Look Who's 2!

Happy Birthday to YOU, Bailey!

Bailey turned 2 on the 2nd of February...I can't believe my little baby is two! We celebrated with a trip to Red Robin for "bacaroni and cheese", root beer, and balloons (yes, my kids pick which restaurant to go to based on whether or not there are balloons for them to take home).

We also had a party for her...she requested rainbow cake with pink sprinkles and lots of presents. Lucky girl...she got both!

Do you like how my stupid camera makes everything look blurry?? Nice, I know.

Bailey isn't quite sure what to think about those candles...last year they caused complete and utter panic...not quite so much drama this year - as long as she didn't have to get too close.

Here are some of Bailey's favorites at age 2:

Favorite color: pink

Favorite toy: puzzles

Favorite show on TV: Sesame Street

Favorite food: macaroni and cheese

Favorite song: Big Green Tractor (this is Cory's doing...he will sit and watch the video for this song with her at night on youtube. She knows the words and I catch her singing it to herself during the day).

Favorite thing she says five million times a day: "Let me see, Mama"

Favorite thing to do: go swimming at the gym

Happy Birthday, Bailey! We sure do love you

Back from the Ranch

We spent the week after Christmas visiting Cory's family in New Mexico. Ranch life is so much different than our every-day life, so going is quite the adventure for the kids. Riley had such a great time playing with her cousins...she also thought it was great to ride horses, go on motorcycle rides with her dad, and shoot the .22 for the first time (she actually hit the target...with a little assistance from Dad). It was pretty funny to watch her get ready to target shoot with her dad. She has been told over and over again to NEVER touch a gun, and if she does she is grounded for the rest of her life. She had to make sure she wasn't going to get into trouble before she would put one finger on that gun. At least she is listening, right??

Bailey was recuperating from being sick most of the time we were at the ranch. She spent a lot of time begging to go to sleep, and I spent a lot of time fighting to keep her from taking her afternoon nap at 10:00 in the morning! Thank goodness for the portable DVD player that she snuggled up with in her portable crib! She did feel better towards the end of the trip, and had fun jumping on the trampoline and just being outside.





It was fun to see Grandma and Grandpa Bluth, as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins we don't get to see too often. Here are few more random pictures of the trip:

This month in a flash...

December is GONE already! It went by way to fast for me - I like the season leading up to Christmas, and it is such a let-down when the actual day comes and goes. We have been busy this month...here is what we have been up to:

We knew the girls were dying to have Christmas lights on the house, but Cory and I had pretty much decided not to do it this year. The roof line is REALLY high, so we considered hiring someone to put them up but figured the girls wouldn't die if there weren't any lights. I think it was Riley's "but Dad, how is Santa going to find our house" that did it. Cory brought over my dad's extension ladder, extended it as high as it would go, told my brother to hold onto the bottom, and went to work. I was nervous when Cory was up there stringing the lights. I couldn't watch...I told him I would be in the house unless I heard a scream followed by a splat. What a great wife, huh? The end result was that we had lights, no one splatted (is that a word??), and the girls are happy.

We went to the Festival of Trees with some friends earlier this month. It was fun, and the trees were beautifully decorated. Ry liked looking, and Bailey did, too, but she was more concerned with how to escape from the stroller.

Riley had her Christmas/Grandparent's Day program at school last week. The kids sang some cute songs! Ry did great, and was glad that Mimi and Papa could come.

We went to Temple Square to see the lights last weekend. We had wanted to go earlier in the month, but it has been COLD here...I mean REALLY cold. The night we went was still cold, but not as bad as it has been. The kids loved the lights, loved seeing the temple, and loved riding the train to Temple Square. It was fun, but it was cold!

In addition to all of the activities we have been doing, we have been baking, Christmas card-ing, shopping, wrapping, visiting, and just enjoying the season. I guess the hustle and bustle finally caught up with us early this week when both girls came down with really bad colds. Bailey is recovering from croup, and is just not herself (though we have high hopes she will feel better by tomorrow morning for her first Christmas when she knows what is going on!). Riley is feeling much better, too, and is more than ready for Santa's visit! We hope you have a great Christmas...pictures of Christmas morning are coming soon!

A conversation with Riley

A couple of days ago the girls and I were coming back from the grocery store when the song "I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Clause" came on the radio. Here is part of the conversation I had with Riley about the song:

Riley: Mom! Did they just say Mom was kissing Santa?

Me: That is what the song said...it is just a silly song, Ry, don't worry about it.

*Pause*

Riley: Mom! Did they just say Mom was tickling Santa, too?

Me: Yeah (sigh)

*Pause*

Riley: Mom, you would never do that would you?

Me: No, Ry (sigh again)

Riley: Good. Dad would NOT like it if you did that!

Me: Sigh....

Family Pictures

We recently had our family pictures taken - Emily (my sister's sister-in-law) has been taking our pictures for the last few years and some how she always manages to get the great shot, even without complete participation from those in the pictures! Bailey was the party-pooper for this photo shoot. She started out happy (kind of), but when we took off her socks for the family pictures, things went down-hill quickly! Who knew she was so attached to her socks! I think every trick in the book was used to get Bailey happy long enough to get a couple of pictures of her. She is definately a Bluth (which translates into NOT a lover of taking pictures!). All in all, we were happy with how the girls' pictures turned out.

Just not the same...

Thanksgiving is great, don't get me wrong...but as soon as the dishes are done on Thanksgiving day we are plotting out our plan to get ready for Christmas. We have always gotten our tree the day after Thanksgiving, and this year was no exception. This is the first year we have had our own house since moving from Oregon - and I have to say the whole "getting our Christmas tree" experience was a downer. Instead of cruising up and down rows of Christmas trees at White's Tree Farm, we headed to the garden section of the local Home Depot and bought one from a guy in a nice orange apron (he swore up and down the trees they were selling were just unloaded off the truck two days before...isn't that what all the tree lot people say??). Don't get me wrong, the tree is nice and it smelled good for about 20 minutes (and I think I filled up the vaccuum bag full of needles after bringing the tree inside). It just isn't the same as firing up the chain saw and cutting the tree down yourself. Oh well...the girls didn't seem to mind, and they had a great time decorating the tree. That is all that matters, right??

Ry at the tree farm - December, 2007 (don't those trees look perfect?)

Ry and Bailey decorating this year's tree - nice work, girls!

First Snow

We got our first snow storm of the winter on Saturday. The girls watched and waited nearly all day for there to be enough snow to go sledding down the hill in our neighborhood. Their patience paid off, and we bundled up and headed out late Saturday afternoon. Bailey wasn't too fond of the snow in general, her snow pants or of the seventeen-hundered layers her mean mom made her wear...she was nearly as wide as she was tall! Riley, on the other hand, lives to play in the snow! She would have stayed out there all night if we would have let her!