Mac and Cheese

If Kaylee could eat Macaroni and Cheese for every meal for the rest of her life, I think she would die a happy girl.  She gets SO excited when she sees it and can hardly get it in her mouth because she just grabs handful after handful, trying to get it all at once.  I will definitely be keeping Kraft in business for a while.  You're welcome Kraft execs- feel free to send a thank you check my way anytime!

Date Night

Last night was our first date night in a LONG time.  It was a much needed break (thanks mom!) and we had a blast.  First we went to check out the Trafalga in Lehi, which was recently redone. We played a game of Lasertag, did some rock climbing, and played mini golf.  I loved rock climbing because it's the only thing I can beat Richard at- everything else he completely dominates :) 

 

Then we went out to eat and finally snuck into the rec area of a singles apartment to play pool and ping pong.  (Is it bad that we do that?  There aren't any signs that say we can't play if we don't live there....).  I definitely needed a night of fun after last week (see previous post) and am so lucky I have an amazing husband that can make me laugh and help me relax!!!

What A Week

Is it over yet?  Because I am quite ready to start a new week fresh and clean and (hopefully) completely unlike the week I just had.  What are the odds that will happen? Just lie to me and tell me the odds are in my favor, ok?

Christmas Cheer

I hope everyone had as good of a Christmas as we did. On Christmas Eve we visited my grandparents and then went to see the lights on Temple Square with my parents.  I've never been on Christmas Eve before and was surprised with how crowded it was.  Here's my little cutie all bundled up to see the lights for the first time:

 Then we came back and played games and then stayed at my parents.  Notice how I didn't say slept?  Luckily, Kaylee slept great but for some reason Richard and I both couldn't sleep at all.  I guess we were too excited for Santa :)  Kaylee's first Christmas was way fun to watch, even if she was more interested in the paper than the actual presents.  Random sidenote, I decided I'm going to try to build her a cardboard castle out of the leftover boxes, an idea I saw in a parenting magazine.  Hopefully it will turn out half as well as the one in the magazine! (Don't you hate it how you can never make things look like they do in pictures??)

  

In the afternoon, we had a Christmas party with the traditional talent show, Nativity, and of course, presents.  We tried to get my adorable 4 year old niece to play Mary but she refused.  When we asked her who she wanted to be instead, she replied "Wicked King Herod".  Ha ha ha- obviously her parents have taught her well.  We quickly ad libbed a part for King Herod so that she could play her favorite role. Kaylee was good all day, as always, and loved playing with her new toys and being around her family.  We are SO incredibly blessed- thank you to everyone who gave us gifts, treats, company, and most importantly, love!

Barf Bag For One, Please

There a few things I wondered about how I would handle when I had my own child.  Like cleaning up another person's vomit, finding marker drawings all over the wall, or waking up to find poop creations all over the crib, stuffed animals, and books (which actually happened to my sister).  One thing I never thought of before was discovering things that my child would eat without knowing that they are, in fact, not edible.  The other day I thought Kaylee was chewing on something.  I tried to poke around in her mouth to see what it was but couldn't see anything. She gnaws on her tongue quite often so I figured maybe that's all she was doing.  However, after a few minutes, she was getting frustrated that she couldn't chew and swallow whatever it was and so she pulled it out to examine it.  I glanced over and saw her pull out a fingernail clipping!!!  I almost threw up on the spot.  This almost tempted me to bump up my weekly vacuuming job to once or twice a day just to avoid that again.  Can't wait to see what she'll try to eat next...

A Baby Changes Everything

I decided this is my favorite Christmas song this year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y0_wNPSOaw&feature=related  (skip past the first minute or so to get to the actual song)

not only because I love MY baby who changed everything for me this year but because of the little baby who came so long ago and changed the whole world.  I am so grateful for that gift that was given more than two thousand years ago that continues to bless me and everyone I know. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Meet BRaj

 This is my sweet nephew, Benjamin Raj (Raj means king in Hindi).  He was born two months earlier than his due date, and is having a little bit of a rough start to life.  But he is a fighter and is making small improvements every day.  I was finally able to meet him today and he is SO beautiful and perfect and tiny- the pictures do not do him justice at all.  Even though he is super tough and is fighting so hard to get out of the NICU as soon as he can, he needs a lot of love and prayers.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers when you get a chance!  We are so happy to have him in our family!!