The Best Kind of Day...

On Wednesday the kids and I headed to my sister Stacy's house. We met up at Dominos Pizza and tried their new pasta bread bowls. They were actually really yummy(and SO loaded with calories I'm sure!) They were also free(for that day only) because they are new and they are promoting them. So that was sweet... lunch for free. Once we were done eating we headed to the park. The kids had lots of fun and the weather was perfect. 

Maddy absolutely LOVES the swings! Once he gets in it is really hard to get him out. :(

Maddy having fun. He also loves slides and usually isn't afraid of them anymore-even big ones.

Avery also loved the swings and kept saying "weeeee", even if she was barely moving.

Avery having fun. Avery had lots of fun except for when she fell off a platform and her mouth was bleeding a little. Hopefully it instilled a little fear in her because up until that point she didn't have any.

I think this picture is hilarious! She actually wasn't afraid to go down the slides on her own.

"Higher Mom, higher!"

My fun sister Stacy and my cute nephew Jace. Jace also loved the swing and would giggle the whole time he was being pushed.

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I am completely in love with this picture!

After we went to the park we headed home and all took late naps(yep, even me.) It was great! Then we played outside in the backyard. Maddy practiced riding his bike more, the kids slid down our side hill on their bums and got grass stains on their clothes and just ran around and played together. Then I took the kids to Baskin Robins and got some ice cream. They were having 31 cent scoop night(which I guess they do once a year) so of course we were game. After we got home I let the kids play outside a little longer and then I put Avery to bed(which of course she is never happy about.) Once Avery was in bed, Maddy and I headed outside to mow the lawn. It was such a nice evening and I really enjoyed it. Then we came in and got Maddy all bathed(he was so dirty) and ready for bed. Maddy and I shared his leftover mac-n-cheese bowl from earlier and then as soon as Steve got home around 9pm Maddy asked to be put to bed. I just love when he is tired and wants to go to bed because it is so much easier than trying to convince him he needs to go to bed. He is so cute because after we put him in his "big boy bed" he insists that we both give him a kiss and a hug and tells us he will sleep good and see us in the morning. What a great way to end a wonderful day! I'm looking forward to many more days like this...

P.S. Of course I stilled managed to get my "me" time in and headed downstairs to watch American Idol and 90210(don't laugh) and edit the pictures for this post before heading to bed myself. :)

Whatever Wednesday: This Makes Me Smile...

Other things that make me smile...

*Smelling Lilacs.
*Children's laughter(especially mine.)
*Live music.
*Getting a great deal.
*Brownies.
*When the number on the scale goes down.
*When you capture that perfect shot in a photograph.

*Sleeping through the night(because my kids do also.)
*Reconnecting with old friends(got to love Facebook and blogs!)
*Hugs.
*Spending time with family.
*A wonderful husband that provides for our family and is very hands on.

*When Maddy tells me he loves me randomly throughout the day.
*My hair right after it has been colored and styled.
*Medical technology.

*Warm, sunny days.
*When someone just "gets" me.
*Photo editing programs.

*Being able to stay home with my kids.

*When someone cooks yummy food for me.

*Having things to look forward to.

*The knowledge of the "Plan of Salvation."

Growing up too Fast...

First a big boy bed and now a bike. I can't believe how fast Maddy is growing up! Steve brought home a bike for him yesterday. When he first saw it he said, "Look Mommy, it is a dirt bike, it is Auzzies." He has a neighborhood friend(Austin) that has a dirt bike. I thought it was pretty funny. I explained that it was a bicycle and that it was his. He then started examining it and noted that there weren't any buttons(like on a dirt bike.) He also told me not to touch his tires. He is used to Steve telling him not to touch the vehicle tires because they have black stuff on them that make them shiny which also stains clothing. He also informed me that he wants a dirt bike. I told him he had to get REALLY REALLY good at riding his bike before he can get a dirt bike. That is a scary thought for me. Now all he wants to do is ride his bike. He had a hard time pedaling at first and the first video is from yesterday when he was trying to learn how to pedal. If I sound out of breath it is because I was. I was seriously right in the middle of my cardio workout and Steve called me and insisted I come outside to see Maddy riding his bike. So of course I did because you can't miss a big moment like that right? He did a lot of practicing trying to figure out how to pedal. The poor kid kept waking up crying last night saying his legs hurt. I'm pretty sure it was from all the pedaling he did. The second video is from today after he had finally got the pedaling down. Try to ignore the flachulence sound effect Steve makes during it... what is it with guys? At least it wasn't real I guess... which would be no surprise! :) Never a dull moment!

While I was out in the backyard with him of course I had to take a picture of my favorite tree that has bloomed and is so pretty...

I love how much color it has!

Music Monday: I Know You Won't...

I know You Won't/Carrie Underwood...

I heard this song for the first time when Carrie performed it on the People's Choice Awards in January. I loved it and thought she sounded really good. Here is a video of that performance...

Tulip Festival...

On Monday my sisters and I(and kids) went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was such a beautiful day(which I was SO ready for after all the snow we've been getting!) We packed a picnic and enjoyed the beautiful scenery as well as each others company. We had a lot of fun and of course so did the kids! We were there for several hours and the kids definitely burned a lot of energy.

My sisters and their kids.

I think this picture is so beautiful!

So I ended up with the heavy load this time and there were a few challenges along the way as you can see. :) Going up stairs, down stairs, across grass with a big heavy stroller full of everyone's stuff. Jamie thought it was pretty funny and had fun taking pictures of me in action. Avery was a trooper... and survived a bumpy ride.

The waterfalls are always a hit!

Maddy had so much fun and loved pushing his cousins in the stroller. He got pretty good at it.

Some of the pretty flowers we saw.

Avery was really screaming in this picture but I think it is cute and looks like she is smiling.

Maddy and his cousins playing and having fun. As usual we had a hard time keeping up with them. They were excited about throwing some money(and splashing) in the wish pool as you can see in the bottom right hand corner.

Stacy, Shalane and I.

Stacy, Jamie and I.

The kids cousins(and aunts) having fun.

The fish pond was probably the highlight for the kids. They would've stayed there all day long and fed the fish if we would've let them. There was one small tragedy and my niece's little plastic purse was dropped in the water. It eventually made it's way to the bank where my sister was able to grab it. After all that my nephew ended up braking it. :(

Everyone having fun... even the adults broke loose a little bit. :) Stacy was being really goofy as usual...

I couldn't decide between this picture and the one at the top of the post because Avery and I look better in this one and Maddy looks better in the other one. So anyway I posted both. :)

Thanks sista's for another fun outing! I'm so glad it is finally warming up... we are going to have a fun summer!

Big Boy Bed...

We finally gave in and got Maddy a big boy bed. We had told him that once he was pottie trained we would get him one. Well he's been pottie trained since October. Can you tell we weren't too excited about this transition? He has always been such a good sleeper and I liked knowing he was in his crib and couldn't wander around when he was suppose to be sleeping. Anyway Monday was the big day! We bought the bed over the weekend but we weren't able to pick it up until Monday. We also still had to get a mattress set and bedding. I surfed the web for a while over the weekend trying to find bedding I liked that was boyish but more grown up(so he wouldn't outgrow it.) I finally found something I liked at Walmart.com. It was also pretty cheap so I was happy about that. I was able to pick it up at a local Walmart that had it in stock. I went and got all the bedding Monday morning and Steve picked up the bed and mattress set. We actually scored on the mattress set because Steve paid for it and then they realized they didn't have the one he paid for. So they upgraded us to the $400 dollar set for the same price as the $200 set. Score! It is actually really nice and comfortable.

Steve has been keeping all his change for several years now and decided to use it to buy Maddy's bed. So we took it down to Zions and put it through their change machine. I took this picture when they were almost done(there was two containers full.) There ended up being almost $300 dollars in change which came pretty close to being enough to buy the bed. It's kind of funny because now whenever we have change Maddy tells us we need to go to the bank and put it in the machine.

Doesn't he look so little in that big bed! We decided to get a full size bed so he can grow into it. The poor kids was so tired from running around at the Tulip Festival for several hours that he just couldn't stay awake any longer. We didn't get the bed fully set up until about 10pm(and he fell asleep in my lap while waiting) so we had to put him in it while he was sleeping. Needless to say it was a rough night. He wasn't used to it and he fell out of it at 12:45am. We were still awake and we heard him fall. It was actually kind of funny because he was so out of it that I don't think he even knew he fell out. He had a hard time settleing down after that so I ended up sleeping in there with him. So not fun! He wouldn't stay straight and kept kicking me. The next day we decided to put the bed against the wall so he hopefully wouldn't fall out. Steve went in a few times because he started crying but we didn't have to sleep in there and he didn't fall out. Last night was great-not a peep. Hopefully tonight will be the same!

Whatever Wednesday: Validation...

A friend posted this on her Facebook page and I really liked it! It made me think about how universal the need/want to feel validated is. Check it out. It is a little long but definitely worth the time!

Crazy Things Happen...

When you wake up on APRIL 16 to this...

On APRIL 16 we had some fun taking goofy pictures since winter weather decided to make a come back. :( As you can see Maddy has also really been bulking up... LOL!

Pay Back...

I don't know what I was thinking when I bought Maddy this toy camera! Now he insists on taking pictures of me all day long and is constanty telling me to "say cheese." I guess I deserve it!

Recap of Avery's 2nd year...

Avery had her 2 year check up today. She is doing very well overall and her Dr. continues to be amazed at how well she has progressed. I wrote a detailed list of things I want to remember about her that you can check out here. Here is a short list of basic milestones as well as her growth numbers.

12 months-weight 17.2 lbs., 26 1/2 in., head 41 cm.

15 months-weight 18 lbs(25%), length 29 inches(25%), head 42 1/2 cm(10%)-info. based on adjusted age of 12 months.

18 months-weight 19.2 lbs.(not on chart), length 30 1/2 inches(10%), head 43 1/2 cm(6%)-info. based on actual age of 18 months-not adjusted age of 15 months.

24 months-weight 22.6 lbs., length 33 inches, head 44 cm.

12 1/2 months-pulls up

13 months-first tooth

14 months-cruising

16 months-standing

17 months-walking

24 months-has been climbing and running all over for several months.

Music Monday: Come on Get Higher...

Come on Get Higher/Matt Nathanson...

I really like this song!

Easter Weekend(Part 1)...

We had a busy Easter weekend with Avery's birthday, all the Easter stuff going on as well as our monthly family get together.

Friday was Avery's birthday. We kept things pretty low key. She got this cute little piano, a purse and some hair clips from her cousins in California. As you can see Maddy loves the piano as much(if not more) than Avery.

On Saturday I took the kids to the ward Easter party. It was originally going to be at a park but due to rainy weather was moved to the church. We had a yummy picnic lunch and then there was an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. Avery had fun running around and Maddy had a hard time being patient and waiting for the Easter egg hunt.

The kids checking out their candy.

Saturday evening we colored eggs. I bought the "glitter" kit but decided to skip out on the glitter after realizing it was everywhere before even opening the packet. Don't you hate that about glitter! Lyndsey and John came over while we were finishing up the eggs. I had a hard time just getting this picture of the kids-Avery kept grabbing the eggs and banging them on the counter and Maddy wouldn't look at the camera. Thanks for the help getting the picture Lyndsey!

Maddy had so much fun playing dinosaurs with Lyndsey and listening to music on her Ipod.

Maddy woke up at 7:00am Easter morning and was so excited to find all the eggs the Easter Bunny hid. I had to wake Avery up so she wasn't quite as happy.

The Easter Bunny even left eggs in the basement. The kids also got a kite, bathing suit and shorts.

I had to post this picture to cause Maddy looks so cute! He insisted on holding his egg coloring stick. My brother Shawn spent the night so we were able to have him take some pictures. Thanks Shawn! Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Easter Weekend(Part 2)...

After church on Sunday we all headed up to Vivian Park in Provo Canyon for our monthly family gathering/Easter/Avery's birthday celebration. It would've been a perfect day if it wasn't so windy.

Avery and I.

Steve and Maddy.

The guys doing their thing...grilling, talking about motorcycles and who knows what else.

The girls doing our thing...preparing food, taking care of the kids, chatting and trying to stay warm.

Some of the yummy food we had. We also had my mom's homemade potato salad. Don't you love the picture of me taking a picture of Jamie taking the picture. HAHAHA!

The wind doesn't stop these two from playing and having fun!

Hanging out...

The birthday girl getting some love from Laney and Nana.

Avery and Papa opening the books Stacy(and family) gave her. She was the most excited about the paper as usual. Stacy also gave me a gift bag with lots of fun stuff in it. Thanks Stacy!

Avery also got a bunch of clothes from my mom and us.

My sister Jamie made this awesome cake for Avery. She is so talented and she even made all the butterflies. Thanks Jamie-it was so beautiful and yummy!

Singing Happy Birthday to Avery(without the candles lighted because it was so windy.) :(

We finished the day with an Easter egg hunt for the kids. They all had fun.

Love that tongue sticking out!

Maddy(rabbit) with all his(and Avery's) eggs.

Thanks everyone for a fun time and yummy food as usual! We need to go again when it's not so windy.