First Snow

Kael's Playground. So, I'm making a run to target today. I thought I at least had until after Halloween to be ready for snow. I was wrong. Scared, yet a little excited. Just a little. I'll be happier after my target run. I just have to keep repeating in my head "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can". Then, BRING ON THE SNOW!

Potty Dance

Yep, we danced around the house tonight singing "Kael pee peed in the potty" over and over and over.
Because my little boy went pee pee in the potty. I'm so proud! Love you little man!

Getting Ready for Halloween

It has been a rainy two days. Kael has some serious stir craziness going on. Maybe I do too. What do we do on rainy days? This was our day today. We checked the mail this afternoon, and got our Halloween cards from Grandma Sapp. Then this is what we did after.

Check out how stretched out we got the balloons. We blew them up REALLY big and put raisins in them. We shook them up a lot and played volleyball.
Dad got really light headed because I think he blew them up about 100 times. :) Thanks DAD!The orange and black balloons were perfect today because before we did balloons we got to carve our pumpkins!

Kael's pumpkin was white. It was REALLY gross inside. We had so much fun feeling how slimy it was and Kael thought the seeds were pretty cool too.

He helped to clean out the insides.

This is another pumpkin for Kael. It weighed 26 lbs! The same amount as Kael. Perfect fit. Here are the finished pumpkins. Derek carved Jack Skelington on the orange one, and I carved a grin on the white one. Eh. It works. :)

TA DA!

Here are the kids a couple of days ago. They were watching a show I can't remember what anymore, but it was so cute. They were sitting on Derek together and I couldn't pass the moment up. Eden adores Kael so much.

Now Eden is thinking, I sure love laying on Kael and Dad, but I really love my toes too!

Eden at 7 Months

Well, it has come. My baby is over half way to one. This post was due several days ago, but once again my children are sick so it got put off. Not to mention that I have finally caught something they have. Bleh. Derek has been such a trooper and taking care of us and doing all of his medical school stuff. I couldn't have survived the past couple days without him. Poor Eden was the sickest of us all. She threw up so much she started having dry heaves. Her poor little body was so sick. Derek gave her a blessing after I fed her last night and miracles do happen. Derek blessed her to be able to sleep so her body would heal and sure enough she was able to not throw up at all last night and actually got some sleep. This was awesome as I was the one that was throwing up in the middle of the night. Today has been rough, but we are hopefully on the mend.
It really has been a long 3 months. I figure if I can just make it through the winter hopefully our immune systems will be so strong that next year will be a piece of cake. Anyway on to my little darling girl.

7 MONTHS:
Eden loves to roll to get to places. I think she is a little behind on her motor movement because she lets her head flop a lot. She has been able to lift her head up since she was a month old, but she still flops sometimes. She doesn't like to sit up hardly at all and can't do it by herself yet. We are working on that. She can roll about 5 feet off of her blanket though. She LOVES to roll to get her toys. She loves to go for walks around the house in her walker. She is trying to crawl and hopefully by next month we will see some movement. She really loves her toys. She loves to be read to. Kael is now officially having to share his toys with her and doesn't like it very much. He was playing with his lego blocks the other day and Eden rolled and picked one up and decided it fit perfectly in her little hands and started chewing on it. Kael snatched it away so fast and Eden got so upset. So, Kael knows he is to share his toys now. It is so cute. Speaking of her big brother, Eden loves to be held by her Kael. I'm quite surprised actually. I thought she would cry or something, but no she thinks it is as much fun as he does.

Eden is finally becoming a champ at eating solid foods. It has a taken a while to get here. I blame myself for not having any patience it seems. She eats rice cereal great, but she now prefers it with other foods and not just by itself. So far she has tried sweet potatos, carrots, applesauce, and pears. I think her hair might just turn orange yet because she loves the orange foods. ;) She actually HATES applesauce. I have tried it several times and she clamps her mouth shut and refuses and when I do force some in there she gags at me. You would think a kid would prefer fruit over veggies, but not this girl.

Eden loves to drink water from a sippy cup. She loves to hold it and chew on it. Most of it squirts out of it at me because it has a soft top and me and her are soaked by the end, but she loves it so much and it is getting her used to sippy cups.

Eden we love you and you bless our lives everyday. You make me work for your smiles and it is 100% worth it! Love you baby girl!

Eden in her walker. She is wearing a hat that I crocheted for her.

Bleh.

Bleh. That is what a friend wrote about the 30 days on the blog. I have to agree. I'm done. I tried. So, on to better things.

My beautiful children. I have wanted a picture with the two of them together for so long, and so today I finally took one! Kael and Eden adore each other. I rarely let Kael hold Eden because he is so rough, but he is getting so much better, and she is a little more durable now. I LOVE it.Scrub a dub dub one Eden in the tub. This is why she wears headbands in most of her pictures. Mostly bald. ;) I wanted to see how long her hair has grown, and it has grown a lot, although there still isn't much there. What can I say? I LOVE bald babies. :)The cuteness of Kael. He loves these scooter things outside.

This little friend of ours is actually a lot bigger up close. Kael LOVES to chase these birds and there are so many of them in our courtyard.

I am looking forward to more of these!This is the first tree to turn colors and I am excited to live in a place where leaves actually do change colors. It should be lots of fun until the snow hits.

And last, this is our neighbors pumpkin on our window. We get to enjoy this baby and I didn't have to get my hands dirty. Love'n it!

Day 7 This photo makes me happy

Best Decision I ever made.

Day 6

I'm so glad this one is for today. I feel like I have only really been talking about all the negative going on for the past 2 months, but really I have been so blessed.

Here are 20 of my favorite things:
1. Derek, Kael, and Eden (I love my little family so so much!)
2. Blowing up balloons with Kael.
3. Delicious food.
4. Hearing Eden laugh. (This is quite an accomplishment if you can make it happen.)
5. Tickling Kael before bed.
6. Watching Derek tickle Kael before bed.
7. Watching my children grow every day.
8. Playing sports. (It doesn't happen very often anymore, but I love it.)
9. Snuggling my hunny.
10. Smoochin my hunny.
11. Going on dates with my hunny.
12. Disneyland. (Hopefully Disneyworld someday.)
13. Reading a good book on the couch with a blanket on a rainy day.
14. Baking treats.
15. Long HOT showers.
16. Watching a fun movie with my hunny.
17. The beach.
18. Sunsets and sunrises.
19. Talking with my Mom on the phone.
20. Letters from Grandma.

Yup. Those are a few of my favorite things off the top of my head. Of course I could go on forever, but that will have to do for now.

Day 5

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching, Love like you'll never be hurt, Sing like there's nobody listening, And live like it's heaven on earth."

-William W. Purkey

This is the best quote I can think of at the moment. ;)

26 Month Kael

KAEL OH KAEL.

Kael officially refuses to sit in his high chair. We bought a booster seat to have at the table, and he loves it so much. Bad part for me is that he is ruining my table, and food is EVERYWHERE. So, if you come to my house and my kitchen table/floor is disgusting that's just how it is for now.

Kael has always loved balls, but it has gone way overboard lately. A nice guy in our courtyard helped Kael to slam dunk the basketball one day, and now Kael is out there everyday waiting to be picked up and shoot baskets. I got him a small football and he LOVES it. He is picking up on counting so he goes around the house with his ball saying twooooo, treeeeee, rooooo. Meaning, one, two, three, throw. It is hilarious and Derek, Eden, and I have all been hit in the face many a time now. Good thing the balls are soft.

Kael still destroys my bathroom any chance he can get. Especially during bath time. However, he has had an improvement in the bathroom.
He is starting to get interested in the potty. Kael loves watching us go to the bathroom, and now every night before his bath he has to sit on the toilet, grab some toilet paper, wipe his bum, and then flush it down the toilet. He then proceeds to yell "AY" which is BYE. To whatever is going down the toilet. So, everytime I go to the bathroom he is always yelling AY AY. And he ALWAYS has to be the one to flush. Some nights he sits on the toilet 4 times before he will get in the tub. Now I call that serious interest. He still hasn't actually peed in the toilet yet. He has peed in the bathtub on command twice and peed on the side of the toilet standing up twice. Lately though it is a whole lot of nothing. I'm just so glad he is interested in the toilet and isn't afraid of it. PROGRESS people.

Speaking of progress remember me wanting to pull my hair out to teach this kid how to pray? Every night Kael now says "Prayer time" and folds his arms. Sometimes he can keep them folded for the whole prayer. Less than a week ago he FINALLY said AMEN at the end of the prayer! Once again PROGRESS people! I'm loving that word.

So, General Conference was this weekend and we had the radio on to listen to it since we don't have our cable hooked up and I really don't think we ever will get it turned on. Anyway, Kael loved listening to the music. He would act like he was conducting the music and sing as loud as he could with it. At the very end of conference it was the last song after the Prophet spoke, Kael was singing and having a great time. Derek and I were chatting about the talks and stopped paying attention well Kael knew better. Somehow the kid knew that it was "PRAYER TIME". He folded his arms and told me and Derek several time it was "PRAYER TIME". We looked at each other because at that very moment the prayer was being said. We thought, "How in the world did he know it was going to be a prayer?". He did know. The only thing we could come up with was that at church and during the conference after the song there is almost always a prayer after. What a smart kid. He is such an example to us.

Oh ya. Kael has started going around the playground and hugging all the 2 year old girls. It is too adorable and funny.

Kael has also recently taken to helping me feed Eden cereal. He has to sit right in my lap after he goes and grabs about 5 spoons so he can help too. It is rediculous, but totally sweet. He wants to help me with Eden and you can really tell that he LOVES his sister. I know he is going to take good care of her.

I'm trying to compose a list of words from this last month that I know Kael can say. The doctor wants to check his progress in December and I figure if I document it, then I can show his improvement. I know he has improved a ton since his last doctors appointment.

Kael Words:
AY : For hi and bye
Aaa : For apple
Oo ee : For cookie
AH : For water
Bubble : For bubble (First clear word)
Da da : For Dad
Ou side : For outside
uh : For up
UH OH : For uh oh
ar ane : For airplane
swi : For swing
ah do : All done
shoooo : For shoe
Ocks : For socks
uh : For cup
all : For ball
eef : For leaf
ee : For tree
ide : For slide
no : For no
saw : for sorry
day oo : For thank you

AND if you'll notice there still is no mama on that list... Boo.
However, he does scream mamamamamamamamamama when he's mad.
Anyway, I'm just glad he is improving. If anyone has ANY suggestions on how to get this kid speaking real words before December I'll take any help I can get. I REALLY don't want him to have to do speech therapy if I can avoid it. Tell me what to do and I'll do it! The only advice the doctor could tell me was to repeat the word a gazillion times. For example: You have a gold FISH, you like the FISH, what color is the FISH, can mom have a FISH, yummy FISH. ECT.

Kael: Just know that Mom and Dad love you. You are an amazing kid. You teach me a lot of patience lately.

Day 4

Today is my favorite book...

The Book of Mormon.

Ok ok ok. Besides that. I am a LOVER of BOOKS. It all started way back when...

As a little kid I LOVED my first grade teacher. Her name was Miss Velders. She read us a book called "I'll Love You Forever". That is my favorite children's book. I have 2 copies as of right now. Kael has both, but Eden will eventually get one.

I really got reading around the 5th grade. My teacher read us the Hobbit and I loved it. I became a nerd. Yes, it is true. My oldest brother Josh had just about every Star Wars book out there, and I began reading those. I read just about all of them by the 7th grade. In between Star Wars I read about 120 Nancy Drew books my Grandma got us.

Growing up my Grandma always sent us a book or something in the mail. I still have all those 100 or so Nancy Drew books. I really want Eden to have them some day.

I also really loved the Goosebump books as a kid.

Then, in High School I read the classics my senior year in AP English Literature. I have fallen in love with them, but haven't gotten back to them yet. Why?

I met and married Derek who is a Fantasy lover. Derek is the FASTEST reader I have EVER met. We read about 4 pages of the BOM per night and when I get to my 2nd page he is finished with all 4.

Derek got me going on fantasy and I LOVE it! Since we have been married I have probably read about 100 fantasy books. Right now I am reading the Wheel of Time. It is a 13 book series and has about 600 pages per book with tiny print. I love it.

My favorite series however is da da daaa: The Twilight Series. So. There you go.

Wheeler Historic Farm

So, I have been trying to be adventurous. A good self assessment of myself is social, but shy. Ya, I know it makes no sense whatsoever. I love being with people, but I feel like a complete idiot at the same time. So, this whole move and meet new people thing has been a fun adventure for me and I'm trying to get to know as many people as I can. Let's face it, my husband is in med school, and I'm a lonely wife. ;)

I had a night in September where I invited all the first year medical student wives over to my apartment so we could get to know each other better and hopefully start making some friends. I think it turned out pretty awesome myself, and that was super brave of me. Thanks to Shelly who is a lonely 4th year medical student wife and my sister that gave me the idea and the confidence to do that!

From this get together we have been able to start doing some play dates for our kids. It has been so good for Kael to play with other kids, and that makes me so happy!
So, here are some pictures of our play date to Wheeler Historic Farm up here in SLC.

Eden refused to look at the camera.

Eden has to put up with so much sometimes and she is so good. So here she is putting up with me walking around the stinky smells and chasing Kael. So she showed us and stuck her tongue out at us.

Kael and the big lazy pig.

The goats were crazy. They just jumped right up at the fence and Kael would reach out and pet them. I was a little nervous they would bite him, but we made it without any injuries.

This goat was just out walking around and the kids got to pet him.

The little boy in the picture is one of our friends and his name just happens to be Derek.

We sure had a great time! Thanks to those who came with us!

Day 3

Growing up I watched a lot of television. Ever since I married Derek we've always had cable, but have only watched it for General Conference for the most part. However, we do like to watch a series here and there when time permits, so we download it or buy it.

So, as of right now the only tv show I can think of off the top of my head is

PSYCH

As a little girl I liked Sesame Street, Rainbow Bright, Gummy Bears, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Barney (YES it's true I was a dork for a short time), Full House, and all the TGIF shows.

That's as good as I got...

New Phone Number

Hello everyone. Derek and I got new phone numbers. We just switched to AT&T.
My new number is 801-842-0459.

Day 2

Favorite Movie: Hands down the long version of Pride and Prejudice. I love watching all 6 hours straight through...

30 Days

So, I've seen this on a few blogs, and decided that I want to do this. Over the next 30 days I'm going to answer these questions. Because I print out this blog I think it will be fun for my kids to see a little bit about me back in my spritely, youthful days of motherhood.

DAY ONE: Favorites are hard for me. I usually just go with whatever everyone else wants to do because I'm not picky. However, I am going to do my best to come up with something each day. For a favorite song, I would love to say that I like dancing in secret to the song Low. Not the best song I know, but it is fun. ;) However my favorite song to sing at Derek is "Have I told you lately that I love you?" really loud and abnoxious.

day 1- your favorite song

day 2- your favorie movies

day 3-your favorite television program

day 4- your favorite book

day 5- your favorite quote

day 6- 20 of your favorite thigns

day 7- a photo that makes you happy

day 8- a photo that makes you angry/sad

day 9- a photo you took

day 10- a photo taken over 10 years ago of you

day 11-a photo of you recently

day 12- something you are OCD about

day 13- your favorite outfit

day 14- your favorite shoes

day 15- your dream house

day 16- a song that makes you cry

day 17- an art piece ?? huh??

day 18- my wedding/future wedding/ past wedding

day 19- a talent of yours

day 20- a hobby of yours

day 21- a recipe

day 22- a website

day 23- a youtube video

day 24-where I live

day 25-your day in great detail

day 26- your week, in great detail

day 27- your worst habit

day 28- whats in my handbag/purse

day 29-hopes, dreams and plans for 365 days

day 30- a dream for the future

Winter

Ok so winter is around the corner. I know it is only just fall, but I am a little nervous to live in snow with 2 kids. So, what do I do? I start preparing.

This hat was not that hard to make, but it was my first time trying it so it does have a few errors, but you can hardly tell. It was suppose to be for Eden, but it fit Kael's head, so I gave it to a little girl who plays with Kael and is super sweet. She loved it and it was so cute. She put it on and wouldn't take it off. Mind you it was a really hot day still. ;)

So, I am going to start crocheting again. Wish me luck. I want to make about 3 hats per kid. Now I just need to find some super cute yarn. I have patterns for boys brim hats, and ear flap hats, and I think they are going to turn out adorable. I'll keep you updated how they go.

As for other winter stuff, Kael has a snow suit already, and Eden has coats. I still need a winter coat for Kael, snow boots, gloves, and a full body snow suit for Eden. We have excellent sledding hills right outside, and I'm certain they will be well used this winter. If anyone knows where I can get this stuff for SUPER cheap, I'd be a happy Mom.

Thanks to Cate!

How do I even pick from so many amazing photos for my walls? I guess I'll take them all. There were more wonderful photos taken still that I didn't even post. Thank you Cate for the fun photos and memories of my kids. Check her out here: http://www.ciaobellaphotography.blogspot.com/

I'm in love with my kids. They are amazing. Now if I can just get them over being sick, I think life would be pretty perfect.

In LOVE with her!

In LOVE with him!

The cuteness of Kael

So tonight at dinner Kael was sitting at the table stuffing his face as normal. He then proceeded to fold his arms and say dobadabadobadoo. So, in his own little language, Kael prayed for the first time. He did it about 5 times and I have to say I'm a proud Mom. Months and months have passed where we have tried to get him to just fold his arms to pray, and tonight he did it on his own, and said his own little prayer. He now folds his arms for about 5 seconds every night to pray and a couple times he has kept them folded the whole time.

Also, just the other day I told Kael it was time to come inside after playing on the playground, and for the first time EVER the sweet boy came right behind me and WALKED into the house, and never once cried or threw a tantrum. He has now done this twice. This is a major improvement from the screaming and kicking trantrums to get him to come inside.

I'm so proud of this stinkin cute boy! He amazes me every day.