A Good Daddy

Father's Day came and we had the chance to honor our dads.  We paid a special visit to Beau's dad, his stepdad, and to my dad.  They are great influences in our lives and the lives of our girls.  We appreciate all they do for each of us.

We also had the chance to honor Beau.  He seriously is a good daddy!  He loves his two girls so very much and it's sweet to watch how he loves, teaches, and plays with them.

The girls LOVED helping Beau open his gifts.  

We gave him a new iPod, some gloves, a BBQ tool and a game that we can all play as a family.

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  These girls love their daddy.  You should see the lit-up faces of these girls when their dad returns from work (or the tears in Evie's eyes if he is gone for a night).  Evie loves to be comforted by her daddy when she gets hurt and she loves to snuggle with him at bedtime.  Addie loves to be held by her daddy and loves it when he smiles and coos right along with her.  I am so grateful for adoption and that the birth moms of these girls craved the importance of giving their babies a stable two-parent home.  I KNOW that the lives of these girls are greatly enriched by having a stable, loving, caring, and supportive dad 24/7.  It has made such a difference in the lives of Evie and Addie.  I'm even more grateful that the dad that these girls have is Beau.  He is a true gem.  

Lagoon - That's What Fun Is

To some, Lagoon is not fun (Beau!).  But, to others it is.  Evie and I had a great time as we joined some of my family for a fun day at Lagoon.

My parents challenged us all to read the Book of Mormon by a specific date.  Those of us who read it, were rewarded with a trip to Lagoon.  Evie and I made it.  I read the actual Book of Mormon, and Evie read an age-appropriate one. 

And, I've meant to mention this before for those of you who could use some help with reading scriptures with your littles.  Evie has LOVED "reading scriptures" because of a couple of books I found.  They are awesome and I picked them up when she was just over two-years-old and she still loves them.  We read:

"Who's Your Hero?: The Ultimate Collection."  We have Volume 1 and 2.  Each night when we go to read scriptures as a family, we let Evie look at the cover of the books and choose the Hero we will read about.  Usually we end up reading more than one scripture story because she loves them so much.  It's great.  (I also picked up a similar book that covers bible stories.)  

Anyways . . . We got to go to Lagoon!  It was super fun!  

Evie SERIOUSLY loved it so much.  She had a ball on the rides.  

This was her favorite ride.  It took us pretty high and then just dropped us.  When we went on it for the first time I knew she would either LOVE it or HATE it.  She LOVED it.  She was smiling from ear-to-ear and requested to ride it again and again.  I think we rode it four times throughout the day.  It was so fun!

We also rode several other rides, the train included.  Evie told me that it was James who we were riding because he's a steamy and that's what this train was (it truly was a steam-powered train and it was red . . . so, James it must have been!).  The train takes you through the little zoo they have there.  Evie loves animals, so that was a treat.  She also loved going to an entertainment show where people sang and danced.  

We had a blast!  

Family Vacation

We took a 5-Day vacation as a family.  Beau took the time off work and we enjoyed some much needed time together.

We stayed relatively close to home and went to Midway, Utah.  It was beautiful and the weather was so perfect (80's every day).  It was perfect for our little family.  We were able to pack all of the baby gear and we were lucky enough to stay in a little home for the week.  That meant that the girls each had their own room (which allowed for proper naps and sleeping times), we had a kitchen to cook in, and plenty of room to roam.

This is what it looked like right below the vacation home.
I took this picture on a run one morning.

We tried to do something fun each day.

We rode a real train (Heber Valley Railroad).
Evie loves trains, so this was definitely a highlight.

We went to Cascade Springs.  A beautiful place found in the mountains.

We looked for wildlife and found fish, ducks, and birds.

We had a picnic lunch there too.

We did a lot of swimming at the HOA pool.  The girls loved this!

We went on plenty of walks with the girls and Evie loved riding scooters together.

Since we were close enough to home, we also had some visitors.
Here's a great ping-pong match between Beau/Evie and Amber/Joel.

Chance & Jamie battle it out at Air Hockey.

Mom & Norm also had a close match with Air Hockey.  Go Mom!

Evie had tons of fun with cousin HaLee. 

Besides all that, we also had fun eating out, going for ice cream at night, and we even took a tour at a local cheese factory.

It was so nice to have some fun quality time together as a family.  It's hard to get time like that between Beau's job and the farm so we certainly relished it.  Beau REALLY had a hard time going back to work the following week. . . . and his three girls missed him like crazy when he did.

Adeline at 5 Months

Oh. My. Word.  This beauty is officially 5 months old.  I am dying just a little because it is going WAY too fast.  She is soooo much fun and such a delight.  She is the perfect amount of chubby that I seriously want to hold her at all times and just squeeze her.  She is so darn lovable.

Here's what she's doing now:

• She's sleeping a little bit longer at night.  She's giving me 7-10 hours at night (usually 7, but occasionally more).  She's also sleeping in her crib and sharing a room with Evie now.
• She's still eating about 4 ounces at each feeding, but will eat 6 ounces before bed.  
• She grabs her toes and plays with them.

• Addie can roll over both ways.  She can roll from her right and from her left.  She just barely rolled back from her tummy to her back.  This is SUPER new, so she hasn't mastered this yet, but she has officially made the roll on her own.
• She plays with toys a little longer.  Her favorite thing to play with is her wipes.  She loves the sound of the plastic as she plays with it.
• She started to "spit" bubbles using her tongue.  She loves to do this a lot.

• She loves to be outside.  Now that the weather is so much nicer and we go outside more, she really LOVES it.
• She loves going on stroller rides.  
• She still LOVES to laugh.  Sometimes I'll just laugh and she'll laugh back.  It's a riot.
• She is so smiley!  She gives most people a smile and everyone will respond back with, "She's so smiley!"  She'll often times do this shy twist into me as she shares a smile with someone else.  Cute!
• When she's on her stomach she can raise her chest, supported by her arms.
• She still  smiles back when smiled too, loves her pacifier, naps in her swing, loves to "talk," and is particular towards having her immediate family members in sight.

This girl is the biggest sweetheart there ever was.  Her temperament is so mellow, happy, and delightful.  I love her beyond words.

Evie Turns 3

Our darling Evie doll is officially three-years-old.  Wow!  Where does the time go?  She is seriously a ball of fun and a ray of light in our family.  She says the cutest things and wants to play all day long!  She is busy, inquisitive, athletic, kind, and full of life.

We celebrated her birthday with a quiet, little family birthday party this year.  I took her to pick out her birthday cake in the morning, which she was ecstatic to do.  She chose the one with carrots on it.  I tried to persuade her to pick something else that I thought she might like to eat better, but she was insistent on getting the cake with carrots on it.  (And, for the record, she loved eating this cake.  She's a girl after my own heart.)  I then took her to get a picnic lunch that we could eat at the park since the park is one of her most favorite places to play.

We had all sorts of fun playing at the park.  We climbed, went down the slides, and did plenty of rolling down the hill.

Here she is rolling down the hill.  She LOVES it!

Later that night we took her to dinner at one of her most favorite places.  She chose the place and her grandmas and grandpas joined us.  Evie was thrilled.

Have you ever met a three-year-old who had a
Thai restaurant as her favorite restaurant?

We then hurried home to open all of her gifts.  She was completely spoiled.  So many people love this girl!

She got a big barn, animals to go in the barn, a new umbrella, a fishing pole,  clothes, a doctor kit, money for her education fund, a new pair of cowgirl boots, a Squirrel game, puzzles, play dough, markers, and kinetic sand.

She loved it when we sang, "Happy Birthday" to her.  And, she loved blowing out her candles.

We love having this beautiful girl in our family.

We spent the rest of the evening playing with all her new toys.  She was in heaven.

She loved playing with her new fishing pole with her dad.

We let her stay up way too late, but isn't that okay when it's her birthday?

Her new barn and animals.  She is loving this new toy!

I must share what Evie is up to now.  It is totally impossible to share EVERYTHING that a busy, busy three-year-old girl does and likes, but these are the things that come quickest to my mind.

• She loves shave ice.  If she could, she would get one EVERY day.  Her favorite flavor is "Blue Hawaii" and she calls it her "blue ice cream."  
• Among shave ice, her current favorite foods include rice with Masaman Curry (found at the Thai place), hot dogs and corn dogs, corn chips and salsa/dip,  popsicles, applesauce, broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
• She knows all her shapes and recognizes them wherever we go . . . especially in road signs.  She'll constantly point out the red octagons (stop signs) and yellow triangles.
• She is extremely curious and inquisitive.  She wants to know why things are the way they are and what things and people are doing.  She is so bright and soaks it all in.
• She recently potty trained and did a great job learning.  She caught on very quickly.  
• She constantly gives us hugs and while hugging us she'll say, "I love you, mom/dad."  Yes, it's a heart melter every time!
• She is very flexible, active, and athletic.  She is a great climber, she loves to jump on trampolines, and she can run forever!  She loves to "exercise" with me.  If I am running on the treadmill, she'll want to take "her turn" as soon as I'm done.  She loves to play with basketballs and footballs.  She also loves to watch basketball and football with her dad.  She constantly asks her daddy if he'll take her to a basketball game.  Now that the basketball season is over, Beau is telling her that he'll take her to a soccer game.  Fun!
• She continues to love animals, but right now kitty cats are her most favorite!  She LOVES our barn cats (Thelma and Louise).  She also loves to pretend to be a cat, and she constantly takes her stuffed animal cat with her places.

• She loves to take Codee for walks.  She will do just about anything to earn the chance to walk Codee around the block.  She loves that dog!
• She prefers her daddy to put her to bed.  After we say prayers and read scriptures, he'll stay and cuddle with her and sing songs with her.  It's so tender and cute.
• She constantly wants to go up to the mountain . . . she'll want to go to the mountain to climb, look for big bucks, build fires, sleep in tents, look for Christmas trees, and whatever else comes to her bright mind.
• She loves to dance and loves music.
• She is way into imaginative play.  We "play" every day doing something.  She directs the play (telling me what to do or who I am) and it's so fun to watch her mind work.
• She absolutely LOVES her little sister, Adeline.  She loves to hold her.  She "baby talks" to her, rubs her head, gives her kisses, helps to get her pacifiers, is always concerned if she's crying, and always wants her to come with us wherever we go.

• Her favorite movies right now include, "Rio" which she calls, "Blue Birds," "Curious George," "Annie" which she calls, "Sandy" for the dog, "Madegascar" which she calls, "Alex the Lion," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Lady and the Tramp" which she calls, "Mister and the Lady."
• She is kind.  She is always concerned for the sad or the hurt.  She also loves the "underdogs."
• She can count to 20 (sometimes missing a couple of the teen numbers).  She can also count backwards from 10.
• She still knows her alphabet.  She knows the letters, the songs, the sounds of each letter, etc.  One of her favorite apps she loves to play on the iPad is "Hooked On Phonics."  We are lucky that she is so interested in this aspect of learning.  

• She loves anything that allows her to be creative/artsy.  She loves play dough, painting, drawing, coloring, using markers, etc.
• She still loves to read books.  
• She is fascinated with bugs.  She loves to look for ants and ladybugs, but most other bugs "scare" her . . . although she wants to see them and is completely fascinated by them . . . so long as they don't move or fly.  If they do, she can lose it a little.
• She would probably love to play at the park above just about anything else. Although, she does love to go swimming and she loves to ride the train.
• The first 2 1/2 years of Evie's life we hardly ever took to her the doctor, except for wellness visits.  I think we took her to the doctor twice for minor ear infections.  However, the last half year has been a COMPLETELY other story.  She has been to the doctor for stitches under her eye (which we ended up gluing instead of stitching), for a sprained wrist, and for a kidney infection.  She also had the flu and RSV of which we didn't officially take her to the doctor because there was nothing they could do for her for either virus (but we did call the doctor/nurse to talk to them about her symptoms and how to treat them).  
• Because of her various doctor visits, she actually has grown quite fond of the doctor (I'm sure the fancy bandaids, suckers, and stickers helped).  She loves to play doctor too.
• She is so independent and wants to do anything and everything on her own. 
• She has really captured the spirit of holidays.  She gets sooo excited for a holiday, birthday, or other celebration.  It's so much fun!
• She loves the weather.  Every day we determine if it's a snowy, rainy, windy, or sunny day.  Along with that, she LOVES umbrellas.  

• She has fantastic speech.  She talks so well and has such a broad vocabulary for a three-year-old. She talks as well as most four-year-olds.  And trust me . . . she talks a lot and I LOVE it!
• Her hair!  It took a while to grow in, but now that it's really coming in, it is soooo beautiful.  We can't go anywhere and not have people comment on her darling curls.  
• She makes friends easily.  She is always sad if we go to the park and there aren't other kids.  When there are other kids, she loves to make friends with them and wants to play with them.

This girl seriously makes my heart swell with love.  She is my Evie Doll who will forever be my Evie Doll.  It's such a delight to watch her grow.  I am completely honored and blessed to be her mommy.

Mother's Day of Love

I love Mother's Day.  I know that this day can be hard for some for various reasons, but for me, it is a special day.  It always has been.  Even when I desperately wanted children and I wasn't getting pregnant, I still loved Mother's Day.  I loved celebrating my mom and Beau's mom.  They are key figures in our lives and I loved taking the time to honor them and spend time with them.  I still love this aspect of Mother's Day.  Oh, how I love my mommy.  She is largely the reason I have become what I have become.  She is one of my strongest anchors.  She is one that I know will be there for me NO MATTER WHAT.  It's funny how, as we age, we still want/need our moms.  I love this woman more than words can say.

I love Beau's mommy too. I'm so grateful for the son she raised and so many of his GREAT qualities were developed because of her loving mothering.

And now, I also love Mother's Day because I actually am a mom now.  We worked so very hard to become parents and we don't take this special opportunity for granted.  Being a mom is something worth celebrating.  It's, by far, the hardest job I've every taken on, yet the most rewarding.  I love my littles with all that I have.  They have made my heart grow a million times larger and they teach me SO much every single day.  I am BEYOND grateful for the opportunity to be their mommy.

We also LOVE to celebrate the birth mothers of our sweet babes.  These mothers hold such a high place in our hearts.  Without them, we wouldn't be parents.  They are definitely birth MOTHERS.  Even though they aren't raising these sweet little people, Mother is still attached to their title.  They love these sweet girls in a way that only mothers know.  They love these sweet girls so much that these moms broke their hearts to offer these girls a better life from the very start.  Great mothers sacrifice all that they can for their sweet children, and the birth mothers of our sweet girls definitely sacrificed A LOT when they placed them in our home and family.  We honor them. We respect them. We love them.

This is Adeline's Birth Mother.  She lives relatively close, so we were able to visit her on
Birth Mother's Day (which is the Saturday before Mother's Day).  We wished we could
 have visited Evie's Birth Mother too, but she lives in another state.

It was a special Mother's Day as we were able to see our beautiful moms.  Beau and the girls spoiled me with gifts and love.  I love all the moms in my life and I love being a mom to my beautiful girls.

The following are a few quotes that come from The Importance of Mothers in the LDS Church news.

The power and responsibility mothers wield in shaping humanity is awe-inspiring. Each one of us has been affected by mothers.

When a person spells mom upside down, it spells wow. Rudyard Kipling wrote, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.”

The mothers in our lives do so much. Their divine sacrifices should be remembered and honored. Reuters news service reported in 2010 that a U.S.-based international calling firm called VIP Communications conducted a study about call volumes on holidays. The firm found that call volume on Mother’s Day is the highest. It’s interesting to note that one of the Savior’s last concerns at death was a plea to His disciple John to care for His mother: “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” (John 19:26–27).

President Thomas S. Monson expressed perfectly why disciples of Christ acknowledge the mothers in their lives when he said, “‘Mother,’ more than any other word, is held in universal esteem by all peoples everywhere. It brings forth from the soul the most tender of hidden emotions, prompts more good deeds, kindles memories’ fires as they burn low, and reminds all to strive to be better” (“Honor Thy Mother,” Mother’s Day pamphlet, 1981).

Addie at Four Months

Our sweet Adeline is officially four months old today.  I tell you . . . I thought the time flew by with Evie, but it is flying so much faster with Addie.  I'm sure it's because I am caring for two children now, but I sure wish time would SLOW down.  These little babes grow so fast that it seems like you blink (or literally go to sleep one night) and they are bigger and headed on to the next stage.

Addie is a dream.  She continues to have the sweetest temperament.  She is delightful and happy and brings so much joy into our home.  I just love to snuggle her whenever I can.

Here's what she's doing now:

• She is finally sleeping longer at night.  She'll give me anywhere between 5 and 9 hours at a time, although it's usually 6 or 7 (an occasional 5 or 9 sneak in there).  
• She's eating about 4 ounces at each feeding.  Very occasionally she'll eat a little less or a little more, but it's usually 4 ounces every time.  She also loves to hold my hand while she eats.
• Okay . . this girl totally rolled over (one way) for the first time two days ago.  That is not super usual for babies.  Usually they roll over some time after four months, but she beat the four month mark.  Once she took her first roll, she had it down.  She rolls ALL of the time when she's put down on her back.  The funny thing is, once she gets rolled over on her tummy she doesn't want to stay there for very long.  Silly girl!
• She definitely responds to her name now.
• She started to play with toys . . . you know, the ones that can dangle over the babies while they lay on the floor.  She has fun with them for about 5-10 minutes, and then she's done.  But, she does enjoy the play for a few minutes.  She'll grab the toys, talk to them, and she'll also try to grab them with her feet.  Being the social little baby that she is, she particularly loves the toys that have eyes (our little frog or butterfly are her favorites right now).  This being said, she would obviously still WAY rather play with us and talk with us.  She prefers one-on-one interaction above anything else.
• I constantly find her looking at both of her hands held above her face.  She loves to watch them move as she plays with her fingers.
• She's so wiggly.  She seems to be constantly on the go.  She even wiggles when we feed her . . . which is sometimes pretty difficult and looks like a circus.  
• She can easily scoot around by using her heals.  She'll turn in circles a lot.  She's never in the same spot when I get her out of bed because she'll scoot to the other side or something.
• She loves to watch the TV.  I joke around about how I have a TV Junkie at 3-4 months.  She's a riot.  She'll seriously turn her head to position herself so she can watch the TV.  It cracks us up.  Most babies could care less about the TV at this stage.
• She loves to laugh.  She'll often times give me a spontaneous laugh to let me know she just wants to giggle.  So, I'll tickle her or just simply laugh back and she'll start laughing and laughing.  I tell you . . . baby giggles are the BEST sound in the whole wide world!
• She is slobbery.  I don't know where all that saliva comes from, but she's got plenty of it.  If she's not sucking on a pacifier, then she'll often times suck on her hands and that saliva is everywhere.  
• She is very partial to her immediate family members.  She's getting picky about who she lets hold her.  She usually breaks out in tears and wants her mommy or daddy back.  And, she always wants to know where Evie is.  She watches that girl like a hawk.  She recognizes all three of our voices and will turn towards them if she hears them.
• She loves to play/sing "Pat-a-Cake."  She also loves the "Jump, Jump, Jump Jimmy Crow" song because it has actions and we use her name instead of Jimmy Crow.  Both of these songs usually spur on her giggles.  She also loves us to sing, "I love My Addie Baby, She Loves Me" as well as "Here We Are Together" as both of those songs have her name in it and she always smiles SO big when her name is mentioned.  
• She just started to razz (make a wet razzing sound).
• She can bear some weight on her legs when held upright.  In fact, she loves to stand on our laps because that brings her on a closer eye-to-eye level with us.

Her official Stats from her 4-month Wellness Check:

Weight:  14 lbs, 13.5 oz (62.92 %tile)

Length:  25 inches (71.47 %tile)

Head Circumference:  83.87 %tile

She is so healthy and happy.  She is sweet as can be and seriously adds a HUGE dose of her sweetness to our home and family.  We love her to pieces.  I mean. . . look at her!  How could we not be in love with this beauty!?