The Past 2 Weeks...

...have been kind of a blur.  Somehow, we've all managed to make it through alive, but, other than that, I don't really recall a whole lot!  Here's a few pictures to enjoy!

This kid has long limbs!  And, with how skinny they are, it's hard to believe he was almost 9 pounds at birth!

Just chillin' in bed.  And, don't be fooled by the round, chubby looking face.

"Look, Mom!  Carson has a hippo on his bum!"

Morgan, the ever-attentive big sister.   This kid's never going to get away with anything--ever!

Daddy with his kiddos!

Sadie Bug Turns 3!

Although we celebrated a couple weeks ago, Sadie's official birthday was Wednesday.  So, we did a few special things for her special day.

Ikea Centennial opened on Wednesday and part of their celebration included a $52.80 gift card (mile high city) if you brought in proof of the same birthday.  So, I decided to be a little adventurous and took all 3 kids down to the madhouse to retrieve Sadie's (okay, some of it will be mine!) gift card.  I've already told her there's an Ikea in California and we will go after we move.  In fact, we only went to the return counter to get the card--didn't actually go into the store part!  It was way too crowded!  But, all in all, it was much better than I expected.  We were directed by the parking staff to a spot in the parking garage and right next to the elevator, so that sped our trip up quite a but!  I guess it was just our lucky day!  However, Sadie started crying when she saw the real moose (Ikea's mascot), so that part wasn't so lucky, trying to maneuver a stroller and 2 kids past, with one of them crying, not wanting to walk past, no matter how quickly.

Sadie has an obsession with popcorn.  Like she'll eat an entire bag by herself obsession.  Even though we would by the Simply Salted kind with no added junk, it started to get a little pricey.  I have a friend that always serves amazing popcorn when she hosts our book clubs (which, I'm going to miss dearly, but that's for another time...) and she said she uses a Stir Crazy popper.  So, Sadie got a Stir Crazy popper.

She wasn't too thrilled when she first opened the box...

...but then we told her what it was and, apparently, she was excited enough to kiss it!

We've already made popcorn several times and she loves to watch it "pop and go crazy!" (official Sadie terminology).


Here are some of her Favorites at age Three:

Song: I Am A Child of God

Food:  Popcorn

Color:  Orange

Number: Six

Book: Disney Animal Stories

Toy:  Play Kitchen

Movie: Cinderella

Person:  Carson

Breakfast:  Blagels

Lunch:  Costco Hot Dog

Dinner:  Macaroni and Cheese

Animal: Lulu (her hippo)

Dear Sadie-Bug,

Oh, what joy you bring to our family!  From your singing, to your silly faces, you've always got a happy smile on your face!  Your favorite thing to help me with is laundry--you love to help with the laundry "choo-choo" train: pulling out the baskets, sorting, pulling the baskets to the washer and loading the washer (but only if the water is running).   Lately, you've started pulling the "what excuse can I make to get out of bed AGAIN?" card, and it's driving us crazy!  But, on the rare occasion you do decide to go to bed and actually sleep, you sleep so well you're usually up before Bunny even wakes up!  You sit patiently on your bed until he "wakes up" and then hurry out to tell me, "Mom!  Bunny waked up!  It's amazing!"   I hope you always have a desire to learn about Jesus.  Every week, after Nursery, when I ask what you learned about, you always say, "Jesus," even if your picture reads, I Am Thankful for Food, or I Can Be Kind To Others.  I treasure all those times I walk into your room, only to see you sitting on your bed with your songbook, listening to your Primary songs.  Your sweet spirit brightens my day.  I love your hugs and kisses and precious prayers.  Thank you for being such a blessing in my life!  I love you!

Love,

Mommy

P.S. 3 years old is way too young to start calling me "Mom"! Can't I be "Mommy" just a little longer?

Welcome, Little One!

Carson Ginos Boring 

Date: Saturday, July 16, 2011 

Time: 1:44 a.m. 

Weight: 8 lbs, 12.7 oz

Length: 19 1/2 inches

Labor went quick ("active" labor began when my water broke at 12:36 a.m., and he was born at 1:44 a.m.), and he's a lot bigger than we expected (he was 5 days early), but everyone is doing great!  Apparently Mexican food, walks, and a full moon worked!  (A friend jokingly mentioned it to me and Brian was serious about trying it out!)

He's tongue tied (getting it fixed tomorrow), and slightly jaundiced, so we get to make nurse visits for the next couple of days, but he sleeps great, gives me 4 hours between feedings, and hardly fusses!  Maybe I've finally got an easy baby (minus the extra doctor visits)!!

Just chillin' under the heat lamp!

 Big sisters meeting their brother for the first time!

 Remember a picture of Morgan and Sadie like this?  Click here.

Morgan made special artwork to decorate Carson's "crib".  Left: a dump truck; Right: a Daddy Basketball (he's got a basketball for a head/face) 

Our first family picture.  And, that might be about as "official" as it gets for a while!

Morgan could spend her entire day sitting on the couch, holding her brother.  She's going to be a great helper.  Sadie makes sure that the binky is always close.  And, if its not in Carson's mouth, she tries to put it in--whether he wants it or not!

Welcome, sweet little one!  We're so happy you came to our family!  

Happy Birthday, Sadie Bug!! (Part One)

This past Saturday, we celebrated Sadie's 3rd birthday.  Prematurely, because I am not about to throw a party with a days old baby.  So, pretty certain the baby wouldn't make an early appearance (much to my dismay--we've got about 9 days to go), Sadie's birthday came early this year.

Here's her "Happy Birthday Lady Sadie-Bugger" Cake (Sadie can't just ask for a piece of cake.  It's the whole, official title every time).  With all of my cake decorating stuff packed somewhere in the dark abyss of storage, I've had to resort to purchased cakes this summer.  Sadie picked this one out, and, despite the girls' disagreement in the car on the way from Costco to the birthday party (check out the eyes), she had a pretty cute (and tasty!) cake.

We enjoyed sub sandwiches, apple juice, "red chips" (another official Sadie title for what we all refer to as Doritos), and melted chocolate covered strawberries (fyi: indoor pools are really warm and humid).

Sadie blew out exactly 3 candles with exactly 3 breaths.   And then, proceeded to enjoy a pink frosting-laden piece of birthday cake.  (Note: I'm not really one for frosting, but the white cake with cheesecake filling from Costco is quite divine!)

When we got home, she opened her presents from her friends.  I decided to save her other presents for the real day, because Morgan reminds her several times each day that she's not 3 yet.  Not until July 27th.

To Be Little Once Again...

Here's what we've been up to:

Playing cards with Lulu (I wonder who won...Sadie or the hippo?) 

 Spinning until we get too dizzy to walk (Sadie's pretty funny to watch!)

 
Enjoying beautiful summer weather and playing at the pool and splash park.

Experimenting with face body paint. (This was at Brian's work family BBQ.  One of his single, childless co-workers was "helping" the girls.  Luckily, it all washed out, but they were quite the sight!)

As of Late...

Aside from moving, here's what else we've been up to during the month of June:

Our stake hosted a Super Saturday Activity/Open House with a BBQ, games, and a few missionary events (i.e. tours of the church...).  

Aside from the jumpy house being the HUGE hit for the girls, they were actually pretty good at ladder ball.  I was very surprised!

  

We enjoyed a birthday party at Monkey Bizness.  We sure will miss the McKeons and "Big Jack" (he's only 5, but that's how the girls differentiate from "baby Jack", their cousin) when we move at the end of the summer!

Sadie practiced her air hockey skills.  A long way to go on this one...

 Sadie spent hours singing Primary Songs with her special song book.

She also spent hours sleeping...all while using her hand as a bookmark.  I guess she really wanted to hold her place!

And, since we've moved, the girls have a picnic every day for lunch.  They love to eat outside and stare at the parking lot.  A few times, we have seen bunnies in the grass, and they love that!

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

Wow! I can't believe she's already five!  

Last Saturday, we celebrated Morgan's 5th birthday.  She'd been celebrating in her own little world for about a month now.  And, on Friday, when we were running errands, she was sure to tell EVERYONE that tomorrow (Saturday) was her birthday and she would be turning 5.  

Saturday morning, we went to Target, where Morgan got to spend her birthday money from grandparents.  She picked out a Play-doh cake set and it's quite fun!

With all of my cake decorating stuff in boxes in a storage closet somewhere (a lot of good all my labeling ended up doing this time around...), we resorted to a store-bought cake.  So, Morgan picked out her birthday cake at the grocery store--double layer chocolate cake with chocolate filling and chocolate frosting.  To lighten it up a bit, I sliced up some strawberries to go with it.

I'd been debating for a while on what to get Morgan, and finally decided on pattern blocks/tangrams, which I found at the learning store.  These are a HUGE hit!  On Saturday, she just had fun with the shapes, but then I printed out a few patterns for her, and she's just going to town!  She's even requested I print them plain, because the colors make it too easy to follow.

Morgan requested playtime for her birthday (as if we don't have it every other day, but, it is her special day), so she and Sadie spent a fun-filled half hour or so at the water table, while Brian spent a stress-filled half hour panicking because they were "dumping water" or "getting wet"!  I gently reminded him that it's only water, it will dry, and they're supposed to get wet.  (I bet it didn't help that we had just been talking to our neighbors and they were filling us in on what to expect for our utility bills, which, apparently, is WAY MORE than we ever paid in our house, so with every cup of water, I think he was just seeing dollar signs.  We'll see just how bad it is when our bill comes!)

Here's Morgan with her very first pattern design.  I'll have to get some more pictures of her giraffes, butterfly, trains, owls, cars, etc.  She's just loving it!

Morgan's Favorties at age 5:

Song:  Scripture Power (She sings: "Because I want to be like the Savior and I can, I'm reading His destructions, I'm following His plan."  It's funny the way kids hear and interpret things!)

Food:  She's become vegetarian, except for hamburgers, chicken nuggets and Papa Dale's BBQ  (I'm sensing a love amongst the grandchildren for grandpa's BBQing)

Color:  all the colors--she even claims to like red again

Number: 5 and 7

Book: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (She picked it out for her birthday and read the whole thing in 3 days!!  The kids' chapter book version is 182 pages long!  She didn't want to put it down!)

Toy:  Dolphin (she got a stuffed animal from her dance teacher at her recital and quickly became very attached to her new friend)

Movie: Anything princess, but currently, she likes Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty (she loves Princess Aurora)

Person: Heavenly Father and Jesus--"Because I love them so much!" 

Breakfast: Pancakes and Waffles 

Lunch: Peanut Butter Sandwich (currently, she loves them with banana slices)

Dinner: Spaghetti--no sauce, with Myzithra cheese

Animal: sharks, elephants, bunnies, dolphins, and horses

Dearest Morgan,

It's been a busy year for you!  Last summer, you learned how to read, and quickly discovered that you could read just about anything!  I'm amazed at how well you read even complicated words.  You're incredible at sounding out new words in the Book of Mormon and have such a deep desire to study the scriptures and learn about the Gospel!  You took a ballet/tap class and I find you dancing everywhere you go!  You even started teaching Sadie some of the things you learned in class.  We're still working on your temper, but I'm glad to tell you that your outbursts are getting better, and you're learning how to handle yourself better when you're upset.  You're a great helper and are willing to help out almost every time.  I appreciate the good example of service you are setting for others, especially your sister!  I love you!

Love,

Mommy

Swim Lessons

Yep.  It's that time of year again.  Our two little fish have found the water and are loving every moment in it!  

Somewhere, amidst all that splash, is fearless Sadie.  She figured out that she's tall enough to stand up in this part of the pool, so, she jumps in whenever she wants--whether someone is there to catch her or not! There's a lifeguard about 5 feet from her in this picture, so I wasn't too concerned.

Morgan and her friend, Addy, in the pool.  Morgan can also reach the bottom here, but thinks she's extra cool because she "swims" away from the wall by herself.

Thanks for the pics, Betsy!!

Knock You Naked Brownies

I'm not one for posting recipes (mostly because I haven't been adventurous with cooking for the last SEVERAL months), but this one is very delicious, and I thought I'd share it!  It's from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  She's got lots of tempting recipes on her website, which I'll now have to steer clear of, if any of her other recipes are as good as these!

Knock You Naked Brownies

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.5 Ounce) German Chocolate Cake Mix (I Used Duncan Hines)
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Pecans
• ⅓ cups Evaporated Milk
• ½ cups Evaporated Milk (additional)
• ½ cups Butter, Melted
• 60 whole Caramels, Unwrapped
• ⅓ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• ¼ cups Powdered Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, chopped pecans, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, and melted butter. Stir together until totally combined. Mixture will be very thick.

Press half the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 9 inch square baking pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and set aside.

In a double boiler (or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water) melt caramels with additional 1/2 cup evaporated milk. When melted and combined, pour over brownie base. Sprinkle chocolate chips as evenly as you can over the caramel.

Turn out remaining brownie dough on work surface. Use your hands to press it into a large square a little smaller than the pan. Use a spatula to remove it from the surface, then set it on top of the caramel and chocolate chips.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for several hours. When ready to serve, generously sift powdered sugar over the surface of the brownies. Cut into either nine or twelve helpings, and carefully remove from the pan.

*Adapted from the standard/classic “Knock You Naked Brownies” recipe. These brownies don’t really knock you naked…but almost.

Kid Swaps

A friend reminded me the other day of something very funny that Sadie did a couple of months ago and I had totally forgotten about it, so I'm writing it down now so I don't forget about it forever.

Let's start with a little bit of background.  My friend, Jen, and I "kid swap" every once in a while to help each other out.  Not only does it help us out in a pinch, but all of our kids (she's got 4 and we've got 2) LOVE to get together.

Before last week's kid swap: When I told Morgan and Sadie their friends were coming to play, Sadie simply sighed and said, "I like Eli.  He's so cute!" (That's their little boy Sadie's age.)  Morgan informed her that Eli's no longer a baby and he can't be "cute", to which Sadie just repeated, "I like Eli.  He's so cute."

But, that's not the story I want to remember.  Here's the story:

A couple of months ago, Jen watched the girls during my ultrasound.  When we got to her house to pick up the girls, naturally, we rang the doorbell.  While we waited for someone to answer the door, here's what was happening on the other side of the door:

The doorbell rings.  Sadie, who, moments before was perfectly happy playing with the other kids, without a care in the world, jumps up from playing, dashes to the front door (I think she may have even pushed Jen away from the door), and stands guard across it (you know, arms out, legs spread), screaming, "No!  Don't open it!  I don't want to go home!  I want to play!"  Brian and I are listening to this from the other side, but not quite able to make out what's happening.  About 30 seconds later, Jen finally gets the door open, at which point, Sadie runs off back into the house, crying and yelling at us (Brian and I) to "Go away! Go away!"  She did eventually decide to come home, but, if I remember correctly, there was another battle involved and she was not happy about it.

The girls went over to play again this morning, so I could get some packing done.  And, when I showed up on the doorstep, Sadie was at the top of the stairs.  She looked down at me and said, "I don't want to go home.  I'm playing.  I'm hiding from you."

I've been inside the Johansen's house--several times, in fact.  And, nothing in particular has ever caught my eye as being so amazingly fun to play with that would warrant Sadie never wanting to leave.  But, then, again, I'm no longer 2 years old--I must be a poor judge of fun toys and great playmates.