Have you heard of Anthony Barbie?

My brother Anthony recently signed on with a modeling agency, Muse Modeling. Next thing you know, I'm perusing the Mattel website and come across this remarkable discovery...





Do you see the resemblance? Well if you know Anthony in person there is an even bigger resemblance than you see here! Even the way this doll STANDS is like Anthony...heck the part in the hair is just like his! So come to find out, Muse told my brother when he signed on, that they discovered the new face of Ken. So they have connections to Mattel. Anthony also received a random paycheck from them not too much sooner than my discovery for the same amount they agreed to pay when selling copyrights to his photos. Now, they haven't told Anthony one way or another if this is him, but come on...what do you think? Either way we have decided to name this Barbie (who currently is named Barbie Basics Model #16 Collection #002...even more of a reason to think they used his pictures) Anthony Barbie! And we bought him one for his birthday!



Of course it doesn't quite look like him in THIS particular photo :oP

Bella's Gymnastics Showcase!

First let me just say I am WAY behind! Aside from this showcase, I also need to blog our completed playset, the princess festival, Bella's birthday, Bella's pinkalicious birthday party and The daddy daughter kings grand ball! My problem mostly is that I have 3 different people I need to collect pictures from. So keep checking back in the next couple of days and I should have a few more blog posts by then! :)

Let me apologize for these horrible pictures. I wasn't sure how this showcase was going to be set up and I brought the wrong lens. I should have brought my zoom lens. So a lot of these I had to just crop in real close which is why some are such bad quality. luckily I think Ryan got some video on his phone cause it was so hard to get anything of Bella with people walking in front of us or standing in front of us.
Anyway, Bella has been doing gymnastics for the last couple of months. Her last day for the summer is actually tomorrow. She has done pretty well learning but the curriculum they have set up for this age group is very relaxed. Some of the things Bella has gotten much better at include, balance beam (this is my favorite to watch her on because she points her toes so nicely!), jumping/falling into the foam pit, jumping on the trampolines they have there which are WAY springy, and she has almost mastered a front handspring! lol! One downfall of all this braveness that has come, is that before our slide was put onto the playset, Bella decided she was going to jump out of the hole for the slide to "practice" flying! It didn't turn out so well, but it could have been much worse!
They all got a medal at the end of the showcase and got to take a picture with this giant bear...I'm not sure why...I think it was because they were collecting stuffed animals for orphanage kids...

The New Van!

So we got a new van. It's been a month now, but the first day we got it home, I was backing out of the driveway, which has a curb at the end, and didn't realize how low to the ground the van sat...went over it too fast I guess and the front bumper slammed onto the concrete popping it out of place, knocking some rubber piece that holds the bumper on, off, and partially knocking off the undercarriage cover. I have been waiting to take a picture until it got fixed and now it is, $400 later! So ridiculous.
Anyway I totally love this van. It is a Honda Odyssey Touring 2006. It only had 37000 miles on it! For those of you who aren't yet sold on vans, here are the reasons why I would drive NO other vehicle as a mom!

-It drives SO easy. Easier than the Subaru
-There is DVD with multiple sound outlets. The kids can listen to the DVD while you listen to the Radio if you wish! (Yes I realize this isn't only a van feature!)
-The sliding doors, while not appealing are so awesome for 2 reasons: 1) You can open them with the push of a button and 2) While putting a car seat (with a baby inside) into the car, you don't have to worry about your car door hitting the car parked next to you! Something SO hard to do, when you have a huge baby like I did... (yes did, I will explain later!)
-I can not only open the sliding doors with the push of a button, but the TRUNK or cargo or whatever you want to call it, as well!!! So I'm walking to my car with Liam in one arm, and two sacs from a store that doesn't have cart return areas outside, and bam, with the push of a button my life gets so much easier!
-While we are driving on a road trip, or any lengthy drive, even to Provo, if one of the kids needs something, I can unbuckle myself, WALK into the back, and join them! :) It is all so easy!
-Other things that are so much easier include: changing diapers, nursing, putting kids in PJ's, feeding Liam baby food, etc...
(these are the things that I love after having used the outback for so many years with a kid!

There you have it! Buy a van! They really are much better than people give them credit for! :)

Also, how I mentioned that I USED to have a huge baby, it's because Liam had his 9 month checkup on the 1st and he weighed in at 19 lb 6 oz and 27.9 inches. Meaning he really hasn't grown since his 6 month appt. He maybe grew .5 inches! lol! So he is now in the 25th percentile for both weight and height! Quite a difference from 95th! :)