Justin is 4!!!

I can't believe how time flies. It seems like yesterday that I was carrying Justin in my big fat belly with my cankles or (thighs with toes) as my sweet brother-in-law Jim called them. I remember seeing him for the first time and couldn't believe how tiny he was 5 lbs 11 oz. 17inches long but things have definitely changed and he is now weighing in at 43 lbs and is also 43 inches tall with huge feet!! (size 12) Justin is the funniest boy ever and is always saying funny things, too many to remember. He is very smart and athletic and is the best big brother I could have asked for. He has a temper and can be so stubborn and unreasonable at times but I love him so much and can't imagine my life without him. Since before Christmas Justin has told us that he wanted a riding lawn mower for his B-Day because he saw it at Sears while X-Mas shopping. We were lucky and it went on sale in Jan. and so we bought it and stored it at Ryans parents for the last 6 months. Friday night before Justins party Ally was up all night screaming and crying and would not calm down. I finally took her down stairs and she eventually wore herself out and went to sleep so I attempted to sleep on the couch and needless to say neither of us got any sleep and I was convinced that she must have an ear infection because this was the first night she has ever acted like this so I spent half the day at the Dr. with her Sat. to find out that she might be teething. WHAT THE ?!@?# she still does not have any teeth!!! Anyway, she was ornery most of the day Sat. but ended up taking a nap and was pretty okay for Justins party. We just had family over for the usual backyard bbq and we borrowed a bounce house from our neighbors for the kids and they loved it. Justin got a ton of presents and loves them all!!! On Monday (his actual birthday) Ryan got off work early and we all went to see Space Chimps with my mom and sister and niece and the kids loved it! (way better than WALL-E) Justin chose Warrens or Orrens as he calls it for his birthday grilled cheese sandwich dinner. What a cheap b-day dinner huh? Okay so I lied a little to Justin and told him that he could not suck his thumb anymore when he is 4 or else it will make his teeth all messed up and that the special dentist would have to put metal machines on his teeth to make them pretty again. It must have scared him because he has not sucked his thumb the last 2 nights and has been very proud of himself and hasn't even complained about it. I am crossing my fingers that it will be that easy!! I know that I am a total slacker about posting a picture of Ally after her surgery but I was sick last week and then things just got busy but there is a pretty good picture of her in the slide show that shows how good it looks. I am totally impressed that it looks so good after not even 2 weeks and it will only get better with time. I hope everyone has a great 24th tomorrow. We are going to the rodeo tonight so I will post pics for sure.

Allys Surgery Day!!!

Well, it finally happened. The day that my beautiful little baby girl had her birthmark removed. We have known since the day she was born that we were going to do it when the Doctors told us that it would be a good idea. I also did my own research and found out that because the nature of it (was basically a mole) that she had more chances of it turning into skin cancer as she got older. With the way cancer runs in mine and Ryans family we decided that as soon as the docs would agree that we would do it. We were fortunate enough to have my sister-in-law Amy work for a plastic surgeon and who better to cut your daughters face open than a plastic surgeon? Dr. Malan did us a huge favor by agreeing to this because he does not normally operate on babies and because of that he did the procedure in the hospital instead of his office which made us a little less nervous. Anyways, after a long time waiting at the hospital, Amy finally came to get Ally and she had no problems going with her which was great because I had invisioned the anesthesiologist coming to take her away and having her crying and reaching out for us. Amy said that she only cried for a second before they put her to sleep. The whole thing was only about a half hour before we got to see her and she did really well. She cried for about a half hour but not because of pain, she was just trying to wake up and was confused and a little groggy. Once she finally woke up all the way she has been back to the same happy little angel that we all love. She goes back to the Dr. on Wed. to have the steri strips taken off and I can't wait to see how it looks. (I will post pics for sure.)

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the 4th as much as we did!! Ryan got off work early on the 3rd and we packed up the car and the kids, stopped to get a few treats and dinner and headed to the Drive-In. My mom and bro. came and met us there and brought chairs to come sit by us. I was a little disappointed in Wall-E but the kids were good and had fun and I guess thats all that matters. Because of our late night we slept in and missed out on the parades which I wasn't too sad about. One parade a year is enough for me and the Roy Days parade is an awesome one to go to. We were kinda lazy on the 4th and lounged around all day. We went to my moms for dinner and a little Rock Band playing which was a first time for us since she just bought it for her wii and it was really fun. I thought the drums were pretty tough but we had a good time.

We headed to Ryans parents for some fireworks which was the highlight of Justins night. He was so funny watching the fireworks this year and got really into them and trying to help light them. Ally was awesome having 2 late nights in a row and fell asleep at the Drive-In and Ryans parents house.

Saturday I went to the cannery with my mom and sister and that was my first time. I have to say that I was kind of dreading it but I am very glad I went and I would highly recommend it to those who have an opportunity. I finally gave into EVERYONE telling me that I needed to read the Twilight books and I thought I would be disappointed because of all the hype that I had heard but I was totally surprised at how obsessed I became and I finished all 3 books in less than a week and still found time to keep my kids fed, entertained and my house somewhat clean. I am now officially counting down the days for the Breaking Dawn release and think I might even do the whole midnight book release thing. (I know pathetic huh?) I have to admit that I am totally Team Edward and am a little surprised at how many people I know are not. Anyway, back to reality, we ended the weekend with Ryans sisters baby blessing in Murray and I had to come back to teach Relief Society in our ward which was a total last minute planned lesson thanks to the Cullens... But I think it turned out pretty good. Here are some pics from our weekend.

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!!!!