Cutest Baby Shower Ever!

Saturday was Oliver's baby shower and it was seriously amazing! My mom and Kayley made the cutest decorations and every little detail was perfection...not to mention Lisa's gorgeous house, which I am planning to live in some day :-). It was fun such a fun day and we are all excited to meet little Oliver! I'm just posting some of my favorite photos.

Ella felt really big to be there and wanted to help with everything :-)!

Starring Preston

A few weeks ago my grandma gave me a cassette tape and letter that I had sent my great-grandma (Granny) the summer before I started 6th grade...which was 20 years ago (Aug 1992)!!! On it I told her about our summer traveling and played her some songs on the piano, since she was the amazing pianist of the family, and then Mack and Kayley recorded a little bit of themselves talking and playing piano as well. It is HILARIOUS to listen to! But it is also really fun and special. We have all enjoyed it and it has made me really want to be better about getting video of my kids talking and showing off their tricks and talents. 20 years from now I know they'll love it...even if it makes me sad to listen to like it did my mom :-). I haven't done great, but I'm working on it and at least Preston got to star in a few this past week.

Be Mine

Happy Valentine's Day!

Craftiness and a Tea Party

First, check out my new photography blog design! I owe a HUUUGE thanks to Chrissy for setting it all up for me...if I had tried it would have taken me days (I'm not so computer saavy at that kind of stuff) and I would not have even attempted it for months. I love it!

Every day since her birthday Addie has been asking me to do some of her new crafts. Tuesday when she got home from school we had a couple hours before we needed to go anywhere and Preston was asleep so I let her pick out something to do. She chose the bird house from Meema and Papa. Then, since we already were painting, when she asked if she could also paint the picture frame from Nana and Grandad I let her. Addie has since hung the bird house outside from a tree all by herself and we put a picture of Tom in the frame and it looks adorable...I need to get pictures of both still.

Addie made this cat mask at school and was eager to try it out when she got home. We added some ribbons to it and she quickly became a cat. I think we were all a little relieved when Addie returned instead :-).

It was a really humbling week for me as a parent (which also means, I was left crying quite a bit). We are still trying to figure out all the quirks in Adeline's personality and how best to help her learn to manage them as well. One thing I am certain of after this week however, is that Miss Carri is truly the perfect person for Addie to have in her life as a teacher right now. We had a wonderful conversation that left me feeling so much more hopeful about everything. I also am feeling so thankful for friends and family who love me and Addie for who we are...and bring me gluten-free treats to help me feel better :-).

Friday Addie and I had a lot of fun with friends and were able to spend some good quality time together when Preston went down for his nap. Later that afternoon she really, really wanted to have a tea party but was patient enough to wait for Preston to wake up and Ella to get home from school. She had it all prepared for them to enjoy and requested cookies to go with it. Luckily, I had one bag of little cookies leftover from our last road trip and the kids had so much fun dipping them in water :-). I love all Addie's fun ideas!

Easy Peasy

I haven't taken many pictures this week and I have been terrible about sticking to my 21-day goals. I think I need start the days over again :-). I like to blame it on some added stresses this week that I wasn't expecting, but when is life stressor free?! Never. Yeah, that's not a very good excuse.

Monday, however, was a pretty good day. We ran two errands, Addie wrote her Valentine's for her class, we went to Ella's swimming practice, and then we all went out to dinner together. If only every day were so easy :-).

you can't really see Ella and it's blurry, but i didn't know if I was really allowed to take pictures so I was trying to be discreet

Ella just started going to swim to start getting ready for swim season, which will be here before we know it. She has to know 4 strokes this year so we thought we better get her a little prepared before it starts. She loves swimming and got to move up to the next level this day, which was extra special since Mike was there watching too!

Super Bowl Sunday

The weather cooled back down so I had the kids wear their holiday outfits again and I was on a mission. I had failed time and time again to get a picture of them wearing their cute stuff, so this Sunday it was my top priority! We managed to get a few shots and still get to church on time...I was proud of myself :-)! Addie gave a talk in primary on Sunday too and she did a great job on the speaking part of it (the waiting her turn in front of the whole primary didn't go as smoothly).

After church we had time to kill until it was time to party. We prepped food, relaxed, and watched a movie. Kayley and Scott came early for a quick photo shoot and then everyone else began arriving. No one was super excited about this year's match up (least of all, Mike) but we were excited about all the yummy food to eat :-)! AND we were celebrating Kayley's birthday as well. It's always fun to just be hanging out together...even if the half-time show is terribly boring.

I didn't know Mike had such great acting skills!

Preston requested his own cheering picture.

The banner my mom made to go on her delicious cake was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen...until I see what she's doing for the baby shower this weekend I'm sure.

Saturday's Family Fun Day

Saturday we headed out early to attend The Braveheart Family Fun Day. It was a great event organized to raise money for a family in Addie's preschool class whose dad was in a bad accident in September. Since CJ was one of Addie's first favorite friends in her class (she came home the 2nd day of school thrilled that she could spell his name :-), we were excited to go and show our support...and have some fun at the same time. Here are some highlights: