Happy Birthday Honey

It's my hubby's birthday today!!! We are just planning on having pizza and hanging out with the family tonight. We never get to go out on his birthday because we both hate crowds and this is a very busy night. Obviously!! He doesn't mind though. Everyone is just celebrating his birthday with him:) I can't believe he's 32!! We have been together since we were 23 and I can't believe 9 years have gone by. I'm so glad that he's my hubby and that he's the father to our little girls. He's an amazing man and he deserves to have an awesome birthday!! Happy Birthday babe!!

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Sleep does a body good!

My three month old baby slept ten hours in a row!!! WooHoo!!! I woke up the next morning wondering if I got up or not. Then in a panic, checked her to make sure she was ok. When all was well, I had a huge grin on my face. I hope this is a sign for some good sleeping to come.
We also had Jordyn's checkup with her pediatrician the other day and she weighs in at a whopping 16 pounds!!! She is still in the 97th percentile for her weight. We try to shoot for the best!! But she is only 23 1/2 inches long and in the 37th percentile for length. In other words, only three babies out of 100 weigh more than her but 63 babies out of 100 are longer than her. So she is wider than she is tall:) I don't care. I love all her little rolls and folds and her adorable tiny feet. I can just eat them up. And hey, she's just storing it up in her cheeks. It IS winter, don't you know!!

Move back Sarah and James!!!

Our very good friends Sarah and James came to visit us!! I was so excited to see her. I miss her so much!! We have so much in common and we get along so well. Plus, our husbands get along and our kids play well. We both have two girls and the oldest ones have played together since they were babies. So, I was sooo bummed when they moved to Texas. We still talk all the time but it's so nice when we get to actually hang out. And this time, James was here too so the men got to hang out as well. We made them pancakes and just let the kids play while we visited. I was so sad to see them go. The time went by way too fast and I'm already looking forward to the next time we see them. Fortunately for me, Sarah has family that live here and her parents are not very far either so whenever she comes to see them, I get to see her too. Love ya Sarah!!!




Our cute curly haired girls!!

I thought it would be fun to add pictures of our girls when they were little babies. This was early 2006. I can't believe they were that little once.

And this at the end of July, 2006. Our girls have grown so much over this last year. When did Makenna finally get her hair???

Disneyland part 3

We love going to Disneyland at Christmas time. It is so beautifully decorated and these pictures won't do it justice. You might have to click on a couple of them to make them larger so you can see better.

This is how Jordyn spent most of her first time at Disneyland. She was such a good girl.

Makenna and her Christmas Tigger hat.

This was so pretty. We want lights like these to put on our house:)



This was Makenna's favorite ride. She has the biggest grin on her face.

Disneyland was so much fun with Makenna this year. I can't wait until Jordyn is old enough to enjoy it and we can experience it through her eyes as well.

Disneyland part 2

More of our pics from Disneyland. These are the best ones from the parade.

We were waiting for the parade to start and we were right by the castle so we decided to get a picture when there wasn't too many people walking by.

I, of course, had to get a picture of the soldiers and their trumpets!! I could see Travis doing a job like this while he was going to school if he lived there.

This is the best picture I could get of Cinderella. They were dancing and the other ones were blurry.

A great pic of Santa. I took it just at the right time.

And this is Makenna staring, in awe, at Santa. Too cute!!

Disneyland part 1

My parents took us and my sister and her kids to Disneyland for a couple of days and it was a blast. They are totally exhausted but happy. We mainly did all kiddie rides because Makenna and her cousin Gunnar are at a fun age for Disneyland. They both love Mickey Mouse, Tigger and Pooh and everybody so it was fun to see Disneyland through a child's eyes again. It was a lot of fun. Thanks Grandma and Papa:)

Papa and Kenna

Makenna loves Minnie but just not up close. She started screaming when it was their turn to get their picture taken.

Gunnar and Makenna on the Casey Jr. train ride which they loved.

Daddy got to go on a lot of the rides with Makenna this year since I had Jordyn attached to me with the snugli.

Real live (mean) reindeer. It was feeding time and I wouldn't want to be too close to these guys when they are eating!!

I have so many pictures I want to share so this is only the first post about Disneyland.

Christmas dresses

These are the beautiful Christmas dresses that both sets of Grandparents got them. They were too cute not to post.






Is that football on in the background??? Oops!! Nobody was supposed to see that.

Concerts

We had a couple of concerts to attend last week and I'm going to brag about my hubby for a minute. First, he had his Christmas concert at the new middle school that he works at and he did great. All of the bands sounded good and I think he is enjoying this school better than his last one. At least he's not coming home as grumpy as before:)
Then, he played trumpet for the Stake Center Choir and Orchestra concert and they did awesome!! They just organized the orchestra recently and only had a few rehearsals but they did a great job. It sounded so nice with the orchestra. I just love to hear trumpets playing especially if it's my husband. I'm very proud of him and his talents. He doesn't exactly like to share all the time but it's always a treat when he does. And Jordyn almost let me stay the whole time. She lasted up until the final song so I can't complain.





This was Jordyn's first concert. I think she enjoyed it. I know Makenna does. She already knows the names of all the different instruments and gets a nice sound out of the trumpet. That's how we are going to get these girls through college so we are going to get them started playing early!!

Road trip with kids

Here are a few things that I learned on our latest road trip with our now TWO kids.

1. There is not enough room in the car for us and all of our stuff.
2. Kids really do say, "Are we there yet?" Except for Makenna, it was, "Are we going yet?"
3. Even though I have a DVD player with Einsteins DVD's, it doesn't keep Makenna occupied.
4. Makenna does not like long car rides.
5. I really miss Makenna's binky at times like this.
6. Jordyn doesn't mind long car rides as long as she has a full belly.
7. You CAN nurse a hungry baby while she is buckled into her car seat.
8. You CAN drive from California to Vegas nonstop with kids just as long as you have pull ups and can nurse a baby while in her car seat.

This is one of our rare, totally peaceful moments while we were driving with both kids asleep. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

More about our fun trip to Disneyland to come.....

Feeling old

I'm not sure why, but I'm feeling old lately. I don't know if it's the wrinkles that I am finding on my face and hands. It might be the tons of grey in my hair that I have to color now. It's not just a treat anymore. It's a necessity. Maybe it's Travis' 32nd birthday coming up which means my 32nd birthday is coming in a couple of months. Everyone always dreads the 30th birthday but I didn't have a problem with that one. Or my 31st for that matter. But #32 is getting to me. Maybe it's because that means I'm getting into my 30's, not just the end of my 20's. Or maybe it was me overhearing some girls at church talking about having their 4th and last babies by the time they were 27 because they didn't want to be too old!! And I just barely had my 2nd. But even though I'm older than most moms at church and I don't like the lovely signs of aging, I wouldn't change when I had my babies one bit. I love that I had time with my husband before we had kids. They will just have to deal with a mommy with wrinkles and grey hair. Oh wait. Nope, just wrinkles because there will always be hair dye!!

First Haircut

Our baby got her first haircut last week. I know. She's almost three but she was bald for about half of that so there wasn't a need until now. She still really didn't need it but I thought her curls would get fuller if her baby hair got cut. And it did. She's got even prettier curls (if that was even possible). She did so awesome. My sister in law Julie cut it for us and she just took her out in the backyard. Makenna just sat there and let her cut it without a fuss and talked about it for days afterwards. Thanks Julie!!

Random things about my girls

Makenna had to wear her 'Levis' jeans yesterday instead of her other ones because it had a red tag on the butt like mine. She kept playing with my tag all day and telling me that she had one too.
Her daddy said he wanted a raise and he asked her if she knew what that meant. She said yeah, Tony race!! Tony is Tony Stewart, Nascar driver, and she yells, "it's Tony", whenever she sees a race on tv even if he's not in it. That's not quite the raise daddy was talking about but still cute.
Makenna is a wonderful little singer. She can sing "I Am a Child of God", "Teach Me to Walk", "Love is Spoken Here", I Know My Father Lives" and even more. She remembers all the verses in all of them as well. I guess singing to her since she was in the womb paid off. Even if I can't carry a tune worth a darn.

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Jordyn has been cooing, smiling and giggling like crazy. I especially like her little giggles when she is off in dream land. She is such a sweet and good baby.
Her legs are really strong now and she wants to stand when we are holding her up. And she is already trying to sit up. I lay her down and she does these cute little half sit ups.
J.J. slept for 9 1/2 hours the other night. Yay!! Unfortunately I couldn't take full advantage of it since I couldn't fall back to sleep after Travis' 5:30 alarm went off. But I can always hope for more nights like it.



My kids are hard sometimes (or most times) but they are also very loving and sweet. And it's on those really hard days when I think about the cute things they do and know that it's all so worth it. I love being a mom and I can't remember what it's like not being a mom. I know it was a lot quieter but not nearly as fullfilling and fun.

Our poor fish

Too bad fish can't talk. I rush around in the morning trying to get myself ready and then my two girls dressed and fed. I also run around trying to clean or organize. Next in line is Lady, our dog. She's usually pretty patient but she will let me know if I forget about her. We have her food in the laundry room and if she is hungry and we haven't gotten to her yet, she will remind us by hitting the door stop. It's her way of telling us she is hungry or thirsty and she is tired of waiting. So cute and funny but also annoying sometimes because she won't stop hitting it until we have taken care of things. But our poor fish can't talk or hit a door stop. All they can do is wiggle around like crazy when I walk by them. Well this morning I was really busy trying to get ready for the day and Makenna and Jordyn dressed and fed before the bug guy came. It was the first time so he had to come spray inside. I was also running around trying to straighten up the house. I don't know this guy from Adam but I still hate people coming into my house when it's a mess. Besides, he needed to have clear spaces to spray. Anyway, I walked by our fish tank a couple of times but kept thinking, I'll feed you in a minute after I do this and after I do that. Well, I forgot and didn't remember until that afternoon after a trip to Walmart. They were wiggling around like crazy in there. I told them I was sorry and finally fed them and they thanked me by splashing my with water while going after their food. I deserved it. I made them wait. Too bad the poor fish can't ring a bell or something to remind me. O-well. They got fed eventually.

Live Nativity

We went to see the live nativity last night. We had to stand on the side because there were a ton of people there so all the pics are from the back of people. I think a couple of them still look pretty cool though.

Makenna just wanted to get down and pet the animals.

These are the Roman soldiers

Joseph and Mary

Three Wise Men

Angels

It was the best night to go. The high for the day was 68 degrees so it was a beautiful night. Not cold at all. Jordyn slept through it all. What a good baby!!

My adorable girls

I just wanted to share these adorable pics that I took recently. I must say that I have some cute girls.

Makenna is funny because I asked her to stand in front of the bookshelf to take her picture and she stood facing it. I asked her to turn around and she did this turn of the head pose. She does this almost every time I ask to take her picture now. She's my little model.


Ahhh...sister love


I had Jordyn all bundled up for our walk and she looked so cute that I had to take her picture. You would think I would lose weight since I carry 14 pounds of cuteness with me for an hour each day.


And this is after church on Sunday. That is a six month dress on my 2 1/2 month old!!! Gotta love the thighs.

Tagged A-Z

My friend Sarah tagged me. So, here it goes...

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friends: Hubby, Mom, and Sarah
C- Cake or Pie: Cake!
D- Day of choice: Friday
E- Essential Item: Dr Pepper and chocolate
F- Favorite Color: pink...it used to be blue...changes with my moods
G- Gummi Bears or Worms: neither....not really a fan of the gummi
H- Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
I- Indulgence(s): chocolate
J- January or July: January! I love to get all snuggly to keep warm and I hate to sweat. Especially with Vegas heat.
K- Kids: I adore my two girls
L- Life is Incomplete Without: My family.
M- Marriage Date: June 2, 2001
N- Number of Siblings: 3, 2 brothers, 1 sister
O- Oranges or apples: apples, (macintosh)
P- Phobias or Fears: I am afraid of something happening to my family.
Q- Quotes: "I have pains but I don't have to be one"
R- Reason To Smile: My two month old giggling in her sleep
S- Season: Fall!!! The wonderful coolness after 110 degree summer heat and right around all the fun holidays.
T- Tag Three +1: Well, I've only got two....Jessica and Melanie
U- Unknown Fact About Me: I play with my knuckles when I'm bored, tired, etc. I know it's weird but I have done it since I was young. I will even play with my hubby's knuckles.
W- Worst Habit: Screaming at stupid, idiot drivers and calling them retards with my two year old parrot in the car.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds
Y- Your Favorite Food: Barbecue chicken wings and chocolate
Z- Zodiac: Aries

Bedtime rituals

Getting ready for bed is not my favorite time of day for me. And it is so much harder when I don't have Travis there to help me. I realize how much I rely on him especially since Jordyn was born. He had a gig tonight which is awesome but I miss him so much when he is gone at night. I even do baths at 5:30 if I have to just so he is home with me. For some reason Jordyn will start to cry as soon as I get into the bath. She will be perfectly content right before too. She just knows. And then the whole bedtime ritual is not always fun. I think Makenna is a little OCD because she has to have exactly everything right. You have to read both books, sing both songs, etc. and in a certain order or she goes into a huge crying fit. Oh, and we don't take turns with prayers. We all have to say it. She won't say hers until both her mom and dad have said a prayer. So, Travis and I will usually take turns with who is going to say the short prayer. And then, of course, I have to be the one that puts the blanket on her and Travis has to be the one that tucks. Heaven forbid if there is any variation. When we have finally gotten to that point, I have to say goodnight to June, Leo, Annie, Quincy and rocket which is the little einsteins for those who aren't in the know. Travis bought her a little clock with them on it that says Makenna's room on it that I have to say goodnight to. If you think about it, it's kind of funny but when it's every night, it gets a little tiring. Especially when I'm trying to hold my little 14 pound butterball and cuddle with her at the same time. That's why I appreciate my husband so much because he usual holds J.J. or does the books and stuff with Makenna. I love my beautiful daughter so much but it's my favorite time of night once she is in bed. I look forward to having my popcorn and M&M's with my dr. pepper while I fool around on the internet and finally relax. I know that doesn't help with losing my baby weight but I think I deserve it after running after a toddler all day and being my baby's sole source of food. It's what I look forward to at the end of the day and I guess I'll have to deal with my flabby belly in the meantime.