Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Syds first word!

I forgot to post that about a month ago, 3/30/09 to be exact, Sydney had her first word. I woke up one morning to have Cameron come show me the video of Syd talking. Go figure, I am with Syd everyday all day, and Cameron happens to be there for her first word during the three hours he sees her. Are you kidding?

Its a bit hard to hear in the video, but she says it really well these days. When shes sad she looks at Cameron and just says "Daddy" over and over again, it is so sweet. What a cute little daddy's girl. I can't believe that was her first word...so hard!

Bye Bye for now...

We had to say goodbye to G-mama and G-papa last week. It was so sad :( They went home for the summer, but will hopefully be returning next September. We have had so much fun with them, who knew they could be so much fun!? Cameron, we better watch out, they might steal the title of "the fun couple".

We love you guys, and miss you already! Come back!

Monday, April 20, 2009

The D'Penguineers

So you saw pics of Emily and the kids, but this blog is all about seeing the robot and hearing all about the experience. I am going to go off a little bit just because I was so inspired by it all. I had never been to a robotics competition before now, and on top of that, my first experience was the World Championships . It was AMAZING! Amir, (my bother in law) started up a Robotics Academy at my old high school (DPHS). First off, I have to say that his part in this story is what moves me the most, let me explain: Amir used to work a desk job at a local engineering business in SB. I believe he worked there for 10 years plus or minus a few, but I think around there. After a while of doing this job he decided that he wasn't happy and he didn't want to do it anymore. He was going to give up his paycheck, go back to school, and start over. He was going to become a teacher. Now ask yourself, could you and would you do that? I would hope we all would say yes, but I know that in today's society people value money way more than happiness, and so Amir's fairytale story begins.

After getting a teaching degree he began teaching physics at DPHS, and became very popular with the students. After a few years (again I am not so sure of the time line) he decided that he wanted to bring his engineering into the classroom, and so the Robotics Academy was underway. After years of grant proposals, funding, city meetings, meeting with various big wigs, and I am sure a million other things, he was able to start up a Robotics Academy (the only one in the county). People travel from everywhere to attend this academy, and they just LOVE Amir as a teacher...he is so good! I believe he is in his third year of it all and they are ranked (and have been the last two years) amongst the highest, most prestigious teams. They have been invited to Atlanta for the World Championships two years in a row! He is truly living his dream, and it is so inspiring to me (and I know to many of you out there reading). It is just so uncommon for people to go for what they want the days, and to see them really accomplish their goals is so incredibly inspiring, it brings tears to my eyes. I am just so happy for him and all that he has accomplished, I know Emily couldn't be more proud. You rock Amir!
Ok, so onto the competition part. The game changes every year, and so each team has a certain amount of time and materials to come up with their best design and make their robot. I am not going to get into their game but if you want to look it up here is the site: http://www.usfirst.org/

Here is DPs robot. This year they came in 2nd in their field which is HUGE, considering that the team they lost to won the entire thing. They also won the prestigious motorola quality award. (They also have won a few prestigious awards over the years but none at the championship, and none as prestigious as this.) They were told that if they were going to show off one robot to represent the tournament, this is what they would want it to look and function like. Pretty impressive huh? I have to admit, it is a pretty hot robot.
Here is the team accepting thier awards from the founders of FIRST robotics. (Dean Kamen is the short guy in the middle wearing all jean...classic for an engineer huh? Love it.The competition was so much fun to watch, I wouldn't have imagined being so into it. There are thousands of people (mostly teenagers between the ages of 14-18) cheering for a robot that they created. It is unlike any other competitive event that I have been to. I am an athlete and I understand competition, but dude, this is INTENSE. You have to see it to understand it, it is just amazing, there really is no other word for it. So that was my experience. I loved every second of it. The students were impressive, the game was smart, and the people supporting the entire event are the hero's of today. The guy who started the whole thing, Dean Kamen, is the man who invented the the Segway, the portable dialysis machine, the Independence® IBOT® 4000 Mobility System, a water purification system to provide clean drinking water to the estimated 1.1 billion people in the world, and most recently the new prosthetics arms that link to your brain and move when you think it to move. WOW! It was pretty awesome to be in a room with such a great man whose main goal is to drive these kids into becoming the creators and hope for our future...if that is not inspiring, I don't know what is.Lastly, I have to say that it was pretty neat to see some people from my past. Chase, thier robot driver, was a kid that I used to babysit when he was about 3. I also saw one of my old assistant coaches Armando Veloz who was there watching his son Alejandro...do you remember him Katie? It was so fun catching up with them.

Anyway, here is a picture of my beautiful sister Emily who is expecting her first baby in August. She looks awesome don't you think!? I had to post a pic since nobody has seen her yet :)

Congrats D'Penguineers! I hope to see you again next year in Hotlanta!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Auntie Em in Hotlanta!

Emily and Amir came to Atlanta with DP's (my old high school) robotics team. They had won regionals earlier this year which qualified them for the nationals FIRST Robotics competition (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 in order to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields). I will post again with pics of the robot and the competition, but here are pics from Thursday of Auntie Em seeing the kids again. On Thursday before the competition began, I was able to bring the kids to Atlanta to see amir and Emily, and scope out the all of the events that were about to take place. It was fun seeing all of the different teams that had flown in from all over the world. It was aweseome, and so inspiring! Dylan had fun collecting pins and magnents from many of the different teams, and wearing his fun protective glasses while in the pit. It was great!Look at Emily looking so cute, you wouldn't guess she was 23 weeks pregnant would you? She looks awesome!
Dylan found the NASA spacesuit and I just had to take a pic. Its a trip thinking that he is going to be adult size one day.
FIRST Robotics have competitions for younger aged kids where they make robots out of legos. It is AMAZING! If any of you read my post about legos about a month ago, after this weekend I do have to agree with Amir and say that legos ARE the MOST important and amazing toy out there. You have to see these machines to believe them. There just is so much room for the imagination to create, and what is better than that?

Monday, April 13, 2009

Dylan Quote of the day...

Dylan: "Mommy I want to put baby CC back and get a baby Casey"
Mom: "You don't want baby Sydney anymore?"
Dylan: "No, I want a baby Casey"
Mom: "Where will we put her back? In my tummy?"
Dylan: "No, mommy we will put her back in the store and hang her up, and buy a baby Casey!"

Sunday, April 12, 2009

EASTER 2009

Easter Sunday...what a hot family!

I liked this mommy daughter Photo! CC's eyes are awesome. Dylan was so excited that the Easter Bunny came to his house. He was however really upset that he didn't get to see him, there were real tears!

We went hunting for eggs at Ali's house. It was great fun as usual with the whining and crying over who gets what eggs. I Love kids.
G-mama made Sydney an Easter dress for her Birthday. Isn't she lucky!? It is so stinkin cute, I love it. She is so talented! Thanks G-mama.

Sydney Turns One!

Sydney turned one on Friday, can you believe it? She is turning into a little person! I forget how quickly they grow up. Even though this last year has been the hardest on me physically, it is still so sad to see that my baby is outgrowing the baby stage. After a year of fussiness, (finding out she was lactose intolerant), pneumonia, epileptic seizures, and many restless nights, though sad, I am definitely ready for Sydney to be one. I am ready for her to start walking and talking so she can just tell me what is wrong. This guessing game is just getting old (Dylan was always so easy to read). I wonder if that is a gender thing, or just personality thing, they are just so black and white!On Friday, our family had a little birthday party at home. Grandpa and Grandma West bought Sydney a ride along toy that she will be able to use this summer. In the meantime, Dylan has decided to keep it warm. It is so cool, and is going to be alot of fun for both of the kids! Perfect! On Saturday we threw Syd a huge party. The weather has been nice lately, and so we thought it would be fun to invite friends and family together for a fun BBQ. It was great, and Syd had a great time. Here she is digging her hands into her cake. It took her a minute, but once she put her hands in she just played and played. There wasn't much eating of the cake, just lots and lots of mess. Syds friend Jack and her are playing a duet. Don't they make a cute couple?












We had a great time, and Sydney opened up a lot of really cute gifts. I love little baby girl clothes, could they be any cuter? Thanks for all the phone calls, gifts, and cards!

Easter Eggs!

We had fun as a family decorating eggs for Easter. Dylan's patience lasts about 20 seconds, so as you can imagine most of the eggs turned out brown as he kept mixing the colors.

Easter Egg Hunt

This last week we were invited to our friends church to participate in an Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun! Dylan was in his element with all of the pretty little girls running around.The kids were told to find 46 eggs each. It was crazy! Do we really want our kids eating that much candy? I mean really, can we say excessive much?After hunting eggs we cane back inside for a yummy BBQ in which Dylan went straight for the Cupcakes with the "bunny on top". he stuffed the whole marshmallow in his mouth and continued to drool until he finished it. It was nasty!I loved this picture. We couldn't contain Sydney anywhere, so we put her in with the eggs where she had fun "cracking" herself up. Sorry Cameron, I had to say it.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Conners comes to visit!

Danny came once again to Atlanta for his yearly volleyball tournament. He coaches a girls fifteens team, and while doing that he also recruits for the UCLA woman's team. He is a busy man, but he always makes time to see the Mounties when he is in town. We love it when he comes, especially Dylan who keeps asking, "is Danny going to come back and sleep in my house?" We had fun, we miss you Dan!
We took the kids to Jumpin Joeys and I think we as adults had more fun than the kids. Don't think we didn't race each other on the obstacle course. I of course beat Dan, Cameron beat me which makes Dan the loser! Sorry buddy, next time you are just gonna have to jump over the kid to make it to the finish line. You gotta do whatcha gotta do!

"New Mommy"

My amazing husband gave me a spa package as a gift for carrying and giving birth to our beautiful baby girl, Sydney. Today, after almost a year, I finally put it to good use. I showed up to a super charming southern mansion spa only to receive royal treatment in the form of massage, facial, manicure, pedicure, and a haircut. It was wonderful, and such a perfect way to recuperate and restore my balance after these last few months. To top it off, when Cam came home he even brought me flowers...what a guy! He makes it so hard for me to love him huh? When I came home Dylan ran to me saying, "my new mommy is home". When he saw me he seemed a little unsure of it all, it was cute. Sydney too was confused as she stared at me for about 4 minutes straight making sure the voice matched the face. I love it! The hair will definitely take time getting used to, but I was excited to cut it and donate it to Locks of Love. Cancer has affected some important people in my life, and in doing this I was grateful to be able to help in some way.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Saturday Morning Family Fun!

The weather went from 50 degrees to 75 over night and we took out the slip and slide once again. This time Daddy was home to play, and we all had a blast. I forgot how much it hurts to do this (especially on your tummy), but I guess that is the price you pay to have fun with your little one.

Willowbrooke Opening

Cameron and I had fun dressing up to go to the opening of the new Psych hospital in town (the first psych hospital to open in GA in over 20 years). It was a wonderful event in which they honored the employees for their dedication to the people. Now that Cameron is somewhat in management it was neat to see how important he was to the company. I will admit that it was awkward and uncomfortable meeting tons of random people, but it was great to see and hear about the work that Cameron does, and the great things that people have to say about him. He is so good at what he does and I am so proud of his accomplishments. I see a little bit of mommy resemblance in this photo. I wasn't sure if it was because of the curls in my hair, or just the color, but for the first time ever, I can see that she really is MY daughter.

A Day at the Lake

Our bishop and friends Scott and Traci Henrichson's invited the entire Mount family out to their lake house this last week. We had a blast as usual. Sydney loves the movement of the boat. She is happy as a clam while it is moving, but the second that it stops the fussiness begins and it is time to pass her around. That girl NEVER stops moving. The boys all went out first (and of course took zero pictures), and them the girls and Dylan went out. Here are pics of the fun!

Mommy and the kids! Notice that Heidi and Maddie are in the tube next to us. Heidi hadn't planned on getting in the water so she did not bring her swim suit. However, Heidi decided to go in and did great job not getting wet at all during the 20 minutes she was in the tube. Of course, in the end as she was getting out of the tube she fell right in. She spent the remainder of the day in wet jeans, but never complained. What a trooper, and what a mom! Dylan and Maddie.CC watching the kiddos get dragged behind the boat. Syd is actually smiling for once.









G-mama and Coco take Dylan for a ride on Big Bertha. Dylan was trying to get (warmy) while riding with G-mama.







I loved watching Sydney on the boat with the wind in her hair. She was so happy and content.