Keeping it all in the Family

A new baby is so exciting. You wonder what he's going to look like when he's born and then he's born and you wonder what he's going to look like when he grows up. And every time I am with the Coveys, they tell me that Johnny looks exactly like me and every time I'm with my family, they tell me that Johnny looks like his Papa Covey.

I'll let you be the judge.

Here are some pictures of some of Johnny's cousins. (I didn't want to hurt his self esteem by telling him he looks like a girl or vice versa scar any of the girls by telling them they look like a boy, so I purposefully left out pictures of any of the cute girl cousins)



Nigel Harvey Anderson

Lance Charles Bennett - I confirmed with his mother.

Isaac Arsenio Canlas - I picked this picture because Isaac looks especially like Johnny when he's really hungry and determined to latch on as quickly as he can.



Here's Papa Covey's picture for comparison.

Beepa gets extra credit for matching Johnny's hairstyle of choice. But don't let that affect your decision.


And here's the subject in question. I love when people tell me who he looks like because it's fun to hear the different opinions and I have absolutely no idea. You know how you can't see the forest because of the trees? I don't think I can see who he looks like because I hang out with him all of the time. Oh well, no matter who he looks like, I think he's pretty cute!

Honesty, like modesty, is always in style

So I will be honest. I LOVE picking my son's boogers. I love cleaning house in there. I love the satisfaction of pulling one out and seeing it on a Q-tip. It's the perfect combination of gross yet fun. I love clearing the way. I love contributing to more oxygen getting to his brain. (I am, after all, incredibly concerned with the development of his brain with the cod liver oil that tastes like Pledge furniture polish that I drink every day as a testament to that loving concern).

Here are a few pics of the glorious process.

A walk in the library

This week, we went to the library with Isaac and Camille and Nigel. We went to the dinosaur section and picked 16 books for Isaac to take home. That's right - 16. While Isaac was picking books, Johnny Quattro was running around looking for photo opps.

He's like the little traveling gnome.

One day we'll read about fish and dinosaurs and all other kinds of creatures.

I'm not admitting that this is a New Year's resolution or anything. It just happens to be a change that I've made in my life that just happens to be near the change of one year to the next. And I have to say in my defense that I was doing this before the year started. Walking. Jogging. Let's call it wogging. I'm following a program with my sisters called from Couch to 5K. We walk a little bit, we run a little bit and I'm sore enough after 3 times a week that I consider it effective.

Here's Johnny Quattro with his cousin Nigel enjoying the jogger (walker, whatever).

Forget the two front teeth!

For Christmas, we usually know exactly what we're getting each other, but I love to surprise Johnny with at least one thing. Our first Christmas, I had his cowboy boots taken to the cobbler (as in shoe, not peach) and redid the soles. This Christmas, it was matching pajama pants for father and son. Since I made up the pattern, Johnny actually looks like he's a bow-legged cowboy wearing them. Baby Johnny's pants look much more normal. Can't wait to get you some boots to match your dad, baby boy!

All of the girls got pajama pants from Mom Covey. Needless to say, I am being very brave posting such an unflattering post-partum picture.

Happy 2.5!

Today is Team Covey's official and exact 2 and a half year anniversary of the day we got married. In my family, my mom and I have birthdays in December. So, since we celebrate our birthdays near Christmas, when people are busy and they always wrap your birthday present in Christmas wrapping paper, mom and I also treat ourselves to celebrations on our half birthdays. Sitting in church today, I realized that today is exactly Johnny and my 2.5 year anniversary. So, it's time to celebrate.

2 and a half years has brought incredible amounts of happiness for us. We have lived in 3 homes together, graduated college together, driven 3 cars and a scooter together and given birth to a child together. Not to sound too cliche, but it has flown by and I can't wait for another 2.5 years.

So here are some pictures of that awesome day. Marriage rocks. Shout out to everyone who works hard enough to stay happily married and to everyone and everything that strengthens marriages.

Block that kick!

The cheerleaders always do this cheer. So this time, BYU really did block the kick. We were at the Las Vegas Bowl game against UCLA and the cougars pulled it off 17-16 with incredible defense in the final seconds. It was amazing. Johnny quattro (because he's John Davis, son of John Felt, son of John Parish, son of John Mack Richards) thoroughly enjoyed his first football game.



Keeping warm at the game.



Cuddling with Papa Covey after driving home from the game.



The field celebration.



You might think he won the lottery, but this is just good ol' celebrating the BYU win.

All dressed up with no where to go

What can I say? Thanks, Nigel, for the outfit!

Party of two isn't a fun party

So this week Johnny was gone to a conference in California. It was really great and he met a lot of people and I'm going with him to the next one in March. But 7 days is a LONG time to be away from someone that you are totally in love with. I'm just about to leave to go the airport to pick him up. I am excited out of my mind to say the least.



Here are Johnny and I without our radical husband and father. We might look happy, but we are really sad. Well, I look happy and Johnny looks like he's ticked because he's got midget arms. Maybe I'm smiling because Jesus is looking over our shoulders...

The cool thing (well, it was actually uncool because Johnny was gone) was that my birthday was Friday and I was SHOWERED with great gifts. My mom and sisters took me to lunch at PF Chang's where I got to eat my favorite - crispy honey shrimp. And their presents were fun to open - it's always a surprise what they get me and they always choose something great.

Then, I spent the night at Mom and Dad Covey's where they served me breakfast in bed - banana bread and eggs - another favorite. Then I opened my presents from them and it's never a surprise because you get to pick out exactly what you want, which is fantastic. Then they wrap it up for you and you unwrap it at your breakfast in bed, even though you know exactly what you're getting. I get the best of all worlds.



Okay, enough typing. We're hopping in the car to pick up big Johnny. He consented last week to be big Johnny and then our son is little Johnny. I can only hope little Johnny will outgrow his dad so that the nicknames will eventually switch and 40 year old Johnny will have to go by little Johnny because 16 year old Johnny will be bigger than him.

Thanksmas Extravaganza

This past weekend was Thanksmas 2007. If you're raising an eyebrow from reading the word "Thanksmas", don't worry, I will explain myself. A few years ago, my sister, Callie, was trying to think of a way that we could spend time with our dad without being stressed out trying to divide time between our mom, our dad, our own families that we are creating as we speak (type), our in-laws and our out-laws.



And Heavenly Father told her to invent Thanksmas. It's a little bit of Thanksgiving mixed with a little bit of Christmas and it's a third winter holiday intended to be celebrated with family. We celebrate it with our dad. It's always scheduled so that it never falls on a day that we can't gather together. My dad always generously flies out so that all of us don't have to fly to him in North Richland Hills, Texas.



This year was especially special because our step-mom, Nancy, came with her grand-daughter, Shandrelle along with our Uncle Bluce (because Callie couldn't say 'Bruce' when she was three), Aunt Robin, Cousin Kinzie, Grandpa Dee and the entire UT gang (along with special guest, Logan Hull - Catie's boyfriend - so special that he even got a family t-shirt - see image and imagine 24 of us in matching red t-shirts with even the babies in matching red onesies).



Thanksmas just keeps getting better and better. It's all about love and family and food and spending time together. At our Thanksmas meal, we each go around the table and tell things that we are grateful for and this year, my favorite was listening to Uncle Bluce talk about the power of love (that phrase is forever ruined by Celine Deon, but allow me to use the phrase without having the song get in the way). He talked about how love had motivated him to change. His love for his family was what brought him to be better and to try to be the best he can be for them. It was so touching.

Shout out for Thanksmas and shout out for families and shout out for love. This is what life is all about.

This boy is an angel - This corn is an angel...

Johnny is such a joy to have in our lives. He truly is an angel. We can't believe how much time we just spend looking at him and loving him. We can't decide who he looks like, but we definitely think that he is handsome. Today, we went to his 2nd cousin's blessing, Joseph Edward Covey, son of Wid and Suzy. He wore a little vest and tie - he looked dapper, for sure.



Here he is at the end of the day, just hanging out in the warm, soft blanket Aunt Suzy gave him.

We are preparing for Thanksmas this weekend. It's an extra holiday with a little blend of Thanksgiving and Christmas that my sister invented so that we could spend time with our dad without the pressure of coordinating schedules during the holidays the rest of the world recognizes. I will shop for the food on Thursday, pick up the T-shirts on Friday and wash all of the bedding and towels to get ready because we're hosting everyone (all 23 of us) at our house. It's going to be a blast.