Much Needed Update

Well again it has been awhile since I have updated our blog. Life is just as crazy as ever. Dax was promoted a while back at work and usually works about 95 hours every 2 weeks. He is also pretty busy with school. We don't get to see him too much so we can't wait for the day when he is home more.

Ryan just turned 3 last week! I can't believe he is already 3! He didn't have a great birthday, so good thing he isn't really to an age where he cares yet. He threw up on his birthday and then had diarrhea for like a week. Not fun (for either of us). On a lighter note, he is becoming such a big kid! He rides his bike like crazy now and can work a computer better than a lot of people older than him. He is just like his dad. He loves video games and anything electronic, and doesn't like to listen to me when he is busy with them :) He loves to make his sister giggle. A while back I had put Chloe to sleep and then I couldn't find Ryan anywhere. Then in the baby monitor I heard giggling. Apparently he had sneaked into Chloe's room and got in her crib with her. I was mad he woke her up but I couldn't help but laugh at them.

Chloe is now 10 months old! My kids are just growing too fast. She has been crawling for a while and now likes to walk around the furniture. I don't think it will be much longer until she starts walking. Ryan walked at a little over 10 months and I am hoping she doesn't do that. She cruises up the stairs super fast and has been doing that since she was 8 months. What is with my kids who feel like they have to do these scary things so early? She is a little attached to her mom. Ok, a lot. I love it but it makes it hard to do anything. It probably didn't help that she slept in our room until she was 9 months old :) Whenever I have someone watch her she is fine until I walk in the room, then she cries like crazy. I think she likes to make me fell guilty for leaving her :)

As for me, I am pretty boring. I don't really have much going on besides having my hands full with the kiddos. They sure keep me on my toes. I have decided that sewing and crafting are totally my stress relief. I have starting making hair bows like crazy. I am going to try to sell them and see if I can help a little and bring some money in. Since Dax doesn't usually get home until midnight or later, once the kids are asleep I start crafting like crazy. There are a lot of other things I should be doing but they just don't seem as fun.

A while back my side of the family went and had family pictures taken and I think they turned out pretty good. I would show them off but blogger doesn't like them apparently. So all you get is a bunch of boring black and white words. I will stick some pictures on if I can figure it out later. (And I will post the cute Halloween ones soon.)

Photo Contest

I entered Chloe into a baby contest for Fox 13 News. I usually don't do things like this but they are giving an awesome prize...and Chloe is pretty dang cute so I do like showing her off. If you would like to vote for her go to this link http://fox13now.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=20074. She is picture number 59. This is the cute picture I posted of her.

Now doesn't that just make you want to go and vote for her? :)

Summer Happenings and My Cute Kids

We have been able to do a lot of things with our families this summer and it's been a lot of fun! We always forget to bring our camera though so we don't have a pictures of a lot of the things we have done. I have to say I think July is one of my favorite months because it seems like there is always something to do. Dax won tickets from work to go watch the fireworks at USU's stadium. We went pretty early and wondered if the kids would make it to the fireworks but they did and we had a lot of fun. I have never been so close to fireworks before! We also got to go to a lot of parades and Ryan learned quickly that if you flash a cute smile and wave you get a lot of candy. We went camping with family up to Tony Grove. It was fun for the most part...besides bed time. Let's just say Dax said he wasn't going camping again until the kids are at least 10. My dad has taken us boating a few times and we got to go to Bear Lake with the Larsen's. We had a lot of fun playing in the water! Anyways, to say the least it has been a good summer. I'll post a few pictures of our outings but we don't have too many of them.

Ryan with his cute cousins at Tony Grove

They loved throwing rocks into the water

Ryan loves his cousin Drew, he just follows him around

Chloe with her aunt and uncle watch the car parade

Aren't they just the cutest kids ever?


So I just wanted to write a quick little blurb about each of my cute kids.

Ryan has grown up so much in these last few months. He has been potty training for a little bit and he is doing pretty good. He just has a hard time telling me he has to go until after the fact. He has turned out to be such a cute big brother. He loves playing with Chloe. Today I even caught him dragging her by her shirt over to his toy room because he wanted her to come play. Apparently she wasn't crawling fast enough. He loves to play outside, he especially loves to ride bikes with his little buddy Spence. He is a very energetic kid and he wears me out, but we rarely have a dull moment with him around. The pictures I am posting of him just make me giggle every time I look at him. He took them himself. He loves to take pictures and sometimes he gets some pretty good ones. The only bad thing is he takes pictures of everything, even me nursing Chloe. Let's just say I have to go through and delete a few when he is done.



I think the flash was a little bright...LOL!

I love his cheeks in this one!



We wore him out this day! I love my boys!



I can't believe how much Chloe is growing. She is 7 months old today! She is a pretty active little girl. She is pretty much crawling but she gets tired and just scoots a lot of the time. She loves her brother. Whenever she sees him she smiles and jumps up and down. She is definitely a momma's girl. She cries whenever I leave the room, no matter who is holding her. I like that she likes me so much but it's hard to get anything done. She isn't a great sleeper, she just wants to cuddle with me and I am bad and give into her a lot. I am setting myself up for a rough time in the future but I love cuddling with her! I am so glad we have her in our family!

This was Chloe's first time eating baby food. She wasn't a huge fan but she is getting better.

Swinging at the grandparents house.

I hadn't been buckling her into her swing until one day while she was sleeping and rolled over to sleep on her face. And yes, I buckle her in now.

WE went swimming one day and she loved it but it wore her out. Apparently she couldn't find her binky so she had to go for the next best thing...her headband.

I was making bows and she wanted to help. I love her face that's like "What, I'm not doing anything wrong!"

Long Overdue

Well it's been almost 2 months since I have blogged. I can't do it when Ryan is awake and when he's asleep, so am I! Since he didn't have a nap today, he is in bed early. I am totally not ready to let him give up naps, but I kind of think I am losing the battle. Not a whole lot has happened since the last post. I feel like life is flying by though!

Chloe will be 5 months old in a little more than a week! Crazy, I know! She had a Dr.'s appointment a few weeks ago and she weighed 12lb 13oz. She is only in the 30th percentile, which is hard to believe with her cheeks and chins! (Yes, chin is plural, she has more than one.) Her eyes are still blue, and I kind of hope they stay that way. They are very pretty. She is getting really good at rolling to her tummy but most if the time she can't figure out how to roll back and it ticks her off! She loves to blow raspberries and talk really loud. She absolutely loves Ryan. Whenever he comes into view she just smiles and wiggles with excitement. He is getting better with her too. I love when he sits and talks to her and she just giggles.

Ryan is growing fast too. He is talking a lot more and he is the funniest kid. I wish I knew what was going on in that little head of his. The other day he was watching Curious George and when it ended the Brady Bunch came on. All of the sudden I realized he was singing the theme song! He was saying some of the words before they even sang it. Curious George is his favorite show so he usually sees the beginning of the Brady Bunch when it ends, I was laughing pretty hard. The kid remembers everything. He saw me once go into the games on my cell phone for him and now he does it by himself, and it's kind of a process to get to. I think he is going to be a computer genius. He is very much a Daddy's boy and copies everything Dax does.

Dax has a couple of more weeks until he has to start school again. But the little break has been nice. We all like having him home a little more. He is still working on a Biological Engineering degree and he is working really hard. Not too many people can go to school full time and work 40+ hours a weeks. Not to mention having to take care of a wife and kids at home. He is a great husband and dad and we are all proud of him.

As for me not much has happened. I'm still kind of adjusting to 2 kids. It's a lot harder to get things done, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Dax did buy me a juicer for a Mother's Day/Birthday Present and it's awesome. I have even lost some weight since I got it. I never knew we could go through fruits and veggies so fast. One day I was experimenting and juiced some spinach, carrots, and an apple just to see how is would taste. It wasn't too bad but the surprising thing was that Ryan drank a whole glass of it. The bad thing was the diaper the next day! I love that we are all eating healthier and hopefully I can keep losing weight!

Here are a few pictures of things from the past couple of months...ok maybe more than a few...

Just being cute

Ryan brought me Chloe's dress and cried for me to put it on...so I did. I love his little pose!

So happy to be at baby animal days!

He held her for 15 minutes straight and got mad when I tried to take her off of him. I'm going to remind him of that when they are older and fighting :)

I was experimenting and made this beanie. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but she sure makes it look good.

My little family...we wish dad could be here more!

My 2 cute boys!



Two cutest kids ever! Can you tell Chloe gets excited with the lights on the camera?

Apparently this picture took her by surprise!

I bet I have the best prize in my Easter egg....

So Hobby Lobby had these gigantic Easter eggs and my sister bought one and I said to her that I think I could fit my baby in it and guess what....she does fit in it! I didn't actually close her in it, but I could have. Ryan thought it was pretty funny so I tried to get him to sit in it and then it wasn't as funny. I guess it's always funnier when it's not happening to you.

In other news, we finally blessed Chloe! It was awesome. Dax always gives such sweet blessings. I hope my kids realize what a good dad they have. Also, it snowed quite a bit her the other day. Ryan was so excited when he woke up that he ran in and woke Dax (who had been up until the wee hours of the morning doing homework) and yelled "Dow dad dow!" (Dow is what he says for snow.) And today I let Ryan color eggs and we had fun. I was a little worried though when he saw the dye and yelled "Juice!" He didn't try to drink it though, thank goodness. Since I boiled so many eggs we had egg salad sandwiches for dinner and Ryan actually ate it. I was a little surprised.
For and update on the kids, Ryan is starting to talk much better and just seems to be growing up so fast. He is good big brother....most of the time :) I love the times, like today, when we get to have fun times together, just me and him. His new favorite thing is Buzz Lightyear, even though he hasn't even seen Toy Story. But he always spots something in the stores that has Buzz on it. Chloe is almost 3 months old! Holy Cow! She is finally starting to outgrow her newborn clothes and can fit most 0-3 month things. She is such a happy baby. Even when she is starving she still smiles and talks. She loves Ryan and any time she hears or sees him she smiles and laughs. I hope it's always like that! Today I had her doing tummy time and she rolled over twice to her back. She just seems to young to be doing that. She really hates tummy time so I guess she figured out how to roll so she wouldn't have to do it any more! I have such a wonderful family and I love them so much!



Happy Easter!


Chloe in her blessing outfit


Ryan checking out the snow


I know it seems like his is probably in his diaper a lot, but I didn't want him to get dye on his clothes and he won't wear a bib or apron.


So I bought some new church outfits for the kids and wanted to get a picture and sadly this is the best one we got. I didn't know a simple picture could be such torture!

A Fun Giveaway

I found this giveaway from Dax's cousins blog and thought it was a great idea. She just asks you to share a story on your blog about a selfless act of service that someone has given you. Go here for more explanation http://www.fairlyhappy.com/2010/03/pay-it-forward.html

My story:

This isn't really a specific thing, but since I had Chloe I have been thinking more about all of the things my own parents have done for me. I know I wasn't the easiest child, but I always new my parents loved me because of all of the sacrifices they made for me. I feel bad it has taken me this long to realize what they have done for me. My parents always made sure we had what we needed and I'm sure they went without a lot of things they would have liked to have. My parents wanted all of their kids to be happy and would do anything to make sure we were. I am very grateful to have such wonderful parents. They are great examples and I hope I can be a good parent to my children like they have been to me. I don't know if their is anyone that gives more selfless service than a loving parent. Thanks dad and mom!

Oh and now that my wheels are turning....The other day we had a ward party and since Dax works evenings he just took his lunch break and came for a little bit. Ryan was a little extra crazy that day and was really testing my patience. So Ryan was running wild with the other children when I decided it was time to go. I figured it was going to be a struggle, so I was trying to decide how I was going to get a carseat, a jello salad, and a screaming toddler all out to the car. I started attempting it when a sister in the ward came and said let me help you out with that. It was a simple thing but it was extremely helpful! This sister was actually in charge of the party and probably had things she needed to take care of. It makes me realize that no matter how small the act of service, it always makes a difference. I need to be so much better about offering service even though I may not be able to offer much!

Family Happenings

So the kids are sleeping and instead of cleaning like I should I decided to blog :) So here is what has been going on the last little while. We were supposed to bless Chloe this last Sunday but both kids had RSV and Ryan had a really bad ear infection and Bronchilitis. Hopefully everyone will be happy and healthy so that we can bless her this Sunday. Ryan is growing up so fast. I can't believe how big he is. He is a cute big brother and he even calls Chloe "sister". His new thing is to stack anything he can. This morning when I went to get him out of his room he had stacked all of his dirty clothes. When I walked in he was very carefully placing a tissue on the very top of his pile. I guess I should get him something better to stack other than dirty clothes. Chloe will be 10 weeks old this week! I can't believe how much time flies. She is such a happy baby. She always wakes up with a smile....even at 2 o'clock in the morning. If you can't tell by the pictures I love her smile. I always try to take pictures of her smiles. Dax and I celebrated our 4th Anniversary on the 11th. He is a great husband and I love him very much. He works really hard to support our family and he is a great father. I'm really lucky to have him. Well Ryan just woke up so I guess I'm done. And yes the pictures are mostly of Chloe but it's not because we love her more. Ryan just wants the camera whenever he sees it or the pictures I get are blurry because he never holds still. Hopefully I can get some more of him. I was supposed to go have their pictures taken but of course they had to get sick when we had things to do :) So hopefully soon!
My happy girl




Two cutest kids ever!

This is a dress my sister gave her and she looked way cute in it!

Happy Baby

So this is going to be quick, but I just wanted to show off my cute little baby and the blessing dress I decided to make her. Chloe is 7 weeks old today...I still can't believe she's already that old! She has been a very good baby, even though she wants to always be held. She loves to cuddle and we usually fall asleep cuddled up on the couch waiting for Dax to come home. I love that she loves to cuddle, but at night she doesn't like to sleep in her bed, she wants to sleep right next to me...and I'm bad and always give in :) Whenever she wakes up she is full of smiles. She is a very happy girl. So here are a few pictures I snapped, but I haven't been quick enough to get her big smile. My vote might not count but I think she's quite a cute little thing.








We are planning to bless her on the 14th of March. (We wanted to do it on the 7th but that day is our ward conference so our fast Sunday is now on the 14th....which just so happens to also be my cousins homecoming, of course). I was going to have her wear the same dress I was blessed in, but then I decided to try making a dress and this is what I made. I think it turned out pretty good. It's a little big, but I figure too big is better than too small right? I would post more, but it's the time of night that I get to go cuddle with my baby!

Family

My parents came to visit the other day and they brought my cute little niece and nephew. It was so good for Ryan to have someone to play with since he has been a little bored lately.


Maddie was excited to come see the baby but was a little scared of her at first, but she liked holding her.

I was so surprised how well Drew was at holding her. He held her head really well and it was so cute how gentle he was with her.

The grand kids all love Grandpa!


I put up two other posts, so keep scrolling to see cute pictures of the kiddos :)

Best Big Brother

I was worried about how Ryan was going to adjust to the new baby, but he has turned out to be such a good big brother. He always comes up to me and puts his hands out because he wants to hold her. He loves to look at her and pet her head and occasionally give her kisses, but she isn't too fond of them. He is so good at being soft with her. Tonight Dax asked him where his sister was and he pointed at Chloe and smiled, it was really cute. He has been good to keep himself entertained while I am busy with the baby. He has grown up so much! I couldn't ask for better kids!



I told him to hold on to his sister and when I went to take the picture he let go and moved away from her. He really does like her...even though it doesn't look like it in this picture.

I gave him a haircut today and we tried using the razor for the first time. It turned out pretty good and I was surprised how well he actually sat still with that loud thing by his head.

I heard him moving around after taking a nap so I went to get him and this is how I found him, sitting in the window seal. I'm surprised he stayed there long enough for me to go grab the camera, but I am glad he did.

His new thing is to put his helmet on to ride his little bike. It's still to big for his head but he loves it. There is never a dull moment with him. We love this little guy!