Fabulous looks from the Prince

Our little family spent 3/4 of February sick. No fun. We are all finally recovered, thank heavens and fingers crossed. We were starting to get on a good schedule again, when Day Light Savings happened. It has been very difficult to get up this week. Furthermore, I am going to run a 5K for the first time in two weeks. But, being sick and Day Light Savings have cut into my training. I hope I can pull it together in two weeks, or else I am going to have to just walk it. So sad. I mean really, I should be able to run 3 miles.

My mom came over to my house a week or so ago. The Prince is now potty trained, for the most part. He went potty when my mom was here, but wouldn't let me put his underwear back on. I didn't force the issue because my mom was around. I think he insisted he didn't want a shirt, either. Like I said, I just let it go and talked with my mom instead. Next thing we know he comes out in this lovely outfit. My mom has been laughing and laughing about it ever since.

























The cowboy boots are a nice touch, don't you think?










And today, we made brownies. I gave him a beater and a bowl of the batter. I wasn't really paying attention to the Prince. When I looked over I noticed his face was covered in batter. He took one look in the mirror and said, "A beard. A ummy choc-ate beard." (A yummy chocolate beard.)

Exciting Days

Little V turned 1 year-old this week. I can't believe it has been a year. She is a complete delight. She generally sleeps from 8 p.m. to 10 a.m. She wakes up happy everyday, even when I have to wake her up early so we can get going places. She loves to eat. Cheese pizza is her favorite food. My niece, Miss Sweetie, has the same Birthday as V. We celebrated their birthdays and the Superbowl on Sunday. It was lots of fun. I just took her to the doctor for her check-up and shots. She was not happy about the shots. She gets very offended when someone hurts her. I know she is thinking, "Why would anyone do this to me? I'm such a nice girl." Here is how she stacks up next to the Prince:

The Prince:
Age Height Weight
Birth 18 inches 6 lbs. 10 oz.
2 weeks 20 in. 7 lbs. 3 oz.
2 months 21 3/4 in. 12 lbs. 8 oz.
4 months 23 1/2 in. 16 lbs. 4 oz.
6 months 26 1/2 in. 19 lbs.
9 months 27 1/2 in. 21 lbs. 4 oz.
12 months 28 1/4 in. (25%) 21 lbs. 8 oz. (25%)

Little V:
Age Height Weight
Birth 20 inches 7 lbs. 10 oz.
2 weeks 21 1/2 in. 9.15 lbs.
2 months 23 1/10 in. 13.1 lbs.
4 months 25 1/4 in. 17.11 lbs.
6 months 26 1/2 in. 20.15 lbs.
9 months 28 in. 21.6 lbs
12 months 29 1/4 in. (50%) 22 lbs. 13 oz. (75%)

To sum up . . . she's just bigger.

V's Birthday was very exciting. But the real big news in our family is that Fabuloso took and passed the patent bar. Hooray! We graduated from law school in 2005. Since then he has been working and going to school studying electrical engineering so he could be a patent attorney. He finally completed the course work last Spring and then took the exam in January. It is such a relief. He has been a trooper through all of it. He has had school, work, and a major Church calling the whole time. Plus, we bought a house and had two kids in that time. He must be exhausted.

To celebrate his success, he took a day off work and we went skiing together for the first time ever. It was Fabuloso's first time skiing, he used to snowboard, and it was his first time going to one of the resorts in Utah. He has only ever snowboarded in Canada, and we're not talking Alberta. We are talking Northern Ontario, which is hardly known for its skiing. He loved out whole day on the slopes. He was a great skier. I was suprised how well he did, but he really is athletic. He never thinks so because is brother, Senor, is considered the gifted athlete in the family, which is true. But Fabuloso can hold his own as far as I am concerned. Anyway, it was a beautiful day with hardly any people on the slopes. It was a great break for us. Sadly, we didn't take any pictures. Next time.

Fun Outside

I have been potty training the Prince the last couple of weeks, which has curtailed many outings. (He is doing great, by the way.) So, it was great to go outside and be in the sun. It really made all of us much happier and likable. I had forgotten what a difference it makes to get outside with the kids. Of course, usually I can't get back inside without a major fight, but this time the Prince's hand got covered in snow and he didn't like it. Thankfully, he wanted to go back inside.








The Prince has started saying, "It's awesome." I don't know where he picked it up.

Cicada and Murray have a baby!

We waited and waited for him to come, and finally on Jan. 8th, a new little Canadian was added to the family, and not by me. He is the first cousin for my kids on Fabuloso's side of the family. We are very excited for Cicada and Murray.





























Cicada tried to keep busy as she waited and waited for the baby to come. As part of that, we all went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Just some Christmas photos

We had a great Christmas. It was fun having the Canadians here staying with us. The two gifts that were the biggest hit were the Prince's star wars guys and Grandpa M's photobook I made for him from all the kids. Fabuloso's aunt Mary Moo scanned lots of old photos for the album, which was only fitting since, as Grandpa said, she "swipped" them all from him. We really are grateful for all her help. It was a huge hit. The Prince spent the whole Christmas morning silently playing with his guys and Grandpa was entertained with his book. Little V slept through most of Christmas morning. All this made for a very enjoyable Christmas morning for Fabuloso and me.


























We also had a lot of fun with my side of the family. My brother, Funny Little Guy, was in charge of Christmas this year. He did a great job deciding on the meal and entertainment. We had waffles, ham, potatoes, rolls, banana bread, etc. It was so yummy. Then we had a talent show put on by the kids and ended with gifts. It was a great time. (We took a couple of photos, but they didn't turn out great. We will have to get pictures from everyone else.)

Little V was so tired all the time. She had to sleep in our room. It was a disaster. In the end, we kicked Richie out of his own room and put him in the downstairs family room. He didn't sleep as well, but V, Fabuloso, and I were much much better.

It's Time for a New Post

I know it has been so long since we last posted. You may think we don't celebrate any of the Holidays after Halloween. Here is a quick update:

The week of Thanksgiving was great. We had a baby shower for my cousin on Monday. It was great to see all my cousins. My cousin, Coyote, has a beautiful house that can accommodate our big group. He is always very generous in opening it up to us. We loved celebrating the soon arrival of Bad Fox's first baby. On Tuesday, Fabuloso and I went out to dinner with friends. This may have been even better than Thanksgiving for me. It made me realize how little we get a babysitter and go out with friends. It was such a treat to go during the week, too. Really. It was so fun. Thursday we had Thanksgiving at out house with my parents and brother's family. It worked out perfectly. My mom is a great cook and she brought most of the food. My sister-in-law brought the pumpkin pies. We make Pumpkin Chiffon pies in our family. They are so much better than the traditional pumpkin pie. I just love them. Here is the recipe:

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE
(Rose Family Recipe)
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground allspice
¼ tsp. ground mace
½ c. sugar
½ c. brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground cloves
¾ c. milk
1 c. canned pumpkin
2 slightly beaten egg yolks
2 egg whites
1/4 c. sugar
¾ c. heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 9-inch baked pie crust

Combine first 8 ingredients in saucepan. Stir in milk, egg yolks, and pumpkin. Cook and stir over medium heat till mixture boils and gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat and chill till partially set. Beat egg whites till soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Fold into pumpkin mixture and fold in whipped heavy whipping cream. Pile into crust. Chill till firm. Top with whipped cream, whipped.

Try it next year for a change. You will love all the spices and extra flavor.

And on Saturday we had Thanksgiving with the Canadians at our house. It was a little bit smaller affair foodwise, particularly because my sister-in-law, Cicada, has gestational diabetes. But it was still delicious. We hit all the highlights and had lots of pies. Yum.

Then we launched right in to the Christmas season. It was a whirlwind of parties, yummy food, and company. Fabuloso's parents, grandpa, and brother all came to stay with us for about two weeks. We had a great time. I will post pictures and more specific stories in a bit. I have to get pictures from my mother-in-law. For some reason we took a lot of home movies, but not as many still shots. Here are a few of the pictures we do have:












Here we are decorating the Christmas tree. We bought a fake tree this year and a pine scented candle. It worked out great. Kian was so excited about the Santa Clause ornaments. He carried them around for days.


















This is the picture we used in our Christmas card. It will probably be the best Christmas card for our family for the next . . . what . . . ten . . . twenty years. The last picture is of Fabuloso and V at the Ward Christmas party.

Happy Birthday Grandpa M

It is Fabuloso's Grandpa's birthday today. He is 80 years-old! We are so excited for Grandpa and are sorry we can't be with him to celebrate. He is lots of fun; we love it when he comes to visit. He tells great stories and jokes. The first time I met Grandpa was on my honeymoon. Fabuloso's grandparents couldn't come to Utah for the wedding because his grandmother was in bad health. Instead, we went to them. We would spend the whole day visiting with Fabuloso's grandparents. We usually stayed until 10 p.m. On the second or third day, Grandpa says to me, "What time you two going to bed after you leave us?" He was barely able to contain his laugh. But his twinkly eyes gave him away. Grandpa has always been a tease and prankster.

My mom has been asking me to show everyone a picture of Grandpa when he was younger because Fabuloso and the Prince look so much like him. But, alas, the picture won't upload. I will have to work on it, or better yet get Fabuloso to do it. Here are some other pictures from Christmas 2006 when Grandpa came to Utah.

Halloween Fun

V and The Prince loved Halloween. They had four different parties in addition to Trick-or-Treating. It was so much fun.

My sister always does a great Halloween party for the extended family. Her husband makes a great chili for the party. Everyone is supposed to dress up, adults too. I didn't get a costume together this year. I gotta start planning earlier. V is in the back being held by my sister.



The Prince was Buzz Lightyear. He loved his costume, but eventually he would tire of it because it restricted his movement too much. V was a pumpkin, because we already had that costume. At one of the parties I left her in her pink bear pajamas. I think she looks so cute in those pajamas. When else is she going to wear them out?



Trick-or-Treating was lots of fun. El Senor came along. The Prince was a little scared. At first he loved to knock on the door, but things quickly changed when people in costumes opened the door. He still talks about the witch that gave him candy. After that he wouldn't come close to the door until he saw that it was just a normal person who opened it. Then he would get the candy. One of his favorite treats was a toothbrush. He thought that was very exciting. The Prince actually enjoyed answering the door at our house the most. He loved to see all the kids coming to his house. He would help pass out the candy and yell, "Bye tids," when they left. He was elated.

Papa Outsie, the Bean, and R2D2

This was one of the memorable moments from the family vacation this year. The Bean gets very excited about R2D2. He also gets very excited about his Papa Outsie. This is what happens when those worlds collide.

NYC

October is a great month for our family. Fabuloso's Birthday is in October. To celebrate I went to NYC with my parents, sister, brother and sister-in-law. It was a great trip. Fabuloso stayed home to work and watch the kids. I was so sorry he missed his big birthday trip. Maybe next year.

I did have a great time in NYC with my family. Fabuloso was so nice to let me go. I think he had a fun time bonding with the kids. My sister's nanny watched the kids during the day, and Fabuloso got them at night. I left on a Wednesday morning and returned early Sunday morning. I went to four different Broadway shows: Billy Eliot, Gypsy, Wicked, and Legally Blonde. The first two shows were OK, but the last two were great and a lot of fun. We all did lots of shopping. I tried on all sorts of clothes and didn't end up getting a thing. I was very disappointed. Oh well. We ate great food. Almost every meal we had was terrific and reasonably priced. While walking around town looking for an open grocery store at 11:30 p.m., a stranger stopped me and my sister and wanted girl advice. He was in his early twenties, short, blonde. It was so funny. My sister couldn't get away fast enough. This is sort of a regular occurance for me. I am always getting strangers talking to me. I find it pretty entertaining. The one big downer of the trip was that I got super sick and lost my voice. My parents couldn't understand me, and my sister would have to translate. It was hilarious.

I do hope I can go again next year for Fabuloso's birthday.

The Last Hoorah at Lagoon

We took the kids to Lagoon last Friday as part of Captain F's Birthday celebration. They had so much fun. The Prince loves all the rides. He can't get enough. Baby V went on her first ride without her parents. She seemed to love it, too. The Prince took good care of her.

The Canadians up Weber

Fun was had by all those who went fishing. Papa Ou-sey, Murray, and Fabuloso had a great time fishing. My family had planted one of our lakes this summer. There are so many fish it is easy pickin'. It is a great place to learn. Even Richie would have caught something had he tried.















Fun was had by all who went horse-back-riding, even Murray ended up enjoying himself. He was nervous at first but got the hang of it quickly. We had a nice time. Senior did not get to ride much because he had to leave in the early afternoon, but he did a great job herding in the horses. Cicada didn't ride the horses. She was so great to always help take care of V.











































Fun was had by all . . . almost. There aren't any pictures of The Boy at the cabin because, quite frankly, we didn't see him very much. He slept almost the entire time. I really only saw him at meal time. But, when he was awake, he was great with the Prince.

Fun was had by all . . . almost when Richie, Ootsie, and Murray went "hiking" up the mountain to find an old cabin Jim Bridger had built while trapping in the area. Richie was the only one that enjoyed the hike. To be fair, it is a miserable hike. It is my least favorite hike I have ever done. It is really more of a scramble up loose dirt, shell, and scrub oak. There is no trail and it is very steep. The up part is tough going, but down is even worse. It is scary coming down and your legs get very worn out. A lot of people opt to go down on their bum.

The Canadians come to town

A good looking family (but this picture is missing some of the cutest members)















Captain F's family came to town for a visit/family vacation. Ootsie and Papa Ou-sey (that's how the Prince says "outside") and Richie (after Richie Tenenbaum) all stayed at our house. We always love having them here. There are lots of crazy antics with the Canadians here. Captain F's brothers, with his dad leading their efforts, always teach the Prince lots of bad bad things to do. You notice he is playing with a knife and a lighter at the same time. I obviously was not in the room at the time. The Prince loves it, of course. He thinks it is the greatest thing ever to have his Papa Ou-sey here and his uncles. He gets to spend all the time he wants outside, wrestling, running around, playing video games (Captain F bought Mario Cart just for the occassion), you name it. I will have to break the trip up into at least three posts to do it justice. There really is just too much to write and too many pictures to share.






























Speaking of the cutest family members . . .

The Homefront

My parents, sister and brother-in-law all went to Europe for their final hoorah of summer while I took care of the home front. I became personal assistant and secretary to my parents, as well as caretaker of my sister's kids. (My brother and his family helped, too.) Tomo and Jujuice stayed with us for a week. The Prince had the time of his life. He loved having his cousins sleepover. He tried to climb into bed with them to sleep a couple of times.

I think I did a pretty good job going from 2 kids to 4. I took them to Discovery Gateway one day. The Prince's favorite part was the helicopter. He is obsessed with helicopters. By the gibberish he spoke and the looks he gave me, I could tell he couldn't understand why he hadn't been here before. He was like, "You knew this was here all along and you never took me? It was possible to go to a helicopter and climb in and I never knew?" He has asked about it several times since, but I try to pretend I don't understand. I'm so bad.

Taking the kids to school was the hardest part for sure. We mostly were on time. I had to take them to their first day of school and help them find their classes. I loaded V in the baby bjorn and let the Prince walk. It was difficult to get the Prince to leave, of course. We also had to buy him a backpack of his own after he saw Tomo's and JuJuice's.

We loved having the kids. The Prince cried and cried when he saw them drive away at the end of the week. He really was heartbroken. It was so sad.

Hiking to Cecret Lake

On August 9th we took The Prince and V on their first real hike. We went with my sister and her husband and two kids. We were also joined by two of my brother's kids. My little family unit didn't spend much time hiking with the others because we were so slow. The Prince was a good walker, but he got distracted by every little stream we crossed. He wanted to throw leaves in the streams and watch them float down. He loves the water. Eventually Captain F, who already had V in the Baby Bjorn, put the Prince on his shoulders and carried him for a while. The Prince walked up all the switchbacks, though. He really had fun. On the way up, Captain F read a sign that said something to the effect of, "In a thunderstorm the temperature can drop 20 degrees at this altitude." We all thought that was an interesting fact. We were barely at the lake when the rain started to drizzle. We booked it down the mountain. Captain F carried the Prince the whole way down and I had V. Right when we got to the trail-head it started to hail. My sister and I, with our daughters in tow, stuffed ourselves into the shuttle bus and left the others hiding under a tree. They got the better end of the deal. When we got to the parking lot, we still had to run quite a ways to the cars. I covered V as best I could and ran. It felt like being pelted with marbles. Little V never made a sound, even though I know some hit her. It was a great adventure. We all did have a fun time. The funny part is that when we were packing up to go on this hike I thought to myself, "I should be packing each kid a sweatshirt and water. You never know when the weather can change in these mountains and you should be prepared." But then I remember that I over prepare for everything and haul too much stuff around. I told myself I was being paranoid. The one time I don't take too much stuff . . .

P.S. Another one of my favorite moments was trying to find a secluded spot to nurse V at the top of the mountain. There are always a lot of people traversing this trail. The best we could find was a rock, only slightly off the trail, overlooking the rock-climbers across the way.

Cousins Camp and Weber

We had our annual Cousins Camp at the end of July this year. It was so much fun. I left The Prince at home for two days with Alec, Her Majesty, and Tina, the nanny. My mom, She-who-must-be-obeyed, said he wasn't allowed. It was so easy not having him around. My mom, dad, cousin, and I took the kids up. We had a great time riding horses, teaching the kids to saddle, tie dyeing shirts, singing, playing hearts, enjoying the new sod around the cabin and river swing. It was great to be with the older cousins. They are each so wonderful, talented, and fun to be around. We all wished it would have been longer. Luckily, we came up a week later when my brother, Funny Little Guy, was in town. The Prince was invited this time. He had the time of his life. He loves to ride the "shooshes." Whenever he wants to see or ride the horses he spreads his legs out and bounces like he is riding the horse, then he yells, "Shoosh. Shoosh." I don't think I would have figured out "shooshes" was the word for "horses" without the action, especially since he started saying that when we were at home in Salt Lake no where near a horse.