the Bailey Girls

Emma and Taylor Bailey are 2 sweet little girls in our ward who are cojoined. This Valentines day there is going to be a "Two Sisters - One Heart" Fundraising Event at Walker Butte Elementary in Johnson Ranch, Queen Creek, Arizona from 8 am - 2pm. The Non-Profit Organization, "Two Sisters-One Heart" is raising funds to kick off the continued health for the twins and ultimately, provide financial help to those parents of conjoined twins who do not survive.

The girls share one common heart and liver. They are face to face, from the breast bone down to the belly button. They are super sweet and we love to see them each Sunday. Please help support this cause if you are able. We also have their blog listed on the side - the Baileys

http://www.twosisters-oneheart.blogspot.com/

A funny little story I have to share...when we first moved into the ward, we noticed the girls..the kids were very intrigued and had questions, and then they were done. So one Sunday I noticed poor Mandy coming into Sacrament meeting just as it was about to start - Tor was up front to bless the sacrament and Mandy was the chorister so as she passed me I told her I would hold the girls until Tor was done and could return to the congregation. Note - this was the first time I held the girls and it was a little different - they kept cooing at me and would startle each other which would lead to one of them getting a little upset - after all they had no clue who I was - some stranger holding them. So as one of the girls got a little unsettled and was starting to cry, Mason leaned over and said " mom, give me one of the twins and then you can settle the other one down" I giggled a little, and gestured to Mason that they were conjoined. I honestly don't think the kids had paid too much attention to that fact - they were full of questions at first but had given it no further thought. It is funny how children are so accepting of others. They twins did settle down and were very happy to see Tor when the bretheren returned to their seats after sacrament. I don't think I shared this story with Mandy.... but these girls are amazing and have a sweet spirit about them - you can't help but smile when you see their faces. We hope to see you all at the fundrasier - we'll be doing the walk :)

Rock Band

We got the kids Rock Band for Christmas and they have been having fun playing away. Tristen was super excited for Rock Band 2 because apparently you cannot fail...we are still trying to figure the thing out and need Uncle Devin and Aunty Lyse to come over and show us the light so we can get on that band wagon. Anyways - they are doing great - we fully expect to be supported by our rock-n-rollers soon - they are really good. Stevan isn't too bad either..... You will notice Clayton has a little guitar which I bought so he could join in without cramping the older kids style..he does enjoy sitting on mine or Stevan's lap drumming though. At least we are hearing some nice classic rock instead of the crap they have on their ipods these days :) I am slowly replacing some of the songs on their playlists and trying to download songs on their ipods without their knowledge...hey whatever works...there was some method to our madness...this makes our kids listen to great music and it is nice hearing them sing along to RHCP, some Boston and yes my friends - there is some Grateful Dead on Rockband!!! woo hoo.

Incredible Hulk

Clayton is very taken with Superheroes right now. For Christmas Debby and Robbie got him these Incredible Hulk fists and although you can't see them...Incredible Hulk undies. The pajamas came courtesy of grandma Judi and grandpa Al. Well these items are a staple each night and Clayton aka "incredible hunk" aka "anakin skywalker" aka "superman" aka "ironman" aka "Prince Caspian" insists on wearing these. The incredible hunk is not a typo - this is what he calls him..and the funny thing is that Debby also bought him for his birthday, a shirt that says "hunk" on it......So I have to wash these in 1 day so he can wear these things over and over and over. Thank goodness there are 3 undies in the pack...so I get a break with these. We are currently looking for more Incredible Hunk pj's so if you see any, let me know so I can pick them up. Most nights the boys rough house and "Incredible Hunk" gets to beat up Mason - who is a great sport...that's what happens when you ask for a brother!! Stevan is a little disgusted with the new rage...none of our other kids have been allowed to wear "character" clothes...but I figure hey - 1 out of 4 isn't bad...and it's not like he has shoes or anything...just a couple items of clothing - a couple Star Wars shirts, a superheros hoodie(which is cool looking), a transformers hoodie, and a Hulk t-shirt....the rest are worn to bed :)

Mind Blowing

So a couple quick things...first off - I hate Pnut butter and Tristen just got gum in her hair and I had to use Pnut butter to get it out...torture - I think I deserve Mom of the Year. This is our 2nd gum incident in 1 week. Ashlen fell asleep with gum in her mouth while at Palm Springs..Mason got it stuck in his hair cause they slept on the pull out bed together and so he wasn't happy. We had no scissors or Pnut butter (thank goodness) so we had to use Mike's knife to cut his hair - ha ha. So Tristen was quite worried - but being the nice mom I am - I endured and used the Pnut better and got it out. phew.




the next little ditty - so Mason is 12 now - and I know he is a big kid sort of..not in height...but he is a big kid. So he had a pair of jeans in my room that he needs me to hem..and I thought what the heck - they are huge - I think I can fit into these...and I can - they are actually too big for me :( So my son wears bigger pants then I do....I can fit his shoes and he only has 20 more pounds until he weighs what I do..sheesh

PALM SPRINGS

We had the best time in Palm Springs with the Farrers, Boultons and Taylors. We left Thursday night and got back yesterday. Stevan and I decided that the weekend would be a "yes" weekend for the kids. That meant that whatever the kids wanted, we would say yes to for the weekend, but we did not tell them - we wanted to see how long it would take for them to get it. Well Clayton got it pretty fast. We had a couple pit stops on the way and while the kids were all sleeping, we stpped in Quartzsite for a Potty break as requested by Clayton..When we got to the door of the gas station, Clayton turned to me and said "I didn't really need to go potty - I just need something to eat" I told him he would be going potty and then he could get something to eat. So with that he went and got his treat. We got into Palm Springs late and slept like logs. We went shopping the next day and that is when I think Tristen caught on. She asked if she could get something and I said yees - then she asked for more things and I still kept saying yes. Ashlen asked for something and so did Clayton - Masonn asked when we were almost ready to leave and all he asked for was some gum - so thats all he got. I got away with only spending $40.00 at Target!! We went to the grocery store and then back to the condo. When we got back they went swimming, rode bikes, did crafts and continued to eat nothing but candy and drink soda - they watched movies and stayed up until who knows when. They went shooting the following day and then we went to Boomers to play mini golf, play games and drive cars on the slick track. We had the party that night and opened presents, the kids made a gingerbread house, acted out the nativity.....they ate more ice-cream and sida than I'd care to know about. Clayton didn't want to at and kept asking for icec-cream...so I said yes. Tristen went to the store with Stevan and asked for things - that she got...and this happened until we left. While driving home we mentioned this to the kids - did they notice that we had said "yes" to all their requests....You should have seen Mason and Ashlen's face...it hit them then what had been happeneing - Tristen just laughed at them and said she knew. It was a great weekend - we had the best time, we ate tons of food and kicked it in the jacuzzi and laughed and played games. We needed it - we miss everyone and can't wait to get together again. Thanks for including us guys - we love you. I will post pictures when I get them - email them Bart and Clark :)

RIP Stripes

Yes - my Christmas wishes have been granted....j/k - but seriously - you all know how much I loved the kids snake right..well this past weekend Stripes life was ended by a mouse. We were headed to Palm Springs this past weekend and it was my job to pick up a mouse for Stripes to eat while we were gone. Well there is the 1st mistake - asking me to get the mouse. So I went to Petco and asked the person for a mouse to feed to my son's pet snake...a little one I said. So she gave me some paperwork to fill out - the "responsibile pet owner" paperwork...I said "You realize I AM giving this mouse to a snake to EAT right!" She said yes - but you will be responsibile until you feed him to the snake right? I said sure - so I wasn't paying close attention to the size - I just took the box and gave it to Mason. So Mason fed it to Stripes...but it was apparently too big and bit Stripes. So Mason got the mouse out of there and asked Uncle Devin to buy a small mouse and give it to Stripes before we got home. Well we got the call yesterday...Aunty Lyse was the bearer of bad news and told us the snake was gone. They went and bought a mouse for Stripes, the mouse bit his way out of the box and was running around the car so Devin had to catch him and give him to Stripes. Then they noticed that the mouse was sleeping in the feeding terrarium, so they figured something was wrong...the mouse was sleeping on the snake!!! So they checked it out and discovered he had passed away. Poor Lyse thought that it was their fault and she felt bad - nope it was all my fault apparently and now the kids are playing on my sensitive side LOL and trying to get me to agree to a tortoise. Mason thought it quite appropriate that he received Stripes for Christmas 5 years ago - and he passed this Christmas....RIP Stripes - I can't say I am sad......

Photo shoot

Here are a couple of the photos we took for Chrstmas. We hope you all have a Merry Christmas - we certainly will :)

My baby brother Jens

Here is the latest picture I got of my baby brother Jens who is serving in Afghanistan right now. I am so grateful that he has been kept safe and continue to pray for him and the other troops serving. He will not be going home until next year so I thought that I would pay tribute to him for his sacrifice and quit complaining because he doesn't really complain all that much - and look where he is!!!! I am a little scared of whatever has crept under his lip and made a home - shave it off Jens!!!!!!

We love you xoxoxo

Merry Christmas

So today is December 10th and we still have not yet gotten our real Christmas tree...I have struggled to get with the program this season and finally got it together and decided that I needed to do something.....the kids keep asking when we are going to put up lights and get a tree - so their constant reminding helped me too. Being that it is the 10th..I made an executive decision that it was silly to go buy a tree at this stage...I wouldn't be going to get one until Saturday at the earliest...can you really see me at a tree lot by myself...stop laughing...I really do need Stevan to do these things...anyways..like I said - executive decision and decided that I would get the kids trees out and put those up. Now Stevan may override my decision - but not wthout a fight.....he hates fake trees but there is a need for them sometimes and this is one of those times. So the kids have these trees which they normally put in their rooms (that way they decorate these as they please and I get to decorate the big tree by myself) and they are supposed to be 3 ft trees...they are really 1 ft basket 2 ft tree...but they wll do...we are going to be out of town for 4 days next week and then Christmas wi;; be here - that's a lot of work for 10 days worth of tree admiring. So I put up the 2 little tres, threw some lights on them and the plant we have in the front room, pulled out a couple decorations and voila - there you have it - I am no longer scrouge!!!! I also felt a little more in the spirit and decided to throw some lights outside where I could reach without a ladder and pull out our inflatable snowman and set him up. So this poor snowman was purchased about 5 years ago - we went to Home Depot with Rob & Debby to get our trees and decided to look inside - we bought this snowman but didn't end up putting him up for some reason...He has been safely in his box until now:) So Christmas is in full force here at 102 W. Pasture Canyon....it is a little scaled down but at least we are putting in some effort - I just need to start the Christmas shopping - don't laugh people!!!

Clayton Bradley

the laughs never stop with this little guy - I am sure I could bore you all with something cute he says everyday - but the comment he made last night does deserve mention. Clayton likes to stay up and every night he asks us if he can stay up. Last night we let him stay up, but when it was time to go to bed he protested (normal). Stevan put him in his bed, said goodnight and came to bed. I don't think we were in bed more than 10 minutes when we heard a knock at our door and then slowly open. Clayton came in telling us that he had fallen asleep and woke up because he had a bad dream!!! He wanted to sleep with us. No way - we have had a rule in our house that no kid is allowed to sleep in the bed with us. We have had kids sleep on the floor next to the bed, on the foot of the bed, but this normally breaks them of wanting to sleep with us as they aren't allowed IN the bed. Stevan told him that there was no way he fell asleep and had a dream in the short 10 miinutes since he had been put in bed, then took him back to his room. He told Stevan he couldn't go to sleep in his bed because there were snakes in his bed...Stripes sleeps next to his bed in a terrarium... so Stevan said, no Stripes is in his bed - you need to get in yours.


Clayton protested again saying that there was a snake in his bed and that he couldn't sleep there...He pulled back his covers and we found this.......



He had put his stuffed snake in his bed!!!!! Stevan pulled the snake out and sent him to bed :) Gotta love him for trying.

My Early Christmas Present

I failed to recognize my husband and the great surprise he gave me prior to Christmas - a new laptop - what a great present for me :) Only problem is that he thought I was on the computer way to much before....now it is attached to me and I can sit on the couch or in bed with it :) I still love my MAC - the Dell does come second :)

Girls day

Aunty Lyse scored major brownie points this weekend. First off (and this has nothing to do with Girls day but I want you to know how wonderful my sister is) Mason and Jose went and hung out with Lisette and Devin Friday night and played video games, watched movies, who knows what else...because Stevan and I aren't fun and they wanted to have fun. But on Saturday, Lisette came over and took the girls to her house where they painted toenails and watched the sing along version of Hairspray and played Rockband for quite a few hours. They had so much fun. They asked her at church today when she was going to have a baby because they really wanted a cousin close...I pointed out that if she did have a baby they probably wouldn't be able to have these girls days as there would be a baby that would need to be taken care of - hello - you can't rock out on rockband with a baby in house needing to sleep. I think they saw my point....I think I have bought her a couple more months!!! So the toes you see are the girls - the pasty white ones are Ashlens and the tan ones are Tristens :)

I almost died this weekend!!!!

Well I had a pity party for myself this week - I was down in the dumps and then had it pointed out to me that it could be due to the fact that family had left town and I was back to being on my own. Thanks for pointing that out Jade!! j/k But seriously - Stevan's grandparents had stayed with us for almost 2 weeks just before Thanksgiving until just the beginning of this week, and then his parents were here a week also and just left on Wednesday. We had a great time and we really miss everyone now. Our driveway looks so empty without the camper parked there. We also were suposed to go to CA this weekend to watch the big game USC vs UCLA with Stevan's sister and her family the Farrs and we didn't end up going. Stevan has been working on a side job and didn't get it finished so he spent Saturday moving along on the work. I was a little upset...but all things happen for a reason and I guess this was Heavevnly Father's way of telling us to stay put. On Friday (which is whn we would have left) I drove to the grocery store and when I braked the wheels locked up and the car didn't move. I freaked out of course - called Stevan hysterical and told him the car didn't work, it wouldn't drive, I was sitting in the middle of the street and would probably end up getting killed...exaggeration I know but I am NOT a rational person people!!! So he calmed me down and I told him I was actually pulled back into a parking spot - I was out of traffics way and safe - and then he told me he was headed to come get me - he was in Mesa. So he got there fast and then I drove his car home and he drove the Expedition home without using brakes...apparently the abs brakes would lock up each time I touched them and wouldn't allow the car to drive. SO...had this happened on our trip we really would have died out on the highway somewhere. Gotta be thankful for all things..althought I did not see it at the time. So Stevan is fixing them now - I guess a bolt or something came loose, something about calipers catching on something blah blah blah - Stevan can fix it. My wonderful sister did lend me her car to putt around in for a couple days and I did get to freak out to my great friend Jade who puts up with me about my near death experience. Fun times people Fun times.......