We went to a friend's birthday party two weekends ago at a bounce house and the girls LOVED it!



They had a clown make balloon animals and Desi was so excited to get a pink cat! (her favorite color and animal)
Charly loved eating the frosting off of the cupcakes.
And then last weekend...drum roll please...I bought the newest member of our family and his name is Dyson! Our vacuum started sounding funny and Tom said the motor was going out! Woohoo! I was sick of the heavy vacuum and the taped hose and not having any attachments and all the dust it created and washing the filters three or four times every time I vacuumed. I had used Liz's once before and knew it was the one I wanted! Tom thinks I'm crazy but I LOVE it! It's lightweight and the handle turns into a hose and it has attachments and I can vacuum without washing a filter!

So last Sunday I finally dusted off my Bosch and tried making my mother-in-law's delicious roll recipe. They tasted pretty good considering I used all-purpose flour because I didn't have bread flour. I just couldn't quite get the texture right on the top. They weren't as smooth as Mom's or as delicious but I was proud of myself for trying.

Catching Up

This was Christmas Eve/Tom's birthday right before cake, ice cream and bedtime.

We went to church on Christmas Day and then came home and opened presents and I tried to get a picture before Desi started ripping them open.

We took Desi ice skating for the first time and she LOVED it even though Tom couldn't get her to understand how to do it.

The zamboni came out right after we got there and I couldn't get Desi to look at me for a picture.Tom even took Charly around a few times and she was not happy when he handed her back off to me.I need to get some portrait shots of the girls but especially Charly because it's been over a year.She has started smiling now and making a cheesy face when I pull the camera out.I think I better start putting Desi in longer pants! She is getting so tall! She loves getting pigtails!

We celebrated my niece's 1st birthday this last Saturday. She is just the cutest when you can get her to smile!
The girls love watching movies together and drinking strawberry milk.Here are the girls in their Valentine's Day jammies which I think I might frame and put up with my decorations. Why is it so impossible to get a picture with their eyes open but not with their eyes closed?

Happy Birthday Tom!

I love you babe!

Patience

I wanted to write this down so I don't forget it. Last night, Desi, Charly and I were leaving the store and I had been fighting with Desi to stay by me in the store the whole time. We were getting in the truck and she would not get in her seat and put her seat belt on. I said to her "I'm losing my patience." To which she replied, "Where is it Mama?" and started looking around. I couldn't help but laugh as she kept looking around the back of the truck on the floor and asking me "Where's your patience mama?" I swear she knows when I'm about to lose it because she then will give me a kiss or say "Guess what Mama? I love you."
She loves posing for pictures so I found a little camera at WalMart the other day for her birthday and she walked around the store taking pictures of everyone. She tries to close one eye when she takes the picture and she tells you to say "cheese", it's so cute! She also got a tea set for her birthday. I pulled it out of the box and set it up for her on the table putting the pink cups on the blue plates and the blue cups on the pink plates to see what she would do(knowing she has to match everything) and sure enough she switched it around and told me pink goes on pink and blue goes on blue. So of course when I mixed the spoons in the wrong colored cups I got in trouble. You also can't call her nick names or she gets mad. I'll say come on "choppy" and she'll say "I not choppy, I Desi."
Charly is getting so fast! She isn't walking by herself yet but I would bet it will be soon. She laughs sometimes for Tom and me but she thinks Desi is so funny. If Desi has a friend over and they are playing in Desi's room, Charly wants right in the middle of it. She will push her way onto my lap if Desi is sitting on it and definitely knows how to get my attention by crying if Desi takes something from her or just touches her. She has four top teeth and two bottom teeth and loves to give cheesy grins with her nose scrunched. She's also been trying to "roar" at us like we do to her when we chase her. I would've never imagined I could love two little girls so much!
P. S. For those of you who don't know, Tom got the job at I don't want to post on my blog but I think most of you know where!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work!

Dad

I've been thinking about and missing my father-in-law the last few days, mostly because of General Conference coming up. Tom would always go with his Dad to the Priesthood session and I guess the void is more apparent now that he doesn't have someone to go with. I know, I know, he can go with any of his brother-in-laws or his friends in the ward but it's not going to be the same. Most people have a tradition to go with their sons, dads or brothers and Tom doesn't have any of those. I only hope that one day he will have a son to take and they can carry on the tradition that he had with his Dad. I know it was special to Tom and I miss the things that could have been.

The Good Wife

I've recently been pondering what it really means to be a good wife. I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks, so please comment and tell me, what is your definition of a good wife? What responsibilities does a good wife take care of? What little extras does a good wife do for her husband? I'm looking specifically for wife duties not mother duties, even though I know they can be intertwined.

On another note, has anyone seen The Box with Cameron Diaz? It's the movie about pushing a button and when you do someone dies but the person pushing it gets one million dollars. Can someone please explain it to me? I'm so confused!

Just Some Notes

Since I'm writing this blog to remember things I've got to recap the last 15 months:

• we sold our house and moved in with my Mom and Dad
• we bought and moved into a new house
  
• my mom got breast cancer
  
• Tom had a colonoscopy
  
• I had a baby girl, who was in the NICU for a few days
  
• my brother, Brian, came home from Iraq
  
• Desi turned 2!
  
• my brother, Daniel, left for Afghanistan
  
• Tom turned 30!
• Tom had his fatty tumors removed
  
• I turned 26!
  
• my sweet father-in-law passed away
• my mom had a hysterectomy
• Tom & I celebrated our 5th anniversary
  
• my sister, Kristina, had a baby girl
• my sister-in-law, Erin, had twin boys (Jack was in the NICU for 12 days)
  
• my aunt passed away
• and now I have a child with RSV and both of them with double ear infections but it could be worse! (We're thinking and praying for Josh (& now Jack) who are at the hospital with RSV!)
• amidst all of this, Tom has survived layoffs at work and going back to school and I survived a few months of postpartum!
• Each day I'm so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends that love and support us!