Denver Baby

Okay, so Denver doesn't have quite the same ring to it as Vegas, but if you were going for a girl's weekend, you'd think it did. My dearest, oldest (not old in years, but known the longest) friend finally finally was able to get pregnant with her very much wanted 4th child. And just to add a cherry on top, she is a little girl--something new for her 3 brothers. My mom, Claire, and I celebrated by making a quick trip out to see Baby N blessed. My mom is friends with Kris's mom, I always think of her family sort of as my extended family. Anyway, we thought we'd try out the new Provo commerical flights, it helped that the timing of the flight was best for us. It was interesting going on the only flight that would go out that day and taking the long ramp outside to get in the plane. Check-in/security still had a line, but only those flying with us and it was fairly quick and pleasant. I was surprised to see the flight almost completely full though, maybe they will expand service. A very kind employee arranged it so my mom could sit with Claire and I (I added that trust me, no one else wanted to sit by me!) and did so by bumping us up to business class. That extra couple of inches really is luxurious! Except it meant Claire to climb around a little bit but I still liked it much better than the return flight. We got to Kris's house and met the little princess. Another dear high school friend Crystal joined us too--and the 5 of us girls (Kris, Crystal, me, Claire, and N) plus brother M went shopping. How else do you spend a girls weekend? We bought kids clothes and had a nice lunch. Then we had a nice drive and Claire napped for a teeny bit. My mom and I then got dinner at Jack in the Box--if you have one near you I am sure that is no thrill at all, but for us it certainly was! We then checked into our hotel and Claire thought it was just so fun. Here she is chillaxing on the bed with snacks. My mom and I were furiously working to finish Miss N's baby blanket which still was not quite the shape I would have liked but at least it was finished. Then we attempted (for hours) to get Claire to sleep. Sigh, that baby is not easy to travel with! I am sure we had some neighbors that hated us, lots. I finally got her to sleep in bed with me (the pack and play was not cutting it) but between her kicking me all night and mom snoring (sorry mom, it's true!) I did not get much rest. Oh well, I am probably the best at handling such things from working nights. And I must say the hotel had a lovely breakfast so that's always a plus. I enjoyed the first couple of minutes of the church meeting and Miss N's special blessing (like Christening) even though Claire was already being disruptive and then walked the halls and around the building with her the rest of the meeting.

 Look at that precious darling! She is so little and perfect! And this little darling was tired after all :p We had a nice lunch with Kristina's parents after the blessing and I even got sis to take a nap there so we got to chat nicely and in peace. That was so lovely. Once she was up we got a quick trip to the park and then back to the airport.
Dear friends!
We had to wait quite a while there and security wasn't nearly as easy or pleasant (as Provo) but we got there. You just have to bring so much stuff with a toddler. They were able to arrange for us to sit together again but in the very back very cramped row. It was okay, sis watched a movie and ate a little and even slept a little. She had the hardest time after we landed but couldn't yet disembark. My dad picked us up and it was a quick drive home. So there's our fun little trip--thanks for having us Kris!
Now to upload the next big batch of photos and start more posts.

Family

How we love our family. We had a Very special event with Lowell's family this month that still has me reflecting on the wonder that is family. I read a quote (I think Pres Uchtodorf?) about how we have been sent to families to learn about love and service. Once you have had your own children, you'll know that is absolutely true. Can't think of a truer love than I have for my amazing handsome husband and the 3 beautiful children we have made together. Anywho, more about them--mostly pics! Claire coloring
PJ day at school (they won it for reading during the Jazz read-a-thon, which their school won! They had a Jazz player come read to them and got lots of prizes throughout the event, so fun. Davis was the top reader in his class [Carter read the same amount but others read more in his class]).
They have been asking me to do "spearamints" with them and as someone with a degree in Microbiology (and minor in Chemistry) I thought I should be able to come up with something. Enter vinegar and baking soda. They loved it!
Their reading class sponsored a Green Eggs and Ham breakfast along with a rock, paper, scissors tournament. The breakfast was fun, the tournament less so. But the bounce house and face paint and balloons after were great too. And that A&A were there to play. Hooray!
They were just playing with their DW hats and I couldn't pass up the photo op.

I have been having too much fun with the claw machines (at Trafalga Orem, Lehi and Classic Fun Center). I got V Day covered (6 toys--2 each) and now Easter too.
Claire girls' first braids.

I found some little shirts on a clearance sale ($4) that included mini skateboards. Good times ensued.

Just cute cute!

Okay--on to our very special family event. Lowell's parents were sealed in the Timpanogos temple! They are nearing 50 years of marriage and are now sealed for time and all eternity. Lowell's mom went through the temple for the first time while he was on his mission but his Dad just went through for his first time. What an amazing thing to witness! And best of all, then the kids were sealed to their parents. I wasn't in the circle of course, but I felt like I was since I am sealed to Lowell. So I just got sealed to all of Lowell's family. So neat. It really has me thinking about links and how sealings work. Like that now I am sealed to my nephew, since he is sealed to his parents and his mom is sealed to her parents who are sealed to Lowell who is sealed to me. And how one gap in the link is such a break. Lowell's parents are sealed to their parents so I could imagine the relief they felt now that they "get" their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They were severed by a gap in the chain but now that it is sealed--they are reconnected to all these loved ones who came after them. Not sure I thought about it all in that way before now. It was such a wonderful day and then Lowell's sisters threw a great party in their parents' honor. Here's some pics:

No, Claire was not being very happy

P.S. It was so nice to see and visit with Becky briefly! She came up from AZ for the special day.

Lack of snow this winter has been wonderful in many regards, sledding is not one of them. I am still mourning my New Year's Day sled trip (boo, hiss!). We did get our annual Soldier Hollow sled trip in, but the snow was slushy and so it was very slow going. It is usually so fast that it takes my breath away, but this time we had to get up and walk in between the bumps going down. They gave us the option of a refund but honestly we didn't expect conditions to improve much as Spring came along, my discounted tickets were only good for another couple weeks, we had a babysitter and had already driven to Midway, and we could make it fun anyway. And we did.
Look at my skinny honey!
Taken with my overly nice for the setting camera (only used because we weren't moving that fast) while going down the hill!

The kiddos had a dress like a character from a book day at school during their readathon--they went as the most perfect ones for them.
In honor of Dr. Seuss's bday we went to IHOP and had the Lorax breakfast and then went to see the new movie, The Lorax. We liked it pretty well. A bit overly liberal as far as all things "green" (coming from someone who just does not buy into that) but it was still quite fun.
That updates us through Feburary, so much more to come! :)

Valentine's Day Fun

I don't seem to have many pics from January--it was mostly mild and we had fun at our usual places. The boys have been really into playing with friends and Claire is pretty happy chilling at home with her toys so we have also stayed home a fair amount. Here's some random shots of Claire- Always trying new hair styles--double twist under with pony at the end.

And twist back to meet in the middle.
Simple double piggys--just playing outside after the boys went to school one day.

And these are our dressy Valentine pics:
Davis looks so grown up!

I like this shot of Carter boy
Claire Vday hair, kind of sort of made a heart.

Love the boots!
Claire went to her first Valentine's Day party this year with the twin club. A little crazy, but good times.
Checking out the loot
Mmm, yes I'll have a sucker.
Passed out on the way home--sucker still attached.
This was the kitchen V Day morning with their surprises waiting.
This year's V Day cards
My flowers from Lowell

And V Day breakfast.

This year I did 14 days of Valentines for Lowell, just little things but that was fun. The boys had a dr appt before school on Valentines which was pretty stressful for me (I am not a fan of their GI Doc and over an hour in a little room with minimal entertainment and 3 kids is about enough to do anyone in!). It wasn't my best day but Lowell was sure trying with the flowers and bringing me a nice steak dinner at work. The boys had fun getting their valentines at school too. Another fun holiday in the books.

Updating . . .

Loading . . .loading . . .K, time for some updates!
We have been busy as usual but also having lots of fun. The kids are just growing and changing so much I can hardly stand it. These big bubbas are almost 6 and a half! I had to double check that, I can't believe they are that old. They'll be in senior primary next year, that's nuts! They are loving kindergarten and doing so well.
Carter is quite the little reader, he has advanced to the 1st grade readers in the reading class and is at the top of his K class. His teacher adores him (we love her too!). She says he just makes her laugh all the time. He is working on improving his writing and is doing well with math concepts as well. He is very animated about things he is interested in right now. He's quite into Star Wars, legos, playing the wii and xbox kinect, and playing with friends. He has a bunch of buddies at school but I am surprised at the drama that brings about already. On again off again friends and the hurt feelings that go along with it. Ugh, but I guess that's our life for a while. His eyes and smile can win me over about any day and we all just love our Carter boy!
My big Davis is my little sweetie. He loves to cuddle with mom and I'm all for that. Davis loves to play computer games and Spongebob. He is also doing quite well in school, though maybe not quite as good as his brother. Some of that may be teacher based, but that's another story. He also has a bunch of friends at school and our little neighbor who is in his class is probably his best friend--partially because they are able to play together more since they are on the same street (they aren't allowed to leave our court). He has had some struggles with mean kids (1 nasty little girl in particular) who like to tease and demean him at school. Makes me very mad. We are working on building him up though so he knows his worth is not dependent on stupid little girls (sorry, I hate her!). He is really improving in his reading and even more so in his writing. He needs time to focus to do his best work so we see it at home but the over-stimulation that is a K classroom hinders him at times. He is very good with tools and likes to be my cooking helper. He struggles with sleep issues a little as well. Though he hasn't had an accident in a week--he is really starting to do well overcoming his encopresis issues (C man not so much).



And then there's out little Claire Bear. Claire-inessa, Cute stuff, Booger, Sister, oh she is so full of life and spunk! This little munchkin rules our house. She is a very busy little lady and sometimes a bit too much of a diva but mostly fun. Her vocabulary is really picking up, she's been getting a few new words each week. The past few were ball, cracker, pretty (for painted toenails, hair things, etc), juice, please, thank you, car, and go. She has a few phrases like What's that? And Let's go car. She is still signing as well, milk, take a bath, dog, fish, eat. Knowing what she wants has been helpful although not always when you don't want to or can't give her just what she wants in the moment.
She has had a couple of colds in the last little bit (we all have) and she is so pathetic when she is sick. Makes it hard to nurse and then she's just mad. I am getting to weaning her, I wanted to to make it to 18 months and she'll be there in a couple of days. We are down to 1-2 feedings a day and very little volume. She still enjoys it though, so we'll see. We have her 18 month appt soon, so I'll see how her growth is, she seems sturdy and healthy to me. Her hair is growing so long too and the curls are still there. She really has great hair--shiny in the sun, straight on top for styling and curly in the back. It is just plain mess head if you don't do anything with it though. She's gotten pretty patient about me doing it, she sits on the edge of the sink in my bathroom and I whip something up pretty quick while she plays with whatever she can reach.
She loves to be outside, to be into everything, and to eat. This girl has a major appetite (the boys were underweight preemies, so this is kind of new). She'll eat about anything, but does feed a fair amount to the dogs. They like her a lot. She really loves books and will plop in your lap so you can read to her (and reread, she can do her pop up books or musical books over and over). She also loves to color--trying to be like her big bros doing their homework. If she is tired enough she'll cuddle but mostly she's moving. Thankfully she's a pretty good sleeper, but doesn't nap as long as her bros did. She likes to go--Let's go car but doesn't love sitting in her stroller. If she can get out and roam a new place, she's about as happy as she can be. She doesn't like being left out of things either--her new thing is turning off the xbox while people are playing, I think because she can't join in.
The 3 of them are pretty good pals and the boys are very helpful with the little miss. She doesn't like to share my attention with them but otherwise seems to enjoy them. Such fun times we have at our house!
And Lowell and I are much the same, except a little smaller. We've been counting calories and exercising the past 2 months and Lowell is down nearly 40 lbs (!) and me going on 20. Feels good and hasn't been terribly hard. I miss some of my junk but I can still have some if I stay within my calories. I love myfitnesspal.com for keeping track. And we all can't wait for Spring! :)