Thanksgiving Fun

We had a great time over the Thanksgiving weekend. My sister-in-law Jen, Ryan and his mom Marilyn came to visit us from Denver and I'm so glad they did. Dave made the Turkey and I made all the fixings with help from Marilyn. It was my first time making Thanksgiving dinner so I was nervous that it wouldn't taste good but it ended up tasting great (I thought)! We enjoyed the rest of our day relaxing and playing with the kiddos. 

On Friday we did a little shopping and Quinn got new pink cowgirl boots. In the store when she was trying them on she kept yelling "I'm a cowgirl, Yee-haw!" She loves them. Then we headed to Antelope Island to check out the mountain views. We finished the day with a dinner at Twigs and a trip to Salt Lake to see the Temple Lights. It was a great day and we had a lot of fun. 

On Saturday we did the Santa Run 5K in Ogden. I was very hesitant to do the race since I haven't worked out in forever but I am glad that they pushed me to sign up. The race registration includes a Santa suit! Quinn loved all the Santa's running around and she enjoyed being pushed around to all the milk and cookie stations. 

Dave ran the race and I pushed the kids and when he was finished he came and found me and helped me finish the race. I now get to check off ((Run a Race)) off of my 30 before 30 list! This was a perfect race for it too. It was so much fun! Before the race started we were already talking about what we were going to do next year (i.e. decorate our stroller and find red running tights because the santa pants included in the kit were not the best!). 

Leo did awesome and just hung out in the stroller the whole time, he didn't even make a beep. 

The views for the run were great! I love the mountain views here in Utah, they never get old. 

Who doesn't love a race that has milk and cookie stations! 

 I think at this point of the race, Leo was over it. 

After the race there was a lights parade and the kids loved seeing all the lights and of course Santa Claus. Both kids also love sitting on Dave's shoulders. The whole experience was great and I can't wait to keep this tradition going. 

 

We had a fantastic weekend with family and I am so happy they came to spend the holiday with us. 

Family is good, life is good. 

Going Away Party

We have met many many great people on our Air Force journey so far and it is always hard to say "see you later." This however is by far the toughest "see you later" I have had to do yet. When we first moved to Utah I instantly became friends with Ashlee and our families have made many great memories together. 

Luckily the Binghams only lived one street away and our kids all enjoyed each other (...for the most part!). With not having any family here it was great to have friends that you could treat as family. Ones that would watch your kid while you were at the hospital in labor, let you borrow syrup (or eggs, or sugar, or let them borrow your carpet cleaner for many many reasons), agree that coming over for dinner in sweatpants is the only way to do it and really just being like family to us. They were a huge part in making this move to Utah not be so difficult for me. I could go on and on about how much I love their family but I won't because I will cry too much!! I can't wait until we meet up again and have many vacations together and get our husbands to work out their careers so we end up stationed in Germany together in a few years (we can wish right?!). 

So onto the party.... we had Jason's pharmacy going away party last week at the Log Cabin on base. It is a cute little cabin and was able to hold all the people that wanted to come wish the Bingham's Good Luck on their next journey to Mississippi. 

We did a taco bar and had lots of yummy food, good conversation with friends and Ramos and Dave gave great speeches about how great of a person Jason is. He (their family) will be greatly missed in Utah but I know they are going to meet awesome people in Mississippi and make lots of fun memories in the American South. 

I was so bummed the box smashed the cake a little on the car ride over! It still turned out cute and tasted great which is what really matters. 

Love this family!! They are the best. 

Somehow in all of the fun Quinn got cake icing in her eyebrow. 

They thought they were hilarious with their posed pictures for me! 

And this is what happens when you give our children Capri Suns... they are nuts! 

Air Force friends are good, life is good. 

Disney on Ice

Last Sunday we went downtown for Disney on Ice. Quinn was so excited because she was going to see Lightening McQueen, Ariel and Tinkerbell (Toy Story was also included but she doesn't know that movie so she really didn't care about that). She has loved the Tinkerbell shows on Netflix lately so when I saw this adorable Tinkerbell hooded sweatshirt (that the hood unzips to be fairy wings!! What?!) I had to buy it!! 

We went to the Sunday afternoon show which was not busy at all. There are pros to Sundays in Utah! Quinn loves popcorn so we had to get some and then headed to our seats for the show to start. As we walked to our seats she said "we have to get to the show" and "this be awesome!" I love how I get more joy out of seeing her excited for things than if it was something I was wanting to see/do.  

Leo did great and watched some of the show. He loved when Mickey Mouse was on the ice and it was super adorable. He loves Mickey! Quinn thought it was too loud and covered her ears for part most of the show. Dave appreciated the afternoon show because the Bengals had already played (and won.. WHO-DEY!). I should get some good Christmas presents for that! 

The only way to get Quinn to take a half way decent picture is to ask her to take a "selsie." 

Quinn loved the show and was most excited for Tinkerbell. On the car ride home she said her favorite part was "Mickey Mouse" and that it could not be Leo's favorite part too because it was hers! (After we do something like this we always take turns saying what our "favorite part" of the activity was. I said I thought Leo's was Mickey Mouse and she did not agree.) It was a great afternoon together. 

Sundays are good, life is good. 

Charlie

Lately Leo has been paying attention to Charlie more and it is the cutest. Every time he sees Charlie his face lights up and he crawls to him. If Charlie is laying in the living room, Leo crawls right over and starts getting in his face or trying to use him as a step stool to get onto the couch. My favorite is when Charlie goes to get a ball and then lays it down in front of Leo and right before Leo grabs it, Charlie picks it back up. And sometimes he will let Leo get it and play with it.
I complain about Charlie a lot and how big he is and how he is always  in the way and lets not even talk about the amount of dog hair in my house! Then I see these moments where the kids just love him so much and he just lays there and lets them do whatever they want without even moving. Quinn has dressed him up with tiaras and she likes to cover him with blankets and then put her baby dolls on him and he just sits there and takes it. He really is a great dog and we are lucky to have him around! I know the kids will have great memories of Charlie when they grow up.
I don't have any pictures of Sammy but he is being a real trooper too. Life as a dog in a house with a toddler and baby is not the most fun. Quinn's new thing is to chase Sammy around and throw a laundry basket over him and then shove things into the laundry basket. She says she is catching a butterfly. I am pretty sure Sammy hates it but it keeps her entertained for a while and she isn't hurting him. Actually it is probably good for him because it gets his lazy bum up and running around which will help with his weight gain!

Dogs are good, life is good. 

Leo 9 months old

So in sticking with tradition I am behind in posting Leo's 9 month pictures. He will be 10 months old next week! He is a happy little boy and keeps us on our toes. I mean the kid does.not.stop.moving!! I love how excited he gets when he sees Quinn and I love how she has to run into his room in the morning when he wakes up to greet him. 

He has started to sleep a little better so we are now only getting up once a night and then again around 6. He goes back to bed after his 6am feeding so on days I don't work I can get a little more sleep but on work days I am wore out. 

The other day Dave was playing peek-a-boo with him by hiding behind Q's chair that Leo was standing on (he always climbs up and stands on her chair). Dave would dip down and then pop back up and yell "boo." Leo was laughing so hard, it melted my heart. Then Leo started dipping down in the chair and popping back up and then laughing. It was so fun to see him watch Dave and then imitate his behavior. 

I thought that Leo was saying "mom" a few weeks ago because every time he saw me he would say "ma ma". I now have realized that is his word for food/eat/nurse. When he wakes up from his nap he immediately starts going "ma ma ma" and before you give him food in his highchair he says "ma ma." I sign "more" to him before I give him additional food so I don't know if that is what he is trying to do or not. I do know that when he says "ma" you better feed that boy or he gets hangry real quick ( I don't know where he gets that from!). 

Speaking of eating, he eats! He started eating chicken nuggets the other day at lunch because I made them for Quinn and he threw a fit until I gave him one. I tried to give him pieces and he yelled "ma ma ma" until I just have him the nugget, then he nibbled at it with his 8 teeth (6 fully in and 2 more poking through.)

I thought for fun I would add some 9 month pictures of Quinn to compare them.

 

 

 

Leo is good, life is good. 

Silly Kids

The other day I was trying to make dinner and Quinn was still napping. The kids rarely nap at the same time so I don't get much time by myself these days. Leo was awake and I needed him to be occupied so I could get dinner going. He is super busy right now and is into everything. He crawls for the stairs then the wine bottles then the dog bowls... it is nonstop! If you put him in a confined space other than his highchair he cries. So I thought I would let him feed himself and I could cook. What ended up happening was he made a mess, I took pictures and laughed and then had a huge mess to clean up. So I'm not really sure it accomplished what I wanted but I got some really cute pictures and he had fun! 

 

At some point he decided the spoon wasn't working out for him anymore so he just started scooping with his hand. He loves yogurt just like Quinn did. Dave, Quinn and Leo all love Greek blueberry yogurt. We eat a lot of that at our house these days. I am the only one who is not obsessed. 

He is laughing in the picture I promise. When he laughs he throws his head back and cracks up. 

 Quinn is as sweet as ever lately. She likes to wear anything of mine she can get ahold of and this day it was my glasses. She also loves to try on my shoes while I am getting ready and likes to tell me what shoes I need to wear that day. Her current favorites are cheetah print flats with bows.

Quinn loves eating fruit and would eat only that and yogurt if I let her... and some days when I am tired she does. Her new thing is climbing onto the counter and just hanging out. I love how she always wants Lucky Charms cereal but only to eat the marshmallows. 

eating is good, life is good