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Christmas Rerun

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Everyone was in the mood to have their picture taken (well the little girls were for awhile…) on Christmas Eve so we got some great family shots that were so festive. Although it was yet another reminder that I need to use my gift certificate and learn to use my camera in low light…

Don’t laugh – but when I saw this picture I said to Peter “We have TWO kids! We are a family of FOUR!”. I don’t know why but seeing all of us in a picture made it seem more real than 3am feedings. Did I mention I don’t sleep?IMG_4655

Cousin Zoe, Titi and Uncle Mike
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The BIG cousins (this is the point where the little girls and babies were not having it)

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PW pointed out that each cousin tortures the next oldest – can you tell who precedes Baylor? Thankfully Quincy doesn’t seem to mind.

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It’s too bad we don’t look anything alike…

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Three generations. Again, too bad they don’t look alike.

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Auntie Ali, Uncle Gary and Mason
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After the Christmas Eve festivities, it was time to put out Santa’s snacks – reindeer food on the lawn and carrots on the plate, homemade cookies with milk and a carrot “squeezer” for Mrs. Clause.

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Christmas morning came early – even for the kid who gets to nap at will and was the reason no one else slept…cousin Blaise was so awesome with Auggie – and it showed since Auggie was so happy to sit with him. No seriously, that’s a yawn.

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I love these:

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Noni and the man.

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Waiting for everyone to arrive to open presents got a little long…which apparently in three year old world means you convince your cousin to let you ride him like a horse. Also? Those are only about half the presents #firstworldproblems.

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Mason was ready to get his rip and tear on.

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Isn’t this cute? Nancy puts all their Christmas cards on the cabinets – adorable!

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Holiday Hangover

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Is anyone else exhausted? We had an amazingly fun and full holiday season that was all accomplished on 90 minute sips of sleep each night. Which I think is what has lead to me just needing a breath. And a nap. And an empty social calendar….and yet the social calendar is filled for January already!

~Bought a Christmas tree permit for Payson for the second year in a row and then went and bought one at a tree lot instead~

~Auggie turned two months old~

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~Didn’t loose two three year olds or a 2 month old at the Train Park for Christmas lights with the DeHavens~

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~Survived the preschool Christmas party that Peter described at the 7th ring of hell~

~Enjoyed Zoo Lights as a family of four~

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~Saw all of my cousins at the Schumann annual get together~

~Threw a holiday brunch for work friends~

~Watched Baylor sing “If it’s Christmas and You Know It, Ring Your Bells!” in the Christmas program at school~

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~Watched Charlie Brown Christmas soooo many times~

Wen Are You Going To Try This?

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Ok. We’ve all seen the infomercials for Wen Haircare. And we’ve all had the same thought; “Of COURSE that makes your hair beautiful…when you have a professional stylist!”. But damn if that infomercial isn’t tempting…

A few months ago I couldn’t resist so I Googled some reviews. All of them were the same: great product, horrible company. Apparently when you order directly from Wen, they enroll you in their monthly refill program and automatically send you a new bottle each month and bill your credit card. Insult to injury – it’s next to impossible to un-enroll in the program. Undeterred, I ordered from Amazon instead.

Not going to lie, this stuff is weird. It’s like washing your hair with conditioner. But you don’t use it like conditioner or shampoo, you literally have to rub your entire scalp for a few minutes AND then leave it to sit in your hair. But this stuff is amazing. I have super fine hair that tends to look scraggly when it gets too long. The Wen stuff keeps it fluffy and full, even past my shoulders.

I knew it was legit when my stylist asked what I was doing. I asked her in return if there was any down side to Wen – her thoughts were that she didn’t totally understand it, but from the looks of my locks, there was no down side!

I’m now about 6 months in and still going strong – but don’t throw out your other shampoo and conditioner. In my opinion, my hair needs a good, sudsy scrub about every 3-4 days. Maybe it’s just me, but I think Wen builds up a little after a few days. The true test will come in the next few months when the pregnancy hair starts to fall out. Fingers crossed that it’s minimal and Wen can keep what’s left beautiful….

Also, buy from Amazon. I’ve purchased 3 times now and never had any issues – just make sure you don’t buy from Wen through Amazon. Now go get infomercial hair!

Dear Santa

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Baylor’s list this year includes a baby Bjorn for her doll Shirley and a real camera.  Grandma’s got the Bjorn and we got her a really cool, kid’s digital camera – in pink of course. The thing that bums me out is that Santa is going to get the credit for the amazing present idea!

She’s also so much smarter than me – I started to write out an envelope and she informed me that she’s going to hand deliver it to Santa at the mall this weekend. I’d like to think I just don’t get enough sleep and not that the 3 year old is brighter than I am…

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Light It Up

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This week marked our second time to Zoo Lights at the Phoenix Zoo – it also officially made it a tradition for us . PW and I couldn’t believe how much better it was than last year and we loved it last year! There were even more lights, more displays and a new light show that was fantastic. And thankfully Jengo, the talking giraffe was back… among millions of lights, the animatronic giraffe is Baylor’s favorite.

I’ve yet to master the night time shot with my good camera – not to mention I was loaded up like a pack mule with Auggie in the baby Bjorn and a bag with all the family’s, ahem, crap (sweatshirts, hats, bottles, diapers, snacks, gas drops…). However the Iphone camera didn’t disappoint. I was a little jealous of the photogs with their tripods and obvious knowledge of adjusting the exposure on their cameras…

There must be 50+ trees like this all lit up in different colors. The one at the entrance must be 200 feet tall and electric blue – it’s amazing. This one was our favorite. It looked like it was wrapped in candy.

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PW and his girl

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The pack mule and the kids

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Jengo! There is a guy hiding behind the screen and he answers questions and talks to the kids – watching them freak out over the giraffe talking to them is priceless. Baylor is still singing “Jengo bells! Jengo bells!”.

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The lake has a huge sphere in the middle that changes color, spells out words, turns to flames, etc. Then the trees and some pillars in the lake all change color and “dance” to the rhythm of Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was pretty amazing.

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If you go, buy your tickets ON LINE AND PRINT THEM OUT.  There is always a massive line of people waiting to buy and we always stroll right by. At least we think that’s what they are doing. There’s a possibility we’ve jumped the line every year…There were also carriage rides that took you to a roped off section of the zoo – it was too much time for us, but if you try it and it’s worth it, let me know so we can factor it in for next year!

So Very Thankful

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Phew. After a full round of antibiotics for the team and a very busy yet fun Thanksgiving, I have some time to A. Breathe and B. post pics from Thanksgiving!

This was our 6th year of hosting and probably the least stressful yet. I think PW and I finally have a system that we have honed over the last years that starts weeks ahead of time but means the day of Thanksgiving is actually fun and not so crazy. Also I have slowly been accumulating the things we need for the day of so that I don’t have to raid my mom’s house for table cloths, silverware, serving spoons, plates…the list goes on.

This year PW built me a table that I have always wanted; it’s the same height and length of our outdoor furniture so when you smoosh the two tables together, it makes one large square with enough room to seat up to 20 (more on Peter’s craftsmanship soon…). It was awesome. No more people at one end of a very long table with no one across from them!

 

Fun paper table runners

The Munchkin  table

The outdoor living room

Chef Baylor’s fancy pie crust

Sarah’s cookies

PW’s new coozie collection…don’t ask because I don’t know. At least there was good Montana microbrews to put in them

Peter’s super delicious turkeys. They brine for 12 hours in a special mix he makes and then smoke for 6 hours.

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Thanksgiving is exhausting

Mason. Doing a very good impression of his father.

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The Wischer Women…and Mason

Everyone at the BIG table!

 

Auggie – 1 Month

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I took a picture of Baylor each month of her first year with the same stuffed animal so that we could see how much she grew. It seemed only appropriate that we use the Augie Dogie blanket at a yard stick for Auggie baby.

A just started to really smile this month – he will smile back at you and also when you tickle his chin. 

Halloween Recap

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I came across pictures from Halloween and felt that despite the fact it’s mid November, they needed their own post. I’ve been busy, you know, not sleeping.

We teamed up with B’s buddy Morgan for the annual Trunk or Treat. Morgan’s parents, Stephanie and Jeff, are some of our favorite people. When Jeff and Peter met last year, Stephanie and I had to check to make sure they didn’t know each other prior to parent’s night, that’s how well they got along in the first 10 minutes of meeting each other. It was weird. But a good weird. They share a love of trucks, college football, alt county and unheard of beer labels. Stephanie and I are room moms together and have the same “I tackle 18 things at one time” mentality. The difference is, she makes it look good.

Our collective theme for Trunk or Treat was Pumpkin Patch. We brought the hay, they brought the scarecrows and pumpkins. In about 2 minutes, we were set up and the candy was ready to be handed out. We did make Peter and Jeff dress like farmers…however where we were thinking they should have overalls and straw hats, they both took an alternative route….well, you’ll see.

All in all, it was another super fun TorT event!

 

The “farmers”. Peter explained that every farmer he’s ever met dressed like this. The scary part? They both already owned the clothes they are wearing.

 

Minnie Mouse was not into taking pictures…Auggie was enjoying his pumpkin hat

 

Enjoying their pizza before the fun started!

For actual Halloween, we joined our friends the Lovells for their annual party. They are the greatest hosts – they always have the most delicious food, wine and candy! We set up shop in their driveway and take turns trick or treating, eating, trick or treating, playing, eating…you get the picture.

Minnie Mouse – take 2. Last year her costume was a hand me down from cousin Madi that was the real deal. It was bought at Disney World and had all the accessories  This year she had to settle for one ordered from the Disney store – which you would think would be nice. You would be wrong.

 

Poor second child…mommy didn’t even get him a real costume.

“I mustache you a question…”

Cousin Zoe as Little Red Ridding Hood

Baylorisms – Part 6

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Tag of War:  Tug of War

Purshey Kisses: Hershey Kisses

Front Trunk : Hood of the car

Turn Sniggles: Turn signals

Polka Dots on your face: Freckles

Measles:  Another way we discuss freckles. We spend a lot of time asking about mommy’s freckles. Mommy in turn spends a lot of money at the Bobbi Brown counter…

Wigglers: Prairie Dogs

Auggie Baba:  Auggie Baby. She can say baby, she just chooses to say it funny

Dealershipper: Mechanic at the dealership

Trunk or Treat: Trick or Treat – her school event has ruined the actual phrase for her.

This one killed me – she was headed out the door with Peter when she stopped and yelled “Mommy! I forgot my manners! Toss them to me!!”. When I did, she pretended to eat them, thanked me and was on her way. I’m just slightly concerned about the fact that she’s this funny at 3…