Priorities

We are in the process of moving....

The past 3 months is for a post all it's own when I'm ready to divulge it all. But it's not the point of this post here.

Some friends in our ward have moved back to Utah and put their house up for sale. It's under contract but while it sits vacant, they asked us to move in for the summer. We aren't under a lease in the house we are living in now so we were happy to help them out. Which really I know they helped us out more....did I mention the house has a pool? Perfect timing with the death of summer upon us!

Anyway. Christopher has been a packing up fool. Since we are only staying in their house for the summer, alot of our stuff is headed to their garage. Since the other house is already empty, Chris has been taking advantage of moving slowly. Tonight he packed up the bookshelf in our living room. I walked in to find this left on the shelf.

Scriptures and the Twilight Series!

He knows me too well!

The important part is she gets back up!

It's funny how you can't really force your kids to do much. No matter how much we tried, we couldn't get this girl to walk! And then this morning, she just started walking on her own. And so dang proud of herself too!

Just another reminder that we can't push. Just be there to boost their little self esteems and encourage them to keep going!

Maybe a little over the top...just got me thinking.

Countdown To New Moon

MTV Movie Awards | Twilight: New Moon

Memorial Day Barbeque

This is the 3rd year in a row that we have gotten together with the same group of friends to hang out for Memorial Day. I enjoyed myself so much that I only took one picture!

Addysen and Grayce. Last year they spent the entire barbeque snoozing. This year they were busy playing in the water and trying to fit in with the big kids!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love this girl?

And how fun it is to have girls? Don't get me wrong, if we ever get a boy, he will be so much fun. Not to mentioned an answer to Elodie's prayers. But my girls are SO MUCH FUN!

Just check out those curls?

Does it get any better than this?

Don't answer that question....

I just want to enjoy her right now!

Just the way she is.

Christopher went up to Snowflake this weekend and we spent it just us girls. With the exception of a mommy night out with friends Audrey and Melissa.

Elodie was in hog heaven. We rented movies. Went shopping. Met friends at the park twice. Hit Wal Mart and Target twice. Went to the Splash Pad. Scoped out the latest fashions at Gymboree. She is my shopping buddy and I so much enjoyed spending time with her and Addysen. I love, love, love this girl.

The Not So Glamorous Part of Our Morning

As if there is every anything glamorous about our mornings!

Elodie is on a eating kick right now- It really goes for anything but it's most common when you have a drink or you are eating something. If you've got it, she wants it! Doesn't matter what it is. And she will beg and plead until she gets it. Most times, after she's gotten it, she doesn't want it. SURPRISE! SURPRISE! It's pretty annoying, especially when you know she's only asking to see if you'll get it for her. I think she just likes to see me get things for her.

Yesterday morning I was fixing myself a bagel. Elodie pleaded for one too. I knew she hadn't ever had one and so I told her I would fix her something else. She begged and begged so I gave her half of a half. Sure enough. Not even 2 bites into the bagel she was done. Usually our approach when she does this is to say "Okay, that was breakfast. Nothing till lunch" and usually she is fine with it. But obviously that approach wasn't really working- she was fine to wait till lunch.

Not this time though- I made her sit at the table and finish it because I knew before I even made it that she wasn't going to want it. She only wanted it because she saw me eating one. She was not happy with me and as you can see in the picture she sat there for a long time!!

Finally, after about a half hour she wised up and ate it.

It's hard to make a 4 year old understand that there are kids all over the place that don't have any food to eat and she should be grateful for what she has. She doesn't get it. But what she will get and what I hope she keeps in her mind is the next time she ask for something she better really want it!

Looking back...

Sometimes, in the evening, I like to go back and look at my blog post from previous years. It's crazy to see how big my girls are, how old Chris and I are getting. To read about what we were doing, goals we had for our family, things that seemed huge at the time, how things that we thought would happen, never did, and how nieve I can really be at times!

Makes me happy I keep a blog. Makes me want to blog more often. Makes me love my family even more.

I seriously have no clue why some people don't keep a blog.

Last Day of Preschool.

Thursday (May 14th,2009) was Elodie's last day of Preschool. Her teacher, Mrs. Cranney, put together a restaurant and all the students got to be the waitresses for their family. The kids had prepared menus for their families and did a great job taking orders and serving food. Elodie's little apron was so cute. It even had a pocket with a notebook and a pencil for her to jot down our orders. We have loved preschool this past year and Elodie has grown so much. It makes us both really excited for kindergarten and all the fun things Elodie will learn.

Chris and Addysen

Elodie and Grace enjoying their parfaits!

Macy and Elodie looking at their scrapbook Mrs. Cranney made for them. I'll scan each page later.

Elodie and her teacher Mrs. Cranney. Mrs. Cranney did an amazing job with her class. Elodie was always coming home with crafts and little assignments and she learned so much from Mrs. Cranney.

Macy and her family are moving to Utah tomorrow- we will miss them so much and all the fun playdates we had with Macy, her sister Kelsey, and their mom Annie.

Proud Dad and Mom.

Elodie, We love you so much and are so proud of the little girl you are growing up to be. You are so smart and beautiful!! We are so glad you are loving school and are excited about kindergarten!

So close but SO not interested

She pitches the hugest fits when you try and get her to walk by herself

BUT if you hold her hands she is the fastest walker!

I don't get it! I'm not worried just a little confused whe she isn't interested!

Stuck

Yesterday afternoon after lunch I was in the kitchen sweeping the floors. For any mom this is a daily routine. And if you have small children you may find you do it 2 or 3 times a day.

Anyway, Elodie had taken Addysen into her room to play and it was quiet for a few minutes. Then I hear "Help." "Help Me!" "Help!!"

I have to admit I ignored it at first. With good reason though- Elodie has a tendancy to do this a lot and when you come to her rescue you find that she really isn't stuck, hurt, or banged up in any way. It's her little version of the boy who called wolf. She thinks it's pretty funny.

So after a few "Help!" cries, I went in to see what the big deal was.

This is what I found.

Then she tried to get herself out....

And all I did to help was take pictures. Because, that's what all good mothers would have done!

And no she wasn't hurt. Just being silly for her little sister's enjoyment.

Ginger's ready for summer too!

Usually we take Ginger to petsmart for her "every 3 to 4 month spa day". This cost us $40 per visit. For a dog? Yes. Because it's worth it and better them than me.



The other day we were lounging around and I said to Chris that I was going to schedule Ginger's hair appointment for sometime this week. It's getting pretty hot and her coat was really thick. I knew she was getting hot under all that fur and it was time. He agreed and we moved on.



That evening I worked and when I came home I found this.
My first thought was that Chris had made the appointment and had taken Ginger to PetSmart while I was gone. But nope. Christopher did it himself! He said it took forever but I think he did a great job and even cut her shorter than PetSmart would have done! And not only that he saved us 40 bucks! I'm thinking I'll take that 40 bucks and make my hair appointment now. Not with Chris though- we've done that before and while he is good at cutting my hair, it's much more fun to go to a salon. And yes, there have been months where I've had to choose between getting my haircut and Ginger's haircut because there was no way I was going to spend 80 bucks in one month on haircuts!

Now Ginger is as fiesty as a 3 year old puppy and we all love her a little more.

Kinda like camping

For the last couple of weeks, our family along with 5 other families have been trying to plan a campout. Slowly, all but 2 families had to bail out. Most everyone was still available to meet up on Saturday so We decided instead of doing an overnight campout, we would meet up at a campsite, have lunch and hangout. It was hot but we all enjoyed being outside and with friends. Next time though, a real campout!

All the kiddos, minus the babies- Addysen, Grayce, and Eli

The Boys played horeshoes

Ready for a nap. I love her little belly hanging out!

Red cheeks, cute smile, and watermelon stained mouth- all signs of a good time!

Addysen playing with a stick

Elodie and Ryanna

After taking this picture it made me feel bad for how often I say I hate this state because of the heat. Arizona really is a beautiful state- there, I said it!

Happy Mother's Day!

To my girls- Thank you for making me a mom! I love being a mom! I love you Elodie and Addysen and I am so thankful for you both! I am constantly learning to be a better me because of you both!

To my mother- I love you! You are my friend, my support, and I am who I am because of you! Words will never be enough to tell you how truely grateful I am to have you in my life. THANK YOU for being the mother you are to me! I am who I am because if your example and if I can be even half as good a mother you were to us, I will be doing something right. Thank you for being a MawMaw to my girls! They love you and I am so happy they have a special bond with you!

To my mother in law- Thank you for being my mom away from my mom. I love you! Thank you for Christopher! He is a wonderful man and I know he is because of you!

To my sister in laws- I may not of had sisters growing up but I have them now!

To my sweet friends- I love you guys! Thank you for being my friends! I am so blessed to have mommy friends to relate with and chat with and have girl nights with! Playdates are my lifesavers!

And to Christopher- Thank you for making me a mother. For your support, love, and patience. We make a great team daddy. I love you!

Summer is coming...

And nothing sais summer like a Sonic drink at Happy Hour!

Taylor Swift Hair

So, Elodie loves her hair in a braid. Not a full braid, just half up half down with a part of her hair braided. It always looks so fun when we take it out in the morning before her bath and it made me think back to when my mom use to braid my hair really tight when it was wet and how cute it looked the next morning. I wanted to try the same thing on Elodie's head but since her hair is so thin we had to do lots of little braids. She was so excited last night when I was finished and couldn't wait to get up this morning and take all the braids out.

It also happened to be show and tell day today and after we had fixed Elodie's hair she told me she looked like she had Taylor Swift hair. While my mom was in town she had given Elodie all these cute little Beeny Baby dolls and one of them she named Taylor Swift. She was so excited to take her Taylor Swift doll to show and tell and how fun that she was even sporting the Taylor Swift hair. TOTALLY not planned but I was so happy it worked out this way!

My poor child has such straight hair that by the end of the day it was straight again! It was fun for one day and she wants to do it again soon! This hair do makes me want to pull out the sponge rollers. I wonder if she would be able to sleep with them in. I remember how awful those things were to sleep in!

Elodie's Tumbling Recital

For the last 8 weeks Elodie has been in a tumbling class. The girl loves to do front rolls and is constantly asking how to do handstands and cartwheels. This class was just right for her! Today was her recital (she kept calling it her Relief Society) and she was so excited to show off the moves she has learned over the past few weeks. We will definitely do another class like this this summer!
Crab Walk

Front roll- her specialty

Back Roll

Back Flip

Cartwheel

Waiting her turn

Tabletop- "Hi Mom and Dad!"

The Whole Class

Elodie's friends Macy and Kelsey who came to watch. Thanks girls for coming! Elodie was so happy to have you there!

14 months

Words in the last month:

Bath, Diaper, Baby

Signs in the last month:

Thank You, Bath, Baby, Dog

Tricks in the last month:

Standing from a sitting position and puckering for kisses,

Double Trouble

We got to keep our cousin Randa's little boy Teagan today. Addysen and Teagan are about 2 weeks apart, Addysen being the older of the 2. He is such a cute little guy and it was so fun having a boy in the house. Elodie kept saying "Mom, this is what it will be like when our baby brother comes." Yes she is still praying for a baby brother- her words "Bless our baby brother to come"