did you think we weren't serious?

If you are considering whether or not to give your child a mullet, don't visit this site. While funny and entertaining, it definitely makes a mother think twice. Which I did, but I still came up with the same conclusion both times. Tyler needed a mullet. We decided to tackle this at home, though neither of us really know how to cut a mullet. Good thing we're good at making stuff up.

Getting the part just right. Have any of you ever done a part at the back of the head? It's a little weird.

Clipping back the hair that won't get cut. Alexis thought Tyler looked like Beast from "Beauty and the Beast" with his hair like this.

In the process.
Doesn't he look old? I was nearly in tears because I want him to still be my baby, but now he's my little boy.

Looks like he likes it!

From the back.

You really have to see it in person, if at all possible, I promise it will bring a smile to your face. Like I suspected I would, I just laugh every time I look at him.


At the end of all of this I realized how happy I am that I married Jeremy because he comes up with the most awesome ideas! But I guess I should have realized that when we were engaged and making our wedding announcements, and he said, "let's put that we are registered at McDonald's".

thank goodness I didn't create the world

So I've always wanted a kid who fell asleep while eating because I think it is HILARIOUS. And since Alexis doesn't eat, that wasn't an option for her. But today Tyler did it! Which really is good because I was just going to keep on having kids until one of them did it, so I'm glad it happened with #2 rather than #22.
I guess technically he's drinking, but he had already eaten, so I'm counting it.

Anyone want some sugar cookies? Too bad, this is not cookie dough. This is my attempt at making a volcano. Pretty freakin' awesome right?Sure. Tomorrow at Alexis' preschool we are learning about the letter V so I decided to make a vvvvvvvvolcano. The good thing about kids is that they'll think it's a volcano just because I tell them that's what it is. They are still moldable...more moldable than this volcano dough. Let's just hope the eruption works better than the volcano looks.

Now the real reason for my post. I'm sure you've all noticed from recent pictures how long Tyler's hair is getting. It's so long it's got bounce, it flaps in the wind, and it looks better than mine or Alexis' hair. So, as much as it pains me to say this, it's time for a haircut. Jeremy has proposed the idea of a mullet because, frankly,Tyler could have a pretty decent one. At first I had the typical horrified reaction you would expect of any good mom, but the more I think about it the more awesome it sounds. It'd only be for a week or so, but come on, how awesome would that be to see a little 1 1/2 year old sporting a mullet? Again, pretty freakin' awesome! How could you not laugh at it? So my thought process is that I'd be in the best mood ever that week because I'd be doing nothing but laughing at my child. I'm putting up a poll, but probably only for a few days because we'll do it soon if we do it. Share your thoughts if you have them. But keep in mind we'll still do what we want.

the next next weekend

Gotta keep my promise with the title. Get comfortable, this is probably going to be a long one. With lots of pictures.

To start it off here's a picture of the Easter eggs Alexis and I decorated. I don't like doing stuff like that but she's at the point where she knows other people do, so now I have to. Plus she doesn't really nap anymore, so I have to do something to fill the time. It ended up being more fun and less messy than I thought it would be.

Second, I got my haircut. I hate pictures like this but here it is. I like my hair, but it never looks as good as when the lady did it for me, and this means I actually have to take time to do my hair now.
Third, the Las Vegas trip. We had fun visiting with my brother, Aaron, and his wife, Tricia. They were very hospitable and let us stay in their home; they even gave up their bed! The very first night we were there we attended the stake championship basketball game for the young men in Aaron's ward. Here is the astounding thing. There were fans there, there were posters and signs, there was cheering and there was face paint! I am not kidding. I have never been more amazed at a church ball game then I was at this. They even had team colors. Because I was so shocked by all of this I forgot to take a picture.

We also did some of the typical touristy stuff, like the M&M factory
and the dolphin exhibit at the Mirage.
Jeremy and my brother went golfing a few timesand we took the kids to a huge park to play for awhile.
Tricia and I climbed the rock wall at Dick's
which was 47 feet. Before that, the highest I'd ever climbed was 30. I was scared to look down.And when I got back to the bottom I saw that Tyler had fallen face first off the bench onto the cement floor. He was a bloody mess with a fat lip, but we gave him some soda and he calmed down. I'll probably never leave ground again though.

The Easter Bunny did manage to find Alexis and Tyler all the way in Las Vegas, which was a relief. It took Tyler all of half a second to figure out how to open an Easter egg, so he was already eating candy while Alexis was still looking for her basket.

(Is Santa on vacation? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, Santa.)

Here's some funny pictures of the kids making weird faces.
Alexis got those clip on earrings in one of the eggs of her basket, which she has been saying she'd get for a week, so when she saw them she ran over to Tyler and showed them to him and said, "Ty-guy, I got earrings in my Easter basket. The Easter bunny brought earrings to your big sister Alexis, that's me." To which Tyler responded by ignoring her and eating another jelly bean. Here's a not so funny picture.
The good thing about Alexis being so little is that we can reuse Easter dresses, this was last years and it fit her just great, possibly even better this time.

I just have to say, my kids were awesome travelers. They were great in the car on the way there and on the way back. If they were a food, they'd be trail mix, that's how well they traveled. Check back with me in May when we drive to Iowa though, I hope they stay trail mix then too, but I have a feeling they'll be more like ice cream.

There was one sad thing as a result of our trip. Alexis has a little pink bear that she has slept with every night since she was born, and we accidentally left it in Las Vegas. So last night Jeremy hung around as I put Alexis to bed, waiting for me to "break the news". So I said, "Alexis, I have to tell you something. We left bear in Las Vegas". This is probably the worst piece of news I could ever give her. Her little face crumpled up, she put her head down and covered her eyes with her hand and just started crying. I felt so sorry for her, but I was also trying to stifle my laughter. Fortunately the bear is on it's way in the mail, and Alexis slept with her little dog "Hailey" instead. I just hope Hailey doesn't replace bear, or I'd feel pretty sad for him. But I guess that's what he gets for partying in Vegas for too long.

the next weekend

Oh my creative naming ability astounds me. "the weekend", "the next weekend", I should get a job naming stuff.

So this past weekend we went to St. George sans children. It was a good weekend, full of eating food and doing fun stuff outside. As a result I gained a few pounds and I'm avoiding balancing the checkbook today. Here are some pictures along with my ever so witty commentary. This is not a DVD, there is no option of viewing with the commentary turned off, besides, why would you want to?

Here's J and I overlooking St. George at night. He's looking in my pocket for some fudge or money. Unfortunately I ate it all and spent it all.

St. George's red rocks are great for climbing on...or in. Jeremy found this little hole and asked if I could get in there. Obviously I did. It will be a sad day when I'm old and can no longer climb into little holes. Or too fat because of fudge.

To borrow a phrase from Alexis: "What the heck?" That's me and my sister-in-law Shandy, in what she calls "the crack". I don't know if that is it's real name or if that's what she's dubbed it, but it's a tiny space between two rocks probably about 100 feet long. If you are much bigger than me, you probably won't fit. And if your nose is even 1/8" longer than mine, you won't be able to turn your head while in there. Sorry, it's kind of an annoying picture to view. Click on it and it will be larger and easier to see.

Here we are looking victorious, straddling "the crack" to show that we conquered it. Now that we've gone through, we can go back to eating fudge. (To clear up any confusion, we walked through the crack, we did not climb up it.)

Here's me rock climbing. Yep, I climbed up there. First I sat on Jeremy's shoulders, then he hoisted me up there and I held on for the 3 seconds required to take this picture.

Then Jeremy climbed up this little rock and I took a picture to prove that he was on the trip too. I would have helped him get up but I had fudge on my fingers. And he didn't need it.

We also did other fun stuff like rollerblading, tennis, swimming, shopping, bike riding and of course GOLF. Well, I didn't do that but I was supportive of it. And all this fun would not have been possible without my parents and sister and Deanna watching the kids. I was very happy to see them when we got back, especially because no one cut Tyler's hair while we were gone. And thanks to Justin and Shandy for inviting us, and for Shandy's parents letting us use their house.

Stay tuned next week for a post titled "the next next weekend" which will include a report of our upcoming trip to the "city of sin", where no sinning will be done by us.

the weekend

I know I post about the weather a lot, apparently I'm a little obsessed. But lately it's been getting a little warmer, which we all know is like heaven to me. And with daylight savings it gets dark later so I'm just one happy camper. And even better, Jeremy was home all weekend. He works a lot of hours (not a complaint, just a statement) so on weekends I'm a little selfish and like to have him around. But, he's a mover and hates just sitting around. So our solution was to find something we could all do as a family and still be doing something. So we invested in this:
This was only the second time Jeremy's taken it out, and the first time for me and Alexis. It was still a little too cold to take Tyler, I didn't want him to end up with RSV again. But next time we go it should be warm enough for him, and I am soooo excited. Alexis loved it, though she would occasionally say, "stop driving so bumpy!" She hasn't learned the point of it yet.

It was a lot of fun, and we even found an old mine they've gated over. I'm afraid of heights so it terrified me (eventually I did walk out over it), but Jeremy and Alexis would drop rocks down the hole and listen to them drop.
Then later in the evening we ran errands together and had dinner and at the end of the day Alexis said how much she likes having dad around. The kids get a little bored of being around me all day and need some variety. Plus dad's more fun!

The next two weekends we'll be out of town (St. George then Las Vegas), which will be a lot of fun too. Anyone else do anything fun this weekend??

trouble

This morning Tyler climbed out of his crib all by himself. He's not even 17 months old. I'm taking it as a bad sign of things to come.

beware the worm's house

In preparation for guests I have coming over tonight, I set the timer for 6 minutes and asked Alexis to help me pick up the toys in the living room. I told her we had to hurry and beat the timer, which of course, warrants a

"why do we have to beat the timer mommy?"

"because...something...will...happen if we don't".

I couldn't think of something, so I looked to Jeremy for assistance. "If you don't beat the timer the house will fall over!" Which I think spurred Alexis' bright idea: "Oh, we'll fall into the worm's house if the timer beeps!"

I set the timer and off she ran, picking up anything in her path and throwing it into the toy box. A stethoscope, a naked barbie, a movie, some pretzel sticks, Tyler, some slippers. She's never moved so fast while being productive at the same time. Then, about a minute in the crying starts.

"Mom, I don't want to fall into the worms hole. The worm's hole is scary. The timer is going to beep!"

"It's okay, I'll protect you from the worm. We have lots of time, keep working."

A dance mat, several balls, more dolls, a toy tractor. About 3 minutes in the crying has been replaced by heaving panting.

"Mom, how much time do we have? I'm tired of this. I want to be done, I don't want to fall into the worm's hole."

"Keep working honey, we're almost done. We've got 3 minutes left."

With a minute to spare all the toys are picked up, we are victorious to live another day. I'd say this new method is a keeper; extremely effective, and only a little traumatizing. Isn't that how all great moms work? Time to clean the bedroom!

fill 'er up

Here's the truth: I am not a hugger. I like my personal space and am not entirely comfortable with people invading it. But, of course, all that changed when little Alexis entered my life. The poor child has endured A LOT of "affectionate abuse" from me, and she's done it cheerfully. She's constantly required to kiss me, hug me, hold my hand, let me pinch her butt, let me tickle her and play with her hair. All the usual stuff moms do when their kids are so cute that they can't resist just squeezing them.

But things have changed lately. You always hear about the "terrible twos", but no one ever warns you about the extremely horrifying, "worse- than-having-your-right-eye- poked- repeatedly-with-a-toothpick threes". She's become extra bossy, mouthy, resistant and independent. But it's been bearable because she would still kiss me.

The thing is, this mom is like a car and Alexis' mean phrases and independence are like a hail storm. Some of them are big ol' rock sized hails that may crack my windshield, but they don't break me. I've got wipers, I can brush it off. But her kisses are like the fuel that keeps the car going. And it's starting to run low.

Last week she refused to hold my hand. Last night I asked for a hug, which she gave extremely reluctantly. Today, before her nap I leaned in for a kiss, but she turned her head away with such force and determination I'm surprised it didn't snap off her neck! I knew this day would come eventually.

The needle's pointing to E people, and I've still got miles to go until she outgrows this stage.

Thank goodness for dual tanks and a little boy too young to know better, with extra huge cheeks, perfect for pinching. Lets hope he will be able to withstand not only his share, but now his sisters share of the abuse too.