Preschool!

 {First day of preschool}

Emmy started preschool a couple of weeks ago and she absolutely LOVES it!

I know it's a weird time of the year to start preschool, but there's a reason for it.  I wasn't going to start her in preschool until the fall, but we have struggled so much with this child!  She doesn't listen, she can't sit still to do anything for more than a few minutes (including eating meals) and it's been SO HARD.  I know, I know, she's three.  All of my friends keep telling me she's a normal three-year-old, but I just don't think it's only the fact that she's three.  I keep thinking that she may have ADD.  Jake has it and didn't know it until college.

{Waiting for the bus with dad}

So, there is a preschool that the school district runs, but it's only for kids with disabilities (speech problems, ADD, and more severe disabilities as well).  We had Emmy assessed the beginning of March and they thought she was more inattentive than most three-year-olds.  So she's currently on a 30-day trial.  Next week will be the last week of her trial.  I talked to her teacher and she said that Emmy has a hard time paying attention and focusing in class and that she's probably going to qualify.  I'm really excited because it's such a great preschool and it's FREE!  And it will qualify her until she starts kindergarten.  Plus she will get the attention she needs from experienced and qualified teachers.  The best part?  The bus comes to pick her up and drop her off AT OUR HOUSE!  There is a car seat for each child on the bus and there is an Aide that rides the bus to get the kids in and out of their car seats.  And Emmy LOVES riding the bus to and from school.  She always tells me about Jace, a boy that sits by her on the bus.  I can just picture my cute little three-year-old chatting it up with another preschooler on the bus.  Love it.

And I must say, it's so nice to have a little break and to be able to spend some quality time with Kate.

{Emmy was SO excited for the bus to pick her up!}

Kate {9 Months}

{After eating her first bite of ice cream}

Kate is 9 months old!

{Update}

Kate had her 9 month doctor's appointment.  Here are her stats:

{Weight}:  21 lbs (85th percentile)
{Height}:  30 inches (95th percentile)

Here's what Kate has been up to the past month:

-  Her two front teeth on top came in

-  She had ice cream for the first time!  {See Sedona post below}.  

-  She's now waving

-  She gave me her first kiss today!  She leaned into me and kissed me.  It was so sweet and slobbery :)

{The very first ponytail!}

-  Her hair is barely long enough for a ponytail!  So you know that I'm doing ponytails with bows now!  I even got her hair into two little ponytails the other day.  Yes!

{First ponytail with bow!}

-  She's still SO CLOSE to crawling, but just not quite there yet.  She gets on her knees and then falls onto her belly {on purpose}.  I don't know if she's scared or what, but she is so, so close.

-  She and Emmy are such good little friends.  When Kate woke up the other day, she started waving at Emmy when she saw her and was so excited.  Emmy can always put a smile on her face.

{Best friends!}

This girl puts a smile on my face and a twinkle in my eye.  

{The sweetest smile}

Sedona

My parents love to travel.  And they have instilled that love in me!  So when they invited us to go to Sedona, AZ with them, I quickly accepted.  I had never been there and I love going to new places.  The only catch was that Jake couldn't go.  He had to stay for work and school.  Bummer.  So the girls and I headed out for an adventure with Grammy and Papa!

{Lots of time spent squished in the backseat of the truck w/ these two cuties}

We took my dad's truck so that we could all fit into one car with all of our "stuff".  And those of you with kids know just how much "stuff" there is to pack and bring when you have kids.

{Some of the beautiful scenery of Sedona on the last day of our trip}

If you've ever been to Sedona, you know just how beautifully breathtaking it is there.  With all of it's big red rock mountains, it is truly a unique place to go.  I was excited to go hiking and drink in some of that Arizona warmth!  Too bad it snowed the whole way down.  And then it snowed the whole first day we were there.  I went to Arizona to escape the snow, not to have it follow me down!  Needless to say, it was chilly.  Luckily I packed some warm clothes for the girls, just in case (just part of all that "stuff" you have to pack - the "just in case" things have to be included.  You know, just in case).

{Just before the snow started coming down the first day we were there}

The snow cleared up for the rest of the trip and we had a great time.  We didn't get to hike because the trails were muddy from the snow, but we did a lot of sight-seeing. 

 {More beautiful scenery}

The last day we were there, we drove to a wildlife preserve called Out of Africa.  Emmy loved seeing all the animals!  We went on a "Safari" while we were there.  There is a bus that goes right into the "African Bush" where the animals roam free.  You ride on an open bus and the animals come right up to the bus.  Emmy loved this part.  If you stuck your hand out, the animals could have bitten our fingers right off!

We had so much fun in this beautiful part of the country.  Thanks, mom and dad, for a wonderful trip!

{Our only "hike" of the trip - on a trail along a river}

{Papa and Emmy}

{Mommy and Emmy}

{Best friends!  Don't mind Kate's "special" face here}

{Kate's first taste of ice cream - she couldn't decide if she liked it or not}

{A fountain in a cool outdoor shopping center in Sedona}

{Getting ready for our Safari at Out of Africa}

{The animals came right up to the bus on the safari.  The zebras were beautiful!}

{Emmy trying to see the animal on the hillside.  Can you see it?}

{Emmy's favorite animal at Out of Africa}

{Grammy, Papa and Kate on the Safari}

{Such beautiful animals!}

{My pretty Kate eating some yummy bread}

Easy Spring Wreath

My front door has been bare since Valentine's Day.  It was time to add something fun for Spring!  My local Roberts is closing (I know, it's the saddest thing EVER!) and everything in the store is on sale, 50% off. 

I went wanting to find a styrofoam wreath form.  Unfortunately they were all already gone, so I decided to go with a grapevine wreath instead.  I found some cute, bright ribbon and went to work!

This wreath was so easy to make!  I just glued one end of the ribbon to the wreath, wrapped the ribbon around the whole wreath, and then glued the other end to the wreath when I was done.  I did the same thing with the other ribbon, but wrapped it around the opposite way. 

If I had the styrofoam wreath, I would have covered the whole thing in ribbon.  I think it would have been a little cuter that way, but I worked with what I had.

Then I made two bows with the two different ribbons, added some scrapbook flowers and glued it on.  The wreath cost me about $3.00 to make!

I bought the "Happy Easter" sign at Roberts, too, and just hung it on the door hanger in front of the wreath.

I have more Spring projects in the works.  Thank you, Roberts, for having everything 50% off!  But no thank you for closing your doors.  The worst part about it is that Roberts was really the only craft store we had in Cedar City.  What am I supposed to do now?!?!

Say no to crack!

You gotta love the squishy baby booty!  

We were airing out a diaper rash and it turned into a great photo-op.  Blackmail pics for the future! 

5K

On February 27th I ran my first 5K!  It was the Tuacahn Duathlon and 5K and it was so much fun!  It gave me a great feeling of accomplishment and I'm already planning my next one.

I decided that I needed a challenge to help get me in shape and get the baby weight off.  And since my sister had a baby 3 weeks before me, I got her to do it with me so we could get the baby weight off together.  I trained in Cedar City, she trained in St. George, but we called each other everyday to see how our running was going.

The first half of the race was downhill, which was awesome!  I was totally cruising.  Then we had to turn around and run back up the hill.  I didn't stop and walk once on the way down, but I did have to walk a few times on the way back up.  

My time was 33:10 and I got 10th in my age division.

For my next race, I want to beat my time, which I know I can do!

It was so much fun to do the race with my sister!  She came in about a minute before me, so she was there waiting for me at the finish line.  

Aren't sisters the best?

Family pics by {Auburn Soul Photography}

We had a great weekend last week.  We went up to Salt Lake City for two reasons.

1}  To have a "family council" with Jake's family

and

2}  To have my beautiful and very talented cousin take our family pics!

My cousin, Stephanie, is the super talented photographer of Auburn Soul Photography.  

Ever since she started doing photography, I have been dieing to have her take our pics.  She just has an eye for photography.  She can capture a "moment" so beautifully.  I don't know how she does it, but she does it and she does it well!  The only problem is that she lives in Texas.  As much as I love her, I can't just pack up the fam and head to Texas to get our family pics done (although we could just take a little vacation to Texas sometime . . . what do you say, Steph?).  Luckily, she visits Utah at least one or two times a year.  When I found out she was coming and was going to be doing some sessions, I emailed her immediately.  It was time to get some good pics of the girls and some great family pics done.  And just like that, we were signed up! 

Plus, Steph and I have a history.  We've traveled the world together.  Italy, Germany, France, The Netherlands, England, Mexico and Vegas (don't forget about Vegas, Steph!).  What a perfect traveling partner!  We're already planning our next trip to Mexico together.  With the husbands, of course (although they don't really know about it yet).

I was so excited to see Steph and to have her take our pics!  And believe me, she didn't disappoint!  She took the most beautiful pics of our family, and especially of the girls!  Plus, we had a great time during the shoot.  The girls did great and cooperated until the very end.

Just look:

I love, Love, LOVE how these turned out!  I stole these pics from her website and can't wait to get my very own!!!  I'm already planning on how I'm going to frame them and where they are going to go.  The only problem is that I probably can't frame ALL of the pics she took.  Oh, the problems of having a talented photographer take your family pics . . .

To see more of our shoot, go to Auburn Soul Photography.  And don't forget to leave Stephanie a comment and tell her how talented she is!  Share the love, people.  Share the love.

Kate {8 Months}

Kate is 8 months old!

Here are her 8 month stats:

{Weight}: 20 lbs 3 oz

{Height}:  28.5 inches

-  She started blowing kisses!

-  Just tonight she started clapping!

-  She's getting close to crawling.  She gets on her knees from a sitting position (she is not, and has never been, a fan of tummy time).

-  After biting mom lots and lots, she is now weaned.  I couldn't handle any more biting, so as of last week she is fully weaned which makes my life easier!  One day, she was really tired because she hadn't had her second nap.  I gave her a bottle (she likes to be left alone for the most part when she drinks her bottle) and found her like this a minute later . . .

 . . . needless to say, she was tired!

 She continues to learn new things everyday and we are having so much fun with this sweet little girl!  

She and Emmy are becoming little buddies.  Emmy loves to try and make her laugh.  I love it!  I hope they can be best friends when they grow up :)