Okay i am finally getting around to a post on Stockton's birthday!!  Last Saturday (Feb 21st) he turned 4!! Can you believe that?  I know I couldn't. He is getting so big and has got the cutest little personality now.  He loves making people laugh and tries to be funny all the time.  He definitely has a bit of an attitude and can be mischievous at times but overall he is such a sweet little boy.  

Here are a few random facts about him lately:

1.  He always tries to take care of his little sister.  He makes sure to tell me every time she is crying and always makes this funny noise to try to make her stop.  I can't even explain the sound but Kailee thinks it's funny.  

2.  I'm thinking this is just his age but he thinks it is hilarious when he farts.  He always has to tell us and then start laughing.  What a boy!

3.  He is smart.  He knows his ABC's except leaves a couple letters out.  He also is learning to draw his shapes and numbers thanks to this wonderful little learning book i found.  He has known all the animals and sounds for a long time now.. like a year or two but the other day asked me, "what does a giraffe say?"  Uh????  Mommy couldn't answer that one.  Anyone know?

4.  He has the best arm.  If you saw him throw a ball you would think he was older than he is!

5.  Funny story.  A couple months ago, I was shopping at walmart looking at some cleaner.  Before I could stop him, he had grabbed a bottle of something and walked up to an old man in the aisle.  He held up his cleaner and says very loudly, "You want me spray you!"  He didn't say it as a question either more like a threat.  I quickly grabbed it and told him we don't spray people like that but to myself I thought it was quite funny :)

6.  He LOVES to dance but he prefers rap music.  I know I should probably make him listen to kid music more.  I do, but for dancing he doesn't like it as much.  His favorite songs to dance to are Lollipop by lil wayne and Walk it Out by dj unk.  He sort of sings along sometimes and his dancing is hilarious!  He looks like he is trying to copy a music video.

7.  He recently learned to sing a few new songs.  His favorites are Old McDonald, Take me out to the Ballgame, I've been working on the Railroad, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (he sings this one to his sister)

8.  His favorite things lately are probably Wii and Nintendo.  He actually knows how to work them both and is really good at them.  He also got an IPOD for his bday from his dad and things that is pretty neat. Its funny because he works electronics about as well as i did when i was 12. kids are so smart like that these days! 

9.  Even though he is a big boy now, he still loves to cuddle.  I love this because I know it probably won't last long.  I love to snuggle up with him and watch a movie.  The latest favorite is Madagascar 2.

10.  He is a little athlete!  He already plays soccer and golf and is signed up for t-ball yesterday.  

Well, for his BIG DAY, we started off by taking him to the Kangaroo Zoo.  It's pretty much his favorite place EVER!  He has got so much energy all the time and loves to run around so it's perfect for him!  He ran and jumped and slid and rolled until he was completely exhausted!  Here are a few pics.  I had a hard time getting them too because he pretty much refuses to hold still for even one second when he is there.

Then, after our little outing, he fell straight asleep and woke up just in time for his birthday party!  We just did a small party this year at our house but Stockton loved it all the same.  He had a blast opening presents and with the pinata.  It took him like 50 swings to break it open and it was so funny because he kept getting tired and telling someone else to take a turn.  It was great.  Here he is with the festivities.  Happy Birthday Stockton!!

SO here it is.... It's the HONEST SCRAP TAG!!!  Here's how it works...  just list 10 honest things about yourself and then tag 7 of your blogging buddies!

Here goes:

1.  I LOVE my kids and my husband.  You are thinking, "Duh!"  I know this is a given but it is the most honest fact about me.  They are my life.  Without any of these 3 people in my life I truly don't know what I would do.

2.  I am a bit obsessive when it comes to being organized.  I have to have labeled folders for everything and I color code as much as possible.  One example of this is my closet.  I have shirts in two different sections.  Winter and Summer.  Then within those sections everything is sorted by color.  I thought I might be the only one to do this until I read your scrap tag Jen! Yay for color coded closets! 

3.  Zack and I are trying to prepare to go to the temple.  I also want my patriarchal blessing as soon as possible!  I'm very very excited for both!

4. I love skydiving!  

Only went once, but the rush is totally addicting!!  I would go again in a heartbeat!

5.  I am scared of the dark.  We live in an apartment so when we take our trash out, the dumpster is a little ways away.  Not real far, but far enough that when taking the trash out in the dark, I literally run, not walk, back to my front door.  I'm not kidding.  

6.  The first concert I ever went to was Backstreet Boys.

7.  I am terrified of bees!  No, I have never been stung.

8.  One of my worst habits is comparing.  I tend to compare my life with everyone else's.  I compare my hair, my clothes, my apartment, my car, etc etc etc.  Then I always end up feeling jealous.  I need to try to count my own blessings more because when I do, I always realize how much I love my life and how I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

9.  My favorite color is pink and I love arts and crafts!

10.  I am a sugar addict.  Working on it... but I still eat frosting straight from the jar.  

I TAG:

*Amy

*Michelle

*Whitney

*AnDe

*Jordan

*Mandy

*Jacquelyn

So lately I have been loving to take pictures!  I don't know exactly what it is...  I have always been snap happy, but lately I have REALLY loved it.  I have had this thing with taking really close shots.  Anyway, these are a couple of my favorites of Kailee... I think the first one especially really captures her chubbiness!  

So as of January 25th, Zack and I have been married for 1 year!  

I can't believe it!  Time seriously flies!!!  Anyways, for our anniversary we decided to try the Melting Pot, and can I say I HIGHLY recommend it!  Even if you just go there for the dessert it is worth it.  The entree was super delicious too!  I wish I could explain how every bite was completely juicy and flavorful.  Seriously, I know I sound like a commercial but it really is THAT good!  SO, next time you have a special occasion, keep it in mind you will love it!

there we are :)  I am one of those people who always asks waiters and waitresses to take our picture.  I take pictures pretty much EVERYWHERE.  It's probably kinda cheesy/dorky to always do that, but isn't there some saying: a picture is worth a thousand words?  something like that.  Anyhow, I love pictures.  Zack always thinks it is so embarassing when I whip the camera out at restaurants but is a good sport about it anyway.  

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!  

love you zack!

-your wife :)

So there is just something about ice skating outside that totally rocks!  It's so much better than the indoor rinks!  Anyway, a few weeks ago, January 10th, we went ice skating at the Gallivan Center!  We always try to do date night once a week (although we don't always succeed), but this time we actually found babysitters and went out!  It was a fun night and we even doubled with some of our best friends!  Zack and AnDe are their names.  (AnDe, isn't it cute our husbands have matching names?) We have hung out with them a lot lately and it's so fun because they live in the same apartment complex with us!  They are like 30 seconds walking distance away.  It's great!  

AnDe and I make great figure skaters...

I'm pretty sure Zack won!  Which Zack you ask?  Honestly, I don't remember!

And a romantic kiss to end the night... it even made my knee pop!

New Year's eve for us was spent at home watching the Times Square celebration.  We had a great time relaxing and went all out with some fancy champagne!  Mormon style.  Well, it was a hit.  We finished the bottle off pretty quickly and Kailee even had a taste!  This was actually her first taste of anything besides milk/water.  Judging by her expression, I think she was a little shocked!  She did want seconds though so after the initial surprise, it was definitely a hit!

Happy 2009!!!!

I am definitely not the best mom for getting out and playing in the snow... I try my hardest but just don't get out there as much as I should!  The one thing I do though, is make sure we build at least one snowman every year.  Stockton absolutely loves this!  After a great snowstorm, we went over to "Mimi's" a.k.a. Grandma Karrin's house and built one!  It turned out to be pretty tall and skinny... and it had a funny face because we couldn't find a long carrot.  All we had was one of those little baby ones.  Well, a snowman is a snowman right?  The most important part though was that Stockton had a ball!  Here he is with our masterpiece!

So this year Kristin was determined to go see the lights at temple square!  Well, one Sunday night, we decided to go brave the cold.  It turned out to be a bit of a disaster.  Kailee was barely 3 months old at the time so we were a little nervous to have her out in the cold.  We bundled her up in warm clothes, socks, hat, mittens, and like 5 blankets.  Then we put her in the carseat/stroller and put another blanket over the top.  Luckily she slept through the whole thing because I didn't want to have to get her out of her snuggly little spot.  As we walked around, Stockton cried almost the whole time.  He had fallen asleep on the way there and was upset when we woke him up to walk around.  He was really cold too and wouldn't let Zack stop carrying him.  Zack was complaining that it was way too cold and we shouldn't have gone that night.  Well, after about 20 minutes of the freezing cold, a complaining husband, a crying little boy and worrying about a little baby being outside in that weather, Kristin finally gave up.  We packed back into the car and made our way back home.  What a night!  There's always next year! :)

Well this was our first Christmas being married and so with that comes our first Christmas tree!!!  We debated between getting a fake or real one for a while, but finally decided to go real.  We couldn't live without the good smell!  Well, we found a small one that would fit in our apartment and bought this big pack of cheap ornaments since we didn't have any.  We spent a night decorating and despite lights that wouldn't work, and a few glass ornaments that kept breaking, we finally finished and really enjoyed the night!  

Then came Christmas... on Christmas eve, we went to Kristin's parents house to sing carols and read the Christmas story.  We are trying to get Stockton to understand the meaning of Christmas but I think at his age, he just can't stop thinking about Santa and presents.  Speaking of presents... we have a tradition of opening one on Christmas eve.  Stockton and Kailee both got some cute Christmas PJ's!  Then, Christmas morning, we opened up our gifts at our apartment.  It was such a good time to have Christmas morning at our own place with our own little family!  We were pretty excited about it!  Later, we made our way to both of the "grandparent's" houses for the celebrations going on there.  It turned out to be a great day!  Merry Christmas 2008!

December 7, 2008.  This was the day Kailee was blessed.  We blessed her in our ward and Zack gave the blessing.  He did such a great job and little Kailee looked like a little angel.  Afterwards, we had a luncheon at the Angelos's house and it turned out to be a wonderful day.  Here are some of my favorite pictures....

Kailee and her daddy... she has him wrapped around her finger already :)

Mommy's girl.

Look at those eyes!

Our Family!  Can you believe everyone is looking at the camera and no one is closing their eyes?  That is definitely a rarity in our family photos!

Cute little chubby girl :)

So this month, as you can see above, Zack shot an animal.  Once hunting season starts, Zack is always gone trying to shoot something... a deer, an elk, a duck... this year, the one that didn't get away was a swan.  Kristin thinks big dead birds and pretty gross, but was proud of her man for getting one.  (i guess it isn't that easy??)  Both Zack and Stockton thought it was ultra cool!!  Zack was so excited to eat it and claimed swan meat tastes just like roast beef!  As for me, I did try the meat and although I think it tastes nothing like roast beef, it really wasn't too bad!

At almost 2 months old, Kailee is starting to get a little chubby!  We love baby fat!  She is such a sweet baby and super well behaved.  No colic or anything and almost always in a good mood.  We got lucky!  I started taking some pictures one day to capture her chubbyness but just ended up thinking her face was the cutest part!  Check out the expressions!  The last one cracks me up!

Lastly, there was Thanksgiving!!  Zack, Kristin and Kailee celebrated the holiday at Zack's parents house this year.  We ate a delicious dinner and then finished off by making gingerbread houses on Thanksgiving night! (an Angelos family tradition)  Stockton spent the day at his dad's this year but we sure missed him!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

In October we did quite a few things... !  First off, we spent quite a bit of time just enjoying our newest family member!  Kristin was working on being a mom of two... something that took a while to get used to, but it was so great to finally all be home together!  Stockton loved to hold his "beebee sisssr"  (thats how it sounds when he says it)  He'll get her all situated on his lap and then get tired of it after a few minutes and say he is done.  I love watching him with her though, it's so cute!  One day, I walked around the corner to see Kailee laying on the couch and Stockton leaning over her.  I could tell he didn't know I was there so I stopped to see what was going on.  He was leaning down saying " I love you sister."  It was precious!  The best part was that he didn't even know I was there watching so he definitely wasn't trying to be cute for me... just truly loving his new little sister.  What a good brother!  Here they are together....

On October 4th, was Zack's birthday.... he turned 24 and thought he was so old!  It was pretty funny actually.  We celebrated by having a little birthday party at our house.  Stockton helped me decorate with streamers and made a cake :)

Nothing more precious than a sleeping baby

This is a fun one... I think I tend to blog about all the good things that happen and my kids most endearing moments.  Well, shockingly, we DO have rough moments in our house now and again.  This is one example... One day, October 28th, 2008 to be exact, Stockton decided to pull a fast one on mommy.  I was busy doing something and the next thing I know, Stockton had gotten all the eggs, milk, juice, parmesan cheese, and jam out of the fridge.  He proceeded to make this disgusting concoction in the bathroom sink, which he called his "breakfast."  Well, after he got busted, he posed for this picture with a little angel face and then helped clean up the mess he'd made!

Here are Zack and Stockton carving their pumpkins!

These last two are pictures of Stockton and Kailee in their Halloween costumes.  Stockton was a hunter this year and Kailee was a bunny rabbit.  We trunk or treated at the annual cousin Halloween party and then trick or treated again Halloween night.  It was a good time and the first year that Stockton really understood the whole concept.  He would get so excited to ring the doorbells and was pretty good at remembering what to say when they opened the door.  It was totally cute and we can't wait to see how it goes again next year!

This first one is definitely not the cutest one of me but I put it on because I like our hands.  I just have to say how sweet my husband was this night, I couldn't have asked for anything better.  He just sat there and held my hand, didn't complain when I squeezed it with all my might, and would've done anything in the world for me to help make me more comfortable.  He was incredible!  I love you hubby!

Now for the cute ones!  The first pic is of Kailee... 7 minutes old!  I though she looked so precious!  The birth was a little rough on her so she had a little bit of the conehead look common for newborns and her poor little eyes were swollen shut for a few days.  Poor thing! We thought she was beautiful anyway!  

Kailee had to stay in the NICU for a little while due to a couple little issues.  One of which was a really stubborn case of jaundice.  The next pic is Kailee under the bili lights... I think it's so adorable!  It looks like she is in a little tanning bed!  Uber cute!

We were so sad that we couldn't bring her home right away! But we did go there every day, usually a few times a day, to kiss, hold, cuddle and take care of our sweet baby girl.  Stockton even drew Kailee this cute little picture to put in her bed at the NICU.  I'm pretty sure she liked it!

Now here we are, getting ready to go home with our newest addition!  On October 29th, after a little bit of a rough start, Kailee was doing great and ready to come home!  We were all so excited to have her home with us!

This last one is Kailee's first night at home.  She slept in her little bed (for a few hours anyway) and was such a good little baby!  She is such an angel... Welcome home!!