Valentine's Day

I know some people are very anti-Valentine's Day but I like it. This year Dave and I celebrated the night before and it was a special treat for me. I have been begging for a night away because other then when I was in the hospital with Isabelle I have not had an overnight "break" from the kids. Dave's mom was kind enough to come stay with the kids so that we could get away for the night. Dave surprised me by taking me to The Buttes resort overnight. We ate dinner at one of their restaurants and I had the best creme brulee I have ever had! They mixed berries into the cream instead of just putting it on top. I was looking forward to a good night's sleep since there were no kids to wake me up but unfortunately it was NBA all star weekend in Phoenix and I think there must have been a lot of young people staying there too and they were so loud! All night long people were walking by our room talking loudly and laughing, probably coming to and from the bars. Oh well! In the morning Dave had another wonderful surprise for me. He had scheduled a facial for me at the spa and while I was there he was going to go back with the kids and just let me spend some much needed alone time until check out. It was wonderful! I read my book, watched tv, and just relaxed. The facial was awesome too! I'm so lucky to have Dave! Valentine's Day is also special to us because it is the anniversary of our engagement to. It's fun to celebrate both!

Here are the kids in their Valentine's outfits. It's not a very good picture though because the kids looked so cute!

The Train Park

A few weeks ago we went to a train park in Scottsdale. It was so much fun! It had two little trains that you can ride on, a carousel, a train museum, a great playground, and a few other things too. This is Robyn in front of the train museum. It's inside a train that used to be used by one of the President's but I never found out which one. I think I need to go back!

Justin had a lot of fun on the carousel but it was stressful for me. It didn't have any seatbelts so I had to hold on to him the whole time so he wouldn't fall off. I found out later that it is an old carousel on the carousel preservation list and that's why they haven't "upgraded" it.

This was Justin and Robyn's favorite part. At the end of one of the trains they have this little cattle car that the kids can ride in and they shut the door so they're kind of trapped. Justin loved It!

Dave took Isabelle on one of the train rides and she screamed the whole time! I guess she didn't like it but she loved the playground and playing in the sand.

Boxers For Sale

Someone please take them!

Justin's Party and 3 Year Check up

Justin had a great "Diego" party. We were blessed with beautiful weather that day so we had it at the park in our neighborhood. Justin was so excited to have a birthday party and to have all of his cousins over to play. For food we enjoyed beetle wings (potato chips), snake eggs (grapes), crocodile teeth (wedges of apple), and ants (craisins), and drank jungle juice. The cake

The aftermath

The crowd

The future football star

The proud soccer player

The Moocher

(Isabelle was trying to get cupcake from Robyn and her cousins Sydney and Lexie)

The Pirate

Justin's cousins Sydney and Sophie gave him a pirate costume and he loves dressing up in it and running around the house saying "Arrghhh" and "Mateys".


At Justin's three year check up he was not very happy. The first thing he had to do was stand on the scale and get measured for height. What a chore it was to get him to do that! He was pretty good with the doctor examination until it came time to look in his mouth, good thing that was the last thing! He has always been tall and skinny according to the growth charts so I was shocked to find out that now he is short (20%) and skinny (25%)! I'm hoping for a big growth spurt soon. At least I know why he can't ever reach the wheels of a tricycle and a bicycle, it's not because the pedals are too far like I thought, it's because his legs are too short!

Justin has become very independent lately. It started when he finally learned how to open the door by himself. That resulted in a very scary incident when he went outside by himself while I was in the shower and he was "taking" a nap. Luckily, Robyn was walking home from her friends house at that exact time and happened upon Justin walking down the street away from our house. I now lock the door at all times! Could you imagine if Robyn hadn't been there! He also wants to buckle himself in the car seat by himself, and pretty much anything else that he can do he wants to do by himself. It is fun to watch him learn to do things but it has definitely tried my patience at times!

He is halfway potty trained. He will use the toilet if he isn't wearing a diaper but still prefers to wear them so I don't really know what to do. Everyone says don't force it, he will do it when he's ready but I really don't want to have three kids in diapers so that leaves me two months to fix this problem, any advice?

Justin is also very smart and loves going to preschool. He knows all of his letter sounds and can also identify all the letters. The other day after school Justin's teacher, Miss Kerry, showed me that he can sound out letters together to make a word, so he pretty much is reading! Of course Justin doesn't know he is reading he just thinks he is making the sounds. I was watching the pregame for the Super Bowl the other day and the interview with Barack Obama came on. Out of nowhere Justin says, "That's Barack Obama." Shocked that he knew this I said "What?!" and he repeated it again. I didn't teach him that and neither did Dave so we're still trying to figure out how he learned this.

He is so fun to have around and I love listening to his sweet little voice. I wish that I could capture it forever. Sometimes I wish that I just had a camera that would follow him around all day capturing every moment! I try to treasure these times because I know they will be gone too soon!

Happy Birthday Justin!

Three years ago today Heavenly Father gave me one of the best gifts ever. . . Justin! I can't believe how fast the years have gone. He is such a joy to us and keeps us laughing every day!

January 23, 2006

7:44 a.m.

I know his face is dirty (leftovers from lunch) but that's usually how it is anyways so this is a good representation of him! One day I'll learn to edit photos. . .

A few random things. . .

I decided to put Isabelle's hair in pigtails the other day and this is how it turned out. So cute! My new neighbor said that she looks like Boo from Monster's Inc.

We were at the store the other day getting Isabelle some new shoes when Justin spotted these babies. He had them off the shelf and on his feet before I even new what happened! He was sooooo excited about them that I decided to buy them for him and he pretty much hasn't taken them off since! He told the guy in the checkout line behind us that his new shoes were going to make him go faster because they have wheels! They also came in very handy today when it rained!

Justin also had a monumental event happen a couple of days ago, we got rid of his crib and got him a toddler bed! He was so excited the first night that he went to bed early and didn't even want me to say goodnight! He ALWAYS wants to say goodnight to me! It was so funny he had Dave put the blanket over him, shut the door and that was it! One of the easiest bedtimes ever. He did fall out once that night but has done really well ever since, except nap times are pretty much non-existent!

He also said the funniest thing the other day. . .

Justin: Mom we don't live at our house.

Me: We don't? Where do we live?

J: We live at QT!

I guess I've taken him on one too many trips to the gas station to get a drink!

He definitely keeps me laughing every day!

Justin's First "Real" Haircut

In a couple of weeks Justin turns three and I want to get some pictures taken so I thought I would get him a "real" haircut and let it grow out for a couple of weeks so that it will look perfect for picture day.

Before

During

As you can tell, Justin was not very happy while she was cutting his hair but overall was a good sport about it. He kept saying, "Mom why is she doing that?" and did not want to look where she was telling him to.

After
This after picture isn't so bad but I have to say that I don't like his haircut! I miss the long, shaggy, unprofessional looking style and I hope his hair grows back fast. Dave started a sentence today by saying, "Remember in Dumb and Dumber how Jim Carrey's hair looked like a . . ." and then I cut him off. I don't want to admit what Justin's haircut really looks like and I hope I can salvage it for picture day. In the mean time, Justin is enjoying it because it doesn't get in his eyes anymore!