Lego Americana Roadshow

It’s not everyday you get to see all of America’s iconic historic landmarks without even leaving Utah! What a neat little display we got to see at Fashion Place Mall (made entirely out of Legos).

There were 10 replicas, so it’s hard to choose favorites. I think Cole’s favorite part was the Washington Monument. He could not process how on earth they were able to build something so high! I liked the Lincoln Memorial; fun to look inside and see a little mini Abe in there!

 

It was a fun night, with a delicious meal at the Corner Bakery to top it all off!

1 Month Max!

How we lived without this little person in our lives?!!! What a little ray of sunshine!!!

This sweet little puppy of ours is over a month old! We think he’s a good mix of his two older siblings, both in looks and personality. All of us (except Cole) are constantly calling him Cole…so he may look a tad more like his older brother? The verdict’s still out. He’s been a really good sleeper ever since he came home from the hospital, which has never happened before. We kinda feel like we’ve won the lottery.

He’s just catching on to smiling, and making little cooing sounds. He likes to be held, but also has his moments where he insists on being put down. He loves to go on sleepy car rides, has taken a binky better than his non-binky siblings, and is an all-around good sport!

I predicted the worst with this third one, and I’m so glad he has proved me COMPLETELY wrong! What a blessing he is!

Namasté

Don’t ask me WHAT got into us! It could have been bad planning, long lines at every other restaurant, or our severely hungered bellies…I don’t know. BUT we ate Indian food at an Indian restaurant served by Indian people. If our 12 year younger, Pasadena, Indians living below us-selves could have seen us now, they would have NEVER believed it. But we did. And it wasn’t THAT bad!

Sure, the smell was a no-go. The lady in the back cooking with her full-on garb wasn’t super appetizing. And least enticing of all…the look on Mr. Blackhurst’s face…like maybe he was on the verge of pooping his pants. All those things kind of shook me, but in the end, we were all okay. The food, though a little too fragrant for my tastes, was actually edible.

Forced smiles—so much fun to eat ethnic!!!

Truth be told, it was all kind of adventurous and comedic. I really would do it again (with a little convincing). Namasté!!!!

Valentine’s

Another Valentine’s came with flying colors!
 
Our family heart hunt makes Valentine’s Day a top holiday, right up there with Christmas. Yet again, the kids loved chasing around the house finding the clues. And of course, loved the end where they were greeted with new Pokémon cards and the game Gooey Louie (because nothing says 'I love you' like green boogers).

We all sat down and played and very quickly learned that this is the one game we’d rather lose at than win.  It’s actually kind of fun pulling the booger that makes the head explode!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my little cherubs, and my Sweetie Pie!

Sundance and Sleepovers

The kids got invited to cousin sleepovers. Kate and the girl cousins went to Rob & Jenny’s house, and Cole and the boys went to Brian & Andra’s. The parents (and Max) decided to party hardy. We took advantage of being almost kidless and went to the Sundance Film Festival with Annette and Curtis.

This was a first for us, and we were fully prepared for a crappy, inappropriate film that we’d have to get up and walk out of. But actually, the movie Mississippi Grind, featuring the one and only Ryan Reynolds, was just fine (how could it not be with Ryan Reynolds?-- I sound like a sick, old woman, huh?). The movie was longer than it needed to be, but plenty of fun. And having a sleepy, brand-new newborn worked out perfectly as well.

This was Cole’s first cousin sleepover so they were sure to send pics.

A funny note: During the boy sleepover the boys were shining a laser light, getting Kash, the dog to chase it. At one point, Cole shouted out, “Shine it on Tanner’s penis!” All the boys stopped in their tracks, stared with dropped jaws, and then died laughing (as they’re all several years older than Cole and would have never expected such a comment from someone younger). Uncle Brian asked, “Where did you learn that word?” To which Cole replied, “At Miss Annette’s ABC preschool!” Which, of course, brought many more laughs and a good story to tell Aunt Miss Annette the next morning.

Failing Eyesight?

We noticed big brother doing weird things with his eyes lately; kind of like he’s having a hard time focusing. We took him into the eye doctor, where he was quite nervous at first. He thought maybe they were going to pull his eyelashes out, or maybe the doctor would turn his eyes into the infected, warty eyes from the poster on the Dr’s office wall (both were questions he asked). In the end, he learned he loves visiting the eye doctor! In fact, the doctor commented on how very social and with-it he was for a patient of his size.

 

The result: good eyes. The culprit for the weird eye behavior? That new Kindle Fire from Christmas! We hid it for several days and noticed a complete difference in Cole. And although we had already set screen time control locks, we’ve decreased them even more now. Glad to know the little guy is fine!

Baby Max

January 12th finally arrived and heaven sent one of its sweetest! We got to the hospital at 6am and went in for C-Section number 3. The mom was nervous for her first time; just certain something would go wrong. Alas, all went swimmingly. The nurses even encouraged Dave to pull out the camera during the surgery, so we got lots of gruesomely beautiful pics as shown below;)

Right as my belly was opened, the PA assisting said, “Well, hello, there little face!” She said it was the cutest thing ever to cut in and see a little face staring up. So here he is being pulled out. Yes, that is a head (and cord) being pulled out of a little slit from my belly:

Coated in cheese like the best things in life!

Dr. Jones holding up the Baby Simba:

The lips. Every one of my kids have pouty, kissy-lipped newborn pics like this:

Mom’s first snuggle:

Everything was wonderful about the hospital stay: got to be in a quiet room for once, speedy recovery, lots of snuggle/bonding time, and excellent salmon (not joking). The stinky parts were: the older kids were not allowed in the hospital to meet their new brother, I had one less-than pleasant nurse that I had 3 DAYS IN A ROW, and finally, we COULD NOT make up our mind about what to name this little person! We ended up naming him Max Reese Blackhurst, which I love (Dave MAYBE had to compromise on the name a little). The nurses thought the name “Max” suited him well, however, since he could eat more than any other baby there.

He was 8 lb 8 oz, born at 8:04am, was 18 inches long, and was the cutest baby born this year (I may have thrown that last fact in, though I’m certain it’s true).

LOVE THIS SWEET BOY!