For Sale

I don't really plan on making a habit out of selling things on my blog, but this is an exception. I made this super cute board as a Christmas present and for reasons that would take up too much time to explain, it never made it to the intended recipient (even after traveling across the country and back . . . twice). If it matched any rooms in my house, I would just keep it because I love it. Alas, it doesn't; so I can't. That being said, I am selling it. I know someone out there has a brown and pink room that needs a cute board like this. Or maybe you know someone you could give it to? Anyway, I will sell it for $15 plus shipping and handling (which will be approx. $7.00). I am even willing to do a trade for something that will work better in my home. Leave me a comment if you are interested, and we will go from there!

William's Words

William is learning new words at an exponential rate. He is at that stage where he just echoes whatever I say. Just as an example, today I was driving to Target (love that store!) and I was talking to William. Here is the dialogue:

Mommy: We need to go to Target and get some jeans for Marie
William: Ree-ree
Mommy: Why is it that whenever I need an article of clothing for Marie I can't find it?
William: C'find i
Mommy: It is so weird.
William: Weed.
Mommy: You're funny.
William: oh, hahahahahaha (and he starts laughing)

One of his favorite things is to point out objects that he knows the names for and we echo. This became kind of interesting the other day.

William: Phone.
Mommy: Yes, phone.
William: Cah.
Mommy: That's a car.
William: Baby.
Mommy: Yep.
William: Baby, c-ying (he has trouble with the sound "r")
Mommy: Yes, baby is crying.
William: Pants.
Mommy: Pants.
William: Shit.
Mommy: What did you just say?! (And that is when I realize that he really does have trouble with the sound "r") Oh, right. Yes, that is a shirt.

And then there are the words that he hears us say that we don't even realize that he is learning (and no, the swear word above was not one of those). Apparently, Brandon and I call each other "Honey," alot, because Brandon was at WalMart with William and when they got to the cashier:

Cashier: Hello
William: Hewwo, honey!

I love this age!

Friday Night Fun

Brandon's best friend, Davis, and his wife, Rebecca, haven't lived near us for most of our marriage. They have been living in Utah again, though, for a little while, so Brandon and I thought it was about time that we had them over to our house. William loves it when people come over, especially someone that will read to him. Well, he hit the jackpot this time. Rebecca made a great reading buddy for William, and he loved it so much that I think he had her read the same 2 books about a dozen times each. Once William went to bed we played a game of Five Crowns which I love even thought I always lose and Brandon always wins. We even had one round that we all got the cards we needed at the same time! It reminded us of a couple of years ago when we were playing Yahtzee and all four of us each rolled a Yahtzee consecutively. Man, we should go in together and buy lottery tickets. Anyway, thanks for coming over guys. It was nice to catch up a bit with two of our favorite people!

Proof of our incredible luck. I guess you'd only get this picture if you have played the game. Oh well.

No, William does not wear glasses, he just wanted to try Rebecca's on for size.

Room Update!

William has more fun than he should playing with the blinds in his room. One day I went in there to find that he had been biting on them. Yes, I did say 'biting.' He actually tore one of the slats and there are bite marks on about 4 others. Luckily, we have extra slats to replace those with. However, we don't want too many blind repairing parties so we had to start keeping his blinds pulled up, which meant that lots of light came in his room both day and night (the street light is directly outside of our hosue), which meant that it was hard for him to sleep, which meant that it was time for Sewing 911! We needed curtains ASAP so that William could sleep in his room without putting his blinds at risk. Well, long story longer, I sewed curtains for William's room. I think they turned out cute, if I do say so myself. I will have to take a picture of them pulled close so that you can see my favorite feature better, the triangle tabs on top. Now with the curtains up I really want to paint. Any recommendations on color or colors?

Brother-Sister

Marie absolutely loves her big brother. Every time he is nearby she only has eyes for him. He thinks that it is great when he can get her to smile and he loves to walk up to her and say, "Hi, baby," in a sweet little sing-song voice. I will have to remind them of this when they are a bit older and all they do is fight.

Double Double Your Delightment!

Brandon ordered these lovely roses for me for Valentine's Day. They are gorgeous, aren't they? Anyway, he ordered them from proflowers.com. They send the flowers and the vase in a box and then the receiver is intended to arrange them. Well, when I received the box I opened it up to find two dozen gorgeous roses and a broken vase! I was so bummed because the vase was way cute. It was off-white ceramic with red and pink polka dots. So, I called the company to let them know and the customer service lady said that they would send out a replacement order and that I should throw away all the contents from the first order. Yeah right! Who in their right mind would throw away two dozen roses? Then the lady told me that the exact order was no longer available (darn it, I really wanted that vase) and gave me three choices of orders in the same price range. I chose tulips in a square vase. I have thoroughly enjoyed 2 fresh flower arrangements in my house. They are both beautiful and make me think that maybe spring will come after all AND most importantly, they remind me that Brandon loves me. Happy Double Valentine's Day to me!

P.S. I have decided that when I am rich I am going to have fresh flowers in my house all year. They are just so bright and cheery. In the meantime, I guess I might need become more domestic and start a flower garden. Yikes.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The majority of my posts are about my kids so I thought that Valentine's Day would be a perfect chance to give a bit of bandwidth space to my sweetheart, Brandon. Today is doubly special for us because it is our half-anniversary, or whatever you would call it. We were married 3 1/2 years ago today. So, in honor of this doubly special day, I thought I would share some of my favorite moments with him over the past 3 1/2 years. I love you with all of my heart, Brandon!

Just married! August 14, 2004. Los Angeles Temple.

Our first dance as a married couple. We danced to "Never Saw Blue Like That" by Shawn Colvin.

This was at a restaurant on our honeymoon. They had crayons at each table, so we took advantage of it. We are so cheesy. I love it.

January 2005. We built a rockin' fort outside our apartment in Aggie Village.

Good thing Brandon jumped into this picture, because I get the impression that Stephen wasn't ready for it anyway. Great face, Stephen.

Halloween 2005. We had a Birthing Class that night and our instructor told the class that if we didn't dress-up she would provide our costume. So we ran to WalMart and grabbed the hat, crown (which came with a wand, bonus!), and called it good.

Our second Christmas, 5 days before William was born. I love Christmas with my honey!

William Brandon makes his debut. December 30, 2005. Brandon was just glowing after William was born. He was such a proud daddy, and continues to be just that. I couldn't ask for a better father for my children.

My boys. Aren't they so cute?

Family photo. We took so many pictures before we finally got this one with William almost looking at the camera, thank goodness for digital cameras.

I was a very proud wife on this day. My honey became a college graduate. He worked so hard to finish his degree. Sometimes we wondered if this day would ever come, but it did!


Christmas 2006. Our first Christmas with my family and Brandon's first time making graham cracker houses AND William's first Christmas.

Brandon works so hard to take care of our new house. He is a great handy-man. Every once in a while, though, he has to get some advice from William. :)

Daddy holding his baby girl, Marie Noelle. October 12, 2007. This delivery was much harder for me, even though it was faster, because the epidural didn't work. I couldn't have done it without Brandon right by my side.

Our family. November 2007.

Once I started picking pictures I realized that I could post hundreds! I have so many wonderful memories since Brandon has been in my life. I will spare all of you the mushiness, but I did want the world to know that I love my man! I hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane as much as I did.