Christmas 2012

This was Clayton's first Christmas, but even though we knew he wouldn't remember it, we still wanted to make it special. Kyle and I went shopping to a few places to get some things for Clayton. He really needed socks so he got a lot of those among other things. HA!  It was actually really fun going shopping for our baby. I'm looking forward to doing it again for other holidays.

Christmas morning we had Clayton open his presents from us and my parents. Pretty much he just enjoyed putting everything in his mouth and playing with the wrapping paper. 

a mirror for the car so we can see him from his carseat

sock baby from Grandma and Grandpa Ricks (My mom made those for all of my siblings when we were little too : ) )

Pokemon toys that he actually picked out himself ;)

He really just wanted to put everything in his mouth.

We got him a few books because I read to him every night.

After Clayton had opened his presents from us, we dropped the dogs off at two different houses and headed to Yuma. (We were dog sitting Trinity and took her to one of Kyle's work friend's house, and we took Lady to our friend Dan who is a member in the bishopric and our home teacher.) 

Kyle's step mom, Connie, had invited us to her dad's house in Yuma for Christmas dinner (that's where we ate for Thanksgiving too). The food was delicious again and the company was great. After we ate all of the presents were brought into the living room and we all opened gifts. Connie's dad and his wife Lynna were very sweet and got us presents too. I was not expecting that at all. 

I know that pants are super short in this picture but these are Christmas present pants

hanging out with Tiffany (Connie's daughter)

playing in the wrapping paper

my little family

playing with Grandpa Blackburn

the cutest woody and buzz lightyear pj's 

I didn't take pictures of everything but we were very blessed to get things. We were not expecting it and it would have been a great Christmas regardless. :)

dream lite pillow pet

Lynna made all of the girls super cute hats :)

When we got back from Yuma we skyped my parents and wished them a Merry Christmas. Since my dad's birthday was Christmas Eve we wished him a happy birthday again. :) My brother Paul, his wife Steph, my brother Joseph, and his wife Paige were in Winslow for Christmas too so we got to talk to all of them during the same Skype call. 

It was a really great Christmas. I wish that everyone that I loved just lived in the same neighborhood. It would definitely make holidays and visiting easier. Sooner or later maybe. ;)

2nd Anniversary 12/28

Kyle and I have been married for two years! WHAT???!!! I know that may not seem very long for those of you that have been married for much longer but hey it is still a milestone right??
We didn't do anything big for our anniversary but I wanted to do something so I wrote him a love letter that he saw in the morning before he went to work and while he was gone I made him this...

It is a candy gram. I bought a bunch of candy and cut out hearts to decorate a little basket. Then I made super cheesy sayings on paper and this is how it turned out!! :) 

Here are the cheesy sayings...

I love your HUGS AND KISSES. My FINGERS fit perfectly with yours(Butterfinger). We were MINT to be together (Junior Mints). I love you to PIECES (Reeses Pieces). I would be KNOTS without you (chocolate covered pretzels).  You're a STAR in my eyes (Starburst). You're a SWEETART. We've shared GOOD AND PLENTY of SNICKERS. "TWIX" (Like tween -between) you and me, you're the best. You are one HOT TAMALE. You're a LIFESAVER. Out of everyone in the MILKY WAY I'm glad you picked me.

It was a hit!! Kyle even let me eat some of the candy. YUM! Maybe I should do it every year! haha jk :) :)
We didn't get a sitter that night so we just watched Taken 2 when the baby went to sleep and hung out. I was just grateful to spend some time with my love. We got a gift card to Outback Steakhouse from a family in the ward and it included free babysitting so we are going to take them up on that soon and that can be our 2 year anniversary date. :)

I can't imagine my life without my oh so handsome hubby. He is such a strong, supportive, caring man. We have gone through a lot the past two years but it has just made us grow closer together. I love him sooooo much (in case you all didn't know). Hooray for marriage!  Looking forward to forever!! :) Muah!!

Creepy Crawley

For a while now Clayton has been a "scooter". He will get on his hands and knees, rock back and forth a few times, fall forward and then repeat. It was working just fine for him and he was getting places, but yesterday he became an official crawler. AH!!! It is just amazing to me! He goes all over the house grabbing anything that he can get his hands on. Now I definitely have to keep a better eye on him because he doesn't stick to one room anymore. Look out world!

PS don't mind the one sock... I did eventually find the other one after I took the video.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving dinner this year we ate in Yuma at Kyle's step mom's dad's house. Did you follow that? Cool. It was sooooo delicious just like Thanksgiving is supposed to be. :) 

3 generation picture. (I promise Kyle has a beautiful smile... he just doesnt' like  to show it off in pictures ;) )

After dinner (which was at 2:00), we headed to Mesa for a few days. We stayed at JC's house (Kyle's best friend), but because we were doing family stuff most of the weekend we didn't really see him hardly.

It was an awesome weekend. On Friday we visited with Kyle's second momma and then had lunch with Holly who is an old friend of Kyle's. They hadn't seen each other in like six years. It was great to meet her and we are totally friends now! Yay for new friends! She is really cool. :)

Friday night we went over to Kyle's aunt Charley's house in Scottsdale and stayed for hours laughing and catching up with everyone. It was so great! He has a few cousins that live in the valley too that he hasn't seen in years.Kyle's aunt Kasey and uncle Jeff who live in Canada were in town and so was his Grandma who lives in Texas. Pretty much a lot of people were there that he hadn't seen in ages. (I had met them all at the reunion last summer, but Kyle was in Jacksonville FL so he wasn't able to go).

Saturday was all family stuff. We went to Scottsdale and had breakfast with everyone at a delicious place called Dottie's. Cinnamon french toast is always a fabulous choice. If you've never tried it...DO IT!

hanging out at breakfast

After breakfast I went shopping with the girls and Kyle went back to his dad's house to hang with the guys. I have never been a huge shopper, but it was really fun. I loved being able to spend time with Kyle's extended family.

we went to the Bass Pro shop to get a picture with Santa but the line was too long so we just did the  free carousel ride

For the rest of the day everyone hung out at Bryan and Connie's house (Kyle's dad's house) and it was such a blast. Connie made a turkey dinner, so we pretty much had Thanksgiving twice. Hey I'm not complaining. ;) 

Kyle and his Gramma Bo (ps I have her wedding ring :) awesome right?)

Kyle's Uncle Jeff does some photography so I asked if he could take a few pictures for us. It was too dark to go outside, but I am happy with them. I just love my little family.

Thanksgiving weekend was a blast and I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family in my life. I honestly don't know what I would do without them. Love you all!

Baby Boy is 6 months

aren't his eyes gorgeous??

Clayton turned six months old yesterday!!! What the heck??!!

I honestly can't believe how fast time has gone by. It is seriously nuts!! Clayton is already six months old!! Can you believe it?? Sheesh. People always used to say that it would go by fast but this is just ridiculous. It amazes me the new things that he learns every single day. He is almost crawling... almost. He will get on his hands and knees and bounce backwards and forwards then fall down, scoot forward a bit, and do it again. He can get places scooting around and he is actually a pro at pivoting and moving to get toys or whatever else is on the floor that he wants to touch. Clayton is also quite the social bug. He loves people and  being the center of attention. He doesn't sit up by himself yet (he supports himself with his arms...he would much rather stand with support than sit). He has figured out a "stink" face and he does it all of the time. It is hilarious!!

Clayton is quite the talker. He makes the funniest noises and Kyle and I are always cracking up. Pretty much our kid is the coolest.

Yesterday I decided to take some pictures of him (not that I don't do that every single day anyway). This time I tried using a sheet as a background and be my own kind of semi professional. Needless to say it didn't work very well. Clayton is so darn squirmy and he just wanted to pull on the sheet haha Oh well. He is such a cutie and Kyle and I honestly don't know what we would do without him. We are so blessed.

Happy six months itty bitty!!

Marine Corps Ball

On Friday was the Marine Corps Ball for MALS 11. This year it was in downtown San Diego at the Hyatt.  This year we had to get a baby sitter (you know since we have a kid) which actually wasn't hard at all. The bishop's wife and family were a ton of help with letting Clayton be with them so that Kyle and I could have a night out. I pretty much spent most of the day  getting ready for the ball. My hair doesn't stay curled very well regardless of how much hairspray I put in it. Oh well. I wasn't wanting it to be crazy curly anyways.

Even though I knew what time we were leaving, I was still in a rush to get out the door. My dress was a corsette and so I needed help putting it on (thank you Kyle). We had some issues with it. I needed it super tight so that it wouldn't fall down. It was lower than I thought it was going to be (I am pretty sure we could have tightened it more but we were in such a hurry). On the way to drop off the baby and to head to the hotel I was cutting fabric and trying to pin all over. I'm sure all of the cars driving by us thought I was a nut. Oh well. By the time we got to the hotel I didn't feel very confident. Maybe I was just in a weird mood. Whatever.

Kyle was told to be at the hotel at 4:00 (that's when cocktail hour started... not that we drink). Well... when we got there the bar was getting set up and there really weren't many people there. I guess cocktail hour didn't start until five. Some of Kyle's sergeants invited us upstairs to a hotel room where I met a couple wives and visited. They had all started drinking at about 1:00 haha. Some more guys from Kyle's shop came upstairs and eventually we all filed back downstairs. We still had to wait for about an hour after we were downstairs until the doors opened and we were seated. So, Kyle introduced me to more people from his shop and we all just visited.

isn't my hubby so handsome :)

 I borrowed the dress from my friend Libby (she also did my makeup) , and Elizabeth helped me make the jacket.

Oh funny story... while we were waiting for the doors to open I went to the restroom. I definitely had forgotten to take off my basketball shorts when I put my dress on! HA! Good thing the dress was huge and it covered it. When I mentioned it to Kyle he just said, "I noticed that when we were putting your dress on." He thought that I had done it on purpose.

Remember how I said that I was in a weird mood for the start of the night?? Well all of these girls were staring at me like crazy and looking me up and down and I definitely felt awkward and self conscious about it. I was being the crazy Mary Catherine (it happens sometimes). Kyle told me that is was because I was hotter than them and they were just jealous. That made me feel better and got me in a better mood. :)

The ceremony is all very traditional. There is a "fashion show" of the background of the Marine Corps and all of their uniforms since the beginning. There is also a ceremonial birthday cake. It is cut and the oldest Marine in the room and the youngest Marine in the room get a piece. There are a few speakers and a video and then dinner and dancing. My camera and my phone didn't get good pictures of the ceremony sorry. :/

We had some really fun people at our table this year. They were all hilarious!! They were all drunk but soooooooo funny!! 

The dinner was super yummy. Steak, chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus, rolls, and a salad. The dessert was some kind of chocolate mousse. Doesn't it all just sound so delicious?? :)

We didn't stay long after the dinner was over but we were able to visit some more with people and I was able to get to know them better. It was great.!! All in all it was a great night. :)  I am so glad that Kyle and I were able to go on a date together. Heavens to betsie I just love that man. :)

 These are a couple of random pictures from the ball last year. Since I didn't blog for over a year I guess I should post these too.

you can tell how much he likes pictures ;)

The Color Run San Diego

I first heard about The Color Run from YouTube and as soon as I saw what it was I HAD to do it. The Color Run is a 5K and every kilometer a different color of powdered paint is thrown on you. It is a "fun" run and it isn't timed. There are no restrictions for age or running status. You can walk it, bring a stroller, run it, or dance the whole time. There really aren't any rules besides wear a white t shirt and have fun!! 

I went with my friend Elizabeth and Kyle watched Clayton. It was great to have a break from the baby. One of Kyle's buddies, Tomlinson, also signed up to do it, so we all ran together.It was SOOOOO fun. There were 30,000 people at the 1:30 start time (there were two sessions; one at 9 and one at 1:30) that participated! That is like 3 Winslows!!! Crazy right??!!

At the end there was a big after party. There was a DJ and dancing and powder thrown all over. Every 15 minutes they counted down to another powder throw. Gosh it was so much fun!!! I absolutely loved it!!!!

PS I thought the paint would be easier to come off. I have scrubbed and scrubbed and have taken two showers and I am still a bit green ish and blue ish in certain places. But it was still a freakin blast!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)