Eye Opener!

Wow, talk about an incredible eye opener. Last week I got a horrible virus on my laptop, and it completely wiped out my documents. Sean took it to a friend who took a look at it, but all was lost. So he reset it to the factory settings, getting rid of the virus, but this left me bawling for hours over my lost photos. I had our whole lives on that laptop. Every picture I had taken in the past 2 years was on there. B-day parties, pregnancies, dates, and even Gracie's birth. I still tear up thinking about it. I put the comment on facebook that I've never been so happy to be a "Facebook Picture Whore" before. I sometimes going into picture overload, but at least I knew those ones were safe and I could find them again.
Well, last night my old visiting teacher, who has moved away but is still apparently looking out for me, sent her husband over to double check. He did incredible things to both of my computers, and may actually be able to recover some of my pictures!!! HOOOOORAAAAAAYY! I seriously could have kissed him (I didn't just for Nancy and Sean's sake!).

But all of that made me realize that I need to start sharing my pictures and stories on our family blog more often. I not only need to keep everyone up to date with our incredibly crazy lives, but have the pictures documented. I will be printing the blog every few months for our own hard copy, and would love to have current, and up to date pictures!!

So, here we go!

2 nights ago, William helped me make brownies. They actually didn't turn out very well because as we were making them (at 8:30 at night) we ran out of sugar (about 1/4 cup short), and cocoa (about 1/4 cup short). Hmmm, guess I need to check the ingredients BEFORE starting a recipe huh?! Oh well, he loved to lick the spatula and bowl!

Yesterday we went and parked on one end of main street and walked up and down it. We went to see if there were any kids shows playing that I may take William to this weekend. He's never been to a theater before, and I think it would be a fun Mommy date to go to the little theater in kaysville! Anywho, we walked up to one end where there was a snow cone shack. Of course, we couldn't pass up a $2 snow cone. So we all shared one. I have a feeling we may be riding out bike there quite a bit this summer!

Viva Las Vegas

Most of my posts here on the blog are about the kiddos, even though the title states otherwise. So, we are going to change that!! This one's about ME!

Last month, I got a very unexpected invite on Facebook for a random trip to...Las Vegas! Seriously, I wouldn't have cared who was inviting me at the time, I probably would have jumped on board with just about anyone. Can you say "Mommy Break"? But to make the sound of vacation even better, it was with my amazing girlfriends from high school. 

I haven't seen most of these girls in almost 8 years (Wow, I'm old!) and mainly just keep in touch thru facebook and blogs. Although I feel like I know everything about them, thanks to technology, I was frightened things might be awkward with the time that had passed. Senior year was a rough year for me, and I was scared that this trip may take me back to that hard time in my life.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

The weekend should have started with a blunt warning that we would not be mature nor ladylike all weekend long!

We got there late on Friday night, and stayed until Tuesday morning. Unfortunately AmyLyn and Kim weren't able to stay til Tuesday, but did convince their husbands into letting them stay until Monday!
We crammed as much as we could into that short amount of time. Temple Saturday afternoon followed by lunch and then an AMAZING opportunity to see The Phantom of the Opera that night.

After dinner we walked thru the shops at the Venetian and ate dinner at a little cafe. These pictures prove our immaturity!

I'm truely in love with our group pictures from the weekend!

We also went to the aquarium, shopping, ate A LOT, and watched the water shows at the Belagio. But most of all, we just laughed, cried, and had the time of our lives.

Is it February 2013 yet?!

6 month checkup

Today we went to Gracie's 6 month checkup. I'm in awe at how fast she is growing and how quickly the time has gone. In the same amount of time, we will be celebrating her first birthday.

CRAZY

Stats:
27" Long (78%)
17 lbs 11.5 oz (69%)
17" Head (59%)

It's funny, because a bunch of people lately have commented that Gracie has a big head...guess it's just all the hair that makes it look bigger!
She is getting so big though. She now hates to be laying down. It's like there's an on/off button on her back. As soon as it hits the ground she starts screaming because she wants to be sitting. But she is a PRO sitter. She has officially gone 2.5 hours yesterday without falling over and just sitting in the same spot. I'm not sure what kept her entertained for that long, but she was very content!

While at the doctor's office, William took a video (Mommy's way of keeping him entertained!). He may become our new cameraman.

I thought I'd post progress pictures of Gracie from the last 6 months.

One Day:

4 Days:

1 Month:

2 Months:

3 Months:

4 Months:

5 Months:

6 Months:

I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for our family and the joys this little girl will bring.

Oh, here's the video William took.



Christmas Eve 2011

I'm in love with my little family!! I get so much joy out of watching the excitement in the kids eyes with the holiday spirit.

This morning when I checked the baby monitor, I could not see William so I assumed he was awake and playing where the camera doesn't show. Well, I was wrong. This is what I found when I went into his room.

When I asked him why he was in the closet, he told me he was hiding from the trains!

Um...ok!

Tonight we got to open our jammies! Or should I say, William opened everyone's jammies!

Poor Daddy was sick all day, so he was all bundled up while he watched Will open the presents.

This is the first year William is really understanding the Santa thing, and it's so much fun!

Before bed we put out cookies cookie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph.

It started out as multiple cookies, but Will ate one.

And then he tried to eat the carrot and when I told him no he informed me "carrot make Will fly like Reindeer". 

Then he started to run around the room with his arms out making the "shoooom" flying sound!

LOVE THAT KID!

Santa had hit our house by 9:30!! Gotta love an early Santa!

Santa tracked snow into the house and even left the kids a note.

But boy, that Rudolph is a MESSY eater. There are carrot slivers all over the floor by the door.

But Santa left the kids a ton of presents.

I can't wait to see their excitement while they open them all tomorrow!

"SANTA!...I know him"

I love any reason to celebrate, and so now that the holidays are here...it's really time to play! I've been trying to do something "extra" everyday for the kiddos. Something with a Christmas theme, and something to build a memory.

William has been watching some fun Holiday movies. "The Polar Express" and "Santa Clause is coming to town" are his two favorites. I didn't think he would be old enough this year to know or understand Santa, but I'm sure due to these movies, he's loving the idea of Santa!

Today we got invited by our friends, the Hallows, to go visit Santa and 2 of his reindeer up at Weber State. 

We were waiting in line when Santa showed up, and boy did William love it. He didn't want to stand in line after that. He kept trying to run to the front just to see Santa. When it was our turn, Will was the only 2 year old who wasn't screaming when it came time to sit on Santa's lap.
As soon as I picked him up to put him on Santa's lap, he started talking his ear off. Neither Santa or I could get a word in.  I was lucky enough to get a few pictures as he took a break to yell "cheese".

Gracie loved the candy cane she got from Santa!



After seeing Santa, we went outside to see the reindeer. After we got home, William asked me why they weren't flying! lol, too cute. I had to explain to him they have to save up their energy for Christmas Night!

I can't wait for the rest of the month and all the fun celebrating we get to do!