FOOTBALL!!!!

Yesterday was football Sunday in our house. Linkin wanted to play football with Doug for like an hour while poor Doug was trying to watch the game. It was soo stinkin cute though I had to get some video. Linkin would hunch down when he saw the football players do it on the TV and than when they stood up to play so would he. It was sooo funny to watch him imitate the football players on the TV. I don't think Doug has ever been prouder of Linkin! ;)

Exploritorium

Linkin and I went to the Exploritorium with some friends today in San Francisco. It was soo much fun!!! The exhibits were a little over Linkin's head but he couldn't have cared less! He thought he was one of the big kids that were there on their school field trips. He did everything they did. It was so cute to watch him do all of the activities. We will absolutely be going again! Above is a picture of Linkin and I at the duck pond right outside of the Exploritorium. The pond is so gorgeous and it has some of the most amazing architecture. It kind of reminded me of the Forum in Rome. It was so pretty!

Future broadcaster, right?! jk. Linkin just called this the microphone and he waited FOREVER to get his turn on it. It was cool because it was teaching the delays between when you talk and the other person receives the transmission in their head set. Both educational and fun! Who knew?! :)

Linkin and Michael talking to each other through the microphones and head sets. It was so cute because they were kind of having a conversation. They started telling each other they loved each other and Amberly and I started laughing hysterically! So funny!!!

If we go somewhere and there is "bells" to find, Linkin will be sure to find them! He is drawn to them by some magnetic force. He LOVES playing the "bells."

This was a really cool exhibit. The blocks were magnetic so you could build a really big tower. After your tower was built you turned on the vibration and it showed how buildings collapse during earthquakes and stuff. Linkin had a great time playing and knocking it down.

Linkin played with this toy for a good 20 minutes! Who would have thought it would be so fun?! The black circle spun around and you could put the sand on and make different patterns and stuff out of the sand. It was suppose to show some scientific thing, but I don't remember! haha. All I know is Linkin played with it forever and I got to sit and rest a little bit. ;)

I know this picture is random, but it is taken by the duck pond outside the Eploritorium. Isn't this so cool?!!!

These little yellow cars crack me up! These cars are usually rented by tourists so they can put put around San Francisco and check out the sites. I think they are so funny. I don't know why but they make me giggle. I guess it's more funny when you see two people crammed inside because it looks like a clown car. haha.

Thanksgiving and other fun

Our family picture on Thanksgiving Day. This was also our Christmas Card picture, so Merry Christmas! :) Linkin was not into taking the pictures at all, so this was the best we got out of him. I think he still looks adorable though!


Doug and I were goofing around on Thanksgiving in the kitchen when we were suppose to be in the other room at the table eating Thanksgiving dinner with everyone. This was too funny though I had to put it on the blog! My dad was yelling to us at this point to come in and sit down. haha. Doug and I are just little kids stuffed in grown up bodies! lol :)


Doug had to go home the Sunday after Thanksgiving but I was lucky enough to get to stay until the following weekend when my amazing niece Karlee got baptised! It was so great to be able to share that day with her. We were so thankful to be there and loved watching the special event. Karlee you are an amazing little girl and we are grateful you are in our family! We love you so much! Here is a picture of all of the cousins that were there to support Karlee on her day.
(side note: Linkin did try to climb over the wall and jump in the water when Karlee was getting baptised. Sooo embarrassing, but still pretty funny. Crazy Linkin!!!)
Here is me stealing a quick picture with Karlee after her baptism at my parents house. Isn't she gorgeous???? Love you girlie! =)

Since I was there for a week and a half we had lots of time to meet up with our friends from Scottsdale. Here are just some of the kiddos crammed into the wagon at the train park. Love these kiddos and miss them sooo much! (This was for Slade's bday, so Happy Bday Slade!)

Linkin and Slade found a puddle and thought for some reason it was one of the coolest things ever. Who knew a puddle could be so fun? They played for a good 30 minutes in this tiny puddle. Funny little boys! (These two really could be twins though it's crazy how much they look a like even when they aren't dressed the same. lol)

Kade, Slade, and Linkin doing a goodbye hug. This was a sad goodbye. =( We will see you kiddos again soon! Miss you all!

Christmas 2010

It has taken me FOREVER to put up our Christmas pictures! Here they are! My camera died and so I missed half of the fun stuff we did while we were down there. =( These pics will just have to do for this year. Above is our cute little family picture on Christmas Eve. As you can tell Linkin just LOVES taking pictures. NOT!

The annual nativity skit done by all of the kids at Christmas Eve. Linkin has the shepherds can in one hand and of course he had to have Mader in the other. That tow truck from the movie Cars is almost always stuck to his hand! Heaven forbid when we loose it! :) The kids did a great job with the skit. And don't they just look so dang cute?!

Christmas morning started Waaaaay early! We had a late night the night before playing some pretty intense games of ping pong in my parents garage and the kids woke up at like 5:30 am!!!! Mamma don't do 5:30 am folks!!!! ;) Here is Linkin playing with his fun tag reader. Linkin is really into the show Super Why right now and the main character has the "power to read." He has a little "why writer" in the show and this is Linkin's "Why writer." He loves playing with his books that read to him. It is a way cute toy! (and educational :)

Linkin playing with his car tracks. I don't know where this toy ended up. I don't think it made the flight home to San Francisco. :( Hopefully we will find it somewhere when we go back to AZ to visit.
Here are the kids showing their biggest treasures of the morning. Linkin would have just been happy getting that Percy train for Christmas! Monterey with her treasures and Alexandra with her hamster. Good Christmas morning for all!

Nana and Papa on Christmas morning. Does anyone else think it's hilarious that my dad already has a tie around his neck?! hahahaha!! Love you dad!

Linkin was soooo tired after the BIG eventful morning that he just layed there and watched his Dinosaur Train track go round and round. We actually took a nap that day too! (naps don't happen these days!) He slept for like 3 hours after this! Such a fun morning!

My camera died after this so I don't have any more pics. =( We had a way fun time the rest of Christmas day at Doug's parents house doing secret santa and having Christmas dinner.

New Years was also super fun at our friends house Chad and Krissie. They just moved into a house 5 minutes from my parents house so we had to have New Years there and break their house in for them! Thanks for all of the great times guys!

Potty Boy

Last week Linkin and I went through an intense potty training. I used the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day book and by the 2nd day threw that out the window. :) There was a lot of great things I took from it, but I had to customize it a little bit to make it work better for Linkin. I can say that we have not had any pee pee accidents in over a week!!!! He really only had 2 pee pee accidents to begin with and one of them was the first time we went out in public and I wasn't paying close enough attention. All in all he took to peeing in the potty very well! We started by teaching one of his stuffed animals how to use the potty and than he was so excited he took almost every single stuffed animal we have to sit on his potty chair. We had to switch that "fun" game to putting his stuffed animals on his Halloween bucket because once he started peeing in the potty I didn't want that all over the stuffed animals! haha. Once it was his turn he was so excited to go and he thought it was great he got all sorts of yummy treats and juices. Big boy Linkin!!!!

He is still having a hard time doing the poopoos on the potty. He freaks out and holds it and wont go. Thank he has a hard time going when it's time to go. If anyone has any suggestions about this let me know! Today I bribed him by getting Toy Story 3 and told him he could watch it when he went poo on the potty. It worked for today, but I can't do that everyday!!! As you can see in the picture he has gotten very creative with things to do while trying to poo. He ate his apple, put his underwear on his head, and played peek a boo with himself with the towel. (A few days earlier he took off his underwear and smacked me with them, but that's neither here nor there...) He is doing awesome and Doug and I are sooo proud! Good boy Linkin!!! You are doing sooo good!!!!!!

This was Linkin playing dress up mommy during our potty training fun. He dressed me in buzz than wanted to take my picture since I was taking funny pics of him. I guess this is the payback I get for posting pics of him on the potty, right?! When you are stuck inside for a few days there are crazy thing you will do to pass the time, and this was one. haha

Potty Time

Tomorrow begins the potty training process. I'm going to try to do a program called "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day." I have had several friends who used it and SWEAR by it. I went today to get all of the treats, juices, and potty. Linkin is sooo excited to begin potty training. I don't really think he knows what he's in for! haha. He keeps sitting on his potty and saying, "I go pee pee like Jackson!" (Jackson is his friend from AZ who Linkin saw go through the toilet training process.) Hopefully I will have good news to report soon! I have my fridge stocked with coke to get me through the day and I definitely plan on snacking on those Oreo cookies I bought for Linkin! ;) Here goes nothing....

Halloween

Buzz Lightyear to the rescue!!!!! I mean seriously, how adorable is this Buzz?! Linkin has a history of weird Halloweens. His first Halloween he got super sick and ended up not getting to go and last year he was sick too. I have almost always had to dress him up in his costume after Halloween and do a photo shoot. This year was no different. haha. When it was time for trunk or treat at the church we had to wake him up from his nap to take him. He was NOT happy about this. He refused to put his costume on until we got there and wouldn't even talk about putting his wings on. I took this picture a few days later to show that his costume was ADORABLE! :) He loved trick or treating once we actually got him in his costume and he started gathering candy. He is definitely a fan now! Hopefully next year we have no problem getting him to do it!

Linkin and I took a trip to Arizona right before Halloween and had sooo much fun. Doug was in Miami for a work trip and Linkin and I spent some fun time with family. The Fry's by my parents house was doing a trick or treat one of the nights for the kids. It was really cute. They had all sorts of activities set up for the kids and had workers handing out candy too. I thought it was really cute and Linkin had a great time trick or treating with Monterey and Alexandera (aka: greek goddess and bat girl).

Britany and Linkin making ghost suckers at Fry's for trick or treat. Linkin was about 4 tootsie rolls down by this point in the night. It worked out great for me because I'm not a fan of the tootsie rolls so I got to eat all his good candy! :)

Here is Linkin trick or treating door to door at the church. It was scheduled to be a trunk or treat party but the weather in Cali actually has rain, so we ended up inside the church. He had a great time and people did a great job decorating their doors and handing out yummy treats. Linkin snagged a balloon somehow from a carnival game in the gym and it turned out to be one of the best things of the night. I could always tell where he was! I'm thinking about getting a permanent balloon to put on him at parks and stuff so I don't loose him. I think it's a great idea!!! ;)

This is the game Linkin and I played for seriously about an hour while I was trying to get a cute pic of him in his outfit. He would not run unless I said either, "to infinity and beyond" or "buzz lightyear to the rescue". It was pretty funny! He had a fun time as you can tell from above! Cute little man!