Piggies, anyone?

So, I told Mason earlier today that he could help me make dinner tonight because we were having "pigs in a blanket". I guess I just assumed that a kid would know what a kid food was by nature. Well, all day he kept bringing me blankets and saying they were for my feet. It wasn't until Ro was home and we were about to start making the dinner until he figured out what was going on. Mase was following me and my bare feet around with this blanket saying "this is for your piggies!" (We call them piggies because of the whole "This little piggy went to market" thing...)

I think it's safe to say that even though it wasn't quite gourmet, our dinner tasted better than human toes wrapped in germy blankets. Ewww.

Say CHEESE!

I love my little friends! That is all I have to say...

My baby is THREE!!!

He's all grown up...
But I still see this when I look at him!

He may not look like a baby to any of you, but he is such a sweet little guy... the same guy that was just a baby a couple of years ago. We always get so excited when he learns something new, but there is a part of me that wishes he would stay small forever. Yesterday he was so excited about his birthday and was being very logical about it. "I'm three now so I guess I better protect Ava more and always be SO nice to her." This cracked me up, too. I went in to see him before he took a nap and he was carefully examining his cup. The boy has had a sippy cup addiction that we are trying to break, so the rule has been that nothing besides water can go in a sippy cup. He looked at me and then his cup and said, "I was sitting here looking at my cup and I thought, 'I have water in my cup... and I really WANT milk in my cup. But I know I need water in my cup because now I am three... and three-year-olds don't get milk in sippy cups.' " His train of thought was so funny.
We had so much fun at his party. By then end of the night, he was walking around Chuck E. Cheese's like he owned the place. Right when he woke up today and I asked him how he was doing and he said, "Well, I'm three..."
He is such a delight to us every day. He is very positive and SO happy. He has a genuine concern for others and is so sweet to his baby sister. We are lucky to have such a smart, fun, and oh-so-cute child... And I guess I'll have to let him grow up. We often have a conversation about how big he is getting and I tease him and tell him he's my baby. He laughs and says, "No, I'm a KID!" But when he is in a really sweet mood he tells me out of the blue, "I'm your baby, mommy..." And he doesn't understand it (and won't, I'm sure, until he has a baby of his own), but he always will be my baby.

Under the weather... and OVER being stuck at home!

We have been stuck at home for the past few days having various illnesses run through our little family. We are ALMOST better (just in time for the three day weekend), and it's a good thing because I can't think of any more activities to do at home with these guys! (: We have done so many games and crafts. And Mase and I have been trying to teach Ava how to crawl and to stand up. It's been fun but we are ready for some serious outings next week. It'll be Mason's third birthday and he is excited to go to Chuck E. Cheese and then Ro and I will get out to go to a play later in the week. We are getting our first official, non-family-member babysitter and I hope everything goes well. Mase is excited because he calls this cute girl his "girlfriend". Wish us lots of luck!

This could be boring, but here goes...

So, I sometimes browse blogs when I am on my friends' sites and I noticed the trend of the "100 things about me" blog. I could not risk lagging behind in the blogging scene by omitting this from my own blog. I'll buy you lunch if you actually get to the end of this thing!

100. I have NEVER been one to fill out those "all about me" emails, so I don't know why I am doing this now...
99. I secretly love to read those "all about me" emails in hopes for some juicy, unknown gossip about my friends.
98. I've been married 5 wonderful years and have 2 wonderful kids.
97. My initials stayed the same after I got married.
96. I find my middle name, "Ann", rather boring.
95. I was born five days before Christmas.
94. I HATE getting birthday presents wrapped in red and green.
93. However, if my birthday feast includes the festive Peppermint Stick ice cream, I am very pleased.
92. I married my best friend.
91. I am fully aware that this is cliche, but it is completely true. My best friend that I fell completely in love with.
90. If someone would have told me one year before my wedding date that we would be married, I never would have believed them.
89. Once, when we were dating, we "morphed" into a picture of our future child on this machine at Gameworks...

88. The picture was SOOOO hideous, I can't believe we were actually brave enough to have children.
87. Our children are freaking adorable.
86. I have a serious fear of clowns.
85. My friends, knowing this fear, sent a clown to my house on my eighteenth birthday. I nearly fainted.
84. I LOVE kid foods like mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and chocolate milk.
83. I could listen to Van Morrison all day.
82. My degree is in Recreation Management (emphasis in Therapeutic Recreation) and I went to four different colleges to finish my degree in four years.
81. I hate to move.
80. I love listening to kid music with my munchkins. I especially love Ralph's World, Dan Zanes, and the Wiggles (when I am not sick of them).
79. I dance like a white girl.
78. My husband has some seroius MOVES on the dance floor.
77. Roland DJ's as a side job and we totally enjoy doing weddings together and watching all of the drunk people fall all over the dance floor. Long live DJ RoRo!!!
76. Don't worry, he still does LDS weddings, too.
75. I have never lived in a more beautiful place (Portland) but I miss the dirt and cactus more and more each day.
74. I refuse to say "cacti".
73. I graduated number 8 in my high school class.
72. I used to eat "ketchup and salad dressing" sandwiches as a kid.
71. I have never broken a bone or been in the hospital besides having two babies.
70. My baby girl has the same initials as her grandpa.
69. Mason is the coolest kid I know. Very busy and sometimes rebellious, but REALLY cool and so much fun.
68. I have eight brothers and sisters.
67. I have eight built-in, awesome friends.
66. I have a serious weakness for Dr. Pepper.
65. Other than the Dr. Pepper (that I try to avoid), my favorite drink is high quality H2O.
64. I LOVE Taco Tangles from the Rootbeer Stand in Winslow (The in-laws' restaurant in AZ).
63. We never want to live in Winslow, AZ. (Sorry guys!)
62. I struggle to keep a clean house and always have dinner on the table, but I try...
61. I love my cute new pink cell phone.
60. People who still try to live without cell phones irritate me, even though I was one of those people about five years ago.
59. As my little bro pointed out just yesterday, I have had the same voicemail recording since I got my first cell phone.
58. I am a little neurotic about making sure my kids get naps.
57. I have bald and fat babies, especially Ava, and that is what I always pictured for myself.
56. My husband rubs my feet every night.
55. I LOVE planning.
54. I wear too much black.
53. My high school mascot was a Criminal. Seriously, the Yuma High Criminals.
52. I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant.
51. I probably ate enough chocolate during the second trimester to more than make up for what I could not eat during the third.
50. I finally like going to the gym.
49. This is my second time being the Primary Music Leader at church.
48. I do not like leading music, but I like playing fun games.
47. I have been to Disneyland about a million times.
46. I want to go back as soon as I can so my kids can enjoy it even more than I have.
45. In my opinion, there is no better sound than a baby laughing.
44. I ALWAYS have my toenails painted.
43. My fingernails are never painted (except clear or the occasional french manicure).
42. I won a poetry contest in third grade with my poem about MLK, Jr.
41. I could recite my dorky childhood poetry to you today. Want some? Here is a sample:
"I have a dream that the world would be,
Where people would not be hungry.
In places far and places near
No voilence would be here."
Oh, don't even get me stared with my "Fantasyland poem" about nine little black bears and their feast of corn. Must say something interesting about my childhood.
40. I love to take pictures of my kids but I have no photography talent.
39. I wonder if anyone is even reading my post this far...
38. I know about as much Spanish as Dora and Diego and Senior Rohalio can teach you. (My high school teacher who thought it was SO cool that my white parents are fluent in Spanish that he let me take home my tests so they could help me with it.)
37. I am afraid of any animal that is a horse's size or bigger.
36. There is no greater joy than watching my two kids have fun together.
35. I love watching fun but pointless TV shows with my husband.
34. I know way too much about celebrities.
33. I worked with the elderly population for about six years and miss it very much.
32. YOU would have fun taking my "Sittercize" classes with these hilarious people. I guarantee it.
31. I love music from the 1920's to the 1950's.
30. I'm very happy my kids have so many cousins and I wish we could live next door to every one of them!
29. I'm proud of my two happy kids.
28. I get unreasonably scared when alone at night.
27. I think I might be afraid of the dark.
26. I still talk to my best friends from childhood regularly.
25. I talk to at least three members of my family on the phone EVERY DAY.
24. I had braces for eleven months in high school and I obediently wore my retainer up until about two years ago.
23. I love Portland summers.
22. I don't mind the rain, either.
21. I pray for one or two more children.
20. I don't consider myself very creative.
19. I love a good, long road trip.
18. It breaks my heart to see my children get shots.
17. I admire my parents and my in-laws for their long and happy marriages.
16. I am excited to be the old couple holding hands and sharing ice cream when we are eighty.
15. I don't usually like to be too mushy.
14. I love to snuggle up with a good book.
13. I got my belly button pierced for a short time in college. (Thanks for the peer pressure, Jamie!)
12. I have only been to seven states but hope to be a little less lame with my travels in the future.
11. I am a creature of habit.
10. I like to eat vegetables WAY more than I like fruit.
9. I love holiday traditions.
8. I hate my eyebrows.
7. Mason just threw a ball at my head (by accident) and then said, "I just hit the freakin' mommy!"
6. I guess I need to watch my mouth around my ever-learning preschooler.
5. I have a weakness for anything Super Mario, even though I don't really like video games that much.
4. I love being pampered with manicures, pedicures, and massages.

3. My family is my life.

2. The two times I was grounded as a kid were for very weird things- The first was for sliding down our stairs on a huge chalkboard and crashing right through the wall. The second was for sneaking into a neighbor's garage to play with her kittens and almost giving her a heart attack when she found me in there. Fun times, Tia!

1. I will NEVER do another list like that again. But it was fun while it lasted...

Bienvenidos, Little Bro!

Jon is FINALLY home from Uruguay! We are so happy and proud...

Ava bonded with him right away!

Mase played with FOURTEEN fun cousins!

And we had some nice brotherly love at home... You guys are our favorite people in the whole world!

Ava's new title

No explanation necessary.

Little Spies

Ava: "Hey Mase, do you think they'll let me sleep in your room tonight?"

Mase: "Yeah, mom and dad won't see us if we hide in our camouflage cubes and put on our beanies and sunglasses..."

A "Dear" in Headlights...

Ava said all she wants for Christmas are her two front antlers. The teeth are a little more painful and can wait, I guess. (:

Our cousin party!!!

It's funny how a visit from some family members can be JUST what you needed to find the Christmas spirit. I think the kids may have felt it even more than we did with how much playing they got to do. Our visit from the Mortazavi family and half of the Wilmsen clan (we love you, Lori and Matt!) was a wonderful Christmas blessing and we had a BLAST! It seemed like every kid had a partner- Kam and Mase ran and jumped and had a great time on the "mystery slide", Laney and Zoey played kitchen and LOVED all of their new Dora products, and Will and Ava created a great bond by drooling all over each other and making the other smile. It was so cute. But I enjoyed my sister time more than anything, especially that last lunch where none of us sat by our kids (hee hee) and we just talked. We missed you, Tina, Jana, Cari, and Lindsey! I had so much fun that I can't even imagine how crazy and fun it will be with ALL of the cousins in January!!! We love all of you and are excited for the crazy Yuma madness next month!

I should've threatened that Santa wouldn't come...

Merry Christmas to everyone! Next year may we be blessed with two children who are willing to look at the camera and smile at the same time! (: Hee hee- the attempt was fun anyway and a lot of them turned out cute... Thanks Shen!

Adventures in AZ

The kids did a lot of fun things on our Thanksgiving trip to Arizona.

They got to see Santa...

Play with cousins...

Ride horses...

Discover girls...

And pose for a TON of pictures!

Not to mention seeing ALL of their grandparents and having so much fun with the family. We enjoyed it so much and can't wait to go back in January when Uncle Jon comes home!

Why siblings are worth it...

Okay, so I know I have a million siblings and they are ALL worth it, but sometimes when you are taking care of two little ones all day and they don't seem to interact that much, you start to wonder if they will ever be friends... This weekend they completely clicked! She is Mason's biggest fan (besides me, of course) and he was making her laugh uncontrollably all weekend. In these pictures, he is diving onto the couch near her feet over and over again and she cannot stop cracking up! Roland and I can put on a freaking circus and she never laughs this much, but Mase can just give her a look or make some silly noise and he is the greatest comedian on earth. (Please excuse Mason from being much of a presence in these photos... This was right between bath and bedtime and we hadn't quite gotten to the "getting him into his PJ's" segment of the evening when all the fun started happening... he promises to be fully dressed in the next pictures.)

Their first "taste" of autumn (LITERALLY for her...)

These are some quick shots of the kids in our front yard... As you notice, Ava was too obsessed with grabbing and trying to eat the semi-wet colorful leaves for me to get a good picture of her face. Most of the time, she was just staring down at the covered ground. Anyway, we had fun throwing the leaves around!