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

"THE" Wedding of the year.

Last weekend was CHOCK full of partying, playing and busyness! Thus, it's taken me UNTIL this weekend to get around to uploading pics and thinking about blog updates.



It all began on Thursday evening with a delightful wedding dinner for our dear friends Kaitlyn and Jordan. We had a lovely meal at the ol' Landmark.

A shot of the nutty couple as we were getting ready to leave.

This is a shot of the "cool" table. No really, the ENTIRE room was FULL of just their family. And then there was this ONE table that was literally just a bunch of theatre geeks such as ourselves. Just good friends of the bride and groom. Everyone in this picture (except one) has done a show with one or both of them at one time or another. Aren't we just a silly crew. We really had a fun evening at that table.

Here they are, the gorgeous bride and groom. Their wedding was beautiful, performed by Jordans Grandpa.

We're just so happy for these two. They are such a GREAT couple, and so perfect for one another! So glad we could share in their perfect day (well almost perfect, it did decide to be hideously hot that day, but whatev).

May your future be ALL you hope for and more!

Satin and lace,

Allyson