Siblings

Aren't siblings the best? 

I love all of my siblings blood and in-laws! I can't imagine what my life would be like without all of them!

Siblings are always there for you and always will be! 

I remember my parents always telling us, when we were fighting, that we were going to be my best friends one day! 

They were right! My siblings are definitely my best friends!  

And best of all you know, despite the rest of the world, they "get you"! 

In the short 4 1/2 months that Kyler has been here Emeri and Kyler have become great friends! 

Emeri always wants to wake up Kyler from his naps to play! 

And sometimes she does despite my best efforts to keep her from doing so!

Kyler can't look at Emeri without smiling! 

He loves her so much!

 He's also very patient with her and all the "helping out" she does! 

She always wants to hold him, feed him, change is diaper etc.! 

I love watching how silly they are with each other and their friendship grow! 

And yes Kyler is almost as big as Emeri! 

Draw and Paint

My Dad and Kris have an art studio in Murray and we love going there and spending time with them!

(Mesa Art Studio)

And when we go Emeri's not the only one that gets to do art! My Dad and Kris also help out with the kiddos so I can paint!

 I LOVE IT! 

Especially painting with watercolors! 

It's so relaxing! 

I love going there, but I'm pretty sure Emeri loves it even more than I do! 

She loves going to "draw and paint with gampa" and will talk about it for days afterwards! 

Her tongue is out in this picture! She's concentrating very hard! 

And of course when she paints she not only paints her paper, but she paints herself as well!

Here are some of her latest art pieces! 

We are overflowing with artwork at our house! 

It's hanging in her room, on the fridge, and on the front door! 

But I wouldn't want to decorate with anything else! : )  

Here's my latest painting! I can't wait until we can find time to go down again so I can start another one! : )  

If you are interested in Art lessons contact my Dad and Kris by clicking here!

They do an amazing job!

Glass Flowers

For Christmas this year Alex and Matt (my sister and brother-in-law) gave Braeden and I a certificate that said:

GIFT CERTIFICATE

This certificate entitles you to a double date activity that you are sure to remember. 

*Valid Saturday afternoons now through June.

*Must be a child free time and date scheduled in advance.

*Promised to be fun, unique and memorable.

We had no idea what the date was going to be, but knowing my sister if she said it was going to be fun, unique and memorable than that's just what it's going to be!

We finally found a time earlier this month when neither of our kids were sick, husbands weren't working, and babysitters were available! 

 I was excited because, one I love hanging out with my sister without kiddos it very rarely happens that we can be together and not be distracted, two I love going on dates with Braeden, three I like surprises, and four I knew it was going to fun! (five Matt I like hanging out with you too!) : ) 

We followed my sister knowing it was at Thanksgiving point, but not knowing what we were doing and pulled up here!

Holdman Studios!

I now knew it had to do something with art and I got really excited when I saw glass blowing!

When we got out of the car Alex told us we would be making glass flowers!

How cool is that? And how cool is my sister for taking us on this super fun date? 

LOVE HER!

We had a minute before we started so we got to walk around the gallery where there were some really cool glass pieces! (I want to remember this because it was hilarious so I'm going to include it) While we were walking around Matt almost tipped over a whole shelf full of glass pieces! (It makes me laugh just thinking about it!) hahahaha! Thankfully nothing fell off or broke! : ) 

They also do all the stained glass windows for all the Temples here and you can walk around the studio and see all the different pieces they are working on! 

It was pretty cool! 

When it was our time to make the flowers they showed us how to make one and than we were on!

Alex went first!

Then Matt.

Then Braeden

And I was last because I could not decide what colors to do! : ) 

It didn't take long! It was a really fast process! The glass cooled really fast so we had to be quick! And boy was it HOT! 

After we were done they immediately went and put them in an oven so they cooled slowly and didn't break! That was the worst part because you couldn't tell what it was going to look like while it was hot! The colors don't really show up until it cools and you have to leave it there over night! : ( You pretty much dream up this flower, make it, and leave without seeing it! Not cool! : ) I was so excited to see the finished products that I dreamt about them! : ) (Pathetic I know)

Luckily you don't have to wait at least 24 hours to see them!

Here are our finished flowers!

Alex's

Matt's

Braeden's

(The top color is more a lime green not yellow! It didn't picture well!)

And Jenni's

Pretty cool right? 

We think so! 

I'm not sure what we are going to do with them? 

But one day when I have a house to decorate I know I can find a place to display them! : ) 

If you ever get a change to go to Holdman Studio or if you're just at Thanksgiving Point  you should stop by and just look around! It's really neat to see all the stuff they have there and the stained glass window studio! 

Thanks Alex and Matt for the fun, unique, and memorable date!

And thank you Taya and Dave for watching the kiddos!

When Daddy Comes Home

Braeden is Emeri's favorite person on this planet! 

She is definitely a Daddy's girl! 

She loves him so much and prefers him over anyone else including me! : ) 

And I completely understand! I am a Daddy's girl myself! 

• Anytime we are heading home from running errands or whatever she always asks if Daddy will be home!
• Today when we here leaving the grocery store she said she was hungry so I told her we would go home and have lunch and she asked if we could go have lunch with Daddy at work instead! 
• He's the only person she bits! : ) She know she can go all out and beat up Daddy and he loves it! 
• In the mornings when she wakes up she asks if Daddy is home or if he is at work!
• She loves playing with him every second she can! 
• Daddy has the special touch when it comes to calming her down! (most the time sometimes she's just out of control!) 
• I don't know what it is, but she listens to him way better than me! 

These are just a few of the cute things she does when it come to her Daddy! 

I love watching them play and I love that they have such a great relationship! 

This girl is lucky to have such an awesome Daddy! 

And Braeden is lucky to have such an awesome Emeri! : ) 

(I had to include this picture too! Check out this hair from the back!)

All About Ky!

Kyler had his 4 month check up on Monday! 

He is now weighing in at 16 pounds 1 ounce

He is 26.5 inches long

And has a head circumference of 17 inches

Instead of being off the chart completely for his weight he is now in the 80th percentile! 

He has gained exactly 1 pound in the last 2 months!

He is now in the 90th percentile for his height and at his 2 month check up he was only in the 75th!

He is still a very big boy but he is thinning out which kind of makes me sad! 

I love my chunky chunky monkey! 

Now I just have a chunky monkey!

Thank goodness his cheeks aren't going any where soon!

This Boy gives the best smiles!

At the appointment Emeri was being the best big sister! 

Anytime Kyler cried she would tell him that it was going to be ok! 

And when he got his shots she sat next to him on the table, held his hand, and told him that it was only going to hurt a little bit! 

It was the cutest thing ever!

I wish I got some pictures, but I didn't have enough hands!

She is the best big sister! 

Kyler just adores her! 

This is his "really mom!" look!

We did get some more news at the doctor that makes things a bit more difficult!

The doctor now thinks Kyler has a soy allergy to go along with his milk allergy! 

30% of kids that have a milk allergy also develop a soy allergy! 

Thankfully most kids grow out of it, but for now it restricts my diet even more! 

It's not forever so I think I can handle it! : ) 

Other than that he is as healthy as they come! 

Just a collage of some of his silly faces!

 Enjoy!

The bottom left is my favorite! : ) 

Kyler and I get our snuggles on every morning when Braeden gets up and goes to work!

I love waking up to this cute face every morning! 

Kyler always has his hand in his mouth chewing on it!

It's is second favorite thing to chew on Braeden's shoulder being number one!

He can soak through a hoodie and shirt in no time! 

Kyler hasn't rolled over yet! 

I think by now most kiddos are to that point!

I know Emeri was!

Definitely not worried about it! : ) 

But I think he hasn't yet for two reasons!

One being the fact that he's chubby and it's kind of hard to move!

And two being that we don't put him down as much as we did Emeri because we have Emeri and we have to protect him from his very loving smothering sister! 

: )

Giving mom smiles during tummy time!

I'm in love with this little boy more that I ever thought I could be! 

I'm so grateful for healthy kiddos! : ) 

32 Degrees

We took advantage of the 32 degree weather and blue skies last week and went on a walk! 

It was a really nice day for a walk if you had a jacket on! : ) 

Look at all that snow!

I'm not sure what is going on in this picture, but it makes me laugh! 

 Kyler just snoozed the whole time!

Emeri finally decided she would pose for a picture! Hahaha

Get in My Mouth

It's amazing to watch this little guys mind work!

I love to watch him try to figure things out and solve problems already like trying to get his bikny in his mouth! 

How in...

the world...

do I get this...

IN MY MOUTH? : ) 

hahaha! 

He has his 4 month check up on Monday!

I can't believe he is 4 month old already!

I'm excited to see how this boy is growing! 

ZONKED

Emeri has made the transition into NO NAPS (please cry a tear here for me)! Nap time just turned into a huge fight all of a sudden and even when she didn't fight it she just played in her crib and never napped anyway! She even got to the point where when she woke up in the morning she would tell me, "All done with bed no naps!" So I just decided instead of fighting her for 2 hours in the middle of the day every day and getting no where we could try this whole no nap thing! 

(It did take awhile to finally give in because as every parent knows nap time is sacred!)

Surprisingly it hasn't been too bad! She does tend to be quite grumpy towards the end of the day because she is so tired, but that just makes bed time even easier!

 The only bad thing is car rides! 

If we get in the car for any amount of time past one (one being her old nap time) she falls asleep in less than 5 minutes! 

When she falls asleep she is out cold or as we like to call it ZONKED! 

There is nothing you can do to this girl to wake her up and it's quite hilarious! 

Emeri exhausted after church with nursery coloring in hand! 

We Know How to Make Messes

Staying entertained and avoiding cabin fever when the air outside makes you sick (this smog is gross) is kind of hard sometimes especially when your apartment is 7 square feet!

 (ok it's not that bad, but it can feel like it!) 

To keep things interesting we have been doing sensory activities aka making BIG messes!

Check it out!

Oobleck

(Cornstarch and water)

Emeri wasn't so sure at first, but once I got her dishes out so she could "cook" with it she had a grand time making a huge mess!

and a new one for me Fluffy Stuff it's kind of like Moon Sand

(Cornstarch and Shaving Cream)

Emeri had way too much fun with this one! She played in it for a good 2+ hours and could have played for several more, but I had to start clean up so I could make dinner! 

She was loving life!

It's cool because you can mold it and make fun stuff like this turtle!

and it's like playing with a cloud it's so soft!

Here's the final mess right before Emeri and I both hopped in the shower to rinse off because we were both covered from head to toe with this stuff!

Yes it took me forever to clean it up, but it was worth it! 

We had a good time playing together!

We have also played with water beads recently which Emeri enjoys throwing all over the house and watching them bounce in every direction and driving her dad crazy with them! : ) 

Emeri LOVES sensory activities and having permission to make huge messes! 

I've been trying to do one with her a couple times a month to get her away from the TV and to have some one-on-one time with her! 

 When I get the stuff out to play the first could times she gets in on the kitchen floor she looks at me like, is it ok if I make a mess or is mom going to tell me not to! Apparently I tell her often not to make messes! : ) 

And just so you know I find all my ideas on Pinterest!