Eliza is 1

Eliza turned 1 on Monday.  We had a small celebration with just the family and she loved the attention.  Our little social bug loves any attention she can get.

 Grandma and Grandpa T skyped to wish her a happy birthday.  She was annoyed that dad was holding her hostage when she just wanted to be on the floor playing.

 When we took the candle out and let her have free range with her cupcake there was ZERO hesitation.  She grabbed a fist full of icing and shoved it in her mouth.  That little girl is an eater.  She will eat anything we give her. 

 Cordon is so funny with cake and cupcakes.  He licks about half the frosting off then doesn't want anymore.

Hugging her new stuffed bear from Grandpa and Grandma T.

Eliza is such a  fun baby.  She is very social and loves to interact with people.  She imitates people all the time and it's so funny to watch.  She is also my cuddle bug.  She is so squishy and loves to snuggle. She is just such a sweet mellow baby.  Even after a year I sometimes forget that she is around because she is so quiet and can entertain herself for hours. 

Groupon Fail

Disclaimer: below are some very unattractive pictures of me, but I just had to share this oh so fun experience I had.

Recently there was a Groupon deal for an at home bleaching kit that promised to whiten your teeth 1-5 shades.  It was 70% off the regular price, how could I refuse?!?!?!? So I bought one for me and one for Chris.  I eagerly waited for the package and was stoked to have a really white new smile.  Oh, how I was punished for my vanity.  Finally the package came, and as soon as the kids were in bed I tore that sucker open.  Looking at the contents and reading the directions made me quickly realize that this was going to fall under the category of "Beauty is Pain." Inside was a mouth guard full of bleach goo that would fit Shaq's mouth, along with a light that you had to hold against your teeth for 30 min.  But I was not going to be discouraged.  So I did the prep work of rubbing Vitamin E all over my gums then put in the mouth guard.  That thing was huge and I couldn't close my mouth over it.  I then pulled out the light and...... it didn't work.  So here I am with the mouth guard in and my light isn't working. Fortunately I had gotten two packages so I quickly opened Chris' and yanked the light out all panicked that those precious minutes with the guard on and no light was going to mess up my teeth some how.  So I grabbed the light and hip hip hooray it worked.  However, it also had a huge guard on it and now some how I was suppose to stretch open my mouth and fit this huge light in my mouth.  With some force, I got it then had to wrap my lips around it and stay like that for 30 min.  You've got to be kidding me! 

After looking at myself in the mirror all I could picture was this.....

While looking for the light that worked I noticed my gums tingling.  With in about 2 minutes they were on fire. The pain was so bad that my mind started racing through profanities which made me laugh again because then I was picturing why poor Ralphy had the soap in his mouth.

I kept thinking that I should probably take it out because i was in serious pain but my vanity and tight side took over and I kept chanting to myself "I paid $30 for this and it will be over soon and I will have beautiful teeth." So I decided to take my mind of it by cleaning the house.  Oh how foolish I was.  As I started to move around and pick up toys, the bleach in my moth decided to move and now my tongue was burning.  I quickly stopped and sat on the couch begging the timer to go faster "baby steps 30 minutes." By the end, my jaw and lips were aching from clenching down on the mouth guard and light. Finally the timer dinged.  I raced to the bathroom rinsed my mouth and looked at the damage......

 

I know the picture is gross, but seriously check out that damage.  All the white parts are blisters.  After whimpering and cursing myself for keeping those stupid trays in, I looked at the directions to see if there were any final directions I missed.   The final direction said "rinse and brush thoroughly."  Um, excuse me?  You want me to brush my teeth with blistering and bleeding gums?  What type of sick and twisted sadistic person invented this blasted kit?!?!?!?! 

The next several days my gums ached but it was bearable and my teeth went up 3 shades.  Yahoo!  I could deal with that.  It hurt but it was over and I had white teeth.....

A week later I looked in the mirror to once again be awwed by my white teeth and wouldn't you know it, they were back to their old shade.  "OH FUUUUUUDGE!"

Love This Photo

My mom emailed me this photo she took when we were there.  I think it's such a cute one of my dad and Cordon

Utah Week 2

 We got up to Chris' parents house and it was go go go until we left.  The first two days we ran around Provo doing all sorts of errands and seeing old friends.  Unfortunately we ran out of time and couldn't see as many people as we wanted.  The next two days Chris' mom watched Eliza and Cordon went with Chris to run errands and do a little hiking.  I spent those days running around like mad with Chris' two sisters getting everything ready for the family dinner Friday night and the open House reception Saturday night. 

Friday night the original Thompson clan and their spouses went to the Lion House for dinner.  It's been 10 years since just the adults got together and no kids were around so I really enjoyed laughing and talking with them.  Unfortunately, Diana's husband Rich is currently in Iraq for work and couldn't be there. 

The John and Mary Thompson family

 

 Can you tell they are brothers?  Chris and Bryan are 12 years apart but you would think they are twins.  Not only do they look identical but they act the same.  The same personality and manor-isms.  It's really fascinating to watch.  Bryan likes to say he is the 'original' while Chris claims is the 'new and improved model.' Whats more amazing is that the photos of John when he was this age are also identical.  I guess I know what Cordon is going to look like as an adult.



Saturday night was the reception at the church.  It was simple but very nice and there was a good turn out.  It was fun to see John and Mary reconnect with old friends and to meet those people and learn more about my in-laws

 The happy couple.  It really is amazing that they have hit 50 years of marriage.  That's pretty rare today.  John's response to this "you just have to live long enough." Congratulations to you both.  I'm so glad we were able to celebrate with you.

 One of the hikes Chris took Cordon on.  He's turning into a stereotypical boy and loves to be outdoors.  He talked about the hike for 2 days after. 

The infamous green shirt..... let me explain. 10 min before it was time to board our plane to go home, Eliza decided to throw up, not once, not twice but three times.  Of course she managed to hit everything; me, her, the diaper bag and the baby carrier. I used most of my wipes cleaning us up. I had an extra pair of pants for her but no shirt so I sent Chris off to hurry and find something.  He came back with the only thing he could find.  A green 2T size shirt with a girl M&M on it.  He paid $16 for this lovely thing which will probably make it's way to the back of the closet and never be heard from again.  we put it on her and raced onto the plane which was of course almost fully boarded.  Our flight home included 4 airports and 3 planes.  That is a lot of new people to see and chat with.  After the 100th time of correcting people and telling them Eliza is a girl and not a boy, then explaining why she was wearing an ugly green shirt, I gave up.  So for the last flight I stopped correcting people and Eliza became a cute boy that looks like his dad.  Good thing she is to young to realize what was going on.

Utah Week 1

Chris' parents celebrated their 50th wedding annivesary earlier this month. So the kids and I flew out early to spend time with my family.  Chris flew out a week later and spent a few days with my family then we all drove up to Provo for the big celebration. The kids did really well on the flight out.  They had a few melt downs as the day went on but eventually they both fell asleep and all was well.

Cordon slept like this for about 30 min.  How is that comfortable?

We did lots of swimming in my parents pool.  The little kiddie section is the best

Splash pad with cousin Warner

 My dad catches and kills the baths that roost under his porch because they make a huge mess and destroy things.  One night he left one out for the grand kids to 'discover' the next morning.  They were a little to fascinated by it. 

Posing with cousin Sydnie.  She calls this the 'Ariel Rock' and she loves to pose as Ariel

One day we headed over to my grandparents ranch.  If you know me then you know how much I love that place.  It's my own paradise.  Cordon had a blast there and did not want to leave.  We took the Rhinos down the canyon and Cordon giggled the whole time. Especially when he went through the water

He was stoked to be a 'Cowboy'

Playing in the mud. Somehow we managed to only get our legs muddy

 

my brother, Jason, is the craigslist king.  He finds the best toys for dirt cheap.  His latest was a 'back flip' thingy.  I have no idea what it was called but it helps you learn how to do flips.  He had just gotten it and never tried it and somehow I was the guine pig.  It was so fun. 

 

My brothers swing in his living room.  Eliza's kicked her legs like this the whole time she was in it.  I was cracking up.

 

Cordon cruising with Bugga (my dad) on Jason's segway

 

Attempting to ride the bull.  That is harder then it looks.  I had an awesome bruise the next day where I hit the horn as I flew over it's head

3rd Birthday

 Cordon has been obsessed with the solar system lately so we weren't surprised when he chose to go to the Planetarium for his birthday.  It's part of the State Museum which also has a really cute discovery room for kids.  The Planetarium show was a 30 min cartoon about aliens that have to save weather on the planets.  It was really cute and well done, and he loved it.  But of course he was extremely loud and kept yelling out things like "now were in space," " look, it's Jupiter."

Eliza not to sure about the pig in the discovery room

Cordon loves pretending to drive so he spent most of his time in the discovery room playing on this truck.

 For days Cordon kept talking about his 'planet' cake that he would get on his birthday.  I thought it was because he would get to eat cake, which is a rare thing for him.  Turns out he wanted the cake because that's when we sing the happy birthday song to him.  That's probably the most excited I've ever seen him get.  Who knew having a song sung to you would be so fantastic.  As a side note, that is the first cake I have attempted to decorate.  Yup, once again it shows I have zero domestic skills, but he loved it so that's what counts. He kept asking to eat the fondant planets.  I finally said ok and he shoved one in his mouth.  After a few minutes of chewing he gave me a pathetic look and said "Mercury is gross."

Showing off the loot.  A smock from Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, a sun/moon night light, and glow in the dark planets

"helping" dad put the planets and stars on his ceiling.

Knoebles

This weekend we went to the annual party/picnic for the Union at Chris' work.  It's at an amusement park called Kneobles.  We love this place.  It's a cross between an amusement park and a State Fare.  It's as big as an amusement park but there is no charge to get it.  The rides are old school and you pay for them individually.  It's great with kids because if you need to leave early you don't feel like you've wasted money. 

 

I have never seen a ride like this.  It whips the kids around the corner really fast.  Cordon loved it. 

 

This slide was so fast.  At one point I was actually afraid that Cordon was going to fly out over the edge

Loving the train ride

Goofy Girl.  She always has a sassy face

Excited to get on the Carousel

Elizas Fang

 Eliza currently has two teeth on bottom and one on top.  It's resulted in a lot of good nick names for her; snaggle tooth, jack o lantern, hillbilly.