March 29, 2008

Visitors to the Land of Enchantment

We were so excited when we heard that Josh and Eliza (Christian's sister and husband) were coming to visit us here in Albuquerque. They brought their two little cuties, Belle and Abe and we had a blast. Oliver and Abe hit it off in about 1 minute and weren't seen without each other for basically the rest of the week. Abe sent Oliver laughing to the floor on numerous occasions and they just ran around and played- it was seriously the cutest thing I have seen in a long time. We covered a lot of bases with them, too- Old Town Albuquerque, lunch with my lunch group, Santa Fe, shopping, movies, games, night out with some friends, etc., etc. We had so much fun hanging out with Josh and Eliza and I especially enjoyed my one-on-one shopping trip with Eliza (it's sooooo nice to get out with girls, no kids, and just shop). So, here's some fun pics from the week:

Old Town Albuquerque at the church grounds

Old Town Albuquerque, jumping up and down with excitement

We finally got these two guys to settle down for a sec while we got a picture.

Probably up to no good, these two...

Oliver loooovvveeedd this drum in Santa Fe.
Getting ready for the long drive back to Utah, with full tummies:)

Isn't she the cutest little bug you've ever seen (Belle)???

Some last-minute mischief before Abey had to leave...

March 27, 2008

FYI

A lot of people have been asking about our new house and want to see pictures. Well, we just have a few little decorative things to do around here and then, I promise, we'll fill you all in. :)

March 26, 2008

Happy B-day, Jake!




It was Jake's birthday on Monday and so I wanted to give special shout-out to him. He exited the teens and is now 20 years old! Yeah! Jake's been living with us now for about 3 months and we are loving having him around- he's so easy-going and helpful and Oliver loves him, too.
Well, for his b-day, I made his his favorite breakfast: cowboy (eggs, potatoes, ham, and cheese), and then Oliver and I brought him cookies to the dental office where he works where some of his co-workers had brought him a cake of his own and then took him out to lunch. The night was topped off with one of his favorite dinners: chicken parmesan. And for desert, a Ben and Jerry's ice cream cake. Yum! Yum! We hope you had a great day, Jake!

March 25, 2008

Another trip to the A-T-L

I found a REALLY cheap ticket to Atlanta a few weeks ago and as a spur of the moment thing, I bought it. Also, because I know my parents have hoards of rugs all over their house that they so generously share with their children and Christian and I really needed one for our new house. So, Oliver and I made the llloooonnnnggg trip to Georgia, via Phoenix (I know, it's the opposite direction, but that's what you get when you fly cheap). And so that's why it made for a long day and some promises afterwards that I would NEVER do it again, without Christian to help with Oliver. I was close to tears a few times out of frustration and at one point, I gave up and let Oliver sleep on the floor of the airplane for a couple of hours of solace. I don't even want to know what the stewardesses were saying. Overall, it was a great trip and so relaxing. We just ate out, shopped (only a little), and watched some great flicks (The Other Boleyn Girl, Across the Universe). It was just so nice to be able to spend so much quality time with my sisters, Emily and Claire, and my mom. And, mission accomplished: I came home with a beautiful rug that fits perfectly in our main room.

Oliver practicing the piano. I couldn't even get in a note with him around.

Oliver is now playing the piano- you can see the difference.

Oliver loved getting to know his cousin, Cooper better. They were never seen with less than two cars in hand.

Speaking of cars, these boys watched Cars at least once during the week. Oliver only lasted about 5 minutes, but Cooper was a champ- sat through the whole movie!

March 11, 2008

Here's the Proof...

So, I know you're all frustrated because Christian's been going on and on about all the cute (and not so cute) things Oliver has been up to lately, but without ANY pictures! So, I've tried to capture a few gems these past few days for your viewing pleasure and for proof...:)

Mom caught Oliver on the couch, all prepped to go outside with his jacket.
You will also notice the little red object in his left hand. It's his red corvette version of every other kids' blankie. He bathes with it, sleeps with it, and eats with it.


Oliver (with his jacket) and his new thing- "trying on" Mommy's shoes. He only likes these flower-covered ones. By the way, he had just woken up, hence, the jammies.


There is a planter full of soil that Oliver loves to get in... Are you CRAZY???!!! Do you actually think I would let him stick that stuff in his mouth? It's just some Girl Scout Thin Mints.:)

March 6, 2008

Lawrence of Olivier

More tidbits:

Oliver had his second week in nursery (his first week in our new ward's nursery). When I went to pick him up, I watched him for a few minutes through the looking glass, doing his thing. My favorite thing in the world is to clandestinely watch him in an foreign environment with foreign people, especially kids. The scene I observed was him and a few other 1.5 yr olds sitting around a round table with little cups of water, napkins, and crackers set neatly out before them. All the other tots' areas looked orderly enough, while Oliver's was a sopping mess. When I went in and remarked on this, the nursery folks informed me that upon receiving his cup of water, he dumped it out on the table, then, unsatisfied, commandeered those of his neighbors to make the pool bigger. Ratface.

I've already related Oliver's love for outside. Now that we're in a house, we let him have pretty free access to the fenced-in backyard. The few days it's been cold, we still let him out, but put his coat on. So now, like a dog with its leash, when he gets the outdoor itch, he'll find his coat, hunt us down, and thrust it in our faces. Then, when through darkness or some other reason, we bring him in for the rest of the day, he won't let us remove his coat because that would be an act of total surrender. So he kicks it the rest of the night inside with his winter coat on. As long as he's got the coat on, there's hope. Very remote hope, but hope nonetheless.

And no matter how long we let him play outside, he loses it when we bring him in. He loses it a lot lately in general, come to think of it. Kind of a big whiney pants about always wanting to be held, or up high on whatever object lends him a foot or two.

He's said his first non mom/dad name. He calls Jacob, Day-da.

Great guy.

March 2, 2008

Sweet Tooth


People often remark that they think I'm "so disciplined." I'll admit, I have my strengths and I might have a hard time missing a day at the gym, but I am also a closet (well, I guess not anymore) sweet food addict. I have tried to stop this habit and even gone so far as to put some major wagers on it and even refusing to purchase anything with chocolate or sugar in it. But, I always succumb in the end to this unforgiving addiction. If you had asked me 6 months ago if I was the worst person I knew when it came to sweets, I would have answered an emphatic, "yes!" But, I met my match in my friend, Rachel. Without divulging her skeletons too much, this girl would truly put me to shame with any pan of brownies, batch of cookies, ice cream or any other delectable treat. So, we made a pact as of February 3rd (Super Bowl day, mind you) to not eat another treat until March 1st. When consulting our husbands about our plan, her husband literally laughed out loud and said, "Even if you swore to me at end of the month you hadn't eaten any treats, I still would never believe you- it's impossible." I might also mention that she is hypoglycemic (her body craves sugar in ways that normal people's don't and this sometimes translates into her eating spoonfuls of sugar just to get a "fix"). Anyway, we decided that we were going to do it, with or without the confidence of our hubbies. So, it began on February 3rd and ended only yesterday. We had more than a few phone calls to each other in moments of weakness and let me say that it was a lloooonnnngg month, but WE MADE IT!!! No chocolate, no candy, no cheesecake bars (our fave), cookies, cupcakes- NOTHING. And, to make things even more official, I even swore off any food that had any sugar or corn syrup in the ingredients during that last week. This is a lot more difficult than one might think. Just check your bread, salad dressing, mayo, crackers, etc.. And, so, yesterday, I enjoyed 3 chocolate chip cookies, a donut hole, a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream with hot fudge, and a few handfuls of chocolate chips. And, I thought this a pretty good day considering I definitely had the potential to binge. No, I'm not going to go straight back to where I was- the inescapable life of a sugar addict. My tolerance for incalculable amounts of sugar is definitely a lot lower as I discovered tonight when Rachel and her husband treated us to homemade crepes, but I have resolved to be stronger and now I know I can do it. I didn't go a whole month of passing up peanut butter bars, ice cream with all the fixings, iced sugar cookies, funfetti cake truffles, Ghiradelli brownies, and my favorite chocolate cookies to go right back to where I was. And, so for all you sugar addicts out there- it can be done. Because if I can do it, anyone can.