favorite faces: may 2010: mila

favorite faces: may 2010: kapria

bbq and s'mores

When we got home from rock climbing, the girls took a long afternoon nap. Then we went to Shawn & Abby's and had a barbecue with them and Rich & Rachel and their girls. Of course, I missed taking pictures again. I did get one of the girls together, but next time I'll have to be sure and get pics of everyone else too.

Then we headed over to Traci and Chris's for s'mores. You can never go wrong with s'mores. Kapria ate her marshmallow one lick at a time. She also loved playing in the yard with the boys. The Bersie family was there, too, and we had a great time talking with everyone. After our friend and family-filled day we realized yet again how much we are going to miss them, our neighborhood, and our ward. We love living here so much!

It was a perfect day.

family rock climbing: the first

We were excited to take Kapria rock climbing outside for the first time and decided to go on Memorial Day. We called Shawn and Abby to see if they'd like to join us, and they were game. So we met up around 10am and headed to the canyon.

The hike to these particular climbs was a bit long for Kapria and Mila. But the location was perfect. We were in the shade the whole time, and the climbs were perfect for everyone.

Kapria loves climbing the rock wall in the studio, so we thought she'd love doing it outside. But something about wearing the harness and climbing the outside rock made her a little nervous. She got up a little ways and stopped and wouldn't climb any more. She was too light to come down, so Shawn helped her get down. She was done after that, but then wanted to hike over all the rocks without her harness. Go figure.

Everyone climbed, and everyone did awesome! I decided that the second climb is the best. For some reason, I'm always nervous that first climb outside. But the second one is awesome because the nerves are gone, and I still have energy. I didn't show a picture of me climbing because I will spare you the lumpy rolls. Aah!

We were all pretty tired on the hike down. Mila finally fell asleep - so maybe she's getting used to sleeping in the baby bjorn. Or maybe she was just too exhausted to keep her eyes open. When she woke up, she let Shawn carry her the rest of the way down.

I'm excited to take the girls again. Next time we'll bring a play pen for the girls to sit in a bit so we don't have to constantly watch where they are. We're thinking to attempt a family camping trip next month, too. I can't wait!

family hike: the first

There are several things we want to do before we leave Utah, and we realized that we're running out of time. Only eight Saturdays left! On Saturday morning we were eating breakfast and talking. I said, "I want to do something fun today." Trav said, "Let's go hike to the Timpanogos caves." "Okay!" I said.

So we packed up the girls and headed out. It's a 1 1/2 mile hike up to the caves. The hike up went fairly well, though we didn't expect it to take a full hour and a half. But that's what it took with all the stops we made for looking at rocks, picking up sticks, visiting with a friendly chipmunk, and sharing snacks. Not too bad for our first family hike, though.

When we got to the top, I was exhausted. Carrying that extra 13 pounds on my stomach was harder than I expected. We're looking into getting a nice backpack child carrier for the future. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

The girls did great inside the cave, though Kapria was pretty tired and really wanted to touch all the walls, stallactites and stalagmites. The tour seemed like a pretty long 25 minutes. Once we were out, Mila was exhausted. She was past her naptime by about 3 hours, but hates falling asleep anywhere but her bed. She was so tired, though, that she finally succumbed, and slept nearly the whole way down the mountain. Kapria was exhausted, too, so Trav carried her most of the way down as well.

We had a great time, but we sure were tired when we got home. We picked up dinner on the way, ate quickly at home, then put the girls to bed. A long, but successful family day.  We loved it.

riding with the window down

squirming scooching smiling

I wanted to get one really great picture of Mila for her 9 month photo. But she is a mover now! It was so hard to catch her smiling because she squirmed and scooted all over the couch. Here's what I did get:

And we caught some smiles, too.

05.25.2010

crib climbers

Why is climbing in the crib so much fun? It's one of their favorite things to do whenever we get together, whether it's Mila's crib or Tave's.

cousins are so much fun

Our weekly visits have been so good. Sometimes they're not quite weekly, but we try. Kapria and Syanne play really well together and are pretty good about sharing their toys. Aydrien gave me the biggest grin. Love it! Chelsea got a beautiful haircut. I haven't seen her with bangs in years. Her hair is gorgeous and looks great with layers. We are going to miss them so much. I can't think about it too much or I'll start to cry.  

annie and family

Annie drove up with her kids for a visit, so several of us got together at Nic's house to see them. Craziness! And a lot of fun, too. (Including Mila's first haircut, a lot of running feet, and some crazy superhero stunts).

first haircut

Mila's hair was growing longer on one side than the other, so she needed a haircut. Nicole was willing to trim it for us. Mila moves around so much now that it was pretty tough, but Nic did a great job. We need to trim her bangs a little more, but Mila was DONE. We decided to finish another night...soon.

warriors

prayers

We have someone who is possibly interested in buying our house – he said he wants to buy ours or the neighbors’ around the corner that is also for sale. We’ll be meeting with him this week to talk about it. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but it’s hard not to. I know Heavenly Father is mindful of us and our needs and that the right thing will work out.

Please keep us in your prayers!

i bet you're smiling now, too

mom & me date

Kapria filled up her nice chart with stickers. When we asked what she want to earn she said, "A date with Mom!"

So we went on a date to the library's book festival. We met up with a friend of mine and her newest baby boy. We chatted while we waited in line for our free books (one for each kid). We didn't expect the crazy crowded party, so it was a bit overwhelming. But Kapria still had a great time.

She was thrilled to see Curious George, Clifford, and one of the wild things. She was amazed by them, and wanted to hold their hands and pull their tales.

After meeting her character friends, Kapria wanted to get her face painted. She didn't want a ladybug or a flower or an animal. She wanted a star. This girl loves stars.



We colored some pictures, then decided the crowds were enough and headed outside. We walked to 7-Eleven and got slurpees, then sat on the grass and played while we drank them. Then we headed home.

I love spending time with my girl. She had a great time and couldn't wait to show Dad and Mila her star cheek. I can't wait 'til next time!

tave's 2 - II - two

On Tave's birthday we watched Weston so Nic and Jeff could take Tave out. I love that new tradition and plan to start it with our girls.

When they got back, we had dinner together, then Tave opened presents. All the kids helped with that. They loved his new Diego toys.

Friday, 05.14.2010

soon, very soon

Mila moves all over the place—she reaches for everything around, pushes herself up on her arms, squirms and scoots and pulls and rolls. She's getting ready to crawl.

mornings

Every morning, Kapria wakes up and hangs out with me while I get ready for work. It's our time together. Lately we've been bringing pillows into the bathroom, and she sits on the floor and reads while I put on my makeup.



Once I'm ready, we'll eat breakfast together or she'll sit on my lap while we watch a cartoon. From 7am until I leave between 8:15 and 8:45, she's with me everywhere I go. Mila usually sleeps until about 9am, so I don't get to see her in the mornings. (I know - so sad!) But if she does happen to wake up early, Kapria is not very happy about it. The morning is her time with Mom, and she wants it to stay that way! Once I'm ready to leave for work, she walks me to the car and waves goodbye. She's so happy and smiley and sweet. I love our morning routine.

Well, today she didn't wake up at 7am. I got ready and packed up my work stuff, and she was still sleeping. I debated - do I wake her up or let her keep sleeping? She's been overtired because she's not napping as much, and I needed to get to work early, so I decided to let her keep sleeping.

Trav called me after I'd been at work about 45 minutes.

"You didn't say goodbye to Kapria this morning," he said. "That wasn't a good idea."
She was sobbing and screaming and throwing a major fit. I could hear it. Loudly.

"Let me tell her good morning," I said.
He handed her the phone. She kept crying and screaming.

"Kapria, I'm sorry I didn't get to see you this morning," I said. "But I came to work early so I can leave early. Then we'll play together." She quieted a little bit. "Can you be a good girl for Daddy? I'll see you after lunch."

The crying resumed.

Wow, I hadn't realized how powerful mom-time can be.
And I missed my Kapria-time, too.

I won't be leaving early tomorrow.

let's hear it for the dads

i love to see the temple

Kapria talks about the temple a lot. Her favorite song to hear every day is "I Love to See the Temple." So for family home evening we decided to go visit the temple. She was so excited! We walked around the grounds, and she could not stop smiling. She ran from one thing to the next: the water fountain, the flowers, up the hill, along the curb, chasing the birds. We talked about what the temple is for: to help us return to live with Heavenly Father.

mom - mom - mom

On Mother's Day we visited Grandma Anthony (Gigi) and had dinner with Trav's cousins, aunts, and uncles. It was great to relax and talk and enjoy the day together.



We had fun together at home, too. I love being a mom.
 

I know our moms really want to see more of this:


my favorite people & my favorite smiles.

happy thirty-first, daddy

On Sunday, May 2, we celebrated Trav's birthday with the girls and Jeff, West, & Tave. They were all so excited to watch Trav open his presents. As we were singing to Trav, Tave blew out the candles on the cake. He was so proud. We had Trav blow them out again, too.

We love you!

oh what a day

happy birthday to my hottie!
more later (and pictures!) on the fun day we had. i'm off to hang out with hubby.

happy thirty-first, babe

Remember how my husband doesn't like parties and much-ados made about his day? Well, I am of the belief that every person deserves to be celebrated on their big day. I mean, you're here! You're wonderful! You need to hear it!

I decided to get a babysitter simply because on Saturday night we had a reception to attend, and the last time I brought a child to a reception, it was craziness. I did not want a repeat of that. Then, since we had a babysitter, we might as well make a night of it!

So I made our plans, then called up a few friends and invited them to celebrate with us (we had already celebrated Syanne's birthday earlier in the day with family). I was terrible, as usual, and didn't take enough photos. I even had the camera in my purse the whole night! Oh, well. Memories are good, too.

Dinner
We decided to splurge and go out for steak. So we went to Ruby Tuesday with our friends Rich and Rachel. The company was great. The food was great, though honestly Trav and I agreed their steak was not worth the price. (It was good, just not $[more than we could really afford].00 good. So please, leave a comment and let us know some good steak houses so that we're prepared for our next big splurge holiday...my birthday in August :0) What was fantastic were their bottomless drinks. Rachel will have to remind me what the drink was called that we loved the most, but it was a type of fruity lemonade. Sooo delicious.

Reception
After dinner, Trav and I stopped by a wedding reception. It was for Lauren, a girl I used to babysit. (It still feels weird to say that. Kids I babysat have been going to college for several years...or even graduated. So bizarre.) But I was so excited to see Lauren and her sister, Brooke, and their parents. It was a quick stop, but I was so glad we made it! We were able to say hi and give hugs and do the fast-as-you-can-in-the-reception-line update. We'll definitely be having Lauren, her new hubby, and her sister over for dinner soon.

Activity
We left the reception and headed to a tumbling center where we met up with Matt, Ashley, and Nick (Laura stayed home since they couldn't find a babysitter. We missed you, Laura!). Trav had heard about this place where there are trampolines and a foam pit and rope swing and wanted to try it out. So I was excited to see what it was like. It was awesome for the guys, but I was a little intimidated to try. Instead, I chatted with Ashley and filmed the guys doing their thing. I was just too uncomfortable to try things in front of a line of strangers watching me.

(Side note: You can rent the place for a 1 1/2 hour private session if you have at least 15 people to attend. So Trav and I are going to plan a big group date next month. That way we can just be goofy with our friends, without 50 kids who all know gymnastics watching us. I know I'll be more comfortable with that, and I'll be happy to try everything out then. Why didn't I do that for his birthday? Because I just didn't plan enough in advance. Oh well. If you want to join us - leave me a comment. We'd love to have you!)

I had been filming most of the guys' jumps up until my camera battery died (about 20 minutes before our session time was over). So I put my camera away, then sat down to chat some more with Ashley. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention any more to what Trav was doing. As everyone was filing out at 9pm, the guys came over to get their shoes and head out as well. I looked at Trav, and his forehead was really red and looked scraped. I said, "What happened?" He said, "I don't know. One minute I was doing a back flip, the next think I know my face hits the tramp. Twice."

He doesn't know if he underrotated or overrotated, but somehow he hit the trampoline , and then nearly hit the cement wall, except that Matt was standing in the way and he hit Matt instead. Sorry and Thanks go to Matt! The bummer is, neither Nick nor Matt saw what happened, so we have no idea. And what's weird is, Trav is really good at backflips and jumps (he's a natural at sports; I hope our kids get that from him, and not my awkward coordination). The only explanation we can come up with is:

He's getting old.

And now he's got the burst blood vessels and sore neck to prove it. Oh sad day!

Dessert
The night ended with dessert at a local cupcake shop. I had my doubts about it, since I don't like cake, and I'm kind of tired of the whole cupcake trend. But I was wrong to have doubted. We got a coconut cupcake that was DEEEE-LICIOS. And a strawberry shortcake one that was great, too. But that coconut one had us both wanting more. We agreed that it's the best cupcake we've ever had.

Our celebration continued on Sunday with the girls. Stay tuned!

Saturday 05.01.2010

syanne's 4 - IV - four

On Saturday, May 1st, we headed up to Chels & Rob's to commemorate Syanne's big 0-4.

 

We had lunch together at their house instead of at the park since it was a rainy day. I brought fruit salad -aka dump salad - surprise! And Rob made delicious pulled pork sandwiches. Chelsea made the cake. She gets the mom of the year award! It was awesome - definitely every Scooby Doo lover's dream.

After eating we went outside to hit the piñata. I love that tradition of Chelsea & Rob's. Kapria was really excited to try hitting it with a bat, but she had a hard time doing it. She  was embarrassed to have everyone watching her, so she handed the bat to Uncle Rob and ran to me and Trav. That's when we realized we had never taught her how to swing a bat! Trav has since fixed that. She's a pro now.

Then we went back inside for gifts. Syanne got some awesome sparkly princess shoes that Kapria was amazed by. She wanted to hold  them and look at them from that point on.

Tave and Aydrien kept trading (er..fighting) over the balloon. Every child recieved one, but they wanted the green one.  Shortly after Tave layed on it, that green balloon popped. They were shocked, but a-okay.

Weston was great watching Syanne open all her gifts. He was so happy to get a Scooby Doo collar bracelet and treats from the piñata. Mila was content to hang out and watch everyone most the time.

We love being able to celebrate birthdays with family.

We love celebrating you, Syanne!