All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth and a pogo stick?

It looks like Tommy has gotten an early Christmas present! His top two teeth have broken through, which is a sigh of relief because we had a few sleepless nights full of inconsolable crying! He also has gotten his bottom two teeth and his two incisors. This is completely foreign to me because Alexis didn't get any teeth until she was about 13 months! Tommy is really funny right now. Instead of crawling he steam rolls wherever he wants to go, and he is super fast too. Watch out or you will get run over! He is constantly giggling and thinks he has a funny sense of humor- he laughs at all of his own jokes!

The other day I asked Alexis what she wanted Santa to bring her and she said she wanted a "cogo stick!" I asked her "what's a cogo stick?" "You know Mommy, you jump up and down on it?" "Oh a pogo stick!" I'm not sure what to do with that one. I think she is too young for a pogo stick-heck I don't think I'm coordinated enough for a pogo stick! She has her heart set on it, so if anyone has any ideas! I thought maybe one of the balls you sit on that has handle so you can bounce on it ( I have no idea where to find that! And time is running out! ).

Well, I hope Santa brings you all everything you are wanting. Most of all I hope he brings us all peace, love, and happiness! Merry Christmas!

So Thankful

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was peaceful and quiet! It was just my little family and my parents. The siblings were all at their in-laws. I try to be grateful everyday, but I love this holiday because it reminds be of all I have to be thankful for. I am so thankful for all of my many blessings. Most of all I am so thankful for my little family. Without them I would not get to experience the kind of joy that words cannot describe.





My two little pumpkins (thanks to Nanna for the darling pumpkin hats!)

My biggest blessing.

I just couldn't resist!

"Mommy, Iv'e grown up!"

Big news!!! It all started the other day when I was enjoying a piece of cake and Alexis asked if she could have a bite. I started to give my rehearsed answer "sorry sweetheart you are allergic to this, but maybe you can have cake when you grow up." But then I thought "what the hey" I'm in a controlled environment, I know where the Benadryl is and gave her a tiny bight. Nothing happened! Then I gave her an even bigger bight. Nothing happened! Then she proceeded to devour a whole piece and NOTHING HAPPENED! Not a hive in sight!!! Alexis was on cloud nine. It was like seeing a one year old eat their first birthday cake, of which I never got to see her do:(

So today we went to lunch with my friend Jamie and her twins and Alexis got to eat her very first donut! She pressed her cute little nose to the display case at Tasty's and with the biggest smile on her face picked the white cake donut with sprinkles. I was a proud mama! After eating her donut I asked Alexis if she had a tummy ache or felt itchy, and her comment to me was . . . . "no mommy, I've grown up!"

An early Christmas present for you all!

Hope you enjoy!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9557467470

Alexis' Birthday/Halloween Party

Here are some pictures from Alexis' party. I had all of the kids dress up in their Halloween costumes. It was wild and crazy, but I think she had a pretty good time!

Happy Birthday to my "Little Princess!"

This post is a couple of days late, but I just wanted to wish my Bobo a happy 3rd birthday (October 26th is her b-day)! I can't believe my baby is 3! My how time flies! I am so happy that she is a part of my life. I feel so lucky to be her mommy!

Fun at the pumpkin patch!

Friday I took Alexis and Tommy to the local pumpkin patch. Something about visiting the pumpkin patch every year and picking that perfect pumpkin gets me in such a happy Halloweeny mood! It was so funny to see Alexis having so much fun running wild through the fields in search of her perfect pumpkin ( she face planted it a couple of times, which added to the amusement! She was o.k!) Tommy enjoyed being held by his mom and watching his sister go wild! I now officially have the Halloween spirit! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Best Friends

This morning I woke up to giggling coming from the baby monitor. I crept into to Thomas' room and found Alexis and Thomas laying together in his crib! She had pulled up a chair and climbed in with him. They were laughing and having a great time. It just melts my heart to see my two babies becoming best friends.

Today's "Happy Thing"

So, in the previous post I wrote about doing something everyday that makes me happy. For today's "happy thing" I decided to make my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies. I absolutely love to bake, which can be bad because I am the one in my house who usually ends up eating it all! But, that's neither here nor there, it makes me happy! I thought I would share the recipe for "The Best" Oatmeal Cookies. That's what they are really called, and not my biased opinion! Enjoy! (and don't feel bad if you end up eating them all by yourself, they are just that gooooood!)

"The Best" Oatmeal Cookies

3 eggs, well beaten

1 cup raisins

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 stp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

2 cups oatmeal

Combine eggs, raisins, and vanilla and let stand for one hour, covered with plastic wrap. You can't skip this step because this is the secret to making the cookies "the best!" Cream together sugars and butter. Add flour, salt, cinnamon, and soda to sugar mixture. Mix well. Blend in egg-raisin mixture and oatmeal. Dough will be stiff. Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about 4 to 5 dozen.

My "Happy Things"

So, lately I have been feeling down. I don't know if it is baby blues, stress, or hormones, but I havn't been able to shake it. Sometimes I feel like I have lost myself amidst my mama duties. I have lost track of what makes me me. But, the other day my mom gave me some great advice. She said to try to do something everyday that makes me happy. Even if it is something little like reading my favorite magazine or taking a bubble bath. So, I'm going to take her advice. I am really looking forward to discovering myself again. But for now here are a few pictures of my sweet, beautiful children, who are my ultimate "happy things."

My celebritiy look alikes!

I found this fun website off of my freind Becky's blog. It's totally funny to see who your celeb look a likes are! I'm laughing so hard because growing up people always said that I looked that girl from Full House (Jodie Sweetin)! Hopefully I'm looking more like Kate Hudson these days! See who you look like, you'll get a kick out of it! (Apparently I'm married to Jared Leto and Richard Gear!)

Got Milk (allergy)?

I am freaking out!!!! When Alexis was about six months old I found out she had allergies to wheat, eggs, and tree nuts. I was devastated. I soon found out how hard it is to feed and take care of a child with food allergies. I have to bring her own food to most places we go IE: restaurants, family parties, outings, nursery, birthday parties (not to mention she can't eat the birthday cake like all of the other kids). I love to bake, so it breaks my heart when I make cookies and I have so say no to her.

When I became pregnant with Thomas I crossed my fingers that he would not have any allergies. Now that I am introducing solids to him I am very cautious. But the other day Nate gave Tommy a bite of his milkshake, thinking "this should be o.k. because we don't have any milk allergies in the family." Tommy proceeded to break out in hives all around his mouth. Then yesterday I had Tommy on my lap while eating a bowl of cereal and accidentally dropped a little milk on his ear. His whole ear became red and broke out in hives! I'm not 100% sure that he is allergic to milk, but it sure is looking like it! Oh man, here we go again!

Does anyone out there have a child with a milk allergy? Do you have any insights or advice?

Messy Eater!!!

Tommy is starting to eat baby food, and loves it!! It is so hard to keep him clean while feeding him though. He has a hard time keeping it in his mouth because of his tongue constantly hanging out! He also tugs at his bib and tries to eat it which just makes a bigger mess! So I've resorted to feeding him naked!

Family Fun!

Here are the latest pictures of our little family spending time together. The first are of us at my Sister-in-law's parent's pool. We had so much fun swimming! I put Alexis and Tommy in floaties, and they spent the whole time just hanging out in them. Tommy loooved sitting in his floaty-he would kick his legs a million miles an hour then stop and giggle, and start all over again! I'm so happy that both of my kids love the water!

The next pics are of our fam at the Cherry Hill miniature golf course. It was so funny to watch Alexis try to putt the ball. She would swing and miss for awhile, and then just put her ball in the hole. Nate and I would putt, and before we could try to make it into the hole she would pick up our balls and put them in for us! Tommy had a great time being pushed around in the stroller and watching the spectacle! After the raging game of golf, we enjoyed pie and ice cream at the good old Pie Pantry. I love spending time with my little family!!!

Swimming: ( I love the picture of Tommy eating my face!)

Golfing: ( I love the one where Nate is showing Alexis how to putt!)

Happy Birthday Nate!!!

Yet another birthday post! I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my awesome, handsome, smart, loving husband! Nate isn't much of a b-day person, ( he doesn't use the day as an excuse to indulge like me!) but I hope he has a great day. I love you Nate!

3 years away from 30!!!

Monday was my 27th birthday, and thanks to all who made it a great one! I started off the festivities on Saturday at a birthday party that my sister-in-law Lara threw for my sister, brother, and myself (we all have July b-days). We had a BBQ, swam, and had a cannon ball contest at which I failed miserably! My little niece Sophia picked out the Birthday cake, and let me say she did a fantastic job! On Monday my mom took my sister Kim and I out to lunch at Cucina, while the kids stayed at home (heaven!!). We also consumed our annual birthday treat, chocolate mint cookies from Schmidt's Bakery (double heaven!!!!). My mom also threw in a little treat of our choice from JCrew (thanks Mom!). Latter that night Nate took me to dinner at Biaggis, where I had more excellent food and more dessert! Overall, I had a wonderful day. It is so nice to have one day of the year where you can milk eating good food, consuming large amounts of dessert, and receiving special treatment for all it's worth ( oh come on, you know you do it too!)!

The Duffin and Preston clan in the pool.

(notice my nephew Matthew's fingers in his nose, nice!)

The beautiful princess birthday cake!

Happy Half Birthday!

This week Thomas turned 6 months old. My how time flies! My little bug is getting so big. Right now Tommy loves:

• sucking on his fingers
• playing with his toes
• hugging his big sister
• putting anything and everything in his mouth
• being held by and snuggling with mommy!

Happy six month B-day Tom-Tom!

Back to school!

This past week Nate found out that he has been accepted to the Westminster MBA program! He has been debating for awhile if he should go back to school, and finally decided to do it. I am so proud of him! I might be a single mother for about two or three years, but it will be worth it in the long run! Congrats Nate!!!!

"What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" . . .Vacation Disaster!

Last Thursday our family embarked on the Romney family's first vacation with the kids. It started out great (Alexis and Thomas were angels on the airplane) and quickly went down hill. When we landed in Las Vegas we stepped out of the plane into an inferno, it was 115 degrees! I don't know what we were thinking booking a trip to Vegas in the middle of July! Anyway, we made our way to the hotel which was on Lake Las Vegas, about 30 min. from the strip. It was a nice resort on the beautiful lake, with two pools and Fisher Price welcome toys waiting for the kids! As the day wore on we explored the little village around the lake, cursing the heat. Poor Alexis's face was as read as a cherry and she complained the whole time that it was "toooooo hoooooot!" It took us an hour just to find somewhere to eat because of Alexis's allergies and everything decent was closed. We finally settled on a pizzeria where Thomas proceeded to fling ketchup all over the front of Nate, who was already steaming from hunger and heat (if Nate is hungry, hot , and tired you should steer clear or face the wrath!) We finally got back to the hotel where Alexis proceeded to barf all over the bed she and I were sharing. I guess gummy peaches, chips, and french fries were not a great idea to feed my 2 and half year old! But, that is not the half of it! The next morning ( after a restless night of cleaning up throw up and trying to keep Thomas asleep) Nate took Alexis to the pool while Tommy and I were napping. They were having a great time until Alexis decided she wanted to play on the playground near the pool. Before Nate could warn her she took off down the slide. Nate then heard the most blood curdling scream. Alexis had stopped on the slide and her little bum was burning from the extreme heat. By the time Nate got to her she had burned the skin off her right bum cheek which we found out later was a second degree burn. Nate brought her back to the room and tried to comfort her while I went to get help. Which is what we did not receive! They brought two band aides to the room, what the heck! I said "can you at least give us something that will cover the burn?" I called my brother in law (who is a doctor) and he said that she should be all right, but should not go swimming anytime soon. After we got things under control we decided "to get the heck out of Dodge!" We had had enough! So we hopped on the next plane home, which was unfortunately not until 9:55 p.m., and did not get home until 1:30 in the morning. After all of the "festivities" Nate threatened that we are not going on another family vacation for the next ten years! And you know what, I think I just might agree!

p.s. How the heck do you guys make family vacations work?

Alexis and Tommy at the airport pre-disaster!

Tommy checking out the hotel bed

Alexis at FAO Swhartz in Cesar's Palace while we were waiting for our flight home (she was such a trooper!)

Fourth of July festivities!

The fourth of July was a fun filled day for us. Unfortunately I forgot my camera for most of the activities! Nate did get a few pictures of Alexis at the Kaysville parade. Alexis enjoyed the parade until she got sprayed with water and decided it was time to go home! We then spent the afternoon swimming with my family and BBQ'ing. After that we went to Nate's sister Jenny's home for more food and fun. By the time 8:00 came around Alexis and Tommy were really pooped! Needless to say they didn't last long enough for the fireworks! I hope you all had a great Fourth!

Hanging out in their jammies before the parade

My little "firecraker!"

Waving her flag at the Kaysville parade

I've Been Tagged!!!!

So here are all of my favorite "4's"

4 Jobs I've held:
1. Front desk clerk at North Canyon Swim and Tennis Club
2. Dental Assistant (grossest job ever!)
3. Sales associate at Banana Republic
4. Manager at Pottery Barn Kids

Movies I can watch over and over:
1. The Notebook
2. The Holiday
3. Better Off Dead
4. The Devil Wears Prada

Places I've Lived:
1. Bountiful
2. The Avenues
3. Holiday
4. Fruit Heights
(hmm, never left the good old state of Utah!)

Favorite TV shows:
1. Gray's Anatomy
2.The Office
3. The Bachelor ( I can't get enough of those girls making fools of themselves!)
4. So You Think You Can Dance (totally obsessed, don't make fun until you watch it!)

Vacations I've been on:
1. Cancun
2. London/Scotland
3. Lapaz Mexico
4. Hawaii (not yet but will be soon!!!!)

Favorite foods:
1. Anything Italian
2. Anything Mexican
3. Cake with lots and lots of frosting
4. Neilsons Frozen Custard raspberry concrete

Favorite websites that I visit daily:
1. My blog
2. My Email
3. My friends and family's blogs
4. ebay

Places I'd rather be:
1. On a tropical beach laying in the sun
2. On an all expense payed shopping spree
3. Italy ( I've always wanted to go)
4. At a day spa getting the works ( massage, pedi/mani, facial, etc. . .)

Blog Buddies that I want to tag:
1. Becca
2. Sarajane
3. Cami
4. Camille

It's so fun to get to know people better this way, so keep on tagging!

Summer Fun

I love summertime, especially now that I have kids! It's so fun to take them swimming. Alexis pretends she is the "Little Mermaid" and is really doing well in the water. Tommy is not quite sure if he likes it or not, but I think he is warming up! Happy swimming everyone!

Alexis and her cousin Kate at the pool

Tommy's first trip to the pool

washing off after swimming (Tommy's first big-boy bath!)