Taking It Literally

Here in Utah they have been playing Christmas music on the radio since November 1 on some stations. It's been a little crazy, but I have enjoyed it.

The other day I asked Macey what she was listening to. I guess she heard two Christmas songs that she wanted to tell me about. One was about a lady who needed to go home but it was too cold to go (Baby, It's Cold Outside) and the other was about a woman who wanted a baby for Christmas (Mariah Carey -- All I Want For Christmas Is You).

I had to chuckle. I love Macey. I love seeing Christmas through her. She's great.

Big Time

Molly was invited to a birthday party! Her little best friend is two days younger than she is, and he had a little party. He is a big Wonder Pets fan, and so we got him a little Wonder Pet, wrapped it up, and went to a great party with his family. They rode lots of rides together and had a great time!

Good Golly, Miss Molly Is Three!

A few days after Thanksgiving, my Black Friday baby turned three!

To celebrate, my sister came over with her family on Sunday night for a Snow White Party and Princess cake and ice cream. On Monday, her actual birthday, we met Garry's brother and his family at Chuck E. Cheese and Molly's best friend came as well. She had a great couple of days! I also took her to Barnes & Noble and we had a hot chocolate and a big chocolate chip cookie and she picked out some books.

What can I say about Molly? She's adorable. She's feisty. She likes to talk. She really likes to get her way. She likes princesses, especially Snow White. She loves Disneyland. She likes to play with Macey. She's a great big sister to Braden -- he loves to play with her. She's stubborn. She's tiny! Just a petite little thing. She loves to sing. She's brave -- she went on the Matterhorn Ride at Disneyland and giggled the whole time.

We love Molly!

Now Pass That Pie!

This year for Thanksgiving many members of my family came here to South Jordan. Nine of us decided to participate in The Human Race, a race to benefit the local Utah Food Bank, but I wish that they would pick a different name. It sounds too much like The Human Fund from a Seinfeld episode. My Mom participated in the 5K walk and did great!

My friend Shauna joined us on the 5K race. I am glad that she was there as the rest of my family is much faster than I am, and it would have been a lonely 3.2 miles. Shauna and I improved our Halloween 5K time by 30 seconds. Go us!

After the race, I headed home and started on some pies! And I did not feel the least bit guilty about eating a lot! I had run off a lot of calories and looked forward to taking them all back.

Emma was happy that our chocolate pie was devoured first. She thought that it was a competition between the Moms and her Mom won. It's awesome having a cheering section.

Leaving. . .

We were at Disneyland for three days, and it was hard to leave. When we walked out the gates, I realized that we would not be back in the morning. I was sad. I looked down and Emma was crying and crying, she was so sad.

We've been home for almost a month and every night Molly prays that we can go back to Disneyland. Tomorrow. I told her that it is expensive and we have to save up all over again, and so periodically she'll take pennies from the coin area in the van and give them to me "for Disneyland". If Molly was in charge of the world, it would be a much better place.

Good & Bad

In June of 2009 , the last time that we went to Disneyland, Emma was selected in the Jedi Training Course. She and her cousin Trey were selected this time, and they did a great job! In 2009, Emma was too scared to battle Darth Vader, but this time she took him on! And won!

Macey did not get selected, and it made her cry. Kids should never cry at Disneyland; it broke my heart because she's such a good girl. That's why this is a good memory and a bad one -- excited for Emma, proud of Emma, sad for Macey.

The Cunningham Boat

On our third day at Disney, Garry's brother and his family joined us. I love it when they come with us because Amber, my sister-in-law, is a Disney expert, having grown up in California. She knows where all of the bathrooms are. She knows the best places to eat. She is the best guide ever.

With the four of them and the six of us, we got our very own boat on Its A Small World. They redid everything inside for Christmas. It was great!

Sensory Overload

When we went to Disneyland, Braden was 7 1/2 months. He took each and every day in stride, even though he never got a good nap and never really got fed when he wanted to be. No fits. No screaming. Just his normal perfect self.

I think that he was overwhelmed by it all. So much to see; so much to hear. Even in line there is music and things to look at. When we finally got back to the hotel each night, he would just babble an kick his legs -- like he took everything in all day and now could relax and let you know what he thought about it all.

I love this picture with Belle taken when we were at Ariel's Grotto. Braden obviously likes brunettes. Good boy.

Worlds of Color

Here's a picture of Garry and Molly as we waited for Worlds of Color. It turns out that the same guy who did the fountains at Bellagio in Vegas also did the Worlds of Color show at Disney.

It is AMAZING. Favorite Disney clips play on the water fountains along with amazing colors and music and it's just a great water and laser show. Over and over again I saw that Disney does not do anything "small". They truly go all out. They also show clips from Pirates and in that part they used fire flames. That was the best part. It was a great show!

This picture also represents Garry's main memory of Disney: carrying Molly everywhere. Luckily she is the lightest little thing and maybe he'll listen next time when I suggest we take the double stroller. Just sayin'.

I Know Flynn. . .And You're No Fylnn

While I was taking the girls on the carousel ride at Disney, I saw a huge line forming over near the Snow White ride. I told Garry to go investigate -- I bet it had something to do with Rapunzel.

Sure enough, it was the line to get to go in the tower and meet Rapunzel. I stood in line while Garry took the girls on the Dumbo ride and through Sleeping Beauty's castle. One lady walked up and asked the line attendants what this "ride" was. She answered it was to meet the characters from Tangled. "What's Tangled?" she asked. And I thought, 'wowzer lady, you and I lead very, very different lives".

Rapunzel was very nice to the girls, but I was disappointed in Flynn. He was a little short. And hairy.

Macey gave Rapunzel a flower. It was fun.

And then there was Disney. . .

So I admit that I have been slow to blog lately because I have been overwhelmed by how to blog our Disney trip. Egads! Too overwhelming! So instead I am just choosing my favorite pictures and sharing my favorite memories. Starting with this.

Molly's favorite princess is Snow White. She calls her "Snow Wipe". It's so cute we just cannot correct her.

While we were at Disney, on the second day there we had lunch at Ariel's Grotto -- the character dining place with the Princesses. Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Snow White are all there. They are introduced one at a time and they come to each table for a picture. Molly saw Snow White enter the restaurant and she stood on her chair yelling, "Snow Wipe! Snow Wipe!" and waved her hand furiously. She was so excited! It was a good moment.

Pawn Stars!

Being a fan of the History Channel show Pawn Stars, I really wanted to stop at the pawn shop and look around. They are technically on the strip, down the street, kind of in a sketchy neighborhood. And no, none of the workers were there. But I got a great t-shirt! I expected to go in and see all of this cool stuff for sale because that's what you see on television. Instead, it looked . . .like a pawn shop.

Bellagio

Being an Oceans 11 fan, I really wanted to see the fountains at The Bellagio while we were in Vegas. I loved the end of that movie where they walk out and calmly walk over to the fountains and watch them go off and then walk away, one by one.

Okay, the fountains are viewed the strip, and there is no serene beauty on the Las Vegas strip. There were people EVERYWHERE. It's beautiful in the movie. And only in the movie.

The show was fabulous but quick! The fountains go off for about four minutes -- about the length of a song. Still stuck in my Oceans 11 fantasy, I expected something classic and beautiful and serene. Um, no. It was loud. But powerful and still fun to watch!

M&M World!

On our way to Disneyland, we spent the night in Las Vegas. We took the kids to see the lions at MGM Grand. The hotel/casino was CrAzY because they were getting ready for a big boxing match that evening. But we meandered our way through to see two lions. That were sleeping. I have to say, I was disappointed.

But then we hit M&M World. Hooray for chocolate! You would think that I went crazy and spent a ton of money there, right? Well, normally, I might have, as they had a wall of M&Ms in different flavors and colors, all there for the picking. But I realized that I would shortly be in Disney and would want all of my dollars, quarters and cents to spend on something meaningful. . .like Star Wars bath toys for Braden. (Some day he will thank me).

I did, however, buy a Christmas ornament and Garry got the girls each a bag full of M&Ms. Heaven.

Her Big Day Out

While I was taking Macey and Braden to the doctor, my friend offered to take Molly with her and two of her kids to see the witches at Gardner's Village.

Molly was so excited for her outing with her little best friend. I took out her booster and put it next to the door. While I was getting things ready, Molly was also getting ready. I went back to the door and saw that my little two year old had packed a purse, gotten her bunny ready and drawn a picture for my friend to say "Thank You". She did all of this on her own.

Molly is my little pill sometimes -- she likes to get her way -- but I am always so impressed by her!

Surgery Siblings!

Braden has had ear infections since this summer. It's been hard as he has not been able to sleep well. Or nap well. I finally got an appointment with an ENT. I joked with my friends that I was going to demand tubes the next day. So when I took him in and the doctor said that he needed tubes soon and I said that tomorrow worked well for us and he said fine, we'll put you on the schedule, I was ECSTATIC!

While we were in the office, I also had him look at Macey. She had tubes put in at 14 months. And one never came out. The doctor said it was stuck and would require surgery to take out and she could go on the schedule the next day as well.

The next morning Garry took the two to the surgery center and I got Emma ready for school. I went and picked up Braden when he was done, and Garry stayed with Macey. They did well! Braden still has the congestion I was hoping would clear up, but Macey feels good!

The "Fun" Run

When Braden was over three months old, I headed back to the gym. I had some serious weight to take off, and, honestly, probably had not lost the weight from Molly.

My friend and I decided that to motivate ourselves we would run in the American Fork Fun Run right before Halloween. You run a portion of the race through a graveyard and many people dress up. It's fun. Especially when it's over.

It's just a 5K, but I was very anti-running for a long time, preferring to speed walk on the treadmill while reading.

I will never love running. It's just not me. But I do like the effects of running. So that's something!

I ran the race with my friend and my brother in law and my nephews. I have a nephew who is a serious runner and came in 6th overall. He's awesome. I came in 10th for my age range. There are some smoking fast 29 year olds out there!

I am running another 5K at Thanksgiving with my sister and seven other family members. They will all beat me, by a lot, but at least there will not be any guilt when I eat a whole pumpkin pie by myself!

Player of the Game!

You would think that with her Daddy as the coach, Macey would be Player of the Game early in the season and often. Well, maybe not often, as each kid only gets it once, but still. . .

Macey and soccer are an interesting combination. It's just not her thing as she is not aggressive and so would never try to take the ball from someone or beat them to the ball. It's just not her style. But she likes being part of a team, and she likes to compete with the team. And she likes the snacks that are passed out at the end of the game!

At the end of the season in October, it was her turn! Player of the Game! Since it was the last game and she knew it was her turn, she really put her heart into this game. She had a lot of touches and really hussled. I was proud of my Macey!

Starting Off Four Strong

This year, I have to admit, I was really looking forward to Garry taking the kids out by himself and getting some alone time. Just me, a bowl of candy, and the remote control. Yahoo!!!

But it was not to be. Garry called me after about five houses to come and get Braden. And then Molly came home. And then Macey straggled in. Finally Emma came home with her Dad.

But I have great hopes for next year!

My Little Pumpkin!

We let all of the kids pick out a pumpkin this year and a pumpkin design. They got to pick eye shape, nose shape, scary face? smily face? teeth? no teeth? After they decided, Garry would start cutting.

I washed all of the pumpkins and got them ready to be carved. Emma said that she was excited for the day when she would get to wash pumpkins for her kids. Just to prove to her that girls can do more than wash, I took over Braden's pumpkin and carved a fun little BOO! design. Girls can do it all, Emma. Just remember that.

Boo at the Zoo!

When we lived in Maryland we would participate with friends in the "Haunted Forest" in Southern Maryland. We would walk down this beautiful garden path and there would be booths with businesses passing out candy, coupons and flyers. It was fun, and we loved going, even in the rain.

I did not think that we would find anything as great here, but I did! We decided to try out Boo at the Zoo! We heard that it was crazy crowded, as most events in Utah are. So we made a goal to be there early. We arrived at 9:30 -- a 1/2 hour after it started. Already the parking lot was full, people were parking on the street and in the back parking lot. CRAZY!

But instead of little businesses in Southern Maryland handing out coupons, the Zoo had huge names there: Chick-fil-A, Red Robin, Wendy's, Chuck-a-Rama, Chipotle, Village Inn -- we came away with so many coupons for free kids meals -- it was great!

One awkward moment -- while waiting in line at the Verizon booth, I got stuck in the middle of a flash mob performing to Thriller. I tried to get out of there fast with three kids and a sleeping baby in a big old stroller. Oh dear. I am sure that it's on Youtube somewhere. . .

Searching. . .

Remember last year when I took the kids to the fundraiser in Riverton and it was a borderline debacle experience?

This year I tried again! Once again we went out to the "Search for the Great Pumpkin". But this year I knew what to do! We brought good flashlights. Not great. Just good flashlights to help us find the candy on the way to the Great Pumpkin. Last year we had wimpy Princess flashlights and could not see anything and did not find anything. Nope. Not a single piece of candy. I kept telling Garry that we needed really strong flashlights and maybe even a lantern. He had never been and so did not understand the importance of a strong light. But I think that now he has gone through the experience, next year we will be even more prepared!

This year Garry was there. Which helped a lot. Last year he was in Washington, D.C.

This year the kids were older and so I was not anxious about losing them and demanding that we all stay together. I told them to go for it and I would find them later. They did great and found lots of stuff!
And we found the Great Pumpkin! Hooray!

We went with our friends from down the street. We have kids the same age who are good friends. This little boy is Molly's best friend so I thought it was cute that she was a Princess and he was a Frog.

Cruising

We went with some friends down to Provo to go on a Halloween Cruise on the Provo River. It was a really short trip down the river where we were able to see about 100 elaborately decorated pumpkins on the side of the river and there was a pirate who jumped in our boat and passed out candy. Macey was terrified of the whole process. About twenty minutes after it was all done, she finally talked and asked that we "never do that again." Molly, however, asked about the pirate for DAYS. Where was he? What was he doing? Were we going to see him again? She thought that he was awesome.

By far, I think that the best time of the night was when we went to Krispy Kreme for donuts and hot chocolate. The kids watched the donuts get made, and the adults hung out and talked. It was fun.

Kind

Last year Emma won an award at school called the "Dragon Leader Award". It was a year long commitment with various things that we had to do all year long. It was a little intense for Kindergarten.

So I was relieved when they announced this year that the Dragon Leader Award would be given out monthly instead. Every month two students from each class would be invited with their parents to a breakfast ceremony to celebrate the accomplishment of the student.

Macey was chosen for her class. We went to school, ate donuts, and she got a certificate from the principal. I teared up when I saw what her teacher wrote on the certificate -- that she was chosen for working hard and being kind. There's no question that Macey is a rock star when it comes to reading. But I love that her teacher acknowledged her kind heart.

Goodbye, Old Friend!

A few months ago Garry asked what kind of family we were going to be. At his work and in the neighborhood, there seems to be families that go boating frequently. They are boating families. Then there are camping families. The families who would go three wheeling. The cabin families. What kind of family were we going to be? What was our thing?

Apparently this year we became a soccer family. Garry coached Emma's and Macey's teams and Emma would also attend Academy Soccer and Goalie Training. It became quite a commitment.

But Macey's last game was Monday and Emma's was yesterday. We are all done with soccer until March! Woohoo! Goodbye, old friend. See you in five months.

Second Annual!

The best part about being settled here in Utah is the ability to develop family traditions. This year we returned to a great pumpkin patch about 1/2 mile from our house. The pumpkins are great and sold at a fair price and there's lots for the kids to ride on and do! Braden really liked this tractor. Grandparents: be on notice for Christmas. They also offer free tractor rides. My favorite part.

And they have a little free corn maze.

And pumpkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins.

I keep thinking about growing pumpkins but then we'd miss out on all of this!!

Someday. . .

Sometimes I take pictures so that I can laugh about it later. Much, much, much later. Molly!

A Bouncy Beautiful Day!

This year for her birthday Emma had a family party a few days before her birthday with some yummy chocolate cake that her Daddy made for her, brownies and a pie. On her actual birthday she was able to hand out candy to her class and then she had a big birthday party at Jump & Bounce. 14 happy and excited girls ran around for two hours -- glad it was not in my house!!

We love, love our Emma. She tries so hard in all aspects of her life. She is a good athlete, she enjoys her singing/theater classes, she gets perfect marks at school. Everything she tries, she just gives it her all, and we think that she's beautiful, too!

Six Fabulous Months!

Baby Braden is now six months old! To celebrate, we let him go at a cupcake. He liked the frosting. A lot.

Braden has been a great joy. He loves his sisters. Emma can make him belly laugh. She's the only one with that skill. He likes Macey. He trusts Macey. She can hold him and he does not immediately freak out. Molly. Now, Molly he loves. And Molly he fears. But mostly loves. She gives out tough love sometimes.

Braden is my most content baby. He loves to be held. We have never had to take him out of Sacrament Meeting. And when I take him out during Sunday School or Relief Society it's usually just because he is babbling so loudly!

He has a lot of hair which I find I want to arrange into a ponytail -- old habits die hard. And he is tall! He's 90th percentile for length and only 40th for weight.

He is sitting pretty well now. But I doubt he will walk as fast as Emma and Molly did. He may be on the Macey-track.

He is my worst sleeper. On 'good' nights I still get up with him three times a night. Bad nights, well, I lose track after seven. Last night was a bad night and I stopped counting when I got up with him three times in one hour. I know I should let him cry it out, but I think it's because his ears cause him a lot of discomfort. After we see the ENT, we're going to have to renegotiate his sleeping habits.

We love our boy!

Jump In!

Our gym has a really nice indoor and outdoor pool, and I love taking the kids there, especially in the winter, because it's a great way to play and burn some energy. This summer I would take the girls quite a lot but make Braden stay in his stroller where I would try to convince him to take a nap. Usually I was entirely successful. He's such a good boy.

But at the end of the sumer, I let Braden explore the pool when we stopped at Lava Hot Springs. He liked it! I think. At least he did not say otherwise. I'm not sure if I will take him again soon -- it's a challenge to get everyone dressed all at the same time! But hopefully as the weather cools down and soccer ends, we'll hit the indoor pool often.

The Day The Plague Came To Stay. . .

Garry is convinced that our house is under the influence of some plague. . .and I am starting to believe him.

We struggled over the last two weeks to get Macey feeling better after battling croup and then pink eye.

During the same time Braden has been battling a little congestion and an ear infection. He is on his second medication to make the ear infection go away -- it has been slow to clear. It has been a challenge as some nights he is up over seven times a night.

This weekend Molly got a really bad cold and pink eye and Emma developed a pink eye that was not reacting to a prescription and so Garry had to take her into the doctor this morning for a different prescription.

And on Thursday Braden goes in for tests because the doctor is concerned that he has a strong left hand preference at a time when he should be using both hands equally.

The plague has landed. . .there's not enough Clorox in the world. . .and we're only in October!

There's A Whole Lot Going Around

Emma and Macey are both, well, not required, but strongly encouraged by their school to read 20 minutes a day. At night time, there is a whole lot of reading going on in our house. Molly hates to be left out of anything and will flip through books often throughout the day. I'll find her like this a lot at night, chilling with a book and her pillow pet.

What Do You Mean They Aren't FABULOUS?

A few weeks ago at Down East Outfitters, I saw a pair of pants and thought "hot dog! the 80s are back!" I tried them on and though they were super comfy, I was unsure of what to wear with them, especially shoe wise. Reluctantly I put them back.

Then I saw on Facebook that they were 50% off! I was so excited! I logged on to see more information and was shocked, shocked by the comments people were making on Facebook, essentially making fun of my 80s dream pants. I sighed, and closed my laptop.

I still think they are kind of fabulous.

In Celebration. . .

This year I am participating in Garry's Fantasy Football league. So far I have demolished both his brother and his Dad with my Redskins-led roster. The day after draft day, I celebrated by taking this picture of Braden. You cannot see all of the shirt, but it reads "Mommy's 01 Draft Pick." I love him.

Tiptoe, Tiptoe. . .

Braden will usually wake up before 6 AM, and therefore he is usually ready for a nap by 8:30. Wish he would just sleep until 8:30 instead. . .

This morning I did not get Molly dressed before I put Braden down. Since their rooms are next to each other, I asked Molly to please tiptoe upstairs so we could get her ready. I wanted her to be quiet so that Braden could sleep.

We walked up the stairs and Molly whispered "tiptoe, tiptoe" all the way up the stairs. I was proud of her for being so quiet.

Until we reached her room and she screamed out, "I did it, Momma! I did it!!"

Maybe I should have explained the reason behind the tiptoe, tiptoe a little more. . .

Sometimes I Think About. . .

I feel like I have been exposed to everything but the plague. Macey was sick a little last week and then on Friday I heard her wheezing after she woke up. She also had a deep cough and a raspy voice. I took her into the doctor where she was treated for croup.

Braden has not been his normal, happy self. He has been waking up a lot at night, some nights he would wake up 7 times before 2 AM. Not that I counted. I took him to the doctor where he was treated for an ear infection.

This morning I woke Macey up and she complained about 'stuff' on her eyelashes. I looked at her red eye, surrounded by gunk, with a thick eye lid, and I realized that she had pink eye. Back to the doctor we go. . .

During all of this, I have been battling my own cold symptoms: a sore throat, a cough, congestion. . .

In times like this, I think about:

Sick Days. Remember sick days? Remember calling into work sick and hanging out on the couch in pajamas, watching Oprah? Remember not having to get off the couch for anything except to maybe go to the bathroom? Awesome.

Sleep. Remember when you could go to bed at night and know that nothing, nothing would wake you up before the alarm went off? Awesome.

Good thing I love being a Mom. Good thing I love watching Emma score in a soccer game, watching Macey run to the school bus with her bookbag swinging from side to side because she's so excited to go to school, hearing Molly tell me "Oh, shanks Mom! " when I give her a sippy of chocolate milk, and hearing Braden laugh for no apparent reason. Good thing because sometimes sick days sound . . .well. . .awesome.

Where Did She Learn THAT?

While the kids' MawMaw and PawPaw were visiting in June, they were asking Emma, who is really good at math, some math questions. They then asked her some harder questions, and Macey started answering. The next day, we asked her the same questions and got it on tape. When I read with her, I can never figure out how she has learned so quickly. As for how she figured out math, I have no idea. She's just smart.

They're GREAT!

It's no secret that Garry was not exactly doing cartwheels when we decided to move here. But one thing that he was excited about was being closer to his grandparents. The kids get excited to see their great-grandparents, though the great grandparents might be overwhelmed by the noise when they come over. We have not seen them nearly as much since we brought home #4!

Kickin' It

To say that Garry and the girls have been busy this summer with soccer would be a sad, sad understatement. Garry and I decided that we wanted Emma and Macey to be on separate teams for soccer instead of making Macey play up with Emma's age. We wanted to see if Macey did better against kids her own age.

So Garry decided to coach both teams. And he decided to put Emma into Soccer Academy -- kind of like a soccer camp. A really long soccer camp. And now she's in a goalie class.

Right now in the Cunningham house, it's soccer, all the time, nearly every day. But it's good to have the girls outside and running and playing. Winter will be here soon. Too soon. So we'll let the girls be active while they can. Not sure what we'll do in November when it's done -- wait, oh ya, there is school. . . .

The Day Alicia Beat Garry. . .By A Lot

In our efforts to go out and have fun with the kids, even though the lawn may need mowing and heaven knows the front yard needs weeding, we took the kids bowling. They had little stands for the girls to put their ball on and then push off. And of course they had bumpers. So the girls great!

I did even greater and actually beat Garry on the first game. Woohoo!

But the best part of the night was seeing Molly sport her Size 7 bowling shoes. They were ADORABLE and she rocked the alley with her cuteness.

Mad Skills

When he wants to, Braden can hold his own bottle. He's got mad skills. He does not do it very often, and I have to say, he is the slowest bottle drinker I have ever seen. He loves to be snuggled and held while eating-- really, two of his favorite things all at once!--that he TAKES HIS TIME. He only drinks about 4 ounces at a time, and he takes 15-20 minutes to drink it if he's being held. It's rather ridiculous, but he's so cute, we'll let it slide.

It's All About the Effort

Some mornings, to motivate the kids to get going and get ready, I conduct what is called "Line Up". They line up and tell me all the things that they did that morning: brushed their teeth, made their bed, got dressed, brushed their hair, ate their breakfast all gone, stayed in their bed the night before....For each thing they get a small candy -- like a piece of taffy or a M&M.

Molly always struggles with the "making her bed" category as she is little, little. But the other day she really tried, and I had to take a picture and reward her mightily. I know it's not perfect, but it in a lot of ways, it's absolutely perfect.