Don't want to forget...

Conversations with Mandy:

1)Mandy was holding Evie and she kept saying"Oh i love my baby" and the kids were saying "shes not your baby!" Then they started asking her where her baby was, and she told them that she didn't have a baby because she didn't have a husband, and you have to have a husband before you have a baby. So then of course they asked her where her husband was and she said she didn't have one. They asked, "Why?" She said, "Because no one will marry me." And sweet Kash replies, "I'll be your huband Manny, ill be your huband foreber!"



2)Sitting at the dinner table they once again got on the topic of Mandy not having a husband. (She is only 20 by the way, but still I think they were starting to give her a complex!)

Mandy: (slightly frustrated by this time) I don't know why I don't have a husband Ella.
Ella: (Thinks for a moment, looks at Mandy, then replies) I know why! Because Jesus didn't make you a husband!
Kash: (quickly chiming in) Its okay, ill be your huband manny.


A random Ella story:

For about a week Ella was no longer Ella. She insisted her name was Alicia and she was from Mexico. She would not respond to Ella, she would tell me that was not her name. It was funny because she would never forget, she would always correct me if I called her Ella. She would ring the doorbell and say, "Hello I'm Alicia from Mexico, can I stay with you for a while? When I picked her up from school one day her teacher said, "We sure missed Ella today." She explained to me that Ella had been Alicia all day at school! This girl doesn't quit! As we were leaving her teacher said, "Goodbye Alicia! Tell Ella I missed her and hope she comes back soon!" I made sure to write this story down because her teacher told me I'd better or I would forget. She said I was going to miss these kinds of things!

Dad is Back

Matt goes out of town for three weeks for work every year and is finally back! The kids absolutely adore him and I am so thankful that he is such a hands-on Dad. He loves to play with them, wrestle, build forts, read to them, chase them, etc. He is always doing such fun things with them and I on the other hand am just plain boring! So it didn't surprise me the first day he gets back I find them all in this fort.

I was a bit concerned for my light fixture but he assured me it was okay. And seriously why is my family always naked?

Valentine cookies

Aunt Gina had us over to make Valentine cookies. It was the usual fun mess that always occurs when we get our kids together and let them dig into the frosting, sprinkles, cookies, etc.







The best part was when I noticed little Emily with frosting on her fingers. I was thinking, hmm I didn't know Gina made that color of frosting....kind of brownish green? Not very Valentine-ish but.....Yikes! Gina! Come get your baby! lol hope she doesn't mind me sharing this...

Evie at 4 months

I swear I don't even take pictures anymore. It is really sad. I need to be better but I don't know if I see that happening any time soon. These are random pictures of Evie at around 4 months old....
This is what happens when you leave Cody alone with the baby....I found him pushing her around in this doll stroller! haha he is a good babysitter.

She absolutely LOVES her baths. She could stay in there all day. We have a nice routine in the morning, I put her in the bath and do the dishes and clean up the kitchen while she sits and plays. Don't call child services, I always have an eye on her and stay close to her I promise.

I hate that she is losing her hair! She has the biggest bald spot on the back of her head, it is so sad. Then the rest is thinning and lightening up so it looks almost bald! She is kind of in that old man looking stage, poor thing. Nothing that a big fat headband can't fix though!

As you can tell she is CHUBBY. The creases in her thighs are at least an inch deep! I love all of her rolls and chew on them daily. She is still such a good baby.

Our California Trip

The kids and I went to California for Whitney's baby shower at the end of January. I didn't take very many pictures of our trip but here are a few.

They love to climb up on Papa's lap and watch tv with him. I have so many pictures of them like this!

They decided they needed pillows and blankets to be extra comfy. I love Kash's arms behind his head.

Whitney's shower was beautiful and she really got so many great things! I wanted to take a lot of pics but Evie was fussy so this is all I got:(
Here she is opening gifts.

I think Mandy got a hold of my camera because the next two are 1) creepy picture of Nikki

and 2) glamor shot of the one and only, Mandy Craft

Papa loves to make his famous smoothies and here are Ella and Kash helping him out!

It worked out perfectly that we were in town for our cousin Ty's 5th birthday party. Ella and Ty are a bit obsessed with each other and although we can't get together very often, they act like the best of friends. It was funny because Ty Ty wouldn't do anything without Ella by his side. He wanted her to sit by him and share his candy with her and seemed to care less about his other friends! It was a dinosaur theme and this picture is of the kids digging for bones and fossils and other prizes.

Ella showing off her winnings.

They dyed dinosaur eggs.

Kash and Ella loved riding around on the four wheeler. I was surprised how good they were on it, I thought for sure they would run into the wall but they both knew how to work it without any help.

They also loved this merry-go-round that got going really really fast.

Mandy, Whitney, and Dobo

Nikki, Mandy and Evie

It was a fun trip and I was SO lucky to have Mandy drive back with me to help me with the kids. Matt was gone for 3 weeks and I never would have survived without her. I was nervous for him to leave me because it was the first time I had 3 kids by myself. It was actually the easiest year yet with Mandy here and it went by really fast! Poor Kash kept asking, "Is my dad gone forever?" We all missed him so much and are so happy to have him back. But I really am ready for Mandy to move in and be my full time nanny!

A cure for the hiccups

Ella has found a cure for the hiccups! The past few times she has had the hiccups she has done the following routine: She runs upstairs and gets her blanket, stuffed animals, and play food. Then she climbs under Evie's play gym and gets all set up. She grabs a couple of magazines and "reads and eats." She very matter-of-factly explains to me that this is how you get rid of hiccups.

The Bumbo

We have started putting Evie in the bumbo a little bit. She likes it for awhile but then I think she gets tired of holding her head up and wants out. She really likes sitting in it on the edge of the bath tub while I give Ella and Kash a bath. I think she likes being a part of the action!

3 months

Okay, I have been awful about taking pictures so far this year. These are of Evie at the 3 month mark. She is over 4 months now but I'm doing my best to catch up! Oh how we love this little girl.

The "new thing"

I asked Matt to change Evie's diaper and she came back looking like this:
He said, "It's the new thing!"