May, in Retrospect

I don’t know how I let May and June and blogging and all my life get totally far behind.  But I did in a serious serious way.  Once again, I am playing catch up.  I hope I remember everything!
On Mother’s Day after church, we went up to the cemetery where my Mom is buried.  We talked with the girls (mostly Annie) about how Grandma lives in Heaven.  She was very sweet about it.  She even remembered the next day and talked about wanting to go visit Grandma and throw rocks (cause that’s what 3 year olds do).

   
Also in May while my Dad and I were out yard sale-ing, he got a great deal on a slide for the girls.  Talk about heaven.  They have been loving this thing all summer!  Emily hasn’t quite figured out how to brace herself at the bottom of the slide, so she just falls on her back.  Then she laughs and laughs like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever done.  Since we don’t have grass, they get pretty dirty.  I’m pretty sure kids were meant to be dirty, though.


    

            

Have I mentioned what an awesome big sister Annie is?  She loves to help Emily!
 

Kris turned 27 this month.  We didn’t do much, but I do have to say, I made a pretty awesome dinner for us.  At Kris’s request, I made Chicken Bakes a la Costco.  Total copycat recipe, and mine were way more delicious than the ones from  Costco.  In my opinion.  I also made a Chocolate Mousse Crunch Cake.  Also…delicious.
   
Blowing out his candle (it was really for the kid’s benefit, that’s why there’s only 1 and not 27)

Who loved May?!  JACK!!:)

What We’ve Been Up To…April pt. 1

I’m not sure that there will be a part 2 to this entry.  The first half of April has managed to be very eventful.  The second half does not show much promise.:) 

Easter was…sort of just another day.  Kris worked, 2 of 3 kids were sick so we skipped church, no Easter basket or bunny or eggs or candy even.  We’re still trying to decide what kind of traditions we want to have with our family, and Easter falls into that category for sure.  It’s really important that religious holidays (Christmas and Easter) are just that…religious.  We don’t like the idea of Santa or the Easter Bunny (I know, we’re probably not even considered Americans anymore!), so we’re just working on how to combine the fun stuff with what we really want our children to understand.  They did get cute Easter outfits, though.  See the Easter post.:)

One morning so I could go to the temple, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Dan watched the kids for me.  The girls love to go there and play outside, so I know they will always have fun.  This time they got to play in the garden!  Apparently Emily was Uncle Dan’s little shadow.  When I drove up to get them, I could see him out back with a little green shirt bobbing around behind him.  Uncle Dan even picked us all some carrots.  The girls thought that was so fun.  And exhausting.  (You can see her little carrot stem in her lap.)

This last weekend we decided to, on a whim, head out of town!  The kids were dying to swim.  Okay…Annie was DYING to swim.  That’s all she could talk about.  Jack and Emily were just happy to go along for the ride!

They got to swim on Friday.  Saturday it rained.  Cold rain.  And their unprepared mom forgot jackets, pants, socks, etc.  They braved the cold to hit Costco and Kohl’s and Target.:)

I told Kris I needed to be reminded of how sweet my babies could be.  We had a rough week and I was at my wit’s end.  The weekend we were gone though, they were awesome.  They snuggled and played and laughed and we had so much fun together.

Last but not least…we have a butt problem at our house.

Easter

 

Catching Up…March!

I. Am. Behind.

I just can’t believe where the time is going.  It’s April already, and I am just…behind!  And not only is it April…it’s the MIDDLE of April.  I’m in trouble.

March was a fun month for us.  I turned  30, we celebrated our 5th anniversary and we got snow.  Also, we got a fence.  That’s right, a fence.  Built my very handy husband Kris.  He’s pretty amazing.

For my birthday we laid low.  I thought about a big party, but 30 didn’t feel like a very big deal (I seriously wanted it to feel like a big deal!).  Kris got me a DELICIOUS cake, POTC 4…and he fixed my watch.  It’s been broken for a ridiculously long time, and I was glad to have it back!  Of course, then I broke it the same day.  It’s definitely the thought that counts.:)

We celebrated 5 years this year.  Has it only been 5 years?  It seems like so much longer, but not in that drudgery, horrible, dreadful sort of way.  Its just that I don’t remember my life so much before we were married.  Obviously I remember it, but its just…the past.  Love my sweet husband.  He’s one of the best things to happen to me.  He works so hard for us, especially for me to be able to stay home with our kiddos.  He’s an amazing husband and father.  Just love him.

For our anniversary, our AWESOME neighbor Laurie watched our kids and we headed to Tucson for a night.  It was much needed!  (I’m pretty sure she’ll never volunteer again either…but we were SO grateful!)  We started our afternoon at Little Anthony’s Diner for a snack and a photo opportunity.

  

We stayed at a beautiful resort in the Tucson Foothills.  Amazing view!

And giant bathtub…

We did some shopping (who knew how much you could get done without having to get 3 kids in and out of car seats!?), ate some YUMMY food (Black Angus and dessert at Cheesecake Factory), and slept without little people in our bed.  It. Was. Lovely.

We came home on St. Patty’s Day, to super cute kids in appropriate St. Patty’s Day attire.  Another photo opportunity.:)

 

And the last part of our month?  Snow.

Jack–4 Months

My sweet baby boy is already 4 months old.  LOVE this kid!  I love my girls, and would never want to be accused of favortism or  anything, but my Jack has the most sweet little spirit about him.  I can’t explain it, but he is VERY different than Annie and Emily in so many ways. 
Jack is weighing in at 15 lbs. 8 oz. (50th percentile) and is 25 1/2 in. long (75th percentile).
He is a chatterbox!  He can definitely hold his own in a conversation and has the most wonderful little laugh.  Jack has been sleeping in our bed since he came home from the hospital and is definitely a snuggler!  I actually don’t mind it so much, but I’m working on getting him out of our bed.  I miss having my own space.:)  Jack is the happiest little guy.
  Love him to bits.

Emily…15 months

My Emily started out as the GRUMPIEST kid ever!  She cried ALL THE TIME!  All. The. Time.  I always wanted to pull my hair out.  And then when we found out we were pregnant with Jack?  Yeah…that was like the height of colic season.  I kind of wanted to die. 

What’s awesome about Emily?  Now she’s the exact opposite.  She’s the sweetest, most fun and loving little kid.  I can hardly stand it.  She loves to play with her big sister and give her little brother kisses. 

Emily is weighing in at 23 lbs. and is 30 1/2 in. tall. 

Her grumpy face.  Makes me want to giggle every time she does it, but I know she means business!:)

The Big 3

My Annie girl just turned 3! I can’t believe how big she is. Not just big as in size, but big, no, HUGE personality. She’s dripping with it. I feel so lucky that she is in our family.

Annie is in the 95th percentile for her height…46 1/2 in. She’s in the 75th percentile for her weight, 36 lbs. She is so tall…she’s taller than most of the sunbeams, and definitely taller than the other kids in nursery. She’s going to be a dancer. Or a basketball player. Or something else delightful. Maybe a doctor, then she can support our retirement.:)

We kept her birthday pretty low-key this year. We had one of her favorites (Hawaiian Haystacks) for dinner and then cake and ice cream. Thankfully, she’s only 3 and doesn’t need a fancy cake.

Emily also loves cake.:)

Annie’s 3 year pictures…I can’t believe how beautiful my girl is. Love her.