I was dreaming of a GREEN Christmas!

Just in time for Christmas, Brandon finished laying the sod in our front yard. Yipee, no white christmas here.... and I couldn't be more happy about it. The night the sod got delivered we were at a Christmas party and Brandon hurt his knee (it was some party :).... but, he is a trooper and limped around the yard anyways to get it done. Luckily, some guys from Church were driving by and saw his sad state and came out to help.

The girls were so excited to look out the window and see grass. They ran out in their pjs to go and celebrate. What a great GREEN site to behold! ;)

Child Labor

Picked up a couple of temp laborers this weekend to help with the landscaping....

but the allure of a 10-ton pile of gravel was just too much in the end.

Actually, the best part of the day was when Ethan walked up to one of the real landscapers next door and said, with an authentic Dora the Explorer accent, Ola, como esta?

Muy bien, my little friend. Muy bien.

Fairies, Jedi and 7lbs of candy

Pumpkin heads. This is the first year we let the kids carve and it went better than expected.

Halloween has come and gone. We had two Tinkerbell fairies and an Star Wars Clone trooper this year. They filled their buckets to the brim after just two streets in our kid-dense neighborhood. Ethan says he is going to save his until Christmas. We'll see about that.

Landscaping: Before

Here are some before pictures from landscaping our yard. Trenching in the clay took ten hours. The sprinkler system is nearly in. I'll post more periodically.

The Latest in Toddler Fashion: Snot Sleeves!

This video is pretty self-explanatory. Mariah has had a world class cold for a couple of weeks now, and recently discovered that her forearms are much more convenient than a tissue. Luckily we were cleaning out our old clothes and stumbled upon the latest in toddler fashion - Snot Sleeves. What more could one want from an accessory - chic, functional, and a complement to any outfit. Ok, it was pretty gross, but so are the oil slicks on her arms. *Note, the tighter the fit, the better*

October has been full....

....of CELEBRATION!!! We had visitors, hooray! Thanks for stopping by, Katie, we had a blast! Mariah had a birthday celebration that she got to share w/ her cousin that was visiting. So fun! Here she is a little place like Chuck E. Cheese.



New birthday jammies. It's finally cool enough to wear long pajama pants to sleep in, since they've been wearing shorts for the past 8 months (basically half of her life) Mariah was a little skeptical at first about the length. She kept trying to pull them up to her knees. But, now she LOVES them.

Did she just turn 2 or 20? Ha ha! She got some dress-up jewelry from her little friends and she LOVES that too! ;)

Birthday dress-ups!

Opening presents. She was so excited to get a "Grandma" for her birthday (one that goes in her dollhouse). She had been saying that what she wanted for her birthday was "grandpa"- which she calls both Grandparents. ;) She was glad to have a little plastic substitute! ;)

AND WE'VE BEEN CELEBRATING THE NEWS THAT WE'RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY GIRL!!!! ;)

More than you probably wanted to know (and see) about our week

Since Ethan's in school for a good chunk of the day (I'm still getting used to that) the girls have been spending lots of time together. Here they are reading stories (don't worry, Hayley's bangs have been cut since the taking of this picture so she can actually see now.)
More girl fun. Dress-up and dancing to High School Musical is their new favorite!

And now, a really sick picture. This is Brandon's hamstring injury- he was playing softball and "took one for the team" and then went back for more the next week. I kept teasing him that he was Doctor House- I really should have gotten him a cane. The poor guy could barely walk. I haven't ever seen a bruise that bad, have you? Yikes!

Hayley's first day of Preschool picture. Her teacher made all the kids tote bags. Other than a mix-up at pick-up (the teacher thought that I said I was there to pick up Katie) the first day was great! ;)

Mariah wanted in on the modeling action.

The girls were playing and Hayley said, "Look mom, we're kangaroos with babies in our pouches". When I went to grab the camera, Ethan grabbed his "Joey" and joined the Roos. Then they had a bouncy time jumping on the bed!

Baby Vader. This is the only pic. I have of the blue walls in our family room (that I'm sorry to say I ending up not liking at all. I thought the color would grow on me......didn't happen.) Brandon's been busy w/ try #2 . We'll post the results of the paint fix.

More highlights from the week:

• me mistaking the diaper cream as tooth paste (luckily I discovered the mistake BEFORE putting it in my mouth)
• Ethan learning the Star Wars theme on the keyboard
• cheering for the COUGS. Another victory yesterday, hooray!
  
  
  

Here's Ethan on his first day of school (minus his backpack that was so full of school supplies that he fell over backwards when he put it on). He keeps asking if he can go to Half-Day First Grade. ;)

So, lately we've been coming up with creative things to do that require no energy on my part. I've been spending my days on the couch feeling pukey (I'm due March 11th w/ #4.... HOORAY!) A little tape and a sharpie... we had a lot of fun.

Going Private

Hey, Everyone! We're making our blog private. I couldn't find email addresses from some of our favorite blog stalkers (Marlo, Jacqui, Becca) so if you could just email me at webbulator@hotmail.com if you haven't gotten an invite and would like to keep up on the Webb happenings. I'll add ya to the list! Thanks! ;)

Girls just wanna have fun

Brandon threw a surprise get together for my b-day. I knew something was up when I looked in the freezer and saw 4 gallons of icecream, I was like "How much icecream cake are you making?" (Don't worry- we didn't eat all 4 gallons, although Brandon's homemade icecream cake was DELICOUS!)

I'm glad we just moved 2 miles away so I can still see these fun girls, and I'm so glad that the girls in my new neigbborhood are so nice and fun, too! They invited me to play soccer w/ them the other night. Me? Soccer? Sure! I'd never really played before. My mom put me in ballet instead of soccer like I wanted (can't blame her- I was her only girl!) ;) Which leads me to this next picture....
Ethan playing soccer in his "one size fits all (even your mother who may need them in a pinch) soccer shorts". Luckily, one of the girls had an extra pair of shin guards, so I didn't have to borrow those from Ethan as well (they were more like ankle guards). I had a good time! So, I guess I better put Hayley on a soccer team this year- you never know when those skills will come in handy! ;)

May & June

I've been in a blogging slump lately, so I'm doing a quick recap. We went to CA and had a great time seeing family and friends!

Mariah enjoying the beach (literally, she's eating the sand- you can see it on her face).

Our little beach bums!

We went to Disneyland. Losta fun!

Ethan's T-ball close-up action shot. ;)

We've moved in and have done some painting (featured color- garbonzo bean). That's about it.... and as you can see from Brandon's post below it's HOT and so most of our waking moments are spent at the pool).

Its Hot!

This picture is definitely worth a thousand words. It is super hot here, but you know, the difference between 100 degrees and 115 isn't much. You do see old ladies driving with oven mits on from time to time because the steering wheel gets toasty.

Little Fish, Big Pond

Ethan's doing swimteam this summer. He's quite the little fish! This is a video from his last swim meet. *he's the one in the second lane with the cute little speedo shorts! ;)

I am posting this video of his Butterfly. I'm pretty sure his form is way better than mine, and I think he would probably even beat me doing the butterfly stroke if we raced (but, don't tell him that... his head is already big enough! ;)

New Home follow-up

In response to the many questions:

1. The home is a new build 4BR 3BA about 2 miles east of us in a new subdivision. We are sad to be leaving our current ward but are planning on staying in touch with our good friends there.

2. We are planning on closing on the 29th.

3. As far as long-term plans are concerned, we are considering staying at least an extra year as chief resident. We're not sure why exactly, but feel like that is what we ought to do. After that, Brandon would still like to sub-specialize in infectious disease. Hopefully the powers that be will decide to make that available at Mayo AZ in the meantime.

4. When it comes to ever topping this birthday, it's not looking good, folks. Of course, Danielle has been oogling the new babies in the ward recently....Just kidding. We'll stick with one major life event at a time.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!! ;)

Eight years ago Brandon gave me one of these for my birthday:


Then he always joked about how that was a bad idea, because he'd never be able to top that birthday present! Well, he did this year when he got me this:

Yipee! After almost 8 years of marriage and 3 kids, we are officially homeowners!

NASCAR Hayley

Watch as Hayley takes Ethan for the maiden voyage in her new-for-her (pre-owned) purple powerwheels Jeep. He'll think twice before getting in the car with her again. Also, note to self, maybe we'll be waiting until she is 18 before she gets a drivers license.

March Madness

Sweet Baby Feet. She's a toe-scruncher like her dad!
My kids are addicted! A pack a day (a pack of fruit snacks) and they're always begging for more! I wonder if they make patches to break the "pack a day" fruit snacks habbit! Mariah can reach them in the cupboard now, so I'm in trouble, because she'll bring them over to me and look up w/ the big brown eyes and it's so hard to say no! Here's a picture of them enjoying their vice!

We've had a warm spell and so we've been enjoying the pool and some sprinkler fun! I think Brandon liked spraying freezing water and watching them squeal with both horror and delight. What a fun dad!

Strike a pose!

Mariah was a mere spectactor in our March Sprinkler Madness.

Hayley's got bangs now- so stylish! ;)

Before and After Pictures. I have been going a little Mod Podge crazy. It's all part of the March Madness at our house.

I wish I had some awesome photoshop skills (like Mikey) and I would add in a little stork to carry my Mariah baby. ;)