Trip to Arizona

At the end of January, we took a two week trip to Arizona. To my shame, I hardly took any pictures because the trip was nothing less than a whirlwind. If you are thinking "Well she sucks! She didn't even come to see me," well, that is because the entire second week I was there was spent moving my mom out of her house and into an apartment at the VERY VERY last minute. That is a very long story but the moral is...when I come up at the end of May, I will come to see you!:)

So here is my very small and sad display of pictures.

The first day we were there my niece, Jauslyn, decided to play dress up with Lily. Lily LOVED the pink necklace and wore it every single day thereafter.

We were able to have lunch a couple of times with Aunt Karen and Uncle Doug at (where else but!) Chick-fil-A. Uncle Doug loves Chick-fil-A and Lily loves fries!

On Monday of the first week, Linsey Maxson asked us to spend the night. "Sure!" I replied with much enthusiasm. Then I asked myself, "what was I thinking?" I had already packed for the trip and now with in a couple of days I was packing again. For those of you with two children, (one being a baby) know the pains of packing! But, it was worth it in the long run! We had fun. Cole showed off his mad guitar playing skills, while Vincent analysed him so closely. And, Lily peed in Linsey's bed (sorry Linz). What could be more fun?



We did many other things like played with our cousins (No pictures...BIG BUMMER!), and lots of friends.

This was a picture at a school playground of Lily. We were there with Tatum, Ahnna, Jausy, my mom and Linda.

Other highlights include karaoke at Nicole's, a day with Brent and Brendan plus we got to ride the new light-rail by their house, lots of time with my Mom and lots of Bosa doughnuts with my sister and Jeff.

I need to send a big "THANK YOU" to Aunt Haley and Jeff who took both kids for a night so I could sleep for the first time in 9 months! I was so excited that I dropped them off, went straight home and went to bed at 9pm and slept for 15 hours!

It was a fun trip but by the end I was exhausted, and sad that I couldn't see everyone I wanted to see. However, we will be back up for at least a couple of weeks at the end of May.

Vincent Spelled His First Word In The Bathtub!

OK, now that you have gasped in horror, I will answer the question that is going through your head... "How on Earth did he know that word?!?!?!?!?"

One evening we were having fun in the tub and I said "Vincent? Can you spell a word?" He looked down and the first two letters he saw were S and X. So he sounded out "SX. SX. SEX. Six. Sex". I said "Yes Vincent, six. How do you spell six?" Well he kept sounding out E and said "No mom. Sex." So I said "Alright well how do you spell it?" And he put all the letters in perfect order.

I then asked him where he heard that word and he said...

"Nowhere mom. I made it up!"

1, 2, 3 . . . GO!

OK, I know, I know... It is March and I am just getting to Christmas! I am very behind but for very good reason! I have been spending a lot of time with my family and we even took a two-and-a-half week vacation to Arizona (minus Josh). Before you get really mad that I didn't make a trip to see you, there is also very good reason for that as well, but we won't get a head of ourselves.

THE LEAD UP TO CHRISTMAS.

I love the lead up to Christmas even more than Christmas day itself. I make a real effort to do something "Chistmassy" all month long: maybe driving and looking at Christmas lights, watching Christmas movies, making paper chains, baking cookies with Dad etc.

Here are some of the highlights...

We took a drive up to the Spanish Fork canyon with our neighbors Marci, Cory, Thomas and Erik. There is a "Festival of Lights" display that is really fun. You pay five bucks a car load and you can drive around as much and you want. It takes about 15 minutes to drive through the whole thing. Vinny really liked it because Dad let him drive.







And of course rolling in the snow and playing with ginormous icicles makes it feel like Christmas! This is a picture of Jacob and Jayden with Vincent.

This is Thomas, Jayden and Vincent just about to start a "sword fight". Don't worry mom's, the ice breaks in about two seconds.




We watched Christmas movies and read Christmas books almost every night. We all know Vincent loves movies and he actually likes reading too, so, he was in heaven. And to make Christmas even more fun, Santa's elves came to visit during the whole month of December. Vincent would wake up every morning to see if the "Elves"came. He would look in his room, in the attic room, in his movie drawer, in the car, outside, ANYWHERE! Some days the elves would leave a present and some days they wouldn't. They even left them for some friends of Vincent's who were being good that year:)

Before you knew it, Christmas was two days away. So, we invited Thomas and Erik over to make cookies to give to Santa and the reindeer. We had a blast. I let the boys have free reign on what they wanted to put on their cookies. This is what they came up with...



This is Erik. His cookies were so heavy that when we tried to transport them on a different plate, they broke right in half.

The cookies included Hershey kisses, chocolate covered kisses, Hershey cheesecake kisses, lots of different kinds of sprinkles, cake decorations and LOTS of kiddie saliva:) I think they got more frosting in their mouths than on the cookie itself.


I tried to pay tribute to the man in the red suit but making a cookie sculpture of his face. Not bad if I say so myself!

Poor Santa. He probably had a tummy ache.


CHRISTMAS EVE...

To be honest, it has been so long since Christmas day that now I really don't remember what we did. I do know that we were very excited because Aunt Lacy and Uncle Larry were coming. They were supposed to come in that night but the snow was so bad they had to sleep in Kanab and didn't get in until late Christmas Day.

Josh and I waited till the kids were fast asleep and wrapped the gifts. Then, at 11 pm, we called my neighbor whom we were storing Vincent's swing set and asked if they wouldn't mind helping Josh carry it over. Of course they did because they are the greatest ever and are probably looking for any excuse to go out in the snow at 11 at night for the heck of it.

It has always been a family tradition to open a present on Christmas Eve.






Of course we can't forget to leave the cookies and milk for Santa.

CHRISTMAS DAY...

Christmas was fun and very white. It snowed the whole week of Christmas and the whole week after so I got my wish. As for Vinny, he definitely got what he wanted and then some.

Getting anything for Vincent is so anti-climactic because he doesn't give much of a reaction. In fact, he has to analyze everything!

This video you will DEFINITELY want to see. You will get to hear what my analytical son said when he saw his swing set for the first time





As you can see, Vincent made out like a bandit! Thanks again to everyone who made this an awesome Christmas for Vincent and Lily.


And a HUGE "Thank you" to Mom and Dad Bodine for making this the BEST Christmas of Josh's WHOLE LIFE! For those of you who don't know, Josh has been suffering withdrawals of Mexican food so bad that he has actually considered quiting school and moving back home just for his Mexican food. Sorry family, no offense but it's true. I think he actually loves his Spanish cuisine more than his own family. And, as a side note, he has lost 10 pounds since being here probably because of his lack of Mexican food calorie in take:) He shared with NO ONE!


Vincent's Christmas Gift To Me...

Josh asked Vincent one day what he would like to get for me. Without any hesitation Vincent said, "a ring!" So Josh took Vinny to the mall and went to Claire's. He told Vincent he could pick what ever he wanted. This is what he came up with...





He said he got me the ring because he loves me, the Jack Skellington ring because he wanted to wear it, and the necklace because "Mom calls me her best bud".

Our Gifts to Each Other...

I got Josh a bike to ride to school because the parking at BYU is SO bad that he has to park 4 blocks away and walk to campus and then, climb the longest flight of stairs you have ever seen. This should save him some time.

Josh got me a "FLIP" camera. That is what I have been taking this video with. I love it! It is great for blogging. Also, thanks to Nicole for the gift certificate to Best Buy to help with the cost of half of it!

Vincent got Josh Sorry Sliders. Really fun by the way!

Aunt Lacy and Uncle Larry got in later Christmas day. We hung out and played games the rest of the day because we had to save energy for sledding!

Sledding Day...








!

Man, right on his face. He felt it in the morning!

Josh fearing for his life... literally



It's cooooold! My feet are freezing.






Sledding was a blast! We went with our friends from Pleasant Grove and then went back to their house and played games. This is where Josh's game addiction started but that will be a whole other post!

Week After Christmas...

After Lacy and Larry left, Aunt Lindsay came to visit and yes you guessed it... more sledding!







We did a lot with Aunt Lindsay including lots of games and movies. One night we were watching TV and Lily was just chillin' on Aunt Lindsay. She NEVER does this. She always has to be moving so we thought we would capture this beautiful and immobile moment on camera.



One evening, we were having dinner and once again, Vincent was making Lily laugh. As I have said before, the only person who can really get Lily to "bust a gut" is Vincent. We decided to conduct this laugh test on Lily.

Thank you to all our family and friends who took the time to come and see us this Holiday season. We love you and had a blast with you. We look forward to seeing you again soon

And there you have it folks... Our Bodine Family Christmas 2008!

Lily Said "Mama" For The First Time!

I know I am terribly behind on my blog but I had to post this right away!

Yesterday, Jan. 14th, we were watching American Idol and Lily got mad, yelled out a short cry, and then proceeded to say "Mama!" My heart melted. Lily turned 7 months on the 12th.

I will update Christmas pictures soon!

Lillian Is 6 Months

My how the time flies!

Even though I thought the first four months felt like an eternity, in hindsight, it went really fast! I can't believe all that we have been through in the last 6 months. Lily was born, we moved out of state and Josh started school.

Lily has finally turned a corner. She is MUCH better now and actually enjoyable. Not to mention she is as cute as a button, and she and Vinny are BEST friends.

Lillian's Mile Stones...

She started eating rice cereal, oatmeal and green beans which is going straight to her thighs! She now weighs 18.5 pounds. GO LILY!

She has actually done well with all the food so far. She was definitely ready to start solid food. Josh and I would love to watch her watch us eat because she would watch us intently. When I put the spoon in her mouth, she started "chewing". It was adorable! She also cut her first tooth and I think two more are on the way. She cut her bottom left tooth. I didn't even know she was teething until it had already popped out. So far she hasn't been a terrible teether.

This is Lily hanging out in the movie room in the attic. She likes to be up there with her big brother.

Lillian also started sitting up by herself. She is still not perfect and needs to be watched but not bad all in all.

Josh is head over heels for Lily. She is going to have a hard time when it comes time to date:)
Lily koo's and tries to talk a lot. She will often times sit under her little gym and just babble away. I love to watch her little fingers move because they move like she is playing the piano. Notice her right hand in the picture above.

Vincent loves his little sister so much and she absolutely adores him. I can ask her "where's brother?" or "where's Vincent?" and she will look right at him.

He is also the only one who can really get her to bust a gut! Vincent can say one word and she will start laughing. Then, myself or Josh will try to say the same thing in the same inflection and she will just stare at us like we are idiots! The video below is just a small example. We try to record her more when she is laughing but when she sees the recorder she stops because she is mesmerized by the light:)

Despite the first few months that were terrible (and I mean throw me off a bridge terrible!), I have had some time to stop and appreciate that she won't be little forever, and before I know it... she will be all grown up. I love the moments when I can cuddle up with the kids on the couch and just hold them. Vincent will talk to me, give me lots of love and Lily will watch intently. Those are the moments that make it all worth it.

Winter Wonderland

I wished for snow and boy did we get it!!! This is our beautiful winter wonderland and we LOVE it!
Gotta love my husband... shorts in the snow. I guess being Arizonan doesn't have much of an effect on his blood. I told him we were going to take a family picture in winter gear and he said he wasn't putting pants on. Just to get him to put on a jacket was a challenge. Another example of his craziness is that the other night, he took out the garbage in shorts and bare feet! There was 6 inches of snow on the ground. He is nuts!
My little Lily looks like a pink tick and I love it! This snow suit was an early Christmas presesnt from grandma Mimi and grandpa Bissett. Thank you grandma and grandpa, you are the best!
It has been snowing since Saturday, Decmember 13th and has snowed almost everyday since.
I love to watch the snow fall. It falls so silent and peaceful. I am excited, my friend Nicole sent me a recipe for snow ice cream. I am going to give it a shot today. I can't wait... Thanks Nicole. I miss you!
Vincent LOVES and I mean LOVES the snow. He has played in it everyday. He favorite thing to do is to eat it. This is his friend Jacob and him in the Saturday snow and they had a blast shoveling our driveway. Josh bought him a little snow shovel and was thrilled to see him using it for something productive.
Our neighbor Cory and Josh built a fort in Cory's front yard. Cory has been working on it for a few days and Josh helped a little bit after work one day. Cory will do a layer, then let it ice over and then put another layer. The boys love it! This is a shot of them haveing a snowball fight. Cory was in on the fun as well. Did I mention... I lOVE OUR NEIGHBORS!
Yes... they were aiming at me. AHHHHHHHHH!
I love the big snow ball in mid air.
I think Vincent looks so cute in his snow suit!

We finally feel like it is Christmas. I enjoy driving around and looking at the trees and ground covered in snow. It is so beautiful. Especially the mountains. No more turning on the air-conditioner when I need to go somewhere! Oh and putting snowflake decorations on my window, drinking hot chocolate, and wearing winter clothes in the winter actually make sense.

We are so ready for Christmas and have been since the day after Thankgiving. I love the holidays and the build up of Christmas.

The Christmas elves have already come and left early Christmas presents for Vincent and the neighbor boys. Some presents you have to wait till Christmas and other you can open early. Vincent has gotten a rubics cube, a box of practical jokes, yo yo, a christmas coloring book and some light up tops. The elves are tricky little buggers and hide them in silly places like, shoes, the bean bag in the attic, in the movie drawer or cereal cupboard. Vincent has had fun waking up every morning looking around to see if they came. Even Lily got an early present.

Vincent also got a certified, real letter in the mail from the REAL Santa! That was awesome!


Lily got one too! These letters are really cool because they are not the same. They are personalized for each child.
Another fun part of Christmas is making cookies with my dad. Lucky for us, he made a special trip just for the occassion! Mimi came too.
We were in the kitchen from 9 in the morning until 6 at night. We made so many cookies it was ridiculous. My neighbors loved us though. We even gave some to Peter, the best mail man ever!
Vincent had fun helping.
His favorite part of course was frosting the sugar cookies! Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of that because I too was up to my earlobes in frosting.

While we were making cookies we were listening to Christmas music and watching the snow just pour down; it was so picture perfect. It couldn't have been any better if we ordered it that way. Mimi braved the snow and went shopping for the kids. When she got home she relaxed and watched Christmas movies with Vincent. She tried running the remote which didn't go so well. Hence, another great quote from Vincent:

"You broke it Mimi. Now I'LL have to fix it!"

Thank you dad and Mimi for coming to see us. We had a wonderful time and it wouldn't be a Chistmas without making cookies.
So far, we are enjoying a real, snowy winter. I am very much looking forward to Christmas and getting more visitors. Next to come, Aunt Lacy and Uncle Larry and then, Aunt Lindsay! We can't wait.

Merry Christmas everybody!