12 months

Lacey turned 1 last week.  Unfortunately, she and I both had miserable colds all that week which we're still getting over AND she finally cut her first tooth. So suffice to say it wasn't a fantastically great day. 

She's still going to win the Miss Petite pageant at 15 lbs 12 oz, still below the 0 percentile.  Her height is around the 17th and her head the 50th.  She's not loving the fact that Mom wants her to drink regular milk now, but she's taking a tiny bit more each day. She has never loved baby food that much and instead just screams and hollers for whatever "real" food we're having.  She loves many foods Jossy won't even touch.

She's a major trouble maker now, as if she hasn't been for months.  She loves to get into everything she shouldn't.  Multiple times I've found her with the old toothbrush we use for cleaning things IN HER MOUTH!!  YUCK!!  Her favorite cupboards to empty out are under my sink (tampons anyone???) and the kitchen draw with all the sandwich baggies.  She loves to laugh and be tickled.  She thinks "no" is a hilarious word and laughs when I tell her that.  Just what a mother wants. 

 She quickly is becoming a toddler.  She took her first steps the week before her birthday, but has only walked a handful of times since.  She's just not that interested when crawling gets her where she wants so quickly.  When we're outside, she loves to play in the dirt (and eat it) when Mom's not looking. 

She's a little stinker but that oh-so-angelic smile gets her forgiven a lot. 

Here's a little slideshow to show how she's grown these last 12 months.  Much more to come about her first birthday celebrations!
 

"Temple-nogos"

Easter afternoon was such a beautiful day and we had no plans, so we decided to take a walk together around the Mt. Timpanogos Temple, or "Temple-nogos" as Jossy calls it. Gorgeous day + dressed-up kids = opportunity for Mom to bring along the camera and take some random pictures.

Want to guess my favorite part of this next picture? :)
She really wanted to see those flowers.

She was trying to wiggle out of Dan's arms, but paused long enough to smile at me.

Easter Morn

I recently realized that while Matty had no first Easter in his first year of life (Easter was a week before he was born, then after his first birthday) Lacey somehow has gotten TWO Easters her first year. She was less than a week old last year, and this year it fell a couple weeks before her birthday. How strange.

Anyway, the kids had fun Easter morning. They could hardly wait til 7 when they're allowed to come get us. They quickly found their baskets and all the surprises the Easter Bunny left for them.

Lacey thoroughly enjoyed shaking her Cheerio-filled eggs.

After getting dressed for church, we went out front to get a few pictures of the kids together in front of our blooming flowers. A friend walked past and offered to take some pictures of all of us. Why Jossy is so far off to the side, I have no idea, but this is the best we got.

Life Lesson #482: The more children you have the harder it becomes to get a decent picture of them all at the same time.

This is what happens when the light-weight baby throws herself back onto the light-weight 3-year-old. They both end up in the dirt with the latter crying.

Big brother tried to make her laugh so she'd feel better. I love this picture.

I love having church on Easter. Such a wonderful way to celebrate and remember our Savior's gift to us. And my kids, of course, thoroughly enjoyed the plethora of candy their primary teachers gave them. As if their stash needed adding to.

Our Guide For Dying Eggs

Step 1: Get serious because this ain't no funny business.

Step 2: Enjoy the anticipation of wondering "How long is long enough?"
Be sure to pull that egg out at least a dozen times to check in a 60 second time frame.


Step 3: Don't be afraid of the white crayon, bold colors, or double dipping!


Step 4: Be sure to include everyone, no matter their experience level.


Just maybe next time make sure the dye is all the way dry before handing the egg over.
Step 5: Leave cryptic messages for a significant other, then wait to see how long it takes them to turn the egg over for the answers.

Step 6: Take pride in your beautiful work!
Step 7: Please refrain from tantrum-throwing until everything's cleaned up.

"Hello out there!"

"Mom, come look at what I found!"

"I think I know that girl . . ."


"I wish I could play in the snow with her!"

7 Years Young

I may not throw the most expensive, amazing, elaborate birthday parties for my kids each year, but my goal has always been to do something to make the day special. We were just doing a party with my family this year, and I asked Matty what kind of party/cake he wanted. He was going to do Legos, but last minute he changed his mind to Angry birds. I used the handy-dandy Pinterest for ideas and put together a simple party for my awesome 7-year-old.

We hung these angry bird balloons everywhere. He loved it!

The whole fam got in on a little live-action Angry Birds game. We set up a tower of empty boxes, stuck a few balls inside, and hurled a soccer ball at them. The sling shot (made of a bungee cord) didn't work so great so most of us just threw the ball instead.

Since the Angry Birds are trying to get their eggs back, we put on a little egg hunt of our own for the kids and their cousins.

Who needs fancy fondant birds when some paper birds and toothpicks work just fine? :)

A happy boy told me at the end of the night what a fun day he had. Mission accomplished. :)

I sure love this kid, but he's growing up too fast!