Monday, February 28, 2011

A Day Late

I know, yesterday was Bryan's birthday and I'm posting a 'birthday wish' today. Life gets too busy! Bryan turned 31. Can you believe that I'm married to a 31 year old?!! :)
Here's some of my favorite pictures of Bryan from the past year. It was a great year, lots of new experiences, accomplishments, and changes.







I'm grateful for Bryan and so glad that I get to spend the rest of my life and eternity with him. He's a wonderful father, husband, doctor, church member, and just a great all around person.
Happy Birthday B! Thanks for all you do for our family. I love you.


Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Birthday Girl

Chloe is four years old today!!! That is so strange to me. Chloe is such a sweetheart. I love her personality- so strong and spunky. I love her little voice and the way she talks. She has a hard time pronouncing some sounds and words, but I don't want her to grow out of it!

Chloe is my helper. She is very obedient and willing to help me out if I need her. She loves and adores her big sister, even though the words, "You're not my sister anymore!" sometimes escape her lips.


She makes me laugh every day. I really love her honesty and she just says what's on her mind. I hope she is always that way.



Chloe had a Tinkerbell party yesterday with her cousin Preslee who is here visting and a couple of her friends. She loved all the attention! I could tell she felt special when everyone was giving her all the attention.


We love you Chloe Nan. It's a privilege to be your mom and have you in our family! Have a fabulous birthday!




Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mabel

Our puppy is here!! She is so sweet. So far, she's a very mellow dog and very good with the kids. Her name is Mabel Minnie. We wanted something old-fashioned and Mabel is the name we could all agree on, well almost everyone. Chloe didn't like Mabel so we told her she could pick out a middle name for her! Minnie is the one she chose- like Minnie Mouse. It's kind of funny because this dog is not going to be very 'mini'!



The kids love her, of course. I think there will be some sibling rivalry for a few days about who gets to hold her and play with her and scoop up her poop. I'm sure that last one won't last longer than a day! Benny is so cute with the puppy. I need to get a picture of it, but Benny holds her face in his hands and says in a high pitched, baby talk voice, "Ohhhh."







We are so glad to have her as part of our family now! I just hope I can teach her how to be a good, well behaved dog. With three kids around distracting her it might be harder than I thought!



Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Snow and Cold

It's freezing here!! (still not as cold as Vermont, but close!) We have so much snow and I bet I could count on one hand the number of days the sun has been out. Not much has been happening around here, it's kind of a boring time at our house. Bennett has been sick twice. Poor Niah has had about four different bugs in 2 weeks. Chloe is still holding strong and hasn't had anything yet- cross our fingers! She complains of a headache or some ailment when she sees me give the other kids medicine (she loves medicine). The other night she said she had a headache and Bryan said, "I think the best thing would be to just go to bed." Chloe replied, "Dad, how do you know?" He said, kind of sarcastically, "I'm a doctor. I know!" Her answer was, "Dad, you don't know headaches!" We've had a couple of snow days and I never thought I would say this, but I'm sick of snow days! The girls get so bored and then they just fight all day long. I've been trying to keep them busy by playing lots of games, coloring, playing neighbor, learning about a new topic each week, and making cookies. We (okay, maybe just me) are in survival mode, just trying to make it through the rest of the winter.
One of my brilliant boredom busters was to get the kids and I all dressed up and go take some cute Valentine pictures for Bryan. We all looked pretty in our matching reds and blacks. I love snow pictures because the lighting is beautiful and they seem to always turn out. Anyway, we got to our picture spot, unloaded the kids, snapped a few shots and within minutes they were all crying because they were so cold. This was probably bad planning on my part and maybe not my best mothering moment! I think the total photo shoot, including travel time, was about 20 minutes. The picture below is the best one I got of all of us and the one up above as the title picture was the best one I got of all the kids. Sad. So much for that idea.
The kids have loved going out to play in the snow. I bet there is four feet of shoveled snow along our driveway. Our mailbox is barely visible.

The kids have fun until someone gets snow down their boots. That will ruin your day!



Chloe's showing me the snow she's about to eat.



Bryan and the girls went out one day and were out playing for three hours! Bryan built them a slide, a fort, and a tunnel. The girls were in heaven!



This is the sledding hill, or slide as Chloe called it.


Benny was napping when all these shots were taken. I need to get some more of him out in the snow. He looks so cute in his snow pants and big fluffy coat. He likes to help Daddy shovel the driveway.

I shouldn't wish away my time, but I sure hope spring comes VERY quickly. Deep down I know it probably won't.




Here we are at the top of Niah's castle!


Here's Niah and her best friend Addi playing in the dirt!

Bryan's favorite things:

  • BYU Football
  • Pandora.com
  • Surfing the Internet
  • Mountain Biking
  • Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
  • Kayaking

Natalie's Favorite Things

  • Naps
  • Blogging
  • Cooking
  • Going on dates with Bryan
  • Reading good books
  • Being a mom

Niah's Favorite Things

  • Hannah Montana
  • 101 Dalmatians
  • High School Musical
  • Reading books with her dad
  • Singing
  • Disney Princesses
  • Playing outside with her friends

Chloe's Favorite Things

  • Being outside
  • Her binki
  • Bananas
  • Macaroni and Cheese
  • Playing with Niah
  • Taking a bath