My Little Tantrum Thrower

love me some bath time

One Month Later...

Sorry to anyone who may actually like to see updates on my blog. (I know there are soooo many of you...) I have lots of videos and pictures to upload. TONS. I will try to pace myself, instead of uploading them all at once. I took this picture this morning. We have our first real snow! Just a few inches, but it's still coming down and forecasted to continue for a few days. Aimee liked it, until she tripped and fell in it. Those gloves are not snow-proof! She kept saying, "Cole! Cole!" We lasted about 10 minutes. (I was trying to get the driveway shoveled) 

So we've been really busy the last few weeks. All of Greg's siblings and their families, and his parents came for Thanksgiving. It was a FULL house! Fun too - don't get me wrong. It's nice having other kids around for Aimee to beat up on, I mean play with. Actually, she was kind of a total crab while everyone was here. Overstimulated? Over tired for sure! She's been staying up SO late and still getting up at her normal time. I'm still trying to fix that! 

My brother and sister and bro-in-law also came down. Drew was kind of in and out visiting throughout the week. Steph and Chris came down Wednesday evening and left late Thursday night. Their coming was a last-minute awesome surprise. Greg used some of his Marriott rewards points from his traveling days to get them a hotel to stay in. Yey!!! Except that I am RETARDED and did not take a picture of all us siblings together while they were here! I am still kicking myself in the pants for that! 

Um... what else? Greg is getting is law school applications in! It's really exciting to think about where we might end up. The list grows ever longer too, with new schools waiving their application fees. Pennsylvania? Michigan? Vermont? Texas? California? Florida? New York? Who knows!!! 

Well, that is about it for the day. Make sure to check back for videos and pictures!

Aimee says Trick or Treat!

This is Aimee right before we went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat. We kept trying to get her to say "trick or treat", she finally did and I got the best one on video! That never happens!! Listen closely, she's says it kind of quietly. 

The Farmer in the Dell

My mom got Aimee a See-n-Say. In addition to saying several farm animal sounds, it sang two songs, "Old McDonald" and "The Farmer in the Dell." Aimee became a HUGE fan of The Dell. She wanted it played over and over. My mom thought I should take it back with us, to play on the airplane to scare away anyone from sitting near us. Even though I thought that was a good idea, I declined. We left the See-n-Say at her house. :) But here is Aimee dancing to it: 

Florida: The Beach and Sea World

I mentioned in my post last night that we got to go to the beach. We went in the evening and it made for some good pictures. Aimee was a little hesitant about the ocean and sand at first, but it didn't take long for her to get into it. 

Mom and Aimee

Whitney and Aimee

And now for Sea World pictures! First of all, we need to give a big thank-you to my dad: Dad, thanks for risking your life in Iraq so we could go to Sea World for free! (Military dependents get to go to the park once a year for free) I'm glad too, so then we didn't feel the need to be there the whole time. We ended up doing that anyway, but it was a close call. When we got to the park, I lathered Aimee down with sun block. I put it too close to her eyes AND on the back of her hands. Sure enough she rubbed it right into her eye. It was terrible!! She had the worst reaction... her eye got red and puffy, she could barely keep it open. I felt so awful. She barely made it through the Shamu show - I know she wanted to enjoy it so badly. She clapped when the audience did and "ooed" and "awed" and "wowed" when the whales did their tricks. Luckily she fell asleep after we were at the park for a while and when she woke up, she was like a new baby! It ended up being a good trip. What I don't understand though, is how people go to this place without kids. It's really geared towards them, I think. My mom and I both thought it was weird when we saw older people walking around the park with a beer in hand. Umm... ok. Especially with it being $75/person to get in! Whatever... 

So here is the first picture of the day. We were waiting for the Shamu show to start. I totally hate my picture, but I wanted to show how sad Aimee's little face was. 

Indoor aquarium. It's actually super tiny and connected to a gift shop. But it was probably Aimee's favorite place in the park. You'll see why in a few more pictures. 

Sting-ray feeding time! You can buy shrimp and have them eat it off your hands. Aimee wanted nothing to do with that. 

Most relaxing part of the trip - the dolphin observation area. They are the coolest animals! This is the part of the trip where Aimee finally went to sleep. 

And Aimee's favorite place of all- the indoor floor aquarium!  It's blurry, but I turned the flash off so you could see the lighting more accurately. At first, Aimee wouldn't walk on it. She stood at the edge and looked down at the fish. It took both me and my mom standing on it for her to venture out. She still got a little nervous when a fish would swim right under her - but all in all was pretty enthusiastic about the whole thing. Thank you mom and Whit for flying us out and playing with us for the week! We want to come back soon! 

Florida Visit & The Zoo

Aimee and I got to take a week-long trip to Florida to visit my mom and sister. It's just the two of them at home right now with my dad being in Iraq. My mom flew us out and so she could see Aimee and we could hang out with her. It was a really good trip! Aimee had TONS of fun - she kind of turned into a super spaz, I think she was just over stimulated - and spoiled. It took her a loooong time to unwind and go to sleep at night while we were there. I can't really blame her - we went to the zoo, Sea World, shopping, the pool, the beach, lots of restaurants... it was a busy trip for a baby!

Aimee loved feeding the dog, she thought that it was hilarious and Abby (the dog) became her new best friend.

 This is at the petting zoo. That deer walked right up to Aimee, she totally jumped when she turned around and saw it!

Aimee was really interested in climbing into that deer's pool.

Petting goats. 

Cute sleepy deer. 

Nasty birds. They totally made Aimee nervous... I think mostly because of my reaction to them.

The best part of the zoo! Rafiki, the giraffe was out and about and for $1.00 you could feed him a tiny cracker. That is, if your kid doesn't try to eat it first (which Aimee tried to do).

Note giraffe lady in the background. She was kind of mean and NOT wearing a bra. 

Aimee won Ana's heart (pronounced Ah-nah - aka grandma) and she just had to buy her the stuffed giraffe. Being the only grandbaby on this side has its benefits. 

Aimee was totally strutting when she got to take her giraffe with her. 

One year older and wiser too?

Not likely, but I did have a really good birthday! It's scary how much closer to the big 3-0 I'm getting... but I still feel like a 21 year old, so my median age is probably around 24. Greg surprised me with the tasty cake AND my own birthday request to carve pumpkins afterwards. Since today is actually Halloween, it's a little anti-climactic - but I still wanted to document the experience. Aimee was really into pulling the seeds out of the pumpkin and putting them back in again. Which means more work for mom and dad, but that's ok!  

I've got a feelin'

This is veeery lengthy - but well worth the watch. Aimee's dance moves are so funny. She keeps doing this thing with her left leg, sticking it out and then stomping it down. So random! She also looks totally homeless since I had started to put her pajamas on... well I got the onesie on, then she ran away. The shoes are new, and she's very proud of them. Enjoy. (And turn up your volume!)

Pumpkin Patch FHE

For FHE tonight, the Roney's let members from the ward come and pick pumpkins from their pumpkin patch. Greg got done with his test early tonight and so we all got to go together as a family - hooray! Aimee had a pretty good time - she wanted to carry her pumpkin the whole time, but couldn't walk while holding it. I am psyched about the holidays this year. Probably because Aimee is so much more aware now. Just this morning we were at Lowe's and Aimee was "ooing" at their massive Christmas decorations display. It's going to be great!

Overwhelmed?

This look (above AND below) says "sneeky"

Soooo heavy

California Cousins!

Ok, so here is the post that I should have done before Farm-Country AGAIN. I think all the kids were super thrilled when they first got together. And I thought it would be great, the entire week. Aimee LOVES kids. She is so eager to chase and play - or so I thought. A few days into their visit, Aimee singled Neal out as her nemesis. I'm not sure why. I think it's because he reacts, and like her daddy, Aimee thrives off reaction. Neal isn't totally innocent. He'd take a toy out of Aimee's hands, but instead of crying, she retaliated. It wasn't long though, that she stopped seeking retribution and just went after him for no reason! She'd walk up to him, yank on his shirt, hit his arm, or poke him - then calmly walk away like nothing happened. 

This caused me some distress, I'm not sure where this mean girl came from! For the most part, she was pretty nice to the girls. She did, however, do a double-handed shove behind Addison's back and knocked her to the floor, but Addi didn't cry, so it doesn't count... right? Aimee got a few of her first (and I feel, the beginning of many) time-outs. 

Maybe it was hard sharing her toys... or finally she was just fed up with sharing her space. Or maybe she is just a little mean. I fear for my future children. 

But on to the pictures! I took SO many up in the canyon, that I probably should have used one of those slide-show tools - but I didn't - as a heads up, I also posted 2 other posts tonight, they may not all show up all on the same page since this post is so lengthy. 

Kids watching one of Aimee's favorite shows - Brainy Babies: Animals (like Baby Einsteins, but I read a lot of reviews that moms liked these series better - they work for Aimee!)

Farm Country? No - just kidding! This is just down the street! There is a little pasture in the middle of the neighborhood and the horses like hand-outs. I think the kids were into it too. 

Bathing Beauties... Aimee's scowling, but I don't think you will find a single picture in this entire post where ALL kids have a smile at the same time. 

Ok, so the day after they arrive, we take all the kids up to Sundance and take pictures of them playing in the leaves. It was sooo very gorgeous and really warm too. 

Addison, Neal, Amelia, Breanne, and Aimee

Neal as the tractor man. He looks so old in this picture!

Nanny with the kids

And why I love Utah... I LOVE the fall here, it is so beautiful. 

Poppy and the kids - they weren't ready for the picture yet, but this one turned out to be my favorite. 

More scenic awesomeness

Aimee is totally freaking out, but everyone else is more or less looking at the camera. 

Amelia looks really grown up in this picture to me...  

Hi Neal

Addie posing

Aimee's expression totally says, "Here we go again..." 

Best Bree-bree picture EVER! So cute!!

So I neglected to get more  pictures of our California family's visit. We did a few more things like go to Jumpin' Jacks, got some Cafe Rio, watched conference, had a girl's night out... I think it was a successful visit! Thanks for playing guys! Hope Aimee didn't scare you away - we can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!!