Blaze is 1 !!!!!!!!!

Blaze turned one on September 22, but we celebrated with a Cookie Monster themed family dinner last night. I know every parent say this, but I can't believe that my baby is 1! I love this age between 1-3 (before they get sassy and have a strong will of their own!), and I am having a hard time with the fact that this is my last! When I was pregnant with Blaze and waiting to find out if I was expecting a boy or a girl, my friends were all betting it would be another girl. I was really hoping for a girl since I never had a sister, and I wanted Alanna to have that experience. Then as I lay on the table at in the radiology room and looked at the surprise on the screen I saw we were having another boy, and I let out a sigh of disapointment. (I'm not usually in a good mood when I'm pregnant) I'm sure the lab tech was ready to call a social worker and report me as an unfit mother. A few days later a good friend told me that she thought I was going to have the sweetest baby boy ever, and that someday soon I would realize that Heavenly Father had something special in store for our family. She was soooo right! I wouldn't trade our Blaze-a-roo for anything. He has had the best temprament and personality from birth, and he balances our family out perfectly.

So, of course, we took tons of pictures of the birthday festivities. We have a tradition of letting our 1 year old babies go after their cake any way they want to, and it's always so entertaining to watch. Jackson had a cookie monster cake like Blaze, when he turned 1. The difference was that Jackson didn't know what sugar was, and he didn't know to eat the cake, he just enjoyed "painting" himself with the frosting. Blaze, on the other hand, watched me make his cake and it was torturous for him that he couldn't have any of it yet! When the time came, he immedietly dug in and devoured as much as his little belly could hold. He really enjoyed his huge Cookie Monster balloon and all of the party decorations too. We loved having so much of our extended family here to celebrate with us. I'm sure that Blaze felt all of the love!

"Lady Killer..."

Facebook is AWESOME! Here is some of the latest gossip on our little Paul's love life:

From our informant:

So I had the privilege of sitting in on Lane's primary class on Sunday and thought I would share the fun-
The lesson was on praying to Heavenly Father. Masey and Paul are still quite the couple! I would have thought the crush would have died down but no way! They even consulted each other on their responses to questions.

And Masey's mom replied:

I think Masey and Paul might be in this for the long haul... well, until Paul realizes she has cooties.

And then I just found out that Versailles, another little cutie also has a crush on Paul. This is what her mom said:

PauL MusT Be QuiTe THe LaDie'S MaN!!! VeRSaiLLeS GusHeS aBouT HiM eVeRy SuNDaY SaYiNG, "I LoVe HiM...He'S HaNDSoMe...BuT He DoeSN'T TaLK." sHe CaMe HoMe LaST SuNDaY & SaiD, "MoM...PauL TaLKeD ToDaY!!" HoW oLD aRe THeSe KiDs?!! AMy, I THiNK We NeeD To LoCK OuR GiRLs uP uNTiL THeY'Re 25!!...THiS PauL'S a ReaL LaDy KiLLeR!!!

I LOVE IT!!!!! And, I hope he will continue to attract such cute little girls from great families :)

The CUTEST thing...

for us anyway! It's seeing Alanna wear her little leotards and dance around the house and do gymnastics. She just started a jazz/ballet/tumbling class, and she LOVES it! If I let her, she would wear her dance outfits everyday. Having a little dancer is a new thing for us - our boys don't do dance or gymnastics ( thank goodness!). So, I love picking up Alanna and walking into the dance studio and seeing about 15 little 3 year old girls in tutus and ballet slippers. Ever since Alanna was two, she has been talking about playing soccer when she was old enough so she could be just like her brothers. I thought dance and soccer would be too much for right now because I have to run the boys around to their activities too. It think we'll have to try soccer in the spring though.

Alanna has also started preschool twice a week, at the same place Jackson and Paul went for both of their preschool years. She is constantly telling us what a big girl she is because she goes to preschool all by herself. It's fun to watch her get her school things ready the night before and carefully select a toy for show-and-tell. It really helped her socially to be in "play school" last year, and this year she hasn't had any problems knowing what to do or had any anxiety about being left on her own for a couple hours. I just can't believe she is old enough for school! It seems like she was just born yesterday.

More Vacation Photos...

Viva Las Vegas!!!

So, guess who I saw coming out of Caesar's Palace last night? You'll never guess---- Bret Michaels! Lead singer of Poison (Every Rose Has It's Thorn). Celebrity Apprentice Winner. I just have to explain because I may have a few family members who won't know who he is. Anyway, we were standing outside loading Blaze into his stroller etc. (we were walking all over Vegas at 10pm on a Friday night with our 4 kids in tow!), and I see this group of guys walk out and this lady yelled "Bret" and it caught my attention. Bret Michaels was wearing his signature cowboy hat and blond hair extensions and he turned around and I about lost my breath. The lady yelled "you are NOT Bret Michaels!!!", and he winked and flashed a smile and nodded his head. I was sooo close to him! I have been a little excited and feel like I kind of know him because I may have been slightly addicted to Celebrity Apprentice when he was on it. I might have followed him if I were alone!

Our vacation was so relaxing and so needed! Yesterday was our favorite day of the trip. We lounged at the pool then headed down to Caesars Palace for dinner at the Cheesecake factory. We had awesome seats there in the courtyard in front of the aquarium, and the food and service was amazing, as usual. I got the brownie sundae cheesecake and probably put on 5 lbs from that meal alone! After dinner, we toured the shops and caught all of the free shows. Some people don't like crowds, but in certain situations I love them. There was such energy and excitement on the strip, and I love to see and hear people from all over the world. It's just so entertaining when I don't really have to be anywhere or do anything but relax and enjoy the atmosphere.

Being in Vegas for a week with 4 kids was interesting. Living in UT, having 4 kids certainly doesn't create a spectacle. Being outside of Utah is a different story all together! We walked past a homeless beggar who was calling out to people for money, and he said, to James and I: "you don't qualify to give me money, you got 4 kids to feed!" Another lady told us to we need to have another child to make a basketball team and laughed and laughed like that would be ridiculous. When we ate at the Carnival Buffet at Rio, the Australian old couple sitting next to us told us we have the most beautiful family and our kids were so well behaved - that was nice. But then there are the awkward stares and I can imagine the thoughts behind them of "you are crazy, what were you thinking having 4 kids, did you mean to do that?" Every time I travel outside of Utah I am reminded of how nice it is to just fit in and not be such a spectacle at home :)