top chef is back...woo-hoo!

Top Chef is my guilty pleasure. All Stars...oh, mmmmmmm-yea-aaahhh! The only way it could be better is if I could actually taste the food during the quickfires and elimination challenges, and get recipes emailed to me after every show. Well, actually, the only thing better than that would be to be a judge. Then you get to taste all the food, get a fabulous free meal, have the recipes at your disposal (not like you'd ever have to/get to cook), AND get paid oodles of money. Now I just have to decide who to root for: Richard, Fabio, Jen, Antonia, Carla, Jamie or Mike. That's a few too many choices for a Pisces! Especially without a taste test!!

time to do Christmas

I started Christmas shopping today. (Yes, I know lots of people are done already, thanks for rubbing it in. I'm actually pretty proud of myself - to start shopping while December is still in single digits may be some kind of record.) My inspiration was the Angel Tree that they're doing at my work...you pick a child's name off the tree and get them the gifts they've asked for. I picked a 2-year-old boy named Luis, same sizes as Tagg and same interests (well, actually the card said he wanted "dolls" which I was cool with but after some investigation, he had actually requested "balls." That could have gone way, way wrong.)

The original Cars book set. He reads them 10 times
a day, sleeps with them, has not lost (permanently) 
one of them...loves them. See the duct tape?
That is true love, toddler style.

I feel like Tagg has so much, the least I can do is make sure that this little boy has a great Christmas too. I almost felt guilty picking out things for Luis. I mean, what we got for him is just a drop in the bucket compared to all of the toys, clothes, books and shoes that Tagg already has. It really puts things in perspective. How much do most kids (or any of us) really need? We could do so much more.

Should have gone with the flames.

Anyway, we got Luis a nice winter coat, a cute little outfit complete with black Converse sneakers (very cool...I almost got the ones with the flames but chickened out and got him the same ones Tagg has), a set of the Cars books in a box that Tagg loves so much he actually sleeps with them, and a Whacky Ball set from B. Toys that he loves to play with when he's at Nana's house.


I love B. Toys. Of all the toys he has, he probably finds these the most consistently entertaining (after cars and his books of course). Not only are they environmentally friendly, donate proceeds to Free the Children, and have a killer website and brand design, but they actually seem to care about making toys that kids will like. Here's a snippet of their philosophy, something we should all take to heart:

...it’s okay to be curious, to be pensive, to be loud, to be happy and sad all at the same time, to be generous, to be afraid, to be quiet, to be wild, to be fun, to be open, to be scientific, to be poetic, to be giddy, to be serious, to be smart, to be free, to be you. 

Of course, while I was at the store I had to do a little shopping of my own. After I got over my charitable guilt shopping spree, I still managed to find a few things for the kids. (no spoiler alerts here, please move on) I got lost in the book store as usual. We love Jamie Lee Curtis' book "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" which is a lovely tale about adoption. (Her books always make me want to write childrens' books instead of trashy romance novels.) I wish they would make a customizable "photobook" type thing where you could write in your own story and have it end up looking like this book, but with your kid's story. Maybe one day, I'll get all artsy and try to make one for each of my kids. The book I ended up buying as a Christmas gift - My Mommy Hung the Moon - just seemed like a necessary add to the collection! It's not going to come close to the tent fort, but hey! that's what you get when mommy does the shopping. It's not always fair.

thanksgiving wishes

Email from Tagg’s birth family after Thanksgiving…

“Thought about you all throughout the day also. Thanks for the pic
you sent on my phone that was so special. (it was of all of us on Sloane’s adoption day)

We definitely have lots to be thankful for. Tagg having a lovely, stable family to grow up with and love him is truly a blessing for all of us here. Peace of mind is worth a million, and along with everything else, you and Scott have given us that.

Tagg painted this frame. It's my favorite
and the photo of them is priceless.
He made frames for his birth parents and grandparents too.

Congrats on the adoption becoming final. I have to admit it made me a little nervous, kept thinking about everything and hoped and prayed everything worked out for all of you, and thank heavens it did.” Thank heavens, indeed. For everything.

abstract family

Tagg's art project for the day...our family as represented in the PlayDough medium. Excellent use of color and dimension. Very expressive. I think he's ready for his first exhibit.

The artist.

That's Sloane on the left, mommy, daddy, and Tagg is the green one. Sloane is a little flat because Tagg stepped on her, and my eyeballs and mouth kept falling off. It might be time for some new PlayDough.

i put on my underwear

The potty training is in full swing. We're not all hardcore about it but Tagg has been interested since his 2nd birthday and has been kind of on and off ever since. For instance, in Mexico we were talking to my parents about the fact that he refuses to poop in the potty, or give us any "I'm pooping" signs, or even admit that he's poopy - even when the smell is undeniable! About 3 minutes after that conversation, he says, "Mommy, I need to go poopy in the potty." And he did. Every day for about 3 days while we were there and then...boom, back to nothing. So now that we know he's fully capable, we are bribing him with Lightning McQueen underwear, Toy Story (aka "cowboy") pull-ups and M&Ms. Nothing high-pressure, but more focus on what he can do.

So this morning we open his door and he's sitting on the floor with his Lightning McQueen jammies on and both feet in the right leg-hole of his Lightning McQueen unders (I should have stock in Disney Pixar). He looks up with his little bed-head and says, "I put on underwear!" So proud. A few minutes later, Scott pops his head in the bathroom and says, "You gotta see this. Tagg's showing Sloane how he can put on his underwear." Sure enough, the kid's on the floor by Sloane, both feet in the right leg-hole of said Lightning McQueen underwear, showing off. Once we got them on, he sat and read her all of his favorite books. One of those "aaawww" moments. And where was my camera!


When Tiff came over tonight, he made a point of showing her his underwear skills and then ran laps around the house and did a nice little yoga "down dog" pose for her. Classic. Potty training is pretty fun so far!

tent city

I walked in the door tonight with take-out sushi in hand and Tiff right behind me. We had grand plans to watch the America's Next Top Model finale, eat sushi and commiserate over her dramatic week.

When we opened the door, the house was all dark and quiet and a little disconcerting, but then I heard Tagg's sweet little voice say, "Mommy, wanna come in my tent? I have flashlight." as this light spot blinds me. Yep, daddy made a big ol' tent city in the living room and he, Tagg and Sloane were all in there reading books, making flashlight animals, and hanging out. Pretty damn cute.

run, SL,UT, run!

The original Run SL,UT Run team

Oh don't be offended! That's the name of our Napa-to-Sonoma half marathon team (get it? Run, Salt Lake, Utah abbreviated, Run) and I just signed up for year 2 tonight. We thought about naming the team "Sister Wives" or "Big Love" because the team consisted of 6 girls and Brad, but we still have some hope that other of our guys will join us on a run someday.

Today I also signed up for the Salt Lake half, reserved my spot as Runner #1 on the Wasatch Back Ragnar team (I hope), and started training for Surf City. I guess that's my Christmas gift to myself. Although I hear Santa may be bringing me some boots too. Yay, Santa! Yay, boots!

beautiful girl!

Dear Jodi,
You take the BEST photos ever! I know my baby girl is gorgeous and all, but these pix are amazing!  Can't wait to see the rest of them. I'm going to need a bigger house with more wall space for all the pictures of my kids!
Love,
Lisa

Check out Sloane at 6 months...you have to scroll down a little ways. She's the adorable naked baby with the bald head and big blue eyes striking a pose on a vintage white vinyl sofa. Jodi has a whole slew of fantabulous pictures on here. All very unique and fun. Definitely worth checking out the whole blog. You'll be inspired!

and so it begins...

Suck it, people! We got a surfboard
medal and you didn't!

Training, that is. We are planning to run the Surf City Half Marathon on Feb. 6 in Huntington Beach, CA. My friend Natalie and I did it last year because (1) you need a reason to hit the training hard during and after the holidays, (2) a little February vacay to southern California makes a nice break from the snowy, cold, dismal Utah February weather, and (3) the medal is really cool. If you run, you know that a cool medal really makes it all worthwhile. We think the medal will help us talk a few more of our runner girls into it so we can rent a house on the beach and maybe stay for a few days to take the kids to SeaWorld or Disney after.

Scott's always so supportive, even
though I stunk to high heaven.

Sadly, I was logging my training schedule into my Entourage calendar tonight thinking tomorrow was the official start date. Nope. LAST Monday was 10 weeks out, so I'm already behind and I haven't even started. Dammit. Apparently I'm supposed to log 21 miles this week. I didn't run 21 total miles before the Halloween Half in Provo. Of course, I couldn't walk down stairs for 3 days after that one which is why I'm committed to train for this one. That, and the fact that last time we did Surf City, I got one of my worst times ever which I like to blame on the fact that we carb loaded the night before with french fries and beer at some Irish pub in Huntington. See, I'm learning from my mistakes! Come on, PR!

happy birthday, baby girl!

Sloane's 6 month birthday was November 15th. She's so darling. Smiles all the time with those two cute little bottom teeth and chubby cheeks, and loves to giggle when you tickle her neck and armpits. She's sitting up really well now, which seems to have opened a whole new world of discovery. She's digging her fruits and crackers - green veggies, not so much. She hates shoes and socks (how is this my child?!) but still leaves her headbands and hats on. Which is good because the bald spot that turned into a bald strip, is now like bald acreage on the back of her head. She seems to be getting some light brown fuzzy hair on top but that bald patch is still, well, really bald. We have high hopes that now that she's not laying down all the time, her hair will have a fighting chance!

We have so much to be thankful for this year - amazing family, great friends, good health, solid jobs...and most of all, our two beautiful children. Sloane's adoption day was November 24th, the day before Thanksgiving. Perfect timing!

I starting playing around with iMovie and made a little video capturing some of the best moments from the last 6 months. It's actually pretty easy - once I took the time to watch the tutorial, anyway! I feel so powerful! Given that the video is over 8 minutes long, it seems that I need to work on my editing skills some. Or maybe there was just that much good stuff. I think that's it.

BTW, the first song - From God's Arms to My Arms to Yours - is from a wonderful album of the same name about adoption stories from all perspectives. Scott's sister Lisa, who is adopted, gave it to us last Christmas and it makes me cry every single time I hear it. I know it says "your son" but the sentiment behind it is so heartwarming and perfect, it had to be on here. So, yes, I know Sloane is not a boy.

our mexican getaway

I totally stole the idea for this photo from the resort's
professional photographer's kiosk by the pool. Sure, in that one they were
all dressed in white and the beach was pristine but for their footprints.
I still think this turned out pretty cute.

We went to Cabo San Lucas the first week of November with the family.  Well, most of the family. Sloane wasn't able to join us. Apparently you can't get a passport for adopted children until after the adoption is finalized and the birth certificate is changed into your name. For us, that day was 2 days after we got back. How's that for timing? It was almost impossible to get any information on whether we could or couldn't and if so, how. We got different information from the agency, the government offices, and the lawyer but finally the adoption folks strongly cautioned us not to do it. I guess, there have been cases where people have taken their "unofficial" adopted kids across the border and triggered an investigation into child trafficking! Zoiks. So Sloane spent a lovely week wrapping Grama and Bompa around her little fingers, and we spent some quality time with the 2-year-old who really enjoyed pretending he was an only child for a week!