Ummm.....hello! That is ONE beautiful baby!

So what can I say that these pictures won't say themselves? Not much really. I am definitely going to hell, because I think I have an unhealthy amount of pride in my sweetest little "treasure." But can you blame me?

Let the party planning begin!

I LOVE parties. Especially themed parties. My sweet little baby turns one is two months and I have begun to consume my spare time with planning her birthday. I know she is only 1, and she won't know the difference, but I think it is fun. Plus I know my little nieces and nephews (assuming they even come) will enjoy the activities and prizes. So instead of sulking over the snow today I have decided to head into town and start some of the projects that will be needed. Obviously there will be more photos to come soon!

Spring has sprung

We have been keeping rather busy lately.  We've had company come to town the last few weekends and I enjoyed going to Logan for a few days to help my Aunt Lee with some projects.  Usually she is always helping me but it was nice to serve her for a change.  While I was there I did enjoy leaving Lydia behind as I met my friend Staci and her two boys for baby animal days.  It was super crowded but not a problem at all.  We never had to wait in line and we were able to spend 3 hours there without ever getting bored.  It was a perfect way to kick off the Spring season and I loved taking Emma on an adventure all by herself.  She is such a good girl and helps me out so much and I know I need to be better at giving her more rewards.

 

These were just some random photos I took of Emma and her friends Katie who are in the same dance class.  Katie has been a life saver this winter since she lives just down the street.  On Tuesday their dance costumes came in so I let them wear them after dance class and I tried some new settings with my camera and photo shop.  I am clearly still learning.

These are the photos I took while staying in Logan with the Jensens.  The whole family is so good to play with and watch the girls for me.  While Lydia was in the tub/kitchen sink she had a little bowel movement.  I had the dry heaves so Lee and Jessica were good sports to "take care" of the situation.  Nope, I'm not pregnant or anything, I just have a strong gag reflex.

Lydia LOVES to pull herself up on to ANYTHING and everything.  This little window sill is just her size.  It was so cute/sad to see her watching the other kids play outside.  Some day Lydia, some day.

Meanwhile, back in Liberty, I am trying to let Emma have more play dates.  Addi came up for a whole afternoon and it was Heaven for me and her mom.  Margo (Grandma) gave Emma the cutest children's cook book for Easter and we have been trying some of the recipes.  The little banana catepillar is one that we have all enjoyed.  I also have been letting Emma take more photos of our family and so those ones of Lydia and I are some of Emma's most recent work.  We loved having Julie and her boyfriend come and stay with us for an extended Easter weekend and I can't thank her enough for how she spoils my kids and what a great aunt she is.

I don't know where the blasted spell check button is.  So please excuse my spelling errors :)

A good compromise

So much for starting an anti-narcissism movement. I got rid of comments so that I wouldn't care so much what people thought. Yes, it worked. However, in the process I feel like I lost touch with a lot of family and friends. So I feel that a good solution to this little problem I have is that I will compromise and allow comments every 5 posts or every month if I fall behind.  This way, we all win :)  P.S.  I updated to the new and improved blog layout, and I don't like it, not one bit.  It actually puts me in a pretty bad mood when I try to upload photos or find the blasted spell check button.  Darn you blogger for making us feel like we NEED you!

The month of March...and a little of April

Most photos I take of the girls are more along the lines of the photo above. It takes a lot of patience to get one like the photo below, but it sure is worth it when I can make it happen.

Easter Sunday was pretty low key for us. We had a thick layer of snow on the ground and this was the first year we haven't spent it with my family. Instead we had Ryan's sister Julie staying with us so it was a great reason to mix things up as far as traditions go. We still stuck with receiving Easter baskets (Ryan and myself included) and an Easter egg hunt and also the coloring of the eggs and a yummy dinner.

The girls have both been sick lately but I have been so proud of them, especially Lydia, for not even skipping a beat and both keeping such happy dispositions.

Ryan's parents and his sister and niece came to stay with us for the weekend and it is always such a special treat when we get to see them and host them in our home. They adore the girls and are such doting grandparents and such great company.

Emma was in heaven when I watched my friend's little boy Canyon. He is nearly two years older than her but she did let me know that she wants to marry him. Heaven help me! Actually, I think it's cute. Heaven help Ryan though, he's not ready, nor will he ever be, to hear his little girl talk that way.

St. Patty's day we had our green french toast with green syrup and Emma was quite delighted with her new green shirt. We left mushrooms out for the leprechauns the night before and enjoyed the plate of gold (rolos) they left for us in exchange.

Finally going back to Emma's birthday (March 1st, a month ago) we went out as a family to Texas Roadhouse and she thought it was pretty sweet to sit on the saddle and join the girls in the line dancing. We're so thankful for what a good natured little girl Emma is. I asked her what she is most looking forward to this year and she said a Daddy Daughter date to go hiking. What a champ!

Eden to Paradise

By now everyone should know that we are living in my parent's house in Liberty/Eden (the town border each other, it's an Eden address but Liberty boundaries to the locals). They have it up for sale and kindly invited us to take advantage of their empty house. Meanwhile they sold their AZ home and have purchased their dream home up in Paradise, in Cache Valley, near Logan, for those of you who aren't familiar with the area. I like to tease that my parent's have it real rough moving from Eden to Paradise, both town names fitting for the place they call home. Here are a few highlights from each home. Liberty, where we are living, can outshine any home in the summer time. I will do a special post on what we are looking forward to another time. But for now these are just simple photos of the inside. My parents are empty nesters but LOVE to host family parties and really want somewhere that we all feel comfortable spending our Holidays and the weekends. They now have 13 grandchildren and it's nice that we won't have to be on top of each other.


Liberty Kitchen


















The view from the kitchen window. That's right, I took this April 1st. Notice the snow.

Master Bedroom

Family Room

And now on to Paradise...

Entry way

Kitchen

Living Room

The Golden ticket- The grand kids play court

The Dorm Room- This is where the grand kids sleep. It has two queen beds and soon to have a twin and also plenty of room for sleeping bags if need be.

Down stairs Family room- with heated cement floors

The views

Other random photos- My favorite bathroom, my mom's long awaited personal office and scrapbook room, and one of the guest rooms

Fun times for all!

FPIES

Whoopsi. Remember this post I did back in January? Telling how Lydia's vaccines had gone wrong? Well, as it turns out, it was a TOTAL coincidence that she just HAPPENED to have her vaccines on the same day as she had an allergic reaction to a condition we have now discovered as FPIES. It stands for Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis Syndrome. My poor little piggy gets severe vomiting after eating the culprit food, which so far has been oatmeal and rice cereals. There are plenty of other trigger foods, that entail dairy, veggies, fruits, flours, wheats, and meats. Typically kids outgrow this condition by the age of three. So far Lydia has had two extreme reactions, and two mild reactions. The second reaction was severe vomiting while I was in AZ visiting my parents. I am so thankful I had them there to help me with her and it gave me a MUCH better appreciation for all those single mothers out there, I don't know how they do it! The bad news is that she is not growing at a healthy rate because her little body is not getting the nutrients it needs right now. I try to give her new foods but she turns her nose up at them, and I don't dare push them on her b/c that is also how she reacted when I force fed her the oatmeal and rice. I don't blame the poor little Ms. Piggy for not wanting to try new foods, it has yet to do her any good. I have an appointment with a couple different specialist in the Salt Lake area but they are all booked out three months. So for now I am soooo thankful to the Internet for the many forums they have from other mothers talking about what they have done for their children. I am also thankful I wasn't TOO rude to my Doctor's office when I called in the day after being in the hospital and gave them an "I told you so" lecture. I am so thankful that this allergy is one that can be outgrown and I consider myself lucky. I still appreciate the prayers and warm thoughts you all shared with me. I still have a tough couple years ahead of us as we have to trial and error different foods and I have no doubt that we will probably be in the ER again some time.

the cutest baby ever!!!

Lydia LOVES her mommy. She is the very best LATE at night. She sleeps until noon or later EACH day. She is very DETERMINED. Our family would NOT be the same without her.

A Very Merry Birthday

I am so excited about this tree. This tree is the newest addition to our birthday traditions! After the Christmas sale at Hobby Lobby I bought 8 candy ornaments and a load of brightly colored garland. Then the week before the birthday we get the tree out and decorate it. Every morning when the birthday girl wakes up she gets to place on the tree one candy ornament. Then when she places the last ornament on the tree that's the day of the party. This was so much fun to help build the suspense to Emma's big day and also to help a little girl grasp the concept of time.

March 1st came early this year as we celebrated Emma's birthday on Saturday. Ryan said multiple times "you know this is all for four year olds, right?" Duh. But you should have seen or heard how excited Emma was about all this. Plus, I had a blast in the process and kept the cost pretty low since I have been planning this for months.

I totally redecorated the dining room. We had so much fun preparing for this little party. I gave the chandelier a make-over, bought colored bread for sandwiches, and just had so much fun buying the place settings and making the party favors.

Emma had six little friends join us for her party. We watched Alice in Wonderland and then would pause the movie and take a break to play a game or have an activity that related to the scene we just watched. Every girl won a prize for playing the game but the winner of the game got to wear the Queen of hearts crown until the next round of games began.

I want to just pause here for a moment and give a special mention to my friend Cheri who makes the most delicious and charming cakes. Sure only two of the girls ate their cake and we had an insane amount of left overs....but guess what, it was totally worth it. Cakes make me happy in my heart, literally happy, I think I get butterflies when I see a cute cake. If anyone needs a cake for any reason, let me know and you have to use Cheri, she's the best!

For Halloween Emma was Alice and Lydia was the Cheshire cat. I had thought maybe it would be fun to have a Wonderland birthday party. But when I saw these Barbies on ebay I knew that fate was sealed for the party theme and I just HAD to have these Barbies and then everything fell into place from there. Is it wrong to live vicariously through your children?

We played pin the tail on the Cheshire cat in case that random photo of Lydia isn't making sense to you.

The party favors were necklaces for each of the girls, cheshire magnets, slinkys, and a glass bottle that had a little lemonade packet on the inside that had a tag reading "drink me." I'll be honest, some of the favors looked like Emma made them, but at least the bottles turned out nicely.