I'm a Christmas Slacker!

So you would think with all my time off being "just" a mom I would do all the stuff a good wife does- like clean my house, bake cookies for everyone in the neighborhood, send Christmas cards, etc. But you know what, I am not a good homemaker. I think I cleaned my house more when I worked full time. As for being a good neighbor and sending my friends and family Christmas cards, all I can say is sorry. I delude myself by saying that it is because no one wants anymore treats to get fat on and now that we live close to people no one needs Christmas card updates. But the truth is- I'm lazy! Plain and simple. Thus as a last ditch effort I am posting our latest family pic as our Christmas card to everyone. We truly love you all and miss everyone we left in Phoenix. I can promise you as I type this blog with my frozen fingers that I wish I were with you all this Christmas. We are so grateful to be close to our families (well most of them). We have really enjoyed this past year in Idaho.

We wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

And the Award for "Meanest Mom" goes to...

Yes that is right. I have been nominated and won the prestigious award thanks in part to my wonderful son. He sent in his top 10 reasons why I am a mean mom and, can you believe it, I won. Wow! Here are his reasons below in Korban's own words.

10. Touching my tender gums while my molars are coming in. Mom, if it is red and swollen then you can be sure it hurts. You don't have to touch them to make sure.


9. Forcing me to go down the stairs feet first. What's so wrong with head first. That is how I crawl.


8. Eating in front of me. I am hungry too. Okay, I did just eat but how rude!


7. Taking all the electronics away from me. Why is it that mom gets to talk on the phone and push the buttons on the computer but not me. I only broke her phone once and that was only for a day.


6. Wiping my bum with cold wipes. Who invented those! Whoever it was should be put in diapers and sat in a crib all day.


5. Scrubbing an already rough nose to remove dried on buggers. If I wanted them gone, I would remove them myself. They make my nose feel better after she have wiped it raw.


4. Being hypocritical. She can rub my face and poke my teeth but the moment I want to stick my fingers up her nose, play inside her mouth, or pull her hair it is all, "no Korbi that is not nice."


3. Installing child locks and closing doors. It's like she doesn't trust me anymore. One day I have free rein of the house to explore and learn and the next thing I know there are road blocks put in front of me. I can't play anywhere.


2. Saying the word "no." It's like her favorite word now. No, Korbi don't play with those bamboo skewers. No, Korban, not the straightener. Korban, no more ripping my books apart. No, no, no!


1. Associating me with fat animals. That is where I draw the line. I am sick of her calling me her fat hippo or dressing me up as a chubby penguin. So I'm husky. Get over it. Buy bigger pants if they don't fit around my legs. But stop calling me your fat little hippo in front of everyone. I'm going to get a complex. Now, where's my dinner!



With that rave review how was I not going to win. As you can tell there have been extra tears at our house due to his heightened sense of exploration and personality. Tears from both me and him. But I think he missed one important thing on his list. I will always be here to take pictures of him during his most embarrassing moments. Like this one from a couple nights ago. He got stuck in the basket after pulling it off the shelf and ripping everything out of it. I didn't feel that bad. Does that make me a bad mom?


Here is a video of my little boy who is now walking. He started about a week ago and that is all he does now. And since his is so big it is a problem because he does pull things off counters and door handles are being reached. I am a little scared of the possibilities.




To my own credit, I am not that bad of a mom. I do take him to play with friends and cousins. Here are some pics from those events.

Hanging out with his ole' buddies Mark and Piper. They weren't drinking the Mountain Dew. Just playing with the bottle.


Halloween 2009. Here is cousin Logan and Korban pigging out on the candy in the back of the car. Trunk or Treat was not a treat for Korban. I think this is the only smiling picture I got. He was cold and it was raining. Maybe next year he'll enjoy it.



Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Barney's House with Aunt Michelle and cousin Hailey. And of course his favorite, Tess, the big yellow dog.



Dressing up not as a fat animal. Cowboys and Super Hero's with capes are masculine and tough. See, I am not always saying he will be a fat boy.

Has It Really Been a Year?

The nurse at our birthing class gave us a great idea. She told us to take a picture with our baby and a select stuffed animal so you can chart his growth. Its like putting a ruler or a coin next to some object in a picture. You can't really tell how big something is unless you compare it to a known object. When we received this cute bear at the hospital from Cassie Murphy I knew that had to be the object. So far we have taken a picture with Korb and his teddy every month (except one because we were moving and the bear was in storage, oops). Here is our little boy throughout this past year. We are so grateful for his spirit in our home. And although I have spent many a restless night and have baby food stains on my clothes, I would never give up this chance to watch him grow.

September

October

November

December

February

March

April

May
June
July
August

We had a wonderful birthday party with friends and family at our house. There is a definite benefit to living close to family. They are more than willing to travel a little bit to celebrate Korban turning one (and I think to get free food). Korb, of course, was spoiled and got way too many gifts. Lots of toys and clothes. But the highlight of the whole evening was the cake. I loved decorating it. It was the cutest purple hippo I ever made. I spent many hours on it and it was very rewarding to watch Korban jump in and mush it around.
If you look closely you will see that there is at least an inch of frosting all over it. Korb loved licking it off his fingers.



Korb started for the Whopper eyeballs but there was so much frosting and cake in his fingers that he had to wipe his hands off. You would think the blanket would suffice. No, Korb chose to wipe his hands off on his butt. You can kind of see where his arm could reach.


Time for a bath. I am glad I didn't have to touch that messy kid at this point. Jason was eager to do the bathing.

A Victor 4th of July

This was our first 4th of July with Korban. We got to go up to Heidi's house and celebrate the Victor way. Well sort of. Victor has a great hot air balloon festival. But due to the endless chatter of the womenfolk (me, Heidi and Gretchen, and my mom and Juju) we stayed up too late and were too tired to wake up at the b*** crack of dawn. But we did get ready and attend the parade. And suprisingly enough it was really good for a small town. Yes there were the redneck floats and the 200 member Mormon family float but all in all it was pretty good. Korban was so tired though so he and I cuddled in the truck while the rest of my family (mostly my dad) helped McKinley collect the most candy. My mom (in grandmother fashion) decked the kids out in matching outfits. They were so cute.


This is Heidi's husband Jared who is a volunteer firefighter. He got to drive the remote controlled firetruck the squirts water on you. My mom got hit which was awesome.





I would have gotten pictures of Korban enjoying his first firework show too. But he fell asleep. So like the night before, the womenfolk stayed up and watched the fireworks that the neighbors lit and we ate brownies and cobbler until we were sick. It was a very fun weekend.

Summer Fun

I know I am horrible at keeping this up to date. So when I finally think of doing it I have to include a lot of subject. So today I am encapsulating it in Summer Fun because that is what it what we are doing.

Several weeks ago Jason and I went on our first vacation without Korban. I can tell you it was hard not being under the same roof as him. But we had a blast. We went with our friend Nate and Roberta to Bear Lake. It was the perfect time. Officially the season wouldn't start until the next week (Memorial Day weekend) so we got to be there when it was beautiful and no one was around. Other than some car problems we had an excellent time. We woke up early and saw the sun rise. We ate good food and of course the famous raspberry shakes.


Inspired by Rachael, I took the opportunity to throw a themed baby shower for my friend Roberta. I had so much fun coming up with the idea. It was all about art. I painted abstract designs for the invites which said "Color Me Excited Roberta's Having a Baby!" I decorated with all my art supplies. The food was based on creating your own yummy masterpiece. So everything was separated and they used their "palates" (plates) to combine the ingredients. Everything was bright and colorful for the caribbean chicken salad and individual fruit pizzas. Then as the activity we painted onesies for Roberta's new little boy. It was so much fun. Thank you Rachael for inspiring us all to think outside the box when it comes to throwing parties.


And how can I forget about my little boy. Korban is also loving the summer. Although it has been raining we have been able to enjoy a lot of the sun and spend time with our friends.
Here my parents try to keep cousin Logan from attacking Korban. Good Luck Grandma!


Here Korban enjoys his first trampoline time. Eventually I just picked him up and he loved it!


I got to see my really good friend Kristen Starr. She and her daughter were up from Phoenix to spend time with family. I got to steal her away for a while and eat and play. Boy do I miss her! Here we are trying to feed Korban and Sasha at Bajios. We literally left the restaurant with the floors a mess. So embarrassing.


One really fun part of this summer is the amazing ability of Korban to grow teeth. For one month we were blessed with a new tooth cut every week. He is now up to 6. And we just got over his first ear infection. My poor little boy. At least most of the time he is happy.


We planted grass. Here is a pic of my little seedlings. This rain has made them much greener and fuller. We hope to have a full lawn by the end of the summer.


Not only did Korban get to jump on the tramp for the first time. He also got to go to the park and swing on big swing. As you can tell by his drooly smile, he enjoyed it.