April Adventures

In March we waited and waited for good weather so we could go outside and have some fun. Finally, on April Fools Day it wasn't a joke that it was super nice outside! We decided to load up the kids and take them to a park. Hoyt enjoyed being in the stroller.

Lexie loves the park, especially slides! She enjoyed going down all of the different slides and running around with the other kids. She really likes to be outside so we are hoping for lots more nice weather!

After going to the park we decided to grab dinner at Firehouse Subs. Here are my two cute fire fighters.

Speaking of fire fighters, one day we decided to go get ice cream at Baskin Robins because they had .33 cent ice cream cones. The fire department was there and Lexie got to meet some real fire fighters, look at their cool firetruck, and even sit in the truck to get her picture taken. She was excited because she loves big trucks!

During the priesthood session of conference, my awesome friend Julie came to visit me! I haven't seen Julie for several years and hadn't ever seen her little girl except in pictures. It was so much fun to visit and catch up. She was one of my best college friends that I met when we both worked at the SUU Bookstore. I had so much fun not only working with her, but outside of work as well. I went home with her a few weekends, and she went home with me a few times too. I went to her mission farewell, visited her soon after she came home from her mission, went to her wedding, and she came to my wedding. She has a beautiful little girl Izze who had a fun time playing with Lexie. Here they are riding together on Lexie's car. Thanks for coming to visit Julie, you are an amazing friend! (I'm just sad I didn't get a picture of me and Julie...next time!)

This video of Lexie and Hoyt is hilarious (to me at least). The first part is Lexie trying to eat a Gogurt while she is falling asleep. The next part is Hoyt jabbering away which is super cute! You might notice he's wearing the same clothes as the previous video, but it is purely a coincidence that he was wearing the same thing both days. I love my silly kids!

Lexie went to her very first friend birthday party in April. It was for her friend James from nursery and my friend Elizabeth's son. They had the party at a place called "Bouncin' Off the Walls" and Lexie was in heaven! She loves blowup toys, especially the big slide! Daddy had fun taking the kids down the slide and playing with Lexie.

Hoyt mostly loved the bounce house. He could have spent hours in there. He would crawl around and just laugh even when bigger kids were bouncing and he would fall down. He loved it!

Lexie had such a great time at the party and some days she tells me to get ready so we can go to another party.

Lexie is such a silly girl sometimes. Whenever I get out the camera she wants me to take her picture even if she is in her jammies. The other picture was her being silly and putting her pullup over her head. She thought it was hilarious. She is now almost completely potty trained, except at night, but we have had several nights when she wakes up dry so we are making progress! When we got back from Christmas she insisted on wearing underwear. It has taken a lot of patience, but I'm hoping she'll be 100% trained before her birthday.

Hoyt turned 11 months in April. He was excited when we got out some of the toys Lexie played with at his age. This little chair was a big hit!

One evening when we were getting ready to eat dinner Lexie got out her witch hat from Halloween and put it on Hoyt. After we took his picture, she wanted a picture too. Ok, she seriously has the same clothes on in almost all the pictures in April. I promise my kids do have more than one outfit each, but between getting dirty and just wanting to change clothes several times a day you never know what they are going to end up wearing. If it were up to her, Lexie would just live in her swimsuit all the time. This summer she probably will.

This is just one of those things that makes me smile. They dumped the toys out of the bin and Lexie wanted to give Hoyt a little ride. He was grinning the entire time!

March Stuff

I keep thinking I will get caught up on this blog soon, but I just haven't been able to keep up. I feel bad I have had to do entire months in single posts, but once I am caught up I am going to try to blog once a week or more. With that said, here is my attempt to catch up on the month of March. I didn't take many pictures...again. I really want to get back into blogging each week so I don't forget all the little things that happen. My kids are growing up so fast and being with them every day and just enjoying the little things are such priceless moments.

Every time we go to the mall, Lexie wants to ride the carousel. We don't usually carry cash, so we haven't been able to let her go, but we finally did one day so we let her ride and she was super excited! We were a little worried because she gets motion sickness and it is a small carousel that spins fast, but she seemed to do just fine.

Hoyt was a little tired and ready to get home for a nap.

In the middle of March, my uncle passed away from cancer and we went down to his funeral. We picked up Pete from Provo and all drove down on Wednesday evening. A funny story about the drive down (it wasn't really funny at the time but is now). The wind was blowing against us the entire way which was making us get horrible gas mileage. Also, once our gas gauge shows 1/4 tank it drops way fast and around Beaver it hit that point. We decided not to stop and gas up in Beaver because the price is usually tons more than other places. We usually get the best deal in Panguitch so we figured we could make it since it was just over 40 miles. Well, just after we started over Bear Valley with over 30 miles to go, our gas light came on. I had this happen to me one time before when I was just past Duck Creek heading to Cedar and had around 25 miles to go. I just coasted down the mountain and ended up being just fine. So we knew there was still some in the tank once the light is on, but we never really tested it because who really wants to run out of gas? Well, we were all pretty nervous and it was the longest 30 miles of my life, but we made it and all got a good laugh...next time I don't think I will take the risk to save a few dollars. The funeral was Thursday morning, and even though it wasn't the best of circumstances, it was great to see so many family members that we haven't seen for a while. We decided to just stay the entire weekend and enjoy some family time.

Friday night was the Jr. Prom, and for those of you not familiar with the small town prom traditions, the Jr. class spends numerous hours transforming the gym into their theme. It is also a community event and not just the high school kids go to the dance. Parents, community members, and kids of all ages look forward to attending the prom. Pete was nice and watched our little munchkins so we could go on a much-needed date. We had never gone to a dance since we met, so it was fun to go dance the night away at the Prom.

Here we are all dressed up and ready to dance!

Sisters! We were missing Jen in this picture because she was in getting food at the tea party. Oh, and Mickell won Prom Queen! Both my teenage sisters are beautiful and fun to be around...much more popular than I ever was back in the day. :)

Here are some pictures of the decorations. The theme was "Alice in Wonderland" and it looked really awesome in there!

My mom helped build the catarpillar so I had to take a picture. And here is Bryan dancing with Jen who is wearing Mickell's "crown" and holding her flower she won for being Prom Queen.

The big event of the night is the Jr. class performing the "Promenade" they practice for weeks. They did a great job. Here is Mickell and her dance partner with their ending pose. And here she is dancing with our Dad. It was a way fun night! I helped Mickell do her hair and she looked gorgeous in her dress! I had so much fun dancing with my handsome husband enjoying the decorations, atmosphere, and music!

Hoyt turned 10 months in March! I know I say this a lot, but he is such a sweet boy with a very mild temperment. The big accomplishment at 10 months is Hoyt FINALLY started sleeping through the night! It was very difficult having him get up in the night for so many months. Lexie was such a good sleeper from just 3 months old, and still is a fantastic sleeper. Adjusting to a baby not sleeping through the night was getting exhausting. After the big switch to formula a few weeks after he turned 9 months he started getting satisfied and his sleep went from 6 to 8 to 10 or more hours he was sleeping at night. I started getting uninterrupted sleep at night and it really did a lot to make me feel more human again! You can also see a little double chin in these pictures which meant he was putting on weight again which really made me feel better.

In this picture you can see his 2 little bottom teeth. So far he has 4 teeth: 2 top middle and 2 bottom middle.

This is a really cute, short video of Hoyt saying Mom and laughing.

Feeling the Love in February

February always seems to come and go very quickly...maybe that is because it's a short month. I didn't take many pictures, except for our Valentine Day celebrations. Lexie was super excited to make Valentine cookies. The weekend before V-day I made heart sugar cookies for us to decorate. Lexie had fun decorating, but mostly she liked the icing.

She was up ready to decorate. Here are some of the cookies. Yum!

In February, Hoyt turned 9 months old! Here are his stats:

Weight: 21.01 lbs. (58%)

Length: 29 in. (75%)

Head: 18 in. (63%)

I was a little worried when he had gained less than 2 lbs from 6-9 months. I knew he wasn't nursing as much as he should, and I felt like I wasn't providing him what he needed. He was doing great with solids and I had been trying to get him satisfied with those, but he still wasn't sleeping through the night and I really thought that part of it was that he was still hungry. I had been trying on and off since he was 7 months to supplement with a bottle and have him take one in case I needed to leave him with someone else; however, he was strongly refusing. The Dr. wasn't extremely concerned because his iron levels were good and he hadn't dropped too much, but I knew he needed formula to grow better. I bought formula (which made me glad I nursed for the first 9 months of his life because that stuff is expensive). I tried to first get him used to taking a bottle by pumping and giving him breastmilk, but he struggled even wanting to take that. Basically because I hadn't tried the bottle soon enough when he was a baby he didn't want to even try. I would try to pump and barely get an ounce so I knew my milk was almost gone. After getting him to take the breastmilk bottle a few times then refuse the formula we determined that he did not like the brand we were using. I researched and found out that Similac tastes the most like breastmilk so I went and bought some ($$ ouch!) and he didn't flat out reject it like the generic. Then he got sick, which actually ended up being a blessing because he couldn't breathe when he nursed and eventually after fighting with him for hours he took a bottle! I decided to just switch him over completely and I could see him starting to fill out again and seem more satisfied. He started sleeping longer stretches and even slept over 10 hours a few nights so that was the long 3 week ordeal we had to deal with which really took up most of my month (maybe that is why I didn't take many pictures). Also, at 9 months Hoyt didn't have any teeth yet. But just a few days later a tooth poked through and 3 more came in within 2 weeks after that. So with the teething, learning to take a bottle, and a long sickness, it was a rough month for our little guy. He started standing up to everything and walking around the furniture. He is so good natured and patient with his sister, most of the time. He does love to eat and feed himself finger foods. I know he is growing now because we had to switch him to 12 month clothes. I enjoy my snuggly little guy!

Lexie hit the 2 1/2 mark in February. She is just growing up into a little girl and is a big burst of energy! She is really tall for her age and towers over everyone in nursery, even those several months older. She loves to sing, especially primary songs. Here she is doing "If You Chance To Meet a Frown" holding the picture and doing the faces.

Lexie always has on opinion on what she wants to wear and already loves to shop for clothes and shoes (and she doesn't get it from me). She goes through phases where she doesn't want to eat anything and then the next day she eats everything all day long. She loves to go on slides and wants the weather to warm up so she can go to the playground every day. She loves animals and gets so excited when people in our building ride the elevator with their dogs. She also loves her brother and just wants to play with him all the time. And as you can see she's going through a stage of only wanting pigtails in her hair. Lexie knows all of her ABCs and always amazes me with the things she knows, especially about the scriptures. She loves nursery and I can tell her teacher enjoy having her in class. She's also starting to say some pretty funny things. When I remember them I need to write them down.

Here are the kids in their Valentine's Day clothes from Grandma, and getting presents from Mom & Dad.

Lexie liked her stuffed animal, coloring book and candy.

Hoyt loved his musical book.

I made Bryan his favorites for dinner. We had pepper steak with rice, a peanut-butter cream cheese pie for dessert, and sparkling cider. Sadly, we didn't get pictures of us on Valentine's Day, but I want Bryan to know what an amazing husband and father he is and how grateful I am to have such a handsome, smart, kind and loving Valentine!

My Silly Kids in January

January was a busy month getting back into a routine after the holidays. It marked 5 months since the big move and we have still been working on getting settled into our new surroundings. January is always kind of a depressing month because the holidays are over and the weather is bad, but we tried to have some fun together. Here is our month in kind of a long post...

Hoyt really did enjoy the jumper but this day he was just too tired and fell asleep. But that didn't keep him from jumping in his sleep as you can see in the video.

Lexie got her parent's crazy-sleep-position genes and I thought this picture was so cute of her sleeping with Pooh and Kitty on the couch.

Lexie is always wanting to "hold" Hoyt, but he's getting a little too big now. He is really patient with her trying to mother him.

Here are some pictures of Hoyt getting to have a bath in the ducky tub. He loves to splash and I love his cute face and big blue eyes!

Lexie likes to dress up in her Halloween witch dress. I thought it was funny she put that on with her Christmas socks...in January. The other pictures are of the kids getting ready to head out of the house.

One of Lexie's favorite things to do is to go to Arctic Cirle to eat a hamburger and play on the slides. The Arctic Circle in Draper is the best fast food restaurant I have ever been to...not for the food necessarily (although they do have great ice cream), but for the amazing service and atmosphere; and it is always packed. They give complimentary small cones, bring your food and treat you like you are in a sit-down restauarant. Lexie loves the play place so we go there at least once a month.

Hoyt turned 8 months old this month. Time has really flown since he was born and we can't imagine our family without him. He is so easy going and is enjoying crawling everywhere allowing him to get into everything and harder for me to keep track of for sure! I decided to get some pictures of him in the rocking chair Grandpa and Grandma Lyman gave to us. Such a handsome little guy!

Hoyt finally grew out of his infant carseat and one day at Costco they were having a great deal on a convertable carseat just like Lexie's so we made the transition. The kids used the big box as their playhouse for a few weeks until it was completely destroyed. Sometimes I think toys are overrated when a box is the only toy kids need.

Here is my pretty Lexie girl all ready for church. These pictures kind of weirded me out because they look a lot like pictures of me when I was this age. When we got back from spending time with my family over the holidays, she decided after seeing Jen wear underwear and go potty she would too. So ever since then she has worn underwear. She's not completely trained yet, but getting there. She is a burst of energy and keeps us on our toes every single day. She stopped taking naps soon after we moved so she is up with me all day and is my little sidekick. We are still working on teaching her to share with her brother, but she loves him so much and can't wait for him to wake up and play with her every day.

Being a mom is definitely the best thing I have ever done with my life and I love these little munchkins more than anything in the world! It isn't always easy, especially when we all get sick (which has happened a lot recently), but always worth it!