Arrrrrr . . . matey!

Yesterday we took Blakers to his first Opthamologist appointment (he's got a lazy eye). He did great. At one point they had to dilate his eyes to make sure the optic nerve was okay and to check his vision. I thought for sure he'd lose it when they put the drops in his eyes but he was terrific. His Doctor is fabulous and was really good with him. 

Essentially what we're going to have to do is patch his eye for 4-6 weeks to try to strengthen the weak eye. There is a good chance his 'weak' eye will become strong and then his 'strong' eye will become weak, causing it to turn in. Most likely he's going to have to have surgery done. Not a fun thought but out of all the other problems out there, this is one I can handle!

Here is little dude with his 'stunner' glasses on. He wasn't a fan of wearing them but the Arizona sun is too bright to freshly dilated eyes!

Today was his first day of patching and he did TERRIFIC! He wasn't a fan of it at first but eventually he somewhat forgot about it. He'd pick at it then get distracted and move on. This is one time when having a very active kid is good! I didn't have it on perfectly but I wasn't about to rip off what is essentially a HUGE band-aid. Especially after I just put it on!

He had his patch on when I dropped Aliya off at school. A couple of the kids were staring and I asked if they liked his 'Pirate Patch'. They thought it was pretty cool after that. I'm going to let the girls decorate them -- just no hearts, pink or butterflies. It needs to be something manly (as if the kid cares -- he sleeps in a purple room)!

Any question that this kid has personality, tenacity and spunk? Anyone crazy enough to take on Tony must! There have been some major power struggles between these two and I think Tony has won just because he knows he's the adult. Once this girl becomes a teenager, I think we're in for it!

Sliding buddies!

These pictures make me so happy! Too often I am telling Aliya to 'stop picking up Blake' or 'leave Brother alone' etc. so whenever I can catch them having fun together, I do! Tony was being a terrific Daddy playing with the kiddos outside and started to let Blake go down the slide with Aliya. Their faces are priceless!

Thats not terror in his face but pure joy and excitement. Who knew going down the slide with sissy would make him so happy (and Aliya too)!

Gorgeous Weather!

The weather here has been PERFECT! Mid 70's is heaven on earth, especially in January. I've tried hard to make sure we are outside and ENJOY it. I keep telling the kids that if we lived pretty much anywhere else it'd be too cold to play outside (although they really want to play in snow--crazy kids). For all of you freezing, I am so sorry but we're enjoying it. Feel free to come visit!

I was playing around with my camera and took pictures of my favorite subjects: my gorgeous kiddos!

I am floored that this kid is going to be 7 in June. Where did the time go?

This is the face that convinces me to keep her somedays. I love it when her kindness and innocence outshines her three year old behavior!

Like the scratch marks on his forehead? Crazy kid insists on going down the slide head first. He's got no fear in him!

Tony was blowing the leaves and the girls had fun 'playing' in them. I just got dust in my eyes!

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Little dude had learned how to climb and he's driving me CRAZY! The kid is everywhere! I have a hard time getting mad at him because he is so proud of himself for getting up there! Check out the NASTY drool ring. The kid is cutting teeth something fierce and he slobbers all the time. Kissing him is a wet experience (yet how can I not when he's that stinkin' cute?)! I thought my girls had crazy morning hair but his messed up Mohawk is pretty funny too.

I guess Blake is destined to be a football player. He has the High School/College football player picture pose down. I once asked Tony why they do that and he said its to make their necks look thicker. Yeah, I don't get understand it but evidently its something boys are born with! 

Temple lights

The night before New Years Eve I took the girls to the Mesa Temple to see the lights. It was really pretty. I was amazed at how many people were there. Nothing like fighting crowds while trying to enjoy a beautiful, peaceful place. Although I think the lights and displays at the Salt Lake Temple are better, the weather in Arizona couldn't be beat (unfortunately we were freezing -- it was 60 degrees).

Neither girl was too thrilled to be stuck posing for a picture. I had to pull out the "if you don't start cooperating we'll leave" card.

We found Camels!

Crazy walker

I am finally getting around to posting a movie of Blakers walking. He's been doing it for a while now and is a lot better now. If you notice, I had to bribe him with the remote control to get him to come to me. Little stinker takes after his Dad!

Daddy's date

This was definitely Tony's idea. He needed to get some shotgun shells so thought it would be fun to take the kids to Cabella's the day after Christmas. I hate shopping the day after Christmas. That ranks as low as shopping the day after Thanksgiving in my book. Too many crazy people! Anywho, we packed up the kids and headed to Cabella's. The kids loved the stuffed dead animals -- even Blake after Tony tried to feed him to a Polar Bear. My inner democrat was screaming to get out of that store. Crazy men picking up guns aiming them everywhere -- I almost had a panic attack (not really but I didn't have to take the heathens and go somewhere else). 

The kids of course found this dog. Can you tell they all really, really, really want a dog. I was gung ho taking this thing home - no shedding, pooping or walking required. Tony vetoed me on it.

Rather than worrying about a dog biting Blake, I worry Blakers will try to take a chunk out of a real dog like he's doing here. Crazy kid bites EVERYTHING!  This was yet again another experience that I mumbled and grumbled going to but the kids had a blast and that is all that matters. Thanks hon for being a great Daddy and awesome hubby.

Scavenger

There have been times when I haven't had anything else on my plate to stress about, that I've wondered what would happen to my kids if something ever happened to me while we're home alone. Would they kill each other, would they be smart enough to call 911, would they be able to feed themselves etc.  I found the answer to my last question the other day. The girls might starve to death but Blake would survive. I swear I still do EVERYTHING for the girls (mostly due to the fact that I like things done MY way). Blake however is exhibiting early signs of independence. He was having such a good time, and was so proud of himself, that I let him finish off the applesauce container. Huge mess but it made for cute pictures (these were taken as soon as I noticed he'd put his teeth to use)!

Its raining, its pouring . . .

The Monday before Christmas, we got together with our friends the Staleys. Their daughter Izzy is the same age as Aliya. We went to a train park in Scottsdale. Well, it was raining (and pouring Taeya says) but we decided to suck it up and take the kids anyway (we'd had it planned for a couple weeks). We got there and were surprised to find the park PACKED. It was dumping rain AND it was cold outside (two things us Arizonians done like).  We later found out that each year they do this 'celebration' and all their rides are free. There were all sorts of characters there walking around -- Elmo, Cookie Monster, Cat in the Hat, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger etc. Although we were freezing and soaked to the bone, we had a ton of fun and would do it again!

At the park there is a cute little train that takes you all around the park that was filled with Christmas lights and displays. I think its about 10 minutes long. While we were waiting to go, Winnie the Pooh came along and said Hi to all the kids. Blake did his little "I'm scared but I like you" laugh. He loved seeing all the characters.

(B-F: Tony, Blake, Aliya, Dustin, Emmalie, Ike, Asher, Izzy & Tae)

Here we are before we took the train around. I wish we had gotten an after picture. We were soaked. 
Blake loves to be outdoors. Yep he was wet and cold but he didn't care. Do kids have a gene that doesn't feel the cold? I swear as a kid I never got cold.

Taeya and Aliya with Tigger. 

Blake got to ride a carousel for the first time. We couldn't tell if he liked it (he had his typical dumb jock face) but threw a fit when we tried to get him off. He scared us for a little bit. We had no idea how, when or where but at one point of the evening, Tony comes to me saying he had something in his mouth and he didn't know what it was. So I go diggin in his mouth and pulled out flecks of something (a few were fairly large). Upon closer inspection, it was paint. Where he got paint chips I'll never know. After calling my Dad, trying to get hold of our Pediatrician etc. we found out that the paint they use isn't lead based. This little boy is definitely keeping us on our toes!