Little Lu-lu

This weekend we celebrated Morgan's birthday. I can't believe that she is one already. This year has flown by. It makes me sad to review pictures from the past year because I know that I will never get that time with her again. She is such a beautiful little girl with a funny little personality to match. Let me tell you just one of her crazy moments this week. Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Mike gave Morgan a wooden rocking chair for Christmas. Because we flew home for Christmas, we weren't able to bring it back with us. A family friend came to Vegas this week and brought it with her. Now Morgan loves climbing so within minutes of the rocking chair being at our house Morgan had not only figured out how to climb into it, but also how to stand on it, hold on to the back and rock back and forth. I raced over to take her off so she wouldn't fall backward and crack her head open. I placed her safely on the floor and what does she try all over again? That's right. Standing on the chair again! That's my Lu-lu. We had a big birthday hoorah. We went to dad's office and he took Morgan to lunch. Opened presents--which for a one-year-old, she made quite a haul. We did the birthday party with the traditional cake and ice cream--you know the drill. P.S if anyone needs a good caterer in Las Vegas, I know the best. http://www.chocolateaproncatering.com/. My friends own it and they do a fabulous job. Maren (one of the owners) made Morgan's birthday cake--I wanted to take credit, but no one would believe I could pull this cake off. It was beautiful. Almost to pretty to eat. I really did feel bad cutting into it. The best part was, it tasted as good as it looked. Maren also made a little personal cake for Morgan to dive into without all the other guests eating what she had man-handled. The cakes were wonderful and my little princess deserves the best for her first birthday. We love you Morgan!

"That Mom"

I never thought that it would happen, but it has. I am "that mom." You know the mom that allows her children to wear the ugly character clothes like Hannah Montana or Winnie the Pooh. Before I had kids I vowed that my future children would always be clean, have perfect hair, and well dressed. I no longer kid myself about that theory. Well, last week Ryan's mom and grandma came to visit and I had a rare outing with Garrett by myself. No Lu-Lu. For those of you out of the loop, Lu-Lu is Morgan. Garrett nick named her Morgan Lu-Lu and so now she pretty much just goes by Lu-Lu. Anyway, on with the story. Morgan needed a new pair of white shoes and so Garrett thought that he needed a new pair of shoes also. He so-o-o didn't need shoes but oh' well. While I was picking out shoes for Morgan, Garrett went looking for himself. Guess what kind he picked out......the ugly Velcro batman sneakers that flash when he walks. I know what you are thinking, "Don't do it Jamie!" He begged and pleaded like I have never hear before. He got tears in his eyes and everything. Thinking a few moments of excitement would make him forget all about the flashing sneakers, I put them in the cart and finished shopping. While we headed down the rest of the isles, I secretively put the shoes back. We get to check-out and Garrett asked about his new shoes. I contemplated lying to him in hopes that by the time we got home he would forget again but I decided to tell him that I put them back. MISTAKE! The tears came back in full force and he even put his hands together like he was praying to the Saint of all Shoes and said, "Please Mom. I'll be a good boy and never ask for anything ever again." How could I say no? You guessed it. We walked out of the store with those ugly Velcro batman flashing sneakers. So yes. I am "that mom" that allows her child to wear the hideous cartoon character shoes that you promised yourself would never happen. If you see Garrett and the shoes, don't judge me. At least Morgan will let me dress her up and pick out her clothes. I guess it is only a matter of time before she will want to wear the "ugly" clothes too.

A little late

So I know that Christmas was almost a month ago but I am just getting around to my Christmas post. I will keep it short. Great time. Loved it. Too much fun. Snow. Family. Cousins. Lots of back and forth--The end! I posted a few of the highlights--taking the kids to the Utah Symphony children's Christmas concert. If you've never been--please go!! It is only 45 minutes. They play only the popular Christmas music--no funky stuff. At the end Santa comes out and leads everyone in a sing along. Good stuff. We also went to the Little America brunch buffet. Way too good. Good thing that I don't believe in weighing myself or I would have felt really bad. The Little America decorated a large gingerbread house and had it on display. Another highlight--watching Garrett in his new snow clothes. He loved his snow outfit. Wouldn't take it off for days. Slept in it. We don't have any girl toys at our house and Santa knew this. He brought Morgan all the essential girl toys. Cabbage Patch doll, My Little Pony, Barbie, a rocking chair. What did she like the best?--Drum Roll--Garrett's workbench and tool set. ---Sigh--- I was envisioning hours of love between Morgan and Ava May (said Cabbage Patch) as they explored Las Vegas hand in hand. Nope. Santa totally missed the mark. Maybe next year. The down side to Christmas, we got sick the day after we got home. Garrett, Ryan, and I all got the flu. That sucked. Morgan did well to avoid it--thank you Trish. My good friend Trish came and took Morgan for the entire day so she wouldn't get sick. Since we have been back things are pretty much back to normal. Garrett is back in school and Morgan is back to being well....wild. She is everywhere. She now climbs stairs and not just one or two but ALL 16 stairs. She also can wear two little pigtails now and not just one. She looks adorable. But when we take them out at night she looks like a little devil. Garrett calls it her horns because her hair pokes out all over.

White Christmas

We thought that it would be a white Christmas for us this year--we are going home to Utah/Idaho for Christmas after all. But, we were a little surprised when the white Christmas hit us here in Vegas. It snowed on Monday--pretty good I might add, enough to make a Utah girl proud. Then it snowed again on Wednesday shutting down several roads and even part of the interstate. Clark County School District even closed today. Native Vegans didn't know what to do. Garrett was so excited to go play in it--that was before he realized that it would be cold. He got all bundled up and we opened the door he took one step outside then came back in, shut the door and said, "It's too cold for me to play outside." We've been in Vegas wa-a-a-y too long. A couple of nights ago a few families in our ward got together and had a little Christmas extravaganza. We had a traditional Christmas dinner and sang songs, played the Christmas chimes--big hit with the menfolk by the way. To top off the festivities the kids re-enacted the Nativity. It was a little wild. "Mary" didn't want "Joseph" to be by her. She kept leaving him. The shepherds--a.k.a Garrett and his BFF Jason, wanted to use the shepherd canes as swords. The wisemen or in our case wiseman for lack of participants brought gifts of trains, screwdrivers, and building blocks instead of gold, frankincense and gold. Toward the end "Joseph" thought he would liven up the story and whipped out his guitar. Good times. Good memories.

Tis the Season

Isn't Christmas the best?! I love the food,lights, decorations, the cooler weather (for those of us in the Vegas, it is a welcome relief). We put up our Christmas tree this year--a fake tree. I know, totally lame. We have had bad luck the past several years with real trees. The conservationist in Ryan agrees that it is the more environmental thing to do. Garrett and Morgan don't know the difference and had a great time decorating the tree even though it's fake branches aren't so prickly and you don't leave the experience with a itchy rash from all the times you were poked by the pine. Oh' memories. I'm sure that all moms think this, but I am totally serious when I say that I have the two cutest kids in the world. They wore their Christmas outfits to church today and looked so adorable, I had to blog it. Garrett was totally stoked to wear a tie like dad. He has been asking for weeks if he could wear it. Garrett is Ryan's biggest fan. He loves his dad. Morgan--so ridiculous how cute she is. Her little fake fur around the collar and sleeves of her dress were too much for me to handle--to die for cute!! If you know me you know that I shop in outfits, a trait that I am sure Morgan will appreciate and gain as she gets older. What could be a more appropriate shopping excuse than the dire need for a new Christmas outfit? Ryan asked me this morning if the kids ever wear the same thing to church twice--ha! But when your kids are a cute as mine they have reputations to maintain. :)

Thanksgiving

This year we have so much to be thankful for--but don't we every year? Morgan is the biggest blessing that we received in 2008. She is such a sweet little girl. Her smile is perfect and her laugh is contagious. Morgan and Garrett are little buds and love to be next to each other--I hope their friendship lasts a lifetime. We flew up to Utah/Idaho to spend the holiday with our families. We had a great time. Garrett rode the 1920's fire truck in the Preston Festival of Lights parade with Ryan and Grandpa Mike. He went on a wagon ride with Grandpa Andersen and his boy cousins. He rode the battery-operated 4-wheeler with Brandt and Ethan--we miss them! He went swimming with Grandma Lottie and Hailey Bug at the hot springs. Morgan also went to the parade but had to watch from the sidelines. She looked adorable all bundled up--it is just as important to look good as well as stay warm. She got to spend a whole morning by herself with Grandma Andersen--a rare treat to spend time alone with grandma. She tormented Gavin (who is twice her size, but not age). She would chase him down with her super-speed crawl and he would cry. Ryan was able to get a ski day in. Both kids went to the movie with most of the Andersen crew--we took up more than one row. One more thing to be thankful for--Ohio State beat Michigan for the 5th time in a row. Hello!! Two whole graduating classes of seniors who don't know the sweet feeling of beating your arch enemy. Too bad maize and blue. Maybe you need to try a 3rd coach. Keep up the good work Tressel.

Happy Birthday!!

We recently celebrated Ryan's birthday. It was a big hoopla--you know how we Lower's roll :). We sang "Happy Birthday" as Ryan blew out the candles from his birthday tart--no cake, just a fruit tart. If you know Ryan, you will understand. We ordered pizza from our favorite pizza place, made a birthday card, hung up a Happy Birthday sign--you know, all the traditional stuff. I let the kids pick out some gifts. Garrett picked out Spider-man cologne and Morgan picked out some socks--easiest thing she could fit into her mouth. Garrett also helped dad "open" his presents. Morgan had a fab time getting tangled up in the balloons and trying to play with them. Her hair is priceless in the balloon pics because I had just taken her pigtail out--not quite as crazy as Peck hair though. We love our Peck cousins!
Ryan is now officially an old man who will always think of himself as a state football champ. We love you Ryan. Happy Birthday!!