Hi!

I am still ALIVE! We have tons of updates to fill you in on the past 2 weeks-

1. ALOHA! We had a blast in Hawaii (minus Cannon). I want to thank my parents for flying up to Utah and watching him for the week. In Hawaii I read, slept, laid out a TON, ate a TON (and didn't gain a pound), went to the PCC and got a face tattoo, saw the set of LOST (Brian freaked out), went to Pearl Harbor and had a WONDERFUL 26th Birthday! Below are pics! I got sunburned the first day, but I am still showing off a great tan. I came home (from the red-eye flight from hell- we about died during 3 hours of turbulence) and got the best hug from my little man! I missed him so much and loved talking to him every day. Thank you to the Perry's for taking us on this wonderful family trip!


(the set of LOST)
(The USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor)



2. My 26th Birthday! (in Hawaii without my child....enough said!) ;)

3. Twilight came out on DVD and of course I pre-ordered it 2 months a head of time. My bestie Natalie and her little sis Nikki went to Walmart to the Twilight DVD party and got to get up close and personal with Rachelle Laferve (aka Victoria). There were THOUSANDS of people there- but we got some great pics!































4. Cannon played with his best friend "Frew" aka Drew. Drew is Natalie's little guy and he is seriously too cute for words. Cannon and Drew always have the best time playing together. Dare I say, Cannon even lets Drew play with his little toy CARS. Now from other posts you might know that Cannon is a freak about his CARS. Heck, he screams if I even touch them- so I was shocked that he was sharing with his little buddy.















5. Best cupcakes EVER. So I have perfected my Vanilla Bean Cupcakes and they are to die for! I am making them for Cannon's birthday. Cannon is a HUGE fan of them (as you can see below). The cupcake portion is very rich, not too sweet, and very thick- like a moist bread. The frosting is very sweet and "orgasmic"--- that's right, i said it. It is very fluffy and it melts in your mouth.




















6. Last but not least, CANNON! He is going to be 2 on Wednesday! I can't believe he is getting so grown up! He talks a ton- talking and running is pretty much all he does. He sits in a booster seat at the table because he loves to be a big boy. He likes to tell me every time he goes potty in his diaper- so I am having high hopes about potty training. We have his mattress and big boy bedding, but we are not ready to buy a bed yet and get him in that. Maybe when we think more about jumping on the baby #2 bandwagon- we will start the transition. He is still into his binkies, but he only uses them in his crib (FINALLY!). We love to go on walks, play at the park, play at the Legacy pool in Lehi, visit Aquarium, and he loves to come to my Bingham softball games and practices (thanks Brian for keeping an eye on him!)


That's about it! That is my update in a nutshell!

Soooo much fun!

Cannon has been so much fun lately! He is my little partner in crime. The past week alone we went swimming at the Legacy Center in Lehi 4 times and went to the Dino museum once. I am going to miss him soo much when we head to Hawaii this weekend, it literally makes me sad and sick to think about it. I know he will be in wonderful hands with my parents, but I am just so distraught over how much I am going to miss him. He is at such a fun age right now, and all we do is play (he still has some tantrums, don't let me fool you that it is by any means easy). Here are some cute pics from our little adventures this past week (ps- Ash, I didn't have any pics of Ellie and Cannon, if you have some email them my way)-

Where's Cannon??? Oh the joys of having a 2 year old boy!

OBSESSION

I must apologize. It has been called to my attention that our past few posts have neglected pictures and updates of Cannon. I am ashamed that I took away that joy from everyone. Since Brian and I are headed to Hawaii in a week and leaving Cannon with my parents, I am going to do MANY Cannon posts this week. It is my first time leaving Cannon for any extended period of time, and I am very upset about this (yet excited to spend my birthday in Hawaii....without a toddler on my leg the whole time). This is just a warning that you will see many Cannon posts this week, because I feel the world could use a little more exposure of this blue-eyed dimpled cutie!

Back to my post-

Brian and I are both very obsessive people. We get attached to certain things and literally cannot live without them (Brian= Cannon, Mountain Dew, sushi, In and Out Burger, sleeping and naps ; Lauren= Cannon, Twilight, sushi, good looking British guys, Vanilla Bakeshop cupcakes, my pillow, Zankou Chicken, and fountain Cherry Pepsi). Because we are both obsessive people, we have noticed that our little guy has that very same trait. He has MANY obsessions that i find funny-

Obsession #1 is CARS.

He has a million of those little toy CARS and he carries them everywhere. He needs at least 1 in each hand and he has a total meltdown if he drops one or another kid even looks at them. He is also obsessed with the movie. He begs me to watch it everyday. I know he would watch it 10 times a day if he could. He knows everything that is going to happen, and reenacts the movie. He will be in the other room and if I go to turn it off, he will run in the living room crying. No matter where we go (petting zoo, the park, the museum or just the comfort of our home, he is always with his cars)

(in hisLIGHTENING MCQUEEN PJ's)

Obsession #2- the Binky.

This has been an obsession with him since day 1. He sleeps with 10 binkies in his crib at all times. It's easy for me because when he wakes up, he can immediately find one and go back to sleep. The hard part is going to be breaking him of the binky habit or moving him to a big boy bed. We will not have the comfort of the breathable bumpers to keep those binkies from falling everywhere during sleep times. I swear I will get him off of the binky before he is in college. I could imagine it now- being the future QB of BYU and instead of wearing a mouth guard, he will have a binky in.

Obsession #3- Trucks, Tractors, Bulldozers, Helicopters.....

This one is hard to take pics of. We have a lot of construction going on around us and a lot of helicopters fly over head. He gets sooooo excited every time he sees a big truck, helicopters, tractors, the trash truck, bulldozers, diggers....you name it. The trash man comes on Thursdays during Cannons nap. Cannon will be napping and the second I hear the trash truck turn down our street he yells "A truck, a truck!". I have to go in there and open the window for him to see. He will go and get his stool and sit at the window to watch the trash truck go up and down our street. When I drive him places, he loves to point at EVERY truck, large truch, bulldozer, construction site machines that he can see.

Obsession #4- Chick-Fil-A nuggets and Chick-Fil-A sauce.

He LOVES dipping his nuggets in this sauce. He wont eat any other type of chicken nugget, unless it is from Chick-Fil-A and it is with their dipping sauce. I have to take him there once a week as a treat, because he just flips out and eats more than I have ever seen him eat. He practically drinks the stuff. I always feel silly asking for like 5 of the sauces, but I need to stock up at home because he loves it soo much!

his last obsession-

Obsession #5- The Bronze Gorilla at the LA Zoo

My parents live in Southern California and we are lucky to visit them a ton. The weather is always great, so we have been to the zoo a few times. Cannon is just OBSESSED with this bronze statue at the LA zoo. He runs to it and refuses to leave. This last time we were there, he played on the statue for at least 20 minutes before we were able to pry him away. He kept hugging the statue and kissing it. It was really sweet and endearing (and like the only time he neglected his little Cars toys). My mom is so silly, she turned to me and said "Well, what do I do now? Do I buy him a bronze gorilla statue for his birthday?"

The moral of this story is that we all need a little fun/healthy obsession in our lives. It gives you security and something to get excited about. Plus, it is so darn fun to take pictures of!