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!

January happenings.

January was just one of those blah months... we spent a couple weeks of it passing around a cold and then I got food poisoning so that of course was no fun. I did manage to take some random pictures so you'll get an idea of our January :)

Sometimes daddy puts a blanket over Clara so that she looks like a little ghost and chases Olivia around!

Clara excited to go on a little walk.

I love this picture of Olivia. She is always more than excited to be at the playground.

Time to go down the slide together!

My view. 

I sure love my new stroller.

Drinking my nightly chamomile citrus tea in my new tea cup. 

Thanks mom!

Chilling with my girls :)

This is what I found when I told Michael to share his breakfast with her haha.

Olivia's very first day of swimming lessons! She has them every Saturday morning with Michael.

She loves it!

One day I walked into the room and found this.

Haha Olivia.

Olivia's first day of Sunbeams!

I can not believe my baby girl is old enough to be a sunbeam.

Trying on sister's sunglasses.

Messy face, but loving that baby food!

Oh my goodness, how perfect is my sleeping Clara?!

Cheesy selfie.

I just couldn't resist. After a long day I was finally able to sit down, watch some t.v and eat a peaceful dinner of a Jimmy John's sandwich all by myself.

The best sandwich ever!

Learning how to ride her new scooter!

She hasn't quite gotten the hang of it :)

Every night, after baths, Olivia gets the brush and asks Michael to brush her hair.

It is so sweet.

Excited to see me after a little nap!

Snuggles with mommy after a nice oatmeal bottle.

We bought Olivia a bath fizz dinosaur egg that popped out a baby dinosaur at the end.

It turned the bath pink and freaked Olivia out a little bit until she saw the little dinosaur!

My very favorite crepe from The French Press.

Sometimes when you are sick and fussy you just need your daddy to snuggle you close.

Another selfie...I have no idea what I am so excited about.

We probably just got the babes in bed and are getting ready to sit down and watch Downton Abby :)

Tree climbing with daddy!

And now for some videos...

Bath time has to be one our favorite times of the day!

Singing "Let it go" from Frozen.

Clara loves playing Peekaboo with dad!

I can hardly stand how cute this is.

I heard her in her room a few days prior singing so I turned on the music and she performed well :)

Olivia likes to hook Clara's bouncer toy to her horsey and pull her around ha.

Don't worry, I am not completely done with January :)

Clara's 8 months.

Oh my goodness Clara, time is just flying by.

You are 8 months old!

Here are some things about you:

*Although you have been rolling over for a few months now, you never really did it a lot. In fact it was very rare. But something happened this month and you decided that you are going to roll all over the place. And you are very quick about it. It sure makes diaper changing an interesting process. Sometimes it takes both your dad and I to hold you down:)

*Sadly you got your very first cold this month. You got a little runny nose while in Utah but nothing serious. But this month you got the real thing. And it was bad. I feel so proud for keeping you safe and healthy these past 8 months and so it was really hard to see you so sick. You had a really bad cough that kept you up most of the night a few times, a runny nose, and yes you even got your first ear infection. Thankfully it was nothing a little antibiotics couldn't fix. We also had to do a few breathing treatments because you were wheezing. You always sat so still and would take big breaths of the medicine. Good job! This cold sure was a rough one and lasted weeks.

*You still can't quite sit up on your own. We usually will put the nursing pillow behind you and that seems to help keep you sturdy. But it will happen soon!

*Now for sleeping and eating...your grandma came up to help because we had all been so sick and she of course could not stay away from you and your sister for too long. She told me that it was time to sleep train you a little bit since you were waking up between 2-5 times during the night, which of course made for one tired momma. So your schedule is as follows: baby food-a vegetable and a fruit (as much as you'll eat) at 5:00 pm, bath time and playtime until 7:00 pm. You then have an oatmeal bottle and go to sleep. I put you in the little bassinet in our room. When your dad and I go to sleep I come and nurse you and then transfer you to your crib in Olivia's room. While grandma was here she would have Olivia come sleep with her and then wake up with you in the night and come pat your back when you fussed. But we didn't feed you until the morning when you woke up around 7:00-7:30 am. First of all, you are stubborn. Second of all you definitely are capable of sleeping through the night so yay you! We are still working a little bit but oh my goodness I feel like a completely different person getting more than 2 hours of sleep at a time! And thank you to grandma for helping us with this new schedule and taking care of you during the nights so that I could sleep! So we are down to you nursing once a day. You drink your formula and different juices. Eat your baby food and really anything else we decide to give you. You really will eat anything! Which brings me to my next point...

*Where are your teeth?! You have no signs of any teeth coming in. This is fine but I do feel bad because you love eating grown up food and well that's just hard to do without any teeth:)

*You are starting to scoot a little. You pull yourself forward using both your arms. It's pretty impressive!

*You are so curious and just love your toys. You smile and giggle when you touch things. I'm thinking you may be a little ticklish on your hands!

*Your legs are absolutely scrumptious. Oh my goodness! The rolls!!!

*You are really starting to interact with Olivia. And it just melts my heart. You honestly think she is the greatest. We can tell by the way you look at her that you really look up to her. Of course you'll always be the best of friends!

Clara, we love every inch of you. 

You could not be more perfect.

I know I say this every month, but we are so blessed to have you in our family.

We love you!