Utah trip. (Part 1)

At the end of February my mom came up to get me and the girls to take us back to Utah.

With Michael so busy in school, both girls being sick most of the winter, and constant rain it was time for a much needed vacation.

We had an absolute blast of course.

That being said, it is going to take much more than just one post to document.

And so it begins.

Olivia is obsessed with all things dinosaur. (Super girly right?!)

And when Elizabeth found some dinosaurs that they could paint she was beyond thrilled.

This kept her busy for a shockingly long time considering her attention span usually is minutes at best.

Grandma has a nice big bath that is perfect for bathing both girls.

Bath time is definitely the best part of the day for them!

Jill taught me how to make homemade oreos.

I made sure to make plenty to send to my missionary brothers!

We were able to go on lots of walks with grandma.

Clara is always especially happy when sitting at the table because she knows food is near.

A few days after arriving Olivia got sick. Again.

Thankfully I had lots of help, and after a doctor run and some more asthma medication (I can't believe I forgot hers at home) she was back to normal!

One of the many selfies I sent to Michael throughout the trip.

Most of the times we went on walks we took Boston, and Olivia was always in charge of holding her leash.

On one of our walks (keep in mind that Olivia has been doing really well potty wise) Olivia took off running and disappeared in to our neighbor's yard. When we caught up to her we found her with her pants down. She said, "hi guys, I need to go pee". Haha. I quickly ran down to grab her and thankfully she hadn't peed yet. We told her that she can only go pee outside when there is no toilet around and that we were super close to home where she could go. We had many more instances of her dropping her pants in a variety of places including our back yard, the entry way rug, in the library closet on top of a tupperware and downstairs in my room on my new floral shirt. In those cases she actually peed. And why would she pee on my floral shirt? I have no idea...apparently she thought it was a garden or something.

I blame this on my mom because on one of our outtings my mom did take her outside because there was no bathroom close by and since then she seemed to have a hard time distinguishing where the appropriate place to go was. Luckily this didn't last more than a couple weeks ha.

Clara loved leaning on the sides of the wagon so that she could see everything.

Pizza Pie Cafe to celebrate Harrison's 11th birthday!

She obviously wasn't thrilled about me taking this picture but look at those poor little dry patches on those cheeks. 

One of the things we love about Salem is our constant soft skin!

Taking a ride in the laundry basket downstairs to begin the neverending folding process.

We were able to meet uncle Stephen (Fee fee) at Mcdonalds one day.

Olivia was super shy at first until at the very end she decided to just grab his hamburger and start eating it and then begin laughing uncontrollably for no reason at all.

What goes on in that little one's head is beyond me!

A full belly and a happy baby.

I failed to take pictures of our huge workout parties. But there were a lot. Winston got me going on the P90X ab ripper X. And Jill taught me lots of leg and butt workouts. We also ran sprints up and down our hill. It's time to tone up and get my body back to normal after little Clara! 

Still much much more to come.

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!