Jeff also took Davis to the Air Base for their annual air show preview.
Jeric and Carter were there too!

He looks so small in this one!

These three pictures have captions provided by Jeff.

This is Davis pondering the difference between true airspeed and indicated airspeed.

This is him calculating the effect of the wind vector.

This is when he realizes he should stop being a geek and just enjoy the show.

Jeff and Davis went to Father and Sons.

It was at warms Springs and Davis was awesome.

A few weeks later he stopped using the floaties too!

Making 2008 of my blog into a book made me realize how important the things I put on her are!! And now that 2009's over I realized there were so many awesome things that didn't make it onto the blog! Here's the catch-up...

Jeff and Rod took my kids to the lake
with Mac, Brooke, Xander, Foster
Bracken, Skye, Hayes and Kamri

This was the most memorable event of the day.
On the drive home Davis fell asleep with a water bottle still in his mouth! And Jeff said he had to pry his mouth open to get it out. Apparently everyone still awake laughed and laughed over it. Rod even texted me a picture they thought is was so funny :)

"2 is better than 1"

-Boys Like Girls featuring Taylor Swift

2009 was the year Gray learned things...

and got into things...

more pictures of his misadventures were lost with the stolen laptop...
they included
mascara
Eucerin cream lotion
and black Sharpie
Isn't he ever supervised!?

"It's Christmastime in the city"

-"Silver Bells"

We had a lovely Christmas. So many wonderful traditions. We alternate years so it was our year to spend with the Leavitt side.

Christmas eve consisted of the traditional white elephant gift exchange, playing Skittles and hilarious nativity re-enactment. We didn't get home until 10 pm!

We took the camera but didn't take any pictures...
and then forgot to take the camera home so we don't have any pictures of us opening presents Christmas morning either! We're such picture taking failures but at least our gift giving was successful! The kids were very pleased with ALL their presents.

The kids tried to throw Santa for a loop this year. Towards the end of the month Davis started telling people Santa was going to bring him an EZ Bake Oven. What!? His previous list consisted of a bow-and-arrow, microscope and toy gun. And then Leah specified the Barbie she wants is a wedding Barbie, uhhh not Gabriela Montez? Dang.

By some Christmas miracle Santa was able to find BOTH presents the day before Christmas eve!
It's a good thing nobody shops at K-Mart, haha.

The Chrismas day festivities were great too. Poor Grayson didn't even wake up for a whole HOUR after the big kids. We thought he'd hear the noise and get up (and I was not about to wake him up, that kid is grumpy enough as it is!). Anyways, he eventually did get up and was just as excited with his presents as if he'd been there for all the opening.

Mom and Dad got the kids a trampoline and really deserve a medal for putting it up in the freezing cold. The kids also informed us they had seen the box in the garage so they knew they were getting one but I told them we wanted to surprise them with putting it up and they were sufficiently surprised to make all the effort worth it :)

We then went over to Rod & Cindy's for the family gift exchange and the traditional breakfast of waffles with an assortment of pork products :) Davis DID NOT want to wear his Christmas PJ's but I made him (so I could get a picture dang it!). There was much emotion involved, but it didn't totally ruin his Christmas ;)

He did however kinda ruin our family picture.

There were two taken:

Take your pick.
At least some of us look quite adorable :)

"All the things you do"

-"Addicted" by Saving Abel

Yesterday will forever be known as the day Grayson cried in the van for 20 minutes, peed his pants THREE times AND knocked the Christmas tree over! I didn't have my camera handy to document the travesty but here are some of Grayson being mischevious a few days ago:

I still love him...
but I seriously need to move my calendar higher.

Grayson: "I have to go potty"

Me: "Go to the bathroom, take your pants off, and go potty."

Grayson: "I need you to hold me."

Me: "No, you can do it all yourself."

Grayson: "You want to hold me."

I just started reading NieNie's blog so I guess I should just be thankful that I can hold him. I really am trying my hardest not to get frustrated that he won't go to the potty all by himself. Last night he peed after he got out of the shower... while he was still naked. I mean come on! Whatever, I still love him (and Jeff cleaned it up).

"She holds you captivated in her palm"

-"Suddenly I see" by KT Tunstall

Guess who has a new tooth?

And she rolls over now. Both of these things happened a couple of weeks ago but I'm just now getting to recording it. As Jeff would say, "what kind of mother are you!?"

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love"

-"What The World Needs" by Luther Vandross

Yesterday Apple sent me an e-mail that read "Make holiday joy last all year. Give MacBook." That's a little ironic.

Picture taken December 25th, 2008

The police officer came for 5 minutes, wrote the report, took one picture and then left. He wasn't super thorough but Davis was all about being a detective. He kept pointing out all the things he could "detect" like the shoe mark on the door, a screw from the broken door, the open drawers. Kinda annoying, since I was super busy, but cute.

Today he told me he thought "it was probably a kid who knows karate. Someone who knows how to karate chop. You know, a karate kid." That made me laugh so much...maybe I'm a little delirious.

I was thankful Jeff was able to come and support me yesterday. It was refreshing having him there, I'm usually doing everything by myself. And he knows how to make me laugh. Right before he left, around 2 pm, he held up a paperback and says, "All is not lost, I finally found Elantris for you to read" And I say, "Are you trying to cheer me up with science-fiction!?". Which I'm sure is only hilarious to us :)

Overall it's really not THAT big of a deal. Going to bed last night though I told Jeff, "It's kinda freaky thinking some stranger was in this bedroom earlier TODAY."

What is the world coming to!?

And thief, if you're still reading this, would you please be a dear and send my movie back to Netflix for me? You know, the one that was in the computer you stole. Thanks.

"In the meantime I lost myself"

-"That Particular Time" by Alanis Morissette

9:45 am Leave for store, not Walmart but end up there.
10:10 am Leave Walmart and swear to never shop there EVER again.
10:15 am Go to Sam's Club to get 1 hour prints of our Christmas card.
Walk around, play with toys on shelves, go potty.
11:15 am Pictures not ready.
Walk around some more, nurse Whitney on the sectional couch on display, explain
why the TV is playing a movie of a crackling fire to a 4 year old, try to stop Grayson
from jumping on the bunk bed.
11:45 am Pictures still not ready.
Walk around some more, hang out in the TV section and watch the ending of Jumanji,
be reminded that Jumanji is actually kinda scary, lose Grayson, find Grayson.
12:25 pm Pictures finally ready, find out the friend's membership card you borrowed expired
yesterday, try not to cry.
12:30 pm Use the nice old lady's card who was waiting for her pictures with you.
12:40 pm Leave with a smile on your face, relieved to be going home.
12:45 pm Arrive home to notice the front door ajar.
Take stuff inside, start making lunch, finally notice the front door was ajar because it
had been broken, go upstairs find laptop missing from your master bedroom and all
the drawers left open.
12:50 pm Call Jeff, he agrees to come home for a little while and check things out.
12:55 pm Call the police.
1:00 pm Cry.
1-5 pm Spend the next 4 hours filing a police report, changing online passwords, protect financials, find any information on laptop in completely unorganized garage, contact insurance company, secure front door so we can sleep tonight, find a ride for Leah to attend her Art class, and not go crazy.

I'm officially emotionally exhausted.

And my blog was bookmarked on my laptop so if the thief who stole it is reading this, I want you to know I think you're rude!

"These precious delusions in my head did not let me down when I was a kid"

-"Precious Delusions" by Alanis Morrisette

Meema and Papa were in Las Vegas this weekend. They stayed in their time-share condo. They came over in the evening after shopping at Cowboy Christmas all day.

Me: "Davis was wondering when you guys would get here. He kept saying, 'I don't think they're coming, I think they lied. They're not coming to visit us.'"
Meema: "Did you tell him that?"

Me: "Did I tell him what?"

Meema: "That we were coming to visit you guys."

Me: "Yes. You did come to visit us right?"

Papa: "Absolutely!"

Meema says nothing.

I think Meema was mostly interested in the shopping haha. It was still a fun time for the kids. Papa played light-sabers with Davis.

Male bonding.

After breakfast at my house my parents wanted to go back to Cowboy Christmas. I guess you can't see it all in one day. My kids were sad they were leaving so I asked if Leah and Davis could go with them. They agreed and decided on an early dinner at my house and Meema wanted to take the kids to Sunset Park for their Christmas light display.

Here's what transpired later that day at 4:30 pm:

Meema: on the phone "Do you want me to get In-n-Out for dinner?"

Me: "I have to worry about what Grayson eats, I don't want you guys to be eating it in front of him. I planned on cooking dinner for everyone, I have everything."

Meema: "What's for dinner?"

Me: "I have chicken ready to cook."

Meema: "You haven't started yet? We're really hungry."

Me: "You're far enough away that it will be ready when you get here." (It's a 30-40 minute drive with traffic)

Meema: "Ok, we're really hungry, like starving."

Me: "Then come. I'll have food."

Meema: "Ok, bye."

An hour and a half later they show up.

Me: "Did you guys make a stop?"

Meema: "Yeah, we stopped at the condo, I had to go to the bathroom."

I notice nobody's hungry and find out later from my dad that they stopped at In-n-Out and got hamburgers and shakes. Apparently honesty is over-rated to Meema. Thanks guys, I feel soooo appreciated!

Meema: after dinner "Bryan, let's go so we can do those things we talked about."
Me: "Are you still planning on taking the kids through Sunset Park?"
Meema: "They're tired, you can take them anytime you want."

Nice.

Number of home cooked meals eaten at my house: 2

Number of dishes washed: 0

Serenity now!

"We wish you a merry Christmas"

-Weezer, yes Weezer made a Christmas album, who knew!?

For FHE we decorated our tree. Last year I remember just letting them put any Christmasy decoration they could find on but this year I sorta wanted to not mix clashing colors. When we were done Leah and Davis agreed it's not as pretty as last year's, haha.

We drove the kids around to look at Christmas lights and it was a big hit. Leah said "I just can't stop smiling" :)

Tonight I was shopping late at Smith's. When I walked outside I was greeted by the cutest little snow fall. The lights of the parking lot were illuminating every single tiny snowflake. I had a short-sleeve shirt on and was barely cold. I tilted my face up to enjoy the crisp air and feel the flakes on my cheeks. Another passerby asked, "You like the snow huh?". Um, not usually... but tonight it was just right.

"Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar"

-"Fireflies" by Owl City

It's out!

The tooth fairy brought 2 quarters, much to Leah's delight.

Leah's tooth is sooo wiggly. It's her first one! When she went to the dentist last month he mentioned her bottom two teeth were wiggly and she could freely wiggle them, and she has!

"Yeah I guess I know, I just hate how it sounds"

-"One Thing" by Finger Eleven

I was out and about and I ran into an old friend. She was admiring Whitney and I commented how she's already getting the dry, red eczema patches I'm so familiar with. She said, "Did you expect anything less?" Well, a girl can dream can't she?

She's just like her brothers.

Adorable and rashy.

I made the first year of my blog into a book. It's totally epic! I did most of it while I was on bedrest but I had to put the finishing touches on it recently. One night I was working on it and Davis asked, "Are you finished putting your blog on your Facebook yet?" Haha. Not entirely correct Davis but good try :)

I had a great time doing it too. It was awesome re-reading all the things we did and seeing how cute my kids were when they were a little bit littler. 2008 was a hard year for me though and some of the posts brought back so many strong memories. It was hard reliving those days. Sometimes it boggles my mind what I've experienced in my short little life, the good and the bad. One thing I've learned is that motherhood keeps me on my toes... and yet at the same time seems to turn my brain to mush :)

"Lets eat the turkey in my big brown shoe"

-"Turkey Song" by Adam Sandler

Thanksgiving this year was delicious... and fun... and crazy. I'll try to condense it but as Jeff can tell ya I like to talk haha.

Last Thanksgiving was hard. We were on an elimination diet but trying to eat at the Leavitt's with everyone else. I knew it would take a lot of energy for me to prepare my family's food before hand, bring it to the party and convince my kids it's just as good as what everyone else is eating, but for some reason I didn't have that energy. Turns out I was pregnant and I didn't know it! Anyways, the children ate all sorts of allergens and I felt bad.

I was determined to do better this year. And I had hope because Amber was going to be there and she's a super great cook and doesn't mind trying new things. She pretty much came up with all the recipes and was able to either make the recipe according to Gray's restrictions or take some out for him before the other stuff was added in. It worked great! The other thing that worked out was we fed Grayson his food FIRST. He was happily munching on his special plate and didn't notice the other food. It was a far cry from the Saturday before when we had dinner at Rod & Cindy's and he cried the whole time!

After dinner we went on a hay ride (down a ditch bank, how's that for small town!) and tried to find the goodie bags that were hidden earlier. It was super fun! The weather was so amazing. We went after sunset so I took jackets for my whole family but we didn't even need them! That's one benefit of living in the desert :)

We stayed in Blythe four days and ate Amaploa twice, haha. My cousins's daughters Marlena, Shiloh, Victoria and Angelique came over and kept up busy playing Sardines, Uno, Hide-and-Go-Seek and the like. Also Meema bought a trampoline on Black Friday and that kept the little kids from getting bored... Grayson only fell of once so that was good!

All the Tippit women together makes for a lot of drama. I swear I try to be patient with my mother it's just really difficult. She hounded me the entire trip to wash the dishes. Even when I was nursing the baby, changing diapers, putting PJs on or putting someone down for bed all I'd hear was, "Why aren't you doing the dishes?" or "Don't you want to do the dishes?". Frustrating.

The Sunday we left Amber wanted Thrifty ice cream so the boys went to get some. They ended up getting eight flavors! It was like a Thrifty ice shop or something. We thought about charging 15 cents a scoop to be just like old times ;)

On the hay ride:

What, you didn't have foot races on a ditch bank this Thanksgiving!?
You're missing out.

"We're gonna party like it's 1999"

- Prince

My 10 year high school reunion was a trip! It was fun/interesting seeing so many of my classmates again. I'm a horrible long-distance-realtionshiper so there weren't many I'd kept in close contact with and there were soooo many people who I'd love to have seen but didn't come :( And it was surprisingly cliquish, go figure. But the funniest thing was when some guy told Jeff they remebered him...uh, he didn't go here haha, and then someone (I can't remember who!) referred to him as Mr. Autumn Tippit, good one!

Another thing the weekend offered was a chance to ask myself "What HAVE you done with the last 10 years of your life!?". I can't even explain how overwhelming that question became. It seems like so much of my doings won't be considered an accomplishment for a long time. Parenting is the biggest one. I've spent so much time learning and growing in this endeavor but do I really have anything tangible to show for it? Well, except for my children's apparent cuteness of course ;)

And, since I'm being honest here, I was also concerned with how I would look at the reunion. I did just have a baby but I didn't want people to think I'd let myself go haha. One thing I'd tell my teenage self is, "you're not fat, not even a little". The thing I miss the most about high school is the opportunity to play sports all the time. I totally did not appreciate that at the time.

Unfortunately my camera's battery was dead and I hadn't found the cord to recharge it yet so don't have any pictures of my own from the reunion. Can you tell I'm still completely disorganized from the recent move?

Here are some pics of the weekend from Meema's camera:

Poor Grayson had a fever the whole time :(

"It was a graveyard smash"

-"Monster Mash"

Grayson as "Dark Vader"

Leah as "Princess Jasmine"

Davis with his two-ended "light saver" that went with the Darth Maul costume he chose not to wear.

Whitney in her cute Halloween onesie her Meema bought her.

We had fun Friday night at the ward Trunk-or-Treat. You know I have a love/hate relationship with candy, and with Grayson's food allergies there aren't a lot of candies he can eat, so I chose to pass out glow-in-the-dark necklaces instead. It was fun and festive! The kids went around and collected some candy, not too much but enough.

Then Saturday our neighbors told us there are some fun activities set up in front of the Bishop's house and invited us to go. Jeff was pretty tired from working on the house stuff (and told me he didn't want to go) but we all ended up going and it was fun. They had a bouncy castle and a Plinko board the kids could play for candy and a homemade "train" the kids could ride. It was like a carnival :)

And now, my favorite part of Halloween...the candy! Leah and Davis both had bags to collect candy as they trick-or-treated. I did not let Grayson have one which allowed him to only have as much candy as he could hold and I went up with him to every house and picked out his "allowed" candy for him. This part of the story makes me sound like a control freak but trust me, my kids don't handle candy well just like their momma! Anyways, Leah was pretty happy with her haul but Davis was unsatisfied. He wanted more, more, more!
I had already told them that if you put your candy out The Great Pumpkin will trade it for a toy in the night. Leah was all giggly over the prospect but Davis wasn't having it! He said, "I'm going to wait and see what kind of toy he brings Leah". Always the bargainer that one. I told him it's only that one night so he had to decide before he went to bed. Well, not only did he NOT want to leave his candy out he convinced Leah to keep hers too!

Turns out The Great Pumpkin can find your hidden candy and trade it for a toy anyways :) Luckily they were cool toys and the kids were more than happy. "He" left Leah some Littlest Pet shop animals that had costumes and Davis got a light saber.
Now I have to start planning on how to make Thanksgiving allergy friendly...

"Count Your Blessings"

Last Sunday Jeff was able to give Whitney her baby blessing. It was wonderful. My mom and dad were able to come into town so in the circle were Jeff, his dad, my dad, and Jeff's two brothers Jeric and Tyson. We really are so blessed to have our little Whitney Sue as part of our family! **Whitney wore the same dress Leah did on her blessing day, as well as Leah's cute baby bracelet my friend Crystal had made for her. Leah and I just love when Whitney wears something of hers. Sisters are so special!**