Barnyard fun

This Halloween we decided to dress up as a theme. We decided to have the kids dress up as farm animals and Derek and I as farmers.

Zoe as a cow

Maeley and Chase as sheep

Derek holding his baby cow

At the beginning of trunk or treat I lost my sheep and from that point Chase just wanted his Dad. That left me with giving candy out.

cuddling with my cute sheep Maeley

Zoe sat in her stroller holding her pig while I passed out the candy. She had no expressions as kids and adults in costumes came up to us. I wish I knew what she was thinking. When she doesn't have any expressions at events like this it reminds me of my nephew Devan. Even at Disneyland on the rides that kid never cracked a smile. We know he enjoyed it but seriously no expressions.

What cute farmers!

A Series of Unforunate Events

Due to lack of space at our apartment we left Maeley's tricycle and Chase's car at my parents house so they can enjoy them when we come to visit. They were left outside...not a good idea.

All Chase wanted to do was play with this. He could care less about riding the quad with Dad. He just wanted his car.

Then the roll bar on the back broke off.

Jacob (my nephew) pushing Chase

Then the steering wheel broke in half.

And while Chase was sitting in his car, the car itself broke in half.

Chase did not want to give up. Here he is pushing the back end. This little guy still wanted to play with his car. If you click on the picture to enlarge it you can see a tear rolling down his right cheek.

Here you can see the steering wheel broken and how badly as a whole it broke.

Now Chase talks about his broken car and how he wants another one. Considering how much he loved this I think he did a pretty good job dealing with the accident.

The girls birthday party

This past weekend we had a birthday party for Maeley and Zoe in Gilbert at my parents house.

Zoe was so excited about her Leap Frog puppy.

That dog is very cool.

Zoe clapping at the gift bag which had a cat with googly eyes.

Can you tell Maeley is happy? She got a Strawberry Shortcake doll.

In the middle of opening gifts, Derek got a call from his parents who obviously could not have been there.

She was thrilled to get her very own digital camera.

I love how Zoe is still holding the dog stuffed animal she previously opened while opening another present.

Another great present...Tinker Bell. Chase had to come take a look too.

The girls were spoiled. Thanks everyone.

The cake

My sister Laurel made this cake for Maeley and Zoe's birthday party this past Saturday. She did a great job.

Maeley was more interested in her braclets than getting her picture taken.

Zoe on the other hand was pretty nonexpresive that whole morning. She was just taking everything in.

At first Zoe wasn't too sure about the cake. After I added ice cream she dug in and loved it.

She was very messy afterwards.

Maeley's big day

Today is Maeley's 4th birthday! She has been excited about this day since Chase's birthday back in July. Not kidding you, we've heard so much about what she's wanted since then. We are going to Target today so she can buy the new Tinker Bell movie with her gift card.

Maeley says some of the silliest things. She is always making us laugh. What I love is when she gets really excited about something that she thinks is funny. Her voice changes and its so hilarious to listen to her. Maeley is a great big sister. She tells me how she loves Zoe and Chase, but how Chase doesn't love her back. It makes her sad. Her eating habits have changed. She likes meat now. For lunch she loves to eat a "meat and cheese sandwich" (that's what she calls it), but the cheese has to be swiss. She still loves lettuce and carrots. She doesn't even drink chocolate or strawberry milk very often anymore. She loves water and doesn't like many juices. She used to love chicken nuggets but now she would rather have a sandwich or if we're going out a hamburger. Maeley is such a smart kid. I was watching her as she was doing a preschool activity book at pleased to see how well she was doing. She has even been helping Chase learn his ABC's. I love when they get along. Maeley can be difficult at times but mostly she's just a sweet kid.

We love you!

Happy Birthday Maeley!

3...2...1

Today is Zoe's birthday. For today only we have a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 1 year old. Simply crazy!

Zoe is not walking on her own yet. She's not in a hurry and neither are we. Zoe is walking along furniture and sometimes will walk with you.

She has 3 teeth. Two of which came in just last week.

She loves animals. She gets so excited so see her stuffed animals too.

I love the way she lies down on the floor if there are pillows and blankets out. She loves to snuggle with them.

Zoe is a very happy kid. And is pretty low maintenance. And what I mean by that is she entertains herself most of the time. She just goes with the flow.

Zoe loves bananas and prefers to eat our food not baby food. Now that she finally has teeth we can give her more foods.

We all love her so much. I seriously cannot imagine our family without her. From the moment she was born Derek and I just felt something special with her. That feeling has never gone away.

We love you Zoe.

I could write so much more but I have a very busy day ahead. Oh and I have a ton to blog about so I'll probably get to that within the next few days.

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Sneak Peek

Yesterday Maeley and Chase both wanted to put their Halloween costumes on. Of course then they wanted Zoe to be dressed up as well. She loves her costume so I took some pictures of her. This picture cracked me up. What a silly girl.

Titles

Zoe = the dancer

She loves to dance to music. If she hears music she'll start dancing.

Chase = the stunt man

This child is not affraid of hurting himself. What he loves doing most is jumping off the couch, or jumping from the chair in our room to the bed or visa versa. Really he just wants to jump off something.

Maeley = the singer

She makes up her very own songs and sings all the time. Her songs are pretty funny.

It's amazing how they are all so different in some ways yet so similar in other ways.

Random

Yesterday our upstairs neighbor told Maeley that she got a cat. Of course Maeley was super excited and wanted to see it right that moment. Well she had to wait until this afternoon. She was thrilled. After only 10 minutes in her apartment my eyes started itching, my ears, my chin, my throat and my back. I don't know why but all of those body parts were itching like crazy. I'm doing okay now that I'm home. Do I care that I'm allergic to cats, absolutely not. I dislike cats very much. Now its a great reason why Maeley will never have one.

I am in the process of weaning Zoe off breastfeeding. I'm happy to report she's doing very well. I'm down to only feeding her in the morning and before bed. She really loves nursing so she makes sure she fills herself up. Zoe has had a hard time taking a sippy cup. That's partly why I haven't gone down to one feeding yet. The past couple days she's done better so hopefully real soon I will be free from breastfeeding. That will be a very happy day.

This past Saturday we finally gave in a bought a curtain rod for Zoe's room. The one from the other house isn't wide enough darn it. We only hung up her blackout curtains and wow what a huge difference. She is now sleeping longer at night and napping better during the day. I love it!

I'm loving the cooler weather. Unfortunately the next few days are supposed to be unusually warm. I'm looking forward to when I can start having hot chocolate in the mornings. Ymmm, that sounds so good. Oh and Carmel Apple Spice from Starbucks that is tasty.

Playgroup

Our ward has a playgroup every Thursday that we started going to in June or July. The kids have a great time. Today Maeley insisted I take the camera with us because she wanted me to take pictures of her with Dooly (that's her little stuffed animal dog she been attached to for a couple years now). Well that didn't happen but I did get a few pictures. I almost forgot I even had the camera until Jessica mentioned she wish she had hers. The pictures aren't the greatest but shows the kids having a good time.

Chloe and Maeley- Maeley told me on the way to the car that they were making a cake

Brady and Tolson

I didn't realize until it was too late that both shots I took of them one of them had their eyes closed.

Sadie, Riley, Brady and Chloe- I thought Sadie popping her head behind Riley was so cute.

Chloe, Chase, Maeley, Sadie, Nathan, Tolson and Riley
I realize that not all the kids are looking at me but I couldn't get their attention all at the same time.

Zoe's a bully

Zoe enjoys playing with Chase's cars and trucks. This afternoon Chase did not want to share and was lying on the floor with his arms around a pile of cars. Zoe got upset and started pulling his hair! My precious sweet little Zoe was being mean to Chase. This isn't good.

Washing dishes

Apparently Maeley and Chase think I'm playing when I wash the dishes because they were so eagar to do it themselves. After much nagging I gave in. They were soaked after about an hour when I told them that was enough. They had a great time.

Old pictures

Last night Derek was looking for a new picture to use as our desktop wallpaper when we came across our first Christmas pictures. For our first Christmas we went to Disneyland with my sister Laurel's family. It was a blast and we had a great time. But then again how can you not have a good time at Disneyland? I love Disneyland, actually Derek has been there more times since being married than before.

After looking through the pictures we realized how young we looked. I had just turned 22 and Derek was 21 (I'm 3 months older for anyone who didn't know). Now I feel really old. And I'd love to be that small again. I've got lots of work to do.

Difficult times...and happy ones too

Lately I feel like there are more hard days than good days. Maeley and Chase seem to be fighting more often. Zoe hasn't been sleeping well at night or nap time so she gets upset. Derek works long days. The kids along with Derek and I hate apartment living. We don't have any space from each other and we are all going crazy! I know this was our best option considering our situation but its still awful. I try very hard to keep the house clean and dinner made when Derek comes home from work. But I'm tired and I'm worn out.

Today and yesterday have been hard days. But this afternoon I got a reminder as to why I love my job as wife and mother. Chase and Zoe were napping (that's a miracle in itself to have them napping at the same time!) and I got to enjoy Maeley all to myself and see the sweet child she really is. She has been giving me a lot of headaches lately but this afternoon was wonderful. She helped me fold some clothes. We sang together where I noticed she sings in a high pitch. We cuddled together and told me over and over again how much she loves me. Ah, moments like that are the best. I'm praying for more times like that and less hard days.

Dress up

This picture was taken over the weekend. I just love this picture. What a cutie!

Zoe dressed as Tinker Bell and Maeley dressed as Princess Aurora.

Chase dressed as Mickey Mouse.

Maeley dressed as Lady and acting like it. Zoe's not quite sure what to think about it.

Zoe as Pooh.

The kids have had a good time dressing up in their old Halloween costumes. This is not what the kids will be wearing this year. We have a really good idea we just need to do some shopping.

Zoe

There's a story behind this picture. Derek was sitting with all the kids and he stood her up and she kept her balance. I just continued taking pictures. I probably took about 12 or so pictures of her. At first she was surprised to be standing by herself, then she looked down at her feet, then looked to Derek and smiled. And lastly decided it was time to sit back down. Really cute pictures. I love taking pictures of the kids!

Zoe is just as sweet as she looks. She has begun pulling herself up and walking around the furniture. Before too long she'll be walking, but we are in no hurry. She loves watching TV with Maeley and Chase. When she gets excited she starts breathing heavy and sometimes sounds like a monkey. She sometimes stands on her toes. Since Saturday when we went to Mt. Lemmon she has realized she loves shoes. I think she can balance better wearing them. She has small feet. Zoe wears a size 2 or 3. She is easily entertained and crawls around to find something new to play with. I love it! I can't beleive my baby is growing up. Zoe will be one at the end of this month.