Spring is Here

Easter this year was a lot of fun.  This is the very first Easter Sunday picture that I have ever taken with my kids.  We took it after church and I made Tyler get back in his church clothes but we finally took one.

Easter morning.

Payton insisted on changing into her Easter dress before she started the easter egg hunt.

Cooper helping daddy build a dresser.  Cutest thing ever.

I've lived in Utah for about 10 years now and this is the very first year I've been to the tulip festival.  It was so pretty.  

Payton's new obsession is taking pictures with my phone.  I came out from my room and she had found our family camera and took this picture of me.  Not bad for a 3 year old right?

So I decided to take a picture of her taking a picture of me.

Her are some more of her work.

She even figured out how to change it to black and white.

Enjoying the sun..

This is the only picture I took on our first hike of the season.  Of course no one is looking but me. Payton was afraid a fly was going to land on her and Cooper was concerned.

Cooper turns 1

On Cooper's birthday Tyler was out of town and Cooper was sick to top it off so after birthday pancakes we spent the day cuddled up on the couch.

A few weekends later we celebrated with a day at the zoo and a little dinner and dessert celebration with family.

He loved pointing at every animal he saw.

This is how Cooper looks 80% of the time.  Thumb in mouth and hand playing with his hair.  It is so adorable.

And....he demolished it.  Every last bite.

Happy Birthday Cooper.  We sure love you.

Top 5 - April 2016

Payton Millie

 3 Years 10 Months

1 - This girl LOVES to take pictures.  I always seem to "lose" my phone only to find it later with a ton of random new photos on it.  We went to the Tulip Festival and she took so many pictures.  I think I'm going to get her a small little digital camera for her birthday.

2- We bought Payton a balance bike for her for Christmas in 2014.  She didn't really take to it and for al long time only wanted to ride her scooter around, but this month she has risen her bike almost every sunny day we have had.  She is getting so fast and she lifts both feet up and can balance really well.  This seriously was the best invention ever.  No more training wheels fiasco....well hopefully.  

3 - I've got to be really careful with what songs are on the radio when we are driving in the car because she remembers EVERY word of the songs she hears.  

4 - Payton loves to draw pictures and she insists on using a pen.  Not crayons, not colored pencils but a pen.  She draws the most intricate pictures and she spends about 20 minutes on one picture.  She is definitely a perfectionist.  

5 - As of late Payton has started eating really really well.  She will choose a bowl of carrots over a fruit snack.  What?!?  She love to go over and "help" grandma with her garden.   More like eat grandma's garden.  She will pull out carrots and radishes and wipe them off so she can eat them right there.  She also pulls off leaves of her lettuce plants and just eats it plain.  She is my little vegetarian.  Cooper on the other hand.....

Cooper Seth

12 Months

1 - This boy can EAT.  But I can count on maybe two hands the things he will eat.  Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, toast, cheese, yogurt, peas, raspberries, blackberries, smoothies and chex cereal.   I sneak veggies in anything I can.  I even sneak avocados into his yogurt.

2 - Cooper has 4 teeth all the way in and 3 more on their way.  

3 - He loves to wave, clap his hands, splash in the tub, dance and point at EVERYTHING.  Anytime he gets upset or sad I know that as long as I start singing the wheels on the bus everything will be okay.  

4 - I can finally say confidently that he sleeps through the night.  It was 11 hard months of not sleeping, but now he sleeps like a champ.  He take two really good naps during the day and sleeps from 7:30-7:30 or 8.  It is glorious.

5 - While driving in the car Payton and Cooper think it is hilarious to scream back and forth at each other.  Unfortunately now Cooper does it randomly by himself.  Specifically at church.  During sacrament.  It's awesome. 

DIY Mudroom

So I have always wanted a built in mudroom in my house and in this house there is the PERFECT

spot for it right behind the garage door.

Most of everything we used came from IKEA (the best DIY store ever).

STOLMEN open storage: $60

EKBY shelf: $32

4 HEMNES hooks: $20

Furniture Legs: $15

You don't need to add the legs to the open storage bench but we have an HVAC vent underneath right where we want it so we needed to raise it.  Ty simply marked and screwed each leg on the base of the IKEA unit.

While he was doing that I started painting the wall white (with leftover paint that was left in our basement) where we were planning on installing the wood trim.

The only other materials you need to buy are white wood trim.  

17 feet of 4″ Trim – They sell this in 18 ft Length for under $15 (The lengths I used were: 2 lengths at 5 feet, 1 length at 40″ & 1 length at 3 feet for a total of just under 17′; they will cut these for you if you have your exact measurements – you will have to take into account what height you want your shelf and what you have or will be using for baseboard)

3 feet of 6″ Trim – This is the piece that the hooks go on so I decided to use a wider trim. You could use the 4″ trim if you’d like, or go even bigger.

Home Depot: Spent $35

Total Cost: $162

My husband started by using finishing nails to secure the trim but it wasn't secure enough for our liking so he used drywall screws which we will have to cover and paint (this has been finished for 2 months and I have yet to cover and finish painting the screws and trim which will honestly take 20 minutes max)

Oh and a while ago we bought this awesome leveler that has a red laser.  Best $40 we've ever spent.   This is a game changer when it comes to hanging pictures too.

In this picture you can see all the screws and nails.  I really need to get around to finishing it.

A Few Pictures of our House

We have lived in our house now for a month and a half and just barely finished putting decorations up in one of the 4 rooms we need to decorate.  It is far from ready.  This time around I plan to take my time and not rush getting it looking exactly the way I want it to.  It takes time and I'm okay with taking it.  Here are a few pictures of what it looks like now.

 P.S. This is my all time favorite rug with little kids.  Not only is it dark and hides stains well but it is SO soft.  We spend so much time on this rug.  Best money I have ever spent on a rug.  I got it at Rugs USA and I got it 80% off.  

Tyler and I did do one project right away a few weeks after we moved in.  It was a super easy and fun project to do together that only took 3-4 hours to complete and it cost under $150.  All we have left to do is paint the wood trim to match the shelf and bench color.  

Top 5 - March 2016

Payton Millie

3 Years 9 Months

1 - Payton has been learning letters in preschool but it seems like the past month she recognizes them everywhere.  She points out all kinds of letters while we are reading or out and about and she even knows if they are uppercase or lowercase.

2 - We were taking Tyler to the airport the other night for a work trip and Payton was really sad that he was leaving.  She has this little dog named Maddy that she carries around everywhere and she told her dad that she didn't want him to be lonely while he was gone so she wanted him to take Maddy with him to keep him company.  She said that she was going to miss Maddy but that "daddy needs her more then she does".  It was the sweetest thing.  

3 - Payton gave her first talk in Primary this week and she did so well.  She was so proud of herself and I was pretty proud of her too.  Everyone in primary loves her.  She loves to talk and answer questions and tell stories.  I wonder how much dirty laundry of ours she airs to her class.  Yikes... 

4 - Payton has always loved princesses, but lately she has taken a special interest in super heroes.  I'm all about it.  She always wants me to tie a towel around her neck for her super cape and she rounds around the house "saving the day".

5 -  All of a sudden Payton can draw a picture and I can actually tell what it is without her explaining.  They are really good.  I have a feeling she is going to be very artistic.

Cooper Seth

11 Months

1 - This month he finally mastered drinking out of a sippy cup.  Thank heavens.  He officially stopped nursing this month on his own and loves water.  Even over juice.  No complaining here.  Payton was the opposite.  I had to mix a little juice with her water to get her to drink enough water.

2 - This kid finally loves to explore.  For the past two months between teething and countless bugs he has been attached to my hip, but now he is anything but that.  He loves to crawl, pull himself up on things and cruise around furniture.  He even can walk while pushing his little walk toy.  Poor kid spends most of his time following us around the house into one room just for us to leave to another room right when he catches up.  

3 - This boy loves to babble.  He doesn't really say any distinct words yet, but he likes to mimic what we say.  The other day I got him to roar like a lion. It was so cute.

4 - He loves balls.  He just learned how to throw the ball.  After every time he throws it he gets up on his knees and holds his hand up in the air like he is so proud.  It is my favorite thing.

5 - Cooper is obsessed with eating.  But unfortunately only a select few things: yogurt, anything with bread (toast, pb&j sandwiches, grilled cheese), cheese, peas, raspberries, blackberries,  oatmeal and buckwheat cereal,  smoothies (I sneak in all the veggies I can in there), chex cereal and those little dried yogurt snacks.  He eats every hour it seems.

Top 5 - February 2016

Payton Millie - 3 Years 8 Months

1 - Payton has SUCH a good memory.  A year ago Tyler took her to Disney on Ice and Payton was so excited the whole time to see Elsa and Anna.  She kept asking Tyler when they were going to come out.  They never did and to say she was devastated is an understatement.  Tyler told her that they couldn't come that night because they were sick.  Lol.  So this year they have Frozen on Ice and Tyler told Payton they were going to go again.  Payton responded by asking "Are Elsa and Anna going to be sick or will they be there this time?"  Are you kidding?  Not only was it a year ago but she was 2 then!  How does she remember that?

2 - The past month Payton has made a decision to test out the waters of defiance.  She has always been a very obedient girl (I got really lucky with her being my first and am in a rude awakening with the rest of my kids).  Although the past month it is like she has flipped a switch.  Maybe it is all the moving we have been doing and maybe it is just a phase (I really really hope so), but she says NO to everything.  I swear I hear the phrase "Mommy I want to make a bad choice right now" at least 20 times a day.  It is definitely testing my patience.

3 - Every time we get in the car to go somewhere Payton has her hands full of about 5 or more toys that she wants to bring with her.  It is such a process to get her down to just 2.  I feel like my car is a breeding zone for toys.

4 - Payton is so sweet.  Cooper was crying the other night while I was making dinner and after only a few minutes she went over to him and started singing him a song she made up on the spot about how she loves him and why he shouldn't cry anymore.  She kept hugging him and giving him kisses.  It melted my heart.  

5 - Everything turns into a pretend character that she plays pretend with.  Her chore in our house is to put the silverware away from the dishwasher and she used about 10 different knives/forks/spoons and had a whole conversation with them and was playing some sort of princess scenario with them.  Everything these days is princess.  I can't wait for Cooper to throw some less girly things in the mix at our house.

Cooper Seth - 10 Months

1- We finally found Cooper's ticklish spot.  If you tickle him right on his lower tummy around his sides he starts giggling like crazy and squirming.  

2 -  He loves his thumb a little too much.  A few months ago I remember whenever I would bring him into his room from nap time or bed time the thumb would automatically go in his mouth.  That doesn't happen anymore because it is ALWAYS in his mouth.  Even in between shoving food into his mouth.  It is going to be a serious problem when he gets older...but right now I don't care because it is so dang cute.

3 - He has become a MOMMA's boy for sure.  Whenever I am not home and Tyler is watching the kids Tyler says that he is so happy and crawls around and plays, but the second I get home and he hears my voice he starts crying and crawls over to my feet for me to pick him up.  

4 - His two new skills that he is really proud of is clapping and pointing.  Sometimes I have no idea what he is pointing at but he will sit there and point and babble to himself.  

5 - He still wears 3-6 month shoes and his feet don't seem to be growing anytime soon.