Grandma Visit!

Two of the most important women in my life, my mom and my daughter!And here's my favorite little man! He's flying like a plane:) My mom planned her trip for this last week while Ben was out of town. We got some quality girl time and I let her have plenty of grandma time:) We did a lot of shopping and talking, played games, watched movies, played with Cody and Macey. For one reason or another we didn't get much sleep in, but that's to be expected with babies for me! The day Ben left, he left at three in the morning - yuck - and that's what time Cody and Macey decided to get up too...and me of course. Mom, I admire you and had so much fun while you were here, I LOVED our time together. Thanks again for coming and spoiling us!

Macey is getting so good at holding your hands and standing. She loves doing it too, she just smiled and smiled every time my mom would pull her up! She is such a SMILEY baby when she's wide awake. Apparently she giggles hysterically too, but I didn't get a chance to hear it...someday she'll laugh for me!

My mom is such a cleaner, I felt a little lazy because if I didn't hop right up to do the dishes after we ate or something, they were already done. Our house was always picked up, I don't know how she does it with Cody around! She reads books all the time. The current ones were The Education of Little Tree, one about healthcare and life and death decisions, and one about Mesoamerica and the Book of Mormon. She only reads educational or classical books and loves to tell me about them and I love to hear about them. I have tried and tried to get her to read Harry Potter, but she finally just told me that she doesn't have time because she wants to learn while she's reading. She is very knowledgeable about a lot of things because of it...maybe I should do that too! I love the thirst for knowledge that my mom has.

We did some serious walking in the Coliseum. I cannot wait for the snow to stop coming so we can start walking outside.
Ben went to what's called the SAVMA Symposium, a vet conference, in Ohio. He was on a palpation team that competed while they were there and they went to a bunch of classes too. He came home with a horrible sinus infection and is still recovering, but we're glad to have him back!

Q: What do you do when you buy a defective stroller whose manufacturer has gone out of business?

Answer: Sell it online to the first clueless buyer of course.

I'm the 'clueless buyer' in this case. And here is the stroller:

The stroller, that was only used twice (read on to find out why:)!), was 5 minutes from my dad's work so he picked it up. Before he picked it up I called and left a message saying if the front wheel didn't pivot, I didn't want it. No answer. I called 20 minutes after my dad picked it up and she said the wheel didn't pivot, but my dad had already picked it up, she had already cashed the check at the bank, and she had taken all her listings off ebay, craigslist and ksl.com. Wait...does something sound off?

A few days later I learned that the frame is bent and the wheel always turns to the left.

I had three options: (1) always walk in a leftward circle with the stroller (okay, not really) (2) sell it to another sucker online (that's just wrong) (3) fix it.

I bought a "swivel wheel axis system" for the stroller. It didn't fit and there isn't one that does fit.

Skip ahead a few days. I took it to a welder and he welded the part on. The total cost was more than a new stroller is worth, but it works.

Moral of my story (for me): (1) Beware of online sellers!!!! Especially when their story is sketchy. (2) Never give up! Ben made me a bet for a two-day fishing trip that I couldn't fix it!

Baby Talk

This is just a ten second little clip of Cody and Macey talking, and only they know what they are saying! They were laying there while I got Macey's bath ready and started chatting to each otherIn the mornings, Cody will often say "hold," and then once I put Macey by him, he will say "cheese," meaning, take our picture. These are a few and a couple more pictures of them talking in the bathroom.

Macey's Blessing Day

Sunday, March 1, 2009. Bonnie and Jeff made the long drive up to be here for the blessing. They brought us some things we couldn't fit at Christmas and a double stroller I got. Jeff was calling the stroller a handcart, and really, it is the size of a small car. Back to the blessing...it was a beautiful blessing and Macey looked BEAUTIFUL in her blessing dress. We had a couple friends over after church and Bonnie had set up a delicious lunch (Ben and I had to stay after church for a few things). She is such a great host:)

Macey and her daddy.

This is just kind of random, but I wanted to post what Macey and Cody were wearing today. Cody insisted he wear his car pajamas and so that is what he's wearing, and Macey looks so cute in her little outfit from grandma.

Chillin

This is Cody's face he pulls. It can be more dramatic, but I caught the very end of it.

Cody really likes to show Macey his toys. It looks like he is poking her in the eye, but he is actually gently showing her REALLY close - that's how he shows her all his toys.

She lost her hair on the top of her head for a little while, but it's starting to grow back!

Hi Grandma and grandpa! We love you!

Going, Going, Gone

Well, we'll sure miss them, but Cody no longer takes any naps. This is okay at night though because he'll go to bed an hour or two earlier at 7 or 8 instead of 9 or 10. I guess that's a good trade off?!