Potty Time

We have embarked on a journey that is quite exciting around here. Potty training!! It's only exciting because Maggie gets to wear pull ups that "look like panties" and have Dora and Boots and Backpack on them. She gets a sticker and a juice box when she pees/poops in the green potty (found in her own bathroom) and we dance around like Dora the Explorer and sing "We did it!" (if you have not seen the show it's extremely repetitive). Maggie runs away from the potty every time she pees in it. I'm not sure what is freaking her out about it. But she always comes back and wipes her bottom and washes her hands. Yaaaah, Maggie!!

Washing hands is a big part of going on the potty!

With the ever exciting juice box!

SANTA!!

Maggie was SO excited to go and see Santa Clause and tell him what she really wants for Christmas (a baby with a bottle and teddy bear and soother!). So we waited in the long line at the mall to see the jolly old fellow. He was super sweet to her. She did not want to sit on his knee (because what kid does? that's weird) but she was excited to get a gift from Santa (colouring book) and tell him "Merry Christmas Santa"!!

"There's Santa"

Standing in front of Santa.

Family Photo

Maggie would not smile for ANYTHING! Our friend Josh was being hilarious and she wouldn't crack. We don't have many recent family photos so this will have to do.

(Taken on Thanksgiving Day.)

Kinda BIG

33 or 34 weeks. Something like that. Let's just say "the uncomfortable phase"!!
We had not taken any photos of this growing belly, so I thought we had better document.

This is a strange camera angle...

Polling

We need some help.

We are trying to decide on a name and just can't. I've set up a poll so you can vote for your favourite out of three. Not saying that we will choose any of them for sure, but we'll keep it in mind. ;) Thanks in advance for your help!!

Go HERE to vote.

Our little performer

(I don't know how to rotate this video.

If you've done it before please let me in on the trick!)

Treats please

Maggie was pretty excited about dressing up like "Lamby" and getting treats in her pink pumpkin (that she picked out). We talked about trick or treating for a couple of days and I even tried to play it out with her so it wouldn't be so foreign when it all went down. I stayed home and doled out the candy to the 80+ kids that came by our place (I was prepared for 140... we do live in mormonville) and Peter got the privilege of seeing the magic play out for Maggie! Apparently after a few houses she warmed up to the idea and they didn't come home for 2 hours!!!!

Here is our adorable "Lamby" being cute for the camera...

Pretty excited about "treating" with Daddy! "MAMA! Look!"

"TREATS!!!!!"

They actually dumped the loot (full pumpkin of treats) and headed back out for more... and ended up seeing SNOW WHITE!!!

Canadian Thanksgiving

At the beginning of October Maggie and I headed east to spend Canadian Thanksgiving

with my family while Pete presented his research in San Diego! We had a wonderful time celebrating birthdays and eating turkey and being with family.

This is a picture from Canadian Thanksgiving in Iowa October 2008:

This is the kids picture from Canadian Thanksgiving in Iowa October 2009:

(R-L & oldest to youngest: Amanda, Allie, Jack, Anna, Maggie, Harlow)

Next year there will be two more added (boy Leverentz and girl Bailey)!! How exciting!

Finally! A cold day in Utah

To celebrate the cold wintry mix that we welcomed to Sandy, Utah today (snow and rain!!) Maggie and I threw ingredients in to the crock pot and called it southwestern bean chili!! Maggie LOVES to help in the kitchen always wanting to "see, see" and today her favourite smell from all the spices was the cocoa!! Here she is actually saying "cocoa" which she worked in to her mini sentences all day long. Life is good.

Please note the box of honey crisp apples. A wonderful discovery at Target yesterday!!!! A little of the north-east (aka. mid-west) brought out for our fall enjoyment.

She managed to eat about 1/4 of the green peppers that I cut up for the chili. They were delicious and the fresh smell is so tempting. Why not eat green peppers at 9 in the morning?
(Notice "Sneezy", one of the seven dwarfs, on the kitchen counter. This is a new obsession.)

Busy little girl!

I'm trying to keep up with my busy little 18 month old.

Here are a couple of our activities at home:

Tea parties are always fun. I try talking her in to having them just with her dollies but she insists "tea-mama-tea"! And complete victory - I have not broken a little chair... yet (just wait 'til 30 weeks rolls around).

This is a new activity that Maggie started last week. FINGER PAINTING!! So much fun. Although it does say that it is washable, this will be an outside activity. (Thanks to my Auntie Sue for the adorable painters apron from Scotland with Nessie on the front!)

Cecret Lake

Our first REAL family hike in Utah! It started off pretty easy for, you know, someone who isn't pregnant, overweight and in high elevation :) So let me re-phrase, Peter found it to be an easy hike WITH a 30 lb pack on his back!

But "hike" is the real word for it as we just went up and up. I really did love it and although my body was tired I felt great!!
We had to continue coaxing Mags with a "treat when we get to the lake" which she was pretty excited about!

Peter took some great photos around the lake.

There were these weird lizard looking things in the water. Maggie did put her hands in but it was "coooooold"!

Photo of the day I think:

Going back down.

Of course Lamby Lambchops has to experience everything here in Utah with us!

Singing was the best way to entertain Maggie because apparently children don't appreciate the view and tranquility of nature the way adults do. I thought these photos were great of her singing her little heart out!!

The Little Gym

We found a little flavour of Canada out here in the west. It's called "The Little Gym" and it is amazing!! Maggie l-o-v-e-s it and so do I. She gets to run around in a controlled environment and jump and swing and climb and crawl and play with balls and bubbles and other kids and sing and dance and be silly!!! So every Wednesday morning we hang out here in Sandy at the "geem" - and I actually have made some friends through this place too!!!Maggie attempting the balance beam, which she walked across all by herself today! Hurray!

They always have different obstacles set up just the size of the children.

Mr. Braydon - the owner and class teacher spotting Mags on the bars.

Working on holding up her 26 pound self... I'll let you know how that goes.

First Haircut

I just trimmed her bangs...

But Peter insisted on documenting the "first haircut" so here it is!!!

Ocean House!

We spent a week with the Bailey family in Crescent Beach, FL.

Maggie LOVED it!!

We don't have our family pictures yet, but I'll post them when we do...

Our adorable baby doll!

This is ocean house from the beach.

Love this photo!!

These photos are from the very last night of our stay at Ocean House. This was my first attempt at being pregnant and taking care of a toddler while on vacation (oh and moving across the country and vacationing on the other side of the country, etc). Needless to say the camera was often forgotten. Good thing Peter's brother was there to document - when I get a copy of his photos I'll post them.

You probably guessed wrong...

This is a picture of a picture, so it's not the most focused.

If you can't read it... it says "IT'S A GIRL"

Two legs with nothing between - is the just of the photo. She's pretty darn cute in her profile pictures. As soon as we get a doctor we'll put true medical ultrasound photos up!! This was just from the mall. Seriously.

Patience is a virtue - remember...

We are Alive, we are in Utah, we will have Internet at our new place this weekend. I will try and post some of our summer photos next week... they aren't even downloaded on to the computer yet!!!!!

Little House

At the beginning of May Maggie and I met Christy and her girls in Iowa at a Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum. It was interesting (you just can't imagine how these people lived - and in such small places!) everything said not to touch - which was quite difficult for our toddlers!!

Maggie loves hats but would not put on one of these bonnets for the picture :( So here is Amanda, Allie and Anna wearing Laura's old bonnets.

There was a park behind the museum - which was actually a museum for these little girls. They don't make parks with these fun things any more...

May gave us 90 degree weather in Rochester a couple of times! So we tried to wear the most appropriate clothing - the cute clothes Mags didn't get to wear in AZ!

Play dates with Fionna

Maggie and her sweet little friend have gotten together quite a bit this month.

She has loved it!