Princess Lunch Date

We got together with the Ivins and did a princess lunch date and it was so fun!  Eloise and Adeline loved it so much.  Eloise had big plans for what she would wear and how we would fix her hair and paint her nails and she checked several times to make sure lipstick was going to be allowed.  Adeline caught on very quickly to the enthusiasm and we spent a fun morning getting all dolled up.  It was so fun for me to take a little step out of my comfort zone and do something that made the girls so happy. They were in heaven!

Reese has super fun dress up clothes and was so sweet to let Eloise and Adeline borrow dresses and shoes to wear.  We went to cafe rio (because me and Brittney love it there) and the girls loved all the ooooohs and ahhhhhs they got from people in the restaurant.

Little girls are so much fun, I sure do love them!

Grandpa Fun!

My kids just love their grandparents all so much, we are lucky to have all of their grandparents living close by now and we get to see them all at least once a month or so which is really great.

My dad has been coming over to help with the basement a lot lately and every time he walks in the door the girls run up to him and ask to be thrown in the air, he throws them insanely high!  I can barely lift them up onto the counter to fix their hair and he throws them high enough to make me nervous.  None of my grandpas were alive when I was growing up so it is fun experience what it would have been like through my kids.  

They love their grandpa Kurt as well.  He is always good for a snuggle that turns into tickling and the girls love both.  They run up to greet him when he walks in the door too, there is just something about a grandpa.

I don't have any recent pictures of Teagan with any of his grandparents, but one thing I have noticed is that when Teagan has a game and his grandparents are there he plays so much harder and better.  It is so sweet, and I love that he pushes so hard to give his grandpa's a good show and make them proud.  We sure are lucky to have all these special people so close!

First Big Girl Hair Cut

She looks so grown up now, what a little darling.

Happy Birthday Mom

I had a fabulous birthday and was spoiled by friends and family and it was one of my favorite birthdays yet.

Dad and Beth had us over for cake and ice cream and dinner with Brian and Elise's family that day which was so nice since we were busy in the basement all day long!  Delicious food and great company.

 

Zac bought me gorgeous flowers and spoiled we with fun presents and my favorite was that he spent the day helping paint the basement.  He considered that to be a lame was to celebrate, but since it was all I wanted, he jumped on board and we finished painting everything except the doors.  I was so thrilled!  It was my favorite present by far!

The new fitness bands, watering can and lipgloss were fun too though!

My good friends Brittney and Stacy surprised me the day before and brought me delicious breakfast and helped me in the basement for a few hours and then took me to a movie later that night.  Zac totally helped orchestrate the whole thing and I felt so loved and had such a great time.  I feel like I've been blessed with so many amazing people in my life!

We're having a baby girl!

We took the kids out to Mick's to tell them the exciting news that we are expecting our 4th baby.  We gave them a little present bag to open to tell them.  Inside the bag we put a bubba, bottle, baby toy and at the bottom we put an ultrasound picture.  Teagan figured it out first and then Eloise was quick after that, Adeline is still unsure but loved all the excitement.  

A few weeks after we told them, we got to go to the doctor's office as a family for the ultrasound to find out whether we are getting a boy or girl and the kids were all pretty excited.  Dad thought it would be a boy, Mom was thinking girl, Teagan said "I hope it's a boy, but I know it's going to be a girl," Eloise predicted girl and Adeline predicted boy.  

It was a bit surprising for everyone, but we are getting another little girl!  We are all so excited, it really didn't matter because just adding another little person to the family is the exciting part!  

For anyone who was having any disappointed feelings they quickly went away when we went to the store and picked out an outfit for the baby to come home from the hospital in.  We all fell in love with the tininess of the outfits and had such a great time.  The kids each picked one part, Teagan picked the outfit, Eloise picked the bow and Adeline picked the shoes (yes, I picked them, showed them to her and she approved, matching isn't part of her skill set yet).

We already love this little tiny person that will be here in just a few months.  I can't believe that we will be a family of 6, all my dreams are coming true.

Temple Square

For our family trip we decided to go to Temple Square for church on Sunday.  Teagan was old enough to go to the live Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert so he and I went to the real thing and Zac took the girls to the broadcast at the visitors center.  It was so much fun to have a little date with Teagan, he love it too!  The further along he gets with piano, the more his appreciation for music grows.  I'm so glad that we have that in common!

After Music and the spoken word we went to the visitor's center and walked around the temple grounds and it was great.  Teagan thought that it was fantastic.  "This is way more fun than going to actual church, we should do this every sunday!"

Addy wasn't into picture taking, but Eloise and Teagan's enthusiasm for the photo ops more than made up for it!  I sure love my forever family!

Family Spring Break Trip

Between Zac's big job switch he had a whole week off and we had such a great time.  We worked for a few days in the basement and then spent Wednesday-Sunday in Salt Lake on Vacation.  It was such a blast!  We stayed at an airbnb in Salt Lake that was a super nice townhouse.  They even had this fun park across the street.  I cannot say enough good things about staying at an airbnb instead of a hotel!  There was a full kitchen, bedrooms for everyone and plenty of space.  Plus we saved a ton of money! I think we have found our new favorite way to travel.  

We loved spending time at the fun recreation centers in Salt Lake.  They have them all over and they are indoor pools with water slides, lazy rivers, and toys for the littles.  My favorite part is that our whole family goes for $15 and has hours of fun!  We went once with just us and then we met the Lewis crowd on Friday at a different one.

We got to get together with Jesse, Bri, and Quinn one night too.  We went out to dinner and then they came back for yummy treats and hanging out at our house.  The girls are completely taken with Quinn and dote on her and just love her.  The three of them had so much fun together!

One of our favorite Utah stops is the Museum of Natural Curiosity at thanksgiving point.  We went there on one of our first days and spent pretty much all day there.  The kids loved it, as usual.

We also went the dinosaur museum which is pretty fun and interesting and saw all the bones.  It is fun to have Teagan be older for these things now because he reads all the signs and is constantly being amazed by all the cool information.  Watching him experience life is so fun!

Adeline was very unsure about the dinosaur bones.  She kept crying and hiding behind me and then she would point at them and say "NO!"  She definitely struggles with new things and looking at skeletons for several hours was definitely a new experience.  After 30 minutes or so and an explanation about what the bones were she settled down a little and enjoyed herself.

Adeline didn't really get naps this weekend and she definitely still needs them so she had to catch up on sleep in strollers and driving around in the car, she was sure a trooper.

We took a quick trip to Ikea and Adeline was too small to go to the kids play area so she had to hang out with Zac and I.  She found this cute little lawn chai and dragged it all over and then would sit on it for a bit.  I was so tempted to buy it for her, but she got two tables and chairs at Christmas so the last thing we need is more mini chairs!

We found a great park just down the street from where we were staying and Teagan and Zac jumped in on a game of pickup basketball with some local kids.  They had a pretty good time.  My favorite was when the older boys decided on teams, Zac and the two 8 year olds vs the other 4 teens/preteen.  haha!  It's really a compliment to Zac and Teagan, they could tell that they were super athletes and they were right.  It was fun to watch them play!

We had such a fun weekend!  I want to take more time to do trips as a family, we always have such a great time!

Spring Festival and Recital for Teagan

Teagan did amazingly well at his recital and festival and we were so proud of him and all his hard work.  He practices everyday and it paid off!  He was one of only 5 kids out of 85 who got perfect scores!  Go Teagan!  He does even better under pressure than he does at home, which is an amazing skill he did not inherit from me!  I would always play the songs really well at home and just demolish  the piece at the recital because I was so nervous and shaking so bad.  He kept his cool and did awesome.  Good job!

Happy Birthday Eloise!

Eloise has been so excited for her birthday this year!  She has been planning the exact cake she wants and who she wanted to come over and talked about it for months.  We started preparation the day before because the cake was going to take some time.  She wanted a rainbow Moana cake.  She LOVED being a part of the whole process and helped with every step!

The day before her birthday was Zac's last day at his old job.  One of his coworkers gave him some amazing balloons as a goodbye present.  One of them was a giant unicorn because Zac is so unique.  The other one said "We will miss you!"  So Zac kept them hidden and put them out after Eloise was in bed and gave them all to her.  We had to have a little chat with Teagan and make sure he understood that we were pretending that the balloon said "Happy Birthday" not "We will miss you."  I bet that won't work next year because she will be reading.  I can't believe she has grown so fast!

She had a fabulous day.  She got new bedding and we completely rearranged her and Addy's room and separated the bunk beds (the pins are in the top drawer of Eloise's dresser for future reference).  We set up the trampoline and they all loved jumping on it all day.  Teagan had his spring recital on her birthday as well so they got to share the glory.  Then all the cousins came over and played and ate and had fun.  She was on cloud 9 all day and just loved being the center of the world for one day.

Here is a little bit about Eloise:

1.How old are you: 5
2. Who is your best friend: Jordyn Heath
3. What is your favorite thing to do? Play with Friends
4. What is your favorite color? Purple and Pink and Red
5. What is your favorite food? Mac n Cheese
6. What do you like to do with your family? Bounce on the Tramp
7. What is your favorite toy? Daniel Tiger Neighborhood toys
8 What is your favorite sport? Soccer
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? Doctor
10. How old will you be when you get married? I have no idea, 12
11. How many kids are you going to have?  12
12. What is your favorite book? Tiny Turtles
13. What is your favorite show or movie? Poppy (???)
14. What makes you happy? When I sing and do what my mom tells me.
15. What makes you sad? When I don't do what mom tells me and she spanks my bum
16. What do you think about before you fall asleep? Having good dreams
17. What is your favorite part of your birthday?  When we have cake
18. What is your favorite scripture story? Lehi?  Hmm, whatever you think.
19. What is something that you think you will accomplish before you are 10? Do hard work
20. What is one word that describes you? Loving