BFF's!!

One of the main reasons we went to Utah when we did was so I could catch up with my best friend, Lisa, who was visiting her family from Ohio. And I'm SOOO glad I got to see her! We met in college and became best friends for life. And even though we hadn't seen each other in almost 3 years, we picked up right where we left off! Thank goodness for cell phones and Skype we could keep in touch other ways, but in person was so. much. more. FUN!!! We were able to meet up with 2 others of our best friends from college (Karlie and Allie) and party like the good old days! (We only wish the rest of our peeps could have been there). I'm so grateful for the awesome friends I made at BYU and for the awesome examples they are to me. Hopefully we can get together sooner the next time around!

We had a delish dinner at Brick Oven and then took some werido pictures for old times sake on our old stomping grounds of BYU!

Brooke's Birthday Bash{es} #3

Brooke's birthday was fun from start to finish!! We started off the day with breakfast of her choice..strawberry oatmeal! Then the girls had fun licking the beaters from the cupcakes. Grandma had a tea party with the kids (per Brooke's request) before we headed to Brooke's FAV place to eat..Panda Express!

We celebrated Brooklyn's birthday full-on princess style while we were in Utah. She was so excited to celebrate with her cousins, and even got spoiled by aunts, uncles, Grandma Murphey, and Great grandma and grandpa Bell! The party was so fun, and Brooke was very spoiled with love and gifts! (And thanks to grandma and the James' for all the help with the party!)

Back in Washington, we had yet another party (since daddy and the other family here didn't get to party down in Utah), and it was another perfectly princessy party! This time we celebrated with Daddy, grandma and grampy Murphey, Nana and Papa, Barbara and Ernie, Lucy and Titan, and the Pittengers. Brooke loved her Princess Ice Cream cake and soaked up all the attention. She had so much fun opening presents and gave lots of hugs and Thank-yous, and was of course, way too spoiled!

This girl is too easy to spoil because she is so gracious! She is such a happy girl and gets so excited about things. She is so fun to surprise and is so fun-loving. Honestly, we are so so grateful to have had her first. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing! She is such a special, sweet spirit. So quick to forgive and quick to repent. She is so close to the Spirit and is always watching out for the safety of little sis. Sometimes she can be a bit bossy..but isn't that what big sister's are for?! We feel so blessed to have our little April Fool's girl as our oldest child, to be a righteous example to her siblings. Love our spunky, sweet, social little babe!

Cousin bonding

One of my favorite things about our trip to Utah was the cousin bonding that went on. In the past, Brooke and Sadie haven't really played together or taken much interest in each other, but this time it was totally different! They spent lots of time hugging, snuggling, playing, getting into trouble and becoming best friends! I love all the pictures of them together. So cute! Brooke and Cooper have always played and been friends so it was fun to see the same happen with Sades and Brooke. We are so glad to have them relatively close so lots more bonding time can happen! (P.S. I can't forget to document the many times {over and over} that these girls got in trouble for picking flowers. Like back to back timeouts. Super frustrating as a parent, but also pretty funny when your own child sends herself to timeout...Love those girls)

Easter in Utah

We were seriously loving the beautiful Utah weather while we were there. Easter proved to be a perfect Spring day! We started the day by finding the lovely treats/toys the Easter Bunny brought. The kids loved their baskets and started shoving in the chocolate right away!

The James' went to their ward while we stayed home and worked on dinner. We got the dinner prep done and then headed up to Midway for a mission farewell. It was a gorgeous day and the kids had fun running around the park while we tried to take cute pictures. We had little success due to lack of cooperation, but you can still see how cute they looked in their Easter outfits from Grandma and Grandpa! 

We headed home and ate a late dinner with delicious ham, rolls, scalloped potatoes..all the good stuff! (I didn't get a picture though..) Then we had the much anticipated Easter egg hunt. We filled like a million eggs and the kids were loving the finding. At first Brooke was opening each egg to see what was inside, but she must of decided it was all good stuff cuz she quit opening and just gathered. They got even more candy and I loved watching their excitement and energy! Kids make holidays so much FUN!!

Second Easter with presents from Grandma and Grandpa! The girls loved their Disney Princess Barbies..can you say SPOILED?! Thanks gma and gpa!

Aside from all the festivities, we spent the day of and the week before teaching the kids about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for my Savior and for the atonement and that I get to be with my family forever. What a blessing! I love Easter and the special tine it is to reflect on the the Savior, his life and what He means to me.

Utah Trip..Part 1

My mom was so kind to travel down to Utah with the girls and I for a two week trip! It was so fun hanging out with my family down there are it went by too fast, as fun things always do. We did lots of fun things! 

We went to Hollywood Connection..an indoor fun center with mini-golf (never again with 5 kids), roller skating (a bad idea from the beginning and very short lived..who knew it'd be hard to keep keeps up on roller skates when we had trouble standing up alone?!), and some amusement park type rides. The kids had a lot of fun on the carousel, roller coaster, and ferris wheel type bus. The most memorable part of the day was getting there, only to find it didn't open for another 2 1/2 hours. We thought about going home and trying a different day, but the kids were so excited we decided to find a park and kill some time there since the weather was so beautiful. (Let's not mention the part where my daughter pooped in the park...) We had fun playing at the park and doing a little shopping, waiting for it to open. The kids were all exhausted by the end of the day (with no naps) but it was worth it for the fun they had. 

We also went to Hogle Zoo. Little did we know, it was the first day of Spring Break and it was CrAzY busy. With so many people, it took quite a while to see everything, but we did and had fun doing it. The weather was gorgeous, and aside from Sadie getting a bad bloody nosed and scraped up from a seizure, it was a good day. Troy came along with us and it was nice to have another set of hands to help keep track of kids. 

Sisters!!

These girls are such good friends!! Brooke loves hugging and snuggling her, and Brooke can make her laugh just by looking at her. Bryn idolizes her big sis! Love watching them play together! So blessed to have these girls to make me smile every day! 

Girls, Girls, Girls!

My life revolves around my girls, girls, girls!! And I have been horrible at writing all the cute/funny/crazy things they are up to! So this has been weighing down on me and I'm going to try to redeems myself!

Brooklyn -- Almost 3 (holy cow..where has the time gone?!)
Words can't describe this girl! I already regret not writing down/recording the many awesome things she says everyday. She is a riot!

• She is COMPLETELY obsessed with Disney Princesses. She knows every Princess, the story and their song. Santa totally spoiled her with Princess stuff, including a set of Princess books with a thing that tells the story when you push the button for each page (which she calls "my reader fing." Last night Curt was reading her Snow White and she told him the story, almost word for word. She is a smart one that little girl. She loves dressing up in her Princess costumes, and loves her castle with all the Princesses/Princes. I just hope she isn't going to be high maintenance..
• She loved Christmas, especially singing Christmas songs. Her favorites to sing were Angels We Have Heard on High, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Rudolph, Jingle Bells, Frosty, Away in a Manger and When Joseph Went to Bethlehem. And if you try to sing along with her she says, "No, no, I sing it." She started putting stuff on her 'Christmas List' in October..I never actually wrote stuff down which is a good thing because the list would have been a mile long. Anytime there were ads around, she said, "Let me see it. I need to put something on my 'Tristmas' List." She asked for a Minnie kitchen after seeing it once in the ad, and she asked Santa for it each of the 4 times she sat on his lap, but luckily she was content with her Princess stuff. 
• Anytime mom or dad gives her an answer she doesn't like she whine/cries "I want grammy," or "I want grampy." Although she adjusted amazingly well to moving out of their house, she still will let us know when she isn't happy with us by saying she wants them. 
• She says funny things All. The. Time! A few of them:
• Brooke says, "Sadie was mean to me." I told her that maybe Sadie didn't want her pulling on her and that maybe Sadie thought she was the one being mean. Brooke responded "Maybe that was it."
• Curt was helping Brooke count to 20 a few weeks ago. After they finished Brooke asked, "Is this important?"
• When Grandma and Grandpa were in Disneyworld, I told Brooke "Someday I'll take you to Disneyland." She said "I'm gonna go to Disneyworld without you." I asked who was going to pay for it and she replied, "Me!" She thinks she is Miss Independent, and she is, but that might just be a little out of her reach...
• I was giving her goodnight kisses a couple months ago and she asked, "Mommy, did you brush your teeth?" I said, "No, does my breath stink?" She said "I fink so. I fink so mommy. You need to brush your teeth." Nothing quite like the bluntness of children :) And might I also add that I looove that she can't say her "th" sound..quite adorable!
• After going to our new house for the first time, we were getting back to Grandma and Grandpa's house and grandma asked, "How was your new house?"  Brooke said, "It's too far away!" I suppose a mile is quite far for a 2 year old...
• She is the BEST big sister! She loves Brynlee and is such a good helper getting me stuff when I ask her to. She can't wait for Brynlee to get bigger so she can play with her. She loves when we put Bryn in her bed to snuggle her for a few minutes before bed. She is always getting her toys to play with. Brynlee laughs anytime Brooke talks to her and it's the cutest thing ever! Oh how I love these sweet girls!

Brynlee (8 1/2 months)

I have been so terrible at journaling about her! Oh I must get better! She is so sweet and determined and loving, but also has a good little temper!! She can go from 0-60 in no time when she decides she is hungry or tired.

• Got her ears pierced at 8 months old..Not a pleasant experience but they do look super cute! She screamed so hard that is took several minutes before she could breathe normally. And she hates every time I clean them. Lucky for her, I'm not very good at doing it as often as I should..
• Slept through the night for the 1st time at like 7 months old. Yeah, wish I was kidding! She is definitely not a great night sleeper. She is a pretty good napper (usually a decent morning nap and a good afternoon nap), but night time..well it's a struggle! And even though we had a good week where she slept through the night a couple times, it didn't seem to turn into a habit and she hasn't done it since. I am still somewhat sane, despite being awoken usually at least 3 times a night (Brooke has regressed and no longer sleeps through the night either..she usually needs help going to the bathroom and then ends up on our floor). I hope by age 1, I can re-learn what it feels like to get a night of uninterrupted sleep..but not holding my breath :) Bryn was eating only once a night for a while, but now, after being sick, is back to twice a night..this cannot last
• Busy busy body! She has always been busy, reaching for things, rolling around, and now, crawling!! She has been army crawling for several weeks, but last week, she started crawling for real. She gets wherever the heck she wants and is so completely determined! (I hope this quality is channeled in the right direction!!) 
• Loves solids! I started them right at 6 months and after a few days, she was pretty good at swallowing everything. The only thing she has showed a major dislike to so far (aside from the nasty meats that smell like dog food that I can hardly give her in good conscious) is peas. Not a fan. And green beans aren't her fav, but she eats them. She loves to bang on the table when people are eating to get their attention, and it usually pays off as she gets some bites. She is a little gaggy with new textures, but actually tolerates them pretty well and hopefully we can start feeding her table foods more consistently soon. She is not the best nurser (way too distractable!!) and turns her head to any voice. She can't stand not knowing what she is missing out on. Which has led to this momma worrying if she is getting enough. And although she is pretty small on the charts, I remind myself that part of that is because she is constantly on the move! 
• Happy baby! She has a wicked shrill scream at times, but mostly she loves attention and will share smiles and laughs with just about anyone who gives her the time of day. She is starting to become a momma's girl and will cry for me if I walk out of the room and wants me if she sees me, but she still loves to be held by anyone (as long as she knows I'm around) and is content to be bouncing up and down. 
• Started making more sounds, including "gaga," "dada" and "mama" about a month ago. She certainly loves her voice! She also has an awesome growl that she uses if we are eating and not sharing with her. I love hearing her learn to use her voice and seeing how happy it makes her! She has lots of happy noises and when she gets excited, she breaths in and out of her nose really loud! It's pretty funny!
• Pulled herself up for the first time this week (of course the day we got to Utah..Curt is always sad that the girl's milestones happen when we're away from him). She hasn't done it since, but I was running the bath water and had set her down sitting, and when I turned around, she was standing, banging on the bath tub. Which brings me to our next point..
• Loooves bath time!! She pretty much starts hyperventilating with excitement when she hears the bath water and I start undressing her. Brooke and her have bathed together since Bryn was probably like 3 months old, but now it's fun that we can use more water since Bryn can sit in the bath (with very close supervision as it is slippery). She loves splashing and playing and no matter how tired or grumpy she is, bath time will make her so happy! We took her swimming for the first time last month (a little worried since Brooke hated swimming for a long time) but our little water girl loved it! She splashed and had fun the whole time. If only I could take both the girls swimming without Curt's help..
• So much fun!! We are so blessed to have this pretty little thing in our family!! Can't believe how much she is growing up..slow down!!
  

Happy Spring!

The night before the official 1st day of Spring, my dad texted me "Since tomorrow is the first day of spring I thought we should try a spring themed meal. By we I mean you. Spring rolls, spring salad, etc. Love you." And he texted me the link to a recipe for Spring Shells and Cheese. So we took this idea seriously and made the gourmet mac n' cheese, had spring egg rolls, a "spring" bagged salad, and fresh fruit, complete with springy colored dishes to usher in what hopefully will feel like Spring!! The meal may not have been the most cohesive, but it was delicious and fun to have yet another themed celebration!

Grandma and Grandpa gave Brooke a book called "My Very First Spring" and they dressed up in spring colors. (Us..not so much..but you can't win them all!)

 

St. Patricks Day

When I read this blog post I couldn't help but laugh the whole way through. This pretty much defines the way my family celebrates holidays! And like this holiday Grinch, some might say we go overboard. But we say, why not have an excuse to have fun?? I try not to get overwhelmed trying to do too much, but it isn't hard to put some Leprechaun foot prints on the toilet, dye some milk green, hide some gold coins and have corned beef and cabbage for dinner. In fact, having an idea for dinner without having to think of it myself is quite nice! We had a fun time celebrating St. Patty's day..even if the leprechaun footprints freaked Brooke out and she wouldn't use the bathroom the rest of the day, even after they were gone :) And even if she refused to drink the green milk...my oh my that girl needs to be a little less "stared" (she can't say her c's) of things! I had fun putting together a little treasure hunt for her and making our green themed dinner! And lucky charms for breakfast? Well, with 9 o'clock church we were lucky to eat breakfast at all! Already looking forward to next St. Patrick's Day!

3.14...Pi Day!!

We all know my family likes any excuse for a holiday, especially one that involves pies! And I love having our 'own' place to have people over. (A super nice couple from our ward is serving a mission for 18 months and they are letting us live in their gorgeous home while they are gone..we are counting our blessings every day!) Between my mom and I we had plenty of pies! It was a fun time celebrating this 'holiday!' 

Shepherd's Pie for dinner, complete with chocolate, lemon meringue, coconut cream, strawberry cheesecake and blueberry pies. (The blueberry pie was the most important...One night while reading a Snow White story with Brooke where she makes the dwarfs a blueberry pie, Brooke said, "We ought to make one," so we finally did!)