Double the Christmas, Double the Fun!

We got to celebrate Christmas twice at our house this year.  The only reason being that we were traveling down to Blanding for Christmas and there was no way I was hauling ALL the presents down there only to haul them all back home.  So we had a THORPE Christmas and a ROYER Christmas.  Good thing my kids are still young it didn't really matter.  They just loved opening all the presents and playing with their new toys.

A Thorpe Christmas

I was debating when to open all the presents from my side of the family because we have a pj tradition for Christmas Eve but there was no way I was waking up at 5am (or waking sleeping children) so we could open presents before Danny left for work.  We were leaving for Blanding on Friday as soon as Danny got home from work so we decided to have a mock Christmas Eve.  We had the kids open their pj's from their great-grandma Astle on Thursday night.  Then Danny took them upstairs and while he was putting them in their new pj's I hurried and brought all the presents up from our basement and put them under the tree.

Then Danny brought them down and we opened all the presents from my side of the family.  Thanks mom and dad for all the gifts.  You sure know how to spoil your grandkids:)  Wish you could have been here.

Thanks grandma Astle for the cute pj's!

 Memphis LOVES trains so we got him a wooden train set.  It is just a small starter set but his birthday is coming up so we can add to it:)  Actually, once he saw the train set that was all he wanted to play with.  We had a hard time getting his attention long enough to open the rest of his presents.  Danny eventually just opened the rest of his presents and I opened Kayzee's.  Oh well.

 Thanks grandma and grandpa Thorpe for the memory game.  Memphis is actually really good at it:)  Memphis got to talk to grandpa after opening his presents and he is talking well enough he actually had a conversation and answered my dad's questions.  So fun!

 Memphis and all his toys!

 Kayzee got a lot of new dolly's this year but the cutest thing was when she opened this dolly she was so excited and hugged it the rest of the night.  She got this one from her babysitter Kim.  Thanks Kim!

 Kayzee's toys

 Some of mine and Danny's

   

A Royer Christmas

We left for Blanding Friday afternoon.  Danny had till the 31st to fill his elk tag (hunting with his dad down in San Juan County) so we were going to Blanding for 10 days.  And sadly no elk this year.  Danny was really bummed about that.  It was a fun-filled 10 days and my kids were sure spoiled by their aunties and grandparents.  

 The Royer crew there for Christmas morning: Danny, Aleena, Memphis, Kayzee, Bruce, Peggy, Teddy, Nita, Emily, Mary

 Memphis and auntie Nita

 Kayzee and Grandpa

 Memphis saw me point the camera at him and this is the face he pulled!

 Kayzee did NOT want her picture taken!

 Danny's youngest sisters Nita, Mary, and Emily

 Memphis and Kayzee LOVE puzzles...Thanks grandma Royer!

Danny's brother Teddy just returned from his mission a few weeks ago.  It was fun to see him again and he hadn't met Kayzee yet.  His niece and nephew sure do love him.

 Church was at 11am Christmas morning.  Thanks grandma Thorpe for the adorable sunday outfits!

The rest of the week was spent playing games, hanging out, reading books, watching movies, eating yummy food, going on walks, playing at the park (the weather was beautiful all week), doing hair, and having fun.  This was the first year I was actually awake at midnight for New Years since having babies.  It was a fun game night.  

 Memphis being silly:)

 Kayzee being adorable:)

 Kayzee and grandpa

 Getting ready to go hunting

 I love doing hair and I actually had some willing heads to play with.  Can't wait for Kayzee's hair to grow out more.

 Nita and Mary

 Fun at the park

 Kayzee loved the slide.  Here she is with grandma Royer

 Memphis having fun on the swings with his aunties

I also have some fun videos but that will have to be in another post.  Happy 2012 everyone!

2011 Family Letter

Life

Just an update on our lives during these crazy holiday months.  And of course some pictures of my adorable kids.

I was getting out the Christmas decorations and Memphis found this hat and wanted his picture taken.

 Kayzee's hair is so beautifully curly after a bath but once her hair dries it goes straight so I had to get a picture with her curly locks.

 Playing peek-a-boo...where's Kayzee?

 I got this dress at Kid to Kid for $2!  She got a lot of compliments at church.  Love my pretty girl:)

DANNY:  Still working hard (there is a hint of more hours at work) and doing side jobs.  We went to his work's Christmas work party and they always have raffle drawings for prizes and we have never really won anything.  Well this year we would have won a 37 inch TV but the guy who cut in line in front of us won.  The next prize was an iPad and I told Danny I would rather win that and then they called his number!  We were both in shock at first but now we have a really nice iPad and we LOVE it!  I have always wanted one but never had the money for it so getting one for FREE is even better:)

ALEENA: So I went to the specialist to finally get my crazy root canal finished.  The shots all wore off 1/2 way through the procedure and nothing he gave me worked after that so he tried to hurry and finish and I just cried.  Worst pain I have ever felt (even worse than giving birth to Kayzee a naturale!)  And he tried to do the root canal through the temporary crown so it fell off and he couldn't get it back on and my dentist couldn't see me till the next day so I couldn't eat anything for 24 hours.  Finally today I am pain free and have permanent crowns.  Hopefully that is the end of it all and now we just owe the two dentists thousands of dollars.  UGH!

I also went to my doctor for my first month of weight loss weigh-in.  I got on the scale and I had lost 20 lbs!!!  The doctor said I had lost the most weight he had ever seen out of all his patients in one month.  I didn't even exercise I just ate better!  The doctor had told me to not change what I was eating just eat less so that is what I did.  But I also stopped soda and fast food.  I didn't really count calories I just ate fewer snacks and watched my portion sizes.  I also only ate half of what I used to eat for dinner and ate the other half for lunch the next day.  Now I am having trouble losing more so obviously I need to add in exercise.  I have done really well maintaining my weight though this month.  Now the exercising begins!  So my total weight loss for 2011 is 30 lbs and I want to try and lose 50 more!

I don't have the gym to teach PE in for the month of December (because of all the activities going on) so I teach Health.  I have a trailer to teach it in and let's just say it is the worst part of the year.  The kids would rather be doing PE and it's the holidays so it is just a hard few weeks.  Oh well, it is over with and I actually kept up on my grading and got all 5,000 assignments graded before my Christmas break!  Now I can enjoy my time off with my kids.  I teach a certain health program that the school district recommends and I have to report what lessons I teach to the state of Utah for funding.  I just found out that I was chosen as the best rep for the program in the district so I won a free concert for our school!  It's nice to have all my hard work recognized! 

MEMPHIS: Memphis is talking better everyday and is so smart.  He figured out the iPad really fast and loves to play all the games we got for him on it.  He is getting better at obeying and usually just accepts when I say no by saying, "Ok, mommy" with a very sad face but at least he doesn't throw tantrums like he used to.  And (SHOCKING) he has made it all the way through 3 sacrament meetings.  Puzzles are the life-saver.  Now it's Kayzee we are always out in the hall with.  And she will finally go to nursery with her brother in March so maybe Danny and I will finally be able to enjoy all of church!

Memphis is also very funny and likes to laugh (even fake laugh).  The other day he was eating fruit snacks.  He bit one in half, stuck the other half to his nose and said, "Look mommy, I'm a clown!"  Then he started laughing hysterically at himself.  I have no idea where he learned about clowns but it was really funny.  Today he was eating lucky charms and he grabbed the green hat shaped marshmallow that has a clover on it, put it on his head and sang, "Yo Ho, Yo Ho a pirate's life for me, mommy I'm a pirate!"  Seriously where does he get these ideas?  He can actually have a conversation on the phone and has answered questions; it is amazing to see him grow up.  I LOVE MEMPHIS!

KAYZEE: Is still not sleeping through the night except for the past week.  She is up every 4 hours screaming and the dr. said just let her scream because we have tried everything.  This past week has been nice so hopefully she is FINALLY outgrowing this whole not sleeping thing.  She is also still on a laxative.  The dr. said she might be on it for the rest of her life but he hopes she grows out of it too.  Her belly button hernia is still there but it is slowly going away but if it is still there by September than we might be contemplating surgery to fix it.  My mom said that is what happened to me so hopefully it goes away on its own.

Kayzee had her 15 month well-baby check-up.  Her weight and height were exactly the same as Memphis at 15 months (crazy!)  25 lbs and 32 inches (75%).  She also got her shots and this time she didn't even cry!  Go girl:)  She LOVES books.  She always has a book in her hand or is always saying book!  She also is very friendly and will try to cuddle with anyone.  She loves to laugh and fake laugh like her brother.  I LOVE KAYZEE:)


***We are going to be having Christmas twice this year.  We are having a Thorpe Christmas on Thursday and opening all the presents from my side of the family.  Then we will be having a Royer Christmas on Christmas because we will be in Blanding.  I didn't want to lug all the presents down to Blanding just to lug them all back so that is why we are doing it all twice.  We will be in Blanding for 10 days so hopefully that is enough time for Danny and his dad to get an elk!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Late Thanksgiving

I have been so busy I didn't realize I never posted about our Thanksgiving so here it is.  I have a lot of updates but I will just post about our Thanksgiving for now because it's back to being busy.

We drove down to Blanding to spend 6 days with Danny's family.  Danny has an elk tag down there with his dad that he needed to try and fill so we left Tue right after we both got done with work.  They did not get one this time so we are headed back down for Christmas so hopefully they get one then.  Danny and I have made the drive in 4 1/2 hours before but with 2 kids and holiday traffic it took us 7 hours.  UGH!  And Kayzee cried for most of it making it worse.  Oh well, we made it safe and our trip home only took about 5 1/2 hours because we stopped at a park in Price to let the kids run around.

The days were spent playing games, watching movies, going on walks, playing outside (the weather was beautiful), relaxing, enjoying each other's company,  laughing, reading, sleeping, eating, singing Phantom of the Opera (and laughing), playing piano duets, etc.  We had a full house (15 people) and it was a lot of fun to spend some time and get to know better some of Danny's side of the family.

The yummy food

 Kayzee and her auntie Mary (the only one with blonde hair and blue eyes:)

 Nita, Brenden, Lindsay, Emily, Grandma Rosalie, Grandpa Wendell

 Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, Mary

 Jerusha, Josh, Brenden, Lindsey, Emily

 Me and Nita (amazing chef, played piano duets with me)

 Nita had her senior gold and green ball and the first part of the dance families were invited and Kayzee had way too much fun dancing and running around the gym

 Mommy, Daddy, and Memphis during a slow dance

 Kayzee dancing to YMCA!  Seriously she was really good at copying everyone:)

 YMCA!  She did so well at doing the letters she clapped for herself...too cute!

 Memphis had just woken up from a nap before we got there so he enjoyed just eating a root beer float with his daddy.

 Daddy and Memphis

We had a wonderful time and came home to our busy lives.  Another post to come!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well:)

Hair today...gone tomorrow!

I have always hated cutting Memphis' hair because I LOVE IT so much.  Even when it's long it's the beautiful red color and the curls that just make it all Memphis.  Yes, it gets too long and we have cut it a couple of times but just to get it off his ears and out of his eyes.  I would also get so many comments from strangers on how beautiful his hair is.  Danny kept threatening to shave it all off but I kept saying no and I would cut it.  Until last week that is...

I went to the dentist to get a tooth fixed and let's just say it was a catastrophe and I had complications that the dentist had never seen before so he basically told me I was to be bedridden on painkillers for 3 days because the pain would be unbearable if I didn't.  I think Danny saw this opportunity of the fact that I could not even lift my head off the pillow and he SHAVED OFF ALL OF MEMPHIS' HAIR!!!  I was so mad and so upset.  Well, no going back now.  It's all gone:(  Danny is so lucky that it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would;)  We should have done this over the summer because now the weather is freezing but oh well.  He looks so much older and all the comments we get now are that he definitely looks like a Royer and just like his Daddy who also shaved off all his long hair too.

So here he is, the new Memphis.  What do you think?  If you can't remember what he used to look like check out the previous Halloween post below.

And of course what's a post without some pictures of cute Kayzee Lynn.  She needs her hair trimmed too!

Just an update on my fixed tooth.  Well the pain got better and then even worse.  The painkillers stopped working.  The dentist had to go down into the gum line too far to fix the tooth and basically he caused it to need a root canal so he did an emergency one after I couldn't handle the pain anymore and he couldn't even finish it.  I have a root system he has never seen before so I get to pay a specialist a ton of money to finish it:(  Oh well, eventually this will all be fixed and finished and I can live pain free.  Not being able to eat very much the past week has helped me lose a lot of weight though.  I am down another 5 pounds so my total weight loss for the year is now 25 pounds!!!  GO ME:)  

Shake shake shake...I got a party!

We had a great Halloween this year.  Memphis was finally old enough to understand what was going on and he did really well (the above title comes from him, I will explain below) and I had fun dressing up my Kayzee girl.

 My mom actually bought this costume a year ago and we guessed on the size for this year.  It fit perfectly!

The day started with my school's Halloween parade.  Since I don't have my own class I just sat and watched with my team of specialty teachers.  It is fun to see all the fun costumes.  Over 1,000 students paraded through our school so it took awhile.  The first grade class I had after the parade kept asking what I was for Halloween (I didn't dress up) and they said, "Oh, you are you, Mrs. Royer!"  Ha ha ya.  I usually dress up but just didn't find anything this year that I liked.

 This is Memphis' costume.  I took Memphis to the store to pick out his own costume and he said no to everything.  So I found this shirt that said "Daddy's Caddy" with the picture of a little golfer on it with matching plaid shorts!  Memphis LOVES playing golf with his dad in the backyard so it was perfect.  We also found this plastic toy golf set to complete the costume.

That night we went to my cousin Aja and Mario's house for dinner (pizza!) and trick or treating.  I really wanted Memphis to go with other kids so I am glad he could go with his cousin's Aiden and Sam.  I have been having Memphis practice saying "trick or treat" and he was really good at saying it but I didn't think about teaching him how to trick or treat.  The first house we went to he said trick or treat and then walked right into the house and down the hall.  Danny went in after him.  The rest of the houses he did really well.  He would say "trick or treat" try to grab a handful of candy but hold out his bucket and then he always said, "Oh, THANK YOU!"  I am so proud of my polite boy:)

Kayzee just rode along in her stroller with me and Danny would go up to each house with Memphis.  My cousin's house is in Pleasant Grove up on the side of the mountain so the streets were really hilly so we took Memphis' stroller too just in case.  At first he walked but then he would climb in his stroller in between houses so he could get a ride up the hills.  Smart boy!

One house the man had a candy bowl that had a hand that reached out and grabbed Memphis' hand while he was reaching for candy.  Memphis held on to his candy and after that he would always check the bowl before putting his hand in:)

So to explain the above title...My son LOVES Little Einsteins the cartoon and I let him watch it every morning while I try to get everyone and everything ready for the day.  I recorded the Halloween one because it showed the kids trick or treating.  In the episode they went trick or treating to try and get enough candy to fill a bucket for a party.  They would shake the bucket and then ask if they had enough candy for the party but it needed to be full.  I didn't really think anything of it but noticed that Memphis kept shaking his bucket after each house he trick or treated at.  When his bucket was finally getting full he shook it and then said, "I got a party!"  It was so funny and he kept shaking his bucket and saying party, party, party!  Yep, he had enough candy for a Memphis party:)

Cutest cheeser ever!

 I told Memphis to stick out his tongue.  I can't believe he actually did it;)

 My mom got Memphis this cute shirt.  I LOVE it cause Memphis loves me and I love him even with his dirty face and hair in the eyes;)

 This is the shirt she found for Kayzee with the cute hair bow.  Kayzee hates headbands now can you tell?

What a fun Halloween we had but I still can't believe it is already November!  It's getting cold so I pulled out Kayzee's cute boots her grandma got her.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!

Too Long...

Yes, it's been too long since I posted last.  Over a month and everyone keeps asking me to post pictures of my kids especially the grandparents and aunties:)  So here you go...pictures and also an update of what has been going on around our house these days.

 Kayzee is FINALLY getting her two top teeth.  Do you know how hard it is to feed a 1 year old who wants to eat everything but can't because she only has two bottom teeth?  So hard and now that she is teething again her shirts are always slobbery and she is cranky.  But she is full of drama and loves attention and loves playing with her older brother.  I love this picture of her with the glasses and her cute adorable smile:)

 Kayzee and Memphis are finally playing together instead of just in the same room.  I love seeing their brother sister relationship.  Memphis is a great older brother.  He is not too rough with her but has a hard time sharing his toys.  He loves to tickle her and when she cries he always tries to help take care of her.  If she has something she should not have he always says, "No, no Kayzee"  and then takes it away and gives it to me.  Also when we get home and I get him out of his car seat he runs around the car to Kayzee's door and says, "Momma, get Kayzee out now!"  Kayzee loves to wrestle with Memphis and is learning to stick up for herself and not let her brother boss her around.  Her facial expressions and actions are always so dramatic.  Such a girl!

 Kayzee has also finally been sleeping through the night (12 hours) without waking up anymore.  It is so nice and at first my body wasn't use to it and I would still wake up a couple of times in the night but now I am finally getting 7-10 hours of sleep at night.  It is wonderful!

 So it has been a fight between Memphis and I whether he would take an afternoon nap or not.  His naps were either too long and he would not go to sleep till midnight or he would not nap at all driving me crazy but he would go to sleep earlier.  So I finally decided that he didn't need a nap anymore so that he would get more sleep at night.  He is so much happier and better behaved when he gets more sleep at night instead of forcing a nap on him.  I definitely miss my alone time after work with both kids taking a nap but life goes on.  So no more nap for Memphis and he goes to bed at 7:30.  Actually both kids go to bed at 7:30 or 8pm and don't wake up till 8am!!!  It is so wonderful and I have time to myself after they go to bed to get things done and time to be with Danny if he is home until I go to bed at 10:30.  Here are my kids all ready for bed!

 Every September the school I teach at has Picture Day.  As a teacher I get one free package so they let me use my free package for one of my kids and then I pay for the other and their prices are not to bad.  So I get my kids pictures done every year and it's fun to see them change each year.  This year Memphis screamed just like last year and they had to crop me out because I had to hold him down so his picture is of him crying/laughing at the chicken the photographer was throwing around.  His face is a little red and he needs his hair cut but he is still so cute.  Sorry I just took a picture of their picture in the frame.  Grandma's and aunties---I will be sending you a copy of each of theirs!

 It was really hot that day and Danny brought the kids in his car that doesn't have air conditioning so Kayzee broke out in a heat rash so her face is all red from that but she just sat there and smiled for the camera.  Wish I had more time to do something with her hair but the company wasn't at my school for very long and I had to wait till I was done teaching but oh well, still cute:)

So I have been getting ready for winter and figuring out what I needed as far as clothes go for my kids.  I thought that since they were wearing summer clothes that were the same size as their last year winter clothes I would just get those out.  NOPE.  I couldn't squeeze any of their pants on.  So I had to go to the next size and buy new clothes for winter for both kids.  My sister's and mom spoil my kids and they sent a lot of cute clothes so that helped.  The only problem with moving on to the next size is that they seem to be longer and my kids legs are so short so all their pants fit in the waist but the length is too long.  I have to roll up their pants like 4 times!!!  Maybe I should learn to hem?  So now Memphis is in size 4T and he is only 2 and Kayzee is in size 2T and she is only 1.  They have the longest torso's but the shortest legs.  That would be the Royer side.  Thanks Daddy!

I felt like Memphis wasn't progressing like he should verbally but he has come a long way.  He is talking like crazy now.  It is really nice because it helps him obey more because he understands more.  I actually can take him out in public now and he will stay right by me.  If he doesn't know a word for something we will tell him and he repeats it right back.  He can count to 12 and actually knows basic shapes and colors.  One funny thing he says a lot is,  "Watch chew-oh, whoa-whoa?"  He kept saying that I and it took me a few days of trying different movies till I figured out that it meant Chew and Swallow!  He loves the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."  He actually watched it enough times he can act it out and can say a few lines with the characters and sing the song at the end.  Too funny:)

So I had fall break this week and guess what?  We were all sick.  So not how I wanted to enjoy my break and I missed a couple days of school.  Oh well.  We are all doing better.

I have needed a root canal since my tooth became infected in 2007.  I was out of the state so the dentist could only give me an antibiotic and pain killers.  I came home and the dentist said it would cost $1,000 up front out of pocket and I did not have the money so he said I could wait till it started hurting again.  Well, I got married, started having kids and didn't think anything of it till it started hurting again a couple weeks ago.  My husband is related to a dentist by us and I am now on my husband's dental insurance so a root canal and crown is a lot cheaper.  And the dentist is really nice and let's us make payments.  Probably because he knows he can track us down;)  So I finally went in to get the root canal taken care of.  While he went in to do it he decided the tooth next to it needed one too.  I was laying there with my mouth open for almost two hours.  I was fine that night and the next day but once 24 hours past I was in so much pain I laid on the couch shaking and crying.  Pain killers were barely touching the pain and I was so dizzy.  Memphis gave me lots of kisses and brought me lots of tissues.  I don't even really remember the next few days of teaching but by Saturday morning I was fine.  Monday I got temporary crowns and I will get the final ones in a couple of weeks.

I was having constant headaches and finally figured out it was because my hair was too long and I always had my hair up because I hate having long hair.  So I finally got it cut and my friend Stephanie (she is amazing) cut off about 6 inches and layered it and thinned it out.  I have so much hair.  It looks and feels so much better and I actually wear it down if I have time to do anything with it.  I have also been struggling with losing weight.  I have no self-control when it comes to chocolate and soda and have excuses for not working out.  I have tried many different things but a lot of people have told me that maybe I have some underlying issues that are causing me to constantly eat and not work out and that I  need to build up my self-esteem.  Maybe figuring out the deep down emotional or mental issues will help me improve my self-image and seeing problems that I might have will help.  So I am going to weigh loss counseling on Tue to help me figure this all out.  I am excited because I know I need to get healthy!

I have been taking Memphis on walks every evening before the weather gets too cold and mainly just to wear him out.  He has a little plastic tricycle he loves to walk.  I mean walk because his legs are too short to reach the pedals so he just sits on it and walks along.  We usually go on a mile route through our neighborhood but some nights Memphis likea to take me for walks and it turns into two miles!

Danny has been hunting that last few weekends so I feel like I never see him but he is done with softball which was two nights a week so that has helped.  Hopefully he gets an elk before the season is over so we can have meat for the coming year.

Life is good and we are excited for the the fun holidays coming up.  Can't believe 2011 is almost over!