Seis-o de Mayo Fiesta

Ever since we knew Abram's due date, we thought it would be fun to have a Cinco de Mayo party for him. Rent a taco truck, have obnoxious Mexican polka music rockin', and a pinata of course. I'm excited to show you the pictures. This was a lot less work than I thought it would be because I have awesome family who always offer to help & bring food & be my own personal margarita maker (thanks Steve! I love you! (even though blogs are beneath you & you would never read this)) and because the taco truck (which was awesome, thank you Danny for arranging it with your mad Spanish speaking skills) did most of the food.
I made Churro cupcakes & a carrot cake for Abram to smash, which was decidedly the highlight of the night, at least for me.
Here are the pics in no particular order because blogger sucks to load lots of pictures into. (Does anyone have any tips to make this easier? please please please)



Elder Parry! Evan's farewell is this Sunday, I'm so in love with this kid, he is beyond awesome.
miss Elsie Jane, how cute is that outfit, I could just eat her up.
G-Dawg holding Soph while Abram's little cousin-buddy Sully plays in the background
See, when you have a party catered you can actually enjoy it. What a concept.
And there's the number for ya. Olga & her husband were awesome.
Sawyer just played & played with this neighbor girl the whole night.
The kids table. Sawyer was so excited to have a special project to put together & decorate while I was setting up. She is at such a fun stage right now.
My men. Both of them were a little excited to bash George's head in.
Abram actually "got" it. Sawyer at her first birthday? not so much. Apparently boys like to destroy things... who knew?
ah, Cyd. The beauteous Cydney. Even perplexed she is still gorg.
Lucy Loo. Do you like her ever so occasion appropriate little shirt? That's authentic, too.
And here's the cake. I swear that candle was red in the store. The cupcakes have a bit of dulce de leche inside & drizzled on top. Then the cinnamon buttercream & a Costco churro topped them off. They were really good.
Seriously, that smile is gonna get him everywhere in life.
The kids really enjoyed the pinata.
This bottle was full of wishes & wise words for Abram from my friends at his baby shower. My favorite? "Dear Abram- I'm sure you're a good person, but right now we just don't know. -Grace"
No surprise that a Parry knocked the monkey's head off.
I love those little lips! (and do you like the road rash on his arm? yeah, I have no idea where he got that.)
Doesn't that look fun?



Yeah, they for sure are in love. Either that or she just wants his cake.





It was so much fun to have everyone there, besides an unfortunate delivery incident wherein the Parry family did not receive their invitation, it was a roaring success!

Fast Five movie review

Dear Whoever Had the Idea to put Three of my Favorite Men in One (highly entertaining) Movie-
Thank you Thank you Thank you. But making me wait until the very very end for a Dwayne Johnson smile was mean. Very mean. Also I love Paul Walker's shoes. And Vin Deisel's everything.
With gratitude for a fun birthday date with my VERY favorite man,
Celeste
p.s. Maybe less objectification of women next time though....


- Posted from my iPhone

Ode to Boy

Dear Abram-
366 days ago, at 6:04 am Matt & I had the inexplicable joy of meeting you for the first time. It feels like 10 minutes ago. We waited for you for a long, long time. I knew during each of those miscarriages, once I made it through the blinding sadness & disappointment, I knew that you were supposed to to come to this earth, to our family at a very particular time for a very particular reason. I want you to know, without a doubt that you were worth it. A thousand times over, you were worth it. I want you to also know that I know that your Heavenly Father loves you & knows you & has a plan for you. I hope we can one day understand that plan, even a little bit. He always manages to come up with the best plans. Let Him guide you. That's why we named you Abram. Abram was Abraham's name before God changed it, before Abram let God into his life & saw what He could make of it. Let your name be a daily reminder to live your life so that you can see what He can make of yours.
You have brought so much happiness to our family. You are stubborn, curious, determined (oh, goodness, so determined), funny, sweet, forgiving and strong. These are just the traits that I can already see. I'm unfathomably excited to see what else comes of you.
Please always be kind to your sister. She loves you so much. She is such an amazing example of kindness & thoughtfulness. (Also she is pretty organized, feel free to follow that example as well.)
Everyone calls you "mini-matt" but I gave you my dimples and just look at that smile-if I give you nothing else in your life, I will have given you enough to get by.
Abram, you have my heart. I don't know how else to say it, but I love you so much it's nearly embarrassing. I hope you'll have patience with me. I will want too many kisses. I will cheer too loudly at your games. (And knowing me, at the incorrect times.) I will probably hate every girl you date. I will get teary at really stupid things. Just roll your eyes at me and give me a hug, heck, I'll even settle for a side-hug. One day you'll tower over me and tell me (if you're anything like your Dad) to stop taking myself so seriously, to relax.

Oh, I pray that you are like your Dad.

I cannot think of a better man to pattern yourself after. Thus the middle name. We debated over your middle name more than anything. Abram was set in stone since I was like 13. But your middle name was tough. In fact it's incorrect on your birth certificate. It was Douglas. After my brother, one of the kindest, most Christ-like guys I know. I hope you two have a chance to become buddies. I hope he'll take you camping & hiking & climbing one day.
There was also some discussion of naming you after your uncle Scott. Uncle Scott passed away last November. He also would have been good for a hike or two. Or an IronMan. One day we'll tell you about him. About how to serve others with no thought for yourself. Almost to a fault.
Another option for the middle name was Steele, after Daddy's mission president's middle name. President Hansen is a huge reason for Daddy being the man that he is. I'll let him tell you about all that though.
Anyway, I wanted to take a minute to tell you that I love you & I'm so grateful for you. You are pure joy. I can't believe a year has passed. Your party tomorrow is going to be rad. Check out the picture I used in the invitation.Taco truck. Pinata. Sombreros. Margaritas. In fact, I need to get back to work.
I love you
Momma (or, as you are currently saying it- MAM! MAM!!)
p.s. thanks for being a really great sleeper.

Pre-K doctor visit

Last week I took Sawyer for her prekindergarten well child check. It was nice because Susie came up & watched Abram & let us have a little girl time together. Susie wanted me to ask about Sawyer always being on her tiptoes, she worries a lot but I'm super glad she said this because it turns out that this could be a problem. Sawyer's tendons are really tight back there on her ankles & she needs to cut out the tiptoeing. We are also doing stretches every morning & night. It's proving to be tough for Sawyer to break this habit, I think I've reinforced it by complimenting her on her awesome, strong legs all the time. Also apparently she's super knock-kneed. Jeez I wonder where she got that from? I've always hated my knees, and hers are a lot worse than mine, so I'd like to see what we can do. The weird thing is that she's knock-kneed but her toes always turn out instead of being pigeon toed like you'd think. So basically just picture that "a too day tah a too day tah a too day ta ta" song from girl's camp, and you've got an idea of what we're dealing with. hahaha not really, but it seems like it. We have a pediatric orthopedic consult on June 2nd to check out both issues. Kinda nervy about that.
Other than that, she's awesome, great vision & hearing & smart as a whip. She is 47 and a half inches tall & 52 pounds, which puts her in the 97th percentile for height & 92nd for weight.
But the best part about the appointment was the shots. Seriously. I hadn't told her that she'd be getting shots, but that morning in the bath, she was freaking out about me working her knots out of her hair, and I talked to her about how when we have to do something kind of painful, the only thing that makes it better is to relax & think about something else, something that makes you happy & really engages you. She turned it right around! Then at the doctors, after Dr. Strasser left, Sawyer asked if we could go now, and I told her that the nurses would be right in to give her some pokes. We talked about how lots of pioneers died from diseases that the pokes protect us from & how lucky we are to have modern medicine. Then I reminded her of how much it helped her to think of something else this morning in the tub. When the nurse came in she was ready. She was going to think of "books & rainbows" and hold a lego & be just fine. The nurse asked me to hold her arms down & I said I didn't think that would be necessary.
It was not.
I seriously don't think I've ever been more proud of her. She didn't make a peep. Grimaced a little, but didn't even cry while taking one in each thigh. That chic is a freaking rock star. After my experience with hypnobirthing & understanding a little bit of just how powerful our minds are, it was so rad to share this with my little girl & have her see that it really works.
Afterward we went to The Pizza Factory for lunch. Sawyer specifically requested to go there because of the breadtwists. No, not so much the breadtwists as the sticks they come on. She has had it in her head to make a kite & thought that those sticks would be perfect for this project. I love how her brain works. Her memory is soooo freakishly sharp and she's so dang creative. We had a great time together, I love to sit & listen to her stories & ideas & silly 5 year old jokes.

Also, on an unrelated note, you should know that if James Durbin doesn't win American Idol I will eat my shoe. I love his twitchy little faces too.

vroom vroom

Abram likes cars
I like that Abram likes cars
Abram makes driving noises, deep manly driving noises
I love his driving noises
Abram loves it when I drive cars along his arms & across his head
But I've never made driving noises at himI don't know how he knows that this little toy with wheels is a car and that it should go vrrroomIs there a sound effect gene? One that is stronger in boys than in girls?

Here are some other things Abram loves at nearly one year old (gah!).... waving bye-bye to people and to indicate that he is done eating.... clapping when he's done something he thinks is pretty cool and when he's ready to go to sleep & we start getting him in his pjs.... Sawyer. He ADORES his big sister like no other.... wrestling. Particularly with our whole family in bed in the morning, it's his favorite
.... the miniature playground at Cookie Cutters. We took Sawyer for a haircut today & he spent the entire time stomping up the steps & sliding down the slide....all by his onesie!

I'm shocked sometimes at how much this little guy has me wrapped around his little finger. Maybe I shouldn't be, have you seen his dimples?

Girl's Weekend!!!

Holy cow, I don't even know where to start. This was a dream come true. My mom planned a weekend for all my sisters & sister-in-law (we missed you sooo much Shannon!) to get together, and you have no idea how big a deal that is.

Me & Kristy, my eldest sister & one of the most beautiful people on the planet. She deserves a post of her very own.

Cydney & Jozet (have I mentioned how awesome Cyd is as a sister-wife? And how nice it is to have Jozet living closer? Even though I don't see her that much more, it's just nice to know that I could be there in an hour.)

Jozet, Carrie & my cute Mom. Some of the classiest ladies you'll ever know.

Mom, Jen & Mandy. Oh for the love! I can't even believe we all were able to get together with no kids for a whole weekend! It was amazing!

We have NEVER done this. Ever. Most of my sisters were able to make it to Mom's on Friday night, we attempted to watch The Holiday together, but it was way super late & I bailed & retreated to Abram & I's room to sleep. Mom got a condo up in Midway, near the Homestead, and the place was great, but we opted to go to my mom's ward's Women's Conference on Saturday instead. Kristy (the baby whisperer) helping Abes get to sleep at Women's Conference

I'm so glad we did, it was completely what I needed, although it was rather, um... challenging with Abram in tow. I was happy to conceed to Matt when he offered to take Abram home while I went about the rest of the weekend. After the conference most people went to the temple, but Abes & I stayed home & had a nap & a lovely chat with my Dad, respectively. Afterward we all met up at Joy Luck for a Chinese food feast. We pretty much had a private room & stayed & laughed our faces off for a few hours, then headed up to Gourmadise (at my insistence) and again stayed & laughed our faces off for a few hours. Then we had to run to the grocery store, but it was after midnight & so we went to the Smith's Marketplace on 400 South, and annoyed people there for a while. By the time we got up to the condo, unpacked & settled in it was like 1 am & that didn't stop us from staying up & laughing our faces off for a while longer. By 3 most people were asleep, but Jozet woke up smelling carbon monoxide & so we called the utility company & they came & banged around on the pipes for an hour or so. Very exciting night. But we all survived. Cyd & I left at 7 am to get home in time for me to nurse Abram & get us all off to church.

I was shocked that all of my sisters were able to make it, but so sad that Shannon wasn't able to. Hopefully this'll become a regular thing though.

1st lose-ed toof

Last Wednesday I picked Sawyer up from tumbling & found only part of her there. She put the missing piece in her pocket & we were very lucky it stayed in there during class. That night we put it in a baggie under her pillow & hoped for the best. Little Miss Tooth Fairy did not dissapoint. She brought a DVD- Barbie & the Magic of Pegasus! We love a Barbie movie around these parts. (by "we" I mean Sawyer & no one else.)

For some reason this little rite of passage seems very big to me. I may have gotten a bit teary when it started wriggling. We waited 12 months for that tooth to come in & now at the ripe old age of 5 and a half, it has abandoned it's post & turned my baby girl into a kid-type person.

She's riding a bike (with training wheels, don't get all excited)
She's crossing the street unassisted.
She's watching her brother alarmingly well.
She's walking friends to the door when they have to go home, offering their coats & saying "thank you for coming!"
Today she wouldn't hold my hand in the store.
We fought over the length of her shorts just the other day.

What in the world is going on here?

Oh, and I had promised to tell about kicking 3 of Sawyer's friends out of the house, but it's a rather boring tale; it doesn't merit it's own post. The other day Sawyer had two friends over, and then our darling little British accented neighbor boy came over as well. I love these kids all individually, but collectively, and I'm including Sawyer in this, they drive me crazy. Let's just say there was couch-stripping and fort building and then demolition & all together too much noise for an exhausted little 11.75 month old baby boy. But the last straw was when I asked people to help clean up and was met with military coup-like resistance. So people were asked to leave. Not really a big deal.

Spring Break in Saint Geezy- Day Uno

the following post was written Monday April 4th and is the first installment in an attempt to catch up on my blogging. Please note that although it is entitled "day uno" there will be no "day dos" or anything else for that matter. Consider the matter of St. George Spring Break 2011 closed, and just know that it was a whole lot of fun, and a lot more of this:

wake up, feed babies, dress babies, delight in babies' sweet relationship with each other & their sweet cousins, lay babiest baby down, then run stairs & do the first day of deadly insanity work out program, wish i hadn't. (but not really. I secretly loved every sucky second) cold shower, pack an awesome picnic & take it to the pool, watch Sawyer win about 15 imaginary races across the pool, snuggle with Abram in the perfect temperature hot tub, lay Abes down again & color with my girl, share turkey jerky & spray cheese with crackers, go swimming again this time with Kari & Sydney, go swimming again this time with Max & Davis & Ricky, go to the Pizza Factory, enjoy gigantic breadtwists & veggie pizza, secretly wish to punch undersupervised children in restaurants, go to grocery store & get cupcake experimenting supplies and a bag of animal cookies, eat too many animal cookies, put the boy to bed, suffer through dancing with the stars (man, that show is awful. if i didn't love my MIL so much...), chat with one of my all-time favorite people on the planet, watch part of megamind, walk back to our condo making weird shadows & weirder stories about them with my favorite girl, post a boring post, go to bed early? p.s. did you see this? I just nominated myself the captain of Team Gale.

I am NOT pioneer woman

In fact I don't even believe in her. I think she's a big fake faker. But I'll tell ya what, those pioneer women, the real ones, they must have been nutso. Also included in this "Nutso" category are women whose husbands are deployed, women who are single moms, women whose husbands are kinda lame, women with special needs kids and women whose husbands are workaholics... among others.
Matt worked 14 hours today. Bless his heart. Sawyer woke up on the wrong side of the bed & STAYED there. Abram has been declining his afternoon nap for the last week and then losing his freaking marbles about 5:15 every night.
Of course that's also about the time that Sawyer is hungry & whiny & I'm irritable & dinner is not anywhere near ready & Abram wants to be held & the house is a freaking wreck & the floor that I have swept 8 times already is stinking to my aching feet. Normally Matt walks in the door about this time & kisses me. Somehow he still smells amazing. Somehow he can still make my heart go all pitter-pattery. Somehow he calms the baby down and gets Sawyer to think that cleaning up her toys is the funnest game on the planet. Somehow the whines & cries are replaced by laughter & songs. Somehow he makes me feel appreciated & sexy, even with my incomplete do-to list & pjs & ponytail. But not tonight, and it really makes me realize a few things.
1) I am a big fat spoiled brat
2) my husband is a-freaking-mazing, and
3) mothering is rather challenging. I'm probably a two-kids-tops kind of a mom.


- Posted from my iPhone

It's an Easter miracle!!!

No, really it totally is. When we woke up today our sweet little tulips looked like this:


Then, in an act of great faith, I watered them. (yes, watering them would have been a great idea say, yesterday...)
In a matter of an hour or two, this is what they look like:


Yay for the resurrection! I've been thinking about new life, about spring & how all things manifest that there is a God, and that He loves & knows each of us. I pray that I can be more conscious of these facts throughout each day & that my actions will reflect my knowledge that His opinion is the only one that matters.
Speaking of opinions though.... I'd like yours. About high-chairs. See that breakfast in bed table thing behind my tulips? That's what Abram has been eating off of. Only it's usually on the floor, somewhat akin to the way a dog eats. I took his old high chair to Kid to Kid yesterday as I hated it. It was impossible to clean & highly nasty. So, we need a new high chair STAT. You know, so the boy doesn't have to eat like Charlie-style anymore. Do you have a high chair that you love? What is it please?
Thank you & Happy Easter to you.
- Posted from my iPhone

Things I should blog about...

...but instead I'm watching Happy Endings on hulu. (awesome btw)
- spring break in St. George
- Sawyer's first loose tooth
- kicking 3 of Sawyer's friends out of our house (just for you, Lola)
- the first annual (hopefully) Miller girl's weekend
- the fact the Abram loves cars and somehow figured out the appropriate sound effects to make as he drives them around the house and that it is the single cutest thing on the entire planet
- the 90 day healthy eating challenge I am attempting
- how amazing I am at calling the American Idol winner
- the garden that might be...
- the drama of choosing a school for my kid
One day perhaps...




- Posted from my iPhone

boooo for preschool pet day

today sawyer had "pet day" at her school. everyone brought their pets & showed them off. the kids asked questions about and got to pet the pets. there were 3 dogs, a cat, a turtle and sawyer's pictures of her fish Goldie and Charlie. I asked her as I picked her up if her friends liked her pets. She said that some kids asked about her fish, but no one asked about Charlie. She said "I sure wish Charlie could have come to pet day with me. In real life, not just a picture."

I'm sure no one wants to hear me whine about this anymore, but when do I get over this? When is it going to not suck the breath out of me to hear her say things like that? It doesn't help that I miss her like crazy too. It doesn't help that I have this core belief that kids, boys in particular, need a partner in crime, a friend that always wants to play, a strong back to lean against and someone to run wild through fields with. It kills me that Abram won't ever know her and that Sawyer is slowly forgetting her.