Dinosaurs Eating Trees

We have been using crackers as dinosaurs to eat broccoli trees.  Wes loves it, and one time he even nibble the broccoli (this is huge for my son).  Roar!

Another Year in My Life

I ended up spending the day alone with the kids.  Bret worked 16 1/2 hours which was pretty lame.  But my awesome next door brought me a gift and the most delicious cupcake I have ever had.  That was pretty great.

I had Wes watch the birthday Yo Gaba Gaba in the morning and told him it was my birthday.  Wes told me happy birthday all day.  He also talked about me getting a bug cake.

We played outside.  This winter has been crazy I shoveled the sidewalk and grass as fast as I could before it melted, but I still only got a small pile.

The bow on Brynn's hat always slips back making her look like a little baby rapper.

Brynn was fussy so I spent much of the day trying to sooth her, but I was able make myself  Mulligatawny Soup .  It is my favorite.

I also thought I should get a picture of myself on my special day.

A Day for Love

Here are some pictures leading up to and on Valentines day:

 We had fun drinking hot chocolate with chocolate chips in the bottom one day.  I also made a headband and rosette to match Brynn's valentine skirt (see it here).  We had our family home evening lesson on love, and enjoyed being together.

Painting in the tub because Wes wanted to use his feet. 

 It was so easy to clean up.

Wes had a few days of wanting flowers in his hair.  He is so funny.

It took me a minute to figure out who Wes looked like in the first picture,but I finally figured out it's Foofa.  Ha ha! 

Brynn likes to be held much of the time, but she does enjoy her swing a bit.

Wes is so nice to always bring Brynn toys. 

Bret and Wes bought me these beautiful flowers for Valentines day.  I love the Irises in it.

I have always loved Valentines day (it reminds me of my birthday), and I love spending it with my family.

New Car and Favorite Picture

Tuesday, February 7th we bought a (new to us) 2011 Dodge Durango.  We drove a little ways to a dealer where the salesmen aren't paid on commission and the listed price matched Kelley Blue Book.  We had it narrowed down to a Toyota Sienna or the Durango.  It took awhile to decide, and at one point we asked Wes.  He cheerfully  Durango.  Then we had the choice of one of three colors.  Wes said grey, and that ended up being what we chose.  We should have listened to toddler in the first place and saved a bunch of time.

Anyway here it is:

Isn't it pretty?

 (The salesman parked crazy when he pulled it up for us.)

Features I love about my car:

~ We all fit! Plus, there is room for luggage, groceries, etc.

~  It senses when the key is near so the driver's side door opens just by pulling the handle. 

  No more digging in my bag to find to get in the car while juggling two kids.  

  Also, it is literally impossible lock the keys in the car.

~  Backup camera and sensors.

~  Decent fuel economy for it's size.

~  Screen that tracks you mile per gallon.

~  Bluetooth calling through stereo.

~  All the fun little features I am always finding.

~  It is so pretty looking.

~  It feels dang good to drive.

After finished up at the dealership Bret headed home with Wes, and I went to go visit my grandma.  It was so good to see her, and it was nice to only have one child to keep track of at the nursing home.

When I got home it was time for bed and stories.  This is one of my all time favorite pictures.  Look at there faces.

It amazes me how little babies like reading.  We are big fans of books at our house.

Brynn's chair, Wesley's chair

Whenever I put Brynn in her bouncy chair Wes likes to put his chair next to her.

I just sitting here thinking about WONDERFUL things!

Brynn's 1st Day at Church

 February 4th was Brynn's 1st time going to church.  Isn't she a doll?

It also happened to be the Super Bowl.  Wes got to eat Cheetos on the couch.  What a treat.

Groundhog Day Weekend

I kept planning on going down to visit in January, but either weather or sickness prevented it.  My mom had Friday off because she was crazy busy at work and already reached over time by Thursday morning.  So I went down Thursday afternoon.  

We went to Ikea and had so much fun.  Before we left to go shopping we had to feed the ducks of course.

Friday I went to lunch with one of my old coworkers.  Then I took my dad out to dinner celebrate his birthday (almost a month late), but it was so yummy and fun.  I didn't get any pictures of that.

I did get this super cute one of my mom and kids though.

Brynn all wrapped up after a bath.

 Saturday we had a picnic in the park to celebrate my mom's birthday.  It seems that Punxsutawney Phil was wrong about six more weeks of winter.  Not that there's really has been much of a winter this year.

I was so good for Wes to run and scream all he wanted.  Wes also adores Kylie and Aunt Lissy.  So he was in seventh heaven.

Brynn enjoyed being outside and watching the fun. 

Wes started pointing out the moon all the time last summer, and now I notice the moon more.

When it started getting cold we bundled Wes up.  He looked around and said matter factually, "Da Wesley wearing the scarf.  The other kids not wearing da scarf.  Only da Wesley wearing the scarf."  Isn't he too young for that?

A little while later the temperature plummeted so we hurried and packed up to leave.  We laughed that the very busy play ground became empty within ten minutes because it was too cold.

Hold Brynn?

 Just some picture of my cuties from the end of January and the beginning of February.

3 months old

Praying for Hannah

My dearest friend, Melissa, had a baby girl two days before I did.  It has been so fun. They've been besties from birth.

Poor sweet Hannah is in the hospital with meningitis.

It came on so fast.  Here is a picture of Hannah 15 hours before she was being flown to Primary Children's.

Hannah is so sweet and little.  I am so worried about her.  I look down at my daughter who is so little and fragile, and I cry that my dear friends little one is so dangerously sick.

 I cannot even imagine what my friend is going through.  I hope I never know, and I wish she didn't.  I wish that I could do more.  I wish I could take it all away.

Hannah, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

I Love My Little Town

 View from my front door.

View from my back door.

Little Volcanoes

Another fun idea I found is experimenting with baking soda and vinegar died with food coloring.  Before we started the activity we looked at some pictures of volcanoes on the computer.

Wes had so much fun watching the baking soda foam and react to the vinegar, and then of course touching and playing in it.

 He picked up the baking soda in his hand and had me pour the vinegar on his hand.  The mixture foamed and fizzled all down his arm.

It tinted his hand green, and we had to wash it off not long after because it made his hand a little sore.  Still he loved it, and we had a blast.

Cloud Dough

Cloud dough feels so nice.  It is super soft and smooth, and fun to play with.  It clumps up like wet sand.  It smells so nice as well.

Also, it is unbelievably messy.

I can't remember or find the exact recipe I used, but I think I halved

7 cups flour

1 cup baby oil

It was either 3 1/2 or 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup baby oil.  I also ended up adding about another 1/4 cup of oil.

The flour spread from on end of the dinning room to the other just from Wes rubbing his hands together.  I think we will pocket this one until it is warmer outside.

Maybe, I'll try a sensory bag out of it.

Painting with Sweetened Condensed Milk

Painting with sweetened condensed milk has been all over Pinterest so I though it would be good to try. 

The cream color of the milk make the colors really rich and pretty.  It was very thick and sticky, and Wes loved it.  I didn't get a picture, but it was all over his hand and clothes.  Super good sensory activity.  Wes normally can't handle being stick for more then a minute.

The next time we tried it I watered down the sweetened condensed milk.  It was still thick and sticky, but more manageable.

Running in slow motion

Lately I feel that I am running as hard as I can, but live is moving faster them I am.  I always feel busy, but never seem to get much done.  And I am so tired.  We have had several colds over the last month, and when Brynn gets sick she doesn't sleep (thus I don't either).  I have had a few nights where I'll get a three or four hour stretch of sleep, but most nights I am lucky to get a 2 1/2 hour stretch.  I am trying, but it really effecting me and my ability to think and function.

I guess it is just part of having a toddler and a new born.  And I wouldn't trade the opportunity to raise them for anything.  I do better when I think of my life situation as a challenge rather then a trial because my children are such a blessing.  Sleep deprivation is tough though, but it is just part of my life right now.  Although if you talk to me when I am feeling really grouchy (which happens more frequently now) I may just sound like a grumbley grum.

Still, these kids make me laugh.  We have so much fun together.  I love them!

I have tons of pictures from January.

My awesome neighbor friend, Amy, got some passes for a spa day at a tanning place and invited me to go with her.  Neither of us tan, but they had a hydration thing and a water massage we tried.  It was fun to have a girls day out.

We decided to get together the next morning to make sensory balloons with our kids.  We had so much fun.  Wes kept calling Amy, Hannah's mom.  Hannah's mom is a different friend of mine, but they both have red hair.  Amy's kids are super cute and well behaved.  Wes likes playing with them.  She just had a baby girl last July.  Brynn is lucky to have a few good baby friends.

I went to visit another friend, and we had fun taking pictures of our baby girls in an old fashion suitcase.

I like this picture in sepia better, but I love how the colored version shows her beautiful blue eyes.

I love to watch Wes as he plays.

This face makes me laugh so hard.  He looks so angry, but he never is when he's making this face.  I think he's just trying to look at the black triangle you see when look all the way up.

Wesley is so funny.  We were going to go play outside one day while Bret was cooking something.  Wes insisted on helping before we left.  One night when I went to check on him I found him sandwiched between his animal train.

Brynn loves to watch Wes and usually smiles when I get the camera out (or gets any type of attention).

Most of the time I am surprised by how big Wesley is getting, but I  loved how cute and little he looked playing in the snow this day.

Notice how muscular Wesley's tummy is?  Ha ha.

I was carrying Brynn in the front pack and Wes in my right arm.  This happens quite a bit so I thought I would take a picture.  Ha ha, maybe that is why I have a hard time getting things done.