmobiling!

Boys being boys-- snowmobiling for my father-in-law's birthday on Saturday. From top left: Dad B., Ross' brothers, Ben and Zach, Ross, and Brooke's husband Taylor. His other brother is serving a mission in Canada... We miss you Jared!

38 minutes to 2008. Happy New Year!

Our Mila

So I think I THOUGHT I was taking too many pictures of Mila... because I do. But realized after some of the comments I've gotten that I actually haven't really been posting any. Oops. I'm SURE I'll make up for lost time very quickly.

So we did the bow thing today for the first time. I always feel a little guilty when they're newborn, like I'm saying she's not cute enough without it. And OH she is. But what the heck... I bought a BIG HUGE bow and went for it. This last one is of course Mila with her auntie Sarah....thankyou, Sarah for the perfect purple sweater dress!! You can tell by the pictures that I love it!

Today... we went sledding.

SO so fun. Of course our little thrill seeker loved EVERY minute of it. Yup, even the wipe-out. No comment on my outfit compared to my sis-in-law, Brooke's please. I'm not really equipped for the cold. I was so proud of myself for wearing my closed-toe pumas, until I realized that without socks, the mesh toe did little to keep my feet warm, and they were nearly as foolish as the flip-flops Ross says I wore every day at BYU. Sigh.

"I'm dreaming...."

So I stole this picture from Brooke and Taylor's blog, since they're here with us and Taylor was far more on the ball. I had to follow suit and post some proof of our gorgeous white Christmas. Our regular point and shoot camera is having a problem (the battery won't charge) so until I opened the BIGGEST Christmas gift I've ever gotten yesterday afternoon, (!!!!! more later on that I'm sure) I didn't have a camera to play with. Point is-- I'm a little backlogged on pictures-needing-to-be-taken. Thanks Taylor.

But it really is magical spending Christmas in a place blanketed in snow. Feels like the real thing you know?

So be prepared. I'm sure I'm going to be a bit picture happy for the next little while... once I get a grip on my new toy!!!!!! Thank you Ross-- thankyou thankyou thankyou...

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in the Desert

So now that I'm in Utah and surrounded by beautiful snow, lights, a HUGE Christmas tree, family and LOTS of photo moments... I thought I'd slip in a quick picture of Sophia and Tanner checking out neighborhood lights before we left. We had grand plans to go to Candy Cane Lane for family night with the Lamms, and get hot chocolate afterwards. How quickly the night gets away when you've got little ones with bed times and husbands with varying get-home-from-work times. So we made a quick change to our plans and walked around Lizzie's neighborhood looking at lights and poking at inflatable snowmen. Lizzie and I ditched out with the babies and left the boys to wander the streets with the toddlers. Kind of a cute sight.

Our attempt at a picture of all four of us. Not the best... but four of us nonetheless.

Possibly the sweetest time of day...

9:15 when Ross crashes on the couch holding Mila and all my babes are asleep.

"New To Your Neighborhood!"

It's open. It's OPEN! Literally about a minute's drive from my house... a nice 8-10 minute walk with the kids in my future jogger, I'm guessing about a 4 minute jog. Perhaps 5-6 considering the baby weight. I don't know, I'll keep you posted.

Anyway... it's just what I'd hoped... well pretty much. It's so cute inside, so far my produce has been yummy... not a HUGE selection but I think that's how they keep it fresh, shipments every day, not a TON of stock. If ever they're out, it will be there the next morning. Great fresh flowers, great guacamole, great-looking (haven't tried any yet) desserts like this flour less chocolate cake. Great fresh squeezed orange juice, lemonade, limeade, and grapefruit juice in super cute bottles that look a little bit like milk delivered to your porch. You know, back when we all had milk delivered to our porch.

I couldn't be more excited. I went for the first time the other night while Ross put Sophia down. I took my time and wandered down every isle. It really is the perfect thing for me since I HATE going to the normal grocery store (Ralph's, Von's etc...). I love shopping at Costco and Trader Joe's. They each have their purpose in our house. But when I want something very un-bulk and un-specialty/organic, like say Rice Chex or butterscotch chips (both of which I purchased last week at Fresh and Easy for a yummy chex treat- Thanks Lisa) I'm forced into that huge, boring grocery store where I don't know the isles by heart and there are just too many brands of everything to choose from. Well now I've got my little neighborhood market that carries yummy produce (organic if I want to pay) and some fun specialty items... but also the boring stuff. But it's not boring when you get to shop there on your morning walk and it looks like this:

I'm sure that being walking distance to commerce isn't that exciting to most of you. But it really does make a world of difference in my stay-at-home life here. And now with the two kids... I figured all my shopping for a while would be done at night... now the possibilities are endless. Merry Christmas to me! :) Seriously. My enthusiasm sounds exaggerated but that was written with near tears in my eyes.

One more thing on our 'big present' list:

So I don't know when it happened. When I went from wanting a shirt and a pair of $10 sunglasses from Forever 21 to wanting a $600 camera, a $500 stroller, and a trampoline! I just can't believe how crucial it seems now to have things that make being a mom a little easier. Especially things to entertain Sophia these days. And now that the weather is cool and I want to be outside... we have nothing to DO outside... can't even take walks yet with the lack of a double stroller and all. :) So I thought I wanted to get a backyard swing set (you know the wooden ones) but I've heard they're so hard to set up that no one ever takes them to the next house... which we hope will happen during 2008... so perhaps we'll wait on that. A trampoline however?! I really thought trampolines were just for grown up families with big kids and lots of them. Maybe a house they'd been in for years. My parents really. (They set theirs up and take it down every time the grand kids come, so no, it doesn't share the same problem as the swing set.) Anyway, I already know she loves it, we'll get the kind with the enclosure so it's safer, it's great exercise and great for draining energy :), and we'll have something fun to invite her friends to come over and do. Sure there could be a couple of bumped heads etc... but all in all I I'm pretty sold on the idea.

The question is (and the main reason I'm blogging it): I never knew there were so many options in sizes, 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15 footers... if anyone has trampoline experience, is a 12 footer plenty big or do I want the 14 or 15 foot one??

That's all for now.

Visitors!

(Ross and Sophia returning from church... she's so sweet when she's unconscious :)... I just had to share it.)

My handsome dad and brother, perfectly pregnant sister-in-law, Teresita, and ADORABLE nephew Cannon drove up from San Diego on Sunday to "meet" Mila for the first time. They made our Sunday a full, happy day of family, food, and football. Sorry Ross, sometimes when you watch football, I feel ignored. When my dad and brother are watching it, it feels nostalgic. It's not fair... I know.

We usually go to San Diego so often that my family isn't really forced to come out here much to see us. It's been so fun having visitors with a new baby, because there really is something special about having the people you love visit you in your own home in your world. Thanks for making the drive fam.

Christmas Decor, Nursery, and My Sista

Christmas at our house! It was 62 today... it actually feels a little like winter here lately! I love Christmas... and Christmas with a newborn?? What could be better?

So I think I'd seen so much pink for so long in Sophia's room... I just wasn't excited to do any pink this time around. So I didn't. And maybe I have a totally gender-neutral nursery, which I never thought I was into, but since it's the guest-room too, and since the green seemed so soothing to me (and what mother of a toddler couldn't use a soothing room?) we kept it VERY simple. I think I might do curtains and maybe some ribbon with her name to add a little more umph... but that's about it.

My sister, Melisa and my nephew, Heath came out this week to see Mila for the first time. They played with us Thursday and part of Friday which gave Sophia two great active park days with her cousin. It's been hard for me to figure out how to keep her busy now that we're not going to the gym where she loves the childcare-- and we're not really braving the errand running with two kids yet. It was great to have a built-in buddy that's as crazy as she is for those two days. :)

I thought I was past the point of needing Melisa's help-- "just wanted her company", I kept telling her, but when we actually loaded up and went to the park and I couldn't get Mila in the sling without Mel's help, forgot I'd have to sit down and feed her and therefore couldn't push Sophia in the swing she was demanding, and couldn't keep myself covered, even with the "Hooter Hider" because of the wind, I realized I'd been a little over-confident. So Melisa played super-aunt and ran around pretending to be Pirates with Heath and Sophia while I sat, disheveled, trying to pretend that I had mastered the nursing-in-public thing a long time ago with Sophia. Although clearly, I had not.

Thanks Mel.

Do They Look Alike?

(My best attempts at similar photos... Sophia's first in each pair)