Merry Christmas, Everybody! 

Who does Sienna look like?

It's been almost two weeks since we had our beautiful, little Sienna. It's been so fun and a little bit of a juggling act with two. Aubrey, despite her jealousy, has been so sweet to her little sis. I think they'll be real good pals some day.

Anyway, we were wondering who Sienna looks like, but after comparing a few baby pictures there's no doubt where she gets her good looks. She looks so much like Corey it's crazy. Just compare these pictures...

Corey

1 month old

Sienna

a few hours old

a few days old

I don't have very many pictures of Corey as a baby and I hardly have any of me as a baby. But I think it's pretty obvious who Sienna looks like with her full, dark head of hair and cute, little, pointy chin. I don't think I ever had hair, at least not until I was two or so. Well, maybe as she gets a little older we'll see a little more of me in her. 

Halloween Baby!

We had a baby witch!  She was born on October 31st at 1:09pm.  We've called her Siena for so long in the womb that no other name seems right.  I guess we will stick with it even though it sounds strange to many people (always requires repeating three times...C-N-Ahh... and spelling).

Specs

Weight: 6 lbs. 5 oz.

Length: 19.5 inches

Hair: Brown with blonde highlights

Eyes: Big and Blue

Quirks: Likes to go #2 when you take her diaper off!

Dad is posting this update from home.  As early as 2pm Friday I realized that the queesy feeling in my stomach wasn't from seeing the after-birth.  I've been home with the flu on self-imposed quarantine since.  It truly sucks.  No one enjoys violently vomiting, but it is dually heart wrenching to know that you are missing out on these first precious moments.  Hopefully I'll be feeling much better by time the baby makes it home.  I've been instructed to find the lysol and disinfect everything.

Aubrey's First Pumpkin Carving

Last Monday we carved a pumpkin. I think this is the first pumpkin we've carved with Aubrey. She loved it. I asked her what she wanted the face to look like and she said 'Toby.' Toby is her favorite train from Thomas the Train. She makes me draw Toby the train all the time so I knew just how to draw it. Corey did all the carving and I drew the face. Aubrey just observed. I think the pumpkin turned out pretty good. It's not very scary, but I think Aubrey likes it that way. When we leave our house, Aubrey sometimes says, "bye, bye, Toby." It took me a minute to realize she was talking to the pumpkin.

Corey's the master when it comes to pumpkin carving.

Wow, I'm really into it. Aubrey was pretty into it, too! 

Aubrey was terrified when Corey cut the top of the pumpkin off and the guts were all hanging from the top. Of course, Corey teased her with it. I thought she might jump right off the table.

These pictures are a little out of order. Start with the last one and go up. I'm too lazy to re-add them in the right order. Happy Halloween, tomorrow!

Old Ephraim's Grave

Last Saturday we decided to go for a drive, cuz staying home these days kind of makes me crazy with anxiety. We drove up to Ephraim's grave. For those of you, like me, who don't know, Ephraim was a great big bear that was causing problems for sheep herders back in the day. One of the sheep farmers finally trapped the bear and killed it at great risk to his own life. It's actually a pretty great story. The drive was nine miles of dirt road and it was bumpy. I thought for sure I would go into labor, but alas, nearly a week later, I am still anticipating the arrival of our little bundle. Still, I had never been to Ephraim's grave, so it turned out to be a fun little adventure.

The Pumpkin Walk

I love everything about fall. One of the things I look forward to every year is the Pumpkin Walk in North Logan. It's free and the pumpkin displays are so creative. What even made it more fun was that Daxton and Brandi came up with Grandma Peggy, and even Tahnee and Tyson came. Despite the crazy cold, I think we all had fun. Aubrey's favorite part, tied with the bus ride there, was the posters of characters that you put your face into. She loved the princesses, especially mermaid. If you've never been to the Pumpkin Walk, you should go this year. It goes until Tuesday, Oct. 28th, so there are still a few days left.  

What a little princess. I'm thinkin' this is as close as were gonna get to talking Aubrey into wearing a costume for Halloween. She's not super excited about the whole costume thing, sadly. 

The most exciting part, riding the bus from the Specialty Hospital to the Pumpkin Walk. I don't think Aubrey's ever ridden a bus before so she thought it was pretty cool. She didn't have to sit in a car seat, plus there were tons of other kids riding it, too. Pretty darn exciting.

Awe, Aubrey and her Daddy. She looks so much like Corey, don't you think?

I couldn't resist. This pumpkin display was of a bunch of babies and one said "It's a girl." I thought it was quite funny considering I'm due at any moment (OK, I wish). I still have a week 'til my due date, so no hurry.

Fall FUN!

Aubrey was having so much fun playing in our yard yesterday, I decided to take some pictures. 

Conference Weekend

Now summer is over, I really don't have much to report. So I'll post what fun we had at Grandma and Grandpa Hyer's house this weekend. As you can see by the pictures, Aubrey's having a pretty good time. 

^Here she is having a snack with grandpa and cousin Daxton. Amazing enough, she's actually wearing clothes in this picture. (Aubrey thinks being naked is the way to go these days.)

^"Watch me put my whole hand in my mouth." Aubrey does this a lot. I think it's just a nervous habit or something. (Notice - not wearing any clothes.)

^Rockin' with Daxton. Aren't they cute?! They could be brother and sister.

^One of the many good things about going to grandma's is that Aubrey has so much fun, she gets worn right out. That means Mom gets a break. Actually, I got lots of time to catch up on my rest. Corey and I even got to see a movie together, at a theater, just the two of us. I know, it's crazy! Oh, and conference was wonderful, too, but like I said, I kind of took advantage and slept thru a lot of it sadly. I'll catch up in next month's Ensign.

It's time to take the bottle out!

One of the hardest things I think I am ever going to have to do in my life (I'm being a little dramatic) is take Aubrey's bottle away. It's been such a comfort to her and so I've gotten used to giving to her when she's upset because it calms her down better than anything. I don't know who's going to miss it more, me or her. It's getting close to the due date so we have to take the bottle away soon! My doctor suggested taking it away cold turkey. He said to have her watch us throw the bottles in the big black garbage can outside and watch the garbage man take them away. Then if she asks for one we can say "the garbage man came and took them all away." That seems a little harsh and traumatizing to me, but I'm to the point where I'm ready to try anything. If anyone has any suggestions, please comment because I'm really struggling with this. I know what you're thinking..."what a wimp."

Corey won! Hooray!

On Saturday, we went to visit with Corey's family in Wellsville at the kid's rodeo they have every year. I just thought we'd hang out and have a good time watching the kids participate, and we did. We watched our nephew, Daxton, win a cute bunny. Aubrey had fun watching the horses. Not only that, but Corey entered me, Corey, and Aubrey's name in the raffle. As soon as I found out that the prize was a colt I just knew we would win just because we were probably the only one's who entered who couldn't possibly take care of a horse. Sure enough they called 'Corey Hyer.' At first everyone thought it was a joke, because it just so happens that the announcer was Corey's uncle. Very funny! HaHa! But he wasn't kidding. I think Corey was in shock, too, because they had to call his name a couple of times before he went out into the arena to claim his prize. I honestly haven't seen Corey so dang excited in a long time. He was grinning from ear to ear. I wish I could say I was just as excited, but all I could think about was what in the heck were we going to do with a horse?!!  Needless to say, it was a very fun and eventful night. It's one night I doubt we'll ever forget!

Here's Corey happy as can be. Who can blame him? How many people can say they won a horse? Who would've guessed our first pet would be a horse? Go figure.

Her name is Jewel. Isn't she pretty? She's the cutest little colt ever! Now that I've been able to get over the shock a little, I wish we could take her home with us. Aubrey would love it!

As you can see, I have no idea what to do with myself. I don't even know how to stand by a horse. How am I supposed to take care of one? 

It's Official! AUBREY'S TWO as of today! Happy Birthday, Aubrey!

I can't believe how much Aubrey has grown just this last year. I was thinking about her last birthday and how she couldn't even walk yet. Now she is so busy and talks like crazy. It's a little depressing that she's not a baby anymore, but I love how cute she is right now.

Aubrey had a fabulous party yesterday! It was so great to have her cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents travel from so far to be there. Of course it rained like crazy the morning of the party so we were forced to celebrate in our lovely garage. Corey did an awesome job cleaning and decorating it. He worked very hard. And my Dad, uncle Jeff, and my nephew Kallen worked hard on the yard clearing the huge branches that had fallen from our tree during the storm. You'd think a hurricane hit it was so bad. I'm sure that's just what they wanted to do during their visit, but we were really grateful. It was pretty cold in our garage, but luckily Grandpa Doug saved the day with his amazing propane heater. So, everything worked out after all. 

     
     

Aubrey got super spoiled, as always. I really think she appreciated and enjoyed everything she received. When she opened her presents, she looked at every single one very thoroughly, which took forever, but it was cute and sweet. 

Grandma Dinah brought party favors and Aubrey's favorite was a princess locket filled with purple lip balm. Aubrey's lips and face were completely purple. It was pretty funny. Aubrey had so much fun. I think she's had a wonderful birthday. Hooray! 

       
      

Aubrey's Going to be TWO - WOW!

Time to celebrate! I can't believe Aubrey will be two. We are having a birthday party for Aubrey in a week from today, September 1st (Labor day), at our house at noon. There will be a light lunch so, if you come, feel free to bring your favorite salad, chips, or beverage. Of course there will be cake and ice-cream. Hip, Hip, Hooray!   

Lake Powell was AWESOME! August 13-16

We had a blast going to Lake Powell! We took the whole family, Corey, Aubrey and even big pregnant momma (me) went. I'm glad we all went because it was so much fun. We went to the Arizona side of Lake Powell (I can't spell Waweep). The drive was a little unbearable from Logan to Lake Powell, but well worth it! Corey had a great time wake-boarding and skiing while Aubrey and I watched from the boat and hung out on the beach. Just about everyone in the Cox family came (except Grandma - she was at home with little Canon). We haven't all gone to Lake Powell like that in years so it was pretty special. 

Aubrey is a fish. She loves to swim. That's all she's wanted to do since we got back from Lake Powell. She had a blast playing in the water with her cousins.  

Here we all sit on the beach. Something is missing - maybe the canopy? The wind was blowing so hard that we were afraid the canopy was going to break again. (We had to get a new canopy because the one we brought broke on our first day at the beach.) So we ate lunch under the frame. Kind of funny.

Aubrey is grandpa Cox's biggest fan. She loved watching grandpa drive the boat and even got to sit on his lap while he drove. Ever since then, she thinks grandpa is pretty cool.
    

Mckae and I made face paint (yes, homemade - from scratch) and the kids had a great time painting their faces. It was so fun! Even uncle Jeff joined the fun. We were a little worried because it didn't look like the face paint was going to come off. Luckily it came off before church on Sunday.