Catching up

I feel like I've been slacking in the post department lately so here's a quick catch-up!

We had a great Valentine's dinner made by David.  Our tradition includes:  BBQ steak, loaded baked potatoes and salad.  We had homemade ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.  David escorted each of us to the table, it was very cute.

For Valentine's Day the girls and I made David a U R LOVED jar for his desk at work.  It is filled with chocolate and notes of why we love him.  Each time he eats a chocolate he gets to read a reason why he is loved.

 We had a great visit with Grandma Barb and Ralph for a week in February.  It was wonderful to see them!  The girls loved playing with them. Grandma always cooks for us and she also made us a delicious lemon meringue pie.  What a treat!

Natalie is definitely a cuddler and is in a stage of saying "I don't like the dark"  So she waits until Cyrena is asleep then stealthily crawls into her bed to sleep with her.  We've caught her like this a few times.

Grandma Taylor bought the girls matching nightgowns for Christmas.  They love wearing them and they look like little pioneer girls.

Anna is still in love with the bathtub.  She can be screaming and then the minute she hears the bathwater she stops.  Too funny.  

Sometimes she has a bath buddy

Cyrena played her first season of soccer with Dad as her coach.  The first couple of games were a little rocky and emotional.  However, her competitive spirit won out and she fought for the ball!  She made 2 goals this season. 

 

At the end of the year party David got to hand out trophies to the kids and he said a few words about each one--it was cute.  We didn't order a trophy for Cyrena so he handed her the team picture plaque that he got for free since he was the coach.  She was his assistant after all.  :)

ebeanstalk.com-an innovative toystore!

Ok...I admit it..... I LOVE kid's toys.  Almost as much as school supplies.  I can look online for hours and drool at the many many many incredible kid's toys out there.  But I won't just accept any old kid's toy.  I'm one of those picky moms that have to make sure toys fit certain criteria if they're coming into my home. That's why I was so excited to find ebeanstalk.com. 

They have such a great philosophy at ebeanstalk.  They have the kid's best interest at heart but also make the shopping experience easy for the parents and grandparents.

There are different categories to make it easy to find what you want.  All their toys make great learning toys for your child/grandchild.  There is also a great variety of baby toys and of course wonderful toddler toys for your 'grown up' baby!  You can search by age group, category, or brand.  I love searching by age group because it makes it to easy for me to see what would be appropriate for each of my children. 

I feel like ebeanstalk.com is not just another toy website.  It has little unique aspects that really make it stand out.  They send their toys in a plain white box in order to promote creativity after the toy is removed.  The box can then be colored and cut and turned into a car, a doll-house, a hat, etc!  They also include an instructional card with each and every toy purchased. 

Check out ebeanstalk.com for some great ideas for kids in your life--you won't be disappointed.  And I'll be doing a review of one of their products soon!

2 months old and Blessed!

We blessed Anna in our home this past Sunday.  We had Grandma Barb and other friends and family with us; including the Taylor Grandparents via the webcam.  David gave Anna a wonderful blessing, I'm so grateful for the priesthood.  We had a tasty dinner and a great time visiting with everyone.  Anna cried during the blessing of course but was angelic the rest of the evening so we were able to enjoy her.  She's such a sweetheart.

Anna fell sound asleep in Grandma's arms after dinner

The kids played and played and played!

We had the Griggs, the Bluths, The McKays and the Spencers celebrate with us! 

Anna's 2 month stats:

weight: 11 lbs. 10 oz.  60%

length: 22 inches  25%

head: 14 3/4 inches  25%

5 Fast Things

1.  Anna is 8 weeks today and for the last 2 nights she has slept 9 p.m.-7 a.m.  And she is no longer crying when going down for her naps--unless she's overtired. I'm in awe of her.

2.  David let me do a little shopping yesterday.  It's amazing how buying a new pair of pants, a shirt and some shoes just makes you feel on top of the world.  I don't remember the last time I bought shoes-it's been at least 2 years.  It's really hard to find cute size 11+ shoes for women so when I find some I'm SO happy! And when they're cheap, I'm even happier.  I made sure to get him a couple of shirts too, and Sunday shoes for Cyrena---it wasn't all about me. :)

3.  Cyrena told me my job is easier than daddy's because I JUST have to bathe and feed babies.  Daddy's job is SO much harder.  She also asked me why we have to die, why she has to be a girl, and if Supernanny lives on Earth or just in the t.v.

4.  David went shopping for our Valentine's dinner yesterday.  He came home with boxes of chocolates for me and the girls.  I promptly took them back to the store.  Not because I didn't want to eat chocolate...no way; I just didn't like the kind he bought! And I'd already bought some Valentine treats for the girls.  Luckily, he didn't mind.  We're practical that way. :)

5.  Cyrena's soccer team won their first game yesterday.  She scored her second goal of the season and was so proud.

Pre-Valentine Fun

We've been having some pre-Valentine fun around here.  By the way, Cyrena started preschool last week. She's going to a local at-home preschool and loving it so far.  She's such a social girl and it's been a little hard on her just being at home with her sisters all the time.  This is something that's just hers and it is fantastic! 

We matched up some foam hearts that had things to match up like letter, numbers, etc.  We have done other learning activities but I didn't take pictures...oops.

For FHE we made Valentine mailboxes

Yesterday the girls made 'love bugs'  They are so cute and they each did a great job!  I found the pattern here.  After they made these, we had some people in the ward over for a Valentine potluck lunch.  I pretty much didn't see the girls for over 2 hours since they were so busy playing with kids, and Anna slept the entire time so I was free to socialize!

Getting sticker backs off is great fine motor work!  She has just recently been able to start doing this!

This morning we put together Cyrena's Valentine's for her preschool party.  Everyone got a tootsie roll, 2 airheads, and a yo-yo.  Natalie saw candy and ran for the scissors to try and open some...she's a handful. 

Here is my beautiful girl ready to go to her party!

Then she wanted to take pictures of Natalie and I...a little fuzzy but cute.

Mom's 'hep'er

So after my lovely metaphor about colds and cold medicine...guess who got a cold? Yep, that would be me. I guess I was asking for it? The girls have both had slight colds, nothing too bad and now I have the sore throat/congestion thing going on. No fun. David let me take Tylenol PM last night and made his first debut into the middle of the night feeding for Anna. It was so nice! I think it built his confidence a bit. :)


ANYWAY, this post is really about my little helper, Miss Natalie. She's always saying, "I hep you mom?" And she is a pretty good helper. Here are some ways she has helped me lately:

-After I feed Anna I usually leave the bottle on the couch while I'm entertaining Anna and such. Then when I put her down for a nap, I go get the bottle to rinse it out. A few times this week, I went to get the bottle and couldn't find it. I asked Natalie where it was and she replied, "I put it on the sink mom" and there it was, sitting on the counter next to the sink.

-When I change Anna's diaper I leave it on the stool while I am feeding her, etc. Again, sometimes it has mysteriously disappeared. So I ask Natalie and she tells me, "I frow it in the trash Mom"

-I get Anna dressed for the day on the couch after her morning feeding and I put her dirty clothes to the side while I take care of her other needs. They also disappeared one day, and later I found them in the dresser drawer in Anna's room. I need to show Natalie where the Anna's hamper is. :)

-The other day Cyrena was playing at a friend's house and Natalie was hanging out with me. I left the room to put Anna down for a nap...literally I was gone for maybe 3 minutes. I came back in the kitchen and Natalie was seated in her booster seat with a yogurt, eating away and said. "I got a yogurt Mom!" She's never done this before. She had gotten the foil lid off herself and thrown it in the trash, got a spoon, and got into her booster seat. The only thing she forgot was a bib. I burst out laughing at my big girl.

-If Anna is fussy or upset, Natalie strokes her head and says, "Don't be sad....it's ok....don't cry..." These are things she hears me say and it's pretty cute coming from her.

-Natalie also helps me make my bed almost every morning, puts ingredients into the blender for smoothies, is starting to get her own water out of the fridge and flushes the toilet for Cyrena when she goes potty.

-Sometimes in the early morning hours, we hear the pantry door slide open and closed. Then we hear Natalie bedroom door close. When this happens we know she has helped herself to a bowl full of something. Usually it's Craisins or goldfish. We need a pantry that locks.

Natalie can be very mischievous, she can sure throw a tantrum, and she is BUSY but she's also a lot of fun!

My Friend Jessica

Remember what it's like when you have a cold and your head is muddled, your thoughts are foggy, and you are just surviving minute by congested minute?

Then the blessed cold medicine kicks in and suddenly the world seems a happier place, you have the gift of energy again and you feel like you can accomplish anything? You know what I'm talking about?

That's what happened to me last week.

No, I didn't have a cold- thank goodness. But I AM the mother of 3 young children who fill my days with fun, feeding, crying, potty breaks, fighting, tantrums, endless energy, and lots of loving. So this leads to foggy thoughts and minute by minute survival. But I got a great dose of medicine.
Meet my friend Jessica.

She came with her kids to spend some time with me.
She was here for 3 days and
IT. WAS. GREAT.

I've already talked to you a bit about Jess, if you remember. We've known each other for about 17 years....WHAT?? I just did the math and that's accurate. Crazy.

Jessica has always been someone I've looked up to (she's 9 months older than me!). She's very organized with a system for everything. I wish I was like that! I remember when we were roommates she worked as a server in a restaurant. She had mugs on a shelf in her room and every night when she got home, she automatically sorted her tips into the 2 mugs which were for TITHING and SAVINGS. I always admired that she did it right when she got home so she didn't have to go back and calculate later. So organized, I'm telling you. She has taught me a lot about strength and spirituality as well.

Anyway, it had been way too long since we'd seen each other so we were lucky to get together. Since we don't have a car big enough for all of us we just stayed home, took care of the 5 kids and talked, talked, talked. There was never a lull, always something to catch up about or ask advice on, etc. In the evenings when the kids were in bed, just she and I would run a quick errand or 2 which was nice.

So this trip was one of the first we've really had to see each other in action as moms. It was so fun! Jessica is a great mom and reinforced the importance of doing some things that I have been a bit lax about lately. She motivated me to be better in all aspects of my life, which I really appreciate about her!

This is her oldest, Brady. He loved holding Anna. He's 4 and had fun playing with the girls.

He joined us for some preschool time.

This is her daughter, Brooke. Such a cutie-pie!

We set up the Thomas set and the kids went crazy playing with it!

David's obsessed with wimp.com so the kids were watching some videos with him. He was so great to play with all the kids!

They left Saturday afternoon and it was sad to see them go back to Colorado. David was shocked that I didn't cry but I was trying not to dwell on it! :) Although it did make me a bit melancholy at the beginning of the week. It's hard to live away from all my good friends. I haven't really made friends here yet. And there's no replacement for those friends who REALLY know you.

Anyway, thanks for coming Jess, you are amazing! Here's to the next 17 years of friendship!