Valentine's Card Preview (minus the suckers)

Quiet Time

This past week we have tried to do "quiet time" when David and Steven are taking naps (ha ha) in the afternoon. It has been nice for me to have just a little bit of time each day to myself. Karlie usually prefers to do a puzzle each day and Natalie is so content playing with all her little creatures (Squinkies and Pet shop). I love seeing thier ability to play independantly without anyone else around. I love hearing them talk to themselves and imagining all sorts of things.

David is definately TWO

This is David's favorite thing to say from the hours of 12:00 -3:00 pm every day. He is turning into quite the stubborn little two year old. He is in his crib right now as I am typing, and who knows if he will stop chattering and actually fall asleep. It is a truth that I am still trying to deny--he is getting older, and naps will eventually fade out. It has been that way with each of the kids. However, this time around, I have really relished when David is taking a nap. He is a darling kid, but always on the go and ALWAYS into something. I really need to figure out more activities to do with him.

His other favorite saying right now is, "I do it". That comes with every single thing he does. That included, much to my frustration this morning, the tube of toothpaste. Eventually, he will let me open the packaging of something if he can't (note that he has to try it first), but then I am only to start opening it. If I go to far, he throws a fit. I am learning quickly what is too much help and what is just enough.

All of that said, I still adore David and his "boyishness". The other day at his Grandma's house, he found my purse on the counter, got into it, took out the keys, walked out the front door, unlocked the van, and got inside to play. Luckily he didn't start the car (which he does know how to do). It was at least 5 minutes or more before anyone inside noticed how quiet it was and started looking for him. It didn't take too long to notice the front door wide open and to trace him to the car. He can play in the car all day and never get tired of it. I can't help but imagine all of the trouble he will get into in the next couple of years.

Another Month has Already Flown by....

I can't believe that Steven is getting so old.  This past month he has learned to roll over.  It is like an automatic response.  You set him down on his stomach, and he has to roll over to his stomach.  He isn't quite as good the other way around and usually grunts and whines until someone flips him over.  He is still such a sweet happy go lucky little guy.  I love having a baby that just adores everything you do.  

For Natalie’s sixth birthday she got a bike from all  of the family members.  I think she was a bit surprised because she had wanted a baby doll, but she got really excited and rode it all over the house after the initial shock wore off.  (:  She commented several times later on that she loves it.  She rode it later on to school and with Matt when he got home.  The picture of the card is from Grandpa Miller.  He is so creative with his cards I thought I knew what to expect.  However with Natalie’s card, we really didn’t expect the magnified picture of a bug eating some meatball looking thing.  All I could do was grin and say, “Gross!"

For Laneia’s eighth birthday, she wanted to have a surprise party.  I think we succeeded to surprise her!!!  She had no idea.  Matt picked her up from school while her friends arrived.  She was totally shocked since I had told her that we were just going to do something with just dad and I instead.  For her party we made jewelry out of duck tape (they have some pretty cool colors these days) and had cake and presents.  At the very end we played the pot game where you hide candy under a pot and play hot and cold for the blindfolded person to find it.  The cake that she asked for she picked out off of pictures from the internet.  It turned out well since I made the cake and cookie part ahead of time and for once didn’t try to do it all in one day.  The friends that came were Avery Moore, Michelle Akagi, Lily Lewis, and Michelle Castleberry.  Matt was so helpful and watched the other kids for me so that she could have time with just her friends.  Fun times!!

More Pictures!

Cousins

Aimee is in town with her cute kids, Annie and Nathan, and it was so much fun to do a "photo shoot" together with the two cousins. They are the same age and we experienced our pregnancies together. It was fun to finally see what they look like together since they moved right before they were born. There is nothing like family!!

How Many Messes Can a Two-year-old Make in 15 Minutes?

I think the pictures tell the story. I was quite amazed by how many messes he made while I was "on the computer" for fifteen minutes.

Steven is Four Months Old

I have to admit, I saw my sister-in-law do a picture of her 1 month old this way on her blog, and just couldn't resist trying it out myself.  Sometimes it takes having someone with their first to get me to do cute stuff with my fifth. Ha Ha. 

David is Two!!!

Today is David’s second birthday. I love David so much. Because he is the first boy in our family, I just love watching him grow and change so so much.  It is so fun to watch all the “boy” things he does.  His favorite things right now are cars and car keys.  Immediately when Matt gets home from work, he asks for “keys”.  Then, no matter how hot it is outside, he wants to go play in the car, pushing all of the buttons and turning on all of the lights and windshield wipers.  When I first had him, I didn’t think boys and girls were that different.  Experience is teaching me otherwise, and I absolutely love it.  Maybe because I have more than one kid, I actually think it is rather funny when David gets into everything.  Not that it is any more fun to clean up all of his messes, but it is funny to watch him and less stressful, because it is just another one of those stages.... (: 

Here is a picture of the birthday party and cake that we made him.  The girls had fun helping me make the cake.  David is the start of birthday season in our family, so this is the first of many to come... (:

I just gave Steven a bath.  He loves baths.  I just think it is so fun to clean him up and how good he smells afterwards.  I love having a little baby again.  I can't believe that he is already almost four months old.  Time flies.

reading with matt buying bulbs violin lessons

Baptism and Remembering Jesus

Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell - Catch The Moon

Jon Schmidt - Love Story Meets Viva la Vida with MP3 Download Link

Tonight I got to go on a date with Matt. It was so much fun to go somewhere just the two of us. We ate at Kneaders, a european type bakery/restaurant. It was pretty good food, but didn’t really leave me begging for another sandwich. We went to a Jon Schmidt concert at Thanksgiving Point. Aimee and Ken met up with us there. It was relaxing just sitting and listening to the beautiful music playing. I also got two new swim suits at Lime Riki today. Everything was 50% off, so I had to buy two (: I feel really spoiled, but it has been really nice to have a break from being Mom today.

  "Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women whoare kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." 

Margaret D. Nadauld.