This is Fun- Thanks Amy!

Take the Quiz here!

"You're a monkeybird Daddy!"

Last weekend I was playing with Gideon and I picked up his Tigger (stuffed animal) and asked him "who's this?" and he "said T-I-double Guh-Err (tigger)." I was teasing him, and I said "Noooo, it's a monkeybird." Gideon was not impressed, and yelled back "NO, it's a tiggery-guy!" I thought that was pretty funny so I kept teasing him that all of his toys were monkeybirds which he was not happy about, but he soon caught on to my laughter and laughed along with me. I hadn't thought much about it afterward, and I left town for a couple days and totally forgot about the whole incident. On Thursday after I got up in the morning, Gideon was playing with his tigger and he walked up to me poked me in the chest and said in a loud, laughing voice "YOU'RE A MONKEYBIRD, DADDY, HA-HA!" and then ran into the other room.
I am amazed at how much kids will learn when you least expect it, and at how smart and funny they can be! So, remember don't mess with a 2 year old and his stuffed animals because they will get even with you when you least expect it!
-Levi

Singing with Mommy

Gideon has been singing so much more lately... He's learning the words and sings to himself and his toys. He doesn't usually like to perform because he's so busy all the time, but he does love to see himself on the camera, so I tricked him into singing for me.

Levi the Helpy Helper!

Christine has been asking me to help with the blog for some time now, so last night I finally got around to helping! I didn't actually post anything worthwhile, I just chose the template and added some tunes to go along with the new theme. What do you think, pretty awesome huh?

New Camera

Gideon loves to have me take videos or pictures of him so he can see himself on the camera or computer. Today he ran in and asked me to take a picture of him with his doggies.

"CHEEEEESE!"

Dinosaur Museum

Gideon and I went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point this morning... it was tons of fun! He really likes dinosaurs, and although some of the bigger displays (and the fake dinosaur noises they were playing) scared him a little bit, he still loved it.

Here's Gideon on the Dino Scale... I don't know if you can tell, but he's about 33 pounds. I didn't get on the scale if you were wondering- they didn't say how much pregnant dinosaurs weighed, so it wouldn't have been much fun to compare. :)

This is a representation of an ancient tide pool... I forget which period.

Here's Gideon in a little cave- it was pretty dark, but you can't tell because of the flash. I was in there with him because he was a little nervous to go in by himself at first. It was much more suited to people his size, but we both had fun anyway!

They had a little playroom with plastic dinosaurs, books, little dinosaur costumes, and this fancy dinosaur shape-sorter. We spent quite a bit of time in this little room.

This is the erosion something or other... it was sand with water running through it and dinosaurs to play with. It was tons of fun until Gideon decided to see what would happen when he started to throw globs of wet sand at people and objects (it really wasn't too bad and he wasn't the only one doing it, but I sure got him out of there in a hurry)!

This is Gideon's newest friend... a baby dinosaur that was just his size.

Aspen Grove

This last weekend Levi and I went to Aspen Grove for a married student retreat... (thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Longmore who watched Gideon!). It was SO nice. We stayed in a family lodge Friday night then had a nice catered breakfast Saturday morning. Dr. Richard Miller, the director of the School of Family Life at BYU did a two hour marriage workshop (really, really good), followed by a yummy lunch. Saturday afternoon we went cross-country skiing and still had a little time to relax before we headed back down the canyon. It was a beautiful day- clear sunny skies. We didn't even need to wear snow pants or gloves skiing. Couldn't ask for a better Valentine's Day. We are so thankful for each other and especially for our eternal marriage!

This is a view from our lodge window.

This was our front porch- crazy!

This is my husband... crazy!

This was Levi's first time cross-country skiing- thank goodness! I've cc skied pregnant before, but I was definitely in better shape back then... he gave me a run for my money!

Podiatry School

I don't know how many of you know, but recently Levi decided to look into Podiatry School as an alternative to Dental School. He has a friend who introduced him to the idea, and he is now shadowing a podiatrist here in Provo. He has been in the office with him at least 4 hours a week, and he also went into surgery with him last week and he absolutely loved it. We completed his application this last weekend, and he has already been invited to interview at NY College of Podiatric Medicine in NYC, Temple University in Philadelphia, and Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine in Miami. We are so excited and Levi really feels like this is such a good fit for his goals and personality. We are waiting to hear from Arizona, Des Moines University and California School of Podiatric Medicine in San Francisco... but, since it's only been a few days, we will be happy to wait. Thanks for all your love and support!

The Littlest Berry

Here he is... tornado in the making!

Slideshow

Oh, and I'm going to try to fix the slideshow, but it's really hard to work with... any suggestions or helpful hints? Thanks!

BYU Cougars

We took Gideon to a BYU basketball game the other night (the second-longest home winning streak in the nation), and he LOVED it. He loves watching the BYU cougars do almost anything. It was really cute when he realized what was actually going on down on the floor... He all of a sudden said, "The hoop!" He was so excited that he ate all his popcorn then promptly made himself a hat. He also snuck down to the seats in front of us to tell the nice girl there all about the game (you can see him pointing if you look closely).

Brave Daddy

The other day when Levi came home from a long day at school, he trekked outside with Gideon to play in the snow. I am so in love with both of my men!

Once There Was a Snowman...

In January, we went ice skating with some of my nieces and nephew... Gideon absolutely LOVED it. I can't say the same for Levi who had to skate around bent over, holding up the 32-pound equivalent of a sack of potatoes on ice skates. His back was hurting so bad, but he was a trooper and skated with Gideon as long as he could.

Gideon LOVES eating snow! Off the ground, his shoes, the carpet, and even the shavings from the ice skating rink- pretty gross, I know, but I can't seem to stop him!

A couple of weeks ago, this is what it looked like outside... being the wonderful mother I am, I decided to help Gideon build a snowman. But my house was so warm and cozy...

So, not being the greatest mother ever (but trying) I built him a snowman... he loved it...

So much did he love it, that it ended up like the scene from Tommy Boy, where Tommy is playing with the model cars during the sale...

The best part was when he said, "Where's the snowman?"

New Year's

We went up to Idaho for New Year's this year. While we were there, we went up to Rexburg to the open house of the new temple. I have such a love for Ricks College (that is how I remember it) and Rexburg and I was so excited to see the new temple. It's gorgeous! It sits up on top of the hill where you can see it from almost anywhere in town. The day we went it was about a million degrees below zero (I'm glad Levi was able to experience it, because it's so hard to describe how cold Rexburg really is- there's nothing quite like it!), but they had the tours so well organized, we only had to be in the cold from the parking lot to the stake center and then for pictures. We took Gideon because we didn't have a babysitter, and I was planning on Levi and I taking turns so we wouldn't have to wrestle with him and ruin the experience for everyone else. When we got there, we decided to take him in with us and said a prayer that he would be reverent, feel the spirit of the temple and remember it somehow. He was quiet and behaved the whole time. It was AMAZING! This is the boy who rarely makes it through the blessing on the food. It was a neat experience. I'm glad I was able to share the temple and Rexburg (two of my favorite places) with my husband and son.

While we were in Idaho, Gideon also got to see two of his great-grandmothers...

This is my Dad's mother, Estella Longmore. Grandma Longmore is 97, and has now lived to bless 5 generations with her love and example. This picture represents four generations.

This is my Mom's mother, Utahna Daughs. She and Grandpa Daughs have served missions in Africa and the Philippines... wow! We are glad she now lives in Pocatello where we get to see her more often (not often enough, though).

President Hinckley

Every time I pass an American flag flying at half mast this week, I get tears in my eyes... such a fitting tribute for such a great man. I have loved President Hinckley and his wonderful wife for so many years... I remember watching his first press conference in seminary so many years ago and feeling the mantle of prophet that had so easily settled upon him. He is such a good example of reaching out and loving all people without fear or compromise of his own standards... I hope I can be such a person someday. Since general conference, Gideon has been able to recognize his picture as "the Prophet" (although sometimes he says "Grandpa!" which is just fine with me), and I don't think I will try to change it for awhile because he will always be a prophet. I will just have to start teaching him to recognize our new prophet during the upcoming conference. I am happy that President and Sister Hinckley are reunited, but sad for my children who will never know the prophet I loved so much!

Levi's list #2 of why Gideon is the Coolest Kid Ever

Gideon’s awesome new vernacular:
When I say, “Hey, where’s my kiss?” He says “Rye Year” and plants one on my cheek.
Gideon got a dino piggy bank in a kids meal and now he is always on the lookout for a new pingy boing goin (piggy bank coin) to put in his bank.
He doesn’t often say I love you without coaxing but every once in a while he says, ”Dad I love you, soooo, much!”
“He-yago”( here you go)

When I was younger I would always say, “Just kidding!” if I was pestering someone or if I was getting in trouble. (I still use that phrase all the time) My dad used to get fed up with me and tell me “Levi, saying ‘just kidding’ doesn’t make it okay to keep bugging me!”
The other day when we were eating dinner Gideon kept chucking food off of the table and I scolded him for it and then he took a big piece of chicken and dangled it over the edge and smiled at me! When I started to scold him some more he dropped it and said, “Just Kidding!”

Oh, hello daddy's milk shake, good bye daddy's personal space

Lately we have been reading a Christmas book about baby Jesus and we also read about Jesus in the Book of Mormon (we look at the few pictures in the front of the book). Gideon understands better who Jesus is and recognizes him in lots of pictures. The other night we were looking at the pictures in the front of the scriptures and Gideon pointed to the other side of his room where his dirty clothes and diapers and stuff are and said, “Daddy, its Jesus!” I had no clue what he was pointing at but he insisted that Jesus was over there, so I let him down. He ran over and picked up a diaper (that had a picture of Mickey Mouse on it). After he inspected the diaper for a second he looked over at me and grinned really big and sheepishly, and said “Oh, nope, just Mickey Mouse.”

It's a....

BOY! We found out this week that the newest Berry baby is a boy... we are so excited. We would have been equally excited if it were a girl, but it will sure be a lot easier on the checkbook since he will be able to wear most of G's baby clothes! Gideon is excited, and he was telling my belly, "Hi, baby," the other day, and kissing it. He's so fun! I've really got to catch up on the updating of our blog... someday soon!

G Loves to Fly!

I couldn't resist putting these pictures up... I know there's quite a few, but how do you pick?!? I just hope we always have good health insurance and vigilant guardian angels.

Recent Pictures

"Now, raise your arms high in the air and say 'Blast off!"

We do a little playgroup/preschool with some of Gideon's friends... inevitably, one of them will turn on the tv and see Little Einstein's. This is them "Blasting off" with Rocket.

We went to the BYU faculty/staff Christmas party... it was SO fun. Gideon got to see Santa (Levi worked with him the whole time in the line so that he would YELL what he wanted Santa to bring him on Christmas... a "Chick Hicks" car from Cars), he sat on his lap, but was too shy to say anything. We also saw Cosmo the Cougar and played in the balloon pit... I don't know if I've ever seen Gideon have so much fun in one place, we had to drag him out of there!

About a week ago, we found ourselves at home on a Sunday night, so we decided to let Gideon in on our tradition of playing games throughout the evening. It was his first time ever playing a game, and he did GREAT! Well, he did great for about 10 minutes, and then he just wanted to play with the pieces...

This is Gideon's first time watching "Frosty the Snowman," the Christmas classic. He really enjoyed it! He doesn't cuddle up too often (he's always on the move), so this was a lucky shot.