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!"

RoLl OvEr

At 3 1/2 months old Evie has started rolling over! I cannot believe how big she is getting. She is such a chunk with rolls on those thighs of hers. Matt weighed her the other day and thought she was about 13 1/2 lbs! I think we might have another Kash on our hands:) She is still such a good sleeper, usually only waking up once. This past week however she has been sick and is up all night with the saddest cough you've ever heard. It has really made me grateful that she has slept so well so far. It is fun to see her personality start to show, she is generally a happy baby and loves to be talked to and will talk back making the cutest sounds. She always has a big smile for me when I get her out of her crib and I love when I catch her staring at me with a big grin! She definitely has a temper, she can be happy one minute and the next she will give a high pitched scream and suddenly be mad or offended for some reason! It always makes us laugh. She is especially ticked off if you wipe her nose or face. Ella and Kash are really cute with her and I will often find Ella right in her face talking to her in a very exaggerated voice, sounding just like I do. We love her so much and are so happy to have her in our little family.

We are adjusting to life with three kids, it is pretty normal for us now. EXCEPT like the other day when I tried to take all three of them to the store. For some reason Evie was screaming hysterically so I was trying to hold her and push the cart and yell at the other kids to follow me. Ella was throwing a tantrum because I wouldn't buy her something, and after I checked out I noticed Kash with a giant bag of candy that he ripped open and was eating. So then I had to get back in line and buy the candy with the whole store looking at me and my poor neighbor with her well behaved children trying to help! By the time I got to the car I was sweating and crying and yelling! It was my fault that I took them to a store that I couldn't fit all three of them in the small cart. So we generally stay home to avoid these kinds of disasters.

Hot Tub

Oh how we love our hot tub! We have gotten in it almost every night this week, it is so fun. We've enjoyed it with lots of different friends, just the kids, and just Matt and I. There is something about running outside in the freezing cold to jump into that nice hot water. Ella and Kash are obsessed with it and are always asking if they can get in. I don't know how many times I've said things like, "You better finish your dinner if you want to get in the jacuzzi!" It has been great for bribing;)

Muddin'

Matt took Cody to do a little off-roading and with all of the rain we had it was a little on the muddy side....When they got back they started honking and telling the kids and I to come outside and take a look. The jeep and the boys were completely covered!





It was seriously freezing cold and I felt so bad for them because once they got back they took the jeep to the self serve car wash and spent forever cleaning it up. They were cold, wet, and muddy but somehow they said they still had fun!

On second thought...

I started to attempt making my blog book but after a few minutes I got frustrated and quit! Everyone says it is so easy but I guess I am a little slow when it comes to this kind of thing. I also realized that I have already scrap booked most of 2010, up until November. So I really don't need another book, I think it will be best to start in 2011. (Maybe by then I will figure out how to use Blurb:)) So here is a great New Years Resolution: Be a faithful blogger so at the end of the year I will have a detailed scrap book for my family!

Post Overload!

Below are my last 6 posts of 2010! I wanted to get it all finished up because I am wanting to ditch my scrap booking and start printing blog books. I have never done it before and think I am going to use Blurb? I want something EASY, CHEAP, and where you can SEE the pictures. So if anyone knows anything at all about this please fill me in! Thanks.

The Friends

Every year my girlfriends from high school try to get together for a little Christmas Party. It is always so much fun and is sometimes one of the only times we see each other all year. It is a great tradition and I hope we keep it going. This year it was held at my house and we did a simple pot luck. It is great because we don't even need any entertainment-we just eat and chat all night! Last year husbands and children were invited and I think we learned from our mistake because this time it was just us girls! (They don't want to hear what we talk about anyways;))

Here is everyone minus Ashley who is taking the picture:

This year we had 3 pregnant, and 3 with new 2010 babies. Here is Kristen and Lacy showing off their baby bumps, and Megan is also expecting.

I think we need to try to get together more often, once a year just isn't enough.

Evie's Blessing Day

Evie Lyn was blessed the day after Christmas while all of our family was still in town. She wore Ella's beautiful blessing dress that my grandma made. It was a miracle that it even fit because Ella was blessed at just 3 weeks old, and was sickly skinny. Evie on the other hand was 3 months old and a total chunk! She had used a doll pattern and even then had to take it in by hand, still leaving it a bit big on her. So when I tried it on Evie I thought it was perfect until I tried to button up the back and it was too tight! So I simply unpicked the part where she had taken it in and it was the most perfect fit! My grandma said she thought it actually fit Evie better because it was just too much dress for little Ella! I would never think anything was "too much dress" I absolutely love this dress and Whitney has already asked to borrow it for her little girl that will be arriving in February. I think that it is special that all of our girls can share this.

Matt gave the sweetest blessing (he always does) and everything was just perfect. I was afraid she would cry through the whole thing because she had been a little upset the last couple of days. When the blessing began and I heard her start to cry I panicked. But apparently Papa stuck her binkie in and she never made a sound after that! I had so many people come up to me and comment on what a good job Matt did, and everyone wanted to know where I got her dress:)

Her great grandparents

More great grandparents

Trying to get a picture with the grandparents...

Nana and Papa with their granddaughters.

Papa with his little girls.

And at the end of a long day being held by her great grandma Tilton

I have to add this story so we don't forget it. During the entire Sacrament meeting Kash was asking if it was time to go. I think with all of our family there he wanted to go home and play! After the rest hymn he thought it was the closing song so when the last speaker got up he was ticked! It was kind of a long talk and Kash was getting fed up so he stands up, hands on the pew in front of him (we were sitting near the very front and center) and shouts, "SAY AMEN!" Yes, that is my son for you. How embarrassing. I don't think the entire congregation heard him just a few rows around us, and hopefully not the speaker!