Singing, Singing

Maya loves to sing! She is always singing something. I recently captured some of her favorite songs on video.

Our Week in Review

Monday was gymnastics. It is a parent/tot class that is so cute. I need to take some pictures to post!

Tuesday - Have I mentioned I LOVE Tuesday??!! Maya is in a playgroup on Tuesday mornings. It is with 3 other kids her age in the neighborhood. The moms rotate hosting and when it is not your turn, you just drop them off at the other house to be entertained for 2 hours. This leaves me with 2 WHOLE hours of just my sweet little Kenyon. Thankfully he naps during that time and I love my alone time. So I totally sacrifice one Tuesday a month to entertain 4 toddlers for the other 3 Tuesdays a month of me-time.

Wednesday we hit music class. It is the same class I had Maya in last year. She loves it! That night we went boating with our friends Debbie and Dean and their kids Aleck and Kennedy. Thanks for a fun night! (See pictures below)

Thursday we stayed home and were productive... well for a couple of hours and then Maya and I were making cookies so we invited some friends over to help us eat them. So fun to have good friends close!

Friday - we went to Trader Joe's this morning and then met some friends at Jamba Juice. Maya was HORRIBLE there so I came home and put everyone (including myself) down for early naps. Now I am counting down the minutes until Jer will walk through the door and I am headed out to run errands ALONE! :)

Do you think we have enough going on in one week??!! I like to stay busy!

1st Boating Trip

Not sure what she was trying to do - I think stick out her tongue and give a "thumbs up"

Jeremy, Maya and Kennedy riding the tube

Kenyon loves the swings at the park! He just smiles and giggles.

Bring on the Fall Weather!

The weather has been really nice the last couple of days. It has only been in the 90s. This morning we went for an early morning walk and it was only in the 70s - HEAVEN!

Last night we ventured out to this park that has a little carnival area, a big pond with ducks and fish and a great playground. It was such a nice night!

Here is my first attempt at posting a video clip on here. At the end it appears that Kenyon is going to fall out of the stroller - this is his new favorite game. I am sure wishing I would have bought a stroller with a 5-point harness now! :)

The entire ride Maya was yelling, "Hi Mom, Hi Dad, Hi Jared, Hi Kenyon" over and over as she waved

Cowboy Kenyon

Our little sunshine

A Little Behavior Modification

Maya has been driving me a little batty lately. I couldn't figure out if it was me being hormonal or her being naughty. So Jeremy and I took a closer look and realized that she is becoming a typical toddler and has some behaviors that need a little modification. So I must share my new plan with you.

I made a chart today that has a box for the 7 days of the week going across the top and then 2 blank boxes going down the side. Each week we are going to pick 2 behaviors that we need to work on. For example, this week the blank boxes will say "I can obey my Mom and Dad" and "I can play by myself." Next week, there will definitely be one about being nice to my friends (another thing we need to work on!). Every time she does a great job, she gets to put a sticker in the box under the current day. I haven't decided if just putting a sticker on the chart will be reward enough or if 10 stickers will equal a greater reward, like a small candy :).

Back to this weeks goals - I have figured out that she is not obeying very well and then she is also not playing independently anymore and that is why she is constantly getting into trouble. I am going to set a timer for a couple of minutes and get her playing with some toys. If she plays alone until the timer goes off, she gets a sticker. I will eventually set the timer for longer and longer periods of time. Pretty sneaky, huh?

Okay, I know I am a neurotic mom, but my greatest fear in life is that my kids will end up like kids on Nanny 911 or Super Nanny so I am taking prevention steps now! :) I will keep you posted and would love any feedback you expert moms out there can give.

Our Weekend

What a busy weekend! We had 2 birthday parties, Jeremy's sprint triathlon, a football party at a friend's house and Kenyon got his first tooth (actually "teeth" - his 2 bottom ones). Here are some pictures highlighting the events.

Maya and Jer at the birthday party on Thursday night - a fun indoor place called Bounce U
Kenyon waving "Hello"
The racers - Jared (Jeremy's cousin), Jer, and Chris (family friend) - don't you love those tight shorts??!!
The starting line
There they go!

Jared took the lead during the running portion - He was SPEEDY! Jeremy took the lead during the bicycle portion of the race
Jeremy on his last lap - he yelled to me, "I'm dying!" As he hobbled out of the water, tears filled my eyes. I was so proud of my hubby. He had been training for this for a while and he did AWESOME! He came in 50th out of 214 participants - so good for his first time! The amazing part was that he was sore that night, but the next day he was fine. He is tough! :)
Picture to show that they were still alive after the race - although they looked like old men walking to the car!

The kids and their cute friends at the football party at Niki and Greg's house (Funny that all 3 girls were wearing teal and we didn't plan it - teal must be the in color! :)

Maya chasing Greg who is holding Kenyon and Alexa - she loved it!

Dipping her feet in the pond

The crazy kids and their dads

Mean Mom of the Year

And the Mean Mom of the Year Award goes to... ME! Yesterday at lunch, Maya didn't eat very much. So then when it was naptime, she said she wanted a snack because she was hungry. I told her that because she didn't eat her lunch, she would have to wait and have a snack after her nap. So when Jeremy went into her room to get her after her nap, he yelled for me to come see. There were little pieces of a board book all over. I asked her what happened to her book. She replied, "I ate it - I was SO hungry." So it might appear that I was starving my daughter so much that she ate a book, but I will stand by my decision to teach her a lesson by not giving her a snack right after lunch.

Fast forward to naptime today, she tried the same trick, but I peeked in to check on her. I saw her gnawing on the edge of a book. So I just removed every book from her room. I guess some kids just can't handle that kind of freedom! I talked to a friend about it and she said it is a phase that both of her kids went through - a phase of eating books. Yummy!

How much are your kids like you?

A couple of friends and I were recently having a conversation about how alike kids' personalities are to their parents. These friends were saying how their kids (biological and adopted) are identical to them or their spouses. It got me thinking - Are my kids like me or Jeremy?

Maya - Although she talks just like me (naughty words and all) and has as much energy as Jeremy (which is rare to find), we have decided she is far more creative than either of us! Let me give you an example by telling you about our morning.

First, she got out some bowls in the kitchen. She then asked where her stuffed animal dogs were so they could eat. She fed them from the bowls and then gave them baths in the bowls.

Next, I suggested we go read a book (something a little less creative). So we were reading a book about a dinosaur eating soup. So she insisted we go make soup. I thought, "It is 9:00 in the morning, but okay." We walked into the kitchen and she got out a bucket of plastic Easter eggs. She asked for a big spoon and began making her "soup."

Meanwhile, the phone rang so I was having a conversation and not paying complete attention to Maya. She got a container of applesauce out of the pantry and has began using her big spoon to scoop applesauce into each egg and close them. She was completely engrossed in her own little imagination world.

Finally, she put the empty bucket on her head and yelled, "I am coming to save the planet!"

Yep - she is definitely more creative than Jeremy and I could ever dream of being! On her way to her nap just now, we had to pretend to be penguins - I don't know where that one came from!

Kenyon, on the other hand, is more relaxed and mellow. Give him a teething toy and he will just hang out for a while. Come to think about it though, neither Jeremy or myself are mellow and relaxed.

So - are your kids more like you than ours? Or - grandparents speak up - are they more like us than we think and we just can't see it!

Trying on Jared's (Jeremy's cousin that lives with us) hard hat and safety goggles

Looks like he will share Jeremy's love for ice cream (I promise we didn't let him digest too much - it was just for the picture! :)

Maya Humor

Funny things Maya has said or done lately:

1. Yesterday she was throwing a tantrum as I was loading her in the car after shopping. I had just bought her a gymnastics outfit for her class that starts Monday. After I got her in her carseat she said, "Mommy, I so sorry for yelling at you. Thank you for my costume." What a manipulator!! :)

2. Just now she came over to me and said, "Excuse me, I need to do these" and grabbed some toys that were laying by me.

3. She loves to play make-believe right now. We play pirates, school, music class, catch the crickets or crabs, save the baby jaguar or anything else she can think up.

4. Last night she ran up to Jeremy and asked for her blanket. Then she ran off yelling, "I'm sorry I am late. I gotta go."

5. This morning she was helping me clean and took the duster and said she was "dusting off Kenyon's face." He is such a good sport to allow her to torture him!! :)

6. When Kenyon wakes up from a nap or in the morning and she hears him, she yells, "Don't worry Kenyon, I'm coming to save you!"

7. She always calls me "Honey" lately.

8. When we tell her goodnight, she replies, "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

She brings such joy to our family!

I have been tagged!

4 jobs I have had
1. Mom
2. Elementary School Teacher
3. Executive Secretary for Univ. of Utah Medical School Admissions Office
4. Administrative Assistant for a Payday Loan Company :)

4 movies I can watch over and over
1. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days
2. Sweet Home Alabama
3. Serendipity
4. Raising Helen

4 places I have lived
1. Mesa, AZ
2. Park City, UT
3. Woods Cross, UT
4. Taylorsville, UT

4 Guilty Pleasures
1. Anything sweet during the kids naptime!
2. Pedicures
3. Dr. Pepper
4. Eating out

4 Places I have been on vacation
1. California (since we just got back :)
2. Grenada - it is in the West Indies
3. New York
4. China

4 Favorite Foods
1. Mexican Food
2. Coldstone Ice Cream
3. Pina Colada Anything
4. Really I like anything I don't have to make! :)

4 websites I visit
1. Many blogs!
2. My Yahoo Adoption Groups
3. Craigs List
4. Mapquest - I swear I am always on there

4 places I'd rather be right now
1. On the beach
2. On vacation of any sort
3. Getting a Pedicure (actually I am headed there as soon as Jer gets home)
4. Shopping

4 Books I love:
1. Twilight
2. Why are all of the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? (Very enlightening!)
3. The Baby Whisperer (I am so boring!)
4. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

4 Things I would like to know how to do
1. Cook - I am learning!
2. Keep my house clean :)
3. Decorate - I think some people just have an "eye" for it and I don't
4. Find more time to read

4 things I worry about
1. Kenyon's Adoption
2. Raising Healthy/Happy Children
3. Keeping my house in order
4. Our extended families

4 Happy Moments
1. Wedding Day
2. When we first met our children
3. Watching our kids giggle and play
4. When we are vacationing

4 things I want to do this year or in the future
1. Get caught back up on the kids' scrapbooks
2. Read more books
3. Go through "the pile" that is in the corner of our room
4. Finalize Kenyon's Adoption!!!

4 People I am tagging
1. I can't remember who has or hasn't done it so - Anyone that wants to do it! :)

Blogging Help

Does any blogger out there know why some pictures you can click on to view them larger and others you can't? This is soooooo frustrating for me and I have tried to figure it out. I was just looking at an online blogger help site and they say it is just a blogspot glitch that will hopefully be fixed, but has been going on for over a year. Grrr!! There has to be a way around it :).

Top 10 Highlights of our Trip to San Diego

1. The kids were great in the car on the way there and back - we were nervous about it!

2. Maya was so excited the whole way there and every second leading up to going to the beach. When we finally arrived at the beach on Saturday afternoon, she was sound asleep in the back seat. We transferred her to the stroller and she never woke up. After being there for a while, we finally just woke her up since she had been so excited. She loved it!

3. Shopping was A+! We hit the Gap outlet and they were practically giving away clothes. Examples: swimsuit for Kenyon - $1.39, cute shirt for me - $2.08, capris for Maya - $3.09, and the list could go on and on. If you have a Gap outlet near you, run on over! We hit 2 different ones while we were there. Oh I love to shop!

4. Pat and Oscar's - Have you ever eaten there? The breadsticks are to die for!!

5. Both kids sleeping through the night all 3 nights (Note: Kenyon had NEVER slept through the night up to this point). We got home last night and he slept through the night again. He just needed a trip to San Diego to straighten out his sleep issues :).

6. Golfing - I am putting this one on for Jer because him and my dad had a nice game of golf Saturday morning.

7. UC Santa Barbara Water Polo Team - Yes, they were sleeping in our hotel and they were some gorgeous hunks. Then I realized that I am now 10 years older than them :(. Sure wish I had taken some photos to share!

8. Jeremy and I riding the roller coaster at Mission Beach. I never do brave things like this, but we had extra tickets so I went for it. So worth it! The view at the top was of the ocean (at sunset) on one side and the bay on the other - INCREDIBLE! Maya also rode a bunch of rides and had a blast.

9. Capturing a family picture as we walked along the beach at sunset.

10. (This is a lowlight rather than highlight) Being in San Diego during record heat. It was 105 degrees inland and high 90s on the beach. Add in the 65% humidity and it felt worst than here. We did not accomplish our goal of escaping the AZ heat, but we sure had fun. Thanks Mom and Dad for taking us!