Finally 100+!

I finally have more than 100 posts! 

It's only taken 3 plus years. Here's to the next 100 posts and hopefully it doesn't take as long. Ha!

Meh... And Not So Meh

I am soooooo tiiirrreeed today. . .

 
After dinner last night I left to run some errands. While I was gone Gavin fell asleep. He fell asleep before 8. Gavin is usually up until 9:30 so I was a little concerned he was going to wake up around eleven and want to be up for a while but I figured we'd just try to let him sleep and hope for the best.

..... Bad decision on our part.

Little Man woke up twice in the night and then decided to be awake from around 4:30 to 6 this morning. I thought maybe if I brought him in with us he would calm down and go back to sleep. Nope just rolled around and kicked us in the face and stood up and crawled all over like we were his personal jungle gym.

Lucky for him he can take naps while the rest of us work today lol. 

Gavin is now walking more than crawling even when he's tired and falls on his bum every time he tries to stand up. He is so proud of himself and I must admit I'm a pretty proud Momma too. 

He loves to pick things up and carry them around. He always has something in each hand and some of his favorite things to carry around include Chris's shoes if they happen to be left out. And those shoes are not light Gavin is such a strong little guy.

I forget how little/young he is sometimes he is just so determined to be a big boy. At church on Sunday there were some of the nursery age boys hanging out in the kitchen and Gavin wanted to see what was going on. Those boys were twice his size. They were so sweet with him and made sure to share the ball they had with him. Gavin just looks like such a tiny person walking around.

I get emails every week telling me things about the development of most babies his age. This week the email said  "Your baby may "walk" while you're gripping his hands..." I am still amazed he's walking all by himself and really doesn't like help anymore. I never thought I'd have a baby that walked this early... more so this well this early.

Walking around carrying his sippy cup.

Walking around like a big kid at the tree-house in the Mall.

Missing our Little Booger :(

Our house is way too quiet.

This past weekend was our last with the Little Miss before she starts school. I can't believe she's starting Kindergarten this year. She is such a sweet heart.

Grandma Josh got her a couple of shirts for school that were pink (one of her favorite colors) and black and had cute hearts and stars on them. Grandma Debbie also took Brooklyn shopping before she left and got her some super cute school clothes.

Her favorite article of clothing was this....

You can find this at Old Navy.

While they were out looking Brooklyn insisted that she get this jacket. They couldn't find anything to match it at Old Navy but she insisted they get it right away because it might be gone if they came back for it. How cute is that jacket? She has her own little style and loves being a girl.

We've gotten her some eyeshadow and she is always asking to wear "her makeup". She had asked a few times while she was at our house if we could put my makeup on and so Saturday morning while Gavin was taking his nap I gave Brooklyn a makeover. She definitely doesn't need makeup and is so beautiful without it but sometimes it's fun to play dress up and put makeup on and do girly things.

She did the duck face all by herself.

She held so still while I was putting on her makeup and didn't even have a problem with the mascara. I remember my mom putting mascara on me for dance performances and competitions and it did not go that smoothly. Brooklyn was so careful not to touch her eyes all day and hoped it would stay on over night so she could wear it to church the next day. She was constantly asking "Do my eyes still look pretty?"

Friday night we played movie theater. Brooklyn make tickets and we had popcorn and drinks and we watched The Lorax. She loved it and asked to play movie theater again on Saturday I think it will be a new favorite in our house. 

We went to dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Mike and Debbie's Sunday. Which is always a treat. Both of the kids love spending time with their Grandparents.

When we got home that night we packed up Brooklyn's school stuff. I forgot to mention she got a Justin Bieber notebook that she kissed when she picked it out at the store. She makes me laugh.

I feel so blessed to have her in my life. I feel so bad that she has to go back and forth and adjust to different rules at different houses. She tries to understand why she has a step mom and a step dad and why her other brothers and sisters don't have them. She is so smart and sometimes I forget that she is only five years old.

Good luck with school Little Miss. We Love you LOTS!

Couldn't Have Been More Eventful...

We were planning on going camping with Mimi and Grandpa Mike over the weekend. But Gavin's plans were a little different.

Friday when we got home from work and Grandma Draudt's I realized he had a really bad rash ... it was really bad around his diaper and his tummy. Mr. Gav has super sensitive skin and I thought maybe he was just having an eczema flair up and maybe something got on his skin so I gave him a bath. After his bath he was very upset and the rash was getting worse and moved to his face and now not only were his ears swollen but his eyes were starting to swell as well.

After talking to a couple people I called the doctor and the nurse said to bring him in right away and it sounded like he was having an allergic reaction.

When we got to the doctor his whole body was bright red and swollen. The doctor they said he was for sure having an allergic reaction to something. They gave him a steroid and a few more to take home for the next few days. They told me to give him some Benadryl and that would help with the itching but to watch him closely for the next few days as the reaction could last for five days and if anything changed to take him to the emergency room. His oxygen levels were also a little low and they said that the steroids would help with that as well.

The medicine he was given has helped immensely. We're still not sure what caused the reaction. It was such a scary experience and I pray we'll never have to go through that again.

Since we weren't sure if we were going to have to take Gavin to the hospital so we decided not to spend the night up the canyon. Grandpa and Mimi didn't have cell reception where they were so we went up the canyon for a delicious dutch oven dinner and campfire.

Brooklyn tripped a couple times and had a few traumatic experiences up camping but she was alright after a few tears were shed. She had fun feeding the chipmunks at the campsite and was the most excited to tell everyone about the chipmunk that ran up Grandpa's leg. She had a blast making s'mores and was so patient waiting for the marshmallows to cook. She would only use the potty in the trailer and wouldn't use the campground toilet.... Can't say I blame her there is something unnerving about sitting over a giant dark hole.

Saturday morning we got up and got ready and headed back up the canyon. We had breakfast and went to Cascade Springs and hiked around for a little bit. Gavin started walking just a few weeks ago and is just getting better and better at walking so he walked around on the trail with Brooklyn and Mimi for a while.

Brooklyn is such a good little hiker she didn't complain at all and loved looking for the fishes in the water.

Thank you Mimi and Grandpa for working so hard so we could have a fun camping weekend.

Sunday while I was in the shower Gavin was already dressed for church and just hanging out in the bathroom. Chris was out helping Brooklyn get ready. I noticed Gavin had gotten really quiet and and I was squeegeeing the shower door when I realized Gavin had his hand in the toilet. I yelled for Chris and he ran in and grabbed Gavin. Luckily he just got the water on his hand and not on his clothes. You can bet that will be the last time I'll ever forget to put the toilet lid down.

We were running late to church and couldn't find the keys and had to search for 15 minutes to find those.

To top everything off Gavin is getting his front top two teeth. They haven't completely broken through the skin but you can see them working their way out. Gavin's been a little Grumpy Pants but we love him none the less.

Birdy Treats!

Brooklyn has been staying with us for the past few weeks and we've been having lots of fun having some extra time with her. We've tried to do some fun things with her so when Amy sent me a link to these bird feeders I knew we needed to try making them.

Once I told Brooklyn she would not stop talking about making the feeders or Amy. She told me "I've never played with your best friend." She was so excited. 

Last Tuesday Amy came over and we made the bird feeders. We followed the instructions minus the part where the cookie cutters were really big and the part where you spray the cookie cutters with cooking spray and they seemed to turn out fine. The recipe says it makes two bird feeders we double the recipe and we ended up with closer to ten bird feeders.

Mixing up the gelatin and the birdseed.

Brooklyn and Amy putting the birdseed into the cookie cutters.

All ready to go into the fridge.

The finished product!

One recommendation... The directions say to let cool in the fridge for one hour for the gelatin to get hard. We found that you need to let the bird feeders dry longer than that one hour. If you don't let them dry long enough the string will slide right through the bird seed and fall on the ground. (We found out the hard way after breaking three feeders.)

The original recipe can be found HERE.

Sick again?

Friday out running errands as happy as can be.

Friday Gavin and I were running errands and he was just fine. Saturday morning he woke up with a little bit of a cold and Sunday he woke up wheezing, breathing really fast and shallow and worrying me. It just amazes me how quickly he can go from healthy to super sick. Not to mention get other people sick like Baby Jack (Sorry Miriam). We started using his inhaler that we got last time he was sick and it didn't seem to help a whole lot. I'm starting to wonder if he has asthma and that's why his colds seem to get out of control so quickly. It probably doesn't help that there are so many fires and the air quality is horrible.

Sunday sick as a dog :(

 Little Man is finally starting to get a little better but still has a nasty cough. Hopefully the last couple of months aren't a sign of things to come this winter (fingers crossed).

Park City and other Birthday Fun!

During the summer for someones birthday every year we go to Park City. Last year we went for Chris's birthday and this year we went for mine. It is so fun for Brooklyn to be able to go with us and I look forward to when Gavin is big enough to ride the slide too.

Most of both of our families were able to make it and our good friends Jared and Miriam came too. I love how I say things like we're going to celebrate my birthday but really it's just an excuse to get everyone to go and do something fun!

The Grandma's were super nice to stay at the bottom with Gavin and Baby Jack while we rode the Alpine Slide and the Coaster.

Mimi and the Babies (wish this picture wasn't so dark)

Chris beat me for the first time on the Alpine Slide. It was the first time he's beat me in the four years that we've gone... I must have picked the wrong lane to go in.

I love taking people to places I love and seeing them experience it for the first time. This trip was a first for almost everyone... Miriam, Jared, Josh, Andrea (I'm not totally sure if Travis had done it before or not).  And.... No one crashed! Not that I really thought anyone would but I guess Jared was terrified because they have some crazy friends that always come away from the slide injured.

She sure loves her Aunt Andrea

Miriam, Jared, Andrea, Josh and Travis on the lift behind us.

Grandpa Mike and Brookie rode the slide and the coaster together.

Our cute friends... and yes Jared's eyes are closed in this picture :)

After we finished with the rides we headed over to Baja Cantina (a staple to any Park City trip.) Chris and I got the Chili Verde nachos... so yummy. Dad also got me a mild chocolate bear from the Rocky Mtn Chocolate Factory, my favorite.

Such a fun day! Thanks families for coming with us to celebrate my birthday.


Chris also made me some GF brownies for my birthday and Brookie and Chris sang to me. I love my family.

The Living Planet Aquarium

This year for my birthday Chris and I took the day off. Not necessisarily to celebrate my birthday but to spend the day with our kids. I just wanted to be with my babies for my birthday and it was wonderful. (Thanks work friends for making it possible!)

We had a few options of things to do that day but I have been wanting to go to the aquarium for as long as I can remember. We have seen the billboards on the free way and I figured this would be the perfect day to go.

Have you been to The Living Planet Aquarium? If not you should go!

It is located in Sandy in an old grocery store right next to neighbor hood we used to live in... so of course I made Chris drive by it so I could take a picture.

While we were at the aquarium they fed the python, the octopus and were just getting ready to feed the penguins when we left. I'm pretty sure they knew lunch time was coming because they were all swimming around in the water and being very active. Aren't penguins so cute?

Chris and I felt the sting ray and Brooklyn and I felt the star fish. They also have baby sharks and in the same tank they have a sea turtle.... pretty awesome! There is also an exhibit that teaches you about some super cool things some fish and bugs can do. There were even some fish that can walk (I don't really know that you would call it that). They use their flippers to move around on land. I had no idea there were fish that could do this.

I think this was some kind of shrimp.

Right next to the baby shark exhibit.

The little froggies.

Daddy and Brookie

Gavin hasn't quite grasped the importance of posing for pictures yet.

Have I mentioned Big Sisters are HILARIOUS?

Story Time by Brooklyn

Once upon a time there was a little monster named Essie. And she loved to dance and play all day but then she found a bag of jewels. Then she saw this pretty necklace of her mom doing something and it was her holding her when she was just a baby. Then she saw all these jewels and she gave them to her mom and they lived happily after .

The End

Once upon a time there was a hula girl named Julie. She had lots and lots of friends but when she found something appeared. It was a talking butterfly that helped her whenever she needed help. And then it was time for her to go to bed and she hula danced and hula danced and she fell asleep on her own bed and then she and the butterfly lived happily ever after.

The End.

Once upon a time there was a little flower. It growed and growed and growed all day until it turned smaller. And she said "Oops Mommy I turned smaller." She was a magic flower but when she turned smaller she lost some of her power and her mom said "Honey you just need to get a little drink" and she said "Okay mom I'll do it right now". And then she grew bigger and bigger and the magical flower lived happily ever after.

The End.

The Fourth of July

I just realized I never posted about the fourth of July. Better late then never right? haha

For the fourth of July we went up to visit Mimi and Grandpa. We went to the parade in Kaysville. This is a change for us because every year since Chris and I have been together we've gone to the Provo parade. I wanted to go to the Kaysville parade this year because I wanted to see the Davis High Marching Band.... yes I'm a nerd like that. The Davis High band is going to the Rose Parade in California again this year just like when I was in high school fifty years ago. They are also the biggest band in the state (I think that is pretty impressive.)

Family at the Parade

Grandpa and Gav at the parade.

 Before the parade Amanda got some temporary lip tattoos for all us girls to try which were so fun. I kept thinking people were looking at me and then I realized they really were because of my lips. I think we'll have to try these again when we have Brooklyn around I'm sure she'd love them. If you'd like to try them for yourself you can get them here. 
 

I'm proud to be an American can you tell?

That night we went to the Kaysville fireworks. They always put on a great show. We weren't quite sure how Gavin would react to the fireworks but he loved them. If you know Gavin you know he is not a still child... at all... but during the fireworks he was frozen in total awe of the fireworks. 

Mimi and Gavin waiting for the fireworks.

Look mom I can drink my bottle all by myself.

Pretty fireworks.

Happy Birthday to Me!

My best friend Amy is such an amazing crafter/homemaker. She is always doing too much for me and my kids. But... this time I couldn't object.....

She made me an adult size baby blanket and it's so soft on one side and has different squares of fabric on the other side and I absolutely love it. I was looking at the blanket last night and there is a owl square of the same fabric she used for Gavin's baby quilt and an Elvis square because he's Amy's favorite and and Shrek and Mickey Mouse and I love it all!

Thank you Amy for my wonderful blanket. The kids wanted to use it last night and I wouldn't share. I told them I wanted to at least use it myself first before they took it.

She even put her own special tag on the blanket!

Could this be any cooler? You should all be jealous.

Under Construction

Sorry for the mess... our blog is currently under construction. Hopefully I'll get everything sorted out shortly.

Can you see it?

Gavin took a nap on something on Friday. Can you tell what it is?????

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Yep! It's a Goldfish!

Saturday... Marathon day 8/4

Saturday the kids decided to wake up super early. We cleaned up the house and then we did finger paints (we sort of copied Paul and Paige and this girl). We had a lot of fun. Chris took his finger painting very seriously. We all had paint everywhere. Luckily the paint came off really easily. I think we'll have to do this again.

See what I mean about Chris taking his painting seriously?

Brooklyn the artist.

Seriously.... Could he be any cuter? I think not!

 Saturday night we went to my work Summer Party at the Bee's game. We had so much fun. Even thought the kids were both extremely tired and I was worried the entire time that Gavin was going to throw something at the CEO who was sitting right in front of us during the game. I really enjoy these summer parties at the Bee's games. I remember going to our first one with Brooklyn when she wasn't much bigger than Gavin is and now she's a big girl!