Alex & Alyssa Pictures

Here are some pictures my sister Shelly took of the kids in December. Yes, at the very top of the list of all of her many talents, she can sew anything and everything...and take great pictures.

Snowy, Cold Fun

We had been wanting to take the kids out to play in the snow, and since last Sunday afternoon was pretty nice we decided to do it. So 20-30 minutes later we had the kids all bundled up (think of the little brother on A Christmas Story). Of course in the first 5 minutes of being outside Alyssa decided she had to go to the bathroom, which took another 10 minutes (hey, at least she told me, right?). But eventually Conley hooked the snow tube to the 4-wheeler and off they went. They had so much fun. I thought after 10 minutes they would want to come back inside. But he pulled them around for at least 45 minutes and we finally made them come inside (kicking and screaming). Here are some pictures. I have some cute video but I dont know how to attach it. Hopefully I'll figure it out soon :).

Trying out their new snow gear. Alyssa starting a new trend: shirt, no pants, with boots...actually I am sure this has already been done by many celebrities.

First Time Playing in the Snow

"Helping" Daddy get the sled ready

Off We Go

Wish I Was At Work, No Seriously

So I am sitting at home, had to come home from work sick. Which on a side note is so annoying because I usually take 0 to 1 sick days per year and have had to take 2-3 in the past 6 weeks. I am beginning to think something is seriously wrong with me, my stomach, I think if it continues for another 2-3 years I will definitely get it checked out. Anyway, back to the original post, today is pretty much the only day EVER that I wished I was at work. Every year we have a Dessert Party the week of Thanksgiving, and I purchased a Red Velvet Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake for the event (that’s right people, you can now purchase a small variety of Cheesecake Factory Cheesecakes at Sam’s Club. They are frozen.) I would tell you that I will let you know if it is as good as the fresh ones, but clearly I cannot. As I am stuck at home. Someone owes me $15…

Side Note: I do not know how long these yummy cheesecakes will last. I imagine anywhere from 1-6 weeks. If you plan to attend the same holiday party as me sometime this year, and you do not know how to bake (like me), go ahead and bring one. I will not mind.*

*Disclaimer: If you have already had one of these, and want to comment on how good it was, please refrain. As we may not be able to be friends anymore.

Addition to post added several days later: Good News, they saved me some cheesecake. It was excellent, as good as the fresh ones. Yay for work friends.

Halloween Fun

We had such a fun Halloween. With Trick or Treating at Melaleuca, the Annual Family Halloween Party at my mom and dad's, hanging out with Gotch's Saturday, and we even did a little trick or treating through their neighborhood. By "we" I mean Jodi and I, Conley was super busy watching the football game. But hey, I would have used that excuse too, if everyone I know didn't already know how much I hate sports...really, it's a hate. Now that I think about it, it may have been baseball, whatever. The kids got really good at saying Tick-a-Treat, and Thank You to everyone.





Usually we all match but I was already a Tumbleweed for my work Halloween Party, and Sandy let Alex & Alyssa borrow some awesome animal costumes, so we just stopped at Kings on the way to my parents for a sweet outfit for Conley (it was pretty funny with the mustache, fro, and all).


All of the fun started with the kids Trick or Treating at Melaleuca on Friday morning with their class. Overall it was a great experience for them, which outweighed my experience. I helped the class of 2 year olds trek through the entire building of Melaleuca, carrying bags of candy, convinced that every area was going to be scary (even candy land), in sweaty-hot costumes, up and down stairs. But the kids loved it. The Koala Kids ladies are saints. They didn't seem even half as annoyed as I was.

Here are some pictures of the Marketing department on Halloween (compliments of Lara, thanks). We were Wild West. For those who are unfamiliar, every department in the building (except for Finance and Legal, no surprise right) decorates their area in their chosen theme and wears elaborate costumes to match. It is so much fun. We pretend that we do it for the kids, and we sort of do. But really it is our chance to show how creative we all are, and beat out our neighbors. Our Department won best overall, duh. Complete with a Train Station, Watering Hole, General Store, Bank, Blacksmith, Jail, Tee pee, Frontier land, Gold Mine, and much more. It was our best execution so far.

Watering Hole

Gold Mine Entrance

Tee pee leading to Frontier Land

General Store

Potty Training, Superheroes, and Check-Ups

I took the kids for their 24 month (er, 26 month in my case) check-up. Here are their stats:
Alex
Height: 35.25", 60th Percentile
Weight: 29.8 lbs, 60th Percentile
Head: 50.75cm, 90th Percentile (hey, it used to be in the 96th, things are looking up.)

Alyssa
Height: 35.5", 75th Percentile
Weight: 28 lbs, 60th Percentile
Head: 48.5cm, Can't remember percentile, it was normal sized.

Alex & Alyssa are Potty Trained!!
No more diapers for the Gotch's. We potty trained Alex & Alyssa the beginning of October. We did the 3 Day Potty Training Method. It was awesome, I highly recommend it. (www.3daypottytraining.com)


SuperAlex! We bought the kids some dress-ups. Alex kept running around the house saying "Superfast" (like Little Einsteins). Not sure why Conley isn't wearing a shirt. But hey, every kids has to have a random picture where there dad has his shirt off, right?



This is the closest Alyssa would get to letting me take a picture of her in her fairy costume, or really the closest she would get to wearing the fairy costume. (Conley did her hair, pretty sweet for a dad right?)


SuperAlex considering trying out the Fairy Dress.


We went up to visit my family camping on Labor Day (notice I didn't say that we went camping). It was cold but all of the kids had fun playing together.
Alyssa, Allie, Alex, and Gracie


Disclaimer: I know that my house is a mess in every picture. If I waited until my house was clean, no one was crying, no one was complaining, I would have no pictures. Literally no pictures. I don't care (I do sort of care), don't judge me (go ahead and judge me. I probably would judge you just a little.)

Hogle Zoo

We went to the Hogle Zoo the end of August with my best friend from High School April, her husband Nate, and daughter Emma who is almost 6. The kids had so much fun playing together. We stayed the night in Layton, did some shopping, and went to the zoo. We went swimming at the hotel's super cold pool Friday night and Alex and Emma became best friends. Alyssa was fast asleep by 9:30ish, but Alex and Emma play and giggled for at least another hour and a half. They were adorable. Here are some pictures from that trip.

Alex & Emma giggle late into the night. As soon as Alex woke up the next morning he kept saying "Where's Emma, I want baby Emma?" (She's not a baby, not sure what he was thinking.)


Alyssa fast asleep, not sure why she had the club hand.


We saw the brand new baby Elephant Zuri and her mom.


The first time they saw the Giraffe.



The Orangutan. He sat in this position for a long time, meditating I guess. It was funny.


Playing on the toys in the Children's Discovery Area.


Playing in the water. They have this cool ball that floats on water and even small kids can make it spin. Though it is against my nature, I let the kids play in the water. They were soaking wet and happy. They had to strip down to only their onesies, and we had to shop in the gift shop that way. I was "one of those people" who take their kids to the zoo in nothing but a onesie (or at least that is what I am sure everyone in the gift shop thought). In the future, I probably still wont give "those people" the benefit of the doubt when I see them in public, sorry if you are one. After that we went right to the car and they fell asleep for most of the ride home.

We couldn't say Emma's name for over a week afterwards or Alex would get upset and ask for her. We had so much fun. We will have to make it an annual tradition.

When Little Brothers Sneak Attack

I found this sequence of pictures and they made me laugh. They tell the story well, no explaination necessary. Boys just know how to make girls mad...






And in the end he gets what he wants...
Probably worth noting, he does have his own 4-wheeler toy to ride.