We spent last weekend with my family and they introduced us to this video...
If it weren't for the accents, it sounds very familiar. :)



Baby Charlie's snicker is the best.

Ladies and Gentleman........My Husband!

(tagged by Mel)

What is his name? Matthew
How long have you been married? Five years last December
How long did you date? At least 3 weeks before we got engaged!
How old is he? 31

Who eats more? Sometimes Matt and other times we eat about the same
Who said I love you first? Matt...he said he had a funny feeling in his stomach. Then he said he thought it might be the chicken we ate. Real funny!
Who is taller? Matt
Who can sing better? We both suck but that doesn't stop us from belting it out while playing Rockband!

Who is smarter? That would be Matt
Who does the laundry? Usually me but Matt tries to help out when he can.
Who pays the bills? Matt. We've been meaning to have me take over forever but we are king and queen of procrastination.
Who sleeps on the right side? Me
Who mows the lawn? We both do.
Who cooks dinner? Me. Matt is always willing to pick up take out when I've had a super hectic day, though. :)
Who drives? Matt. He's alot better driver and I think we both prefer to have him drive.
Who is more stubborn? That would have to be me. Matt is super easy going and easy to get along with.
Who kissed who first? He definitely kissed me first. It was very unexpected considering we hadn't even been out on a date yet!
Who asked who out first? Matt asked me.
Who proposed? Matt...again, very unexpected. Like I said earlier, 3 weeks of dating.
Who is more sensitive? I think I am. I cry more.
Who has more siblings? Matt with 5 brothers and 2 sisters.
Who wears the pants? I think we are pretty equal.
I tag anyone who wants to do this.

Our dancing classes have paid off

So, some of you may've seen our dancing skills recently at our Ward activity where we learned to Rumba. Yes, we rocked. But did any of you know that Steff and I have been sneaking in Disco lessons on the side? We were recently invited to participate in a dance-off and we tore the place up... someone actually caught us on a camera phone and forwarded the clip.

Feel free to tell us what you think....

As a sidenote, Matt had a buddy show up so they slipped into some other costumes for an encore...



I thought we were dead sexy, but maybe its just me.

Kitchen table or a Wii.... hmmmm.

So its no secret that we spent our Christmas bonus money on a Wii. My bosses gave us some money at Christmas so we could get a new kitchen table (since ours is hurting something fierce). As we were sitting down to dinner one night, we watched as Charlie took his fork and repeatedly stabbed the table over and over. While we watched with practiced indifference, it dawned on both of us that if we had that new table, it was going to get the crap kicked out of it.... so we bought a Wii. And Guitar Hero. We are sooo both youngest children.

Anyways, as our first-ever family gaming system, it has been perfect for Winston. He has a great time with it, and it helps him get some of his energy out, plus, it makes for great parties (OK, so we've really only had one). We expect any and all neighbors to feel free to invite themselves over to play whenever they want.

Here are a few pics of our latest exploits:

Here's one of Win and Dad playing Guitar Hero. We've just let him start holding the guitar, but haven't let him start playing. Mostly that is because Dad needs to get good enough so that Winston doesn't beat him at this game like he does at so many others.

Winston and his buddy McKay boxing each other.

Our neighbors Sheldon and Luke beating each other's heads in (virtually of course).

The wives going for Star Power!

Dad and Winston having an evening jam session.

Thanks Uncle Dave

We decided to try Dave's suggestion of putting leg weights on Charlie to slow him down

Dad putting on the weights...

Charlie immediately ripped them off, so we resorted to taping them on...

Charlie trying to take them off again without success, thanks to the tape!

He resorted to trying to bite them off...

The look of distress when he realized he couldn't get them off...

More distress and big brother trying to come to the rescue...

Not a happy camper.

So, Dave, it was a pretty good idea. He didn't get into anything because he spent all his time trying to get the weights off. (Disclaimer: For any random readers on here, please don't turn us into CPS. We only left the weights on for about 5 minutes and it was all in good fun. No harm was done to the child in the picture.)

Valentine's Day Gone Way Wrong

Let me take a moment to tell all you blog stalkers (this is what most of you reading this are) a little bit about a well-intentioned but really pretty bad V-day. Now I need to start this blog posting with a disclaimer.

Disclaimer: the only redeeming factors of yesterday's festivities came from my dear wife Steff.

So here's how it went down.

Things started off fine... actually, things started off good. Due to the major snowstorm the night before, my boss gave me a free pass to work from home for the morning. I decided to take advantage of the freedom and make Steff a V-day breakfast (first good intention). I decided to go for crepes... pink crepes. I whipped them up fast, fed the kids and was waiting for my darling to descend from getting ready for the day.



Steff comes down ready to go workout at the gym. Her appointment is in a short 20 minutes so of course she can't load up on crepes before she goes in to work out or she'll yack (good intention #1 goes awry = Strike one).

So as the day progresses, we take care of a number of things that need to get done, Winston goes to pre-school and Charlie goes to Kids Who Count. We find ourselves at dinner time.

Steff has planned out a fabulous dinner which goes off without a hitch. She's got ribeye steaks for us, and adds twice baked potatoes, cabbage crunch salad, fresh rolls, and sparkling apple juice in spiffy goblets. Man, it was good.

Following dinner I'm wobbling around, doing my best to let her rest (good intention), and getting the kids down for the night (which she ends up doing the bulk of anyways). Upon getting the kids down for the night, I flop on the couch for our favorite time of the night...

For my enjoyment, Steff whips out dessert.



Yes! Chocolate dipped strawberries and an individual molton chocolate cake with a bit of ice cream on the side. Good grief it was good.

Now, up to this point, I think I've done OK. Yeah, I blew breakfast, but we've had the chance to be together all day, I've helped out with the kids (changed a stinky diaper), and done a few dishes to boot. Pretty good right?

Now starts the downhill slide...

First let me preface this by saying that we did decide earlier that we 'were not going to get each other gifts this year.' That being said, we always get each other something small. Let's just say my gift was along the lines of edible underwear and she got me the Tiger Woods golf game I've been wanting ever since we got the Wii. Ouch... Strike two.

Undaunted, I quickly plan out my final plan for salvaging my end of V-day. Now, let me just add a quick interjection here for other males out there who may find themselves in this situation in the future: ad hoc, spontanaity and randomness are not good qualities when it comes to planning out their special day. Yes, they may've married you in part becasue they were attracted to these qualities, but I assure you, they are not desirable at this time.

So, onward with my last good intention, and its pretty bad so I'm just going to get it right out there. Steff has been working out quite a bit lately. In my desire to make up ground, I told Steff I'd wrap up the evening by massaging her sore muscles. Here's a short story made shorter... I fell asleep in the middle of the massage. Definitely, definitely, definitely strike three.

So, for the all the blog stalkers to see, I am sorry Steff for not holding up my end of the V-day operation, even though you were more than gracious about it. I'll do what I can to right this ship...

Chopped it...

We went with the A-line slightly stacked in the back. I think I like it. It will take a little getting used to and my neck is FREEZING but I'm pretty happy with the end result. Thanks Lynsey!

The New First Presidency of the LDS Church

Charlie counts

I've been worried about Charlie's speech and comprehension for quite a while. Someone told me to look into a program called "Kids Who Count." It's an early intervention program for all kids under the age of 3 within our school district. They want to make sure kids that need help receive it before they are thrown in the school system. They send several people out to test your child and then do an overall evalution to see if they qualify for the program. I figured it couldn't hurt to have him tested and see what their thoughts were on his development. To qualify for the program, a child must be in the bottom 7% of all the kids in the state. Charlie ended up testing at 2%. It was kind of bittersweet for me. I was glad that we were going to get help but I was also sad that he qualified to get help. So, we will be going to 2 75 minute playgroups a week where they teach the parents to work with the kids and a Speech Pathologist will come out and help me work with him a couple times a month. It will cost a little money but not nearly as much as it would if we were taking him to a Speech Pathologist on our own. Pretty much any amount of money is worth it if it will help little Charlie anyway. I really love all the nurses and the Speech Pathologist that I have worked with so far. They have worked with some other children that have struggled with Epilepsy and developmental delays so hopefully there will be help for us.

My week so far...and it's only Monday

The first part of this week has been interesting. Since Matt was out of town on Sunday, I went up to go to church with my parents. They are on a mission in Salt Lake. We arrived at the building and walked into their very quiet ward made up entirely of Senior Missionaries. I figured it would be a pretty interesting meeting with my two kids there. We chose the pew with nobody directly behind us and a door nearby. Unfortunately, the chapel's light switches were right there on the wall by us. Before we even had a chance to sit down, Charlie ran over and turned the lights on and off several times. I saw a lot of people look back but, luckily, most of them were smiling. So, we settle in and make it to the point where the Senior Missionary Men are passing the Sacrament without too many mishaps. My Dad was manning one end of the pew and my Mom was on the other side leaving me in the middle to wrestle the kids. Somehow, in the middle of the passing of the Sacrament, Charlie crawled under the bench between my Dad and my legs and made it to the aisle. Before I realized what was happening, he was making a beeline for the stand. He actually made it up on the stand by the Bishopric before I caught him. I grabbed him and walked down the aisle and straight out the door...totally embarrassed. While waiting in the foyer for the Sacrament to end, Charlie grabbed my necklace and ripped it off me sending black beads of all sizes flying everywhere. He found this hilarious. It was no easy task bending down to pick them up in a skirt with C trying to escape out of my arms. I went to retrieve one near a big easel with a big poster advertising some ward event and Charlie stuck out his arm and knocked it over (yes, on purpose). I got that set back up and the Sacrament ended so I decided to make my way back in to try to hear some part of what the speakers had prepared. That lasted about 5 minutes because Charlie started screaming when I wouldn't let him crawl under the bench again. I managed to find a Mother's room that was empty! That never happens at our building. Anyway, he was okay in there for a few minutes but kept trying to escape out the door. I sat on the floor in front of it and let him throw his fit. I guess my Dad must have heard him because he came and knocked on the door and offered to take him on a walk. He had been offering to take him the whole meeting but I never like to have someone else watch C because he can be such a stinker. Anyway, he took him for a walk outside and around the building until the meeting was over. I guess at one point Charlie was running down the hall and my Dad was chasing after him and one of the other Senior Missionaries said "You're going to have run faster than that, Grandpa." Pretty funny.



We made it home after that and I put Charlie down for a nap. A few minutes of peace...Yippee. My Mom and I got dinner ready and we all had just sat down to eat when Charlie saunters out of the room he was in. One of his latest tricks is getting out of his crib. My plan to eat a peaceful dinner was foiled. From there, Charlie just went from one thing to the next tearing my parent's condo apart. I was thinking about spending the night but decided I better just get him home. When he threw up on their carpet, it kind of sealed the deal for me. Anyway, it was funny because my brother was there visiting as well and he was coming up with all these ideas to slow Charlie down. He thinks we should put some of those leg weights on him and maybe he won't run around and get into as much stuff, PLUS his legs will be really strong. :) I got big laughs out of that. I wish I would have been able to visit with my brothers and parents a little more but I'm glad I was able to be there and to see everyone.



I wrote this earlier in the week but I didn't want to post it until Matt was back in town. You can never be too careful. Matt has been gone skiing in Whistler for the entire week. He's going to be home today and it is none too soon. I've had sick kids ALL week and haven't been able to go out and do anything. Not even the gym. I think I'm about to lose my mind. Thank goodness this we survived the week!

Miss Utah

I am sitting her watching the Miss America pageant that I Tivoed last week. I'm not usually interested in this competition but I was excited to watch this year because of Miss Utah. She's pretty awesome. I love how she is who she is and doesn't put on an act for the cameras and judges. There is finally a great role model for all the young LDS (and other) girls out there. Through the whole competition and the "Miss America Reality Check" shows, she was a fantastic representative of what an LDS woman is. Amazingly, she was always dressed modestly as well which is pretty rare these days. I'm bummed she didn't make it further in the competition but she's got to be proud of herself for getting as far as she did. Way to go Jill! (I keep telling my single brother to track down her phone number...he he.)

Totally Bummed

I was planning on driving up to Salt Lake today to go to President Hinckley's viewing but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. It's snowing pretty good outside and I'm really scared of driving in the snow. Winston was coughing most of the night...looks like he caught what Charlie has. Lastly, I heard they don't want you to bring strollers to the viewing...I don't know if it's because they have metal detectors or what but there's no way I'm going to try to hold Charlie for an hour while standing in line. I guess it wasn't meant to be but I'm still bummed. :(