A new baby weekend

We had such a fun and busy weekend. Friday Kim & Ez came up to stay with us for the weekend. Matt came home early from work so I could go to the hospital to visit Nic. It was nice to have a break and to hold Kinley uninterrupted for a couple hours while visiting with Nic. She is so cute, little, and perfect. When I got home I finished dinner so it would be ready when Kim and Ez got there. They brought Riggs with them to stay with us until Nic & Kyle got to head home on Saturday. It was so fun to have everyone under one roof. The kids were really good playing together and being for the most part careful and gentle with one another. -Hallie loves Luke and likes to make him laugh...I think he kinda loves her too. 

 After dinner Kim & Ez headed up to see Nic at the hospital and Matt and I got all the kids bathed and ready for bed(that was quite the project...lots of little bodies to bath and get dressed). I didn't have Riggs bag so I found some old pjs of the girls and just put him in them...we couldn't help but laugh but really he just needed some clothes so it didn't really matter. Then they watched a movie til bedtime while they ate grapes.

 Getting them to bed was a lot easier than I had anticipated after we figured out if we laid by Riggs and sang he went right to sleep. We didn't hear a peep from any of them minus one late night potty break until morning. Saturday morning Matt & Ez went to play basketball while Kimber and I made breakfast and got the kids ready for the day. Nic & Kyle got discharged about 11am and stopped by for some lunch and so the other kids could meet Kinley. Hallie was so excited but had a little bit of a runny nose so she has yet to hold her just loving her from a distance. The picture below is Riggs meet Kinley for the 1st time without window glass between them...he was pretty intrigued.

 After we got Nic & Kyle headed home Matt headed off to take his GMAT and the rest of us headed to Tremonton for Trinity's(Gingers) and Cohen's(Linnie & Jer's) blessing. It was a great day and after some lunch and visiting we headed home just in time for Matt to get home from his test. He did great in my opinion and got a 580 although he really wanted a 600 for scholarship reasons. He submitted his Masters application and we should hear in the next couple weeks. On Sunday we headed to Nic's about 1pm with Linner(lunch/dinner) in hand. My mom got there shortly after we arrived. Kimber and I made sure we got our chance to hold Kinley before my mom got there Matt even got a pretty long turn. I told him the same thing he told me...don't get any ideas...haha. She is so snuggly and lovable. Once my mom got there we ate and then in true grandma fashion she broke out the surprises and some Easter stuff. All the kids got outfits, toys, and treats. The adults weren't forgotten either we got awesome treats too. Hallie loves her little computer she got.

 My mom brought her basket of eggs(since when she comes next week she will be flying) and her bunny ears  for us to snap some pictures of the kids. Nothing fancy but I think we got more laughs out of trying to set them each up. Gracie slept through the whole process so we will have to try again another day.

 Riggs was so excited until we got him all ready ...then he was done.

 After a long and busy weekend it was nice to come home for some relaxing with a smoothie and a book.

I love fun weekends like this but they sure are exhausting.

Grandma Time

It actually worked out really well that Nic had Kinley early. My mom came shortly after she was born but she and Maddi also had flights in place to come for another 10 days after Nic's original due date. So Friday morning the girls and I headed to Nic's to stay with Riggs while she took Kinley to her dr appt. Then we stayed the rest of the day and just hung out. The kids have a ball together and Hallie and Rigs are pretty inseparable alwyas looking for the other and always crying when we have to leave...I think its so cute. After lunch we decided since no one wanted to sleep it was time for quit time so we turned on a movie, with blankies in hand, and just relaxed. I sat on the couch with Kinley sleeping on my chest(that is pure heaven...my fav) and just enjoyed the time. 

 This little naked girl loves grandmas water bottle but figured out how to dump it down the front of her...she was soaked through all layers.

About 3 after food and potty breaks for all we loaded up all the kids and the car seats to head to the airport....another reason I love the suburban it makes all of traveling together possible. Of coarse all the kids fell asleep in the car so Nic and I visited while we waited for moms flight. They all woke up just in time, maybe because one of them was awake and started squealing when she saw grandma and then they were all awake but still happy because we had grandma. We have been lucky enough to get to spend a few days down at Nic's loving on Kinley and spending time with the fam.

 Hallie has had a yucky nose on and off since Kinley was born so we haven't wanted her to hold her but yesterday she had been symptom free for about 5 days s owe figured we were safe. She has been asking to hold her or talk to her or kiss her for weeks. Finally she got her wish. Can you tell she was excited?!?

I remember when Nic announced she was pregnant my mom said, "you guys just arent going to give us a break are you?" and the answer to that is no because if we keep the babies coming we see them a lot more often...haha.

Projects & Daddy Time

Now that Matt is done with his test and we have a small window before he starts the Masters program we have switched into project mode. The 1st-bookshelf. We like books around here and often buy them instead of toys. Gracie had a little 2 cube bookshelf  and it quickly became to small for all the books we have. And luckily Matt is extremely handy and built her this bookshelf. After a few coats of paint it was ready to go. I thought look at all the space she has for more books then I brought all the board books up from Hallie room now it is pretty much full so we shall see how it works out but we were pretty impressed at how it turned out.

 Along with doing all the projects Matt has been trying to also find time to spend with the girls. The best way to do that has been to combined activities. He has been running in an effort to become more healthy so he packs the girls the the jogging stroller and off they go. He often times stoops on the way back and chases the girls around or in these pictures blow bubbles. He is such a good dad...but then again I never doubled that he would be.

 Projects 2&3 Next spring we will probably move Gracie downstairs with Hallie. With Matt starting the Masters program, working and teaching 2 coarse next fall I will probably be on my own a lot...I just keep telling myself it will be worth it. So we decided during his off time we should get Gracie's room ready it has been pretty fun so far and since we aren't really in a rush it makes it more enjoyable...oh the joys of planning ahead. Were going to do coral and turquoise with white. We have quite a bit of furniture to redo including a bed and dresser(that I am still looking for). So I started small with the night stand and lamp shade and I think it will look really good once we get it all together.

Hallie 3 1/2 & the dentist

Hallie at 3 1/2 has continued to change a lot. She has developed a little bit of a attitude at times mostly when she is exerting her independence. Luckily for the most part she just need a reminder not to act like that and to just use her words to say what she is thinking and we work through it. She loves to sing, play pretend, and read stories. She loves to cuddle and stalls almost every night to go to bed. She is very sweet and compassionate towards other people. She says some of the funniest things lately. The other day some judge show on and she said "look mom its judge judy but a man is in judy's seat." The other night she got up in the middle of the night to go potty for some reason she likes to come upstairs and go but usually just comes to go potty and goes back to bed. This particular night she came in and asked me to tuck her back in I(a little irritated she woke me up) told her she was fine and to go back to bed. A few minutes went by and just as I started to fall back asleep I heard a timid little voice, "mommy, m-o-m-m-y," yes Hallie. "Can I tell you something" yes Hallie what is it. "If you come tuck me in and in the morning you eat all your breakfast I will give you a treat." Needless to say I couldn't help but laugh and got up to tuck her back in bed. A couple weekends ago Kim & Ez came to stay and Luke was having a hard time pooping. Hallie has decided she really likes babies. She was talking to Luke while Kim was rubbing his belly and said, "So your having a hard time pooping huh? Sometimes I have a hard time pooping and I sit on the potty and grab my knees and just push really hard. Maybe you should try that." Kim and I were trying so hard not to laugh because she was being completely serious. Hallie has had a snotty nose for I swear like the last 6 weeks on and off. Last week she spiked a temp and said her tummy hurt. She laid around for a couple of days and then seemed to be back to her normal self. Hallie went to the dentist....not for the first time but the was the first time they did xrays and cleaning beyond counting her teeth and letting her sit in the chair. We had been talking about it for a few days and Hallie was excited to go. In the past I have had to hold her so the dentist could look at her teeth but this time she informed me that she was a big girl and could do it herself. She did really well and the dentist said everything looks good.

We have decided not to put her in preschool next year and to just let her take dance and spend time at home. We are thinking we will do one of the online programs just to let her have something different to do. With the money we would have spent on preschool were going to buy different passes to places and take the kids there instead. For a couple of reasons 1-she will spend many years away from us and want to enjoy all the time I can with her. Realistically she doesn't need preschool she is already doing everything she needs to do to go to Kindergarten. 2-I like having the freedom to go to Salt Lake with my sisters for the day to the zoo, to lunch, or just to hang out. Life will only get busier so were going to enjoy the simple life as long as we can.

Discovery Gateway

I have wanted to take the kids to Discovery Gateway for quite some time but didn't want to pay to take them so when I found out it was free day we decided to seize the opportunity and I was so glad that we did. Nic wasn't quite up to getting out at that level yet so Kimber and I met up and made a day of it. Luke was content to watch all the kids play and hang out while the girls ran around exploring. It was so nice to have Kimber there not only to visit with but also to help keep an eye on the kids.

 After a couple hours we were hungry and Grace was getting pretty fussy. So we headed back to the car and had a picnic in the sun and beautiful weather. Luckily Kimber was prepared and had tylenol that I gave to Grace that finally calmed her down. Then we finished our lunch, moved the cars, and headed back in for more fun.

This place puts Treehouse to shame and I only wish we lived closer but I think in the near future we will be adding a membership to Discovery to our list. Fun doesn't even describe how awesome it was and we were extremely suprised at the lack of people that were there which made it nice.

Kinley Mikelle Graham

Thursday afternoon Nic called and told me she had been to the dr and was dilated to a 4 and was still having constant contractions. I was super excited and hoping that ment I got to meet my 1st niece in the near future(on my side). I told Nic to call if she needed anything and talked sparatically throughout the day with questions and updates. The girls and I left for Disney on Ice about 5:15pm. We pulled into the parking lot and my phone rang. Nic was having close together contractions and was thinking about heading to the hospital I agreed and off to the hospital they went. I had a hard time focusing on Disney on Ice waiting for updates but still had a good time. Once she got to the hospital she was dilated to a 7. At 11pm they checked her and was fully dilated and then they waited for the dr or she may have had a March 7th birthday. Nevertheless she was born happy and healthy. She is very sleepy and seems like a great baby. I know Nic is hoping she is mellow and go with the flow. 

Born March 8 2013 12:33am

6lbs 10 oz

19 inches

with lots of light brown hair

She is beautiful and we love her already

Congrats Nic & Kyle she is definitely a keeper

Disney on Ice-Princesses

I remember as a little girl always wanting to go to Disney on Ice but for some reason or another I never went. I sometimes find that kids allow parents to fulfill things they always wanted to do while also creating memories with their kids this was one of those times. We headed out a little later on our way because Nic was trying to have her baby. We picked up Kaylee and Brit and dropped Gracie off to say with Nick and their other kids. We got in there just about right to find seats and take some pictures.  We sat on the 22  row and it was just about right we could see everything but we were high enough to have an overall view.   

 They basically told the story to Princess & the Frog, Cinderella, and Tangled(our favorite). In Tangled they had some amazing tricks where they held onto the silk ropes and spun in the air with both Rapunzel and Flynn Rider it was very cool.

 It lasted for about 2 hours and then we packed up and headed for home. On the way out Hallie held my hand and//;pppppp                             4v said mommy thank you for bring me to do fun things. And that makes it all worth it. I hope we can continue to find the balance of spoiling our kids but making them still grateful for what we give them. ?mnb vz
|?}[];7l6['We had a great time and I think we will have to go back and try again.

Reading & Gracie

Kimber bought Hallie this chair for her birthday and we have had it in Gracie's room in a reading corner I have been pulling it out lately and Gracie has made herself right at home I thought she looked so cute. If there is one thing I want my girls to learn young is to have a love for reading. We spend quite a bit of time reading and can only hope it continues.

1st Trip to the Zoo 2013

With the weather warming up and Nic's due date getting closer we found a day to head to the zoo unfortunately Kimber had to work so she will have to come with us another time. For Christmas we bought a pass so were excited to use it and see if its worth it. The sun was out and it was a whopping 50 degrees but warm enough to enjoy ourselves. Nic & I had brought the kids hats and gloves but we didn't need them. We headed first for the elephants(the kids love them), We were a little worried since Brit said they had gone Saturday and some of the animals weren't out because it was to cold.  The kids were wanting to watch the elephants...not posing for pictures.

 Lucky for us it was just that much warmer and the trainer even came out and had them do some tricks for us.

 The kids were all memorized and we had a front and center seat for all the action 

 Next were the rhinos the trainer told us some fun facts about them and them fed them with a great view for the kids to get to watch.

 Rocky Shores was my favorite for sure last year and it didn't disappoint this year either if you look closely behind Hallie is a sea lion and behind Grace is a seal. The animals were so active and ready to put on a show.

 I love the viewing glass and we sat for about 30 minutes watching them swim back and forth without any complaints for the kids...pretty sure they liked it to

 The grizzly bears were very interested in us and came very close up to the glass. Gracie tried to touch it and Riggs backed up like he was a little unsure.

 The giraffes even had something new...a baby giraffe.

 Then last but not least the gorillas who were playing inside and and eating lots of celery. It was so cool.

These 3 little amigos were so worn out they didn't even last to the freeway. We had so much fun and cant wait to go again. We packed a cooler and just ate as we went. The animals were all so active minus the cats as a whole it made it so fun and kept the kids very interested. I think this will be a great addition to our pass collection.