Lately

I feel like we have been so busy lately between preschool, dance class, park days, play dates, birthday parties, blessings , dinner to friends, missionaries over for dinner, keeping the house clean, doctor appointments, bunco, baby showers, crafts, family in town, stressing about our rank list and match day,  nursing every three hours and all the little things, we are always on the go .  This past week I finally felt like I could take a breather and just relax for a couple of days, it was so nice, I hardly did any cleaning, played lots of games with the kids, watched lots of movies and played at the park almost every day.   Life was a lot less stressful this past week and much more enjoyable and my kids were happier too!  Here are a bunch a pictures from the last couple of weeks. 

 Playing at the new park, my kids love it here and Leila especially likes that they have monkey bars that she can reach and cross by herself

 Asher enjoying his bath especially since he only gets them like twice a week (I always forget or he's napping when I actually have time to give him one)

 Playing puzzles with cousins, I think they each had their own puzzle going.  There were some fights over who got which puzzle but overall they all got along.  It was so fun to have family in town!

 We went to the new park with our family but it was super crowded by the playground so we played over by the maze and luckily we brought scooters and roller skates to play with.

 Leila could jump two footed across the patches of grass and in some spots they were as wide as she is tall, she's got some major jumps!

Greydon has figured out how to ride a razor scooter and loves it!

A couple of Saturdays ago we went hiking with the Larsen's and most of the Karren's on the Historic Railroad pass trail.  It's not really a hike but mostly a walk but it was still fun even though towards the end I was carrying Leila and Asher and Asher had a huge blowout in the carrier and got poop all over.

 Cute kids hanging out in bed in the morning

 Most nights when we put the kids to bed Leila will fall asleep pretty quickly but Greydon isn't quite ready to go to bed.  We put them to bed at the same time but about ten minutes later we usually hear Greydon in the hall.  He usually plays quietly with toys in the hall or his bedroom and then puts himself back to bed when he's tired.  This particular night I found him in the hall with his pajamas stuffed with toys, Paul and I were laughing pretty hard, the things he comes up with. 

Quick story about this cute little boy.  He loves trucks and cars and one day we were driving by a construction site, we were stopped at a the light and pretty soon I hear Greydon cheer, "go, go, go, dump, dump, dump, YAY!!!!".  He was watching a truck with a load of dirt and he was cheering for it to dump the dirt. 

 Love this sweet girl!  She has gotten pretty sassy lately.  One day I asked her to clean up a wrapper or something and she says, " I'm so tired of you telling what to do, you're always telling me things and making me do things, who made you the boss?!"  What? You are only 4 (at the time) not 16. 

Trying to fit his entire fist into his mouth, he really likes to suck on his hands

Erica and I braved the crowds to get us some free frozen yogurt and toppings at Yogurtland.  There were 6 kids and two adults between us and it acutally went suprisingly smooth and the crowd wasn't that  bad.

Baby shower for Jamie

Back row: Jamie, me, Emily, Paige, Marci, Erica, Robyn

Middle Row: Melanie, Rachele, Kirsten, Amanda, Casie

Front row, Lisa, Hannah, Whitney, Melynda

I had more pictures to add to this post but I don't have time to get them all loaded so this is all for now.

Blessing Day

We blessed Asher on Sunday February 5th here in Henderson Nevada.  We thought about blessing him while we were in Utah for Christmas but we were there for such a short time and it was just way to hectic.  It was sad not having all of our family here for the blessing but we were able to have my parents, Paul's mom and Sean's family plus many of our good friends here in Nevada (who are like family). 

Paul did such a wonderful job blessing Asher and I am so happy he is a worthy Priesthood holder and can bless our children.  The blessing also turned into a teaching tool with Leila, she has lots of questions lately and had all sorts of questions about blessings and the priesthood. 

After church we invited everyone over for food and then some stayed and watched the super bowl too.  We served BBQ pork sandwhiches, mac 'n cheese, fruit, seven layer dip and chips, yummy bars, and carmel popcorn.  It was a fun afternoon with great food and great company. 

I barely remembered to get pictures of Asher.  I actually wanted to get a picture right after church with our entire family but Paul ran upstairs and changed before I could make that happen and then we got busy with food and visiting.  So at the end of the night I tried snapping a few pictures.  I look exhausted and Asher was pretty tired too and not up  for too many pictures. 

Fabulous Five

Leila turned 5 last week!  I can't believe my baby girl is 5 years old, it just boggles my mind.  Leila is so wonderful and definitely keeps me on my toes. I swear she is always one step ahead of me, my parenting skills are constantly being put to the test.  I think year 4 was a tough one, we went through a lot of phases and she did a lot of growing emotionally.  But I have a feeling 5 is going to be great!

Things she loves: playing with friends, cooking, baking, going to the park, learning new things, learning to read, riding her scooter, going to preschool, PBS kids, doing puzzles, playing board games, doing crafts, ice cream, anything mint, and princess stuff

Things she dislikes: going to timeout, getting her hair done, crust on bread, cleaning up her toys, jam, most vegetables, and mom and dad telling her what to do.

Leila is super excited for kindergarten and can't wait to start in September.  Leila loves playing school and likes having homework assigned by mom.  Anything school or learning related and she is totally into it.   She is sounding out words and working really hard to learn to read. 

Leila loves to help me around the house as long as it is on her terms.  She doesn't ever wants to pick up her things when I ask her to but loves to help me clean bathrooms and fold laundry. She  also loves helping me cook and asks most days if we can make cookies or cupcakes. 

Leila loves primary and reminds us every night to read the Book of Mormon.  She has also started learning the Articles of Faith, in just the last two weeks she has learned the first four. 

Leila is our little gymnast, she is constantly doing head and hand stands and cartwheels.  We really need to get her in gymnastics. 

Leila is  very opinionated and passionate about the things she wants.  Leila doesn't do well with change or not having things a certain way but if we give her plenty of warning and prep her for possible changes or things not going as planned she seems to do pretty well.

On Leila's birthday she requested to have a friend come over and play and to have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, pretty easy.  We had Daisy over to play and then Leila and I played board games all afternoon and then opened presents when Paul got home.  We had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and then planned to go out for frozen yogurt but Leila started feeling yucky so we decided to postpone it until the next day. 

She got a Lolaloopsy doll, a tinkerbell barbie, Chutes and Ladders, and some new spring/summer clothes

Leila had her birthday party on Saturday.  She requested a princess party with no boys allowed, she barely allowed Greydon to come to the party.  She was also lucky to have her Nana, Pop, Nene, Aunt Heather, Uncle Sean and cousins Mari and Mylee come to her party.

Leila had a hard time choosing which princess to dress up as but finally settled on Snow White.  Leila had specific ideas on how she wanted the party to go.  She wanted princess plates and napkins and pink cupcakes with crowns on them.  She also wanted to play princess bingo and pin the princess on the castle.  I tried suggesting other games but she already knew what she wanted.  We also made princess party hats for all the girls, they wore them for about 5 seconds and then pulled them off.  All my hard work for 5 seconds of cuteness, oh well.

Back row: Alyssa, Alessia, Mari, Abbie, Melanie

Front row: Mylee, Abby, Daisy, Leila and Olive

 Silly faces!

 I barely got the candles lit and Leila blew them out.  She also did not want us to sing to her, so we all just yelled Happy Birthday!

 Cute princess party hats

Greydon ended up sleeping through most of the party but woke up in time to have cake.

I can't get over the fact that we have a 5 year old.  She has grown up so much this past year and even looks like such a  big girl and not a toddler.  It's so fun to see all the things she can do on her own now and things she can help me out with.  She is always grabbing things for me, clean up messes and just acting like a big girl.  She makes her own toast and sandwiches, She can buckle her seat belt, ride her razor scooter like a pro, take a shower  without me having to wash her, brush out her own hair, and even fold an entire load of laundry and put the clothes away without any help. We love our Leila girl and even though she gives us a run for our money we can't imagine life without her.

You are the best little 5 year old out there!

Asher 3 months old

Asher is 3 months old!  I can't believe it, the time has just flown by.  He wasn't super happy the morning I was trying to take pictures and then the sticker got thrown out so I couldn't try again another day, oh well.

* Asher is smiling all the time now.  He loves when someone talks to him and has also let out a few giggles.  Has a dimple in his smile crease on the left side (just like Leila) and a dimple in his right cheek.
* Asher wants to be held all the time, which makes getting things down a little difficult.

*He is not sleeping as well as he had been but most nights still sleeps until 5 or 6 am
*Hates tummy time but likes sleeping on his tummy
*Still loves to be swaddled
*Hates his car seat and usually refuses to sleep in his car seat

*Still wears 0-3 month clothing but is starting to fit into some 3-6 month clothes.
*Is rubbing off a nice patch of hair on the back of his head but still has lots on top
* Is very nervous when Greydon is around, probably because Grey has rolled him off the couch and tipped him out of the swing
*Doesn't love to be awake in the swing but if I put him in there to nap he'll usually sleep longer
*Enjoys sitting in the bumbo and playing on the playmate
*Is starting to grab at toys
*Loves looking at himself in the mirror
*Really enjoys sucking on his hands
* He has started spitting up a lot more, I actually have to carry a burp cloth with me now

I can't imagine life without Asher and I am so happy we have been blessed to have him in our family!

Birthday Interview

I interviewed Leila the other day and here are her answers.  It was really fun to hear how she answered these questions some were much different then I expected. Most of the answers are her exact words.

1. What is your favorite color? Red, purple and pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Playdough Dentist.
3. What is your favorite fruit? Apples w/out the peel and strawberries with sweetener
4. What is your favorite tv show? Caillou or anything on PBS
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? What do I eat most days? umm...Grilled cheese 
6. What is your favorite outfit? Jeggings 
7. What is your favorite game? Guess Who 
8. What is your favorite snack? Graham crackers 
9. What is your favorite animal? Monkeys
10. What is your favorite song? Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae, then she proceeded to sing it
11. What is your favorite book? Ladybug Girl
12. Who is your best friend? Ryder but he moved so Daisy 
13. What is your favorite cereal? Cinnamon toast crunch  
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Ride scooters and bikes 
15. What is your favorite drink?  Water.
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas duh, Santa comes
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My favorite blanket and sometimes stuffed animals 
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  waffles, french toast, and cereal 
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Spaghetti and meatballs 
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A dentist