LOOK, MOM...

...Here's the cute dress you gave Mattie! By the smile on her face, she seems to like it :)

Oh, and I cut bangs...whatcha think, Mom?

GO, COUGS!!

BYU played in their first football game this season, and just because we're no longer students and aren't living in Utah anymore, doesn't mean we don't support our team (in fact, we even ordered a special sports package for the next few months so that Bryce can see all the BYU games :).

Yes, CJ is holding someones hand. It's his future girlfriend, Audrey Adams :). Everyone needs a date for a good football game, right?

Cheesy smile

Sportin' his BYU gear to support the team. Based on the upset - #3 ranked OU losing to BYU, 14-13 - his tee must be good luck!

And Mattie takes after her mom when watching sports :)
But not this time...we were all into this game! Thanks to the Adams for having the Dobbs and us over - it was a blast!

CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER

Paige got her Christmas present from her in-laws early...

a new LAPTOP!!

Wow! Can you believe their generosity?! Paige is still trying to take it in!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Greg and Sheila!

And a quick shout-out to Paige's bro, Nathan, for all his patience in helping his most indecisive and computer-illiterate sister choose the perfect laptop. You're the best, Nathan! Thank you!

IT'S OFFICIAL

At 8:05 AM this morning, Bryce received a phone call from Jim Danielson, the managing partner at Jeffers Danielson Sonn & Aylward, the firm that Bryce did his internship at this past summer. And...

THEY OFFERED HIM A JOB!!

Bryce loved working at JDSA - the people there were fantastic and he learned so much - and we feel very blessed that Bryce has been offered a full-time position after he graduates in May, especially with the economy. However, we wish things were that easy...

Bryce is actually in the process of interviewing for judicial clerkships for next year. If a clerkship position is extended, we will then have a big decision to make. We'll keep you posted.

MORE FIRSTS FOR THE KIDDOS

MATTIE SITTING UP

Mattie started sitting up about a month ago, and now she's a pro

MATTIE EATING SOLID FOOD...sort of

We've started her on veggies, starting with carrots. She was a little timid this first time, but now she scarfs down the carrots, just like the cereal. We don't think she'll be a problem eater :)

CJ AT THE GIANT RADIO FLYER WAGON

It's kind of sad that we've been in Spokane for two years and this the first time we've ventured over to the ginormous wagon in downtown's Riverfront Park. With how steep the slide is, it might take another two years before CJ will feel comfortable going down by himself

CJ ON A CARNIVAL RIDE

The Riverfront Park has a few carnival rides during the summer and this was CJ's first time riding any such thing. We weren't sure how he was going to like it, and these photos aren't that great, but they still capture the pure joy on CJ's face. It cost $3.50 to ride this thing, but the expression on CJ's face was priceless!

MATTIE WEARING THIS BIB

Ok, she's not a big fan, but they keep her clean - all of her - which makes it worth it. CJ doesn't really love wearing them either...oh well

CJ EATING AN ICE CREAM BAR

The first time that we can remember, anyway...who could forget something like this? :)

click on the grids to enlarge the pics

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW...

... CJ has a thing for cars

As soon as we leave the house, he runs straight for the car. He knows where the keys go to unlock the car, he knows how to push the button to lock and set the car alarm, he knows how to open the doors all by himself. Once he's in the car, he knows where the seat belt is and how to pull it across himself, though he can't buckle it by himself yet. He knows how to honk the horn, and he even knows where to find the gear shift (scary!). And if we don't let him play in the car before we go, we have a very sad boy for the first few minutes of our outing.

Gotta watch him carefully...he's going for the gear shift!

Honk! Honk!

Pretending to drive in the rent-a-stroller at the downtown mall

Besides climbing all over the inside of the car, and playing cars with all sorts of toys (the other day he was pretending his rubber ducky was a car), CJ's favorite thing to do is jump in the car with Daddy when he gets home. If we catch Daddy in time, he'll actually let CJ sit on his lap and "help" him drive around the parking lot before parking. It's the highlight of CJ's day (and Daddy likes it too :)!

LIL' OLD MCDONALD

The associate attorneys at Jeffers Danielson wanted to get together before Bryce left and headed back to school. So Kristin, one of the associates, and her fiance, Mark, we gracious enough to host a BBQ at their house. Little did CJ know that he'd be walking into so much fun. There were other kids, cats, a puppy, lots of hills and grass, a sand pit (well, to the kids it was a sand pit, but really, it was some landscaping under construction), some outdoor games, and what CJ seemed to enjoy the most...chickens!

And this is how Mattie enjoyed the evening:

It was a great night and we're so grateful for how warm and welcoming all the attorneys were this summer. They'll be missed!

MAD HATTER

CJ has a thing for hats

He likes to take the cap off the hairspray bottle and put it on any of his small stuffed animals whose heads will fit in it

He likes to take the kitchen sink plunger and put it on his head, Mattie's head, my head, your head

He likes to put on his Mariners baseball helmet as we read stories at night

He likes to put Mattie's burp cloth on her car seat and boldly exclaim, "Mattie hat"

Pretty much anything that will stay on your head for more than half a second, in CJ's eyes, is a hat

love it!

BRYCE WOULD NEVER WANT ME TO POST THIS, BUT...

...since I use this blog for family history purposes and not necessarily for anyone else, I wanted to note that Bryce made the Dean's List last semester (Spring 2009)! Way to go, baby! Congratulations! Thank you for working so hard for us!

Love you!

AUF WIEDERSEHEN, WENATCHEE

We will miss your uncanny ability to avoid storms

We will miss being oh-so-close to the splash pad at your Rotary Park

We will miss the great runs we shared

We will miss a bathroom and tub you had just for CJ

We will miss your living room that served as a dining room, camp site, theatre, bedroom, storage room, and playroom

We will miss your one-level apartment

We will miss your fantastic law firm with wonderful people

JDSA Associates (L-R): Liz McCown, Kristin Ferrera, Megan Curry (holding Liz's baby), Bryce (holding CJ), Colleen Diener, Kevin Bromiley

We will miss your Sage Hills ward that made us feel so welcome, even though we weren't there much

We will miss our drives and walks around your quaint neighborhoods on your warm summer evenings

We will miss your amazing fresh fruit and produce

We will miss your comfortable pace of life and the great memories you made for us

And as for you, Spokane...watch out - we're back!

Click on any of the pics to enlarge them

CJ LOVES milk! He asks for it all the time and would carry around a sippy cup full of milk all day if we let him. This was our conversation this morning:

CJ: "Bulk?" (which means "milk")

Paige: "Milk? How about some chocolate milk?" (with a big smile on her face)

CJ: "Ca ca bulk."

Paige: (with an even bigger smile) "Choc-late milk..."

CJ: "Ca ca bulk."

Oh, if CJ only knew what his Aunt Gaby must think of that (she's from Ecuador :)

A BOY AND HIS DOG...SORT OF

Bryce's family has a dog named JJ

CJ LOVES to go with Papa and Baba to the dog run

He likes to walk on the trail

He likes to check out the water

He likes to eat blackberries from the bushes (as long as they're several feet above dog level :)

But most of all, he likes to spend time with his buddy, JJ

WHAT A POOPY DAY...LITERALLY

Thank goodness my kids are THIS cute!

It gets me through days like today.

First, CJ woke up earlier than usual, which is never any fun.

Then, Mattie blew her shorts, getting poop all over her, her jammies, and her bouncer.

So she got a bath while her jammies and bouncer went in the laundry.

After Mattie was down for a nap, I hopped in the shower and made Bryce lunch. Then I decided it would be a good idea to put CJ in the tub before we headed over to see Bryce for his lunch break. Little did I know we'd never make it there...

By the time I got CJ in the tub, Mattie had woken up and wanted to be with everyone, so I put her in her Bumbo chair and brought her in the bathroom with us. While CJ was in the tub, Mattie sat on the floor in her chair, and I was doing my make-up. CJ was playing one second, and the next second, I looked over to see that he had POOPED IN THE TUB (mind you, this has never happened before)!

Against my will, I began to take out all the toys that were in the tub and were now floating in poop water, and put them in the kitchen sink to soak them in Clorox. After my first trip, I met a naked CJ in the hallway. What? Who knew that CJ could get out of the tub by himself (this was a first as well)? I checked his bum, which was poop-free, and figured he was fine for a second until I could get him back in the tub. I reluctantly headed back to the tub to get the last of the toys and to reach my hand down in that disgusting water to start to drain it...

After that nightmare was over, I made it back to the kitchen to find CJ playing with some tupperware (that I just now realized needs to be thrown in the dishwasher). I dropped the last of the toys in the sink, looked down at CJ, and realized he was standing in a puddle. Wait, what? No. He had PEED on the kitchen floor (another first)!

I grabbed some paper towels and threw them on the puddle. Then I grabbed CJ and made a bee-line to our bathroom for another bath. I turned on the water while CJ stood next to the tub, and headed back into the other bathroom, dreading to see what was left for me there...

Now that all the water was drained, I picked up what was left with some toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet (along with any dignity I may have once had), and then sprayed down the bathtub with the aforementioned Clorox and left it to soak. Then I picked Mattie up, who was still sitting patiently in her Bumbo chair, and moved her into our bedroom and went to check on CJ.

Oh, did I forget to mention that while I was in the other bathroom I had heard CJ yell, "Poopy," but ignored it because I was currently distracted by the poop in front of me in that tub? Well, I probably should have listened to my little guy because after setting Mattie down in our room, I found CJ walking out of the bathroom, leaving dark tracks behind him. I didn't realize, until he had left those tracks halfway down the hallway, that it was more POOP!!

I looked in the bathroom to see that CJ had pooped, AGAIN, and this time it was on our shower rug! Then he had then stepped in it and walked out of the bathroom, streaking the stuff all over our bathroom floor and on our bedroom and hallway carpets (and we're supposed to be moving out of this apartment in a week with hopes of getting the full deposit back!). I quickly grabbed CJ, wiped his bum, and put him in the tub. And then I began to see my mistake as dark pieces of something began to float in this tub water. I had forgotten that CJ had poop on his foot (duh, that's how it was tracked everywhere), and he apparently had it on the inside of his leg as well, so bath #2 was another bust! But at least I had CJ in a contained place, so I instructed him to stay put (which he didn't like very much and started to cry), and dodged poop streaks on the carpet as I raced for the Clorox...again.

The Clorox was in the kitchen, so I threw away the paper towels that were on the floor and were now soaked with pee, sprayed the floor with Clorox and wiped it up, then ran back into the bathroom to check on CJ, who was still crying, but still in the tub, thank goodness.

Then I ran back into the other bathroom, playing hopscotch with the poop streaks on the carpet again, and scrubbed down and rinsed that tub, which had been soaking in cleaner, and began to fill it again for yet another bath (it's a miracle there was any warm water left at this point).

I guess it's ok I hadn't go on a run this morning, because I was running everywhere! I ran back into the bathroom that CJ was in (thank goodness our little apartment is all on one floor - I would have died if we'd been in our town home in Spokane...plus there's only one tub there!), passing Mattie on my way and saying my thanks aloud that she hadn't lost it yet (that happened about 5 minutes later).

So as CJ sat in the dirty tub, I began to wipe up the poop from off our bathroom floor, spraying it down with Clorox as I went. After wiping up more poop than I ever care to see again, I finally was able to wipe CJ down in the dirty water, and then transfer him to the clean tub so that he could finally get washed off. And by this time, Mattie was ready to eat and take another nap, and to definitely get out of her Bumbo chair. So I picked her up, and just in time, Bryce walked in the door (do you sense my sarcasm?)...

So the next time I'm up to my elbows in poop - whether literally or figuratively - I'll try to remember my kiddos like THIS:

SHOULD I BE MR. MACKAY?

CJ just did the funniest thing today! I had just finished getting him ready for the day and Sesame Street (his absolute favorite show!) was starting, so we turned it on. At the very beginning, Murray the monster was looking for The Word on the Street and apparently The Word on the Street today was "mustache." Well after the little segment on mustaches, CJ pointed to my mouth and said "mustache (in a really mumbled way)."

I laughed and said, "No, a mustache is when you have hair (and I pointed to my hair) above your lip (and I pointed above my lip)."

So then CJ pointed to my hair this time and said "mustache."

I laughed again and tried to explain that mustaches are above your lip and that only daddies get mustaches, but he kept pointing to my mouth and saying "mustache."

Maybe he can see something I can't... :)

CJ's NEW CRAZE

Lately, CJ HAS to have these three stuffed animals (and just yesterday he added a stuffed monkey to the bunch) in order to go to bed. If you can't tell, there's a pink bear, a black dog, and a pink bunny. Yes, our son stole his baby sister's toys and claimed them as his own...what can you do? :)