Discovery Gateway

If you still haven't made it down to the new children's museum at the Gateway, it is my hope that this blog entry will convinced you that it is definitely worth the money and the trip. This place is a children's paradise! It has every neat toy a kid could ever dream of, all in a safe, clean, fun environment. Adelyn just went crazy running around from activity to activity. They have music, games, crafts, kid-size houses and automobiles, a farm land, a fountain you can play in, and much, much more! Here is a sample of what we did:

Adelyn rowed across the river...

Drove through the city...

Picked out all her food a the grocery store
and paid for it at the cash register...

Came home and cooked it...

Then she and her friend Alexis Rigby served us the lunch they made.

This is all of us: me with my kids, Leslie with her daughter Emma, and Emily with her daughter Alexis and son Kevin. Leslie and Emily are two of my good friends from high school. It was great to get together again and catch up while our kids had the time of their lives.

They even have a real-size life-flight helicopter and a control tower. Amazing!

There is also a pre-walker area where Preston hung out most of the time. He loved it!

Warning: this is a possible side effect of spending about 3 1/2 hours being over-stimulated and running around like crazy at "Discovery Gateway." But as you probably already guessed, I think it was worth it!

The New Plan

Well for those of you who don't already know, amidst all of this housing uncertainty over the last few months, we were also very up in the air regarding our future plans. Ryan was accepted to a doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin, but we had waited forever (it seemed) and still hadn't heard back from BYU. I ought to mention that Ryan had not even discussed with his principal the possibility that he might not be returning to teach next year. He had also gone so far as to accept the position of student council adviser for the 2008-2009 school year. As far as future educational paths were concerned, however, whether or not Ryan would be accepted to BYU was a rather important detail while shopping for a house...um, which state should we be looking in: Texas or Utah?

Toward the beginning of April, I had all but resigned myself to the fact that he wasn't going to be accepted to BYU and that I ought to start seriously considering Texas survival techniques (in fact, I spent several feverish days looking into cross-country moving, campus housing, Medicaid and other government help, etc., etc.). Ryan called me one evening from his school with the announcement that he had a full schedule of French classes next year and would no longer be able to be the student council adviser. I was floored and elated--I hated the idea of him being so busy again with extra-curricular activities. He had gone from just five sections of French this year to over seven sections; they even had to turn some students away because there wasn't room. Amazing! He is such a great teacher and the kids love him so much! So, now we're thinking: "Maybe God wants us to stay even though he might not get into BYU?"

So, we continued the Utah County house hunt. To condense the end of an already really long story, Ryan got into the BYU program! But by the time we found out, we had already put an offer on this house in American Fork and had pretty much decided to stay regardless. I think God sometimes makes you take a step in the dark before the path becomes clear again. It is amazing how everything has worked out after such a long time of uncertainty and confusion. We are so happy to finally have some direction again. Ryan will start his Educational Leadership doctoral program at BYU this summer and be able to continue teaching at Lakeridge full-time, which he absolutely loves. The program is 5-6 years and he'll probably be really busy that whole time, but at least we know that it is the direction that God wants for us.


As for me, the only new thing is that I am going to start back at my old job at Utah Valley Hospital. My first day back is this Friday. I will just do one night shift a week. Thankfully, Preston has decided to be a good sleeper and even sleeps in his own bed and loves it, so it should work out pretty nicely. Anyway, sorry for the long journal entry. I PROMISE to actually download some pictures and have a much funner post soon.

Home Owners Again--Finally

So, for those of you who don't know, we got out condo under contract to sell in February and planned to close April 21. Ryan was so busy at the time that he recounts that he literally came home from work one day and our condo was sold. We felt like we had plenty of time to find a new place and we were very optimistic that we were going to get a great deal in this falling market.

Well to make a VERY long story short, we put nearly full-price bids on three different houses (two townhomes and a house) and didn't get any of them. At the beginning of April, we found ourselves miserable and completely unsure of what we were going to do. Ryan was starting to wonder whether allowing me to sell our house so suddenly had been such a good idea after all (I was thinking the exact same thing).

Finally, we found a house that we really wanted in American Fork and put in a pretty low offer. The seller counter-offered with a price just $1000 below the asking price. Yikes! We countered again about in the middle, and the seller countered back by asking to have an entire week to decide while he went on a cruise and he worked with another couple who had also given him an offer. That did not sound fun to us at all, so we asked him what it would take to get under contract before he went on his cruise; he told us to submit a full-price offer. After a little deliberation, we did. Yikes again!

We were getting our loan all ready and moving forward quickly when, before the seller was even back in town, the appraisal came $7000 under the asking price. When the seller came back into town, he was quite upset and wanted to talk to the appraiser, who by then was out of town for a week (what's with all of this vacation time in April?!) He insisted on talking with the appraiser before committing to anything. After another long week, we submitted an addendum to purchase the home for the appraised value, and the seller finally accepted it ONE day before the day we were supposed to close. As of yesterday, we have signed all of the paperwork and we are once again homeowners. We have been living with in-laws for two weeks, and it is such a relief to know that we will soon have our own space again.

Like I said, the house is in American Fork. It is actually a twin home, but it has its own land with it and no HOA fees. It has four bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths, a two-car garage, and (my favorite feature) the laudry is upstairs where all the bedrooms are! It also has an unfinished basement, so we will have room to grow. It is everything we were looking for (and more, really)and we think we'll absolutely love living in American Fork where we are closer to family. Ryan graduated from AF High, so he will feel right at home. We feel like everything has worked out exactly as it was supposed to and we are excited to start a new chapter in our lives, although we were sad to leave Provo and our friends there. But stay tuned...we will probably throw a house warming party in a couple of weeks!

Easter Bunnies

Since Easter usually comes in April, I decided it wasn't too late to post about it. (Although, I do admit to falling miserably behind on my blogging lately.) So, anyway, here goes.

In preparation for the Easter egg hunts, Adelyn and I practiced our "hunting" skills by taking turns being the Easter bunny and hiding her rubber ducky. She was so cute. She would either hide it in plain site or in the place I just barely hid it. But of course, I humored her and took an EXTREMELY long time finding it every time.

Egg Hunt #1: Unsure whether the folks were going to host any other egg hunts, I took matters into my own hands and bought a TON of candy and eggs and invited Addie's friends to have an egg hunt here at our complex. They had a good time, and it was a good warm-up for the more serious egg hunts...

Apparently, Adelyn thought we should just skip the pictures and just get on with the candy eating.

Egg Hunt #2: Pioneer Park. Personally, I thought this one was a waste of time. Way too many kids and far too little chocolate, I mean candy--ya know, for the kids. :)

Egg Hunt #3: Rocque residence. Much better bang for your buck. Only five kids and probably 100 eggs! Grandma Rocque LOVES to spoil her grandkids.

A little mommy time.

It's all about family (and candy, of course).

Egg Hunt #4: Ostler residence. I forgot the camera, but it was VERY fun (lots of chocolate)! Mary hid all the eggs and the grandkids went wild. They were so cute because the older ones helped the younger ones and everyone shared in the end. Now, that's the true spirit of Easter.

Adelyn would not sit still for these pictures, but insisted on doing a dance indicating how happy she was to be dyeing Easter eggs.

Her favorite color is pink, and somehow all of her eggs reflected her preference. But she decided to make one of her eggs red for me because she knows it's my favorite. She also loved the "egg jackets" and stickers.

I think we found the "real" Easter Bunny. Really, I just had to throw in another shot of Preston. Of course, Addie thought this was the silliest thing ever--Preston with bunny ears. She laughed for a solid half hour.

Easter Day was really special. Personally, I had a really wonderful experience at church. The talks and musical numbers were fabulous and I really felt the Spirit. During the piano/violin duet of, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief," I got out the hymn book and whispered the words to Adelyn. Before I knew it, I was bawling and couldn't even continue. That is such a powerful song. No wonder it was a favorite of Joseph Smith's. Easter is such a wonderful celebration of Christ's life and resurrection and I was so grateful to have an opportunity to think more about Him and what His life means to me.

Happy Birthday Adelyn!

My darling Adelyn officially turned three on March 28th, though she has been a 3-year old in my head for quite some time now. We had a great time celebrating with family and friends.

She has been obsessed with Dora the Explorer for almost a year now and has been talking about the Dora birthday party she would have when she turned three. Every time we talked about it, she said, "And we'll have party hats and a Dora cake."

So, I decided to make my little girl's dream a reality by throwing her a Dora Adventure party. We had to follow the "Map" to find the lost party hats. The kids had to go over the Black Troll Bridge (after solving the troll's riddle, of course), go around the brown table three times (counting in Spanish), go down the red slide, through the dark tunnel using a flashlight they got from "Backpack" (seen above photo), then pop the balloons to find the clue to where the party hats were hidden. It was so much fun. I got the Dora music from the library, so the kids felt like they were part of the real thing. They were all so cute.

Preston even managed to "Swipe" a party hat.

We had the family over for spaghetti afterwards. This is Adelyn's cousin Savanna, whose birthday is the day before Adelyn's, so we celebrated her birthday too.

Here's the cake she wanted so badly. It was delicious and came with a "Swiper the Fox" chaser toy.

Buried in presents--Adelyn couldn't be happier.

Adelyn has wanted a piggy bank to store her coins for a long time. My sister Verna gave her this darling one that Adelyn got to paint herself. This is the finished product after 45 minutes of Ryan patiently helping her. They did such a good job!

What to do About Preston?

Well, I keep wanting to update this, but don't know what to say. My life is currently nuts! My whole family is sick (again), Ryan is still working like crazy to finish up his thesis (basically, I am a single mother), we are still house shopping, and both my kids have been ultra difficult and needy through it all (no doubt because they feel terrible, like I do).

Now that I'm finished complaining (yeah right), I wanted to discuss my baby in particular. Aren't babies supposed to like to sleep and spend at least a portion of the day and most (if not all) of the night engaged in the task? Aren't babies supposed to like riding in the car, sucking on a binkie, and being held by other people? My baby doesn't like any of these things. He takes pleasure in only one thing in his little world--me. I am his food supply, his teething ring (OUCH!), his soft and warm napping habitat, his amusement park, his protector, his garbage disposal, etc., etc. This has always been difficult, but I was content to know that he would eventually grow out of it and everything would be fine. However, my dear Preston is now approaching eight months old and his habits are really starting to wear me down and affect my ability to give anything else to Adelyn, Ryan, or myself.

Sleeping (or the lack of it) is a huge issue right now. In order to get my spirited baby to nap, I have to rock and sing to him for 30-40 minutes, carefully lay him down, and tip-toe out of the room. He will either wake up immediately and refuse to go back to sleep (unless I hold him the whole nap), wait ten minutes and do the same thing, or give me a blissful 30 minutes before he wakes up. That is the best I can hope for. Meanwhile, I have to keep Adelyn engaged in something and quiet so she doesn't disturb this delicate process. Many times, she comes in and demands one thing or another and I have to restart the process all over again. This is ridiculous, I know, but I am completely at a loss for what to do. He also wakes up all night long, often hourly.

I've tried a number of things to teach him to sooth himself. But because he won't take a binkie, has fierce separation anxiety, and has a very low stimuli threshold for awakening, the whole process seems doomed to fail. He used to nap in the swing, but now he's too big for it. What on earth can I do for this boy? First, I need to get him over his current sickness. But after that I need to make some major changes and help this kid be more independent so our family has more harmony and balance. I am open to any and all suggestions...

My Better Half

I got tagged by both Leslie and Heather, so it's high time I stop procrastinating.

1. What is his name? Ryan Kevin Marshall Rocque (yes, he has two middle names).
2. How long have you been married? 5 1/2 years.
3. How long did you date? Four months dating; four months engaged. I insisted that I at least turn 19 before we tied the knot.
4. How old is he? 28, but he often blends in quite well with his junior high students. He recently grew a mustache to remedy the problem, but has since (finally!) shaved it off. :)
5. Who eats more sweets? Definitely me, but he can hold his own when he's in the mood.
6. Who said I love you first? Neither of us remember for sure. I would guess that he did, and he'd guess that I did. I suppose we'll have to peruse my dusty journals to know for sure.
7. Who is taller? Ryan, but only by a couple inches. Fortunately, heels and I have never gotten along too well.
8. Who can sing better? We both LOVE to sing! And far too loudly at times. I usually get the words right and he has a really good ear. So, I guess we make a good duet.
9. Who is smarter? We are both good "students," but he is much more creative and well-rounded.

10. Who does the laundry? Me, because I'm quite particular about how it's done. I have to make sure all the stains come out of my kids' clothes which is almost a full-time job in and of itself :) Sometimes I have to soak them in Tide for a week or more. And I feel crazy if it's not all folded and put away the same day it's washed.

11. Who pays the bills? Me. But Ryan does the taxes. He doesn't much care about the money going out. Oh, but the money coming in...now that is worth getting involved in.
12. Who sleeps on the right side? Lately it's been me because the alarm is on the left side and I stay as far away from that thing as possible these days.
13. Who mows the lawn? The landscaping boys who come every Monday morning bright and early in the summer. But I'm banking (hoping) that Ryan will take that one on once we get our own yard. He also takes care of the cars and ALWAYS shovels the walks immediately after it snows, bless his heart.
14. Who cooks dinner? Mostly me. Unless we want a "real" restaurant-quality meal complete with five courses--that would be Ryan's forte.
15. Who drives? Always Ryan. I used to hate this, but I decided to love it. I get to relax while he deals with the other Utah drivers. And anytime I drive, I regret it because he is an unbearably anxious and opinionated passenger (back-seat driver).
16. Who kissed who first? That's a funny story actually. Ryan thought I wanted him to kiss me after our second date. (Apparently, I was giving him the eyes.) He drove all the way home and then came BACK to make sure that I didn't feel jilted. I laughed and informed him that he had totally misread me. After all, I was a "slow mover." We kissed for the first time two days later and he never had to ask what my eyes were saying. (Oops, so much for my moving slow.)
17. Who asked who out first? Another good story. Ryan asked me out the first time after our singles' ward FHE. Although we weren't going out until Saturday, he called me everyday that week until Friday, when I called him to come over and watch "Life is Beautiful" with a group of my friends. He showed up on Saturday with a bouquet of flowers and said "Bonjourno Princcipesa!" (If you haven't seen that movie, you need to.) I was a gonner from Day 1.
18. Who proposed? Ryan did. Let's just say fire trucks, music, and lots of roses. You get the idea...
19. Who has more siblings? I do! I am the youngest of 10; he is the second oldest of six. But my family is at least triple the size of his. My family parties have always been much more boisterous than his are. "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is not too far off for us.
20. Who wears the pants? Hmm. Good question. I think we have a pretty good balance that way. We try not to step on each others toes. But his toes are probably more frequently injured, if you know what I mean.

My tag-ees are: Andrea, Ashley, and Heather J.

Feeding Time!

So, I think this picture speaks for itself. Wide-eyed Preston is bracing himself for a let down. His sister Adelyn told him long ago to steer clear of baby food and just wait around for the good stuff (big-people food). Thanks to Ryan, Adelyn's first food other than milk was a chocolate-chip cookie. (I wasn't home to stop him, but he took pictures so I have evidence.) As a result, baby food did not go over too well. Her taste buds knew there were far better things out there and she would spit the food out as fast as we tried to shovel it in.

We started feeding Preston rice cereal this past month and, notwithstanding his sister's advice, he actually eats it pretty well. Most of the time, however, he seems more interested in grabbing the spoon than he is in eating the food (see below). He pulls horrible faces when I give him other foods like sweet potatoes or pears, but bless his heart, he eats it anyway. I love my darling growing boy!

House Showing and Hunting

Another month has passed. But unlike January, I know exactly what I've been doing these last four weeks, and unfortunately, blogging has not been too high on the "to do" list. We put our condo up for sale (by owner) on February 4th. Then after showing it 14 times and getting many other calls on it, we got two serious offers. As of February 23rd, it is under contract and expected to close on April 21st. Yeah!! Meanwhile, we are house shopping... We are looking anywhere from Orem to Lehi for either a house or town home (probably the latter, but we'll see). It has been nuts!!! Ryan also has to turn in his final draft of his thesis to his committee. So, while we were writing up the contract to sell our home, Ryan had me proof-read his 95-page beast of a paper. On top of that, Preston is teething and won't let me put him down. So all of the above items have to be done with one hand. I feel like a cripple, but what can you do!? I sleep very little thanks to all this stress and busyness, but life is bound to slow down soon. Well, there's a quick update. Hopefully, I can write more soon and post some cute pictures too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a picture of Adelyn with her Valentine buddy Jaron. They made Valentine's crowns and took pictures. They are so cute!

This morning I woke up to a nice little Valentine from Ryan and I am excited to give him his gift when he gets home. Hopefully we'll be able to find a babysitter so we can actually go out for a change.

Mothers Beware

"Insanity is hereditary...you get it from your kids." :)

The Lost January

I don't know if it has been the same for anyone else, but I am completely at a loss for where January got off to. I cannot remember a single thing about the month apart from nursing children back to health (through several sicknesses) and cleaning my house (over and over and over). Fortunately, I did take some pictures as evidence that the month did actually happen. According to the pictures...

We got bundled up every time we went out so as to combat the freezing cold and prevent sickness (much good it did, though).

We painted Adelyn's nails (look closely), ate some delicious hot dogs (or at least Addie and Ryan did), and sometimes wore sad faces.

We held each other close... or rather I held both my children at the same time, all day, everyday while they were sick. I realized that the only thing worse than a sick child is sick child'ren'. It has been a tricky juggling act, and I'm grateful that my mom came up to help me a couple of days last week, or I'm afraid none of us would have survived.

We played games and did puzzles. Adelyn was obsessed with this puzzle which she referred to as "my Strawberry Shortcake game." We did it over and over together and now she can assemble all 63 pieces by herself. It is quite amazing to watch!

We smiled a lot, especially Preston who rarely finds any reason to be sad.

We danced around the house.

I bargained with Adelyn for some computer time. She loves playing her "Winnie the Pooh" and "Mickey Mouse" preschool games. She's learning so much about colors, numbers, and letters. And Ryan and I are so proud that our two year-old can already "drag and click. "

We goofed around and just spent lots of quality time together indoors. How grateful we were to be sheltered from the cold and surrounded by the people we love most. Hopefully in the coming months we will encounter a little more productivity and a little less sickness, but isn't it amazing what you can get through when you stick together.

Tagged Again!

1. What time did you get up this morning? I wake up a lot lately throughout the wee morning hours thanks to my teething baby that I can't seem to be able to oust from my bed. But I don't think I actually got up until 8:30 when Adelyn yelled, "Mommy, I'm ready to wake up!"
2. What do you usually have for breakfast? Cereal, but I always enjoy quick and easy French toast, scrambled eggs and toast, or yogurt. I thrive on variety.
3. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Probably something country. I'm into Martina McBride and Rascal Flatts.
4. What kind of car do you drive? Oldsmobile Alero.
5. Favorite sandwich? Melted ham and cheese on wheat with tomato, lettuce, spicy mustard, and avocado if I have it.
6. Favorite item of clothing? The long wool coat I got for Christmas.
7. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Paris with my husband. He's been several times and would love nothing more than to show me around his city.
8. What color is your bathroom? Brick red, sage, and tan.
9. Where would you retire? Probably Southern France (that was for Ryan again). How 'bout Nice; that would be quite nice. For me, somewhere close to my children and grandchildren (grandchildren, now that's an strange thought).
10. Most memorable birthday? Sweet 16, baby! But Ryan has always been really good at making my birthdays special and memorable.
11. Favorite sport to watch? Volleyball, track, gymnastics, BYU football.
12. Are you a morning person or a night person? I'm an all nighter these days, with a little sleep here and there (refer to question 1 for details). :)
13. What is your shoe size? 8 1/2, but a 9 fits so well I wear a 10! Not really, that's just what my grandpa used t0 always say.
14. Pets? Not anymore. I've recently tried my hand at fish for Adelyn, but I think I must have starved them to death because they all died off. Poor, fragile creatures.
15. What did you want to be when you were little? I was never sure. I was surprised to read back in my journal from 7th grade because apparently being a nurse had already sparked my interest, although I didn't officially decide until my freshman year of college after taking "Career Exploration." Being a mom was always a desire, but I never thought I was particularly good with kids, so I was scared. Now being a good mom is my only real aspiration and being a nurse will more likely just be a hobby.
16. What are you today? Wife, mom, homemaker...I may go work part-time at the hospital in the summer--we'll see.
17. What is your favorite candy? Anything chocolate with peanut butter, caramel, or mint. Snickers, probably. Isn't that everyone's favorite?
18. Your favorite flower? Daisies, lilies, roses.
19. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Adelyn's 3rd birthday or Preston's 1st. I love having little parties!
20. What are you listening to right now? The breathing of a sleeping baby in my arms. If I try to lay him down, I'll probably hear crying...Yep, sure enough! :)
21. What is the last thing you ate? Chicken salad sandwiches, yum!
22. Do you wish on stars? No, but I liked the idea from the movie "Stardust" that the stars might be watching us (and maybe wishing themselves).
23. What faith are you? "I'm a Mormon, through and through." (Does anyone recognize that song?)
24. Who was the last person you spoke with on the phone? Ryan's mom. We lined up a birthday get together for my sister-in-law. We're making the cake!
25. Hair Color? Naturally??? I used to be a nice platinum blonde, but my hair seems to have gotten darker with each pregnancy. Now, I'm a highlighted blonde.
26. Name of your favorite school teacher? High school: English teacher, Mrs. Coon and good ol' Coach Bob. College: Nursing professor, Renea Beckstrand (she was just so brilliant and she always brought us homemade candy).
27. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate for anything except ice cream. Vanilla ice cream with yummy mix-ins for me please.
28. When was the last time you cried? Last week while reading the book "Sarah" from the Women of Genesis series.
29. What is under your bed? A broken coffee table, some food storage, and probably several neglected toys.
30. What did you do last night? Went grocery shopping at Walmart (exciting Friday night, I know).
31. Favorite smell? Newborn babies, laundry right out of the dryer, Ryan's home cookin'.
32. What are you afraid of? Scarring my children for life.
33. How many towns have you lived in? Let's see: Murray, Tuttle (Oklahoma) followed by Oklahoma City; West Jordan, Lehi, Provo, Lehi, Orem, Provo, Lehi, Taylorsville, Provo. Wow, my life just flashed before my eyes! I think that was eight total, and it appears I am turning around in circles rather than getting anywhere from all this moving.
34. Do you make friends easily? Sure, superficially. I'm fairly outgoing, although less than I once was perhaps. But I think good friends are hard to find, so I'm grateful for the ones I have.

I tag Heather S. and Heather K., Mom, Barb, Ashley, and Shirlene. Fill one out and tag 6 people you know.

Potty Training Diaries

So, I can officially say that Adelyn is potty trained. She and I devoted the entire month of December to the task. Though we encountered such obstacles as the stomach flu, two colds, and staying with grandparents over Christmas break, she managed to keep with it. But lest you think it was all fun and games, you might be surprised to know that the experience was up there with the hardest things I have encountered with motherhood. Quite different from being up countless nights with a restless baby or being thrown up on, potty training is something that you, as a parent, have very little control over.

I looked back in Adelyn's baby book and was shocked to see that the first time she went to the bathroom in the potty was last January. I considered at the time that it might have just been a fluke, and boy was I ever right on. Adelyn's potty chair remained in our bathroom for the rest of the year and served as little more than a hideous decoration (it is green, orange, and white--Ryan picked it out). With me working full time during the summer prior to Preston's arrival, potty training stayed on the back burner. She loved reading potty books and watching potty shows, but more for entertainment than instruction, it seemed.

This picture was taken last March.

Sometime in the summer, Adelyn started wearing pull-ups and wouldn't go back to diapers. That put a strain on the pocket book, but still no increase in potty going. We made some progress with a sticker chart, but then Adelyn found the stickers and put them all on the chart without permission, so the excitement was lost. Asking Adelyn if she had to go never worked. She ALWAYS said no, then would have an accident within 10 minutes (apparently she lied). After consulting a few books and friends, I developed a plan involving candy. She would get one M&M for trying and one more if she had a result, and I took her to the potty every hour or two for a week. Candy was our breakthrough! I've never been so grateful for sugar! After a week with only a few accidents, I had renewed hope and Adelyn thought it was fun.

For the next month, we gave her candy less and less and substituted it with other rewards like reading her stories and praise. If she had an accident (which happened all too often and especially the smelly stuff), we just played it down and reprimanded her bunny or bear later because Bunny had gone poo-poo in her pants. Adelyn loved saying, "No poo-poos in your panties, Bunny!" and the message was clear enough to her. I wish I could say that I never have to remind her to go potty and that she never has accidents, but at least we're making progress. And I get my running in with frequent races to the potty, for which Adelyn is, of course, always the victor.

Well, it is nice to check off yet another thing on the parenting list toward independence. I cannot believe how fast my little blue-eyed blond is growing up. As my mom always says, "She is a little ray of sunshine," and I am so lucky that I get to be the one to raise and care for her. I frequently do a double-take when I look at her and realize how big she is, and I often mourn for the loss of my baby girl. Being a parent is so hard. We want so badly for our children to grow up, but want to cry when we realize that they actually are.

Christmas Fun!

I figure it's about time to give a report on our great Christmas this year. It was our first Christmas as a family of four and we had lots of fun celebrating it with our family and friends.

We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas party with Ryan's family a couple weeks before Christmas. We did our annual gift exchange, ate fabulous food, and swam in the indoor pool at the hotel. Adelyn thought it was quite a treat to swim in the middle of December. In this picture, Adelyn was playing with the bubbles she got from her grandparents. She was so content to play with the toys decorating her gift that she almost forgot to open her big gift--a pink instrument set, which she absolutely loves.

Ryan got an awesome tool set from Brandon and Andria. Boy, was he excited! I think Brandon has gotten tired of Ryan always borrowing his tools. :)

We had the opportunity of taking Adelyn on the Heber Valley Railroad "Polar Express" adventure this year. It was REALLY fun for the first half hour. Unfortuantely, after that Adelyn started throwing up and was miserable the whole rest of the ride (stomach flu). We were stuck on the train for another hour trying to contain the mess and comfort her. Adelyn didn't even want to look at Santa when he came to our cabin, and the next day she said, "Mommy, I don't even like Santa Claus." She does, however, enjoy playing with the bell Santa gave her and remembers that she got it on the train ride. But I'm afraid she may be a little wary of trains for awhile.

This picture was taken while Adelyn was still feeling good. She and her cousins thought it was so fun that they could all fit together on two seats without any parents sitting next to them.

Adelyn actually opened her gifts from "Santa" on the evening of Christmas Day. We spent Christmas Eve with my family in Salt Lake and slept over that night because of the snow storm, then went to Ryan's parents' house Christmas morning and spent most of the day there. Adelyn got up from her nap and opened her gifts (not quite as exciting, but Addie still enjoyed it). Every time we asked Adelyn what she wanted for Christmas, she just said "Dora," so we got her Dora's Game House and a set of Dora books. She LOVES them!

It looks like Addie got what she wanted!

Preston was happy to open his first Christmas gifts. Of course, he needed a little help.

Ryan finally wrapped the gifts he got me right before I opened them. I'm a rather difficult person to buy for, but he did a good job and gave me some nice surprises: a hat, gloves, and scarf to match my new coat.

Preston showed his acceptance of the new high chair he got from Grandma and Grandpa Rocque by eating the straps the first time we put him in it. Little does know that we will actually feed him real food in it soon.