Kiddo Tagged!

Erin "kiddo tagged" my little London, so here are 5 things you may not have known about her!

(just a note, I just got my computer working, but lost my camera's USB cord, so pictures are slim pickin's! I only have some of my mom's discs available at the moment. I'll add more pics when I can!)

London Kate Thorell

1. She's Fearless!

She was running when she was 10 months old, and hasn't stopped! When she was 11 months old, she would climb to the top of the playground in our neighborhood and go down the big slides by herself. She also will still jump to Matt from the top step of our stairs, when Matt is at the bottom. She just puts out her arms and jumps! Last 4th of July, we were at the Layton Park during the day and there was a rock climbing wall. It was about 40 feet tall. She was 2, almost 3 years old. She BEGGED to climb up. We gave in, and soon she was in a harness and climbing up the huge wall by herself. She got about 20 feet up in the air before she got scared. She's Crazy!

2. We credit her for Beckett's language skills!

London spends every second in the car talking to Beck. From early on, he would repeat almost everything she said. We'll be driving and she's back in her seat saying things like, "Beckett, say restaurant. Say street light. Say elephant, etc" She'll go on and on, and when she's done, she always says, "well, that's all I know!"

3. She LOVES to bake!

When she was about 18 months old, we were all watching a show, when the timer on the oven went off. I turned around and London had oven mitts on each hand, had opened the oven, and was trying to take out some cookies. Talk about scary! She wakes up every morning asking if we can bake. She doesn't care what it is, as long as she can help.

4. She stays in bed!

I was terrified to move her from a crib to a big girl bed right after she turned 2. She's pretty defiant, and I thought, "she'll never nap again! She'll be in and out of that bed a million times a night!" Well, we sat her down and told her that she can't get out of bed for ANY reason. If she wanted to get out, she just needed to call out for Mommy. Well, that somehow stuck. I really don't know why she chose to actually listen this time, but I'm sure glad. Even in the worst of tantrums, she still won't leave her bed. I LOVE IT!

5. She NEVER has to pee!

She was a breeze to potty train, and even easier to night time potty train. I think it has to do with her assumed gallon sized bladder. The kid goes potty around 7-8:00 pm (right before bed time) and I kid you not, will not go until around 11:00 the next morning. Yeah, I don't know if that is normal, but it's what she does. Plus she drinks really well! She usually goes potty 2, maybe 3 times a day. She must take after Matt...

London is now tagging her friends; Ethan Frazier, Camryn Cooper, Brayden Hansen, Jada Bell, and Will Gorham!

Tagged Again!

Jenny tagged me so here it goes...
A: Attached or Single: Very attached!
B: Best Friend: Matt
C: Cake or Pie: tough call- maybe pie
D: Day of Choice: Monday- wierd, I know, but it's the day I get to go out and purchase all my free stuff and deals!
E: Essential Item: Item? mascara
F: Favorite Color: Blue
G: Greatest Accomplishment: Being a mom!
H: Hometown: Layton, UT
I: Indulgences: spa anything
J: January or July: July. The 4Th is my favorite holiday!
Where did K go?
L: Life is Incomplete Without: My family, the gospel
M: Marriage Date: 9-4-2003
N: Number of Siblings: One brother
O: Oranges or Apples: Apples
P: Phobias or Fears: losing Matt or a kid, claymation movies, sci-fi anything (I seriously get panicky if I'm forced to watch a movie)
Q: Quotes: "Remember who you are and what you stand for"
R: Reason to Smile: I have absolutely nothing to complain about!
S: Season: Summer
T: Tag Four Friends: Melissa, Amber, Amy, and Becky
U: Unknown Fact About Me: I Lysol my couter tops (with the liquid kind) about 3 times a day -can you say OCD?
V: Very Favorite Store: Ikea
W: Worst Habit: Biting my nails
X: X-ray or Ultrasound: I'm a HUGE fan of ultrasounds! Until I have my 20 week one, I have constant dreams that my kid is a hermaphrodite!
Y: Your Favorite Food: Potstickers
Z: Zodiac: Cancer

I'm going CRAZY!

I've been computerless for way too long! Last week, our internet started running really slow, after I downloaded what I thought was a Microsoft Security thingy and I guess it wasn't. We did a virus scan and found like 38 viruses. In other words, a whole lot of crap kept popping up on us. Yeah, I've been going crazy not having a computer. I'm using my mom's at the moment; hopefully ours will be fixed soon!

When Boredom Strikes!

So, a couple nights ago, Matt was working late and after a while, I got bored; way bored. I started looking through one of my memory boxes and saw some pictures of Matt and I on our honeymoon. I thought, my hair looks super cute there! (in the pictures my hair was highlighted and I was super tan- a big difference from now; my hair is naturally super dark, and I'm a nice shade of pasty white. ) I happened to have one of those "do it yourself" multi-step hair color boxes. Not my finest moment. When I finally rinsed the "highlight" creme off, I was a brilliant shade of orange. The first picture does me no justice. I called my hair gal and told her I looked just like Tony the Tiger. Not cute. The first thing Matt said when he saw it was, "hey there, copper top!" Luckily, I was able to get it dyed back to my natural color the next day. Thank you Matt for insisting we take pictures so that I can always be reminded not to color my own hair!

Yeah, I think I'll stick with my gothic look for now! It sure beats looking like this:

Cake Craziness!

Over the weekend, I helped my mom cater and decorate for a little girls birthday party. We had to make cake and enough food for 50+ folks. It's amazing how much time and energy goes into events like this! The mom wanted a two-tiered cake, but gave me complete creative control. It's always fun playing around with new ideas, but unless you do cakes, you have no idea how long they take! They're not hard, just time consuming, especially when you've got 2 kids hanging on your legs the ENTIRE time!
The party was a "butterflies and fairies" theme. So fun to decorate so girly!

We did salad, fruit and veggie platters, apples with dip, colored bread sandwiches (shaped like flowers and butterflies), magic (pretzel)wands, cupcakes, punch with a frozen fruit ring floating in it, and of course, the cake. Yeah, it was a lot of work, but it turned out even cuter than we thought!

Our Puerto Rico Mini-Vay!

We LOVE Puerto Rico! Matt and I traveled down to the Caribbean over the weekend so that he could interview at the University of Puerto Rico's Dental School. (Everyone asks why we applied to this school. Well, we've got friends that are there, and if we're going to be somewhere for 4 years, I'd like the temperature to be 85 degrees year round! Plus, a little known fact is that it is a US school- it's just like going to Arizona or wherever in the states. The only difference is that they lecture in Spanish but the text and tests are all in English, so you have to have a ton of English and Spanish credits to apply.) We've only been once, and it was a cruise port, so I thought we'd make a mini-vay out of it so that we could see what we might be in for! The trip down was LONG! For some crazy reason, our flight left SLC, went to LA, then to DC, then finally down to San Juan. We ended up being delayed in LA for almost 5 hours; not great when you've got a connecting flight to make. We traveled to DC overnight, and by some miracle, our other flight was also delayed, and we made it on just as they were closing the doors. Yeah, running what seemed like miles (but was probably only 1/2 mile- the DC airport is HUGE) with luggage, and wearing clogs through the airport was NOT the highlight of the trip! Also not on the highligh reel was the fact that when I travel I swell like crazy, giving me massive cankles. NOT ATTRACTIVE! I should have taken a picture. I guess sitting on a plane for countless hours will do it!

Our plane picture. The lady across the isle looked at us like we were insane!

Well, we finally made it to San Juan on Sunday afternoon. Sheldon met us at the airport so that we could follow him home. Gabe came over for dinner, and the 5 of us, plus their kids, had a great Puerto Rican meal!

Matt and I woke up bright and early, partly because of an alarm clock, and partly because of a rooster crowing outside the window, to head over to the school for the big interview. Note to self: do not attempt curling hair in Caribbean; it will not stay that way for long! Matt's interview lasted almost an hour, then we looked around campus for a bit. When we were done, we set out to see the sights. Stacy and the kids were kind enough to show us around. We first stopped at El Morro, the old fort that "guards" the island. What an amazing place! We looked around for a bit, and got soaked by a downpour that lasted an hour or so.

Matt and I walking around Old San Juan.

Matt in El Morro. You can't tell in the picture, but it's a complete downpour!

The rain killed our beach plans, so we went to lunch and shopped in what Stacy called the "ghetto mall." Later on, we all went to dinner, which was fun, but SO LONG! I've learned that Puerto Ricans tend to take their time with all things other than driving. The driving down there is CRAZY! (And this coming from someone with more tickets than about anyone!) Our dinner lasted almost 3 hours, and for no reason! No one was in any sort of hurry to get us served. Everyone enjoyed dinner, except me, because as I was taking my first bite of a huge salad, Stacy noticed a long black hair in it. Yeah, I passed on that salad! At least we didn't have to pay for it, plus Sheldon talked them into giving us a free dessert, and I've never had anything that tasted better! A 10" chocolate chip cookie that was probably 1-2 inches thick with ice cream and whipped cream on top. Yummy!

Sheldon, Tyler, Mylee, Matt, Me, and Stacy at dinner

Tuesday, we ran a couple of errands with Stacy, then headed to the beach! It was a little windy, but such a beautiful day. We collected a million seashells for London, and just walked around for a while. Finally, it was time to go home! I couldn't believe how sad I was to leave! I sure hope things work out in our favor, and Matt will be accepted. It'll definitely be an adventure!

Matt and Miss Mylee collecting shells on the beach

The flight home was long; maybe because 3 of the 4 legs of the flight showed the same freaking movie, "The Golden Compass." Yeah, I don't do fantasy movies, and I don't do them 3 times in 3 days. Seriously, United Airlines has some scheduling issues! Luckily I took a whole lot of reading material, and with the long flights, got through most of it. We got home late last night, and even though it was a quick trip, it was so great to be back home!

A HUGE thanks to Stacy and Sheldon for making our trip so much fun. Thanks for sharing your home and crazy driving skills with us! You guys have been amazing through this whole process! Thanks again! We love you guys!

The Kids' New "Do's"

The kids are sporting new haircuts today! I have to cut Beck's hair every couple weeks or he looks pretty shaggy, so I usually play around with London's at the same time. Poor girl; she really wants long hair some day (just like Ariel's) but her mommy keeps on "trimming" it! Today she kept saying, "Mommy, thanks for the trim. I think my hair is a little bit longer now!" Yeah, it's not, but I think it's a little bit cuter!