The first cut...

It has recently been brought to my attention that this boy,

This RIDICULOUSLY adorable and sweet boy of mine has a mullett. A MULLETT. How is this even possible? I mean, all societal codes have been broken. My good standing amongst the cool and elite could be brought into question over this very unfortunate turn of events. I DO know how it happened though. Two things...one his hair apparently grows just like his mommies. That is, lush and full in the bottom, sparse to none on top. I was fairly hairless until I was 2, and even then, if you look at my 2 year picture, I have an AWESOME mullett. Second reason, as I watched his little hair grow, I just kept assuming that if I let it be, it would be all cute and curly. And, to be fair that bottom part WAS cute and curly, like after he sweated grossly or I styled it so after a bath. However, the "cute" curls were no match for his upper dome deficiency. The mullett was real, and it was starting to even bother the neighbors. (hey Kat). So, on Wednesday I phoned my trusty girl Friday Lana and asked her to bring her scissors after work to give my sweet boy a trimaroony.



Would you look at that? Long and none to pleasing to the eye.

Lana was a trooper, to be sure. Right after I took this pic we had to take Max out of the chair and hold him so she could actually get at his head. He did quite well, all things considered. I just can't thank Lana and her mad skillz enough to saving Max and therefore me from a worser fate of society shunning. I'm pleased to announce that he is now a stunningly handsome boy child with a sweet new do.

Just threw this picture in because this is what he does the MOMENT I move his tray off his highchair. He twists around with amazing and lightning quick speed and peers out the window. He loves to look for Louie and to watch outside.

A parting shot of his super sweet and perfectly rounded cue ball of a head! I sure do love this boy!

Mullets and mohawks,

Allyson

Why I "HEART" my 'Hood!

Oh my 85201 how I love ye.

**reminder....click on pictures to see them larger.**
This shall be but a small ode to our little neighborhood, because I could certainly go on and on and on and on it brings such happy to my heart. Whenever people ask how we're liking our new house, my response is "It's great, but what I reallllly love is the neighborhood." It was so interesting, before we moved in, whenever we would tell someone where it was we were moving (and they happened to be "in the know") their response would be in hushed awe and reverence...."gasp...you'll be in 20th ward." When we came to look at the house, Tina gave me a cursory walk through of the house and it's offerings, but REALLY sold the neighborhood and the ward. I found it all amusing and cute. LITTLE did I know how life altering and transforming it would be to move into this small piece of shang ri la. WHO KNEW that this existed, these adorable little houses, all with very different looks and character. The streets are wide, the houses are kept beautifully. Almost every lawn taken expert care of, and lovely. The neighbors are friends, they care. We were literally welcomed with wide open arms and accepted and loved immediately. And, people were NOT kidding when referring to this ward with awe and excitement. It is such, that I already have anxiety attacks even thinking about how we can stay in this ward after 2 years when Jim and Tina want this house for one of their kids. What can we do? We are MEANT to be here, we BELONG here. I don't know how to explain it, but we just do. But, this entry will be long enough with pictures, I shall stop waxing eloquent and just talk about TWO of the reasons that I adore living here SO MUCH!!








NUMBER 1: Nearly every morning, and almost every night I take my kids for a walk through the neighborhoods (perhaps because of the novelty of actually HAVING a neighborhood). We go between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. and we just have a great time checking out the houses, watching the sun get brighter, enjoying the cool air, and getting some exercise. We have a total routine now, and Maggie is too smart for her own good and recognizes when we deviate.

Here they are in all their morning glory, ready to head out for our walk. (Usually about 2 miles)
Our first stop is always for a purple flower, which Maggie specifically requests each day. As soon as she has her "purple one flower", she begins requesting the pink one, which is by Jim and Tinas, and then the white one, which she knows is on the way to "other one Jenees" (Jenee P is other one, Aunt Jenny is just Jenny). And she is generous and insists that Maxi always needs his own flower as well. But, he usually tries to eat them, so I'm hit or miss on giving him one. We also say good morning to Delight every day as she sits working at her computer. AND, Maggie points out every house that she knows people at. Such a smart little cookie that one.

This is looking down my favorite street. Well, I have 2 favorites, and their right next to eachother. The houses are just all so different and cool and beautifully kept. I mean, will you LOOK at that grass there? And we usually see the same people out for their morning walks, walking their dogs, nodding and saying hello. It's all so Mayberryish and wonderful.

Here we are stopping for our "pink one" flowers. There are not many left, so I don't know what we're gonna do when there are none. Maggie is sure to be bothered by this. Ok, quick story...so, occassionally I like to jog for little bits of time. For whatever reason Maggie HATES when I jog. She usually tells me "No mommy, don't do dat, it hurts my ears." Wha? But, i do it anyway and explain that I need to get my exercise. Well, lately I have added lunges as well. The first time I did them, she turned around and said, "WHAT you doing MOMMY?" I mean, I s'pose it was disturbing that suddenly the stroller was jerking instead of moving. So, I explained that I was doing lunges because I needed more exercise. She accepted my answer and all was well. So, the next few times we went, apparently I did lunges at the same spot each time. This last Monday I actually got up and went to my bootcamp class which was ALL lunges, squats, abs. So, when we were out for our walk, I didn't feel the need to further the torture. But, as we rounded that same corner and we were moving along smoothly, Maggie was troubled. She turned around and said, "Mawmaw, you need do lunges?" HELLO? Where does she get these smarts from? After I stopped giggling, i explained that i'd already worked out and wouldn't need to be doing lunges today. She said Ok and off we went. Man I love her.

So, at least 3 days of the week, when we come home from the walk, we water the roses. She REALLY likes to do it herself, and gets bugged when i have the audacity to help her. She's RATHER independent and snooty if you ask me, but I try to let her at least water the roses. Max sits in the stroller and watches and sometimes I'll give him a little quick spray of water which he LOVES!

Most of our nighttime walks are sans Daddy, and they usually lead us to Gramma Dars (wish I had a pic). But occassionally Daddy will come along and when he does, it is soooooo wonderful. Maggie truly loves her Daddy and told me the other day that her Daddy was sooo handsome and she "really loves him." Moments like this, out for a walk with him are truly precious.

Now, these walks are numero uno reason for my neighborhood love, but then there is THIS:

NUMBER 2: Block parties, true neighborhood friendships!

HELLO! How many of you have neighborhood block parties that include GIANT blow up slides, and all the free AMAZING bbq that you can eat? Yeah, i thought not. On Friday night our neighbors Jen & Russ (who own a restoration company) put on this RIDICULOUS party for their workers and insurance peeps AND their neighbors, 'cause they're just cool like that. Can't begin to explain how awesome and fun it was. Just kickin it at the end of our street and hanging out with friends and talking and eating and playing.

There was a full on carnival set up. You walked up and got bags with tickets and played games and got prizes and ate cotton candy and popcorn. I didn't put in the picture of the freaking bull ride and the petting zoo. Yeah, I know, it was INSANE and soooo great!!!

Max was VERY pleased with his balloon sword. I LOVE, no LERVE this picture of him and his perfect smile. He was so patient too, 'cause I made him stay in his stroller most of the night. Finally at the end I let him loose and he was in HEAVEN crawling all over the street. Apparently some people didn't think it was so great for a kid to be crawling in the street, but whatever...it was closed off....he was safe and need I remind...HAPPY.

Maggie proudly showing off her balloon flower. She did quite well with it, until the end, when she popped it, and totally didn't freak out, unlike me. I hate balloons, 'cause I'm quite terrified of them popping. Maggie was so happy to see her "friends" from church, and... she MIGHT have fallen in love with our new bestie neighbor boy Chris. I'm just sayin.

I even met more of my ward neighbors that I hadn't had the chance to get to know yet. Here my new friend and I are showing off our awesome new lips. We were laughing 'cause mine were all perfectly shaped and hers were melty and spread. But, we're still pretty hot, no? Gotta give a shout out to my cute neighbor Kathleen, saying thanks for making us go down there. AND for letting us play in your backyard AND for just being so fun!

A parting shot of Jere and our totally manly, cowboyish friends chatting it up. These guys are so great and totally love Jere, which is so nice. The woman there is Brenda, my visiting teacher, our 2 doors down neighbor and truly one of our FAVORITE people. I think Jere has adopted himself in to her family. I wish I had some other pictures of all the awesome people we are surrounded by, but I s'pose this gluttony of pictures will have to suffice.

Truly, there are no words for how much I love the people around here and for how blessed I feel to be a part of this "family." Bet you're all jealous now huh?

Early walks and neighborhood lovin,

Allyson

P.S. Kimbo, I TOTALLY remember you from your comments back in the d-land days. You're still a total mystery to me though. Write me and tell me about you. But, glad you found me and are back to being my fan. Uh, well, at least I think you're my fan. :smiles:

If you Chance to Meet a Frown...

So, I'd like to discuss a little something, something that realllllllllllllly frustrates me. And that is the phenomenon of "helpful advice" from complete strangers. People, if I wanted your comments I would ASK for it. My story goes a little something like this.







This evening I ran over to the local Wal-mart (don't ask, don't judge, I've fallen to the dark side) child free for a quick pick up of some necessary supplies. As I wandered the aisles in quiet bliss my mind was going in many directions. Generally when I shop (even with kids) my face is blank, my mind is wandering, thinking about this or that, or just taking in all the buyable stuff in front of me. And occassionally I will stop and remind myself to lift my lips, try a smile, 'cause you know, I might look scarey. You see, I was born with what could be called a Davis mouth. I get it from my mother. My lips are down turned. I do NOT have a smiley face. I don't look soft and sweet. In fact, I have been told MANY times that people at first percieve me as a Bitch, or mean, or scarey or intense or whatever. I mean, good hell, I could be thinking about fluffy bunnies and babies and my face STILL looks like I'm mad. But when people get to know me, they realize, I'm a ball of laughs. But, I digress.






So, I'm at the Wal-mart, finished my shopping, walk out to the parking lot and I'm getting into my car, when I hear someone yell "SMILE." There was no one around, and yet I KNEW it was directed at me. I saw the back of a guy as he was taking his cart to the cart drop off. I had not seen this guy in the store, hadn't seen his face, but apparently he'd seen me and felt it was his place to tell me to smile. As I was backing out he walked by my window and gave me a big cheesey smile. People, I am telling you this here and now; NOTHING pisses me off more or makes me feel worse than when strangers, or ward members or strangers tell me to smile. I have heard this my entire freaking life..."smile, it can't be that bad." "Smile". UGH! I am generally totally happy, nothing on my mind when someone says this to me, but when this gets thrown my way, it just torks me and makes me want to flip someone off. Sorry people, I"m SO SORRY that I have ugly face. Wish it wasn't so, but it is. So, can you just get over it and perhaps be friends?







Until then, just know, I'm fine. Just fine and no need to tell me to smile.










Unwanted advice and frowns,



Allyson







P.S. Don't you just love my pics? I found my serious faced friend on google image. And see....I DO smile and look nice sometimes.

My Boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LITTLE MAXY BOY!

One year ago today my beautiful, precious little Max came into our world! He was perfect in every way right from the start. He has such a sweet, calm little spirit and had me wrapped around his finger from the first moment I saw him. Something about him melts my heart like butter. He is my belly laugher, my giggler, my smiley pants. He gives of those things so freely, and it is just so endearing. He has grown very attached to his blanky, and must have it near him. Max LOVES to eat,
L-O-V-E-S to eat. He will pretty much eat anything, and a lot of it. Which might explain why he ways 27.5 lbs. and has the beefiest, biggest hands you've ever seen. He's just solid and tall and HUGE! He adores being outside. Nothing makes him happier than to crawl around in the grass or dirt. When we go on our morning walks, he sits straight up in is seat watching the world with excitment and adoration at all things. He can crawl faster than anyone I've ever seen. He moves at mock speed across the floor. It's no wonder he just won't bother with walking, even though he HAS walked, and CAN walk, he chooses the crawl. He can play with one toy for an extremely long time, becomeing fascinated with every part of it. His favorite is to play fetch with the ball. He will throw it and then chase after it, get it and throw it again. This keeps him happy and occupied for a good amount of time every day. He's a tease, he pretends he wants others to hold him, only to push out of their arms and back to me in a split second. He really, really, really, loves his Mommy. His face lights up and he starts to giggle EVERY time I sing his song. He really is just the best little boy there is. It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed already, he has grown so quickly and become such an adorable ball of busy and fun.

Mr. Maximus arrives, all 8 lbs. 6 oz. of him.

My sweet little peanut at about 2 weeks.

I just always liked this pic, since newborns can look so alien at times. He was always so sweet and started smiling and laughing early, which made me melt even more.

He's grown into SUCH a little man. You should SEE him on Sundays, he's so freaking dapper it's painful. I must thank Dana for his awesome church clothes. Good thing Jayce is so well dressed, it bodes well for Max's future.

Now the section where we discuss what an utter BOY he is. The differences between him and Maggie are sometimes mind boggling. He is a climber, an explorer, a pusher. When he plays and waves his arms and hits in excitment, it is all with so much gusto, it's sort of painful. He is fearless and will climb on anything, through anything, under anything, etc. Maggie was none of these things, so it's all a new experience. In the following pics, I documented a few of his moments.

If you click on the pic and look closely at his nose and forehead, you can see his rug burn. He fell face first off our bed that morning and got a delightful little rug rash to show for it. That same day he was playing on a little trunk and fell head first off it onto the tile and got an awesome goose egg. AND, I noticed that one of his teeth is chipped, have NO idea when that happened.

Did I mention he'll crawl through anything? Conference morning he was happily playing, when there was a kathud and then crying. As it turns out, he had crawled through the side table next to the couch and then fallen between the wall and the table. The other pic shows him crying hysterically. And I'm such a mean Mom I had to take a pic before saving him.

Another day, our babysitter found him like this. He'd emptied out all the toys from the basket and then somehow wedged his giant body inside it. He LOVES to crawl into and out of things, and he'll do it over and over and over.

My little fireman had a smashing good birthday party. I will write about and post pics of his party another time.

It is truly hard to believe that he is actually a year old. I need to cherish each moment, because my baby will not be a baby for much longer at all. It seems like Maggie went from this to her 20 year old self over night. Man, I sure do love this kid!!!!! Here's to many more years to come my little bubbers!

Max can say:

Mama

Dad

Ah-boo (playing pick a boo)

He signs:

Eat

Drink

All done

He loves:

Eating

Baths

Maggie

Singing

Doggies

Morning Walks

Playing outside

Swinging

Mommy and Daddy

He is:

Beautiful

Happy

Sweet

Funny

LOUD

Busy

Fast

Smart

MINE!

Toddlers and timewarps,

Allyson

A bandaid makes EVERYTHING feel better!

This morning Maggie took an unfortunate little tumble off the coffee table. She's really rather spazzy at times. I mean, there she was, sitting perfectly fine, and then she just simply turned. But apparently she turned with too much umph and the laws of physics worked against her. Next thing I know she's booty up in the neighbors yard. (Name that movie reference, sans the swear). Ok, not the neighbors yard, but between the table and the chair. She hit her head and was SURE she was mortally wounded. the ONLY thing that was going to make this better was a bandaid. So, after I properly loved on her and kissed her owie, I expertly applied this bandaid. She was instantly soothed and all was well with the world. What is it about bandaids that make kids so happy? And the best part...within about 10 minutes, she always says "it's allll better Mom", and rips the bandaid off, and that's regardless of wether or not there is blood involved. Ahhh kids, how I do love 'em.

Bandaids and boo boos,

Allyson

THE ZOO

It was October Break this last week, as you may know. I was strongly determined to do something FUN with my kids, since I was so footloose and fancy free. On Tuesday we went to the Tumbleweed Park with a bunch of cousins. It was really fun, Maggie had a ball climbing and sliding, while Max just crawled around on the filthy concrete and blissfully enjoyed his freedom. However, I was really, really convinced that a day at the zoo was really what we needed to do. After a couple of false starts, Lana and I finally made it on Friday. WOOPS! It was hotter than the freaking blazes of hell out there. Where the poo did the beautiful weather go? I'm just a little bitter about this turn of heat. UGH! And, in other thoughts...WHO ever decided that the zoo was a fun place to go? it's really rather lame, if I'm being honest. Our zoo is boring, there isn't much to see, it's horribly deserty and, did I mention hot? Call me Debbie Downer, but seriously. I won't say it was a total wash, we DID actually see the lions and the tiger. Maggie got really excited to see the animals, and at the lion, she yelled out, "Ooooh, he's really coot (cute)." She loved the monkeys, and she especially loved the splash pad. I'm apologizing now for the number of pics, but it had to be documented, since we probably won't be returning on any regular basis. Hehehehe



Here we are, the happy crew, about to go in for our zoo adventure. This picture cracks me up in several areas. I mean, could Maggie look more excited? HA! And Lana is totally wearing Maggies sunglasses because Tatum INSISTED on wearing Lanas glasses. But mostly, Maggies look of utter boredom is HIlarious!

Putting on the sunscreen, since it was blistering outside.

Love this pic of Maggie and Dane, excited to go see the amimals.

A little shot at the elephant area. Maggie is too cool for words eh?

Gotta love the little cleavage she's worked up here. Really, she had the time of her life here.

I just love this little shot, 'cause who doesn't like a little bum in the air. She was waiting intently for the water to shoot up again.

While Maggie and the other kids played, my little man was sweated and pooped out. He slept like a log until just as we were leaving.

And THIS is my favorite shot, because if you KNEW what was going on there you'd just giggle. She had come over after playing in the water and was, obviously, eating her lunch. I was trying to take a picture of her, like really see her face, and I kept telling her to say, "i'm having so much fun, or that was so fun." And she just kept refusing. But then, in this exact shot, with THAT much enthusiasm on her face, she was saying (in monotone) "i'm having so much fun." With the word bubble over her head saying "you are so ridiculous woman, asking me to do the stupidest things. UGH! As IF I'm going to smile for you, but whatever, I'll say your dumb phrase." I freaking love this kid!

Anyway, we parked it, we zooed it, the kids world was expanded. So, as far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished! Now, just don't ask me to go to the zoo until January. 'Cause it had BETTER be cold outside. I mean, at least the last time I went to the zoo (4 years ago) I got to witness baboon porn. (ask me sometime, hilarious story).

Sweating and monkey buns,

Allyson

The more the Merrier!

So, I have a cousin, her name is Wendy. She is a critical care nurse at Mayo, and she's really rather great. I enjoy her. Anyway, she occassionally needs a babysitter for her 2 boys, because she will take night shifts and then interestingly enough, needs to sleep during the day. So, I said once that I'd take her boys, 'cause hey, I need money, so I'll do whatever I can to earn a little extra here and there. The call finally came, and a couple of weeks ago I had my first chance to watch her little Griffin and Lincoln. They were dropped off early enough to go on our morning walk, which was great, except Griffin was so intent on running and hsowing me how cool he was, he promptly pooped himself out. Therefore, the rest of the walk seemed a little long to him. But, no worries, he was a good sport. I can not even begin to tell you what a treat these two were. Just having a little testosterone in the house was enough to diffuse the ridiculous amounts of progesterone that Maggie and Brooklyn put off. Those sweet boys made for the lovliest day ever. The girls hardly fought at all. There was no screaming, no fighting, no crying, just total bliss over these two boys. AND, as you'll see in the picture evidence, Griffin instigated sheer genius ideas with the chairs out back. They actually played outside for almost an hour, which in my book = HEAVEN. I only wish I had some better pictures, 'cause I'm telling you, they're super cute too.


Maggie, Max and Lincoln having a little block time. Max was pleased, can't you tell?

They created a train, and were all riding/driving the train. I was taking these pics out of the bathroom window. Oh, and if you look far right, I happened to catch this JUST as Maggie tumbled backwards off her perch. The best part...she cried for a minute, 'cause she hit her elbow. But, since there was no Mom to cry to, she showed the other kids and then totally got over it and went back to playing. AWESOME!

There they are, apparently discussing some finer points of engineering. Actually, Griffin and Brooklyn were having a bit of a spat here, but we got it worked out quickly.

They really are the sweetest boys ever! I'm so glad we got to spend the day with them. I told Wendy they are welcome at my house anytime!! Here's hoping we get another play day soon. Goodness knows, the girls NEED it! OY!

Clever boys and grumpy girls,

Allyson

Conversations with toddlers

A few little conversations overheard, or had with my girls lately.

1. I was doing Brooklyns hair and Maggie was watching. Maggie said "you so pretty Brookie." To which Brooklyn replied..."sigh, you're crazy." Maggie then said, "No Brookie, YOU SAY Thank you." Apparently things I'm saying ARE getting through to her at times.

2. Driving down the road, from the back of the van Brooklyn yells..."Hey Allyson, what is Jesus' last name?" After I got over the humor of the question, I explained that he didn't have a last name, etc. So, whoever else was in the care (some nephew as I recall) said something to her, she said, "NO, he doesn't HAVE a last name. UH!"

3. This morning Maggie had my handheld mirror in her hand, standing in my bathroom. She pointed up to the medicine cabinet and said "Mom, could you please open that for me?" I said hold on, and she said again, "Moooooom, can you pleeeeease open that for me?" When I asked her why, she said, "cause I need to pwuck (pluck)." She wanted my tweezers. Good thing I've already been open with you all about my delightful beard.

I freaking LOVE little kids! They are so funny!

Pwucks and thanks,

Allyson

Dance party USA

So, last weekend we had the pleasure of babysitting Porter and Lanas kids whilst they galavanted off to Texas for her 10 year reunion. It was a bit nutty getting it all worked out, what with the wedding we were going to and such, but we got it done. We got over there late Thursday night with our kids, Tatum, Dane and our luggage in tow. Friday morning we dropped Tatum off at school, picked Brooklyn up at the school and then went to my house to pick some stuff up and then back to P&L's. It's a good 40 mile round trip deal, sheesh! Then, it was a crazy rush to get us all ready and off to Danas so I could meet up with Jere at the Temple for the wedding. As I mentioned, the wedding was lovely, so glad we could go. Then it was a RUSH off to Danas to pick up all the kids and back to the house. That night we got everyone dressed up in their finest and traipsed off to the reception. I wish i'd taken a picture of us all, 'cause we looked lovely, Jere, me and 4 kids. The kids had a grand time playing on the play ground equipment in the Bluthes backyard or park, whatever. We lugged them home from the reception, got them all to bed and then Jere and Tatum had a movie night and I went to bed. Saturday dawned early, as it always does, my silly kids think 6:00 is a good time to be awake. So, I made pancakes and eggs and we had a lovely morning. But, the good part came in the afternoon. We were all hanging out in the master bedroom and Jere turned on the i-pod and the good times rolled. Seriously, it was so freaking cute to watch Maggie break it down, and Dane bust his sweet moves and Max bounce about. Tatum was her own special breed of dancing. I took some video but I've never been successful at uploading it, which is tragic, since you'd all get a good laugh. Anyway, here are a few shots of our party. It was so fun to lay on the bed and just giggle at the kids and watch them have so much fun. Ahh, to be young and innocent again, with no worries and no cares.

I especially love Maggies finers here...what is going on? She was a true dancing queen.

I had several shots to choose from for Tatum, she is a total poser. But, this one cracked me up, and I didn't want to put her pic up where she's unknowingly throwing gange signs. I could only dream of a child who would actually pose for me.

Would you just LOOK at these mad skillz.....look mom, no hands!

I'm fairly convinced that this kid never takes a bad picture. In spite of his really annoying screaming problem, he's pretty freaking cute!

When the dancing had pretty much wound down, Maggie started spinning around and then "falling" into the suitcase. She thought this was sooo hysterical and would laugh from her toes. These moments are rare and even MORE rare to actually catch on film. I'm soooooo excited that I caught her giant smile.

After a busy day of playing and dancing Max was plum tuckered out. Daddy took him into the room to feed him his bottle and put him to sleep. Generally he just goes down in his crib, he very rarely falls asleep with us. Anyway, sweet shot, note his little chubby hand wrapped around Jeres thumb.

The weekend was all in all a good time, and we were glad we could help so P&L could party down in Plano.

Dancing queens and tambourines,

Allyson