Levi's Rocket

Well, Levi got a present that he wouldn't put down... (okay, he eventually did when he opened the Hungry, Hungry Hippos game, but that was like 2 hours later). It's this rocket thing that you pump the bottom of it and it shoots into the air. He loves it!!
Everything else didn't quite matter (except... "more presents? okay!)
Christmas is super duper fun with kids!!

Merry Christmas!!!

From our house to yours... Merry Christmas!!! We love you!!

Christmas Cookies!!!

One thing I have always loved about Christmas (and I do mean always, because my Grandma Meservy used to make these when we lived with her as kids) are Cornflake Christmas cookies. They are supposed to be holly wreaths or something. Every year (and I am not kidding) I overdose on them. I make two batches... one for me, and one for everyone else. About the time my mouth tastes like butter and sugar, I am done. But up until that point....YUMMY!!!!

Levi's "Big Boy" Bed

Well, my darling little son finally has a "big boy" bed. Translation: a toddler bed. The circumstances that set into motion this act involved him successfully climbing out of and into his crib for a week. Then, after fearing he would fall on his head one morning due to not being fully awake, Matt changed the crib into the toddler bed. Granted, in a few months he will need to be moved into a twin size bed so our little baby, that is going to join the world in March, will have a place to sleep. We'll let you know how that goes. Anyhow, Levi is rather proud of his big boy bed and does not give us any problems going to bed in it or staying in it. Naps, on the other hand, are an entirely different story....

While we're on the subject of Levi, let me tell you about his new favorite saying... "I don't want to". He says it about everything. It is sort of driving me nuts. He goes through these phases where he is super cute and just adorable as can be, and then WHAMMO, he's a definite 2 year old. It kind of kills me. His other saying that is equally challenging is "No say no, mommy". It's quite adorable when he says it and he says it with such sincerity as if it is a matter of life and death or something, however, it is just a little obnoxious. That is part of being 2 I suppose. Regardless, I wouldn't trade him for anything and I still firmly find Levi to be a joy in my life. We are hoping that baby Dylan will be calmer though...

Congratulations Seth, Amanda and Maren!!!

My brother's wife had a little baby boy this morning!! He has yet to be named, but here are pictures!!! Maren is the little girl holding him and looks a little hesistant about being a new big sister!! Congratulations!!!!!! We love you!!

Let Christmas Begin!

We went on a hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. Due to technical difficulties, it took a few days. Levi's favorite part has always been the lights. He just loves them!
Matt, Shannon and Levi are decorating the pretty tree.
(Little side note: I am 25 weeks pregnant)

This year we got a train to go under the tree since Levi just LOVES them.

He's got the moves!

Levi LOVES music (always has). On this particular day, I was able to turn on the dance music channel on cable (love it!... the cable part) and for an hour he sweated up a storm running around and dancing. The little girl on the couch is our neighbor whom I was watching and she was the "photographer". I think Levi is absolutely adorable!

My Mama would be proud!!

We have this really big window that really needs a curtain. Well, I had this up there, partially done, with the thread all hanging out at the bottom, yadda, yadda, yadda... it looked tacky. However, I wasn't really feeling motivated to finish the curtains until we considered putting our tree in the corner by them. I knew that if we did that and took pictures, my laziness would be evident in every photo and we would look kind of trashy. So, yesterday I finished them. I think they look beautiful!!! (You don't have to think so, but I do, and it's my window and curtains). So, there you have it. Now that room looks just so lovely! Yay!

Matthew continued...

So, since I love to look at my husband, I thought you might too.

About MATTHEW!!!

Karen tagged me with this one. I think it's a cute little tag. Why? Because it's all about my fabulous husband, Matt (mostly)!! I will add pictures of Matt when I get home.
How long have you been married? 1 fabulous year and 22 glorious days.
How long did you date? Wellll... that is a tricky question. We have known each other for 14 years and we had a lovely long distance friendship that started at the beginning of 2006. However, our first official date was in June 2006 and then we were married in November. So, I guess we dated for 5 months. (I'll count the dating from the first kiss... that was quite memorable)
How old is he? 29 He's older than me (I love that! Even if it is just by 8 months)
Who eats more? I do for sure. We'll use the excuse that I am pregnant to explain that.
Who said I love you first? That would be me... Although he initiated it. How can you not love Matt???
Who is taller? Matt. I am short and stubby.
Who is smarter? Hhhmmm... I think we are even. I may have a big ole degree, but that simply means that I was persistent and did a lot of work. If he had the time, money and energy, I am sure he would also have a Masters. When talking with me you surely can't tell that I am so educated. Matt is brilliant on a variety of subjects and is constantly learning knew history things and other fun facts (learned on "How it's Made"). He also has an incredible knowledge on the scriptures that far exceeds what I know. He's a smart guy. He married me! :-)
Who does the laundry? We each do our own. It works out well.
Who does the dishes? Whoever cooks, doesn't have to do the dishes. Eventually they get put in the dishwasher.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Our bed is in a wierd position. I think Matt is considered to be on the right side. I'm confused....
Who pays the bills? That would be Matt. I just spend the money.
Who mows the lawn? Someone is supposed to do that???
Who cooks dinner? Matt cooks. I warm up stuff and assemble things that are microwaveable. So, if you want a good meal, come on a night that Matt is cooking. He is fantastic!!!!
Who drives when you are together? Matt... Always. I love it!!! I think I give him a heart attack when I drive, so it's a good thing.
Who is more stubborn? Hello, my name is Shannon.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? I think we are about even. Matt's a good guy. We rarely have arguments, however, I am wrong a lot and I will admit it. I think Matt admits it too. Ya... we are even on that.
Whose parents do you see the most? Both sets are in Chino, so when we see one, we see the other. However, my dad comes up here sometimes and we see him, however, Matt's parents come up to visit us a lot more.
Who proposed? I asked him during an instant messenger conversation, but then he proposed with a ring and everything. It was super cute. We'll count his! :-) I love my Matt!
Who has more friends? I do. (although Matt and I share a few common friends... the good ones)
Who has more siblings? Me.
Who wears the pants in the family? Definitely Matt. I fully support him in whatever he decides. We pretty much discuss everything. He looks good in pants too.
Who's tall, dark and handsome? Oh, that would be Matt.

Guess what?!?!?!

Yesterday we had our 21 week ultrasound and found out that we are having a little BOY!!! We are very excited! Everything looked good (from my professional Shannon point of view) and he's quite the kicker. I think he'll play soccer like his Daddy. Levi still isn't really quite sure about all of this, but he does give me tummy good kisses! So cute! Yippie for us!!

HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween friends! Levi and I were both pirates. In the below picture he is saying "Argh!" (hence the double chins). He was very excited to be a pirate. I think this is mainly because on the "Wiggles" show that he watches there is a Captain Feathersword pirate guy. Hey, everyone needs a hero! He is so adorable!!
Don't forget sweet Princess Mandorallyn (Levi's cousin).
The headress thing is about to come off. She sure does look darling!
Levi's Loot!! What an exciting thing to get all this candy and know that it is

for eating and it tastes good! Yum! Suckers are his favorite.

He has no idea that chocolate is what is in those little colorful packages (more for Mom!)

Levi's new addiction!

The art of eating cookies and milk. This is a must before he goes to bed. For those health conscious people out there, don't worry, he only gets this treat about twice a week... PIck your Nilla Wafer cookie, dip it in the milk (preferably not splashing, although Matt taught him to kind of toss it in the milk and let it sit there for a minute...

you can all see how successful Levi was at that...)

Enjoy your cookies and milk!!

Like mother, like son...

Ignore the beady red eyes and look at the cuteness of this picture! Levi and I both have such cute bellies!! The only difference is that there is a little baby kicking me all the time, and I really hope (but doubt) that Levi doesn't have that going on inside him. He thinks "mommy's crazy"! Good times for us ahead!

Festive Cookies

I wanted to make sugar cookies and decorate them like frankenstein and pirates, etc... so we made cookies and decorated them. They didn't turn out as I imagined, but we did have a good time decorating them and eating the m&m's on top and licking the frosting!

Slacker Shan

So, Karen Collinwood (formerly Rosener) called me on my lack of updating our blog. I'd list my excuses here, but you've heard them all. Alas, no picture will accompany my post, as I am at work. Karen did "tag" me and so I must answer the following questions (are they really questions?) Anyhow... enjoy my contribution for the day to your world of entertainment.

4 jobs I've had: The Rat/Mouse at Chuck E Cheese, Dave and Buster's Special Events Rep, English teacher, Old Navy stocker girl (not to be confused with stalker girl... that was another job)
4 movies I could watch over and over again: Legally Blonde, Center Stage, The Count of Monte Cristo (which Matt is tired of me asking to watch!) and the Emperor's New Groove

4 places I have lived: Chino, Ca....Sacramento, Ca....LaVerne, Ca....Provo, Ut (although I don't remember it... I was just feeling so California-ish)

4 favorite places to visit: (I'm modifying the question to make it 4 places I want to go...)
Czech Republic with Matthew, Hawaii... someday when I look cuter and less pregnant, Ireland to see the Shannon River, and Utah to see everyone up there.

4 favorite desserts: (Only 4??? If a female created this, she obviously had more self control than I do!) Tapoica, Brownies with ice-cream and all that jazz, dark chocolate covered almonds and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (although my favorites change all the time).

4 favorite dinners: Anything Matt cooks (because it's always good), TACOS!!!, Chicken with pasta, chicken nuggets

4 websites I visit daily: www.ofy.org (for work), yahoo (for email), everyone's blogs, and ...?

4 hobbies: Scrapbooking, Reading books, Hanging out with Matt, Eating (although Matt would say shopping... It's not so much a hobby, as a part of life).

4 people I tag to do this same survey with their responses: My cute husband, My mom (you can email me your responses, Amy Takeuchi-Wanlass (hello...where are you??) and Jen Spence.

Thanks everyone for listening. Pictures will be posted soon... stay tuned!

FairyTale Town

There is this super cute little park in Sacramento called Fairy Tale Town. It is geared towards toddlers and has different nursery rhymes or fairy tale themes throughout. There are slides to play on, animals to pet, a crooked mile to walk on, etc. It is really quite cute. Abigail and her daughter, Mandorallyn went with us and we had a lovely time. It helped that we got there right when it opened and were the only people there for a whole hour. As we were leaving a huge preschool showed up. We were glad we had had peace and quiet and the place to ourselves. :-)

Levi's very own ball pit!

My mom so kindly brought up these balls. (Thanks Jen Spence for sharing them!) She then purchased a swimming pool to house them and Wa-La! Instant ball pit for Levi. He LOVES running and jumping into it. Now, if I could only convince him to put the balls back where they go...

Happy Birthday Matt!!! 9-21-2007

My very handsome husband turned 29 years old! We made a scavenger hunt for him and had a little party (there were 3 of us). Happy Birthday Matt! I love you!!

Arizona continued...

One of the main reasons for going to arizona was to see Jennifer Castro and Jennifer Wires (pictured above). These two delightful ladies are two of my best friends and I love them tons!!! Jennifer Wires flew out from Georgia for the Tempe Dave and Buster's grand opening, which was part of the reason we attended too. It was so so so so fun to be with them and hang out together.

A relaxing trip to Arizona

Matt and I went on a much needed getaway to Arizona for the weekend! It was so fun staying with Tom and Gayla Mead. We did a whole lot of nothing, but tons of stuff! It was so much fun!

Fun in the Sun!

It's been great weather for swimming (like 105 degrees). Levi and I went swimming with his cousins, the Smiths. He has never been in a pool and freaks out about water. It took some coaxing and seeing the other kids having fun.... but then.... oh boy, did he love it!!!! We were in the water for an hour!

Such a helper!

What is it about big boxes that make children happy? Levi took a minute to rest while the swingset was being built.

Happiness in the form of a swing set!

Many thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for purchasing a swing set for Levi! He couldn't be more thrilled!!!! Thank you Grandpa, for coming up here to help Matt put it together! It was wonderful seeing you!!!

STATE FAIR!

We went to the state fair for a family activity and it was oodles of fun. I go for the sno cones. Levi goes for the animals, and Matt goes to see the fun things people are selling.
There was a cool toy exhibit that had trains in (much to Levi's delight). We just walked around and have a great time together.

The boys are watching motorcycles in a big metal ball, going around and around. It was cool, but definitely a guy thing. Matt became the "bongo drum" as Levi pounded on his head. Good times!!