The End Of An Era...

Derek has had long hair ever since we got married. 5 years. I have dreamt of marrying a man with long lucious locks my entire life. I married that man. Another fantasy that I never really thought would happen would be to marry a man in the military. You know you dream about seeing your husband in a military uniform. I can't wait to see mine! He has been preparing for his officer training for the Air Force, and part of that is getting a military ID. He has to have the military hair to get his badge. Life will not give me both of these dreams, but I did get the best dream "Derek". I am loving his military hair though, and I'm excited to see what the future holds for us!

So without further ado, I decided to open a barber shop. I'm calling it "Sharice's Barber Shop" for lack of a better name. The best part. It's free services. Kael and Derek are now partakers of this new business of mine. Now to the before and afters.

Before

After

Tonight, I said goodbye to these locks. They will be missed.

PS: Please don't ask me to cut your hair, I'm not really opening a barber shop...

Easter Sunday

Easter morning was lovely. The kids woke up at a decent time (7:10), that means 10 whole extra minutes of glorious sleep. They got their buckets and went to work finding eggs. We had to stop half way through finding eggs because the loot the Easter bunny brought was too good to pass up. Kael got some snakes "aka nakes", dinosaurs, book, and stickers. Eden got a necklace, purse, book, bunny, and slinky. I got some super cute pictures of them in their spring church clothes. Poor Kael broke out in a really bad rash all over his face, chest and arms from some sunblock from Friday afternoon, so his face is really red. It was wonderful to go to church and remember the Savior and his sacrifice for us. He died so that we might live. I'm so grateful for this. I'm still thinking of how to incorporate how I want to teach the kids each Easter. I know next year we will find a fun way to do this. I'm so grateful for my family and that we can be together forever. This is such a blessing to have this knowledge and I'm so happy for my beautiful children! Love their beautiful faces so much!

Teaching Kael Update

I have been having a lot of fun teaching Kael lately! I have been worried he wouldn't get it, and I would just get frustrated, but the kid is so smart! We have gotten from A to D. 1 to 4, and blue, square, green and diamonds. Talked about cows, jungles, cats, and eyes. Our first weeks vocabulary word was calf. Kael pronounces it "ass"... I still find myself laughing over that. So, I will keep working on it. I'm not perfect, and I know I could never home school my kids, but I do enjoy the early development stuff. Kael traced the 2 D's on the right of the picture. He is so silly because he doesn't want to try something unless he can do it perfect the first time. He is a perfectionist already. He cries for help because he wants it to look just like mom's. After we get through the alphabet I am going to start teaching him how to write his name. I never knew a 2 year old could learn so much. Thanks for amazing me Kael!

A New Obsession

Kael's new obsession. He got them for Easter. I simply love this. So fun!

A Drink

Eden is always eyeing Derek's diet coke. She is always reaching for it, and always crying when we say no and take it away. One time we turned our backs for a second and she got a sip of it once from a straw. She loved it...

Today, Eden decided to dig through the trash and found an empty coke can and was desperately trying to drink the last sips of it. Great. Oh the silliness that is in my house.

POST EDIT:

Just turned around and she found a left over PB&J in the trash, and is presently eating it.

She never stops eating. Doesn't matter if it is trash.

Eggstra Eggstra Hear All About It

We dyed our Easter eggs on Wednesday while Derek was at school. It was raining, and I was feeling couped up, so we had a party. I had the Tinkerbell movie playing while I boiled the eggs and got the dye ready. I thought I would be the only person to enjoy dying the eggs, but Eden and Kael had a blast! Kael put the eggs in the dye and then went and watched his show while they sat for a while, then he came and picked them out to dry. Then, dumped more in the dye. Repeat. He LOVED it. Eden was a little jealous because I wouldn't let her do that part. Then, when they were dry I got out some stickers and let both kids put stickers all over the eggs and box. They had a blast. I had Eden on my lap and she wanted to grab the eggs so bad! She snatched one as I was helping Kael for just a half a second and of course that was the one egg I had crack. This will definately be a yearly tradition until the kids outgrow it. I loved doing this with them and it was fun that Kael was old enough to help too!

How an egg becomes an Easter egg

Kael was being so cheasy. It took about 20 shots of Kael say cheese and look at mom to get one shot. Somedays he is just a nut. He couldn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes!

I Love Flowers

Derek got me these flowers for our Anniversary on April 15th. I love flowers. Someday I will have my own garden, and I will have fresh flowers on my kitchen table all year long. I got him silly string. Hmmm. I need to work on my gifts! I'm just so excited for our Vegas trip in May that he surprised me with for Valentines and our Anniversary. Derek is probably sick of me saying how I can't wait for it to come. He spoils me rotten. I'm so in love with Derek and it's been the most fabulous 5 years! I'm excited to see what the next 5 bring, and then eternity. :) Thanks for loving me Derek, and thanks for spoiling me. I don't deserve it!

An Egg Hunt

Our courtyard had an Easter egg hunt. It was fun. It lasted 5 minutes. Eden sat in the stroller because I simply can't chase two kids in opposite directions. Kael loved it. He got all his eggs in about 2 minutes and then had to enjoy some of the loot. We then played outside for 2 hours where the kids faces got red and my arms got pink. The sun felt amazing! I am in love with spring.

We are going to have our egg hunt this next Sunday before church. I believe the Easter bunny will hit our apartment then. We are going to dye eggs on Saturday too because I love deviled eggs. Happy Easter next Sunday to all and to all a good night tonight! :)

She's 13 Months

She is sitting on the elyptical step. She climbs there every day and sits and stares out the window while I work and Kael naps. She loves to climb on it.

Eden also loves to climb on Kael's table and chairs. It makes me a nervous wreck, but she loves it and would stay up there all day coloring if I let her. She loves outside and playing on slides and swings.



What she is saying:

Bye Bye

Da Da

Ma Ma

Balloon

Bubble

Hat

Shoe

Ball

Baby

Bacon

Signs:

Please

More

Eat

Up

What she is up to:

She loves to talk on the phone. It is really funny because she has conversations with herself. She LOVES climbing on anything and everything! She can climb from the bottom of the playground to the biggest slide outside our apartment! WHAT?! She is starting to take a couple steps here and there on her own. She has taken about 8 between Derek and I, however her preferred method of travel is crawling still. She got into the toilet once this month and tries almost every day. Thank goodness Kael has already learned to put the lid down. Whew.

She is eating like a champ! She literally would eat all day long if I let her. She gets so full that her little belly sticks out so far and then she whines and shoves more food in her mouth. Then repeats... She loves chicken, chicken nuggets, tater tots, french fries, peas peas peas, bananas, strawberries, pb & j sandwhich, veggie puffs, corn on the cob, pastas, spaghetti, mac and cheese, apples, beets, and other stuff that mom and dad eat. I'll give Kael a half a sandwhich and Eden a whole one. Kael doesn't finish his, but Eden sure does, and eats part of Kael's usually.

She drinks water great too! She absolutely hates milk. I've tried adding chocolate, strawberry nesquik, pediasure... I'm hoping she is gaining weight from all this food she is eating.

She likes to snuggle Mom in the morning. I stopped nursing her because she bites and then cries because she feels bad. "Ouch".

She loves bath time. She loves playing with Kael. She loves outside. She loves the swings. She loves toy cars. She loves the slide. She is a dare devil. She loves coloring and is a pro at it already. She holds the crayon just right too. She loves digging in my kitchen drawers. She loves Kael's room. She loves her baby dolls. She plays with them every day and sleeps with them. First thing when she wakes up she points for her baby. Then she signs please please please and points again. She points to whatever she wants now then signs please and I can't deny her when she does...

She hates getting her diaper changed. She wiggles all the time now.

She takes 2 naps a day that last from 30 min to 1 hr.

She is my angel. My princess. My baby girl. She's growing up way too fast. I love you sweet lady bug!

Monday Nights

Monday Nights = Family Home Evening

So, I have tried and failed many a time at successful family home evening lessons. For the most part I just thought Kael wouldn't hold still and it would be a waste of time. I was wrong.

4 weeks straight! Go Derek and Sharice.

We decided this is something that is important for our family and whether the kids get it or not right now, the important thing is that we are doing it, establishing a good habit for our family.

Our first lesson was on Jesus. Kael and Eden color a picture every lesson. Then we talked about Jesus and have Kael say the word. He is so smart. We had him point to pictures of Jesus in the house. We sang a song about Jesus. He "gets" it!

Our lessons last a grand total of about 10 minutes, and that's great!

Second lesson was on Prophets. We talked about Joseph Smith and President Thomas S. Monson. We colored pictures, and sang "Follow the Prophet".

Next was temples. I had them color the St. George temple and we talked about how that is where Mommy and Daddy got married. We found our temple picture on the wall and showed it to the kids. We sang "I Love to see the Temple".

Tonight was the Book of Mormon. It was so fun. Kael says Book of Mormon really fast and it sounds like one word. We talked about how Mom and Dad read the book every night, and how it talks about temples, Jesus, and Prophets. We colored a picture, and sang "Book of Mormon Stories".

I'm in love with family night! Those 10 minutes on Monday night are the best on Monday! Eden colors the pictures and I love having our whole family interacting together talking about good things! It really is never too early to teach your children. Their brains are sponges and they remember.

I Love Blogging: Things That Made Me Happy Today!

I think I love being outside just as much as Kael and Eden do. A little bit of sunshine does a lot of good in our family. I love seeing these two loving life outside. Eden rides bikes and plays in toy cars and tries so hard to be a big kid. Kael does the exact same thing. I don't know what I will do when they actually are big kids. The older kids in our courtyard love to climb this tree. Kael thinks it is the coolest! So, today I helped him into the tree. Not a smart idea. He didn't want to come down. I mean he really didn't want down. He started trying to climb higher once he was up there. There were branches really close together so he could have. I literally had to pull him kicking and screaming down. I felt bad. Real bad. Maybe in a year I'll be ready for this. I know Kael sure is. :) I LOVE OUTSIDE TIME!

Kael's awesome photo skills make me happy. After we came in from playing outside, I started some dishes. When I got my head out of the sink this is what I find Kael doing! However, this might have been from yesterday?... I wonder how many times he has grabbed my camera without my knowing. There were a lot of photos I had to delete. There were several in focus though which was really quite funny and made me laugh. He is too silly.

Spring is in the air. Oh this made my heart swell! Leaves budding and flowers blooming! Summer will soon be around the corner. I couldn't help but snap a few photos of spring.

I Love Blogging: Things That Made Me Happy Yesterday April 11th

This my friends is a Boglin. Derek grew up with one of these and lets face it people, it is creepy! Kael absolutely loves this thing though. Derek bought it when we were first married, and now it sits in Kael's room on top of his bookshelf. His bookshelf people! He loves his Boglin. So, I have to try to not be creeped out when I come to sit down at my computer and see it sitting on my desk. Kael loves to leave me random surprises, and this was a good one. Thanks Kael.

I totally wish that you could see his whole body up close. These pictures just didn't do the kid justice. The snow finally melted yesterday afternoon and we got to go outside for some sunshine. Kael had so much fun. So much in fact that this was the outcome. Covered head to toe in mud. Yup. That is my boy. He saw a bunch of the kids playing in a mud puddle and decided he needed to try it out while mom wasn't looking. All the other kids got wet up to their knees. Kael got wet up to his waist and the mud covered his face with dots. A couple of the kids kept asking me why Kael was so dirty?! I just told them he was having fun playing in the mud and puddles. He was not happy about coming inside. Who wants to leave mud puddles? They are the BEST!

Kael and Eden Would Like to Announce...

Kael and Eden would like to announce that Grandma and Grandpa Heaton are coming soon to watch them while their mommy and daddy head to Las Vegas!
Only 35 more days until Derek and I go to Las Vegas without Kael and Eden. I'm getting so excited. It's really nice not being pregnant, and it's going to stay that way for a while . :) I'm just so excited for some kid free time with the hubster! It makes these last 4 weeks of Derek's first year of medical school almost bearable.

She Walks

No video yet, but I couldn't wait until her 13 month post to share with the world that my baby girl Eden walks. She walked back and forth between Derek and I about 10 times yesterday. She just keeps surprising me. It will be a little while before she is walking all the time, but for now it is just amazing seeing her walk.

32 Months: Another Month Gone

The time has come, another month has past, and Kael is one month older.

One of my favorite things about Kael right now is that he has become my little helper. He loves doing whatever Mom is doing, and let me tell you it can be quite a pain sometimes, but I love it! He has taken to helping me with dishes. Every time I do dishes while he is awake he runs and grabs his stepping stool and insists that he be allowed to wash the dishes. It will be a sad day when he doesn't want to do this anymore.

He helps me to get Eden out of her crib when she wakes up. Which is me picking up Eden and Kael's arms sticking through the crib bars, and then me putting Eden in his arms so he pretends he is the one who picked her up.

He takes Eden's diapers to the trash! LOVE THIS! I hate the smell the diaper pale gives in the bathroom every time the lid is open, but it doesn't seem to bother Kael at all. :)

He loves to vacuum! And insists that I don't do a good enough job, because after I am finished every time he goes over everything again.

He is getting good at putting away his toys when I ask.

He brushes his teeth and loves to gargle water and spit. This could be a problem in the future.

He is Mom's helper and I love it so much!

Today at the smiths he got spoiled! He immediately ran to the balloons, which are his favorite thing at the store. I have to always refuse because let's face it I can't afford a .99 cent balloon every time I go to the store. Anyway, I kindly refused when the nice people at the store always start getting him a balloon and saying what color does he want. It is ridiculous. Then, he proceeded to tell me he could have it for free. Sweet deal! Then, Kael had to use the bathroom and on our way there a nice store lady offered Kael a candy! What?! Kael is just about in heaven. Then after our store adventures, they give him a sticker. Let's just say I think Kael loves going shopping with Mom. ;)

He sure knows how to win people's affection. He is the friendliest little boy, and the sweetest. Thanks for being who you are Kael and teaching me so much! Especially how to make the apartment cleaner. It wouldn't be clean without you!

Video of Kael and Eden

I love that Kael and Eden love to play together. It will be a sad day when they go their separate ways. I hope they can always love each other. These two make me smile every single day.

Kael's New Bike

Kael did it! He finally went #2 in the toilet. We have been telling him for a week that if he can poop in the toilet he would get a bike, and it worked! He just said, "Mom, potty, bike!" So we went and the kid did his business! Derek had to take a quick study break to get the kid his bike and Kael finally got the sucker he's been wanting. That was our first bribery that wasn't working. We are so proud of him! I never thought that Kael would be potty trained right now. I wasn't even planning on starting until he was 3, so this just amazes me! Kael you might be behind in your speech, but man you rock at the potty! Love you kid!

Eden is showing off Kael's new used bike. Kael rode it around our apartment all day today. It was awesome. We found this sweet deal on KSL for $15 bucks. It rides great, but is just sun worn. Any ideas how to fix it up for dirt cheap? Otherwise, it is staying the way it is. I would like to get rid of the spiderman if possible, and fix the handle bars grips, but I don't really care at this point.