Firefighter Day

Today at my preschool we had a firefighter come and talk to the kids about fire safety. He brought along all of his gear, along with his fire engine. Riley was home from school, so she got to sit in on all of the fun. She got to be one of the kids who tried on parts of Fireman Tyson's gear - she couldn't quit giggling the whole time. Fun!

Lambs and Bunnies

>Here are a few pictures from our outing to see baby lambs and bunnies! A couple in our ward were nice (and brave!) enough to let Riley, Bailey, and six of their friends come over to see the animals. Hats off to the lambs and bunnies...they were real troopers when it came to all of the hugging, petting, and holding...and the best part according to Riley was that no one got pooped on!

"Poor Bailey-O"

"Poor Bailey-O" is what our littlest one has been saying for the last several weeks. Bailey has had a lot of trouble with ear infections her whole life...and the last several weeks have been pretty bad as far as ears go. She has had fluid leaking out of both ears for about 7 weeks now (gross, I know), and there have been MANY trips to the doctor's office (which she HATES!! Every time we pull into the parking lot at the medical clinic Bailey starts crying and chanting "No Doctor, No Doctor!" until she makes it back safely to the car after her appointment. Not fun for mom or child!) We have tried antibiotic after antibiotic...and finally got the word Tuesday that she needed to have surgery to figure out what was going on with her ears. Friday morning we went to Primary Children's Hospital and she had what hopefully will be her last ear procedure. She did well and everything went fine. If you ask Bailey how it was at the doctor's on Friday, she will answer with "Bailey went to sleep at the doctor's...poor Bailey-O".

Bailey had obviously figured out something was up once they put her in her "doctor jammies". Look at that sad face!

This is Bailey in the recovery room right after her surgery. She looked so little in that bed hooked up to all of the monitors.

Starting to wake up...a little bit.

At least she got a cookie!

Isn't She Lovely?

Look who had become addicted to seeing herself in the mirror! If I had a dollar for every time I heard "Let me see in the mirror, mommy!" we would be mortgage free! I always put Bailey on the bathroom counter to dry her hair after a bath, and one day she decided she wanted to kiss herself in the mirror...that led to her fascination with her reflection. Anytime she has on new clothes, a gets a new hair ribbon, or thinks she is looking pretty fine, she wants to see in the mirror! We are hopeful this is just a phase...can you imagine if this were to carry on into her teen-age years???

Bailey got a new skirt and sweater, and she had to go and kiss herself in the mirror before church!

The day it all started...

Every once in a while she can tear herself away from the mirror to share some of that affection with us!

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!