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

-

WEIGHT: 35.14 (90%)

HEIGHT: 40 1/2 (95%)

-

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!

-

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!

-

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...

-

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!

-

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

-

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 :)

-

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 ;)

-

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.

-

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!!!

-

* 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 :)

-

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!

Makenzie

I just HAD to share this adorable picture of my new niece...

Introducing...

Makenzie Dawn Reynolds

My little brother Jake and his wife Emily had their baby girl this morning at 6:08 am!!!

She weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and was 21 inches long - the exact same measurements as Em when she was born.

Em is tiny, so that is a big baby for her!

I am so jealous that Lisa is there and has already been able to see her.

My parents are on a flight to NJ right now, and I am DYING that I don't know when I will get to meet her - hopefully soon ;)

We are so excited for the newest addition to the Reynolds family!

Congrats Jake, Em and Makenzie - WE LOVE YOU!!!

SUU Women's Auction

Last night I went to the SUU Women's Auction - such a fun event! The men's athletics obviously receives more funds for scholarships and such, so the auction was to raise money for the women's athletics. We had a 'football coaches wives' table and had a blast! It started out with a silent auction, dinner, then onto the live auction.

Throughout the live auction I could not keep a straight face...the auctioneer was this old man with a big cowboy hat and he was SERIOUS about his job! He was full of "I hear $1,000 duba-duba-duba-duba-duba is there an $1,100? duba-duba-duba-duba-duba-duba-$1,200 to the gentleman in the back duba-duba-duba-duba-duba" and so on. It was hysterical!!!

I didn't bid on any of the big ticket items in the live auction, however, I did end up winning a couple fun items in the silent auction. A few of us had items we were really wanting, so we kind of just stalked the tables with our stickers ready. One of my winners was a basket of PUREOLOGY products - which I love. Anyone that knows me knows I am a total sucker for beauty/hair products, so I had to be sure win the bid. My other winner was really for Dallas...a Lightning McQueen sunshade for the car. He was in bed when I got home, but I showed it to him this morning and he was ecstatic! I don't know if it will ever make it to my car though, Dallie is pretty sure it is just a toy for him...

I had a fun night out and was more than happy to contribute to the cause ;)

African Princess

A couple of weeks ago I picked up our mail at the post office, got in line for stamps and began opening my mail. I was expecting nothing more than the usual bills, junk, and possibly a little note from a family member. Then I opened a letter that started like this:

Once upon a time in a land far, far away there was a beautiful, little African princess without a home...

I was totally overcome with emotion and tears, and everyone in the post office probably thought I was CRAZY!!! I forgot about the stamps and ran to my car to call my sis Kim. She didn't answer, so I finished the letter, which confirmed my initial thought - the Francis family is adopting a baby!

-

It is quite a process...probably a year-give or take. Mounds of paperwork, homestudies, interviews and finally a trip to Ethiopia to learn about the culture and pick up their baby girl from the orphanage there. My parents will join them for the trip, and the rest of us will be anxiously awaiting at home. Kim and I were saying how it will feel like the longest pregnancy ever! "Sister" - as Isaak and Ben refer to her - will be anywhere from 0-12 months when they get her. It will be so fun to have to more little girls in the family (Jake and Em are expecting their little chicky any day...)

We are all SO, SO excited for this incredible journey!!!