Cute Moments

Sophie can stand!!!! At her 9 month appt. (she is now 10 months...) she decided to stand for the first time. And she's taken a step....Is the bottle bigger than her?
We have fun Aubree shots of this too!

And Aubs taking a "nap" on the hamper during laundry day.
It's so fun being a mom of two beautiful girls.

Playing catch up.

If you've noticed lately I've been trying to catch up on all my posts. So one afternoon I started to organize them all into titles and pictures and what I wanted to journal...it took a while because I had a lot to do, and I'm slow....I had about 1/4 of an eye on my kids. Mainly just listening because I was so absorbed. When I finally came up for some air I surveyed my surroundings. Aubree was buck naked, laying on the couch with chocolate in her hand and extra on the coushins. I took some cute pictures, but won't post them for obvious reasons. And then I spotted Sophie. She was down to her diaper...Aubree not only like to strip herself, but anyone else who will let her, or can't stop her :) She was halfway in the pantry, sucking on (a very tightly closed) bottle of food dye... There were toys, food, pillows, blankets, etc... strewn all about. It was a sight to see.

Persistance pays off

September 2008. I was getting ready for Sophie to come into the world. Dave's Mom and I searched and searched for a bedroom set for Aubree to graduate to. Within the budget we set we were able to find some beautiful pieces, but never the whole collection. Furniture is EXPENSIVE!!!

And then came Knights Mattress and Furniture. I found THE collection. I was scared to ask the prices because it was PERFECT. Amazingly we could get EVERYTHING...I'm talking, the bed, the mattresses, the trundle, the dresser, the nightstand, the spring boards, everything. I opted not to get the mirror....because I had something else in mind, but we could have. I was so excited. We ordered it and were told it would arrive around Christmas. What a great present....true to their word Christmas came and so did the furniture. They delivered, I signed and everything was fine. So I thought.

Something was off. I took me a day (I know I'm slow) to realize they didn't give me the wood box trundle that we paid for. We got a metal pull out. It looked unfinished and cheap. I called and the manager told me that the box didn't come in and so they gave me a different one that costs the same amount. Who would choose a metal pull out versus a nice, wood, finished, look for the same price? I asked him if we were still getting the one we ordered or if this was a replacement. He said if we really wanted the wood one he would "try" to get it in for us.

Fast forward to now.... we've called and called. Heard excuse after excuse. "The economy is bad right now" "the company doesn't make it anymore" "oh, it's shipped" and then "oh, it wasn't in the shipment". We didn't give up. I'm sure he wanted us to. Finally after much persistence we have the trundle. It's not the one we ordered. It's not the box. But it is wood. And at this point I'll take it. It's not exactly the right color, but it's close. And we got him to throw in the mirror for free. So it has been almost a year and a half. We've wanted to call "Gephardt" a million times, but we stuck with it.

If you want furniture for a good price, it's the place to go. If you want it all in a reasonable amount of time, or if you want to work with someone who knows how to run a business...or if you want it without a hassle..I would not recommend it....

P.s. This was the nice version.

Kangaroo Zoo

Aubree's cousin, Brody, invited her to play at Kangaroo Zoo. We'd never been, so of course I had to take pics'. I told Aubree the night before, and she was so excited to go down "bubble" slides and play on big "bubble toys". It was so fun, and pretty cheap. It's definitely one of my favorite winter outings.This picture was in the mother lounge, which Aubree found fascinating.



I'm not sure who had more fun :)

Sophie wasn't too sure what she though of the toys...but she did have lots of fun bonking her head on these mugs. If you haven't been it's a must.

My little helper

Aubree always like to "help" me out when I'm in my craft room organizing. This is a classic video of her help.

Her random outfit consists of her butterfly wings from Halloween, size 6-9 month tank top, 3-6 month shorts and 4t pants! And of course she knows how to accessorize. She is pretty amazing.

Flip Book

Dave likes to take random pictures when your not looking...and he has captured some pretty amazing things. This would not be one of those things. It took me a while to catch on, but I took care of it!

This is what happens...

when you leave two 2 year olds downstairs, to put Sophie down for a nap. Yep. It's food coloring. And yep. It's all over the couch. Thankfully they only got in on cushions, which can be removed. This was the worst one. But they got it on almost all of 'em. No wonder they were so quiet.

All I can say is that I'm proud of myself for not reacting, and I'm very grateful for Home-Ec. I haven't seen them in the light yet. But it looks like I got it all out.

Love from Sophie

Sophie is growing up and it seems to fast! She has such a sweet spirit to her and like her big sister Aubree, she hates to see anyone sad. So she has learned how to show her love. She'll bonk you on your forehead with hers and give you big cheesy grin. It really is the best ever.

I have started watching two little girls from the ward 3 times a week. They are each just three months younger than my girls. Aubree loves having a playmate but we're still adjusting to the change. And it has been trying at times. Mia who is just younger than Sophie needs lots of attention. And so does Soph. This gets tricky at times, and there was a day when I had to put Mia down and help the older girls. She instantly started crying. Sophie heard and crawled over to her. She went right up and gave her a "bonk" on the head. She then looked up to see if Mia stopped crying and when she realized that Mia was still sad she continued to bonk, look up and smile. I thought this could end badly, so I intervened. But not until I got a cute picture. This was the best I could get without sacrificing Mia's safety. Cute Sophie.

Star Wars marathon

I got a phone call from my friend Karen. We were officially invited to the "first annual Miller Callister Star Wars marathon". This was a little over a week ago and we only have one movie left. It has been an unforgettable experience. We started with Episode 1 and watched through Episode 6, including the cartoon movies of the clone wars. We only have one clone war movie left and our marathon will be done for another year :) It's been full of late nights, lots of questions, watching a 2 hour movie in 3 1/2 hours (thank you Aubree) and Seth getting to show of all his knowledge.

After the first movie Karen (with the help of Seth) made a power point of the Jedi counsel with official Star Wars logos and music and everything. It actually was very helpful to know details about the characters instead of just watching them. They don't mess around when they invite you to a marathon. It's been a blast and I can't wait 'till next year!

Karen even dressed up all her potatoes in their Star Wars outfits!
Chewy got cut off, but he is there!

New Year's

Dave and I don't really celebrate New Year's like we used to. In fact we struggle to even stay awake that late. But I love that with the new year comes a desire to change, or recommit to goals. And I do have a few of my own.

My main goal last year was to be better at journaling. It is one of my favorite things to look back and remember things that I would have lost if I hadn't documented them. I have a journal for both my girls that I keep up and mine seems to have been forgotten. Luckily I have found the blogging world and have kept up journaling this way. So now I need to branch out and make some more goals. I like how my friend Karen categorized her goals, so I will be copying her.

Physical

Eat Healthy

-Minimal desserts

-eat three meals a day

Get in shape

Emotional

Have more patience with my kids

Get out with the Family weekly (so I don't go stir crazy)

"play" more with my kids, not just parent

Go on dates with Dave when we can

Spiritual

Attend the temple weekly for myself

Attend the temple monthly with Dave

Pray sincerely

Hold spiritual FHE weekly

Financial

Keep living within our budget

Put away to finish our house how we want

Fun with Friends

After Christmas we got together with some friends and partied all night!!

Here we are at our next door neighbors, and really good friends :) the Miller's. They got a Wii for Christmas and we were able to enjoy their new gift. It was really fun. We went over for dinner, and games. They have a fun toy story game we played forever and I realized how uncoordinated I was. Their 3 year old son Sam was better then me! But it was awesome.
Aubree got in on the fun too! The basket ball game was her favorite.
Then they came over to rock out on our Christmas present, Hero Band. Along with our other friends Rich and Lexi. Although I'm not good at taking pictures, so you wouldn't know! Aubree and Sam were loving the Drums. It was hard too keep them off so the adults could play!

Then some more friends came to jam. They brought with them wigs. Of course Aubree had to try it out. How cute is she?

The Band:

Elton on guitar

Ben on drums

Dave singing.

It was pretty amazing. Thanks for the good times.

Our Christmas story

It's always hard for me being away from family for Christmas. But luckily I have inherited a great family to spend time with. And as I focus on the true meaning of Christmas it puts into perspective how truly blessed I am. I am so thankful to have a family and a wonderful one at that. I'm thankful to have a Savior and to celebrate the miracle of his birth. This Christmas season we've been trying to introduce our kids to the spirit in this holiday which does include the commercial aspects as well as the spiritual....We got our lights done this year. I think they look beautiful. You can't tell but the lights on the roof line are red and white. I've always wanted a house with those colors.

And according to tradition we went out and picked a real tree. I hope I can keep this tradition going, but it's not Dave's favorite...so we'll see.
This was the first year we stayed home for Christmas. We usually spend the night at Dave's parents but now that we're all married with kids, it's a little different. We got to introduce family traditions, that I hope will carry through the years. We started the evening by reading the Christmas story in Luke. And explaining it in simple terms for Aubree. Then we opened our one present, that is always pajamas and an ornament representing the last year. Aubree got new Shrek jammies with Shrek the Third, and wouldn't you know it, a Shrek ornament. Sophie got soft ballerina jammies with the Willow Tree "Holy Family" ornament. Then we made peanut butter cookies for Santa. I hear their his favorite :) Aubree picked where we should leave them for him, and she decided that on the floor of the fireplace was it.

My sister Carlee, and her fiance Eric came over to exchange gifts. We got a delicious gift card to In-N-Out and the movie "Up". I was very excited because I hadn't seen it yet. We put the kids to bed and then watched the movie, while "preparing" for Christmas morning.

Christmas morning came and we were both up before the kids. We decided to wake Aubree up around 8:00. She was pretty groggy. But cute. We decided to let Sophie sleep in since she wouldn't the know the difference, and started without her. We have some great video of Aubs coming down the stairs and seeing the presents, opening one and sifting through her stocking. But for some reason I can't get it to post..

Santa was good to her this year. She got LOTS and LOTS of squishies! Including lizards, frogs, various other animals and princesses. Sophie didn't really care about presents, but she loved playing with all the boxes and paper. Aubree had a hard time opening all her presents. In fact we had to bribe her to keep opening them! Once she did she was very excited, but I think she was tired and overwhelmed.

Dave got me a fabulous present. An Iphone. And I LOVE it. Dave got Guitar Hero 5 with two guitar controllers...(and ended up buying the mic and drums with money from my Mom, so he has the whole band..)

After we got ready, we headed over to his parents for Christmas dinner and gift exchanges. I made his sister a really cute decoration but I didn't take a pic' of it...the gift exchange was fun. I got a beautiful neckless from Michelle, money, and the girls were spoiled! We put them down for naps and had fun with our new "toys". From then until now I've been addicted to my phone. It's only now that I've been able to put it down for a minuet and catch up on blogging! We had a really fun Christmas, and I talked to my family so it wasn't totally without. It's a fun phase to now feel the spirit of Christmas through the wonder and joy of my kids. I love having another reason to celebrate my Savior and spend time with family. It's been a great month.