Remy loves fun!!

December 2010

My goodness how time flies. It seems like Thanksgiving came and went before I even knew it. Luckily for me I did most of my Christmas shopping early and was ready to enjoy Thanksgiving and December footloose and fancy free. Well at least from Christmas shopping, I have been serioulsy busy nesting. We did have Thanksgiving with my family this year which was delicious as usual. I really didn't feel up to Black Friday shopping due to my current state; however, after my last Black Friday experience when I was pregnant I figured what the heck. When I was pregnant with Remy I went to Sears to get Shaun a big tool kit for Christmas. When I got there one of the workers saw a poor helpless pregnant lady standing next to the tool box. He picked it up for me. Opened a register to check me out and than carried it out to my car. I was in and out in 15 minutes it was great. I wanted to try my luck again. I totally got the best deal ever. I have been wanting a rocking chair for Christmas, not just any rocking chair but an upholstered chair with actual rockers not just a glider. There was one that I liked at Downeast outfitters but it was 400 dollars. When I went Black friday they had it on clearance for 150 bucks. Such a good deal!!! I bought it right away and have loved every minute of having it.

Along with December and November came some snow for Remy to play in. I can't say that he loves it. He actually doesn't really seem to like it. The only thing he loves about it is that we will go outside with him and throw snow balls for Chappy. This is actually one of Chappy's favorite past-times. He loves chasing them in the snow, scampering with his nose down and than digging around. Remy of course thinks this is hilarious and thinks that since Chappy loves that he must love everything thrown for him, or at him, or just thrown in general. Maybe he will be a football player or baseball pitcher. Who knows but it gets old having everything thrown around all of the time. He also has incredible accuracy. He can hit the smallest, hardest place ever for me to get something out of with ease.

Remy has been enjoying time playing with cousins. He doesn't have much of a personal bubble so of course since he likes his cousins he wants to be as close to them as possible. He was having fun with Kanden watching him play his DS. He was sitting seriously right next to him with his head and face about 2 inches from Kanden's. It was so cute, he loves being a big boy and doing big boy things even if it is just watching someone else play their DS.

Remy also had fun playing with Paxton another cousin of his. They are pretty close in age, Paxton is about 9 months older than Remy but they still have fun. Here they are in Remy's big boy room playing. They were having fun and it was so cute because it was the first time I have seen Remy actually playing and interacting rather than just following around and watching. They would go back in the room and I would hear them talking back in the room and than they would both come out to show me something. They would than mutter something to each other and go back in the room to play. They also wanted a snack so they sat up at the counter. Remy usually sits in his high chair but when he saw Paxton sitting at the bar he wanted to be a big boy too. He rarely will ever get in his high chair anymore.

December also brought about delicious treats and office parties. I have to admit that I eat way to much sugar during December because I love love love treats!!! The hard thing is that so many people bring them by the house and to our office. I'm definately not complaining in fact I love tasting all of the different things that people make. Remy has enjoyed it too. Everyday after work before we would go home he would want to grab a little treat to take in the car on the way home.

I also love Christmas parties. My office party is always fun because everyone brings a side dish and than we eat prime rib. It is a fun night of eating and chatting away from the hustle and bustle of the usual office day. I always bring Bak Lava, an office favorite. I love Bak Lava and only really make it at Christmas time so it is fun to have these treats that I only get once a year. We also went to Shaun's office party which was catered by Famous Daves. It was delicious of course.

One of Remy's favorite things to do these days is to "make dough". I attribute this to all of the baking that I did over the Christmas holidays. He spends a large amount of time in my kitchen pointing to my mixer saying "Dough, dough" and wants to make cookies. He loves to help pour the ingredients in and watch it mix them around. I never even let him eat the dough but he just loves to watch.

Remy also has become quite the dare devil. Shaun will hold him so he is standing on his chest, grab Remy by the legs, count to three and than swing him down between his legs. It is definately a dare-devil type of move and Remy loves it. He will follow Shaun around saying "deee, deee, deee" like he is counting to three. So cute.

Halloween 2010

I love Halloween. Growing up my family has always been big into the holiday. My mom is a great costume idea/maker. Several of my favorite halloween costumes have been my mom's in fact. She has been a belly dancer with tons of cool scarves and chime things, Sonny and Cher (my parents were both involved in that one), and of course the Elvis costume my mom made. Probably the most memorable for me and the kids in the neighborhood was when she dressed up in her full body Carhartt type jump suit, wore a mask and than when she answered the door for the trick or treaters had her leaf blower that she would fire up and blow in their faces. Needless to say I don't think much candy actually got passed out because the kids would always run away.

Last year I dressed Remy up as a football, Chappy as the Gator mascot, Shaun as the football player and me as the Gator cheerleader. This year I needed something extra cute as well so I made him a goldfish outfit. It turned out so well and was super easy and cheap to make.

This year we did many fun things. This was really the first year that Remy has been able to do much other than just sit there and look around. My mom and I went down to Provo to visit my sister and bro-in-law and their kids. We had a wonderful time and ate lots of food. We of course ate at The Bombay house which is my personal favorite and ate dessert at Chocolate and the cupcake shop. We decided to take our kids down to the Red Barn for the Halloween patch and pumpkin picking. I of course forgot my camera but we had so much fun. It started out with a Tractor pulled hayride which was fun. Than we went and got to pick out our own pumpkins. Remy had fun just wondering around through the pumpkin patch. They also had a fun little maze and those boards for the kids to take their picture with their head through the hole. Would have been really cute if I had my camera but what can I do about it now. We than ate some delicious apple cinnamon type of donuts that were so delicious.

This year Shaun and I were also the activities committee chair people and in lew of a halloween party we decided that having a donut/hot chocolate stand in the middle of the neighborhood during trick or treating would be fun. I got 8 dozen donuts and we made two huge things of hot chocolate. The donuts were gone in 30 minutes!!! I couldn't believe it. It was so fun though because people got to kind of stop and chat for a few minutes while the kids were running gleefully from house to house for candy. Remy didn't go trick or treating other than to families houses but he did love the hot chocolate. He got a cup of it and was just walking around with it saying "yummy!! yummy!!!" I don't actually think that he got very much chocolate but his goldfish costume sure did.

Shaun and I were also invited to an adult Halloween party by some of our friends. It was so much fun. Being pregnant doesn't really lend itself to many options for costumes but we decided to go with me as an angel and Shaun as the devil. I than had a sign stuck to my belly saying "the devil made me do it" It was a hit and we were voted best couple costume. There were so many other cute couples and costumes. It was really fun to have a fun evening out with friends and not kid craziness.

Family Pictures October 2010

October 2010
We also finally got around to taking our family pictures. We decided that it was high time since the last time we took them we didn't have any kids and we are about to have another one in the end of December. I am about 32-34 weeks pregnant I can't remember exactly how far along when we took these pictures

Remy at 21 months

October 2010
Remy is such a sweet boy. Most days he is the sweetest calmest little boy but he is definitely heading into the terrible two's. Of course that has been happening for the last few months. I think they just call them the terrible two's because that is like halfway through the crazy stage. I wanted to take some time and write down some of the things that Remy is doing at this age. I have written down some of my favorite things so I hope you enjoy. We are not the best at taking formal pictures of our family so we decided that this fall was the time. I love fall pictures because of the colors and sweaters. Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. Shaun is a wonderful photographer so he took these pictures for us one afternoon, there were so many but these are some of my favorites.

One evening it was nearing bedtime and Remy was cuddling with me on the couch. He looked up at me with his big brown eyes and said "I dub(love) you". I think I almost started crying on the spot and it wasn't just the pregnancy hormones. How sweet it was to hear those words come out of his mouth. Shaun and I both say "I love you" to him and each other a ton so I am surprised that it has taken him so long to say it. He also has only said it the one time but it was wonderful none the less. When asked who loves him he will say Mommy!!! He loves to cuddle and have books read to him. He is starting to put 2-3 words together but mostly it is one word commands and alot of it sounds like puppy or ball with subtle variations.

In preparation for the baby we have been trying to move Remy into a big boy bed. He isn't quite 2 yet but thought it would be nice to have a crib for the baby. My sister gave us her old toddler bed to borrow that she wasn't using anymore. Remy was very excited about the prospect of having a new room. I moved all of his toys and the toddler bed into the room. It was overall just very exciting for Remy, that is until we turned off the light or closed the door. It really didn't go very well. He was funny though he would sit in there on his little bed and play with toys. One day I hadn't heard or seen him in a while so I decided that maybe I should check on him. I opened the door and there he was on his bed surrounded by all of his books "reading" them. When he saw me he said "Hey" like I was disrupting his fun. I said, sorry and closed the door and he went back to reading his books. Such a funny little boy. He can open and close doors now much to my dismay. Luckily he hasn't figured out the child proof door knobs that I have installed around the house.

We have decided to wait on the toddler bed for now until he is at least 2 1/2. Luckily for us my sister-in-law had a crib that she isn't using anymore so now we have two baby rooms with cribs. I think it will help with having Remy still in his crib when the baby comes because he will still have his own room and things. He also hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib so it will help me keep him contained until I am good and ready to get him out of bed.

-Remy is still all about everything puppy, balloon, or ball. He loves to go to Granny's house to play with the ball popper. He also loves to play with the mud pie kitchen that my mom has for the kids.

-He is the tooting police. If he hears himself or anyone toot he is the first to point it out and laugh. Tooters beware around our house.

-When Remy wakes up in the morning he moans to himself for a while but I know he is ready to get up when he starts saying "Ma-meee, Ma-meee" loudly.

-When asked what he is doing, it doesn't matter if it is good or bad he will answer "nothing". He must be practicing up for his teenage years.

-He loves to climb up the couch and turn on and off the lights. I did end up duck taping them down because it was driving me to the point of insanity with them flashing on and off like a strobe light.

-He likes to empty the dishwasher, mainly the cups. It doesn't matter if it is dirty or clean those cups are coming out and getting stacked. Remy will than follow me around with this giant stack of cups saying "put away" until I put them away.

-He loves to feed Chappy. Now naturally this has ended with a whole cupful of dog food spilled on the floor on more than one occasion but overall he is pretty good at it.

-If he spills anything on the floor he is really good at running to the towel drawer and bringing a towel to clean it up. He will even use the "step on it with your foot" method that I like to use. He is also a very good hand washer probably because I wash my hands 50 times a day

-He still comes to the office with me and loves to run and see "ba pa" (grandpa). He also loves to run and see the nurses. Knows right where Marilyn's smarty drawer is and makes sure to get stickers from Tess before we leave every night. He even makes sure that Tess draws a picture on his sticker before we leave. It is all in the details people, all in the details.

All in all he is my sweet little boy and a total joy to have around the house. I have been so fortunate to bring him to work with me this long and I am sure he will be a great big brother for the new baby.

My Birthday

September 22, 2010

Birthdays in our house are always quite the deal. Shaun for example has his birthday in March and starting the day after Christmas he starts asking what we are getting him for his birthday and planning for his month long of celebration. This past year I of course wanted to make sure Shaun would have a wonderful birthday so I took him to dinner and we stayed at the Destinations inn. For my birthday this year I was pregnant. Pregnancy doesn't exactly leave one with the most energy, or ideas of what one wants for a present. The idea of taking a 20 month old toddler to dinner also sounds just as romantic as getting kicked in the head. I usually end up covered in whatever is on Remy's hands, my food gets cold and something gets spilled. Shaun wanted to make it special though so we got a babysitter for our romantic dinner and he got me flowers and Florence's chocolates. We also went out to dinner with my family and Shaun's family.

Shaun wanted to get me a wonderful present but I didn't know what I wanted. I thought and thought about it and came up with the perfect idea. I wanted a food storage can roller. Shaun thought I was joking but I wasn't. I really have wanted one of those bad boys for a long time. He got me the big daddy of can rollers and also one to go in my pantry upstairs. I just can't wait to get all of my cans organized on my roller.

Boys just being boys

Remy has really always been a Momma's boy. He is with me all day and thus is a little needy for his Mommy. I definitely love every minute of it, I love how he wants me to cuddle him and hold him and read books to him. However, lately he has been a Daddy's boy. He wants to be following his Daddy around from the moment he comes home. When Shaun gets home the first thing he does is change into some shorts and he can never find his sandals. Remy has picked up on this and will follow Shaun down the hall and than wonder around the house saying "where shoes? where shoes?" It is so cute because he wants to hold Shaun's hand all of the time so they wonder around looking for shoes together. Than they usually go outside to do yard work or work on the motorcycle. Remy loves to help Shaun and will find various tools to play with while Shaun is outside. He also loves to help mow the lawn.

Chappy and Remy have come up with yet another game. Just when I think that they will not come up with another crazy game they certainly do. Remy loves to get his goldfish crackers and throw them down the stairs for Chappy. I caught them in action in this picture. Chappy consequently has gotten very fat from this game.

All of this Daddy "Man time" has been wearing on Remy. He loves to get my screw driver and try to "fix" his animal farm or various other objects around the house. Now, it is not broken but he will switch the button to off, fiddle around with the screw driver for a while and than turn the switch back on very proud of his ability to fix it. Very smart this boy.

One of my favorite stories that just brought a tear to my eye because A: I was laughing so hard, and B: it just shows how quickly they start to put things together and my little baby is turning into a little boy. Shaun has been out of town this week and our grass is becoming somewhat of a forest. The fear of losing Chappy and Remy in the deep grass caused me to do something that I never do, Mow the lawn. I thought to myself, I will take Remy with me, he will love this. We went out and got onto the lawn mower. I turned the key and sure enough the wah, wah, wah, the battery was dead. Remy turned around and looked at me, said something and than proceeded to try to turn the key and push nobs himself. I mean heaven forbid, Mommy doesn't know how to do this and Remy certainly knows how since he does it so often with Shaun. I said, "Remy it is broken" and turned the key again. He looked up at me with a very serious face, said something again and climbed down from the lawn mower. He ran over to Shaun's motorcycle and grabbed a screw driver. He ran back to the lawn mower and started trying to use the screw driver to fix the key and knobs and things. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. He was so sure that he just knew what to do and he was going to save the day for Mommy since I didn't know what to do. Oh my sweet boy is just growing up so fast!!

This past weekend we went to Spud days in Shelley. I went years ago with my roommates in college but haven't been since. My mom, me, Remy, Ivy and Andy all went. Unfortunately we didn't make it in time to get a free potato. My nurse said that there were 7000 potatoes that were made and they were gone in 30 minutes. It was to bad, but luckily for us many of the food booths from the state fair were also at this festivity. It was so crowded though. I ate a Doug Burger and another funnel cake. Yes, I love funnel cakes. Below you can see Remy at the fish pond. He was confused at first but than was excited to get a little prize. All in all it was a really fun day.

Poor little Chappy!! I recently took him for his yearly check up and shots. As I had mentioned before he is a little over weight from all of the food that Remy feeds him. The vet and I had to have a little heart to heart about how Chappy needs to lose 5 pounds. 5 Pounds and he only weighs 22 to start with!!! But we have a plan to help him get back to a healthy weight. He also had to have a little "procedure". It was nothing major and no, it did not involve doggy lipo-suction. He had a little growth on his manly part and it needed to be removed. It was nothing serious but it was just gross and obnoxious for him so we removed. Chappy is sad though because today he got home and he has to wear the dog funnel head collar. Remy thinks it is the funniest thing he has ever seen. Every time he sees Chappy he just starts laughing hysterically. It didn't help that Chappy was still drugged and kept running into things. Remy also thinks it is hilarious to grab the sides of the funnel and squish them together so Chappy's head is stuck inside. Poor Chappy, he just can't catch a break. Hopefully tomorrow is better for Chappy.

The State Fair 2010

I love the State Fair every year. For me it brings back memories of old. I did 4-H as a kid and loved every minute of it. I did horse and rabbit 4-H and competed at the state fair each year. Some of my favorite memories are showing my pony Rosy, and horse Tiggy when I got older. When I was young I never got to compete in halter (leading your horse around in a pattern) classes with Rosy because every year I would faint at the county fair and wouldn't qualify for the state fair, however we always competed in the riding classes. It was always a close contest between Shannon (one of my favorite 4-H friends!!) and I, but we definately represented our county well and would win every year. Tiggy was a wonderful horse but when he and I were in our halter class at the state fair I remember the judge coming around to give us a final pass over and Tiggy grabbed the clip board right out of her hand and started waving it around in the air. Naughty naughty horse but I think she thought it was funny and we ended up winning. I also loved showing my rabbits. I do have toot my own horn and say that I did win State grand champion rabbit showman a few times. What can I say, no one can throw a rabbit around like I can. ;-) One of my favorite rabbit showing experiences was when I was showing my rabbit Sammy. She was a mini rex which have incredibly soft velvety fur. Rabbits are somewhat disposable pets because they die like flies if they get hot or stressed out. Anyway, luckily she didn't die however she did get so stressed out that all of her hair fell out during the class. Not just molting and a few clumps fell out but all of the hair on her back, BALD!!! It was like I just grabbed hold and pulled off her toupee, I have never seen anything like it. She still had her hair on the sides so she looked like a funny old man. The judge didn't really know what to say about it but we still came out alright.

I just knew that Remy would love the fair. I have always loved animals and Remy shares this with me. As I have mentioned before all animals are puppies to Remy but he is starting to be able to remember the sounds that they make. We went to the fair with Shaun's Mom and Dad and it was so fun. Remy pretty much laughed this crazy laugh the whole time. He just couldn't believe all of the animals. His favorites were definately the cows and rabbits. Someone had their rabbit out and so graciously was letting kids pet it. Remy just about passed out with joy when he got to pet the rabbit. Remy also loved loved loved the food. I have always got the same things for years so of course I stuck with the plan and ate my funnel cake and gyro. Remy loved the funnel cake and sharing Daddy's rasberry lemonade.

You can see his greedy look in this picture thinking, Why do we need a picture, keep feeding me funnel cake.

Remy got so hyped up with all of the funnel cake, navajo taco, rasberry lemonade he was bouncing in his stroller and laughing constantly. Silly boy. He was so good.

Remy and Shaun have been really working outside a lot and having all sorts of fun.

Remy has enjoyed helping Shaun dig out grass around all of the trees and his very favorite is mowing the lawn.

One Night I was getting ready to put Remy in bed and Shaun was outside working on the trees and he came in and was like, Becky!!! Get Remy!!! hurry!!! I didn't know what was going on but much to my surprise he had caught a little toad in our yard. He said it just started hopping around and had been hiding by our tree. Remy thought it was the funniest thing he had ever seen to watch that little toad hopping around. We got a little cage from my Mom and I went and bought toady some little crickets. He was really cute and we kept him over night but I felt bad for him because he seemed to not like being in the house. He just was scooting farther and farther in his grass and wasn't eating the crickets so I let him go. Remy was sad that he had to go but I think he will get over it. Besides, I'm not really one for slimy pets. I am much better with pets with fur. Maybe a rabbit...