"Mom, you want some apple juice?"

Today was kind of a rough day. A two-year-old trying out the terrible twos, being overwhelmed with getting ready for a new baby, and pregnancy hormones raging about just became too much for me. I'll admit I had a small breakdown and shed a few tears. Admit it, you've done it too. Anyways, Tyler, being the sweet boy he is came over and gave me a hug and a kiss. Then he looked at me and said, "Mom, you want some apple juice?" Ha ha. Whenever Tyler's sad he always asks for apple juice or milk. Apparently in his mind it makes everything better. Oh I had a good laugh at that, and it sure helped me get over myself and cheer up. Thanks Tyler, my little buddy.

Macaroni & Cheese

Last night we went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries for Family Home Evening. Tyler loves macaroni and cheese (Great Value Thick & Creamy is the best- cheaper and better than Kraft) and was excited that I got a few boxes. We had already had dinner, but he kept saying in the car that he wanted to go home and make 'wacawoni and cheethe' (as he was grasping a box in his car seat). I finally convinced him that it was too late and that we would have some tomorrow for lunch.

Well this morning at 7 am Tyler woke up and yelled, "Mommy. I want my wacawoni and cheethe!" Boy that kid has got a memory like no other! Luckily I was able to distract him enough so we didn't have to have macaroni and cheese for breakfast. Oh this kid cracks me up.

Family Date Activities

Recently we've made a goal to have at least one family date night (or day) activity. It's been so satisfying to do special, planned things as a family. We're pretty frugal folks, so it's also been fun to budget out money specifically for some fun activities. Tyler has really enjoyed it and loves when he gets to spend time with the both of us. Whenever he's upset and I'm around he cries, "I want my daddy!" And when he's upset when he's with Jake he cries, "I want my mommy!" But when we're altogether, he gets confused and doesn't know what to say. I love it! Here are some pictures of some recent family activities:

Family date @ Golfland. We pass it on the way to Jake's parents house and everytime we do, Ty talks about the time we went golfing at the castle.




Tyler was so funny when it was his turn. He'd bring the ball within a few inches of the hole and then push it on in with his putter. He was so proud of himself and had a great time. He also thought it was hilarious when Jake purposely putt the ball into the water. He still talks about it. Here's a little clip of him putting.


Just had to throw this one in there. This was just a me & Jake date. His brother Nate gave us awesome tickets to a Suns game. Great seats and so much fun! Thanks Nate!

Family fishing trip @ Water Ranch on the windiest day of the year. It ended up raining and the wind was CRAZY, but we had a fun time.


Chuck E. Cheese. This was a lot of fun, but crazy packed with all those kids. And it was a little overwhelming for Ty with all of those games. But we still had a great time. Ty loved watching his daddy play basketball to try and get tickets. You know how Chuck E. Cheese is a sponsor for PBS kids? Well anytime it shows one of their little commercials Tyler gets so excited and says, "It's him! Like at the pizza store!" For some reason he won't call it Chuck E. Cheese, it's the pizza store.




We love our family date activities and look forward to many more. Got any fun ideas for us?

Princess Tyler

Ty's cousin, Shae, shared her princess high heels with him. He was, sadly, in heaven. Nothin like a tool shirt, athletic "swishy" pants, athletic socks, and high heels to make a boy's day! Ty threw the biggest fit when we had to take them off and head to the car. I guess that's what happens when you're the only boy cousin on one side of the family!
This picture had me a little worried. This pose just looks a little too natural!


But really, this kid is all boy. I love this mischievous face!

Look Who's Potty Trained

We've been working with Tyler on getting him potty trained. We got him a little potty right after his 2nd birthday. He liked sitting on it, but never did anything on it. So we bought some big boy Toy Story undies, some m&m's for bribery, and jumped right into it. I had a deadline because I wanted him potty trained before #2 arrives. After several accidents, setting the timer for reminders, and lots of cheering and encouragement, the boy is potty trained! The potty chair is now put away and he goes on the big boy potty! And despite the looks of the picture below, Tyler loves it and is pretty proud of himself. I love not having to change diapers, but that will change here pretty quickly with baby brother on his way. But I will happily change all of his little diapers to have him here!

Elder Merrell

Back in October my "little" brother received his mission call. We met at my sister Cindy's house and skyped with Blake who was still up at BYU Idaho. We were so excited to hear that he got called to the Charlotte, North Carolina mission! It was neat to see how excited and even emotional Blake got as he read his call. He has prepared so well to be a hardworking missionary and has such a strong testimony of the Gospel. I can't believe how quickly this time has come!

Blake left on January 26th, 2011. It was exciting, but of course hard to say goodbye, knowing that I won't see him for 2 whole years!


Tyler loves his Uncle Blake!

Blake and his BFF Devin, or as some of the grandkids call him "Uncle Friend".

Blake is the best kid I know. He is such a stalwart young man and has such an excitement for sharing the gospel. He has such a great sense of humor and we all really miss that. But there's no other place I'd rather have him be. I look up to him so much and love reading his letters and seeing how much he has grown and how he is helping to change other people's lives. God be with you til we meet again brother!

Christmas 2010

We had a very busy, but very fun Christmas. With Ty's birthday, Jake's graduation, Jason's wedding, and Christmas, it was difficult to catch our breath! But it was filled with lots of family and friends.
Since all of Jake's family was in town for his little brother Jason's wedding, we had a big Richardson Christmas party. We're talking all of the siblings, their spouses, and kids. That's 42 people we're talking about! We had a great time with a gift exchange, good food, and LOTS of laughing. And as typical with the Richardsons (especially when all the bros get together), there has to be some kind of show of physical strength. So Sam decided to show us how he could do 100 push ups. It wasn't long before we broke out into a push up contest: brothers battling it out, husbands against wives, cousins against each other, and we even got Mom & Dad to join in on the fun. Oh it was such a good laugh... and a good work out!




While all the brothers were together they played on Jake's indoor soccer team. It's always fun to watch Jake play sports with his bros. Boy do they know how to sweat!

We also had a combined birthday party for Tyler, Thaddeus, and Terra whose birthdays are all within about a week and a half of each other.
What's a Christmas trip to AZ without going to see the Temple lights? These 3 cousins were born within about 5 weeks of each other. They're buds. We wish Thaddeus lived closer so Ty and Eli could play with him more!
Also, a bunch of the Richardsons went to go see the Nutcracker at the Phoenix Symphony Hall. It was amazing! Here we are in front of one of the many beautiful Christmas trees that were arranged in the foyer.

And then we had our usual fun, but verging on sacrilegious nativity scene with the Merrell family. I, of course, was Mary, being great with child. One of the funniest things about the Merrell nativity is that every year we do the same program in front of our audience... an empty couch. Sometimes we even record it, but we never watch it. This year we had my Grandma Merrell watching us, and my older brother Erin's girlfriend as well, who I later found out is Jewish...or was Jewish... something like that. No wonder she didn't know any of the Christmas songs we were singing! Ha. Side note: I absolutely adore my brother's girlfriend. She was very social and wasn't too weirded out by all of our shenanigans. Her name is Bo and she is beautiful and very sweet. Anyways, here is proof of our nativity:
And Santa even found us! Tyler was so excited when we woke him up. He said, "Santa came!" And ran out to find his basketball hoop. He still will frequently mention that Santa brought him certain things as he's playing with them. Even things that Santa didnt' bring! That Santa sure is amazing... and gets all the credit!
Jake is so creative in his wrapping techniques!
This remote controlled helicopter has been a big hit. My sister got her husband Joel one too, so the boys have fun playing together.
Jake is so funny- more than anything else he wanted some "swishy" pants for Christmas. But not just any swishy pants- they had to have a soft, cotton lining, not the mesh stuff. You'd be surprised how hard they are to find. The nice man at JC Penney went back to the Storage room 2 different times to find these for me!
Tyler loved unwrapping his presents and loves to play with all the things Santa brought.

See ya next year Christmas... er, this year I guess! I just love Christmas time! Let the countdown begin!