Rock Star...

In other family happenings, we are in LOVE with this song on Sesame Street.

I love everything about this song. The tune, the beat, the words and the message, the way he sings it, the way he dances. :)

Tucker is totally in a rock star stage. We have dance parties all the time! The other day he came in with his hood over his head, crossed his arms in the rock star stance and and said, 'I'm rock star Tucker, I came here from California.' I don't even know where he would have learned that California is where the rock star are, but apparently he already knows. I Love that boy-- even more than I love this song! :)

Our favorite CD's to rock out to are:

Over and Over and Over and Over and Over...

Another major happening in the household is that this little girl is now a pony tailin' wearin' woman!

You get a bonus in this picture, a shot of the pony tail AND her new favorite face to make! :)

She is no longer just a baby, but turning into a little girl! (And a sassy little booger!) Time needs to slow down, AND I do love this girl, too! :)

goals.temptations. and other random thoughts...

This post has been swirling around in my head now for the past few weeks. I just haven't had time to sit down and put it down into organized or even recognizable thoughts.

Of course, with the beginning of a new year (which was now over 2 months ago!) things like goals and personal growth etc. etc. etc. are on the mind. I'm not going to go into detail about ALL of my goals for the year of 2011 or all of the things I am focusing on this year to become a better person-there are MANY! But here are a few I wanted to share.

I really want to lose some weight. I would be happy with 10-15 lbs. This has been really hard for me. I have been really lucky in my life thus far and haven't really had to ever worry about my weight. I mean, I've never been the skinniest girl on the block, but I haven't had to worry about it either. But I am getting older and my metabolism had definitely taken a turn for the worse. I've finally come to terms with the fact that I actually have to work on this if I want anything to change. I don't have the luxury to just eat whatever I want anymore. The problem with this is, is that I have absolutely NO self control when it comes to food. I LOVE food! I have a really hard time saying no to food. This means more gym time for me. I would much rather go to the gym to lose weight than watch what I eat. It's not the greatest plan, but it's what works for me. Anyway, I have a few things that stand in my way...

I could eat a whole box of these in one day! I HAVE eaten a whole box of these in one day.

I'm trying to slowly change (baby steps) some of my eating habits. I have discovered a few new snacks that I love.

I am seriously in love with this cheese! It is the perfect snack to tide me over when I'm feeling the need to munch! We are obsessed with it at our house right now!

I'm still far from being the kind of eater that I should be. I mean, I'm not going to change my bad habits over night; but I have already lost a few pounds simply by watching what I eat. I'm not necessarily counting calories, but just trying to be more conscience of what I eat and not eat totally mindlessly. Little by little I am getting back into the gym and will hopefully get these last few extra pounds outta here for good!

Next goal is to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. I started this after we got home from Hawaii. I have to say that I'm doing pretty well. The last time I read the Book of Mormon all the way through was my mission. (embarrassing to say!) I've been so scattered in my reading of the scriptures over the past few years. I'm pretty scatter brained in most of my life and scripture reading is no different! :) The problems I've encountered with this goal are:

Yes, I really do watch all these shows; it's embarrassing! The bachelor is my guilty pleasure (I'm watching the women tell all episode right now!) The biggest loser is a show that I go in and out of. I have a really hard time that it is TWO hours long each week. (not that I watch it live. ever.) I am always excited for American Idol and ever year I get hooked! :) I also enjoy american idol parties with my friends each week. I love love love Parenthood. I tend to cry like every week! Modern Family is hilarious! The office is, of course, an old favorite! And who do you think you are is so great! I just love it! I, of course, don't watch any of them live. And don't even know which days they come on. But it is true, that I watch them all! Our DVR broke down last week and I realized how bad it is! I was like lost without it! But anyway, how did I get on this tangent? Oh yeah...the Book of Mormon. I need to read before TV, I have a tendency to just want to veg and do nothing after putting the kids to bed. Once I get to bed I have to pry my eyes open to read. I'm really trying to read before TV. So, that being said...I will keep you posted.

Other things I would like to work on: more & better FHE's (Family Home Evenings). I would like to read each Ensign cover to cover. And get to bed earlier!

So, there ya have it! I have a lot to work on. But these are the things that I know will make me a better person, a happier mommy and a more trimmed down me! :) Wish me luck!

baby girl turns 1...

I can not believe that my little baby is already a year old! There is no possible way! Seriously, where did the time go? I can not even begin to tell you how much I love this little girl! Honestly, I was a little disappointed when we first got the ultrasound with her and were told it was a girl! I wanted another boy SO bad! I had this grand vision of buying bunk beds and having them play sports together, etc etc etc... and they were all dashed when we found out she was a girl! But boy how happy I am now that she is a part of our family! I can't even describe how she completes our family. And I'm even typing this as I listen to her scream in her crib! She was so a great sleeper before we left for Hawaii. We had begun the training of her just putting her self to sleep, like I would put her to bed semi awake and she would fall asleep on her own. We knew we were in trouble when we were talking to my mom one night and she told us that she was rocking her to sleep every night because she was just too cute to let go! Talk about 10 steps backwards! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love rocking her to sleep, but I just wanted to get her trained to fall asleep on her own before she started standing up on her own and she was pulling her self up on the side of her crib, because now she just stands there. I go in every 15 minutes and put her back down and just tell her it's time to go to bed and sleep. (until I give up and just put her in my bed with me, it really is just SO hard!) :)

Anyway...back to my beautiful baby! The thing I have learned with Taylor is that there is just no way around guilt as a parent. There are some days I just feel so bad for her because she is just dragged around and around, here and there and doesn't get a nap in (except in the car). But I feel guilty about that, so the next day we stay in ALL day so she can get in some good naps and I feel guilty for Tucker because he is cooped up all day and gets all wild and crazy! Anyway...Taylor is just our sweet chunky baby girl whom we all love and adore! Well, she isn't all that sweet, actually! She is a stinker! She is so different from Tucker as a baby! She has attitude and she has sass! She makes you work for her smiles and affections and she lets you know exactly how she is feeling by either her grunting and screaming or her throwing of her food or toys, or her totally contagious laugh! :) And that is why we are ALL THREE in love with her! And the poor thing just doesn't know what life is like without having someone (Tucker) squeezing, rubbing, loving, kissing, patting, pulling, or snuggling on her!

What would I do without my taters?

We had Nathan, Angie & Carter over for some Cafe Rio dinner on the night of her birthday. (she told me it was her favorite, it was all her idea!) :) And I made some cupcakes. We just kept things simple. I have learned my lesson about planning too much for a child's birthday when they could care less! :) ha ha! So we kept it simple and it was perfect! Tuckers first birthday cake was a piece his Aunt Kayla's bridal shower cake; they were on the same day, so this was a step up from his! :)

I love this succession of photos of her with her cake:

At first she wasn't quite sure why everyone was singing to her...

But she loved the attention...

Daddy had to feed her her first bite, she wasn't really sure of what to do with the cake...

After she tasked the goodness of the frosting, she dug right in! Just like her mama, doesn't hold back when it comes to food! :)

A little upset when all the frosting was gone! :) I should have put more frosting on!

Then on to opening some gifts! Thank you Carter! :)

Having fun with her new toys!

The coolest present she got was this cool piano from my mom! We have been having fun playing on it! It is one of those cool ones that you can dance (or crawl) on to make music! It is so cool!

Happy birthday my little Tater tot! We love you SO SO SO much!

I just took her in today for her 1 year check up and she weighed 21 lbs. and 6 oz. and was 30 and a half inches long! Such a big girl!

Funny story about the Dr. I took both of my kids in for their yearly check ups (yes, Tucker was a little late on his!) And I love their doc! She is wonderful. I take them to Dr. Simmerman at Valley Young People's Clinic. I have been taking Tucker to her since he was born and now Taylor. I love that she knows and loves my kids! She was asking Tucker a whole bunch of questions, ya know, about shapes and words and numbers etc.. and Tucker has really been into rhyming lately, he is always trying to rhyme things together and he is usually really good at it! So, he was, of course, showing off and he got really excited and asked her if she wanted to hear him rhyme and she said, of course! So he starts looking around the room and he said, ' Door....WHORE!' He obviously had no idea what he was talking about but we both just burst out laughing! It was the funniest thing I have ever heard. Of course, Tucker loved that so he started saying it over and over. This is going to be fun when he starts rhyming things with his own name! :)

By the way...she is already asleep, the little angel! :) i love her!

Post Edit- I think I got a little distracted when writing this and didn't mean to write that the only thing I've learned since being a mother of two is about guilt! :) While that is true, wouldn't that be sad if that were the only thing I've learned! :) I also wanted to write about how much more I've learned about love. The crazy thing about love is that it grows! I was a little nervous before I had her that I wouldn't be able to love another child like I loved Tucker. He was our whole world for over 3 years! I was so scared that having another baby would take away from him some how. But it has been amazing to me how my capacity to love has just increased and increased. There are still days where I feel guilty (read above) because I can't meet every need of both of them every day. But I sure do love them both more than I ever thought I could love!

Since we've been home...

One thing I forgot to mention was the fact that this little lady decided she wanted to start crawling while we were in Hawaii! Yes, she was 11 1/2 months! :) My kids are late crawlers and walkers; they don't like to use those big ol' legs of theirs! :) My poor mother had a lot of chasing to do while she was here! :)

Superbowl fun! I thought that this cake was so cute that Kathryn made! :)

Tucker was just happy to have a big chocolate football to eat during the game. And while none of us were super excited about the game (lack of interest in the teams) we had fun eating delicious food and spending time with papa again! :) Between my dad who is like the best chef of delicious and savory foods and Kathryn who is a wonderful baker of delicious desserts, we eat like kings!

I also had to add these little things I made for my new little niece. I'm trying really hard to solidify my status as the favorite aunt to my little sisters new little one. :) I sent her some new accessories, because what girl doesn't love accessories? :)

Speaking of...And I know this isn't my news to share, but I HAD to post this picture of little Kenzie May Croskrey! She is the most beautiful baby I've ever seen! She was born on Wed. Feb.16th. We were crossing our fingers that she would wait until 12:01 to come so her and Taylor could have the same birthday, but I guess she wanted to come in her own time! Oh how I can't wait to meet her! :) Love you guys!

the day of love...

Our motto for Valentines day at the Pyper house is keep it simple! As long as there is chocolate involved, I am happy! :)

Taylor woke up with her fabulous bed head and had her first chocolate-for breakfast! :)

Tucker had a little (girl)friend over to play! :) We love Kendyll!

I had seen this cute idea for valentines day cards a few years ago before Tucker even needed to make cards. But...now that he is in pre-school, I was so excited to be able to make them! :) I have since seen them on a few of my friends blogs, and think that they are so much better than going out and buying generic v-day cards! :)

You just take an exacto knife and cut a slit at the top of the hand and the bottom of the hand and slide the lolli-pop right through! So cute! :)

Taylor had a great valentines day! As usual, she was happy as long as she had food!

Holiday's are so much more fun with kids! :) I loved getting Tuckers cute little home made valentines day cards and gifts that he made for us in pre-school.

And of course, I am lucky enough to have a wonderful Valentine; going on 8 years now! I {heart} my Valentine! :)

Banana bread tradition...

OK, I had to post these pictures really fast because they are so funny to me! Every single time my mom comes to visit she buys like 5 bunches of bananas! I don't even want to know how many she went through during her 11 days at our house this time! :) It makes me laugh so much. At Christmas she brought 3 bunches with her then bought 2 more while she was here. She was only here for 6 days! But she is a picky eater and has to have her bananas be the perfect color and consistency or she won't eat them. These pictures make me laugh because here we are, the day after grandma leaves, making banana bread...once again! It has become tradition that after she leaves we make a few loaves of banana bread because we have SO many bananas! :) We have done it now for the last 3-4 visits... Love you mom! :)

Luckily we love banana bread!

Tucker stopped, on his own, to give Taylor a little kiss!

Last Hawaii post...

OK, I really need to stop looking at these pictures over and over and over! Ben and I have been in mourning since we've been home! It was REALLY hard to leave the island and say good bye to paradise! (and come home to freezing weather!) But I've got to get back to reality here, people! :)

Seriously though, on our way home, we were going through every scenario we could to get ourselves back to the island. Like, how can we live in Hawaii forever? hmmmm.....

I was so so so excited to get home and see my babies! 11 days gone from them was a LONG time! It was funny, we VERY purposely planned this trip just the two of us. Our friends whose house we stayed in, even called us a few months before we left and asked if they could come. Ben told them that we really wanted it to be just the two of us. And we had considered having my mom or dad fly over with the kids for the last week; but we nixed that idea as well. It was funny, though, after 4-5 days we were thinking that it would have been great to have the kids with us. Or have some friends with us. :) Now, don't get me wrong, I loved every minute of our vacation and am SO glad we got to do this without the kids, I just think that 11 days is a long time to be away from them! I found myself thinking, 'oh, Tucker would love this, or I wish I could Tucker could see this, or do this' Anyway... now we know for next time, and I really can't wait to come back here with our kids one day! They would love it! But we were so lucky to have my mom stay with the kids! Thank you Thank you Thank you mom, we are so grateful for this time we had just the two of us! What a wonderful grandma my kids have!

Anyway, here are a few more of some of my favorite pics!

On our way to dinner one night! I am a total packaholic! Seriously, 25+ different outfits for 11 days on a beach? What was I thinking?!

This is a really old/cool church downtown in Kona. We walked by it a lot and every time, I thought it was so beautiful! Hawaii is such a Christian state, I think because Christian missionaries were some of the first to settle in the islands. Anyway, there were very cool and old churches EVERYWHERE! I don't think I've even seen that many churches in the south! :)

Hiking along the water one day...

The day we hiked to Akaka falls, along the path...

On the hike down to the black sand beaches on the north shore...

Ben feeding a bird at dinner one night...

Black sand beaches...

The Lava flow fields...

It's amazing that anything can grow at all in the lava land...

The most AMAZING sunset at southpoint...

Thanks grandma, for watching the kids! Thanks to all our friends who helped by giving my mom some much needed breaks from the little ones while we were gone! We are so appreciative to everyone!

And most of all, THANKS Ben for planning the most amazing trip ever! I am SO lucky!