dave's birthday!

we celebrated 31 years of dave on sunday, january 20th! i think the highlight of his birthday weekend though was the day before, when he got to go on an all-day date with his mom. they went to the new colorado history museum, lunch, the molly brown house (he's a history lover, can you tell?!) and ended up at the video game store! of course the thing he loved most was spending all day with his mom! 

(a birthday wake-up by the 2 cutest alarm clocks...although knowing him, he'd been awake for an hour)

dave wanted to have our families over for dinner on his birthday. he planned the menu and even did the cooking (that's more like a birthday present to me!). he loves to cook and doesn't get to do it often, so he whipped up some tasty sliders and bbq grilled chicken and our kind families brought chips, potato salad, drinks and baked beans. we celebrated the birthday boy with homemade oreos (one of his favorites) and root beer floats. it was great to celebrate with everyone.

our two little helpers

logan, the sous chef (above) and emma, the maid (below)
emma sure is a cute maid wearing my ruffled apron and a chef's hat. she loved helping me clean the bathroom! she loves to help!

we love you david james and are sooooo, sooooo glad you were born! you make life so wonderful!

happy talk

(that post title makes me start singing the song from "south pacific!")

due to a slight speech delay, emma started speech therapy at the end of january. of course i swear that the moment i made the phone call to start the whole process of getting her assessed etc. she started talking more :) for my own records i thought i would record the words emma was saying before starting speech (i'm sure there were a few more, but these are the ones i remembered and wrote down to show the speech therapist):

uh-uh

uh-huh

pop (she yells this out when she hears the toaster pop)

juice

please

cheese (one of her very favorite things to eat)

mommy/mama

daddy/dada

uh oh

night night 

bye bye

hi

home

yes

nana (for banana)

all done

hop (if you ask her what a bunny does)

owie

ho ho ho (if you ask her what santa says)

jee-jee (jesus)

moo (what a cow says)

wooo (what an elephant says. while she says it, she holds out her arm like the trunk of an elephant)

this is a picture logan took of mindy, emma's speech therapist, on her first visit. she is awesome and emma is already saying so many more words since she has started coming (she comes to our house once a week and it rocks!). i've learned so much and it's so fun to be able to see more of emma's personality show as she is able to communicate with us more. and we're all so excited with each new words emma says. i love especially how logan encourages her and then celebrates each new word she says.

5th annual things i heart...

• the way dave makes me laugh everyday. it's so fun being married to him!
• vanilla yogurt with frozen berries
• couple prayer with dave each night
• roman raspberry talenti sorbet oh so good!
• our photo slideshow screensaver (how have our kids grown up so fast?! their baby pictures kill me)
• vanicream (the best moisturizer ever)
• it's a 10 miracle leave-in conditioner (it really is miraculous)
• getting my haircut
• watching my kids sleep
• family dance parties
• my wedding ring
• traveling
• my slippers
• a modern day prophet and apostles and their inspired general conference talks. 
• good friends, near and far
• growing from struggles. i don't necessarily heart the struggles part, but i'm grateful they're not for nothing and that we can come through them stronger and closer to the lord. 
• reading with my kids
• deep cleaning/organizing, although you wouldn't know that about me if you saw my house right now
• naps (which is the reason for the lack of organization in my house right now)
• watching logan and emma dance
• holding hands with dave
• how i met your mother (oh please can we finally meet "the mother")
• walk off the earth "gang of rhythm" 
• mighty mango naked juice. it is like a piece of heaven in a glass. 
• piyo
• spending everyday with my kiddos. boy oh boy do i heart being a mom (and a stay-at-home mom)!
• the power of moms. it's such an inspiring spot on the internet.
• the menu exchange with my sisters (each week one of us emails a week of dinner recipes, which means i only have to plan 1 week of dinners, but i have dinners planned for the whole month. score!)
• being taught by the spirit
• foot rubs from dave (the man has skills!)
• groups texts with my (todd) family
• the relief society organization
• blogs
• weekly playgroup. "technically" it's for the kids, but really it's just as much for me. i look forward to seeing my friends each week. 
• the amazing families i get to be part of
• dave's dimples and that he is mine :)
• the way being a mother stretches me and is hopefully refining me and helping me become a better person
• just being together with my little family 
• "once upon a time"
• the temple and eternal families
• feeling this little peanut inside of me kick. it's the coolest feeling!

previous "things i heart" posts

1st annual 2nd annual 3rd annual 4th annual 

life lately

life seems to be moving so quickly lately. i'm not quite sure how it is 2013, not to mention nearing the middle of february 2013! i've been feeling so, so much gratitude lately that i get to be logan and emma's mom. it really is my dream job being home with them each day. they are both at such fun (and sometimes sassy) ages. they keep me laughing! there are so many little things they do right that i don't want to forget, like:

the way logan moves his hips when he dances or how emma will put her head between our legs and pretends to give dave or i a piggy back ride (dave taught her that one) or how if logan makes emma sad the way she goes up to him and snuggles in for a hug and waits for his apology or how emma dances the moment music comes on (and sometimes even without it) or the way logan says "smarshsmallow" for marshmallow or the way logan and emma cuddle together or how emma tries to sing along when we sing to her or the way logan plays "camping," which usually involves every pillow, cushion, blanket and stuffed animal from his room (and sometimes mine...well pillows at least...not too many stuffed animals in my room) or the way emma carries around cars in her purse or the way emma stomps when she's upset or emma's pouty face that just makes us laugh or how almost every song that comes on the radio logan says, "it's my song!" and usually he can sing along. he has the most incredible memory for song lyrics. or logan's current obsession with taylor swift and walk off the earth's song and music video "gang of rhythm." 

here's a visual look at life since the beginning of 2013:

yoga mat picnics

pretending to be a band in a parade

 

logan became a sunbeam and has loved it! he comes home and tells us about the prophets and scripture stories they have learned like daniel in the lions den, baby moses and joseph smith's first vision. and he sings us new songs he has learned like today when he was running around the house and suddenly busted out "nephi's courage." he said the prayer a couple of weeks ago in primary and volunteered to say it again next sunday!

the kids "playing" a lego video game with dave (their controllers don't have batteries)

emma sporting a "creative" ensemble

i peeked in and caught logan reading to emma. i tried to be sneaky and take a picture, but logan saw me and apparently was not happy i was ruining their moment

pot 'n pan band (we only broke 1 wooden spoon :)

spontaneous pomegranate picnic

a post-gym photo of me taken by logan. yowza!

emma loves to layer on the necklaces

where's logan?!

fun with logan's girlfriend morgan (that's what he calls her :)

she is always climbing up on things to get what she needs

 

more pomegranates. they love them!

emma found one of my workout tank tops and thought it made a perfect dress

ramps for his cars using my shoes

"camping" in emma's crib

emma wants to sit on the toilet all the time! she has yet to actually go, but we're willing to support her interest. we'd love to have her potty trained before the next peanut arrives.

dave went in to get emma out of bed one morning and found that she had lined up all her friends on the top of her crib. we thought it was hilarious.

i sure love this life!