Visit Our Parks...

Oh, hello there

2012-01-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

There's no denying it: I suck at blogging now. Rex is almost 5 months old and is happy and easy, but I am still having a hard time organizing my life and fitting everything in...so blogging got kicked to the curb. There is hope though, because Finn just started pre-school today! Now that I will just have two in the afternoons, I'm hoping I will have a little extra time to actually document the life we are living. And without further adieu, I give you Halloween:
Finn was Woody and Kate was Rapunzel. We have gotten A LOT of mileage out of that Rapunzel dress-up let me tell you. Here are the kiddos with their friends at our Playgroup Halloween party. Love getting together with these kids and their mamas.Halloween afternoon the kids got to go trick-or-treating at Aaron's office building. They had fun walking through the spooky decorated hallways and got waaaaay too much candy.

Terrible picture taken on my phone when they got home from trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. I just love how excited they are...well, not Rex so much. Finn wore that duck costume when he was a baby...sigh.

Finn and Kate LOVED carving pumpkins this year:

I will be compiling Finnisms, Kateisms and Thanksgiving and Christmas posts over the next few days...wish me luck!

Rex's Newborn Photoshoot

2011-10-26T08:16:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Lesli was kind enough to let Rex poop all over her props so we could get some newborn photos. We had a pretty difficult time getting everyone to cooperate and I learned a lot for the next one of these I do...but we ended up with a few really great shots and that's all I need!

I wanted to get a shot of all three kids together, which didn't happen because Rex was floppy and irritable and the other two forgot how to follow directions all of a sudden. But we did get some great ones of Finn and Kate on their own:

And these of them together, the second of which I absolutely love:

Finn is a little out of focus and I think if he was making a more serious face like Kate it would have made this picture absolutely amazing, but of course I love his smile too. That picture just melts my heart. Thanks for capturing all these Lesli!

Rex is now 8 weeks old and has just started smiling a lot more often. He is also starting to coo and experiment with his voice which is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I am surviving as a mother of three...but my house is not! I am lucky if I shower before noon and usually have to choose if I want to look presentable or keep the house liveable...someday I might get to do both!

Rex is Here!

2011-10-12T22:28:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, well...yes. This post is extremely overdue. But what can I say? I'm the mother of three now! Ergo...no free time. I guess I do have free time but the majority of it is spent lying comatose on the couch before I stumble to bed. Today a miracle occurred and all three kids took a nap at the same time...hence this post is finally being written!

The day I went into labor, I was a BASKET CASE. I couldn't keep focused on one thing for longer than 5 minutes and I was cleaning parts of the house I have never touched before. I was seriously running around all day. I was having contractions but was just more annoyed by them than anything. Aaron told me he was pretty sure I was in labor and we both laughed it off.

Around midnight, the contractions started to get more intense. I'd already gone through a false labor situation and was still two weeks from my due date so I didn't want to jump to conclusions and decided to take a warm bath to try to make them stop...but they just got worse. I finally called Megan and she sent Neil over to sleep on the couch. (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE living two blocks from my sister...cuz it's pretty much the greatest thing ever.)

The next two hours were HELL as the contractions escalated to ca-razy mode but as usual I don't progress so it took them a while to admit me. When the nurse checked me and I still hadn't progressed yet, Aaron was ready with a trombone app on his phone that he recently downloaded that goes "wa wa wa waaaaahhhh". That's a man for ya. The nurse was totally on my side and shot him an evil look. I have to admit it was actually pretty funny. Luckily as soon as I was admitted, the anesthesiologist was right there and hooked me up with an epidural. Three hours later Rex was born!

The actual delivery was a total breeze. Zero stiches makes a happy mamma. And with this little cutie pie as the reward, how could I ever complain?

Rex Bennett Parks. 6 pounds, 14 oz. 18 1/2 inches long. Lots of dark hair, most of which has fallen out by now, but it doesn't matter because he just keeps getting cuter.

I had lots of wonderful visitors in the hospital, but I have to say my favorite ones were Finn and Kate.

Coolest Aunt Ever award goes to Megan for not only taking care of them for a couple days but painting their faces too!

Love this video of Aaron helping Kate hold Rex:

Both kids are very good with the baby. Finn is a good helper and is always getting baby items for me or giving Rex his binki and Kate just LOVES to hold him and look at him.

My mom and dad arrived two days after I got home from the hospital -- perfect timing! Dad got right to work fixing a gazillion things around my house (seriously, he never stopped working) and Mom kept the older kids entertained, bought lots of groceries and gave Rex lots of cuddles. We even managed to get a few card games in! I was so sad to see them leave...they were soooo much help and such great company. Here are a couple shots of them in action:Aaron and I are both so happy with our little family. Rex is 6 weeks old now and a really good baby...a WAY easier newborn than my other two were and we are just in love with him. I took these pictures a couple weeks ago...he changes so much every day and is already chubbier than these pics.

Welcome to the fam little Rex. I know I didn't imagine it -- you looked right into my eyes and smiled at me today! I promise I'll try my hardest to be the mom you deserve, I already love you more than words can say.

August was Jam-Packed!

2011-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

We started August off with a Harker family reunion. Day one was at Lagoon and both the kids had a blast with all their cousins. I enjoyed being there with my dad and lots of other family, even though my preggo-ness kept me from going on any rides. I'm pretty sure I will never feel too old for amusement parks, they are just plain exciting. The next night we camped in Heber. Finn had so much fun "exploring" all the cabins and playing with cousins. Here is a picture of Aaron and the kids on a hike they went on:
Finn's oh-so-fun birthday was next (accompanied with the not-so-fun flooding of our basement) but his party was after that, which helped wipe away the bad memories of soggy carpet and sopping towels. A full post about his birthday is below.

Next came a long-awaited member to our family:

Not the picture you were expecting? Well before the baby came we knew we needed a bigger car and so we took the plunge into van-dom. Aaron and I both love to drive it because we feel like we're steering a spaceship. Seriously. It's awesome.

And then on August 30th, we welcomed the REAL newest member of our family, Rex Bennett Parks! His birth story post is coming soon, but just know that we are all in love with him. He was definitely the best part of our busy August month!

Finn's a Grown-up Now

2011-08-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

That was then...
This is now!

Finn turned 4 years old on August 8th! My sister has told me once that she felt her oldest son was "all grown up" when he was 4...which she realizes is silly now that he is 8 and so much older...and has so much growing left to do. I must admit that I have caught myself thinking of Finn that way because he knows so much and is so much bigger than Kate (and Rex! post about him coming soon). Four seems SO OLD when I think of my first tiny little baby with his bald head and chubby cheeks. But I am dedicated to reminding myself how little Finn still is, and how much nurturing he needs, and how much learning and growing he still has to do.

Finn's actual birthday started great with his special breakfast choice of milk and toast with nutella. We got free tickets to a movie at the theater down the street so went to that with a few of his cousins in the morning. Great fun! Then, to make a long story short, the day took a turn for the worse when I decided to get some canning done that turned into a forever ordeal and basically ignored Finn for the rest of the day which resulted in the kids flooding our basement...oy.

But later that week we had a fun family party that made up for the birthday chaos!

Helping me make his birthday cake

I am not a 'birthday cake mom' so was pretty stoked when Finn asked me to decorate his cake with the new Lego guys he got from grandparents for his birthday. Nice.

This was taken later that week when his cousins came to play. The Woody and Buzz dress-ups are birthday gifts. I know the picture is crazy out of focus, but it still makes me really, really happy.

Some things about Finn at this age:
He loves dress-ups, Lego, all pretend play and Star Wars. Wild Kratts is by far his favorite kids show and he is always spouting off animal facts. Learning how to read took a back seat during the summer, but he is still very interested in it and can sound out most reasonably-sized words. He is becoming less innocent (wah!) now that Kate is old enough to be a competitor and he has learned what makes her tic, but generally they get along really well. He has been nothing but sweet with his new baby brother. He is easy-going and pleasant to be around 90% of the time, with a short fuse (that probably comes from Mom) that results in the occasional screaming fit. We are working on that ;) He LOVES sunbeams and is always willing to participate in Primary. He loves to sing and be sung to, read and be read to. He loves to snuggle me in the morning. He is always surprising us with the clever/goofy things he says. He is our little grown-up! And we love watching him grow up more with each passing year. Happy Birthday Finn!

Canada Day and the 4th

2011-07-19T16:11:00.005-07:00

We were thrilled to show our Canadian pride this year by participating in a local Canada Day parade! Finn's cousins decorated their power wheels and Finn had a blast riding in the back and throwing candy to the spectators. Here is the only picture I got (yes, Finn is completely hidden from view by the giant polka dot balloon). The power wheels ran out of battery half way through the route, so the kids had to be rescued, but a great time was had by all...including Kate. I love her smile at the end of this video:

The weekend of the 4th we took the kids to the park to see a patriotic musical and visit the colonial village. Here they are at "school" as it would have been in the olden days:
That night I took my sister Megan to Stadium of Fire for her birthday. (Brad Paisley was the main act and she really loves him.) I have never been and it did not dissapoint! Plus, we got hooked up with an extra ticket at the last minute so Tom could join us too!This is David Archuletta who was actually pretty great. I'm not zoomed in at all...we were so close to the stage!
Megan got so excited when Brad came out. He was great live!

And the fireworks after?! Total sensory overload, it was amazing. This video makes me so happy:

I didn't get any pictures of the 'actual' 4th of July but it was pretty great. As per tradition we went to Megan's for a BBQ and the men put on their extreme family fireworks show...which was extra crazy this year. It started to rain at the end of the night which put a damper on things, but it was still a fantastic day. Summer holidays are the best!

Kate is Two!

2011-06-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

Kate had so much fun on her birthday this year. She still talks about her party saying, "cake, ice keem, outside, sing happy bid-day, pesents!"
We invited all our nearby family for pizza, cake and icecream, and Kate had a great time playing with her cousins and aunts and uncles. The weather was perfect!
Very much a girly girl, Kate loves putting on pretty dress-ups. She was very excited about this Princess Rapunzel dress with matching shoes
I love the following video because it was so cute how happy she got when we started singing "happy birthday". And we were all very impressed that she legitimately blew out her own candles!
. Here she is post-cake:

A few things about Kate at this age: Her vocabulary has exploded and she loves to have 'conversations' with us. She is very calculated when she speaks and will take her time to form sentences and express herself. She loves to say prayers, especially when Finn helps her. She is very good at saying please and thank you. She is excited about her baby brother on the way and frequently points to my belly and says, "baby, pop out, two monts, mom?" and I say "yes, soon you'll have a baby brother" and she replies, "oh, cool mom." She worships Finn and copies EVERYTHING he does. She especially loves the 'snuggle time' she gets with him at night before I make her get in her own bed and go to sleep. She is potty training (totally her own idea) and actually tells me when she needs to go...still working on staying dry all day though. Her tantrums are no longer cute, but she is very good at accepting consequences and often says sorry without being prompted. She is such a fun little girl and we are constantly amazed at her cuteness and sweet personality. Happy Birthday Kate!

Lagoon Trip

2011-06-19T16:11:00.000-07:00

Since Aaron got the offer for his new job so quickly, we ended up having some extra cash from our severence and knew we had to celebrate. So we took the kids to Layton for the weekend, stayed in a hotel and went to Lagoon!
This was the first ride we went on. They were both so good while they waited in line.

We had such a great time. Since there were no other adults with us, Aaron and I didn't get to go on any big roller coasters but we didn't care; it was so much fun watching the kids experience all the rides and soak up the wonder of it all. I have so many fond memories of Lagoon as a kid and re-living it with my own kids was just a total blast.
On the train -- it was actually pretty cool! I forgot how many animals they have to see.

It was so cute watching them sit side-by-side on the rides together. Click on this one to see just how much Kate is enjoying it.

Kate got her nap in while the rest of us enjoyed a nice break on the ferris wheel. After that we got some dinner, watched one of the musical shows and hit a couple more rides before packing it in.

We got back to our hotel just in time for free cookies and milk in the lobby -- such a great end to the day! The kids were so excited about the hotel but calmed down quickly after a bath because they were so exhausted. At this point, Kate was still in a crib so we brought our playpen for her but she really wanted to lay by Finn so we let her. We thought it was so cute that she just snuggled next to him and went to sleep when she'd never even slept in a regular bed before.

The next day, we enjoyed the yummy breakfast at our hotel, went swimming in the pool and visited the Hill AFB Aerospace Museum before heading back to Orem. It was so wonderful to do something fun with our little family that we normally wouldn't have the means to do.

Blessed

2011-06-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

On May 1st, I dropped Aaron off at work so I could run some errands. Typical day. About an hour later, he called to tell me he had been laid off.

Just like that.

Novell has been recently acquired and as a result, hundreds of jobs were cut company-wide, with no regard to performance or seniority. Aaron's entire team was slashed. My brother Tom worked in Aaron's department and was also let go with the majority of his team.

Aaron actually took the news pretty well. We were offered a severence to lessen the blow, but suddenly we didn't have medical insurance and I am pretty much a ticking time-bomb of medical expenses right now. If we wanted to keep the coverage we had through Novell it would cost us $1500/month!!! Yeah, OK. I'll go discover the cure for baldness and then I'll sign right up for that.

So I started filling out all kinds of Medicaid applications and seriously considered going home to Canada for the summer to have the baby. We felt like something good was going to come...but after a while that feeling starts to fade.

Then Aaron got an interview for a job that we were sure was the answer to our prayers. His second interview went really well and one of his former collegues just got hired so he was a shoe-in. We started making all kinds of plans and were just waiting for the offer to come.

Then the rug was pulled out from under us when he got a rejection email. Wow, we were really depressed. I have never been wrong about something I was so sure of. It felt like that was our one shot to come out of this thing ahead, and it was gone.

Only two days later though, he got an interview at Henry Schein, a medical supply company whose Utah office deals with software. He got a second interview the following week and we sat on pins and needles for 6 long days while we waited to hear the news. Words cannot express the relief I felt when he got the call offering him the position. This new job is closer, has better hours and significantly better pay than the one we were originally hoping for.

I am still in awe of the hand of the Lord in our lives during this time. We thought we knew what we wanted, we were sure of it. And when we didn't get it, we felt so let down. But now we KNOW it is by the Lord that we are led. I would have never asked for this experience, but I am so completely thankful for it and will rely on it when trials come in the future.

Aaron has been at his new job for about a month now and is really liking it! It is very busy now while he learns the ropes, but he already feels so much more fulfilled than his previous job and sees the potential to advance in the company...which is something he never really saw at Novell. Thank you SO MUCH for the prayers and support from so many of you. We were stressed, but we felt loved. And now we just feel really really blessed.

Turns Out Gardening Rules

2011-05-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

I wish that I had taken before and after pictures of our backyard...I am learning that I am really terrible at that. Just know that Aaron completely over-hauled the back portion of our yard single-handedly and turned it into a really great garden! Finn had a great time helping him plant everything and I just couldn't pick my favorite picture of the two of them. Aaron has worked so hard on this and is very excited to reap what he has sewn!

The garden tonight!

Our grape vines get more and more lush every day! By the end of summer they will be twice this leafy.

We got hooked up with a cheap trampoline and a playhouse for free so suddenly our backyard is sweet! We are excited to spend many a summer day out here.

Who Put the Hop in the Hippety Hoppity Hop

2011-05-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

The title of this post comes from the singing stuffed bunny that Finn and Kate got from their Grammy c/o the Easter Bunny. (Easter morning Finn exclaimed, "Mom! The Easter Bunny gave me himself!") It was a big hit with both the kids and all their friends. I put it in storage a week ago and I still can't get the song out of my head.

Leading up to the big day, we had an Easter party with some playgroup friends. Finn and Kate loved the egg hunt and playing and eating with their buddies.

Kate LOVED holding her Easter basket. On the drive home, she fell asleep immediately with it clutched in her tiny hands. When Finn saw me take a picture of her, he figured out a way to get his picture taken too.

Saturday night we colored Easter eggs as a family. I got this fun 'monster-egg' kit that the kids, including Aaron of course, had a lot of fun with.

Easter morning was so fun. Finn rushed down to my room to show me the puppets that the Easter Bunny brought for him and Kate. They were both so excited about their baskets. It was also fun to have our very own backyard to have an egg hunt in. Finn was very interested in the true meaning of Easter this year, and I loved teaching him about the resurrection and the gift of the atonement.

To top it off, my plum tree was in bloom making everything look so Springy -- it was an Easter miracle!

She's a Smartie

2011-05-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Remember this post? Finn knew all his letters by 20 months old and we attributed it to his love for Wheel of Fortune. Well, I guess Pat Sajack doesn't deserve the credit after all because we haven't watched that show forever and Kate (22 months) knows all her letters now too! I knew that she knew a few, but she surprised me a while ago by spouting them all off while I was reading her 'A-EEE-SEES!' (an alphabet story book that she likes to look at) Not only did she know all the letters, but she knows the name of every single picture in the book too. (Like, the mole on the 'M' page...what 1 1/2 year old knows what a mole is?) Letters are just something my kids' brains latch on to I guess. Like, Kate still hasn't figured out how to use the word 'yes' but she can tell a 'b' apart from a 'd'. Whatevs. We'll take what we can get! Finn was so cute praising his sister when she got a letter right. Watch the video at your own risk, I think it took up all 8 gigs on my memory card.

Finnisms

2011-04-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while. I'm feeling pretty great this pregnancy but the one thing I have noticed is a general lack of interest...I don't want to clean, I don't want to cook, and I don't want to blog. Occasionally the sun breaks through the clouds and I get a load of laundry done or make something for dinner that didn't come from a package...and today I am blogging! Without further adieu, I give you the latest installment of Finnisms, sprinkled with pics from his lastest do-it-yourself photoshoot.
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Finn is getting more comfortable saying his prayers and has been getting really creative. This morning he asked Heavenly Father to please bless us to get more apples soon...which was a lot nicer sentiment than last night when he asked to "please help us die soon, please help us be crucified, and please bless us that we'll be put to death." With Easter coming up, I have been talking to him a lot about Christ's atonement and resurrection...maybe a little too much :)
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I am hyper-aware of how much TV my kids watch in a day. Aaron...not so much. On a Saturday when we were all in the basement, Finn had just finished watching a show and said very strategically, "Can I watch another show...dad?"
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I frequently (especially lately) use the phrase, "I'm starving" when I need something to eat. After one such exclamation, Finn said, "Me too! Actually, no. Starvin' means you're so hungry you die right?"
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Finn likes strawberries and doesn't care that he's not supposed to eat the stem. After sharing some strawberries with his cousin he came to the adults and triumphantly declared, "I ate my plant!" Way to stick to your guns dude.
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Finn is very into maps and the other day he navigated us home from my brother's house...with a map of Ikea.
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Being pregnant, I take fish oil supplements. Aaron asked if I'd had one yet today, I said no, so he got the bottle down and Finn said, "I want a fish whale!" It took me a minute to realize he was talking about my pill.
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We live close to a Meadow Gold factory. The parking lot is full of big trucks that promote their product. One of the trucks says some slogan about milk and cookies and has a picture of the same. While we were passing the factory, Finn was telling a story, interrupted himself and could barely blurt out fast enough, "COOKIE TRUCK!!!" while he pointed ecstatically. It was so cute thinking that he just couldn't believe there was a truck full of cookies and he had to point out this amazing phenomenon before we passed it.

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I woke up to the sound of Finn yelling for me in the middle of the night. I rushed to his room but he was already almost back asleep. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "Um, mom, um, why do dogs and cats have tails, why?"
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Finn is really into dress-ups lately. The other day he asked me if we could go to the store that has Jesus dress-ups and get him one. An interesting conversation ensued about reverence for Jesus...but I guess in the end it is pretty great that he wanted to dress up like him. ****************
Finn wanted to wear two t-shirts the other day and so I let him. After he got them both on he said, "this is how Dad does it right mom?" Aaron frequently has two or three shirts on at a time and I thought it was so cute that Finn was just trying to be like his dad.

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A couple weeks ago we watched General Conference. After getting out of the tub on Sunday night, Finn looked at his skin and said, "Hey mom! My hands look like President Monson's face!"

Slowly but surely

2011-03-24T09:29:00.000-07:00

It has been 6 months since we moved into our house. I have come to realize that it will never look exactly perfect, but that's just part of owning your own home. My sister recently did a lot of painting in her house and said to me, "Maybe now when you walk into my house you won't know it was built in 1946." To which I replied, "Yeah, maybe someday when you walk into my house you won't know that we built it." Because let's face it, we basically did. The work that we put into it is SO fullfilling though...unless you've done work on your own home you won't quite understand it. There is just something so gratifying about putting time and effort into something you own and making it better. I truly feel like my quality of life has been enriched by living here.

And so, slowly but surely we are improving our home. The latest additions are a BBQ that cost 100 bucks less than it should have thanks to a sweet online deal (Finn seriously can't wait to use it and asked me to cook our ham and cheese sandwiches on it for lunch today) and this little gem that makes me happy every time I step on it:

I always knew we needed a rug for this room but have never been able to find something cheap enough that was big enough and cute enough. Enter this little baby that I found online from a local dealer. It's real flokati wool and only cost 99 dollars! These kind of rugs get better with time because the more the fibres break apart the softer it gets AND I can wash it in my washing machine! I love the texture it adds to the room and I seriously change my course through the house sometimes so I can step on it. Here's what the living room looked like without it:

Still to do in this room are: hanging that mirror (yes, it's been sitting against the wall for several months), family pics on the walls, and a couple end tables and lamps. But we're getting there!

Something else coming slowly but surely? Kate's hair. She definitely has more than Finn had at this age (hallelujah), but it is still really thin. I was so happy the other day when I realized it was legitimately long enough for pig taills!

And these two little kiddos are both growing up slowly but surely. But it is still too fast for me.

The best surprise ever

2011-03-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

Yes! I am pregnant! The actual pregnancy was planned though...the surprise came a little later.

We had been trying for a while and on New Year's Eve, it became evident that once again, I wasn't pregnant. I was surprisingly really sad about it and was just kind of depressed for a few days. At the beginning of February though, a home pregnancy test came back positive and we were elated. I made my first doctor's appointment for March 9th which put me at about 9-10 weeks pregnant.

My doctor always does an ultrasound at the first appointment which I love. It just makes everything seem real. During the ultrasound, the tech said, "when did you say your last period was again?" After I told her, she said, "well, I'm measuring your baby at over 13 weeks...so whatever that was it wasn't a period. Congrats on by-passing your first trimester!"

Seriously?! I was totally shocked. Aaron pointed out how ironic it was that I was actually pregnant when I was so depressed about not being pregnant. I thought I had a solid three weeks left of my first trimester and I am already in my second!

So now the baby is due September 12th instead of October 5th. And that is the best surprise ever.

Kateisms

2011-02-26T07:51:00.001-08:00

Kate is a VERY messy eater. I'm sure most kids her age are, but she usually one-ups them by tipping over her bowl or plate at EVERY meal time and scattering/smearing the contents on the table. We're working on this.

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A couple of months ago I caught Kate in this get-up. It's my sports bra, toque and part of a Wii controller. Kate LOVES to dress up. Finn didn't start liking dress-ups till he was 3, but Kate already brings me her Snow White costume at any/all times of day to put on. She is also constantly wearing my, Aaron and Finn's shoes around the house.

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Kate has started squinting her eyes at me when she is trying to talk nicely and be cute. I realized this is because I usually squint my eyes at her when I am telling her how cute she is. She also can't say 'cheese' for the camera without squinting, as evidenced in the above picture.

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Kate's favorite part of the backyard by far is our little slide. She shouts 'sliiiiide!!!' as soon as the gate opens and makes a bee-line for it. Pretty impressive that she can climb up the ladder in all her winter gear.

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Kate's favorite words right now:

SHOW (I know, bad mom.) She always get's sooooo excited when I turn a show on and exclaims 'shoooooowwww!' several times on her way to her seat
OWIE (hmmm, maybe I shouldn't be sharing these.) Unfortunately, Kate's first real word was 'ow'. Finn's was 'balloon'...much sweeter.
NO (uuhhh, are these getting worse?) Kate does not say yes or yeah. She says no. To everything. She is just barely starting to say 'kay' in response to a question that ends in 'okay?'. But if you ask her if she wants something, she says no, even if she wants it desperately. It's a very polite no, almost like a question, like this "no?" so right now we don't really mind.
PLEASE (ok, I'm just putting this one in to counter the other ones) But she signs please ALL THE TIME. Girl knows how to get what she wants.

HAPPY Not sure if she actually knows the true meaning of this word, but we like to think she does. She goes around the house saying it over and over and over again. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

We love this little gal. She is so loving and a total snuggler. She worships Finn and is just growing up so fast!

Finnisms

2011-02-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

He had been quiet for a while and when I checked on him I found this. He said he was pretending to be a girl. Awesome.

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Finn and I were singing the primary song, "I know the scriptures are true" and completely on his own, without ever hearing his dad or other kids do this, he changed the words to: 'the spirit will guide, and deep inside, I know the scriptures are poo!" He was so proud of himself for thinking of a different word that rhymed with true, I don't even think he was trying to be rude. I cracked up, but made sure to tell him that things like that are funny once, and ONLY once...since he likes to reprise anything that gets a laugh. So far so good.

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While on the potty word topic, I will say that his latest tactic is to spout off some potty words and then say, "it's okay mom, I was talking about the LETTER, P (substitute 'the FOOD Pea, here as well)

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Finn was asked to give a talk in Primary. When I asked him about it, he said, "Yeah. Is my talk going to be in Sacrament Meeting or Primary?" I thought it was so cute that he would have been totally fine with either.

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In Provo and Orem, we are surrounded by mountains. While driving in the car, Finn looked out the window and said, "Hey Mom, can we climb up that mountain really quick?" He said it as if all I needed to do was pull over and we could take a quick 5 minute hike.

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Over the Christmas holidays, Finn loved singing Christmas carols. One day I heard him sing (accidentally), "Joy to the World! The Lord is gone!". Hmmm...kind of changes the meaning of Christmas just a bit.

This makes me feel old

2011-01-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

This is Finn's first time reading these pages in Hop on Pop. The video was taken a couple weeks ago and he's already doing so much better! I promise we're not pushing this on a three-year-old, he's just so interested in letters and reading and soaks it all up faster than I can teach him. The other day he read the word Elmo and said, "Mom! His name's not El-mo it's O-mo!" After I explained that he read it right and his name really is Elmo, his reality was shaken...but he's coping with it well.

Where We Live

2011-01-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

So this post is only about 6 months overdue, whatevs. I have been meaning to post pictures of our new house, but have been waiting until more renovations are done and more pictures are on the walls etc. Well I've realized that our home is pretty much going to be a constant work in progress so I might as well show you the 'befores' and 'afters' now...and I will post more pics as we get more done. All these before pictures were actually taken after we started demolition, so you can't quite appreciate what the house looked like before...but at least you can see what a wreck it was in the middle!

Living Room: (This is after we ripped the carpet out)

Office/Guest Room:

Kitchen...One of two rooms left untouched:

Bathroom: (other untouched room)

Finn and Kate's Room:

View Down the Stairs:

Basement: These pictures don't match up, but you can still get a feel for what we changed. I didn't take pictures of our master bathroom which has a tub, primed walls, and plumbing done, but will be finished in a few months.

Part of previous store room, now our Master Bathroom is built here:

Looking from current master bath area, through a wall we knocked down into the master bedroom: (That door is to an extra closet that we knocked down later)

Here's what the master bedroom looks like now. The master bath is to my left.Our Backyard! Looks a lot better in the late summer when all my grape vines are grown in!
We still have a lot to do (baseboards in the basement, pictures on the walls, plants all around etc etc etc) but seriously, I can't believe how much the place has changed. We love it here.

Christmas 2010

2011-01-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

I didn't take nearly enough quality pictures during this Christmas season. Albeit undocumented, we did have a pretty amazing holiday. Let's start off with this little gem:
I hope you didn't get queasy at the end...I thought that the shot would look better with more Christmas tree in it and wrongly assumed that the camera would adjust when I flipped it like it does with still shots...my brain shocks me sometimes. Notice the guitar Finn's using? On a Saturday I went out to run errands while Aaron stayed with the kids and when I got back, he had made that for Finn. It's actually really sweet. He cut the shape out of cardboard, figured out a way to staple the elastics in securely, spray painted it and spray painted the letters to glue on it. Wow. If Finn had asked me to make him a guitar, I would have handed him the one from Guitar Hero and called it good. Finn LOVES this one that Aaron made for him and plays it all the time. Thanks Super Dad.

We were all impressed when Aaron got the tree up in record time this year without any frustration. We sipped egg nog and listened to Christmas music while decorating it. Kate was in awe of all the different ornaments. She managed not to shatter any, but it wasn't from lack of effort. She pointed and said, "stah!" (star) a lot and exclaimed "oooooooh!" amid the grandeur of it all. She might actually think Christmas trees are called ooooohs, I'm not sure. Finn was a good sport and helped Daddy with the lights and got to put the star at the top again. We DID take pictures of this, but I think Finn deleted them since I can't find them on my camera and there is a new suspicious picture of a tape measurer on there. At least we have a couple videos...I just don't have the patience to wait for those to upload :)

The whole Harker crew (even my sister's fam from Calgary!) was in Utah for Christmas this year and it was pretty fantastic. My parents stayed with us and it was so fun having them here on Christmas Eve/Christmas morning. We all got together for two big family meals and just spent a lot of time hanging out with eachother and playing games. Also, my Dad did a TON of work on our house while they were here and fixed a million little things that we wouldn't have gotten to for months. Best Christmas present ever.

On Christmas morning, Finn had to walk past the tree to get to our room and he woke me up saying, "Mom! My stocking's filled up! It is!" and I said, "Oh that's great Finn, (and then because it was so blasted early) why don't you snuggle me for a while and then we'll go up and see what Santa brought you." and he replied, "OK Mom, I will snuggle for ONE minute." I thought that was funny because that's what I tell him sometimes. After he layed by me for a few seconds he said, "I'm getting up now" and went upstairs alone to check out the tree. Finn NEVER gets up without me alongside him so that was pretty huge.

My mom helping Kate with her stocking while Finn opens candy from his. He kept waiting for me to tell him to put the candy away and when I didn't he said joyfully, "We get to have LOTS of treats on Christmas!"

Kate's favorite present by far. She could hardly wait for me to put it together before she started pushing her new Winnie the Pooh around in it.

LEGOS: Extreme Edition

Finn really got into the true meaning of Christmas this year and had a great time playing with his nativity and singing Christmas hymns. He had a cute book from the library called "Twas the Night: The Nativity Story" and while reading this part to him I felt the truth of the words, "...all the animals were awed, to know that this child was the TRUE Son of God!". I am so thankful for this season, and it's power to remind me of the Savior's birth and the life that he lived for me, and all of us.

Aaron's Not-So-Great Birthday

2010-12-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

Last year, Aaron's birthday was great. This year, it was not-so-great.

The festivities started the night before, on a birthday date. It was SO great to get away for a few hours on a real date. We saw "The Tourist" which ended up being just okay. Definitely entertaining, but since we go to the full-price theater only a few times a year, we try to save those rare occasions for mind-blowing blockbusters and this one didn't fit the bill.

After the show, we went to Tucanos for dinner. To make this part of the story short I'll just say that even though we had reservations, it took us 45 minutes to get seated and then there was a whole lot of drama about Aaron's birthday meal and they weren't going to discount it for us and we ended up waiting to speak to a manager FOREVER and yadda yadda yadda the food was good but it wasn't worth all the shinanigans.

After dinner, we picked up Cleo and took her to Yoda's birthday party. Yes it was a party for dogs...and it was actually pretty great.

On to day two, Aaron's actual birthday. I planned ahead. I was prepared. It didn't matter.

Aaron's fam was coming over for dinner at 5. I had choir at 11 and wouldn't be home till after 4 from church so I knew I had to get started early. In between preparing and cleaning up meals for kids, changing award-winning diapers from Kate's recent viral nastiness, getting kids dressed, and getting myself showered and dressed, I made Aaron's birthday cake, frosting, and prepared the main course for dinner and put it in the fridge. Phew.

During sacrament meeting, Kate had another blow-0ut and wouldn't ya know it I forgot to bring diapers so Aaron had to take her home to change her. Here is our conversation via text message a short while after he left:

Aaron: Cleo ate my birthday cake
Me: Tell me you're joking
Aaron: I'm not, I just beat the crap out of her and put her in the backyard

AAAAAAAH! Oh and as an added bonus, she also got into the trash and spread it throughout the house. Cleo is SUCH a good dog, but even good dogs are still dogs. And since ours is the size of a draft horse, the cake might as well have been on the floor instead of cooling peacefully on the back of the oven. And in case you're thinking the cake was a mix, it wasn't. There was real cocoa in that baby.

Aaron came back to church a little forlorn after cleaning everything (including Kate) up. As church was ending, I remembered that I had a meeting so had to send him home with the kids to start dinner. I instructed him to start the rice ASAP because we only had brown rice left which takes at least an hour to cook.

I got home around 5 and whipped up a new cake. Aaron's fam arrived and the kitchen was a disaster and the rest of the house didn't look that great either. Whatever, at least we had a cake. I got everything together by 5:45 and lifted the lid of the rice to put it on the table...and it wasn't even CLOSE to being done! Seriously? An hour and a half later? So I turned the heat up and we waited. At 6:00 the rice was still crunchy. I was already stressed, but adding hunger into the mix turns me into somewhat of a Mrs. Hyde. Aaron took me quietly aside and suggested I just go to the store and grab some Minute Rice so we could eat this century. Ug. Alright.

I grabbed the keys, hopped in the Corolla and -- yep -- slammed into my mother-in-law's car. That's when the tears came. She was parked right behind me but apparently dark winter nights and urgency-induced tunnel vision don't mix. The kicker is, when she heard I was leaving, Ellen told Aaron she was parked behind me and he said, "better go move your car before Ash hits it."

She came out to find me sobbing in the front seat. When she opened the car door I wailed, "I hit your CAR!" And she just laughed.

Aaron didn't laugh.

There was no crumpling of fenders or anything serious, but we do have a nice little round hole in our bumper from where the screw in Ellen's licence plate punctured it. Nice.

Dejected, I slumped inside and waited for the rice to be done. I had to call my sister and un-invite her family for cake since we probably wouldn't eat it till after bed time. Finally at 6:45 I plated everything up and called everyone to dinner. Only to find out that two of Aaron's siblings had a church activity that evening so Ellen had left to take them to it. Awwwwesome. So we ate with Nate (Aaron's youngest brother) and when Ellen got back, she ate alone.

The bright side? Cake Jr. was delicious.

Finnisms

2010-12-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

Me: (Tickling Finn)
Finn: (laughing)
Me: (Keep tickling him for a long time)
Finn: (laughing) Mom... (stops laughing, gets serious)I want you to go clean up some stuff.

*****

Finn: Mom, can we snuggle downstairs?
Me: (Surprised because he has never requested this) Sure! I'll be down in a minute.
Finn: (runs downstairs) Mom, I did everything we need!
(He had got a blanket out, dimmed the lights and put the footrest up on the recliner)

*****

Finn knows the phrase "Can I get a what what?!" and has figured out appropriate times to say it. At dinner one night, he was not eating very well. He did something funny that made Aaron and I laugh so he followed it up with "Can I get a what what?!" and we both said, "No. Eat your food."

*****

Finn: Mom, we're not old right?
Me: No, we're not old.
Finn: Yeah, because old people die.
Me: Well, that's right, but people don't die until they're really really really really old.
Finn: Yeah, like you're phone!
(My phone is super out-dated and falling apart. It's kind of a joke between Aaron and I how crappy it is and I guess Finn picked up on it. Luckily I just finished switching my contacts over to a new phone from my brother so I won't be calling from ghetto-ville much longer!)

*****

Finn: Mom, you're my little firecracker. (phrase that a dad says to his daughter in a story I read him the night before.)

*****

Finn: (looking me straight in the face) Shaloony! (He was being silly, trying to call me a name. He learned this from Toy Story when Woody says to Buzz "Good Riddance Ya Looney!" because it sounds like he says "Good Riddan-Shaloony!)

*****

Finn: (playing with army guys) Mom, what's this thing called? (Referring to the plastic piece that holds the legs together)
Me: Oh, that doesn't really have a name. It's just a piece of plastic to help the army guy stand up.
Finn: Yes it does have a name! It's C-H-I-N-A!

Our New Dog!

2010-11-30T20:51:00.001-08:00

Now that we have a house and a yard, we've decided to end our 4 year petless period and get a dog!

Below is the ad we found on KSL:

Beautiful Black German Shepherd - AKC Purebred. $50
Salt lake city, UT 84116
Dogs do not get any better than this. Cleo is a pure bred German Shepherd who is smart, sweet, and obedient. She is amazing around children and plays well with other dogs. She only barks when she needs to (like when someone tried to break into our house... or when the creepy guy was walking towards the kids). But she does like to sing with an occasional fire truck.Cleo is 6 years old. She is 90% black with some tan markings. She's laid back but loves a good run or play. She's in great health and will come with all relevant paper work for vaccinations, spay, and micro chip. She has paperwork from the AKC. She is accustomed to being indoors with family and is trained to stay off furniture.

She responds to:

Sit,Stay,Come,

Down (lay down),

Leave it (drop steak on the floor and tell her leave it - she won't touch it. Also works with dogs and other things).

Take it (OK...go ahead and take the steak I just dropped),

Back it up (give me some space),

Gentle (used around children playing or giving her treats.)

Release - release a tug-toy.

Drop it - drop a toy or a ball.

Go Potty - umm, yep. You guessed it.

Outside - will run to door to go out

Inside - will run to door to go in.

Find it - find hidden treats.and the list goes on...
I'm in school and am looking to join the military... So we are looking for a good home.Cleo will come with an insulated outdoor house, toys, leashes, food, treats, back-pack, and heart worm pills.

Aaron has always wanted a German Shepherd and I was hesitant because I didn't think they'd be good with kids. But everything this ad says about this dog is true!
the above picture makes me happy

Do me a favor, will you please, and spare me the comments about how bigger dogs are more work...I know that. We are in a house with a big yard now, and this dog is so well-trained it will be nothing like having a puppy. Aaron and I are going to have a nice, lengthy discussion tonight about responsibilites that come with a dog like this. He is so happy right now I'm pretty sure I could get him to commit to anything. I'm sure there will be hiccups here and there, but I just couldn't say no to Aaron's dream dog for this price, with this temperment, with this training and with all that extra gear. Bring on the name suggestions!

Finnisms

2010-11-18T07:49:00.000-08:00

Inspired by my sister Andrea, I have started making an effort to write down all the funny things Finn says. He is constantly coming up with great one-liners and silly questions but I have a hard time remembering them...so I've started jotting them down with the intent to capture them for all time on this blog. Here is installment numero uno:
*****
Finn runs out of the bathroom pantsless.
Me: Finn, did you wipe your bum?
Finn: Nope!
Me: Finn, I'm pretty sure you pooped so you need to wipe your bum.
Finn continues running around half-naked.
Me: Finn, if you pooped, you need to wipe your bum right now.
Finn: Mom! I didn't poop! I went diarrhea!
*****
Finn is playing with a Woody doll in the backseat of the car. Woody normally talks but the battery is dead.
Finn: Dad! Woody talked!
Aaron: Oh yeah? What did he say?
Finn: He said, um...he, he said uh 'Hooooooooooowwwwwwwwwdy Paaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrtnerrr'
*****
We are leaving the theater after watching Toy Story 3.
Finn is playing with his 3-D glasses.
Finn: I like these glasses Mom.
Me: Yeah they're pretty cool, huh?
Finn studies me for a minute, notices my regular glasses.
Finn: Are your glasses 1-D Mom?
*****
Finn is in the corner for a time out. Kate is standing beside him and trying to play.
Finn: Mom! Mom! Kate is over here while I'm in the corner! Take her away Mom!
Me: She's not hurting you Finn, just pretend she's not there.
Finn: I can't because I'm ignoring her!!!

Family Photos

2010-11-14T11:33:00.000-08:00

Our friend Nataly Harris needed a family to take pictures of for her latest promotion, and we were happy to volunteer! Since it was only a 30 minute session, we just have a few shots to choose from:

I think I'm going to print the one in the middle with us all standing, even though Kate's tongue is sticking out. I like the bench one, but I think Finn's smile is weird in it.
I LOVE these shots that she got of Finn and Kate:

As soon as I print these we will finally have something up on our living room walls!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-03T13:22:00.001-07:00

Nana Lana gave these cute Halloween shirts to the kids last year, but they actually fit perfectly this year. (Yes, Kate still fits in some 6-12 month shirts even though she is 16 months old!) They had fun wearing them this Halloween season

Our festivities started off with a Halloween playgroup at our house. Trying to get all the kids in one picture was difficult to say the least. This is the best shot I got...right after Finn accidentally fell over with Kate!

Friday afternoon we went trick or treating at Novell. Finn just went desk to desk and raked in SO MUCH CANDY. Here are a couple shots I got of the kids in the car on the way there: Finn the 'scary' dragon. (He made sure I knew he was a scary dragon, not a nice one.) And Kate as Snow White.

The next day was our ward Trunk or Treat. Since I had more time, I decided to have more fun dressing Kate up. Her "Bride of Frankenstein" get-up won second place in the costume contest!

At the party:

Kate's prize was a box of Sour Patch Kids which she thoroughly enjoyed:

Both kids had a great time trick or treating at the party, but were both so thrashed afterward that we opted not to take them around the neighborhood this year. Kate even shook her head 'no' when someone at the party tried to give her a piece of candy. That was the signal that we were definitely done.

On the way home:

California Trip -- Disneyland

2010-10-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

Aaron and I knew that if we were making a mega trip to So Cal, we had to fit Disneyland in there somewhere. I was able to make some blankets for the 'give a day, get a day' promotion which meant Aaron and I got in for free! We had to pay for Finn (3 and up need a ticket and he JUST had his birthday a month before) but since we didn't have to pay for ourselves we figured it worked out.

Some of my family were also in Cali early so Mom and Dad, Tom and Lesli and Britt and her kids were there with us as well. It was SO FUN seeing Finn experience Disneyland for the first time. Kate had a blast too and was good all day even though she doesn't know Micky Mouse from a draft horse. The day went by SO FAST. Luckily since we were there in the off-season, the crowds were super small. The longest line we waited in was 15 minutes and the weather was PERFECT.

In line for Peter Pan. We may have scarred Finn by taking him on the Matterhorn first, but all was remedied by Mickey hats (courtesy of Brittany) and Peter Pan's Flight which he LOVED.

Splash Mountain pics above and video below:

Finn and Kate both fell asleep right before we saw Buzz :( ... so I just strolled by him for a quick pic(with mom in the background)...don't mind the guy and his kid that actually waited in line to see him!

Finn and Kate during Finding Nemo -- we all loved this ride! Finn kept saying "Wow!" and Kate was glued to her window the whole time.

Aaron's friend Dan and his son Luke me us in the afternoon. Since Luke is a little older, he can go on the roller coasters so Aaron did that with them for a while and I went to Tom Sawyer's Island and on some kiddie rides with my parents and the kids. Then I joined back up with the guys and we all went on a few rides together.

Hmmm, this was taken just about nap time I think.

The kids loved exploring Tom Sawyer's island with Grandma and Grandpa....and taking a couple silly pictures together.

While we were waiting for our turn on this ride, I asked Finn what ride we were waiting for and he loudly exclaimed, "Jumbo!"
Kate was so cute waiting in line. She loved to copy Finn and stand on the bars and didn't seem to mind at all that she was confined with a bunch of strangers.

Dinner Time = Turkey Legs!!!

After dinner we went on "It's a Small World." I didn't get any pictures of it, but it was one of our favorites because both Finn and Kate were so wide-eyed and totally into it. They have changed the ride a bit to include some Disney characters and Finn almost fell out of the boat when he saw Woody and Jesse.

Aaron's favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear...it was one of the few rides that we went on more than once. Finn LOVES all things Toy Story these days and was in awe at this ride. You get to shoot at targets during the whole ride and we had a blast...pun INtended. Finn chose a Buzz blaster gun as his one souvenir. I think the above picture is funny because Finn is tired (last ride of the day)and Aaron is totally concentrating trying to get a good score.

We stayed in a hotel across the street that night and it was so nice being able to just walk a few minutes and relax instead of driving for two hours back to Poway. The kids were still super hyper at the end of the day and it was really cute watching them unwind in the hotel room.

A sad part for me was when we were talking about what a great time we had and Finn got a startled look on his face and said, "Mom! We forgot to see Mickey!". My heart broke. I had been prepping him for our trip telling him that it's where Mickey lives and we are going to see Mickey's house. I tried to get us over to Toon Town during the day but we were too busy and at the end of the day, Aaron just wanted Finn to be able to get as many rides in as possible. Finn was a good sport about it though and just asked if we can visit Mickey next time we come to Disneyland.

I am SO GLAD that we included Disneyland in our travel plans. It was SUCH a fun day!

California Trip -- Ellises, Parks and then some

2010-10-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

Our good friends The Ellises used to live next door to us in our condo and moved to So Cal a couple years ago. We knew if we were driving all that way, we had to visit them! They kindly let us take over their home for a few days and we had a great time catching up. Finn LOVES them and even though they aren't parents yet, they are soooo good with him. On Sunday, they took Finn to their sunbeam class and he loved it. Kati is pretty much the best photographer ever and has always taken great pictures of my kids. She took a TON of us and put them all up on her website so I could download them. What a gal. Here are just a few:

We walked around the harbor, had a picnic at the park, played games and just relaxed. While at the park, Ian and Aaron coached Finn with a baseball set and it was awesome (that's what Kate and I are watching in the above picture.) Here is a video of Finn in action:

Since I was letting Kati take all the pictures, I didn't get any of the Ellises or one of all of us together...sad. I love friends that you can pick right up where you left off with. We are so glad that we got to see them!

After we left the Ellises, we drove to Matt and Jessica's house. Matt welcomed us to their home with a yummy lasagna dinner and the girls were all very excited to see Finn and Kate.

We were only able to stay with Matt and Jess for a couple days ...I wish we could have stayed longer! But since they had our kids while we were at the beach house (ttthhhhaaaaankyyyyoooouu), it was probably just the right amount of time for them :) While we were there, we went to the aquarium, a family dinner at Chris' house and a dinner at the park with a bunch of Aaron's highschool/our college friends. It was SOOO good to see everyone! Finn had a great time playing with cousins that he rarely gets to see...some he met for the first time! We miss everyone that lives out there so much.

Thank you so much to everyone who made an effort to see us while we were "home". We had such a wonderful time visiting with family and friends that we don't get to see enough.

California Trip -- Beach House

2010-10-21T19:08:00.001-07:00

At the end of September, we finally went on the trip that we have been anticipating all year...it's gonna take me 3 posts to talk about it all. I'll start with the reason for the trip in the first place.
It was my parent's 40th wedding anniversary this year, so all the kids wanted to plan something really special. We ended up booking a huge beach house for 3 nights. My parents and all 7 kids plus spouses had a fabulous KID-FREE weekend. Yeah, did you get that? Kid-free! That means I actually ate my meals while they were still warm! (Technically, Britt did bring her kids because Shawn couldn't make it, but they are pracitally adults, and Emilie brought a nursing baby, but she is super easy...and not mine) It was glorious.

The place was massive:

Main floor. The bottom floor had a kitchen and living area just as big as this one!

Bottom deck. There were two hot tubs, one on this deck and another on the second deck.

Second deck view.
Third deck view Mom enjoying her 'personal' hot tub. That glass door leads into their bedroom which was awesome and had the best view in the place!

All the fam at our 'semi-formal' dinner at PF Changs. My sister Stacie presented a really great photo book she made of my parents' lives together. We each got our own copy.
The happy couple!
Brittany and I after hittin the waves.
The boys filled their boy-ness quota by building a giant sand castle.

That's me and don't worry...a dolphin. We actually saw a TON of dolphins on our beach and some of them were even jumping over the waves for a while. We all went to a Padres game together! My parents love baseball so this was a perfect way to spend an evening. The Pads won and we had a blast! Here is a video that Aaron took of a classic ball-game moment:

Refer to the previous post for a photo of Aaron and I on the last day of the beach house, which was also our anniversary.

It was so nostalgic for me driving around Oceanside since that's where I lived when Aaron and I met, dated and got engaged. I lived in an apartment half a block from the beach with my sister and went in the water nearly every day. On our way out, Aaron and I drove by our first apartment and I was flooded with memories of our first year together. Happy anniversary Mom and Dad! I hope our next 40 years are as wonderful as yours have been.

Welcome Home, Parks Family, Welcome Home

2010-10-14T22:26:00.000-07:00

Is this real?

Am I finally in MY house?
Sleeping in MY bed?
Typing on MY computer? Quite honestly the ol' gal was in storage so long I thought she might not have the heart to start up. But she proved me wrong, and has already randomly rebooted a few times just to show me how much she missed me. Tender.

Since I can't possibly begin to document all the blog-worthy happenings of the past 5.5 months (yes, it has really been that long since we moved out of the condo) I will do my best to sum up a few of the really major things.

MAY: I drove 20 hours to visit my parents in Canada with my sister Andrea and 5 kids total. A little crazy? Maybe. Worth it? Definitely.
Best Grandpa Ever
Best Grandma Ever
Boys playing outside The Milky Way icecream stand
Kate and McCoy's new jammies
Finn freezing but still lovin' the wading pool

JUNE: Jaxson got a sand box (seriously huge event as far as Finn was concerned) and Kate turned ONE!

Uh, yes, waiter? I think I might like one more piece of cake

Also, I took this picture on Father's Day and I really love it. It says so much about what a great dad Aaron is and how much Kate loves him:
JULY: Thomas reunion, Lagoon with all the Harkers and the Fourth. Food was eaten, rides were ridden, and fireworks were blown sky-high.

AUGUST: Moved out of Dan and Bobbi's and in to the Valentine's. Finally got walls in our basement. Kate started WALKING! Finn turned THREE!
Aaron was so happy to finally have walls up in the basement!

The fam at Finn's Chuck E Cheese birthday party

We scored this used power wheels for $50! Oh how wonderful it is to have a backyard and actually be able to have toys like this.
SEPTEMBER: We celebrated our 7-year anniversary and went on the vacation that we have been waiting for all year ! This trip merits its own post which will come soon. And, oh yeah, we MOVED INTO OUR HOUSE! The house will also have it's own post. But for now, here is one picture from our trip and pictures of one room in our house.

On the second deck of the beach house on our anniversary. That flower was one of many Aaron gave me that morning.

Our living room! The floor used to be cat-barf carpet, we sanded and refinished it black. Walls used to be peach, we painted them ivy green and grey. We still need a rug, curtains and stuff on the walls...most of which we have, it just isn't put up yet.

We still have lots of stuff to put away and LOTS of projects to finish (note the stripe of white on the living room wall) That used to be wood panelling...painted the room green before the wall was fixed. It is one of about 30 things that need to be done to make our house look normal but at least it is liveable and we are LOVING it.
Tonight Aaron was playing wildly with the kids and remarked how great it is that we can be as loud as we want and we don't have to worry about downstairs neighbors. It's just great to be home.

If our current life were a movie...

2010-08-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

It would be this one:

OK, so our house is definitely not that bad and we had some pretty major plans from the beginning. BUT, we both never knew it would take this long or be this much work. Here is a list of SOME of the things we have done to our new home in the past 6 weeks:

- ripped up all the carpet and pulled out all the floor staples
- sanded and refinished the upstairs hardwood floor
- painted the living room 1 1/2 times (began with wrong color so started over)
- painted the office
- painted the kids' room
- completely re-did the electrical which includes switching the fuse box for a circuit breaker box and re-wiring every light switch and outlet and replacing every fixture in the entire house...inhale now
- ripped down wood paneling and dry wall, found mold!
- found where mold stops and rejoiced that it doesn't go upstairs
- completely bleached the entire basement
- sledge hammered two walls, framed several new ones
- replaced several pipes, planned and installed plumbing for the new bathroom

I know there is more than that but my tired brain can't remember much right now.

We have moved out of Dan and Bobbi's house -- not a moment too soon since Bobbi is in labor with her second baby tonight -- and into Megan's (which is just two blocks away from our new house)so that we can get more work done. We have received a ton of help (thank you!) but what we really need is a crew of guys working with Aaron all the time...which is just unrealistic. I try to go over there with him as much as I can, even when I can't really help just to lend moral support and hold a flash light.

We are trying to keep our spirits up. We LOVE the character of the home. We LOVE the back yard of the home. We LOVE the location of the home. And soon we will love the inside of the home too. We really are turning it into a brand new house inside...except the kitchen -- that will be next year's project!

This whole experience has just reminded me of what a hard worker I married. And what supportive family I have.

Pictures coming soon I promise. For now just know that we're working real hard and you are all invited to our house warming party in a month! Okay maybe two.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2010-07-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

Whoever made up the expression "two heads are better than one" has never taken care of toddlers. Finn and Jaxson have become great friends while we have lived here and are really good kids most of the time. But when they put their heads together, they can be really terrible kids some of the time. Here is a list, in no particular order, of SOME of the mischief they have gotten into in the past two months. Keep in mind that several of these events took place within minutes of each other while I was cleaning up the first mishap.

-threw all the sidewalk chalk over the fence
-threw sand over the fence
-threw rocks over the fence and hit the neighbor's house
-made piles of sand around the plants in the garden
-dumped sand out of the sand box into various places around the backyard
-ripped up sprinkler pvc pipe
-gave their stuffed animals, and themselves, baths in the sink
-turned on the tub and played with the water
-dumped several shoes into the toilet
-dumped a bag of marshmallows into the toilet and stirred them up
-played with the blind cords, which Jaxson got caught around his neck...that was actually pretty scary but everything was okay
-shredded an entire newspaper in the front entry
-dump/spill their food during more mealtimes than I care to mention
-ate chapstick and smeared the rest on the floor
-dumped out the entire contents of Monopoly and Life board games
-crawled under the fence to the neighbor's yard
-gotten completely muddy from head to toe
-broke out of the backyard and went for a joyride on their bikes

And several more things that I can't remember right now!

You'd think that I never watch them...but the truth is that most of these things happen SO fast. Like I send them upstairs to get dressed, and find them bathing in the sink...or send them to the backyard while I put Kate down for a nap to find them dumping sand everywhere. Some of it has happened when they both wake up before 7am and none of the parents have energy to wake up with them...which we always regret later. They definitely keep my displaced life far from boring!

ramblings of a displaced gal

2010-06-29T21:47:00.001-07:00

We finally closed on our house last week! Glory Glory Halleluja. And we are still renting out our condo which makes us land lords too!

Renovations have begun on our house, and because I dropped the ball, we didn't take any 'before' pictures before the massive demolition on Saturday. I am actually really really sad about that.

It is going to be a lot of work but we are really excited. I just love the house and I know it has such great potential, I know we can make it really cute inside. Every time I go by I love it more and more...which is kind of funny because it's looking worse and worse since we have ripped carpet up and sledge-hammered walls etc. I want it move-in ready by July 10th. Aaron says that is wishful thinking but he thinks it should be ready by July 17th. If we haven't moved in by July 24th I will cry...and probably worse. Don't get me wrong, our fam we are staying with has actually been really great, but when it's time, it's time.

I am feeling serious withdrawls from not blogging but our USB cable for our camera is packed and this laptop doesn't have a memory card slot. And I think posts without pictures are lame.

Oh yeah...Kate turned one last week. WHAT?! Oh blog how I miss you and your all-encompassing power to document important events. Yes I have pictures. No I have no idea when they will ever make it on here. Sigh.

Where are you normal life? I miss you.

I'm still here I promise

2010-06-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

Canada was real great.
High point: Too many to mention...okay I'll settle on ice cream with the fam at Milky Way...twice.
Low Point: when Finn tipped over on an umbrella stroller and got a fat lip after lots of blood and tears.
Lots of pictures to come....I've been lazy because I don't have my own computer to upload pictures to.
Still in Saratoga Springs. Things should be on schedule for closing on our house in Orem on June 10th but we will probably wait to move in until the end of the month while Aaron does some renovations. We are sooo ready to have our own yard and have already planted our garden! Let's hope something actually grows :)

In 6 Days...

2010-05-13T07:55:00.000-07:00

...God created the world...and turned my world upside-down.

Monday -- decide we definitely want to move and list our condo for rent
Tuesday -- get the call that we are approved to move into the townhome we want to rent, show the condo to a prospective renter who decides she loves it and wants to move in the following week!
Wednesday -- find out there is a house for sale 2 blocks from my sister, go to 'just take a look' and love it! Start packing
Thursday -- go back to look at the house...still like it. Should we move there? Stress out. Pack pack pack.
Friday -- paaaaaaaaaaack. Streeeeessss. Still not sure if we're going to move into the town home or try to buy the house. Finally decide on the house.
Saturday -- Move out! Most of our furniture and boxes in Tom's garage, rest of our stuff at Dan's house where we are living until we close on the house in June!

Since I am living out of boxes anyway, I decided to come home to Canada with my sister for a couple weeks. My mom cooks for me. My Dad reads to my kids. Life is good.

Spring Stew

2010-04-22T17:26:00.001-07:00

I have a lot of little thoughts and short stories to tell so I decided to dump them all together in one post and serve them as Spring Stew a la Blog. Enjoy. Warning: hearty stew ahead, feel free to eat just a few spoonfuls (aka skim).

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I just got my hair done after...gasp...7 months. I usually go way too long in between hair cuts because I can't justify spending real money on my hair. But tax returns helped remedy that situation!

Yep, I have bangs. Still side-swept, but definitely bangs. And because I can't take myself seriously when taking a self portrait, I had to scrunch up my face.

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A few days ago, Finn was in the corner for doing something bad, and started singing, "I am a child of God." Was it a ploy to make me feel sorry for him and forget the wrong-doing? I'm not sure, but it totally worked.

That incident reminded me of another one that happened shortly after Kate was born. Finn and Gemma were playing in Megan's basement, and when Meg went to check on them, this is what she found:
Oh the irony.

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Kate's jolly jumper has turned into a jolly walker lately since she has grown and we haven't adjusted it. She loves running a few steps and letting herself fall back. Here is a great video Aaron got of her showing off her kicking skills while we were playing a board game with Finn:

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And perhaps our craziest story of the month -- we found an abandoned dog! Aaron noticed a kennel on the side of the road when I was taking him to work one morning and as we drove by, he could tell there was an animal in it! We asked a few neighbors and no one recognized it so we brought him home.

Poor little guy was shivering and did a lot of 'business' as soon as we let him out so we knew he'd been in there for long time. We put an ad up online and even posted signs around the neighborhood, and I kept thinking, "someone's gonna call any minute about this dog."... but no one ever did! Aaron is SUCH an animal lover, he bought the dog "filet minion" to eat that night and gave him a bath.
The surprising thing is, he's actually really cute and has a great personality! Since we're probably going to be renting a home soon, we knew we couldn't keep him but Tom and Lesli snatched him up right away and now he has a great home with them! They named him Yoda since he's got little Yoda ears.
Finn and Kate ADORE him and it was a little hard giving him up, but now Finn can visit him all the time and we don't have to clean up after him :)

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I let Finn feed Kate the other day and he is actually really good at it! Here is a video of him in action:

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We've been having fun taking funny pictures -- totally Finn's idea.

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The Zoooooooo!

The weather was perfect. The price was cheap. The crowd was minimal at most. We had a great time.

My favorite part was when it took Finn about 3 minutes to find the ELEPHANT standing right in front of him. (Seriously, so funny how long it takes him to find things sometimes) We didn't tell him what animal he was looking for and when he finally said, "Oh! It's an Elephant!!!!" it was the cutest thing ever.

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Lastly, Aaron and I have just started our 6th week of P90X! If you haven't heard of it, it's a series of workout videos that span 90 days and is super intense. We've been working out every morning at 6am and LOVE it. We haven't missed a day! We are so proud of ourselves and are already seeing good results. Aaron has lost 12 pounds! I haven't lost any weight but am feeling a LOT more toned and fit. No pics yet...I will post some at the end...actually probably not cuz that could be weird. Just take my word for it -- we're getting buff!

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Wow. That sure was a big helping of Spring Stew. And now I am really, really full.

Easter 2010

2010-04-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Finn got to have lots of Easter fun this year. It started with dying eggs at Dan and Bobbi's. LOVE that we did that at someone ELSE'S house this year! Later that week we went to an Easter party with his playgroup. First we made these bunny ears:

Then we let the kids lose in the backyard for an egg hunt:

All the kids were distracted by the trampoline and we had to remind them there were eggs full of candy to find!

But Finn caught on quickly, and of course, cracked one open as soon as he found his quota.

On Saturday morning, we went to my brother's for breakfast and Finn got to do another egg hunt with some of his cousins. (That's what the first picture is from.) Kate had a good time there, even though she didn't get any eggs:

And Finn found a he-ouge carmel-filled egg which, as evidenced by his expression below, put him in somewhat of a euphoric candy coma.

And of course we had to do our OWN egg hunt on Easter Sunday. Yes, it was a little egg hunt overkill but Finn was all about it.

The Easter Bunny put these window crayons in Finn's basket. He also put some Sidewalk Chalk in Kate's basket that she has been gracious enough to share with her older brother.
Finn has been eating the contents of one Easter egg every day after dinner...and they are finally all gone. I had to hide the leftover candy so Aaron and I won't snack on it every chance we get!

It was also really fun for us to teach Finn about the true meaning of Easter. It was so nice to be able to watch General Conference and hear the words of the Prophet, at a time when I need to reflect on what my Savior has done for me.

Beds are sooo overrated

2010-03-31T13:00:00.000-07:00

Lately Finn has started to take longer to fall asleep. Sometimes nap time is just "quiet time" and he plays in his room for an hour and a half. Do I mind? Nope! As long as he is in his room and not in my hair, he can stay awake as long as he wants!

One such nap time, Aaron went in to check on him and found this:

He is laying in Kate's infant tub! (She is too big for it, so it is now stored in his room.) We thought it was so cute that he got it out, put his pillow in, brought his stuffed animal and covered himself with the blanket.
Since that nap time, he has actually done this technique 4 or 5 more times. I should probably put the tub away somewhere else, but I don't want to. Every time I open the door and find him in it, a smile crosses my face and I am reminded of what a creative little boy he is.

Creativity aside, sometimes he just does whatever he can to stay awake. We usually let him look at books at bedtime and he "reads" the stories and sings songs to himself until he falls asleep. Here's how Aaron found him a few nights ago:

This angle lets you see how skiwampus (sp?!) he really was:
I like thinking of him before he drifted off, SO tired but not wanting to "give in" and lay down. I love to pick up his little body and cuddle him as I lay him down, watch him roll over, snuggle his teddy and close his eyes...because I know this stage won't last forever, and soon I'll be wishing I could tuck him back into bed like I used to.

Cowboy Finn Belts a Tune

2010-03-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

Finn sings this song about five times a day so I finally decided to get it on video.

When Aaron and I watched this together, we both got tears in our eyes...as only a parent would.

I never knew hearing "Home on the Range" would ever make me so happy.

Chuck E Cheese!

2010-03-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month Finn had a BLAST at Chuck E Cheese's with his cousin Jaxson.
Thanks to a coupon Bobbi found, it only cost 15 dollars for our whole family to eat, drink, and be merry a.k.a. eat a lot of pizza, drink a lot of pop and get enough tokens to last a lifetime. (We saved about half of them to go back and ride the rides another time.) The pictures below pretty much sum up how much fun the kids had:

Et la piece de resistance:

LOVE Jaxson's face in this one.

Obviously the truck ride was their favorite.

Thanks to his skill, good luck and a game that was broken (?) Aaron got a TON of tickets that we used to score Finn some pretty sweet toys...and of course a little bit of candy too. Here is a video of him trying out his Pop Rocks for the first time

Thanks for the good times Chuck. We'll probably see you again real soon.

Gotta love a handyman

2010-03-04T11:18:00.001-08:00

So, a couple weeks ago our washing machine broke.

Again.

We just bought a new (well...new to us) washer and dryer 3 months ago (yes I said MONTHS)after our old washer went to appliance heaven (NOT as glamorous as it sounds...currently our balcony). We knew buying used products wasn't as ideal as buying brand new machines, but who has $1500 to spend on that these days? Not us. Enter the great deal we found in the KSL classifieds. Only $500 for a front-loading washer and dryer and they were only a few blocks away! Once they were installed, Finn LOVED watching the washer fill with water, followed by the clothes spinning around. A useful appliance I need PLUS child entertainment for $free.99?! I'm sold.

The new machines had been working like a dream until the night we heard gunfire outside our condo. Oh wait, it wasn't a gang fight, it was our washer. What?! A sound like that couldn't be good...and it wasn't.

After the gunfire incident, the washer stopped draining and wouldn't spin. Picture me wringing out a load of laundry for an HOUR into the tub...not fun.

Here comes the happy part of the story which stars the handsome handyman above: Aaron figured out what parts broke on the washer, ordered them and replaced them himself!!! We saved $150 that we would have had to pay a repair man and our washer is as good as new! We were so worried we were going to have to buy a new washer AGAIN, but thanks to my handyman hubby, it is draining and spinning like it has been kissed by the appliance gods...and maybe it has.

Growing up is hard to do

2010-02-25T07:50:00.001-08:00

Finn likes to play baseball with a small wiffle ball and my hair brush. After one of his grand slams down the hallway, I told him that when he is 3 years old, he'll be able to be on a REAL baseball team. Guess I should have saved that information until August because he keeps saying, "I'm 3 now! Time to play baseball!" or "Time to be on a baseball team yet?". In the car a few days later, Aaron and I had just explained to him for the hundredth time that he won't be 3 for several months when he started grunting and stretching his neck and legs out.

Me: (laughing) What are you doing Finn?
Finn: Tryin'...(grunt and stretch)...to get...(grunt and stretch)...older!

Good luck with that one buddy.

Schmorgesborg of February Delights

2010-02-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hello. It's been a while. Here is a glimpse into what we've been up to the past month.

Kate started army crawling a few weeks ago!

While at Megan's house, I went to go check on Gemma and Finn in the toy room. The door bumped something when I opened it...that something was this: We've been making lots of cookies, rolls and banana bread. And Finn always gets to lick the beaters. He figured out a funny sound mid-beater that entertained his sister:

My whole fam came to Utah for my cousin's wedding. The night before the nuptuals, the ladies got a night out at The Melting Pot! Super yummy...and even yummier because Brittany surprised us by picking up the check!

At the reception, my Uncle Mark sang one of his trademark change-the-lyrics-of-a-well-known-song-to-embarrass-the-bride-and-groom ditties. This one was to "The Lion Sleeps tonight" When he got to the mic, he called up my sisters, cousin and I spur of the moment to back him up with the 'a-wheem-a-ways'. Oh boy that was awkward...but it just wouldn't have been a Harker wedding without it.

All the sibs and I at a family dinner that weekend...Megan LOOOVES to throw in her robot pose at the last minute:
Aaron gave Finn a hair cut! Some day I will mom-up and take that job over...maybe. Here's a couple shots of him with his new 'do. In the second picture, he is holdng the mail box he made for the Valentine's Party we went to...which he decorated all by himself.

We went to "Pirate Island Pizza" with Aaron's brother and fam. Finn had a great time playing all the games with his dad. Especially basketball:

And most recently we've been watching the Olympics!!! I cheer for team USA...except when they're playing Canada :)

We might not have our own yard...

2010-01-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

But we can still make our own snowman.

taken by me
taken by Finn
taken by stranger

Finn at 2 years

2010-01-19T12:39:00.000-08:00

Finn turned two in August '09, but since I never had 'official' pics taken of him, I decided to get a few while we took Kate's 6 month shots. He didn't want to cooperate at first, but I was able to get a few good smiles out of him.
Finn LOVES guitars. He will 'play' our Guitar Hero guitar for 20+ minutes at a time. Is he too young for guitar lessons? Probably...but as soon as he can, we will. Here is a video of us putting on a concert...totally his idea. He opened the dishwasher, brought me the beaters and strapped on the guitar...and Aaron caught it on video

I'm glad we got this shot because I see this face from Finn several times a day. It's his "I've got you figured out/I've got some tricks up my sleeve" face.

Other things Finn is up to lately:

-- Taking TONS of self portraits. Remember this post.? Whenever he gets his hands on the camera, my memory card is suddenly full. In the short video below, he thought he was taking a picture of himself but accidentally had the camera on video mode. I could watch it over and over and over again.

-- Potty Training. No need for details here, but let's just say it's been a long road (going on 3 weeks now) and the end is not really in site. I am being consistent though, and refusing to give up...and slowly he's coming around. He earned this cowboys and indians play set after he peed in the potty for the first time...it was a momentous occasion let me tell you.
-- He loves to say "No, YOU say it" over and over again when we ask him to say his prayers every night. We can usually get him to do it by saying "Okay, I'm going to say it" to which he replys "No, I say it!". Aaah, reverse psychology...a parent's best friend.

-- Playing any and all board games. Aaron would term himself a board game collector, as evidenced by our overflowing closet of games. I guess this rubbed off on Finn because he LOVES board games. He has a few toddler ones, but he is also always asking me to get the adult games out (whoa, not THOSE kind of games) and he'll just play with the pieces forever.

-- Saying nonsense words. Here is a typical conversation as of late:

Finn: Hey Mom!

Me: Yes Finn?

Finn: Boogalockamugga! {followed by peels of laughter}

Multiply that by 15 times and you get a good chunk of our conversations in a 12 hour period.

-- Changing words to songs. He likes to substitute words to his favorite songs with names of family members. Example: Twinkle twinkle little Kate, How I wonder what you Daddy!

He is definitely two -- proving it with little tantrums here and there -- but he is generally very easy going. He is a very loving boy and we can't get enough of him.

Kate's 6 Month Photos

2010-01-15T13:12:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Andrea for taking/editing these pictures for me!

Things Kate is doing lately:

-- Rolling EVERYWHERE. In less than one minute, she will be at the opposite end of the room, flipped the opposite way on the opposite side of her body.

-- Eating baby food. Or...not. She tricked me and ate really well the first couple times, and now she crys every time I try. What? Here's some news Kate: Spending an hour 3 times a day trying to coax sludge into your mouth that ends up all over me and the floor isn't my idea of a good time either. So let's start cooperating and get through this together okay?

-- Loving her brother. Kate loves to watch Finn dance and jump. Often times we catch her smiling at him when he's doing nothing at all.

-- Snuggling. It is so fun to have a cuddly baby since Finn was NOT. She loves snuggling in close for a kiss or hug and just cozying up to her mom or dad when she's tired.

Look how tiny she used to be! Every day I am thankful that she is healthy since things could have turned out a lot worse due to my pregnancy complications. I can't believe she is almost 7 months old now! I just love this little girl.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-15T12:35:00.001-08:00

On New Year's Eve I took care of my nephew Jaxson. He comes over pretty early and Finn LOVES waking up with him already at our house. They played hard all day.

I found them pretending baby Kate's tub was a car. Those are Novell name tags in their mouths. Today Finn brought me a name tag and when I didn't play with it as 'cool' as Jaxson he said, "Ok, these not for moms, these just for Finn and Zaxson."

The snow was perfect for snowmen so I bundled everyone up and took them outside. By the time we got out though, the temp must have dropped because the snow was suddenly not sticky at all...hence our deformed, midget snowman. But the boys didn't know the difference, they were just glad to be outside together.

That sweater Kate is wearing was mine as a baby.

That night, we went to my sister's house for the party. We played lots of games and ate lots of yummy food. And of course, Aaron brought lots of fireworks. Aaron's little fireworks show for the kids was definitely the highlite of Finn and Gemma's evening. I love the image of all the kids in their winter coats with the glow of the fireworks and snow.

Finn and Gemma snuggled up watching a movie.

Kate went to sleep as soon as we got there and stayed asleep the whole time! Finn stayed up late partying and eventually succumbed to exhaustion. We all had a great time; it was a perfect way to finish out the holidays and ring in the new year!

Christmas Time 2009

2010-01-02T12:51:00.001-08:00

We stayed in Utah for Christmas this year to have our own little Parks family holiday. It was so great! Christmas Eve we went to my sister Andrea's house during the day for a yummy mid-day feast. Finn had a great time with all his cousins and the food was delish! That night Aaron's mom came over and we sang Christmas carols, read Luke 2, watched the nativity movie and made cookies for Santa. Finn loved every minute of it.

New PJ's!

Finn and Grammy on Christmas Eve

After the kids went to bed we stayed up late eating yummy treats and playing games with "It's a Wonderful Life" on in the background. The part at the end when Harry says "to my big brother George, the richest man in town." makes me cry EVERY time. I also love that they sing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing". Man I love that movie.

Christmas Day was amazing. Finn was so excited he couldn't pay attention to any single thing longer than one minute. Santa brought him this Elmo Restaurant that he happened to find used at a great price and Finn was ALL ABOUT IT. Here's him playing with it later that morning:

Sesame Street characters from Brittany.

My new bathrobe from Aaron! So soft and wonderful, I absolutely love it.

And my new shirt! Aaron always does such a good job picking things out for me.

Aaron with his new driver. In retrospect I guess it was kind of sad for me to get him something he can't use until spring, but he is really excited about it!

Kate was 6 months old on Christmas Day!

We were SO excited to give this to Finn! It is a night light that looks just like the moon. It comes with a remote and even does all the different phases. Finn LOVES to look at the moon whenever we are outside at night so we knew he would love it.

Kate with her new links that she LOVES.

Ellen gave Finn many small toys to occupy him at church, including a mini rubix cube. He went and found Aaron's all on his own, brought it to him and climbed up beside him so they could both play together. Finn is so thoughtful sometimes! Also notice how handsome Aaron looks in his new sweater and shirt from me.

Finn with his spelling toy from Grandma and Grandpa Harker. He is really good at finding the letters all on his own and placing them in the right spots!

Finn with his new Elmo slippers that Santa left him in his stocking

Aaron made a delicious Christmas Feast all on his own for us to enjoy! We had turkey and lots of yummy sides including sweet potatoes which he made just for me because I'm the only one that likes them :) Every day I am thankful to have a husband that likes to cook.

We also got Wii Resort from my parents for Christmas and had a great time playing it and a bunch of other games on Christmas day. This time of year just makes me so happy. I am so glad that I have a family of my own to share it with. I am also so thankful for the birth of our Savior -- the King of Kings born in the lowliest of circumstances -- who came for all of us that we might have real happiness here on Earth and in the life to come.

Aaron's Birthday

2009-12-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

Aaron turned the big 3-0 this month. Wow. I remember being 16 and thinking 30-year-olds were old fogies. Thirty is not old at all! Still, it's a pretty big milestone so I wanted to do something really special for Aaron this year.

His birthday was on a Saturday, so I decided to surprise him a day early with an overnight date. My brother Tom works with Aaron so I had Tom send an email to Aaron's boss, asking if it would be okay to whisk him away early on Friday. I showed up at Aaron's desk mid-afternoon and he was totally surprised. When I told him I was there to take him away, he was a little confused and said, "uh, I can't leave yet." He was totally surprised when I told him I already cleared it with his boss. My sister Megan was so great and took our kids for the night (hooray for a bottle baby!) and my sister-in-law Lesli watched Kate for a while as well.

We had fun playing on these huge checker boards in the lobby of our hotel. I found out that I still suck at checkers.

I had already dropped off the kids and packed a bag for us so we drove straight to Salt Lake. We stayed at the Sheraton which has just been remodeled and was totally nice! It has a very modern feel to it and all the rooms have big flat-screen tvs. We checked in and Aaron had time to freshen up before we went to our dinner reservation at Tucanos. (One of Aaron's favorites.)

The two of us at Tucanos after a tasty meal. We shared some really yummy papaya icecream for dessert -- the perfect thing after a heavy meal -- delish!

After dinner we walked around the shops for a while. It was so fun to be downtown during Christmas time. The next day we went out for breakfast before heading home.

That night I made Aaron a chocolate cake and we had a few friends over before heading off to my sister's Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.
We had such a great time the whole weekend. I am so glad that I got to surprise Aaron with something really fun for his 30th birthday. I am so blessed to have a caring husband that loves me and our children so much...and cooks too! Happy birthday hot stuff...seeing you in that ugly sweater vest only made me love you more.

Goodbye 243rd Ward

2009-12-28T10:31:00.000-08:00

We always knew that Aaron would only serve in the singles ward for one year...and since he was called last November that meant our time was up. We knew it was coming, but we weren't quite ready for it. That year flew by so fast! During that time we learned a lot about ourselves, made some great friends and drew closer to the Lord. I watched Aaron mature spiritually as he strived to meet the needs of those he served. I was able to connect with many members of the ward by serving on the activities committee.

Our family is moving on! Church will be A LOT quieter without us around I'm sure :)

To say it was easy would be...mmmm...totally wrong. Having a 14-26 month old boy with me for all three hours of church meant that I often got little out of the meetings. And then when Kate was added to the mix it became pretty chaotic. Picture me pushing a double stroller up campus hill in heels. Luckily I had the help of the 1st counsillor's wife who Finn LOVED and several kids in the ward helped out when they could as well. Plus, Aaron could come to Relief Society with me so I was really only on my own for Sacrament Meeting...which was last...during Finn's nap time...oy.

Rich, Aaron and Finn. Rich was the clerk(?) in the ward and Aaron got to know him really well. "As I type this Finn is going "Wich! Wich! Daddy! Finn!" He really connected to some of these guys.

I was excited to go to a family ward with a nursery but it was still hard to leave the people we have grown close to over the past year. We got to say goodbye at the ward Christmas party which was really special. That's where we took these pictures.

Eric (Elder's Quorum President), Aaron and Brother Christmas (1st Councillor...and yes, the best last name ever)

We will miss all the kids (yes, they are kids to me :) and are thankful for the ones that still drop by to visit us from time to time. We have been going to the family ward the last few weeks and LOVE it. It is full of such great people! We are excited to start this new chapter in our lives and actually interact with members of the church that are not 18-30!

Holy Videos Batman!

2009-12-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

Here are a bunch of videos I have been meaning to post for a while.

Finn bonding with Kate while decorating the tree:

Finn hanging an ornament:

Jingle Bells Serenade:

The next video was taken about a month ago. Kate makes so many happy noises all day long, and loves to make spitting sounds...which should be gross but is actually really really cute.

This next one was taken a couple months ago. Since Finn is all about the alphabet, Aaron got him some sight-word flash cards and he LOVES them. It's a special bonding thing between him and Aaron...Finn loves to "Do Words" with Daddy while I make dinner. During this video Finn is using his silly robot voice so you can't really understand him. I'll try to get a better video of this sometime soon. His vocabulary has really exploded lately and we are so impressed with all the things he is learning and saying.

Decorating the Tree

2009-12-08T14:09:00.000-08:00

Finn sang the chorus of "Jingle Bells" at the top of his lungs the entire time we decorated the tree this year. It is so fun that he is old enough to really get into the holiday.
We made the mistake of telling Finn is was time to decorate the tree BEFORE Aaron put the lights on...those 10 minutes were the longest of his life I think. But don't worry, "Jingle Bells" kept him company until it was time to put on the first ornament.

Kate hung out on the floor the whole time and watched the action. Now she likes to lay close to the tree and look at it and the other Christmas lights in our house.

Putting the star on top is Finn's favorite part...thanks to my stellar photography skills Aaron is cut out of this shot...but he was looking just about as happy as Finn.
After the tree was done we made hot chocolate and watched Mickey's Christmas Carol and Pluto's Christmas Tree...favorites of mine as a kid. There's something about starting traditions with my kids that just makes my heart explode with happiness. I love it!

Thanksgiving AKA Relax'n'Binge Fest 2009

2009-12-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

For anyone who reads this: sorry for being lame-o and not posting anything forever...but as we all know the holidays get ca-razy!
Thanksgiving this year was so much fun! Aaron's brother Matt and his family came up for the whole week and we had a great time together with them and all of Aaron's other fam that live near. Are you ready for this? Aaron and his brothers do ALL THE COOKING on Thanksgiving! His mom definitely did her part and we all pitched in a little, but the girls were not in charge AT ALL. That is the way we have done it for the past few years and I have to say, I think it's pretty fantastic.

"Band Hero" for the Wii was a definite highlite of the weekend. It has a couple Taylor Swift songs that the younger girls were ALL A-BOUT. Kinz is singing here, with Ben on drums and Aaron and Matt on guitar.

Finn LOVED "playing" guitar along with everyone else. He seriously sat here with this guitar for at least an hour!

We got to celebrate Makinzie and Taylor's birthdays while they were here. Here is Finn post birthday cupcake, mid ice cream., pretty happy with himself.

Kate has seriously turned into the easiest baby. At about 4 months old she started sleeping through the night all by herself, she is happy just to hang out most of the day and she is rarely grumpy. She chilled in this swing for a good portion of the weekend, happy as can be.

I am so thankful for my fun little family, and all our extended family that make the holidays so great. We really are so blessed.

He Does it for the Dots

2009-11-16T21:01:00.001-08:00

When Kate was born, I suddenly realized I couldn't MAKE Finn obey me anymore. This is due to the fact that 75% of the time I am using both hands to feed Kate or hold Kate or carry Kate in her yes-it's-awkward-to-carry-but-there's-no-other-way car seat. I was getting sick of threatening him with time in the corner and spanks and knew I needed better incentives. A couple months ago I started a "rewards" program with Finn and it has changed my life!

Here's how it works: I scored a bunch of hot wheels cars for super cheap at a garage sale. One at a time, I put cars on top of the oven that Finn can see, but he can't play with. I draw a simple dot-to-dot picture of the car that he is currenlty working towards and hang it on the fridge. Every time he obeys Aaron and I, or we notice him doing something good, he 'gets a dot' and we let him connect another dot in the picture. Once the picture is complete, he wins the car.

The first picture (the ambulance shown above) only had about 8 dots so he could quickly learn how it works, but now that he gets the idea his pictures have several more dots. He LOVES this little program and will happily say "dot!" if he knows he's done something good. It's great for me as a mom because it helps me LOOK for the good things he does, instead of just punishing the bad.

I used to fight with him to get him to come inside after and outing...now he runs into the house so he can get a dot. I used to fight with him to get him to lay still while I changed his diaper...now he cooperates (most of the time:) so he can get a dot. The other day at the park, he started to freak out when it was time to leave...but I told him if he got into the stroller without throwing a fit I'd give him a dot when we got home and he climbed in without further argument.
If you have kids and do not have some kind of positive rewards system I HIGHLY reccommend it. It has seriously helped me become a better mother and turned my son into a happier toddler. Way to go on earining your crane truck today Finn! Now he's working toward a tow truck...

Halloween 2009

2009-11-10T14:05:00.001-08:00

Finn is not really "in" to dressing up. But when he found out that was the only requirement to get candy from EVERYONE in the neighborhood, he was all too willing to participate. Earlier in the month we had a costume party with our play group. It was so fun to see all of his little friends dressed up! Getting them all to look at the camera was a different story I love the fact that Kate has no idea she looks different than any other day.

On Halloween day we took the kids to a ward party. They had a few trick or treating stations and Finn got to decorate and eat a cupcake as seen in the first picture.

He also went on a "ghost hunt" where they covered a bunch of lollipops with tissue paper to look like ghosts and spread them out over the lawn. Here he is picking up his umpteenth one:

That night we went trick or treating. Kate just chilled in her stroller and enjoyed the nice fall weather. Finn buckled under pressure and couldn't say "trick or treat" to people's faces, but every time he walked back down the driveway he said, "Hey Mom! Get...more...candy!" We could tell he was LOVING it.

He really liked seeing all the different jack-o-lanterns...especially at this house that had one on every fence post.

When we came home we introduced him to hot chocolate, which -- judging by his reaction -- elevated his day from pretty awesome to freakin amazing. We all had a really great time together as a family...and I love using Finn's candy stache to bribe him to eat his dinner!

Overheard...

2009-11-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

Steve (from "Blue's Clues") : ...and those are all the things I'm thankful for. What about you? What are you thankful for?

Finn: Um...Mama! Yeah...Mama...and Daddy too yeah...and

Steve: Bye bye! See ya next time!

Finn: Wait! Steve! Talkin' to you! Thake-ful...Kate...too!

Every day I am so thankful to have such a wonderful little boy...and hearing that he is thankful for me too made me love him even more.

Videos by Dad

2009-11-01T19:56:00.000-08:00

Aaron got some quality time with the kids a few nights ago and took a couple great videos.

The first if of Finn counting to 20. I feel like his little brain is soaking everything up so fast and I can't teach him fast enough! It is so fun to have a child that loves to learn.

The second is of Kate just chillin on the floor which she does about 80% of the day. Finn loves to get Kate to "si-ul" (smile) and we all love her cute little dimple. She is becoming such an easy, happy baby!

Hight Quality Self Portraits

2009-11-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

As I walked out of the bathroom I saw a flash go off, and a star was born.

Turns out Finn was holding his own personal photo sesh while I was in the shower. These aren't even half of the shots he took. He was pretty proud of himself for figuring out how to turn the thing on, switch it to camera mode and take a snapshot. As evidenced by these self portraits, Finn is a natural born talent. If you'd like to book a photo session with Finn, his fee is one package of fruit snacks. His calendar is filling up quickly so act now if you want some high quality portraits of your own!

They're buds

2009-10-19T21:50:00.001-07:00

Move Over Michaelangelo

2009-10-19T21:37:00.000-07:00

We got Finn a 'magnadoodle' for Christmas last year. It seriously is the best 6 dollars we ever spent on him. He plays with it ALL THE TIME and will just sit quietly and draw for several minutes (like 10-20) at a time.

He is always drawing something new and lots of the time it is just scribbles, but a lot of the time it is something recognizable too! Example: the other day he pointed to the picture he drew and said, "Hey mom! Cup!" and it was totally a 3-dimensional cup! Prrrretty sure he learned it from Blue's Clues...but still impressive that he could replicate it all on his own. Here's some pictures that he drew on his own that I was able to get snapshots of before he erased them:

The big guy is Daddy, the little one on the right is Kate, and the one on the left is, well, undecided. Pretty good for a 2-year-old I think!

He is really into cars lately and loves to draw them. Not exactly the sleekest model, but at least the wheels are in the right place!

He can draw several shapes on his own as well as some letters and numbers. He loves to draw members of his family (including uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins) and all sorts of animals. I know his drawings are probably only impressive to me because I'm his mom, but he just amazes me!

Kate's Blessing

2009-10-01T20:45:00.001-07:00

We were so lucky to have so much family here for Kate's baby blessing last weekend. My sister had her baby boy blessed the same day and my nephew was baptised the day before so it was a little hectic, but mostly just really great. We blessed Kate in the singles ward where Aaron is serving...which was obviously out of the ordinary, but it just made it even more special for us. Aaron gave her a beautiful blessing. Kate was grumpy in the morning, but was really good when it counted during church and afterwards at the family dinner. She is three months old now and is cooing and smiling a lot. We are so grateful for all the family and friends that came to support Kate on her special day.
LOVE this picture.

Jaxson is saying "Cheese!" like his life depends on it, and Finn is looking at him like he is crazy.

Most of Aaron's side of the fam that came for the blessing.

Kate and McCoy...cousins blessed on the same day!
Megan, Stacie (McKenna), Mom (Kate), Me, Andrea

Utah State Fair

2009-09-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law Lesli hooked us up with free passes to the fair this year and we had such a great time.

We saw a cool alligator show and Finn loved walking through all the animal pens.

I love this video because it shows just how excited he was...he kept breaking out into spontaneous dance moves:

Of course we had to put him on some rides, even though they are a total money trap:

My favorite part was the "Little Hands on the Farm" exhibit. They gave each kid an apron and basket at the beginning, and had them walk through several stations where they got to "work on a farm".

Here is Finn picking his fake tomatoe. On the other side of this 'garden' the kids planted pretend seeds in the dirt, then went to the other side and got to pick what they planted to put in their basket. He also got to pick a pretend apple from a tree, ride a mini tractor, feed and milk a pretend cow, and brush a pretend sheep as seen below.

At every station he got to put something in his basket. Then at the end, he 'sold' his farmed goods for a fake dollar bill that he got to take to the 'grocery store'. They had a lot of different things like little cereal boxes, chocolate milk etc. and he got to pick out whatever he wanted for the dollar he made. Just as I was explaining this to Finn, Aaron says, "Hey Ash, I think we're getting an apple." I looked at Finn and he had picked out an apple and taken a big bite out of it! I thought it was so cute that he chose an apple out of all those things. He ate it on the way home and was totally content.

The only downer for me was the "BBQ turkey sandwich" I paid six dollars for that ended up being cold deli meat on a bun and I had to put the BBQ sauce on myself -- lame! I always think it's going to be so fun to eat at places like this, and I am always dissapointed and wish I would have brought my own food. Lesson learned. Luckily, I got to eat the rest of Finn's corn dog after he was done with it.

Gooooooo Cougars!

2009-09-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

BYU Player Dennis Pitta...pretty sure Aaron made him feel like a rock star by cheering and taking this picture.

Aaron is not really a "sports fan" per se, but he is a pretty hard core fan of BYU football. How hard core you ask? Hard core enough to go to an impromptu pep rally at Provo airport at 2 AM to welcome the team home after their amazing win against Oklahoma. The game was pretty intense, and after we won all of Provo celebrated for a good two hours. People were honking, lighting off fireworks (ok, maybe that was just Aaron) and cheering. About 1000 fans ended up at the airport (for the first time ever apparently) and Aaron was so excited to be a part of it all. And I was excited that he fed Kate before he left so I could sleep. Here is a video he took of Bronco talking to the crowd:

Here's hoping the Cougs keep up the good work...I'd really like my husband's mood to be this good for the rest of the season!

Carnival Fun!

2009-09-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

We all went to a carnival fundraiser for Milo's school a while ago and had a blast!

Finn and Dad at the fish pond, Finn caught a coloring book!

Finn LOVED his pony ride.

Sawyer and Milo in a donut eating race.

Finn's wildest dreams came true when he got to play Plinko. We have a Price is Right game at home that he plays with every day. He won a pencil and glow in the dark bracelet. Not quite $50,000 but we'll take what we can get.

Gemma on her pony ride. I think her face in this pic is priceless.

We got the kids ice cream while we waited in line for the ponies. Finn was in heaven. His face got stained and sticky but it was totally worth it. What a fun night!

My Birthday

2009-09-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

I turned 25 on September 1st. I am now old enough to get discounted car insurance, rent a golf cart on Catalina Island, and feel like an official adult :)

The day was mediochre until Aaron got home from work...then it was awesome! He got right to work cooking me a FANTASTIC dinner, shown below. The pictures really don't do it justice though.

Spicy scallop salad with dressing he made himself, broiled swordfish, garlic roasted potatoes and steamed asparagus. YUMMY. Then we had a DQ ice cream cake for dessert (my fave) and this one was extra good because it was made with Girl Scout Thin Mints! Aaron and Finn both sang me "Happy Birthday" before I blew out the candles...well, candle. It was so wonderful having Finn sing along, I loved it. Then I opened my presents. Aaron got me a really cute dress and shrug to go overtop...I am always impressed with what a good job he does picking things out for me. Then my sister Megan came to babysit so Aaron and I could go to a movie. We saw "Up" at the dollar theatre (gotta love discount Tuesdays!) and loved it!

Because I am lame, I didn't get any pictures of anything besides the food...we were kinda rushed :) But just know that I had a fantastic birthday...thanks Aaron for making it so great!

Introducing the New and Improved....

2009-09-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Cordless Kate!

Upgrades include:

MUCH Lighter weight

The ability to be carried around the house by Mom

Removal of ear-splitting (and always false) alarm

Removal of itchy under-arm belt that caused infant stress

Faster get-ready-to-leave-the-house time

Removal of oxygen tube stickers and associated annoyance

Current Stats:
2 months and 10 days old
8 lbs 9 oz
19 1/2 inches long

It's true! She has been off oxygen for a couple weeks and now has the official doctor's order to be taken off her monitor as well! Secretly, we may have been cheating for a few days (throw me a bone!) but now I can be guilt free about never hooking her up to anything ever again! Seriously, can not even describe how much easier my life is. Congrats Kate!

Finn Is 2!

2009-08-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

For Finn's birthday this year, we headed to the park once again. We brought a cake, some pop and a bunch of balloons and invited all of Finn's cousins and a couple other little friends of his.
Finn is all about cars lately and Aaron found this sweet cake at Wal-Mart. I would have tried to make something this cool and failed, so it was pretty great that we could just pick it up and save myself the headache and inevitable feeling of motherhood inadequacy.
Finn was totally overwhelmed by all the attention but was very excited as well. Here he is patiently waiting for all his friends to sit down so he can start opening presents:
We have been playing this every day since his party:

We saved the best for last -- this giant Elmo that Aaron found on KSL (brand new) for $10!

When he opened it he said his signature, "Wow!" and loves to give 'Big Melmo' hugs whenever he can.

He got so many great things from family and friends that have definitely made my life easier lately. I can't believe it has been two years since he was born! Hard to imagine him getting a bath like this these days:

He is such a fun little boy and we love having him around and watching him learn and grow. Happy birthday Finn! We love you more than you'll ever know.

Benefits of a Bottle Baby

2009-08-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

Aaron fed Kate in the middle of the night last night.

Twice.

And I slept.

Need I say more?

No, but I will.

No soreness.

No messing with a nursing cover.

No exclusion from the fun when I have to feed my baby.

No ball and chain.

I really gave it my best shot. I nursed Kate while she was in the hospital, but it was always difficult getting her to latch. I had to use a shield and it was always a struggle, but Finn was a difficult nurser too so I just thought it would take some time. When she came home though, I needed to give her several fortified bottles a day so she could get the extra calories she needs...and that's when she started to boycott nursing altogether. After a few frustrating late-night feedings where she took FOREVER to latch or didn't at all, the last straw was when it took me 30 minutes to get her to latch, and then Finn came and jumped on us and I couldn't get her back on. Enter the bottle. Exit frustration and headache. I am pumping as long as I can stand it/until my milk supply runs out. My maternal instict to nurse makes me a little sad that I can't breast feed my baby girl, but I have made peace with the situation and am just glad that she takes the bottle like a champ. Plus, the extra sleep I get thanks to my wonderful, helpful husband is pretty freaking amazing.

Mmmmm...Cookies

2009-07-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I re-discovered my favorite cookies. Aaron was flying a couple nights ago which means Finn and I are usually tired and bored from 6-8pm. So instead of watching TV, we whipped up these yummy treats! Seriously, they are so yummy. They are JUMBO (you drop them by 1/4 cup!) and they always turn out so chewy and delicious. Got the recipe from my sister Megan and now I am sharing it with you! Please make them...you won't regret it.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 C softened butter

1/2 C peanut butter

1 C brown sugar

1/2 C sugar

2 eggs

2 T corn syrup

2 T water
2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 C chocolate chips

In a large bowl cream butter, peanut butter, brown sugar and sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time. Add corn syrup, water and vanilla.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir flour mixture into sugar mixture. Fold in chocolate chips.

Drop by 1/4 C full of dough onto ungreased sheet and squish flat. (1/4 inch thick and round.) Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes until edges are golden. (Top does NOT look done but will set). Makes 18 cookies. By leaving the drop size so big, they are sure to be chewy!

She's Got Style

2009-07-26T14:58:00.000-07:00

Yep, those glasses belong to Mr. Potato Head, and they fit with room to spare.

Kate is Home!

2009-07-15T13:20:00.000-07:00

Kate came home from the hospital on Tuesday, July 14th! She gradually started to eat better and better until the nurses were able to remove her feeding tube. I stayed at the hospital overnight with her and she did well, so the next day we got to bring her home. She is still a difficult breast feeder, but she takes a bottle really well so right now I am pumping milk and giving her a bottle at every other feeding until she gets the hang of nursing.

View Kate's Hospital Portrait

Unfortunately, she still has to be hooked up to an oxygen tank as well as a machine that monitors her heart and respiratory rates. She will probably be on oxygen for at least a couple weeks, and the monitor for at least a month. This makes taking her places (even up the stairs!) a challenge but we are just so thrilled to have her home.

Video of Kate at Home

Finn got a present of five Hot Wheels cars from baby Kate which has helped them become instant friends. He already loves to hold her and 'hep-you' (help you...meaning me) to make the baby comfortable. We are so excited to finally be an official family of four!

Update on Kate and Finn

2009-06-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

Kate's Status

It looks like Kate is going to be in the hospital for longer than two weeks. She has digressed a little -- she is now on oxygen and has not latched well at all for the past couple days. The first few times I fed her, it took her a while to latch but then she caught on well . However, the last couple days she has hardly gotten anything from me. She won't be able to come home until she is latching well for ALL her feedings (and right now they are only having me try twice a day) so this will most likely be a longer road than we originally anticipated.

Why She's a Tiny Gal

I forgot to mention in my last post the reason for Kate's small size. During delivery, the doc discovered that my placenta was calcified -- basically just worn out. It looked (pardon the imagery) kind of crusty and shriveled. I guess this is just a random thing that happens sometimes which causes the baby to stop getting the nutrients they need. So it was a good thing I got induced since she wasn't going to get much more from being in the oven...and at least now she is getting food right to her tummy so she can start growing.

Finn's Status

My other stress is having to leave Finn so much while I go to the hospital. I am so lucky to have so many people willing to watch him, but he is definitely confused by the whole thing and is getting sadder and sadder every time I leave. Today he was crying so hard when I left that he was hardly breathing. Of course he got over it soon enough, but it makes leaving so much harder...and then when Kate doesn't even latch at all on top of it, I find myself really discouraged. I just keep reminding myself that it's only a few weeks, and soon she will be home and our family routine can get back to normal...or as normal as it can be with a newborn in the house :)

Above is a picture of my cute little guy that I just took today. Lately, Finn has been really into cowboys. My sister Megan bought him this cowboy hat that he loves. He calls anything Quaker brand "Cowboy Cereal" or "Cowboy Snacks" because the Quaker looks like he is wearing a cowboy hat. He loves to shout "Yee-Haw! Cowboy!" while he is playing. Also, he is really good at counting and likes to count to ten as seen in the following video:

I can't wait for him to meet his little sister!

Kate is Here!

2009-06-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here is how my day went on Wednesday, June 24th:

9:15am -- Go to OBGYN check-up

11:00am -- Go to Megan's, feed Finn lunch and put him down for a nap

1:00pm -- Go to hospital for appointment with specialist

1:20pm -- Get told that baby is now measuring almost 4 weeks small, so she has basically stopped growing

1:30pm -- Get an amneosentesis done where they stick me with a huge needle and take a fluid sample to see if baby's lungs are developed

2:00pm -- Get hooked up to monitors to make sure the amneo didn't stress the baby out

2:30pm -- Find out that baby's lungs are developed and they want to induce me!

2:45pm -- Realize that they are not going to let me go home...this is happening right now.

3:00pm -- get changed into hospital gown, call Megan and arrange for her to keep Finn overnight

4:00pm -- get first dose of meds, contractions start

1:30am, June 25 -- get an epidural, halleluja

6:32am -- give birth to a beautiful baby girl!

Kate Elizabeth Parks

3 lbs 13 oz

17 inches long

She is teeny tiny but breathing on her own and relatively healthy. I am home now, but Kate needs to stay in the Special Care Nursery for a couple weeks or so until she gains more weight, so everything still feels pretty surreal for me. Every minute I get with her is so precious. Right now I am going to the hospital twice a day to feed her and it is so hard to leave every time. We are just so thankful that her delivery went well and that she should grow strong enough to come home soon. We will post more updates, videos and pictures soon!

She's a Dancing Machine

2009-06-13T12:59:00.001-07:00

Aaron's little sister Kimmy just started dancing this year and loves it. She had a recital last night and one today. Aaron is out of town this weekend fishing with his brother so Finn and I decided to go and support Kimmy. Last night's recital was all the jazz/hip-hop numbers. I was just planning on taking Finn into the hall when he inevitabley got restless but no need because he TOTALLY loved it. He was mesmorized by all the different music/costumes etc. and kept saying "Kimmy! Show! Kimmy! Show!"
Today's recital was a little bit of a different story...it was a production of the ballet "Cinderella" (Kimmy was a florist, pictured above). Since the music was all the same and the dancing wasn't as exciting, he got pretty restless and was ready to leave as soon as Kimmy's number was over. But he still enjoyed himself and loved having Kimmy sit next to us for a little while before/after she went on-stage. She did such a great job!

I couldn't get Finn to smile at the right time, but the middle picture shows how 'in awe' he was of Kimmy. He just kept looking at her and saying her name, it was really cute. He talked about the show all the way home by saying "Kimmy! Show! Chairs!" (they had those fold down chairs that he thought were fun to play on.)

Sometime in the next 3 weeks...

2009-06-11T12:29:00.001-07:00

I'm going to have a baby.
Her growth has not improved and my doctor told me yesterday that there is no way they are going to keep her in the oven past 37 weeks. That means the ABSOLUTE latest I will deliver is July 11th...probably more like July 6th...earlier if they see any signs of stress at the bi-weekly testing I am doing at the hospital.
I still feel very taken care of. All three doctors at my clinic are aware of my situation and communicating with the parinatologist regularly. I have an awesome neighbor/sisters who are willing to watch Finn while I am at the hospital for 2+ hours twice a week. But I am also feeling very helpless with an added dose of anxiety. Luckily my nesting instincts kicked in early this time around so we might actually be "ready" (whatever that means) for this baby to be born. I am just so glad that I have such a great network of supportive friends and family who are always there for me, it makes the waiting a lot easier.

Pregnancy Update

2009-06-03T14:27:00.000-07:00

I went to see the parenatologist (if that's even how you spell it...fancy shmancy word for high-risk pregnancy doc) today because the baby is measuring small. I am 32+ weeks but she is only measuring at 29 weeks. After being hooked up to monitors for THREE hours, we found out that everything seems to be okay, she is just a tiny gal (less than 10th percentile). I have to go back to the hospital 2 times a week now, plus my regular doctor's visits, so they can monitor her progress and make sure she is getting the nourishment she needs. If she doesn't improve, they will probably induce me in 4 weeks because she'll get better nourishment outside than in. I had to get a steroids shot today to help her lungs develop, and I'm going back for another oh-so-enjoyable dose to the rear end tomorrow. Oy. So, the next few weeks will not be very fun, but I feel very at ease. All of the doctors and nurses have been really great and I am confident that my little girl will be just fine. And hey, if I deliver early, that's a whole month of Utah heat that I don't have to endure as a pregnant whale. I'll try to keep that in mind :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

Finn loved Memorial Day weekend this year because he got to do this:

And this:

And he got to see his Daddy a lot more than usual. Man, I really need a backyard. He could just do laps in Megan's yard forever...and of course the "po-een' as he calls it (seen above, and in the video below) is a definite perk.

We went to the park, walked to the duck pond, had an awesome BBQ, flew our kite, got our kite stuck in Megan's tree, "gave" Megan our kite, played Bocce and ate a yummy dessert that Aaron made in the dutch oven. PLUS, Finn got to play with lots of cousins which always makes him happy. It was a really, really great weekend.

And I have to throw in these pictures that my neighbor Kati got of Finn. I am gonna be really sad when she moves...she always takes the cutest pics of the little guy!

Nothing like ditching work and heading to the zoo!

2009-05-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

Finn checking out the zebras

Aaron gained a free day off from work for hitting his goals last quarter...so we decided to use it last minute and take Finn to the zoo! Neither of us have ever been to Hogle Zoo before and we were really excited to take Finn there for the first time since he loves any and all animals.

When he saw the monkeys he quickly said, "hoo! hoo! hoo!" and loved to watch them climb around. He was good the whole day and was interested in everything which made it really fun. Since Aaron is biased from the San Diego Zoo, he wasn't that impressed by good ol' Hogle, but he still thought it was totally worth it and we all had a great time.
We took Finn to the bird show in the amphitheater and he LOVED it. They show all kinds of birds (including the bald eagle seen above) and many fly right over your head! (as seen in the following video.) Finn still talks about the bird show he saw.

It was a REALLY hot day and Finn fell asleep as soon as we got in the car. When he woke up from his nap, he talked all about his day at the zoo and even talked about it the whole next day. We are so glad that Aaron could play hookie so we could have this fun family day together!

Recipe Revival

2009-05-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this post by saying I am NOT crafty. Occasionally I masquerade as one who crafts, but the facade usually crumbles once you take a close look at the quality of my work. I have a hard time being creative and just don't have a lot of patience/skill.

Taking my non-craftiness into account, I am pretty proud of the recipe book I just made for myself. My recipe box has always been a disaster -- it's full of scribbled notes on all kinds of paper, printouts, smudged recipe cards etc. etc. etc.

I found an old photo album that I've had since my wedding and decided to transfer all my recipes into it. First of all, the title makes me happy:

The 4x6 slots are great because they are big enough for a 4x6 recipe card (lower-right slot below) OR to fold a regular piece of paper in (upper-right slot below.) And of course 3x5 cards slide in nicely too!

I made tabs out of some old dividers I had from school and attached them with scrapbook adhesive for quick-flip referencing.
I also have a lot of recipes on double-sided 81/2 x 11 paper...you know, hand-outs from relief society activities and things like that. So I just slid those into page protecters and clipped them into the binder in the appropriate place. Originally, I was planning on copying them onto 3x5 cards so everything would be uniform...but as I said...I just don't have a lot of patience...so page protectors did the trick!

Now I can see 8 recipes at a time and they are all organized! I will never rummage through my crappy recipe box again. I know it looks pretty ghetto, but coming from a non-crafter, I gotta say I am pretty pleased.

Haven't Learned My Lesson Yet...

2009-05-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

This little guy loves to play with the camera. I keep it away from him for the most part, but every once in a while I give in...and every once in a while I'm reminded why I shouldn't ever give in again.

*I just edited this post to include the following video. This is the one I took just BEFORE the one at the bottom that made me think it might be okay for Finn to take his own video. I think it sets up the last one a little better than just watching it on its own. Please ignore my fat pregnancy face.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

2009-04-25T11:37:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Aaron thought it would be really fun to get a kite to fly with Finn. I had to go to Wal-Mart for a few things, so he asked me to get a kite and made me promise not to get the cheapest one (so that it would definitely fly).

They had some crappy looking kites for $3.50, some nicer ones for $8 and some really cool looking ones for $10. Normally, I would go with the cheapest or middle option, but I saw a sweet ten dollar one shaped like an airplane and knew that Aaron would be proud if I got it, so I did.

Long story short -- it nose dived every time and is now a piece of decor in Finn's room.

So, we ended up getting a $3.50 one and it flies great! It is super easy to get in the air and Finn can even fly it by himself. Note to self: just because it is more expensive does NOT mean it is better! That is the last time I will get suckered by the kite makers of the world.

Pat Sajack Strikes Again

2009-04-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

Some of you may recall this post where I talked about how much Finn LOVES "Wheel of Fortune." He pretty much loves all game shows, but Wheel is definitely his favorite.

Well I guess all that Wheel watching has paid off because about a month ago Aaron and I discovered that Finn knows his alphabet! Yes, he knows the entire alphabet. He has always been curious about letters and when he points to one, we tell him what it is, but we never really thought he was absorbing anything. Now he can point to any letter (with the exception of W that still gives him a little trouble) and exclaim its name with confidence.

We just got an alphabet book from the library and I took a video of Aaron reading it to him. The video is pretty long, but it showcases what a little smarty pants he is! Aaron and I can't take credit for this at all, it just must be something Finn is interested in. Our thanks goes out to Pat Sajack for instilling in our little guy the love of letters. Thanks Pat!

Easter with Finn

2009-04-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Holidays with kids are SO much more fun! Aaron and I loved coloring eggs with Finn this year:

He also got really into the egg hunt and loved putting them in his basket:

Once he realized there was candy in some, it was hard for us to get him to keep looking for the rest!

After his face was covered in chocolate, it was time for a bath. He lined all his toys up on the tub and was so proud of himself that I had to get a picture:

Then it was time to put on his new pajamas from Nana Lana. He had such a fun day!

The incident...

2009-04-09T11:39:00.000-07:00

Only a few seconds after this...

and this...

came this...

I was trying to have a fun picture-taking moment with Finn. He loves to hold the camera so I was trying to show him how to take a picture. I was only showing him what button to push, but he got mad that I was honing in on his camera holding time and proceeded to chuck the camera at me at point-blank range. I now have a cut forehead and black eye as a souvenir. It hurt SO BAD and I yelled out in pain...and then he got really sad once he saw that I was hurt and I felt really bad for getting so angry. After I tended to my wounds we had a nice little talk about throwing things...here's hopin' he retains that lesson!

Blast from the Past

2009-04-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

One of our many engagement shots that didn't make the cut

Thanks to my crazy pregnancy nesting issues, Aaron and I have been doing some Spring cleaning. All clutter annoys me lately and I feel an overwhelming urge to make our house 100% ready for this next baby. We finally went through boxes of old stuff that desperately needed some attention and got rid of a TON of junk. And of course, what sorting of old crap would be complete without a trip down memory lane. Here are some pictures that a few of our old friends may get a kick out of...

Aaron and Dan H. riding horses back in the day

Mikey and Matt packing heat

Aaron and Dan P. on yet another trip to the mud caves

Tyson making out with a clown after pimping out the garage that

Aaron lived in. Aaron thinks that is Dan Henry's hand in the lower-left corner...aah teenage boys.

Matt doing the "Ore Truck"

Aaron and Zane in The Brittany...what is it with guys and their nipples?!

You can hardly tell...but that's Tony Danza! I snapped this pic of him in NYC.

One of the greatest gals ever...Jenn Thomson and I at EFY.

Aaron and I after a month of dating...with some licorice.

Me and my freshman room mate Katy...what a gal.

Magic Mountain with the Art Glass crew...Andrea, Jenn and Cam. I'm wearing my favorite glasses...one of the many pairs that I have stepped on and broken over the years.

Yeah...that's me.

Finn is sick...until the end of time

2009-03-30T20:30:00.001-07:00

So my welcome back present from Finn when we came home from Vegas was two weeks of viral diarrhea. Yes, TWO WEEKS...hence the lack of blog updates. All I have been doing is laundry, laundry, laundry and all I have been feeding him is bread, bananas, and bread.

The DAY that he got over the aforementioned nastiness, he got a runny nose, cough and fever.

He has the worst diaper rash EVER and says 'ow' every time I get out the diaper creme. He also makes the sign for 'hurt' and points to his bum...it breaks my heart.

I think he may have an ear infection.

And his last two teeth are coming in.

Oh please say that the magical season of Spring will finally come for good and make all this gross Winter sickness go away...I'm ready.