Hulk Smashing

So my lovely brother and his wife gave Ashton some Hulk gloves for his birthday, and permission to "Hulk Smash" anything in my house. As most of you have probably figured out, this isn't going well. The only reason the gloves are still around is for the hand me down potential they will have for Jer and Aud's children one day.

Late Thanksgiving Post

Ashton's preschool also did a Thanksgiving feast. The kids wore hats and ate tons of food. It was very fun. One girl was so funny she said, "My food stinks, does anyone else's food stink, I can't eat it because it stinks." Silly kids!

Ashton's Preschool Performance

Ashton had a Christmas performance for preschool on Tuesday and they did such a great job! The kids all sang songs and got to wear fun hats! They were so cute! We all enjoyed it, especially Ellie who danced the whole time! Good job Ashton!

Ashton's picture smile

So I always see these cute blog pictures with families and everyone is smiling normal. Ashton is going through a phase where you ask him to smile for the camera and you get something weird and different everytime. The poor guy is trying so hard, it is hilarious! Here are a few before his Christmas program. Now everyone knows why I have hardly any pictures of the kids smiling together for a picture, it would be next to impossible to get a good shot!

Twilight

I went and saw the Twilight movie with my friends tonight and I must say that I was impressed. I thought I would be very critical of the characters but I think they were all perfect! I hope that they make the next one soon because I need my fill of Edward! (yes, I can be one of those girls)

Who needs toys?

Ellie has decided that my tampons are better than any toy I can find for her. I know that you are thinking that I just need to take them away but in my mind hours of silent play is totally worth it to me! Brian always comes home and freaks out like oh my gosh Ellie just got in the bathroom cupboard, little does he know that she has been playing with tampons since breakfast. I always act surprised, like "Oh Ellie, you know better than that, listen to Daddy and put those back!" he he he!

p.s. Note the piggy tails, aren't they getting cute!

Happy Birthday Ashton!

Ashton turned 4 on November 17. Wow, time sure does fly! He has always been such a good kid and it was so fun seeing how excited he was for his birthday! We made pizzas, ate cake and ice cream, had a pinata, and opened presents. Thank you to everyone for making his day special!

HALLOWEEN

This year we went to St. George for Halloween to spend it with Jeremy and Audrey. It was so much fun! The weather was so nice so we could trick-or-treat as long as we wanted to and then come home and pass out more candy to kids. Brian was a creepy chimp that he loved scaring kids with. After he got it, he would sneak up on our kids with it at home when they weren't expecting it, how cruel! Luckily they got immune to his tactics and were no longer scared of him so he had to resort to tormenting trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. I was the mom from Incredibles, only I forgot black paint so I don't have a mask and my hair isn't down, but it was a super fun costume! Ashton was Frankenstein and Ellie was a pink poodle. She would knock on the door and say "treat, treat". Thanks for the fun weekend in St. George Jer and Aud!

Long time, No post!

So it has been awhile since I have posted. We haven't been up to a whole lot. The kids have been getting excited for Halloween. Ashton got to go to the firestation for preschool which he LOVED! It was so funny because the firefighter was telling the kids that it is important that they are not scared of them if there is a fire because they have all of their big fireman gear on and are there to help them. He then began getting dressed in his get up telling the kids, look it is still me, Tony, right? I looked at the mom next to me and said "What do you bet we loose half of the kids by the time he is in his full gear?" Sure enough, one by one the kids started dropping out and by the time he put on his darth vader breathing mask, about ten kids were bawling with their parents. It was so funny! Ellie has just been up to 14 month old things, trouble mainly. She climbs, gets into drawers, now refers to herself as "bebe". "Bebe, peez" is her favorite for wanted anything. I must say that I got spoiled having a boy first because they are so easy to get ready in the morning, Ellie has this hair that I am still trying to figure out what to do with, it is very cute, but crazy all of the time.

Our Little Monkey

Ellie is such a climber! Once again, something Ashton never put us through, I am begining to see a pattern. She loves to climb on the fireplace and then the other day, up on the speaker to our tv from there! She kind of knows how to get down but would much rather scream when she is done until I come and get her, really now, isn't that easier? She is starting to tattle on Ashton, it is so cute (for now anyway)! She will come running up to me yelling and pointing and then go running back to Ashton pointing and yelling, it is so funny!

Rock-n-Roll Preschool!

I can't believe my baby is going to preschool. So when all of the other moms had a hard time, I thought it is just preschool, just a couple days a week for a couple hours, what's the big deal? Then I sent my little one. It was very bitter sweet. He is ready, I should be ready because to be quite frank he has been driving me a little bonkers lately, but it was still a little sad leaving him because ususally I always stay with him when we do fun things. Ashton just kept asking me all morning, "Mom, are you ready to rock and roll, I am ready to rock and roll, are you ready to rock and roll?" He is such a great kid and I know it will be a fun and great experience so I am super happy in that aspect, I am also hoping to meet other moms who have little ones around Ellie's age, she would adore a little friend. When we went to Ashton's preschool orientation, she just loved wondering around playing with all of the kids, I wish she could stay and go with him!

We love bounce houses!

We have been to a couple of bounce houses and love them! There is a new one in West Jordan that is fantastic because it is brand new and doesn't smell like stinky feet yet. We took Ashton and his friend Noah, they had a blast and unfortunatly discovered the drinking fountain also. Ashton is fearless on these slides, I went down one and got a little nervous, but not him!

Big Girl!

I took Ellie to her 1 year checkup today, even though she is closer to 13 months. She is doing very well, the doctor commented on how well she runs. I think that their job is to make you feel like you are the best parent in the world raising an obvious prodigy. He thinks that she talks so well and was just amazing how well she played with his bead toy, I knew when he said this that he was now just searching. She is still just a tiny thing, weighing almost 18 lbs., you would never guess is though with her chubby little legs and buddah belly. This is a picture of her playing peek-a-boo. She puts her head on the floor and waits for someone to look between her legs and then says "peek, boo".

Slip 'N Slid

I remember slip 'n sliding as a kid, but not like this. Brian, of course, has to take everything to the max, including slip 'n sliding. He decided that the kids couldn't go fast enough on their own so he was throwing them, litteraly, down the slid and then when they didn't land in enough water to nearly drown them as it is, he decided to add a pool to the end of the his obstical course. As always, the kids were lined up for turns!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

I can't believe that Ellie is already 1! How could this be, I just barely had her a year ago! We had a luau for her and she had a blast! She is such a wonderful addition to our family and we are so blessed to have a such a beautiful little girl running around our house. She is so funny because she can now walk, but she is very, very slow. I remember when Ashton learned to walk, he would run until he fell over. She puts much more thought into it so that she never falls, but is instead slower than a rock. We have really enjoyed this past year and can't wait to see all of her accomplishments in the year to come.

DINOSAURS!

Ashton loves dinosaurs! He even calls all of them by their correct names, including Dimetridon. I took him the the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah and he was in heaven! He was so cute because he wanted to wear his little dinosaur shirt there!

4th of July

We LOVE the 4th of July! Every year we go to the Murray parade with Brian's family and attend a bbq at his Grandparents house and then have a party with our friends in the evening. We had the party this year at our house, it was a blast! We lit fireworks and were able to watch the West Jordan fireworks on our roof. Jeremy and Audrey were up for the weekend so the boys took Ashton four-wheeling and up to a lake on Saturday while I spent the day with Audrey and Ellie, we had so much fun! The kids were awesome all day even though they were hot and tired. Ellie sat and watched the whole parade just waving her little flag while Ashton tried to retrieve as much candy as he could. Ellie was funny because she loves to blow spit through straws, yes I know, very lady like, so that also entertained her for awhile. It is so funny because Ellie will just stand everywhere, but hasn't quite decided to take her first steps yet so Ashton will always tell her that it is time for her to walk now. At the parade, I think that he was grateful that she couldn't get to the candy as fast as he could though!

I have a girl!

I remember thinking that there were certain things that I couldn't wait to do if I ever had a girl, one of them was getting her a cabage patch doll and another was putting her hair in pigtails, I have reached a milestone! She is so stinking cute these days!

Swimsuit season is here!

We have been loving going to the pool and running through the sprinklers! I just can't understand why everyone thinks it is so adorable when Ellie's chub is hanging out all over the place and when I look just the same, I get a different kind of look, sometimes things are just different for babies I guess!