Here are my before and after pictures from my haircut. The after one isn't that great, but my hair is much cuter, I promise, and sooooo much easier to take care of.























Here's a cute one of Dylan and Abby at a friend's wedding recently. They were buddies for the night as Seamus and I danced, got cake, and wandered around looking at the presents. He really didn't understand why they weren't for him and why he couldn't peek at them. He asked me to dance several times (so cute!) and he couldn't believe they were giving away free cake. We've got another reception in a week, I hope they do as well as they did at this one.

















His favorite new activity is "cooking". I set him up with some fun looking kitchen utensils and some raw pasta and let him play to his heart's content. We've been trying to do more "freeplay" where he has to use his imagination, instead of watching TV or playing with puzzles that have a set way to play with them. "Just attend" or just pretend is his activity of choice now. I love watching him learn new things. And I always sample the soup he makes for me. One of his birthday presents is a child-sized apron. I've been tempted to give it to him several times, but I'm waiting until Friday. Abby loves to watch him play, Shay is her favorite person (after the milk-machine-mama of course) to watch and play with. She likes to sample the soup, too.






















Here's Abby all dressed up for church. Sorry, but I can't remember who got us this outfit. I think it's Mimi and Poppa... She looks adorable in it and it fits her perfectly. Isn't the bow adorable? She's discovered her hands, and can actually flip over from her back to her front! What a big girl she's getting to be!

















This was a marathon bath day for Seamus. He spent 2.5 hours in the bath and kept calling for me to come in and put more hot water in it. He had plastic forks, cups, toys, cowboys and indians, and big bowls in the tub and he spent quite awhile having the cowboys and indians do things like jump off the side into the water and climb up the forks. He was there from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm and he decided he wanted his lunch in the bath. Not one to argue with a kid occupied by himself I complied and managed to get in a little book reading time while Abby took a nap. It was heaven!


















I think it was Sumer (Dylan's sister) or his mom who got Abby this car seat toy that attaches to the handle. Whoever it was I am eternally in their debt. Overnight our car rides went from noise torture to pleasant cooing from the backseat. She loves this toy and even plays with it when we're not in the car. Hooray for distractions!

















In keeping with the imagination-oriented playtime we grabbed an old box from the garage and decided to turn it into something. Seamus decided on a rocketship. He colored in buttons, put stickers on it, taped pieces of art foam into it, and had me draw some tools on the inside of the door so he could fix it if it broke down. We spent hours on that day and since creating and playing with "the rocket". It's been really fun to see his imagination at work. And it's completely inexpensive. I highly recommend it.

Or would you just download it illegally?


This one is sort of punkish - making a commentary on the instant gratification and disposable materials times we live in today.




















This one is softer - about love had and lost. About thinking you have everything you want and then finding out there's so much more you never knew existed.

Sample lyrics:

Well, here comes the rain again
and there you go
Now whether you bring it or you leave when it comes
I just don't know
But I feel it pouring down
to soothe my pain
I see you stand, I see you open the door...
here comes the rain.

Some of you know that I have a brilliant husband. The rest of you are about to find out. A few weeks ago Peter put a fun time-wasting activity on his blog. I checked it out and made a fun album that I neglected to save. I showed it to Dylan and he was hooked. So, of course, he decided to create a program that generated the album for you. He only spent about 4-7 hours on it and it works like a gem. He's a genius!

Have fun!

Last year about this time I broke my toe by slamming it into the iron corner of a 200 year old steamer trunk. Yesterday I broke the same toe again by slamming it into one of Abby's new toys--an exer-saucer. It still hurts just the same. Stupid toe. So today I'm limping around the house trying to clean up from a fun, but exhausting weekend. Dylan took Shay to his first ever real movie: the new Veggie Tales movie about he Pirates who don't do anything. They had a ball! Dylan said that Shay was so enthralled by the 1.5 hour movie that he didn't even look down at the popcorn he was eating. He'd just reach down with one hand and slowly put it in his mouth. There were a couple of "scary parts" according to Seamus, but he had a really fun time with his dad.

I, on the other hand, went to get my hair cut. It'd been about a year so I figured it was time. It was all the way down below my shoulder blades, so I decided to chop it off. They took off a good 5-6 inches--not enough for locks of love, but enough to make me feel like I've lost 10 pounds. It now hits just about at my shoulders and I couldn't be happier with it. Every once in awhile it's nice to just be pampered. The scalp massages that accompany a haircut at a nicer salon are totally worth it. It's been a long time since somebody has played with my hair. My sweet mom walked around the mall with Abby for 45 minutes during my haircut and they had a great time. Her favorite ad was the big, smiling women in the front women of the Gap. She didn't like the Victoria's secret women so much, though. Smart girl.

We've got like 6 inches of snow outside right now and it's supposed to keep on coming. They've closed the SLC airport and there's supposed to be like 14" of snow before this storm is over. And then it's going to snow more this weekend. I think we're almost officially out of the drought that Utah has been in for the last 4 years. Woo hoo!

A quick post before bedtime tonight. We're all feeling much better and Abby is sleeping better! She's going to bed at about 8 pm every night, same time as Shay, and she's sleeping in her own bed. She gets up a couple of times a night to eat (anywhere from 2-5 times), but at least I'm getting good sleep now. She usually sleeps until about 7:30 or 8 am which is when Shay gets up and when Dylan has to be up and off to work. It works out perfectly. Her naps are getting fairly regular and has even allowed me to work out every day this week. In the past I've had trouble getting them both to sleep at the same time, but the stars have aligned this week, I guess.
Plus, I've gotten her to take a binky. It really helps her stay asleep. She only takes it when she's sleepy, but it's definitely an improvement.


















Shay's birthday is in a few weeks and he's totally excited about it. He's told me that he wants a "scary ghost" cake and balloons and candles (which he calls "campfires") and presents. He asks me over and over every day if it's his birthday yet. I keep having to tell him no. Poor kid. He's definitely getting to be three now, though, and it's a joy to be his mom. You should see him play with Abby. They're adorable. She giggles and smiles at him and tries to grab his nose and he brings her toys and talks to her and gets right up in her face. Whenever he finds her in a place he didn't leave her (like if I bring her into the living room) he goes up to her and says "Abby, what you doing here? Did you walk in here Abby? You so silly!"

I'm so lucky to have these two kids, I just can't believe how blessed I am.

The day after Christmas, Dylan decided to take a vacation day from work. Mom, Tom, and Susanna were also off work, so we decided to pack everyone up and head up to Thanksgiving Point to the Dinosaur Museum (or the "see-um" as Shay calls it). As we predicted our almost-three-year-old was in awe of the place. He loves dinosaurs, and the kid-centric museum was the perfect place for him. It started out a little scientific, but then quickly became fantastical.

















We started out looking at fossils and explaining what dinosaurs were. There was so much to see at the museum. Most of the exhibits were "hands on" so the kids could touch, color, or climb all over them.

















There was a small tunnel/cave that a bunch of kids were playing in. My brave little boy actually wanted to go in by himself.

















Some of the exhibits were for parents, too. This velcro dinosaur had lots of different parts attached to a velcro wall that you could add anywhere on his body. I think this guy ended up with two heads, six legs, and various other random parts scattered around his body. Apparently, Tom and Dylan just can't do anything inside the box...always have to be troublemakers.

















Abby wanted to get a closer look, and liked it at first........until she sat on top. Then she didn't like it so much.


















There is a really cool water and sand table that's full of plastic trees and dinosaurs for the kids to use to create islands and rivers. The water flows from several points in the table downhill into drains. It really is a lot of fun, even for the parents. They have plastic smocks for the kids to wear and a sink to clean up in afterward. If we'd had the time I think Shay could have played there for 45 minutes or more. We were heading to the IMAX for the dinosaur movie, though, and could only spend about 15-20 minutes in the water room.
















There were also big sand pits with dinosaur bones hidden in them. You took a paint brush and carefully excavated the bones. Shay and Dylan had a great time doing this. You wouldn't believe how much sand I found in Shay's shoes when we got home.






















So, we had a great time at the museum. The IMAX movie was loud, scary, and 3-D, an unfortunate choice for Shay's first movie. He was totally freaked out by it. I hope it hasn't turned him off of movies permanently.
He did have fun at the museum, though, and asks to go back every day. I think we're going to go back again for his birthday on the 31st when my oldest sister is here visiting. We'll have to see. Fun times!