Baby C's First Pigtails

Charlotte finally has enough hair that I can do something with it! Check out her first pigtails:

How do you force a 3-year-old to eat?

I can't figure out how Scott has so much energy when the kid does not eat! It is a serious battle every time we attempt to have dinner. Today we tried this game: I had him write on our white board 12 things he could have for dinner. Of course each item had to be numbered, since I was trying to play to his numbers obsession. By the way, the reason it looks like he wrote a "c" after each number was because he was trying to add a close parenthesis.

So once the list was created, I asked him which numbers he wanted for dinner. He responded, "1, 2, 3!" So tonight he enjoyed a gourmet dinner of Dino Buddies (chicken nuggets), noodles and green beans. And HALLELUJAH, he ate every bite! So if any of you out there have any other good ideas to get this little boy to eat, I would love to hear your creative suggestions. The numbers thing worked tonight, but no guarantee it will work tomorrow...

Oh, and while we are battling Scott to get him to eat, here is Charlotte digging in the trash, trying to get every last Kix out of the cereal box. Are these kids related?

The Best Mother's Day Ever!

Drew scored major points this weekend... He realized that although it was Mother's Day, the best way to celebrate was NOT to spend it with my adorable children, but instead to get out and have fun with other moms! So Drew coordinated with the husbands of my friends, Keri and Laurie, to send us out on a surprise "adventure" Saturday night. All I knew was that at 3:30pm, I was to go over to Laurie's house. I thought maybe the men would just be watching the kids while we went to the mall to shop. But no... those boys were much more creative! Once I arrived at Laurie's, her husband gave us a paper with instructions of places we needed to go and people to ask for, all according to a specific schedule. Our first stop was to pick up Keri. So with three crazy moms in the sweet Prelude, we cruised Douglas Boulevard to find our first destination. All we had was an address... Eventually we found a bead store where we were to go in, ask for Esther, and make our own fancy jewelry. Check out my cool necklace. Not bad for a first attempt!



After that, we were to go to another address for dinner. We ended up a a place called Pizza Antica in Granite Bay. It is a brand new restaurant with really cool, yuppie pizzas. We loved it! My favorite was the cherry limeade drink. And to finish off the night, we went to an Italian place for dessert. Not only were the activities and food SO great, but the three of us had such a great time chatting and being girls, without having to chase our cute little kids around. Now of course Laurie, Keri and I realize we have to come up with something REALLY good for Father's Day... Stay tuned!

I Met Lavell! Oh, and Allison & Ted's wedding luncheon was lovely...

Besides all the graduation festivities, we were able to enjoy a really nice lunch at Magelby's in Provo to celebrate Allison and Ted's wedding. The event was mainly for Ted's family and friends, but even with just the immediate Syphi Family invited, we filled up at least half the room. Of course there was more singing and roasting of both Allison and Ted, but the highlight of the event for me was meeting Lavell Edwards! And he was smiling! Probably because he is not coaching anymore...Here is the proof:

The Graduation Pilgramage to Provo

Another year, more graduations for both of our families! Kelly graduated from UVSC with a batchelor's in Criminal Justice and Gary (Drew's brother) graduated from BYU with a master's of Public Administration. It was really fun to see all of Kelly's family again and as well as most of the Syphi gang.



We also were able to get the Syphi all together to celebrate Ethan's 6th birthday at Taylor and Sara's house. Thanks to Rachel, we have lots of cute pictures of the grandkids all playing together:

Thank Goodness for In-and-Out!

I feel very sorry for all of you living east Nevada and Arizona, as you do not have access to an In-and-Out Burger... So after Charlotte's 1st birthday doctor's checkup where she measured 6th percentile for height and 10th percentile for weight (that means she is teeny), we decided to try to fatten her up a bit. And what better way than In-and-Out! And true to her genetic bloodlines, she loved it! Check out her first experience with eating fries:


And of course Scott had his favorite meal: pink, brown and white milkshake, fries and chupup. Is it bad that as the mom of an EXTREMELY picky eater, that I consider this to be a very nutritious meal? I count it as two vegetables and a dairy...

Our Favorite Scott Words

This is for all the family and friends to participate... So what are your favorite words that Scott says? I'll list my favorite, but feel free to add any you remember:

The clear #1 favorite: Chupup (ketchup)
Bwoo (blue)
Yeahyo (yellow)
Numbins (numbers)
Whoa (four)
Smarshmallows (marshmallows)
Choppawhips (chocolate chips)
Popasicle
Yucky, Yucky Me (Charlie & Lola episode "Lucky, Lucky Me")
"I'm rounding!" (running in circles)

Baby C is 1!!!

Today we celebrated Charlotte's first birthday! She is still so teeny, but so darn cute! After our Easter Egg hunt, we came inside and got the little princess all ready for her big show. She was way more into the little cupcakes than Scott was when he turned one! You can see from the pictures she did a good job of making a mess.

Allison & Ted's Wedding

The Princess sure had her day... Allison was in SPECTACULAR form for her big wedding day! We headed down to Pasadena the day before the wedding, just in time to miss the decorating party at the Stake Center where the reception would be held. Miraculously, the entire Syphi gang made it to the LA temple with time to spare. The sealing was absolutely beautiful and I will never forget the calm, confident look on Allison's face. Oh, and Ted looked good, too :)


Then the party began... Although the reception was at a Stake Center, it was like no Stake Center I had ever seen! It was an English Tudor-style building with beautiful landscaping all around. And the cultural hall looked awesome in all the burgundy, plum and fuchsia decorations. The dinner was fabulous, the desserts even better (surprise), but the highlight of the evening was the musical entertainment. Allison did a couple of numbers (spectacular, I may add). An old friend, Mike Moore, sang a little Harry Connick - which Ted realizes is the only other man he needs to worry about in Allison's heart. A trio of women did some great songs including Wishin' And Hopin'. And last but not least, we heard the traditional Roast With Love from the Syphi Siblings. This video was taken at the wedding luncheon in Provo a month after the wedding, but this was the same song performed at the reception:


And at the conclusion of the evening, Allison and Ted rode off on a motorcycle -- with Allison driving, of course. What else would you expect???

Ted is a wonderful guy and absolutely perfect for Allison. We are so excited for them both!

Our First Real Getaway

Drew and I came to the realization that since Scott was born, we haven't spent a single night away from our kids together. It was WAY overdue... My parents bought a timeshare through the Westin at Ka'anapali Beach on Maui, and were able to refer their friends and family to take advantage of a fabulous vacation package for only $750. That's a great deal for Maui. So we took them up on the offer! With the kids thrilled to be hanging out with Grandma, Drew and I took off for a wonderful 6-day vacation.

It was so relaxing! Since we have been to Maui before and done a lot of the touristy things, we could skip that stuff and just enjoy the beach and the pools and the good food... So here are the things we added to our list of favoriates on Maui:

1) Go see Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show. It was amazing AND hilarious! Totally worth the money. I am still thinking about some of the tricks he did and have no clue how he could have pulled them off. The show does sell out, so get tickets early: www.warrenandannabelles.com/

2) Have dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. Wow. Expensive, but the fillet was to die for.

3) Order the popcorn shrimp at Bubba Gump's in Lahaina. The atmosphere is crazy and fun, and this was the best shrimp I've ever had.

4) Get a massage! Drew and I spent one afternoon at the Westin Spa. We both had a massage, Drew got a facial, and both of us just enjoyed relaxing in the quiet room, reading and sipping herbal tea.

5) Order Lava Flow drinks wherever you eat! The first night we arrived our waiter suggested a virgin Lava Flow. It was awesome! We had at least one a day.

6) Go to Honolua Bay. There are actually two bays right next to each other, and since they are up on the north shore, they are a little more secluded. The first bay had great waves for body surfing, and the second bay looked like it had great snorkeling. We weren't able to try it out, but we'll go back next time.

So did we miss the kids? Well, sort of... We knew they were having a wonderful time with Grandma, so we could really just enjoy ourselves without worrying about them. And 6 days was just the right amount of time to be away. We loved it so much, we also decided to buy a timeshare through the Westin! My parents have really loved theirs, and we feel really good about it being a totally worthwhile investment for our family for the rest of our lives.

Scott Turns 3!

Feburary 26th was Scott's 3rd birthday! We tried to talk about the fact he was turning 3 years old, but he kept telling us that he wanted to be 1. Not quite sure why... A few months ago we had taken Scott to Chuck E. Cheese for a fun night out and he absolutely loved it! So I thought that would be the perfect location for his big birthday rager. We invited his little friends T (Tanner) and E (Emily) and their families, as well as Grandma and BaBa. At first I thought we would just do pizza at Chuck's, but the more I thought about it, I realized that none of the kids would eat pizza... The most exciting dinner Scott and his buddies could image would be fries and "chupup" (aka ketchup) at In-and-Out. Emily and her sister Molly were THRILLED to go to what they call "the french fry store."

So we had an exciting dinner with fries, chupup and milkshakes and then we were off to Chuck E. Cheese! Scott's favorite things to do were play in the hamster maze that travels along the ceiling and play Skeeball (just like Grandma). He actually was pretty good at Skeeball, as long as we let him climb up close to target.

Eventually we had cupcakes for all the party guests. Scott and Grandma had a fun afternoon frosting all the cupcakes and putting everyone's name and sprinkles on each one. Tanner just had his birthday in December, so he was more excited about blowing out the candles than Scott was.

Then came the presents... T and his brother, Parker, gave Scott a cool Cars big rig that included Lightning McQueen and a few other cars. I would tell you the other cars' names, but we haven't actually seen the movie start to finish. Scott just identifies them by their numbers: 86 and 43. Emily and her sisters, Molly and Baby Heidi, gave Scott not one, but TWO Charlie t-shirts! The story behind this was at Christmas time, Scott told me he wanted a shirt like Charlie wears in Charlie and Lola (one of his favorite books and cartoons). It is just a baseball shirt with Charlie's name on it. So Laurie, E's mommy, bought 2 t-shirts from Old Navy, swapped the sleeves so they looked like baseball shirts, and ironed on the letters C-H-A-R-L-I-E. Scott was so excited! It is now 6 weeks after the party and he wants to wear his Charlie shirts just about every other day. So besides the fun presents he got from his friends, Grandma and BaBa got him a small trampoline and Mommy and Daddy gave him a T-ball set.

All in all, it was a very fun and EASY 3rd birthday party!

A Very Common Site...

If you have been to our house sometime during the past 6 months, you have most likely seen a little boy running around with no pants on. Scott has done really well potty training, but wants nothing to do with pants. So we see this site quite often, although this video was unique in that he decided for the first time to try and put his underwear on by himself! He did a pretty good job for his first attempt :)

Charlotte is on the Move

Charlotte is now mobile! Put a phone or a remote in front of her, and there's no stopping that girl...

The Next Generation's Choir Director

Watch out Aunt Allison and Grandma D! Scott is ready to take over as the next Syphi Family choir director... When Baby Santa finishes, they play the Hallelujah Chorus during the credits. Scott has to stop whatever he is doing, look at the TV and bounce his hand to the beat. And be sure to watch his grand finale:

Scott's Impressive Dance Skills

Scott spent forever today just standing at the refrigerator, playing the song each of the letters in sequence and doing this silly little dance. He was so entertained!

Baby C and Baby L (Elle)

We had a lot of fun with Jeff, Kelly, Elle, Cindy & Ryan all here visiting the last few days. Aunt Kelly taught Scott to say "Baby Elle", which is really easy since he has his letters down cold. Scott was driving in the Pilot with Jeff and Kelly and just kept saying over and over, "Baby L, Baby L..." And now that his fun aunts and uncles and cousin are gone, if we mention Baby L, he becomes very sad.

And since Baby L is such a great name, Scott also decided "Baby C" would also be appropriate for his little sister. And he thinks it is hilarious if ask if her name is Baby A or Baby C or Baby X... You get the idea!

The Infamous Bwoo Square

I can't figure it out... Scott has this MAJOR obsession with blue squares. No, wait... BWOO squares. Just watch the video and you will see:

We have the old quiet book that Mom made for us as kids, and on one page there are a bunch of felt shapes. For some reason Scott LOVES the blue square. He can't sleep without it. The other day he had to take it into Safeway with him and when we got back to the car, he didn't have it. So I had to haul him back into the store to find the bwoo square on the floor in the check-out line. And when we play this computer game that shows a bunch of different shapes and colors, once the bwoo square appears, it is the absolute greatest thing in Scott's little world

Scott is Going to be Two!

If we can count letters and numbers as "words" in Scott's vocabulary, it would be HUGE! He is very excited to respond when we ask him, "How old are you going to be?" Check out his answer:

Scott's First Words

We have waited a long time for this moment... Scott is finally talking! Check out his first words and his sweet hairdo:

The 'D' Says...

I have never known a little kid to be SO into letters! Yes, he isn't saying any real words yet, but Scott knows all his ABC's, upper and lower case, the sounds they make AND the sign! Amazing... He can say most of the letters, but for some reason he doesn't like 'A'. He just starts off with an 'M' sound, then continues on with 'B, C, D..."

Speaking of the letter 'B', that is by far his favorite. He runs around doing the sign with his hand and yelling 'B!!!' like it is the most exciting thing in the world. The other day we went into Best Buy and he was SO pumped that there were not one, but TWO huge yellow 'B's on the sign. And for some other strange reason, the letter 'D' is hilarious. I'm not sure why, but just check out this video: