Easter weekend in St. George

Since Sophie's birthday was on Good Friday this year so we celebrated Easter in St. George.  The girls had fun coloring eggs, going through their Easter basket loot, and of course, the egg hunt is always a hit.  In fact, my kids break out the baskets early and leave them out long after the holiday -  hiding empty easter eggs/toys/candy/whatever they feel like hunting for - creating their own "Easter egg hunts" because they think it's so fun.  

Our weekned in St. George in between Sophie's birthday and Easter morning was spent hiking in Snow Canyon, at the park, swimming both indoor and outdoor, golf for the guys, and lots of lounging.  I'm SO sad because 1/2 of my pictures were corrupt and even my husband who always come to my rescue with stuff like this couldn't do it this time:(.  

A few (small) pics from our hike at Snow Canyon.  One of my favorite things to do is hike here with the kids.

My mom is a trooper, riding scrunched between the girls all the way there and home!

We stopped at the free Scipio petting zoo for the first time both on the way to St. George and on the way home.  The kids loved it, Jack thought it was so funny that the little lambs would nibble on his fingers:)

The weekend before Cam and Joni were in town from Seattle so Colleen had an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos.

Our attempt at a cousins picture.  Seriously...this was the best one!

Sophie turns 3!

I can't believe my little Sophie bug is 3!  She is at such a fun age right now (well, despite her ability to throw a mean fit!)  Sophie is such a ham, always smiling and making us laugh.  She tells us she loves us "this big" (with arms extended as wide as possible) a hundred times a day.  She asks Mady to be her best friend more often than that and when Mady says yes she exclaims "Mommy, Mady's my best friend, YAY!"  I seriously love her little personality.  She is also quite the chatterbox, she can go on and on....and on.  Her and Jack are such good buddies, she is so soft and gentle with him, always calling him "Jackie boy" "little buddy" and saying "hi little sweatheart".

Soph still sleeps in a crib.  She can climb in and out with ease, but still waits for me to come get her in the mornings and after naps.  She is still my excellent little sleeper, and I have to wake her up from a 3 hour nap almost everyday.  She is officially potty-trained.  She loves her blanket, and will often take a break from what she's doing and says "I just need to chew on my blankie", and does literally just that.  She likes playing babies, barbies, watching Dora, playing outside, swinging, or whatever fun game Mady has come up with for the two of them.  The girl is STUBBORN.  Her attitude can change on a dime and when she's mad - she's mad, but when she's happy, she's the sweetest, funniest kid I've ever met.  Could not love her more!

Sophie is miss independent.  She wants to get dressed the moment she wakes up in the morning all by herself.  She does a good job, and usually goes with the shirt/legging/skirt combo.  When I put away her laundry I've started putting matching outfits in the drawer she always goes for, but sometimes she comes up with interesting combos...I could care less because the time/energy it saves me is great!  Every once in awhile I have to go through and take out her dirty clothes that she has stuffed back in her drawers or her pajama pants with the soggy pull-up still inside, but all things considered she does pretty good.  She is a dream child when it comes to taking orders- for example Me: "Sophie, please go get your shoes on, or can you please go get ready for bed, or clean up your room"...Soph: "Um, sure."  or "Of course!".  Little things like these make my day!

And, being 3 has its perks...no more just being drug around to all of Mady's activities.  Soph can now start tumbling this summer and dance in the fall.  She is ecstatic.  I feel like she will be my enthusiastic one who has fun doing almost anything she tries.

We had cupcakes with cousins the Sunday before her birthday and she went on a special shopping trip with Utah Grandma and her cousin Aiden to Build- A-Bear.  My parents came in town the week of her birthday and we headed to St. George for the weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather.  On the actual day, we celebrated with my parents, Ty and Sue, and our little family at the park.  No fancy schmancy stuff this year, she requested a Dora party and had so much eating cupcakes and opening presents at the park.

Birthday cupcakes at Utah Grandma and Grandpa's the weekend before her birthday.

Swimming at the Washington City Community Center on her birthday

The birthday girl!

Cupcakes and presents at the park.

Loves from Kansas City Grandma!

A shower for Shelley!

So last weekend my husband graciously stayed home with the kiddos and I headed to KC/Columbia to have a baby shower for my BFF Shelley.  Her and Justin are awaiting the arrival of their first baby, a little girl named Olivia, due on April 3rd.

Hosted by myself, our other BFF Liz, Jesse Bodine, Ali Hoppe, and Kara Naydyhor (the last two of whom were there in spirit...Ali just gave birth to twins!!) it was a fun afternoon spent with Shelley's closest friends and family at the Cherry Street Wine Cellar in Columbia.

I cannot wait to meet baby Olivia and for Shelley to enter the wonderful world of motherhood.  So glad I could be there to hang with my besties and see Shelley's cute 8 month pregnant belly:)

The food was soooo yummy!

All 3 of us pregnant together!  Liz and Shelley are both having girls:)

The hostesses with the Guest of Honor

*Photos by Liz and Jesse:)

Mady's 5 year old pictures

I still can't believe that I have a 5 year old.  Time goes by so quickly but I absolutely love this age.  We are just starting to get a taste of what life will be like when our kids are older, and the outlook is FuN!  She is daddy's little ski buddy and my little sidekick.  Mady always requests "Mommy and Mady days" and every once in awhile we go to lunch and she happily tags along to any errands I may have, whether it be grocery shopping, the mall, or getting my oil changed, she loves the alone time with just me and her.  Sometimes we do late night Yogotogo runs or trips to the craft store.  I love my time with her and can only hope she never stops asking for "Mommy/Mady days" ha!

It's a....

Well, I'm 20 weeks along with baby #4, and it's a BOY!  We could not be more excited to be giving Jack a brother.  As cute and fun as all those bows and tutus are, it is so much simpler for me with a little dude (except for all the skin issues, food allergies, and sleep problems that my boy has had:/).  Jack is little cuddlebug, neither of my girls were like that.  I now know what other moms speak of when they say boys love their mamas, so how could I not be excited for another?!  Plus all my baby boy stuff is already out and ready, perfect really.

In other news, our first baby boy is officially and exclusively a walker!  Finally at 15 months Jack has mastered the skill and he couldn't be cuter at it (as with everything Jack does, it's melts my heart!).  He's been taking a few steps here and there, but always resorted back to crawling because it was faster...honestly I've never seen a faster crawler!  But about 2 weeks ago that changed, and now he's practically running.

Oh how time flies.  I feel like I was just at my ultrasound appointment finding out baby # 3 was a boy...and now he's about to be a big brother.  Crazy.  But we are so blessed that another seemingly healthy baby boy is on the way and could not be more thrilled!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We had a fun and lovely Valentine's Day at our house this year.  In the morning, Sophie, Jack, and I ran some errands, including picking up our heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's:).  That afternoon we picked up Mady and Utah Grandma and Grandpa from the airport.  They started the tradition a couple years back when Aiden turned 5 that they would take each grandkid to Disneyland on or around their 5th birthday.  Talk about lucky kids!  They left super early Saturday morning and came home Tuesday afternoon.  It was so strange just having Sophie and Jack for a few days.  We took them to do a few special things (jumping at "Get Air" and the Children's Museum at the Gateway - it seemed so much easier with just the two!) and had a fun, quiet house for 3 1/2 days.  We sure missed our Mady girl though, and boy did she come home with some sweet Disneyland loot for herself and for Soph and Jack.  She had a such a blast and I know she enjoyed the one on one time with Grandma and Grandpa!

When York got home early that day we headed to the new "Get Air" at the Kaysville Sportsplex for an hour of jumping fun.  The kids LOVED it.  Like I said we had taken just Sophie and Jack while Mady was gone and they had so much fun, we were excited for Mady to see it.  We came home to our heart shaped pizza and a few treats for the kiddos.

York and I feel so blessed to have 3 amazing kids and, of course, each other.  Valentine's day was full of love at our home!

Happy birthday to Mady!

Ohmygosh I can't even believe I have a 5 year old!  We had a such a fun weekend celebrating with friends and family and a special visit from KC Grandma and Grandpa.  Mady had a birthday party with friends at My Gym and a family party at our house on Superbowl Sunday.

Right now Mady loves school, anything art related (coloring, painting, drawing, watercolors, stickers, etc.),  anything purple, anything lion cub (i.e. leopard print), all things tiny, her lion cub "cubby", and shopping.  Her favorite places to visit right now are the Natural History Museum (she loves dinosaurs), and the Planetarium.  She loves books.  She is a very picky eater.  She takes dance and tumbling.  She loves to ski.  She is a rule follower (unless they are my rules, sometimes:/), and she has the most rules for any game she makes up.  She is compassionate and thoughtful.  A great big sis and we could not love her more!

The day she was born 5 years ago, and her 1st birthday!

My BIG 5 year old!

My Gym party

A rainbow party!

My cute birthday girl!

And, since I'm on the subject of Mady, and since I started this blog a little later in her lifetime, I just wanted to add these pictures...things I always want to remember about her...how she likes to dress herself in mismatched socks (and sometimes shoes).  Whenever they're clean the striped leggings and heart skirt are her go-to--even though they're a size 3:)  And of course, cubby, her best little buddy that goes everywhere with us:)

Like I said before, we had a fun week long visit from my parents this past week.  It's been awhile since they've been out here together or that we've been to KC.  It was so nice to have them here and my kids just love them so much.  Plus, for me it's so nice to have the company and the extra help!

They were able to have lunch with Mady at school one day for Grandparents Day which Mady was so excited about.  (and maybe one day I'll get those pictures off my mom's camara dang it!).  They took her out for the day to lunch, shopping, and the library on her birthday.  We all went to the Natural History Museum one afternoon, but mostly just played and played at home.  Since they've been gone, Sophie keeps asking when we're going to pick them up again.  Luckily they will be back for her birthday in April!  

Mady has always referred to them as Kansas City Grandma and Grandpa but I guess Sophie never quite picked up on that fully.  While they were here, Sophie kept asking for her "new Grandma" and her "Grandma with glasses".  Haha, she's now calling them KC Grandma and Grandpa, but those others are just too cute:)