Rrrrrriiiiinng

We rang in 2011 with the Olsen clan up at Stein Eriksen.

B thought the noise makers were fantastic. Although he couldn't really make them work, he would just make a little sound that mimicked the real one. Even better in my opinion. bbbbzzzzzzz

The chef makes the BEST dinner.

Lobster, crab, filets, it was DE-LISH.

And check out all those balloons! There were over 2,500 floating around!

The crew minus Trev and Amanda.

They were in Texas for a wedding.

After dinner we hung out in the room until about 11:40 and then went down to the main lodge for the midnight festivities. We had a babysitter with the kids who were snoozing away...

Russ busted out a little break dancing which only lasted long enough for me to grab my camera and get this before he jumped up :)

Me and Britnie getting our sparkling cider on...

And with 4 minutes until midnight, we got a call saying that Baylor had woken up, got upset when the babysitter went in to get him, and ended up slamming his mouth on the flippin crib. No stitches this time, but it bled pretty good and we rang in the new year trying to clean him up and settle him down.

He is officially a party crasher.

Bring on 2011 and no more holiday party crashing... Baylor.

HaPpY NeW yEaR!!!

Ho Ho Ho

We were all pretty excited for Christmas this year...

Little did Baylor know, his "horse" was actually WAY better opened :)

But it's a good thing he didn't know to open them, or our tree would have set empty until Christmas. Lucky for us he left them alone. Or rode them.

To begin the festivities we had a party with my college friends on the 23rd. We got together with our hubbies and kids at my friend Mekensy's house. We had just sat down for dinner when B ran up to the tall chair I was sitting on and slammed his mouth. His tooth went completely through the skin under his lip. It was awful, no matter how strong I tried to be I just teared up because I could tell it was bad. Luckily Baylor's pediatrician is married to my friend and was there! I went right over to him and heard the words, "yep he's needs some stitches. Should we go?" He zoomed us right down to the clinic and ended up gluing it shut. It was not how I wanted to start the holidays but I can't begin to tell you how thankful I was that "Doctor Dallen" was there exactly when we needed him! It is healing great and you can hardly even see it.

He was back to his spunky little self the next morning and we met my family for Christmas Eve bowling. We had a blast!!! This was the first year Russ didn't have to work so it was great having him there with us.

We went back to my parents' house and made our traditional candy trains. I make these with my class every year and a few years ago we began the tradition with my family too. B got to make his own this year. He ate as much as actually made it on the train but we had fun together.

He would frost a little and then lick the stick, repeat... especially the licking part. He even started picking things back up and getting the frosting underneath it because he knew it was there.

Christmas morning Santa delivered.

The look on B's face was absolutely priceless as he ran out of his room.

He immediately ran to his Mickey and gave it a big squeeze. This boy LOVES Mickey.

Then he spotted the hoop!!! He and Dad put it to use right away.

He loves these little craft pom poms. He plays with some at my Mom's house and was thrilled to find some in his stocking and has played with them A LOT!

He got a sLiDe...

Wwweeeeeee.

Grandpa Bill arrived just in time to help Russ put it together. It's about 3 1/2 feet tall and B loves it.

My favorite gift was a new Mac. YAY!

Russ got a new ski coat, gloves, xbox games, and this super duper calendar I made him.

We gave wild thing some new Toy Story legos and figures.

We all got spoiled again at my Mom and Dad's. B got his first bike. He was so anxious to help put it together.

And we were spoiled yet again at Russ's Mom and Dad's.

This is sweet little Brooklyn giving Baylor a kiss.

The best part of all was spending time with family.

I hope you were all filled with as much love this holiday season as we were.

Oh Snap

I don't know what we did for entertainment before Baylor was born... he has me laughing ALL the time. Thank goodness for the little things in life.

Here are a few things that made me smile this week...

His tower at Red Lobster. He was SO proud of himself :)

He has a lobster and crab in one of his books. He loves to mimic their snaps with his fingers and say "snap, snap, snap." Since I ordered crab, we decided to let him try out the real thing. He thought is was pretty funny.

And then there's his slippers. He rocks these whenever his jammies aren't footies. They are almost as WiLd as he is.

And his latest...

He wants his animals in "seat belts"

YES, they have to be buckled up before he is ready to go. He definitely knows what he wants and he will tell you about it until it gets done.

"Seat belts, seat belts, watch the mouse, watch the mouse"

It progressively gets louder as he makes us aware of his desires :)

He is "watching the mouse" in this picture- hence the mesmerized, out in space look.

HE'S OBSESSED. A Mickey Mouse junkie. We're all about the mouse at the Olsen house.

These are the moments I live for.

Oh Christmas Tree...

We have had so much fun decorating for Christmas this year! Baylor is my official sidekick and we've had some good times already this holiday season. He was absolutely terrified of this Winnie the Pooh and Tigger sleigh last year. It sings Jingle Bells and they dance around which he was not a fan of last year. This year it plays quite continuously and he dances along... until he is distracted by something else :)

He is so intrigued by all of the ornaments. Of course, he loved the little red balls that go on his tree. It's a BALL, of course he's going to love it.

We have a Winnie the Pooh tree that I had growing up, our family tree which I have yet to take a picture of, and B's little tree. It already has too many ornaments so I couldn't put them all on. My Grandma spoils us with Hallmark ornaments. Next year, we need to get him a bigger tree!

He dug into this year's bag to find out what Great Grandma Zoma sent him :)

This is his little Jazz ornament from last year. He desperately wants to be able to put the ball through the basket... I'm surprised it's not broken yet.

But that must have inspired this because he took all the little red balls OFF his tree and they became basketballs :)

Luckily I snuck them back on his tree the next day and he has left them alone

And SANTA, we haven't made it to the mall yet, but if you are reading our blog you can see that Baylor has mastered the hoop he got last year. We're looking for more of a challenge. Slam dunking at waist high just isn't going to do it anymore. Sincerely, B and his mom

What a FUN time of year!!!

Another one bites the dust

... but in a good way of course :)

One of my besties got married!!! My good friend Shannon tied the knot a few weeks ago. Beforehand we had our traditional "roomy" sleepover up in Park City. We always go eat at Baja Cantina and then have a sleepover. We stay up ridiculously late and laugh till we cry. Sadly, Mekensy couldn't come because she was at home with her adorable little Stella but we plan to "reenact" it when she doesn't have a newborn at home :)

If you have never eaten here- you NEED to! It is De-LISH.

Soon after, the big day arrived and we all watched Shannon become Mrs. Ormond. Her hubby is Baylor's pediatrician and we think he's fabulous. I waited to switch over to him until they were engaged :) I wanted to make sure it was official before I started taking B to him.

I LOVE these girls!!!

And of course, I LOVE this guy.

YAY for Shanscape getting hitched!

39 hours

Here is what I covered in 39 hours...

ThAnKsGiViNg!

This year was our year with my family and we went down to Nephi for the festivities with my Dad's family. He is one of TEN children so you can imagine the group we get together with! Because of size, we have dinner at the church. Not quite the "homey" feeling I like, but it's about the only option. It's fun to see the Painter cousins because I don't see them that often.

Baylor knows exactly who to go for when he wants a treat...

my Dad! He has him wrapped around his little finger :)

B was a big fan of the pie!

He got to play and be wild.

My sisters Leanne and Michelle, my aunt Marjorie, and of course me

After the food and fun we headed up to Salt Lake to begin the best part of Thanksgiving.

We have a tradition with my mom and her sisters to go shopping on Black Friday. Even when my Grandma Doris was really sick with cancer, she still went and we pushed her in a wheel chair! We are pretty hard core :) We met at my mom's house at 9:00 to look at ads and eat goodies. We used to do this and then sleep until about 4:00 am but now that stores are getting all crazy on us, we headed up to Toys R Us at 10:00 pm. NO SLEEPING.

To say it was freezing is an UNDERSTATEMENT.

We shopped for a solid 13 hours. WOW. Then we finished by eating at our usual spot, Chili's.

By this point it was safe to say that I was TIRED. However, I had a full day ahead of me. I had to run up to my mother-in-law's to get Baylor and head down to Nephi AGAIN for my Grandparent's 80th birthday open house. I had to stop in Orem and buy a Monster and sunflower seeds to help keep me awake. (Russ is MIA because he had to work)

Happy 80th Grandma Zoma and Grandpa Jim!

And for the icing on the cake, I got to see my friend Callie who lives in Maui!

We made plans months ago to go to the Jazz game before she had to go home. Her hubby Fernando had never been to an NBA game before, so it was fun to be there with them. Especially since they were playing the Lakers!

The game was SO AWESOME! I LOVE beating Kobe and crew.

B brought his usual "Go Jazz" spirit

And we had a flippin blast getting to catch up.

So in 39 hours, I covered quite a bit of ground. We walked in from the game and as soon as Baylor's jammies were on and he was in bed, I was in mine dreaming away. And I stayed there until 10:30 the next day :)