Saturday, December 27, 2008

The news on Preston

Preston recently had his 12 (and 16) month doctors appointment.  It went OK.  Nothing major to report and certainly no talk of Preston's boy parts this time.  He had 7 shots.  Apparently they don't combine them anymore.  But lucky for him he'll never have to experience the chicken pox like the rest of us.  Preston now weighs in at 23 pounds and is 32 1/2 inches tall.  He's above average height, below average weight and surprisingly muscular or in other words "movie star" stature according to the doc. 

 Preston's getting so big and changing so fast.  
Here's the Top New Things about Preston-

1.  He talks!  He can say quite a few words now.  The major ones are mommy, daddy, go, baby, no, bottle, milk, more, down and hot.  He loves to say "hi!" to everyone and even does the cutest little wave.  
2.  He reigns in the affectionate category.  He give the most awesome hugs and kisses.  When he hugs he really clings on tight and squeezes.  And he kisses all the time!  My two favorite of his moves are the "pull me close kiss" and the "surprise kiss".  He always has the sweetest smile afterwards too.  That may be my ultimate favorite.
3.  He's sneaky.  At 16 months he's already figured out how to escape his crib.  He always seems to know the when and how of getting into trouble.  His latest stunt is to get into the bathroom, climb up on the counter and just sit there and chew on his toothbrush.
4.  He needs constant attention... seriously.  When Evelyn was his age she would be fine playing by herself for hours.  But NOT Preston.  Every few minutes he runs back to me for attention.  He insists on knowing where I am at all times and he totally freaks out when he can't find me.
5.  He loves his big sister.  She is great to him and sets such a good example for him.  He constantly follows her around and copies everything she does.  Like Evelyn, he's compassionate and seems to always recognize when others are sad or hurt.  He always gives Evelyn a kiss when she gets hurt.
6.  He's super smart.  He amazes me everyday.  Lately I've been giving him simple commands like "sit in you chair", "give daddy a kiss", and "bring me a diaper", and he always listens and does what I ask.  If there's something he wants he manages to tell me what he wants without saying it.  He'll bring me his bottle to tell me he's thirsty and when I open the fridge he points at what he wants.  I've just started teaching him body parts.  He'll now point to his nose when I ask. 

He is such a cute kid and I love him with all my heart.  That's not new but it is definitely true.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Christmas 2008 Finally

Dec. 24 & Dec. 25~

Christmas Eve Evelyn helped me make sugar cookies for Santa because "Santa LOVES cookies" (As she reminded me every few minutes before, during, and after the cookie making process).  They turned out being the worst cookies I have ever eaten but luckily for us Santa's not picky.Oh yeah, don't tell Santa but Evelyn may have dropped them on the floor.  Oops...

We also left him a note with a picture and a list (in case he doesn't read scribble) of everything she wanted for Christmas.  It was a fun little project. Did I mention I might have hyped up the whole Christmas thing just a little?

Christmas Eve night a pretty good chunk of Andy's family came over to their mom and pops for some DE-licious dinner.  A few of the more talented members of the group impressed us all with their super mad performance skills.  My 3 nephews showed off their multi-talentedness by playing piano, trumpet, guitar and a solo singing performance by Char Char.  Amazing!  I am now seriously counting the days until Evelyn can start to learn an instrument and masters the Mario Brothers theme song.  THAT will be the day.  We also played charades.  The group even got me to play which doesn't always happen and I really did have a lot of fun.  We opened up a few special gifts- ALL of which I thoroughly enjoyed and we gave all our gifts out.  Andy was most excited about his gifts to his parents.  For his dad he found all his mission slides and scanned them into the computer and for his mom he did the same for her childhood photos.  We ended the night out with a competitive little game of Trivial Pursuit. 

Christmas morning was nice.  Admittedly it did start out a bit rough though.  Before we even got to the presents both the kids had already had meltdowns.  Evelyn's stopped the second she noticed the presents and she started ripping off the paper of the first present she saw.  It was SO much fun watching Preston & Evelyn open their gifts this year.  All in all I think the kids really liked their new toys.  Evelyn's hot ticket gift was a camera.  She actually surprised both Andy and I just by knowing what it was.  She was such a cutie.  The first thing she said was "I want to take a picture of Grandma!".  Before we even left the house she had already taken between 50-100 photos of everything and anything in our house.


Next we headed out to the main house for round 2, Andy's parents.  They totally spoiled the kids and got them way better toys than we did.  Evelyn got a new and improved baby and the cutest little baby bed.  And Preston got the coolest big truck that he really loves.


After that we headed up for round 3 in Tehachapi, my parents house.  My entire family was there waiting and we opened even more awesome presents.  

The kids got several gifts; one of which was new Sunday outfits from my parents. The cousins all wore their matching outfits for a picture with Grandma and Grandpa.  Starting on the left it's Eliza (3), Preston (1), Aubrey (2), Evelyn (2) and Joshua (4).

The kids got to decorate a gingerbread house with the assistance of their Uncle Scott.  I'm not entirely sure what percentages of candy got ON the house as opposed to IN their mouths, they certainly had fun though.

We had a really nice feast of food, Mmmm.  Then it started snowing/ sloshing about mid-day and a few hours later it managed to stick a little.  A few of us played a game of pool, I lost.  The storm picked up and cut the power out which unfortunately ended the party a little earlier than planned.  
It was a great day!  One of the best Christmas's EVER!!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

The perfect gift for the perfect girl

Princess Unicorn
**UPDATE: Sorry, the link didn't work.  Here's a direct link instead.

Yeah, I'd totally pay at least $200 for this.  Very much worth it.  
Where's Dwight when you need him?

This is the "official" website by the way in case you want one too.  
Don't be jealous, it's not to late, YOU can get your very own.  Click on the picture and make sure to read the small print.  STILL worth it.

Pecan Pie Recipe

My mom has always made THE BEST pecan pie.  There is seriously no substitute.  This trip up there I finally remembered to get her recipe and thought I'd post it both for YOUR benefit and also for my own personal reference.

Karo six-minute pecan pie~
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup KARO light or dark corn syrup
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. Mazola Margarine, or butter, melted
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans
1 unbaked (9") pastry shell

In large bowl stir together first 5 ingredients until well blended.  Stir in nuts.  Pour into pastry shell.  Bake in 350 degree oven 50 to 55 min. or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean.  Cool.  Serves 8.

With a dollop of whipped cream this dessert is like heaven.  Seriously... Try it.

When the hubby's away...

As most of you already know the week before last the Waite men went on their annual mancation so I decided to go on a little vacay of my own to my hometown, a little place I like to call T~town.

Monday-  Along with doing a whole lot of nothing and absolutely loving it we also got to hang out at Grandma Nonnie's.  She was working really hard setting up for Christmas.  She always goes way out for Christmas... we're talking like 12 christmas trees!  The kids thought it was great and loved swinging on her swing.  It was also my beautiful and sweet SIL's 20th birthday so we celebrated with a little cupcake and some delicious pie.   

Tuesday- We had our second "Girls Outing".  The first one, I never got to write about, we went out for dessert at Rosemary's.  Very yummy!  This time my dad watched all the munchkins and us girls (Grandma, Mom, Me, Nichole (SIS) & Tiffany (SIL) all went out to see none other than the movie Twilight.  It was tons of fun!  I'll admit there were a few parts where I think I was supposed to be concerned but I found myself laughing inside; "I don't know if I'll be able to stop!".  The special effects weren't that great and some of the lines were totally cheesy but... let's face it, I wasn't going for the special effects.  I was pleasantly surprised by how well the movie fit with the book and I'll admit I liked it.

Afterwards we went grocery shopping and the funniest thing happened.  It's really one of those you have to be there to appreciate it kind of things but I'll tell it anyway.  A few years ago my grandma was in the hospital after surgery and I went to visit her.  She was a little out of it due to some pain medication and she was craving herself some Bailey's Irish Creme.  I guess she had tried it before and loved it.  It's totally alcoholic or I would have bought her a whole case of it but anyway at the grocery store we were walking down the ice cream isle and she sees these Non-alcoholic Bailey's Irish Creme cream puffs.  I have never seen her eyes light up so fast.  It took little to no convincing her to buy the tasty treats and she shared them with everyone.

Wednesday- Harry Potter marathon.  I know it sounds a little nerdy but it was a lot of fun! 

Thursday- My parents took us out to eat.  We had a very nice lunch and Evelyn went in the public potty for only the 2nd time (the first was the week before at Walmart).  I was so excited I bought her an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie (her choice).  Afterwards we went over to this really neat little shop and my mom helped Evelyn paint her own christmas ornament.  We also had hand print tiles made of both the kids.  



On the way home I took Evelyn to see some of the sights.  I had planned to take her to the Ostrich farm but on the way we saw some humongous cows so we stopped to look.  The Ostrich farm turned out to be closed but we got to see them from a distance anyway.

Friday- Both of the kids got much needed haircuts.  My mom busted out the scissors and cut a few inches off.  I still miss Preston's curls but they were pretty much gone anyway.  It still curls a little around his ears but I new it wouldn't last.


While I was there a few new advancements took place in the Fitzgerald household.  My younger brother Scott got a seasonal job as a "day stocker" at Wal-mart Supercenter.  He's not super excited about, but I'm proud of him.  Right now his goal is to earn enough money to start a business of his own selling anime.  My youngest brother Kory recently got his Eagle and passed the GED test.  He also took the placement test at BC and wants to enter the Fire Fighting program next semester.  I want to wish them both the best of luck.  My brothers are both super talented in their own ways and I'm sure they'll both do great at whatever they choose to do.  Another amazingly talented member of my family is my mom.  She is so amazing!  She started running the week I was there and is currently on her third week of the couch to 5k program.  I'm super excited.  She called me a few days ago and we're set to do a run in January and a 5k in March together.  It's great to finally have a running buddy.  I can't wait!

When the kids got home they were excited to see their dad.  We were all happy to have him back and we're glad he had a good time on his trip.  The new picture to the right is one of the pictures I took of the kids right when we got home. 

Saturday, December 13, 2008

November in a Flash

Wow, it takes some serious ADD to only blog once a month.  I honestly don't know where the time goes these days.  Last month went by so incredibly fast.  This whole year has gone by super fast for that matter.  Could it really be true what they say about time moving faster the older you get?  Anyway, instead of boring everyone and writing a post for each thing I've decided to just give you last months highlights.  So without any further ado...

~Last month was filled with celebrations.  First of which was the baptism of my brother-in-law Scott on the 22nd.  It was awesome!  I couldn't be more proud of him and happy for both Molly and Scott.  Andy's sisters, Molly and Amanda gave beautiful talks and Anna sang beautifully.  After which we all headed out to the Kern River where Scott was baptized by my father-in-law.  I had never been to a baptism outside of a baptismal font before so it was a seriously neat experience and you could definitely feel the spirit.  One thing I'll never forget about that day is the conversation Andy and I had in the car on the way to the church.  I asked him if he knew where it was taking place and he very smartly answered, "at the stake center of course.  Where else would they do it, in the river?"  Yeah, how surprised was I when we got there and I was handed a map to the baptism place AT THE RIVER.  I don' really know why it surprised me because if you've ever met Scott it's exactly the kind of thing he would do.  Scott is the sweetest most nicest person you'll ever meet and I am so proud of his decision to be baptized.

~That same day was Andy's Grandma Bailey's 80th birthday.  Tons of family came from all over to celebrate her and the amazing person that she is.  There was a surprise birthday party like nothing I had ever seen held in her honor.  Various people gave tributes and musical performances and Andy prepared a really neat documentary.

~The very next day, November 23rd we got to celebrate the arrival of my new little cousin, Sarah Jean Bunting.  She's my cousin's first baby so we're super excited for them.  I had the privilege of holding baby Sarah for a few minutes and she is the sweetest most perfect little baby.  Congratulations Lindsey and David!

~With November also came me favorite season; Autumn.  It's by far the prettiest time of year.  The trees all turn the most beautiful colors and fall to the ground and the weather is absolutely perfect.  One day I took the kids outside and made the biggest leaf pile of all time.  The kids had a ton of fun playing in the pile and throwing the leaves around.  I even decided to make an art project out of it and we glued the pretty red, orange, and yellow fall leaves to paper to make a fall collage.

~Lastly we celebrated Thanksgiving here at Andy's parents home.  The food was great and it was nice getting to visit with the family.

December has been going great so far.  I can't wait until Christmas this year.  I'll try and update every now and again.

Tina Fey is my hero!

It doesn't get any better than this.  Thanks to comedy genius, Tina Fey, I've discovered my new one liner for the month.

I want to go to there

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Sam's Birthday Party

Sam's 18th birthday party at China Palace.  

Happy B-Day Sam!

I can't believe sweet little innocent Sambo is 18! It's weird huh?
Happy birthday little broder!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Pumpkin Patch Pictures






You can't really have Halloween without adorable pumpkin patch pictures....  This is- no joke- one of the best parts of Halloween for me.  I mean, come on, how stinkin' cute are these kids?

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Halloween '08

Halloween this year was, in a word... survivable!  Let's just say I was a bit of an overachiever that day but all in all we did good.  I learned a few very valuable lessons and hopefully next year will be better.  The first valuable lesson learned is that 2 year olds and scary movies DO NOT mix.  I had been begging to see something at the Fox Theater downtown so when I heard they were playing "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" there I thought I got my wish.  I heard about it last year but wasn't able to go for whatever reason so this year I totally jumped at the chance to take the kids.  Andy was totally sweet and stopped by the theater early to get us tickets.  I got the kids all ready and in their costumes and we headed out.  Little did I know that in fact it wasn't the Pooh movie but instead it was "Monster House" [said in a scary and slightly sarcastic tone].  I had never heard of it before but I figured, "it's just a kids movie, what could it hurt?".  Yeah... let's just say I learned my lesson.  We didn't even get a chance to sit down before the movie got scary.  I had the kids sit down anyway... dumb.  And I kept my eye on Evelyn to see how she would take it.  Minutes later that well known scary music rings up and I put my arm around her to make sure she's alright and she's shaking, not kidding.  Then on the screen out creeps this scary hand shadow and grabs the kid and Evelyn jumped so bad.  I looked down at her and she looked like she was almost in tears.  I asked her if she wanted to stay and watch or go home and she very quietly told me "I wanna go home".  It was so sad.  She totally gets it from me.  I hate scary movies!  Every once in a blue moon (usually Halloween) Andy can talk me into watching one but I almost always regret it for weeks after.  Poor Evelyn, she wouldn't sleep in her bed that night, probably afraid some giant hand would reach up and grab her, and it took several nights and some serious talking to convince her there were no monsters.  Anyway, luckily we were sitting in the far back, close to the door, so 10 minutes into the movie we snuck out and went shopping for Halloween bargains.  Which brings me to my next lesson learned;  Halloween bargains DON'T EXIST.  I was really hoping to get some cute Halloween stuff and at the very least get the kids' Halloween costumes for next year.  Yeah, so after spending hours and dragging the kids into 6 different store I didn't find anything.  Most of the stores didn't have anything and what few did have stuff it was stuff that was still on the shelf for a reason AND usually it was only like 30% off.  RIP OFF!  So anyway, no luck. 
 
So the kids and I gave up and went to my sisters for some good cousin time.  No complaints here.  My sister is always great company and that day was no exception.  We totally enjoyed being there and that was a huge highlight of the day. 
 The plan next was that Andy was going to get off work and we were going to hit up the pumpkin patch and get some dang cute pictures of the kids.  We were going to do it days before but
let's just say procrastination got the best of us.  Andy got off work later than expected and we planned to meet up at the Banducci Farms Pumpkin Patch and that's when I learned lesson #3;  Don't procrastinate going to the pumpkin patch if you really want to go AND lesson #4;  The pumpkin patch closes early on Halloween.  We arrived at the pumpkin patch 
with 10 minutes to spare.  On the plus side the kids got to pick out their pumpkin and I did ultimately get the adorable pumpkin patch pictures that I seriously could not live without.  After rushing the pumpkins we had at least an hour or so before the ward Halloween party started so we stopped for dinner and playtime and then I learned 
lesson #5;  DO hit up 2 Truck or Treats for more candy and more fun.  We drove across town to our old wards Halloween party and was surprised to find out that my cousin's husband (who's also the ward planner for a different ward) had combined two wards into one so I got to see my awesome cousins and all our old friends.  After making an appearance there and getting the sweet candy hookups we headed back over to our own ward party and got there just in time to talk to a few people and get in on yet another Trunk or Treat.  We had fun!  
All day I practiced with Evelyn getting her to say Trick or Treat and in the car she did great but when it came down to it she refused to say it to any one else.  I think she was still a little stunned by the aforementioned activity but to her credit by the end of the night she showed little to no fear in at least walking up to each trunk, candy is a pretty strong motivator.  The kids were super cute in their borrowed costumes; Evelyn as Tiger and Preston as a monkey, we got tons of candy, and even learned a few lessons on the way.  Let's just be glad we have an entire year until we get to do it all over again.
Upon writing this post I couldn't help but remember and look back at last years Halloween.  I can't believe how much the kids have changed!