Today

Today was kind of rough. We have those days around here occasionally. And unfortunately, occasionally comes more often than I would like to admit. The last couple of months have had lots of these occasional rough days. (Thankfully, Christmas vacation was a nice reprieve and we are back on the wagon of making the awesome days outnumber the hard ones.) So anyway, I have been working on looking for the good, funny, cute things that come out of each day. With the children I have been blessed with, these moments are plentiful!

 Big sister was having a serious melt down at some point in the day (well, one of her many meltdowns today) and got sent to time out. Bless her heart, the poor thing can NOT for the life of her stay in time out for more than a second, and I heard her heading upstairs. As I was on the phone with my mom at the moment (and I really didn't care what she was doing so long as it wasn't hitting me or the baby or hurting herself) I let her go. A few minutes later Sis came running down the stairs to tell me, "I cleaned my room and maked my bed, ALL by myself. Come see, Mommy! Come upstairs with me!" Sure enough she had picked up all of her toys and pulled the covers up on her bed the best her 2 (almost 3) year old self could. Looking back on it now, I am in happy and proud tears because that girl knew exactly what I needed. She knows her messy room makes me ca-RAY-zy and she knew that a clean space helps me to be a happier, nicer mom.

Another little funny that Miss E has started lately is saying, "teeny bit, not too much," about lots of things. When I ask her if she is nice to her friends she will respond, "I am a teeny bit mean, not too much." When asked what she wants on her waffle, she will say, "a teeny bit of syrup, not too much." I can ask her if she was sad at the babysitters and she says, "um, a teeny bit, not too much." It totally cracks me up!

Final thought about E, this girl is so stinking smart. I feel like the stereotypical mommy blogger by saying that, but I am so proud of her! She has started drawing people that actually look like people! This is so huge to me. She is also on her way to figuring out shapes and numbers and counting and all of that fun stuff. I feel like I can physically see her brain working and growing every day. It is so cool! Plus, I just love the way she says circles: "suh-cles." 

Tonight after I put E to bed I kept the little one up for a few extra minutes of snuggles and laughs. (Can I just tell you what an angel she is! Several times a week I have to tell her to stop smiling so much so she can eat...seriously, she smiles that much.) I love those special moments with my kids when all is quiet and I can whisper and tell them how much I love them and how lucky I am to be their momma. 

In hindsight it is so easy for me to see the blessings I have spilling throughout all the aspects of my life. I have been blessed with a wonderful, loving, supportive (and extra handsome) husband and two absolutely beautiful inside and out girlies. I have a family and in-laws who care for me and my family despite our craziness. I have faith in my Savior who knows exactly how I feel on days that are hard and sends innumerable tender mercies my way. I am such a lucky lady! I know that life is good.

Beautiful Girl

December 6, 2011

This little girl is such a beauty! I love those dark eyes (just like her beautiful big sister's) and her sweet round cheeks. This was the face she gave me after a long evening of running errands. Sweet thing!

Oh Christmas Tree

December 8, 2011

This year Miss E was so excited to set up our Christmas tree! She could hardly contain herself as we put up the lights and pulled out the ornaments. Steve and I spread the ornaments around pretty well, but the tree has since been redecorated with like ornaments (all of the sparkly snowflakes) grouped together by color at a 2 year old's eye level. I have to say, my girls are pretty darn cute!

Cute Friends

November 23, 2011
Loving lunch at Cafe Rio!

The week of Thanksgiving we were lucky enough to have our friends, the Reids, come stay with us for a night. It was so fun for us to see our girls together and to reminisce about old times (before kids) when we would get together often. Now that we are all "grown up" and they live far away, we just have to look forward to these quick visits and hope for a day when we live close enough to have our girls play together lots!

3 Months

Nov. 20, 2011
Time is moving faster and faster every day, I am certain of it! This girl has been such a sweet addition to our family, we can't seem to get enough of her huge grins and her squishy cheeks.

Miss E is starting to figure out how to interact with Sis without injuring her :). This is a huge step! E has great intentions but has a hard time recognizing the difference between her sister and a baby doll. She truly does love her sister and tells us all the time how "bee-ful" and "gorgeous" she is (thanks to Alvin and the Chipmunks for that one!).

This is a great representation of E's hair at the end of most days...

Baby H is getting more and more alert and is getting to the point where she recognizes her own hands and eats them constantly. She has started hitting the toys that hang above her on her play mat. We love that she can now predict when we are going to tickle her and laughs/grunts when we start. She has started cooing and talking in the last two weeks, and it is adorable! H is not rolling yet but I know it won't be long. She can get to her side with no problem and it's only a matter of time before she goes all the way. She can scoot her body around about 180 degrees when she is laying on her back. Sadly, her once great sleeping habits are slipping away from us. She is now waking up lots in the night, but this week we are blaming it on a stuffy nose.

We are so blessed to have such sweet girlies!!!

Snow Girl

 Nov. 5, 2011
 My E girl LOVES to play outside. She has been dying since the weather has turned cold, because we are mostly stuck inside with the new babe. Thankfully we had a not-too-snowy snow day that allowed her to go out in the back yard for a while. I am excited for the day when we get a fence and I can send her outside any time she wants!!!

She was trying so hard to make and throw snow balls. We'll have to wait for some real snow to teach her how!

Of course she had to taste it!

Pink Tutu

November 1, 2011

This tutu is perfect for spinning!!!

I'm not sure if you have noticed over my last several posts, but this girl LOVES pink and LOVES dresses/skirts. She would wear a pink dress every day if I let her. Thankfully, her grandmas have helped us out in that department. Grandma Jean bought her his cute tutu at Costco and she finally got to wear it. She cried when I made her take it off to put her jammies on that night. I hope to do a post highlighting all of her pink outfits.