We Are Alive

It's been a long time since my last post, but for good reason. A few weeks ago, we got a phone call from Matt's work. They had a job available in the west coast and wanted to know if we were interested. Interested is an understatement! Of course we're interested. We've been trying to get west for a while now, and FINALLY we made it. So where did we move? Sacramento, California. How awesome is that!. We'll be living in Folsom, a suburb of Sacrament. So as you can imagine, since the phone call everything has been a whirlwind. Between Lily finishing school, our anniversary, the 4th of July and then the move we've been MIA. We are currenlty living at the Residence Inn. Gotta love breakfast every morning and no cleaning. Our stuff will arrive next week.
We went to church last Sunday. I LOVE the wards out here!. Everyone has been awesome inviting us over for dinner, to the park and swimming. I think we are going to like it here. We met a great family who has invited us over to swim twice and to dinner. They have two girls Lily's age, which has been a blessing since she was so sad to leave her Erie friends. Here are a few pictures of the kids swimming.

Happy Birthday Matt

Yesterday was Matt's BIRTHDAY. Just want him to know how much I LOVE him. I'm telling you, he is the best husband and dad out there. Not sure what I did to deserve him.

Summer is slowly coming and we've been able to enjoy a few sunsets at the beach. Here are a couple of pictures of Jack and Lily enjoying the evening.

Finally, Lily has started soccer. She had her first game last week. It is a hoot to watch these 5 and 6 year olds run up and down the field.

Keys 100

The Keys 100 is not for the light hearted. Ninety degree plus heat, blistering sun, humidity soaking you to the bone and cars going by at highway speeds requires a certain dedication and awareness. Many racers have used it for preliminary Badwater training, and some runners have called it a “suffer fest”. ~ Lisa Smith-Batchen Blog

With that said, we had a BLAST! 100 miles, team of 6, from Key Largo to Key West, 15 hours and 51 minutes. It was sooooooooooo hot and so humid, but we had such a great time with our friends. We rented a 15 passenger van, called ourselves 'Buns on the Run', and packed the van with tons of yummy food and drinks. We each ran 2-3 legs of the race with a total of 15-18 miles each. I ate so much food and was never full. Thank you so much Cece and Chris who organized everything and let us stay at their hacienda.

Buns on the Run Team

The Party Van (check out our little buns with running shoes!)

My Man!

100 miles of THIS!

We took the boys along too (they had a babysitter the day of the race), but they had some fun too. Our friends Chris and Cece have two fun boys to play with, and we were able to hit the alligator farm, beach, and several trips the to key lime shake place.

At the alligator farm. There were seriously thousands of them!



This is the best shot I got of Jack with the gators. Sorry it's blurry.

New York, Mother's Day and Birdies, Oh My

Two weekends ago we went to NCY to one of Matt's high school friends, Todd's wedding. NYC is only about 7 hours away, so wee packed up the kiddos and headed to the big city. We got a lot in, in just 2 days. We went to the Manhatten Zoo in central park, went Toys R' Us, which is 4 stories and has a ride in it and a life size dinosaur. The kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. Then we went to the wedding which it down poured. I thought it was kind of fun, but I am sure Todd's wife , the bride, was devastated. Then we decided to go see Mary Poppins the Broadway. The kids loved it and we still have all the songs in our heads.Matt and his high school friends at the wedding. Todd is the one in the green tie.

Jack and Matt in Central Park

The kids in Central Park

On the subway

At Central Park Zoo
At Central Park Zoo

The Big City
Getting ready to see the big showSitting in the theatre
Mother's Day was so nice. Matt and the kids brought me breakfast in bed. Lily had buttered one of the pieces of toast and it still had big chunks of butter on it when they brought it to me. It was so cute. I wish I had gotten a picture. The kids gave me so many fun things they had made at school and Matt and the kids gave me a huge hanging pot of flowers and a huge sitting pot. They are so pretty. Here is a picture of me and the kids right before church on Mother's Day. I am a spoiled mom and have the best kids in the world. I hope that they forgive me one day for all my inadequacies and all the times I yell at them. I just love how Lily, Jack, and Cole have so much unconditional love towards me and can be sad at me one minute, and the very next minute are my best friend. I wish I could be more like them. I love being their mom and feel so blessed by them each day.

Finally, remember those Robin eggs from my previous post? Well, today they hatch...still waiting for one more. Here is a quick picture I took a minute ago. I'll take more as they grow.
We are heading to Miami tomorrow to run in a 100 mile relay from Miami to the end of the keys. I'll post when we return!

Baird Happenings

The other day we went for a drive with out friends the Johnsons and found this place "where birds walk on fish" . There are so many fish in this one spot that birds can literally walk on them. It is actually a quite disgusting site as all these fish pil on top of each other with their mouths opened, begging for bread from the tourists.. You can see by Cole's face that even he thought it was a little gross.
We also have been able to go to the beach as the weather has been getting better. It was still too cold to swim, but not to cold to play in the sand, throw rocks and find treasures.
And finally, we have this little treat in one of the trees in our front yard. I had been watching this sweet little mommy robin for the past couple of weeks build a little nest. Then one day I saw a blue egg in it, the next day two, then three and today 4 eggs. She is quite a diligent little mama sitting on these eggs. I'm sure she doesn't like it much as I make my daily visit to the nest to see what is going on. The kids enjoy it too. I can't wait to see the babies and will post pictures when they arrive!

Easter 2009

Easter was fabulous at the Baird's we had Mimi with us and the kids had a fun time. On Saturday we dyed eggs. This year I used real food coloring and vinegar instead of one of those kits, and we got the brightest colored eggs. It was a lot of fun, but now my kids won't eat them!


On Sunday morning, the kids came down the stairs and noticed the Easter bunny had hid eggs and surprises all over the house. The Easter bunny was very kind this year.
Finally, we got ready for church. The weather was beautiful, but cold, so we didn't get a lot of outside pictures. I love Easter Sunday at church. It is the first year Jack and Cole kind of understood the resurrection, and they were able to come home and explain it to us during dinner.
What is Easter without an Easter ham. Honey Baked Ham, funeral potatoes and asparagus is our traditional Easter dinner. It was YUMMY!

I know, I know...I'm a bad blogger!

It has been a a long time since my last post. As a matter of fact I think this is the longest I have gone without posting since I started this blog. Not sure if it's because we have been busy or if we just haven't done much worth blogging about, or a little of both. We really have been busy. In the past few weeks, Lily has started swimming lessons, continues with Daisy Scouts, goes to school everyday, all day, and is looking forward to starting soccer and piano lessons. Jack and Cole have started Mighty Mights (a program with multiple ball sports), started a nature class, started swimming lessons, and go to pre-school 3 days a week. If I were a better mom, I'd have more pictures to show for all our activities.
Shabby Creations is doing incredibly well. More than I would ever have imagined. There is definitely NOT a recession when it comes to wanting a custom blog design. If I am not busy with the kids and their activities, I am working on custom orders. In addition, I try to fit in a run here and there for our upcoming 100 miler relay in the Keys next month, and I decided to sign up for the St. George marathon again. It's a lottery, so we'll see if I get in. I am still in the Relief Society presidency and work at the hospital a few times a month. And with all that, I still find time to watch my favorite reality shows. Wew, my head is spinning.
So there you have, life is busy, but wonderful. And that is my excuse for being a blog slacker. Here is a cute picture of Lily. We went to the zoo a couple of weekends, and I love this picture of her.

Bikes and Scooters

Today Jack decided he wanted to take off his training wheels and give his bike try with only two wheels. After about 15 minutes, a few falls, and a determined attitude, HE DID IT!! He just turned four, 5 days ago. Lily, who we have been begging to take off her training wheels since last summer, decided she could not let her 2 year younger brother out do her, decided to give it a try too. Her bike broke late last year, so she had to try it out on Jack's bike. One minute later she was off. Literally, it took her one minute and no falls....yet. I guess if you wait long enough, things become easy. We are so proud of the two of them. I guess we need to buy Lily her own bike so that she doesn't have her knees to her ears. Cole gave it a try, but after a minute or two he decided it wasn't as fun as his new Razor scooter , which he is very good at. Maybe in the summer.

Look Who's {4}

Happy Birthday Cole and Jack

Yesterday our boys turned 4. I can hardly believe it. Where does the time go? In 4 short years, they have learned to walk, talk, feed themselves, dress themselves, entertain themselves, and play by themselves. What am I to do with my time? They have blessed our home unbelievably, made us laugh, made us grow, made us happy, made us proud, and made ME freak out a time or two. I love them more than anyone could ever imagine. We had a combined birthday party a week ago for all 3 of the kids. But on their special day they took Batman and Spider-Man cupcakes to school, rode their new scooters, played with their new Imaginex toys, took a trip to Toys-R-Us and ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken (their choice). I hope they had a great day and will have an even better year being 4.

~ likes plain cheese burgers and steak
~ not a big dessert fan
~ kind of a mama's boy
~ loves sports
~ likes to sing and has memorized all the words to many songs, including Single Ladies by
Beyonce
~ loves to visit the zoo
~ is a little conservative
~ is a Sunbeam at church
~ starting Mighty Mights (mixed ball sports) in a couple of weeks
~ is the smaller brother, but older by 9 minutes

~ likes steak and apples
~ likes all desserts
~ very artistic
~ loves sports
~ is a dare devil
~ has a great memory and can beat everyone in the family at the Memory Game
~ like Batman
~ independent
~ loves to visit the zoo
~ is a Sunbeam at church
~ starting Mighty Mights (mixed ball sports) in a couple of weeks
~ is the bigger brother, but younger by 9 minutes

Here are just a couple of pictures at the big birthday bash. We had about 18-20 of Lily's friend and Jack and Cole's friends. We went to this big place where there are a bunch of those big blown up jumping trampolines. As you can see by Lily's hair, they had a blast.

Happy Birthday Lily Ruth

How can it be? Today Lily turned 6. I want her to know how much I love her. And how proud I am of her. Lily, I hope you had a wonderful birthday. Today she took High Musical cupcakes to school, ate her favorite meal for dinner (pizza), and then went to Disney On Ice with the family. But the fun is NOT over. She'll be having a birthday party in a week and presents still to come.

• loves High School Musical (all of them)
• takes ice skating lessons
• is a daisy in the girl scouts
• has a lot of friends
• is good at math
• learning to read
• entertains her brothers
  
• and fights with them too
• loves animals, especially cats and dogs
• loves stuff...pads of paper, little containers, pencils, little gadgets, etc.
• loves pizza and junk food
• is funny
• a little bossy
• is in the CTR 6 class at church
  
• is in kindergarten
• is good at computer games and wii
• makes me happy
  
• is the BEST daughter I could ever ask for

HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
I LOVE YOU!