Fourth of July!

I love the Fourth of July.
It could very well be my favorite holiday.
Summertime, patriotism, parades, BBQ's, good food & fun is what it's all about.
With no gift giving or receiving.
I like that part too. ;)
I think some of my favorite childhood memories stem from this holiday.

& these two little monkeys were so excited for the celebrations.
We embarked on Independence Day Eve in good old red white & blue fashion....



& by fashion, I really mean it.

(10 points if you can spot the naked baby)

Yes, Emmie wore her sparkly red Jessie boots to church on Sunday.

It's totally normal to wear dress up boots to church, isn't it?

I thought so. :)
Hey at least it wasn't a princess dress.

On the morning of the Fourth the kiddos in our neighborhood went on a bike parade.

If you tell me that's not cute, I don't know what is.

& check out these little twinsies.

Completely adorable, right?

& this little cutie was pretty pumped up herself.

Yes, the Jessie boots were of course a necessary accessory for the celebration!

This little guy went around the parade route twice. He was tired, but a trooper. & I can't believe we let him ride without his helmet. :/ I guess all rules fly out the window when there's a holiday...sad but true that sounds about right. I think Emmie ate about 20 cookies that day at both BBQ's we attended.
The first (BBQ) was with the neighborhood following the parade, the next with our friends and neighbors on our street.

Busy, busy day but so much fun!

& that night we had my Dad, Chris' brother Zach and sis Bethany and her husband Brett over for more treats and fireworks. This is the first time ever my kids have watched street fireworks. In previous years, they have always been long in bed by the time it's finally dark (with the exception of Stadium of Fire last year).

Parker was sooooo excited when Chris told him that he bought a box of 50 fireworks.
Parker kept saying, "Are you serious, Dad? Really? Are you kidding me?".
He was sooo looking forward to them, but it was Emmie who enjoyed them the most. She squealed and cheered for them, while P held his hands over his ears.
Later I even found him back sitting by the front door on our porch.
As I sat down beside him, his explanation was,
 "I just feel safer over here, Mom".
I love that he said that. :)
With all the aerial fireworks going off in every direction we looked (via the new lift of the law prohibiting them) I couldn't help but agree. It was very cool and exciting, but a little unnerving to me to say the least.

For such a cautious little boy, our P-Man sure does get hurt a lot.
Did you notice his his right eye?
I'll save that story for another day....

HAPPY FOURTH!!!

The Graduate

Parker's preschool graduation was on June 8th.



Isn't the graduate cute?;)


& aren't THEY cute? One of Parker's best buddies lives right across the street from us and these two blonde haired, blue-eyed amigos were in the same preschool class this year. Parker just adores Owen and going to school together made it even more fun for them.
Yes, they have the exact same tie on, and no, it wasn't planned! (& you may notice that P looks like a complete shrimp next to Owen...for the record, Owen is extra super tall for his age. and... on the contrary... as you can guess, P is not:)

Parker and his teacher, Miss Kristi.

P absolutely adored her. In fact, he adored everything about school. This kid is such a sponge and LOVES to learn. Our wake up call each morning is usually started with Parker's onslaught of never-ending questions, ranging from "What states have volcanoes?", to "How do the clouds in the sky hold all the rain?", to "If Obama is going to be our president for another year, why are they already having an election?"... I don't know about you, but I wasn't too interested in politics and earth science at the age of four... I'm telling you, this kid never stops chattering away with the questions & analysis of everything around him. His incessant curiosity has helped him to be one smart little dude (& leaves Chris and I desiring a little silence once in a while - I'm not gonna lie). Probably the most exciting thing he's learned this past year though is to begin reading. Nothing super complicated, just things like, "The cat sat on the bed", etc, but it's been really fun to watch him hit those milestones.
With a mid-July "swing" birthday, he could go either way as far as starting Kindergarten this year or next. Although we think he would do great academically if he were to start this year, and even fine socially, we feel it will be advantageous for him down the line to have that extra year of maturity under his belt during the teenage years if he is the oldest in his class opposed to the very youngest. Therefore, he'll be going back to get his Masters in Preschool this Fall! It's been a hard decision, but in the long run we feel it will be best for his future.

Back to the graduation....Parker sang his little heart out for the program. SO much fun to watch! Big thanks to Aunts Sarah and Bethany who came out for the big ceremony, as well as Grandpa Todd.
Gma and Gpa Hansen would have been there too but they were out of town!

Thumbs up to a great year of preschool! :):)

23 weeks

Yes, I am large, and just going to get larger.

But whatdoyado?

I just say enjoy the one time in life, besides your toddler/diaper days, that it's accepted and considered somewhat "cute" to have a protruding belly and equally growing back side.....

(....Talk to me in another 10 weeks though:/)

So here she is:

(Picture taken at 21 1/2 weeks)

Well, I am finally past the half way mark!

I experienced pretty intense morning/all-day sickness with this pregnancy right from the start, and it lasted all the way through last week (22 weeks). Yes, that was a past tense I used there...I think I am finally coming out of it (YAY!) - because I haven't been REALLY sick for a whole week now

(just a couple days but Zofran quickly came to my rescue).

 I'm really optimistic that the worst is behind me!

  Preterm labor set in  at 31 weeks with Emmie, so I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous of the prospect of repeating that scenario. I am really hopeful however that my body will hold out better this time around. Every pregnancy is different, right? :) Only time will tell.

I have been feeling her move for a couple months now, and sometimes I forget that she's even in there until I am jolted by her little kicks and somersaults. It really is such a miracle to have a little human being growing inside of you. What an amazing experience and so worth any amount of nausea/bedrest etc we might have to encounter along the way.

We have a few names in mind, and one in particular keeps floating through my head every time I think of her. We are still open to suggestions though so if you have any good ones, send them over! :) I love to hear what names people like... even though it's all so subjective. I'd really love to use a vowel name because I think they sound cutest with Emmie, but vowel starting or not, I'd love to hear what you think!;)

Just dance

As I've mentioned before, Emmie loooves to dance. She is always twirling from one place to the next.
Sooo...I decided to sign her up for a dance class this month at our local community center thinking that she would love it, and love is an understatement. She thinks it's the greatest! Parker is always the one going to soccer or preschool or something fun. She has wanted so badly to be a big kid and participate in her own thing, and I think (for the moment) we've found it!

Soccer Season

Parker's spring soccer season came to a close a few weeks back.
It felt more like winter soccer with the frigid spring we had here, and with a few of the games even being snowed out. But all in all Parker had a great time being on the field again. He had to stop playing after his September accident last Fall, so it was good to see him back at it again and having fun with his friends on the field.
Per his request, he is all signed up to play again next Fall, so I guess I am officially a soccer mom! He also threw in a request out of the blue that he would like to play T-Ball as well, so we'll have to look into it...although I am not sure that I want to be that scheduled up with a new baby coming in October...

Random happenings

I can't believe that the end of June is fast approaching.
Time flies when you're having fun...
and sick and pregnant....
and busy chasing kids and cleaning up the perpetual tornado wreckage they are so good at whipping out...
am I the only one that feels like I can't keep up with it all?

Anyhow, here are a few recent randoms...

 

Parker's last day of preschool was on June 9th! The (left) pic above is from "crazy hair day" at school. (That's as crazy as we could get in the 30 seconds we had before bounding out the door.) They also had a picnic at the park during his last week and a water day complete with a bouncy water slide. Parker LOVES to learn and absolutely loved everything about his preschool this year!

More on his graduation to come...

Another ending to a fun thing recently was our neighborhood playgroup for the summer. We feel so blessed to have soooo many awesome friends for our kids living right here on our dead end street, all within just a few houses of one another. While we don't love all aspects of our house (which we unfortunately felt so pressured to buy at the peak of the market, post our move back from AZ) we truly couldn't have found a better place or STREET for that matter to raise our kids on. Not to mention the beauty we are surrounded by and one of the best elementary schools in the state just down the road!
You just can't put a price on those things and we really love it here! 

Emmie often puts on one of her "pimpess" dresses and recruits her prince to be her dance partner. This girl loooves to dance and sing and we love to watch her. Parker is a great sport to go along with her and SUCH a good big brother! (most of the time...)
Good thing....
I think he has a lot of princess play time ahead of him with yet another sister on the way!

St George trip

The day before Mother's Day, we set out for an 8 day vacation to St. George and to visit my Mom and Reed.

We fit a lot in and had a great time!

Here are a few highlights:

We celebrated Mother's Day, got pedicures on my Mom's birthday (the 11th), had barbeques, Emmie got her manicure from Grandma J, bounced around at Jumpin' Jacks, and the kids went on a fun treasure hunt hosted by Grandma Jane.
 (& no those aren't antennas in Emmie's hair, just curlers:)
The first weekday we were there was cold and rainy, so we got brave and decided to utilize our day to the fullest by spending it  in Vegas, where the weather was a little warmer. Yes, we might be a little crazy to take our 2 and 4 year olds to Sin City, but I did have extra motivation in going (besides a visit to H&M). My Uncle is the mastermind behind many famous attractions in Las Vegas (& around the world), one of the most well-known being the fountain at the Bellagio Hotel. I thought the kids would love seeing it, and although we weren't situated in the best viewing spot, I was right - they loved it! Especially Parker who wanted to go back every 30 minutes to watch it go off. My Uncle Mark also did the volcano at the Mirage as well as his newest fountains there at the brand new Aria Hotel.
I also experienced my first shopping trip to the much-talked about H&M (loved it- 3 floors of great clothes at el cheapo prices- just my style!), ate lunch at Planet Hollywood, and had gelato in Caesars Palace. It was hard explaining to Parker that he couldn't play the slot machines as he thought he had just entered what appeared to be video game heaven, and maneuvering a double stroller around Vegas sidewalks and casinos isn't so easy. But I was glad we made trip... especially knowing that soon it will be a near impossible one to make. Two kids in Vegas was manageable, but three kids - forget about it!


(171/2 weeks prego in this pic)

My Mom and I also had another first and got spray tans... & let me just tell you - it.was. AWESOME!

So super fast (literally 5 minutes), easy (you just stand in your birthday suit and turn), and totally private (done in a Mystic Tan machine). If I had a lot of money I would do it every week, and I'm not a girl who loves to spend time in salons and spas. But everyone looks better with a little color, right?! The quick and easy part sells me for sure.

We also headed over to Zions one day and had a picnic. We went with the intention of doing a low key hike... but long story as to why that didn't happen. The picnic was fun though and the surroundings beautiful and it was just nice to be outside.

Baby farm animals, a kiddie ride and sno cones were a hit at the Cotton Festival.

But the highlight of the trip would have to be the time we spent at the community pool.
My kids are MANIACS for the water!
If it hadn't been too chilly some of the days, we could have gone here everyday, all day, and they would have been perfectly happy
 (& I would have been happy having the poolside nachos everyday and basking up some rays...).
Parker couldn't get enough of that big water slide and went down (with Chris) at least 10 times. Emmie was completely fearless and kept trying to jump right into the deep end which helped me realize that swim lessons would be necessity for her ( & P) this summer.
They (swim lessons) are are most current summer adventure.

It was a fun trip and great as always to spend quality time with the kiddos!

The Dentist

I finally took these little munchkins to have their teeth cleaned back in April, something that's been on my to-do list for a good two years now. Sadly, this was Parker's first (non-emergency) dental appointment!

Having worked for a few years in dentistry, I definitely know better than to neglect their bi-annual oral hygiene appointments!

Trust me when I say that I'm so ashamed of myself. :(

The good news?

See those pearly whites of his?

He gets to keep them! If you remember back to his little accident HERE a few months back, he had fractured his front tooth and there was a good possibility of having his two front teeth pulled. But new x-rays revealed that the fracture is healing without indication of infection.

So our cute little guy gets to keep his teeth! 

For now anyways. :) 

Funny that my kids are so well-behaved and compliant in places like the dentist - a place that typically you expect that your child might have a major meltdown... like the little girl in the chair next to them.

Not these two.

 You would have thought P and E were at a Four Season Resort Spa. They just laid there, didn't make a single peep for their entire appointments, completely cooperative - with zero bribes for incentives to behave. Amazing!

Take them to the grocery store on the other hand and it's a complete fiasco.

I don't get it.

The sad news was, that despite my flossing efforts, Mr. Dimple Cheeks candy-addict has two small cavities.

This little guy is going to cost us a lot of money, I just know it.

Not to vent, BUT (okay, to vent!)....

The ER bill from hitting his mouth 6 weeks prior was $750 out of pocket (RIDICULOUS! If I had known, I might have stitched it myself! :),

& in case you were wondering, just his life flight bill from last fall was $16,000. That's right. THREE zeros. & I won't bother to tally up for you his time in the ER in St. G, his two ambulance rides and 5 days up at Primary Childrens...

 Don't get me wrong, it was the best chunk-a-money we've ever spent... to preserve the health of our precious P-Man. For sure!

 But my point?

If we contine in this pattern, Chris will be taking on a second job, I'll have to scrounge up some talent to sell homemade goods on ebay (which would be kinda fun - if I had talent)....& we might be moving back to AZ for a cheaper mortgage...(which wouldn't be so bad...bye bye snow, hello swimming pool!:).

Let's just say that it's probably good that we're having another girl.... :)

 Did I really just divulge all that over two little cavities?

I must be prego or something.:)

Moving on to patient #2:

This little girl thank goodness had no bugs (aka cavities at our house), and enjoyed her dental experience so much that she asks to go back on a weekly basis.

Can we blame her?

Kicking back and watching a little Dora the Explorer on a ceiling-mounted television, in an oh-so-comfy chair while getting a pedicure was not so bad.

Not so bad at all. :)

Okay so there was no pedicure.

It's a........

GIRL!

YAY!

I really felt like it was a girl from early on, and I'm glad to see that my feelings were right. I always second guess myself.

I really would have been thrilled with either one, but I have to say that I am sooo happy that Emmie will be getting a sister, one close in age too - something that growing up I desperately felt I was missing out on!

At the same time I am a little sad for P that he isn't getting a brother...

We took the kids to the ultrasound with us, and he was a little disappointed at first, but it didn't last long.

Tonight he said out of the blue,

"Mom, it's a good thing that we're not having a brother!"

Surprised, I asked him why so, and his response was, 

"Because boys are REALLY stinky!".

I love that kid.

And I honestly don't know where he got that line from because believe it or not Chris isn't all that smelly of a guy, so he didn't hear it from me. He doesn't even use deoderant half the time because he really doesn't get BO - no joke! What can I say except that P is just a smart guy as this does reign true with most boys...

Emmie's really excited for a sis and practiced putting her "babies" to sleep all afternoon and changing their diapers. She kept calling to Parker,

 "Honey, will you get the wipes please? The baby is poopy!".

LOVED that she was calling him "Honey". :)

She also informed me that she would like to name the baby Amy (they have a babysitter named Aimee).

Amy and Emmie --- sounds cute but that might get a bit confusing....:)

Big News on June 1st

(Zions Nat'l Park)
Despite the icky, wet weather that May has offered us, we've been too busy around here having 
FUN
(as you can see)
& blogging has taken a bit of back seat as of late.
But I am determined to catch up soon!
Lucky you. ;)
The exciting news of this week however will be that we are having my 20 week ULTRASOUND on Wednesday to find out if this baby is a boy or girl!
We really don't have a preference on the gender....We're just excited to welcome whoever is supposed to be next in our family.. and I can't wait to reuse the thousands of bins of clothes that I've been saving of Parker or Emmie's. I'm outta room!
This will likely be our last baby (mostly so says Chris - but he doesn't use the word "likely" he just uses "IS"...), so I'll also be happy to start purging the opposite gender's piles of clothes that have been storing up these last few years...
& I'll really be happy for this baby to have an identity of "he" or "she" rather than "the baby" and "IT".
Who wants to be called "It" anyways?
Any guesses on what we're having??? :)

Best day for a best friend

Do you know how every once in a while, you are just blessed to have an amazing day, one that you have been waiting for? And do you know how there are some people who you just know were simply destined to be a part of your life? Well, combine those two elements, and they make for one incredible day! 

On May 6th, my beautiful, long-time friend and one of my favorite people of all time got married in the Salt Lake Temple. It was an awesome day to say the least and I am so happy for she and her new husband! He is one lucky guy!

The Happy Couple

 Lacey and Dallas

Lacey and I met back in 8th grade (um, that's 18 years ago :/)and quickly became best friends after she passed me a note during class one day. I practically lived at her house during High School and couldn't have had a better example by my side during those crazy and impressionable years. She and her awesome fam made a huge impact for good on my life and I give them much credit for the good decisions I made early on that have kept me on the path I am still on today.

Lace and her cute sis Brookie were my adopted sisters since I didn't have one of my own. :)

I adore these girls!

I spent over an hour last night trying to find some of our (sweet) high school pictures but with no luck. I pretty much found every picture I've ever taken but the ones I wanted. Apparently I'm not that organized.

But I do have a few that were already scanned into my computer...:

Here Lacey and I are in our limo on the way to prom - with our dates of course. Lacey and I fell in love with the same dress, (I know not a great pic of them) so we showed up (yes, on purpose) to our senior prom in identical dresses, just different colors. We thought we were pretty awesome but I don't think anyone even noticed that we had the same dress on.  

On a side note, my date (yes, also my high school boyfriend) is to the left (your left) and is a lot nicer -and cuter- than this picture presents.... and not to be prideful but isn't my hair awesome? :) I loved it.

L to R: Cami, me, Tammy, Amanda, Lacey, Jill & Megan

Here we are with some of our closest friends from back in the day. Believe it or not, we all still see each other regularly. Except for Megan that is... where are you, Megan?!

This (above) is the night of our senior yearbook signing - 13 years ago! 

Yep - 13 years.

I cringe at that number.

But we still look the same, right?....

Amanda, Lacey, Jill and I at the reception.

I love these girls!!

YAY for Lacey & Dallas!

... &CHEERS to girlfriends, and lifelong ones at that!(we missed you Cami and Tammy!:)



Special Easter Treats Take II

*FYI*I actually posted this last week, but happened to do so just in the time frame that Blogger had a major malfunction (sounds like my luck) and all posts and comments made during that time were erased from thousands of blogs, mine being one of them. So for those who left a comment on the original post - I didn't go through and delete your comments, my original post was just never restored! So here I go again!

Although I usually prefer baskets full of candy and some hard boiled eggs on Easter morning, the Easter Bunny decided to generously bless me with an extra nasty bout of morning sickness this year

(albeit my 15 weeks at the time). 

Not to complain - such is life these days & it's not a huge deal - it just makes for getting much of anything done near impossible.;)

So since I spent much of the morning with my head in the toilet, getting ready for Stake Conference on time at all was out of the question, not to mention getting the kiddos ready. So Chris went himself and by 12:30 or so I managed to have the family ready for the holiday.

That sounds about right these days.

But not without a few quick festivities first....

(I know - messed up priorities on Easter but at least we could do these in our pj's & with vomit breath:)

Parker and Emmie were thrilled to find new bikes amidst their Easter surprises.

 I know, I know. Bikes are usually Santa's gig, but let's be real. How fun is it to get bikes for Christmas, in the middle of the winter in Utah, only to have them sit in the garage for 5-6 months until the sun decides to show it's shining face (which in May we are still waiting to see btw..)?

Not so awesome.

So bikes it was for Easter this year. 

I think the kids were more excited for the chocolate in their plastic eggs though.

Go figure.

The kiddos finally in their polished attire for the day.

They of course didn't have picture perfect smiles for the camera, but were pretty good at offering some unsolicited silly faces.

Next it was off to my cute Grandma, Mimi's house for the afternoon. She is always a great party hostess and her annual egg hunt that she's put on for the last 30+ years did not disappoint. Parker not only came out with 2 Easter baskets full of fun treats via my Grandma and my Dad (as did Emmie), but made $11 on the egg hunt!

Not bad for a four-year-old!

I went a little crazy taking pictures of my brother Steve and his wife Kylie, but it was just to make up for the fact that they were just weeks away from leaving to live back in New Jersey for the summer where Steve(n) will be doing an internship with the NJ Nets! Last year it was New York and Times Square, and now this!

What fun for them!

Next we were off to the Hansens for yet another 

egg hunt, a delicious turkey dinner, fun fun fun with the aunts and uncles and lots of swinging!

My kids would swing all day if they could!

It was a fun, BUSY day!

I'm tired just thinking about it.

I think that next year I am requesting that the E-Bunny visit us on Saturday.

Sundays shouldn't be that crazy!:)

Just like mommy

Last week this little cutie went running past Parker and I, headed to the bathroom, shrieking,

"Frow up! Watch out guys! I'm gonna frow up!".

We followed her to the toilet, which she proceeded to spit into numerous times. After her dramatic display, she wearily patted her tummy and announced,
"Oh, I so sick. My baby is sick."
She talks about the baby in her tummy often.

I guess watching me in action this last four months has rubbed off on her.
When they say that kids model behavior, they're not kidding!
YIKES!
p.s. Thanks Aunt B for the darling dress! :)