VEGAS WEEKEND

Last weekend I went on a girl's trip (Mom, Sisters, Aunt and Cousins) to Las Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera at The Venetian. My Dad and my uncle actually gave this package to all us girls as a Christmas present. It was so fun! The Phantom was spectacular of course because Las Vegas shows spare no expense. The performers, the sound, the orchestra, the scenery, the special effects, everything was by far the best I've seen, and I've seen Phantom of the Opera 4, maybe 5 times. The Venetian is great! It was huge. Corey has been there quite a few times. He actually planned on giving me the same present for our anniversary, but my Dad beat him to it. Anyway, we had so much fun, other than I lost $6 on the slots and I've never gambled before (and I never will again - not so fun if you're a loser). 

This was taken from the advertisement. 
Doesn't the Venetian look awesome?!  I would love to visit Vegas again.
Aubrey stayed with Grandma Peggy.  Mandy, Caden's fiancee, gave aubrey a mermaid costume and Aubrey wouldn't take it off. I think Sienna and Aubrey had lots of fun. I know Aubrey did because, even though she was excited to see me,  she really wasn't too excited to go home. That is, until I told her we were going to see Dad. Corey stayed home. He was real sick with a cold and the flu.  Poor kid. 
Happy, adorable, little Sienna! I really missed my girls!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

We had such a wonderful Christmas holiday! We were gone all week from Monday night until Sunday. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my parent's house. Aubrey and Sienna both  had a blast with her cousins. Sienna and Canon acted like they were old friends. They smiled and cooed at each other. It was soooo cute! Aubrey was so spoiled, but she loved every little present she got. My sister bought her toys from the movie The Nightmare before Christmas. She looked at the book for forever. The only thing Aubrey wanted from Santa was a Tinker Bell doll. The first thing she said when she woke up Christmas morning was "Tinker Bell." It was so cute! 

We had such a fun time all week, but it ended up being a lot of traveling. Corey's brother, Caden, just got home from his mission to Alaska on the 23rd and he reported his mission that Sunday. He did such a nice job, by the way. By Sunday Aubrey wanted to go to "Aubrey's house" pretty bad. She kept saying "Aubrey's house." I was pretty ready to go home myself, but, like I said, we had a wonderful time! 

Tired baby.
Deliriously happy!


Aubrey's first Candy Cane. What a mess! But she loved every bite.
Undressing the tree.
Dad and Sienna wearing their new outfits for Christmas. 
Sienna and Canon, best buds!
Aubrey was so tired Christmas Eve. Everyone stayed up until after midnight. She came close to just crashing on the floor a couple of times, but there was just way too much excitement going on.

Aubrey looking at her new favorite book.

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.