Days gone by

Things have been crazy busy around here, but are slowing down just a little bit. So I now have time to somewhat update the blog. I have tons of cute pictures of the kids, and can only put on so many. But here is the quick up date.

Easter was tons of fun, Isabelle really has the picking up eggs thing down, and I think she might be ready to “hunt” for eggs next year. She did have a tendency to leave her basket though and try to carry all of her eggs, very cute. It is a good thing she really does not know yet, because I just reused eggs from previous hunts, that way we don’t have a candy over load. I do think the gold fish were a big hit. But she has not opened all the eggs that Mom did, I always fill some with money. It was something I remember from when we were kids.

Bear did not quite grasp the concept to crawl after the eggs, he just though that sitting on the ground was good. So Isabelle would bring him an “egg” which turned out to be a golf ball. She really did not want to let go of the eggs. Either way it was sweet. Bear even had a chance to die Easter eggs. He really would not let go of the egg but I managed to help him “drop” the egg into the dye that was pretty fun.

I thought that Isabelle would have her hands covered in dye but she did pretty good, all her eggs ended up being blue, but that color was closest to her so naturally. All the other colors were due to Mom saying, hey what about this color? She had lots of fun, coloring eggs with her little friends, the day was prefect.

We hope that you all had a good Easter as well. I know the weather was not great for some of you. We lucked out and had a slight breeze but the temp stayed in the mid sixties. We are very excited about Springs arrival and hope that this will be the last week of cool temps.

Down???

Bear is slowly learning how to go down the stairs. Why go down Mom when if I cry long enough you will just come and pick me up. Plus going up is so much more fun than going down. He looked so cute trying to figure out how to get off the last step I just could not pass it up.

Upside down

Isabelle was up to her usual antics again yesterday. She some how figured out how to go head first into the exasaucer and believe it or not she could even get herself out again. I just thought that I was pretty funny. She was down in there yelling for Daddy to come get her out. Which of course did not happen as Daddy was at work. Oh well she figured it and managed to escape just to do it all over again.

The Lotion

Here is another good reason not to let your potty-trained two year old go to the bathroom alone, no matter how much she protests. Isabelle went up stairs to use the potty and I was waiting for her to come back down, when I noticed that it was rather quite. So I decided I better go check to see if she was filling up the toilet with paper, unloading the towels from the cabinet or who knows what else. Upon enter the bathroom I find sitting on the counter covered in lotion. The new lotion I am using has pump tops that she can easily use. And since she wants to do everything like Mommy she was busy putting on the lotion. Only she was not using just enough to cover her little body, but as much as she could possibly pump out before she managed to pop the top off. Here she is in all her lotion glory, needless to say she had a quick bath all before dinner. The orange bottle is the culprit, or maybe that should be Isabelle, who knows?

Gym Kid

Isabelle loves gymnastics, and she did great. If you came into the room you would have thought she was in the class the entire time. She took to all the applications very well and had so much fun. The kids practiced on the balance beam, hanging from a bar, rolling over, and much, much more. We were there just to see if she would like it and she did. So we’ll be going back again for classes starting at the end of the month. I just hope that she won’t get bored with the class, since it is just once per week I don’t think that will happen.

Spring clean up??

Spring leave “clean up,” or maybe pile up is a better term. Needless to say they are all still sitting on the ground in a great big pile, instead of being placed in the green waste basket. Oh well, that is sometimes what happens when men are in charge of cleaning. At least he thought to rake them up.

Just a quick note

I know it has been a long time since I last updated my blog but well we have all been sick in one way or another. Bear seemed to get better first, I personally thank mommy milk for that one. So here it is. But we are all better now, almost our usual selves.

Bear is already eight (8) months old, I can hardly believe it. He was so busy learning new skills during his seventh month I think he really only has a few more “baby” milestones to cross. Such as walking, talking and signing. I hope that we are getting closer on the signs, he is starting to wave which is a good sign, that he is learning to control his hands a little bit more. Any day now I am ready for him to start singing. I think he will be just like Isabelle, and ask to eat all the time. Oh well!

Isabelle is doing great. She has so many words and is really starting to string them together in sentences very well. I can hardly believe it. She is amazing. We are going today to try out a gymnastics class to see what she thinks. If she likes it we will sign her up, which will be a nice way for her to exert some extra energy on someone else other than mom. Ben is going to go with us, since it is a parent participation class as well. That way I can sit with Bear. So it should be lots of fun. I’ll try to take some pictures since she is sure to have a great time.

Standing Man

This month is a busy one for Barrett, not only has he learned to climb up the stairs he has also started to crawl, and pull up. He still does his army crawl, but I’m sure that once he figures out that he can go faster by using his knees and hands, he will be off. On his pulling up, I went to get him after he woke up from his nap, he had stood up in his crib and was looking out, over the edge and was so proud of himself. He had the biggest smile on his face, just looked so happy.

I can hardly believe how fast he is growing up. Before we know it he will be walking. He already tries, when you hold on to his hands, he just needs to work on his balance and he will have it down. I’m sure I’ll be back in a few months talking about how he is walking all over the place. That way he can keep up with his big sister even better.

Stairs Oh My . . .

This just in, Barrett is a stair climbing boy! That’s right folks Bear has made his way up the first step. He really wants to be able to move all over the house and into the next room. The kitchen, included! I caught him in the act as he was starting to come back down. Wow he is growing up so fast.

The Snowman

It has once again snowed in the Salt Lake Valley, but this time the snow was wet instead of dry, so it becomes the perfect consistency to make snowballs or even snowmen. Ben came home early from work and took the kids outside, while I cleaned the house, and made a snowman. First off of course they had to sled down out little hill in the back yard, which Isabelle just loves. I even saw Bear go down by himself. He tried to roll out of the tube on his own. I do not think he made it.

Anyway, after all their sledding fun, they made a wonderful snowman. Isabelle’s first! She had so much fun outside playing in the snow and making her snowman that I think she really did not want to come inside. Our snowman even had a belly button, compliments of Isabelle.

Ben said that Bear enjoyed the snow as well so long as Isabelle was not pushing him face down into it, which of course she did at least three times. She thought that it was fun being face down so, wouldn’t Bear think it was fun too. I just don’t think so. She also made snow angels, and tried to sweep up the snow while she played outside. At least it kept her busy while I was trying to clean the house.

Hopefully before it turns warm again and we make our slow decent into spring, we will get some more snow for her to play in. I think the prospect of more snow looks good!

Doodlebops

One of my friend’s Husbands works for Pepsi and so he can get tickets to all sorts of shows the come to the valley. So yesterday we went to see the Doodlebops. Now I had never seen the Doodlebops before but thought hey free tickets why not. Well needless to say Isabelle had fun. She really enjoys music and dancing, but I don’t think we will seek out the Doodlebops on tv.

The Bike

We finally got Isabelle a bike helmet so that she could “ride” her run bike. She really enjoys it. I’m sure in the Spring we will be outside on the bike a lot. Now I just have to figure out how to keep her close. She likes to explore, and thinks that she can just go.

Will you be my valentine?

I said that I was going to do better but that so far has not seemed to work for me. Although in my defense I was having internet issues and so I could not update my blog for a couple of days because of that. Either way, on to much more exciting topics than my crazy life. . .

Isabelle and Barrett and a very busy Valentine week filled with fun and parties. MOM’s club had a group party and then we had a party with just our playgroup since our day actually falls on Valentine’s Day. It was tons of fun. Isabelle made cards for all her little friends and then she passed out play dough to her club friends. In my opinion that is the best V-day gift we could have gotten. After all who has time or wants their kids to eat all that candy anyway.

I made them the cutest little outfits for the day, and I got tons of great compliments on them. Ben was afraid that Bear’s outfit was too “girly” but he looked just cute enough. Susie was in for the week so the kids got a chance to spend some good time with her.

Month Seven "7"

Barrett is seven months old today! How very exciting, he is getting big so fast and is learning so much. It makes you question where the time goes. So to celebrate his seventh month Barrett is getting his first teeth. That’s right teeth, two at this time. He seems to be dealing with just great, at least when he is close to home and Mommy. Mommy just has the right touch to make everything better. He is pretty amazing. I’m sure in no time at all he will be walking, he watches Isabelle move around the house and just looks like he wants to try that. I think I can wait for that one, since he is moving around so well right now on his belly.

With the advent of his new teeth, Bear has decided that sleeping through the night is not a good plan, and that it is better to wake mom up. We’ll see how long that lasts for. Mom was getting used to not waking up in the wee hours of the morning. I do think he will quickly adjust back to normal and we will all be getting some good sleep. At least now Bear is on the downward slide to the Big One. I think it will be here before we know it. I’m sure it will be a lot on fun along the way. Until then I’m sure the months ahead will have many new and exciting experiences to wait us.

Card Making

We made Valentine cards for friends and family recently. Most of the family who Isabelle picked out have received their cards but we had to make a few more for her playgroup. Since our play date falls on Valentine’s Day we are going to have a little party and exchange cards. It should be tons of fun. She gets to have three parties. Not that she really knows what is going on, but it should be pretty fun for her.

Barrett is doing well, he had an ugly rash all over his little body recently but it seems to have cleared almost all the way up. He still has it on his face a little and they asked me about it today at the gym. Who knows we are hoping it was just an allergic reaction to something and not a virus. Since the Benadryl seems to be working I think he has an allergy to something, but don’t know what yet. Not very fun.

MMO First Day

On Monday, Isabelle went for her first day at a Mom’s Morning Out program. I called it school for her so if she does go to school she won’t freak out. In reality that would never happen because she hardly ever notices when I’m gone anyway. She had tons of fun and I think will really enjoy it. Mostly it is just free play, a craft and snack time. Not too much learning other than how to share. She can be a little possessive!

The Cake

This year I currently stink at blogging, I plan to turn a new leaf after today. So here it goes. Isabelle made her dad’s birthday cake and had a ton of fun helping out. She was great, I think she most liked to lick the beaters. But who knows, she kept trying to pick at the icing once the cake was all done.

Firehouse

We took a tour of a local firehouse yesterday with my Mom’s club and it was so much fun. Isabelle really enjoyed getting a chance to climb up into the trucks and see what the inside was like. She sat in the front seat and was “driving” while a nice fireman held Bear so that I could get a quick picture.

I think that all the kids had a ton of fun and so did the Moms. Some of the older kids really got a kick out of seeing the fireman get all dressed up and ready to fight a fire. We learned all about fire safety at home and what the firemen do to help people who are in need. Hopefully we will never need their help, but it is nice to know that they are close by to help if need be.

Girl Scout Cookies

Ben is a super “Girl Scout,” he sold 64 boxes of GS cookies his first day on the job. Way to go Ben! As a favor to a family friend, Ben took a cookie sheet up to work to ask his people to buy cookies. I told him his goal was 100 boxes, he’s almost there, hee, hee. I think he still has a few more people to ask so I’m sure he’ll meet “his” goal.

Saturday night it snowed while we were all sleeping, which is nice, because hopefully the next day you can drive places. After naps in the afternoon and before dinner on Sunday we took the kids to a near by hill and went sledding. It was so much fun! Isabelle really got into it once some other kids came to sled as well. Ben was not sure who had more fun me or her. Barrett even went down with Mom and Dad, and loved every minute of it. We just need to work on Isabelle being able to carry the sled up the hill by herself. Along with finding a pair of gloves that will stay on her little hands so they don’t get cold.

Right now we just try to keep her hands out of the snow so that they stay warmer longer. So Ben suggests that she put her hands in her coat pockets to help keep them warm. Great in theory, but not so good when you are trying to walk up the side of a hill. As a two year old that is a pretty big challenge. She made up eventually and loved sledding every minute. She even went down the hill lying on our backs as we went head first on our tummies.

Isabelle was even brave enough, ha, to go down on her tummy as well. This kid is afraid of nothing. Then we came home to enjoy a nice warm cup of hot chocolate. Isabelle as for it almost everyday, thank you Ben. I try to give it as a special treat but sometimes Daddy has other plans.

On the Barrett front, he is doing great, eating solid foods once a day and he is army crawling. He has really figured out how to move forward since Saturday. I can hardly believe it. Just earlier today I saw him up on his knees, and really thinking about what to do next. I’m sure it will be no time and this kid will be moving all over the place. Baby gates here we come!

Snow, Snow, Snow

Our first “real” snow! What fun? I have not quite decided yet if I like the snow or not time will tell. But Isabelle seemed to like it. She figured out right away that she needed to stick her tongue out to taste the snow and have the snow flakes fall directly on her tongue to melt. Barrett even liked the snow, until he fell over and Isabelle was throwing snow in his face. Her first snow angel was on the patio and she was not too sure about the snow falling on her face while she was lying down. So I think we will have to try it again later when it is not snowing. When Dad gets home he’ll have to show Isabelle how to go down her little hill on her tube. I think she will really get a kick out of that one.

The jury is still out as to whether or not I will like the snow. I guess so long as none of these crazy Utah drives hits my car while we are driving around I think we will be ok. I don’t know how adventurous I will be while it is snowing. We may just have to come up with lots of inside at home activities for the kids to do. But I bet eventually we will have to leave while it is snowing because you can only have fun in the house for so long before everyone tires of it. So to those of you in warmer weather, here are some winter greetings. And to those of you in winter weather, when does this stuff end?

Happy New Year!

What an amazing trip! The kids and I spent over six weeks in Texas and boy was it tons of fun. Here is the update of the things we did between the last post and now. . .

Isabelle turned 2! What an amazing day we had on December 24 for Isabelle’s birthday. She had an ice cream cake, presents and her favorite meal chicken spaghetti. She just loves the noodles. . .

On the 25th we celebrated Christmas, with the family. Grandparents, great-grandparents, kids and parents, were all in attendance. The kids made out pretty good, and so did Ben and I. I think that everyone was pretty happy with the gifts they were given and received. Best of all of course was the food and company . . .

From there we picked up Adam and had a wonderful three days with him. Everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed each other’s company a ton . . .

After waiting on the weather and visiting with family we made our slow trek home. It took us the better part of two days but it was still a good drive. We stopped at the four corners on the way home and everyone had a chance to stand in four states at once. How cool is that. I think that I was the only one overly excited about the stop but hey you only get to live once.

Now we are back in Utah, doing the same old stuff. Not really since when we got home I had to clean, put things away and unpack. Being gone for so long wears you out once you get home. Who would have thought! Anyway, our trip was good and we are all glad to be home once again together as a family.

Almost time . . .

As Christmas draws near we are getting very excited down here. Ben will be on his way to Texas soon and then we will all be together again. Isabelle will be two in less than a week and our time in the Lone Star state will be drawing to a close. But who could have asked for a better trip! So far we have really enjoyed our stay.

We went to the zoo the other day to check out all the animals on display. Oh what a sight it was and how much fun to see Isabelle and the animals at the zoo. They all seemed drawn to her and would come right up to the window to see her.

Then just last night we drove through a live Nativity scene. It was great to see all the people dressed up and playing the part of those back in the time when Christ was born. The sights, sounds and smells took you away from 2006 if just for a moment. The people were dressed for the part and there were animals around to make it all complete. Dancers, singers, music and incense helped to complete our drive-thru journey in the night to see Christ born into the world again.

So much where to start . . .

As usual our family Thanksgiving time in Sulphur Springs went by too fast. Everyone was here and gone before you know it. Even though it went by fast we are still very happy that we got the chance to see everyone and spend a little bit of time together. It had been a while since we had all been together. What fun it all is!

Barrett was baptized while we were up in Sulphur Springs. It was a very happy and exciting event for all of us. He did pretty good, and the mass was great. Family and friends helped us to celebrate his joining of the church and welcomed him into the church family. Overall it was a great day.

In all this time we have done and see so much. Let me see where to start; fishing, Christmas, golf, Ice, Gruene, and so much more. Now we are down south for the remainder of our Texas stay and hope to do as much each and everyday.

So watch out world here we come!

Texas Howdy!

Hello from Texas! That’s right we finally made it back “home.” Ben and I are pretty excited to be here and can hardly wait until the rest of the family arrives. Ben will be spending the week here with us in Sulphur Springs, then he will be back in Salt Lake for an exciting month of working. Then he will be on his way back again to San Antonio for Christmas.

The kids and I will be spending the whole time in Texas between the two holidays. We figured that would be easier on the kids than flying back and forth multiple times. So here we are. If you are close and what to stop by or get together just give me a quick ring and we will hook up.

So far our visit is going very well. Isabelle is enjoying her time with Grandma and Poppa. She has played golf, swung, and played in the sand. She is really enjoying her stay in Texas. We even taught her how to say Texas and answer that when asked where Poppa lives. She is too cute!

Barrett is just along for the ride but definitely loves all the attention he gets. I think he will really like it once his other baby cousin arrives and they get a chance to play. They should be pretty cute together.

I hope that everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving and enjoys all the good food. Happy Turkey Day!

Tundra Swans

It is such a joy to see our children’s faces light up when they do something by themselves or see something that they like. So on Saturday we went up to Bingham City to take a look at the Tundra Swan. Isabelle just loves birds, or all animals for that matter. I figured that she would enjoy seeing the swans and other birds at the refuge.

We took a two hour car tour of the refuge to check out our winged friends. At one point it was a bit of a struggle as Isabelle was ready to see something different but since it was a tour, we had to wait in line. Now we did not go prepared to see the birds, and what I mean is that I did not have any binoculars to see the birds with. For some reason I thought that they would be much closer and we could see them just fine. I think this is the first time since I have had my telephoto lens that I have been disappointed in it.

Either way we did get a chance to see a few birds but nothing up close to where we could identify what they were. Barrett just went along for the ride, and had a good time moving about the car. But I think he would have liked it to have been a little more fast paced. Oh well! At least Isabelle had some fun, and got a chance to check out some new birds. After all we are not “birders.”

Random thoughts

Well that test worked out well now I guess I can move on to more important things in life. Which really is not much, except that we think so. Nothing really new to report. Last weekend we went to Idaho and taught Isabelle how to say Pocatello. It is the cutest thing, she picks up on words so fast. Last week we did not do very much stuff at all. I did a test run of trick or treating with Isabelle at a nursing home and she soon figured out that people were giving her candy and loved it. Then we had a Halloween party for Mom's club which was wild. Thirty kids running around carzy hipped up on sugar. Sounds like a ton of fun. And this weekend nothing very exciting. The fall soccer season is over, so now I have to wait until spring for the fun to begin. I wonder if it will be cold then?

Test

Ok so I am just checking to see if this will post. I have been getting an error message that I have not found out what it means. Very frustrating when that happens. Oh well, I had interesting things to say but I guess it really does not matter.

Idaho Falls

Just for kicks last weekend we drove up to Idaho, let me tell you it is pretty easy to leave a state when you are so close to others. Texas it can take hours to leave the state depending on where you are located. Anyway, we sort of did a test drive to see how the kids, manly Barrett would do on a long drive. I think we will do great. Barrett did wonderful; he just got a little tired of being in the car later in the day. But overall he did great.

The drive to Texas was a concern for me early on in Barrett’s life, because he did not like being in the car. He would scream for the entire ride but now it looks like he will do great. I can hardly wait to leave for Texas. But I am not necessarily very excited about the drive. Oh well, it will be easier at least while we are in Texas to have a car.

Isabelle as always does great in the car, but we will have to get some stuff to keep her occupied. I think some crayons, paper and books will do her very well.

Now back to our trip to Idaho. Ben came up from taking a shower and said lets go to Idaho. I did not really have anything better to do so I said yes, that sounds great. We did not really have a plan, we just drove. We went up to Idaho Falls. Now there are two falls at least in Idaho, Twin falls and Idaho falls. One is supposed to be taller than Niagara Falls, but unfortunately that is not where we went. I told Ben I had better see some water coming over rocks before we leave Idaho. And we did. Idaho Falls is small but still pretty. The city uses their falls to supply the city with energy. There were a ton of birds, which Isabelle just loved. Overall it was pretty interesting, fun drive.

Happy Fall

I think that fall is my favorite season! The colors are just beautiful, the weather is cooling down, and it you can take the chance to slow down and to get ready for the holiday season. One of my new favorite fall activities is to visit the pumpkin patch with the kids. Now that Isabelle is older, she is really starting to enjoy the pumpkin patch and get into it a little bit more. This year we first visited a local nursery that has a huge pumpkin display where the kids can explore and go on a treasure hunt. She might not understand the treasure hunt premise but she has a lot of fun running around and doing kid stuff.

Barrett of course just goes along for the ride. He enjoys it most when Mom does not have his face in the sun. I have to be careful of that; his little eyes are sensitive just like his Dad’s. He did very well when I put him down to take pumpkin pictures. There was one pumpkin there that was huge. It was so much bigger than he was. I just had to put him down to see how he measured up.

Let’s see there was a hay bale maze that the kids could go through. Isabelle always got stuck in the same spot. I went through it with her one time to show her how but she still managed to get stuck in the same spot when she went through it again. It was too cute! She was a pretty big sport about it. She picked out a couple of little pumpkins to help decorate our steps to the front door and then one big pumpkin to carve out. We’ll be doing that later on this weekend; it should prove to be very interesting. I think that Isabelle will really enjoy pulling out the seeds.

I hope that you are all enjoying your fall season as much as we are

Petting Zoo

Last Friday we went to the petting zoo where Isabelle had a chance to ride a pony, pet the animals and play with her friends. It was so much fun. The little area where we visited is all decorated up for Halloween and they have witches all over the place that move or are themed in some way. But the petting zoo was probably the best for Isabelle. She just loves animals, we had to wait for our friends to all get there and she just kept asking to ride the pony and go inside. It was too cute!

The Onesie

Before I got married my friend Paige gave me a wedding shower for all of my college friends. Well one of my guy friends thought it would be clever to give me for a wedding present a cute onesie and rattle for all my future children to wear. So in honor of Rob Sinclair, I have dressed each of my two children thus far in said onesie. Here are a few pictures of Barrett in the onesie and of Isabelle because she hardly ever shies away from a camera.

What a day

What a busy weekend. Ben had family day at work, I called a couple of soccer and we had a picnic with my moms club. But overall it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time. Isabelle got a chance to ride around in a fork lift and a truck. Barrett “drove” the truck, he was too cute. Don’t worry I don’t think this is their career path just for fun, and it is always nice to see where Dad works.

I think that everyone who made it to Family Day had a really good time. One gentleman brought his whole family, minus a couple of his kids. He was the coolest grandpa that day. The younger kids had a great time watching their parents on the forklift obstacle course, and seeing the boss get dunked in the dunk tank. That’s right it was the talk of the day. Ben was put into the water three times in a row by the same person. Someone was really taking out their frustration! The turnout was good and the concept was a good one. I think that next year Ben’s Family Day will be even better.

Our Mom’s club family picnic was great. We had a chance to show off our better halves and meet those of our friends. Plus it was a great way to get to know the other members, especially the newer ones. Usually we just hang out with each other so it is nice to see that a husband is around as well. Plus all of the kids had a great time together playing and eating. Overall we had a great weekend and a very busy Saturday.