Temple Square

Tate has loved driving around looking at Christmas lights this year, so we thought he would really love seeing Temple Square now. So.....these things are always much more fun in my head than in reality. We parked at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and inside had to pass this little cafe to get out to the lights. Well, all Tate cared about from that second on was getting freaking hot chocolate. He was so obsessed that he didn't even care about the lights anymore. Grrrr...so irritating. Oh well, at least we tried.

Holiday this and that

Last week was the Torgerson family party and Santa comes every year and brings the kids a small present. Tate was so excited to see him again...we had already gone to the mall to see him, but I think Tate thinks the more times we go and tell him what we want, maybe the more presents we'll get. Smart kid.

Marley on the other hand was ticked I made her sit on this creepy guy's lap again...don't you remember I cried the last time mother?

I don't know what this face is she's doing, frankly it's a little scary

Yesterday we did our gingerbread house and Tate was totally absorbed in it for a good half hour, it was awesome

His finished product, he was so proud of it!

My explorer...

Marley is at that stage where you literally turn your back for 5 seconds and they're into something. I feel alot more relaxed this time around though, with Tate I'd hurry and grab him; with Mar I.....grab the camera. Well, except when I found her LICKING the toilet the other day.



On a completely different note, I am obsessed these days with finding fun new family traditions for the holidays. I want my kids to look back on their childhood like I do and think of all the awesome things we did together. So one of the new traditions I'm excited about is one I think everybody now knows about called The Elf on the Shelf. On November 30th Santa dropped off a present at the doorstep to Tate and Marley. Tate opened it and there was our elf and a book. We read the story about Buddy the Elf (that's the name Tate gave him) and every day he "hides" somewhere new and watches the kids so he can report back to Santa each night if they're being good. Tate has loved every morning so far trying to find him; if it starts helping his behavior knowing Santa is watching maybe Buddy will stick around all year long...

Thanksgiving 2010

We were at the Love's for Thanksgiving this year, and it was Marley's first Thanksgiving! We had great food, went sledding and just relaxed...

Mar loves Ellie, and I'm afraid grandma Kathy is going to try and give her to us...NO thank you!

I don't think Tate is ever going to be a big Thanksgiving dinner fan...he hates potatoes, hates turkey, won't eat rolls or any vegetables. What's left? Pie I guess.

Marley reading the ads with meI didn't get any pictures of them sledding that day, but the day before Jord took them out and pulled them around the yard (in the bitter cold), Marley loved it!

she's like a pink pillsbury dough boy

9 months in, 9 months out...

Marley has officially been out as long as she was in! I can't believe she's already been around for that long, it really has flown by. Sadly I admit, I have enjoyed her a whole lot more than I did Tate. I still love him more than life itself, it's just he was so...challenging. And still is; but that's it's own post.

Some things about my Marley-moo are she is so mellow and easy going. She definitely has her moments, but on the whole is pretty easy. She is my sweet little mama's girl. Her first word was "mama" because anytime she wants me and can't see me she'll sit and whine "mama mama" over and over until I come get her. She crawls everywhere and pulls herself up on everything she can to stand. She is the pickiest eater ever but will always eat chocolate! She is a VERY EARLY RISER, usually between 5:30-6:00 am, and is happy as could be to be awake. And she hasn't had her official 9 month appointment yet, but I had to take her in a few weeks ago and she was 15.4 pounds....my tiny girl!9 months ago today!

And 9 months before that! We found out we were pregnant the day Chace left for the MTC...it was definitely an emotional day all around!

Dear Daylight Savings,

I hate you so very much, why do you do this to me? I feel like you are trying to make me miserable, and it's working. This is what time Marley has woken up for the day these past few mornings, thanks to you.Please shoot me if this lasts much longer.

Love,
Ashley

Halloween

I've been very under the weather lately, so when Halloween came and went, I wasn't too sad about it. I LOVE Halloween, but this year I was ready for it to just be over with. We did manage to carve/paint our pumpkins and go to Grandma Kathy's for a party though. They were the only pictures I really even got of the kids in their costumes. I never did get one of Tate fully dressed in his outfit, oh well. It really didn't matter though because we didn't even trick-or-treat because Jord was too worried about watching the Utes game of the pouring rain.

Steve and Jord were the Lollipop munchkins from the Wizard of Oz

my cute little witch
and supposed to be Harry Potter...

A Story of Pictures...

I've lagged in blogging the fun things we've done so far this fall season. So to sum it all up, here's a quick(?) picture story:

Once upon a time we went to see the Gardner Village witches with the cousins

It was a million times better to go in September while it was still warm.

Then we ventured out with the cousins again to a fabulous pumpkin patch. Here's Macy trying to push Marley in her wheelbarrow.

We even went back to the same pumpkin patch with dad the next week.

We also went to Cornbelly's for the first time ever, and it was amazing. This place will definitely become a yearly tradition.
We rode the tractor/train ride through the cornfields...
Then a few days later we got to do this. Oh wait...this part wasn't so fun. Times this by ALL FOUR OF US and it's been awesome.
And due to the aforementioned situation, there's been a lot of this.

THE END.

You don't have to read, I'm just being whiny

I've never been a big pop drinker....until I had kids. Not because I thought it was bad or anything, I just couldn't stomach it very well. Now it still bothers my stomach, but I will take the trade-off for being able to stay awake and function throughout the day. I'm just so TIRED that sometimes I can't stand it. I seem to only birth children who never want to sleep...ever. They don't nap longer than 30 minutes, and they are up every 2-3 hours at night. Tate is better now, but my gosh he's 3 years old! If Marley is going down this same road, then I still have over 2 years of not getting more than 3 hours of consecutive sleep. Shoot me now. Or just make sure I am always fully stocked with cherry Coke.

Soccer

Tate did soccer this fall, and it is by far his favorite sport. He will go out and kick the soccer ball for hours if I let him, so it was fun to see him actually put it to use! They were the Red Dragons and their coach is a big Utes fan, so it was meant to be:)Cheese ball!

Running for the ball! The first couple of games he was nervous to get in the big crowd of kids to get the ball, but after a while he got the hang of it. He actually even scored a goal one game!
Some games were freezing and rainy...poor Marley. She gets stuck going to sports rain or shine.

The new house plant.

We've been cutting down some trees in our front yard, and Tate has loved playing with all the branches. So when he called for me the other day to see what he had, I didn't expect half of the tree to be in my house. But I couldn't even be mad because I was laughing so hard, and he was so proud. He kept calling it his trophy. I eventually talked him into taking his trophy back outside, but I'm a little worried to see what else he finds around the yard to bring in...

My own milestone.

So I always document the kids big milestones, and I thought I would put down one of my own....the other day I got my first stitches ever! Or should I say stitch (ya, just one). And it was by the hands of my 3 year old. The other day he threw his flashlight and it hit me right in the face and split my nose. To say I was mad is an understatement. I went to Instacare and it needed a few stitches but the Doctor didn't want it to scar any worse, so he got away with putting just one right in the middle of the cut. I look ridiculous. And subsequently, Tate no longer has that flashlight.

Mars

Miss Mar and her crazy hair

I feel liked I've slacked on Marley updates, I used to be so good with Tate posting height and weight, and things he did. I need to get better so I don't look back on these and see her age from 4 months to a year old and not remember any details in between! So here we go:
-at her 6 month appointment (which was also a few weeks late, oops) she weighed 14.6 lbs (20%) and 26 inches long (70%)...where I get these tall children I have no idea
-she has a few nicknames, some of which are bizarre but have somehow stuck: Mar-Mar, Mars, Marles (per aunt Meg) and Marley-Moo
-she's been sitting up by herself for about a month now
-she's getting so much hair I can put little clips in it, I love it!
-she is so happy and giggles a lot, but Tate is the one who can get her to really laugh
-she sleeps just ok at night, but is a horrible cat napper (just like her brother was)
-she loves to grab your face with both hands and give big wet open mouth kisses (the ones only a mother can love:)
-loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
-already a spoiled mamas girl! Cries when I leave the room, and cries when other people try to hold her if she can't see me nearby.

Pictures

Usually I hate getting pictures done; it gives me so much anxiety worrying about what to have the kids wear, where to do them, when to do them so I can avoid meltdowns...the usual. But this time for Marley's 6 month and Tate's 3 year pictures it went great! They both actually cooperated and smiled, and I love how they turned out:

Fan Fest

Jord got to take Tate to the Utes Fan Fest this year for the first time--I don't know who was more excited, Jordan or Tate. It really is pretty cool, they get to go down on the football field, meet the players, kick field goals, and all sorts of other games. I'm not a sports person so me and Marley stayed home and went shopping...this could be a fun tradition for us. Jordan and Tate go do all their sports stuff, and us girls go shop!The whole Love gang with Coach Boylen

Tate and Jordan catching a punt!

Tate, Banks and Kaige on the 50-yard line

The boys with Swoop the mascot doing the "Go Utes" sign!