March March March

March started off exciting and seemed to only get better and better! :)

Ben took Tucker to the monster truck show downtown, which Tucker LOVED! They went with their friends, Ryan & Lucas and Ryan's nephews, Max & Henry! They had a great time!

Lucas loves Ben...

When my cousins were here for the Carrie Underwood concert, we did some serious shopping! (yes, it was actually the end of Feb.) Taylor loved all the attention from Trinidy and these two had a great time together!

Sometimes I may even encourage this to happen:

Most Saturday's we just stay home and hang out as a family. We love having us some cereal for dinner on those family movie nights! :) And on the counter, to boot! It must have been a good night! :)

Trio blocks have been a fave since Tucker was a little guy. Taylor loves it when Tucker is gone so she can play with them without his control! :)

And you know it's been a good day, when this is what you look like when you finally get home in the evening...

26 weeks! Woo-Hoo!!!

Most of the time I have to bring my little friend to my dr. appts. with me. Once I start having to actually get checked during these appointments, I will leave her with someone, but at this point, the appts. are still pretty short and sweet. One day while waiting for the doctor to come in, Taylor jumped right up and knew exactly what to do! :)

There are many many days where it takes everything in me to NOT re-make his bed in the morning! At least he tries, right??? :)

Tucker was the 'spotlight student of the week' And I got to make this fun poster about my little boy. It is definitely things like this that I enjoy most about having a kindergartner  :) Right up my alley! :)  Oh, how I love this little boy!

What....what is that bright light in the sky??? Could the sun finally be coming out??? I looked back at Taylor in the car one day while we were waiting in line to pick up Tucker from school and she was doing this saying it was too bright! :) Us Washingtonians aren't used to THIS much sun! It has been a pretty mild spring. And I love it!

We got invited to a fun playgroup on St. Patrick's day (or a few days before, I think) It was fun hanging out with old friends, and meeting some new ones! :)

The month only got better after all of this fun. But that deserves a post in and of itself! :)

Feb.

Other than the exciting events that I have already posted about that happened in February, the rest of the month was spent just doing the same ole routine. :) (which is for sure NOT a bad thing!) :) Of course, nothing is routine with kids, as we all know. So, it still allows for ups and downs and joys and excitements! :) Actually, that's not true. We did have two very fun visitors come this month. It was so good to see Cherie, Karly & Drew who moved away a few years ago. Luckily they still have family in town so we get to see them whenever they come into town. Tucker & Karly have been buddies since birth! Also, one of my very best friends from high-school came into town with her cute kids and it was so much fun seeing her and hanging out with her. Somehow I managed to NOT get pictures of either of them or their kids even though we saw them multiple times while they were here. I don't know what's wrong with me sometimes. I take 500 pictures of one thing and then completely forget my camera the next day. I'm losing my mind, I swear! :)
Anyway...

We did have a little super bowl party at my dad's house. Of course, the food was divine with my dad making crab and turkey and sliders and a total all out feast! It was delish. Kathryn made a 'Kings cake' that is tradition in New Orleans (since the game was played there, we payed homage to the city, and Kathryn lived there, and knows the customs and culture there, and they were in the middle of Mardi Gras) So...she made a 'Kings cake' that is tradition during Mardi Gras. I have actually heard of Kings day before where you make a cake on this certain day that is in the shape of an O and you hide a baby in it (a toy, obviously) and whoever gets the toy in their piece of cake is in charge of hosting the next party and has to make the next cake and then the tradition continues with whoever gets the baby in their piece of cake at that party and so on. My Mexican friend from our branch told me that Kings day is to celebrate the actual day that the Three Magi actually arrived in Israel to see the Baby Jesus. So I think it has ties to Christmas and I know that Mardi Gras has ties to Easter, so it's all connected somehow! :)

Anyway...Tucker got the baby in his piece of Kings cake. I guess that means I had better start planning a party, huh!?? :)

Tucker with his baby & his Mardi Gras beads on:

We also went to a Family BINGO & Pizza night at Tuckers school. Once again, they asked me to take some pictures, so I was busy snapping away, but the kids had fun playing. Tucker even won a $10 gift card to FROYOearth which he was SUPER excited about! :) I love that he loves to go to functions like this and get involved and gets so excited to see his friends from his class at school.

It was also a Mardi Gras theme, so they had beads and masks all over the tables. Kinda creepy if you ask me! :)

Taylor's birthday present from her grandma finally got here and she was so excited! :) A little Kitchen just for her! She has been cooking on it every day since and absolutely loves it! Thanks grandma!!!

Of course, the two big boxes it came in were just as big of a hit with the kids. Here, they WANTED me to actually tape them inside of the white box. They both had their leapsters plugged in (you can see the cords going in) and were playing on their leapsters, which provided the light for them and they were seriously in that box for a good hour! Crazy kids!

Here is a close up through the crack in the box:

That's it! I'm not spending money on expensive toys anymore. Just get 'em a few boxes and they are happy for weeks!!

Pyper Cafe

 Me and the kids wanted to surprise Ben one night after work so we turned our kitchen into a restaurant, Pyper Cafe. We made a sign for the table, Menu's and everything. When Ben walked in the door that night from work, Tucker welcomed him at the door and took his coat. It was so cute, the kids were so excited. We got out the 'fancy' plates. And by fancy, I mean anything that is not plastic! :) We had my mom's famous Lesbian Lasagna. (It was actually my first time attempting to make it and it turned out great! I was very pleased!) :) Cesar Salad, Bread sticks, Blueberries and Jello for dessert. It was perfect! Ben was so surprised and it was a fun night together as a family.

Totally candle-lit with roses and all!!!

Here we are toward the end of the meal:

I love these guys! Can't believe it's already March! Sheesh!!! Where does the time go?

Carrie Underwood...

So my dad is totally hip with the times. Me...not so much all the time. But he seems to always know when concerts are coming to Spokane and big events like that. So one day at the beginning of December we were at his house, and he suddenly says, 'Oh, Carrie Underwood tickets go on sale today!' and my first thought was how did you even know Carrie Underwood was coming to Spokane and second, how did he know that the tickets were going on sale that day??? One thing that he isn't so hip on is technology, so he had me get on-line and order all of these tickets. One for him, one for Kathryn, one for my aunt and one for my uncle, a few for my cousins. I was getting a bit jealous that he was buying all of these tickets for everyone else and I wasn't getting one! j/k :) But I forgot about it shortly there after, and didn't think about the concert again, I didn't even know when it was. BUT... on Valentines day a few weeks ago, he shows up at my house with 2 tickets to the Carrie Underwood concert for Ben & I!!! I was so excited!!!! Ben was there when he gave me the tickets, and actually knew that my dad would be giving them to me. So when I looked at him with excitement, and said 'OMG we are going to the Carrie Underwood concert!!!' his response was, 'Well, I would love to go to the concert with you and I totally will, but really, I could care less about Carrie Underwood, so why don't you invite one of your lady friends!' 

Sounded like a good idea to me! :) ha ha!

Katrina is one of my most favorite people in the world and one of my best friends, so of course, she was first on my list!

My Aunt, Uncle and two cousins, Trinidy & Kristin came up for it and spent a few days with us. It was fun getting to hang out with them! 

Here are Trin & Kristin before the concert:

The four of us girls were on the floor, while the old fogies sat up in the seats, although their seats were pretty good, too! (Kathryn even fell asleep during the concert!!! We won't let her live that one down!!) :)

A young kid that I had never heard of opened for her, Hunter Hayes. I guess he is the Justin Bieber of the Country world. He was OK.

I really just wanted Carrie. And she did not disappoint!! Everyone, and I mean Everyone had their phones out taking pictures and recording the whole thing. I'm not that good with my phone yet, so I didn't document anything during the concert, but I did have my little point and shoot camera, and here were the best shots I got:

She got in this little mini-stage thing and like floated around the arena, it was pretty cool. She came really close to us!

Katrina and I had a great time just people watching and believe you me, there were some good ones! :)

She did put on a good show and it was so much fun! I realized that the last 3 concerts I've been to, I've been pregnant. 7 years ago, when I was pregnant with Tucker we went and saw Tom Petty with our good friends, the Nelsons. When I was pregnant with Taylor, I went to Kieth Urban & Little Big Town with some friends, Heidi, Shar & Danna. And now this concert with this little guy! Maybe that's why my kids love music and to dance so much! :)

Thanks so much dad for the tickets and thanks Uncle Scott for taking us all out to dinner before; I am one lucky girl!!!

Phone pics...

At Christmas, I finally entered the world of the Smart Phone! I know, I am officially a grown up! I started taking pictures with my phone and using instagram **gasp** a whole world I didn't even know existed! :) 

I know that if I don't actually get my photos off of my phone every now and then, then they will be forgotten about and on that phone forever and there are definitely some good ones I don't want to forget about. I still prefer a real camera to a phone camera, but it is nice being able to snap and share all at once!

Here is my first ever phone picture. Sunday afternoon nap with Taylor on the couch:

This one of Taylor is yes, taken in the bathroom! I'm sorry! It is the only time that have have a few minutes to myself and I was taking advantage of trying to figure out the workings of my new phone. Obviously my time alone was short lived (as it usually is) when Taylor just barged right in! She told me to take this picture of her and even did a fancy little pose! :)

 

This is what happens when I let the kids dress themselves. These outfits were especially fabulous, so I had to get a picture:

 

And this is what happens when you have a pregnant mommy; fries & milkshakes for lunch. Just the two of us:

 

My mom got me a curling wand for Christmas so I finally tested it out for a date night one night. My hair has never taken a curl so well! It was so much fun! I could probably learn how to use it better, but this is what I got out of it:

   

The kids had been talking about wanting umbrellas forever, and I found some on clearance at Target. I got them for their Easter baskets, but they found them and have loved using them all of the time! And we can sure use them right now, that's for sure!

   

A Saturday morning spent painting our nails:

 

And another Saturday morning playing with Imaginext. We love Imaginext!

I am going to miss these lazy mornings next year when Tucker has early morning school...sigh...

Belly shots:

22 weeks:

And 24 weeks: (What a difference just two short weeks makes!)

Taylor is totally ready for a big girl bed, and we have one for her, but since we may be moving here shortly, we are just going to wait, and have just kept her in her crib. She can easily get in and out of it by herself, so it's no biggie. :) She got in one day while I was cleaning and said to me, 'Look mom, I'm juggling!'

 

And another lazy morning of coloring before school! I love these two!

 

Taylor turns 3!!!

I can't believe my baby is 3! Where has the time gone? On one hand it seems like just yesterday that she was my little round faced baby fresh from the womb. Then on the other hand, I can't even remember what it was like to NOT have her around. She is my little shadow, my little friend, play mate, helper, and probably one of my most favorite people on this planet. There is just something about her that I absolutely adore, even when she is whiny and scream-y and no fun at all. I can't help but just LOVE LOVE LOVE her. We have had a connection from the moment she was born. I can still remember the first time they gave her to me and let me hold her in the hospital when she was about 5 seconds old. We had an instant connection that I didn't have when Tucker was born. As much as I absolutely loved him the moment he was born, it was totally different with Taylor. (I hope that doesn't sound bad for Tucker-I love him too!!!) But Taylor and I have always just had a thing, and I love her for it! I love having her with me most everywhere I go. I look forward to many many many years of just her and I together as the women of the family.

This year her birthday fell on a Sunday, and you know what that means!!! A whole weekend of celebrations!!! :) Woo-Hoo!!! Ben thinks I go over board with my 'more than one celebration' for a birthday. But I have lots of friends who celebrate birthday weeks or even birthday months, so I'm not ashamed to admit that we had a whole weekend of celebrations!

The Friday before her birthday, we were hosting her play group at our house, so I decided to turn it into a little party for her. The school district also had a make up snow day that day so there was no school for the older kids, so I invited the older siblings of the kids in the play group. And what a party it was! I somehow got out of making a cake for her this year. Since the play group is in the mornings, from 9:30-11:30, I got her birthday doughnuts. And since her birthday is right around Valentines day, there were a lot of pink sprinkles to choose from! Extra bonus! :)

She was very pleased with her birthday doughnuts. :)

Add some goldfish, Starburst flavared jellybeans, grapes and popcorn with M&M's (A few of her favorite things) And she didn't even notice the lack of a cake! :) Also, some Target dollar section crafts, mini-play doughs and mini bubbles for the kids to take home as favors and to play with while they were here, and it was a perfectly simple and easy party! :)

Drew's older sister Kendyl came to play/help since she was out of school for the day and it was so nice having a little helper. She totally led all the kids in games and kept them entertained for me! :) You can tell it is the day after Valentines day, everyone is still wearing Red or Pink! :) 

Kendyl helped Taylor  make a heart shaped pizza out of her play-dough:

Of course, even though I told them not to, they brought gifts:

Maggie gave Taylor this owl, that she still absolutely adores! (I think that Taylor thinks that Maggie is her older sister, they spend enough time together, they are totally buddies, even though Maggie is Tuckers age, and is really good friends with him too. She is so sweet to Taylor!) I will be sad next year when Maggie is in all day Kindergarten, we won't have as many play dates!

After the crafts were done and the toys were opened and there was only a few minutes left before the parents were to come to pick them up, Kendyl led them in a dog pack and they were all dogs and roamed around our house in a dog pack, barking and panting. (Thank goodness for Kendyl, glad it wasn't me down there with them!) :)

My mom came in to town that afternoon to spend the night with us before flying out to my sisters house the next morning. It was a perfect night to celebrate with grandma.

This girl loves her some grandma!

You can see she was very excited to be opening presents:

We went to Hu-Hot where they give the birthday kids a free S'mores dessert. So we roasted some mallows:

I'd say it was a success: :)

Sunday morning, on her actual birthday, we once again had doughnuts for breakfast before church. Leftovers. And she got to open her gifts from us.

After church that evening, we watched a movie together as a family. And had some icecream and cookies after for a treat. It was a perfect way to end the day.

Here she is snuggling with daddy watching the movie:

Yes, she wore her 'Birthday Princess' shirt again on Sunday :) I love this girl!!!

 Then on Monday, because my dad was out of town on Sunday and so was Kathryn, they wanted to do something for her for her birthday. Kathryn had just spent the weekend in Tacoma at the Washington State High-school boys Wrestling tournament that John was in, so she had gone to a cute little cup cake shop over there and had brought back one for Taylor for her birthday. So sweet!

Papa was singing a bit crazy and she wasn't quite sure what to think about it! :)

And all of us with the birthday girl!

Happy Birthday my funny, smart, sweet and crazy little girl! I love you SO very much!