Home for Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas at home this year. The girls were sick on Christmas Eve, but luckily they were feeling better on Christmas day. They woke up bright and early, as usual, and we tried to get a picture of us on the stairs before opening up presents. This was our best shot. Look how tired Steve and I look. We were up on Christmas Eve assembling a kitchen for the girls. We felt like we were doing the real parent thing and had a great time getting it all ready for Christmas morning. I was so excited for the girls to see their kitchen that I had a hard time sleeping that night too.
The first present Brooklyn opened was this cute little purple purse. She LOVES bags and purses, so when she got a look at this she was done and completely satisfied with her Christmas. We had to keep convincing her to come back and open more presents. Thanks Becks for the perfect gift.
Steve LOVES Uno, so whenever there is a new version that comes out I get it for a gift. We now have four different Uno games. Yea!

London's favorite part of the tree.
Oh the kitchen. My parents got the girls this super cute kitchen and my mom made us girls matching aprons to wear while we are busy cooking. We had the kitchen covered with a big blanket and after opening all the other presents we came over and unveiled this beauty. Brooklyn went right over and was completely content to play and bang things around. She would not even look at the camera for a picture...just too busy! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Robinson, we love it!

We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Bakers after our morning naps. Brooklyn loved her cousins little tricycle so we just had to get a picture of her on it. We had a delicious Christmas dinner there and enjoyed playing and talking with the family.

Of course Brooklyn brought her purple purse to grandmas and enjoyed showing it off to everyone. And how cute is she in her Christmas sweater.
London's first Christmas. She was so excited!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to our wonderful family and friends. This year has been a big one for our family. We have had great blessings and new adventures. Our greatest blessing of the year came on March 25^th when our little London Jean was born. She was just like her sister and decided to come a month early (we are planning eight month pregnancies from now on). Although she was so early she was born really healthy and even pretty chubby at 7lbs 4oz. She has continued to thrive and is a great joy to our family. She is always happy and smiling. She loves to eat. She is learning to crawl and we are quite nervous to see what happens to our home when she has it down. She loves her mom, dad, and sister. She has a great excitement for her little life and she can hardly contain it in her busy body. We are so happy to have her in our family.

Brooklyn had a great year. She learned how to walk this summer! Since acquiring this new skill she has enjoyed more freedom and has been busy getting into mischief. She became a lot more vocal this year too. She says a few words, a lot more sounds and babbling, and does some sign language. She has made great strides in her development, and we are just so proud of her. She loves her new little sister and we love seeing them interact with each other. She had three different procedures done this year at Primary Children’s Medical Center. In February she had ear tubes placed. In March she had some dental work done. And in September she had a couple of hernias repaired. None of these experiences were pleasant for her because her little body doesn’t do well coming out of anesthesia. But the day after each of these events she was up and running around and back to her old self. We truly feel she is an angel and are so happy we get to be her parents.

Steve finished his first year of the MBA program at BYU in April. Then a couple of weeks later he moved us down to Harrison, Arkansas for a summer internship with FedEx Freight. What a wonderful adventure that was for our family. Steve had a great internship and we all really enjoyed our summer there. Arkansas was very beautiful and VERY HUMID! We lived in an apartment complex right on a golf course and with a big swimming pool which we frequented regularly. We made some great friends there and had fun exploring a new part of the country. Steve has been busy with school, but has still managed to find time for his hobbies of playing basketball and football. He is interviewing for jobs now and we are excited to see what comes up and where it will take us. He will graduate in April 2009. Yea!

Amy was busy adjusting to life with two kids. Moving to Arkansas was a great help in the adjustment because the pace of life there was quite a bit slower. She really enjoyed all the family time together there as Steve only worked eight hour days with no homework in the evenings. Her three highlights of the summer in Arkansas were the Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood concert in Fayetteville, the trip to Dallas for the Fourth of July to visit her sister and her family, and the cleaning ladies coming once a week to tidy up the apartment. She really misses those cleaning ladies. Amy loves being a wife and mommy and staying home with the girls.

We wish you a very happy holiday season and we look forward to hearing from you.

Love, Steve, Amy, Brooklyn, and London Baker

Visit from Grandma

We have been lucky to have my mom come up the last two weekends. Two of my brothers were involved in volleyball tournaments, so she came and stayed with us. It is fun to have her come and to have her see our girls. London takes to grandma right away, and after a day Brooklyn warms up enough to give her hugs and kisses. She always comes up with lots of treats and makes us even more once she is here. We took advantage of her as a babysitter and Steve and I got out on a date. We discovered a great Mexican restaurant here in AF, then went bowling for our date. Thanks mom for all you do for my little family. We all love you!

On Cold Days

The high temperature for today is 38 degrees, so we are staying inside. This gives us opportunities to be creative and find fun things to do with the girls. This morning Brooklyn kept totting this box around the house, so finally I put her in it and she just thought that was great. Then I put London in with her and pushed them around the floor for a bit as we made train sounds. The second after I took this last picture London leaned back hard which made the both of them fall backwards and rip through the box. London cried so I quickly got her up, but Brooklyn layed on the floor for a few minutes and she just giggled and giggled. Her giggle is so cute that I had to join in and we had a great giggle session.
Sunday evening Steve made our first fort with the girls. This was a Sunday activity for both Steve and I growing up and we figured we would get it started here in our family.

Husband For Hire and Husband Tag

Yes that is right, my husband is for hire. Not for hire as a husband, I've already got that one taken care of, thanks. He is for hire as a business man in the field of marketing. These pictures were taken just before he left for Dallas on an interview with American Airlines. And the night before he got home from an interview in Idaho Falls with Melaleuca. He is a busy guy, and we miss him so much when he is gone. But I am grateful that he is working so hard to find a great job for our family after he graduates. Steve is a wonderful husband and such a great daddy.

My friend Natalie tagged me a while ago with the husband tag. I will attempt to keep my answers short, even though it seems there is a story for most of these questions.

Where we met: We met at BYU. We both moved into the same ward in the summer of 2001, but we didn't start dating until the next summer.

How long we dated before we got hitched: Eight months. We did "break up" for a month, so I didn't count that. I say "break up" because Steve always says we were not officially together the first time so we didn't really "break up." Whatever!

How long have we been married: Five and a half years.

My favorite features about him: His beautiful blue eyes, and his athletic legs.

My favorite qualities about him: He is so kind to everyone. He is very friendly and can easily strike up a conversation with just about anyone. He is confident. He is smart. He loves his family and we know we are his number one girls.

His nickname for me: "Sugar Mama"

His favorite color: Blue.

His favorite food: Pizza, my Mexican Lasagna, really anything... he loves all foods and everything I make.

His favorite sport: Basketball. He loves to play it, watch it, and analyze it. He was so happy when London was born in March because he got to hold her and sit on the couch watching March Madness. All that sitting was justified in his mind because he was "taking care of the baby" too. He also LOVES football. BYU football to be exact. I have laughed at him this football season because after each BYU game he received a few phone calls where he and his brothers and friends would then analyze the game. That gets another whatever!

Who said the "L" word first: I'm pretty sure he did. It happened after I took him to a Utah Jazz game. We walked over to Temple Square after the game and talked and talked and talked. It was a few days later that he said the "L" word. That night had sealed the deal. He knew he couldn't let me get away after taking him to a Jazz game.

When was our first kiss: It FINALLY happened at our good friends wedding reception on January 18th (I think) 2003. We left the reception and walked around the country club it was held in. He was SO NERVOUS! When we kissed for the first time all of a sudden we saw a flash of lights and heard our friends yelling from inside the reception. They were obviously anxious for this kiss to happen too.

Favorite couple thing to do: Just be together. Whether it is talking, taking walks, playing games, playing with the kids, watching movies, eating ice cream, and on and on.

How many kids: Two beautiful and energetic girls. Brooklyn and London. No we didn't plan to name our kids after cities/bridges. It has just happened, and I don't think we will continue the trend.

His hidden talents: He plays the piano very well and he sings like an angel, he he. He has great handwriting. He is a math whiz. And he makes a mean breakfast burrito.

His favorite pastimes: Basketball, football, mountain biking, fishing, playing the Wii, and spending time with his girls of course.

Will he read this: Yes.

I tag my high school friends:
Dyanna in ID
Kathy in NV
Mindy in AZ

London is Eight Months

Our sweet little London is eight months old. She is such a busy body and so, so happy. She loves to smile, squeal, pull hair, dive after anything interesting, roll all around, eat a lot, play with Brooklyn, read books, eat her toes, receive kisses, listen to her mama sing the five little monkey song, splash in the tub, watch The Wiggles with her sister, and play with her toys and friends. She's finding her voice and it's so cute. She is also trying to figure out how to crawl. She just barely got her two front bottom teeth in so she is adjusting to that new adventure. Her mama is too. We love you London Lou!

Twilight

I just saw Twilight. I loved it!!! I think I smiled all the way through it. I loved all the characters. I didn't think I'd like Bella, but I just really did. She was beautiful. And in the previews I didn't think Edward was all that I had imagined him to be, but that changed once I got into the movie. My sister-in-law referred to him as "eye candy." That assessment is right on Rachel! I loved it! I want to go see it again. Who wants to go with me?

GO COUGARS!!!!

Fun at the Gateway Mall

Saturday we went to the Gateway Mall up in Salt Lake to meet up with a good friend of mine from our jr. high and high school years in Las Vegas. Dyanna and I grew up in the same ward and were in the same grades all through school. She lives in Boise and was down here with her sweet little family for a choir tour that her husband teaches. She is just ten days older than me, and she is expecting her fourth child. That just blows me away! She looked great, exactly the same as in high school. And her kids are just so cute. It was really fun to see her again. Hopefully next time we get together it will be for a longer period of time. We didn't get all our gossiping in! Ha ha!!

The best part of the Gateway Mall is the water fountains. Steve and Brooklyn had quite a fun time walking through the water and trying not to get wet. There was music to accompany the water, so Brooklyn thought that was great too. In the middle of the water fountains are some grates where steam comes out. Brooklyn didn't know what to think about that steam, but Steve decided to let her experience it. We had a fun afternoon enjoying a new experience and doing a little shopping.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

For our Baker Family Halloween Party we decided to dress up as The Wiggles. This seemed like a very appropriate choice for our family because The Wiggles are a part of our morning everyday. When we drove home from Arkansas Brooklyn watched many hours of the Wiggles, and we have been singing their songs ever since.

Carving pumpkins. Steve made a good old fashioned jack-o-lantern, and I busted out the drill for a polka-dot look. Brooklyn thought this was so fun. She covered her ears each time I drilled though.

Out trick-or-treating. Miss London was a little pea in the pod. She was a great sport and didn't cry once. She was nice and toasty warm too.

There is a family in our neighborhood that goes nuts for Halloween. They have a full on grave yard out front with all sorts of freaky things that move and make sounds. They have two real hurses parked out on their yard and a whole haunted house to the side. This home is a huge attraction all month.
Well the family next door decided to get in on the action and somehow got these two HUGE purple blow-up dinosaurs in their front yard. This was seriously a huge tourist attraction. How fun!
Trick-or-treat! Brooklyn, the lady bug, carried her little Elmo candy basket around and would hold it up for our neighbors to drop candy in. I think she really enjoyed it.

We had a great night trick-or-treating to our wonderful friends and neighbors. The weather was really nice when we were out and it started raining right as we were getting home. This made for not a lot of trick-or-treaters coming around. So that means we have tons of candy left over. I am trying to control myself and not eat it all, but that's not going so well. We hope you had a great Halloween too.

Pumpkin Patch

We had such beautiful weather over the weekend so we got out and picked out our pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. Last year we never made it to the pumpkin patch because it rained for five Saturdays in a row. But we made it this year, and we're so glad we did.
London Lou spent the first half of the adventure snoozing away.
Wandering through the corn maze.

Cute sisters. London is really starting to sit up well on her own.

Brooklyn hugged all the scarecrows we passed. She also blew them kisses.
The biggest pumpkin we found.
We had a great day. It got a little too warm towards the end, but we enjoyed it because we know the cold weather is on its way.

Family Pictures

Well here are our family pictures. We considered this a great success for our family. The girls cooperated well and even smiled for a few shots. Our good friend Maria is a wonderful photographer and we are so pleased with her work. Thankfully we got these taken before the weather decided to turn freezing.