My Babies Are Crazy!

I often feel bad about being such a bad blogger. Especially when I have friends and family constantly telling me that I need to update my blog. I just shrug and look away and sheepishly reply, "i know..." It's overwhelming though sometimes, especially when you go a while without. How on earth are you supposed to remember everything in order to catch up. Am I doing my family a disservice by not writing down every detail of our lives in order to remember it in the future? That's the whole reason I started this little thing years ago, for my family, and dog-gone-it, I am going to get better!... maybe...

I originally wrote this little entry on my photo blog (which is also very neglected, so don't feel like I only ignore this one). Anyway, I wrote this entry on my photo blog originally but I think it really belongs here. Here's a little look into what we do, how prissy my little three year old is and why I have trouble getting pictures of my own crazy kids. 

It's no secret that I adore my own two little munchkins more than anything in this world. If you're new to my blog you should know, I have two of the cutest, spunkiest kids on this planet- but I'm partial. Even with all their cuteness though, I found myself slacking on taking photos of them lately. After a little kick in my own tushy and a little slap on my wrist we pulled out the camera and what do you know, Kylie actually sat still for me and, dare I say, posed too. Oh, happy day! Emily, on the other hand, would have nothing to do with it. Even with my pockets full of smarties, she had better things to do than sit (or even be in the same room) for mommy. Ha! But that's the story of most 18 month-olds, right? Ky only lasted about 3 minutes herself, but I'll still consider it a success & I'm seriously contemplating blowing up the first one to a giant canvas. Wouldn't that be fabulous?

My whole set up for these few little shots were super easy too.  Here's a little peak at how we set it up- I never do these pull backs so I thought it might be fun to see, especially because of how easy it was to get this light. I had Ky hold a reflector on her lap for a couple shots but when she got sick of holding that we switched to a white blanket which did the same thing & was a much better prop for her to sing her princess songs with. I'm telling you, we are going to be in trouble when this little prima donna is a teenager :)

That blanket on Kylie's lap was made by my G.G. (great grandma Juanita). I can't even tell you how excited I was when my mom called and told me that she found GG's blanket and was sending it my way. The other side is a beautiful diamond patchwork design. (I wish I knew the story behind it, if there is one.) It reminds me of her and growing up and I love it. It drapes across the back of the couch in our living room so I can see it everyday and be reminded of where I came from. I love it and am so grateful to have this family treasure in our home.

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Cooking Cookies Baking Cookies

Winter has been surprisingly uneventful this year. I thought we were in for blizzard after horrible blizzard moving to Utah, but we have hardly had any snow at all. Great news, but almost a little disappointing too. Still, it has been too cold to really do much outside so most days we find ourselves building castles, playing dress-up, having movie dates, and baking treats. It's a horrible life, isn't it? 

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It Snowed... A Little...

It snowed, but just barely. I still can't believe how mild this winter has been in Utah. Our old home in Arkansas got more snow this year than we did. Crazy, right? Anyway, it snowed last week and Daddy took Ky out to play in it and make some tiny snow people while Emily and I, aka the cold-intolerant ones, stayed inside in the warm house.

I was pretty impressed with the snow-mickey and little man made with some leftover nails and wood from the construction going on across the street. They built their tiny men on top of a pallet of wood and the construction workers were even nice enough to use that pallet last and let the little men live until the snow finally melted. For the next couple days, every time we went outside Kylie was so excited to check on her little snow people.

Mike told me this little pile of snow was Kylie's mermaid. She made it herself :)

When Daddy and Ky finally came back in from the cold Em was excited to show them how she was ready to go out. She wore Daddy's beanie around the house for the next hour or so, patting her head and saying "hat, hat" "outside."

And that pretty much wraps up our winter fun this year! Haha! Maybe next year we'll get the snow I've been dreading (but secretly hoping for) since we moved here :)

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Starting out 2012

We started 2012 with a crazy day! The new year started on a Sunday and on that day we were packed full. First, our usually leisurely morning was cut short because church now starts at 9am (we can't even get to church on time at 1pm so you can see why this was a big deal). Plus, Mike and I were both asked to be the speakers. We found out later that our talks would be setting the theme for the ward focus for the rest of the year- no pressure... We had a brand new primary class to teach and lessons to prepare that day, and on top of all that, our little girls were becoming official big girls! Kylie had her first day in Primary as a Sunbeam and Emily went to nursery for the first time. I was secretly hoping at least one of them would have a melt down because they missed me so much, but they both did so great and were so excited for their new classes. 

What a way to start the year, right? I can't believe our big girls are "real" big girls now. They were both so excited to tell us all about their new classes and new teachers when we got home from church. Ky's new teachers are our neighbors (who she loved to begin with), she loves telling us all about Chad and Chelsea and how she sang and danced in primary... pretty sure you're not really supposed to dance during sharing time, but you just can't keep her down when there is music playing :) And Emily kept going on about the slide and bubbles in Nursery. I wish I could just be a fly on the wall and watch them learning and getting excited. It's hard to be a part of their every second of every day and then have to just sit and wonder what they are doing when they are away from you. Call me silly, but it was a bit of a bittersweet day, watching my girls grow up right in front of me :)

Happy New Year!

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