Easter

This is my 100th post!  About time. ;-)

Easter this year was wonderful.  I know my kids won't remember a thing, but I got really into it anyway. Partially for them, but also for me - holidays are so fun!

I figured I'd try to teach Matthew the basics about The Atonement and Resurrection.... and by basics, I mean I pretty much told him that Jesus got owies on his hands, loves us a lot, that he went away, and that he CAME BACK and we get to be with our family forever.  The next time he saw a picture of Jesus he said, "Jesus!  Owies on hands!  Oh no!"  Hmmm, pretty sure that that's all that really stuck with him.  Dang.  Better luck next time I guess. :-)

Anyway, as you can see, I made the kids take a bunny ears picture.  I couldn't help myself. And it turned out WAY better than last year's picture:

We saw the Easter Bunny at Walmart!  Free picture!  And good thing it was free since even though Matthew thought the Easter Bunny was incredibly awesome, he would NOT look at the camera.

We colored eggs!  Well, me and Matthew did anyway.  I am not cool enough to deal with the messy disaster it would've been if I'd let Kate participate this year.  ;-)  I got some cheap plastic eggs for Matthew to color on with markers, and of course we also dyed some real ones.

We took the kids on an egg hunt in the neighborhood the day before Easter.  They had different egg hunts depending on the child's age so it was nice that Matthew and Kate were able to hunt with other small kids and babies.

The Easter Bunny visited this egg hunt so we got another pic.... but once again, they would not look at the camera.  :-)

Why are Easter Bunnies ALL so creepy?  Is it that impossible to make a cute one???  Sheesh.

Anyway, the night before Easter Matthew helped me bake up a bunny cake.  He loves helping me in the kitchen.

My counters?  Yeah, I'd like to say sorry and that they're not normally that messy, but honestly.... they usually ARE that messy.  Agh.

On Easter morning we let the kids open their presents (a couple small toys and a book for each of them) and then had to jet off to 8 a.m. church!  I did manage to sneak in a family pic using a timer.  :-)

We had an Easter Feast that evening.  Matthew's favorite part was, by far, the bunny cake.

So glad I got to celebrate with the fam, and so grateful that I get to be with them forever because of my Savior.

Children's Books

When I was a kid, like most other kids, I changed what I wanted to be when I grew up ALL the time. However, I remember that there was a good year or two (which was forever for me!) that I was dead set on being an author of children's books. I even wrote several stories on pieces of construction paper, stapled them together, and illustrated them myself.  (Um, yikes. I have never ever fooled myself into believing that I could be an artist).  ;-)  Eventually I sort of forgot about my passion for children's books, but it has been rekindled now that I have two kids who have grown beyond just the "Baby Touch and Feel" books.

In a nutshell, I still LOVE LOVE LOVE children's books. Don't get me wrong, I love grown-up novels too, but I don't get excited about them in the same way that I get excited over children's books. It kills me when I go to the children's section of a bookstore and can't just buy every book that I see.

I seriously think I could read to my kids all day. I am sooo glad that they enjoy it so much. There are many different activities that I love doing with them, but I think reading to them is at the top of that list. It's simple and definitely not very flashy, but it is wonderful. I hope that they continue to love books their whole lives- even in a world that seems to be drifting away from books a little.  (Boo!)

If anyone feels so inclined, please share with me one or more of your favorite children's books! I am on the hunt for more, and I don't own nearly as many as I wish I did. And if anyone is looking for some good ones, my favorites include:

The Very Hungry Caterpillar 
Harold And The Purple Crayon
I Was So Mad (this has helped Matthew express himself better during his tantrum-throwing age ha!)
Love You Forever
If You Give.... books (A Mouse a Cookie, etc.)
Goodnight Beach
Guess How Much I Love You
The Sleepy Little Alphabet
Five Little Ducks
Dear Zoo
Where The Wild Things Are

And anything by:
Leslie Patricelli
Karen Katz (my kids LOVE these ones)

*Many (most?) of these are toddler-age books, though I am also starting to think about adding to my slightly-older kids' book collection as well.

Phoenix Zoo

This year, I spent my 27th birthday at the zoo!  Michael had the day off work and we've never been, so I thought it would be the perfect day to go since it was a weekday, (less crowded) the weather was likely to be nice, and the kids are old enough to appreciate it.

We got there as soon as it opened and stayed until nap time.  (My kids are NOT the type to sleep in the stroller.  Ever).  Matthew had slept horrifically the night before so he was a bit cranky, but he'd been looking forward to going to the zoo for weeks so he would snap out of the crankiness whenever he'd see a cool animal.

Apparently the Phoenix Zoo is not all that impressive, but I wouldn't really know because I've only ever been to two zoos in my life, and the first one was a reeeeally long time ago.  (It was the San Diego Zoo).  I remember that I had a blast and I distinctly remember the hippo and the monkeys, but that's about it. Anyway, I thought it was way fun and the best part was seeing how excited Matthew and Kate would get over seeing all the animals they've been learning about.   

 Matthew was on Could 9 when he got to see the elephant. It was what he'd been looking forward to the most.

HUGE tortoises!

This jaguar looked like it wanted to rip our heads off.

Rafiki-ish type monkeys

petting zoo

See what I mean about Matthew?  :-)  He looked like this unless he was looking at an animal.

Toucan Sam

zebras

After the kids went down for naps I went shopping for a few hours by myself, which is seriously heaven. Ha. And then we all went out to pizza for dinner. Perfect birthday!  Big shout out to Michael for being awesome and making the day so great!

February

What in the world!?  Where did February go???  I mean, I know that February really is quite literally the shortest month, but it feels more like 2 weeks long.  Well anyway, here's what we were up to in February:

My parents came to town at the very start of the month and we went to the Gilbert Temple Open House.  It is BEAUTIFUL!  Seriously.  I am absolutely thrilled to be able to call it my home temple, and beyond grateful that it's only a few miles away.

This photo was taken by my dad.  Not bad huh?  It's now hanging in our front room.

The weather has been amazing.  We go to the park at least once a day - often twice a day!  A lot of February has been spent on the swings, slide, and playing in rocks and dirt.

 Matthew mostly uses the "big boy" swing now, but this time he wanted to swing next to Kate.  It really depressed me because it was the first time that I thought he actually looked awkward in the baby swing.  Ugh, does the whole my-baby-is-growing-up thing ever get easier?  :-(

Cheese ball.

Speaking of babies growing up, Kate started WALKING!  Ahh!  She pretty much never crawls now.  I LOVE when babies first start walking.  The unstable wobble is the cutest thing.  Obviously she still falls a lot, but she got good at it really fast.  Matthew finds it quite entertaining and loves cheering for her.  "Kate is WALKING!  Kate is WALKING!"

Valentine's Day!  I took Matthew on a date to McDonald's for an ice cream cone.  (We started that tradition last year).  It's amazing how unbelievably happy and excited he was about his ice cream cone.  I love this little dude so much.  He is so fun.

When I say the weather has been beautiful, I really mean it.  We even had a couple pool days:

On this day, we were walking past the pool and Matthew wanted to go see it.  We were not dressed to swim, but I figured, "Oh hey, putting our feet in would be fun."  That was dumb.  Of course putting their feet in wouldn't be enough for them.  They were having SO much fun so I basically just let them go nuts.  Fullest diapers EVER.  It was an interesting drive home.  :-)

 Lesson learned.  Yay for proper swimwear!

I am now in the market for a hat that fits him.  Ha.

Matthew is a really good reader.  He literally could read before he could talk.  We read a lot, which means trips to the library....

....and lots of practice with his "ash cards!!!!"  (flash cards)  I have no idea why he likes flash cards.  They're pretty boring, in my opinion.  Whatever works though, right?

And of course, lots of splashy bath times.  Pretty sure my bathroom floor is going to start molding from the insane of amounts of water these two monkeys manage to splash out of the tub.

February, you were very good to us.  Bring on March!

Kate's First Birthday

A few hours after Kate was born, it was the middle of the night and the nurses and staff had finally left the room.  (Well, for a few minutes anyway).  :-)  Michael was trying to get what little sleep he could on an uncomfortable couch at the foot of my hospital bed and I was holding a sleeping Kate.  It was dark and quiet but I was totally wired.  The exhaustion would definitely come, (and oh man, does it ever come during those newborn days!) but I had some very special time with my new daughter.  I remember thinking, "I'd better enjoy this because I know that in absolutely no time, she'll be turning one."  And as clichè as it is, UGH, I was right about how dang fast it happens. 

one year later.....

I've said it before, but Kate is such a little sweetheart.  In the last couple months she has developed a bit of spunk and sass, ;-) but it is probably a good thing... especially when you have an older brother that likes to pick on you sometimes.  Ha!

She was born an average-ish height and weight, but is now small for her age.  For a brief time I worried that she maybe wasn't eating enough, but I don't worry anymore.  She's got the cutest baby rolls and definitely doesn't look unhealthy!  :-)  She doesn't walk on her own yet but walks along furniture really well and is getting sturdier and braver.  She still only has two bottom teeth.  Her hair is coming in and growing but it is kinda hard to tell because it is super thin and light.  So thin, in fact, that I still have to use headbands instead of just clipping it back with a bow.  Her hair won't stay in a clip.

Her very favorite word to say is, "Dada!"  It's one of the only things she will say on command, along with a couple animal sounds.  That's okay- it's pretty fitting actually.  Though she loves her mama, she gets completely giddy when Michael is around.  And Michael is already fiercely protective of her.  I worry about her dating life when she's older.  :-)

She has been a nightmarish napper pretty much from the beginning.  However, just a little after she turned 6 months old, she went from waking up twice every single night to waking up ZERO times in the night.  It was glorious.... and ever since the first time she slept through the night, I think I can count on one hand the amount of times she has woken up in the night.  (Though sometimes she struggles to fall asleep).  She has absolutely refused to take more than one (short) nap during the day since she was about 10 months old, so she has a very early bedtime.  And then she usually ends up sleeping about 13 hours straight.  It's a beautiful thing, and it totally makes up for her stinker pants nap habits.  :-)

Kate loves being tickled, playing Peek-a-boo, and reading books.  She has very little, if any, interest in any sort of TV.  She went straight from nursing to the sippy cup.  If she doesn't like her food, she'll immediately start throwing it on the floor.  She enjoys bath time and crawling around at the park.  She thinks Matthew is hilarious and loves following him around and playing with him.  She also loves sugar.  (Duh -what kid doesn't?)

Kate and Matthew are only 17 months apart, and while there are plenty of people who have kids even closer together, there were a lot of people who were surprised by our decision to have kids so close in age.  But let me tell you - both me and Michael knew when it was time to have a second baby.  I was so completely certain that this was what Heavenly Father wanted for our family that I never once doubted our decision.  I am so, so grateful that we were blessed with this girl.  She has brought us so much joy.

There are a million more things I could say about Kate, but for now, I will just say that I love her.  I am so thankful for her patience... especially during her early months when I basically had two babies.  She is sweet and fun and smart and I adore her.

For her birthday, we kept things relatively simple.  She was getting over a cold but still managed to be happy and have a pretty good day.  Michael took the day off work and we visited Butterfly Wonderland.  We all had a blast and loved seeing so many gorgeous butterflies.

After naps we made a quick trip to the park and then had dinner and CAKE!  She was hesitant about her cake at first but after I stuck some in her mouth she caught on.  :-)

 It was a great day.  So excited for her second year of life!