Home Projects and My Studly Husband

Cade was such a trooper before Baby Lucy came into our lives. I ha fm any projects I wanted to do/get done.

First project was the playroom. We painted it, put up tree stencils, hung pictures, and finished an adorable little tree house/loft that Grandpa Bleak helped Daddy build. It was a lot of work but it turned out so great. One of the best things was all the quality time Cade got with my dad and learning from his woodworking skills. I am so proud of Cade and all his hard work. I had to stop painting and working in there because it almost put me into labor :). But everything turned out great!

The other project was putting simple lockers in our mudroom for each girl to have her coats, backpacks, umbrellas etc. in their own place. We got bookshelves from IKEA and turn d them into lockers. It was such a disaster before with so many things just thrown in there. It turned out wonderful and I love having it more organized!

Lastly, I had to put in Emma's car she made for school for the Kindy 500. She loved doing this project with her Daddy!!!

Nora Boo Turns 2!!!

Oh, our sweet Nora Boo is growing up so fast! She is quite the talker and loves to do everything her sisters do- including wrestling, coloring, dancing and singing at the top of her lungs. She had also become quite a "Mamas girl". Nora loves to entertain everyone and anyone who comes to our house. We love her spunky personality and sweet spirit.

Her stats at two years old:
Height: 56%ile
Weight: 13%ile.
The same as her oldest sister, Emma.

For her birthday, we kept it pretty low key and celebrated as just our little family. She loved the shopping cart from Gma and Gpa Close and her Minnie Mouse backpack that she never wanted to take off.

We love her so much and don't know what we would do without her in our family!

She loves finding my make-up and putting on real lipstick. Her fake bag of makeup just isn't quite the same :).

Nora LOVES playing with play dough and especially with Mommy. 

Random Catch-up of 2015

Lots of fun BYU games Cade and i got to go to. This first picture is at a Boise State game that was incredible to watch and be a part of. As you can see in our faces :). 

A project in our basement that FINALLY got done. We had a contractor widen our basement door and put in a barn door. We are so glad we had it done because now we can actually fit furniture down there. It was a pain for him to finish, but very happy with the final product. 

My little Mini- Me. Hard to imagine her being a big sister soon! 

One thing I LOVE about this year is Boose being home and spending so much time with her! Going out to eat or dessert all by ourselves, Face Timing all the time because Nora wants to see her, having her over for dinner or Family Night, going to Kangaroo Zoo with her, etc. I love having her so close and just becoming best friends. And who couldn't' just LOVE this face of hers...

Girls night out the night of Priesthood general Conference session. I love this picture because I love being a mom and seeing my littles growing up- but mostly because of the way Reese is walking. Totally Reese! High heels and her hands out by her sides like that. She is all girl and I love her :).  

My attempt to build and sleep in a fort all night with the girls. The building is easy. The sleeping in it all night- pretty miserable :). But hopefully we are making memories and they are enjoying being a part of this family. 

Good times with my cousins Ashlianne and Ben Drewry. They invited us to go to see Idina Menzel in concert at UVU. I love being close to Ash now and spending time with her and her family (even though it doesn't happen all that often!).

Snuggling during General Conference watching. How do I fit a 4th child on my lap soon? 

Family Home Evening isn't always very creative and thoughtful, and usually ends up with trying to figure out how to keep everyone's attention without just singing silly songs the whole time- but this particular night was great. We talked about feelings and used Disney's movie "Inside Out"as our theme to teach how emotions are good and expressing them in healthy ways is part of a healthy family. We of course had to end with sugar cookies that went along with each emotion. 

Some of my favorite memories of 2015 include doing work with my family. Whether it's yard work, teaching the girls to do house work (we started chores with Emma and Reese this end part of the year and it's been great!), or school work, it's so great to see everyone working hard and learning together. I love seeing the success of my children and know that teaching them to work will bring confidence in who they are and teach them skills vital for when they move out on their own. I want them to know how to take care of a house/yard, know how to clean, cook, do laundry, get a job, work hard in school, etc. I know it won't be easy and they won't have their same child-like excitement for things that they do now, but what great skills I can help give them as their mom. I only have a short 18 years to teach :). 

Christmas at Home this Year :)

This year was little different for Christmas this year. At least the first year of not doing the exact same traditions that we grew up with. I didn't know how I would feel about it in the end, but overall it was wonderful and no matter what, it's great spending holidays with family and that's what it's all about.

Christmas Eve was at Nathan and Steph's in Provo. The girls and I have fun making lots of Christmas treats to bring and "Grinch" fruit kabobs.

We had a wonderful dinner, then played a couple games (the kids loved dressing up Aunt Jennie and Uncle Bryan as a snowman and Christmas tree :)), had the children put on the nativity (Steph always has wonderful costumes and the kids love doing it- and yes, it's sometimes crazy), then put on a Christmas movie for the kiddos while we adults gave our Gift from the Hearts to each other and played another fun gift opening game. We had such a great time and Nathan and Steph are always so great at planning parties and get-togethers.

Since Christmas Eve was in provo, we went back to our house to sleep and wake up at our own house for Christmas morning. Christmas Eve in their Christmas jammies :).

We woke up Christmas morning to a whole lot of snow! About 10 inches at our house. It was absolutely beautiful and a wonderful start to Christmas morning.

It was our first quiet Christmas morning at our own home and was wonderful to spend with just our girls. I like being with our extended family too, but a new change this time around. Emma got a Frozen Lego set, Reese got a Minnie Mouse House and Nora got a new baby doll with a cradle and high chair. It's so much fun being a parent at Christmastime and seeing the excitement on the children's faces. It was a wonderful and magical morning. 

One great thing about Christmas day is talking to LDS missionaries! We got to talk to Jordan and actually see him all the way from Argentina. It was so great to see his great big smile and see that he is doing so well.  He only has 6 months left now and will be home before we know it! He is doing so well and really loving his current area and companion. The girls miss him and ask when Uncle Jordan will be home. Coming up in June!