Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Random January Fun

Gracie got to go to space camp as part of her preschool. Her teacher is so creative and puts so much time into the stuff they do. This is the outfit she came home with.


The views here in the valley at still amazing and breathtaking. 

I always get bored with how I do the girls hair so we have been trying some new things. Hallie has been great to be a test dummy

Thursday, January 26, 2017

BINGO Night

Hallie was so excited fr Bingo night she has been talking about it for weeks. She was even more excited when we found out Matt was going to be in town to come with us. I always hope we will win and get my hopes up but as of this year we still have not but we had a great time.



So Much Snow

We have so much snow like seriously more snow than they have had in the valley in over 10 years. I wish I could really get some pictures that would really do some justice to show the amount of snow we have. Its gotten to the point its not really fun to play in anymore since its so deep but the kids still try 

We finally got our snowman built out of Gracie's kit although a couple days after we built him it had snowed so much you could hardly see him anymore










Emy is my partner in crime when it comes to clearing the driveway and it definitely makes for a workout to pack her around







Wednesday, January 25, 2017

So Many Changes for Emy

I have been working a lot lately with census up and Matt and I having some financial goals we are trying to reach. This little girl struggles without her mom she doesn't sleep great and is super clingy. So once I get home she doesn't let me get to far without her by my side. This also makes me grateful I leave for work well before she is awake even if it means very little sleep for me. This night she fell asleep on my lap which hardly ever happens so I just sat and enjoyed it
She is growing so quick and doing all sorts of big girl stuff...it makes me sad and I want her to stay my baby forever
Monday after a weekend of working I knew there were a few things we needed to tackle. She has been climbing in and out of her crib for the last couple weeks so it was time for the toddler bed.

She has settled in pretty well and after a couple days she doesn't even climb out any more. I left her bumpers in her bed since she sleeps with her head in a corner and I want her to be comfy.
We also started potty training. She has been asking to go on the potty for a couple weeks as well. She has been going on the potty before tub time for almost a month now. I have been dragging my feet because once again I don't want her to be so big. Also she isn't to the point she can dress and undress herself and I felt like potty training her was going to make it even more work. But we decided to give it a try we didn't have to many accidents probably once a day for the first couple days although she did wear a pull up at nap and bed time. But then she has lost complete interest so Im not pushing the issue. She still sits on the potty a couple times a day but thats it. She is growing and changing so much. She is so fun but I am sad she is growing so fast


Friday, January 20, 2017

Girls Night Out

I was thinking back to when I just had Hallie and I put together so many activities for her to do and I have really gotten away from that. I wasn't ok with that and I did some reevaluating and made so plans for the girls and fun activities...they have loved them. One of them is a water activity where they play with measuring cups, spoons, and other random kitchen stuff. They mixed and played for almost an hour. Yes they were soaked and there was water everywhere but its just water. I love the time I get with my girls 
With Matt out of town a lot it can be really lonely. I have really struggled with cabin fever this winter. To help with this the girls and I have been getting out more so we don't get so cooped up. So while Matt was in Tennessee we had a girls night. We went to see Trolls(which was super cute), then we went to dinner at the girls favorite place, Arbys, before we headed to the mall to try on some baptism dresses. On a side note I can't believe Hallie will be 8 this year! She loved getting to feel like a princess and picking out her favorites. We didn't find one she loved so we will keep looking








Then we headed fr home to get ready for bed and call our girls night a success. We had a great time as did the girls. I think we will be doing more nights like these in the future. Love my girls and our time together


Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Happy 33 To Me

At this point I kinda forget what age I'm turning..lol I guess at some point it doesn't really matter but it is fun to have a birthday. It was a great day. I did most of my normal mom stuff intermixed with phone calls and texts. I love getting to catch up with some friends I only get to hear from a couple times a year. Matt brought home flowers and dinner...he's always so great. We opened gifts and ate dinner. I got a bunch of kitchen gadgets I had been wanting for a while....new cookie sheets, silicone baking mats, pastry cutter, piping bottles, and a butter bell. My friend Ashley made me a gluten free white cake with raspberry filling and lemon frosting. She was so frustrated it didn't turn out as well as she had hoped but it tasted yummy. Matt had to teach class so after a short celebration he headed to class and I got the girls all ready for bed. After I got them in bed Ashley came back over and we ate more cake. I thought it was so sweet that she took the time to make it for me. When Matt got home I got one more amazing surprise. Matt made me a video that included all of my family that wished me happy birthday and talked about how special I am to each of them. I may have cried and I really appreciated that he took the time to put something so special together.

This little family of mine is everything to me
I really feel like my 30's have been so great. I have grown a ton and really feel like I have become comfortable in my own skin. I'm really discovering who I am my personality, my fears, my desires, my stresses, my joys, my priorities, etc. I plan to continue to really enjoy my family, try to spend less time stressing about the little things, and to truly embrace who I am and not compare my life to others. I've also become so grateful for health and free time doing whatever I want. I love birthdays and the loved ones I get to spend it with.


Monday, January 16, 2017

Family Pictures

On Black Friday we found a deal to have pictures done at our favorite picture place, Camera Shy, for $80! Since I had been wanting to get our pictures done anyways we jumped at it and bought one. Then we found a day Hallie didn't have school so I didn't have to pull her out to have pictures done We originally picked Friday but Matt ended up having meetings most of the day so we rescheduled for Monday. He met us on his lunch and we got them done. I love how the colors look together and how everyone's hair turned out. Em was a pill and cried most of the session. We probably should have planned more around her nap schedule than meeting Matt since it fell right around meltdown point. So I was very pleased when we got these back that any of them turned out. Luckily we had a very patient photographer that did a great job.
Hallie-7, Gracie-5, and Emery 20 months





 Hallie at 7 is a mature and helpful little girl. She is very thoughtful, logical, and has picked up on some of my OCD planning tendencies and anxiety. She is beautiful inside and out. She is a great helper. She is excelling at school and is a social butterfly. She can also be very stubborn and emotional at times. She loves pizza, nachos, meatballs and rice, and chicken with veggies. She eats a lot of granola bars, fig newtons, apples, goldfish, and poptarts. She is starting to like older kid shows and recently has found full house(like I watched when I was her age). She has started to notice boys mostly when she or her friends are teasing each other. She loves playing PBS kids, with dolls, coloring, card games, and the double basketball game we got for Christmas. She and Gracie come up with some great imaginative stories and play really well together. She is looking forward to being baptized this year.
 Gracie at 5 is full of life and a love for it. She can brighten anyones day and has so much love to share that she isn't shy at all with. She loves to have her hair curled because she says she feel beautiful. She is getting to be a great little reader and will start kindergarten next fall. She is really enjoying preschool and I think it has been a great creative outlet for her. She loves to be my right hand man. She loves to cook and bake with me. She has gotten to the point she can make herself food if Im busy or she is hungry. She loves Elana of Avalor and pretty much anything disney. She can be timid in a new situation or if she is scared or worried. She loves yogurt with granola, pizza, nachos, tacos, spaghetti squash, and lettuce wraps. She has a tender little heart and doesn't do well in loud situations or with yelling. She is usually willing to try everything at least once. She is really great at entertaining herself. She loves to color, play with dolls, play on the computer, and cuddle. She is very thoughtful and loves to give gifts to everyone. 
 Emery is a very busy 20 month old. She is by far our busiest children yet. She is into and onto everything although when she is tired it is even worse. She runs, climbs, and wants to do everything her sisters are doing. She still naps one to two times a day. Sleeps 12 hours at night. We have finally taken away her bottle and are transitioning to a sippy cup. She still has a binki and a blankie she is obsessed with. She love yogurt, string cheese, soup, apples, oranges, cereal, puffs, goldfish, apple cider, hot chocolate, and fruit snacks. She goes potty in the toilet a couple times a day but I don't think she is quite ready to potty train although I just may be dragging my feet. She has all but a couple teeth and they are trying to poke thru for the past week or so. Her vocabulary grows everyday but she doesn't say many words clearly although she is getting better all the time. She says mommy, dad, Gracie, Hallie, kitties, mickey, sippy, binki, string cheese, treat, here ya go, counts to 3, potty, poo, shoes, puppy, ouside(outside), apple, bye, hey(she says this a lot), Nikki, Krissy. She loves to sing and dance in her own little world....its adorable. I love when she cuddles and she usually will if we watch Mickey Clubhouse. 


 Matt, as always, is so wonderful for me. He knows just what to do to make me feel special, loved, and appreciated most of the time. He is always willing to talk things out with me even when I can be pretty stubborn and unsure of my feelings. He reminds me everyday that he loves me and how beautiful I am...which I think every girl needs


Sometimes I get so confused when I look at these pictures trying to decide if we are done or if we are missing one more. I feel like there is one more but Matt thinks we are done which is so confusing to me. Only time will tell. I feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with these 3 special little spirits. We are all learning and growing together for sure.