Anyone for Stripes!?!?!

Just call me crazy! Yes, I don't know what I was thinking either?! I am seriously a glutten for punishment. I start looking thru magazines, see cute pictures and think to myself, "I can do that." :-) Well, let me tell you that I will reconsider the next time I think about painting stripes that are different sizes and different widths apart. But I do have to say that after two days of work, 10 rolls of tape, and a sore hand and back, that these stripes look dang good!!! And they passed Tyler's measuring test. They are all perfectly level and perfectly distanced. :-) Can I get a big, "Oh yay!"

10 rolls of tape (a little more expensive then I thought - blast!)

Before

After

I like to Eat, Eat, Eat…Apples and Bananas!!!

This girl is the best little eater!!! Around 4 months I started giving her rice cereal and she thought it was okay. Then I started trying to give her baby food around 6 months, but she wanted nothing to do with it. I know in her mind she was thinking, "Just give me the real stuff!". So that's exactly what we started doing! You had this girl a banana and she will mush it up between her gums until it's gone! Her favorites are watermelon, graham crackers, bananas, baked potato, brocolli, yogurt (I will give her little bites of mine).

At her 9 mo. check-up she weighed in at 22.5 lbs. (only 6 lbs. lighter than Addison) And she is already beating them in height. :-) And just for a memory…If I got a dollar for every time someone stopped me to tell me how "fat" my baby was, I could count it as a part time job! And for the record, I prefer chubby, healthy, pudgey, cute, anything over "fat". I don't think babies can be "fat"?

First Day of Preschool 2011

Addison started Preschool today! She was so excited to put on her backpack and go to school like the big kids! I can't believe that she is so grown up. She usually never lets me take pictures of her, but she requested a picture by the Happy Hopper frog. :-) We love our Addi!

Lizzy's Baptism Day

(click on the collage to enlarge)

Saturday, Aug. 13th, 2011 Lizzy was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We were so grateful to be there and share such a speical day with her and with friends and family. The spirit was so strong and I'm so grateful that Cooper was able to witness and feel that spirit as he is preparing to be baptized next year! Lizzy looked so beautiful and it was so neat to see her glowing after she was lifted out of the water by her dad. And I was so impressed when I heard that she had worked hard and read the entire Book of Mormon by herself before her baptism day. Another special note…she was baptized at her stake center which happens to sit right next to the Sacramento Temple. It was a special day. Thank you for sharing it with us Lizzy! We love you!

More fun pictures from CA trip...

I just want to kiss this face over and over again.
She is so yummy and I love holding her, hugging her, and kissing her.
Please stop growing! Please stop getting bigger! Why can't you stay just like this!?

Since my parents moved they don't have a pool anymore, but they do have a fountain. Who would have thought the kids would have so much fun on a rock fountain!? They loved climbing up and down and up and down and up and down....you get the picture. :-)

In these pictures you can see them playing dragons (Cooper and Lizzy) and princesses (Ella and Addison)

And here's Clara wanting to be with the "big kids". She tries to follow them everywhere.
She also tried to fit a river rock in her mouth. Fun times!

And who said kids can't sleep 3 to a bed anymore?
No one wanted to sleep on the floor or on the couch so we made it work and they loved it because then they weren't alone. :-) Good thing our family is short.

Hair or No Hair?

How is this possible…you have two sisters, that have two daughters born months apart, and one is COMPLETELY bald, and the other has enough hair for herself and to share!? It's okay, I love my bald babies! :-) And Valerie (our newest niece) is cute as a button!

Buuble Fun at Grandma & Grandpa's!!!

My parents (Wagners) have this awesome jacuzzi tub in their new house that the kids love! (it's the only time they want to take a bath every night) :-)

Well, lesson learned that jacuzzi tub jets + almost 1/2 bottle of bubbles = crazy bubbles!!! Just when you thought the bubbles were starting to disappear…just turn on the jets and MAGIC…they're back. :-) I think my mom had bubbles in the tub until the next day. Sorry mom.

Ella was LOVING the bubbles! (as you can guess by the pictures) It was so awesome what she was getting the bubbles to do! And luckily we gave Clara a bath earlier because I think we would have lost her under all the fluffiness. :-)

Quick trip to California

We took a quick weekend trip to California for our niece/cousin Lizzy's baptism! It was so fun to see everyone and I did not want to leave. But it was fun letting the kids document the trip for us! :-)

Here are Cooper's pictures from the airport…

P.S. I don't know why I look kind of orange. It must have been the lighting because that is my natural skin color/tan (not even a spray tan). That's what happens when you swim every day in AZ!

Here are Ella's pictures…

And more from Cooper…

First Day Of School 2011

Aug. 10, 2011 marked another "First Day of School" memory moment! Except this year is especially monumental because I now have 2 kids gone all day to school! Cooper started 2nd grade and Ella is going to full-day kindergarten. (which she loves and was so ready for!) I didn't think I would be sad to see them start school, but I admit that my eyes got a little moist when I walked into the house after dropping them off and couldn't believe how quiet it was. I could tell that parts of my family were missing and our house felt kind of empty. I will miss them every day, but I'm excited for them to learn and grow and have wonderful new experiences. :-)

We got up early, had a special pancake breakfast, took pictures, and off we go!

She can't resist hugging Cooper. It drives him crazy, but it's good for him. :-)

Mom and Ella

Cooper ready to go to class. He is out in the portables this year with all the other 2nd graders. He says he doesn't like it because you have to walk farther to get to everything. :-)

8 Amazing Years!

Let's see in 8 years we have:

-lived in the ghetto of Tempe
-bought our first house
-learned how to sew bedding, curtains, pillows for the house
(Thank you Grandma Wagner for the sewing machine! It's sewed miles of fabric by now!)
-had a baby boy
-worked, went to school, and worked some more
-had a baby girl
-practically remodeled our house
-started my tanning business
-worked, still going to school, and more work
-had another baby girl
-graduated from ASU
-made our first trip out of the US to Japan (so fun!)
-sold our first house
-bought our second house
-built a pool (that was an event)
-had ANOTHER baby GIRL
(I totally thought we would have all boys, but I guess "He" showed me who's really the boss. :-)
-sold my tanning business
-Tyler working so hard to support a family of 6!

I know I am missing a lot. Somewhere in between all of that is hours of exercising to try and lose baby weight. Hours of feeding babies, changing diapers, potty training, cleaning up messes, trying our best to get the kids in bed so that we can have at least an hour of peace together before we both hit our pillows. Hours of Tyler in his "wood shop" trying to create something for me that I found in a magazine. :-) Hours of yardwork. But most of all hours of fun, excitement, unknowns, frustration, sadness, and every other humanly possible emotion. :-) But that's life, right?! And we wouldn't trade it for anything!

I am so grateful to be married to the most wonderful, patient, kind, sensitive, strong, righteous, charitable, good, valiant, selfless man. I often tell people that I married up. It is completely true. Everyday I thank Heavenly Father for bringing us together. I can't imagine my life without Tyler. I love you babe!!! Thank you for the best 8 years of my life! Can't wait to share more with you!