Happy Birthday CHLOE #1!!!

Only 5 days after Clate's birthday we were celebrating Chloe's big #1! Now that I can't believe. This past year really has flown by SOOO fast. I'm not sure if it's the bald head or the fact that she's not even close to walking and isn't really saying anything, but she doesn't seem like a 1-year-old yet. I think it's just God's way of letting me enjoy the baby stage longer so I don't get any crazy desire to have another one any time soon...no worries there!
Her birthday kind of crept up on me. The week before was quite the crazy week, and at times I actually questioned myself if I had the right month..."She really was born in September, right? Not October?" But I was sure that it was right after Clate's birthday, so it had to be September. Of course, her birthday fell on Sunday, so come Sunday morning and I didn't have a cake or anything for her. AHHH...am I a bad mom? I was determined to have a cake for her, so I pulled out my cookbooks and did something I had never done before...made a cake from scratch! It actually turned out pretty good! I was proud of myself! Luckily, the night before I had run to the store to get a gift for her (come on, what does a 3rd child need when it comes to toys?), just so I could give her something...if for nothing more than to make me feel better. So, we enjoyed cake and presents with just the family and Grandma Dell who came in to help us celebrate!


The cake I made from scratch!!! Maybe I should go into business with this...NOT!

Chloe eating her cake...and loving it!

Chloe at 1:

• Like I said, she is not walking, just crawling...all over the place. She has started to pull herself up to things and today climbed the stairs by herself...scared me to death when I heard her talking at the top of the stairs. Yeah, she doesn't know how to go back down yet.
• She also is not saying much...no mama or dada, not even animal sounds. We gotta get working on this.
• She has 4 teeth; that's more than Clate or Halle had at 1 year.
• She loves to be tickled and has the cutest laugh.
• Still sleeps in the playroom in the pack-n-play; she sleeps better in her own room.
• Loves to snuggle, mostly with just mom...I'm not complaining.
• Enjoys playing by herself with her toys. She does this better than Clate or Halle.
• Prefers formula to cows milk, but must be weaned soon.
• Smiles and giggles at Clate and Halle at almost anything they do. Overall, she's a very happy 1-year-old.

I wasn't sure about how I felt about her coming into my world, but it all seems to make sense now and I know she was supposed to come when she did. She just fits so perfectly into our little family and I wouldn't change anything about it...even if I had it to do over again. Happy Birthday, CJ.

Happy Birthday CLATE #4!

Clate turned 4 on September 16. It seems like just yesterday I was holding him and crying because I couldn't believe he was here...and now look at him! I had a little party for him...it was crazy, but the kids had fun I think.
I had them make these blindfolds, then we played games that they could play blindfolded. 4-year-olds may have been too young of a group, but we made it through.
We read one of Clate's favorite birthday books, "Birthday Monsters" and then...
Present opening, of course. From his friends, he got a Batman figure, a soccer ball, the game "Go, Diego, Go!", a red spaceship, and a Lightening McQueen flashlight...all VERY cool gifts.
Clate chose to have rice crispy treats instead of the traditional birthday cake, so that's what we did! I think it was a good alternative.

Clate at age 4...

• He loves to ride his Razor scooter, his bike, and his tricycle still...he's pretty fast on all three, fast enough to scare me sometimes.
• Loves anything red, especially Lightening McQueen.
• Has learned that girls like pink things and boys like red and blue things.
• Loves preschool and runs in before I'm even out of the car to walk with him. After the first couple of days at school when I would ask him what they talked about that day, he would say, "Grasshoppers and praying mantises." I knew that wasn't what they had talked about, but he insisted. After a few times of answering that way, he started to giggle. He knew he was teasing and he thought it was pretty funny. Come to find out, Ms. Wendy showed them a praying mantis one time...but apparently that is all Clate can remember. I did finally get him to tell me that they had talked about trees one day.
• He loves to work outside, ride bikes, or play any kind of ball with dad when he gets home. Just being with dad doing anything is fun.
• He has become quite the big helper around the house and likes to sing the clean up song when its time to clean up.
• Loves pickles...he got a big jar of them for his birthday and was super excited about it!
• LOVES animals. Since we don't have any live animals in the house, Clate loves his plastic toy animals...and he has a ton of them. He picked out a frog from Michael's for his birthday and a little duck from Discovery Center. Then yesterday he asked if he could go back to Michael's and get the squid, "It was so funny and so cute," he said. "I've got to have it!"

We love Clate and are so proud of the little boy that he is becoming! Our family just wouldn't be the same without him...and the girls just love him! Happy Birthday, little man!

Some cute things...

I hate it when so much time passes and I don't update my blog. Then I don't know where to begin. "One entry at a time"...that's what i have to tell myself.

So, as I was refreshing my memory of things that have happened since my last post, I found some cute pictures that I thought I would share.

Here's Halle riding Clate's "cooter". It's her new favorite thing to do, and she's getting pretty good at it. Sometimes I wonder if her vertical motion is more than her horizontal...it's fun to watch her ride.

At the zoo they have this little old "house" that you can go in and see lots of antique things from different places. Clate had fun playing this drum, especially when Halle would dance to the beat, just as she was doing in this picture.

Playing in the rain! When the weather is nice, other than a little bit of rain, we have to put on the boots and raincoats and play in the rain. The kids love jumping in the puddles and making big splashes. Clate's teaching Halle all kinds of fun things these days!

Kendra...We are coming to NYC!!

Hey Kendra,
If you read this again, call me. I'm coming to NYC tomorrow (9/9) and if possible would love to see you! 801-660-8659 (that's my cell everyone..)!

If anyone else reads this and knows how to get in touch with Kendra...PLEASE let me know!
Mucho amor!!

Yeah, so Adam and I are headed to NYC for a little vacation sin hijos!! The kiddos are with grammie and pa for the week; we dropped them off this morning. I will miss them a bunch, but will enjoy my time away. I've never been to New York before, or anywhere in the northeast for that matter, so needless to say, I'm very excited. You will hear more when we return!

Uugh, more work?!?

So, yesterday we (me and the kids) had a really great day. We played, went on a walk, they took great naps, after Adam got home we went to dinner at Red Robbin, we came home and they went right to bed. After they were in bed, I got my work done, did some laundry, had a conversation with Adam and then went up to go to bed...only to find this...

The living room...

...and the play room.

Woops, with all the playing, I guess we forgot the cleaning up part. So, I got to spend the next half hour cleaning so I could sleep peacefully knowing that my house wasn't a total wreck.

Then, as I was picking up all the toys and putting our furniture back together...I had a moment of emotions where I was a little overwhelmed with love for my little kiddos. I LOVE spending every day with them, even if they drive me crazy sometimes. I feel so blessed and so fortunate that I get to stay home with them and enjoy them while they are young...these years already seem to be flying by. Speaking of which, Clate starts preschool tomorrow!! When did he grow up??? While I am very excited for him, it does help to put things into perspective a little. It is only 2 days a week for 2-1/2 hours and I think he is going to have so much fun. And I am looking forward to a little more girl time with the Halle and Chloe...I don't get much of that these days....and before I know it they will all be in school and I'll only have a few hours a day to spend with them. Heck, Halle will starts preschool next year...how crazy is that!

Anyway, I love my little bugs!