Easter & Other Happenings

There has been a lot going on in our house lately:
1. Easter-It was our first Easter that was spent with just our little family. We have always had family or friends that we have celebrated with, but this year was just us. I felt bad when we took Bailey to an easter egg hunt and she collected all her eggs, opened them, only to find a bunch of candy like chocolate that I couldn't let her eat. I pray she out grows her allergies by next Easter. I did an easter egg hunt for her inside our house on Easter morning with candy she could have and let her eat it all!
2. Packing! I have started packing our house for the 5th time in 3 years. I would be more annoyed but I am so excited to get to Arizona that I don't even care. It snowed today. It is April 29th. I went to Kohls and bought a sprinkler toy for Arizona!
3. I got a job that will allow me to work from home on my own schedule! I have been busy getting trained in between packing, taking care of two kids, cooking, and cleaning.


I sold our old stroller because I hated it! It was big and heavy! Bailey hates sitting in the stroller so half the time she ends up walking while I pushed the huge stroller. I bought a sit and stand. Bailey loves to ride on it....for about 2 minutes and then she jumps off so she can walk and touch everything in the store.


Bailey in her Easter dress and a little sweater that I found in her closet from awhile back...size 3-6 month to be exact.


doing the splits. No suprise that at 22 months she can do a perfect forward roll and the splits. I guess her mom must have been a gymnast or something.

Bailey likes to help me pack.

Actually she likes to unpack what I put in and replace it with herself.

All those Easter eggs are filled with chocolate or gum...

We spent three hours at the eye doctor with Brayden this week to have his droopy eye looked at. They determined that his vision is perfect so there is no need to fix it unless we want to. We will wait and see what we think when he gets older, but for now I think he is pretty darn cute either way:) The doctor commented that he is such a good baby! They said they have never seen a baby just sit there while he gets his eyes dialated and checked. We love our little Brayden.

7 things I have learned

Here are 7 things I have learned since becoming a mother

1. Privacy- I have given it up for a time. When Bailey was first born I was still able to go the bathroom, shower, get dressed, and do a few simple things without being bothered. Then she learned to crawl and would wait outside the door till I was done. Then she learned how to open doors. This was a sad day! Now taking a shower consists of Brayden crying in the background, and Bailey pulling the shower curtain open to stick her head in to see if she can get her hair wet while singing me some song like head, shoulders, knees, and toes. I have accepted that I have no privacy for several years! It will be missed!

2. How to eat really fast!- For whatever reason my children seem to need more attention when I am eating then any other time of the day. It doesn't matter what time I am eating at they will make sure to be awake and need attention. So I have learned how to eat extremely fast and usually with one hand.

3. Sleep...Bailey is 22 months old and I have yet to sleep for a straight 8 hours since she was born. Bailey didn't start sleeping through the night till she was 1 years old. I found out I was pregnant with Brayden before her 1st birthday and exchanged getting up to take care of Bailey for going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Brayden hasn't slept through the night yet, but I am happy he sleeps 3-5 hours at a time. That is good sleep to me! I am convinced your body learns how to deal with lack of sleep and you don't even realize how exhausted you really are.

4. Nice stuff. I don't get to worried about the things in my home so this doesn't bother me to much, but I have learned that if I want to guarantee something stay looking new and shiny I better lock it in a safe until my kids are older.We had very little nice stuff to start, but that list has grown to even fewer nice things. Unless you consider thing that have been colored on, torn, or broken to be nice. Last weekend I learned you can get crayon off the walls with toothpaste!

5. Opinions. Everyone has an opinion. If it is the person you don't know at the grocery store, friends, people at church, or your family. I am learning to ignore what other people think. I do what I feel is best for myself and my family and that's all that matter.

6. Gross! Things that I once found gross don't bother me anymore. Poop up Brayden's back and all over his nice church clothes...no suprise! Spit up down my shirt. The little potty chairs for kids that you have to dump out...ok I still find this one pretty gross!!! But most things that once made me gag are just normal things now.

7. love. I have learned what it truly means to love unconditionally. I could never have imagined how much love I would have for my two kids. They are my delight! They make me laugh everyday and I love being able to home with them even though it can try my patience!

Brayden's Blessing

We were able to have Brayden blessed last Sunday and happy to have Jake's dad here for the special occasion. Brayden is very special to us and looked so cute. He did scream during the entire blessing which I find funny because he cries very little. I don't think he was enjoying the way the were holding him. We took advantage of having Jake's dad here and had him take a few pictures of us in our Easter outfits.







this would be Bailey being dramatic and telling us "sun in eyes"

He is so cute!

What can I say? He likes to eat! ha

I love his round face!

I pray these two grow up having a lot of love for eachother!

Happy Easter!

Egg Dying

I decided to dye Easter eggs with Bailey on a Sunday afternoon which I decided was a very brave thing to do with one under the age of two. It was on a day that both me and Brayden had the stomach flu so other then dying easter eggs I layed on the couch all day cuddled up with Brayden! :) Bailey had a blast dying easter eggs and everytime she sees the eggs in the fridge she wants to do it again. And I am happy to report that nothing got spilled or ruined!

Outside Toys

Bailey LOVES going outside! Unfortunatly it has still been pretty cold most days so we haven't gone to the park to play as much as I would like to take her. Brayden gets really colic like if we take him out and it is windy and cold (which seems to be 90% of the time in Boise). So I try to give her things to do on our back porch. I filled up a plastic tub with some oatmeal and rice that was getting really old, put in a few measuring cups, and other kitchen items and let her do what she wanted with it. This kept her entertained for about 45 minutes!! If you have an almost 2 year old you have to try this!

A-B-C..

First off I am grateful for this happy boy! Yesterday he laughed for the first time! Bailey's version of the Alphabet Song. The ending needs some work, but she is saying them better everyday!

Potty Training

Bailey has been very eager to learn how to use the potty and has been going on it for about a month so I decided to finally begin "potty training." We are in day two and she only had 2 accidents today! She is starting to tell me when she needs to go, and can go #1 and #2 in the potty!  Too Much Info?  She is turning into such a big girl. I am still putting her in a diaper for naps and bed and don't really know when you switch that? I also don't know how she will do outside the house. I pretty much ask her every 25 minutes if she wants to sit on the potty. It has been a very tiring two days! Honestly diapers are much easier, but I feel like I should just potty train now since she wants to. I have pull ups we used the past 2 days when we would leave, but we have mainly been at home. Any potty training suggestions are helpful! 

On a separate note: I am so grateful to be home with Bailey and Brayden everyday! I pray this never changes and know that sometimes I take it for granted. It is moments like what is pictured below that I don't want to miss out on. No one else would appreciate when Bailey is being so loving to Brayden. 

Being a mother is what I have always wanted. Day to day life is not exciting, "fun", or easy but I love it. Most days consist of changing diapers, feeding Bailey, feeding Brayden, entertaining Bailey while holding Brayden, giving baths, reading books, watching PBS, cooking, cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning. I have learned to put my own needs last and have little to no personal time, but at the end of the day it is all worth it! 

these pictures were a few weeks ago but I love being able to capture the two of them together...