playing with cousins

the taylors came to visit last week and we had so much fun with them. we played at an amazing new park, went swimming and played in the backyard at nana and papa's! their visit went too fast and i'm sad they're already gone.

the park had these awesome rocks to climb on. logan spent most of our time there climbing up the rocks and going down the slide (up and down, up and down).

 spencer is an awesome climber

 it's a whole new group of grandkids playing in the sandbox at nana and papa's now. it was emma's first time and i think she only ate a little bit of sand!

check out that little chunk! i love her chub!

 the older boys played flag football

  and were even nice enough to let this little dude "play"with them for a bit

 post sandbox bath time with cousin kate!

can't wait to see you again in june, taylors!

mid-march

spring finally arrived this past week and we have been soaking it up (which is good because it looks like it is going to get chilly again. boo!). i am so done with winter and we welcomed spring by spending days at the park, playing in the backyard, opening the curtains and windows and letting the sunshine stream in and driving with the windows down and the radio turned up (or more often than not, primary songs pumped up). the sunshine (and warmth) is good for my soul!

with the arrival of spring i have been on a spring cleaning rampage. perhaps there are many of you that don't know this about me, but i love to deep clean and organize things. it makes me giddy (ask dave, he thinks it's a little crazy how excited and happy it makes me). i have taken garbage bags of clothes and stuff to the goodwill. i have gone through closets, drawers and cupboards and even though there is more to do, it feels so good! i told dave i felt like i was nesting without the pregnancy part (the mention of nesting elicited a look of panic. ha!).

i finished the second season of downton abbey about a couple of weeks ago and loved it! like so many i got totally sucked in and wish i didn't have to wait so long until the next season. and by the way, can they please add more episodes to the season? 7 just doesn't cut it for me.

i got 2 new colors of nail polish that i love, just in time for the warmer weather and open toe shoes! i painted my toe nails at playgroup a few weeks ago. the first and last time i do that. what was i thinking?! i swear, as soon as i pulled out that bottle of nail polish it was like a magnet, attracting little people to me.

i got some new yummy smelling body wash and the smell of it (black orchid and velvet hibiscus) makes my shower time seem more luxurious!

i got a new crock pot because the pot in my last one totally cracked. i still used it for awhile (with crock pot liners, so so worth the money), but finally i broke down and bought a new one. the timer feature is different than my last one and totally awesome! yes, i get excited about things like crock pots. what can i say?!

i love spring flowers! they are my favorites. if i could have fresh tulips in my house all spring long i would love it.

my friend megan alerted me to skinny jeans at forever 21 for $10.50! score! that is totally within my budget. i think i need to get a couple more pairs!

denver finally got an H&M at the end of last year and i still haven't gone. what the?!

it's amazing how quickly i can get in and out of costco when i go in the evening, without my kids and when there are no samples out. but i almost don't know if it is worth it without the samples!

the other night when i was driving 3 out of the 6 pre-sets in my car were playing the same rihanna song. wow denver, mix it up a little!

apparently i am a really loud typer/typist (what is it?). dave tells me it all the time (and just told me again).

logan and dave were just watching a video on you tube and when it finished logan said, "that wasn't a very good one. not yours, we need to watch one of my elmo ones." the boy knows what he wants!

i really want a mini van. make fun of me all you want, but i can't wait to get one someday. i keep daydreaming about cruising around in one.

a peek into our lives lately

sometimes i just have a lot of random pictures of us hanging out. so here's what you get, a post full of them covering the end of february and first half of march!

 

under the kitchen chairs, a favorite hang out spot for the kids

 

 emma loves to look out our back doors
(and who know where her other sock was)

 

 the kids have been going on adventures lately (usually under the kitchen table) complete with "adventure hats" and a flashlight. oh how i love them!

emma's face kills me in the picture below. pure joy! i think i need to crop this picture just with her in it. 

 the loves of my life

yoga mat picnics. logan thinks it's the greatest place to eat his lunch. i always hope i don't find a piece of cheese stuck to my foot during my next pilates class.

at the end of february logan went with dave to his work to watch a certification and competition for chefs. they found logan a extra small chef's hat and coat that he sported. isn't he just the cutest?! dave's boss dubbed him the CLC, certified little chef! he'll even put it on at home sometimes when he helps us cook. 

 

cuties!

 dave and logan went on a father-son outing and logan scored a new train. 

 we visited grandma lorrie for her 88th birthday!

 i was sitting at the computer and looked down to see that logan had pulled emma onto his lap. they sure love each other.

 another emma face that just kills me! she is such a happy, smiley girl!

 logan wasn't feeling great this day and apparently needed to rest in the swing. 

 logan helping his dad replace our headlight. he thought it was cool that he got to help dave.

 this girl loves to eat!

the nears come to town

i was just looking through our pictures and realized that i never posted these pictures of when the nears came to visit from utah over president's day weekend. it already seems like too long ago that they were here. even though emma and sophie are only 4 and a half months apart, it was logan and sophie who played together and emma watched them, looking like she wanted in on the action (but couldn't keep up). logan also learned that he has to share the toys at gammy and pappy's house. he is used to ruling the roost over there! i didn't really get any great pictures, although i guess they do depict accurately these busy little people. 

 gammy surrounded by 3 out of her 4 grandkids (collin was somewhere nearby in the room too). she was in heaven!

gammy and pappy with all FOUR of their grandkids! i can't believe there are already four kiddos! they are such fun grandparents!

 we already miss the nears! come back and visit soon!

emma: 11 months

this past sunday emma turned 11 months. i don't want to talk about the fact that next month she'll be a year. i am in denial. she continues to be sweet, happy and willingly gives smiles to anyone (unless she's tired, and really who wants to smile then ;)

• she went through a faze this past month of scrunching up her face, sticking out her chin and giving big, cheesy smiles. 
• she moves all over in her sleep. i love to check on her and see where she has ended up in her crib and what position she is sleeping in. i love when she sleeps with her little bum in the air. at nighttime tickling her face makes her instantly sleepy and she often sleeps with her lovey on her face. 
• she is "talking" constantly now and it is so fun to hear

• a couple of weeks ago dave and i were mentioning that emma doesn't laugh spontaneously, only if we really work at it and tickle her (and not necessarily even then). it's almost like she must have heard us because since then she has been laughing and giggling constantly. i love to hear her throaty laugh! 
• she loves to turn on dave's xbox and is instantly attracted to cords. our printer (which is on the floor under our desk) is one of her favorite places to play (it was logan's too).

• she is a disposal (i was going to put garbage disposal, but we try to steer clear of feeding her garbage). she can eat and eat, she's like a bottomless pit. i guess it takes quite a bit to sustain those cheeks, belly and thighs (she is one chunky gal). we still have yet to find something she won't devour. she doesn't really eat baby food anymore. she prefers whatever we are eating. we just have to watch that she doesn't eat too much. last week she overate twice and ended up throwing up (one time all over daddy). 
• this girl is a pooping machine (probably has something to do with her love of eating). probably not what you wanted to read on this blog, but what girl wouldn't want to look back on her younger years and know that piece of info?! ok, enough about poop. 

• she uses whatever is around to pull herself up to kneeling and standing. she loves to stand, although sometimes she has a hard time figuring out how to sit back down.
• she crawled up the stairs on the stand at church a few weeks ago. dave was getting the sacrament stuff ready and left her by the sacrament table and the next thing he knew, he looked down and she had crawled up the "stairs" to where he was in the sacrament prep room. 
• all of the sudden her hair is coming in thicker and darker

• she's got 3 more teeth coming in (in addition to the 4 she already has), hence the drool.
• she loves to sit on our laps and bounce and she still loves to be held upside down. if she's sitting on our lap she will often arch herself back until she's hanging upside down. 
• she weaned herself about a week and a half ago. i tried to nurse her 2 separate times and both time she screamed and pushed away from me. and so just like that she decided she was done.