Happy Birthday to ME!!

Well, I know its been forever since I have posted but there hasn't been too much going on lately in my life. This last Friday was my birthday "the big 29" and it was a really fun weekend. Ryan got off work early on Thursday and we took the kids to Lagoon. We have season passes so its worth it to only go for a few hours. Anyway, the kids were great and had fun so we ended up staying until they closed at 10:00.

Friday after Ally took her morning nap we headed down to SLC to shop and eat at the Cheesecake Factory. The food was awesome as usual and we ordered cheesecakes to go but after they sat in our car in the sun they were pretty much cheesecake puddles. After an hour in the freezer they were still delicious. We also stopped by Ryans sister Haleys house to visit her and her cute baby Cason who is getting so big. Saturday we had a little softball practice (I am so sore and out of shape) but mostly we were lazy and just pretty much hung out at home all day but Sunday after church we went to my moms for my yummy b-day dinner and my mom made my grandpa Knudsons famous Chocolate Chipper Cake. YUMMY!!! We played a little badminton and I totally sucked. I don't know how I can be somewhat athletic and have such horrible eye/hand coordination. I would say that 90% of my serves didn't make it over the net and some I totally just missed all together. My poor brother/teammate was so patient and nice. Its a good thing Ryan wasn't on my team. Him and Shelly were the champions of the night but if I can work on my serves a little me and Scott would've totally killed them. Justin was playing his own little game of badminton with grandma and insists that one of these days he will teach me to be as good as him. It was a fun weekend but I am so far behind on my laundry and housework that I have been trying to get caught up all day.

I have been TAGGED!!

Okay, first of all let me apologize to everyone else who has tagged me in the past that I never followed through with. I am a slacker what can I say? My friend Tara tagged me to share 5 things about my cute little children and I cannot resist talking about my kiddos so here it goes.

1. Justin is the biggest helper and always wants to help Ryan mow the lawn and he has his own weed trimmer and leaf blower also that he does right along with Ryan. He also vacuums and sweeps and mops right along with me. Ally is Justins biggest fan and loves everything about him. She gets so excited when he looks at her or talks to her and she loves to watch him and Ryan mow the lawn.

2. Ally is at the funnest age right now besides her getting teeth and not sleeping. She just started clapping her hands and waves every once in a while. She is always so happy and smiley. Justin is so smart and knows more about tools, trucks and trains than anyone I know. He always corrects me if I call a bulldozer or excavator by the wrong name. 3. Justin is very competitive and hates to lose. He also has his daddys temper which is going to be a problem as he gets older and plays sports I am afraid. Hopefully he will stick with playing the drums or guitar. Ally is a total momma's girl. If Ryan is holding her and I walk into the room she starts whining until I take her and then she is usually fine.

4. Ally is a thumb sucker but does not have a preference for her left or right thumb and she will still take a binky too. She sucks her thumb to go to bed at night and for naps but thats about all.
Justin is also a thumb sucker but he has always preferred his right thumb and he has a green pillowcase that he holds while he sucks his thumb. He takes his pillowcase everywhere and treats it like a person. I am dreading trying to break the thumb sucking habit. Any suggestions??

5. Justin is the friendliest kid I know. He will strike up a conversation with any stranger anywhere and loves to make new friends. He is not shy and had no problems starting preschool even though he didn't know anyone. After much debate, Ally is getting her birth mark removed next month. I have mixed emotions about it but I think it will be for the best. Thanks Tara for tagging me, this has been fun. I tag Heather, Amy, Hollie and Amber and anyone else who wants to share fun things about their cute kiddies.

Viva LAS VEGAS Part 2!!

Holy Cow it seems like it has taken me forever to be able to post about our fun trip. I hate coming home from vacation because there is so much unpacking, laundry and cleaning to be done it almost feels like you need another vacation. Anyway, we had so much fun and the kids were so good. I was really worried about how Ally would do in the car for that long but she did great and Justin sat and watched movies in the back with my sister Shelly the whole time. We didn't really do a whole lot other than swim, eat and play games but it was relaxing. The condos had 3 swimming pools and a lazy river so none of them were ever too crowded and the pool closest to our room was by far the warmest which didn't feel to refreshing with it being over 100 degrees but it was the best for a 6 month old to swim in. Ally liked the pool but only for about a half hour or so at a time and then she was done. Justin on the other hand wanted to swim morning, noon and night. He has always been pretty good with the water other than in the bath he cries if a drop of water gets in his eyes but by the last day he was so brave as you can see in the video clip. One of his arm floaties got a hole in it so Ryan convinced him to take them off and be brave and I was so impressed. I can't even jump in a pool without plugging my nose so he is already doing better than me. My brothers longtime childhood friend Tate works at the Red Rock Resort and used to be a cook at the Terra Rossa restaurant in the resort which is a very fancy expensive Italian restaurant so we met him there and he got us the hook up with our own private room with a huge flat screen t.v. and every appetizer free and a huge discount on our dinner. Without him our bill would've been at least 500 dollars for all of us but it ended up only like 250. The food was amazing and I am a very picky person but I was proud of myself and tried a lot of stuff that I normally wouldn't even touch. The only time we went to the strip was to the M&M and Coke stores and to let the kids see the lions at MGM where we also ate at the Rainforest Cafe which was yummy but that was enough of the strip for me. That place can be so trashy and I didn't want Justin ending up with all the free porn that he could get his hands on. HaHa. The last night we were there we just hung out and played Guitar Hero and Catch Phrase which was fun. I love playing games with my family even though I am the only non-competitive one. Justin and Erin were so funny playing Guitar Hero. Shelly was behind them with the other guitar and really playing the song but they both thought they were really doing it and so proud of themselves. Anyway, we had a ton of fun but I was glad to get home to get my kids back on a schedule and sleeping better in their own beds.

Viva LAS VEGAS!!!!

ALLYSON IS 6 MONTHS OLD!!!!!

Little (BIG) baby cousin "CASON"














WOW!!! I can't believe that my baby girl is growing up so fast. She was actually 6 months last week but it has been so crazy around here this week with kids, Justins preschool, My calling (did I mention that I am now the 1st counselor in Relief Society?!?) I know, can you believe it? I realized that I hadn't posted in a while and we are leaving for Vegas on Wed. with my whole family (SO EXCITED) so I figured I had better do it now. My little Ally girl is getting so big weighing in at 16.4 lbs 75th%, 27 in. 95th% and I can't remember her head circumference only that it was the 50th%. She is 4 ounces smaller and 1/2 inch longer than Justin was at this age. She is finally getting some fuzz but not enough to do anything with yet. She LOVES to eat her fruit and veggies and her toes!! She sleeps pretty much through the night but still wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 to eat and then is back to sleep for a few more hours. She is the worst napper in the whole world I think. She takes 3 or 4 naps a day that are usually only about 45 minutes and it drives me crazy!!!!! Justin was definitely a better napper and sleeper at night. She is a very happy baby for the most part unless she is teething which is happening right now. She also has a little cold/cough but I cannot wait until she gets some dang teeth. She sits up all by herself for a long time but usually falls over after a while if she is reaching too far for a toy. She LOVES taking baths and splashing all around. I am excited to take her swimming in Vegas. She also loves her big brother very much and has been a little bit of a momma's girl lately but she gets excited when Ryan gets home from work. She is constantly babbling and slobbering and is turning into quite the little thumb sucker (following in her brothers footsteps I guess.) Anyway, enough about Ally we also had some exciting news in our family this week. Ryans little baby sister Haley had her baby on May 5th Cinco De Mayo. They named him Cason Joshua Malan and he is adorable. He weighed 8.8 lbs and was 21 inches long. Its a good thing he was 10 days early or he would've been 10 pounds. Well, thats all for now. I hope everyone has a great Mothers Day tomorrow and I hope my big sis Heda has a Happy B-Day tomorrow!!!

Justin and Ally

Hanging out in Allys room Say "CHEESE"
Lounging around on mom and dad's bed
Watching T.V.
Little Red Sox Fans at Grandmas

I just wanted to post some of my favorite pictures of my two little monkeys. They really do love each other so much and are so cute with each other. Justin is always willing to share his toys and food with Ally even though she is not old enough. Ally thinks that he is the coolest thing ever and he loves it. He is the only one that can get her to really laugh hard without tickling her. This week has not been any fun because Justin has been sick and Ally is teething but they are normally pretty good kids. I can't wait for warmer weather so we aren't cooped up in the house all day long.

Glad thats all over with!!!

Last week/weekend was so totally crazy busy and stressful I am very glad to get it over with. Thursday I had a cooking enrichment class at my house which turned out very well. We have one every month at someones house and there are usually between 5-10 people and I had 11 show up to mine but I also had at least 20 of their kids come with them. Woah!! That was chaotic. Justin had a blast having that many friends old and young to play with and they tracked sand from the sandbox all over the house but at least they had fun. I spent almost all day Friday trying to clean up and recover from that because then Saturday I had my sister-in-law Haley's baby shower at my house also. It also turned out very good and she had a great turn out. We had an open house because when I had her bridal shower and there were like 40 people crammed into my tiny basement I stressed out major so it was pretty simple this time but I was pretty proud of the diaper cake that I made so I had to post a picture of it. I think it turned out pretty good for my first one. I also made her a rag quilt that turned out great that I forgot to take a picture of. I tried to make one for my sisters little girl Erin a couple years ago but I had no clue how and it fell apart when I washed it so this time around I did my research. Anyway, I am so glad that I have all that out of the way and don't know anyone that is getting married or having a baby that will need a shower anytime soon. We are very excited for Haley to have a little boy so that Justin is not always totally surrounded by girls.