Sneaky Little Sneakster

JD and I have been avoiding putting presents under the tree because we didn't want to torture Morgan (and ourselves with the nonstop "PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE" we would hear) too early before Christmas. Well, our neighbor came by and dropped off a gift, and these are pictures of Morgan when she realized there was a present under our tree. She would literally tip toe across the house to try and get sneakily to the tree.

This is the look on her face when she realized she'd been caught!

So she tried to act like she was doing something else...

Then she decided to try to just schmooze me into letting her rip into it! She knows the power of that smile! (Don't worry, I was strong, I didn't cave!)

Can We Build It? YES WE CAN! Well...sort of

Yeah...sorry about the Bob The Builder title, but I just could not resist! Last week we had some friends over to make gingerbread houses and it was so much fun! Although I gotta say, its a little harder than I thought it would be!

This is our house. I am so proud. JD is such a little engineer, when it wasn't staying together with just frosting he started breaking toothpicks in just the right lengths to pin everything together! It is just like real life...he built the house, and I decorated it :) My personal favorite thing is our super cool caramel mailbox just to the right of our spice drop lined path. I am oozing with pride.

Here's an aerial view...so you can imagine what it would be like to be a tiny person flying in a pumpkin-pie plane because the whole world is made of food, of course. (also, this picture is to show off our awesome smarties shingles! That took a lot more time than you'd think...)

Everybody's finished products!

Morgan and Madison were so proud of their ginger bread house. Even though it ended up looking like this by the end of the night:

Seriously, what's Christmas like without a house that's falling apart anyway, right?

Happy Holidays!

No More BINKY!!!!!!!!

Okay Okay. So I know I should have done this a million years ago. And to tell the truth, even after being binky-free for 5 days, this morning when Morgan was having one of those nothing but whiny mornings, I wished I could stick the thing in her mouth. The point (come on Brytani, please get to the point) is that Morgan having her binky this long has been mostly our fault. Of course the kid loves the thing, but until recently, I REALLY loved the thing.

Here's how it happened: I dropped off the car for JD at work because my mom and I were having a day full of candy making. Mmmmm...fudge.... Anyhow, I locked up the car, trudged across the VERY icy parking lot (we have to park like a million miles away from Costco because its the employee parking, which didn't even get salted or plowed thank you very much) and went inside to drop off the keys with JD. Once I got into my mom's truck, I realized the binky was tucked safely inside the door panel of the Neon. Great. I was debating on whether I should go back into Costco, get the keys, trudge back across the ice, then take the keys BACK into JD just for the stupid plug when I decided, "She can do without." And that is how it started.

The first day was amazing. She would ask for it, and I would tell her we didn't have one at Nanny's house, and then she would just say, "Its at mine home? Okay, mommy" Since it was going SO easy, I called up JD and told him to find some type of toy because today was the day, we were getting rid of this stupid thing once and for all and the "Big Girl Fairy" was most definitely make a stop at our house tonight.

Morgan fell asleep in the car on the way home from my Mom's and I thought I was going to get out of the first night without a binky thing easy...uhhh not so much. When we got home and were transferring her into some warm jammies (she sleeps like a rock and for that I am grateful) she woke up and immediately started asking for her "Beenty" I just laid with her and cuddled her in her room and told her we weren't going to have it tonight, because she was big and didn't need it. She screamed and thrashed and was just all over miserable because all she wanted was to sleep, and has NEVER spent a night without it.

Well, morning came, and Morgan came into my room asking for her binky. She said, "Its lost. You need to find it." I told her we had a visitor last night and I sat down with her on the couch and went into a crazy story about a fairy who flew in our front door and gave me a stern talking to, that Morgan was a big girl and I shouldn't let her be a baby anymore. And that if I was ready for my baby girl to be a big girl, I needed to give the Big Girl Fairy all Morgan's binkies and she would leave Morgan a present in their place. And the Big Girl Fairy would sprinkle her magic Big Girl dust on Morgan before she left, so that Morgan would be a big girl, and not need her binky anymore.

We looked under Morgan's pillow, and there was a clue from the Big girl fairy which sent Morgan on a scavenger hunt for her present the Big Girl Fairy had left for her.

JD did an awesome job picking out this present. It is a set of 4 build-a-bear animals that come with plastic needles and everything so she could sew, stuff, dress, and decorate the whole thing herself.

The first animal we made, a puppy, took almost 2 hours to complete. A good, long, involved distraction was exactly what I was hoping for, and he couldn't have picked a better gift for that.

When we got done making the puppy, she was so happy with it.

When JD got up, I told her very excited-like to tell Daddy that the Big Girl Fairy brought this puppy for Morgan since she was big and didn't need her binky anymore. Morgan's response was to throw the puppy on the floor and tell me she was too little for the puppy, and she needed to be little with her binky again. Thank heaven I had thought of the dust idea and told her the binkies were gone, and she had been sprinkled with magic dust and could not go back to being a baby anymore. Once you are big, you are big, and thats that.

I made a sticker chart for her too, she loves those things, and I am trying to use a little psychological trickery on her because she gets to put a sticker up when she tells me or JD (or Howie) that she is a big girl and doesn't need her binkies anymore. I mean...its not too horrible to trick your kid into convincing herself she's big, is it?

Anyhow, so far I have heard the innocent: "Mommy, lets go to the store and buy a new binky for me to have." And the serious: "Mommy. You better find my binky. You better get it for me, RIGHT NOW." But, somehow, we have held firm. And, for the most part, it hasn't been too bad :)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Well, we did it! Our tree is officially up! I LOVE Christmas, and seeing as how we celebrated Thanksgiving so early this year, I have been dying to get our tree up! Here are a few pictures of the event:

Morgan placing the very first ornament of the night

This is the look I get from JD every time I suggest something he thinks is just a little "too festive"

Very carefully placing the last ornament...careful, they're plastic! hehehe

Other Festivities

While the inlaws were here, there were a few other things we did besides just stuff ourselves full of Thanksgiving Turkey! We were able to spend an evening swimming at the hotel my mother-in-law and father-in-law stayed in for one night while they were here, and BOY was that freezing! It was an indoor pool, but it definately took some getting used to!

Also, during the month of November, Freedom Station is doing a food drive thing where if you come in on Thursday you can donate food to the food drive in exchange for a free round of golf! It was awesome! We all got in for free, minus the peanut butter and peaches we raided from the pantry :)

Morgan riding the train. I love this picture, she looks so STINKING CUTE!

The first shot of the day... FOUR!!!!!!

If you want to know the proper way to play mini golf...don't watch Morgan! But, if you want to get a super low score, you could learn a little from her method! It goes something like this:

1. Whack the ball off the start. 2. Pick up the ball wherever it lands and set it within 2 inches of the hole 3. Then putt it in.

She got a hole in 2 shots everytime!

Lining up for the perfect shot :)

Morgan would insist on taking that first shot at the same time as somebody else. And Alex is a putz.

Taking the first shot with Uncle Alex. She had such a fun time with her uncles. She sure loves those guys.


Okay, and this last picture is not mini golfing but its a picture from while they were here. JD and I have kind of turned into minor freakers when it comes to our tiny little snake. It had just been so long since we had handled him that we just assumed he wouldn't like people anymore. Well, Alex was not afraid, and I am so grateful that he reminded us what a cool pet a snake can be. Morgan loves him now, and it really is one of my personal favorite things that happened this trip!

Gobble Gobble 2009!

Because of JD's work schedule, and a few other factors, we weren't going to be able to make it up to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving to see his family. So, his family decided if we couldn't come to them, they would come to us! I could go on and on for a while about how much it means to me that his family is willing to drive the 11 hours plus to see us, but THAT would take forever. Anyhow, because his family needed to be able to get time off of work, it was just easier if they came down earlier in the month than for actual Thanksgiving. SO, we had our Thanksgiving, on Friday the 13th, how often does that happen....ummm I think, NEVER?!?!?

Well, since everybody came to our place, that meant I got to do the cooking. I gotta admit, I was a little intimidated by the turkey! I mean...what if I actually RUINED Thanksgiving by screwing up the turkey? After days of thawing (I cannot believe how long it takes to thaw out an 18 pound turkey) I cut open the bag and was just....appalled... at what was in there! Ummm...did I mention I don't usually cook with anything but chicken breast because I really do not like the idea of bones in poultry? So here's the scene:

I'm standing there over this bird as it sits in my kitchen sink where I hoisted the big ol' sucker and left it there for oh, 10 minutes, as I just sat there staring at it. I pump myself up with a little jog-in-place warm up and some breathing exercises, then plunge my hand into the great unknown: The turkey butt. It wasn't so bad, and that was when I got worried.

I call my mom (who picked up my turkey for me since I was scrambling like a mad man to get my house ready for the in laws), and this is what I say, "Mom? Did you buy a giblet free turkey?" She says, "uhhh, no" I say, "Well, they're not in there." She says, "Hmmm...don't know what to tell you sweetie" I hang up, and curse the stinkin fowl thing in front of me (hehehe cool pun, eh?) Then, I called in reinforcements:

JD was so very chivalrous as to come and stick his hand in the turkey butt for me. So nice of him :) He pulled out the nasty neck, which was enough to make me gag, and then declares, the giblets are indeed missing.

Well, then he flipped the thing over, and what do you know, there's a hole in the other side of the turkey too! There, hiding under this nasty fold of skin, were the giblets. Which, if I thought the fold of skin was nasty.....

And JD, being who he is, proceeded to seriously gross me out with the giblets.

On Good Morning Arizona last year (back in the days when we still had cable...tear) they talked about brining a turkey. It sounded delish, so here is my go at it. The picture above is the brine as its coming to a boil with the salt starting to dissolve and the seasonings just chillin on top.

The next morning, after only 4 hours of sleep....the turkey in a bag! (may I say I got that sucker in there all by myself thank you very much)

Morgan and I were up while everybody else was still snoozing, so I decided, since nothing else needed to be done, to make place mats. It was fun! I definitely enjoy preparing two-year old hand painted turkeys more than the real deal :)

We still had time after the place mats were done, so I took the opportunity to teach Morgan a little about Thanksgiving by making up some place-markers for the table. We made Indian headdresses and pilgrim hats and I told her the Thanksgiving story which, toned down for her level, went, "A long time ago, there were some pilgrims (showed her the hat) and some Indians (showed her the headdress) They fought and fought and were so so so mean to each other-" She didn't like that part much, "But then, one day, they decided to be friends and have tasty dinner together. The end"

Indian Warrior Morgan

And finally, after all my worrying, the turkey didn't turn out so bad, what do ya think?

While we were eating, there were a couple random comments about how tender and juicy the bird was, which is the whole point of brining it the night before :) I sat there and accepted the compliments, silently thanking the cosmos that nothing went wrong and it all turned out according to plan.

And hey, Morgan only ate a whole can of cranberry sauce...that can't be too bad, right?

What do you think?

For months now, some of my friends have been getting involved in this co-op called Bountiful Baskets. Its where you pay 15 dollars and you take a laundry basket to a designated meeting spot on Saturday, and you get it filled with various fruits and veggies at a discounted price. The only draw back is, you get what they give you, so you don't get to pick what kinds of fruits and veggies you get. (Maybe its a bonus because it will force me to eat gross things like cucumbers???) Anyhow, here's our haul this week, for 15 bucks:

I am still debating on whether its a good deal or not. It's a head of green lettuce, one head of spinach, 8 ears of corn, 2 cucumbers, 10 oranges, 2 avocados, 1 cantaloupe, 12 kiwis, 4 onions, 7 tomatoes, and 9 apples. (we already ate two of them before we took the picture)

What do you think?

(but, in all fairness, these are super fresh foods, so they do taste pretty good!)

OR ELSE....

The title of this post is because that's basically the gist of what my Mom said when it was Sunday, the day after Halloween, and I had not posted pictures of Morgan from Halloween yet! So I am doing it pronto, in order to avoid finding out what the end result of the "or else" threat from my Mom might be :)

Halloween for us started at the Mangum's party, it is always so much fun and this year it was a full week before Halloween, so it got us geared up and excited a whole week in advance! There were loads of fun things there, like a pinata and donuts on a string. Morgan and I had to go solo for most of it, because JD was working.

Morgan and I went as Pongo and Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmatians

Taking her whack at the pinata



Okay, so I felt HORRIBLE playing this game cause I felt like I was just teasing her with the donut! But eventually she got the idea and it was fun...at least I think she had fun!

It was so great because JD had the first Monday night off that he has had in a LONG LONG time so we got to carve pumpkins for family night and it was so much fun to be able to spend a little family time together!

Morgan was just yelling and laughing so hard because of the squishy pumpkin insides!

But then she got down to business!

I love this picture because she was concentrating so hard to paint that little pumpkin :)

JD decided he knew a better way to do this than using our prehistoric tools. He got out the Dremel. (what a man, eh? He's mine ladies...)

And we ended up with pumpkin sawdust!


This folks, is a rarity! An actual documented photograph of my existence!

Our uber-cool pumpkins transformed into jack-o-lanterns!

We went trick or treating with some friends of ours, and Morgan did great! She would say "Trick or Treat" and then she didn't even wait for people to give her candy, she would start grabbing it right out of their bowls! (we tried to squelch -is that even a word?- that behavior, but when everybody thinks it so darn cute its hard to teach her not to do it!) As she walked away she always made sure to say thank you and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

This last picture is just soooo Morgan.

Yep, that's right, she's eating two suckers at once.

And that my friends, is the only way to end your day after having one very, very, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Our New Baby....

Alright guys, so, here are some pictures of our

HANDSOME LITTLE MAN!!!!!!!!!

This is a 3D image of his face...so cute and only half-cooked!

Here's a pic to show he is growing great and doing everything baby should do!

And, I have to tell you what the ultrasound lady said about this picture (she's kind of a funny/odd lady) She says, "Yep, definately a boy, here you can see his little penis floating around in all the fluid" Hahaha lady, niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

We are so excited to add a little boy into the mix! Now we just have to patiently wait for him to hurry up and get here!!!