Disney Land

We took a 2-day trip to Disney Land with my family and it was such a blast! On the first day we started at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where Alayna put on her Cinderella dress and was made into a beautiful princess (a birthday gift from her auntie). She absolutely LOVED it. In fact, the next day she was upset that she “wasn’t a princess anymore.”

We spent the day hanging around mostly kid rides and saw Beauty and Beast walk by but not too many other characters which was a bummer. We had a picnic lunch with everyone and then watched Mickey’s Soundsational Parade which was my favorite part of the entire trip! We ate dinner outside at one of restaurants on Main Street and went back to Fantasyland where we dragged sleeping babies on as many rides as we could until they stopped waking up for the actual ride 😂. We decided to let the kids sleep in the stroller and watch the Electrical parade. Alayna woke up for that and got every single princess to wave at her! She was so giddy and excited which was so fun to watch. 

The next day we decided to head to California Adventure because we’ve never been there and we were hoping it was less crowded. We had a blast there and the kids got to see a lot more characters and ride a lot more rides! We stayed until the kids couldn’t hang anymore and then drove home that night. 

The kids loved everything about Disney Land; the rides, the food, being free, the bubbles, the magic, and especially the merry-go-round which they had to ride five thousand times. I loved watching the excitement on their faces! 

Of course the day before the trip Jaxon fell off a chair and bit his lip open. So it’s swollen for all of the pictures 🙈

Sorry for the picture overload! I loved all of them!

Day 1 at Disney Land 

Day 2 at California Adventure 

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Alayna’s 4!

We celebrated Alayna Grace this weekend as she turned 4! My baby is no longer a baby! 😢 As I watched her this weekend, I realized how much has changed the last 4 years and how much change she has brought to us! She made us parents, made my sisters and sisters-in-law aunties, my brothers uncles, my mom and mother-in-law grandmas, Geoffs uncle into a guncle (great-uncle), and Geoffs grandparents into great grandparents! She has taught us so much over the years and has brought such fun and laughter into our lives, we can’t even imagine what life was like before kids! 

She wanted a mermaid/Ariel party with games. It was so fun decorating! She had a bubble machine, water guns, water balloons and games! The weather was perfect and all the kids had a BLAST squirting everyone – including those of us with no squirt guns. 

She also found out we were going to Disney Land in May which I am so excited for!!! 

People always say the years fly by and I never understood until now. We love the caring, funky, sweet, independent little person you are becoming. I can’t wait to watch you continue to grow! Here are a few things about Alayna at this age:

• She has finally learned to swing all by herself! 
• She still loves to dance 🎶 
• She loves her brother more than anything and is very motherly to him – most of the time!! 
• Being outside is one of her favorite things 
• She LOVES Baby dolls and stuffed animals and insists on sleeping with a million stuffed animals every night 
• She still wakes up at 6:30 AM no matter what! 
• She loves all Disney princesses 
• She is very particular about what she will wear! Most of the time, she only wants to wear a dress – it’s a fight in the morning if it’s cold.
• She just couldn’t wait to be measured on “the stick” 

Happy Easter

Easter is truly one of my favorite holidays. It reminds me of how blessed I am to have a savior who died for my sins – and trust me,  there are many! After church, we spent the day doing egg hunts, riding in the sand rail with our cousin, and hanging out with family! The kids are at such a fun age right now! Overall it was a great day! 

Jaxon’s 2!

In march Jaxon turned 2! Can you believe it? We had a Mickey Mouse birthday for him and he had a blast running around, taste testing his cupcakes while no one was looking, and being the typical jokester that he is. We love this little man more than anything and cannot wait for many more birthdays. 

The older he gets, the more fun we have with him! I can’t believe it’s been two years already! Here are a few things about Jaxon at this age. 

• He is still the jokester in the family – Constantly trying to make us laugh
• He was born with a very high pitch scream that he STILL uses!! 
• He’s a total Mommy’s boy. 
• He LOVE’S his sister so much – every morning, the first words out of his mouth are “where’s sissy?”
• His favorite thing to watch is “ahh-ahh” aka monkey, aka Curious George. 
• He still loves to suck his two middle fingers 
• He doesn’t really like milk which is the total opposite of his sister.
• He loves baby dolls more than anything!
• He really is the clumsiest kid! 

Real life as a mom

This week I’ve been flying solo while Geoff is at King Of Hammers. I really wanted to go, but truthfully, it just seemed like so. much. work. to figure out everything. Have you ever realized how many bags it takes to pack for two kids? Diapers, wipes, change of clothes, snacks, stroller, a whole other set of clothes just in case the weather is the opposite of what you planned for, medicine (you just never know when you’ll need it), sippie cups, hats, jackets, 10 stuffed animals (because you had to argue it down from 50), their special blankets… I could go on and on! Of course a lot of these things aren’t necessary, but they sure make the trip so much easier. 

Being a mom can look so much easier than it really is. It is by far the hardest yet most rewarding thing I’ve ever had to do. Sometimes I think we forget how much work it really takes to raise our precious babies, yet we just seem to do it and wonder why we’re so tired by the end of the day. 

The other day I was laying in bed cuddling my almost two year old (where did time go), while Alayna was laying next to me watching Dora on my iPad, with scandal on tv in the background and a basket full of laundry that needed put away at 8:30 pm! What an amazing mess we had going on. But you know what? Nothing beats those cuddles I got from those babies! 

Of course, I still lose my shit when Alayna takes an hour to put on her shoes because she is twirling and singing around the house, or when Jaxon straight tells me “no” when I ask him to pick something up and throws his cup with juice splashing all over the wall. But I’ve realized that I want to be the mom who stops to sing and twirl with Alayna; the mom who ignores the mess until they are truly done playing; the mom whom allows her kids to be creative and explore! 

Some days I wonder if I’ve done enough. Have I shown them how much they are loved today? Did I yell too much? Did I punish to harshly? Did we pray enough? Why didn’t I just let him have that third cookie? Did I hug them enough? But at the end of the day, I just did my best and pray that God takes it from there and that He will guide me in to being a good parent. Thank God for new days and His abundant grace because having kids is chaos and laughter and messiness and love and patience and stress all tied together. Sometimes we have to stop and give ourselves a break and thank God for our messy yet incredible life. 

New Year

Im not usually one to make a list of New Year Resolutions, because I never follow through, but I decided to make a list of things I’d like to be better at or do more of this year. Overall, 2016 was a good year. We sold our house, welcomed a nephew, bought a new car, graduated with my Masters, and many other memories. I can’t believe this year my babies will be 2 and 4! Life just seems to be flying by so I really want to focus on slowing down and enjoying every. single. moment. Including-

• Enjoying the craziness of toddlers in the house – like finding toys in my hamper while doing laundry, or a random toy floating in the toilet, or dried cookies shoved into random spots throughout the house. I have been trying not to get annoyed, but instead, smile because I realize that someday, I’ll miss those things.
• Trying not to sweat the small stuff -It is so easy to get irritated and annoyed over the smallest things bc some days, I’m just plain tired! I want to start taking a breath, and picking my battles a little more. My husbands grandpa always says “there are two kinds of problems in the world. It’s either a minor inconvenience or it’s earth shattering.” The things that I lose my shit over are definitely not earth shattering. So I need to chill!
• Going outside more – We love being outdoors. But sometimes we get so caught up with dinner, baths, and cleaning up that we don’t spend enough time outside.
• Digging deeper into the Bible – I’ve enjoyed my bible study groups so much! I look forward to learning so much more.
• Spending less time consumed with electronics – I am really trying to stay conscious of how much time we are spending watching TV and/or being on our phones. I’ve been encouraging the kids to just go play while we either leave the TV off or have music playing on it.

I just want a relaxed fun year that includes spur of the moment trips, camping, random BBQs, building forts, saying yes more often, lots of laughs and building a ton of memories with the kids! I am so blessed and just need to stop and soak it all in!

Christmas!

I can’t believe Christmas has come and gone. It has been a blast watching the excitement of Alayna since she was fully aware of what was going on. She asked for a tree in her room this year, so we decorated the most girly tree which was a lot of fun. We also found a fun advent calendar that teaches the true Christmas story and had been doing our elf. Every morning, Alayna woke up and immediately searched for Nora (our elf). Then she would try to drag us out of bed to see what the elf did… mind you, she is up at 6:30 every morning! Jaxon just laughed every time he saw her. One morning he decided it would be fun to drag poor Nora by her legs down the hall. Needless to say, Alayna was very upset so we had to write a letter to Santa explaining that Jax is still a baby and doesn’t really understand that we can’t touch her. She also asked that Santa bring her “two big things” a trampoline and a car.

We did decided to get them a trampoline for Christmas. It was something we had already decided on before she started asking for it so I knew they would love it… well Alayna would love it and Jaxon would be terrified!!

We spent Christmas morning opening presents at our house where my mom and Gpa joined us, then spent the afternoon at my moms, playing pie face and Uno moo, then we headed to Geoffs family’s for dinner.

The next day, we decided to head up to the snow for a couple hours. The kids absolutely LOVED it!! We had a sled that we all took turns taking the kids on. The weather was beautiful and the snow was so fluffy and powdery! It was a great time!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have an amazing new year!! I am truly blessed to have this amazing family!

Family Update

I needed to look something up about the kids the other day, and I had to come to my blog to find it. It made me realize how much I used my blog to keep track of all the milestones each kid was hitting. I went over many of my posts and realized how much I miss it! Its been seven months since Ive updated. A lot has gone on during those seven months so here is a quick update and I hope to be back for good!

I. FINISHED. SCHOOL! From about the time I stopped updating on here, until about two months ago, I was studying my brains out for my big comprehensive exam to (finally) finish school! Every evening when Geoff came home from work, I would leave and go study at the local community college for about 3 hours. I would grab a snack and run out the door. Most of the time I felt guilty, but it was the only way I could get some good studying in. Afterwards, I’d come home and have dinner and go to bed. It was definitely hard, not only for me, but for Geoff as well. We were both exhausted every night. He would come home, cook dinner, get the kids fed, bathed, and in bed, before even taking his shoes off! I took my test at the end of October and just found out the week after Thanksgiving that I passed! Woohoo! So glad to be done with that!

Alayna is growing up so much. Most days I look at her and wonder where my tiny 5 lb baby girl has gone. She is smart, kind, chatty, loves to dance, and has the best memory! She remembers the smallest details of things we did a year ago. It amazes me! She is doing really well in preschool and loves to learn. I always hear her singing either to herself or to Jaxon. She is the best sister to him. She loves to help with everything (except picking up toys – go figure) whether it’s cooking, cleaning, taking Jaxon’s shoes off when we get home, or raking dog poop, she is right there asking to help. This age is both the hardest and funnest age. Just trying to soak it all in.

Jaxon has become quite the toddler. He is such a jokster in our family, always laughing at himself or trying to make one of us laugh. He definitely has a temper and is not afraid to show it! He still has his high pitch scream that he uses any time Alayna annoys him. Usually they play well together, but if something goes wrong, or he doesnt get his way, we will hear about it. He has few words – so hard for me as a speech therapist! But it has given me a different perspective from a parent side of things. He loves baby dolls, eating, trucks, anything small to carry around, and playing outside. When he snacks, he always has to have something in each hand. So weird and funny.

In other news, we have sold our house and are currently renting until we find something we love. My sister had my first nephew (Zander) on Mother’s Day. He is the cutest and smiliest baby. He smiles at you when you’re talking to whoever is holding him. It’s the cutest thing!

I cant wait to get back at posting more often. Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season!

Dancing queen

A couple of weekends ago was Alayna’s first ballet recital! I loved watching her! She has been a little dancer since birth and just loves to twirl and run in circles and tries to teach everyone how to “clié” LOL! I was so anxious for her to get on stage because I really didn’t know how she would react. But she got up there and danced her little heart out with the biggest smile! My heart was so happy, I swear I cried watching her. 

These are the moments that make you so proud and you forget all the hardships of parenting. Seeing her happy is really all that matters. 

We love you baby girl!! 

Alayna’s 3rd birthday

Guys, I seriously cannot believe my baby girl is 3 years old! She truly amazes us every single day! There are so many things I love about her little personality! She is the princess in the family and knows it! 

• Age: 3 years
• Weighs: 27 lbs – Jaxon is catching up quickly! 
• She is so funny! Always trying to make us laugh as she giggles her little head off!
• She is so smart, and knows it!
• Full of energy… Can that be bottled up and shared please?! 
• She loves her baby brother so much and when she isn’t trying to be a bossy little mama, she is trying to make him laugh. 
• She loves to dance and sing. Loud.
• She cracks up when you say something wrong and will say “mom you said blah blah, Hahahaha, you’re kidding”
• She is almost potty trained at night! Haven’t had an accident in over a week!! (Knock on wood)
• She had her first ballet recital on her birthday and did awesome! Smiled the whole time she was on stage.
• She was a flower girl in a super close friend’s wedding. I was anxious for her and as I was trying to prep her she looked at me and said”mom, it’s ok, I wot scared” 😌
• She loves school. 
• She loves to to swim and Play with anything that has to do with water.  
• She knows her way around town, I swear! She calls us out if we say we’re going to a certain place but taking a different route!! 
• She is such an early riser! I’m talkin 6-6:30 AM people 😩
• Still a pretty picky eater. Although she seems to eat more, or maybe I’m less worried about it. 
• She knows her colors, the alphabet, and can trace really well! 
• She can ride a bike! 
• She loves to play dress up and loves makeup!

We celebrated by having a princess party with a bounce house, a piñata, squirt guns, and bubbles. She had a blast and nearly fell asleep opening gifts! We love you baby girl! You have brought us so much joy!