February part 2.

I can't believe I am this far behind but it's time to catch up.

A lot has and still is going on in our little family.  Some of it is too personal to share right now but I do have a lot of things to post that are definitely worth documenting. 

So here we go.

We started potty training Olivia this month, and so far she is doing great! It seems like 3 1/2 may just be the perfect age for this business!

Loving her juicy pear.

Homemade apple sauce in the crock pot = tasty success and yummy smelling apartment! 

Snacktime!

This yummy Greek spinach feta chicken pocket is definitely a family favorite.

It is so easy. We add mushrooms to ours and take out the onions. 

Recipe found here.

Olivia loves climbing in to Clara's bath with her and playing.

Bathtime has to be a favorite over here.

Some days are just not the best of days and so all of us look forward to bedtime and starting fresh the next day. These two girls of mine are definitely ready for bed.

I may post a lot of pictures of Clara eating and that's because she literally is eating all day long.

Here she is enjoying some cheese.

Love my happy baby!

 Play time at the park with daddy!

It doesn't get cute than this shaggy toddler of ours!

One morning Michael and I walked into the family room and found these two little snugglers.

We had put Clara on the floor so apparently Olivia picked her up (with all her might) and put her on the couch next to her.

And here are a couple of my favorite videos this month.

Mine and Olivia's first date.

Michael and I have been wanting to each take a turn to take Olivia out on a date for some super fun one on one time.

I was the lucky one and got to start it off. 

She of course picked to go ride the merry go round. It's her absolute favorite thing right now.

And lucky for her she was also able to pick out a special present for successfully completing her potty training!

Yay Olivia!

It will be nice to finally start saving some money on diapers:)

She picked out a little barn of miniature horses.

Of course...she loves those horses!

And to finish off a lovely afternoon we stopped to get ice cream cones!

Michael is already planning his date with her and I am already planning my next one with her.

We just can't get enough of our sweet Olivia!

We sure love you baby girl!

Clara's 9 months.

Here are some things about you this month!

*You officially stopped nursing. I am not going to lie that was quite hard for me. But I just wasn't really producing anything. Since we were already down to one feeding, it was a super easy transition but that didn't make it any easier for me emotionally. Time has gone by much too quickly. You are a fabulous eater. You really will eat anything. And by anything, I mean anything and everything. Honestly, if I let you I think you would sit up in your little highchair all day and just eat. You are eating baby food a few times a day and then just really whatever else the rest of us are eating. You of course still love your bottles. Oh and juice you really like that!

*We set up your highchair right next to Olivia which has proved to be interesting in a couple different ways. Number one Olivia tries to feed you. Which is just a little concerning because she doesn't understand how small things need to be and what food are harder for you to eat with just your gums. Number two you are constantly reaching over and grabbing Olivia's hair, plate, spoon, fork, food, ect. 

*Now you still have no teeth! When Olivia was your age she had 3 teeth already! So as cute as your gummy smile is we are hoping for some teeth to help you along with eating.

*You can now sit up by yourself! Yay!

*You have really mastered scooting. So when we lay you on your stomach you will reach out both your little arms and pull forward all while wiggling those chubby little legs. It's super cute and you really can get anywhere you want by doing this.

*You have a little obsession with eating my hair. I have no idea why you like it so much but you just can't resist grabbing a handful and sucking on it whenever I hold you.

*You are such a happy baby and get super excited when anyone (especially mom, dad, and Olivia) give you attention. When you get excited you rock back and forth. Especially when your dad and I do a little chant that goes something like this (dee de dee de   doo do doo do, boo boo boo boo  bee be bee be. Haha it is hard to write down the tune of how we do it but your dad and I will never forget. Olivia tries to mimic us and you get just as excited when she does it. We especially like to do it when you are laying on your stomach because you just start banging your head up and down and it honestly makes you look exactly like a baby turtle!

*You love music just like daddy and Olivia. And love it when dad turns on music and dances with you.

Goodness sweet girl. We just love you so much and can not get enough of you. We love every moment we spend with you and look forward watching you continue to learn new things. We feel so blessed to have you in our family Clara Sophia.

Valentine's Day!

Valentine's day is always a fun day. 

Mostly because I love to celebrate.

One of my all time favorite things to do is to bake.

And making cut out sugar cookies on all the holidays is definitely a must.

So a couple of days before Valentine's day we made these cookies for the sisters I visit teach and of course for ourselves!

Olivia's getting to be quite the froster when she isn't eating it:)

Valentine's Day started off with a yummy breakfast of eggs, toast, heart shaped bacon, and orange juice!

Our two little valentine's this year!

I posted this picture on instagram on Valentines day and loved what I wrote so I will it here as well.

"The two most precious gifts Michael and I could ever give each other are these sweet girls. Happy Valentine's Day from all of us!"

For dinner we had these yummy mozzarella and tomato sandwiches.

Recipe found here.  

Daddy made sure to bring all 3 of his girls flowers.

But I think Olivia liked the chocolate more:)

Michael and I finished the night eating chocolate covered strawberries and watching an Adam Sandler movie. Cause let's face it, his movies are freaking funny!

I sure love this valentine of mine even though he wasn't thrilled about taking this picture!

Olivia's swimming lessons.

In the beginning of January we signed Olivia up for swimming lessons every Saturday.

She looks forward to going every week and it's super fun that she gets to spend some one on one time with daddy.

She comes home and sings the little songs all week. It really is the cutest.

So of course I had to go one week with them to watch!

Olivia is really cautious and shy but after a while seems to get really in to it.

I also love how Michael gets involved and is just singing away:)

Here are a couple videos:

This class is almost over but I can wait to enroll her in the next class up!

February part 1.

As always I am quite behind.

Nevertheless here is the first part of our February in pictures!

This yummy homemade lasagna has definitely become one of our favorites!

Recipe found here.

Now that Clara is sitting up by herself, the girls have been playing together so much more.

It is so cute to watch them interact.

Oh sisters are just the best!

The little miss and I made homemade grahmn crackers.

We especially like them dipped in nutella!

Recipe found here.

We had the pleasure of experiencing a larger than life snow storm in which we were literally snowed in.

Apparently it had not snowed like this since 1994!

The snow was up to the tops of our tires and the roads were terrible because our little city isn't used to the snow. Which means obviously there were no snowplows to clear the roads.

So the only cars allowed on roads were those with 4 wheel drive and chains. 

So definitely not us!

Luckily, we live very close to various grocery stores and so Michael made the trek to pick up a few supplies to get us through the weekend. A couple mornings he even walked to get us fresh donuts!

I'm not going to lie, I did wonder if we were going to have to break out those 72 hour kits:)

We stayed nice and warm in our little apartment drinking lots of hot chocolate, cuddling and playing.

It was so fun to spend a lot of time with Michael. Olivia was in heaven since we don't get to see that much of him with school and all.

They went and played out in the snow a few times and were even able to find a sled to go sledding.

Video is below.

It's funny because I had a snowsuit for Olivia but sent it home with my mom since I was sure we wouldn't need it. And what do you know, it snows like crazy that next week! Thank goodness for trash bag snow pants!

I thought this would be the cutest picture, and it is in a different way than I had originally imagined!

Don't judge me for making them lay down while the snowflakes fell all over their little faces:)

Snuggles with my Clara in our nice warm bed while it snowed and rained relentlessly outside.

So perfect.

Sometimes we put Olivia on timeout in her car seat so that she is somewhat contained.

Usually if I try to put her on a chair or in her room she just keeps coming out.

Well one day I put her in and walked out to go start dinner. A few minutes later I came in to get her and she had fallen asleep.

She was a tired little baby!

We set up Clara's highchair so that she could join us at the table!

She loves it.

Here is a little peek at what my floors look like after every meal/snack!

Well hello there sweet baby of mine!

Here are a few videos.

Sledding with dad. 

Oh this is just great, I can't help but laugh!

My baby is scooting!

Olivia loves singing. So after Clara's morning nap we set aside some time to learn and sing fun songs.

Here's a little peek at how that goes!

Grandma's are the best!

Well, I know it had only been 3 or so weeks since we last saw my mom but she could not resist making the long 14 hour drive up here to see us:)

We had all been sick and she just thought it would be fun to come up and help me get on top of everything plus have a little fun while doing it:)

Our first priority besides cleaning my house (it had been a while) was to update our 72 hour kits.

I had one for me, Michael, and Olivia but it had been a while so we thought we'd go through them and update all the food and such plus make one for Clara.

It was actually super fun. We followed some guidelines from a couple websites I found via pinterest and also added a few things we thought would be good too.

It was quite the process, it seemed like there was so much we could put in them. And it took several visits to different stores to gather the needed supplies. And after about 3 hours of assembly and packing the kits were complete. I am so excited.

Hopefully we won't ever have to use them, but at least we are prepared!

Also, my cute baby was really struggling when it came to sleeping through the night. And so my mom really helped me with the transition of moving her from my room to her crib in Olivia's room. She got up with her in the night and helped us establish a routine so that Clara would be able to sleep through the night. And after about a week, she did! Yay Clara! And yay for mommy!

We were able to take a quick little day trip to the coast.

It was stunning. The waves were huge and the weather was a little cold but we were lucky enough to see the sun even if was only for a few minutes:)

Michael and I were able to go on a date up to the Portland temple and then go to lunch afterwards. I have a very hard leaving my babies and so it is so nice when I have my mom who I completely trust that can watch the babies so that I can have a wonderful time without worrying. 

My mom and I also took the girls on a day trip to the cute town of Aurora about 30 minutes north of me. We spend the afternoon exploring the many antique shops that they are so famous for. Literally the entire town is antique shops! The girls loved the fresh air, Olivia loved trying to find little animal antiques and Clara, well she is just the happiest little baby and was just content doing whatever!

Here are a few pictures of our fun.

Working on our 72 hour kits.

And we're back!

I'm absolutely in love with the Oregon coast.

It really does not get prettier.

These girls sure love their grandma!

Olivia loved jumping on all the piles of sea foam!

These two...

But seriously how gorgeous is this beach?!

I think it's safe to say that Clara is loving the beach almost as much as her mommy!

Thank goodness for my cute rainboots! I was able to play in the waves all while keeping my feet nice and warm.

Clara even snuggled up to me and fell asleep.

We were able to sit and watch the waves crashing on the shore over and over.

And not have to think about one other thing except for how beautiful it was. 

I love those moments.

There's that cute baby.

Oh how I love those big brown eyes.

How cute is this view?!

We'll be back soon lovely ocean!

I wrote this on instagram the day we went to the Portland temple and I thought I'd repost it.

"Today while at the Portland Temple with Michael, I couldn't help but feel so grateful for the butterflies and love twinkles that I still feel every single day when I am with him or even thinking about him.  Love is beautiful and I am blessed beyond measure to be able to share the joys and sorrows of life with him.  Forever is going to be just lovely!"

My cute girls all ready to explore Aurora.

My happy baby was so cozy she couldn't resist taking a quick nap!

We all know I am obsessed with gelato and when we found a little shop that had some we just had to try it out.

My flavor of choice was salted caramel and my mom got sweet cream. We tried to talk Olivia in to getting a pink mixed berry one but she was animate on wanting the "brown one" (salted caramel.) I just did not think she would like it and kept saying , "no, you should get this one." (The pink one). But she did not give up and so of course my mom gave in and bought her the "brown one." As we sat down at the table and started eating it I looked over at Olivia who was just snarffing it down. She looked up at me and said, " mom, don't tell me I don't like this, I do like this." Haha, well I guess she told me what was up!

What a perfect day. 

I was even able to find a pink vase for my valentine's day display!

I am so grateful for my mom. She always knows when it's time to come save the day! 

Olivia and Clara are absolutely obsessed with her and I can't blame them. She really is the best!