Fun random times!

These guys always take baths together now (Ian has to get in if Miranda is in) It is the only way we do it! And they have a really good time! They of course fight over the toys and Ian likes to pour water on her head, but it is still fun! I love seeing my kids play and have fun together!

Miranda is very good at feeding herself! She loves eating things by herself! She is also VERY good at finding things on the floor that I swear aren't there, but she finds them anyways! Some days she fills up on cheerios and crackers because she won't eat the baby food (probably because she can't do it by herself). As you can see she has two teeth on the bottom, and is now getting her top teeth. (fun times)

Nik doing dental stuff! Ian loved watching him! It was fun to get to see some of the things he has been doing at school!

Miranda is now pulling herself up to EVERYTHING!! At night she will wake up and stand up and cry because she doesn't know how to lay back down. It is pretty funny! This stage is fun... she is mobile, can pull herself up, can walk around things... She is going to be walking here in a few months and it makes me feel like I've missed her whole life. It seems like it took Ian forever before he walked and her life has gone by so much faster it seems!

Ian helping Nik study! He is a really good helper!

Ian loves playing with his Daddo! Here they are playing basketball! =)

Ian loves to swing! He likes to go really high (sometimes higher than I am comfortable with) and will yell at me "higher, higher" until he is satisfied! Sometimes he goes so high he has that lag time in the air when he isn't even toughing the seat. He loves it!

I hate to say it, but Miranda is my little monster! =) She is very opinionated, very moody, very sweet, very cute, very mischievous, very vocal, and very emotional! =) I love her so much! She is definitely giving me a run for my money lately! It is amazing how one minute she can melt my heart, and the next I want to sell her! ;)

The other day Ian put this headband on and said "I'm a girl."

These are Ian's most prized possessions!! These are his squishy animals. He loves them so much and freaks out if he can't find them! It is rather hard to keep track of all these little guys and Miranda likes to find them and put them in her mouth (scary) so I sometimes hide them and tell him they are lost... just to get a break for a couple days! =)

Utah trip

And what would a trip to Utah be without our friends...

The older kids

The new babies (minus one who is born and there is one on the way too!)

All the kids together! It is a housefull now when we get together!
But OH SO FUN!!!!!

My girls (minus Kaylee who had just had a baby)! Love you guys!
We always have so much fun together! No matter how much time has passed we can get together and start right where we left off! That is one of the many things I love about these girls! We are friends no matter what!

And we love that our kids play together so well!

We did a lot of visiting and hanging out while in Utah! It was really nice to get to see everyone!

Visiting Great Grandma Spendlove

Hangin with the guys!

Being goofy with my cousin Melissa

Reading scriptures with Grandpa

We went to Utah for this guys farewell! We are so proud of Elder Welch and know he will be a good missionary!

Playing peek-a-boo with Grandma and Grandpa

Miranda loved this dog names Sophie. It was so funny to watch them play together!

Sleeping with Grandpa

Hanging out at Grandma's office!

At the airport!

Thanks mom for flying us out! We had a really great time!

Should I panic or stay calm?

Well today I had a scary moment... I walked outside my apartment to run something to the cute girl that lives downstairs and before I even got to the bottom of the stairs Ian had ran over and closed the door behind me (which he does all the time) and then I hear the CLICK. My stomach sank when I remembered he had learned how to lock the door. I tried to stay calm, I finished my errand quickly and headed back up the stairs. Sure enough it was locked. I knocked on the door... Ian can you come unlock the door? The second he realized that I was outside and he was in he started freaking out. I just kept talking to him through the door (luckily he could hear me really good!) and I tried to tell him how to unlock the door. He kept saying "I did it" through his tears, but he hadn't turned the lock far enough for me to be able to open the door. I ran back downstairs to see if they would call the office for me (they have a key) and I could hear Ian screaming. I ran back up and he was just so scared. I tried helping him unlock it again, but it was no use. Finally I told him to climb on the couch and try from up there... after a few more tries he finally got it. WHEW!!! My first instinct was to panic, but I remembered the office has a key, the girl downstairs was calling them, everything was really OK! Ian on the other hand was definately in panic mode! When he got the door open I gave him the biggest hug and he was crying. It was so sad! I don't think he will ever lock me out again! I guess that is a good lesson to learn!

Favorites...

So I wanted to make a note of some of my favorite things at this age with my kids... These are in no particular order!
1- The way Miranda smiles at me when I get her up from sleeping and lately she pats me on the back just to tell me she is glad to see me.
2- Ian is always so sweet to tell me I look pretty (even if I'm in my bath robe with my hair in a towel).
3- Miranda loves playing with Ian. The other night Nik and I weren't paying attention and all of a sudden both kids were playing in our room in the small space on the other side of our bed. They were both laughing hysterically and having so much fun without us!
4- How excited the kids get when Nik gets home from school! (And also how sad they get when he is not there... Ian especially!)
5- Lately Ian likes to tell me to be sad, and this particular time I agreed and I pretended to be sad. Then he said why are you sad mommy? I said because I miss daddo. Ian said Oh it's OK he will be home in a minute. And he gave me a hug. It was so cute! =)
6- A couple days ago I got mad at Ian after he woke Miranda up early (AGAIN) and he felt really bad. We were sitting on the couch and he kept telling me he loved me and he kept trying to be funny. It was hard to stay mad!
7- Miranda loves to feel things... especially fuzzy things. Once I was scrapbooking with a bunch of ladies and she was playing on the floor and all of a sudden she was under the table trying to cuddle with a lady's slippers... it was really funny! She also loves books where she can feel different things.
8- Ian for the most part is so obedient. I don't know if he will ever stop taking toys away from Miranda, but other than that he really listens good!
9- Ian and Miranda love to wrestle. Ian is usually the one sitting on top of Miranda, but she just laughs and thinks it is so funny.
10- The kids love to take baths together. They splash each other (and me), they play with toys, they both have to have a washcloth, they both just love it!
Being a mom is the best thing ever! There are hard times, lots of tired days, lots of tears from the kids and some from me, but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I am so blessed to have these two beautiful kids and hope and pray that I can be a better mom every day!

CHRISTMAS

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Earlier in the week we decided to make grahm cracker houses! The above picture is the final masterpiece!

Ian was very good at decorating and loved putting the candy and frosting on! As you can see... we used a lot of frosting! Nik made the house on the right and Ian and I made the house on the left!

Nik's house got a little heavy on top and collapsed! Our house stood strong!

There was a lot of this... I think Ian ate almost as much candy and frosting as he put on the houses! =)

This is how the houses started! We had a lot of fun doing this and I think we will do it again next year!

Christmas Eve

Well a few days ago.... we got Nik's birthday/Christmas present!! With the help of both our parents, Nik's grandma and us we got him a TV!! As you can see he is pretty excited about it and we have been watching lots of movies on it!

So for Christmas Eve this year we decided to start some traditions with our kids! I made a big dinner with mashed potatos, gravy, my very first ham (which turned out so yummy), cantaloupe (yes in Arizona you can still buy cantaloupe for cheap), salad, sparkling blueberry juice... it was very yummy! Then we read the Nativity out of the scriptures (in future years when the kids are a little bigger we will act it out). We then opened our christmas jammies, then we made cookies for santa, and then we opened some presents from our cousins! It was such a fun night and so fun to do our own thing!

These are the Christmas jammies... I thought this picture was so funny!

Ian was a very good helper in the cookie making process!

As you can see he even got to help scoop the cookie dough onto the pan! They turned out very yummy and Santa loved them! Ian also thought it was very cool that we left out a carrot for the reindeer! It was such a fun night!

Christmas Morning

Well lets just say we all got a little spoiled this year! =) Ian got lots of fun toys and other things from santa, us, grandmas and grandpas!

He loved unwrapping the presents... in fact I think he opened all but two of the presents! He was very willing to help all of us open our presents too!

I got digital scrapbooking! I can't wait to get this on my computer and get started!

Miranda got clothes for Christmas, but she got them about three weeks ago, so she only had a couple of presents on Christmas morning... And she didn't even know! =) Nik and Ian were so excited to see what Santa brought that we had to wake Miranda up so she wasn't completely happy.

I got to open the first present of the day and it was a new camera! I have been wanting a little point and shoot for quite some time now and so naturally I was very excited! I made Nik give it to me first so I could use it for the rest of the morning!

Miranda didn't care much for the presents she just liked chewing on the apples, oranges, and wrapping paper!

Nik was very happy to get a new TV!! (for his birthday and christmas)

We had so much fun this Christmas! We missed being with our friends and family from home, but at the same time it was so nice to just be us and do our own thing!!!!! We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

I forgot to add pictures, but I'd like to thank my friend JULIE for having us at her house for dinner on Christmas! There were a few of us Midwestern students that didn't go home for Christmas so we got together and had a dinner! It was so much fun and such a nice way to spend the evening! Thanks again Julie!

My Miranda

I just have to say how much I love MIRANDA!!! I have always loved her, but I just love her so much more lately!!

She is so patient and loving with Ian who is constantly taking toys away from her, being rough with her, sitting on her, yelling at her, giving her hugs and kisses, trying to pick her up, trying to share toys with her that she really doesn't want... you get the idea! =) She has her moody or emotional moments, but for the most part is just so sweet and loving!

This is what I wake up to every day!! She has a smile that will light up the whole room and makes me feel so happy! I usually get a big slobbery kiss when I pick her up out of her bed in the mornings too! I love it!

While she is so patient and loving with Ian she also thinks he is the funniest thing alive!! If what he does doesn't make her cry it makes her laugh hysterically!!! I love the times when I'm in the other room and Ian and Miranda are playing and laughing together... I can't describe how it makes me feel!

She is also really good at playing. We have a BOX of toys in the family room and she will sit there and play for quite a while before she gets bored... but then again she is army crawling all over the place so when she does get bored with the toys she will just go find something else to play with or get into or just come find me! =) She has also learned how to make me feel bad... she will crawl to where I am at and put her hands on my feet or legs and do the saddest cry... of course I pick her up, I just can't resist!

She just melts my heart every day and I love her so much! It is so fun to watch her learn and grow and to see her strong little personality coming out! She is a busy little thing and keeps me on my toes! She is so beautiful and I could watch her smile and laugh all day long (if she would). She has such a sweet spirit about her. I'm so grateful and happy to be a mom... I love it more than anything else in the whole world. I love you Miranda!

It really was cold!!

For all those who don't believe me that is was SO COLD... It was the coldest night we have had here and it was BELOW FREEZING!! Now I know Utah is a lot colder, but I thought I was moving to WARM ARIZONA! =) On the news that night they said to cover up the plants because they would freeze! SO... it really was COLD!! Since then it has warmed up to a nice 65 or 70 ish and I'm loving it, but that night it was COLD!!!!!!!!! =) Love you all!

Who knew?

WHO KNEW IT COULD BE THIS COLD IN ARIZONA?

We went to our cities Tree lighting ceremony and it was a lot of fun, EXCEPT that it was sooooo COLD! I'm glad we brought some of our warm clothes down with us because we have needed them!

Isn't she sweet?

We were seriously shivering and jumping around to try and stay warm and it wasn't working!

The ceremony itself wasn't too impressive... they just turned the lights on! But the rest was cool. They had hot air baloons (at least 10) lined up on the street and they were all blown up, just not flying. You could get really close and touch them and look inside and stuff. We liked staying really close to them because when they turned their fire on it got a little bit warmer for a second.

This was one of the balloons... It was cool to see them all lit up!

Instead of staying for the fireworks at the end we went home and had hot chocolate! Despite the cold... it was a really fun night! =)