christmas parade (2017)

Posted on January 17, 2018 by tara

Are you ready to hear about Christmas for the next week or two? We made so many wonderful memories this year, and I have to say, these special occasions just keep getting more fun as our kids grow bigger. So here we go, the first of the Christmas catch-up posts… our holiday parade!

After a week without Daddy (he was in Las Vegas for the AWS conference), we kicked off the weekend by heading downtown to our local parade. Michael’s plane was due to land just in time for him to catch a bus and take a short walk to meet up with us, so while we waited, we stopped into one of the indoor venues to look at all the community Christmas trees. The girls absolutely loved this one, covered in puppies and bones, with a light-up pug standing next to it!They also had an array of gingerbread houses this year. They smelled heavenly, and you can guess which one was our favorite!Nella was pretty amazed by everything there was to see.Daddy found us! I don’t know if we’ve ever been as happy to see him as we were right then! I had to have a picture with my girls, too! It definitely wasn’t the warmest parade we’ve had, but it by far wasn’t the coldest, either. Still, we ended up using Daddy’s coat as a blanket by the end of the night because these little girls felt chilly.Nella took in all the lights and sounds and loved the entire experience.Some of my favorite floats included: these giant teeth……an entire trailer full of pandas!!!…the classic snowmen……blinged-out cars… …and Santa, of course! The girls were so excited to see him!Horses are always at the end, but they are a definite favorite for all of us too.I love this yearly tradition- I don’t think we’ve missed a town Christmas parade since we started dating! Only 10.5 months until the next one! 😉

five on friday (01/05)

Posted on January 5, 2018 by tara

Happy 2018!!! I had to check that it is in fact a Friday, because we’ve still been in winter-break mode over here. Michael has been out of work, and we’ve had an enjoyable respite from our homeschool lessons. I think we’ll feel refreshed and ready to jump back into our routine next week!

ONE. I always wish the magic of the holidays would never end, so I am a little sad to say goodbye to the Christmas season. We made a lot of good memories that I’m excited to blog about, but for now, I’ll just share these sweet little girls, so excited to see the giant Christmas tree at the mall. I love how everything is extra magical at their ages.
TWO. This little angel has had a bad cold and is simultaneously cutting two of her molars. Yikes! You’d never know it from this happy face, but she has been crying a whole lot more than usual, and it completely breaks my heart. We knew she wasn’t quite feeling like herself because of the congestion, but when I looked in her mouth and saw those two top molars coming in, we finally understood why. Hopefully we get through this stage quickly so I can have my sunshine baby back all day long!Little by little, we have started working on decorating our bedroom, and last week, we got a good deal on a new duvet set that came with 1,000 pillows (okay, 7). Nella’s new favorite activity is playing peekaboo from behind them!THREE. I know that everyone and their dog is talking about the weather this week, but seriously?! Every morning I wake up eager to see if the temperature is suitable enough to run. Just to clarify, a “real feel” of 7 degrees below is not. I am really looking forward to next week when we have a little heatwave.Michael has been the best helper this week while he’s been home, especially because he’s been walking Scout every single day in this weather. He’s also been hanging curtain rods, and re-hanging all the doors in our house with new hinges. He’s the best.FOUR. I try not to write anything on here that might embarrass my kids later in life, so I’m really hoping this doesn’t fall into that category… but Kaya hit a really big milestone last week- she stopped sucking her thumb! I’m partly sharing this because maybe what we did will work for someone else with this struggle.

Every night at bedtime (which was mostly when she was doing it), we wrapped her thumb with medical tape. That way, if she tried to put it in her mouth, it wouldn’t feel right, and she’d take it out. I had actually read about this technique in Parents magazine, and decided I wanted to do it as soon as we could. So, I explained to Kaya why this was important, and she was completely on board with it… until I wrapped her thumb the first night. She cried and cried because she wanted it off, but we told her if she could do it for 10 nights in a row, she could choose a reward. Of course, she picked Sweet Frog! She was so proud of herself every single morning when she woke up, excitedly declaring, “I didn’t suck my thumb!” She chose to make our outing a mommy-daughter date, which felt a little extra special.FIVE. Just keeping it real over here… not everyone is always in the mood for a photoshoot, and this is how it goes sometimes.Grandma Gina made these adorable Hello Kitty dresses for the girls for Christmas! I love when all three of them match, even if they look a little (or a lot) grumpy.Happy Friday!

five favorites (12/02)

Posted on December 2, 2017 by tara

Happy December! Long time, no blog. Between traveling for Thanksgiving and then Michael being away on business, there just hasn’t been much free time. I’m glad to be writing again!

ONE. Michael had a week-long trip to Las Vegas for the Amazon Web Services re:Invent conference. He left town on Sunday morning, before the crack of dawn, and came home on Friday night, just in time to meet us all at the town Christmas parade! This was the first week that the girls and I have ever spent completely solo, and we actually did better than I expected. Kaya was a big helper, and we didn’t have any meltdowns or tantrums until the very end of the week. We are so happy to have Daddy home with us again.
TWO. She did it! She did it! Kaya completed the entire Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book! To say I’m proud seems like an understatement- it’s been absolutely amazing to see how far she’s come in the past 8 months or so. I had promised her that when the book was done, she could choose to get a surprise or go out for a treat. She picked a surprise, so I’ve had these Calico Critters koalas hiding in my closet for a while, just waiting.

This week, she knew she was so close to finishing that she wanted to double-up on lessons for a couple of days. I’m so impressed with her motivation. This puts her at a second-grade reading level, and I’m excited to watch her learn and discover so much more through books.Kaelyn was so excited for her sister, and she’s feeling more motivated to do her phonics lessons, too. For now, she looks just so adorable flipping through the pictures of one of her favorite books about penguins.THREE. In the summer, it takes forever to get everyone outside to play because you have to sunscreen every inch of exposed skin, but in the winter, it takes just as long because you have to bundle everyone up! I can’t resist these babies in cute winter hats, puffy coats, and fleece footie pajamas (for Nella)!There’s something so refreshing about going outside, even when it’s chilly. FOUR. This little lady has had it rough ever since we left on our trip for Thanksgiving. Being away from home completely threw off her routine, which was to be expected, but we’ve had a little bit of a hard time getting back on track. She wants to wake up multiple times each night to nurse… so we’re working on sleeping through the night again. Add in a new tooth, and well, she’s been a bit cranky.But who can resist a baby in fluffy pink bear jammies? I also love how much she adores her Beagle. He is her absolute favorite!FIVE. We have been taking our sweet time with getting all our Christmas decor up. We actually started two weeks ago, and just keep adding little things here and there. Nella was surprised to see these singing snowmen when we brought them out, and wanted to play with them ALL! My mom has bought us one of these from Hallmark nearly every year since we got married, so we now have quite a few. We also got some light-up animals that are really meant for the yard, but Kaya and Kaelyn are so in love with them that they may just end up staying inside. They can’t forget to “feed” their unicorn and husky puppy every morning!

Happy weekend!

neigh-neighs, the sprinkle monster, and great-aunties

Posted on January 26, 2017 by tara

After visiting Michael’s family, we went to my parents’ home for the last of our Christmas celebrations. Their family room quickly turned into a wrapping-paper explosion- it was like Christmas morning all over again!

You never know what Grandma Debbie might surprise you with…

Each girl (including me) got a spatula in her stocking!
Kaya was pretty excited about these pants… … and can you tell that someone is in love with Minnie Mouse? There was a giant Hello Kitty plush for Kaya, of course. The girls’ big gifts were these horses! Kaya names every horse she has “Chancey”, so of course, we all knew his name before he even escaped the box. Kaelyn calls all her horses “Neigh-neigh”, this one included.Michael (a.k.a. Mister Home Improvement) now has a drill! He’s already been able to use it for several projects.
Kaya gives the best hugs. After exchanging gifts, Kaya, Grandma and I cut out gingerbread cookies. The next day, we decorated them with sprinkles! Kaelyn used up most of the sprinkles by herself… She was completely covered by the end of it all. What a mess! I’m glad she enjoyed herself, though.Nella will be in on the mess next year, but for now, she sat in her seat and took a little nap.This trip was the first time Grandpa Peter met Nella! It was love at first sight.My aunts stopped by to see us, too! Nella met her Great-Aunties Joyce and Carol! Of course, they instantly loved her too.Everyone always loves Grandma snuggles!

I’m glad we were able to visit our families for the holidays.This is the last of the Christmas posts, so now it’s officially over! (Only 333 days to go until we do it all again!)

christmastown, cousins, and crazies

Posted on January 24, 2017 by tara

The Christmas posts just never seem to end around here, right? Thankfully, it’s because we had so many family members to visit and enjoy the season with this past holiday.

A few days after celebrating Christmas at home, we headed down to visit Michael’s side of the family! Kevin and Tori flew in from Utah- it had been about a year and a half since we last saw them! We had never met our nephew Jack before, so needless to say, we were pretty excited!

I instantly fell in love with Jack (sweet sweet baby boy!), and my girls really loved playing with him, too. It was so fun to finally see the cousins together! Of course, I also had to get pictures of everyone meeting Nella! 🙂
And yes, there were plenty of Grandma cuddles for her, too.Kaya enjoyed some snuggling with Auntie Lelia!There were some presents, of course… … including a rainbow hat made by Grandma!This was the first time the older girls have slept in the same bed. At first, we heard some complaints of “she’s touching me!” and “she’s taking my animals!”, but eventually, they settled down and slept soundly.On the second day of our visit, we headed to Busch Gardens Christmastown! The last time we were there, Kaya was just 3 months old! It’s crazy how quickly everything changes with kids.
We wore our new hats made by my mom-in-law!I always love admiring the decorations. It almost feels like a world away from this one, made entirely of glowing lights and Christmas spirit.Kaya was old enough to ride the mini roller coaster this year! She was so excited when they pulled out of the station, and I knew she’d return either completely petrified or absolutely elated. Thankfully, she had the time of her life and even asked to go on it again! Seeing her so happy was the highlight of the trip for me, although hearing Michael, Kevin, and Jeff screaming all through the ride was pretty fun, too.Kaelyn was too little to ride most of the attractions, so we let her walk around and explore the brightly-lit trees for a bit.She did get to join everyone on this mini Mach Tower ride! I wish I had a better photo, but it was so dark that I couldn’t get my camera to focus. Good picture or not, these kids had a blast.I feel like I haven’t been able to go on rides for forever (being pregnant with three babies in four years will do that to you!), so it was extra-fun for me to join Grandpa Skip and Kaya on the bumper cars and flying swings. When everyone else headed to the train, Dad and I went on my all-time favorite ride. Busch Gardens calls it “Le Catapult”, but I think it has other names at different parks.Of course, we went to the Festhaus to warm up, eat dinner, and nurse the baby. It’s always nice to get a little break from the cold.
The girls really enjoyed watching the performance inside!On our last afternoon together, we took a family picture. I love having everyone all together (and let’s face it, I really lucked out and got some amazing in-laws).When we got home, they wanted a brother picture…… which quickly turned into chaos…… and… sorority squats? What?!And apparently, it only takes one minute of me not paying attention for my relatives to steal my phone and fill it up with a million surprise photos before we left that evening. I love these crazies!

christmas day 2016

Posted on January 19, 2017 by tara

I’m writing about our Christmas day about 3.5 weeks after the fact, but hey, this way, I get to relive our special family moments over again. Christmas morning seems to become more fun each year as our kids grow older. Their excitement seems to multiply exponentially with age, and I truly wish this trend could continue forever.

As usual, Michael and I stayed up far too late on Christmas Eve (it was nearly 3 am when we finally crawled into bed), cleaning the house and wrapping gifts. It just seems like there’s always so much to do in preparation for a holiday.

Thankfully, the girls slept in until about 8 am. I’m sure they won’t always be willing to stay in bed so long on future Christmas mornings! I felt so grateful to have these three little girls of mine under the tree this year. Everyone was anxious to dive into opening gifts. Kaelyn instantly cuddled all of her new stuffed animals. Kaya received various Hello Kitty paraphernalia (a water bottle, a plush, and a jewelry box)… Kitty Surprise! This Puppy Surprise was the only thing Kaelyn asked for for Christmas. She had talked about it every day for at least a month, and I was so excited to see her open it. Of course, we had to immediately count how many babies were in her tummy! This little girl was the puppy queen this Christmas.I just can’t get through a holiday without gifting something educational!Kaya had been asking for a “camper truck” for about 4 months. She loves to visit Grandma Gina and Grandpa Skip in their real camper when they come out to visit, so she wanted one for her little bunnies to drive around, too.The girls’ big combined gift was a Furreal Friends baby dragon! Her name is Torch, and they love taking care of her every day.This gift was Michael’s favorite- a STEM robot mouse. He’s already preparing their young minds for coding!
When you’re an adult, you get very excited about new slippers.I’d call this “the slipper Christmas”, since we all received new ones. I love those fuzzy little feet on each end.
We had our traditional snowmen donuts, but this was probably the fastest we’d ever eaten them, since we had to be on our way to church before long.
Church only lasted about 45 minutes, and then we returned home to play, nap, and cook a Christmas meal.My favorite gift this year goes without saying…
I love having a new baby at Christmastime, because it helps me remember our Savior’s birth even more often. This little angel had a wonderful first Christmas. I’m so grateful to have her.We really do love her so very much.
I made our traditional pot roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, and biscuits.I think Kaya and Kaelyn ate more M&Ms than anything else on Christmas day.We ended the evening with choco-mint freeze, cuddles, and my sweet Kaya telling me how happy she was. I love celebrating this most special day with my sweetheart and my babies.

family nativity party

Posted on January 12, 2017 by tara

The night before Christmas Eve, we headed up to Michael’s Aunt Becky’s house for a family Christmas party. This is a tradition held every year, but we haven’t attended for a few years (it seems like we stopped traveling once we started having kids). It was great to see many of Michael’s aunts, uncles, cousins and his grandpa for the first time in quite a while. Nella met her Great-Grandpa T! He loved her instantly (but with cheeks like hers, who wouldn’t?)! It really is something to see the patriarch of the family together with the newest addition. I hope that one day, far in the future, Michael and I will be at the head of a big family, surrounded by our own grandkids and great-grandkids. It’s truly amazing to me to see all that Michael’s grandparents have accomplished through their posterity.We had a delicious potluck dinner (and I practically ate my weight in mac and cheese…)! I brought this s’mores cobbler as part of the dessert buffet. Yummmm. My girls were just so excited that there were cupcakes at this party! We’d missed out on cupcakes at our church Christmas party a few weeks prior, and Kaya had cried over it for the rest of the night. She was so happy to finally have her favorite treat! The family always puts on a nativity play, which is my very favorite part of the evening. My babies were old enough to participate in it this year, which made it even sweeter. They were so excited to dress up as little lambs! Kaelyn just kept shouting “lambie!” Michael was the donkey (which was the part he played the first time I went to the family Christmas party, as his fiancée, 8 years ago)! Nella had the most-important role of baby Jesus. 🙂 We watched the play, sang hymns, and felt the awe of the birth of our Savior.

I’m glad we could be there this year. Here’s to many more!

christmas cookie delivery 2016

Posted on January 7, 2017 by tara

I’m basically a bakeaholic, so when Christmastime rolls around, I’m very happy to have an excuse to make treats. Over the years, I’ve collected some of my very favorite recipes for holiday cookies, and I love sharing them. Here’s what we made for our traditional cookie delivery this year:

gingerbread cookies (these are the same ones my mom has made for as long as I can remember)

Michigan fudge

snickerdoodles (this was my first time making these, and they were heavenly!)

chocolate-chip cookies

We delivered 18 plates of goodies, which (I think) is more than we’ve done any other year. I really love seeing all the plates filled and organized right before we take them out! Part of this tradition includes wearing goofy hats. Two Santas, two reindeer, and then a baby in Santa pajamas. We’ll have to get her a hat next year! It’s hard to believe that we originally started doing this when Kaya was Nella’s size!Kaya was the most excited about this activity. She loved surprising her Primary president and enjoyed ringing doorbells. I loved seeing my kids feel the joy of gift-giving, and I hope that this is a favorite family tradition for many years to come.

gingerbread cookies 2016

Posted on January 3, 2017 by tara

I’m just going to keep talking about Christmas, partly because I still have a lot to document, and partly because I’m not completely ready to admit that the holiday season is over! Cookies, Christmas carols, and spending extra time together as a family are my favorite things.

Kaya was eager to help roll out the gingerbread dough this year. I thought she was still a little too young, but she actually did a great job for being just four years old.
Now Kaelyn is old enough to help cut out cookies! They were both just a little excited. 😉Silicone baking mats will change your life… I didn’t break a single cookie this year!After they were all baked, we started decorating. Michael and the girls were only able to do a few before it was bedtime, so I ended up finishing most of them.
We ended up with exactly 60 gingerbread cookies, and we gave away all but 5 or so! Here were some of my favorites:Michael made that adorable little house on the left; Kaya did the multicolored bear, and it seems like it’s become some odd tradition that I make that blonde swimsuit girl. I really love seeing each of us express our creativity so differently.

five on friday (12/30)

Posted on December 30, 2016 by tara

ONE. I can’t believe Christmas has already come and gone! In a way, I’m sad it’s all over, but in another, I’m ready to feel a little less busy. I still have a bunch of holiday-related activities to write about!

We did get to visit a live nativity put on by a local church. I love participating in things that reinforce the true meaning of Christmas, and our girls loved seeing “Bethlehem” and baby Jesus. I don’t have any pictures because it was pitch black outside.

Afterward, the same church had a little area where you could visit Santa and enjoy some hot chocolate and cookies. Michael thought it was pretty funny to fog up his glasses with his cocoa.

They took a picture for us, although sadly it didn’t turn out so great. Kaya wanted nothing to do with Santa, even though she knows he’s just “pretend” and this is all for fun.TWO. Sometimes, it’s hard to stay awake during tummy time. This has happened three times now! I am infatuated with her lips and cheeks.
THREE. Nella started using her cloth diapers last week! As long as we use two inserts, she’s been mostly leak-free, and I’ve been happy not to have a trash can full of disposables. Plus, how cute are those little leg rolls? FOUR. My girls have rediscovered their love for their toy drum. We’ve had a lot of “parades” in our house lately, and although it’s pretty noisy, I love watching them have so much fun.FIVE. This post has been dominated by sweet baby cheeks… But come on, I can’t resist sharing this little girl’s big grin. I am obsessed with everything about this little princess.

Michael and Tara

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