Holiday Bowl

Chris's parents gave us tickets to the Holiday Bowl and a night in San Diego for Christmas. It was fabulous! It's the first time I've been away from Molly overnight so that was a little hard, but I knew she was in excellent hands (my mom and dad and Jessie and Mike) so my guilt was lessened slightly. Unfortunately, the game was the low point of the trip (they lost horribly and we were sitting next to the most obnoxious people in the entire arena) but we still had an incredible time!











Pictures taken with your own hand always turn out so well don't they?

Cory

Chris's brother Cory left for his mission to Campinas, Brazil the day after Christmas. It was obviously a very emotional day, but we're all really excited for him and know that he's going to be a great missionary! He's going straight to the MTC in Brazil, so we got to go to the airport to see him off.

Christmas

Molly and Max listening attentively as Papa reads the nativity story. I think he got one page read before they both had enough and hopped down to spin circles and roll around on the floor.





















Molly opening one of her many presents. Notice one of her sweet presents already on her feet!
















I had planned on putting Molly in one of her fabulous Christmas dresses on Christmas day, but we ended up (me included) just wearing our jammies all day!

Molly finally got her Christmas present from Chris and I today (a mere four days after Christmas). We haven't been home to give it to her until now, and it was getting so late I was considering saving it for a birthday present! Her feet can't quite reach the pedals yet but that's where the awesome pushing handle comes in handy!

Watching Elmo wearing her new Elmo slippers; what could be better?!

Rock Band

Molly's latest obsession (one of many) is Rock Band/Guitar Hero. My parents have them and so do Chris's parents, so as soon as she gets to one of their houses she starts her baby version of head banging and says "Rock, rock!" It usually works out well because we like playing, it just gets a little tricky when she wants to "help." It's pretty hard not to get booed off the stage.

Molly's First Steps

There's not too much going on around here right now, so I thought I'd post one of my old favorites. This is Molly's first steps in January, almost a year ago. Keep the volume turned down for optimal viewing pleasure since my baby talk is so annoying!

Max!!

Whenever we go to Sarah's all Molly and Max want to do is play in his crib. In these pictures, Molly decided that they both needed to have hats on and she would yell "Max, Max, Max!" and force Max to put his hat back on if he tried to take it off. And Max, being the good-natured boy that he is, would always listen to her. I think Max is the only one of all her cousins that will occasionally submit to her bossing, so she tries to get away with it every chance she gets.

New Toy

It seems like whenever Molly gets a new toy, or finds an old one she hasn't seen in a while, she latches onto it and only wants to play with that toy for about a week. Last week that toy was a Costco diaper box. Her Froggy and blankie always had to be in there, along with plenty of books, blocks, and whatever else her eyes could spot that she could talk me in to putting in the box with her. She and the box toppled over several times, which she normally would have cried over, but she was enjoying herself too much so she'd just say "whoa" and climb back in the box.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year we spent Thanksgiving Day at Chris's parent's house. Molly loves it over there because they have a huge backyard, and if she had it her way, she would stay out there all day long.

Football

Every morning after breakfast Molly asks for either Elmo or "Lella" (Cinderella). But this morning she decided that she wasn't interested in either of those and she wanted football. She kept saying "football, football" over and over again, even when I would tell her it was time for Sesame Street. She is definitely Chris's daughter!

It's Official - Claire Morgan Black!

For any of you who don't know, Chris and I have been at a stand-off about the new baby's name for quite some time. I have wanted Claire Morgan for our next girl since we found out I was pregnant, and once we found out it was a girl I have putting some serious pressure on him because he hasn't been crazy about it. But he finally broke, so our two girls will be Molly and Claire!

Intern Academy

Chris applied with the Mesa Fire Department and after his interview and written test they invited him to their Intern Academy. He's not hired yet, but it's pretty impressive that he's gotten this far with his first application. He picked up his gear a couple of days ago, and I think he looks awesome! Also, after taking the written test for Chandler he has been invited to interview with them too.

Christmas Portrait

Molly had her Christmas pictures taken today which, as always, was a complete nightmare. But at least we got one good picture out of it!

Flamingo Round Two

Yesterday Molly found her flamingo costume and insisted on wearing it again. I tried to put on the leotard without the tights and she quickly corrected me by yelling "Tights, tights, tights!!"



This is one vain flamingo!

Special Breakfast Guest

This week Molly has wanted Froggy (her special stuffed animal that she sleeps with) with her at breakfast time; she loves to feed him and give him drinks of milk. She probably thinks I'm very cruel not to give Froggy regular meals like she gets! She also had some pretty sweet bedhead when she woke up this morning...

Chris and Molly Looking Sharp for Church

Pie Making

Yesterday I attempted my first pie going solo. My mom has shown me several times all the tricks of the trade, but yesterday was the first time without her coaching. I was so proud of the way it turned out until I tasted it; the crust was pretty tough and chewy. Maybe I can blame that on my kitchen helper that I had yesterday as I was baking...well, probably not.

Prayer

The other day Molly and I were sitting down to lunch and I was just getting ready to dig into my tuna fish sandwich. Molly looked at me, folded her arms, and said "prayer." I felt so bad that she had to remind me to say a prayer over the food! Now if I could just get her to remind us to read scriptures and have Family Home Evening then we'd really be in business!

Halloween

For Halloween Molly was a flamingo, or as she likes to call it "mingo, mingo, mingo." She might look more like a dancer in a Vegas show, but I think she still looked like a million bucks.

This is what a flamingo should

do if it catches on fire...

Old Favorites

Since Molly has been around for almost two years now, I thought I would go back and post some pictures from her younger days that are my favorites.