The Goods

Ember's 4!!!!!!!

2010-11-21T21:29:00.004-07:00

I know this is late, but things have been so crazy it has taken me until now to get this up. I can't believe that she is already 4! Ember had a whole weekend of birthday parties, presents, and family time. She got a bike and has been begging me to put it together, but I haven't been able to figure it out so I am shooting for when grandpa is here for Thanksgiving to get it put together for her. She had a tinker bell birthday and was tinker bell for Halloween so everything was tinker bell that weekend!

All Corbin cared about was the cake and he loved it!! He had three pieces but he looked so cute and said "pwease mommy!" I couldn't resist!

RoadRunners Baseball

2010-06-15T12:02:00.004-06:00

Since my parents are being host families to two players from the team they had tickets and we decided to go to the game with them and it was so much fun. Ember loved every minute of it and would have stayed the whole time had Corbin not gotten upset because it was past his bedtime. Ember kept calling them the pigeons and the program was her pigeon map! She wanted to get a picture with one of the mascots and her daddy was such a good sport for taking her and chasing one down (literally chasing him down) so that she could get her picture, but Corbin did not want nothing to do with either of them.

So Corbin settled with playing around the trees and throwing dirt at me and of course eating snow cones and goodies from the concessions. It was really fun I wish we could have stayed longer, but the little man was past his bedtime and did not want anything to do with the game. I know this took me forever to get this post done since it has almost been a month since the game, but I am trying to get better at remembering to update my blog.

The Dentist!

2010-04-16T20:44:00.003-06:00

This was Corbin's 1st visit to the dentist! Ember has been several times, but she did not want anything to do with him this visit. Corbin was actually pretty good until the dentist decided it was time to brush. Ember would not let the assistant brush her teeth she was squeezing her mouth shut so tight she couldn't even get the brush in her lips. So she had to get held down to get it done. I know that sounds awful, and it is hard to do, but as soon as he stopped she said can I have my book and balloon now! She definitely likes that part about the Dentist.... all of the prizes she gets when she is done so between the two of them we left with: 2 books, 2 balloons, 2 stickers, and 2 gift certificates to Red Robin! I want a Dentist that gives me prizes like that for coming in and I won't even cry or kick him like my kids do. I am happy to report that neither of them had any cavities!

Primary 'Egg"stravaganza

2010-03-26T19:47:00.003-06:00

It was Ember 1st actual primary activity since she became a sunbeam in January, and it was an Easter Egg hunt, Cookie decorating, and coloring eggs. We took Charity with us to the activity and Corbin of course. Corbin's favorite part was eating the frosting off of the eggs. He was a little passive about hunting for the eggs while Ember on the other hand was super aggressive and she got her bag full way fast. When her bag got full she started helping Charity fill her bag with eggs and candy, and that was really sweet.

Warm Weather FINALLY!

2010-03-26T19:38:00.003-06:00

The weather finally started to warm up and was really nice outside so I bought the kids a little pool for the backyard. I have been having a hard time keeping the kids out of it, and from the picture you can tell I have also been having a hard time getting Corbin to keep his clothes on. Ember was complaining that the water was too cold so I was having to bucket in hot water from the sink in the house. It was a pain in the butt, but it did actually make a difference.

I know I know... it has been a long time.

2010-03-11T15:11:00.005-07:00

I finally got a new camera to start being able to put pictures up, but just realized that I didn't buy memory card for it, so the memory is already full and so until I get a memory card here is the only pic of the kids I was able to get on the new camera before the memory was full. I couldn't get Corbin to smile he just wanted the camera out of my hand, but Ember on the other hand is always ready for a picture.

Ember's 3rd Birthday and Halloween

2009-11-10T20:31:00.002-07:00

It has been a while since I have posted and a lot has happened (of course). Corbin started walking at 10 months and Ember turned 3 and Halloween so this is going to be a long one SORRY! Well since Ember's birthday fell on a Sunday this year we decided to celebrate it a day early which also ended up being on Halloween. We had a huge princess party and then got dressed up and went trick-or-treating. To start it off we carved pumpkins for family night and I learned that I am allergic to the slimy stuff inside pumpkins. Ember loved carving them .....well actually she just poked holes in them while Daddy and Mommy carved them.

And of course I have to show the finished product...Daddy was so proud of the pumpkins. One is a cat and the other one is a skull with cross bones.

Next was Ember's birthday party. She had a Disney Princess party and to say that she was excited for her party would be an understatement. All morning long she was taking in all of the decorations and her cake and she was bouncing off the walls and didn't want to wait any longer. Here is a picture of the birthday girl and her cake.

She was too busy looking at her Daddy to look at the camera, and she had ditched her crown by then because she said that she needed her princess dress on before she could wear her crown. She is a total diva. After dinner, bobbing for apples, pinata, princess game, and presents (and boy did she get spoiled. Thank you everybody) the kids (and Daddy) got dressed up we all went trick-or-treating together. Here is a picture of EVERYBODY (we had a big group).

Ember was Cinderalla, Corbin was an Elephant, and Daddy was a skeleton that's chest bled when he pumped a heart in his hand (not very kid friendly...Ember didn't want anything to do with him at first and Corbin just stared at him and Melissa and Charity cried). We had all the cousins that live nearby come with us. (Oakley, Garrett, Kyller, Charity, Melissa, Ember, and Corbin)

Isn't he the cutest elephant you have ever seen? Then of course there is Ember Princess (as she calls herself) dressed as Cinderalla.

Well I think that is everything I hope I haven't missed anything. But overall it was a really fun couple of weeks and lots that went on.

Bathtime fun.....or Sinktime fun I guess

2009-10-18T20:34:00.000-06:00

It is so much easier to bath him in the sink because he moves so much and there is not as much space! As soon as he sees the Camera he always gets a smile and it is so adorable.

Messy Chocolate Face

2009-09-13T21:34:00.002-06:00

After I left for school daddy decided to give Corbin a piece of chocolate and as you can see Corbin LOVED it. I am at least grateful that daddy took his clothes off before giving it to him he must have learned his lesson from Embers first piece of licorice and he didn't take her shirt off and ruined it.

The Hogle Zoo

2009-09-13T20:33:00.009-06:00

I know this is late since it has already been a month since we went to the Zoo, but I finally found the chord to sync my phone to my computer.

We made the mistake of telling Ember that we were going to go to the Zoo about a month before we were actually going and she of course did not forget and made sure to ask us 10 times a day if we were going yet. Next time we will keep that information to ourselves until we are actually going.

We took this picture of the family while we were there and Corbin was so interested in the lions face and he was trying to figure out what is was, and of course Ember is ready anytime a camera is pointed at her. Dan kept talking about how tired he was getting so Ember offered him her stroller so his legs would get a break and she even insisted on pushing him.....she didn't get him far, but it was long enough that I was able to get a picture.

Dan will do just about anything that Ember asks him to when she asks him too. Ember wanted to go on the carousel and she needed someone to go with her so of course daddy was aboard with her and he ended up on his own animal and was riding along side of her and she was yelling to everyone in the crowd around the carousel to look at her.....and of course everyone was.

We had a lot of fun at the zoo and everyday she asks if we can go back. Tonight while I was uploading these pictures and Ember saw some of the pictures onto the computer she saw the one of the giraffe and she went and asked Grandpa if he would buy one for her and when he asked where would we keep it she said in the backyard of course. She says some of the craziest things that they do not surprise me anymore.

Just hanging out!

2009-08-02T21:45:00.000-06:00

We were sitting outside relaxing on Saturday and I wanted to see how he would like the car that all of the other grandkids love, and sure enough he loved it too. He only got a chance to ride in it because his sister was sleeping, and she thinks that it is hers (just like everything else, we are working on sharing and having little success). He is getting so big he is finally scooting forward instead of backwards, but he has started crawling backwards or doing the bear crawl forward. Both are harder than actually crawling, but he doesn't seem to think so.

Daddy Daughter TIme

2009-07-28T22:44:00.000-06:00

Ember gets really impatient waiting for Daddy to come home, and when he does she is his little shadow. She does not like it if he leaves the room for anything. She follows his everywhere (even the bathroom, she sits outside the door and waits while talking to him through the door), it is actually really cute. When Daddy came home from class tonight she was waiting for him in our room (which she now calls OUR room including herself and tries to get us to let her sleep in our room). She was watching Tinker Bell and of course like a good sport he laid down to watch it with her. She slowly moved closer and closer to him and then eventually put him in a headlock. I thought it was cute so I took a picture, but when she saw the flash she turned around and made Daddy turn around and say cheese for another picture which is where this next picture came from.

Bathtime Fun!

2009-07-20T16:25:00.005-06:00

Ember wanted to help give Corbin a bath, but when I tried to help her she kept telling me "No, Ember do it by myself". She is a very independent kid. She insisted that Corbin have ALL the toys in the bathroom in the tub with him. He did not know where to start with so many different options of toys. He loves his baths so much. He started splashing a lot so I had to start putting his little tub into the regular tub, because I was getting tired of getting soaked and then having to clean up the floor from the flood he would cause.
Ember even wanted to wash his hair, and he was a good sport and let her do it (he usually screams when she tries to help him do things because she is nowhere near gentle). While she was washing him she kept talking to him and telling him what a good boy he was and that he was almost done and not to worry. Once she was done washing him she told me that I had to get him out because he was too slippery. She loves her little brother a lot (most of the time TOO much), and she loves to play with him and he loves to just watch her because she is a livewire and very entertaining. She did not show the same enthusiasm as Corbin did that night about bathtime when it came time for her to get in the tub. She knows that when she is done in the bath that it is bedtime so she thought that if she didn't take a bath she wouldn't have to go to bed, but to her surprise it didn't work out the way she wanted it too. (she still ended in the tub and then she ended up in bed!)
We had a very exciting weekend this last weekend, because Zack was able to come down and stay with us from Thursday to Sunday. BJ (Dan's Brother) brought Zack down for us so that he could stay here and spend sometime with his little brother and sister. On Friday after getting Dan from work we took the kids to McDonald's for lunch and to play in the play area for a while. Later that evening their cousins (Garrett and Kyller) came over to have a sleepover. On Saturday we took all the kids to Fiesta Fun. ( I couldn't get the pictures to send from my phone to the computer. Sorry no pics) We played there for a few hours while we were there we played mini golf, drove go-karts, played in the soft play area, and of course we played arcade games for tickets for prizes. We ended up with over 300 tickets so we split it up and they all got to choose a few prizes. After Fiesta Fun we went and got pizza and went to Grandma and Grandpa's house and ate and swam for hours. Zack and Corbin (despite the sunscreen) got a little burned, my face got fried (of course I didn't wear any sunscreen), and Garrett, Kyller, and Ember got even more tan than they already were. It was a lot of fun for everyone. We were all so worn out Saturday night from the long weekend, but we were really happy that we were able to have Zack come down for a few days.

Fiesta Fun

2009-07-11T13:05:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we decided to take the kids to Fiesta Fun (Ember calls it Chuck'e'cheese) for the afternoon. There was hardly anybody there so it made it more fun for Ember because she had almost the whole place to herself. She is still young enough (and small enough) that she gets to play in the soft play are for free and she loves it in there. It makes it nice to be able to take her somewhere to get her energy out and not have to sit and melt in the sun and they have a little slide on it that Corbin got to play on. She is just now tall enough to be able to be a passenger on the bumper boats and to drive the kiddie karts (she didn't go on the karts this time, but definately next)! Daddy took her on the bumper boats while Corbin and I watched and they sprayed us with their squirt guns on the boat. Ember loved it. They played some games inside for tickets so that she could get some prizes before we left (she always gets candy necklaces and bracelets). It was a lot of fun for everybody.

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-09T15:41:00.004-06:00

The fourth of July was so much fun. Ember and Corbin loved having several of their cousins here for the holiday. Ember never wanted to go to sleep (she put up quite a fight when I tried), because she thought that her cousins would leave when she was sleeping. In the morning on the Fourth of July the kids were in a parade that the ward does that is followed by a breakfast. Ember and Charity rode their 4-wheelers that were decorated and they had so much fun. Corbin rode in a wagon with two others of his cousins (Ty and Melissa). After the breakfast the we took the kids to the city park where they have a lot of games set up for the kids and several booths that you can visit. It was so hot that we didn't stay long, but it got to be too much for Brittany (who is pregnant) to haul Melissa around in the heat so we put Melissa in Corbin's stroller with him. After we were done at the park we came back to the house and swam all afternoon, and we were all a little burned by the end of the day. Dan and I took the Ember to watch the firework show (we decided Corbin was too young to know what they were and we knew he needed to get some sleep so he stayed with grandma), and while we waited for it to start Dan lit a few fireworks that we had bought for the kids to watch, and then just laid on some blankets for the big show. Ember was attached to her dad all night long and kept calling him her best buddy! It was a lot of fun, but we were all so worn out from Saturday that none of us woke up until late Sunday morning. Here are some of the pictures from the holiday:

Ember and Ellie's Playdate

2009-05-28T12:27:00.003-06:00

I finally quit being shy and set up a play date with Ellie. Her and Ember are friends from church and her mom (Brooke Callahan) is my visiting teaching companion so we decided it would be fun for them to play. So we met at the park this morning. Ember has never shown any interest in playing in the sand box, but today a little boy showed up with tractors and buckets and Ember was hooked she barely played on the slides and those are her favorite part or at least used to be. Brooke and I were trying to figure out what Ember and Ellie were playing, and we discovered that they were pretending that they worked at Taco Time and were exchanging wood chips as food and money. Ember kept calling the wood chips tacos ( I think that means that she has been to the drive-thru too many times). Ember has never been the one to throw the towel in and stop playing ( I usually have to make her stop), but with the heat after and hour and a half she was hot and tired and ready to go home. She hasn't been able to stop talking about the sandcastles I was building for her and how she would smash them as soon as I was done. It wasn't very fun for me, but she seemed to love to smash them.....I wonder where she learned how to do that.

COOKIES!!!!!!

2009-05-13T20:01:00.003-06:00

Ember and I decided to make cookies today and she wanted to make ducks and flowers. She was REALLY helpful ;), but she really enjoyed doing it. When I asked her to sit by them so that I could take a picture of the finished cookies when I looked back she was licking the frosting off of one. I can't say that I am surprised at what she did, because she is constantly up to something. Her latest thing is to crouch down and tip toe and say that she is sneaking.

SWIMMING....already summer!!!!

2009-05-10T18:20:00.002-06:00

It has been so HOT that we decided to take the kids swimming and they loved it. We knew Ember loved the water so wanted to see if Corbin would too and sure enough he did he even let me put him underwater!

Finally a GOOD sibling picture

2009-05-07T15:19:00.003-06:00

I have been getting some grief about how long it has been since I have posted last and I haven't updated pictures. So here is the most recent picture of the kids and we were actually able to get them together for this and to both be looking cute(and not at each other). Corbin is getting big he is now 15.9 pounds and 25 1/2 inches long. Ember is getting taller but not any heavier. She is so active and never stops moving (even when we are trying to eat) that she can't keep any weight on. We are hoping to have some family pictures done soon with all of us so if that happens I will get those up.

What's New

2009-04-02T13:24:00.003-06:00

We decided to give a spoon feeding a try with Corbin and he loved it. He ate way more than I thought that he would or that he even could. He loved being able to sit in the high chair and was able to see everything. He has been a lot more active and fun to play with lately. He loves playing in the jumper and goes crazy when music plays. Ember loves playing with Corbin and she loves to sing to him. She loves having her picture taken and when she saw Dan taking pictures of Corbin she started posing and saying cheese over and over so that Dan would start taking her picture so I thought that I would post one of her that Dan got.

Horsing Around

2009-03-01T15:50:00.003-07:00

For weeks now Ember has been going to feed the horses with Papa everyday when he gets home from work. Everyday around 4:30pm she is bringing us her tennis shoes and asking us to get her ready, because she knows that Papa will be home soon and she has to get ready. She can hear the garage door shut and she runs to the door to meet Papa before he can make it all the way into the house she is letting him know that she is ready to go and see Lady and Smoky. On Saturday she was finally able to go down to the horses with Papa and actually get to ride on Smoky. She had a smile from ear to ear and could not stop talking about it. She was so excited when she got to go for a ride with Papa it was all that were heard about for hours after. We got this video of them riding the horse, and Ember wanted to show it to everyone. so here it is.

Getting bigger everyday

2009-02-20T22:08:00.002-07:00

Corbin is getting bigger everyday and is a lot more responsive now and it is fun to play with him because you get a reaction now. At his two month appointment he was 11 lbs. 8 oz. which means he has put on 4 lbs already. Ember is always going and never stops. It is the biggest fight to get her to go to bed and to take a nap. This picture of her was on her walk with her daddy around the block. The neighbors have a mailbox that looks like a saddle so daddy put her on it and took a picture.

Ember loves her brother

2009-01-28T19:57:00.001-07:00

We were trying to get a picture of the two of them together because Ember wanted us to, but when they were laying there Ember started putting pieces of a candy wrapper on Corbin's face and he thought that it was the funniest thing so we got some good smiles.

Hugs

2009-01-21T18:42:00.002-07:00

Ember is always asking to hold him, and even tries when we aren't looking. She has successfully moved him from his bouncer to his swing while our backs were turned. We need to keep a lot closer of an eye on her, but she really loves her brother.

All smiles

2009-01-14T14:26:00.002-07:00

We finally got a smile out of Corbin. It is really easy to get one out of his sister, but we have had a hard time getting Corbin to smile for the camera. Dan has been getting him to smile the last few days, but by the time I get the camera he won't do it anymore. Ember on the other hand when she sees the camera she starts saying cheese and will keep saying it until you take her picture.

Corbin's First Bath

2008-12-17T20:16:00.003-07:00

He was not a big fan about getting a bath, but hopefully he will start enjoying them because it makes giving them a lot easier.

Time to show off!!!

2008-12-15T21:16:00.001-07:00

Corbin William Goodell

2008-12-13T12:57:00.003-07:00

Corbin William Goodell arrived December 10, 2008 at 7:13am. He weighed 7 lbs 8 ounces and was 20 inches long.

O Christmas Tree

2008-11-29T18:32:00.001-07:00

We went along with Grandma and Papa hunting for a Christmas Tree up in Pine Valley. It was very windy and cold but a lot of fun. Ember was such a trooper climbing up the mountain and refusing to have any help. There were a lot of trees that were nice, but they all seemed to have a flaw on them. Finally we found it....the PERFECT tree.

Long Time NO Hear

2008-09-30T23:09:00.002-06:00

I know it has been a while, but things have been crazy with moving and school, and a toddler. Ember has been keeping us more than busy with trying to discover everything she can and it seems like she is trying to do it as fast as she can. She loves climbing on everything that she can and then jumping off of them....so I guess her nickname of monkey sure fits.

IT'S A BOY!!!

2008-07-27T21:48:00.004-06:00

After our ultrasound on Friday, July 25 we found out that we are for sure having a BOY. Corbin William Goodell.

Gymnastics

2008-07-12T21:23:00.003-06:00

I wanted Ember to start gymnastics as soon as she could and when I got asked to teach a toddler class in the morning I thought that it would be perfect for me to be able to take her with me. When she first got her leotard I could not get her to let me take it off of her. She loves going to gymnastics (YEAH!), and I love taking her. She didn't want to hold still for the picture (or put down her fries) so she looks kind of mad.

Ember Swimming

2008-07-12T21:12:00.002-06:00

This summer has shown that Ember is a water baby. From the minute that she wakes up she is asking to go swimming in her pool. We had to get her a small pool because she is not afraid of just jumping into mom and dad's pool.