Thursday, August 28, 2008

New Pajamas


I made the kids some new pajamas this week, and I think they turned out pretty cute. Isaac totally loves Wall-E, so the idea started when I saw some Wall-E flannel at the store. I bought some shirts that coordinated with the pants and then appliqued some of the fabric on them to make matching shirts. I love that they are holding hands in the above picure!

I thought the Strawberry Shortcake flannel was cute and made Sareny and Finley matching jammies. They look so cute! I think Finley's pants might actually fit her by Christmas though!
When I got home from the fabric store and Sareny saw her Strawberry Shortcake fabric, she got so excited and animated and said, "It is lovely!"

Monday, August 25, 2008

new stroller


I got my new stroller this weekend, and I am so excited! It's a Joovy Caboose, so it is basically the size of a single stroller, but it has a bench in the back for an older kid to sit, or a thing they can stand on. If needed, I can actually fit both Sareny and Isaac in the back quite easily. It should be perfect for trips to the mall or zoo!

I have a tandem double stroller, but they are so big and bulky and just not practical for me. Before Finley, I usually ended up pushing it with no children sitting in it, because they both wanted out. It ended up being an ungainly diaper bag/shopping bag holder. In the new stroller the older kids can sit if they get tired, but if they want to walk I won't end up frustrated maneuvering a huge empty stroller.

I did a lot of comparisons between the Joovy stroller and the other Sit and Stand model available that is made by BabyTrend. Although it was a little more expensive, I liked the Joovy quite a bit better because it has a much smaller footprint. When I pushed the BabyTrend model, I felt like I was still pushing a tandem stroller, which was what I was trying to avoid. One problem I experienced was actually finding a Joovy stroller in a store. Babies-R-Us had a floor model that was great to try out, but they only sell them online. BabyTrend is carried at Target. I ended up purchasing my Joovy online at Amazon, which was great since they had free shipping.


Anyway, so far I love, love, love my stroller and would recomend it to anyone in a similar situation with young children. :)

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

baby smiles


There is just something special about a tiny baby's smile. It starts in their eyes, and then slowly, their mouth decides it wants to smile at you too. It has got to be the most precious thing in the whole world.
As a new mom, (for the third time) I need those smiles. I crave them. For the first six weeks of my baby's life, I watch for them, hope for them, search for even the tiniest hint of them. And then, finally, she smiles at me. Her smiles validate my entire existence.

Monday, August 18, 2008

an unexpected party

On Saturday we met our friends Misty and Daryl and their kids at the University of Phoenix stadium for "The World's Largest Pizza Buffet." We were excited for the free food, bounce houses, and face painting. Unfortunately, the food was not plentiful, the lines for the bounce houses were very long, and our kids were not in time to get their faces painted. To make up for the disapointing time, we decided to have our own party that evening. I think it turned out much more fun!

We met at our house for dinner, the bounce house, and face painting. Sareny even made a delicious pie for dessert, and she was so proud!

After dinner we broke out the newly purchased face painting supplies. I had found some cute designs online, and Misty and I did a great job! We even accented the girl's butterflies with glitter. The kids had so much fun and loved having their mommies paint their faces.

The boys


The girls



After face painting we let the kids each have their own can of silly string. (I know, what kind of mom would allow such a thing in her living room? Luckily it cleans up pretty easily.) I think the parents might have enjoyed this part more than the kids! Neither Isaac nor John really appreciated the silly string and just cried, enabling the parents to grab their cans and have at it. Anyway, we were pretty silly.


All in all, it was a really fun evening that we had totally not been planning on. I actually thought the face painting was pretty fun and something I wouldn't mind doing again.


Little sleeping beauty missed all of the fun.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

funny kids

So I don't know how whether this is an inappropriate story or not, but I wanted to make sure and remember it, so here goes. Sareny was probably nearly three at the time, and she and Isaac were in the tub together. He was standing right in front of Sareny and I told her to remember that we don't touch privates. She said, "Yeah, we don't touch pirates. We just look." I laughed.

Sareny thinks piggy banks are called piggy oinks, and I just don't have the heart to correct her.

If you ask Isaac to give you a kiss, this is the face he makes. He is such a sweetie!
After Finley was born, it seemed like whenever she was nursing, Isaac would come up, point at her head, and say "egg." I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Did he think her head looked like an egg? Was he super smart and new that she had recently developed from an egg? I finally settled on he just wanted to call her egg for some reason I couldn't imagine. My mom and I both thought it was pretty funny. Well I finally figured out just yesterday what he was trying to say. I was drinking a can of pop and he pointed at it and said egg, and then he took a drink. He is actually saying drink, it just sounds like egg! He has always called his sippy cup a "nee," but he is starting to call it egg. How silly!

Sareny loves to draw pictures--this one is a self portrait. She even drew curly hair.
In an earlier post, I asked Sareny some questions, including how she is different from her mom. Her answer was that our legs are different. I assumed that she meant mine were longer than hers, so I didn't question her further. After seeing the post, my friend Misty asked her how her legs were different from her mom's. She said, "Mine don't have whiskers." :)

Friday, August 15, 2008

the best sugar cookies ever

My mom's sugar cookie recipe really makes the best cookies in the world. I thought I would include the recipe here in case any of you are in the mood to try them out. They're delicious!

Farm House Cookies
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp. baking powder
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 salt

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, continuing to beat. Add sour cream and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll on floured board, fairly thick. Cut into shapes and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Frost.

I like to make a cream cheese frosting to go on top. Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

sugar cookies and more

Isaac always loves to do just what his big sister is doing. When she lounged on the coffee table to watch tv, he jumped right up next to her. They look so cute! It's crazy that they can fit side by side like that. You can also see in this picture how long Sareny's hair was before the haircut.
Isaac and Sareny both love their little sister. Sareny is always asking to hold her!
Last week Sareny kept asking if we could make sugar cookies. I figured out that one of our books shows some kids having a tea party with sugar cookies and that is what got her started on the idea. By the time you make the cookie dough, let it chill for a couple of hours, cut out the cookies, bake them, cool them, and decorate them, you are looking at an all day project. We had a lot of fun though!
It takes a lot of concentration to make sure you use enough sprinkles...
This was Isaac's first cookie. In case you can't tell, it is "Mouse." I realized pretty quickly we would be going through a lot of sprinkles...
This one is Sareny's masterpiece.
Showing off their messy hands and beautiful cookies.
I have always maintained that while I love sugar cookie dough, I really don't like the cookies. Therefore, once I bake the cookies, I am safe from consuming all of them...I am sad to report that this is no longer the case. I now thoroughly enjoy both the dough and the cookies. :(

baby girl

More tries to get a cute picture of my baby girl...
She kept doing silly things with her tongue; maybe she was hungry.

Monday, August 11, 2008

New Haircut

Sareny and I went on Saturday to get our hair cut together. This was only the third time she's had her hair cut, and she did really good. She liked when they shampooed her hair and sat very still on the chair while the lady cut it. We had a fun little girls' outing! :)
It took a bit to convince Sareny that it was okay to get her hair cut because pretty much since she was born she has been trying to grow her hair "long to her bum." The problem is that her hair grows really nicely in the back and really slowly on the sides and top, so she ends up with a tail in the back that doesn't look so great. Kind of like a really long mullet. They took off 3 or 4 inches in the back and basically nothing from the sides.

Her new haircut looks really cute though, and she loves it. Maybe in a few years her hair will be long to her bum like she dreams...

Saturday, August 9, 2008

All about mama

So I saw this cute post on Tea's blog and decided to copy it. I thought Sareny might be a little young, but then I decided it would be fun to know what she thought now and compare it to what she says in a few years. Like Tea, I was surprised by how often cleaning came up...especially since her response to #12 is probably pretty close to the mark. :(

1. What is something Mom always says to you?
Ummmm, you say clean up.

2. What makes Mom happy?
Cleaning up

3. What makes Mom sad?
Not doing what her says.

4. How does your Mom make you laugh?
Plays pictures

5. What was your Mom like as a child?
Someone tickled her.

6. How old is your Mom?
How old is her? How old are you mama? Ummm, 8.

7. How tall is your Mom?
Lots of tall.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play blocks with your kids.

9. What does your Mom do when you’re not around?
Play blocks with Isaac.

10. If your Mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
It will be for mama.

11. What is your Mom really good at?
Putting pictures in books.

12. What is your Mom not very good at?
You're not very good at cleaning.

13. What does your Mom do for her job?
Clean up.

14. What is your Mom’s favorite food?
Umm...pasta

15. What makes you proud of your Mom?
You cleaned up.

16. If your Mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
It would be Hillari

17. What do you and your Mom do together?
We play blocks

18. How are you and your Mom the same?
We look the same and we talk to same.

19. How are you and your Mom different?
Our legs are a little different.

20. How do you know your Mom loves you?
Because I'm a little girl and I comed out my mom.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Finley's Blessing Day

Our sweet little Finley Lynn was blessed on Sunday at church by her dad. She was so beautiful in her dress that her grandma Nancy made her. I loved the little bonnet--it was adorable. Finley also had a special blessing afghan made by her Grammy Jo, and my good friend Sandra made her a tiny bracelet to wear on her special day. It was so nice to see several good friends that made a special effort to be there on our day--the Gardners, the Stuckies, the Chiltons, and the Dominguez family, as well as all of our good friends in our ward. We love all of you!

Finley with her Grandma Nancy
Bampa and Grammy Jo holding their little granddaughter
Mommy and her little girl
Her gorgeous blessing dress
The whole group of us
My sweetie

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Already 1 month old!

My sweet baby girl is a month old today! We are blessing her in church tomorrow, so we have my parents and Keith's mom and little sister here for the event. I love having company! It's so much fun to watch the kids interact with their grandparents--they love them so much. And grandparents are the best kind of visitors, because they do my dishes and laundry!
I think my Finley Lynn is so darn cute, but I can't seem to get a really good picture of her; I just always think she is so much cuter than the picture. But here are my recent attempts to capture my daughter.

I still am not supposed to go swimming, so Grammy Jo and Bampa were nice enough to get in our pool with Sareny and Isaac.

Our kids have so much fun swimming; I'm glad someone is here who can take them while I can't.