coming soon to a mall near me...

opens tomorrow at 10 a.m.

you better believe Dallas and I will be there...

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*update* we walked about half-way into the store and turned around and walked out. it was INSANE, and trying to get a stroller through was a joke. I'll go back in a couple weeks when things have died down a bit!

40 years of bliss

February 23rd was my parents 40th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!They are best friends, love each other so much and are so cute and happy together! I can only hope I am lucky enough to have what they do after 40 years together!

My siblings and I knew we had to do something BIG for this special day, so the planning started about a year ago...

Lisa and the girls came to SLC for the week and Dallas and I flew down Wednesday. We 'pretended' to leave to the airport together Friday at noon, but really went to Kim's to hide out. Scott, Jake and Em flew in Thursday and hid at Kim's, then Teag drove down and got there right in time for the big suprise.

We told my parents we were sending them to La Caille at 5 pm on Friday for their anniversary. Little did they know all their kids and spouses and my grandma were all there in our favorite little room waiting to suprise them!

You can see from the look on their faces above that our little suprise worked :)

We had the table decorated with things from throughout their life: Peter, Paul & Mary CD (their first date at Lagoon), cards and dice (they honeymooned in Vegas), their wedding invitation and picture, m&m's and york's (their favorite treats), DC, cream of wheat (breakfast EVERY Sunday growing up), Cat Fancy magazine (in honor of Missy and Missy II) and the book '1,000 places to see before you die' (their favorite thing to do together is travel).

my mom, dad and the kids

the happy couple!

It was such a GREAT night! We were so excited we pulled off the suprise, my parents had NO idea! My mom said she had told my dad that more than anything she wanted to spend their 40th anniversary with all their kids but knew it wasn't possible, and my dad said this was one of the best and most memorable nights of his life!

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I feel SO lucky to have such an incredible family - I love them all so much and love spending time with them! They are my best friends and I couldn't imagine life without a single one of them!the girlsthe guys

Teag and I

Teag's oysters

my DREAMY chocolate chantilly cake - SO rich, but SO good!

Steph and I beneath the walrus

first haircut

Dallas' locks were starting to get a bit long - in his eyes, over his ears - so we decided it was time for his first haircut!

We went to Sport Clips where daddy gets his hair cut...

sitting in the chair, checking out the clippers
testing and tasting the comb
going shorter and shorter...
he was such a good boy and just sat there playing with the comb and brush
all smiles, as always, with his cool new do!

we can't believe how old he looks!

10 months old!

another month older - we can't believe he is almost a year old!

it is so fun experiencing all the new things with him and waiting to see what he'll do next!

playing with his toys from Christmas
whenever we go get him in the morning or after a nap he is standing in his crib chatting and waiting for us
he is OBSESSED with our cell phones, so we gave him an old one to have and he thinks he is pretty cool!
crazy hair after a nap!
our happiest boy :)

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what he's up to:

- sidesteps around the coffee table, couch, gate, beds

- constantly chatting to us

- brings us books to read to him and turns the pages for us

- has MAJOR separation anxiety - I can barely leave the room (this may be because he has been sick, or maybe not...)

- eats cheerios

- just being as cute and fun as ever!

- watching sesame street - he LOVES elmo!

- sits between Teag and I on the couch and alternates giving us kisses

(this went on for about 20 minutes the other night - no complaints!)

our little sicky!

So this is pretty much what Dallas has been doing since we got back from New Jersey. Our poor little guy has been so sick! At first it was just a cold, but then he started throwing up too.

I finally took him in to the doctor on Tuesday and he has a sinus infection and tonsilitis.

Amoxycillin, Pedialyte, sleep and cuddling with mommy are pretty much all that's going on with this little guy these days :(

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I am going out for a little girls night tonight because being homebound can get old pretty quick!

couples tag

I was tagged by Amberlynn, so here goes...
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What is my name? Ashley Reynolds Whiting
How long have you and your s.o. been together? married 5 years (Feb. 1st!) together 7-ish years
Who eats more? Teag...he better!
Who said I love you first? me
Who is taller? Teag
Who sings better? neither, but I am better at pretending
Who is smarter? I say Teag. He says I am book-smart, but not as much street smart/common sense. I kindof agree...
Who does the laundry? mostly me, but he definitely helps out
Who does the dishes? mostly me, but again, he helps
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
Who pays the bills? Teag
Who mows the lawn? Teag
Who cooks dinner? It was Teag forever, but I have made BIG improvements and really do like to cook and have fun doing it now!
Who drives when you are together? Teag
Who is more stubborn? that one is a tie!
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? neither of us...we both believe we are right most the time :)
Whose parents do you see the most? mine
Who kissed who first? Teag kissed me first. He was such a gentleman and asked if he could first though
Who proposed? Teag
Who is more sensitive? ME-without a doubt! I have always been overly sensitive
Who has more friends? Teag-he is quite the social butterfly
Who has more siblings? we have the same - 5. We both have a younger brother, 2 older sisters and an older brother
Who wears the pants in the family? I asked Teag what he thought of this one and he laughed and said "are you kidding?! YOU!"
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I tag Aimee, Annie, Liz and Natalie

fun in summit!

Last week Dallas and I went out to NJ to spend some time with the O'Neils. Both Teag and Scott had to be out of town for business (both in Portland, oddly enough) so it was perfect!

Getting there was a little crazy...we were stuck on the tarmac in SLC for 3 hours due to the snow, but we eventually made it about 6 hours late!

We had so much fun doing the day-to-day stuff with the girls, Panera for lunch, enjoying plenty of DC, watching Dallas and Eliza play together, and just hanging out!

Little Eliza was just a LITTLE jealous when Lisa gave Dallas attention...she would literally push him off!

Eliza showed Dallas one of her favorite things to do...unload the dishwasher. He seemed to enjoy it too :)

I'm a Pug! Woop - Morphing REMIX

Ruby was having a sneezing attack so I googled 'pugs repeated sneezing' and this is one of the things that came up...
(Teag didn't think it was NEARLY as funny as I did)

80's dance moves

One of the funnier things I have ever seen...

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-US&brand=&vid=ffaa4c63-f164-4534-bcd1-3c16a72c8b47

biggest boy

So this is Dallie's new favorite thing to do! We can tell he feels pretty big and pretty cool pulling himself up and standing at the gate, in his crib, and at the coffee table and couch.

He rocks back and forth, laughing and smiling, looking back now and then just to make sure we see how great he is :)

Cooper thinks it's just as great as Dallas does, and has to run over and smother him with kisses. I think Ruby feels left out because she is short, so she usually stands in the background and barks then retreats to her kennel.

Today Dallas stood there for almost an hour, and when he finally let go and sat down he must have been exhausted - he took a 2 1/2 hour nap!

9 months old!

Our little bubsy is 9 months old today!

That face gets me every time!He is LOVING playing with his new toys from Christmas! He is ALL OVER THE PLACE these days...

crawling everywhere and pulling himself up on anything he can
He still thinks bath time is the best!
And he is still sleeping like a champ - 7:30 pm to 7:30 am - not so bad!
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We went to his 9 month check up today and he is right on target -
21 lbs. (50%) and 29 1/2 inches (90%)
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Here's what else he is up to these days:

- dances (rocks back and forth) when he hears music

- feeds the dogs from his highchair/let's Cooper lick cereal off his cheeks

- holds his own baba

- gets up on his knees

- giggles constantly

- loves playing with his toys with us (especially Teag!)

- still loves books/being read to

- laughs when we tell him "no"

- is just such a busy, busy boy! I can hardly get his diaper changed without him rolling over and taking off half-naked!

- and he has his 2 bottom teeth, top 4 teeth, and 5&6 on top are coming in! He bites, grinds and still sticks everything in his mouth

Ben's Super Hero B-day Party!

Ben had his Superhero 4th birthday party at 'Bouncin off the Walls' in Utah. I have never been before and I had SO much fun! We took Dallas down the big slide a few times and he seemed to like it. There were about 20 little kids and just as many adults running around playing on all the stuff - it was great!

Teag and Dallas coming down the big slide
My mom and Dallas in the jump house
Super-Dallas!
just bouncin' around
Ben (the birthday boy) and Hannah (his supergirl-friend)

Christmas Day

We started Christmas morning at my parents house, where Santa had clearly stopped by. Dallas was especially good this year ;) and got lots of fun stuff from Santa, mommy and daddy, cousins, and grandparents.

He got some instruments, a reindeer, books, his first toothbrush in his stocking

And we can't forget the "Gymbo" puppet -

his FAVORITE!

Dallas and Eliza checking out all their cool stuff

Eliza pretending to be an "American Girl" doll
Alexa and Kira in their fun jammies!

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Then it was onto Teag's parents house for a great meal, more gift-giving, and just hanging out with the family.

Judd, Amberlynn and Valerie - we missed you!

Dallas and Gracie on Grandpa Whiting's lap

The kiddos with their cutest hats that Grandma Whiting made for them all

Dallas enjoying his bink while opening gifts