Love this Boy!!

Taylor- 5 months

Sugar cookie extravaganza

Sugar cookies are a lot of work! But sometimes I get desperate when Katelyn is stuck inside and bored. She loves to get out her own rolling pin and cookie cutters and work along side of me while I am cooking. These cookies were from a mix so I didn't really care how they turned out or how much dough Katelyn insisted on playing with.

Ryan's mom makes the best sugar cookies! We will use her recipe to make "real" sugar cookies for Valentine's day.

candy, anyone?

If you needed a reason to go to Lisa's wedding, here it is!!!!

Gotta LoVE free

This morning I was doing my daily routine-logging into my gmail account and connecting to my google reader to read of all of the latest happenings in the blogworld. I came across a link that promised free Valentine's Day cards. So of course I clicked on it and began building my free cards. I ordered two separate cards one with Katelyn and one with Taylor. (you must create an account, everything is free but you can only order one set per email address) Check it out!!! I LoVE free stuff!
offer ends February 1st

A little piece of heaven

Made these tonight. LOVED them!!! Thanks Bakerella. I do have leftovers and would love visitors. Any takers?

New Accomodations Update!

Katelyn did great last night!!! I was nervous about her falling off the bed so we went up there before we went to bed and then when I got up to feed Taylor. She actually slept in a little later than normal- which is a major plus! Because she did so well and is excited about sleeping up there I think we will move the rest of her stuff. Taylor will now have his own room downstairs.

New Accomodations

Every January we do a toy overhaul, trying to eliminate the old and unused toys and replacing them with the new toys Katelyn got for Christmas. I had 101 Dalmations 2 playing on the mac in Katelyn's room (hoping to occupy Katelyn) while I was trying to organize everything into three piles. One pile of stuff to keep, one to throw out and one to donate to the nursery. Note: Do not try to throw out toys when your kids are awake and alert. Katelyn questioned everything I put into the garbage pile and hated the thought that these toys would no longer be hers. Even though she rarely plays with them. It took a few hours but I was fairly successful in organizing the toys.

In the process I decided to move some of her bigger toys upstairs in the second bedroom because I thought eventually she would be sleeping up there anyway. I suggested to Katelyn that she might want to start sleeping up there in the big bed. I was surprised by her response. She was excited about it and wanted to get into her pjs right then. A few weeks ago Katelyn told Ryan that I was going to make her sleep upstairs and she was sad about it. But something has changed and she wants to sleep upstairs now.

We just did the normal bedtime routine, said prayers, read a few verses out of the Book of Mormon and a chapter out of the Little House in the Big Woods book. We took her picture for history sake and she snuggled in bed and we turned out the lights and shut the door. It has now been 10 minutes since we put her to bed and Ryan has been up there only once. We don't have much faith that she will actually sleep up there tonight but she may surprise us.

Christmas 2008

Jordan, Katelyn and Taylor are acting out the Nativity. Katelyn loved playing Mary and having her little brother be the baby Jesus. They were all good sports! We read the story just before we went downstairs to see if Santa had come.

This is Katelyn as she ran into the family room. She was so excited to see if Santa had remembered what she wrote on her list.


Lisa gave Taylor his first Mickey Mouse!


Ryan and Katelyn Christmas morning.


Katelyn sitting at her new desk that Santa brought!

We finally had a white Christmas!

I know I am a couple of weeks late but for history sake I thought I would document our Christmas. We had a yummy soup dinner Christmas eve at my parent's house. We played games and of course wrapped last minutes gifts. Tyler, Mandy and Jordan came over about 9pm and we put the kids to bed.

A couple of years ago we all stayed at my parent's house and started a tradition with all of the adults. We play games, watch movies, eat treats and put together all of the toys after the kids are asleep. My favorite part is the yummy treats we have. I think about what I am going to bring for weeks!

Before Katelyn went to sleep, I told her about when I was little and when Santa came to visit. I told her about how I remember getting up in the middle of the night and could hear Santa's sleigh bells ring. I told her that if she hears the bells in the middle of the night that it meant that Santa was probably delivering her presents and that she needed to go right back to sleep. About 3:00am she woke up and told me that she could her some bells ringing. She was so excited to think about Santa being at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

Katelyn woke up about 7am and wanted to go downstairs to see if Santa had come. Luckily I was able to convince her to wait a little while until Jordan woke up and then we will all go down together. We made our traditionally breakfast of omelets and pull apart bread, which I love. The kids acted out the Nativity story and then we went downstairs to open presents.
We have had a great year full of blessings and are looking forward to a new year!!!