Help...

So...Brads uncle is a professional photographer which makes it really nice that we can take advantage of that. So while we were in Kansas we had family pictures done. They are in. I need help deciding.

After you click the link click on Brad Coates. Should be the first on the list. The password is ashton.

http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/store.aspx?p=21408

On a side note....my little chunky monkey is 16 pounds! He had his 4 months checkup/shots. He so didnt like the shots this time. Not that last time was better he was just really awake this time. He wasnt even breathing he was just screaming. As soon as the shots were over i picked him up and he did a pathetic 'i cant believe that just happened' cry. After a few seconds he was done with that and looked at the lady that gave him his shots. The lady said to him "Look, you're done. That was it. " Talans reply to that was a pouty lip and more bawling. She is on the bad list. Oh, and he is 26.5 inches. He's 97% for height so it looks like he is going to be a tall guy. Basketball maybe? Daddy would love to have a jayhawk!

You're never too old to learn something new...

We are finally home. It was nice to see the family, but 9 days is a little overwhelming. The following are some things I learned while in Kansas.

1. I'm allergic to Kansas. It is winter and my allergies started when we got to Kansas and quit when we got to Virginia.

2. I hate flying. Holy turbulence. I nearly threw up.

3. Talan can wear clothes meant for dogs.

4. I like dodge chargers.

5. Apparently this was the present Ashton had been waiting for all his life. 2 foam swords, a foam pirate shield and a freaky mask.

6. I may be the only person who DID NOT know this...you dont actually have to get rental car insurance.

7. My family is incredibly boring. On christmas we pretty much sat around the table and stared at each other. My mom talked about geese, while no one listened because we had all heard the story a few times, and my sister pretended to gouge her eye out with her fork when no one was looking. How I came to be so exciting and entertaining is beyond me. :)

8. Talan has no "routine" in Kansas. He did not have any meltdowns when 6:30 rolled around and he had not gotten his bath. However, today at 6:30 he had a meltdown because he was not in the tub. Go figure.

9. 2 adults and a baby do NOT fit well in a double size bed

10. If I say I can't breathe Brad has to lay by the baby thus Brad wakes up with him. :) I really couldn't breathe though.

11. Topeka, Kansas is incredibly boring and is full of country bumpkins.

12. I don't want to live somewhere it snows. I'm more of a "vacation to the snow" type of girl

13. My dad apparently told my 13 year old neice that I said she was a good babysitter, but I'm prejudice. Whatever that means. If I remember correctly, I'm not the one that said to their child, if you ever date a black guy we'll disown you.

14. There are 4 specific things I never ever want to hear my mother say again. That's all I have to say about that.

15. You should not drive in a blizzard. That only equals trouble. (this is directed at the 32 car pileup on I-70. My dad somehow escaped that. It is a really interesting story that I don't believe is all true if you ever want to hear it.

16. Brads dad is incredibly inappropriate, but oh so funny! We saw PS I Love You with Brads family and there is a line in the movie where a man says, "I want to date a woman that likes men." Then the movie was quiet for a second and my father-in-law yells out..."GOOD LUCK" oy! That was not nearly as inappropriate as him comparing the temple elevators with the casino elevators while in the temple in front of a temple worker or speaking german in the holocaust museum.

17. I packed way too much!!!

18. After you go through security there is no food or drinks in the Kansas City airport. You have to go out and back through security.

19. Ashton likes Kansas better than Virginia until there is a playstation involved.

20. Heeley's are very unsafe. I think I'm getting old.

21. Snow ice cream? Must be a mormon thing. I've never heard of anyone making it. I never had it made for me as a kid, but I guess we lived in Southern California and didn't have snow. Even so...I still feel a little jipped. Talan liked the snow and snow ice cream.

22. Presents are so much better with bows.

23. Christmas with 2 kids is way more fun than christmas with 1.

What a trip.

R.I.P. Tae Kwon Do

Its official. Ashton's last day of tae kwon do was yesterday, December 15th. The notice is in...there is no going back. He isnt going anymore because he whines, complains and throws a fit whenever he has to get ready to go. This in turn makes me irritable with him which causes my stress level to skyrocket ultimately leading to premature grey hair. Who wants that?! We told him if he wanted to keep going to tae kwon do he had to get with the program. He was with the program until 2 days later when he had to go to tae kwon do. He decided it was much more fun to throw his shoes around and lay in the middle of the floor. (and he wonders why we don't take him in public much). The result of that was he had to pay us $17 for the class that he refused to go to that we were paying for (SCORE MOM AND DAD!), and the notice was in.

Now, I'd like to do a tribute to Ashton's tae kwon do days:

Testing for his yellow stripe white belt:

Testing for his Orange stripe white belt:

Testing for his green striped white belt:

Testing for his blue stripe white belt:

Kamsah Formation:

whoa thats a big baby!

ashton has been begging to hold talan while standing lately. i've always been hesitant because talan is still sort of fragile. yesterday we were playing go fish and i had to sort the cards and i said jokingly to ashton "ok you come hold your brother and i'll sort." before i was even done with the sentence ashton was walking over arms stretched out. we found after a few attempts that holding talan facing forward is a pretty safe bet. that is also talans favorite way to be held. as soon as ashton got ahold of him i had to go get the camera.

did anyone else know my baby was this big? i must have been in denial or something. when did he get this big?!

Shane!

i found a picture of the green streaks. this was the best picture i had. see how we match! i was going to do red but thought we would look too christmasy.

the time has come!

when i was 17 i discovered how much fun hair dye can be. especially when your mom doesnt approve. i used to be alot wilder than i am now. i experimented with purple streaks, green streaks, bright red streaks. it became pretty much an addiction. i get tired very quickly of my hair color. whatever color it might be. i had been dying my hair before i was pregnant, but one day realized that the color i had been dying it was not much diffrent than my natural color. i vowed to dye no more since it seemed like alot of work for nothing. almost a year i made it. today i cracked.

my hair is red. my hair is redder than it has ever been, and i am finally satisfied with it. that is...until next month.

before:

after:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIE!

at first ashton was hesitant about this dance video. that is, until he went in his room and put on his super cool dancing clothes! WOO for sponge bob pants 4 sizes to small! he also wants to give a shoutout to his 3 pound weight. he told me the only reason he could dance so well is because he had pumped some iron earlier today.

so i edited this post and changed out my video. this video was the originally intended but there was some sort of problem with my memory card and my computer that i thought was hopeless to be figured out. then brad appeared out of the darkness to fix the computer. yay brad!

i've been heard!

do you love the new background?

i searched pyzam right after thanksgiving to get a christmas background for the blog. i was very dissapointed in what i saw. it is christmas for cryin out loud, they should have hundreds of backgrounds! they were all simply lame, so i did what any crazy person would do. i emailed them. the email was short, sweet and to the point. it said, "can we please get some christmas backgrounds that dont suck?"

did they listen? i have no idea. they at least added a couple christmas backgrounds. they, as well as mine are still lame but way less lame than a half naked fairy.

that is my rant for today.