Galimoto

I saw this toy in Parents Magazine recently and thought it looked so cute. It is right up Kai's alley. He would love this toy!


It is only $6 and I am always looking for fun inexpensive toys for Kai for Christmas.
The only draw back was that the shipping cost $5.50 (almost as much as the toy itself.) Either way, it is an inexpensive gift that I am so excited to see in person. I just ordered Kai's today!
This push-toy is made in Kenya and the money purchased goes to help the people who make them. What a bonus! It's a win-win.
Just thought I would share this cute gift idea for those of you in need of something different.
Below is the link you find the Galimoto toy~
Ten Thousand Villages

Our Winter Wonderland

We got about a foot of snow today and it was beautiful! It is definitely starting to feel like winter now. I just wish that the snow could have waited till after Halloween on Saturday. Now, trick or treating will be kinda tricky.

Ben came home from work early because of the snow, so when Cic went down for a nap Kai and I took full advantage of the snow and played till we were chilled to the bone. I even got his little sled out and decided to pull him to the mailbox and get our mail. I thought it was such a good idea until I tried to pull Kai. Wow, wet snow is not fun/easy to pull someone in. I felt really out of shape because on the way back from the mailbox (uphill) I was SUCKING WIND. I felt like my lungs were going to explode. Kai enjoyed it though, so that's all that matters. Enjoy some of the pictures we took of Kai playing around this afternoon.

"Why so serious?" I think of that movie quote every time I look at pictures of Kai. He often has such a serious look on his face. I wish he could communicate what he is thinking.

Just look at that crocodile tear...
Kai likes the snow. He just doesn't like laying/falling in it. Poor kid had so many layers on he couldn't move very well. I love this picture of Kai.

He has been doing everything left-handed lately. That's my boy!!!


Yummy! I told Kai to taste the snow and he loved it.
I love this little grin...

We ended the cold, chilly day with a warm bath and some homemade pumpkin cookies. Doesn't get any better than this! Cic loves taking baths with Kai.

The Beginning of Our Holidays...

Trunk or Treating at the Church

We took the kids to the church Halloween party last week. It was fun to get them dressed up in their costumes. It was kinda like a "practice round" for Kai. Maybe he will better understand what to do this weekend b/c he has already gone "trick or treating" this year.

Our first attempt at getting a family shot with the kids in their costumes. Come on kids, look at the camera!

Our second attempt...yup, they hate the camera!

I found this picture of Kai from his first Halloween and it brought back so many memories.

Kai in his monkey costume when he was about a month old...
We decided to recycle the costume this year and let Cici wear it. It fits a bit better on her than it did on him. They were both cute monkeys though.
Cic in her monkey costume at 5 months old...
What a cute shot. Kai didn't really know what all the fuss was about, but when we got home we let him have some of the candy he had received and he was excited.


Had to get one of these shots. This year Kai was a lion...


...and last year Kai was a dinosaur. He sure has grown a lot since last Halloween.

The Pumpkin Patch

We came. We saw. We...LEFT

Yup, that is the story of the pumpkin patch this year. Except, I did leave out that I took pictures. Here's what happened. I decided that we needed to start making some fun memories for the kids around the holidays and talked Ben into going to the pumpkin patch. There is a huge one about 20 minutes away but the weather has been chilly so we decided to go to one down the street at a local church. What a great idea! Support our local churches...

It would have been a great idea had they had pumpkins that weren't rotten.

It was so gross! Kai was so excited to go pick out his very own pumpkin and went running out to check out the stock. When he found one he liked he put his hand down on the pumpkin to touch it and nearly fell over b/c his hand went right through the pumpkin. CLASSIC! I didn't take a picture of this b/c I was so worried about cleaning Kai off, but now wish I would have.

Ben and I decided that we could take some pictures of the kids quick and then just go to the grocery store and buy one there.

So much for our pumpkin patch experience. Kai didn't mind though. He had the time of his life!

Kai was so excited to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out his very own pumpkin. I love this picture of Kai. He isn't doing the whole "fake smile" thing in this picture. This is the smile I see everyday that totally melts my heart.

I am so glad that I put gloves on Kai. These pumpkins were so rotten that he put his hand on this pumpkin and his fist went through the top. It was so gross.
If you look closely in this picture, you can see some of the soft spots on the pumpkins where there are rotting... AWESOME!






We have to bribe Kai to let Cic sit on his lap.


Cicilee was so interested in this scarecrow. I couldn't get her to look away from it...hmmm, she must get her stubbornness from her father. :)
Needless to say, next year we will make the 20 minute drive to see pumpkins that aren't rotten.

HO! HO! HO!

Kai has started to want to do things all by himself lately. Today he wanted to feed himself pudding. I left the room and changed Cici's diaper and could hear Kai laughing up a storm. This is what I found when I came back. My very own Santa Claus!

This is Kai's fake smile.

I Need My Very Own "Mom Translator"

I loved this skit on Saturday Night Live a while back. It totally reminded me of my Mom...
Sorry Mom, but it is so true.
I wish they really made these.


Just today I was talking to my Mom and when I asked what she was doing she told me she was getting money out of the "ATV". (Some of us refer to this as the "ATM".)

SoLiDs

Cic will be five months old this week so we decided to start her on rice cereal. Last night was her first taste of anything other than breast milk. She isn't a huge fan of rice cereal...but then who is? She was really excited to put the spoon in her mouth and kept trying to hold the spoon. I didn't get any shots of her actually eating b/c I didn't have enough hands and Ben was using the video camera. It got EVERYWHERE though. It was in between her toes and in her ears...yuck!
I can't believe that it is already time to start introducing her to solids! Time really flies by.

Here are some pictures of our little girl with rice cereal all over her face.

Krista, I love this bow that you made for her! She wore the entire outfit you bought her to church yesterday. Thanks! Can't wait to see you in December!


We did manage to remember to take some short videos on our small camera to post on the blog. These were taken after she had decided she was done eating...but still cute none the less.

I had forgotten how patient you have to be when feeding an infant. Kai eats so fast now. Guess I will be learning patience again.

(That's Kai in the background saying "buh, bye.")

"Celebrate Good Times..."

Kai peed in the potty for the first time tonight!
(It wasn't quite like the picture below but this picture did make me laugh).

Yay for Kai! I dropped what I was doing and became the biggest cheerleader ever. (I am sure Ben thought I was crazy.)
Kai got the hang of my enthusiasm and started running around the house cheering. He was so happy, I wished I had a video camera handy to record it.

I am afraid this potty training thing is a long road ahead still, but we took a baby step today and what more can you ask for really?

I am so proud of you Kai. I love you so much!

PoTTY TRaiNiNG!!!

Today is "D-Day"

I am locking us in the house for a few days, wish me luck!
Here is Kai in his new "big boy underwear". He was really excited about them, but gave me a fake smile when I pulled the camera out.

Seeing Kai in underwear made me realize that he is kinda skinny. I just couldn't see it with his diaper on. Not sure how to make him gain weight...

What a cutie...even in underwear. Boy is he growing up fast.

Got Heat?

Ben likes to sleep with the window open b/c he gets so hot at night. I end up FREEZING TO DEATH and dread getting out of the covers in the morning b/c I swear I can see my breath in our bedroom.
When I woke up this morning the thermostat read 66 degrees! COME ON...
So, I flipped the heat on so that maybe I could feel my toes again. The heat kicked on and when I walked around the corner in the kitchen this is what I found.
Poor kid, he must have been cold too. He was just laying on the vent getting warm. Our dogs were doing the same thing.

If I weren't so paranoid that Kai would burn himself on our fireplace then I would have had that going as well.

..."Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun. Please Shine Down on Me..."

Ahh, sunny St. George!
It snowed last week in Colorado and we had plans to meet up with a few of our friends in St. George. We were really nervous that the weather would shut down a few of the passes through the mountains and prevent us from taking our trip but the weather cleared up and it was PERFECT!
We drove out on Thursday morning at 4:00am and braced ourselves for screaming kids for the 10 hour drive. We were pleasantly surprised though when Cic slept the ENTIRE time (except for eating) and Kai watched movies the whole time. It was amazing.

We had so much fun seeing our friends who we miss terribly. Ben was able to do some golfing, and I even got to see my Grandmother (who lives there).It was a win, win, win!!!




Me and Kristal with all the kiddos at the park.



Alexa was so good with Cic. She just wanted to give her kisses all day long.

LOVE these pics of Kristal and Cic. Kristal just has a way with my kids. They both LOVE her to death.

Two of my best friends...I love you guys.

We had a little birthday party for the kids while we were there. Everyone got to open presents.

Thanks for the sport balls, Lily. Kai has been throwing them all over the house and loves to watch football with Daddy while holding his football.

Thanks for the train, Alexa. Kai is OBSESSED! I hear, "Choo, choo" all day long!!!

We went to the splash pad one day and let the kids run around in the water. They had a blast!
I just love St. George...It is so beautiful there. I love these pictures of Kai and Lils playing. They played so well together the entire trip. Best buddies...

Lils dumping water on Kai~

Alexa cuddling with Kristal~

Cici-Pie just hanging out watching all the action. She did so well in the car seat. I put her swim suit on but there wasn't much for her to do so I just left her in the car seat to stay out of the sun.

Kai and Daddy playing in the water~

I love this shot of Kai and Ben holding hands~

I am so bummed that this is the ONLY shot I have of all the guys. Not sure why I didn't take

more.

Lily-cake (Kai's best friend)

Lesson Learned~

Not sure why I always think that I can tease Ben and get away with it.

At the splash pad I kept splashing Ben and dumping water on him...Yup, he got me back. Big time.

He picked me up and took me over to the buckets that dumped water out every few minutes.

When I provoke Ben, I can't turn my back.

Don't worry, I'll get my revenge...

Kai, Alexa, and Lily just after dinner waiting for their bath. Aren't they so cute in their diapers?

This is what happens when Kai doesn't take a nap...Bath time is usually such a fun experience for Kai. Now to mention that he got to bathe with two of his best friends. Yup, he screamed the entire time.

Dixie State Football Game...
It was fun going back to our old stompin' grounds. (Ben went to Dixie a few years before I went there so we both have fun memories from St. George. We didn't meet there b/c we were there at different times.)

It was kinda surreal going to a Dixie football game (b/c we hadn't been since we attended school there). I kept looking at all the college kids thinking to myself...wow, things have really changed. I guess I still think I am young and that time has stood still. I thought that till I started walking up the bleachers with my two kids and husband. My...how things have changed.

The game was so fun...the cheerleaders are still horrible, and the town seems somewhat smaller. We even got to spend a bit of time with Carly and JT at the game and I am so upset that I didn't think to take a picture with them.

As we were walking up to our seats on Saturday night for the game a man turned to me and said, "She's just hanging out in there (my sling) isn't she? Err...He's just hanging out."
REALLY? I know that it is hard sometimes to tell the difference between a boy and a girl baby...what confused him though...the big blue bow in Cici's hair?
Come on...REALLY?

Kai LOVES football and was so excited to go to the game, but was totally in a "zone" b/c he was so tired. Poor guy.

The drive on the way home was just as easy with our kids, what a dream!

Ben and I don't take many trips or vacations that don't involve family reunions. It was so fun and so refreshing to see our friends and catch up. Can't wait to see everyone again!

Love you guys!!!