We love dad-o

I told Ty that instead of flowers for Valentines, I'd rather spend the money on hooks for the curtains. I was planning on heading out to buy some hooks for myself come Monday morning...

but apparently someone couldn't resist and insisted on getting me a bouquet of flowers.
I about died of cuteness. I couldn't stop smiling all morning thinking about him putting this together. Not only did I get hooks for my curtains, but hardware for the kitchen cabinets! I'm considering leaving the blue flowers on even after they are hung.

Best. Bouquet. Ever.

To assure his position as no. 1 Valentine gift giver, he got the girls their own cards. Mckinlay's even came with stickers.

We like this Dad-o of ours.

Even if we don't necessarily like getting out picture taken on his lap.

My little suckers

"Cutes" will be 3 months old in 3 days.

Seriously?

It's been 3 months?

She is all coos and smiles, rolls over from front to back, sleeps thorough the night {can I get a "hip hip" for 6pm-6:30am!?}, nurses, poops, spits up and just found her thumb.

Now if big sister would lose her thumb, we'd be in good shape.

{Excuse the bed-head-nakie-girl. Again, a post nap photo.}

Love these girls.
So much.

Lollipop Cookies anyone?

When you've had

it's time to make Valentines treats for your friends. Preferably something that will take up most of the day. Playdough Lollipop Cookies were the perfect solution.

We made the dough in the morning, let it chill during nap time and after naps we made the cookies. We really felt like we were using playdough. It was fun!

You can tell the rolling of the dough was done post-nap by the photos above. Mckinlay can't sleep with clothes on {"I can't rub my tummy with my clothes on Mom!"}, and I never seem to convince her to get dressed again until bed time. And sometimes I wonder why I even bother getting her in PJs since they come right off as soon as I tuck her in. It's a vicious nakie circle, I tell ya...

I digress. Go make yourself some lollipop cookies. I know you want to.

Recipe found here.

P.S. If you want to make these for Valentines gifts too, Target has little round heart gift bags that are prefect for wrapping the little cuties. Don't you just love when you find exactly what you wanted, even when you didn't know you were looking for it!?

From the mouth's of babes...

Me: Mckinlay what did you learn about in nursery today?

Mckinlay: Jesus.

Me: What else did you learn about?

Mckinlay: The Holy Ghost.

Me: What does the Holy Ghost do?

Mckinlay: He helps people.

ME: What else does he do?

Mckinlay: He glows in the dark. Especially on Halloween.

Our fun week

We totally enjoyed our week with Grandma, Melynn and Madelyn. So glad they could be here to celebrate this guy's birthday:

Thanks to everyone who helped with the 30 birthday cards, and 3o emails. You guys are great. He felt super loved. I didn't realize how big a number 30 was until I decided to come up with 30 things for this 30th birthday. Let's just say, there won't be 40 for his 40th.

These cute girls had a lot of fun together despite being sick, semi-grumpy and waking up at all hours/super early.

They made cookies with Grandma while Melynn and I made Valentines outfits for them and hair bows. We ate lots of good food, visited, played games, watched movies and made blankets for this, so we can go here for free.

Thanks for the fun visit you guys! We sure love ya! We'd take you back here in a heartbeat, sleep deprivation and all.

Ty Trivia -- Guest Post

And now for a guest post from Melynn (Ty's younger sister):

We made it in from Utah just in time to celebrate Ty's big 30, and oh is it a celebration. We have made cakes, decorations, favorite breakfasts and dinners along with wrapping all his presents. Meghan has gone all out and it is oh so fun.

We wanted to see how well you knew Ty and maybe in the mean time get to know him a little better. So below we have come up with a little "Ty" trivia. If you can answer the most questions correctly you will get a delicious little treat in the mail.

1. What is Ty's middle name? a. Joe b. Johnathan c. Passey d. Cornwallis
2. What was the original name given to Ty on his birth certificate? a. Ty b. Tyman c. Beau
3. What is Ty NOT allergic to (yes he is allergic to just about everything)? a. latex b. bird feathers c. dust d. pollen
4. What was Ty's nickname growing up? a. bubba b. sparky c. glorious son
5. Growing up, what kind of doll did Ty carry around? a. Ken doll b. G.I. Joe c. cabbage patch
6. What is Ty's favorite meal? a. pizza b. french toast c. steak and potatoes d. cold cereal
7. What is his favorite meal from Cheesecake factory? a. fish tacos b. mac and cheese c. luau salad
8. What historical thing happened in the LDS church the day Ty was blessed? a. the first Brazil temple was dedicated b. the 2nd quorum of the seventy was started c. church meeting schedule was consolidated
9. How old was Ty when he met Meghan? a. 25 b. 22 c. 23
10. How old was Ty when he was married? a. 27 b. 24 c. 26
11. At 18 months Ty broke his arm. How did he do it? a. jumping on the tramp b. falling out of his crib c. falling down the stairs
12. Where was Ty born? a. SLC, Utah b. Murray, Utah c. Sandy, Utah d. Las Vegas, Nevada
13. What does Ty want to be when he grows up? a. a garbage man b. an oral surgeon c. a dentist
14. Would you say Ty's humor is a. slap stick b. in your face c. dry
15. What was Ty's first dog's name? a. Max b. Buddy c. Butter
16. What sport didn't Ty participate in growing up? a. soccer b. football c. skiing d. snowboarding
17. What kind of dance didn't Ty participate in? a. ballet b. ballroom c. clogging

Leave your answers in the comments section or email 'em to Megs. You have until Thursday to enter. Happy trivia-ing!

30 things for his 30th.

In celebration of Ty's 30th birthday here are 30 things you may, or may not know about him:
1: His name is Tyman, not Tyler, Tyson, Tyrone, or Lyman for that matter.
2: He had long hair and a goatee when we met.
3: He use to wear a Star Trek T-shirt, like, all the time.
4: He's got some seriously sweet dance moves.
5: He told me he loved me (for the first time) at a Stake Dance.
6: Well, he mouthed it to me during "Everything I Do I Do It For You."
7: He's romantic, like that.
8: He served his mission in CA, San Fernando Valley, Spanish speaking.
9: If he didn't speak Spanish, we wouldn't have met.
10: He had 8 different jobs, none of which were at the same time, between January and June of 2005.
11: He smells like "pine cones & plaid" -- he's that manly.
12: He's nicknamed "Sleek-ruggidness."
13: He can do a handstand.
14: He went skiing, more than to class his Sr. year of high school.
15: He did well on the Medical Boards -- like highest score among all his co-residents.
16: He would be happy eating rice and beans for every meal.
17: He has a weakness for Utah Truffle Bars.
18: One of the very first things we did together Ty invited me to his X-girlfriend's snow shoeing party, days after they broke up -- she wasn't to happy about it.
19: His favorite cookies are Snickerdoodles.
20: He likes his meat rare.
21: He needs complete darkness to sleep.
22: He drove a Firebird while we were dating. {One of my neighbors said "Did you know there is a guy in our ward who drive a white Trans-Am?" and I had to say "Yeah. He's my boyfriend."}
23: He really likes treats -- contrary to popular belief.
24: He had his very first surprise party at 24.
25: He would go to bed every night at 8:00 if he could, maybe even 7:30.
26: He teaches the "Sunbeams" at church and loves it.
27: He was wearing a gorilla suit the first time I saw him.
28: He has mastered the "mac & cheese" dance.
29: He loves trees.
30: He has the luckiest wife and daughters because we get to be with him forever and ever!

We love you Daddy!!! Happy 30th birthday!
{Stay tuned for some "Ty Trivia" and a giveaway!}

Can you tell who is who?

It's like deja vu.
No, like seriously, deja vu.

But no complaints here. What can we say, we're consistent.

part of HER world

Yesterday Mckinlay hobbled out of the bathroom like this and said:

The funniest part was watching her try to get up the stairs that way.

Resolutionary Challenge 2010

A friend invited me to take part in this year's Resolutionary Challenge with her. It is a 12 week challenge designed to get you in the mind set of setting and keeping goals. There are 10 daily goals to achieve, that are, for the most part, relatively simple, but a great way to start off the new year. You get up top 10 points a day for the goals you keep and have the potential to earn prizes along the way or to win a prize for being one of the top three at the end of the 12 weeks. There is also an on-line forum to communicate and connect with the other participants.

Here are the goals:

1. Do the dishes before I go to bed.

2. Drink 8 glasses of water.

3. Exercise 30 minutes.

4. Be ready to present myself to the world by 11 a.m.

5. Eat 2 servings of fruit/3 servings of vegetables each day.

6. Savor up to (1) small treat/per day

7. Take 15 minutes just for me (e.g. read a book for fun, for meditation, contemplation of the divine, take a walk, watch a TV show)

8. Finish eating by 9 p.m.

9. Wild Card - this challenge will change weekly.

10. Do something today that will make a difference and record it in my "Atta Girl" or "Atta Boy" journal.

I'm excited to get started. I think this will be really good for me. Hopefully over the next 12 week I will be a healthier, more goal oriented, and smaller version of my post-pardum self. Fingers crossed, right!?

Wanna join in? The challenge starts today, so you have until tonight to register.

"Fancy & Three"

You are invited to my “Fancy & Three” birthday party!

It would be stupendous {that’s a fancy word for great} if you could attend!

Come in your posh attire & we’ll have a tea party lunch,

use French words like “merci” & “bonjour” {because everything sounds fancy in French}, we’ll play some fabulous games,

& of course, we'll eat parfaits!

Hope you can attend!

Love,
Mckinlay Marie

3 years old

...although sometines it hard to believe that she isn't 13.

I don't think there is a 3-year-old out there who is more excited about it being her birthday than she is.

We love you honey!

So much!

{And there will be several more birthday photos to come.}

New Do.

Someone has a flippy new bob.

The side where the damage was done, is still a little funky, but nothing a clip or headband can't cover until it grows out a little more.

{Phew. We thought for sure we were headed for a super short boy cut.}

She looks pretty darn cute in her new do, although we do kinda miss the T-BOZ, mullet look.

Eliza's Baby Blessing

Thanks for coming Happy Jo, Pappio and Grandma & Grandpa. We love you and are so glad you could be here for Eliza's special day.

2009 in review

Can you believe 2009 is over? It flew by, and brought a lot of changes to our family.

Here is our year in review:

JANUARY

Mckinlay turned 2

We matched to Case and found out we were moving to Cleveland

Ty turned 29

We got bed bugs in our apartment

{Yeah, never mentioned that one since we didn't want anyone to be paranoid about getting them too. Worst experience of our lives. Seriously. The worst. Sorry Spragues.}

FEBRUARY

Discovered we didn't completely eradicated said bed bugs {Luckily this time we got rid of the little buggers}

Megs was released after 3 years of being Relief Society Pres, WAHOO!

{Again, sorry Laura}

MARCH

Found out I was preggers

Grandpa Hallstrom passed away

Mckinlay and I joined the Hallstrom family in Hawaii for the funeral and family fun

Ty stayed home and studied his guts out for the boards

APRIL

Bought a house

MAY

I finally stopped barfing {morning sickness my foot, try 24/7 sickness!}

Learned to dance like WALL-E {"da da da da da da da da da da dah!"}

Took a trip "down the Cape"

Tried to squeeze in every possible outing with Boston friends

LOTS of packing

JUNE

Ty became Dr. Tyman Loveless, DMD

Found out baby #2 is a girl

Left Boston {we're still crying about that} and moved to Cleveland {crying about that too}

Enjoyed lots of moving help and a visit from Mom and Dad Loveless

Laid the Carolla to rest and bought a new car

Ty took the Medical Boards

JULY

Ty crazy busy at work

Celebrated a 1/2 birthday

Painted bodies and mustaches

Went swimming every day that the sun was out {both of them} and eat ice cream {with "sprinklers"} or ICEEs on the way home

AUGUST

Celebrated 5 years of wedding bliss

Became pirates for the 3rd year in a row

SEPTEMBEREnjoyed a visit from the McFamily

Megs turned 27

Discovered leaks and got a new roof

OCTOBER

Discovered more leaks and got a new bathroom Enjoyed Cleveland Fall

Went "trick-or-treaty" with the cutest ladybug ever

NOVEMBER

Megs out grew nearly all her maternity clothes

Welcomed Baby Eliza to the family

DECEMBER

Enjoyed our first Christmas as a family of 4 in our very own home and celebrated with Happy, Papa, and the McBrennans

Oh, and someone got a new hair style! This just happened this morning while I was in the shower. Guess she had to hurry and do it so it could make the highlight list for 2009.

{And yes. I cried. Then I laughed.}

It's been a great year. We're excited for what 2010 will bring...

like, I dunno, a new short hair cute for my daughter!?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

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sidenote - does anyone else have problems with the spacing in their posts? it is fine while i'm typing the post, but when i publish the spacing comes out all wonky. is it a blogger thing? or am i doing something funky?

Eliza -- 6 weeks

Little "Pugsley" has started smiling. Despite Mckinlay and my efforts, we just can't get a picture of it yet. Here our attempts:

Why don't you just trust me when I say it's a smile that melts your heart.

Mckinlay likes this one because:

"Huxley McSwugs is eating her cupcake Mom!"

----

Eliza's nicknames at 6 weeks:

"Pugsley McSlugs" or just "Pugsley"

{or "Huxley McSwugs" if you are Mckinlay}

"Baby Liza"

"Little Lizey"

"Cutes"

"Cupcake"

& "Peanut" or "Pill Bug"

{usually after she is bundled in this}

Christmas Chef

Christmas was fab. Happy Jo and Pappio flew in on Tuesday night and B, Alli and kids drove up on Christmas Eve. We had So. Much. Fun. So much in fact, that I didn't take the time to take very many pictures, which is very unlike me.

Mckinlay got her play kitchen and the umbrella Santa promised. She was pretty thrilled and now we have been getting non-stop home cooked meals from our new little chef. Her specialties include: potatoes with salt and pepper, broccoli soup, ice cream bars and banana muffins.

This was Christmas Sunday. I think I have a pretty cute family, wouldn't you say?

I just love this picture. I think Happy is in heaven. The girls too for that matter.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas. We missed you Maddle, Jeff, Tyler (who we got to talk to on the phone while on his mission on New Orleans) and all the Loveless Family. We're really excited to have Mom & Dad Loveless here on Saturday!! Eliza can't wait to meet ya.

Do we have a mouse or a Mckinlay?

The girls are asleep. I went to my room to start wrapping Christmas presents. I moved them all into my room last night so I could work on them during naps/after bed time and I covered them with a blanket to keep curious eyes and hands out.

I pulled back the blanket and what did I find?

Hmmmm, looks like some little hands {and a little mouth} got into the presents if you ask me.

What can I say, she is her mother's daughter.

"I can do anything that's everything all on my own."

We took Mckinlay "ice staking" yesterday.

I say "ice staking" because it was faux ice. Major bummer.

I'm no professional ice skater, but I did frequent Ice Palace, so, I mean, I can work it in the rink...but for the life of me I couldn't move on that "ice."

Fortunately Ty could, so he took Mckinlay out. She was convinced she could do it "all by myself."

And she could do it "all by myself"...

after she put her regular boots back on.

What? You've never heard of "Domenic the Donkey"? The "Italian Christmas Donkey"? Well here you go.

My girlies

I had the girls photos taken a few weeks ago. They turned out pretty darn cute. Here are a few: 5 days old.

This makes me laugh.

She looks like a little adult relaxing.

I can't believe Mckinlay will be 3 next month. Where has the time gone!?

Photos by Ashlee Jenks.

Santa's message to Mckinlay

This made me cry. I know, who cries over Santa...but I have so many fond memories of Christmas time as a kid {and as an adult} and I'm just so excited to see Mckinlay loving Christmas just as much.

Click here to watch her message from Santa.

I wish I had a picture of her face when Santa said he knew she has been nice to her sister. Priceless. And she was pretty thrilled to find out he'd be bringing her the umbrella she just decided in the past 3 days that she really Really REALLY wants for Christmas.

And I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping...

I dare you to not smile while you watch this:

Mckinlay and I are both smiling, from ear to ear in fact.

& tapping our toes.

"My BFF"

This morning I was burping Eliza and Mckinlay came and snuggled up on my lap to Eliza and said:

"Mom, she's my best friend forever."

My heart began to melt, then she looked up at me and said :

"You smell kinda stinky."

Speaking of stinkers, later I was upstairs getting a few things and when I came down the stairs Mckinlay met me at the bottom with an ice cream cone in hand. She got everything out herself and even used the ice cream scooper to assemble her cone. And the best part was she totally cleaned up after herself! No drips in the kitchen and the scooper was even put in the sink. I was proud. Even if it was only 9am and my daughter was eating ice cream.