Date Night

Jim and Connie watched the kids while they were in town. We went to the temple. One word sums it all up...HEAVENLY!! Thanks again Pops and CC!!

This one's for you Grandpa

Easily Entertained?

Beware of the black ice. You wouldn't know how slippery that little slope is unless you fell on your bum a couple of times. It made for a very fun afternoon.

First Snow

We are pretty excited around here. Once the first flakes began to fall Chase jumped into his "sprockets" long underwear and headed out the door to put up Christmas lights. I grew up in a lovely home but it was always the darkest house on the street because my environmental father never put up Christmas lights and when we pulled up at night it looked like Scrooge's stomping grounds. So when Chase suggested lights I was surprised to find a little Craig coming out. I thought lights on the tree were enough. Well Chase LOVES to put up lights so he went out there in my pink rain boots and went to work. They actually look pretty great. And because we're the first house on the block to put up lights, every other house looks like Scrooge's.

We made a pretty cute Russian snowman with chocolate chips for eyes and buttons. The squirrels had a hay day while we were sleeping that night. Poor Frosty looked awful the next morning.

Sadie helped shovel the walks and mostly took all the snow off the grass and piled it on the sidewalks. And because we're such pleasing parents we just kept saying "Good work Sadie."

Wouldn't you want to come to this cozy, Christmas home? I love the snow, I love the lights and I love my little family. What a fun day!!

Just Imagine

We tell a lot of stories at our house. Some are stories other people wrote and others we make up. Sadie has been telling us some stories lately that totally crack me up. I finally wrote some of them down. Here are a few of my favorites:

Once upon a time when Jesus was borned he wanted to go to the stable so he went there and then the angels played with the baby. The baby was very special so they went back home. There was a puppy and the house started to shake. It was a big storm and Jesus was crying and there was lightning and thunder and then everyone went home...THE END.

Once upon a time there was a little girl names Sadie. She had a lot of big flowers and they were so pretty and then Mommy brake some of them and when Chase came home he was really not happy and mommy was sorry and daddy decided not to throw her out the window because mommy was sorry and that's the end of the story.

Once upon a time there was a girl named Daddy, he was a girl and he loved to break things and one day he decided the animals would come to his house and they knocked on the door and said "let me in, let me in, let me in.....I want to snuggle in your bed" and Chase said "NO...go away." But Chase was still a little curious and he wanted some cookies so he went back and then back and then back and stood on his tip toes. There was a big blue bear who said "let me in, let me in, let me in...I want to snuggle in your bed" and Chase said "NO, you can't come in" and that's the end of the story.

Toys?

Judging from the pictures below you're probably thinking Sadie passed out. If you look at what she plays with to the left, you wouldn't be surprised if she did. I found these on her bed this morning while she was downstairs eating breakfast with Chase. A pair of knitting needles, scissors, a camera (to take pictures of these precious treasures of course) and a sparkly ring. We're lucky she hasn't cut off her hair (knock on wood). We often hear her playing in the morning while we try to sleep in (6:30 is sleeping in for us...joy!!!) and now I know what the sound of drums was coming from...those blasted knitting needles!!

It really could be a murder scene. Her hair all sprawled out looks like a puddle of blood and her contorted body fits the scenario perfectly. I don't know why she won't sleep in her bed. Sometimes we'll go in there and see her curled up in a little ball on the floor...freezing. She has a down comforter and lots of fluffy pillows, but prefers the cold hard floor.


Chase put up Christmas lights in her room while I was at a baby shower. She won't let us turn them off. I have a feeling they'll be on until the bulbs burn out around June or July. They make the murder scene look even better with the creepy 70s aura.

6 Months

If we celebrated half birthdays then we'd be having quite a party around here. Jack is such a joy!! Chase took him to his 6 month check up this morning and came home with quite a bit of information. I was surprised to hear he has a small ear infection because he's always such a happy guy. I guess our clinic had the H1N1 vaccine so he got that along with three other shots. Chase said he didn't even cry during the first two shots. It's pretty hard to make Jack sad and if he is, he usually snaps out of it pretty quickly. I can't stand vaccinations. I am always so scared every time he goes in. In fact, I can't handle watching the whole process and that's why Chase took him in this morning.

Both my kids are sleeping at the moment (miracle of miracles). Sadie is tired from pure exhaustion. She woke up at 4 a.m. this morning and Jack is probably trying to fight off all these foreign liquids that have just been shot into him. Vaccines to me are better than the alternative, but they still scare me to death. I was also surprised to hear that he's only gained 13 ounces in 2 months. Jack can eat an entire avocado in one meal. Where is all that delicious fat going? I guess I need to start feeding him solids more often through out the day. He has another "weigh check" appointment next month and I'm crossing my fingers that we can form a couple of dimples and rolls on his cute little thighs. Besides the ear infection Jack has been doing splendidly. His new form of transportation is rolling all over the place. I could easily compare him to Velcro. If I am holding anything or brush by anything, I usually feel a little tug. He puts everything in his mouth and loves to pull hair. His biggest milestone yet has been sitting up!! He can sit for about 4 seconds before he tips over. He's also pretty good at scooting around to reach a toy but not crawling just yet.

He continues to serenade us with his low pitched coos. I love driving around while listening to his little ballads in the back seat. At one point I had Sadie and Jack singing at the same time and I had to laugh at how noisy, chaotic, crazy, and wonderful my life is. I've mentioned before that he is a little pig. He could eat forever. I'm worried that he often eats more than his little stomach can handle. One night after a rather large meal he was a little cranky but you never know, it could have been the ear infection. He still sleeps soundly through the night. He and Sadie have pretty much switched places. She wakes up either in the middle of the night or at the crack of dawn and Jack will sleep from 8p.m. to 8 a.m. Hopefully this is just a phase because I can't have Sadie sleeping like a newborn. I just got over that!!

She can hardly stand to wait

Sadie is getting pretty good at spelling. I don't think there's a letter she can't write. We're still working on sounding out words. She can always tell me what letter a word starts with but after that I usually have to say the word very slowly for her so she can write the next letter. She wrote her first note to Santa the other day. Sadie can't wait!! I keep telling her she needs to be patient and she responds "I am being patient but he's taking so long." If you can't read her letter it says: "Santa, please bring Chick Hicks and King, Love Sadie." She is still loving her cars. She has since added a pink watch to her list. We saw Santa at the mall the other day and in almost a whisper she told him again what she would like for Christmas. He's still a little scary even though he brings lots of toys to the girls and boys. Our Christmas tree was up a week before Thanksgiving. I gave in to the pleas. I forgot how excruciating it is to wait for the holiday timetable. First you have to wait for Thanksgiving, then we can get a tree, and when I was growing up, we had to wait even longer. Trimming the tree came after Dad meticulously placed every light and after the tree was finally decorated Dad usually took all the ornaments down and placed them on the tree all over again while we slept. I find myself doing the exact same thing. The lights weren't hung with care. I pretty much threw them on, but after we decorated the tree I definitely replaced the ornaments where I thought they'd look better. I love Christmas!! We put music on this morning while we cleaned the house and Sadie danced all over the place!! I also love having some Santa leverage with Sadie. I've never seen her behave so well. The other day I threatened to call Santa if she didn't shape up. She immediately begged me not to while promising to be good again. She's a great kid. I love my little Sadie Lady and I am so proud of her accomplishments. She loves to learn and thrives off the thrill of having done a "great job." Time is flying by. Where did my baby Sadie go?

Super Baby

Way back in San Diego Jaime Boyce gave me the best recommendation ever. I had no idea what I should feed Sadie when we first started eating solids. Rice cereal was about all I had in mind. Jaime called it her "baby bible" and Super Baby Food has become just that in our home. I love that it maps out each month all the different foods you can feed your baby. I also LOVE making his food. It's so hearty and much healthier. I can't believe how watered down a jar of baby food is from the market. They're great for "on the go" but my little guy could eat four or five of those in one sitting. I'm not used to having such a great eater. Jack can pound a whole bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and devour about 5 cubes of yams for lunch. I can't feed him fast enough! He gets irritated between each spoonful. The other night he ate an entire avocado and half a banana. He's really starting to chunk up. I just love how easy he is to feed. Such a little dreamboat.

Family pics

We tried to get pictures taken the morning before Chase left for Florida and totally ran out of time to take individual shots of the kids. John got a great family photo of us all looking at the camera which is hard to do these days. After Chase got home a week later we went into Georgetown with Dan Cooley. He's just starting out as a photographer and you wouldn't know it. This guy is amazing!! He knew how to use my camera better than the manual!!

Stay "classy" Utah

Maybe we didn't win the game but we've still got class, we've always had class, and we don't "hate" anyone. We got a call from a BYU alumn the other night who said..."this too shall pass." I think it's time BYU fans stop using scriptural references when talking about a football game. First of all, it's a bit sacreligious, and secong of all...it's lame. I would go as far as to say..it's just not very "classy" Max Hall. Before you say you hate the entire program of University of Utah, go ahead and do your math....that's about 500,000 people your offending. Mr. Hall, that's just not very "classy." You and Micheal Jordan should write speeches together. Beer throwing will be the least of your problems.

Pajama Party

What would you do if Pops and CC surprised everyone with matching pajamas? Well...you'd dance..of course. Thanksgiving brought the family together once again this year and brought with it another Cannon stomp. It was inevitable. We all looked the same!!

Giving Thanks

We had a very mellow Thanksgiving this year. We first planned to go to a big party at our friends home in Arlington but decided that we wanted to be able to put Jack in his crib while we ate. I was terrified to cook the turkey but Ashley was a total champ and made her first one. It was so moist and delicious!! We must be growing up because I thought only Mom's knew how to cook turkeys. She even had a roasting pan. I don't have one of those yet. It's amazing how fast you can get dinner on the table when you have other women helping with the menu. Everything was delicious. I don't know why we don't eat Thanksgiving dinner more often. The kids got a long great. I love sticking them at their own little table. I also love having a basement where they can destroy everything in their path.
I love seeing Dads with their babies. These little guys are all within three months of each other. Good planning on our part:-)