She's 1!!!

With another Halloween comes a birthday for Miss Natalie! We've had our little cutie for 1 year now and we couldn't be more in love. Here are some highlights of her day:

We opened presents after lunch because we knew we'd be busy that night. She had fun opening up a few toys and was very anxious to get playing with them.

What a face!! Take a bite, you know you want to!

We had the missionaries over for dinner to help celebrate. Cyrena sat right next to them and yes she told them her life story. :) We made homemade pizza (a favorite). You can see she enjoyed it!

I made this cake for everyone to eat, then made Natalie her own personal cake to destroy for tradition's sake.

Her personal pumpkin cake, face by daddy.
BEFORE

AFTER
Not much actually made it into her mouth. She spit a lot of it out.

Birthday princess! She loves to wear necklaces.

She was so happy with her mess, especially since we were all laughing pretty hard!

We love this little girl and can't get enough of her. She brings so much sunshine and fun into our lives! And It doesn't hurt that she's so squishy.

Halloween Cuties

In honor of Natalie's 1st birthday I made her a cupcake costume. When that was decided, Cyrena chimed in and wanted to be the 'candle'
Easy enough.
They were cute even though I'm pretty sure people didn't really know what they were....until I explained. :)

Natalie's always grabbing at her sister.

Remember how David's eyes close in pictures?? That darn flash does him in every time.

Tattle-Tale

Here's our token spaghetti dinner face. Everyone's got one of these right?? She was really enjoying herself. It was fun to watch.

I'm going to tattle on my family:

-A few weeks ago I found a Berenstein Bears DVD for $2 at Ross for Cyrena. Since watching it, she has taken to calling me 'mama' where before I was always just 'mom' which I personally prefer. She's forcing the mama, it doesn't come naturally to her.

-On Sunday, David was teaching Sunday School. He likes when I comment during his lessons because it makes him feel like he has support. So I'd been in and out of the Sunday School room about 5 times with loud-mouth Natalie but I happened to be in the room when a comment came to my mind. I am usually a little nervous and flustered when I comment in a big group like that. Anyway, I raised my hand, my husband called on me and I proceeded to share my comment. In the middle of my bumbling monologue, Natalie first starts waving madly at her daddy then decides to pass some gas, not once, but twice with some added pushing and grunting. A great way to calm my already flustered nerves.

-Cyrena was walking through Target with me, checking out all the latest stuff (toys) and she was asking for stuff (toys) and I was saying NO as usual. Then she said, "Mom, we'll just have to wait and check if it's on clearance?" I guess she's already learning what those great little red tags mean at Target!

-I sent David and Cyrena to the store the other night with a list that said ALBERTSON'S at the top. The phone rang pretty quickly after they left. It was David, "Were we supposed to go to Fry's or Albertson's?" They had pulled into the Fry's parking lot and Cyrena said, "Dad we're supposed to go to Albertson's, not Fry's!!" So he called to verify. TOO funny. Cyrena listens better than her Dad I guess! Oh and once he got to Albertson's he called another 3 times to verify other items on the list. He makes me laugh....I need to send him more often.

-I was working on Natalie's Halloween costume in the loft so things were a little chaotic (when the sewing machine comes out....it's a mess). I had put part of it on her, then she crawled away. David and I heard a door shut and we both assumed she had shut herself in the girls' room. So we left her in there to play, there's nothing she can get into in there and we figured maybe she was trying to get her blanket. A few minutes later, I went to see if she wanted to come out yet (it was then I noticed that both her door AND my door were shut). She wasn't in her room, she was in mine. Actually, not just my bedroom, but my bathroom. Not just my bathroom but my toilet room. She was filling the toilet with TP then fishing some of it back out to chew on while continuing to splash in the water. Who doesn't love to chew on toilet-water soaked TP? I yelled for David and we stripped her then put her immediately in the bathtub. Needless to say, I had to wash her costume before I even finished it. YUCK.

-For the past week I've been thinking my pictures are all out of focus and something was wrong with my camera. Then I realized there was a large fingerprint right in the middle of the lens...duh.

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park

Last week we met up with some friends at the train park in Scottsdale. Cyrena was so excited and it was so good to see the McKays again, it had been too long. Gilbert is far away!! :) The daddy's met us there for a picnic lunch since they both work close to the train park (I think they may meet each other there to ride the train.....that hasn't been proven).

Melanie, Taylor, Dallin and Cyrena....ALL ABOARD!

I know, she looks so old....

This was Cyrena's first time on an actual HORSE on the carousel. If she went on a carousel, she always sat on one of the benches....there's no way she'd go near a horse. But here she is, growing up right before our eyes.

Natalie had taken a tumble down our entire flight of stairs that morning. Talk about heart failure, it was horrible. But she bounced right back and just had some rug burns to show for it. I don't know if she's going to make it to her birthday (2 weeks!!), this girl is EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING. Yesterday morning she was downstairs with Cyrena and David and I were upstairs. We noticed it was very quiet and when we investigated, she had dismantled an entire (full) box of tissues and had a mouthful of them. Wow.

Me and my girls

Before we left, we got some cheap frozen yogurt and Natalie apparently thought it was a bit cold.

This was a day our family really needed. We get so busy during the week and then the weekends are filled with commitments or just house maintenance. We haven't taken a time out to do something really fun all together in awhile. It was a beautiful day, thanks McKays!

Oh Baby!!

Ok, so my crush on Cope started about 10 years ago while I was working at an LDS bookstore. I loved his music, loved his look, loved him whenever I got the chance to meet him. HOWEVER....I've only seen him perform live once and that was again about 10 years ago and I was in the back of a theater and you all know I can't see anything far away. So having said that, I got the chance to see him perform this past weekend at Time Out for Women. And I think I could go the rest of my life without seeing him perform live again. I am just going back to my good old cd's if I need a Cope fix. He just had way too many funny faces (see above pic) and it didn't help that he was on a gigantic screen. And don't even get me started on his wardrobe.

I think everyone agreed with my assessment that he's good looking but we couldn't handle the cheesy facial expressions and body gestures. It took away from the music which was sad. And I'll just say it....he's aged.....but I'm not giving up on him, I'll still be a fan. I'll try to erase those images from my memory and just remember the Cope I've always known and loved. :)



Anyway, Time Out For Women was in one word......fulfilling!! A group of us went to the convention center Friday evening then stayed in a hotel in Downtown Phoenix. Walking back to the hotel Friday evening we got a little lost and took the long way home....not a good idea in that part of town. Visions of drive-by's were in my head but we braved it (ok don't ask Brittany because she'll totally lie and tell you I screamed and grabbed her arm when a car zoomed by honking and yelling at us while we were in a crosswalk....a total lie....I would never do something like that).

Apparently I talk with my hands a lot. Shannon enjoys it so she captured it!

I was so entertained that night. There was lots of
laughter, storytelling and staying up LATE. Oh, and we had candy corn....my first of the season....I forgot how much I love them. Thanks Brittany!

Me taking awesome Cope pictures

I think we all gave a pretty good "Cope" impression in this picture.

What a great group of ladies to spend the weekend with. And thanks to all of our husbands who took care of the kids at home!!

I think the 'big idea' I took away from the conference was to not take anything for granted. I want to work more on living in the moment with my children and staying close to the spirit to guide me in raising them.

I know my kids won't be little forever. I need to embrace each day and find ways to teach them and just enjoy them! I need to prepare myself spiritually so I can really be there for them when they are looking for answers.

One thing that was also repeatedly brought up in the conference is making sure you have humor in your life. Humor is such a stress reliever and breaks down barriers we didn't even know were there. I came home and talked with David about how I'm so grateful we have so much humor in our marriage. Seriously anytime things get overwhelming or if we get irritated once in awhile it's laughter that lifts the darkness and crumbles any walls. We LOVE to laugh together. I'm grateful for that and hope our children learn from that.

I'm so grateful to have so many amazing examples in my life. My own mom has always been so great at helping me with any questions I have. She is absolutely the most reassuring and calming influence I have in my life (there's nothing quite like a mom!). And I'm grateful for the examples of my sister and sisters-in-law. They teach me so much all the time. My mother-in-law is always there to cheer us on and make us feel good about what we are accomplishing. And lastly, I'm so blessed to live in a ward where I have so many great role models. I want you all to know that I look up to so many of you and try to follow in your footsteps! Thank you for your constant diligence in your callings as a mother, friend, and daughter of God.

**Thanks to Shannon for all of the beautiful pictures! She's one talented lady and if you want to know more about her go visit Bella Bean Photography--you'll be amazed!

Genetics

I have vivid memories of watching LDS General Conference while growing up. Most of those memories involve eating cinnamon rolls, seeing men in suits on the screen (and each of them talking for what felt like several hours at least), and having my dad tickle my back. When I was young, we had to go to the church and watch the conference broadcast there. So I would stretch out on the bench, lay in my dad's lap and relax while he tirelessly tickled my back.

I can say with a surety that Cyrena's memories are going to be the same as mine. The girl inherited my love and addiction for having her back tickled by her dad. Luckily I married a man who can meet the demands of both wife and daughter.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to catch this ritual in action so Cyrena's memories can be just as vivid as mine are. I idolized (and still do) my dad. He was always there to calm my fears, let me dance on his feet, tickle my back, rub my legs when they were growing, and tell me amazing bedtime stories. Cyrena is lucky to have a dad to idolize too.

Here she is telling David to look at the camera and keep his eyes open when I take the picture (he has problems with that). Oh she makes me laugh!

Always laughing together

Now she's trying to turn his head.....

See how she looks at him so adoringly? It's enough to make any dad spend hours tickling his daughter's back. I can't wait to see if Natalie is predisposed to back tickling as well.

And by the way we really did listen to the prophet.
We just had to take a little break for memories.....
.....and some tasty cinnamon rolls.
I think he would approve.

{Initiation}

If you want to be daddy's little girl you've got to love dirt. David spends a lot of time in his yard and garden. Cyrena has been David's sidekick in the yard since she was even the tiniest bit mobile. She is happiest when working with him outside.

Natalie loves being outside and since the weather has cooled down a bit she's been joining her dad and his sidekick. We learned very quickly that the girl LOVES dirt. She loves to eat it, throw it, swim in it, and let it run through her fingers. She especially loves the flower pots that are flowerless right now! Then.....we showed her the garden....and it was love at first sight. So David stripped her down and let her have at it.