Makenzie & Memorial Day

We were SO excited that Jake, Em and Makenzie came to Utah for Memorial Day! We hadn't met Makenzie yet and were DYING to get our hands on her! Dallas called her 'baby Kenzie' the whole weekend - in the cutest little high-pitch voice :) Dallas also had a blast with Uncle Jake - he always had to know where Jake was. When Dal was going to bed he would give a general, "good night guys" followed by "good night Jake". I am glad he and his Uncle Jake had some bonding time ;)

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We had a fun weekend hanging out!

The only thing missing was the O'Neils :( we missed you girls and guy!

My mom, Em, Kim and I got pedicures Saturday morning while the boys played with the kids, Kim and Steve impressed us as always with a yummy BBQ at their house, we played at Sugarhouse Park, the boys had a good time watching some big UFC fight, we had a fun BBQ at mom and dad's Sunday, then headed up to Ruth's Diner (always a favorite) in Emigration Canyon for breakfast on Memorial Day.

Dallas and Jake

Great Grandma Reynolds with baby Kenz

Teag and Jay showing us their UFC poses!
Jay is doing and looking so good these days! I would say the best he has in 5+ years.

It was great that he was able to be with the fam!

the UFC stare-down?!

Jer, Teag, Jay, Jake and Josh getting in a little b-ball

Always a favorite activity of the guys when at mom and dad's

Don't yummy berries just scream summer?! Kim and Steve made quite the dinner Saturday night. Kim does such a great job entertaining and I love her presentation!

apps

more apps and homemade hummus - yum!

Wow Grandpa - you are GREAT with the grandkids ;)

Teag and Steve checking out Steve's awesome smoker

Stevie did ribs and everyone was LOVING them - especially Isaak - between he and Teag they probably ate 3/4 of the ribs!

Awwwwww! My Cooper! He is honestly the sweetest, cutest, most loving and best dog! Kim, Steve and the boys took Cooper when we moved and have given him the BEST home! They boys take him on multiple walks everyday, play with him constantly, take him to the park, etc. We couldn't be happier with his new family :)

Uncle Jay and a not-so happy Dallas

Cutest Kim and Steve

Dal-man having fun playing at Sugarhouse Park

Dallas and baby Kenzie - is she not the cutest?!

I could eat her up! I REALLY wanted to take her home with me, but for some reason Jake and Em weren't cool with it.

Giving loves or practicing headlocks???

Dallas tackling Uncle Jay

Bennie's turn for loves from Dallas!

and...more loves for baby Kenzie

I am hoping that being around Makenzie made Dallas realize a sibling WOULD be fun...

he and his dad aren't so convinced yet

Dallas and Daddy

And now Isaak's turn for Dallas loves

Ruth's Diner!

We love Ruth's - they have such a good brunch, including meals 'for their vegan friends'

I also love it because Teag took me to dinner at Ruth's the night he proposed.

Steph, Ben, Kim, Kenzie, Jake, Em, Stevie and Jay at breakfast

Dallas does not do well at restaurants these days. We have taken an eating out moratorium for a bit...after the running, yelling, not eating, dumping a glass of water on mom, everyone was able to see why!

Grandma was a good sport though and kept taking Dal to see the river.

As you can see, he obviously didn't want to come back

Mister checking out the river

Dallas doing his famous "booga-booga-booga-ahhhh!"

from his Letter Factory dvd

our little fam

Josh, Jake and Jer were exhausted after a fun and busy weekend!

me and baby Kenzie

I made the call that I think Ben and Makenzie totally look alike - it isn't just the lack of hair

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We had such a fun weekend! Counting down until Newport...2 months from now we will be chillin on the beach :)

favorites

I LOVE beauty products. One of my favorite websites is http://www.beautyaddict.blogspot.com/

Beauty Addict hasn't posted anything in a while, but one of my favorites was always

'five for friday'

where she featured 5 favorite beauty products.

I thought I would share a few of my own favorites now and then.
Enjoy.

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My mom, sisters and I have all been using Gale's products for years/decades. This stuff is amazing! SO great for anti-aging as well as reversing damage caused by the sun or just problem skin. The website has an online skin advisor where you answer questions and it gives you suggested products. The products may be a bit pricey, but it is worth it. And if you order online you get 10% off. Also, the products are all organic, so no ingredients you can't pronounce.

http://www.correctiveskin.com/

When I was younger I wanted to be tan, especially my face, but now I just want wrinkle-free and young looking skin so I use the Anti-Oxidant Sunscreen RELIGIOUSLY! I use sunscreen on my face 365 days a year. I think this is the best out there because it has antioxidants to help with free radicals, anti-aging and already damaged skin.

Not only is the berry bliss skin polish my favorite exfoliant, but it smells SO DREAMY! It isn't too harsh and leaves your skin smooth, soft and glowing.

EGF gets rid of dead cells and heals the skin. It is derived from DNA and slows signs of aging. It also promotes new cell growth and boosts collagen production. I use it at night then use the berry bliss polish in the morning.

This is my go-to moisturizer. I love the way it makes my skin feel! I use it under my sunscreen every morning. The brand is ALOE LIFE and I usually get it at Whole Foods in the beauty section, but I have seen it at other health food stores as well.

Baby Magic soft baby scent has to be one of my favorite scents in the world! It is also my favorite facial cleanser. I use it at night - it is great for taking off makeup. Your skin will feel so clean and soft and you can't beat the yummy smell! I also love to use it on a poof (?) in the shower as a body wash.

All around great product. I use it as a lip gloss, on my cuticles, on dry skin, blemishes, and even as an eye cream. Anytime I am at Sephora I grab one because I go through them quick. There are also a minted rose and strawberry scents, but I wouldn't want to use those on my face. The classic ROSEBUD SALVE is my favorite.
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So my 'favorites' were kind of fun to do! I hope you enjoyed some of my favorite FACIAL products and will maybe even give them a try. Next time I will share some favorite HAIR products...ooh-la-la!

my new fave

After obsessing over my sis Kim's new cup this past weekend, I was SO excited to find my own at the Starbucks at the SLC airport yesterday. They are a RARE find - I saw one on ebay for $50. My only complaint is it is a grande (16 oz.) and not the venti (20 oz.)

Oh well, I am just happy to have one :)

They are hard plastic, double-wall insulated to keep your drink cold but your hands dry. The lid screws on and the straw is hard too. AND it is dishwasher safe. So awesome. I LOVE it!!!

If you are lucky enough to find one, do yourself a favor and get it!

prayers

Every night when we have family prayer we ask to be blessed to make good choices. And every time this is said Dallas whispers, mid-prayer, "I make choices at my school". Teag and I can't help but look at each other with a big smile.

Love this boy of ours!

busy, busy, busy!

It feels like we have been going non-stop!

Between moving, Mother's Day, visitors, recruiting, Vegas, school and life we haven't had many free moments...

updates on all coming soon :)

story I had to share...

Dallas comes up with some pretty funny and pretty cute things...

First, I know I have mentioned what a staple Dal's be-be (binky), gooby (blanket), and baba (sippy cup with milk and chocolate carnation) are in his/our life.

Anytime he is sad, upset, takes a nap or goes to bed he has to make sure he has them. If he is naughty and has to go to time-out he immediately starts crying and in one long word tells us "bebe-gooby-baba". When he watches a show he 'needs' them.

Dallas also likes to talk about when he was in my tummy and thinks it is pretty funny. He will often say to me, "member when I sleep in you tummy mom?" So cute and funny - I get the biggest kick out of it! Anyway, the other day we were snuggling and watching one of his shows, and of course, he had be-be, gooby and baba. He looked up at me and asked, ever so sweetly, "Mom, I have my gooby, be-be, baba in you tummy?" I told him no, trying not to completely bust up. He didn't like that answer, put on his pouty face and said, "I want my gooby, be-be, baba in you tummy mommy!"

So I just went with it and told him he did.
And he got a huge smile :)

His Stats

Our {BIG} boy had his 3 year check up a couple of weeks ago.

He continues to grow, grow, grow

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WEIGHT: 35.14 (90%)

HEIGHT: 40 1/2 (95%)

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The doctors are always in disbelief at his size when we go in and told us if he continues to grow at this rate he will be 6'6" - 6'8"! And yes, Teag LOVES to hear that.

He seems skinny to us, but I guess with his height he has quite a few places for the lbs. to go!

I am constantly told how Teag was exactly the same when he was little, so we'll have to wait a few years to see if Dal has his daddy's big build as well ;)

birthdays!

We had our week of birthdays...Dallas' on the 9th, mine on the 11th and Teag's on the 16th.
It makes for a fun and busy week in the Whiting house!

Dallas chose where we went for his b-day dinner - he told us he wanted to go to the place "with fish, fire and flip the shrimp in daddy's mouth" which means NINJA in Cedar City.

A Benihana-esque restaurant that we all enjoy. He is a boy after my heart because I LOVE Benihana and always chose it for my birthday dinner growing up.

Our little mister being silly

he was a little nervous when they did the fire part, so he chose to sit on the floor facing away from our table

but when it was time to eat he was all business...he ate the majority of my filet mignon!

Teag tried to give him some of his steak, which wasn't filet, and Dal tried it and spit it out.

I guess he is a steak snob like his mom ;)

Dallas and Daddy playing around after dinner

our buddy was so excited and so proud of his CARS cake!

He loved blowing out the candles so much we re-lit and he re-blew them about 20 times :)

I love seeing how happy the little things make him and how happy this sweet boy is in general!

testing the cake...

then driving the cars across the cake...

...then digging in! As you can clearly see he loved it!

then it was on to more presents!

He opened some in the morning and finished off before bed.

We have such a hard time not spoiling this kid! He is just so great, sweet, cute and get's so excited about everything!

Gma Reynolds sent Dallas balloons, which were quite a hit.

Dallas had so much fun playing with them and thought Teag's helium voice was as funny as it gets!

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My birthday fell on a Sunday this year, so it was somewhat uneventful...

We did go out to breakfast at a little diner on Main Street (after Teag let me sleep WAAAAY in)

Teag is so good about getting me flowers and always a sweet, heartfelt card.

And I always love getting Dal's cards with his "pictures" inside :)

And I got the gift I had been wishing/hinting for - a flip video camera.

Now I just need to play around with it and get some video on the blog!

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For Teag's birthday we went to dinner at the great steakhouse SULLY'S on Main Street.

Afterwards we walked down Main Street and stopped at Bulloch Drug at their cute old fashioned soda fountain for ice cream, vanilla diet coke, and...

a HUGE banana split for the birthday guy!

African Princess update...

with the home-studies complete and the mounds of paperwork filled out,

the Francis Family is officially on the waiting list!!!

The next step is to receive their 'referral' or get the email with info and a picture of their baby girl :)

We are so excited they are one step closer! The wait could be a bit long (maybe close to a year from now) but it will be so worth it!!!

chicks

This was a little while ago, but I just saw the pics again so I thought I would share...

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Before Easter we took Dallas to 'CAL-RANCH'

(Teag described it as TARGET for hicks - so funny and true!)

They had a sign out front advertising baby chicks and I knew Dal would love them!

The chicks were so tiny and cute!

Dallas and Teag checking them out - no, we did not go home with one.
I am truly SHOCKED that my mom didn't get chicks for Easter when we were growing up!


Mister was SO excited about them! He was totally squealing the whole time!
We would try to leave and he would turn around and run back to see them again.

Awww!!!

He kept asking me which ones were my favorites.

I loved the little yellow chicks and Dal loved the little brown ones.

On our way out Dallas spotted a Diego fishing pole...

and this was his reaction when we told him he couldn't get it.

The poor kids is SO deprived ;)

three...

...years ago today was the best day of our lives, because that was the day

DALLAS WAS BORN !!!

I remember it as if it was yesterday. There was a short pregnancy followed by 47 looooooong hours of labor. When he finally got here he took one breath then stopped breathing. They rushed him away before I had any idea what was going on. Not exactly what you expect when you dream about having a baby. For the first 4 days we could only look at him in the NICU and sometimes hold his little hand. He was hooked up to so many wires and machines and was under the little bubble and just looked so helpless. I was lucky enough to be able to hold him for a minute about 8 hours after he was born, but Teag had to wait days. It made us love him even more and realize that we could not and did not want to imagine life without this little love!

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And now 3 years later we are so grateful for every minute and still feel so incredibly lucky that this boy is ours!

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We started the day by waking him up and telling him "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" to which he responded, "my birthday - wahoo!". Then we went in and opened a few presents. As he got each present unwrapped he yelled "TA-DA!" then told us over and over, "I LOVE my _______"

The hit is probably a CARS Mater jump/slide/shoot the car out of the cannon toy.

He actually noticed it in the back of my car a few days ago and said "Mommy...that for me for my birthday?!?!" I told him yes, but it was a surprise, so he had to wait for his birthday to get it. He responded "Mommy, I LOVE my prize!". He is always so apprecaitive :)

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We told Dallas we could go to dinner anywhere he wanted and he chose "the place with fire, sushi and flip the shrimp in dad's mouth" - which means NINJA, a Benihana-like restaurant in Cedar. Then we will go home for cake -CARS, of course- ice cream and more presents. One of his presents from this morning was the Disney movie 'UP' so we will finish off with a little movie night with popcorn and treats.

He told us he wanted the football guys to come over, but I think we will keep it just the 3 of us ;)

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We love our little buddy SO, SO much and love watching him grow up! (sniff, sniff)

He is so much fun and brings us more happiness than we ever could have imagined!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR DALLY BOY!!!

Dal

Our little man is approaching 3 YEARS OLD...

I can hardly believe it.

Even more, I can't believe how old seems these days. He is not a baby. He is hardly even a toddler anymore. He is a little boy - in every sense. We love every minute and can't get enough of his little personality and sense of humor.

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I had to share some random pics of him as well as some FUNNY things he has said lately.

Enjoy...

He is still SUCH a picky eater! Whole milk with carnation instant breakfast unfortunately continue to be where the majority of his calories and nutrition come from. But, he is like his mom and LOVES peanut butter! He often eats it straight from the jar with a "cutter" (knife)

Such a dream going to bed! He has to have a few stories (which he has started "reading" himself - I have GOT to get it on video), prayers (he even says is sometimes), family hug, tucked in with one gooby by mom and one gooby by dad, elephants, 2 pounds from mom and dad, 2 fives from mom and dad, then it's lights off and "see you in the morning guys. love you"

just being silly

playing skee-ball at Pirate Island Pizza in St. George

shooting hoops with dad at Pirate Island

showing off his prizes

still loving those be-be's.

no end date yet. I figure I don't know any adults who still have one, so as long as he isn't going to kindergarten with it I am fine!!!

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* He recently had pink eye for the second time this year. The other night he was sad and when we asked him what was wrong he said through his tears,

"I have green eye". Teag and I were DYING!

* Teag went camping a couple weekends ago so Dallas and I had a night to ourselves. I asked him if he wanted to go on a date with mommy and he said (with much enthusiasm),

"I LOVE dates. I LOVE dates with my daddy!"

* When we are driving he is often heard from the back seat saying,

"come on peeps. outta my mommy's way!"

* One night we were playing in the front room and he decided he wanted to move it into his room so he yelled "party in my room! Dad, you bring the cake!"

* He is very inquisitive (hmmm...I wonder where he gets that from?!) so he is always asking us "what this all about?" whether it is a toy, food, or a random item in the store

* Dallas LOVES going to the workouts with the football team and tries to do everything along with them. Out of the blue he will tell us "I do my workout" and goes to the floor for push-ups, sit-ups, even bench press and burpees! He will also lay down on his stomach then yell "set, set, hike" and jump up and run across the room - just like the players do for their drills. Last weekend he was at my parents house and hopped on my mom's pilates reformer and started doing his "workout". Hilarious!

* Dal also loves Walmart. Now understand, Cedar is small. Walmart is what we've got here - at least it is a Super Walmart! I have always been a Target girl myself and probably could have counted on one hand the times I had been to Walmart before moving to Cedar! Dallas knows Walmart usually means a new car or toy so he is always asking me, ever-so-sweetly, "Mommy, we go to Walmart?" Then on the drive there and throughout our shopping trip he reminds me "Mommy, I LOVE Walmart!"

(side note-mine and Dal's date night a few weeks ago entailed Cafe Rio and Walmart)

* When Dallas is riding in Teag's car they listen to Teag's music, i.e. Classic Rock, Hard Rock and even some Metal. Dallas has become quite fond of it and yells "pump it up dad!"

* We have this Disneyland sing-a-long DVD that mister loves to watch. A little while back he asked if we could go to Disneyland. We told him yes, and a few minutes later he came into the kitchen and told us "I ready to go to Disneyland now". We had to explain to him we weren't going right then, just sometime, he put his head down and ran to his room crying. Sad :(

We are working on getting the little guy there soon!

* Going to get Dallas an ice-cream I told him I might get one too. His response, "No Mommy! You get salad!" Nothing like a 2-yr-old to keep me in line!

* You can always count on Dallas for a sporadic "ROCK ON!" (with the hand signal to go along)

Coach Whiting

I just had to give a little shout out to Teag...

he got the job as the new Offensive Line coach for SUU!!!

The past year he has been a GA (graduate assistant) working with the O-line, but not the guy in charge. Now he is and he is so excited! We are so proud of him and all his hard work!!!

Teag truly LOVES his job and I am so happy that he is able to do something he enjoys so much.

We are so lucky to be with such a great coaching staff with such great families :)

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Spring Ball starts in just a couple weeks and we can't wait!

http://www.sltrib.com/sports/ci_14656603

Letter Factory

We have been working with Dallas on the alphabet and letters, but let me just tell you...Tad and friends did in about 2 hours what I have been trying for months!

Last week Dallas got this DVD in the mail from the O'Neil girls...it is such a hit! It is by Leap Frog and comes in a 3-pack with 'LET'S GO TO SCHOOL' AND 'TALKING WORDS FACTORY'.

(we haven't quite gotten to the others because Dal has only wanted to watch this one)

It teaches the letters along with their sounds. Dallas watched it the first time and immediately wanted to watch it again. By 2 times through he learned the sounds. I highly recommend it to anyone with kids!