Children's Valentines

The first week of February our neighborhood playgroup met in our clubhouse for a little Valentine's Party:-)

The picture is a little blurry: Belle is holding a half-eaten sucker and has three more waiting in her little pink purse:-)

Belle is so social and thrives with interaction from other children- she was trying to talk to these toddlers from the moment we walked through the door. She only seemed to mind a little that most for them couldn't or didn't respond:-) Belle is going to love pre-school this Fall; she asks about going to school constantly. She is very independent, curious, and generally happy...we are cut from the same mold.

She is turning into a little girl more everyday (except that she is not the least bit interested in using the potty- she prefers to help me change her diaper...whatever...we'll get there)

As a family we celebrated Valentine's Day on Monday night since Quinn was home from class... Quinn and I gave the kiddos some new books and they got a couple of toys (Thank You to everyone who remembered them this year!). We had a lot of fun and Belle immediately packed her new treasures into 'Backpack' and headed off to explore, Dora style:-) This girl has always had the BEST imagination- she has so much fun making up stories and going on 'adventures'.

Belle and Parker,

You two make me constantly try to be a better parent than I am. Thank you for being my labor of love; I wouldn't give up our lives together for all the world. Give Daddy a give kiss next time you see him and tell him thank you for giving us a life with so much time together.

Love, Mama

Parker 10 Months an First Hair Cut

This little guy is just awesome:-)

Update:

Parker started crawling randomly (no getting up on the knees and rocking, a very minimal amount of army crawling) when he was 8 months old, just before we moved.

He is a champion cruiser, and I coaxed him into taking his first step a couple of weeks, but he hasn't tried it again on his own yet, but I expect it anytime (he is sooo anxious to run after Belle!)

His teeth came in one right after the other very quickly and he had his front 8 just after he turned 9 months (no progress since and I've loved the break from teething).

He is significantly smaller than Belle was at this age; he is just above the middle of the statistical growth curves. He was just above 20 pounds at his 9 month check up and 12 month clothes are usually perfect or just a little small depending on the brand. Poor guy will fit in his rear-facing car seat for a while still (I know it's more face, but he sure hates it!)

Parker has been very into feeding himself for the past month- he literally turns up his nose at anything I offer him on a spoon unless he has a spoon and bowl of food of his own. He is actually great at feeding himself and not usually messy, so I am happy to let him have free reign of his tray and I eat my own food!

This kid is a climber! I ran down the hall to throw a load in the washer and left him in his room with his toys; I came back to find him trying to get in the toy basket! When he caught me taking pictures of him he gave me the guiltiest look and climbed down- my sweet boy.

He is pretty snuggly, but also very BOY- he loves to bang and throw everything!

He has a blankie his Nana gave him and a bear his Uncle Kurt gave him that he sleeps with, and he still nurses a bit just before he goes to bed.

Belle is his favorite person; he follows that girl everywhere which works out well because she's usually calling for him to follow her (he features big time in most of her games: Mr. McGregor in Peter Rabbit, Boots in Dora the Explorer, baby Simba in Lion King, etc.) For Belle it is a pretty conflicted relationship, she always wants to be with him but she does not want him to touch anything. She loves to snuggle him but her hugs inevitably turn into headlocks and her kisses become bites to frequently for my comfort. She is fabulous at taking care of him though: she helps change his diapers, puts his dirty clothes in the hamper, and wipes up his spills and spit-ups. It is really great:-)

Parker had his first haircut last month...the picture is of Belle because I has holding him during his turn and it only lasted about 20 seconds anyway (don't worry they still charged me 10 dollars for each of my babies...we will not be repeat customers)

You can check out his hairline before the cut in the above photo of him in his highchair and this is the best 'after' shot I could manage:-)

Little Bear is growing so fast and I am loving every minute: at the end of last month he started obviously calling me Mama, he 'sings along' with Belle and I, he loves to dance with me and alone to anything with a beat, he plays ring-around-the-roses with Belle and me, he loves rough-housing with his daddy.

Belle regularly calls him 'Parker Sunshine' and it melts my heart every time:-)

Being a mother of little babies has not been as easy for me emotionally as I thought it would be, so it's a good thing I have amazing children.

Popcorn, Cheese, and Apples!

My mom sent us a popcorn popper for Christmas this year and it continues to be a household favorite; there are daily requests for popcorn:-)

The first few times we used it the kiddos were pretty afraid of it until the popcorn started coming out...notice Belle hiding under Parker's chair.

The fear didn't last very long however...

Belle soon had bowls filled and served for all of us...she is actually extremely helpful these days:-)

Occasionally we decide to make a meal out of it...but only if we have a great Disney movie to watch while we munch (Gillespie Family Style;-)

Thank you, Nana, for the hours of fun and mayhem and the great memories during my childhood and my children's.

The Fun Has Arrived! In Lehi...

We Moved! Over the 2011 holidays we took advantage of Quinn's time off of work and moved from our beautiful Spanish Fork townhome to a condo farther north. With Jake and Lanie gone it was just too much house and rent for our little family, so we downsized and we're hoping to pay off a significant portion of our student loans this year!

The downside of the timing was that we really didn't celebrate the holidays this year: we spent Christmas packing in our empty townhouse void of family, decorations, and food; and then we spent New Year's unpacking in our condo under similar conditions. Thankfully our babies were too young to notice...we did buy a Nativity and teach Belle about Jesus' birth- she still pretends to be Mary on a regular basis when she rides her 'donkey' and rocks her baby:-)

Even though we didn't get to spend time with our families, they sent us plenty of presents and warm wishes...Thank you everyone for your support it meant a lot during a very gloomy couple of weeks.

The good news: our new place is wonderful! We are loving life in our one story condo (no stairs is a huge plus for our family's stage of life). We are in a great community with plenty of friends Belle's and Parker's ages, our Ward has been very inviting and they have plenty of activities that are right up our ally (like basketball and play groups).

We are happy in our new home, and we are VERY happy the move is done! Now we can get on with the important things in life like licking the bowl while we wait for our chocolate pudding to set:-)