McGee Family

McGee Family Day of Fun

2012-01-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today for MLK day, we went out to pizza with our friends the Gallachers since their kids were out of school. We had some gift certificates from Restaurant.com so we went all out, 6 large pizzas, 3 orders of breadsticks and a large Caesar salad. It was yummy :)

Afterward we went to the "dollar" theater to watch Happy Feet 2. We got there super early, so we decided to let the kids have some fun while we waited:

Playing Air Hockey

Chad getting ready to watch the movie (it was in 3D):

Don't let his happy face fool you... about 2/3 of the way through the movie, he started kicking the chairs in front of us and being, well, Chad. Jeff brought him out to me - I was already outside with Sam who was being loud, trying to talk to the screen during the movie. Right as the movie was getting out, I asked Chad if he needed to go to the bathroom. He said yes, so I told him we would wait until his dad got out of the movie. I turned around for a second to check on Sam, and when I turned back to Chad, he had pulled his pants and underwear down, ready to go to the bathroom! It was *slightly* embarrassing, to say the least.

Well, that wasn't quite expected....

2012-01-09T14:51:00.001-07:00

We were very surprised when we found out a few months ago. Now that we've had a chance to get over the shock, we're excited to add a new little one to our family!

Sweet Sam

2012-01-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

It took Sam a while to figure out that life here on Earth isn't so bad (try 6 months of frustration and crying - on both our parts).

Once he became mobile, he decided he liked it ok after all. Life has been much easier, much happier, and much less stressful.

Play Dough

2012-01-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

I found a few bags of homemade playdough Sadie had gotten at preschool and from her Primary teacher at church, so I decided to pull them out at let the kids have fun for a bit. I am one of those parents who has a major aversion to play-dough. I hate how messy it is, how the kids always mix the colors, how it gets left out and hardens, it gets all over the floor, etc. I figured I could justify having them play with it once and then throwing it away since it was homemade play-dough that was gifted to them. I didn't lose a penny in the process. Nice.

Fresh Air!

2012-01-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned in a previous post, we've been cooped up inside for quite a while. Saturday, the weather finally "warmed up" to 50 degrees, so we headed down to the park.

Chad getting ready to ride his bike, luckily he thought the helmet was so cool and didn't want to take it off.

Happy Boy!

Riding on the basketball court:

Before Sadie would play on the structures, she had to pick up all the trash, it made me laugh!

Going down the big slide:

Remember I mentioned Chad wouldn't take his helmet off?

Poor Sam, he always seems to get left out of these posts! He was there, he just spent his time cozy in the stroller :)

Christmas in New Mexico

2011-12-29T09:25:00.001-07:00

We had a quiet Christmas at home this year. Big difference from the house full of family last year.

Christmas Eve, the kids got to open one present from Joey the Elf (have I mentioned him? He's our Elf on the Shelf that watched the kids to make sure they behaved). They all found Christmas pajamas:

This is what our living room looked like Christmas morning. The kids are lucky to have such generous aunts and uncles and grandparents to help make Christmas morning a little more exciting.

Sadie with her loot (the guitar in front was her favorite):

Chad with is loot (his favorites were a tie between the race car track and the tee ball set. Oh, and Sadie's Barbie car):

Sam wouldn't sit still long enough to get a picture of him with all his things, but here he is in the chair we got for him - it has his name embroidered on it, just like Sadie and Chad's chairs):

His favorite toy was the vacuum cord. Go figure.

We sure enjoyed our day of relaxing, playing, and spending time together as a family. We hope you enjoyed your Christmas as well!

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-12-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

We had to spend lots of time at home out of the cold before and around Christmas, so we had to find things to keep everyone happy and entertained...

We made Gingerbread Man cookies - my first time, very yummy!

We made salt dough ornaments:

(Sadie's is a circle with an S, if you can't see)

We decorated (and ate) extra large Gingerbread Men from Trader Joe's:

When Grandma and Grandpa Mac came back after Christmas, they had fun with the craft activities they had received from their cousins Kirsten and Devon (here they are making windchimes):

(yikes, can you say, "Messy Kitchen?")

Thankfully the kids received lots of crafty things to do to tide us over until the weather warms up a little!

When the kids are away...

2011-12-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

...the baby will play!

My mom and dad took my sister Amy to the airport yesterday. I stayed home with Sam so he could get a good nap (haha). He enjoyed the quiet time to play without the two bigger kids around.

Fun with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-12-22T17:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't been as good at taking pictures lately as I should be - it's one of my New Year's Resolutions. I did snap a few pictures while my parents were recently visiting us...

My dad is always good about watching whatever movie the kids are into at the moment:

I think the kids used the dog crate more than the dogs did!

My dad made his famous BBQ, always a request when he's here!

Chad had fun wrestling with Grandpa:

We did lots of fun things like go to Hoots Playplace - it's an indoor jump place with jumping castles and a big slide, along with a huge McDonald's-like playplace (think 2 or 3 times as big), hit up the Merry-go-Round and play area at the mall, and Jeff and I got to squeeze in a weekend getaway trip to Santa Fe.

Oh, and remember how I touted Rio Rancho for it's winter weather: "the snow doesn't stick around"? Well, this time it did. Just as the snow from the previous snow storm was melting, we got more snow last Monday, and we're getting more today. So much for mild winters!

Snow Day(s)!

2011-12-07T07:24:00.000-07:00

We've gotten quite a bit of snow in the past week. The kids have had lots of fun getting bundled up and playing.

This is what we got last Saturday. Not much, but the first snow of the season is always fun :)

And Chad has FINALLY decided he likes the snow. For the past few years, all he has done is stood still and scowled.

Poor Sam wanted to join the big kids!

Then, all of that snow melted, and Sunday night/Monday morning we got about 5 inches of snow. Jeff was off work, thankfully, so he took Sadie & Chad to the park to play for a bit. I asked Jeff to take the camera with him and he replied "But then I can't play!". Love that guy. So I snapped these pictures as they headed out:

It's always good to have some hot chocolate to warm up afterward!

Here in Rio Rancho, we really do get the best of all worlds. Great summers and mild winters. The snow doesn't stick around long because it usually warms up enough to melt within a few days.

The Wisdom of a Child

2011-11-29T10:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I was telling Sadie I wanted her to stop having birthdays so she wouldn't grow up. I told her I want her to stay little forever.

Her response: "Mommy, don't you want me to get baptized?"

How can I argue with that?!?!?

Arizona Trip Part Two - Wickenburg

2011-11-16T09:49:00.001-07:00

Affectionately referred to as "Radiator Springs" by my family. Two of my sisters, Mandy and Kirsten, came to visit as well. I love it when I get to see my family. We live all over the country, so it's a big deal when we get to spend time together.

We started off the time with my family with a trip to the Dr's office with Sadie. Somehow she always manages to get sick when we go on vacation.

We took the kids on a walk one morning. They quickly got bored, so we had to think of a few things to keep them entertained. What worked best was for my dad to hide behind a bush, then scare them when they came up. He must have done it about 20 times, and each time they screamed right on cue :)

Sadie with my dad:

Another day, my parents took Sadie and Chad to my mom's cousin Vern's house so they could see the horses. I was surprised when Sadie called to tell me she got to ride a horse! She kept saying "Mommy, I rode a horse! I'm a cowgirl!" So cute. My mom and dad said both kids did really well on the horses. I love these pictures my dad took:

Sam had fun playing with my sister Kirsten's new puppy, Kobi:

The kids enjoyed ice cream cones from DQ another day:

Mandy with Sadie:

A picture of most of us... Kirsten had already left and Sam was sleeping.

I always say it... we love being able to go visit family, but it's also nice to come home to normal life!

Arizona Trip Part One - Tucson

2011-11-16T09:41:00.001-07:00

We recently spent 10 days in Arizona visiting our families. Well, the kids and I spent 10 days there. Jeff had to come home after a few days and make the money so we could spend it :)

Sadie, Chad, and Brynlee had lots of fun playing on the basketball court on their scooters and bikes:

The wagon is always a big hit, too! It was funny to watch the younger kids try to pull the other kids around in it.

Sadie with her scooter

Grandma Gee relaxing on the swing with Sam - he loved to swing.

And finally a pic of all the McGee grandkids - I love that they're all doing their own thing, pictures with kids this young shouldn't be perfect!

Halloween!

2011-11-16T09:12:00.001-07:00

Yes, I'm playing catch up!

This is the first year the kids actually got to pick out their costumes (in previous years, Sadie's costume came from hand-me-down dress up clothes, and Chad was really too young to care...). Sadie wanted to be a witch, and Chad wanted to be a ghost. Well, until I got to the fabric store to buy fabric to make him a costume. Then he decided ghost's were too scary, and he wanted to be a pirate instead. Thankfully Target is next to the fabric store and there were exactly one pirate hat and one pirate sword left. Sam was Yoda. His costume stayed on for a total of 10 minutes :)

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-26T15:19:00.002-06:00

Yes, now it's our turn to post those famous pictures that show up around this time every year.

Getting started with the corn maze...

Our happy campers!

The bridge in the middle of the maze - the kids thought it was pretty cool

Choosing pumpkins!

The hay ride (despite the look on his face, he really was excited to be on the ride!)

They got to feed some animals

And go down big slides

There was even something for Jeff :)

I opted to hang out in the shade with Sam while the "kids" had fun

Tired and ready to go home...

It was a fun day, but I'm not sure we'll go next year. Pumpkin patches are sure overpriced these days. Next year, I think we'll just stop at Trader Joe's.

New Pets

2011-10-15T20:24:00.000-06:00

Well, at least that's what Sadie informed me they are...

Our tomatoes didn't do well at all this year. I kept looking for tomato worms, knowing they were the most likely culprit, but never found any. Apparently I didn't look well enough. Now that I've finally given up on my plants, the worms have taken over. And the kids love them.

Sadie was playing with three of them today, *carrying them around, playing "house" with them (outside, of course). No kidding.

Don't worry, I'm just as grossed out as you are.

*I'm hoping they aren't secretly poisonous or anything. If they are, will you please let me know?

Today...

2011-10-13T21:04:00.000-06:00

I realized I never took Sam's 6 month pictures.

I finally took a picture of those cute little baby feet I love so much.

I watched Chad try to "fix" his bike.

I watched Sadie fix her flip-flop for the 10th time, even though I warned her not to wear them for that exact reason...

It was a good day.

Balloon Fiesta

2011-10-13T20:38:00.000-06:00

Yes, we did go to the Balloon Fiesta again this year! It was a bit of a fiasco, to say the least... We left the house too late in the morning and got stuck on the freeway with the rest of the procrastinators. For an hour. With a screaming, just-turned-3-year-old; "I want to see the balloons." It wasn't pleasant to say the least. So, we ditched the idea and took the kids to McD's for breakfast instead.

We tried again that night. Success! And the bonus was, Jeff got to join us.

The kids had fun flying kites while we waited for it to get dark.

This is the only picture I took of Sam the whole time. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the festivities as well :)

Here we are while the balloons are inflating:

Here is my "new" hubby. He recently lost about 25 lbs - welcome to "Onederland", sweetie!

Finally dark enough for the balloon glow!

My favorite was the butterfly

The night ended with a pretty cool fireworks show:

It was a ca-razy day, but it ended really well and we had a lot of fun. I love fall in New Mexico - green chile, Balloon Fiesta, and amazing weather!

Chad is Three!

2011-10-03T19:42:00.000-06:00

Saturday was Chad's 3rd birthday. Hard to believe it's been three years since he was born. What's even harder to believe is that means that it's been more than 3 years ago that we moved to New Mexico.

Here he is getting ready to blow out the candle on his cupcake:

Being silly with a cupcake mustache:

This is one smart kid. Anytime he ate a cupcake, he would eat the top with the frosting, then throw away the bottom. Definitely his mother's son.

Here are some pictures I took of him when we went to the Bosque a few weeks ago:

A little bit sweet...

And a little bit silly...

Chad's adjectives: Silly, crazy, loving, sweet, energetic, impulsive, cuddly, patience-testing, happy. He reminds me so much of my brothers, it's uncanny. I always say that he looks like Troy, but he acts like Jeremy. He likes to tease Sadie, but he can also be very sweet with Sam. His personality is very much aligned with how he entered this world - in a hurry and waiting for no one. When he was born, he came so fast, the epidural didn't have time to kick in, and the nurses were worried the doctor wouldn't make it to the delivery in time. He came into this world sprinting, and he hasn't stopped since :)

Sleeping Beauties

2011-10-03T18:07:00.001-06:00

Chad insisted on falling asleep in Sadie's room last night. This is what I found when I went up to check on them.

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I love Santa Fe

2011-09-19T21:19:00.001-06:00

Today we took the train up to Santa Fe with some friends of ours. It was such a fun day, but by the end we were all exhausted! Emphasis on EXHAUSTED.

Chad and Sadie were SO excited to be taking the train. Especially Chad. He kept jumping up and down, telling anyone who would listen, "we're going on the train!"

Arriving in Santa Fe:

We went inside the big cathedral downtown. Sadie was very good at being quiet. Chad, not so much. He kept asking (loudly) for money to throw into the baptismal font.

Sadie with Sam at lunch. We ate near the plaza at the Sante Fe Burrito Co. I wouldn't go back there again, but it had a nice patio where the kids could move around. Always a plus.

After we walked around the plaza for a bit, we took the bus to Trader Joe's to pick up some treats for the way home.

After Trader Joe's we had about an hour and a half to kill, so we took the kids over to a park not too far away to burn off some energy. The kids were in heaven. They got to ride the train, ride on a bus, buy treats at TJ's and go to the park, all in the same day.

It was such a fun way to spend the day, but like I said, by the end, we were all absolutely exhausted! Being back in Santa Fe brought back lots of memories, all good ones. It's funny how in the moment you think things are difficult, or not that exciting, but going back, I missed the small things. Things like riding the bus around town, or walking along busy St Francis to get to the park we visited today, or Trader Joes. When we moved to Santa Fe, we only had Sadie and I was pregnant with Chad. At the time I didn't think so, but now I realize how much more simple and easy life was back then. It wasn't easy living in a cramped 1000 square foot apartment, and at the time I hated it, but as I look back, my memories are good ones, not negative ones.

I loved living in Santa Fe, and I still love to go back and visit. It's such a fun, diverse town, and the summer weather is gorgeous. Santa Fe will always hold a special place in my heart and I'm so glad we got the chance to live there and get to know "The City Different".

By the way, the stroller I mentioned driving all around town for in my last post? Sooo worth it. Sam was an absolute angel all day sitting in it.

Not Every Day is Peachy...

2011-09-17T19:33:00.000-06:00

I try to stay away from complaining too much on my blog. It's not because I want you to think that I'm a perfect mother, wife, and person, with a perfect life. I just figure people would rather read about positive things, than negative ones.

However, this is going to be a "I love my life" post. Yesterday I hauled the kids around town for 3 1/2 hours in search of a stroller. A very specific stroller. I can be a little OCD sometimes. The kids weren't perfect angels while we were out, but they were good enough. When we got home, I decided to join them outside on the swings, and I'm so glad I did. It gave me a chance to reflect on the day and realize that even though there are 100 things that happen a day that make me doubt my abilities as a mother, there are 3 things that make me realize that there's absolutely nothing else I'd rather be doing.

5 Years Old!

2011-09-13T17:05:00.004-06:00

We had lots of fun helping Sadie celebrate her birthday last Thursday. We began the day by opening her presents since Jeff had to work that night. We got her a chair with her name embroidered on it, the XBox game Kinectimals, some headphones (she's very into listening to music on the iPod), and some gum (she loves gum). She told me her favorite gift was the Kinectimals game. She has played it almost every day since she got it.

Grandma Gee sent a package with a cake mix and some frosting in it, so we invited some friends over for an impromptu "party". Here's the cake. Please don't be too impressed, I don't even watch all those cake shows, I did this all by myself:

Here she is blowing out the candle:

Today we headed down to the Bosque to have a picnic and take some pictures of the kids. Here are Sadie's 5 year pictures:

We absolutely love to have Sadie in our home. She is such a sweet little girl. She is obedient, kind, loving, forgiving, vivacious, spiritual, creative, happy, dramatic, considerate, friendly, and a hundred other adjectives I'm sure I'll think of once this is posted. She's a wonderful big sister to her two younger brothers (even though she asks every day for a little sister).

I can't forget these pictures from our visit to the Bosque. I asked Chad to sit by Sadie. In true Chad form, he did just the opposite of what I asked.

And Sam:

Happy Birthday Sadie-girl! We love you!

5 Months

2011-09-07T13:42:00.000-06:00

And we are still smitten with our sweet little boy.

Pet Peeve and a Little Bit of a Rant

2011-09-06T18:20:00.001-06:00

Wasting food at mealtime is probably my #1 pet peeve. I'm trying to get away from being a short order cook and feeding my kids chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese at every meal. I try to make our meals kid friendly, but I also want them to be healthy. Unfortunately these days those two don't seem to go hand in hand.

It's my belief that a lot of the behavioral problems kids have these days comes from the food we eat. Most everything is so full of artificial this and that, that it really shouldn't be called food. ADD and ADHD? In my opinion, both are a by-product of all the chemicals in our food. I'm trying to feed my kids more healthy, pure things, since I know that's what will benefit them most (Word of Wisdom, anyone?). Part of the reason I'm such an advocate for Trader Joe's is that I really feel good about feeding my family food from there. It's not just because it's my husband's livelihood, it's because they really do sell high quality food.

Along with trying to feed my kids more healthy food comes frustration from re-teaching my kids what is "food". If I give them chicken nuggets, they'll eat them right up without saying a word. Conditions being the same, if I give them something even as simple as meatloaf with ketchup, or homemade chicken pot pie (things I would consider "kid friendly") they won't touch it, because it's not "kid" food.

I've been trying for a few months to make the transition from short-order cook, to "this is what we're having for dinner, take it or leave it." Most of the time it has bitten me in the butt at 5:30 in the morning when my kids wake up with stomachs grumbling because they didn't eat dinner the night before. To combat that, I tried to institute "no breakfast til 7am". It hasn't really helped, either with eating dinner, or with sleeping in later.

What do you do when your kids won't eat their dinner? I've tried saving it until morning, and making them eat it for breakfast, but at that point, I wouldn't even eat it, it looks so gross. I try to serve at least one thing I know they'll eat - tonight it was black olives, they each ate three, and that was it.

And to be honest, to me it's not so much that they're going hungry when they don't eat, it's that I'm throwing away all that food. I don't load up their plates by any means, but I still hate to have throw it away.

Any advice, suggestions? And no "just feed them chicken nuggets and hot dogs!" I'm not interested in that anymore. That's not what my mom did when I was growing up, and I attribute my health today to the pure foods my mom fed me growing up (I hated it at the time, but now I really appreciate being raised on brown bread instead of white.) I'm not saying that they'll never get to eat "kid" foods, but I don't want those to be their main sources of nourishment.

Playing Outside

2011-09-01T17:54:00.001-06:00

It sprinkled just enough today to cool things down. Sam and I watched the kids play from the shelter of the garage :)

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Rio Grande Gorge

2011-08-30T09:45:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of Jeff's day off work and head up to Taos for the day. We'd never been, and I've always wanted to see the Rio Grande Gorge which is about 10 miles outside of Taos.

Getting ready to cross the bridge

6 inches between slats protect you (or your children) from falling 650 feet to certain death. It made us all a little dizzy.

The gorge looking to the north

Chad didn't want to cooperate and stand in the picture. Or rather, he really just wanted to run over to the railing instead, which made both Jeff and I very nervous!

Summer rain over the mountains

Took this picture on our way home, I love the bit of light shining through the clouds.

We wanted to go by and see Taos Pueblo, a set of residential dwellings dating back 1000 years, but it was closed. Even so, it was a fun day and a great way to get the kids out of the house.

A little trip...

2011-08-23T21:33:00.001-06:00

Today I guess Chad decided he needed some alone time with mom and dad. He got into some energy pills I had left in the counter (bad mommy!) and ate a few. We called Poison Control to be safe and they told us to take him to the emergency room. I wasn't too excited about going so I called his pediatrician to be sure. He told me the same thing. Grrr...

Long story short, he was fine, they just wanted to observe him for a few hours to make sure he didn't have any negative side effects. If you know Chad, you know the last thing he needs is energy pills :) But in any case, we're glad he was ok.

So, the pictures I took. They gave him stickers and 2 popsicles - um... don't you think that's going to make him want to do it again?!

And the last picture, he was driving us crazy and wouldn't stop talking so we found some medical tape and put it over his mouth. He thought it was funny...

Like I said, I'm glad he's fine, and that he got some alone time with Jeff and me, I just wish it wouldn't have included a trip to the ER!

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"New" Bed

2011-08-22T20:04:00.001-06:00

We're playing musical furniture again...

After 4 1/2+ months of having baby Sam in our room, we decided it was time for him to move out. No one was getting any sleep - the kid makes lots of noise when he sleeps! Not to mention, he's learning to roll, so he'll roll from his tummy to his back while he's sleeping, then he can't figure out how to get back over. He can not sleep on his back. He's like a bug that has gotten caught on its back, with his arms and legs flailing in the air. We're hoping with him in a different room it will be easier to ignore his little grunts and cries, helping us all to get some more sleep...

So, back to the point of this post... We decided to move his crib into the guest room. We're not quite ready to have him and Chad share a room yet, so we moved him next door. Which meant that the guest room bed had to go. So, Sadie inherited that:

(Mom and Dad, I hope you like pink and yellow since this is where you'll be sleeping when you come :) )

Sadie is very excited about her new, bigger bed - she made sure to point out to Chad that her bed is bigger than his, even though her old bed is now in his room. No pictures, since the bed is a little girly and I didn't want to embarrass the poor guy. The next plan is to make a bed for Chad. We'll see...

Rain!!!!!!

2011-08-03T20:47:00.000-06:00

Yes, I wish I could put about a million exclamation marks there... we have had such a dry summer, it was nice to finally get a little rain.

I put some rain gear on the kids and let them enjoy. Love Sadie's face in this one...

And Chad. Pure Joy. He was moving too fast for my camera :)

(He was having some trouble with the poncho I had on him at first, so I gave him a trash bag. Thankfully he didn't care.)

Oh, and don't forget about this cute little guy, we are still very smitten with him!

Educational Treats

2011-08-03T20:30:00.000-06:00

I think my kids love me a little extra lately. In an effort to rid our house of the junk we bought for our recent camping trip, I've been doing things like giving them little bags of chips with their lunch, or M&M's for an afternoon snack.

Today I decided it was justified when Sadie pulled out all the yellows, lined them up, and counted them.

That justifies giving them to her, right?

This one on the other hand...

I'm not sure how educational his snack was.

Hey, you look like me!

2011-07-30T11:41:00.001-06:00

Sam usually isn't happy to be on the floor by himself. As I was making lunch for the kids I thought he was being awfully quiet. Turns out he found a friend.

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2011-07-29T15:01:00.001-06:00

Mid-day cool-off!

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Camping

2011-07-29T13:36:00.000-06:00

Last weekend was my mom's family's annual camping trip to the White Mountains. Thankfully the fire had not burned the lake we go to every year, and we were able to go and enjoy the beautiful 75 degree weather.

Chad looked like this pretty much the entire time. In fact, both kids still have dirt under their toenails :)

I never had to worry about where he was, if I couldn't find him, I checked the lake, and sure enough there he was, throwing rocks into the water.

I didn't see Sadie pretty much the whole time - while Chad was throwing rocks into the lake, Sadie was playing with her cousin Kate. All. Day. Long.

Sam was happy because he got to be held the majority of the time... He got passed around from person to person.

The highlight of my trip was that Jeff finally got to come with us. What a beautiful place to spend a weekend together with my family!

Superman!

2011-07-18T19:53:00.001-06:00

I found this when I was looking through boxes of clothes for Chad that my sister has sent me...

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My Kids

2011-07-17T17:11:00.000-06:00

Like any mom, I think my kids are the cutest kids in the world...

Sam: It took him a few months to figure things out, but what I posted about things getting easier (or less crazy) at the 3 month mark has been true so far. There has been less crying (on all our parts) and he's finally letting us put him down, if only for a few minutes. He's big enough to sit in his jumper now and he loves to watch Sadie and Chad.
He is making peace with his car seat, and has been known to fall asleep in it a few times- a big accomplishment, believe me. And yes, he is every bit as sweet as he looks in these pictures.

Chad: What can I say? This kid plays hard and sleeps hard. Some days I wonder how I'm going to stay sane with him around, but then he comes up and asks to cuddle with me, or gives me kisses, or tells me "Mommy, I love you." That's when I realize that's he's the perfect balance of crazy and sweet. He loves trains, cars, trucks, planes, anything that moves and makes a loud noise.
He loves to play with Sadie, but he's also content to play on his own. He's always on the go, except when he's sleeping. He even eats standing up. I think he's afraid if he sits down he might miss something.

Fell asleep on the recliner like this:

Yes, he is licking Sam in this picture.

This is his response to "Chad, if you smile, I'll give you a treat."

Sadie: Sweet Sadie. She is so inquisitive, some of the questions she asks amaze me. I always say she's 4 going on 16 going on 25. She's a little girl with a grown up inside. She watches Strawberry Shortcake and Barbie movies, but she also loves Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Pirates of the Caribbean. This week we've been talking about Jeremy, as I remember him on the anniversary of his death. Sadie finally asked the question I knew would come eventually, but didn't expect so soon: "Mommy, how did Jeremy die?" I try to be honest with Sadie in all her questions, even the awkward ones, so she knows she can come to me with anything, but this was truly a difficult question to answer. Not because I didn't want to, but because she is still so young.
Sometimes her endless quizzing drive me crazy, but I'm also grateful for the chance it gives me to teach her about life, and most importantly about the gospel. She knows that we'll see Jeremy again because of the resurrection. Watching church movies on Sunday has given me a chance to teach her about the gospel as she peppers me with questions.
She loves life and she's an excellent example to me of how to enjoy life to it's fullest, and not let anything stand in her way. I only hope she carries this into adulthood.

The Good Mom

2011-07-14T22:53:00.000-06:00

I was inspired by a recent blog post by my cousin Mariley to buy the kids some ice cream from the ice cream truck. You see, I've always had an aversion to the ice cream truck. Hearing the music always makes me cringe, thinking of some weird pedophile scoping out the neighborhood. Today, I decided to put that aside and indulge the kids. And I'll say, it was totally worth it. But still a bit freaky.

I just love Chad's face here. Do you think he was happy to have a popsicle?

In other news, I'm sure glad we don't have neighbors next door, because where else would the kids ride their scooter/tricycle? Certainly not in our own boring driveway!

And finally, about a year ago I mentioned that Rio Rancho is so brown that we all say to look up, not down, if you want to see beauty. The sky here is amazing. It didn't disappoint tonight:

2011-07-09T19:34:00.001-06:00

It's times like these that make you wish they'd stay little forever.

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Our Garden

2011-07-08T17:41:00.001-06:00

It's growing! (The kids were taking turns watering).

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Independence Day

2011-07-06T08:20:00.000-06:00

We had such a fun 4th of July, probably my favorite yet. In the morning went to the park down the street for a potluck breakfast with our ward from church. That evening, some friends invited us over for a barbeque. The kids had a great time playing together.

We made fireworks t-shirts - super easy and very cool.

These will definitely be a yearly tradition - instructions are HERE

Afterwards, we drove to see the fireworks (Chad's face cracks me up, I think one must have been going off at that moment!).

It was the perfect day. Food, fun, friends, and fireworks!

2011-07-06T07:27:00.000-06:00

The Bumbo Seat...

Not just for babies.

3 Months

2011-07-02T07:55:00.000-06:00

Here are a few observations I made at 4 weeks, and whether or not they have stayed true:

He does NOT like the car seat. Much like Chad when he was little, Sam screams any time we get into the car. - I would say he has gotten much better within the last week or so. Now, at least I can buckle him into the car seat without him screaming.
He would prefer to sleep on his tummy. He will ONLY sleep on his tummy! (unless I coax him to sleep with a propped bottle in his swing).
He's not a big fan of the baby swing. Still not a big fan, but he has learned to tolerate it, especially if there's a bottle propped in his mouth, oh the life of #3 :)
He does not like to be in a wet or dirty diaper. Still VERY true!
He loves to cuddle. Still true!
He loves his pacifier. Will not go to sleep without it.
He loves to sleep... during the day. He still sleeps quite a bit during the day, and only wakes up once during the night.

"They" always say that 3 months is the magical age for babies. The supposed 4th trimester is over, so the baby is a little more used to being here in this strange world, and things just seem to calm down, work themselves out, etc. I'm hoping it's true.

Before having Sam, I was fully expecting a sweet, never cries, adapts to everything easily baby. I guess I figured that since I was so nervous about making the transition to three that Heavenly Father would bless me with an "easy" baby to make it easier. Not so. Of course, like anything in life, how would I have learned anything if I didn't have to struggle along the way? So, here's hoping that what "they" say about the 3 month mark is true!

Not feelin' the love....

2011-06-25T12:10:00.000-06:00

I was going to title this post "I hate my bathroom!" but that wouldn't be quite accurate. I don't hate my bathroom, I just hate the paint color. I had a vision for my bathroom that included a sea glass color. We went to Lowe's and picked out what I thought was the color. It wasn't. It turned out to be a bubble-gum ice cream blue color. In my defense, on the paint can, it looks sea-glass-green. On my bathroom walls, it looks awful.

That's an old picture by the way... let me take you back a few months....

Here was the bathroom when we moved in. Plain white with ugly orange builder cabinets:

Then, I painted the room should-have-been-sea-glass-green-but-turned-out-to-be-bubble-gum-ice-cream-blue.

My orange cabinets looked even worse! So, I did what I'd wanted to do all along and painted the cabinets black:

Love the cabinets, still hated the wall color (the color in the picture above this one is more accurate). By the way, the wall above the light fixture is the same color, it just looks off because of the light coming in through the window.

Now before you tell me it doesn't look bad, here's a shot of more blue (pre painted cabinets).

Too. Much. Blue.

So, now you tell me, what color should my walls be? I'm done with blue, so no suggestions for a different shade of that please. Here's my bedroom as seen from the bathroom door, I want to tie the two spaces together.

Suggestions please!!!

Good Friends

2011-06-18T20:08:00.001-06:00

We're on vacation at my parents house in Rocky Point, Mexico. We went today to Flavio's restaurant. He and my dad have been friends for as long as I can remember. He always gives us the McKaskle Special when we go eat at his restaurant, a platter full if everything! Sadie wore the shirt that his workers wear and talked all day about taking a picture with Flavio. He gave her the boat in the last picture.

My dad always says "when you have a friend like Flavio, you don't need many." He's definitely right. I love to see my kids recognize that special relationship that we have with him.

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Baby Blessing

2011-06-05T21:03:00.000-06:00

We blessed baby Sam in church today. He wore the same out fit Chad wore for his blessing, which is the same outfit Jeff wore when he was blessed (I don't have a picture of him, remind me to ask my mother in law next time I see her).

Our first picture as a family of five - YIKES!

And one of the kids...

My new kitchen!

2011-05-29T08:51:00.000-06:00

Ok, maybe not necessarily new, but it has a new coat of paint!

This is the old paint job:

(You can tell this picture is old because the family room is still the dark brown color from when we moved in. It's now white, see that transformation HERE). I never felt like the tan walls, orange cabinets, and purple counters looked good together.

About a year ago, we were walking through some model homes, and one of them had my same cabinets and counters with green walls. Ever since then I knew what color the kitchen needed to be. So with a little help from my neighbor, we painted the kitchen over the weekend. And I'm so pleased with the results! It's like the kitchen was telling me "Thank You, I'm finally the right color!"

Now... what to do about that awful track lighting... (Steel Magnolias anyone?)

My three kids

2011-05-29T08:31:00.000-06:00

Sadie with her (my old) Cabbage Patch doll.

Chad with a mustache from his Blue Coconut drink from Sonic

Sam is starting to smile - he's growing up way too fast.

2011-05-19T13:35:00.000-06:00

A few people have asked me how it's been adjusting to three kids. I would describe the last 6 weeks in one word. Chaotic.

I've decided you don't truly know the definition of chaotic until you have at least 3 kids.

When you only have one child, life seems hard. But looking back at it, one child is a breeze. It's only difficult because you're doing everything for the first time.

By the time you get to two, you have a pretty good handle on things. And you have two hands, arms, legs, etc. One for each child.

But three. It's a whole different ball game. You're pretty much guaranteed that not everyone is going to be happy at the same time. Last night for example. I had one kid in the bathtub (Sadie). Happy. One on the toilet, screaming "I want a diaper!" (Chad). And one on the bed just screaming (Sam).

With your first child, you rarely let them cry longer than a minute or two because 1) you haven't learned yet that it's ok for babies to cry sometimes and 2) you don't have anyone else screaming for your attention at the same time.

But by the time you get to three, you calmly bathe your happy child while the other two scream at you. Because otherwise, no one around here would get clean, changed, fed, or ready to go.

Chaotic? Yes.
Worth it? Definitely.

4 Weeks

2011-05-03T12:44:00.000-06:00

And still in love!

A few things we've learned about baby Sam:

He does NOT like the car seat. Much like Chad when he was little, Sam screams any time we get into the car.
He would prefer to sleep on his tummy.
He's not a big fan of the baby swing.
He does not like to be in a wet or dirty diaper.
He loves to cuddle.
He loves his pacifier.
He loves to sleep... during the day.

He's still not sure about the two big monsters who constantly coo in his face...

2011-04-26T13:03:00.000-06:00

Looks like I've got another tummy sleeper on my hands....

I wasn't brave enough to put Chad on his tummy until he was 2 months old (but boy, was life much more pleasant after that). We'll see how long I can last with this one.

Three Weeks Old

2011-04-24T07:12:00.000-06:00

I had good intentions of taking a picture every week... I was late by a few days on the 2 week picture, so here's the 2 1/2 week old picture:

Thankfully Sam loves the bathtub. I gave him a bath yesterday before our photoshoot.

And the three week pictures:

Three!

2011-04-23T20:33:00.000-06:00

It's crazy how having a new little baby makes your other kids seem so much bigger/more grown up!

Big Sister

2011-04-23T20:31:00.000-06:00

Sadie sure loves her new little brother.

Sometimes it's easy...

2011-04-18T20:46:00.000-06:00

Chad was being awfully quiet after lunch today.... I went upstairs to check on him and found him like this:

Baby Sneezes

2011-04-18T20:29:00.000-06:00

Ah......

Choo!

Week in Pictures

2011-04-18T08:19:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the picture overload, I have so many I've wanted to share, but just haven't had time to post!

Sleepy Boy

Sadie is my best good helper

Grandma Gee with the kids - Chad was too busy with the iPod to look at the camera :)

Three kids - YIKES!

Brothers...

Gassy Smile!

One Week Pictures

2011-04-18T07:53:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm behind since Sam is actually 2 weeks old, give a tired mom a break :)

Yes, those are cloth diapers on the little squirt. I did a ton of research and I decided to try cloth diapers this time around. I started Chad in them about a month ago to get myself geared up. Believe it or not, I've loved it. It is much easier than I thought it would be, and each time I change a diaper I think "I'm saving 20-30 cents!" (depending on whose diaper I am changing). That might not seem like much, but when you count the number of diapers I change per day, it definitely adds up. I'm not much into the "green" scene, but it does feel good not to be putting so many diapers in the trash.

To the Zoo!

2011-04-16T20:15:00.001-06:00

It was a beautiful day so after dropping off Jeff's mom at the airport (the last of my post-baby help, waaah!) we headed over to the Zoo. No pictures of baby, but I'll indulge you in another post!

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Ewww!

2011-04-08T12:02:00.001-06:00

Today as we're driving in the car:

Sadie: Mmmm, that cookie was good.
Me: What cookie?
Sadie: The one I found under my seat. It had a hair on it but I took it off.
Me: Sadie, that's gross!
Sadie: Why?
Me: Because that means the cookie was old!
Sadie: That's ok mom, it wasn't my hair.

Gag.

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Smitten

2011-04-07T19:46:00.000-06:00

We are totally and completely smitten with our new little boy:

Samuel Jeremy McGee

2011-04-03T11:34:00.001-06:00

Born April 2, 2011
11:24pm
7lbs 10oz, 20 in
Welcome to the world little guy!

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Ice Cream!

2011-03-31T11:51:00.001-06:00

We treated the kids to some ice cream at McD's a few days ago. They both thought it was the coolest thing... makes me wonder why we've never done it before!

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2011-03-31T11:49:00.001-06:00

Watching "Tangled" for the 5th time in 2 days. Grandpa's are so good.

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Thank You

2011-03-21T10:38:00.002-06:00

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/21/car.seat.guidelines.parenting/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

Funny how this is being touted as "new" even though I've known about this since Sadie was a baby and we didn't turn her around at 1 year like most people do.

I'll admit neither of my children have made it to the 2 year mark, but I've tried to keep them both rear-facing as long as possible. Now those who people thought I was weird, crazy, or just didn't know that I "could" turn my kids around at 1 year of age can see I really did know what I was doing!

So maybe instead of "Thank You" the title of this post should read "Justice."

In any case, I thought I'd help spread the word.

Bathroom Update

2011-03-19T12:33:00.000-06:00

We're loving doing slow updates/upgrades to our house. Now I know how the big Orange Store and the big Blue store stay in business. We got a gift card from Jeff's parents for Christmas to Home Depot (that would be the Orange Store in case you were wondering). We waffled back and forth between painting the kitchen, making bunk beds for Chad's room or updating our bathroom. Finally we decided to re-do our bathroom.

Here it was before -

Light fixture over the vanity:

Shower/bathtub:

And here it is after we painted and updated the fixtures:

We replaced the generic builder towel rod (that always fell down anyway) with a double rod. We were storing our towels just slung over the shower and closet doors. No more!

You can barely see it from here, but we added a robe hook on the wall between the shower and tub. No more putting our towel on the floor to wait for us when we get out of the shower!

Here's a little better picture of the robe hook:

And our new fixture over the vanity. I was so worried we were going to have to do some major patching since the old fixture was so wide, but we just had to fill a few screw holes.

Funny thing, I originally wanted to paint the cabinets since I'm really not a fan of the color, but I thought painting the bathroom would be easier and solve my problem (for the short term anyway). Now, I REALLY hate the color of the cabinets... the blue paint brought out the orange in the cabinets. Looks like we're going to be painting the cabinets after all... thankfully my parents are coming in a few weeks so I can ~~con my dad into helping~~ ask my dad very nicely to help me sand and paint them. He always loves a project. We're also planning to make a frame for the mirror to make it look a little less generic.

So happy together

2011-03-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

I love it when these two laugh together.

Silver Lining

2011-03-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

Rio Rancho may not be the prettiest place to live. In fact, it really isn't. It's brown with sagebrush and rolling hills. It becomes a dust bowl in the spring when the wind blows. All. Day. Long.

But, one perk to living here is seeing this out your front or back door on a regular basis.

Concentration

2011-03-06T08:48:00.000-07:00

Chad's new favorite pastime is putting beads on pipe cleaners. I love his tongue in this picture, he was concentrating so hard!

Homemade Play Dough

2011-03-06T08:44:00.000-07:00

So the other day, I needed something to keep the kids happy and occupied. I looked online for a quick homemade play dough recipe. It wasn't the greatest recipe, but did provide a good 20 minutes of entertainment.

If you have a good homemade play dough recipe, feel free to send it my way!

Three-Thirty

2011-02-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

3:30 pm is the witching hour at our house. It's when all I hear is "I'm bored, I'm hungry, I want to watch a movie, I don't want to play with Chad". Today we beat the 3:30 blues by pulling out some construction paper and various craft items:

Chad has a thing with putting stickers on his mouth, any time he finds stickers, they go right onto his mouth:

Sadie had fun with the princess stickers:

I follow a blog called No Time for Flashcards , I'm hoping it will give me some more ideas of things to do to keep the kids busy in the afternoon and all of us happy :)

Playing

2011-02-21T18:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but sometimes at the end of the day I look back and think...Did I play with the kids at all today? I won't tell you how often I do that, lest you think I'm a bad parent.

Today, after spending an hour cleaning the kitchen from top to middle (I ran out of steam before I got to the floors - being 7 1/2 months pregnant will do that to a person), I decided to head upstairs with the kids to play for a bit.

First we pulled out Chad's new Diego train set (thanks to Aunt Candace and Devon... what would we do without hand-me-down toys?!) This was the face Chad had pretty much the whole time, he was very concerned that the train would keep going - all I can say is thank goodness for rechargeable batteries.

When the train batteries ran out and the novelty wore off, we headed to Sadie's room to play with the dollhouse.

First, Sadie insisted we play with Uncle Garrett (never mind that he's far, far away on a mission in Chile!):

Here they're trying to sort out who gets which side:

And finally this is Sadie saying "Mom, put down the camera and play with us!"

So I did!

Fresh Air!

2011-02-14T19:21:00.001-07:00

Oh how we've missed not only going outside, but playing outside as well. We're all feeling better (knock on wood) and the weather was gorgeous so we finally got out into the fresh air today. What wonders a little air does...

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Change of scenery

2011-02-09T17:31:00.001-07:00

I wouldn't call it "fresh air" since we went to an indoor play place, but after 5 days of being cooped up in the house, due to the cold and being sick with colds, the kids and I needed a break.

We took advantage of Jeff being off work and headed to an indoor gym with the kids. I figured I'd let them bounce off someone else's walls.

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Craigslist Finally Comes Through

2011-02-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

With the arrival of baby #3 coming sooner than I want to admit, I've been on the lookout for a new rocking chair, preferably a leather recliner. For a good price. In good condition High hopes, I know.

Patience pays off (as does having a Craigslist app on your phone to notify you of new postings).

What a blessing it was to find not only the recliner, but the set, on Craigslist for $200! Just the day before we saw the posting for this set, we were looking at a recliner at a furniture store for $500. Patience pays off. The family we bought these from is moving out of the country and trying to sell things as quickly as possible. The couch also reclines on both sides, and everything is in immaculate condition. Like a said, a definite blessing.

So for fun, here's what the living room looked like with our old couches

And here it is now:

Like a breath of fresh air!

Hello, February!

2011-02-02T18:45:00.000-07:00

Remember in my last post I mentioned we didn't get above 20 degrees yesterday? Well, today we didn't get above 10 degrees....

I'm not sure what the official temperature was last night, but it was COLD. So much so that the cold water pipes to my washer froze (thankfully no other pipes in the house were affected).

I looked online and did everything the different websites told me to: left the blow dryer blowing on the frozen pipe, I hooked up the garden hose so the hot water (which was working) could drip, and hopefully help the other pipe to unfreeze, I turned up the heat and closed off the laundry room to try to get the room warm enough to thaw the ice.

Nothing worked. By the way - if you're weird like me and you don't want to waste the hot water that's dripping through the garden hose, this is what you do:

In the end, we went to Target and bought a space heater as a last resort. It worked like a charm. In about an hour, the pipe was thawed enough to let the water get through. Now I just have to figure out how to get through tonight, the low is supposed to be -7... YIKES! (yes, that's a negative sign in front of the 7)

Here's Jeff "sweeping" the driveway after he'd tried to clear it off with a shovel. This is what people from Arizona do when they need to clear the driveway, since they've never owned a snow shovel.

And here's a picture I took of the mountain from my phone:

Oh, and let me just mention. In Santa Fe when it snowed, people drove the same as any other day. Since everyone drives All Wheel Drive Subarus, I guess they figure they're safe, when in reality they just make the roads that much more unsafe for the rest of us. In Albuquerque it's quite the opposite. People drive too slow. And I mean too slow in the sense that it makes the roads unsafe because if there's a hill, you're going to get stuck on it because the moron in front of you though he needed to inch up it at 5 MPH and got stuck half way up.

But, I gotta say, I was quite proud of the Silver Bullet, aka the BMW, aka the Big Mormon Wagon, aka our new minivan (a Chrysler Town and Country). She handles like a dream in the snow. Makes the blow to my ego not so hard to handle.

(Another) Trip to Arizona!

2011-02-01T20:32:00.000-07:00

Jeff needed an after-the-holiday-craziness break, so we took off for Arizona for 10 days. We couldn't have picked a better time to go, the weather was in the high 60's and 70's while we were there! (Today we hit a high of 20... blech!)

We visited the Phoenix Zoo with my parents. We went in the afternoon so both kids were pretty tired and cranky. The highlights of the Zoo? Not the animals...

The huge slide (that's Sadie coming down):

And the Merry-Go-Round (Chad calls it a "Ring-A-Round")

Like I said, the weather was beautiful. The kids had a great time playing outside:

(Sadie was obsessed with the binoculars)

After Wickenburg, we headed to Tucson to see Jeff's family:
This is a typical Sunday afternoon at the McGee's house - the kids had fun joining in on the boys' wrestling matches.

I love seeing the different attempts at taking a picture of all the kids (at least they're getting better at looking and smiling at the camera!)

Chad being silly:

My two cuties:

And finally the "big" cousins together!

I can't wait to take another picture of these kids in 10 years to see how much they've changed and grown up!

Sleeping Babies

2011-01-29T11:19:00.001-07:00

OK, so they're not babies, but that's what I call them. We're not feeling so great today, both kids fell asleep on my lap on the couch

I apologize if the pictures don't turn out well, I'm trying out the blog from my phone app.

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A (cold) day at the park...

2011-01-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

We (I) had the brilliant idea of going to the park on Tuesday since the kids wouldn't nap (previous post explains why). I wish I would have taken a picture of the temperature gauge in our car, it might make this post more meaningful. I'll just tell you, it was 36 degrees outside. So, we bundled up and drove to a new park for the kids to try out.

Of course, the cold weather didn't damper Sadie's enthusiasm...

Is she crying? Is she trying to stay warm? Nope, she's counting so we can play hide and seek - her new favorite game.

She had just found Jeff hiding behind the trash can and was pretty proud of herself...

We thought this guy on the dirt bike was pretty cool to watch...

Where was Chad, you ask? Well, remember I mentioned no one had napped? He fell asleep about 20 seconds before we arrived at the park.

Boy was he MAD when he woke up at home and not at the park. He had no idea we'd just spent about an hour at the park while he napped in the car.

The End of an Era

2011-01-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Good-bye crib...

Hello big bed...

This also translates into saying good-bye to naps and hello to 5:30am wake-up times. Why I was "blessed" with such early risers, I'll never know.

We moved Chad because he's started to climb out of his crib and we want to take it down with enough time for him to forget about it before the baby comes. Of course, after we had taken it all down, Jeff mentioned we could have just turned it around so the higher side was in the front and he couldn't climb out. Doh....

Painting!

2011-01-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

No, this time it's not me... remember my effort to keep the kids busy/happy/out of each other's hair? Well, today we decided to try painting. With Chad. I knew I was taking the success/failure of the afternoon into my hands by handing him a paint brush and paint.

Sadie, was great at helping put the paint on the plate

Chad laid it on pretty thick...

It went really well until Chad got carried away with the water and started just mixing the paint with the water rather than actually painting on the paper. I took his water away and he got mad and slammed his hands down on the paper. Then he got even more mad that his hands were covered with wet paint...

Still, I would consider it a successful venture, since Sadie eventually shared her paint with him and he calmed down.

Christmas

2011-01-03T08:13:00.001-07:00

My whole family (minus one sister) was here for Christmas. Christmas has always been my favorite holiday because it's been one of the few times during the year that my entire family can get together.

The kids had a great time playing with their cousins, Kirsten and Devon. We made gingerbread houses, headed to Santa Fe for Christmas Eve, ate lots of sweets and yummy food, and enjoyed a fruitful Christmas morning :)

Why I don't mind the snow...

2010-12-20T13:15:00.000-07:00

Remember all the snow we got just a few days ago? Well, this is what our back yard looks like now:

This is why a self-proclaimed snow hater can get excited about snow :)

Fun in the Snow!

2010-12-17T19:46:00.001-07:00

Of course we had to go play in the snow today...

This was what Sadie picked out to wear at first

Thankfully I convinced her to put on something a little more weather-appropriate.

She ran right out and started dancing:

Chad stood like this pretty much the whole time. Maybe he was embarrassed someone would see him wearing Sadie's old pink snow boots? (I refuse to buy new ones since we're supposed to have a mild winter this year). Don't worry, I don't make him wear them in public so it's not like he'll be scarred for life.

Sadie had fun going down the slide (it's faster in snow pants!)

Chad stayed close to the porch with the scowl on his face. The kid just does not like snow.

First Snow!

2010-12-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

Last night before I went to bed, I snapped this picture out our front door. I absolutely love the feeling in the air when snow is falling. Everything is calm, quiet, and peaceful.

Here is what we woke up to this morning:

Resourcefulness

2010-12-12T13:03:00.000-07:00

This is Sadie's doll. She put it to sleep in the play kitchen's microwave.

Resourceful, no?

(please don't be alarmed, Santa is bringing a crib for her babies)

Sick Days

2010-12-10T17:20:00.001-07:00

I think the only thing more difficult than being sick yourself is when your children don't feel well.

Poor little guy is so sick that when I told him it was time for dinner, he came to the table, took one look at his chicken nuggets and walked back over to the couch and laid (lay?) down.

He's been asleep since then.

At the park

2010-12-06T19:43:00.000-07:00

We've had an unseasonably warm(ish) fall/winter so far. Funny how your perspective changes. When we lived in Tucson, 50 degrees was cold winter weather. Here in Albuquerque, that means it's "nice" and we go to the park!

Sadie was glad Jeff joined us since it meant she got to ride her bike.

Chad likes to play on the slides and chase Sadie.

Of course they have to take a break to watch the game:

I suppose it's not always fun or fair...

"I'm better, I'm just going to hang out here."

Then we finish off by sitting in the front yard, watching the trash man come down the street.

Not a bad afternoon.

Crafting

2010-12-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to think of ways to keep the kids busy so they aren't getting on each others' (and my) nerves.

I found some little sun catchers (or faux stained glass figurines) at the dollar store, so I brought them out for the kids to paint today.

An hour of fun and no fighting. What more could a mom ask for?

My Obsession

2010-12-02T19:29:00.001-07:00

I've recently discovered that I have an obsession with kitchen appliances. I really can't get enough. If you know me (and I mean beyond reading my blog once in a while) you know that I love my bread maker and my crock pot.

But it doesn't end there. My bread maker has taken a back seat to my Kitchen Aid Mixer since I discovered I can make dough in it (yes, I know, a little late). I love my Magic Bullet for smoothies, and my electric griddle for making pancakes for the kids. I used to swear by my NuWave oven since it can cook meat from frozen. The kids love the apples from my food dehydrator. I got a rice cooker for my birthday. We bought an electric turkey roaster for Thanksgiving. My Christmas list included a food processor. Yes, I said "included". I already got it. Don't judge my husband. He knows I don't like to wait for surprises.

Am I satisfied? Nope. Now I want an electric pressure cooker.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have an obsession.

I want to know... what are you favorite kitchen appliances?

Christmas Decorations

2010-12-02T08:18:00.000-07:00

Last year by the time Christmas rolled around I was tired of seeing the Christmas decorations. This year I decided to at least wait until December 1st (rather than the day after Thanksgiving) to put up the decorations.

The kids had fun helping put up decorations on the tree.

Then we headed outside to help Jeff put up the lights. OK, the kids played and I supervised :)

We're hosting my family for Christmas this year and we're so excited!

Simple Math

2010-11-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

Or, another way to look at it, 3 boys + 2 girls = our family after next April.

We had the big ultrasound on Monday, and we're having a BOY in early April!

I'm still trying to adjust to the shock. This pregnancy has been so similar to Sadie's. I've been super nauseous and tired. With Chad, I just didn't even feel pregnant, no nausea, no complete and utter exhaustion. So I just knew this one was going to be another girl. I made the ultrasound tech check a few times to make absolutely sure it is a boy. Even though he didn't cooperate very much for her in other aspects, we did get a few shots of the goods.

Yes, we have a name. No, I'm not ready to reveal it to the blogging world yet.

Today's Adventure

2010-11-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

We decided to take a trip up the mountain today. We planned a quiet family adventure to see Albuquerque from a different point of view.

We encountered a little snow

When we had almost reached the top, Sadie got car sick and threw up all over. Thankfully we had planned for the cold weather, because otherwise I wouldn't have had anything for her to wear. We stripped her down and gave her my heavy coat to wear to keep her warm.

I'm glad we're still in the stage where something like that only adds interest to the trip, rather than ruining the whole day. She was a good sport and fell asleep for the rest of the drive.

We decided since we were so close to the top that we'd keep going so we could at least look out over Albuquerque. It was definitely worth it:

And we can't forget this guy, here's Chad on the way home, he wanted so badly to eat the orange like an apple:

Upgrades

2010-11-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Blame it on my mom and dad. When they were here, they bought me a new kitchen faucet. Well, you can't update the kitchen faucet and leave the downstairs bathroom faucet old school. It just isn't fair. To the bathroom. Or something.

Little did we know when Jeff made the trip to Home Depot that one faucet would take three hours to change.

That's our pedestal sink on the floor. Maybe it's because we're newbies at the DIY thing, but we struggled and struggled, and finally just had to remove the sink from the wall in order to be able to change the faucet out.

Once we got the sink away from the wall it was a little easier.

Old faucet fixture (this is actually the one from our bathroom, but it was the same one):

New faucet fixture:

But it doesn't stop there. It was about 7:00 at night. We had the bug. We decided to mix some paint we have leftover from painting the kids' rooms to see what we could come up with. We found a mixture we liked, and Jeff drove to Lowe's to get some sponges for our sponge rollers.

Before:

At this point I was thinking "what the heck are we doing?!"

But once it was all finished, I was very happy with it.

(I don't know why the color looks so different in each picture, but the first one is the most accurate)

I love it. I love even more that it only cost us about $6.00 (for the price of the sponge rollers) to paint! I wanted to get rid of the ugly generic builder mirror, but after some research online, decided against it. Most of what I read said that since it's glued to the wall I'd probably have to replace that portion of the wall after taking it down. No thanks.

We got the faucets for a good price, so we decided to update the ones in our bathroom as well. By this time we were pros and got them both changed in about and hour and a half.

Before:

After:

It's amazing how something so simple as changing a faucet fixture and/or painting can make such a big difference!

Hike in the Bosque

2010-11-03T14:52:00.000-06:00

We went hiking down in the Bosque by the Rio Grande this morning. What a great time of year to go, it was beautiful with the leaves changing colors.

We had to hike through some thick willows to get to the river, but it was definitely worth it.

Grandpa Mac had fun showing the kids how to skip rocks.

And telling who knows what kinds of tales :)

View of the Sandia Mountains through the trees

These pretty purple flowers were everywhere

Taking one last rest on a bench before heading back to the car.

Halloween

2010-10-30T07:12:00.000-06:00

I remember taking these pictures as a kid with us all lined up in our Halloween costumes. Now I get to do the same thing with my own kids!

Carving Pumpkins!

2010-10-30T07:00:00.000-06:00

I have decided Fall is my favorite season. I love the decorations, yummy food I get to bake, the crisp feeling in the air, the start of football season, and all the fun things to do with the kids.

Candy Corn Wreath

2010-10-10T13:48:00.000-06:00

So, I got this idea from a blog I follow... I tried my hand at it, and it actually turned out cute!

A few notes:

Get your 4 year old to help you sort out the candy corns - the good ones from the broken ones.
Don't play the "one candy corn for the wreath, one candy corn for me" game. You'll get a stomach ache.

Balloon Fiesta!

2010-10-05T06:49:00.000-06:00

While Mandy was here over the weekend, we went to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. We woke up at 3:30am to get to the park by 5:00. Crazy? Yes. Totally worth it? Definitely. At 6:30, they send up a dawn patrol, 10 balloons to see what conditions are like to make sure the rest of the balloons can go up. Right before taking off, they did a balloon glow where they all lit their burners (?). Very cool.

Every once in a while you'd see a crew testing the burners. It was so cool to see in the dark.

It's finally light! And more balloons are getting ready to go up:

The balloons launched in rows like this. I think we saw 500-600 balloons go up. Just when you thought they were done, you'd turn around and another row like this was popping up!

Chad watching the balloons go up

Flying the flag for the National Anthem:

To inflate the balloons, they use cold air first. Here is a picture with the basket in the foreground (laying on its side) looking into the balloon.

Here they are using the burners to actually get the balloon to lift up:

Mandy with Sadie

This picture gives you an idea of how big the balloons really are:

Shapes!

Darth Vader:

Each balloon has a crew of 15-25 people to help it get up. Darth Vader's crew was dressed up like Storm Troopers.

We're tired, but we're still smiling!

It really was an amazing experience to get to be down on the field right in the middle of all the action. We had a great time, though I'm not sure we'd go again next year, unless of course we had some out of town visitors who wanted to brave the early morning with us. We'll start taking reservations :)

Another Visit!

2010-10-04T20:33:00.000-06:00

My sister Mandy came to visit over the weekend. We had fun making cupcakes, going to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (pics to come soon), and heading to the zoo. The kids have had so many visitors in the past month, I think they'll go through withdrawals!

Chad turns two!

2010-10-03T16:14:00.001-06:00

We're hoping that since Chad has been throwing tantrums since he was 9 months old, he has the terrible twos out of his system.

He loves trucks, cars, planes, motorcycles, anything that's loud and makes noise.

He's a bundle of energy but loves to cuddle and give kisses.

He's a goofball, loves to play games and tease his sister. I always say he reminds me a lot of my brother Jeremy.

He loves his crib, watching Little Einsteins, and drinking milk.

We love our little "Destructo" and we're so glad he came into our family two years ago!